Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: During the course of the project, we interacted with a range of audiences concerning the emergence of new weed pests. These groups included farmers, extension agents, agronomists, weed scientists, and geneticists, including post-docs and graduate students in these areas. We have presented research relevant to policy in a number of international venues, including the COP/MOP 6 meeting to inform work on the Cartegena Protocol. Our primary target audience, researchers in ecology and evolutionary biology were updated on our work through papers at meetings, invited symposia and publications. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The project provided opportunites for research experience for 7 undergraduates and 4 graduate students. In addition, a post-doc worked on the project for one year before being hired to a USDA lab in Geneva, New York. A symposium convened at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society in 2012 included contributions from two graduate students and two post-docs. Moreover, the PI has been invited to numerous international engagements since beginning this work. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results of this project have been broadly disseminated through standard professional venues (publications, seminars, symposia), in addition to media interest from around the world. Examples include: Nature News: N. Gilbert, 6 August 2010 http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100806/full/news.2010.393.html BBC News: R Black, 6 August 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10859264 NPR, Morning Edition: G. Brumfiel, 6 August 2010 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129010499 Scientific American: D Biello, 6 August 2010 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=genetically-modified-crop Scientific American: Podcast, M Webster, 6 August 2010 http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=transgenic-canola-plants-break-free-10-08-06 New York Times: A Pollack, 6 August 2010 http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/an-invader-biotech-canola/ Discovery News: J Marshall, 6 August 2010 http://news.discovery.com/earth/gm-plant-canola-wild.html#view-comments Discover Magazine: 6 August 2010 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/08/06/in-north-dakota-genetically-modified-canola-goes-wild/ National Geographic: R Kaufman, 6 August 2010 http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/thegreenguide/2010/08/genetically-modified-canola-ha.html Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany): 6 August 2010 http://www.gmo-safety.eu/news/1214.usa-genetically-modified-oilseed-rape-uncultivated-land.html Voice of America; M. Ritter, 13 September 2010 http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/Pretty-Flowers-Lead-Two-Scientists-to-a-Discovery--102803669.html (VOALearningEnglish video article: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCOxRy3pTOM) International Business Times: J Emspak, 9 August 2010 http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/41876/20100809/genetically-modified-canola-found-in-the-wild.htm LA Times: R Bernstein, 14 August 2010 (picked up by AP and distributed) http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/13/science/la-sci-gmo-canola-20100814/2 The Hindu, R. Black, 10 August http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/article561612.ece CBC News: 6 August 2010 http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2010/08/06/gm-canola-wild-north-dakota.html?ref=rss Fox News: JR Quain, 6 August 2010 http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/08/06/genetically-modified-plants-loose-spreading/ Field & Stream: 12 August 2010 http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/hunting/2010/08/will-genetically-modified-weeds-hurt-upland-birds-and-waterfowl Huffington Post, A Gunther, 17 August 2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-gunther/gm-gene-out-of-the-bottle_b_679294.html Scientific American: D. Biello, 6 August 2010 http://www.antifascistencyclopedia.com/allposts/genetically-modified-crop-on-the-loose-and-evolving-in-u-s-midwest Science Daily: 6 August 2010 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100806080321.htm Life Science World: K Kline, 6 August 2010 http://www.lifesciencesworld.com/news/view/153685 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We have met each of these goals as described in the proposal, with the exception of a final paper that models the risk of weed evolution on the landscape scale.