{"id":19119,"date":"2017-10-16T13:12:08","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T17:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=19119"},"modified":"2017-12-01T16:11:29","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T21:11:29","slug":"utc-professor-leads-team-study-makes-plants-common-plants-rare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2017\/10\/utc-professor-leads-team-study-makes-plants-common-plants-rare\/","title":{"rendered":"UTC professor leads team to study what makes some plants common, some plants rare"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_19126\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"298\" data-attachment-id=\"19126\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2017\/10\/utc-professor-leads-team-study-makes-plants-common-plants-rare\/common\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Common.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"800,795\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Common\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Common.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-19126\" src=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Common-300x298.jpg\" alt=\"\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\"style=\"max-width: 100%;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Common-300x298.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Common-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Common-768x763.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Common-580x576.jpg 580w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Common-610x606.jpg 610w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Common-201x200.jpg 201w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Common-403x400.jpg 403w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Common.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The white fringeless orchid\u2014platathera\u2014is a rare species.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_19125\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"277\" data-attachment-id=\"19125\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2017\/10\/utc-professor-leads-team-study-makes-plants-common-plants-rare\/rare\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Rare.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"800,739\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Rare\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Rare.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-19125\" src=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Rare-300x277.jpg\" alt=\"\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\"style=\"max-width: 100%;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Rare-300x277.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Rare-768x709.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Rare-580x536.jpg 580w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Rare-610x563.jpg 610w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Rare-217x200.jpg 217w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Rare-433x400.jpg 433w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Rare.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The yellow fringed orchid\u2014platanthera cristata\u2014is a common species.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>One plant over here. Lots of them, spread out all over the place.<\/p>\n<p>Another plant over here. Cousin to the one over there. Very few of them. In fact, very few of them anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n<p>So what\u2019s up?<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what Dr. Jennifer Boyd and researchers from four other universities are trying to find out through a $1.1 million grant the group recently received from the National Science Foundation. The research team\u2014which includes faculty from Austin Peay University, the University of Georgia, Seton Hill University and Oxford University in England\u2014will spend the next four years, perhaps more, studying the phenomenon, hoping to come up with answers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a chicken-and-the-egg argument,\u201d says Boyd, an associate professor of biology at UTC. \u201cYou have these rare species and they\u2019re found in these very small populations usually, just a few individuals here or a few individuals there. If you only have a few individuals you\u2019re probably not going to have a lot of genetic diversity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre they rare because they don\u2019 t have genetic diversity or do they not have genetic diversity because they\u2019re rare?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For its end of the research, UTC received about $500,000 of the grant, says Boyd, who originally proposed the study. The money also will pay for three undergraduate and two graduate students to participate in the research each year, she says.<\/p>\n<p>While Boyd is an ecological physiologist who will examine the plant\u2019s physical attributes as part of the study, the three U.S. researchers\u2014all women\u2014are geneticists who\u2019ll look down to the DNA level. The man at Oxford is a mathematician.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s going to try to build equations that predict whether a species will be rare or common based on its ability to adapt and acclimate,\u201d Boyd says. \u201cYou could take a species, study its genetic diversity or do some acclimation work with it, then predict from that what would we expect to be happening in the real world.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19121\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"244\" height=\"300\" data-attachment-id=\"19121\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2017\/10\/utc-professor-leads-team-study-makes-plants-common-plants-rare\/boyd\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Boyd.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"800,984\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Boyd\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Boyd.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-19121 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Boyd-244x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\"style=\"max-width: 100%;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Boyd-244x300.jpg 244w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Boyd-768x945.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Boyd-580x713.jpg 580w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Boyd-610x750.jpg 610w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Boyd-163x200.jpg 163w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Boyd-325x400.jpg 325w, https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/10\/Boyd.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 244px) 100vw, 244px\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Jennifer Boyd<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The team is studying six different plants, two of each kind, one rare, one common. For instance, the white fringeless orchid is rare while its brethren, the yellow fringed orchid, is common. Each species is on the endangered list or has recently been removed from it. The plants will be grown in UTC growth chambers then sent to the other researchers, Boyd says.<\/p>\n<p>The major focus of the study is the plants\u2019 ability for \u201cadaptation\u201d and \u201cacclimation,\u201d she says. Adaptation is the evolution of each plant, has it been in its environment long enough for its DNA to actually change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo adapt you need to have genes somewhere in your population that are going to make you fit (in the environment) and you\u2019re going to pass it on,\u201d Boyd says. \u201cMaybe rare species can\u2019t adapt very well. Maybe their gene pool is very limited. \u2026 You might not be able to adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Acclimation, meanwhile, is a plant\u2019s ability to basically get used to its environment; can it adjust to changes in its environment?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlants tend to have a pretty high ability to adjust because they can\u2019t get up and move if conditions get bad,\u201d Boyd explains. \u201cThey have to be able to kind of sit and take whatever comes at them. My thinking, from what I do, is that maybe rare species don\u2019t have that ability to adjust like more common species do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The study is not just a hey-let\u2019s-research-this-for-fun pursuit. Learning why some plants are rare and some in the same species is common will help with the conservation of plants in general. If you know a certain plant likes a lot of sun and dry soil while its cousin wants shade and moisture, you can make sure both that, out in the wild, both plants are getting what they need to thrive.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, plants often play a critical role in their personal environment. A plant may be the food source for an insect that is the food source for a mouse that is the food source for a snake. Etc., etc., etc.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t know what role each of these species plays in the environment. We call it the \u2018cascading effect,\u2019\u201d Boyd says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With a $1.1 million grant, UTC&#8217;s Dr. Jennifer Boyd and researchers from four other universities will try to learn why certain plants do well in particular environments while plants in the same genus\u2014their &#8220;cousins,&#8221; so to speak\u2014are very rare.<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><span><a class=\"more-link button text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2017\/10\/utc-professor-leads-team-study-makes-plants-common-plants-rare\/\"><span>Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1105,"featured_media":19125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19119","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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