Life Sciences Commons^™

The Influence Of Cover Crop Termination Strategies And Supplemental Nitrogen On Sweet Corn Yield And Nitrogen Use Efficiency, Sachina Sunuwar

Masters Theses

Cover crops are instrumental in nutrient management and soil health. A field experiment was conducted from fall 2020 to summer 2021 to evaluate the efficiency of different cover crop termination techniques and supplemental nitrogen on sweet corn yield, ear quality and nitrogen use efficiency. The four termination types are herbicide and disk tillage (HDT), herbicide no-till (HNT), cultivation disk till (CDT), and roller crimped no-till (RCNT). These termination types were each divided into four different nitrogen treatment: 0%, 33%, 67% and 100% of the recommended doses (145 kg haˉ¹). Sweet corn yield was highest and % unfilled tip was lowest …

Community Assembly And Stress Response Of Grassland Phyllosphere Bacteria, Emily Bechtold

Doctoral Dissertations

Grasslands are an important ecosystem with potential to help stabilize food security and reduce greenhouse gas levels. As global temperatures rise, weather patterns are predicted to drastically change. The resulting increase in intensity, duration, and frequency of drought in important grassland areas will not only affect agricultural production, but also increase grassland susceptibility to fire, disease, and soil erosion. Thus, developing ways to sustainably promote grassland health and production is essential to increase food security and reduce environmental strain. Microbes in the phyllosphere, or aerial surface of plants, promote host fitness through phytohormone and nutrient production, increased stress tolerance, and …

The Characterization Of Traits Associated With Freezing Tolerance In Perennial Ryegrass, Rachael Preston Bernstein

Doctoral Dissertations

Plants are constantly subjected to adverse environmental conditions that alter their growth and productivity, with an estimation that approximately 50% of annual average crop yields are reduced due to abiotic stresses. Freezing stress causes desiccation and ice damage in plants and is becoming more important as temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns increase. Normally, plants acclimate to cold temperatures as winter approaches and deacclimate as temperatures warm in the spring. Cold acclimation in fall is required for plants to build up their cellular defenses against desiccation and intracellular ice formation, while deacclimation is the process in which plants metabolize protective compounds …

Winter Malt Barley Growth, Yield, And Quality Following Leguminous Cover Crops In The Northeast United States, Arthur Siller, Heather Darby, Alexandra Smychkovich, Masoud Hashemi

Data and Datasets

There is growing interest in malt barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) production in the Northeast United States. This crop must meet high quality standards for malting but can command a high price if these quality thresholds are met. A two-year field experiment was conducted from 2015–2017 to evaluate the impact of two leguminous cover crops, sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) and crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), on subsequent winter malt barley production. Four cover crop treatments –sunn hemp (SH), crimson clover (CC), sunn hemp and crimson clover mixture (SH+CC), and no cover crop (NC) – were grown before …

Date Of Planting And Nitrogen Management For Malt Barley Production In The Northeast Usa, Arthur Siller, Masoud Hashemi, Alexandra Smychkovich, Caroline Wise, Heather Darby

Data and Datasets

There is an increasing market for locally grown malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in the Northeast US. Malting barley must meet certain quality standards for acceptability in the brewing market. Up-to-date recommendations are needed regionally for adaptation to ongoing climate change. A two-year field experiment was conducted to assess the interactive influence of three dates of planting (5 Sept., 15 Sept, and 25 Sept.), two levels of fall N (0 or 28 kg ha^-1), and three levels of spring N (28, 50.5, and 73 kg ha^-1). No significant difference was detected in grain yield amongst …

Processes, Patterns, And Predictions Of Soil Moisture Variation In Upland And Peatland Cranberry Farms In Massachusetts, Rebecca Brennan

Masters Theses

The American Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) represents a vital sector of the economy of southeastern Massachusetts. Due to the hydrogeological and edaphic characteristics of peatlands, variations in soil drainage and soil moisture represent major management challenges for growers in Massachusetts. An emerging trend of upland (mineral soil) cranberry farms planted with new hybrid cultivars has the potential to enhance the profitability and long-term viability of cranberry production in Massachusetts. However, sparse data exist on soil moisture characteristics of peatland and upland cranberry farms. The purpose of this research was to elucidate the differences in soil moisture between upland and …

