Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences we reached through our efforts were a hispanic NAU returnting student and NTU student interns paid by a separate NAU REU program, and students in courses at NTU and NAU, scientists and land managers who are interested in restoration of pinyon pine. Our efforts included group training activities, biweekly to weekly meetings on zoom, research work, classroom activities, and oral and poster presentations to land managers, other scientists and students from region high schools.Students from NTU participated in Navajo community and K-12 outreach. Our in person exchanges and meetings with Navajo Nation staff were sharplycurtailed by the COIVD-19 pandemic. Changes/Problems:We have completed all the major objectives of this project, but there have been some impacts from Covid-19 and related changes to work load, travel, and in person activities. Two publications are in progress, but not yet submitted. Students were not able to complete as many posters and presentations. We were not able to interact with Navajo Nation agencies. And outreach was more limited. We exchanged material between sites, had frequent zoom meeting and exchanged photos and files on google drive rather than having more cross-site activities. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Through research material exchanges, zoom meetings, internship projects and work with mentors, NTU and NAU students have had the opportunity to learn new skills in soils analysis, GIS, microbiological methods, seed collection,tree propagation and planting, common garden establishment and maintenance, tree performance measurement, data entry, data curation, data sharing and data analysis. They also have learned how to prepare and present a poster presentation through opportunities at local and regional meetings. NTU students are also participating as lead and co-authors in the development of manuscripts ontheir research, including a manuscript on the reciprocal common garden experiment and on soils and the restoration planting. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated via poster presentations by four undergraduate students. Student intern Dalyna Hannah presented a research poster at the Arid Land, Native Peoples conference in October in Reno. At this same conference, PI Steve Chischilly will participate in a panel discussion student research opportunities as these experiences improve retention and interest in earning their degree. Pyramid Lake Pinyon Festival, Nevada, oral presentation, Fall 2019 Chischilly, S., Moler, E. Hannah, D., Data, R. V. Smith, E. Moler, A. Whipple, C. Gehring. Dine College visit and training by NAU faculty, staff, and students. January 2020. Shonto Chapter house meeting presentations. Fall 2019. Dine College, Navajo Technical University and Northern Arizona University soils training meeting Virtual due to COVID, Flagstaff, AZ, Summer 2020. Hannah, D., Bebo, C., Tayah, D., Hernandez, M. (participants). 15th Biennial Conference of Science and Management on the Colorado Plateau and Southwest Region, poster presentation, Fall 2019. Gehring, C., Hanna, D. Bebo, C., Markovchick, L , Hull, J. (workshop leader) 15th Biennial Conference of Science and Management on the Colorado Plateau and Southwest Region, workshop on the use of mycorrhizal fungi in restoration. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The goals for the project are different than those stated above. The above goals were for a previous project. The goals and accomplishments for this project are listed here. 1-To determine if drought tolerant trees from Sunset Crater near Flagstaff are better than local trees on the Navajo Nation at surviving drought conditions on the eastern Navajo Nation. Measurements of mortality and stem growth of seedlings reciprocally planted in both the Sunset Crater and Navajo Technical University common gardens suggested that some populations from the Navajo Nation performed better than other populations in both environments after one year. A second series of measurements, conducted two years after planting, including bud development and size provided evidence for local adaptation with seedlings from Sunset Crater growing better in their home site and seedlings from the Navajo Nation growing better in their home site. A final measurement was made during the springof 2021. A manuscript describing these findings is in preparation. The manuscript will also include detailed soil measurements takenfrom both common gardens and all the seed source sites. 2-To determine the extent to which the taxa of mycorrhizal fungi associated with P. edulis vary between sites at Sunset Crater and the Navajo Nation and the relationship of mycorrhizal fungal communities to drought tolerance. Ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity was lower in seedlings grown in soil from near the Navajo Technical University common garden than in seedlings grown in soil from the Sunset Crater Garden, However, the dominant members of both communities were ascomycete fungi, particularly members of the genus Geopora, known to promote drought tolerance in pinyon pine. Geopora was more abundant but less diverse (fewer species) in pinyons grown in Navajo Technical University soil than in Sunset Crater soils. 