Sabbatical Proposal - Mary Ann Vinton
October 31, 2003
1. Period of Requested Leave
2004-2005 academic year, with summer of 2004 as part of my sabbatical period
(You may note that I was eligible for sabbatical leave this year, but chose to defer until
2004-05. My plans have not changed substantially, except that I have more specific
ideas on collaborators and a host institution, University of Wyoming).
2. Description of sabbatical project, and the tangible products
Specific goals (with some updates from last year’s submission): The specific goals of my
sabbatical leave are to 1) finish the research and writing for 2 projects that are underway, 2)
learn some new techniques from collaborators at the University of Wyoming, including mycology
(fungal) techniques and soil carbon isotope techniques and 3) start the research for a book
project on the ecology and natural history of the Sandhills region of Nebraska. These goals are
similar to the ones I proposed last year and I’m a bit farther along on goal 1 now, but (sadly) still
have manuscripts waiting for revision. Another significant change in my plans this year is that I
plan to accomplish these goals as a visiting faculty member at the University of Wyoming,
hosted by the Department of Botany. The academic scene in biology and botany is vibrant lots of seminars, graduate students and visiting faculty. I established a working relationship with
two key collaborators there, Greg Brown and Elise Pendall, both faculty in the Department of
Botany. In addition, Bill Reiners, who directs the Geographic Information Science Center, has
good facilities for remote sensing analyses and I have a new project in this area. The library
has good coverage of the ecological journals in both basic and applied areas. Finally the
campus is very manageable and well covered by a convenient, wireless network.
Narrative description of the project written for non-specialist readers:
Goal One: Finish the research and writing for two projects underway
My current area of research is focused on the role that plants play in ecosystem
processes, like productivity, decomposition and soil nutrient dynamics. A key question for me
and other researchers in this area is: “do different plant species play different roles in the
ecosystem?”. If the answer to this question is “yes”, it has some important implications for
environmental policy, in that it provides a solid, ecological rationale for the conservation of
species and biodiversity. In other words, if species play unique roles, than when a species goes
extinct, ecosystem processes will change. Potentially, this change could be to the detriment of
ecosystem qualities that other species and humans depend on, like productivity, soil fertility, and
water purification.
Of course the answer to the question is probably not as simple as a “yes” or a “no”, and
instead the answer is most likely “it depends”. Thus, researchers are working on this question
in different contexts, trying to pin down the situations where species do and don’t matter. I
have two papers where I report on the role of plant species in the productivity and soil nutrient
dynamics of native grasslands:
Vinton, M.A. and I.C. Burke. 1995. Interactions between individual plant species and soil
nutrient status in shortgrass-steppe. Ecology 76:1116-1133.
Vinton, M.A. and I.C. Burke. 1997. Contingent effects of plant species on soils along a
regional moisture gradient in the Great Plains. Oecologia 110: 393-402.
In my more recent work, I’m working on the question of plant species roles’ under two
kinds of contexts. The first is a study in which we are comparing the effects of different plant
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species and substrates on nutrient availability in an urban study site. Further, we are looking at
how the urban plant-soil interactions differ from those taking place in a rural site. . The data
collection for the first study is complete and the remaining job is writing two manuscripts from
the data, with tentative titles below:
Vinton, M.A. In preparation. The effects of cover crop and municipal compost on carbon
and nitrogen dynamics in an urban soil.
Vinton, M.A. and M. Elson. In preparation. Soil characteristics of urban vs. rural areas:
development of an index of integrated industrial effects.
The second study is one in which we are looking at two invasive grass species in
tallgrass prairie and comparing these species to native ones in terms of how they respond to
and affect soil nutrients. The data collection for the second study will be completed in summer
2004 and the two manuscripts that need to be completed for that are listed below (tentative
titles):
Vinton, M.A. and E. Goergen. In preparation. The role of plant-soil feedbacks in the
persistence of smooth brome (Bromus inermis) in tallgrass prairie.
Vinton, M.A. and L. Vigue. In preparation. The effects of soil nitrogen manipulation on
reed canary grass in lowland tallgrass prairie.
Goal two: Learn more techniques to study endophytic fungi
Interest in the ecology of endophytic fungi - fungi that live within plants - has surged in
recent years, due in part to the discovery that some fungi offer significant benefits to their plant
hosts, including increased resistance to disease and herbivory. Most of the research is focused
on agronomic species (used for grazing or crops). My students and I have done some research
on the ecology and distribution of these fungi in a native, tallgrass prairie species, Canada wild
rye. Native systems, with a plant-fungal relationship that has evolved in place with little
influence from human agriculture, offer an opportunity to uncover the ultimate causes behind the
plant-fungal association. The following papers detail our findings:
Vinton, M.A., E. Kathol, K. Vogel and A. Hopkins. 2001. Endophytic fungi in Canada wild
rye in natural grasslands. Journal of Range Management 54:390-395.
Vinton, M.A., and J.L. Horning. 2002. A fungal endophyte in Canada wild rye: studies on
its occurrence, detection and elimination. Proceedings of the 17th North American
Prairie Conference 17: 79-84.
