After years of genetic sequencing, University of Florida researchers are beginning to harness the insects’ ability to churn wood into fuel. That ability involves a mixture of enzymes from symbiotic bacteria and other single-celled organisms living in termites’ guts, as well as enzymes from the termites themselves.

The team from UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences spent two years dissecting and analyzing gene sequences of more than 2,500 worker termite guts. In total, they identified 6,555 genes from the termites and associated gut fauna involved in the digestive process.

As the researchers reported Oct. 15 in the online journal Biotechnology for Biofuels, they’ve begun to identify which of these genes encode for enzymes that could significantly improve the production of cellulosic ethanol, a fuel made from inedible plant material that the U.S. Department of Energy estimates could replace half of our gasoline if the production process could be made more cost effective.

“Termites are very unique creatures, and this research helps give the most complete picture of how their systems collaborate to, very efficiently, break down really tough biological compounds to release fermentable sugars,” said UF entomologist Mike Scharf, who leads the research.

The team has identified nearly 200 associated enzymes that help break down the problematic plant compound lignocellulose. This compound is the most costly barrier to wide-scale production of cellulosic ethanol because it must be broken down by intense heat or caustic chemicals.

Termites, however, are able to almost completely break down lignocellulose through simple digestion.

“The termite gut is a complicated and exotic package of biodiversity that manages these tasks with an efficiency that you really have to admire,” said Claudia Husseneder, a specialist in the molecular biology of termites at Louisiana State University who was not associated with UF’s research. “Mike’s work is on the cutting edge of understanding this system.”

In September, Scharf and the Savage, Maryland-based Chesapeake-PERL Inc., received a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to help develop his work into a product that can be used to help manufacture cellulosic ethanol.

Termites and their associated single-cell symbiotic organisms probably won’t have much to do with the processes that result from the work—except for their genes, of course. Scharf said that enzyme-producing genes will be transferred to a more controllable creature.

This has commonly meant that the genes would be transferred into genetically modified fungi or bacteria. However, Scharf said the genes would likely be transferred into other insects, such as caterpillars, to produce the enzymes on an industrial scale.

“Insects have played an important role in how this planet functions for millions of years,” Scharf said. “They still have a lot they can teach us. There are still many ways we can learn to benefit from Earth’s six-legged inhabitants.”

The mysterious die-offs are likely a result of an accumulation of factors, which might include chemicals found in and around the hives, they say.

Led by UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences bee specialist Jamie Ellis, the researchers have finished a first round of testing on bee larvae exposed to the pesticides most commonly found in bee hives. The work gives crucial insight to how the larvae react to these pesticides, which are usually only tested on adult bees.

More importantly, the work sets the stage for the researchers to test how the bees react to combinations of these pesticides.

Just like mixing the wrong medications can have deadly and unpredictable results in humans, chemical mixes pose a quandary for the bee industry. Bees are commonly exposed to multiple pesticides that are either applied to or nearby their hives.

“Beeswax, honey and pollen can contain low mixtures of fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides. The larvae develop in the presence of and consume these mixtures,” Ellis said. “Any one of these pesticides may not be that harmful to the developing larvae. However, it is possible that combinations of the pesticides can interact.”

The U.S. bee industry is responsible for pollinating $15 billion worth of crops each year. By some estimates, bee pollination is responsible for as much as a third of the food we eat.

The work, funded by the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign, would be among the first to look at such combinations of chemicals introduced at the larval stage. At an Oct. 22 meeting of NAPPC, Ellis presented the initial results, which examined the individual effects of two herbicides, two fungicides and five insecticides commonly found in bee hives.

To study these pesticides, the researchers transferred individual larvae to special containers where they were given a typical diet containing a dose of the pesticide.

Some of the pesticides yielded surprising results. For example, the bees seemed to show an erratic response to two pesticides commonly used to get rid of hive-infecting Varroa mites. This could mean that some bees have become resistant to the pesticide while others have not, said Mike Scharf, a UF entomologist and co-primary investigator on the project.

“There’s a really complex and unpredictable interaction of chemicals and genetics at play,” Scharf said.

Even more so, he said, when the bees are exposed at the larval stage. Pesticide exposure at this developmental stage could have significant effects on the adult bees.

Later research will reintroduce these adult bees into the hive to see how the pesticide-exposed bees react to common stressors such as Varroa mites and bacterial infections.

“It is going to be a lot of work to run through all these scenarios, but at the end of the day, it’s the only way to really find out how all these factors come together,” Ellis said. “It’s worth the work. Bees are a fundamental part of our ecosystem and our food chain.”

In Florida, one of the main suppliers is Richard Raid, a professor with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

Owls can’t chew, so they rip prey apart with their beaks and swallow it in big chunks. The pellets are blobs of undigested fur and bones the birds regurgitate after a meal.

Raid gathers 3,000 to 5,000 pellets each year from farms in the Everglades Agricultural Area. He leads workshops at schools, clubs and museums where he shows children how to carefully pick apart the pellets, identify the creatures inside, and arrange the bones into complete skeletons.

