Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Esiobu, Nwadiuto

Abstract

Emerging insights on the role of microbiomes in the sustainability of ecosystems and plant cover are transforming knowledge-driven agro-environmental management practices. For more than a century, the Brazilian pepper tree -BP (Schinus terebinthifolius), a category 1 invasive plant in Florida has defied numerous conventional control measures directed at its well-known ecology. This dissertation is one of the pioneer studies designed to determine whether microorganisms play a role in the aggressive invasion of BP in Florida and examine potential mechanisms with the goal of creating supplemental restoration tools. To test the hypothesis that enhanced mutualism of Brazilian pepper tree with microbes, compounded by relatively low biotic resistance of Florida soils is a critical driver of its invasion, plant biomass indices, metagenomics analysis of microbial community shifts, electron microscopy of endomycorrhizal infection and qPCR of key rhizobacterial taxa were measured. A multifactorial grow-room experiment was conducted simulating invasion with BP and two Florida natives (Pinus elliottii and Bidens alba) in a sterile, bioinoculant supplemented, and non-sterile control soils with various plant combinations.

Extent

148 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2022.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00014017

Format

pdf

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