Scholarworks

ScholarWorks is an open access repository for the capture of the intellectual work of Montana State University (MSU) in support of its teaching, research and service missions. MSU ScholarWorks is a central point of discovery for accessing, collecting, sharing, preserving, and distributing knowledge to the Montana State University community and the world.

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Genetic gains from 60 years of spring wheat breeding in the Northern Plains of the United States
(Wiley, 2025-07) Gill, Harsimardeep S.; Blecha, Sarah; Brault, Charlotte; Glover, Karl D.; Green, Andrew; Cook, Jason P.; Lorenz, Aaron J.; Read, Andrew C.; Anderson, James A.
Evaluating genetic gains over time is essential for assessing the success of breeding programs and refining strategies for ongoing improvement. Hard red spring (HRS) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an important class of wheat in the United States and is primarily grown in the Northern Great Plains. Despite a long history of breeding efforts in this region, long-term quantification of genetic gains for key traits has remained limited. This study analyzes over 60 years of data from the United States Department of Agriculture-coordinated Hard Red Spring Wheat Uniform Regional Nursery to evaluate genetic improvement in agronomic traits across multiple phases. A significant positive genetic gain of 0.61% per annum was observed for grain yield in HRS wheat released in the Northern plains over the past six decades, which is lower than the expected gains needed to meet future wheat demand. The change was 0.07% for test weight, −0.04% for days to heading, and −0.16% for plant height. Notably, sustained yield improvements have not affected grain protein levels since they were first measured in 1995, indicating that ongoing selection has effectively balanced grain yield and protein despite their negative correlation (r = −0.31). Assessment of genetic gains over 20-year phases suggested slowing rates of genetic gains for grain yield but did not indicate any plateaus. The realized genetic gains were generally higher for individual breeding programs when breeding for target environments, with the public breeding program in Minnesota observing annual gains of approximately 1%. These findings highlight the significant impact of long-term breeding efforts, underscore the importance of regional public breeding programs, and offer valuable insights for refining future breeding strategies.
Soil health responses to cover crop functional group and richness in semiarid Montana
(Wiley, 2025-03) Jones, Clain; Zabinski, Catherine A.; Miller, Perry R.; D'Agati, Kristen; Tallman, Susan M.; Housman, Megan L.
Despite a plethora of studies on the effects of cover crops on soil health, few published papers have reported the effects of plant functional group and richness on soil health, especially in semiarid regions. We initiated a no-till study in semiarid Montana in 2012 that consisted of Pea (Pisum sativum L.), four two-spp single functional groups (Brassica, Fibrous-rooted, Legumes, and Tap-rooted), four three-functional group mixes, a four-functional group mix (Full), and a summer fallow control (Fallow). Cover crops were terminated with herbicide when pea was at first flower stage, and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was grown after each cover crop at three nitrogen (N) rates. After four cover crop cycles, soil in both Pea and Full had greater soil organic carbon (SOC), soil total nitrogen (STN), and potentially mineralizable nitrogen (PMN) than Fallow, but Pea, Full, and Fallow treatments did not differ in infiltration rate, penetration resistance, or soil enzyme activity. There were few differences in soil health parameters between Pea and Full, and among functional groups. Soil in the three-functional group treatments had 20%–35% greater PMN than in the one-functional group treatments (p < 0.05), yet SOC and STN were not affected by functional richness. Nitrogen rate did not affect SOC, STN, or PMN. Concentrations of SOC were weakly related (R2 = 0.05–0.14, p < 0.05) with 7-year aboveground biomass returned, suggesting practices that increase residue amounts might be more important to SOC and other soil health parameters than functional group or richness.
Predicting pup‐rearing habitat for Mexican wolves
(Wiley, 2025-03) Bassing, Sarah B.; Oakleaf, John K.; Cain, James W.; Greenleaf, Allison R.; Gardner, Colby; Ausband, David E.