Developing Alternative Forage Production Strategies For Enhanced Environmental And Economic Resilience On New England Dairy Farms, Samantha Glaze-Corcoran

Doctoral Dissertations

Cover crops are prized for their array of well documented and widely respected ecosystem services. Cover crops are an intrinsic part of building and sustaining soil health and thus the long term productive capacity of agricultural soils. However, effective cover crop adoption on New England dairy farms is lacking, and the benefits of traditional cover crops may be somewhat mismatched to the needs of dairy farms. Harvesting winter hardy small cereal grains for forage can provide practical incentive to farmers to incorporate effective cover crop management as well as provide an economic benefit in the form of additional on-farm forage …

Introducing Faba Bean As A New Multi-Purpose Crop For Northeast U.S.A., Fatemeh Etemadi

Doctoral Dissertations

Faba bean is a multi-benefit cool-season grain legume that can be integrated into cropping systems of a shorter-growing season regions such as New England. A comprehensive research study was conducted to explore the ecological, nutritional, medicinal, and financial benefits of faba bean as a new multi-purpose crop for Northeast U.S.A. It was revealed that the faba bean genotypes exhibited dramatic variations in thermal units required to reach various phenological stages. Using phenology, morphology and physiological growth pattern of six faba bean varieties showed that larger seeds and later maturity did not necessarily produced higher yield. Aquadulce, the earliest maturity with …

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Pollinators As Vectors Of Mummy Berry Disease In Highbush Blueberry, Matthew Boyer

Doctoral Dissertations

Background: Many plants must balance the need for pollination services with mediating the risk of pollinator-vectored pathogens. Vaccinium corymbosum, highbush blueberry, is negatively affected by an insect-vectored, fungal plant pathogen, Monilinia vaccinii-corymosi (MVC), the cause of mummy berry disease, in which the asexual spore mimics pollen grains and is transferred from blighted tissue to flowers via pollinators, resulting in inedible, hardened fruits. Highbush blueberry plants require outcrossed pollen for maximum yield and fecundity. Therefore, yield of blueberry plants rely on a balance between adequate pollination service and disease avoidance. Approach: To explore the relationship between pollinator community and infection …

Impact Of Oyster Mushroom Mycelium On The Growth Of Kale And Forage Radish, Levi Lilly

Masters Theses

Saprophytic fungi can be paired with companion crops in interplant systems to increase production efficiency. However, fungal species/strain, substrate, and inoculation rate can affect the growth of companion crops. This project investigated the viability of open-field mushroom production by interplanting three strains of Pleurotus ostreatus (Elm A, Elm B, and 8801) with kale (B. oleracea var. acephala) and forage radish (Raphanus raphanistrub sub. sativus), and measured the effect of interplanting on plant yield over two field seasons. In the field, Elm A showed an increase in plant yield at a low inoculation rate and decrease in …

Integrating Cover Crop Mixtures And No-Till For Sustainable Sweet Corn Production In The Northeast, Julie S. Fine

Masters Theses

Fall-planted forage radish (Raphanus sativus L. longipinnatus) cover crops have shown successful weed suppression and recycling of fall-captured nutrients. This research evaluated the nutrient cycling and weed suppressive benefits of forage radish cover crop mixtures to develop an integrated system for no-till sweet corn (Zea mays L. var rugosa) production that improves crop yield and soil health. Treatments included forage radish (FR), oats (Avena sativa L.) and forage radish (OFR), a mixture of peas (Pisum sativum subsp arvense L.), oats and forage radish (POFR), and no cover crop control (NCC). Subplots were assigned to …

The Effect Of Management Practices On Bacterial, Fungal, And Nematode Communities On Cool Season Turfgrass, Elisha Allan-Perkins

Doctoral Dissertations

Golf courses comprise 50 million acres in the United States of highly managed turf susceptible to abiotic and biotic stressors. A growing area of interest is utilizing microbes to improve plant growth, increase disease and stress tolerance, and reduce pathogens. In order to develop these new practices, we must gain an understanding of turfgrass microbial communities and how they are affected by management practices. We characterized bacteria, fungi, and nematodes on three golf courses: one organic, one with reduced inputs, and one conventional. We took samples from three management areas on each course representing different management intensities (roughs, fairways, and …