The experience may sound cringe-inducing, but it teaches children about biology and predator-prey relationships, says Raid, a plant pathologist at UF’s Everglades Research and Education Center in Belle Glade.

“I have an expression: With kids, if cute is good, gross is better,” he said. “The more unpleasant you can make something, the more it interests them.”

Raid says teachers often tell him his workshop was the most memorable lesson of the year.

“That’s gratifying,” he said.

But becoming a pellet magnate wasn’t something Raid set out to do. Instead, it developed from another project he’s pursued for more than a decade.

Raid helps farmers in the Everglades Agricultural Area install owl nesting boxes, because the birds provide low-cost, sustainable rodent control. The pests, particularly cotton rats and marsh rabbits, cause up to $30 million in damage each year to the area’s 700,000 acres of sugar cane, rice and vegetable crops.

A nesting pair of barn owls can eat 1,000 rodents per year. The area now has hundreds of nesting boxes and some of the highest barn-owl concentrations in the country, Raid says.

Along the way, he realized there was a demand for owl pellets, so Raid started gathering and sterilizing them and giving them to local teachers. These days his supply goes partly to educators. The rest are sold to biological supply dealers who pay about 50 cents per pellet, money Raid uses to support the program.

Nationwide, owl pellet gathering is worth perhaps $2 million to $3 million per year, but it’s growing at 25 to 30 percent annually, says Chris Anderson, owner of Owl Brand Discovery Kits in Portland, Ore.

Anderson’s company, founded in 1996, employs 12 full-time gatherers and ships at least a quarter million owl pellets each year, he said. They gather owl pellets from about 1,000 sites in Western states, mainly on private land.

“It’s very relationship driven,” Anderson said. “You’re asking to poke around someone’s property.”

And the job presents some unique challenges.

“I’ve had floors fall out from underneath me in old, abandoned houses,” he said. “I’ve been dive-bombed by owls.”

As raptors go, barn owls are fairly docile, Raid says, usually preferring to flee when people approach their nests. But he adds, “I’ve had a talon or two come in contact with me.”

The pellets are usually retrieved from nesting boxes, or places owls roost, such as old barns and pump houses. A barn owl can expel two or three pellets each day. The best time for gathering is in the spring and fall, because there’s little rain and pellets stay intact long enough to dry out. Here, fresh is not best, Raid says. Pellets less than 24 hours old are messy.

“For those I definitely wear gloves,” he said. “They’re the consistency of a big wad of chewing tobacco that’s just been spit out.”

The gift to the Florida Museum of Natural History from Dr. William and Nadine McGuire of Wayzata, Minn., is valued at more than $41 million, and also includes funding for curation of the Lepidoptera collection, ongoing taxonomic and biodiversity related research, training of scientists and publication of books and relevant papers. The gift brings the number of specimens in UF’s collection to more than 9 million, one of the world’s largest.

“It is important that both the world’s scientific community and the general public recognize that one of the compelling issues of the early 21st century is the global threat to the present diversity of life on earth,” Bill McGuire said. “It is our belief that this threat to biodiversity demands a stepped-up educational and research effort on the part of universities and governments worldwide.”

UF President Bernie Machen welcomed the McGuires’ gift and said it speaks volumes about the university’s place in environmental studies.

“The McGuires’ support of biodiversity and Lepidoptera research at UF helps solidify the university’s major commitment to understanding and preserving biodiversity and the environment,” Machen said. “This private sector support of global issues is the mark of true, selfless philanthropy.”

The Florida Museum of Natural History houses the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, named for the McGuires after previous gifts. McGuire Center Director Thomas Emmel said this “unparalleled and unique” gift includes butterflies from every continent except Antarctica, and from geographic sites no longer accessible to scientists.

“The Florida Museum and UF are extremely fortunate that Bill McGuire, who has a lifelong interest in Lepidoptera, knew and recognized the importance of biodiversity and the scientific value of assembling comprehensive collections for taxonomic and other research uses,” Emmel said. “It will take years to completely curate this collection, but we know it contains hundreds, and possibly more than 1,000, species new to science.”

Emmel said Lepidoptera research is critical to the study of the world’s ecosystems because butterflies are good flagship species to assess environmental health.

“An important aspect of the gift is the recognition that the University of Florida now offers the best training and research center in the world for students, postdoctoral fellows and professionals in the many fields that will be using these collections as a database for biodiversity education and research,” Emmel said. “The specimens in the collection represent thousands of rare species, many from locations now destroyed by urban development or rainforest clearing.”

The gift of 2.2 million specimens includes butterflies and moths accumulated during the past 50 years by leading taxonomists, collectors and field biologists throughout the world. It also contains thousands of “type” specimens from which new species were described by specialists as far back as the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

“Many of the specimens are irreplaceable samples of extinct species and populations, or were collected from localities where the butterflies no longer live,” said Florida Museum Director Douglas Jones. “The long series of individuals of many species in this collection will allow researchers to study population and genetic variability so important to biodiversity research, unlike the ‘Noah’s ark’ approach of one male and one female seen in some collections. Students and scientists worldwide will visit the museum to work with this unique resource and the incredible database it provides.”

Many ecologists worldwide now use butterfly and moth species as indicators for the overall biodiversity of an ecosystem or plant and animal community.

“Like canaries warning miners of dangerous gases in coal mines, the Lepidoptera are particularly sensitive to poisons in the environment, such as pesticides or heavy metals,” Emmel said. “They are also good indicators of the impact of climate change and global warming on the survival and distribution of animals and plants.”

Although the McGuires did not attend UF, they have a history of strong support for the university. Their earlier contributions include a $4.2 million gift in 2000 for construction of the Lepidoptera facilities at the museum and a live butterfly rainforest exhibit; $3 million to establish the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity in 2002; and $2.5 million to complete construction of a theater and dance facility on the UF campus in 2004.

The curriculum, Project Butterfly WINGS, was developed by the Florida Museum of Natural History and UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, and has been reviewed and recommended by the National 4-H Council. It also is one of 11 afterschool curricula recommended by the 4-H Afterschool Taskforce and is available to all educators, afterschool programs and 4-H clubs nationwide.

Project Butterfly WINGS, which stands for Winning Investigative Network for Great Science, began as a National Science Foundation-funded project to interest girls in science.

“WINGS is designed to promote science interest and engagement,” said Betty Dunckel, director of the Florida Museum Center for Informal Science Education and principal investigator for the butterfly curriculum project. “As youth explore the outdoors, they learn not only about butterflies but also about the complex interrelationships among animals and plants, and they develop their science inquiry skills.”

Children from 9 to 13 will gather and enter data into an interactive Web site, which researchers will use to further scientific knowledge and spot trends among butterfly species. The guide leads participants on an exploration of butterfly identification, life cycles and habitats.

Project Butterfly WINGS also is only the second curriculum selected as part of 4-H’s Science, Engineering and Technology Initiative for improving the science literacy and aptitude of America’s youth. According to the U.S. Department of Education, less than 20 percent of U.S. high school seniors are proficient in science, math and other skills considered necessary for the 21st century work force. The 4-H initiative seeks to address this challenge by introducing at least 1 million new youth to science-based curricula like Project Butterfly WINGS and preparing them to excel in science, engineering and technology by 2013.

“When youth participate in 4-H activities, they just don’t read or watch a topic,” said Marilyn Norman, UF’s associate dean for Florida 4-H. “They are engaged in in-depth investigations with materials, objects and ideas drawing meaning and understanding from those experiences. Hands-on learning involves the child in a total learning experience, which enhances the child’s ability to think critically.”

The new UF curriculum also teaches students to be “citizen scientists” by keeping records of butterfly species seen in designated areas at regular intervals, a process called butterfly counting. Participants record the number of butterfly species seen along specific paths, or transects, and scientists use this information to plan and carry out conservation efforts.

“Citizen scientists form a large network of observers, and help discover patterns in nature and answer questions that professional scientists do not have the time or resources to study,” said Jaret Daniels, an assistant curator at the Florida Museum McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity who helped develop the WINGS program.

“This information can help us determine if certain butterflies are still common to an area, if their ranges are gradually changing, if butterflies are seen earlier or later each year than previously recorded and how many different species occur in an area,” Daniels said. “We saw an opportunity with Project Butterfly WINGS to get more people outside and enjoying nature while helping Lepidopterists answer these questions through new and permanent transects for butterfly counting.”

The curriculum teaches how to choose an appropriate outdoor area for butterfly counting and how to conduct a transect walk. Participants then log onto the project Web site, www.flmnh.ufl.edu/wings, to enter their observations in the WINGS database. There is also space to enter transect information so future 4-H’ers can return to the same path and record new data.

Florida 4-H, which is celebrating its 100-year anniversary, partners with community organizations such as the YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, public schools and faith-based organizations to offer quality afterschool learning opportunities.

Groups interested in Project Butterfly WINGS may purchase the guides online at www.4-Hmall.org.

“We finally have our irrigation recommendations for establishing shrubs backed up with science. We need less irrigation than many people think,” said Ed Gilman, a UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences environmental horticulture professor who led the research study.

The six-year study’s objective was to determine how best to irrigate shrubs during “establishment” — the 20- to 28-week period when shrubs’ roots grow until the plant can survive without irrigation.

The research examined irrigation frequency and volume on the quality, survival and growth rates of three-gallon, container-grown shrubs. Plants were examined in Fort Lauderdale, Balm, Apopka and Citra, locations that span three water management districts in Florida and have varied growing conditions.

Some of the state’s most popular ornamental shrubs were evaluated, including both native and non-native species, such as yaupon holly and gardenia.

“One of the results that we noted was that there are no differences between native and non-native species for amount of water required for establishment, “Gilman said. “This often surprises people, but it emphasizes that the Florida-friendly principle — right plant, right place — is worth following.”

