Authors: Jessica Crook, Brooke Parker, Michael C Rotter
Mentors: Michael C Rotter
Insitution: Utah Valley University
Fremont cottonwoods are a foundation species throughout the Wasatch front. Cottonwoods face a competitive threat from the invasive tamarisk, which grows very easily in the same habitats. Tamarisk can have a negative impact on cottonwoods, displacing them. The loss of cottonwoods could have negative impacts on ecosystems. This study will examine phytochemical compounds in cottonwoods, and how they are affected by growing in competition with tamarisk. We hypothesize that cottonwoods growing in competition with non-native tamarisk will be stressed and produce higher levels of phytochemical compounds. To test our hypothesis, cottonwoods were grown in pots from cuttings either in competition with a tamarisk cutting, or alone. We then tested total phenolics using a ferric chloride solution, and tannin content using a radial diffusion method. It’s predicted that due to the stress of competition, cottonwoods that grew with tamarisk will have higher overall phenolics and tannins than cottonwoods that were grown on their own.
The results of this trial could be important in influencing beaver foraging patterns. Since beavers prefer trees with elevated levels of phenolics and other phytochemicals, this could imply an important mechanism allowing tamarisk to invade an area by stressing cottonwoods and encouraging beaver foraging on these plants.