Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons^™

Estimation Of Cotton Canopy Parameters Based On Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Uav) Oblique Photography, Jinyong Wu, Sheng Wen, Yubin Lan, Xuanchun Yin, Jiantao Zhang, Yufeng Ge

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Background: The technology of cotton defoliation is essential for mechanical cotton harvesting. Agricultural unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spraying has the advantages of low cost, high efficiency and no mechanical damage to cotton and has been favored and widely used by cotton planters in China. However, there are also some problems of low cotton defoliation rates and high impurity rates caused by unclear spraying amounts of cotton defoliants. The chemical rate recommendation and application should be based upon crop canopy volume rather than on land area. Plant height and leaf area index (LAI) is directly connected to plant canopy structure. …

Comparative Study Of Differentiating Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Into Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells In Hydrogel-Based Culture Methods, Qing Liu, Zhen Liu, Hongyu Gu, Yuxia Ge, Xuesheng Wu, Fuxing Zuo, Qian Du, Yuguo Lei, Zhanqi Wang, Haishuang Lin

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), which provides structural integrity and regulates the diameter of vasculature, are of great potential for modeling vascular-associated diseases and tissue engineering. Here, we presented a detailed comparison of differentiating human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into VSMCs (hPSCs-VSMCs) in four different culture methods, including 2-dimensional (2D) culture, 3-dimensional (3D) PNIPAAm-PEG hydrogel culture, 3-dimensional (3D) alginate hydrogel culture, and transferring 3- dimensional alginate hydrogel culture to 2-dimensional (2D) culture. Both hydrogel-based culture methods could mimic in vivo microenvironment to protect cells from shear force, and avoid cells agglomeration, resulting in the extremely high culture efficiency (e.g., high …

Additive Manufacturing Process Development Of Geopolymer Based Habitable Construction On Space, Husnain Khan, John Anthony, Maria Hashmi, Charudatta Mhasde

Publications and Research

Extraterrestrial travel and housing are topics that have come up in recent times. There is a possibility of living on the moon. Now geopolymers are solid ceramic-like materials at near ambient temperatures. In order to do that while keeping costs at a minimum, we are researching and developing a geopolymer using lunar dust to 3D print houses on the moon. Due to the fact we are using lunar dust, the number of materials that need to be shipped out gets cut dramatically. We are studying the composition of both lunar mares and lunar highlands in order to fully understand what …

Semantic Segmentation Based Deep Learning Approaches For Weed Detection, Puranjit Singh

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations and Theses

Global increase in herbicide use to control weeds has led to issues such as evolution of herbicide-resistant weeds, off-target herbicide movement, etc. Precision agriculture advocates Site Specific Weed Management (SSWM) application to achieve precise and right amount of herbicide spray and reduce off-target herbicide movement. Recent advancements in Deep Learning (DL) have opened possibilities for adaptive and accurate weed recognitions for field based SSWM applications with traditional and emerging spraying equipment; however, challenges exist in identifying the DL model structure and train the model appropriately for accurate and rapid model applications over varying crop/weed growth stages and environment. In our …

Interdisciplinary Design Studio: Programming Document Visioning For A Robotic Demonstration, Research, And Engagement Dairy, Steve(N) Hardy, Nate Bicak, Sarah Alduaylij, Noor Al-Maamari, Devyn Beekman, Kelsey Belgum, Lauren Chubb, Nicholas Forte, Mitchell Hill, Joshua Holstein, Dylan Lambe, Phuong Le, Mia Leriger, Elizabeth Loftus, Josh Lorenzen, Megan Lovci, Alex Martino, Zade Miller, Hannah Morgan, Annabelle Nichols, Collin Shearman, Rebecca Sowl, Nalin Theplikhith, Angela Vu, Shaylee Wagner, Ethan Watermeier, Trever Zelenka