Florida-friendly gardening means planting that accounts for site conditions, maintenance needs and local climate. Such landscapes may use both native and non-native plants, as long as the non-native plants aren’t an invasive species.

Regular irrigation in the months after planting helps shrubs remain healthy and attractive as they establish. But one eyebrow-raising study finding is that light, frequent watering is much more efficient and effective than applying large volumes less frequently.

North of Orlando, Gilman recommends using as little as 1 gallon of water per shrub, applied every eight days. In South Florida, he recommends every four days.

More frequent irrigation, such as every four days in North Florida and every two days in South Florida, does result in more vigorous plant growth. But applying more than 1 gallon per irrigation doesn’t increase survival or growth, he said.

“Results showed that applying large volumes of water cannot compensate for infrequent irrigation,” Gilman said. “This means that you should water more often, but with less water at each irrigation event. That helps the plants achieve proper establishment and, in turn, means less watering in the long run.”

Gardeners should maintain their irrigation schedule until shrubs survive on rainfall alone, once roots have grown to the edge of the foliage canopy, usually within 28 weeks of planting.

In long hot, dry spells, occasional irrigation may be needed after shrubs are established. Such weather can occur at any time in Florida, but is most likely in the spring and fall – April, May, October and sometimes November.

In the first year after planting, use 1 to 2 gallons of water when there is less than a quarter inch of rain within a two-week period. Drought-sensitive shrubs, such as holly fern and wild coffee, may need more frequent supplemental irrigation, while drought-tolerant shrubs, like Burford holly, may need very little.

The study can be found at http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/irrigation. Or check out the fact sheet Establishing Shrubs in Florida Landscapes, http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP391, for more information.

Several simple steps can help ensure your plants survive establishment:
· Consider planting at the start of the rainy season.
· Irrigate based on location, weather and desired plant vigor.
· Apply water directly to the rootball.
· Use low-volume irrigation. Don’t irrigate if a quarter-inch or more rain fell in the last 24 hours.
· After establishment, irrigate when there are signs of wilting, but before leaves begin to die.

Researchers analyzed water taken from 187 lakes in 38 counties during a one-year period, and found that almost three-quarters of the samples had no detectable levels of the chemical microcystin. Only 7 percent of the samples exceeded the World Health Organization guidelines for drinking water, which is one microgram of microcystin per liter.

The results should reassure swimmers, boaters and anglers, said Dan Canfield, a professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and an author of the study, published in the current issue of Lake and Reservoir Management.

“On a population basis for the state, it’s not a big issue,” Canfield said. “But if it’s a concern to you as an individual you can get a test kit for about $20 and use it to make a decision.”

The test kits, available online, are not as accurate as laboratory tests, but provide immediate results, he said. People with impaired immune systems or hypersensitivity to microcystin may want to exercise caution about lake use.

The chemical is produced by some blue-green algae species; it can damage the liver and has been implicated in human and animal illnesses.

In the study, the highest microcystin levels were found in lakes with the most abundant algae growth. A few samples from Lake Jessup in Seminole County and Lake Hunter in Polk County exceeded the WHO guidelines for recreational waters, 20 micrograms of microcystin per liter.

Microcystin levels can vary from one day to another, and from one part of a lake to another, said Dana Bigham, a UF graduate student and an author of the study. For these reasons, each lake was sampled six times during 2006, at two-month intervals, and water was taken from multiple locations.

Because the chemical is associated with algae blooms, lake users should avoid contact with large mats of floating algae, Bigham said.

The primary danger would come from swallowing water containing microcystin, she said. Research indicates that the effects of microcystin vary between individuals, depending on their sensitivity and the amount ingested. Exposure to the toxin can cause symptoms ranging from upset stomach to severe liver damage.

Microcystin was identified in the early 1980s, Bigham said. Scientists have determined that numerous blue-green algae species can produce it, though its cause is unknown.

The chemical has received media attention, particularly in the Midwest, where it’s associated with summer algae blooms. In Florida, the chemical can be produced virtually year-round, she said. The study indicated the highest microcystin levels occurred in September through December.

It refers to the importance of water depth — making sure the proper areas are dry or marshy or submerged. For decades, experts had to take their own water-depth measurements or get data from multiple agencies.

In March 2005, things got easier. A modeling system called the Everglades Depth Estimation Network, or EDEN, went online. Developed by the U.S. Geological Survey working with the University of Florida and Florida Atlantic University, the system provides daily estimates of water depth and other information for most of the Everglades.

Now, a UF study verifies that EDEN’s estimates are accurate.

As reported in the current issue of Ecohydrology, researchers with UF, FAU, the University of Connecticut and the South Florida Natural Resources Center took water-depth measurements at 24 locations and compared them with EDEN’s estimates. Most estimates matched the measurements within 2 inches.

Frank Mazzotti, an associate professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, says now that the system has been verified, he hopes it will gain popularity with scientists who assess the progress of Everglades restoration efforts, which aim to restore natural water flow throughout the region and support populations of indigenous animals and plants.

“We’ve never had a tool like this,” said Mazzotti, one of the study authors. “The idea is to make it freely available.”

