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Animal Husbandry In The 21st Century: Application Of Ecological Theory And Precision Technology To Inform Understanding Of Modern Grazing Systems, Ira Lloyd Parsons

Theses and Dissertations

Ruminant animals comprise the greatest proportion of herbivores around the world, provide essential ecosystem services and human consumable protein by consuming grass and human inedible dietary fiber. Herbivory pressure alters plant communities and species diversity, effectively making grazing animals ecosystem engineers in dynamic ecosystems. Development of advanced computer processing power coupled with biometric and ecosystem sensors may be employed in the internet of things framework to create an integrated information system designed to inform understanding of grazing system function and animal energy balance. Towards this end, I utilized Bos indicus / Bos taurus crossbred steers (n = 20) across two …

Computer-Based Forage Management Tools: Historical, Current, And Future Applications, David B. Hannaway, C. Daly, D. F. Chapman, B. B. Baker, A. S. Cooper

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Forage management has been an important human activity since the beginning of civilization. By comparison, the personal computer has been available only in the immediate past. The software developed to deal with the complexity of climate, soil, plant, animal, and socioeconomic factors has seen huge changes in a few decades. Mainframe computers facilitated numerical calculations for exploring relationships among dozens of variables. Personal computers opened the door for more individual scientist creativity and routine communication. Web-based communication globalised the option for multidisciplinary teams to tackle problems. Forage-related computer applications abound, allowing farmers, ranchers, and others to more effectively manage the …

Next-Generation Technologies Unlock New Possibilities To Track Rangeland Productivity And Quantify Multi-Scale Conservation Outcomes, Caleb P. Roberts, David E. Naugle, Brady W. Allred, Victoria M. Donovan, Dillon T. Fogarty, Matthew O. Jones, Jeremy D. Maestas, Andrew C. Olsen, Dirac L. Twidwell Jr

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Historically, relying on plot-level inventories impeded our ability to quantify large-scale change in plant biomass, a key indicator of conservation practice outcomes in rangeland systems. Recent technological advances enable assessment at scales appropriate to inform management by providing spatially comprehensive estimates of productivity that are partitioned by plant functional group across all contiguous US rangelands. We partnered with the Sage Grouse and Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiatives and the Nebraska Natural Legacy Project to demonstrate the ability of these new datasets to quantify multi-scale changes and heterogeneity in plant biomass following mechanical tree removal, prescribed fire, and prescribed grazing. In Oregon’s sagebrush …

Integration Of Remote Sensing Approaches For In-Season Nitrogen Management, Murilo De Santana Martins

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Nitrogen (N) management is being conducted at flat rate in Louisiana due to practicality and convenience, but the price of N fertilizer and high breakeven costs are forcing producers to find ways to reduce costs and optimize N application. In this scenario, precision agriculture technologies, specifically the use of optical sensors on board of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to variable rate N application on farm is showing a promising approach to save inputs and reduce environmental impacts. However, the general goal of this research was to develop and evaluate in-season N management approaches for N recommendation in corn (Zea …

Cover Cropping: Sensor-Based Estimations Of Biomass Yield And Nutrient Uptake And Its Impact On Sugarcane Productivity, Hector H. Fajardo Duran

LSU Master's Theses

Sugarcane in Louisiana can be harvested for up to three years from one planting. Soil cultivation along sides of established beds is done for weed control and improve fertilizer use efficiency which increases the risk of soil degradation and yield decline. Planting cover crops (CC) is a soil conservation practice and an effective strategy to improve soil health and nutrient recycling. Limited work has been done on remote sensor-based evaluation of the potential nutrient benefits from cover crops and its effect on nutrient cycling on sugarcane systems. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of two planting methods (broadcast …

Regional Plant Community Differences In The Nebraska Sandhills, Travis Millikan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Nebraska Sandhills is very valuable to the state of Nebraska, representing one of the most in-tact and largest grassland ecosystems in temperate regions in the world. Rangeland managers must understand plant community dynamics across the Sandhills to better inform management decisions. The first objective of this study was to evaluate plant community variability on upland Sands ecological sites across different precipitation zones in the Nebraska Sandhills. The second objective of our study was to utilize the Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP) to examine spatial and temporal variability in biomass production and cover on pastures of ranches analyzed in the first …

