Date of Award

2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Dr. Rebecca Drenovsky

Abstract

Seeding practices are an important tool for land managers to restore habitats following disturbances, but large-scale seeding efforts often fail. One option is to bioprime seeds with native microorganisms such as cyanobacteria. However, biopriming studies have yet to be conducted in American deserts, and only one previous study compared the effects of heterocystous and non-heterocystous cyanobacteria biopriming. The objective of my work was to evaluate the effects of seed biopriming on plant growth of Mojave Desert plant species and comparing the effect ofN-fixing and non N-fixing cyanobacteria. One heterocystous taxon (Kalymmatonema desertorum) and one non-heterocystous taxon (Microcoleus sp.) isolated from Mojave Desert biocrusts were used as biopriming inocula for three plant species commonly used in Mojave Desert restoration (Lupinus sparsiflorus, Lepidium fremontii, and Stanleya pinnata ).

Following biopriming, I evaluated its effects on plant traits during germination, emergence, and later plant establishment in a greenhouse setting. Most plant traits were unaffected by biopriming, although some traits important for plant recruitment showed positive or negative responses to biopriming in specific plant species (e.g., radicle length increased in Lepidium fremontii when bioprimed with K. desertorum but decreased in Stanleya pinnata when bioprimed with Microcoleus sp.). Additionally, I did not detect a biopriming effect in later plant stages except for root diameter. My data suggests that biopriming has species-specific responses, which should be considered ifbiopriming seeds for restoration efforts.

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