Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #160125
Title: MOLECULAR FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY: IDENTIFICATION OF PLANTS FROM EXTRACT SOLUTIONS

Author
item RAYSON, G - NEW MEXICO STATE UNIV
item DANIELSON, T - NEW MEXICO STATE UNIV
item Anderson, Dean
item Estell, Richard - Rick
item Frederickson, Eddie
item Havstad, Kris

Submitted to: Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies Final Program
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/15/2003
Publication Date: 10/19/2003
Citation: RAYSON, G., DANIELSON, T., ANDERSON, D.M., ESTELL, R.E., FREDRICKSON, E.L., HAVSTAD, K.M. MOLECULAR FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY: IDENTIFICATION OF PLANTS FROM EXTRACT SOLUTIONS. 30TH ANNUAL MEETING, FEDERATION OF ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY AND SPECTROSCOPY SOCIETIES. 2003. ABSTRACT P. 124.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The determination of plant species included in the diets of free-ranging animals is of significant importance. Applications of such information range from monitoring domestic animals to providing data for land-use policy decisions. Current methodologies are both time and labor intensive and are dependent on the visual acuity of the analyst (e.g., microhistological analysis of post-digestive samples). Efforts have been undertaken to develop a rapid, objective technique for elucidation of diet compositions using fluorescence measurements of extracts in buffered saline. Unique fluorescence spectral signatures for each of six common forage plants found in the rangelands of the northern Chihuahuan Desert have been recorded and evaluated for the identification of those species. The results of that study will be presented with an appropriate statistical analysis of those data. The feasibility of the use of fluorescence signatures for the elucidation of animal diets will be discussed.