Green Canopy Cover Percentage As A Method For Quantifying Andropogon Virginicus (Broomsedge) Reduction Through Fertilizer Applications In A Cool Season Hay Production System, Jordyn A. Bush, Jimmy C. Henning, Christopher D. Teutsch

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Remote sensing has been used to measure green canopy cover for a variety of agronomic purposes. This study explores the use of digital imagery as a method to quantify warm and cool season grasses in a hay production system. Due to alternate growth periods, cool and warm season grasses show greener color in different seasons. These seasonal color shifts provide an opportunity to measure their respective percentages when growing together in a system. This study was conducted in a hay field that was originally dominated by cool season grasses including tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) and Kentucky bluegrass ( …

Ecological Science Infrastructure For Sustainability Transformations In Rangelands, Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, J. E. Herrick, J. R. Brown, D. M. Browning, B. Densambuu, E. Elias, S. E. Mccord, H. R. Peinetti, S. Spiegal, N. P. Webb, J. C. Williamson

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Sustainability transformations—deliberate and radical shifts in values, governance, and management regimes to achieve sustainability—are needed in rangelands as in other components of the Earth system. We review four concepts comprising an ecological science infrastructure to support such transformations. The foundation is standard measurement of rangeland conditions in the field, especially vegetation and soil properties that underpin the environmental aspects of sustainability. Big data resources, especially gridded spatial datasets produced by models and remote sensing, can be combined with field data and computational approaches to upscale information about rangeland conditions and produce additional indicators of ecosystem functions and services. State and …

Identifying Conifer Tree Vs. Deciduous Shrub And Tree Regeneration Trajectories In A Space-For-Time Boreal Peatland Fire Chronosequence Using Multispectral Lidar, Humaira Enayetullah, Laura Chasmer, Christopher Hopkinson, Dan Thompson, Danielle Cobbaert

Aspen Bibliography

Wildland fires and anthropogenic disturbances can cause changes in vegetation species composition and structure in boreal peatlands. These could potentially alter regeneration trajectories following severe fire or through cumulative impacts of climate-mediated drying, fire, and/or anthropogenic disturbance. We used lidar-derived point cloud metrics, and site-specific locational attributes to assess trajectories of post-disturbance vegetation regeneration in boreal peatlands south of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada using a space-for-time-chronosequence. The objectives were to (a) develop methods to identify conifer trees vs. deciduous shrubs and trees using multi-spectral lidar data, (b) quantify the proportional coverage of shrubs and trees to determine environmental conditions driving …

Cloud Computing Solution For Monitoring Arid Rangeland Dynamics: Case Of Moroccan Highlands And Southern Acacia Ecosystems, Said Lahssini, Said Moukrim, H. Mharzi-Alaoui, N. Rifai, L. El Mansouri, F. El Wahidi

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

The wide availability of free satellite imagery, the recent development of cloud platforms dedicated to big spatial data (Big Data) that integrates both image archives from different providers, processing algorithms, distributed processing capabilities as well as an application programming interface (API) that facilitate scripting and automation process opened new perspectives for the use of vegetation observation time series over long timestamps and over large spatial scales (almost planetary).

This work aims at harnessing these technologies and building up an automated solution to monitor rangeland rehabilitation dynamics in arid lands and to assess the effectiveness of stakeholder’s management strategies. Such solution …

Remote Sensing Application To Grassland Monitoring, Z. B. Nan

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Application of remote sensing to the management of grassland resources, the role this plays in developing sustainable grassland farming systems and opportunities for further development are outlined. Use of remote sensing technologies in grassland monitoring has a history of more than 30 years. Both fine- and coarse-grained remote sensing techniques are used to monitor and study grasslands. Fine-grained techniques are used to study landscape scale processes through the use of sensors providing spatial resolution of a few meters, whereas coarse-grained techniques are used to study catchment scale areas, and even entire biomes, using satellite-based sensors with a spatial resolution of …

Remote Sensing For Quantifying C3 And C4 Grass Ratios In Pastures, Jordyn Alyssa Bush

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

The following studies investigate the accuracy and practicality of exploiting the color dichotomy present between C₃ and C₄ grass species to estimate their respective proportions from drone or camera captured imagery. Understanding the proportions of C₃ and C₄ grasses in pastures is vital to sound decision making for livestock production. The ability to monitor these proportions remotely will also allow for large scale monitoring as well as detection of changes in botanical composition over time and in response to weather events, management, or climate change. A free green canopy cover (GCC) analyzing software, Canopeo, was used …