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Research efforts in 2012 included projects in Arkansas and North Dakota, and new collaborations with colleagues in New York , Colorado and Mexico. The 2012 project crew consisted of two co-PIs (Sagers, Van de Water), a collaborator (Travers), a post-doc (Londo), two MS students (Schafer, Ross) and an honors student (Murdoch). Mentoring activities over the last year include collaborating with a post-doc on the project, Dr. Jason Londo. He has contributed to project development, to databasing and analysis of project outcomes, and to drafting manuscripts generated by the USDA award. Two graduate students continued on the project in 2010-2011. Meredith Schafer (UARK) and Andrew Ross (NDSU) and both completed degrees in 2012. A University of Arkansas undergraduate, Brent Ty Murdoch, submitted and received an EPA GRO fellowship, "Physiological status of feral Brassica napus populations as demonstrated by stable isotope analysis" ($40,000). This funding evolved directly from this USDA award and supported Ty's tuition, research and travel costs for the remainder of his undergraduate tenure. Moreover, support includes the opportunity of a summer research experience in an EPA lab. Ty graduated in Spring 2012 with highest honors (summa cum laude) and will join my lab as an M.S. student to continue with analysis of project data, now at a large spatial scale. New collaborations with Steve Franks (Fordham University) and Nolan Kane (University of Colorado Boulder) will result in a proposal to the USDA, " Transgene escape and the evolution of herbicide resistance in feral weeds.". PIs on the project elected to partner on this proposal as a direct result of the this award and as an outcome of an invited symposium at the Ecological Society of America (Austin, Texas) sponsored by this USDA award. We attended six national and international meetings, and presented three invited seminars in three countries. These are: Third International Conference on Implications of Genetically Modified Crop Cultivation at Large Spatial Scales,"Analysis of GM crop escape at large spatial scales," Universitat Bremen, Bremen, June 14-15. Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties (COP/MOP 6) to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, Side event No. 2931 by the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER), "Transgene outcrossing in native and indigenous crops - risk assessment and management options, Hyderabad, India, October 2. Scientific Conference Advancing the Understanding of Biodiversity, Sponsored by ENSSER, Tara Foundation and Third World Network "Domestication, feral species and the future of plant diversity," Hyderabad, Inidia, September 28-29. The National Academies, "Partnerships, Science, and Innovation for Sustainability Solutions" organized by The National Academies (NAS) and held at the Pew Conference Center, Washington, D.C. Annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America (ESA), Portland, Oregon, August 6-10. U.S. EPA/WED/NHEERL, Corvallis, Oregon, August 20. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Our work has been influential in a number of arenas, both in the U.S. and more broadly in Western Europe, Australia and Japan. In each of these countries, there is concern for the movement of canola pollen to sexually compatible relatives at the risk of generating a new, more aggressive weed pest. These results will be published in the next months (manuscripts in development listed below). In general, we have found that domesticated varieties of canola can persist outside of cultivation and that once there they recombine to generate new forms. We believe that persistence at field margins and along roadways is because of strong selection pressure by herbicide drift from agricultural fields and road maintenance crews. Final efforts funded by this award will begin to address selection by herbicide on GM plants outside of cultivation. Manuscripts in prep/review: Sagers et al. (In prep) Crop-wild hybridization, feralization and rapid evolution in agroecosystems. Evolutionary Applications. Londo JP, McKinney J, Schwartz M, Sagers CL, Watrud LS. (In prep) Effects of simulated herbicide drift on flowering phenology and reproduction in Brassica. Londo JP, Bollman BA, Schwartz M, Sagers CL, Watrud LS. (In review) Sub-lethal glyphosate exposure increases outcrossing potential in Brassica spp. by altering flowering phenology and causing transient male-sterility. Sagers, C.L., J. Londo, N. Bautista, G. King and L.S. Watrud. (In review) Population consequences of crop migration and crop-to-weed gene flow in Brassica: a mesocosm study.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: A new collaboration population geneticists Drs. Steve Franks (Fordham University) and Nolan Kane (University of British Columbia) resulted in a proposal to the USDA ARS, " Transgene escape and the evolution of herbicide resistance in feral weeds" ($499K). PIs on the project, Sagers, Travers, Franks and Kane, elected to partner on this proposal as a direct result of the currently funded project to Sagers (this award). This work proposed to further develop projects initiated in this award with a focus on the role of crop-weed hybridization and the rapid evolution of herbicide tolerance in native species. Our new collaborators bring expertise in genomics and population genetics to the study of the ecology of crop-weed escapes, which will add a further dimension to our recent discoveries. We