Already, experts with UF and other Florida institutions have used EDEN to investigate populations of wading birds, invasive plants, fish and amphibians.

The system uses more than 200 monitoring stations throughout the Everglades that measure water depth. That information, along with geographic data, is then interpreted by computer software. The system generates water-depth estimates for the entire freshwater portion of the greater Everglades, broken down into quadrants measuring about 1,300 feet by 1,300 feet.

Mazzotti says he’s thrilled to have EDEN available, and is using it in a study that correlates alligators’ body condition with water levels.

The system will receive upgrades in the near future to provide better modeling of topography below the water and better water surface estimates, said Pamela Telis, project team leader for the U.S. Geological Survey.

The system is the brainchild of Aaron Higer, a longtime USGS program manager and current UF employee, who first envisioned the idea in the 1960s.

The system is found at http://sofia.usgs.gov/eden/.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — While studying a way to more safely and effectively collect snake venom, University of Florida researchers have noticed the venom delivered by an isolated population of Florida cottonmouth snakes may be changing in response to their diet.

Scientists used a portable nerve stimulator to extract venom from anesthetized cottonmouths, producing more consistent extraction results and greater amounts of venom, according to findings published in August in the journal Toxicon.

The study of venoms is important for many reasons, scientists say.

“The human and animal health benefits include understanding the components of venom that cause injury and developing better antivenin,” said Darryl Heard, an associate professor in the UF College of Veterinary Medicine’s department of small animal clinical sciences. “In addition, the venom components have the potential to be used for diagnostic tests and the development of new medical compounds.”

But in addition to showing the extraction method is safer, more effective and less stressful to both snake and handler than the traditional “milking” technique, Heard and Ryan McCleary, a Ph.D. candidate in biology in UF’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, discovered the venom from these particular snakes differs from that of mainland snakes, likely because of their unique diet of dead fish dropped by seabirds.

Heard and McCleary collaborated to develop a safe, reliable and humane technique for collecting venom from cottonmouths as part of a larger study on a specific population of snakes that reside on Seahorse Key, an isolated island near Cedar Key on the Florida’s Gulf Coast.

The venom collection study included data from 49 snakes on Seahorse Key.

“Snakes on this island are noted for their large size,” said Heard, a zoological medicine veterinarian with additional expertise in anesthesia. He added that Harvey Lillywhite, a professor of biology at UF and McCleary’s predoctoral adviser, has confirmed that cottonmouths on Seahorse Key eat primarily dead fish dropped by birds in a large seabird rookery.

Lillywhite also directs UF’s Seahorse Key Marine Laboratory, located in the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge. McCleary hopes to build on earlier studies about the snakes’ ecology and to explore whether evolutionary changes may have affected the composition of the snakes’ venom.

“My interest is in the evolutionary aspect,” McCleary said. “If these snakes already have an abundant source of dead prey, why do they need venom?”

Preliminary findings show some differences in venom components, he added.

Traditionally, venom has been collected from venomous snakes by manually restraining the animal behind the head and having it bite a rubber membrane connected to a collecting chamber.

“This requires the capture of an awake snake, which increases the risk of human envenomation and is also stressful to the snake,” Heard said, adding that manual collection of venom also does not guarantee that all of the venom is collected.

The nerve stimulator is used in human anesthesia to measure the effect of muscle relaxants.

“It delivers a series of electric stimuli, of very low voltage and amperage, and causes no pain or tissue injury,” Heard said. “The electrodes are placed behind the eye, across the area of the venom gland. The nerve stimulator sends a current across the gland, causing reflex contraction and expulsion of the venom.”

The technique allows collection from snakes that might not otherwise give up their venom, which is an essential in the process of creating antivenins for victims of snake bite, Heard said.

“The stimulator is battery-powered and relatively inexpensive,” he said. “In addition, the anesthetic we used, known as propofol, can easily be transported.”

Propofol, which has been prominent in news headlines recently as being linked to the death of singer Michael Jackson, is a short acting anesthetic administered by intravenous injection. The drug is commonly used to anesthetize animals in veterinary clinical practice, but it is not believed to have previously been used to anesthetize snakes for venom collection.

In 2007, harmful algae blooms killed sponges in large tracts of the shallow lagoon, where fresh water draining from the Everglades meets the Gulf of Mexico. University of Florida and Old Dominion University researchers are trying to restore the invertebrates by slicing up healthy sponges, then planting the cuttings in affected areas to grow and reproduce.

The results of the study will lay the groundwork for larger restoration efforts that would boost populations of economically important seafood species that depend on sponges, help the state’s commercial sponge industry and improve water quality, said Don Behringer, a research assistant professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

“Sponges don’t get as much attention as other, more charismatic marine species,” said Behringer, co-leader of the project. “But in hard-bottom habitats they dominate the biomass and are important to ecosystem health.”