Since these two papers were published, I have not started any new experiments on the
fungi-wild rye relationship, even though it is an intriguing one and our work left me with more
questions than answers. In particular, I am very interested in the way that these fungi may act,
with their host plants, to affect ecosystem processes. For example, it is possible that fungiinfected plants decompose slower than non-infected plants and thus lead to greater storage of
organic matter in soils. One of the reasons I have not started new projects is that I do not have
the mycology expertise to adequately manipulate and detect the fungi. Ideally, I’d like to be able
to manipulate the level of fungal infection and measure the response on the plant and
ecosystem processes. This past summer, I talked with Greg Brown at UW and he has just
gotten excited about the role that endophytic fungi play in his major plant group of interest - the
bromeliads. He had run across my papers and I think I helped him understand some
background, conceptual issues. On the other hand, he (and his co-workers) are more adept at
mycological techniques and can help me in that area. Another possible way for me to pick up
more expertise is by going to work with Dr. Nicholas Hill at the University of Georgia for several
weeks. I visited his lab for a week in 1997 when we were first starting our project and learned
enough to get started with the Canada wild rye system.
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Goal three: start research for a book on the ecology and natural history of the Sandhills region
The Nebraska Sandhills region is the largest area of stabilized sand dunes in the
western hemisphere and forms one of the most unique natural features in Nebraska, if not the
entire Great Plains. Biological interest in the Sandhills has been high and a variety of works
exist that detail certain aspects of the flora, fauna and ecology of the region. However, I think
there is a need for a book on the Sandhills that would integrate the fascinating ecology of the
region with information on how to get there and where to see what, a “user’s guide”, with
detailed maps of natural and human features on the landscape. I have in mind a “model” book,
Mutel’s Fragile Giants: The Natural History of the Loess Hills, a very useful guide to the western
Iowa landscape. Nothing quite like it exists for the Sandhills region, and I think such a work
would be very well-received among biologists and ecologists as well as a broader audience.
A book, even if it is the sole project of a sabbatical year, is a lofty goal. I want to keep
my expectations modest, to avoid total disillusionment. I want to get a good start on the
background reading, spend some time with other biologists and geologists (many at UW) who
are working in the region, and prepare an outline of chapters.
A timetable of the work
May, June, July, August 2004- Goal 1 above
October-November 3004- Goal 2 above
December 2004-May 2005 - Goal 3 above
A bibliography
A sampling of the works I will make extensive use of for goal 3:
Bleed, A. and C. Flowerday. 1990. An Atlas of the Sand Hills. Resource Atlas No. 5a.
Conservation and Survey Division, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Johnsgard, P.A. 1995. This Fragile Land: A Natural History of the Nebraska Sandhills.
University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.
Johnsgard, P.A. 2001. The Nature of Nebraska. University of Nebraska Press,
Lincoln.
McIntosh, C. B. 1996. The Nebraska Sandhills: The Human Landscape. University of
Nebraska Press, Lincoln.
Any tangible products you will anticipate:
See manuscripts listed under goal 1, book outline under goal 3
3. An account of how your project relates to trends in your academic discipline
The field of ecology in the past decade or so has been increasingly occupied with
studies on how humans affect ecosystems. Whereas an ecology researcher 30 years ago might
have focused on a pristine, natural area, ecologists are now focusing more and more on areas
that have been profoundly affected by humans, like urban areas, intensively farmed areas or
areas that are highly depauperate in native species. The research and manuscripts described
under Goal 1 fit squarely within some exciting new areas in ecology, namely the functional role
of biodiversity in ecosystems, the ecology of invasive plants and the ecology of urban areas. I
am quite confident that, once I get the manuscripts prepared, they will meet with a good deal of
interest among reviewers and readers. My challenge is getting the projects written up, not
finding an audience.
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As for the endophytic fungi work, we had very little trouble garnering some interest when
we began submitting it for publication. Previously-overlooked interactions between organisms
(like these plant-fungal associations) are another hot topic in ecology.
4. An explanation of how your project will enhance your teaching and/or scholarship
In terms of scholarship, everything I’ve listed above will either 1) directly allow me to
contribute to the literature or 2) allow me to learn some new techniques to eventually contribute
to the literature. The most direct connection to teaching is the fact that I do all my research
(field and greenhouse work) with undergraduate students. Goergen, Kathol, Horning and Vigue
(all coauthors on manuscripts listed above) were/are undergraduate students. The in-depth
training they get from such close involvement in research really helps them decide on graduate
programs and gives them a “leg up” on others with no research experience. I’ve found that the
endophytic fungi work is especially suited to undergraduates because it can be done in the lab
and greenhouse during the academic year when students are here. So, again, getting more
training myself in that area will facilitate student research in my lab.
I also expect to do substantial “catch-up” on reading the literature as I write the
manuscripts listed above. This will allow me to use the most up to date examples in my ecology
and botany courses here.
5. Budget Request
I am requesting $500 to offset the cost of travel and living expenses under Goal 2 above.
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Abstract of Sabbatical Proposal - Vinton
The goals of my sabbatical leave are to 1) finish the research and writing for 2 projects that are
underway, 2) improve my lab techniques in mycology in order to further my research on the role
of endophytic fungi in plants and ecosystems and 3) start the research for a book project on the
ecology and natural history of the Sandhills region of Nebraska. The first goal involves finishing
experiments and writing up manuscripts from my research on the role plant species play in
cycling carbon and nitrogen in urban and native prairie ecosystems. Meeting the second goal
requires that I spend time in the labs of some colleagues so I can learn more techniques to
detect and manipulate fungal endophytes (fungi that live within aerial portions of plants). Little is
known about these plant-fungal associations and they may play important roles in ecosystems,
such as allowing plants to deter herbivores or recover from drought. The third goal requires that
I assemble and research the key literature on the ecology and natural history of the Sandhills
region, a unique and ecologically fascinating area of the Great Plains.
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