3-To examine the role of host genotype and mycorrhizal fungal community composition in test restoration plantings of P. edulis (Hypothesis 3). Nearly 250 pinyon seedlings were planted at a restoration site approximately 5 km from Navajo Technical University in August of 2019. Seedlings were inoculated with three species of mycorrhizal fungi known to occur on pinyon pine (members of the genus Rhizopogon, Hebeloma, and Suillus + sterile inoculated controls). Efforts to culture Geopora have been unsuccessful so far, so it could not be used in this first inoculation trial that relied on pure cultures added at the time of planting in the field. Seedlings were watered to help them establish and their survival and growth was monitored. NTU students found a striking difference in survival across a soil/substrate gradient and have been conducting soils analyses to understand the cause. Additional seedling were incolated with pure culltures in the NAU greenhouse in 2020. These were checked for colonization in 2021 an then planting at the restoration site in the summer of 2021. 4-To train NTU interns and students in soils, GIS, diagnostic molecular and microbiological techniques, data management, and statistical analysis. NTU students/interns have learned sterile culture and inoculation techniques and now have a laminar flow hood available to grow and maintain sterile cultures. They also learned how to identify ectomycorrhizal fungi from root samples. Students worked with NAU and NTU staff to collect data on pinyon mortality, growth and development. They learned to enter the data, curate the data, share the data and analyze the data using the R statistical platform. 5-To enhance the physical and intellectual capacity at NTU to conduct long term research using common gardens to understand and mitigate the effects of climate change on plants. NTU students have maintained the common garden at Navajo Technical University, learning how to troubleshoot problems with herbivory and water supply.All data has been collected in teams and shared in a google spreadsheet and discussed and analyzed during bi-weekly group meetings and additional meetings with some team members. 6-To maintain high quality data collection from the NTU weather station. With the support of NTU telecommunications staff we are working to add a direct internet connection from the NTU weather station to the NAU/SEGA weather data portal and NTU staff are working on a permanent microwave link from NTU to the University of New Mexico to facilitate the connection. We have already completed a link from the weather station to the NTU telecommunications hub / antenna farm
Publications
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences we reached through our efforts were the NTU student interns, other students at NTU and NAU, scientists and land managers who are interested in restoration of pinyon pine. Our efforts included group training activities, biweekly to weekly meetings on zoom, research work, classroom activities, and oral and poster presentations to land managers, other scientists and students from region high schools. In particular we met with the Navajo Forestry Department, Navajo Fish and Wildlife,and the US Forest Service to discuss our work, collaborations and shared data, and research needs. Students from NTU participated in Navajo community and K-12 outreach. Four NTU students visited NAU for a few days and one NTU student worked at NAU for the summer. Changes/Problems:We requested and recieved an extension to be able to delay the replanting activities at the restoration site to next summer. This was essential becasue of travel restrictions for the Navajo Nation. Meanwhile we are concentrating on data curration, analysis, posters, papers, and outreach. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Through research exchanges, internship projects and work with mentors, NTU and NAU students have had the opportunity to learn new skills in soils analysis, GIS, microbiological methods, tree propagation and planting, common garden establishment and maintenance, tree performance measurement, data entry, data curation, data sharing and data analysis. They also have learned how to prepare and present a poster presentation through opportunities at local and regional meetings. NTU students are also participating as lead and co-authors in the development of manuscripts on their research, including a manuscript on the reciprocal common garden experiment and on soils and the restoration planting. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated via poster presentations by four undergraduate students. Student intern Dalyna Hannah presented a research poster at the Arid Land, Native Peoples conference in October in Reno. At this same conference, PI Steve Chischilly will participate in a panel discussion student research opportunities as these experiences improve retention and interest in earning their degree. Pyramid Lake Pinyon Festival, Nevada, oral presentation, Fall 2019 Chischilly, S., Moler, E. Hannah, D., Data, R. V. Smith, E. Moler, A. Whipple, C. Gehring. Dine College visit and training by NAU faculty, staff, and students. January 2020. Shonto Chapter house meeting presentations. Fall 2019. Dine College, Navajo Technical University and Northern Arizona University soils training meeting Virtual due to COVID, Flagstaff, AZ, Summer 2020. Hannah, D., Bebo, C., Tayah, D., Hernandez, M. (participants). 15th Biennial Conference of Science and Management on the Colorado Plateau and Southwest Region, poster presentation, Fall 2019. Gehring, C., Hanna, D. Bebo, C., Markovchick, L , Hull, J. (workshop leader) 15th Biennial Conference of Science and Management on the Colorado Plateau and Southwest Region, workshop on the use of mycorrhizal fungi in restoration. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to do the following to accomplish our project goals during the extension year of the project: 1. Plant an additional 250+ pinyon seedlings at the restoration site. Seedlings will be inoculated with ectomycorrhizal fungi using the two different protocols described previously and data collected on their performance compared to sterile inoculated controls. 2. Continued maintenance and data collection on the two common gardens and completion of the manuscript describing the first two years of results. 