SPATIAL EVOLUTIONARY AND ECOLOGICAL VICARIANCE ANALYSIS: THE CLIMATIC, SOIL TYPE, AND HOST NICHES OF TAXONOMIC DIVERSITY

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1002940
• Project Start Date: Jun 1, 2014
• Project End Date: May 31, 2019
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
3 RUTGERS PLZA
NEW BRUNSWICK,NJ 08901-8559

Performing Department
Ecology, Evolution & Natural Resources

Non Technical Summary
This project will examine the ecological and evolutionary divergences within several large plant and fungal groups, investigating the association of their ecological niches, reflected by climatic variables, soil types, host plants (for fungi), and other non-organismal features, over large-scale biogeographic expanses. The research will specifically address how some species have conserved climate niches and constrained distributions, while others have diversified ecologically and spatially over short or long times. This work has implications for contemporary climate change, as it involves both direct and indirect effects on biodiversity patterns, agriculture, pathogen spread, evolution of weediness and invasiveness, and conservation of endangered species.

Animal Health Component

10%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

90%

Applied

10%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
136	2420	1060	100%

Knowledge Area
136 - Conservation of Biological Diversity;

Subject Of Investigation
2420 - Noncrop plant research;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems);

Keywords

evolution

climate change

ecological niche

weeds

fungal pathogens

taxonomy

urban biology

Goals / Objectives
This project has the following objectives:Develop analytical methods and software that can better and more efficiently evaluate patterns of association between environmental variables and evolutionary history of organisms, using extensive collections of specimens from many taxa and areas.Evaluate climate, soil, and vegetation variables for Gentianaceae in the New World to pinpoint which environmental characters are associated with endemism, speciation, and adaptive radiation.Evaluate climate and plant host variables for Ophiognomia and related fungal pathogens to A) pinpoint niche evolution and potential responses to climate change, B) investigate how patterns of species diversity, speciation, and adaptive radiations are associated with a variety of climate variables, and C) explore the patterns of host switching and host conservation in fungal species living on angiosperm trees.Explore past and ongoing niche evolution in weedy species in urban environments using SEEVA, and investigate how they respond to localized as well as globalized climate change, through their spatial distribution, morphology, and population variation.

Project Methods
Procedure:The work will primarily be of two kinds: SEEVA methodological development and software implementation (objective 1) and SEEVA analysis of particular associations to address climate, soil, and host variables and possible shifts due to changing climates (objective 2-4).SEEVA methodology. Together with Peter Smouse, Einar Heiberg, Marcelo Reginato, and Richard Lathrop, I will be refining and developing new functions and analytical techniques in the SEEVA methodology to increase its power for use with quantitative environmental variables, polytomies, phylogenetic branch lengths, and ancestral biogeographical area analysis. We will continue to release new software versions in R and/or Matlab that will implement these methodological advancements, so that other researchers can take advantage of our progress.Biodocumentation data. Data preparation for SEEVA analysis will include alpha-taxonomic and revisionary work in several taxonomic groups (especially the Gentianaceae), and new specimen data collection (for weedy species). Specimens will be properly identified and geolocated, using current best practices. When needed, new species or other taxa will be described, and identification keys and species descriptions will be published in scientific journals to disseminate new taxonomic knowledge. Associated specimen data will be gathered in databases and spreadsheets for easy export to SEEVA analysis. GIS analysis will provide environmental information for geolocated specimens, based on BIOCLIM, USGS, and other publicly available base layer data for GIS analysis. Environmental data for each specimen will be included in spreadsheets for import and analysis in SEEVA.SEEVA analysis. During the continuation of this grant, several parallel projects will look at patterns found in environmental evolution. For gentians (objective 2), I focus mainly on the evolution of 'weedy generalists' from habitat specialists of oligotrophic environments on white sands, campo rupestre, sandstone outcrops, and tepuis in South America. The work will have direct implications for our understanding of rare and weedy species and how they respond to fragmented habitats, as climate continues to change. We will also examine how climatic niche conservation is associated with phylogenetic patterns and specific morphological data in gentians. A multitude of analyses for an array of evolutionary linages will be performed and published separately. For the fungal study (objective 3), Donald Walker and I are examining patterns of host conservatism and host switching within a host-endemic species complex, to understand the pattern of host evolution. Of special concern is the potential for the jump of novel fungal pathogens onto novel major crops, horticultural species, and forestry trees; we will investigate such patterns with reference to both host plant evolution and climate data. A changing climate would not only affect the host species of these fungi, but also the fungi themselves, and this could lead to expansion of fungal ranges as well as the development of novel hosts, which could have severe long-tormeconomic impacts. Currently we work with fungus groups in the Diaporthales, largely restricted to angiosperm host genera in North America, and especially woody species such as birches, oaks, and other hardwoods. For the urban weedy species analyses (objective 4), we will focus on small-scale climate data from urban areas in New Brunswick, and investigate patterns of disturbance, dispersal and life cycle mode, microclimate, spatial characterization of microhabitats, and how this is related to biodiversity patterns and species fitness.All work will be done at Rutgers University, and will need the following facilities and equipment: a herbarium (for loans of herbarium material and the study thereof), general lab equipment for molecular and morphological systematic studies (PCR machine, fumehoods, pipettes, electrophoresis, microtomes, microscopes, etc.), sequence facility (off-campus) along with computing power for database and statistical analyses, and digital data backup systems (for computer files and image data).