In Florida Bay, the seabed is a mixture of hard-bottom areas, sea grass meadows and almost featureless sand and mud areas. Within the hard-bottom, marine sponges, some of them several feet in diameter, are the dominant source of structure and shelter, he said. In parts of the bay the animals were so abundant prior to the algae blooms that they were estimated to filter all surrounding water every three days, straining out bacteria they consume as food.

The 2007 algae blooms affected about 200 square miles of the 1,100-square-mile bay, wiping out nearly every sponge in some areas. Similar blooms may have occurred for at least a century, but hard evidence is lacking, Behringer said.

Armed with $157,000 in grants from The Nature Conservancy - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Community-Based Restoration Program, and Everglades National Park, the researchers will try to reintroduce sponges in the Everglades National Park and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary areas of Florida Bay.

In this feasibility study, four species will be used: loggerhead and vase sponges, large species that provide habitat for sea animals; and glove and yellow sponges, important to Florida’s commercial sponge fishing industry, said Mark Butler, a professor with ODU’s biological sciences department and the project’s other leader.

Florida is one of the world’s major marine sponge providers, producing 60,000 to 70,000 pounds annually.

Butler said the exact methods used for placing sponge cuttings are still being developed, but it’s likely that small sections will be attached to weighted bases and placed on the sea floor. For the next three years, researchers will assess the cuttings’ survival, growth and reproduction.

The project came about partly because sponges are little-studied, Butler said. He has studied lobsters for 25 years and appreciates how sponges provide habitat for the crustaceans.

Another reason is that sponge populations spread slowly—larval sponges are free-swimming, but anchor after a few hours and spend the rest of their lives in one place.

Sponge die-offs are an emerging problem worldwide, said Joseph Pawlik, a professor with the University of North Carolina Wilmington Center for Marine Science.

Scientists have only recently begun to understand the need for sponge restoration, Pawlik said. He called the restoration project important, particularly because loss of marine sponges may enhance harmful algae blooms.

“Fire is an art,” said Parker Titus, a specialist with more than 400 controlled burns on his resume. “It’s one of the most powerful influences on our natural systems. Knowing how to use it — and not let it get out of control — is an essential part of the conservation effort.”

This week, Titus and his crew, the newly formed Northeast Florida Resource Management Support Team, will be sharing that knowledge with 40 students and public agency employees.

The team will help teach how to stay safe while practicing controlled burns as part of a weeklong basic wildland firefighter training program conducted by the University of Florida, The Nature Conservancy and the Natural Areas Training Academy.

The course will be a mix of classroom instruction on the UF campus and a day of hands-on demonstration at the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station in Putnam County, where the team is housed.

“We have a full roster of students and a long waiting list,” said Linda Demetropoulos, the training academy’s program manager. “This is an issue that people who work in settings like parks and preserves need to know about.”

Controlled burns seek to use fire to remove the natural clutter that serves as kindling for larger and more dangerous wildfires.

Last year alone, 2,894 wildfires burned more than 100,000 acres in Florida. One blaze resulted in nearly $10 million in property damage. According to a report issued in an April edition of the journal Science, rising temperatures associated with climate change are increasing this wildfire threat nationwide.

However, prescribed burning is much more than just a preventative measure. Much of Florida’s wildlife relies on fire to renew natural habitat. Species like the gopher tortoise and the Florida scrub jay rely on it.

“We live in a balance with nature, or we try to,” said Zachary Prusak, state fire manager for the conservancy. “Controlled burning reduces the intensity of wildfires and keeps our habitats healthy.”

Managed by the conservancy and supported by UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the team consists of Titus, Andrew Rappe, Andrew Slack and Daniel Godwin. The four are responsible for helping many public agencies east of Interstate 75 from Orlando north to the Georgia border.

Also charged with tasks such as removing invasive species and monitoring wildlife, the crew has aided in nearly 50 controlled burns since it was established roughly a year ago with funds from a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission grant.

The typical tool used for controlled burning is called a drip torch, which looks a bit like a pesticide sprayer whose nozzle has been swapped out with a firelighter. This torch is what most of the students will be learning to use.

The team also has a few tools that aren’t for novices, such as a heavy-duty pickup and ATV, both equipped with mounted torches and other modifications. Then there are the even less conventional tools sometimes employed to set a controlled fire.

Titus says he’s seen flare pistols, bows loaded with flaming arrows, helicopters with flame throwers and even torches carried horseback.

“You use whatever you have that will work well,” he said. “But you never forget that your first priority is always safety.”

So it may be fitting that researchers from the University of Florida, home of the Gators, have found that bacteria growing in its wood may improve the process of making the fuel that might help solve the nation’s energy crisis.

Cellulosic ethanol fuel is derived from plant material often thrown away as trash. Typically, the processes use genetically engineered bacteria or tricky chemical reactions to break down complex compounds in plant cell walls to produce simple sugar molecules that can be fermented into fuel-grade alcohol.

A February report by the Sandia National Laboratories predicted that cellulosic ethanol could replace 30 percent of the nation’s gasoline by 2030 if the price can be brought down. A big part of reducing the price is making production more efficient.