3. Preparation of manuscripts a) describing the ectomycorrhizal fungal community data we collected comparing the two types of soil, b) describing growth and survival differences among pinyon sources, c) documenting the restoration effort. 4. Maintenance of the weather station and completion of the data interface so that data is available across the Navajo Nation as well as beginning collaborations with a radar developer to improve understanding of precipitation on the Navajo Nation. 5. Outreach activities planned include the development of social media accounts documenting activities.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The goals for the project are different than those stated above. The above goals were for a previous project. The goals and accomplishments for this project are listed here. 1-To determine if drought tolerant trees from Sunset Crater near Flagstaff are better than local trees on the Navajo Nation at surviving drought conditions on the eastern Navajo Nation. Measurements of mortality and stem growth of seedlings reciprocally planted in both the Sunset Crater and Navajo Technical University common gardens suggested that some populations from the Navajo Nation performed better than other populations in both environments after one year. A second series of measurements, conducted two years after planting, including bud development and size provided evidence for local adaptation with seedlings from Sunset Crater growing better in their home site and seedlings from the Navajo Nation growing better in their home site. A final measurement was made during the fall of 2019. A manuscript describing these findings is in preparation. The manuscript will also include detailed soil measurements taken this year from both common gardens and all the seed source sites. 2-To determine the extent to which the taxa of mycorrhizal fungi associated with P. edulis vary between sites at Sunset Crater and the Navajo Nation and the relationship of mycorrhizal fungal communities to drought tolerance. Ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity was lower in seedlings grown in soil from near the Navajo Technical University common garden than in seedlings grown in soil from the Sunset Crater Garden, However, the dominant members of both communities were ascomycete fungi, particularly members of the genus Geopora, known to promote drought tolerance in pinyon pine. Geopora was more abundant but less diverse (fewer species) in pinyons grown in Navajo Technical University soil than in Sunset Crater soils. 3-To examine the role of host genotype and mycorrhizal fungal community composition in test restoration plantings of P. edulis (Hypothesis 3). Nearly 250 pinyon seedlings were planted at a restoration site approximately 5 km from Navajo Technical University in August of 2019. Seedlings were inoculated with three species of mycorrhizal fungi known to occur on pinyon pine (members of the genus Rhizopogon, Hebeloma, and Suillus + sterile inoculated controls). Efforts to culture Geopora have been unsuccessful so far, so it could not be used in this first inoculation trial that relied on pure cultures added at the time of planting in the field. Seedlings were watered to help them establish and their survival and growth was monitored. NTU students found a striking difference in survival across a soil/substrate gradient and have been conducting soils analyses to understand the cause. Two additional inoculation protocols will be trialed during the summer of 2021 (pre-planting inoculation with pure cultures and inoculation at the time of planting with soil in which pinyons have been growing for 9 months to bulk up inoculum). 4-To train NTU interns and students in soils, GIS, diagnostic molecular and microbiological techniques, data management, and statistical analysis. NTU students/interns have learned sterile culture and inoculation techniques and now have a laminar flow hood available to grow and maintain sterile cultures. They also learned how to identify ectomycorrhizal fungi from root samples. Students worked with NAU and NTU staff to collect data on pinyon mortality, growth and development. They learned to enter the data, curate the data, share the data and analyze the data using the R statistical platform. 5-To enhance the physical and intellectual capacity at NTU to conduct long term research using common gardens to understand and mitigate the effects of climate change on plants. NTU students have maintained the common garden at Navajo Technical University, learning how to troubleshoot problems with herbivory and water supply. They have learned to assay soil characteristics. They have also traveled to NAU to make measurements at the Sunset Crater garden. All data has been collected in teams and shared in a google spreadsheet and discussed and analyzed during bi-weekly group meetings and additional meetings with only some team members. 6-To maintain high quality data collection from the NTU weather station. With the support of NTU telecommunications staff we are working to add a direct internet connection from the NTU weather station to the NAU/SEGA weather data portal and archive. NTU staff are working on a permanent microwave link from NTU to the University of New Mexico to facilitate the connection. We have already completed a link from the weather station to the NTU telecommunications hub / antenna farm.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences we reached through our efforts were the NTU student interns, other students at NTU and NAU, scientists and land managers who are interested in restoration of pinyon pine. Our efforts included one on one training, group training activities and research work, classroom activities, and oral and poster presentations to land managers, other scientists and students from region high schools. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Through research exchanges, internship projects and work with mentors, NTU students have had the opportunity to learn new skills in microbiological methods, tree propagation and planting, common garden establishment and maintenance, tree performance measurement, data entry, data curation, data sharing and data analysis. They also have learned how to prepare and present a poster presentation through opportunities at local and regional meetings. NTU students are also participating as lead and co-authors in the development of manuscripts on their research, including a manuscript on the reciprocal common garden experiment and a second manuscript on mycorrhizal fungal community composition. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated at the following venues by NTU/NAU project team: Hannah, D (presenter). New Mexico Academy of Science, Albuquerque, New Mexico, poster presentation, Fall 2018. Data, R and S. Chischilly (presenters). Arid Land and Native Peoples Conference, Reno Nevada, Fall 2018. Patterson, A.M (presenter). Climate Change Workshop put on by Navajo Technical University, The Desert Research Institute, and the University of Nevada-Reno, October 2018 Chischilly, S (presenter). Pyramid Lake High School, Nixon Nevada, oral presentation, Fall 2018 Hannah, D., Data, R. V. Smith, E. Moler, A. Whipple, C. Gehring (presenters). Dine College, Navajo Technical University and Northern Arizona University research exchange meeting, Flagstaff, AZ, Spring 2019. Hannah, D., Bebo, C. and S. Chischilly (presenters). Navajo Nation Fair, oral presentation, Summer 2019. Hanna, D. Bebo, C (presenters). 15th Biennial Conference of Science and Management on the Colorado Plateau and Southwest Region, poster presentation, Summer 2019. Gehring, C., Hanna, D. Bebo, C., Markovchick, L , Hull, J. (workshop leader) 15th Biennial Conference of Science and Management on the Colorado Plateau and Southwest Region, workshop on the use of mycorrhizal fungi in restoration. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to do the following to accomplish our project goals during the final year of the project: Plant an additional 250+ pinyon seedlings at the restoration site. Seedlings will be inoculated with ectomycorrhizal fungi using the two different protocols described previously and data collected on their performance compared to sterile inoculated controls. Continued maintenance and data collection on the two common gardens and completion of the manuscript describing the first two years of results. Preparation of manuscripts a) describing the ectomycorrhizal fungal community data we collected comparing the two types of soil, b) describing growth and survival differences among pinyon sources and planting site, c) documenting the restoration effort. Maintenance of the weather station and completion of the data interface so that data is available across the Navajo Nation as well as beginning collaborations with a radar developer to improve understanding of precipitation on the Navajo Nation. The following outreach activities are planned in the next month and others will be initiated as well: Student intern Dalyna Hannah will present a research poster at the Arid Land, Native Peoples conference in October in Reno. At this same conference, PI Steve Chischilly will participate in a panel discussion student research opportunies as these experiences improve retention and interest in earning their degree.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The goals for the project are different than those stated above. The above goals were for a previous project. The goals and accomplishments for this project are listed here. To determine if drought tolerant trees from Sunset Crater near Flagstaff are better than local trees on the Navajo Nation at surviving drought conditions on the eastern Navajo Nation. Measurements of mortality and stem growth of seedlings reciprocally planted in both the Sunset Crater and Navajo Technical University common gardens suggested that some populations from the Navajo Nation performed better than other populations in both environments after one year. A second series of measurements, conducted two years after planting, including bud development and size provided evidence for local adaptation with seedlings from Sunset Crater growing better in their home site and seedlings from the Navajo Nation growing better in their home site. A final measurement will be made during the fall of 2019. A manuscript describing these findings is in preparation. The manuscript will also included detailed soil measurements taken this year from both common gardens and all the seed source sites. To determine the extent to which the taxa of mycorrhizal fungi associated with P. edulis vary between sites at Sunset Crater and the Navajo Nation and the relationship of mycorrhizal fungal communities to drought tolerance.o d Ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity was lower in seedlings grown in soil from near the Navajo Technical University common garden than in seedlings grown in soil from the Sunset Crater Garden, However, the dominant members of both communities were ascomycete fungi, particularly members of the genus Geopora, known to promote drought tolerance in pinyon pine. Geopora was more abundant but less diverse (fewer species) in pinyons grown in Navajo Technical University soil than in Sunset Crater soils. To examine the role of host genotype and mycorrhizal fungal community composition in test restoration plantings of P. edulis at White Clay or Fluted Rock (Hypothesis 3). Nearly 250 pinyon seedlings were planted at a restoration site approximately 5 km from Navajo Technical University in August of 2019. Seedlings were inoculated