Population monitoring is essential to document recovery efforts for threatened and endangered species. Mexican wolves (Canis lupus baileyi) are an endangered subspecies of gray wolves that historically occupied large portions of the American Southwest and Mexico. Recently, the Mexican wolf population in the United States has been growing rapidly and traditional approaches for population monitoring (e.g., capture and radio collaring) are becoming difficult and expensive as wolves expand into new areas. We developed predictive models of pup-rearing habitat (i.e., den and rendezvous sites) that could help guide future population monitoring efforts. We located 255 den sites and 129 rendezvous sites in Arizona and New Mexico, USA (1998–2023) using tracking collars and site visits. We sampled habitat conditions in wolf-occupied regions of Arizona and New Mexico and fit logistic regressions to these data following a use–available study design to estimate resource selection functions (RSF) for den and rendezvous sites. We hypothesized wolves would select areas that offered greater physical protection, lower human-disturbance, and access to reliable water sources for pup-rearing but that the relative importance of these features would differ between the denning and rendezvous site seasons. Mexican wolves selected den sites at higher elevations in steeper and rougher terrain that were closer to permanent waterbodies but farther from rural roads. Selection of rendezvous sites was also associated with higher elevations and proximity to waterbodies but varied with availability of green leaf biomass on the landscape. While still highly predictive, our rendezvous site model was less predictive than our den model (Spearman's correlation averaged 0.81 [SE = 0.05] vs. 0.90 [SE = 0.03], respectively), possibly because water and green leaf biomass are more spatially diffuse and variable because of monsoonal rains during the rendezvous site season. Our results suggest that terrain features associated with physical protection and access to reliable water were most important in characterizing suitable pup-rearing habitat for Mexican wolves. By predicting suitable den and rendezvous site habitat across portions of the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area, our models can help guide future population monitoring by reducing the total search area when surveying for wolves and increase the probability of detecting all members of a pack.
CHILES. VIII. Probing the Evolution of Average H I Content in Star-forming Galaxies over the Past 5 Gyr
(American Astronomical Society, 2025-05) Luber, Nicholas; Pisano, D. J.; vn Gorkom, J. H.; Blue Bird, Julie; Dodson, Richard; Gim, Hansung B.; Hess, Kelley M.; Hunt, Lucas; Lucero, D. M.; Meyer, M.; Momjian, Emmanuel; Yun, Min S.
Utilizing the COSMOS H I Large Extragalactic Survey (CHILES) data set, we investigate the evolution of the average atomic neutral hydrogen (H I) properties of galaxies over the continuous redshift range 0.09 < z < 0.47. First, we introduce a simple multistep, multiscale imaging and continuum subtraction process that we apply to each observing session. These sessions are then averaged onto a common uv-grid and run through a Fourier filtering artifact mitigation technique. We then demonstrate how this process results in science quality data products by comparing to the expected noise and image-cube kurtosis. This work offers the first-look description and scientific analysis after the processing of the entire CHILES database. These data are used to measure the average H I mass in four redshift bins, out to a redshift 0.47, by separately stacking blue cloud (near-UV, NUV-r = −1 to 3) and red sequence (NUV-r = 3–6) galaxies. We find little-to-no change in gas fraction for the total ensemble of blue galaxies and make no detection for red galaxies. Additionally, we split up our sample of blue galaxies into an intermediate stellar mass bin (M* = 109−10Me) and a high stellar mass bin (M* = 1010−12.5Me). We find that in the high-mass bin galaxies are becoming increasingly H I poor with decreasing redshift, while the intermediate- mass galaxies maintain a constant H I gas mass. We place these results in the context of the star-forming main sequence of galaxies and hypothesize about the different mechanisms responsible for their different evolutionary tracks.
Community-engaged dissemination and implementation of an evidence-based health promotion intervention for Native American families: “Delivery of Turtle Island Tales to promote family wellness” protocol
(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2025-11) Tomayko, Emily J.; Adams, Alexandra; Warne, Teresa; Merle, James L.; Estabrooks, Paul A.
Background. Native American communities possess a wide range of assets that can contribute to reducing persistent inequities in food insecurity, obesity, cancer, chronic disease, and other related outcomes. Community engaged dissemination and implementation (CEDI) strategies that emphasize available, relevant, and generalizable evidence as well as community strengths and assets are well aligned to improve health outcomes with these communities. Methods. “Delivery of Turtle Island Tales to Promote Family Wellness” applies a culturally grounded, evidence-based intervention for obesity prevention through partnership with local organizations (e.g., Cooperative Extension/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education [SNAP-Ed]) to understand and enhance community capacity for sustained health promotion. A descriptive case study design applies bundled CEDI strategies (e.g., participatory Project Steering Committee; site-specific Community Implementation Teams) guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance Framework to examine implementation across multiple communities. CEDI strategies will be tracked longitudinally, by community, to document iterative identification of locally specific and project general CEDI strategies as they relate to program reach, adoption, adaptation, implementation, and maintenance using mixed methods approaches (e.g., validated surveys, focus groups, interviews). An economic assessment of Turtle Island Tales also will be conducted. Discussion. This study applies innovative CEDI science to the equitable implementation of Turtle Island Tales, one of the only family-centered, home-based, evidence-based obesity prevention intervention developed for and with Native American communities. Key innovations include a mailed intervention model and culturally specific strategies that honor local community assets to support the program’s relevance, scalability, and long-term sustainability.