Field Methods: I will sample salamanders at five locations within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Collections will take place during June 2015. D. quadramaculatus and D. marmoratus will be located by visually searching streams, stream edges, and beneath rocks within streams. All efforts will be made to minimize impact on the habitat. Each salamander found will be hand-captured and placed in a new, clean plastic bag with a small amount of water to keep their skin moist. Salamanders will then be measured with calipers for snout-vent length, tail length, and cranial length and width. An approximately 5 mm piece of tissue will be removed from the tail tip for use in genetic analyses. To minimize handling stress, salamander measurements and tissue collection will take place in the field, adjacent to capture sites, and salamanders will be released at their point of capture immediately afterwards.

Field Methods: Given the exploratory nature of this study, sampling will be conducted opportunistically for a maximum of five sites within the GSMNP. At each site, cankers will be identified and sampled for a maximum of five trees per tree species. At each site, the total number of trees sampled will be limited to fifteen trees to prevent excessive disturbance. For each sampled tree, a total of sixteen microsamples (~1 mm bark plugs) will be taken using a bone marrow biopsy tool, and four bark disks (~1 cm diameter) will be taken using a steel punch. These samples will be stored in a sealed sampling trays then placed in a gasket sealed Tupperware container to prevent introducing the collected samples to new areas. To adhere to and respect the management strategies of the GSMNP, all sites can occur within designated areas of the park known to have BBD if necessary.

These data were compiled to provide land-management relevant information on the native and nonnative subspecies (subsp.) of Phragmites australis (subsp. americanus and subsp. australis, respectively) in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (NRA), Grand Canyon National Park (NP), Arches National Park, and Bill Williams National Wildlife Refuge. Specifically, the goals of this work were to determine the extent and distribution of Phragmites australis subspecies in the Glen and Grand Canyon regions, evaluate if P.a. subsp. americanus can be reliably distinguished from P.a. subsp. australis using morphological characters in this region, and determine if P.a. subsp. americanus exhibits genetic structure in the study area. The objectives of our study were to determine how prevalent the nonnative Phragmites is in the study area and support native plant material development for restoration activities in Glen Canyon NRA and Grand Canyon NP. These data represent real-time PCR cycle threshold values (Ct scores) for two target regions, nuclear microsatellite data for seven loci, and morphological data. These data were collected for 84 sites including five nonnative Phragmites locations and 79 native Phragmites locations. Tissue samples were mostly collected along the Colorado River between Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Mead, around Lake Powell, and in tributaries to the Colorado River from 2021 through 2024. Tissue samples and herbarium collections were collected from one to fifteen ramets across each stand, where multiple samples from one stand were spread across its full area. Reference samples for both the native and nonnative Phragmites, Phragmites australis subsp. berlandieri, and a hybrid of P.a. australis and P.a. americanus were acquired and included in analyses. Samples were dried and total genomic DNA was extracted using Qiagen DNeasy Plant MiniKits. Real-time polymerase chain reactions (PCR) with two target regions, AMER and AMAU, were used to identify nonnative Phragmites individuals (Lindsay et al, 2023). We then amplified 7 microsatellite loci (Saltonstall, 2003; Meyerson and others, 2010) using PCR and analyzed the fragments on an ABI 3730XL Genetic Analyzer with GeneScan LIZ500 internal size standard. Although P. australis is polyploid, these loci all had no more than two alleles, so were treated as diploid data. We then collected field and lab data on morphological characters for the stands we genetically tested, following previously described diagnostic characters (Swearington and Saltonstall, 2012; McTavish et al, 2023) These data can be used to evaluate if a stand of Phragmites is nonnative, native, or a hybrid of the two. It can also be used to determine genetic diversity and structure across the sampled stands. Finally, they can be used to assess morphological variability in native Phragmites stands across the region.

Summary of proposed field methods and activities: Sampling Myriapods is a low-impact process. Collecting is done by turning over leaf piles with a millipede rake (see Means et al. 2015) to expose specimens at the soil-leaf interface. Rocks and logs are also rolled over to search for specimens. Leaf litter samples are sometimes taken and processed with a Berlese funnel to extract small-bodied individuals. After an area has been searched, logs and rocks are turned back over and leaves spread out to return the area to its pre-disturbed state. Numbers of Myriapods collected will range from 10-30 specimens, depending on quality of the habitat and success of the search. Both millipedes (Diplopoda) and centipedes (Chilopoda) will be collected, to contribute to related research on species groups by the Marek Lab. In the case of leaf litter samples, other incidental leaf litter arthropods including insects and spiders are collected as well, but not in numbers large enough to cause strains on the local populations.