Student Creative Activity, Architecture Program

The 2022 COLLABORATE Design Studio brought together students from various disciplines to address a complex, real-world project which required collaborative input from different perspectives. The studio worked to advance the co-creation of knowledge between external stakeholders, students, and instructors. The course was co-taught by faculty from different disciplines, and areas of expertise. During the semester, Nate Bicak and Steven Hardy worked with students from Architecture and Interior Design in collaboration with students in Dr. Tami Brown-Brandl’s students in Biological Systems Engineering and Animal Science to explore the values, spatial qualities, and area requirements of a Robotic Demonstration, Research, and Engagement …

Analysis Of Physicochemical Properties And Terrestrial Dynamics Of Mechanically Formed Micro-Nano Scaled Particles From Agricultural Plastic Mulches, Anton Friedrich Astner

Doctoral Dissertations

Release of microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) into agricultural fields is of great concern due to their reported ecotoxicity to organisms that provide beneficial service to the soil such as earthworms, and the potential ability of MPs and NPs to enter the food chain. Most fundamental studies of the fate and transport of plastic particulates in terrestrial environments employ idealized MP materials as models, such as monodisperse polystyrene spheres. In contrast, plastics that reside in agricultural soils consist of polydisperse fragments resulting from degraded films employed in agriculture. There exists a need for more representative materials in fundamental studies of …

Sustainability And Health Impacts Of Pulse Crops In The United States Using Life Cycle Assessment, Prathamesh A. Bandekar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Environmental sustainability and human health impact of pulses produced and consumed in the United States was assessed using life cycle assessment (LCA). The study included three objectives 1) to estimate environmental impact of current production and consumption practices in the United States using attributional LCA; 2) to estimate environmental and human health impact of iso-caloric diets containing varying amounts of pulses using Hybrid-LCA and Combined Nutritional and Environmental-LCA (CONE-LCA); and 3) to estimate environmental impact of increased demand for pulses using consequential LCA. Scope of the study varied for each objective with system boundary encompassing cradle-to-grave activities for objective 1 …

Precision Weed Management Based On Uas Image Streams, Machine Learning, And Pwm Sprayers, Jason Allen Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Weed populations in agricultural production fields are often scattered and unevenly distributed; however, herbicides are broadcast across fields evenly. Although effective, in the case of post-emergent herbicides, exceedingly more pesticides are used than necessary. A novel weed detection and control workflow was evaluated targeting Palmer amaranth in soybean (Glycine max) fields. High spatial resolution (0.4 cm) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) image streams were collected, annotated, and used to train 16 object detection convolutional neural networks (CNNs; RetinaNet, Faster R-CNN, Single Shot Detector, and YOLO v3) each trained on imagery with 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.2 cm spatial resolutions. Models were …

Mango Surface Color Features Measurement Using Digital Image Processing, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Goutom Kumar, Md Abdul Momin

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Summary

Postharvest processing of agricultural produce is still done the conventional way in Bangladesh. Manual grading of agricultural produce, especially fruits and vegetables, is laborious and costly due to acute shortage of labor during the peak season, as well as difficulty maintaining the product quality. Machine vision system (MVS) applications are widely used nowadays as a non-destructive and cost-effective technology for automatically grading and sorting large volumes of produce in the packing house according to size, shape, color, texture, and surface defects. In this study, a simple MVS was constructed measuring different color features of mango fruit surface as a …

Framework For The Use Of Extended Reality Modalities In Aec Education, Barbara Oliveira Spitzer, Jae Hoon Ma, Ece Erdogmus, Ben Kreimer, Erica Ryherd, Heidi Diefes-Dux

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

The educational applications of extended reality (XR) modalities, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), have increased significantly over the last ten years. Many educators within the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) related degree programs see student benefits that could be derived from bringing these modalities into classrooms, which include but are not limited to: a better understanding of each of the subdisciplines and the coordination necessary between them, visualizing oneself as a professional in AEC, and visualization of difficult concepts to increase engagement, self-efficacy, and learning. These benefits, in turn, help recruitment and retention efforts …

Application Of Uas‑Based Remote Sensing In Estimating Winter Wheat Phenotypic Traits And Yield During The Growing Season, Kianoosh Hassani, Hamed Gholizadeh, Saleh Taghvaeian, Victoria Natalie, Jonathan Carpenter, Jamey Jacob

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Phenotyping approaches have been considered as a vital component in crop breeding programs to improve crops and develop new high-yielding cultivars. However, traditional field-based monitoring methods are expensive, invasive, and time-intensive. Moreover, data collected using satellite and airborne platforms are either costly or limited by their spatial and temporal resolution. Here, we investigated whether low-cost unmanned/unoccupied aerial systems (UASs) data can be used to estimate winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) nitrogen (N) content, structural traits including plant height, fresh and dry biomass, and leaf area index (LAI) as well as yield during different winter wheat growing stages. To achieve …

Canopycam – An Edge-Computing Sensing Unit For Continuous Measurement Of Canopy Cover Percentage Of Dry Edible Beans, Wei-Zhen Liang, Joseph Oboamah, Xin Qiao, Yufeng Ge, Robert M. Harveson, Daran Rudnick, Jun Wang, Haishun Yang, Angie Gradiz

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Canopy cover (CC) is an important indicator for crop development. Currently, CC can be estimated indirectly by measuring leaf area index (LAI) using commercially available hand-held meters. However, it does not capture the dynamics of CC. Continuous CC monitoring is essential for dry edible beans production since it can affect crop water use, weed, and disease control. It also helps growers to closely monitor “yellowness”, or senescence of dry beans to decide proper irrigation cutoff timing to allow the crop to dry down for harvest. Therefore, the goal of this study was to develop a device – CanopyCAM, containing software …

Sustainable Material For Urea Delivery Based On Chitosan Cross-Linked By Glutaraldehyde Saturated Toluene: Characterization And Determination Of The Release Rate Mathematical Model, Jayanudin Jayanudin, Retno S. D. Lestari, Indar Kustiningsih, Dandi Irawanto, Rozak Rozak, Reyonaldo L. A. Wardana, Fakhri Muhammad

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

The aims of this study were to characterize the urea-loaded chitosan microspheres and determine the release kinetic constants and diffusion coefficients. An emulsion cross-linking method was used to prepare the urea-loaded chitosan microspheres. Urea was dissolved in a solution of chitosan then put into vegetable oil and stirred to form an emulsion. Glutaraldehyde saturated toluene (GST) was added into the emulsion dropwise while continuously stirring for the solidification process. Chitosan microspheres filled with urea were washed, dried, and then analyzed. Characterization of the urea-loaded chitosan microspheres was conducted using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and particle …

Spatiotemporal Metabolic Network Models Reveal Complex Autotroph-Heterotroph Biofilm Interactions Governed By Photon Incidences, Poonam Phalak, Hans C. Bernstein, Stephen R. Lindemann, Ryan S. Renslow, Dennis G. Thomas, Michael A. Henson, Hyun-Seob Song

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Autotroph-heterotroph interactions are ubiquitous in natural environment and play a key role in controlling various essential ecosystem functions, such as production and utilization of organic matter, cycling of nitrogen, sulfur, and other chemical elements. Understanding how these biofilm metabolic interactions are constrained in space and time remains challenging because fully predictive models designed for this purpose are currently limited. Toward filling this gap, here we developed community metabolic network models for two autotroph-heterotroph biofilm consortia (termed UCC-A and UCC-O), which share a suite of common heterotrophic members but have a single distinct photoautotrophic cyanobacterium (Phormidesmis priestleyi str. ANA and …

Ai-Enabled Droplet Detection And Tracking For Agricultural Spraying Systems, Praneel Acharya, Travis A. Burgers, Doang Nguyen

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

his work leverages recent advancements in com- puter vision and deep learning to detect and track the motion of droplets captured by a camera. While classical computer vision techniques have been employed for detection and tracking, those approaches have limitations and are not trivially extended to droplets. We approach the problems of droplet detection and tracking through a data-driven framework, in which an annotated database of droplet images is built and object detection and tracking models are trained on this database. The accuracy of the model is evaluated and the whole process is discussed. At this point, droplet geometric properties …

Dynamics Of Crop Evapotranspiration Of Four Major Crops On A Large Commercial Farm: Case Of The Navajo Agricultural Products Industry, New Mexico, Usa, Koffi Djaman, Komlan Koudahe, Ali T. Mohammed

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Crop evapotranspiration (ETa) is the main source of water loss in farms and watersheds, and with its effects felt at a regional scale, it calls for irrigation professionals and water resource managers to accurately assess water requirements to meet crop water use. On a multi-crop commercial farm, different factors affect cropland allocation, among which crop evapotranspiration is one of the most important factors regarding the seasonally or annually available water resources for irrigation in combination with the in-season effective precipitation. The objective of the present study was to estimate crop evapotranspiration for four major crops grown on the Navajo Agricultural …

Strategic Planning For Exchanging Treated Urban Wastewater For Agricultural Water With The Approach Of Supplying Sustainable Urban Water: A Case Study Of Mashhad, Iran, Sasan Esfandiari, Arash Dourandish, Ali Firoozzare, Saleh Taghvaeian

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Considering the increasing demand for urban water and the low water-use efficiency in the agricultural sector, an exchange of treated urban wastewater for agricultural water could be a fundamental solution for administering sustainable management of water resources. However, implementing the intersectoral water exchange project is influenced by the economic, social, and environmental conditions of each region, especially in developing countries. Therefore, this study sought to identify the best possible strategies for exchanging treated urban wastewater for agricultural water in Mashhad city, located in Iran, a country that suffers from decreased urban water resources. Based on the interviews conducted with the …

Biochar Preparation, Investigation Of Properties And Application As A Low-Cost Adsorbent – A Review, A Kh Aripov, S M. Turabdzhanov, Sh Komilova, O Sh Qodirov, G S. Rakhimova, T V. Darabkova, Zh Aimenova, L S. Rakhimova

Technical science and innovation

An overview of current developments in biochar application in water and wastewater treatment is given in this article, along with a brief explanation of the sorption mechanisms for removing contaminants and the techniques for biochar preparation. In order to encourage the continued use of biochar in effective water and wastewater treatment, future research directions and environmental concerns about biochar are also presented.

Creating Sustainable Biofuels Using Essential Oil Distillery Leaf Waste Near Vohimana Reserve, Ashley Cohen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Like most of Madagasacar’s population, people around Vohimana Reserve rely on traditional fuels like firewood and charcoal for cooking and heating. As a result, the region is facing deforestation, which poses a threat to biodiversity and the livelihoods of local populations. A local essential oil distillery was created by the NGO L’Homme et L’Environnement as a sustainable income generator to combat deforestation and protect biodiversity. The distillery produces leaf biomass that can be mixed with binding agent(s) and transformed into biofuel as a sustainable alternative to traditional fuels. 14 biofuels were created by combining distillery leaf biomass and various percent …

Interaction Networks Are Driven By Community-Responsive Phenotypes In A Chitin-Degrading Consortium Of Soil Microbes, Ryan Mcclure, Yuliya Farris, Robert Danczak, William Nelson, Hyun-Seob Song, Aimee Kessell, Sneha Couvillion, Christopher Henry, Janet K. Jansson, Kristen S. Hofmockel

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Soil microorganisms provide key ecological functions that often rely on metabolic interactions between individual populations of the soil microbiome. To better understand these interactions and community processes, we used chitin, a major carbon and nitrogen source in soil, as a test substrate to investigate microbial interactions during its decomposition. Chitin was applied to a model soil consortium that we developed, “model soil consortium-2” (MSC-2), consisting of eight members of diverse phyla and including both chitin degraders and nondegraders. A multiomics approach revealed how MSC-2 community-level processes during chitin decomposition differ from monocultures of the constituent species. Emergent properties of both …

Interaction Networks Are Driven By Community-Responsive Phenotypes In A Chitin-Degrading Consortium Of Soil Microbes, Ryan Mcclure, Yuuliya Farris, Robert Danczak, William Nelson, Hyun-Seob Song, Aimee Kessell, Joon-Yong Lee, Sneha Couvillion, Christopher Henry, Janet K. Jansson, Kristen S. Hofmockel