with three species of mycorrhizal fungi known to occur on pinyon pine (members of the genus Rhizopogon, Hebeloma, and Suillus + sterile inoculated controls). Efforts to culture Geopora have been unsuccessful so far, so it could not be used in this first inoculation trial that relied on pure cultures added at the time of planting in the field. Seedlings were watered to help them establish and their survival and growth will be monitored this fall and next year. Two additional inoculation protocols will be trialed during the summer of 2020 (pre-planting inoculation with pure cultures and inoculation at the time of planting with soil in which pinyons have been growing for 9 months to bulk up inoculum). To train NTU interns and students in diagnostic molecular and microbiological techniques, data management, and statistical analysis. NTU students/interns have learned sterile culture and inoculation techniques and now have a laminar flow hood available to grow and maintain sterile cultures. They also learned how to identify ectomycorrhizal fungi from root samples. Students worked with NAU and NTU staff to collect data on pinyon mortality, growth and development. They learned to enter the data, curate the data, share the data and analyze the data using the R statistical platform. To enhance the physical and intellectual capacity at NTU to conduct long term research using common gardens to understand and mitigate the effects of climate change on plants. NTU students have maintained the common garden at Navajo Technical University, learning how to troubleshoot problems with herbivory and water supply. They have learned to assay soil characteristics. They have also traveled to NAU to make measurements at the Sunset Crater garden. All data has been collected in teams and shared in a google spreadsheet and discussed and analyzed during bi-weekly group meetings and additional meetings with only some team members. To maintain high quality data collection from the NTU weather station. With the support of NTU telecommunications staff we are working to add a direct internet connection from the NTU weather station to the NAU/SEGA weather data portal and archive. NTU staff are working on a permanent microwave link from NTU to the University of New Mexico to facilitate the connection. We have already completed a link from the weather station to the NTU telecommunications hub / antenna farm. We expect this link to be operational by the end of October 2019.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:We have worked with the NTU and NAU student body during this time period, specifically students and staff that are working on this project and have been hired to gain work experience working on this Climate Change research. Changes/Problems:The main problem we have now is getting the equipment that is on order from the NTU Business Office. We do not understand why the equipment order is on hold since the funding is available under the grant. We will try to resolve this issue soon, but NAU Flagstaff is waiting on this equipment too since they cannot come here to meet and install the equipment until it is here. As the PI for this project, I will bring this up with the Dean of Instruction and the President if I need to. This equipment has been on order for quite some time now. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training has been provided to NTU students and staff regarding the care and growth of the pinyon pine seedlings, how to manage the greenhouse, how to kill and minimize gopher predation on the seedlings, how to install and use the weather station equipment, and how to analyze and present the results of the data collected at the weather station. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?No dissemination has been done to date other than the talks mentioned at the NTU Climate Change workshop, the conferences that Ryan and Velynda will be attending in Reno, Nevada, and in Minneaplis, MN, NWAL and FALCON respectively. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We are working hard to get the weather station up and running, the things that are needed are the equipment which is currently on hold at purchasing in the Finance Department here at NTU. When we get the equipment, we will install them and have a weather station that is online and functioning.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We have done the following this past half year with this project: We have installed the components needed for the weather station and we are working on getting it in operation off the grid. We at first were going to set the system up with the school (NTU), but that became cumbersome and there was some issues that needed to be resolved regarding recurring costs, so we opted to use renewable energy instead. Going this route will dramatically save us funding since the cost for the equipment is low and we can install the components ourselves. We have transplanted the pinyon pine seedlings to the common garden at NTU and installed an irrigation system. These seedlings are monitored on a weekly basis and also watered weekly. There are new seedlingthat are currentlygrowing in the NTU greenhouse and also at the NAU greenhouses, and they need to be transplanted soon. A talk will be presented by Adair Patterson, NAU graduate student, at the forthcoming NTU Climate Change workshop andshe will highlight the research at this meeting. Ryan Data will be going to theannual Native Water on Arid Lands Summit in Reno, Nevada (in October 2018) to present the researchbeing conducted atNTU regarding this project, and he and Velynda Smith are going to the annual FALCON conference in Minneapolis, MN to also present a poster and talk at that event which is in November 2018.
Publications
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