LIBRARIES
    • Login
    Research Exchange
    Share your work
    View Item 
    •   Research Exchange
    • Electronic Dissertations and Theses
    • Electronic Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Research Exchange
    • Electronic Dissertations and Theses
    • Electronic Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of Research ExchangeCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    The Effects of Select Herbicides on Biological Soil Crust in Shrub Steppe Areas of the Columbia Basin, Washington

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    vonReis_wsu_0251E_11459.pdf (18.05Mb)
    Date
    2015
    Author
    von Reis, Jennifer Clarke
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    The effects of herbicides used on arid lands in the Columbia Basin, Washington State on components of biological soil crusts (BSCs) were investigated. Active ingredients in the herbicides investigated were two synthetic auxins, picloram and aminopyralid, and two enzyme inhibitors, glyphosate and imazapic. Moss and lichens of the BSC were the focus of the study; soil algae and cyanobacteria were also examined. In a retrospective field study, evidence indicated statistically significant association between glyphosate and low levels of BSC. The same study found no evidence for association between either picloram or imazapic and diminished BSC. In a controlled experiment, collected lichen and moss specimens were sprayed with herbicide (aminopyralid, glyphosate, or imazapic) in the lab and monitored for 31 to 37 days. Periodically sections were examined at 100X with a fluorescent microscope and levels of red fluorescence were measured for lichen green algae photobionts or moss chloroplasts. After weeks of observation, the chloroplasts of the herbicide exposed organisms were intact. Experiments involving herbicides diquat or pelargonic acid indicated that these herbicides are very toxic to BSC organisms.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/2376/6171
    Collections
    • Electronic Dissertations
    • Electronic Dissertations and Theses, Environment