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Soil microorganisms provide key ecological functions that often rely on metabolic interactions between individual populations of the soil microbiome. To better understand these interactions and community processes, we used chitin, a major carbon and nitrogen source in soil, as a test substrate to investigate microbial interactions during its decomposition. Chitin was applied to a model soil consortium that we developed, “model soil consortium-2” (MSC-2), consisting of eight members of diverse phyla and including both chitin degraders and nondegraders. A multiomics approach revealed how MSC-2 community-level processes during chitin decomposition differ from monocultures of the constituent species. Emergent properties of both …

Electrochemical Biosensing And Deep Learning-Based Approaches In The Diagnosis Of Covid-19: A Review, Omer Sadak, Ferhat Sadak, Ozal Yildirim, Nicole M. Iverson, Rizwan Qureshi, Muhammed Talo, Chui Ping Ooi, U. Rajendra Acharya, Sundaram Gunasekaran, Tanvir Alam

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

COVID-19 caused by the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus taking a huge toll on global health and caused life-threatening medical complications and elevated mortality rates, especially among older adults and people with existing morbidity. Current evidence suggests that the virus spreads primarily through respiratory droplets emitted by infected persons when breathing, coughing, sneezing, or speaking. These droplets can reach another person through their mouth, nose, or eyes, resulting in infection. The "gold standard'' for clinical diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 is the laboratory-based nucleic acid amplification test, which includes the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test on nasopharyngeal swab samples. The main concerns …

Crop Response To Thermal Stress Without Yield Loss In Irrigated Maize And Soybean In Nebraska, Sandeep Bhatti, Derek M. Heeren, Steven R. Evett, Susan A. O'Shaughnessy, Daran Rudnick, Trenton E. Franz, Yufeng Ge, Christopher M.U. Neale

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Thermal sensing provides rapid and accurate estimation of crop water stress through canopy temperature data. Canopy temperature is highly dependent on the transpiration rate of the leaves. It is usually assumed that any reduction in crop evapotranspiration (ET) leads to crop yield loss. As a result, an increase in canopy temperature due to a decrease in crop ET would indicate crop yield loss. This research evaluated the hypothesis that crop water stress could be detected using canopy temperature measurements (increased leaf temperature) from infrared thermometers (IRTs) before incurring crop yield loss. This would be possible in a narrow range when …

Real-Time Irrigation Scheduling Of Maize Using Degrees Above Non-Stressed (Dans) Index In Semi-Arid Environment, Hope Njuki Nakabuye, Daran Rudnick, Kendall C. Dejonge, Tsz Him Lo, Derek M. Heeren, Xin Qiao, Trenton E. Franz, Abia Katimbo, Jiaming Duan

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Irrigation scheduling methods have been used to determine the timing and amount of water applied to crops. Scheduling techniques can include measurement of soil water content, quantification of crop water use, and monitoring of crop physiological response to water stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of a simplified crop canopy temperature measurement (CTM) method as Irrigation Principles. Soil and Water Conservation Engineera technique to schedule irrigation for maize. Specifically, the Degrees Above Non-Stressed (DANS) index, which suggests water stress when canopy temperature exceeds the non-stressed canopy temperature (T_cns), was determined by estimating T …

Modeling Actual Evapotranspiration With Msi-Sentinel Images And Machine Learning Algorithms, Robson Argolo Dos Santos, Everardo Chartuni Mantovani, Elpídio Inácio Fernandes-Filho, Roberto Filgueiras, Rodrigo Dal Sasso Lourenço, Vinícius Bof Bufon, Christopher M. U. Neale

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

The modernization of computational resources and application of artificial intelligence algorithms have led to advancements in studies regarding the evapotranspiration of crops by remote sensing. Therefore, this research proposed the application of machine learning algorithms to estimate the ET_rF (Evapotranspiration Fraction) of sugar can crop using the METRIC (Mapping Evapotranspiration at High Resolution with Internalized Calibration) model with data from the Sentinel-2 satellites constellation. In order to achieve this goal, images from the MSI sensor (MultiSpectral Instrument) from the Sentinel-2 and the OLI (Operational Land Imager) and TIRS (Thermal Infrared Sensor) sensors from the Landsat-8 were acquired nearly …