Summary of proposed field methods and activities: Sampling Myriapods is a low-impact process. Collecting is done by turning over leaf piles with a millipede rake (see Means et al. 2015) to expose specimens at the soil-leaf interface. Rocks and logs are also rolled over to search for specimens. Leaf litter samples are sometimes taken and processed with a Berlese funnel to extract small-bodied individuals. After an area has been searched, logs and rocks are turned back over and leaves spread out to return the area to its pre-disturbed state. Numbers of Myriapods collected will range from 10-30 specimens, depending on quality of the habitat and success of the search. Both millipedes (Diplopoda) and centipedes (Chilopoda) will be collected, to contribute to related research on species groups by the Marek Lab. In the case of leaf litter samples, other incidental leaf litter arthropods including insects and spiders are collected as well, but not in numbers large enough to cause strains on the local populations.

"Vittaria appalachiana is a fern that grows on porous rock outcrops near streams throughout the Appalachian Mountains. This particular species, however, spends its entire lifecycle in the haploid (gametophyte) stage; it is the only fern to completely lack a known sporophyte population anywhere in the world. This species also has other confounding genetic traits as well. This species is a polyploid, with a chromosome count (n=120) twice what might be expected in relation to its closest relative (Gastony, 1977). The lack of a sporophyte in Vittaria appalachiana, along with its genetic disposition, suggests that it may have originated via an ancient hybridization event, with the subsequent extinction of its sporophyte generation. However, much remains unknown about the evolutionary history of this species. The proposed research aims to better elucidate the origin of Vittaria appalachiana and centers on three primary objectives: (1) to determine whether V. appalachiana is of hybrid origin (and if so, to determine the identity of the progenitors), or is representative of a divergent speciation event; (2) determine the mode of dispersal for V. appalachiana inferred from intraspecific genetic variation between populations; (3) attempt to estimate the date of hybridization or divergence for V. appalachiana. Hia results indicate that a hybrid origin is unlikely and that V. appalachiana was instead derived from within the V. graminifolia lineage."

PI aims to collect specimens of selected species of harvestmen/grand-daddy-long-legs (Opiliones) and centipedes (Chilopoda) to better understand their place in the arthropod tree of life. For almost two decades his laboratory has been working on the phylogenetic relationships of centipedes and harvestmen.

PI aims to collect specimens of selected species of harvestmen/grand-daddy-long-legs (Opiliones) and centipedes (Chilopoda) to better understand their place in the arthropod tree of life. For almost two decades his laboratory has been working on the phylogenetic relationships of centipedes and harvestmen.

This data release comprises a dataset that contains sample collection information and microsatellite genotypes, and another dataset that contains single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes with sample collection information for populations of white-tailed ptarmigan across the species' range. There is also an additional file (accession numbers.xlsx) linking samples to accession numbers in Genbank. This data was collected in order to address the following: The delineation of intraspecific units that are evolutionarily and demographically distinct is an important step in the development of species-specific management plans. Neutral genetic variation has served as the primary data source for delineating units for conservation, but with recent advances in genomic technology, we now have an unprecedented ability to utilize information about neutral and adaptive variation across the entire genome. Here, we use traditional genetic markers (microsatellites) and a newer reduced-representation genomic approach (single nucleotide polymorphisms) to delineate distinct groups of white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), an alpine-obligate species that is distributed in naturally fragmented habitats from Alaska to New Mexico.

This data release comprises a dataset that contains sample collection information and microsatellite genotypes, and another dataset that contains single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes with sample collection information for populations of white-tailed ptarmigan across the species' range. There is also an additional file (accession numbers.xlsx) linking samples to accession numbers in Genbank. This data was collected in order to address the following: The delineation of intraspecific units that are evolutionarily and demographically distinct is an important step in the development of species-specific management plans. Neutral genetic variation has served as the primary data source for delineating units for conservation, but with recent advances in genomic technology, we now have an unprecedented ability to utilize information about neutral and adaptive variation across the entire genome. Here, we use traditional genetic markers (microsatellites) and a newer reduced-representation genomic approach (single nucleotide polymorphisms) to delineate distinct groups of white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), an alpine-obligate species that is distributed in naturally fragmented habitats from Alaska to New Mexico.