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Dr.
Mark W. Bierner
Director,
Boyce Thompson Arboretum
Professor,
Office of Arid Lands Studies
Professor,
Department of Plant Sciences
37615 US Highway 60
Superior, AZ 85273
Phone: (520) 689-2723
Email: bierner@ag.arizona.edu
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Visit
these web-sites to learn more about Boyce Thompson Arboretum and
the Desert Legume Program
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| Background
and Interests |
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| Mark
Bierner received his B.A. in Botany and Ph.D. in Systematic Botany
from the University of Texas at Austin. His rather diverse career
has included 19 years in academics and 17 years in the for-profit
and not-for-profit worlds. In chronological order, he was Assistant
then Associate Professor of Botany at the University of Tennessee
at Knoxville, Director of Production at Bierner & Son, Inc., in
Dallas, Texas, Scientific Editor at St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, Executive Director of Wild Basin Wilderness
Preserve in Austin, Texas, Lecturer at Texas State University in San
Marcos, Systematist and Associate Director of Research at Biosphere
2 in Oracle, Arizona, Executive Director of Marie Selby Botanical
Gardens in Sarasota, Florida, and Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Associate
Director of the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
at The University of Texas at Austin. In August of 2005 he came to
the University of Arizona as Director of Boyce Thompson Arboretum
(located in Superior, Arizona) with a tenured appointment as Professor
of Arid Lands Studies and an adjunct appointment as Professor of Plant
Sciences at the main campus in Tucson.
Dr.
Bierner’s community involvement includes service on various
committees and not-for-profit Boards in Austin, Texas, and Sarasota,
Florida. Courses he has taught include Introductory Biology, Introductory
Botany, Native Plants, Local Flora, Cell Biology, Evolution and
Genetics, Genetics, Systematic Botany, Biochemical Systematics,
and Special Topics in Systematics. He also introduced a new course
at The University of Texas entitled Plants, Environment, and Human
Affairs, which he taught at the main campus in Austin and also in
Sevilla, Spain. Dr. Bierner is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the International
Association for Plant Taxonomy, the American Society of Plant Taxonomists,
the Botanical Society of America, the Phytochemical Society of North
America, the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society, and the California
Botanical Society. He has received thirty-three grants from federal,
state, and local agencies, foundations, universities, and businesses
totaling approximately $1,220,000, two Favorite Professor Teaching
Awards from Texas State University, and a Natural Sciences Council
Faculty Service Award from The University of Texas.
Dr.
Bierner’s research focuses on phylogenetic and systematic
studies of flowering plants, in particular members of subtribes
Gaillardiinae and Tetraneurinae of the sunflower family, Asteraceae.
Dr. Bierner uses data from morphologic, cytologic and molecular
studies to define the taxonomic units within these subtribes (i.e.,
genera, subgenera, sections, subsections, species, subspecies, varieties)
and to better understand their evolutionary histories and present-day
relationships. He is currently working on treatments of several
genera for the Jepson Manual of Plants of California.
As
Director of Boyce Thomson Arboretum, Dr. Bierner is looking for
ways to further the institution’s mission of instilling in
people an appreciation of plants through the fostering of educational,
recreational, research and conservation opportunities associated
with arid land plants. The many objectives on his long-range agenda
include ones that will enhance the Arboretum’s reputation
as a research institution. The first project will be a major botanical
treatment entitled Legumes of Arizona – An Illustrated Flora
and Reference, a natural for the Arboretum and the Desert Legume
Program at the University of Arizona, which is managed by the Arboretum.
The
legume family, Fabaceae or Leguminosae, is one of the most economically
and agriculturally important plant families in the world. It is
the third largest family of flowering plants, and it is second only
to the grass family, Poaceae, in importance to humans. From protein-rich
food plants such as peanuts, soy beans, lentils, peas, and beans,
to forage plants such as medics and clovers, to medicinal/herbal
plants such as sennas and vetches, to ornamental plants such as
redbuds and wisterias, to poisonous plants such as locoweeds and
crazyweeds, to the many species that host nitrogen-fixing bacteria
in their roots, the legume family impacts almost every aspect of
human existence. And yet, there is no comprehensive reference to
these plants for the United States in general or the State of Arizona
in particular.
Problems
associated with arid lands habitation and arid lands agriculture
are increasing at an alarming rate, and solutions are needed now.
Many species of Fabaceae are native to arid lands, making them ideal
for the agricultural industry of the water-challenged southwestern
United States. As the population of Arizona continues to increase
and water issues become more and more critical, plants adapted to
desert conditions will become increasingly important to the economy
of Arizona. With a comprehensive reference available, it will be
possible to make more informed decisions about which legume species
have significant potential for arid lands use and production.
Legumes
of Arizona – An Illustrated Flora and Reference will serve
the needs of many groups including, but not limited to, farmers,
horticulturists, landscapers, homeowners, botanists, herbalists,
pharmacognosists, and a wide variety of plant researchers. As we
search for new food crops, native plants for the horticulture industry,
medicinally useful plants, plant oils and fibers, and even new technologies
for fixing atmospheric nitrogen, this legume flora and reference
will serve as an invaluable resource. It can, in fact, become a
guide for informed selection of legume plants with the greatest
potential for success in the desired endeavor, from agriculture
to the search for new drugs.
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| Publications |
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| Bierner,
M.W., J.G. Díaz, B. Barba, and W. Herz. 1992. Tetraneuris
linearifolia var. arenicola (Asteraceae: Heliantheae):
a new variety from South Texas. Sida 15:231-239.
Díaz, J.G., B. Barba, W.
Herz, and M.W. Bierner. 1992. Sesquiterpene lactones
and monoterpene glucopyranosides of Tetraneuris linearifolia
var. arenicola. Phytochemistry 31: 3471-3477.
Bierner, M.W. 1993.
Hymenoxys jamesii (Asteraceae: Heliantheae): a new species
from Arizona. Madroño 40:38-46.
Bierner, M.W. 1994.
Submersion of Dugaldia Cass. and Plummera A. Gray
in Hymenoxys Cass. (Asteraceae: Heliantheae: Gaillardiinae).
Sida 16:1-8.
Bierner, M.W. 1994.
Pectolinarigenin from Dugaldia pinetorum (Standl.) Bierner.
Biochem. Syst. and Ecol. 22:109-110.
Ferracini, V.L., F. Gao, M.W.
Bierner, and T.J. Mabry. 1994. Sesquiterpene lactones and
one flavonoid from Hymenoxys scaposa (DC.) K. Parker var.
linearis (Nutt.) K. Parker. Biochem. Syst. and Ecol. 22:111-112.
Spring, O., B. Zitterell-Haid, M.W.
Bierner, and T.J. Mabry. 1994. Chemistry of glandular trichomes
in Hymenoxys and related genera. Biochem. Syst. and Ecol.
22:171-195.
Ahmed, A.A., M.A. El-Ela, N.S. Hussein,
T.J. Mabry, and M.W. Bierner. 1995. Sesquiterpene
lactones from Hymenoxys rusbyi (Asteraceae). Biochem. Syst.
and Ecol. 23:333-334.
Kim, J.H., S.J. Lee, Q. Lin, M.W.
Bierner, and T.J. Mabry. 1996. Sesquiterpene lactones from
Hymenoxys brachyactis Wooton and Standley (Asteraceae).
Biochem. Syst. and Ecol. 24:795-798.
Bierner, M.W. and
R.K. Jansen. 1998. Systematic implications of DNA restriction site
variation in Hymenoxys and Tetraneuris (Asteraceae,
Helenieae, Gaillardiinae). Lundellia 1:17-26.
Bierner, M.W. 2001.
Taxonomy of Hymenoxys subgenus Picradenia and a conspectus
of the subgenera of Hymenoxys (Asteraceae: Helenieae: Tetraneurinae).
Lundellia 4:37-63.
Ahmed, A.A., Y.M. Ahmed, O. Spring,
M.W. Bierner, and T.J. Mabry. 2002. Sesquiterpene
lactones and flavonoides from Hymenoxys jamesii (Asteraceae)
and their systematic significance. Biochem. Syst. and Ecol. 30:487-491.
Bierner, M.W. and
B.L. Turner. 2003. Taxonomy of Tetraneuris (Asteraceae:
Helenieae: Tetraneurinae). Lundellia 6:44-96.
Bierner, M.W. 2004.
Taxonomy of Hymenoxys subgenus Macdougalia (Asteraceae:
Helenieae: Tetraneurinae). Sida 21:657-663.
Bierner, M.W. 2005.
Taxononomy of Hymenoxys subgenus Rydbergia (Asteraceae:
Helenieae: Tetraneurinae). Lundellia 8:28-37.
Bierner, M.W. 2006. Amblyolepis, Helenium,
and Hymenoxys (including Dugaldia, Macdougalia, Philiozera,
Picradenia, Plummera, and Rydbergia). Flora of
North America 21:420-421; 426-443. Oxford University Press, New
York.
Bierner,
M.W. and B.L. Turner. 2006. Tetraneuris. Flora
of North America 21:447-453. Oxford University Press, New York.
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