Much of the inefficiency in cellulosic ethanol production lies in the fact that it must be given a head start by cooking the plant material with heat and acids to break down some of the components in the plant cell walls.
As the team from UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences reported in the July issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a strain of the wood-decaying Paenibacillus sp. bacteria named JDR-2 has a knack for breaking down and digesting one of these components, hemicelluloses.

That knack could help modify preprocessing steps for cost-effective production of ethanol.

“The acids, the heating — all of these steps you have to take beforehand are expensive, require a lot of work and, let’s face it, no one wants to work with sulfuric acid on that scale if you don’t have to,” said James Preston, the team leader and a professor in UF’s microbiology and cell science department.

“By engineering the bacteria already being used to produce ethanol to also process hemicelluloses the way this Paenibacillus does, you should be able to significantly simplify the process.”

Preston came across the bacteria a few years ago, as he was using decaying sweetgum trees to grow shiitake mushrooms on his tree farm in Micanopy, Fla. After studying the unusually uniform composition of the decaying wood, he and his colleagues went on to study the genetics of one of the bacteria digesting that wood.

The team has now mapped JDR-2’s genome, and Preston expects that, within the year, they will transfer genes behind JDR-2’s abilities to bacteria used to produce ethanol. This would be followed by the design of processes for the cost-effective production of ethanol from wood, agricultural residues and other potential energy crops.

The gene, which helps regulate wood growth and the composition of wood fiber, could also lead to improved tree varieties for pulp and paper.

Matias Kirst and Gary Peter, plant geneticists with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, lead the team. They received one of seven 2009 Plant Feedstock Genomics for Bioenergy grants — a program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

The grants, totaling $6.32 million, were announced this week. The UF team’s three-year, $643,000 grant will fund research on how the gene helps regulate cell wall chemistry and structure. The scientists will also investigate where and when its effects occur.

Eventually, they will create genetically engineered trees that overexpress or underexpress the gene, to study resulting changes in wood composition and biomass growth.

“We focus on understanding very fundamental biological mechanisms that may be critical for the productivity of tree species and the quality of wood products,” said Kirst, with UF’s School of Forest Resources and Conservation. “The gene cpg13 appears to play a critical role in these traits.”

Cpg13, which stands for Carbon Partitioning and Growth on chromosome 13, was identified by one of Kirst’s graduate students, Evandro Novaes. The gene was isolated in poplar trees but may exist in other species.

It appears cpg13 controls how much of the carbon taken up by a poplar tree is used to make cellulose and lignin, two major building blocks of plant cell walls.

Cellulose is a complex carbohydrate, which can be broken down into glucose and fermented to produce biofuels. Wood with high cellulose and low lignin content is better suited for biofuels such as ethanol, because it should convert more efficiently and with greater yields.

High cellulose content is also a desirable trait for producing pulp and paper.

What’s more, there’s apparently a link between high cellulose content and fast tree growth, Kirst said. It may be possible to engineer trees that not only produce large amounts of wood quickly, but also have the ideal properties for biofuel, as well as pulp and paper production.

However, there is a potential benefit to trees with high lignin content. Plant materials rich in lignin degrade slower than those with more cellulose. It may be possible to engineer high-lignin trees that could be used to store carbon and reduce greenhouse gases that cause global climate change.

Another possibility, Kirst said, would be to develop trees with high cellulose content in stems and high lignin content in roots, offering the best solution for mitigating greenhouse gases.

The team also published a paper in the June issue of New Phytologist demonstrating that nitrogen fertilizer has a significant effect on genes that regulate growth and wood composition in poplar trees.

One expert likened the UF paper to studies showing that the interplay between nutrition and genetics has consequences for human health.

Malcolm Campbell, a professor with the University of Toronto’s department of cell and systems biology, said scientists have often viewed improvement of tree crops as a matter of genetic selection, but the UF team’s work demonstrates that much can be changed in the wood composition by silvicultural practices.

“The way this will shape forestry for the future is quite cutting-edge,” Campbell said.

Smaller Cuban tree frogs would lay fewer eggs and be less likely to eat native frogs, said Steve Johnson, an assistant professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Cold weather may also shorten the frogs’ breeding season and life span.

The study, authored by Johnson and Monica McGarrity, a UF biological scientist, was published in the June issue of the journal Biological Invasions.

“This is a hint of a silver lining,” Johnson said. “We usually don’t discover things about invasive species where we say ‘hey, there’s a little bit of hope here.’ Usually it’s the other way around.”

The findings give wildlife managers and researchers in Southeastern states new reason to monitor local Cuban tree frog sightings and captures, he said. Further observation will confirm whether the frogs continue getting smaller as they spread north, and could provide valuable information to officials preparing for possible infestations.

The frogs were introduced to South Florida in the early 20th century, Johnson said. Today, they’re established in most of peninsular Florida, and individuals have been reported in Florida’s Panhandle, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, Maryland, Minnesota and Canada.

It’s unclear how far north the frogs could survive, but in extremely cold climates they would have to find warm places to ride out the winter, such as heated buildings, he said.