Science And Food Fictions: Agricultural Technologies, The Evolution Of The Modern Industrial Diet, And Calls For A Food Revolution, Tracey Daniels-Lerberg

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

[First paragraph] Individual food choices are culturally and historically contingent practices that arise through an amalgamation of often hidden political, scientific, and economic policies that shape desire and influence access. Food, like all other man-made mechanisms of control and authority, has been used “as a political tool for […] subjugating (either economically or politically) other nations” according to William A. Dando, a professor at the University of North Dakota, who in 1975 urged American agricultural officials not to use food as “a weapon” against starving nations, something he feared was eminently possible given the economic and political climate of agricultural …

Ag-Iot For Crop And Environment Monitoring: Past, Present, And Future, Nipuna Chamara, Md Didarul Islam, Geng Bai, Yeyin Shi, Yufeng Ge

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

CONTEXT: Automated monitoring of the soil-plant-atmospheric continuum at a high spatiotemporal resolution is a key to transform the labor-intensive, experience-based decision making to an automatic, data-driven approach in agricultural production. Growers could make better management decisions by leveraging the real-time field data while researchers could utilize these data to answer key scientific questions. Traditionally, data collection in agricultural fields, which largely relies on human labor, can only generate limited numbers of data points with low resolution and accuracy. During the last two decades, crop monitoring has drastically evolved with the advancement of modern sensing technologies. Most importantly, the introduction …

Antioxidant Deterioration In Active Composite Film During Storage, Anang Lastriyanto, Kurniawan Yuniarto, Cahyo Mustiko Okta Muvianto, Hary -. Kurniawan

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Pure polylactic acid is widely used for packaging, but it has limitation due to its oxygen barrier property. We investigated oxygen scavenging active packaging by incorporating synthetic antioxidant butylated hydroxyl toluene (BHT) into matrix composite film (plasticized polylactic acid-natrium montmorillonite/NaMMT) using direct casting. The 2.2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) or antiradical activity was used to investigate oxygen scavenging of butylated hydroxytoluene in PLA active composite film during 15 storage days at 30oC. Oxygen permeability was calculated by using ASTM F3136-15 method. BHT oxidation rate of the active film composite film was 0.043 times per day. The BHT was estimated fully deteriorate after 108 …

Climate And Genetic Data Enhancement Using Deep Learning Analytics To Improve Maize Yield Predictability, Parisa Sarzaeim, Francisco Muñoz-Arriola, Diego Jarquin

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Despite efforts to collect genomics and phenomics (“omics”) and environmental data, spatiotemporal availability and access to digital resources still limit our ability to predict plants’ response to changes in climate. Our goal is to quantify the improvement in the predictability of maize yields by enhancing climate data. Large-scale experiments such as the Genomes to Fields (G2F) are an opportunity to provide access to “omics” and climate data. Here, the objectives are to: (i) improve the G2F “omics” and environmental database by reducing the gaps of climate data using deep neural networks; (ii) estimate the contribution of climate and genetic database …

Neonicotinoid Pesticide And Nitrate Mixture Removal And Persistence In Floating Treatment Wetlands, Julia K. Lindgren, Tiffany L. Messer, Daniel N. Miller, Daniel D. Snow, Thomas G. Franti

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Mesocosm and microcosm experiments were conducted to explore the applicability of floating treatment wetlands (FTWs), an ecologically based management technology, to remove neonicotinoid insecticides and nitrate from surface water. The mesocosm experiment evaluated three treatments in triplicate over a 21-d period. Floating treatment wetland mesocosms completely removed nitrate-N over the course of the experiment even when neonicotinoid insecticides were present. At the completion of the experiment, 79.6% of imidacloprid and degradation byproducts and 68.3% of thiamethoxam and degradation byproducts were accounted for in the water column. Approximately 3% of imidacloprid and degradation byproducts and 5.0% of thiamethoxam and degradation byproducts …