competed for a symposium spot at the Ecological Society of America 2011 annual meeting to be held in Austin, TX. We received an endorsement by the ESA Plant Ecology Section and were selected by meeting organizers, "Domestication, Feral Species and the Importance of Agriculture to the Future of Plant Diversity": Organizer: Cynthia L. Sagers , Co-organizer: Peter K. Van de Water , Moderator: Steven Travers. Abstracts of talks were published in the meeting supplement of the Ecological Society of America. These include: Crops gone wild: Evolution of weeds and invasives from domesticated ancestors, Norman Ellstrand; Infectious disease in natural plant populations under climate change, Niamh O'Hara et al., SUNY Stony Brook;; The occurrence of feral crop species in weedy environments, Meredith G. Schafer et al., University of Arkansas; Utilizing wild species to improve cultivated rice for yield, pest resistance, and response to climate change, Anna M. McClung et al., USDA ARS; Pollen movement and gene migration at macro-geographic scales, Peter K. Van de Water, California State University Fresno ; Assessing risks of invasion by hybrid and GMO plant species, Cynthia L. Sagers, University of Arkansas; Hybridization, genetic hitchhiking, and the ecology of transgenes in feral Brassica, Jason P. Londo et al., University of Arkansas; Crop-wild hybridization is associated with evolution of weedy sunflowers, Nolan Kane, University of British Columbia. In addition to regular seminars, we spoke with a number of news agencies regarding a paper presented at annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America. Following interviews with Sagers and Schafer, more than 200 on-line articles were published. Moreover, we exchanged email correspondence with journalists from Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Brazil, Romania, Australia and Nigeria. On-line articles were published by BBC radio, London Times, LA Times, International Business News, National Geographic, Fox News, The Ecologist, BBC Knowledge Magazine and Voice of America. PARTICIPANTS: Details of participating individuals and institutions are included elsewhere in the report. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The 2011 research crew consisted of three public institutions, two co-PIs, a post-doc, two MS students and three undergraduates. Research efforts in 2011 included projects in both lab and greenhouse. Activities at the University of Arkansas included: 1) germination and analysis of seeds collected from sentinel plants in 200, 2) preparation of plant tissues for stable isotope analysis, and 3) development of hybrid lines for subsequent hybridization studies. Activities at CSU Fresno involved compiling data from historical herbarium collections and amassing data sets of seasonal variation in wind velocity vectors for the State of North Dakota. Activities in North Dakota State University involved prepping and harvesting sentinel plants for 2010 (approx 100 h) bulking up of seed stores and hybrid lines for studies of plant hybrids Mentoring activities over the last year include oversight of Dr. Jason Londo as a post-doctoral fellow in spring 2010. His responsibilities were to contribute to project development, to database and analyze existing data, and to write manuscripts generated by the USDA award. His efforts resulted in five peer reviewed publications, and four additional manuscripts in various stages of preparation. Two graduate students continued on the project in 2010-11. Meredith Schafer (UARK) and Andrew Ross (NDSU) were integral to the success of the 2010 field campaign and are making good progress toward completing degrees in 2012.A University of Arkansas undergraduate, Brent Ty Murdoch, joined the project in 2009. Last year, Ty developed, submitted and received an EPA GRO fellowship, "Physiological status of feral Brassica napus populations as demonstrated by stable isotope analysis." This funding will provide support for Ty's tuition, research and travel costs for two years. EPA support also provided an opportunity for summer research experience in an EPA lab, which he completed in 2011. Results from Ty's project will form the basis of his honors thesis. The EPA GRO proposal evolved directly from this USDA award. In addition, two honors students, Tomomi Ishaki and Banks Parnell, completed undergraduate research hours on the project and will complete related research theses in the next year. Manuscripts in prep/review Sagers, C.L., J. Londo, N. Bautista, G. King and L.S. Watrud. (In review) Decline of wild mustard populations facilitated by crop to weed gene flow: a mesocosm study. Travers et al. (In prep). Plant evolution in marginal lands. Londo JP, McKinney J, Schwartz M, Sagers CL, Watrud LS. (In prep) Sub-lethal glyphosate exporure increases outcrossing potential in Brassica spp. by altering flowering phenology and causing transient male-sterility. Londo JP, Bollman BA, Sagers CL, Watrud LS. (In prep) Ecological effects of transgenic insect resistant Brassica rapa and herbivory in mesocosm communities.