Effects Of Overexpression Of Sap12 And Sap13 In Providing Tolerance To Multiple Abiotic Stresses In Plants, Parul R. Tomar

Doctoral Dissertations

Environmental stresses are the one of the main reasons for the decline of crop production worldwide. In the past years, a major focus has been on improving plant species and their tolerance towards these stresses but not much has been achieved because of the limited knowledge of the gene/network of genes that might be involved in providing tolerance to such multiple abiotic stresses. Recently, members of Stress Associated Protein (SAP) family in plants have been shown to impart tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses. There are 14 SAP genes in Arabidopsis thaliana and these proteins contain A20, AN1 and C2H2 zinc …

Efficient Irrigation For Recreational Turfgrass In New England: Evapotranspiration And Crop Coefficients, James W. Poro

Masters Theses

As water demand increases it will become more imperative for golf course superintendents, landscape managers, and other industry professionals to improve water use efficiency in the management of recreational turfgrass. Scheduling irrigation according to actual turfgrass evapotranspiration rates (ET_T) is an integral component of efficient irrigation practices. Impracticality of field derived ET_T for industry use, however, directs the need of weather station derived reference (predicted) evapotranspiration (ET₀). To accurately predict (estimate) ET_T of turf and other crops, scientifically derived landscape (crop) coefficients (K_c values) are used in conjunction with mathematical models that incorporate …

Assessing Best Management Practices For Improving Switchgrass Establishment And Production, Amir Sadeghpour

Doctoral Dissertations

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a C₄-grass indigenous to North America being considered as the “model” energy crop. Switchgrass is difficult to establish and first-year stand failure often challenge the large scale production of switchgrass. Reliable establishment methods and effective weed management practices to produce a harvestable biomass in the establishment year are required. Also, to maximize the economic viability of switchgrass production, appropriate nutrient management and harvests are needed. Thus, we conducted researches to improve switchgrass establishment and production. These studies ranged from finding the most promising switchgrass variety to adjusting switchgrass seeding rate, determine the …

Growth And Establishment Of Newly Planted Street Trees, Alexander R. Sherman

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Developing quantified establishment period estimates for newly planted trees will help set realistic goals for plant performance in the urban landscape. Nine years of tree planting records obtained from the city of Boston, MA and the town of Brookline, MA were used to derive samples of trunk caliper for hedge maple (Acer campestre), London planetree (Platanus x acerifolia), and red oak (Quercus rubra). Several site characteristics were measured to identify effects on newly planted tree growth.

Breakpoint estimates of the piecewise regression models fell at 4 years and 6 years for London planetree and …

Rhythmic Growth And Vascular Development In Brachypodium Distachyon, Dominick A. Matos

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Plants reduce inorganic carbon to synthesize biomass that is comprised of mostly polysaccharides and lignin. Growth is intricately regulated by external cues such as light, temperature, and water availability and internal cues including those generated by the circadian clock. While many aspects of polymer biosynthesis are known, their regulation and distribution within the stem are poorly understood. Plant biomass is perhaps the most abundant organic substance on Earth and can be used as feedstock for energy production. Various grass species are under development as energy crops yet several of their attributes make them challenging research subjects. Brachypodium distachyon has emerged …

The Land Institute, Madeleine K. Charney

Madeleine K. Charney

An overview of the mission and current projects of The Land Institute in Salinas, Kansas. This organization strives to develop an agricultural system with the ecological stability of the prairie and a grain yield comparable to that from annual crops.

Bolivia's Coca Headache: The Agroyungas Program, Inflation, Campesinos, Coca And Capitalism In Bolivia, John D. Roberts

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Bolivia in the 1980s was wracked by monetary inflation approaching levels of the German Weimar Republic. Immediately following this time of great financial crisis in Bolivia, the U.N. founded a project through the U.N.D.P. to encourage peasant farmers in Bolivia to switch from growing coca (the plant used manufacture cocaine) to growing other cash crops for market. This crop substitution and development program, called the Agroyungas Project, lasted from 1985 to 1991 and is the focus of this study. While many U.N. pundits and journalists considered the program’s initial small successes promising, it has been considered since its conclusion to …

The Land Institute, Madeleine Charney

University Libraries Publication Series

An overview of the mission and current projects of The Land Institute in Salinas, Kansas. This organization strives to develop an agricultural system with the ecological stability of the prairie and a grain yield comparable to that from annual crops.