Though not dangerous to people, Cuban tree frogs pose a nuisance. They enter homes, secrete an irritating chemical from their skin, and trigger power outages by climbing into utilities equipment. They’re also suspected of depleting populations of native tree frogs.

“Cuban tree frogs are now the most commonly encountered tree frog in South Florida, at least in human-inhabited areas,” Johnson said. “It should be the native green tree frogs and squirrel tree frogs.”

In the study, Johnson and McGarrity measured the length of almost 350 Cuban tree frogs collected in Orange, Hillsborough and Alachua counties. Statistical analysis of these frogs showed that, on average, females were 53 millimeters (2.1 inches) long, males 43 mm (1.7 inches) long.

Prior studies showed Cuban tree frogs in South Florida’s Everglades National Park averaged 64 mm (2.5 inches) for females, 46 mm (1.8 inches) for males. Females from Cuba averaged 72 mm (2.8 inches), males 47 mm (1.8 inches).

“When we have these population values, that’s an average,” Johnson said. “There’s still going to be animals larger than average.”

The frogs can reach more than 120 mm (4.7 inches) long on their home turf, which includes Cuba, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands. Females grow bigger than males, and a very large one can produce more than 15,000 eggs per year. Large females are also more apt to eat native frogs.

Cuban tree frogs come in many colors, including white, yellow, green, gray and dark brown. Apart from sheer size, their distinguishing features are unusually large eyes and toe pads, and warty skin.

Despite the problems they cause in Florida, Cuban tree frogs are sold as pets, Johnson said. He cautions people who buy the amphibians to make sure they can’t escape, and to never turn them loose in the wild.

“The issue (of invasive animals in Florida) is huge, and I think the general public doesn’t realize how great a problem we have,” he said.

For more information, see Johnson’s publication “The Cuban Treefrog, (Osteopilus septentrionalis) in Florida,” at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/UW259.

Led by Florida Museum of Natural History vertebrate paleontologist Larisa DeSantis, researchers examined fossil teeth from mammals at two sites representing different climates in Florida: a glacial period about 1.9 million years ago and a warmer, interglacial period about 1.3 million years ago. The researchers found that interglacial warming resulted in dramatic changes to the diets of animal groups at both sites. The study appears in the June 3 issue of PLoS ONE.

“When people are modeling future mammal distributions, they’re assuming that the niches of mammals today are going to be the same in the future,” DeSantis said. “That’s a huge assumption.”

Co-author Robert Feranec, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the New York State Museum, said scientists cannot predict what species will do based on their current ecology.

“The study definitively shows that climate change has an effect on ecosystems and mammals, and that the responses are much more complex than we might think,” Feranec said.

The two sites in the study, both on Florida’s Gulf Coast, have been excavated quite extensively, DeSantis said. During glacial periods, lower sea levels nearly doubled Florida’s width, compared with interglacial periods. But because of Florida’s low latitude, no ice sheets were present during the glacial period. Despite the lack of glaciers in Florida, the two sites show dramatic ecological changes occurred between the two periods.

Both sites include some of the same animal groups, allowing DeSantis, Feranec and Bruce MacFadden, Florida Museum curator of vertebrate paleontology, to clarify how mammals and their environments responded to interglacial warming.

The research examined carbon and oxygen isotopes within tooth enamel to understand the diets of medium to large mammals, including pronghorn, deer, llamas, peccaries, tapirs, horses, mastodons, mammoths and gomphotheres, a group of extinct elephant-like animals.

Differences in how plants photosynthesize give them distinct carbon isotope ratios. For example, trees and shrubs process carbon dioxide differently than warm-season grasses, resulting in different carbon isotope ratios. These differences are incorporated in mammalian tooth enamel, allowing scientists to determine the diets of fossil mammals. Lower ratio values suggest a browsing diet (trees and shrubs) while a higher ratio suggests a grazing diet (grasses).

Animals at the glacial site were predominantly browsing on trees and shrubs, while some of those same animals at the warmer interglacial site became mixed feeders that also grazed on grasses. Increased consumption of grasses by mixed feeders and elephant-like mammals indicates Florida’s grasslands likely expanded during interglacial periods.

Tooth enamel locks in the chemical signatures of the plants and water an animal consumes, allowing paleontologists to understand the diets and associated climate of fossil specimens that are millions of years old. To find these signatures, researchers run samples of tooth enamel through a mass spectrometer.

DeSantis and her collaborators analyzed enamel samples from 115 fossil teeth. For two of the specimens she took serial samples, small samples that run perpendicular to the growth axis and give insight into how the diet and climate changed over a specific period of time.

“That’s one of the cool things about using mammal teeth,” she said. “We can actually look at how variable the climate was within a year, millions of years ago.”

The study highlights the importance of the fossil record in understanding long-term ecological responses to changes over time, DeSantis said. While ecological studies of modern impacts can cover only limited spans of time, “this study emphasizes the importance of using the fossil record to look at how mammals and other animals responded to climate change in the past, also helping us gain a better understanding of how they might respond in the future.”