Progress 06/01/14 to 05/31/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Our research and its results have reached the following audiences: scientists engaged in the fields of ecology, evolution, botany and climate change, undergraduate and graduate students (both at our home institutions and beyond) and the broader general public through outreach efforts such as more popular articles, press releases and media coverage. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As mentioned above, our project has involved two graduate students (Jennifer Blake-Mahmud and Lauren Frazee), who finished their graduate studies during this year. They have both landed postdoctoral positions after graduating. Through working on this project they created novel datasets that were analyzed in novel ways to address complex research questions, presented their work and published their work. Undergraduate students have been involved in two ways, either as research assistants to the abovementioned graduate students (2 undergraduates), or in the Chrysler Herbarium in providing herbarium data and curating herbarium specimens related to urban weeds and neotropical Gentianaceae (and other plant groups; 2 undergraduates). Undergraduates have been included as co-authors on abstracts and papers, and been part of the dissemination of research results. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have published several research papers to the broader scientific communities in the journals of Castanea, Applied Vegetation Science, Annals of Botany, and have two papers that are coming out soon in American Journal of Botany, the premier botany journal in the United States. Oral (talks) and visual (posters) presentations have been help in both formal and informal settings, for example at the Botany 2019 conference (arranged by Botanical Society of America) andThird Annual Digital Data in Biodiversity Research Conference (arranged by iDigBio). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In addition to what has previously been reported in the progress reports for the project, we have during the last year focused on investigations into: 1) urban weeds in parking lots and their morphological traits that affect survival, (linked to goal 1 and 4) 2) striped maple trees and their survival and disease rates as related to stress and their expressed gender (they may have either male, female, or both male and female flowers each year, (linked to goal 1 and 4) 3) how doing research with herbarium collections affect and enhances the undergraduate student learning experience and prepares students for careers in science and beyond (broader impact). One related publication notes: the study of organisms living in extreme environments has shaped our knowledge of the deterministic and stochastic factors that contribute to community assembly. With hardscape habitats (HH), humans have created a novel land-cover type that is physically analogous to extreme terrestrial environments such as deserts, barrens, and rocky outcrops and may harbor rare or specialist species and communities. Hardscape habitats may be similar to naturally occurring, extreme terrestrial environments in that they impose stringent filters on ecological communities leading to increased proportions of short?lived and C4 plant species compared to the regional pool. Nevertheless, hardscapes are unlikely to serve as biodiversity refuges in the Northeastern USA as they create novel abiotic conditions that may be hostile to many native, rare, and specialist species.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Rebozo, R. R, L. Struwe, & W. F. Bien. 2019. The demography of Gentiana autumnalis in populations under varying management regimes in New Jersey. Castanea 84(2): 239255.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Frazee L. J., Aronson, M. F. J, Kattge, J., & L. Struwe. 2019. Hardscape floristics: Functional and phylogenetic diversity of parking lot plants. Applied Vegetation Science.22:4, pp. 573-581. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/avsc.12450
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Blake-Mahmud, J & L. Struwe. 2019. Time for a change: patterns of sex expression, health and mortality in a sex-changing tree. Annals of Botany 124: 367377.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Struwe, L. 2019. iNaturalist as a tool for biodiversity engagement, formal and informal education, and campus species inventories. Botany 2019 conference, Tucson, AZ, July 27-31, 2019.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Helsel, R., N. Howe, M. King, L. Struwe, & D. Waters. 2019. The life after digitization: examples from the lichen and bryophyte collections at Chrysler Herbarium (Rutgers University, New Jersey. Third Annual Digital Data in Biodiversity Research Conference, New Haven, CT, June 10-12, 2019.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: King, M., J. Borden, D. Jaikumar, G. Donato, R. Helsel, E. Popp, K. Svoboda, E. Tillett, M. Furci, & L. Struwe. 2019. The broadest impacts: The inadvertent and unexpected building of life skills from biodiversity collection digitization in Rutgers undergraduate Herbarium Army. Third Annual Digital Data in Biodiversity Research Conference, New Haven, CT, June 10-12, 2019
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Struwe, L., M. Aronson, T. Besancon, M. Heberling, N. Howe, & M. King. 2019. Fostering engagement and discovery using digital data: examples from iNaturalist and other observation platforms and herbarium specimen data. Third Annual Digital Data in Biodiversity Research Conference, New Haven, CT, June 10-12, 2019
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2019 Citation: Blake-Mahmud, J. & L. Struwe. 2019 (in press). Death, sex, and sugars: variations in non-structural carbohydrate concentrations in a sexually plastic tree. American Journal of Botany (in press)
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2019 Citation: Blake-Mahmud, J. & L. Struwe. 2019 (in press). When the going gets tough, the tough turn female: Injury and sex expression in a sex-changing tree. American Journal of Botany (in press)

Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Scientists in the fields of ecology and evolution, naturalists and the general public (for outreach activities and explanation of research). Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two graduate students have been trained as part of this project (Lauren Frazee and Jennifer Blake-Mahmud, the latter graduated with a PhD in 2018). Four undergraduates have been involved in data collection and data analysis with additional mentorship from the two graduate students, providing leadership/mentorship opportunities to the graduate students as well as research help. These students have produced research abstracts for regional and national conferences, and several manuscripts are in the works to be submitted in 2019. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our research results have been disseminated primarily through research articles in peer-reviewed journals and through presentations at national and regional conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During 2019 several papers will be submitted and published on both Neotropical gentians and urban weeds, as well as environmentally influenced flower sex switching in striped maple. A new website will be developed for dissemination of the SEEVA method and download of SEEVA-R software on the PI's new lab web page. There will be an increased focus on outreach and education efforts on urban weeds and their phenotypic patterns across a variety of niches.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The major focus this year has been on goal 4. Weedy species in urban environments have been evaluatued using a variety of methods when it comes to their morphological and environmental variables, their alpha-diversity, their phylogenetic filtering through various environmental aspects and also for plasticity. Additionally, work on environmental influence on gender switching in striped maple has been performed and revealed very interesting and novel patterns. These projects are ongoing and in the analytical and writing up phase now as all data has been collected. In addition we are working on developing new software that involves the quantitative measuring of morphological characteristics from digitized herbarium specimens (with Myla Aronson), that can be used to analyze plasticity and environmental influence on traits in combination with specialized urban niches. The ability of individuals to change sex during their lifetime is known as environmental sex determination (ESD). This represents a unique life history trait, allowing plants to allocate resources differentially to male and female functions across lifetimes, potentially maximizing fitness in response to changing environmental or internal cues. We investigated an often-cited example of ESD, Acer pensylvanicum, to see whether it conformed to theoretical predictions that females are larger and in better condition. We also explored whether sex correlates with growth and mortality. We documented patterns of sex expression over four years in populations located in New Jersey, USA and collected data on size, mortality, health, and growth. Using a machine-learning algorithm known as a boosted classification tree, we developed a model to predict the sex of a tree based on its previous sex, condition and size. In our study, more than 50% of the trees switched sex expression during a four-year period, with 26% of those trees switching sex at least twice. Consistently monoecious trees could change sex expression by as much as 95%. Size and condition were both important predictors of sex, with condition exerting three times more relative influence than size on expressed sex. Healthy trees are more likely to be male; female sex expression increases with decreasing health. Growth rate negatively correlates with multiple years of female sex expression. Populations maintain similar male-skewed sex ratios across years and locations and may result from differential mortality: 75% of dead trees flowered female immediately before death. In conclusion, our study shows for the first time that A. pensylvanicum strongly exhibits ESD and that femaleness correlates with individual-level factors in previously unsuspected ways. The mortality findings advance our understanding of puzzling non-equilibrium sex ratios and life history trade-offs resulting from male and female sex expression.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Blake-Mahmud, J. & L. Struwe. 2018. Down to the wire: Late season changes in sex expression in a sexually labile tree species, Acer pensylvanicum (Sapindaceae). Trees: Structure and Function 32: 549557.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Struwe, L. 2018. From seeds to symbols: Dandelion design in our lives. Design Observer, https://designobserver.com/feature/dandelion-design/39741
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Blake-Mahmud, J. & L. Struwe. 2018. Time for a change: patterns of sex expression, health, and mortality in striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum). Botany 2018 conference, Rochester, MN, July 21-25, 2018
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: King, M., M. Aronson, S. Irelan, & L. Struwe. 2018. The MAM project at Rutgers University - Digitization of the Mid-Atlantic Flora to investigate urban floristic changes. Botany 2018 conference, Rochester, MN, July 21-25, 2018.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Struwe, L., R. Setubal, C. Frasier, & J. Molina. 2018. A toxic story: Phylogeny and classification of Strychnos (Loganiaceae). Botany 2018 conference, Rochester, MN, July 21-25, 2018.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Wiebalk, C., L. Frazee, & L. Struwe. 2018. Early seedling growth rates of Plantago rugelii (Plantaginaceae) from urban and rural populations. ESA Mid-Atlantic Chapter conference, Newark, NJ, April 7, 2018.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Struwe, L. 2018. The love and hate of dandelions: The botanical background for symbolism of dandelions in contemporary society. Botany 2018 conference, Rochester, MN, July 21-25, 2018.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Huber, D., Frazee, L., & L. Struwe. 2018. Green space and lawn management: a snapshot of grounds operations in the NYCPHLNJ metropolitan area. ESA Mid-Atlantic Chapter conference, Newark, NJ, April 7, 2018.

Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Scientists in the fields of ecology and evolution, naturalists and the general public (for outreach activities and explanation of research). Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has provided research training for two graduate students at Rutgers, and several undergraduates working with us on weedy species and their environmental niche evolution. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Several high-end research papers have been published, presentations have been made at international and national conferences, and we regularly incorporate examples from our classs into undergradaute class curricula (Fundamentals of Evolution, Fundamentals of Evolution Lab, Plant Diversity and Evolution, etc.) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Work on Helieae (Gentianaceae) will continue with new taxonomic and eco-evo investigations; our investigations into the evolution of weedy plants are continuing with several papers in preparation (mostly focused on Plantago and Acer); and the large pantropical plant genus Strychnos (source of strychnine) has received new attention from my lab.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In our 2017 Spatial Evolutionary and Ecological Vicariance Analysis (SEEVA) paper (Walker et al., 2017) we released a new R-based version of SEEVA software that now has been further develop to handle 1) quantitative data, and 2) correlated variables. This is the result of many years of efforts in statistical development and programming, and in the paper it is put to use to show a large SEEVA analysis on climate patterns in phytopathogenic fungi, in the genus Ophiognomonia. Additionally, papers have been published that evaluate biogeography and niche analysis in Himalayan gentians (Favre et al, 2017), and gentian phylogeny that will form the basis of further SEEVA studies related to neotropical evolutionary patterns related to soils, elevation, and age of bedrocks, etc. (Calio et al., 2017). Research into environmental niches and ecological evolution in urban weedy species are ongoing, and is represented in the research by graduate students Lauren Frazee and Jennifer Blake-Mahmud.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Walker, D. M, P. E. Smouse, M. Reginato, & L. Struwe. 2017. Cladal divergence in fungal Ophiognomonia (Gnomoniaceae: Diaporthales) shows evidence of climatic niche vicariance. Biological Journal of Linnean Society. 122: 1-12. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blx043
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Cali�, M. F., K. B. Lepis, J. R. Pirani, & L. Struwe. 2017. Phylogeny of Helieae (Gentianaceae): resolving taxonomic chaos in a Neotropical clade. Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution 106: 192-208. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2016.09.013.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: Blake-Mahmud, J. & L. Struwe. 2017. Sugars, stress, and sex-change: environmental sex determination in striped maple. Botany 2017 conference, Fort Worth, TX, June 24-28, 2017.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: Frazee, L.J., E.J. Green, & L. Struwe. 2017. Ruderal strategists and generalist dispersers in a novel urban hardscape habitat. ESA conference, Portland, OR, August 6-11, 2017.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: Struwe, L. 2017. Teaching about biodiversity in the age of digital distraction and opportunity  learning how, when, and what? BioSyst-EU 2017, 17 August 2017, Gothenburg, Sweden.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: Struwe, L., T. Livshultz, H. Hettling, R. Scharn, & A. Antonelli. 2017. Progress in Gentianales Systematics: Molecular Phylogeny, Morphological Evolution and Divergence Times of a Cosmopolitan Asterid Order. XIX International Botanical Congress, Shenzhen, China, July 23-29, 2017.

Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Scientists in the fields of ecology and evolution, naturalists and the general public (for outreach activities and explanation of research). Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?I have mentored over ten undergraduate students as part of these research projects. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Published publications are available online, presentations have been given at national and international meetings, and in university classes. The campus species lists have been e-mailed out to faculty on campus. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Continue as present, more specifically, finalize analyses on weeds and their ecology and evolution according to project goals, as well as finalize the biodiversity analyses for neotropical gentians.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. The SEEVA software has been updated with new analytical methods, and submitted for publication. 2. The treatment of Gentianaceae for the tribe Helieae has been published, as has an ecological analysis of Gentiana's evolution showing climate niche evolution and biogeographical patterns supporting an 'out-of-Tibet' hypothesis. 3. New SEEVA results showcases how Ophiognomonia has evolved in correlated patterns with its host species and niches worldwide - this has been submitted as a new research paper (together with the new SEEVA software). 4. Weedy species evolution is a broad ongoing project, and presentations and publications have been published and submitted that shows high biodiversity of weedy plants in parking lots, the perception of the ecology and evolution of weeds in media, and biodiversity (spatial and temporal) of weeds on Rutgers University campus, as part of a long-term ongoing research, education, and outreach project. A species list including all wild and naturalized species on campus has been published, as well as a preliminary species list for cultivated plants that are also present on campus. We also got a separate NSF grant to digitize the herbarium data for weedy plant species of the mid-Atlantic, so that will increase the data available for this research project substantially.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Favre, A., I. Michalak, C.-H. Chen, J.-C. Wang, J. Pringle, S. Matuszak, H. Sun, E. Liu, Y.-M. Yuan, L. Struwe, & A. N. Muellner-Riehl. 2016. Out-of-Tibet: the spatio-temporal evolution of Gentiana (Gentianaceae). Journal of Biogeography 43: 19671978 doi:10.1111/jbi.12840
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Frazee*, L. J., S. Morris-Marano*, J. Blake-Mahmud*, & L. Struwe. 2016. Eat your weeds: edible and wild plants in urban environmental education and outreach. Plant Science Bulletin 62(2): 72-84
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Cali�, M. F., K. B. Lepis, J. R. Pirani, & L. Struwe. 2016. Phylogeny of Helieae (Gentianaceae): resolving taxonomic chaos in a Neotropical clade. Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Blake-Mahmud, J., A. Bhattacharjee, & L. Struwe. Species diversity in the asphalt jungle: species area relationships and similarity in native and non-native parking lot plants. American Journal of Botany
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Struwe, L. & S.H. Yao. 2016. Checklist of Perennial Outdoor Cultivated Plants of Rutgers Campus  New Brunswick/Piscataway, New Jersey. Chrysler herbarium, Rutgers University.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Struwe, L. & S.H. Yao. 2016. Checklist of Wild and Naturalized Plants of Rutgers Campus  New Brunswick/Piscataway, New Jersey. Chrysler herbarium, Rutgers University. 8 pp.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Ray*, J., R. Artigues*, J. Azzolini*, R. Buczynski*, V. Cusimano*, R. Fastige*, G. Hess*, N. Howe*, M. King*, T. Lin*, C. Olivares*, R. Rodriguez*, A. Sun*, & L. Struwe. 2016. The undergraduate Herbarium Army at Rutgers University: Promoting interaction between students and scientific collections in teaching, research, and outreach. Botany 2016, Savannah, GA, July 30-Aug 3, 2016
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Struwe, L., A. Calamia*, M. Pitt*, & M. L. Nucci. 2016. The love and hate of weeds - an interdisciplinary analysis of opinions in media, metaphors and biological facts. Botany 2016. Savannah, GA, July 30-Aug 3, 2016.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: King*, M., R. Buzcynski*, J. White, & L. Struwe. 2016. It Takes an Army: How a legion of undergraduates is updating the Chrysler Herbarium. Consortium of Northeastern Herbaria meeting, Providence, RI, June 29, 2016.

Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience of this project is two-fold - contemporary scientists within ecology and evolution and plant biology, as well as the general public, including students in K-12 and college education. During this time period we have presented our research results at national and international conferences, through departmental seminars at various universities, and also provided information via the web. We have also reached college level students through university classes, through departmental seminars, and through outreach activities. Additionally, the general public has been informed through several public seminars. Changes/Problems:The Chinese/American data analysis of invasive species have been put on hold due to a change in research direction. Increased efforts will be focused on the Mid-Atlantic areas and their weedy plant biodiversity instead. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Three graduate students are part of this research (Jennifer Blake-Mahmud, Lauren Frazee, and Shenhao Yao). Laura Shappell was also part of this project but graduated with a PhD in Fall 2015. Three undergraduates have actively participated as research assistants or working on independent projects. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In July 2015, I attended the international Botany 2015 conference in Edmonton, Canada, where my lab presented five research talks and posters. One graduate student attended from my lab as part of the dissemination effort. We also presented one talk at the ESA meeting in Baltimore, MD in August 2015 (and two graduate students attended). Abstracts for these talks and posters have been published (see Products). We have also published new outreach materials in this field on our weedy plant blog (4weeds.blogspot.com). New field guides to weedy plants were designed and printed and made available for free to the public. During the fall we ran a freshman Byrne seminar focused on evolution and ecology of weeds, and for this we developed several new curriculum components that we tested out in the class with great results. A large amount of new botanical material focused on contemporary plant systematics, including plant identification, biodiversity knowledge, and floristic and environmental issues were developed for the redesigned Plant Diversity and Evolution class at Rutgers University. Several talks to garden clubs, students, and faculty in northeastern United States has also been presented. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Data collection has been finished for the two weedy plant projects, and data analysis will continue, with the goal to finalize these research papers in the near future. The SEEVA paper on Ophiognomonia and the new SEEVA software in R will be submitted for publication. We are also planning an outreach event for Rutgers Day 2016, focused on edible weeds and the adaptation of plants to urban habitats and changing climates, and for this we are planning to develop additional handout materials for the public and college students. In addition to these projects, we are developing new ways to collect biodiversity data that will be important for environmental and ecological analyses, through floristic projects on campus, personal bioblitzes, and the upcoming digitization of the Chrysler Herbarium.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Our work with methodological developments for the SEEVA analytical methods, including new programming in R, data and results graphing, and interpretations of results for the Ophiognomonia dataset continued through intensive collaboration among our team. In particular, our team have developed a new stable and innovative way to evaluate quantitative character variables, deal with correlated characters, and have provided a new graphic and tabular output to present research results from the SEEVA-R software (beta version available, to be released in 2016). The data analysis of the Ophiognomonia project is finished and the paper on this project will soon be submitted. Weedy plant research in urban areas have continued through data during summer 2015 in Rutgers University parking lots as well as field trials of Daucus carota focused on life cycle adaptation analysis. Three different datasets are currently being analyzed and written up as separate research papers. Additional research projects have focused on weedy plant biodiversity and population evolution with respect to various microenvironments in urbanized areas, and the development and evaluation of educational materials to enhance botanical and "Eco-Evo" education goals.