Factors Influencing The Stability Of Carotenoids In Oil-In-Water Emulsions, Caitlin Suzanne Boon

Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014

Lycopene has recently received interest as an antioxidant in human tissues. These same antioxidant properties present challenges in preventing oxidative degradation within food products. In this research, degradation of lycopene in model emulsion systems was examined to better understand the chemical stability of this potential functional food ingredient.

Lycopene in corn oil or hexadecane was used to make oil-in-water emulsions using small molecule surfactants. Emulsion color loss was used to estimate lycopene loss and was monitored using an integrating sphere. Lipid hydroperoxide and hexanal formation was used to monitor the development of lipid oxidation.

Oxidation and color loss were found …

Antioxidant Distribution And Effectiveness In A Model Muscle System, Ann T Ballesteros

Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014

Gallic acid esters (GAE) of varying alkyl chain length were used to determine how antioxidant physical location and partitioning influence hemoglobin-catalyzed lipid oxidation. Specific GAE used were propyl gallate (PG), octyl gallate (OG), and lauryl gallate (LG). GAE partitioning experiments were performed with either isolated cod muscle membranes or washed cod muscle, which primarily contain polar membrane lipids and myofibrillar proteins. Canola oil was used in some experiments to determine how neutral lipids impact partitioning behavior. GAE distribution was determined spectrophotometrically in the recovered membranes, aqueous phase, and oil layer after employing differential centrifugation. Oxidation was monitored by measuring thiobarbituric …

Assesment Of Ammonia Volatility From Fall Surface-Applied Liquid Dairy Manure, Katie Campbell-Nelson

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Ammonia emissions from dairy and livestock operations are of significant environmental and human health concern in the United States. Conservation of ammonia from fall surface-applied manure could benefit farmers by retaining nitrogen for use by crops in the spring growing season. The primary goal of this research was to investigate a management strategy for mitigating ammonia volatility from cow manure at the time of field application with no incorporation in the fall before snow fall. The hypothesis is that application of manure in cooler fall temperatures will slow the rate of ammonia volatilization. The objective was achieved by measuring temperature …

Vision Of Self-Sufficiency Comes Alive (On Less Than Two Acres!), Madeleine K. Charney

Madeleine K. Charney

A Montague, Massachusetts family relishes their traditional homesteading lifestyle.

Vision Of Self-Sufficiency Comes Alive (On Less Than Two Acres!), Madeleine K. Charney

University Libraries Publication Series

A Montague, Massachusetts family relishes their traditional homesteading lifestyle.

Athol Slaughterhouse Rises From The Ashes, Madeleine K. Charney

Madeleine K. Charney

Plans for rebuilding the Athol slaughterhouse destroyed by fire in 2006.

Athol Slaughterhouse Rises From The Ashes, Madeleine K. Charney

University Libraries Publication Series

Plans for rebuilding the Athol slaughterhouse destroyed by fire in 2006.

Conference Keynoter Defends Practices Buried In New England’S Agricultural History, Plans For Future, Madeleine K. Charney

Madeleine K. Charney

Brian Donahue, environmental historian, debunks the myths of early New England farming practices.

Conference Keynoter Defends Practices Buried In New England’S Agricultural History, Plans For Future, Madeleine K. Charney

University Libraries Publication Series

Brian Donahue, environmental historian, debunks the myths of early New England farming practices.

Summer 1981, Ellery L. Knake, T. L. Larry, J. F. Wilkinson, R. H. Miller, Carol A. Lembi, Ted Horton, Horace Ames

Turf Bulletin

1. Editorial (page 3)
2. Results of Field Test to Study Human Exposure to 2,4,5,-T Application (4)
3. Investigation and Treatment of Localized Dry Spots on Sand Golf Greens (6)
4. Aquatic Weed Control- In Review (11)
5. Golf Course Superintendent - A Perspective (14)
6. Four Seasons Ground Maintenance (16)