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Making Juice from Elderberry Flowers
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Soils Plants and Invasion
Plants live in tight associations with microbes who colonize their roots and leaves and surrounding soil. Some microbes are harmful and cause disease while others are beneficial and aid in plant nutrient uptake, decomposition of organic materials, protection against pathogens, tolerance against drought and other stressors. Plants can influence microbial communities and vice versa with consequences for the growth of individual plants, the composition of plant communities, and entire ecosystems. In our work, we focus on three main aspects of plant-microbe interactions; 1) how they may aid or hinder plant invasions, 2) how their function changes across environmental gradients, and 3) how they may both cause and prevent disease in plants.On MPG Ranch, three highly invasive weeds of contrasting lie history strategies (cheatgrass, knapweed and leafy spurge) co-occur with remnants of native plant vegetation. Using both observational and experimental approaches, we seek to understand how these weeds alter microbial communities and how this influence invasive success, ecosystem properties and restoration. We also collaborate with researchers from across the world to learn if plant-microbe interactions differ between native and invasive ranges and how this correlates with evolutionary shifts in plant genomes and biogeographical distribution of plant associated microbes.
Outcomes of plant-soil microbe interactions depend on the particular plant and fungal species and surrounding environmental conditions. To explore this context-dependency, we use high-throughput sequencing and stable and radioactive isotopes in surveys and experiments to determine if the proportion of fungal guilds (mutualistic mycorrhizal fungi and potential pathogens) change with water and nutrient availability and how these changes relate to plant growth. Because most research occurs in single locations, the generality of findings across locations that differ in environmental conditions is often unknown. To address this, MPG Ranch is part of two global research collaborations, Nutrient Network (https://nutnet.org) and DroughtNet (www.drought-net.org). In these experiments, all researchers apply nutrients, remove herbivores, expose plants to drought, and record responses in both plant and microbial communities using the same protocols, which allow for direct comparisons across sites.
The invasive fungal pathogen, Cronartium ribicola, causes the disease commonly known as blister rust in all nine white pine species native to the United States. As one of the only labs in the world to grow C. ribicola in culture, we perform tests of pathogen metabolism when exposed to compounds produced by other fungi found in white pine needles. Greenhouse experiments inoculating trees with these fungi, as well as beneficial ectomycorrhizal fungi, explore how we can improve tree growth and disease resistance. We also use isotopes and controlled field experiments to determine how blue-stain fungi carried by bark beetles can influence wood decomposition in forest ecosystems. As warming climates increase the frequency of bark beetle outbreaks worldwide, this research will help to better estimate future forest carbon storage and release.
It is that time of year again. The mosquitos are back on the floodplain, and so are the flowers on the elderberry plants (Sambucus cerulea). A couple of days ago, I picked as many clusters as I could manage before the mosquito bites became intolerable. We made jam of the berries last fall, but I must admit that the juice from the flowers is my favorite. It is very popular in Europe, especially Scandinavia and Central Europe, but it has yet to be discovered and appreciated in the United States. While the elderberry plant has a number of medicinal properties and may alleviate allergies and improve respiratory health, it is the unique taste that draws me.
Elderflowers on the floodplain on MPG Ranch. Photo: Jeff Clarke
Making the juice, or cordial as it is called, is easy. Because the stems and leaves are toxic, most of those parts should be removed before infusing the flowers in syrup. I highly recommend adding a pinch of citric acid and a couple of cut lemons for flavor and tartness. After a couple of days in the refrigerator, this concentrate can be mixed with water to quench the thirst, or added to gin for a tasty martini. Regardless of which, I store it frozen until I need to be reminded of summer during the long winters of Montana.
Our two interns Mariana Satterly and Tanner Humphries enjoying (non-alcoholic!) elderflower juice. Photo: Ylva Lekberg
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About the AuthorYlva Lekberg
Ylva graduated from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences with a M.Sc. in Biology and Horticulture in 1996 and a Ph.D. in Ecology from Penn State University in 2004. She received the Alumni Association Dissertation Award for her work in agroecology and subsistence farming in Sub-Saharan Africa. Post-doctoral positions at Montana State University and later at Copenhagen University as a Marie Curie Fellow allowed her to explore the role of arbuscular mycorrhiza, a root-fungus symbiosis, for geothermal plants in Yellowstone National Park and coastal grasslands in Denmark. Her research has been published in international journals such as Nature Communications, Ecology Letters, and New Phytologist.
Ylva joined MPG Ranch in 2010. Since then, she has explored how invasive plants common to western Montana, including spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe), leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), influence soil microbial community composition and function, and how this in turn may affect invasive success. A lot of her research also focuses on the AM symbiosis in terms of community ecology and physiology. A current project addresses how exchange ratios in this symbiosis may differ among co-occurring plants and depend on soil nutrient availabilities. She uses surveys, field and greenhouse experiments, and literature approaches such as meta-analyses to address questions. To learn more about research and publications from Ylva and her group, see CV below and the Soils, Plants and Invasion section.
In addition to her work at MPG Ranch, Ylva is an adjunct professor at University of Montana at the Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences.
Ylva joined MPG Ranch in 2010. Since then, she has explored how invasive plants common to western Montana, including spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe), leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), influence soil microbial community composition and function, and how this in turn may affect invasive success. A lot of her research also focuses on the AM symbiosis in terms of community ecology and physiology. A current project addresses how exchange ratios in this symbiosis may differ among co-occurring plants and depend on soil nutrient availabilities. She uses surveys, field and greenhouse experiments, and literature approaches such as meta-analyses to address questions. To learn more about research and publications from Ylva and her group, see CV below and the Soils, Plants and Invasion section.
In addition to her work at MPG Ranch, Ylva is an adjunct professor at University of Montana at the Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences.