Digital Commons Network^™

Furthering Indaziflam-Based Management Strategies Of Three Invasive Annual Grasses In Northern Utah, Peter Weston Maughan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Indaziflam is an herbicide highly recognized for its potential to effectively control weedy, winter germinating grasses, such as downy brome, as the herbicides prevents seed germination for several years. Unfortunately, most of these studies only capture the first 2-3 years of indaziflam’s 3-5 years soil activity. This thesis sought to better understand indaziflam’s long-term effects by monitoring both a healthy ecosystem and a degraded ecosystem for up to 5 years after indaziflam application. A secondary study was also conducted to better understand the potential of revegetation via reseeding in indaziflam treated soils. The study concluded that indaziflam very little long-term …

Reducing Inputs And Adding Value To Turfgrass Systems Through Clover Inclusion And Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Applications, Paige E. Boyle

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Recently, the US has seen an expansion in the amount of turfgrass land cover (lawns, parks, roadsides, sports fields, and golf courses), as well as an interest in reducing fertilizer, water, and pesticide use in these grass systems. To help maintain quality and function while reducing resource inputs, two promising approaches have emerged: planting clover into lawns and applying plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria.

White clover and grass mixtures have been studied for their ability to cut down on fertilizer usage and provide a uniform, dark green lawn, but other clover types have not been as widely studied and may provide similar …

Ecology And Management Of Dyer's Woad (Isatis Tinctoria) In Northern Utah, Erin Marie Hettinger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Dyer’s woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) is a non-native forb that continues to threaten natural areas throughout Northern Utah and much of the Intermountain West. Once introduced, dyer’s woad can become extremely invasive, decreasing forage quality, and displacing native species. While dyer’s woad is found throughout much of Northern Utah, its range in other states remains limited. If promptly managed, control success in these areas will be much higher and populations may be kept at bay before ecological damage becomes severe.

This project tested the ability of dyer’s woad seedlings to compete with common rangeland grasslands at varied densities as …

Water Conservation Through Drought-Resilient Landscape Plants And Deficit Irrigation, Ji-Jhong Chen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Increases in urban population and inadequate rainfall result in imbalanced water budgets in urban and sub-urban regions. Water conservation becomes important in urban landscapes because of increased water demands. Modern landscape designs require drought-resistant plants to maintain urban landscape greenness during water scarcity. Irrigating plants at their irrigation requirements, which is the minimum irrigation rate that can achieve acceptable aesthetic quality, can also conserve water. However, the drought tolerance and irrigation requrements of most landscape plants have not been widely evaluated. Shepherdia ×utahensis ‘Torrey’ (‘Torrey’ buffaloberry) and Penstemon species (beardtongues) are low-water-use landscape plants, but their drought resistance mechanisms are …

Evapotranspiration And Energy Balance Of Irrigated Urban Turfgrass, Matthew D. Miksch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water usage for irrigation is a big consumer of water resources in urban areas in Utah and other parts of the Intermountain Region of the Western United States. As populations continue to increase in these states, it is important to understand how much water is being used by urban landscapes in order to plan and manage future water resources. Evapotranspiration (ET), or the amount of water leaving a surface over a certain timeframe due to both transpiration from plants and evaporation from the soil, is a key variable in understanding how much water urban landscapes are really using to grow …

Practical Improvements For Pivot And Surface Irrigation, Jonathan A. Holt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Irrigation is critical to meeting global food and fiber demands. Optimizing agricultural irrigation may help sustain production levels, while reducing its demand for water. This research evaluated precision sprinklers and drip irrigation for pivots, five pivot track mitigation tools, three scientific irrigation scheduling (SIS) methods, sensors for surface irrigation cutoff, and automating surface systems to implement surge irrigation. With pivots and surface irrigation being the most common methods for irrigation in the West, small improvements from these tools could result in significant water savings.

Low energy precision application (LEPA) sprinklers and mobile drip irrigation (MDI) were tested on two pivots. …

Evaluating Quaking Aspen's Influence On Fire Behavior, Kristin A. Nesbit

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In western North America, quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) forests have long been described as low flammability, “fireproof” forest types that are less likely to burn or burn less intensely than coniferous forests. While this assumption has been based on limited scientific research and is largely anecdotal, there is growing interest in the western U.S. to promote aspen near human developments to reduce fire risk. I investigated the available evidence for aspen forests reducing fire occurrence, behavior, and severity, and assessed possible factors that affect flammability in aspen forests to better understand when and where aspen burn, and when …