Publications
- Schafer, M.G., A.X. Ross, J.P. Londo, C.A. Burdick, E.H. Lee, S.E. Travers, P.K. Van de Water, C.L. Sagers. 2011. The establishment of genetically engineered canola populations in the U.S. PLoS ONE 6(10): e25736. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0025736
- Londo, J.P., B.A. Bollman, C.L. Sagers, E.H. Lee and L. S. Watrud. 2011. Glyphosate-drift but not herbivory alters the rate of transgene flow from single and stacked trait transgenic canola (Brassica napus) to nontransgenic B. napus and B. rapa. New Phytologist 191:840-849.
- Londo, J.P., B.A. Bollman, C.L. Sagers, E.H. Lee and L.S. Watrud. 2011. Changes in fitness-associated traits due to the stacking of transgenic glyphosate resistance and insect resistance in Brassica napus L. Heredity doi:10.1038/hdy.2011.19
- Londo, J.P., N.S. Bautista, C.L. Sagers, E. H. Lee and L.S. Watrud. 2010. Glyphosate drift promotes changes in fitness and transgene gene flow changes in canola (Brassica napus L.) hybrids. Annals of Botany 106:957-965.
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Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities: Research efforts in 2010 included projects in both lab and greenhouse. The 2010 field crew consisted of two co-PIs, a post-doc and two MS students. We invested 110 days in the field conducting experiments and surveys at study sites throughout North Dakota. Greenhouse and lab activities at the University of Arkansas included germination and analysis of seeds collected from sentinel plants in 2009 (approx 250 h). Activities in North Dakota State University involved harvesting plants from the 2009 season and prepping and harvesting sentinel plants for 2010 (approx 100 h). Mentoring activities over the last year include hiring Dr. Jason Londo as a post-doctoral fellow, two graduate students and a University of Arkansas undergraduate. The undergraduate developed, submitted and received an EPA GRO fellowship, "Physiological status of feral Brassica napus populations as demonstrated by stable isotope analysis." The proposal evolved directly from this USDA award. In addition, two honors students, Stephanie Wise and Natalie Nelson, completed undergraduate honors theses with materials generated by the USDA project. Events: A proposal for an invited symposium has been submitted to the Ecological Society of America for the 2011 annual meeting to be held in Austin, TX. We expect notification by 15 Dec. 2010. Dissemination: During the third year of the study, we presented six seminars in three countries they are: (Sagers) George Washington University, Department of Biology, Washington, D.C.; Universidad do Sao Paulo, Department of Biology, Sao Paulo, Brazil; North Dakota State University, Department of Biological Sciences, Fargo, North Dakota; University of Arkansas, Department of Entomology, Fayetteville, AR; (Travers) North Dakota State University, Dept. of Weed Science, Fargo, ND; (Schafer) Organization for Tropical Studies, La Selva Biological Station, Heredia, Costa Rica In addition to regular seminars, we spoke with a number of news agencies regarding a paper presented at annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America. Following interviews with Sagers and Schafer, the following articles were published: Nature - http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100806/full/news.2010.393.html BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10859264 NPR - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129010499 Scientific American (with podcast) - http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=genetically-modified -crop http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=transgenic-c anola-plants-break-free-10-08-06 NY Times - http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/an-invader-biotech-canola/ Discovery News -http://news.discovery.com/earth/gm-plant-canola-wild.html#view-comme nts University of Arkansas - http://newswire.uark.edu/article.aspx?id=14453 Moreover, we exchanged email correspondence with journalists from Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Brazil, Romania, Australia and Nigeria. On-line articles were published by BBC radio, London Times, LA Times, International Business News, National Geographic, Fox News, The Ecologist, BBC Knowledge Magazine and Voice of America. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
At present, we have five manuscripts in prep or review. They are: Schafer, M.G., A.X. Ross, J.P. Londo, C.A. Burdick, E.H. Lee, S.E. Travers, P.K. Van de Water, C.L. Sagers. The establishment of genetically engineered canola populations in the U.S. (in preparation). Sagers, C.L., J. Londo, N. Bautista, G. King and L.S. Watrud. The decline of wild mustard populations facilitated by crop to weed gene flow. (in preparation). Londo, .J.P, Bollman, B.A., Sagers, C.L., Watrud, L.S.. Multiple transgene traits may create un-intended fitness effects in Brassica napus. Heredity (in review). Londo, J.P., Bollman, B.A., Sagers, C.L., Watrud, L.S.. Selection pressure alters gene flow from single and stacked transgenic canola (Brassica napus L.) to non-transgenic B. napus and B. rapa. New Phytologist (in review).