Publications

• Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Grant, J., L. Struwe, J. Pringle, B. von Hagen, J. Molina. & K. Lepis. 2015. Gentianaceae. In: Cat�logo de plantas y l�quenes de Colombia (R. Bernal, S.R. Gradstein, & M. Celis, eds.), Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogot�. http://catalogoplantascolombia.unal.edu.co
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Poster, L. S., J. S. Pringle, & L. Struwe. 2015. Identification and descriptions of the Gentianaceae in New Jersey. Bartonia 67: 1-34.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Pringle, J., L. S. Poster, & L. Struwe. 2015. Nomenclature and typification of the Gentianaceae in New Jersey. Bartonia 67: 35-57.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Blake, J. & L. Struwe. 2015. Temporal and environmental dimensions of variable sex expression in striped maple, Acer pensylvanicum (Sapindaceae. Botany 2015, Edmonton, Canada, July 25-29, 2015.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Blake, J. & L. Struwe. 2015. #notthatkindofweed: Using spontaneous weedy plants in elementary to college level education. Botany 2015, Edmonton, Canada, July 25-29, 2015.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Blake, J., L. Frazee, A. Bhattacharjee, A. Sharma, & L. Struwe. 2015. Patterns of plant species diversity in extreme urban environments. Botany 2015, Edmonton, Canada, July 25-29, 2015.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Frazee. L. & L. Struwe. 2015. Patterns of plant species diversity and sexual reproduction in extreme urban environments ESA conference, Baltimore, August 2015.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Struwe, L. 2015. Teaching botany skills to a new student generation formed by our digital and instant world - learning how, when, and what? Botany 2015, Edmonton, Canada, July 25-29, 2015.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Cullen, N., L. Frazee, & L. Struwe. 2015. The effects of urbanization on the growth and reproduction of the common yellow wood sorrel (Oxalis stricta). Aresty Undergraduate Research Symposium, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, April 24, 2015.

Progress 06/01/14 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience of this project is two-fold - contemporary scientists within ecology and evolution and plant biology, as well as the general public, including students in K-12 and college education. Since the project started in June, there are only the initial 3 months of the project to report on, which makes outreach activities limited during this time. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Four graduate students are part of this research (Jennifer Blake-Mahmud, Lauren Frazee, Laura Shappell, and Shenhao Yao). Five undergraduates have actively participated as research assistants or working on independent projects. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? In July 2014 I attended the Botany 2014 conference in Boise, where my lab presented four research talks and posters. Three graduate students and two undergraduates attended from my lab was part of the dissemination effort. Abstracts for these talks and posters have been published (see Products). We have also published previously made outreach materials in this field on our weedy plant blog (4weeds.blogspot.com). During the fall we ran a freshman seminar focused on evolution and ecology of weeds, and for this we developed several new curriculum components that we tested out in the class with great results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Data collection and data analysis are continuing for the weedy plant parking lot project. For the SEEVA method, we are finishing up the paper on climate niche evolution in Ophiognomonia, writing a manual to the R module of SEEVA. Data collecting is continuing for the Chinese/North American invasive species analysis. We are also planning an outreach event for Rutgers Day 2015, focused on edible weeds and the adaptation of plants to urban habitats and changing climates, and for this we are planning to develop additional handout materials for the public and college students. Many scientific publications are progressing and several of these will be ready for submission in the near future.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Our work with methodological developments for the SEEVA analytical methods, including new programming in R, data and results graphing, and interpretations of results for the Ophiognomonia dataset continued through intensive collaboration among our team. Weedy plant research in urban areas have continued through data collecting during summer 2014 in Rutgers University parking lots, field trials of Daucus carota focused on life cycle adaptation analysis. A new subproject which includes a comparative analysis between invasive species in eastern China and eastern United States have been started, focused on bilateral exchange of species in the same climate niche and the difference in effects. Work has also progressed on several publications that will be submitted within the next 6 months.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Bhattacharjee, A., J. Blake-Mahmud, L. Frazee, L. Struwe. 2014. Weeds under your car: island biogeography in an urban setting. Botany 2014, Boise, ID, July 26-30, 2014. [poster abstract]
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Blake-Mahmud, J., L. Struwe. 2014. Community assembly dynamics over small spatio-temporal scales: an example from fence posts in Costa Rica. Botany 2014, Boise, ID, July 26-30, 2014. [abstract]
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Frazee, L., S. Morris-Marano, L. Struwe 2014. Urban environmental education and outreach using edible, wild, and weedy plants. Botany 2014, Boise, ID, July 26-30, 2014. [poster abstract]
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Jackson, A. W., J. Grabosky, & L. Struwe, 2014. Physiological and morphological variation within the hard maple complex. Botany 2014, Boise, ID, July 26-30, 2014 [abstract]
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Beck, A., P. Divakar, N. Zhang, M. C. Molina, & L. Struwe. 2014. Evidence of ancient horizontal gene transfer between fungi and the terrestrial alga Trebouxia. Organisms, Diversity, and Evolution (in press). doi:10.1007/s13127-014-0199-x