Publications
- Sagers, C.L. 2009. Global change and the cryptic invasion by transgenes of native and weedy species. US EPA/USDA, The Plight of Ecosystems in a Changing Climate, Seattle, Washington.
- Schafer, M.G., A.X. Ross, J.P. Londo, C.A. Burdick, E.H. Lee, S.E. Travers, P.van de Water and C.L. Sagers. 2010. Evidence for the establishment and persistence of genetically modified canola populations in the U.S. Annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- Travers, S, P. Van de Water, J. Londo and C. Sagers. 2010. Implications of climate change and flowering time shifts for native-native and crop-native pollen flow. Society for the Study of Evolution, Portland, Oregon.
- Londo JP, Bautista NS, Sagers CL, Lee EH, Watrud LS. (2010) Glyphosate spray drift affects fitness and alters gene flow among transgenic Brassica napus, weedy Brassica rapa, and hybrid generations. Annals of Botany. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcq190
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Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Sagers, C.L. Global change and the cryptic invasion by transgenes of native and weedy species. US EPA/USDA, The Plight of Ecosystems in a Changing Climate, May 27-28, Seattle, Washington; Sagers, C.L. Implications of crop to weed gene flow. North Dakota State University, Department of Biological Sciences, 1 November, 2009; C.L., L. Watrud, J. Londo and G. King. Migration and persistence of transgenes in nature: a mesocosm simulation with Brassica napus. Annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, August 2-7, 2009, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Londo, J., M. Bollman, C.L. Sagers and L.S. Watrud. Fitness of Stacked Transgenic Brassica napus L. and Gene Flow Dynamics in Constructed Plant Communities. American Geneticists Association, Providence, Rhode Island, June 2009; Londo, J., M. Bollman, C.L. Sagers and L.S. Watrud. Evaluating the potential ecological effects of stacked transgenes in Brassica napus. Agricultural weeds: Bridging the gap between evolutionary ecology and crop science. Athens, Georgia, August 2008; Londo, J.P., M. Bollman, C.L. Sagers and L.S. Watrud. Evaluating the potential ecological effects of transgene escape and persistence in constructed plant communities. Botanical Society of America, Vancouver, British Colombia. June 2008; Sagers, C.L., N.S. Bautista, P. Barriga, E.H. Lee, L.S. Watrud. Biological interactions in engineered populations of canola. Botany 2007. Botanical Society of America, Chicago, Illinois, August 2007. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Robert Bacon, Professor and Chair, Crop, Soil and Environmental Science, University of Arkansas; Dr. Mike McMullen, Associate Professor, Plant Science, NDSU; Dr. Mike Christoffers, Associate Professor, Plant Science, NDSU; Dr. Angela Sebelius, Research Specialist, Minot Ag Experiment Station; Dr. Brian Jenks, Research Specialist, Minot Ag Experiment Station; Dr. Mukhlesur Rahman, Assistant Professor, Plant Sciences, NDSU; Dr. Greta Gramig, Assistant Professor, Plant Sciences, NDSU; County extension agents: Mike Rose (Ward County, ND), Tim Semler (Bottineau County, ND), Louie Voigt (Renville County, ND), Ron Beneda (Cavalier County, ND); Meredith Schafer, Graduate Student, Biological Sciences University of Arkansas; Andrew Ross, Graduate Student, Biology, NDSU TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Weed surveys in summer 2010 will be modified by stratifying our sampling plots by the presence of B. rapa populations. Dr. Jason Londo will join the team in spring 2010 and will focus on locating B. rapa populations in Oregon, Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Arkansas and Oklahoma. He will use herbarium records and expertise resident in native plant societies in each state to identify localities. Once at the site, we will establish sampling transects for B. rapa and crop-weed hybrids as detailed in the original proposal. Surveys will begin in Mar (AR, OK) and continue through August (MT, ND, WI). In 2010, we will eliminate S. arvensis and B. napus from our sentinel plant study and will focus instead on gene flow to populations of B. rapa from different source populations. Seedlings of B. rapa from Oregon, California and Arkansas will be started in greenhouses in North Dakota in May 2010. Mature potted plants will be transported to farmer's fields in Cavalier and Divide Counties following 2009 protocols. After two weeks, plants will be collected and returned to the NDSU greenhouses in Fargo. Our decision to use only B rapa was based on the low hybidizability with B. napus as measured in field and greenhouse studies. We will extend road surveys to the southern reaches of the state. Sampling protocol will follow as before. In 2010 we will include estimates of population densities at each highway stop along the roadside transects. Mature seeds will be collected from B. rapa populations found in OR, MT, ND, WI, AR and OK. Seeds We will begin a series of common garden studies in which we evaluate variability in traits likely linked to outcrossing with crop canola (e.g., phenology, days to maturity, seed development time, selfing rate). In a second series of experiments, B. rapa will be hybridized with a standard canola variety and similar measures made on the F1 crop-weed hybrids. Climate data have been downloaded and are being manipulated into databases that can be used to calculate additional climatic factors. During the next year this data compilation will be finished and parameters such as warming degree day and cooling degree day will be constructed. These values will be added to a GIS map of North Dakota to show historic spatial patterns of climate. The construction of a dataset of climate for the past 100+ years will also give us the ability to assess climate changes that have occurred during the past two to three decades during the period that canola has been grown in the area. This dataset will also form the basis for comparisons against projected climate change for the region as the next step.
Impacts
Our first year of weed surveys followed standardized methodologies adapted to working in the margins of cultivated fields and on county road rights of way. We surveyed 10 farmer's fields in Cavalier, Bottineau and Divide Counties and, although we encountered a large number of brassicaceous weeds, we found no Brassica rapa, and no evidence of transgene presence as determined by Roundup Ready and Liberty Link TraitChek lateral flow test strips. Our most surprising findings were the extent to which the landscape is managed either through spraying or mowing and how frequently crop fields are cultivated to the road's edge. We concluded from these surveys that we must stratify our weed surveys by the presence of brassicaceous weeds, primarily B. rapa. Below we provide details of how our 2010 weed surveys will be modified to accommodate these findings. Road surveys of brassicaceous weeds were added to the original weed survey plan when we observed large numbers of canola plants growing at the edges of roadsides along North Dakota highways. We concluded that these populations were feral and not the result of current year seed spill because roadside weeds were flowering and fruiting before crop canola was in bloom. Our surveys took place from 07/0/-07/05/2009 and again from 08/11-08/13/2009, and consisted of east-west transects along state highways across the northern tier of counties in North Dakota. We found high densities of feral canola on major thoroughfares and smaller populations on state and county highways. Moreover, 82% of the plants in the sample were positive for either CP4 EPSPS or PAT proteins. We are now confirming the species identities of each plant sample by comparison with annotated herbarium material, but our impression from in the field is that 100% of these plants are B. napus L. (canola). Early results from this study suggest that: 1) genetically modified canola has escaped cultivation in the U.S., 2) escaped canola populations constitute a large reservoir of transgenes outside of agricultural fields, and 3) populations are likely supplemented by seed spill along transportation routes. Our field work in North Dakota also involved sentinel plant studies following the design of Watrud et al. (2004). During 2008/2009, climate data of all climate stations in North Dakota available through the NOAA's National Climate Data Center were downloaded into spreadsheets. The data from each station contains daily observations of precipitation, snowfall, accumulated snow, maximum and minimum temperature. Only those stations that contained more than 10 years of data were targeted. A total of approximately 179 weather station sites in 52 counties were downloaded. Weather data are available from the mid 1880's to present. The files are being cleaned to identify missing data and to compile a complete list of the number of sites by each decade for each of the different parameters. Once these files are ready, both cooling degree-day and heat degree-day calculations will be performed to establish historic trends in these climate parameters.
Publications
- Bautista, N.S., C.L. Sagers, E.H. Lee, L.S. Watrud. 2010. Flowering times in genetically modified Brassica hybrids in the absence of selection. Canadian Journal of Plant Science (in press).
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