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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Do Precision Chemical Amendment Applications Impact Sodium Movement In Dryland Semiarid Saline Sodic Soils?, Tulsi P. Kharel, David E. Clay, Cheryl Reese, Thomas Desutter, Doug D. Malo, Sharon Clay Mar 2018

Do Precision Chemical Amendment Applications Impact Sodium Movement In Dryland Semiarid Saline Sodic Soils?, Tulsi P. Kharel, David E. Clay, Cheryl Reese, Thomas Desutter, Doug D. Malo, Sharon Clay

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Expanding sodicity and salinity problems have placed many northern Great Plains (NGP) soils at the sustainability tipping point. This study assessed the impact of chemical restoration on water and salt transport in undisturbed soil columns collected from three hillslope model landscape positions. The backslope (Redfield), footslope (White Lake), and toeslope (Pierpont) soils had moderate (3.27 ± 0.59), high (7.3 ± 3.34), and very high (13.29 ± 3.2) sodium adsorption ratio (SARe) values, respectively. The soils were treated with KBr and one of four soil amendments (none, H2SO4, CaSO4, and CaCl2). …


Identifying And Characterizing Salt-Tolerant Alfalfa (Medicago Sativa Subsp Falcata Germplasm, Katelin E. Frerichs, Lan Xu Jan 2018

Identifying And Characterizing Salt-Tolerant Alfalfa (Medicago Sativa Subsp Falcata Germplasm, Katelin E. Frerichs, Lan Xu

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Soil salinity limits plant growth and crop production. More than 20% of cultivated land worldwide is affected by salinity. The situation is becoming more severe due to shifts in precipitation and evaporation patterns and improper irrigation. There is an urgent need to develop salt-tolerant, economically valuable plants to minimize the loss of and to sustain agricultural production. Alfalfa is one of the most extensively cultivated forage crops. Some yellow-flowered alfalfa (Medicago sativa subsp. falcata) have exhibited morphological and physiological drought tolerance. Since soil salinity is associated with physiological drought, it is reasonable to expect that these drought tolerant falcata populations …


Isolation Of Potential Photosynthetic N2-Fixing Microbes From Topsoil Of Native Grasslands In South Dakota, Nanfang Wang, Shengni Tian, Liping Gu, Lan Xu, Yeyan Qiu, Trevor Van Den Top, Jose L. Gonzalez-Hernandez, Michael B. Hildreth, Shaoshan Li, Runbao Zhou Jan 2018

Isolation Of Potential Photosynthetic N2-Fixing Microbes From Topsoil Of Native Grasslands In South Dakota, Nanfang Wang, Shengni Tian, Liping Gu, Lan Xu, Yeyan Qiu, Trevor Van Den Top, Jose L. Gonzalez-Hernandez, Michael B. Hildreth, Shaoshan Li, Runbao Zhou

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Nitrogen fertilizer is one of the most limiting factors and costly inputs in agriculture production. Current fossil fuel-dependent ammonia production is both energy intensive and environmentally damaging. An economically practical and environmentally friendly solution for the production of ammonia is urgently needed. Solar-powered N2-fixing cyanobacteria provide a unique opportunity and promise for applications in agriculture compared to all other N2-fixing bacteria that cannot use solar energy. Isolation of nitrogen-fixing microbes from the topsoil of native grasslands may have the potential to use them in crop fields as living ammonia factories. This may be a mechanism to free farmers from heavy …


Impacts Of Diverse Crop Rotations And Integrated Crop-Livestock System On Soil Quality In South Dakota, Atilla Polat Jan 2018

Impacts Of Diverse Crop Rotations And Integrated Crop-Livestock System On Soil Quality In South Dakota, Atilla Polat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Crop diversification can be beneficial in improving soil quality parameters. Diverse crop rotations and integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLS), are two examples of crop diversification used in this study to assess soil quality. The objectives of this study were to: (i) assess the impacts of diverse rotations on soil quality parameters, and (ii) assess the impacts of low and high stocking density on soil quality parameters. Both of the studies were conducted separately and are presented as two different chapters. To accomplish objective (i), a long-term experiment was selected which was established near Brookings, South Dakota, USA at USDA-ARS lab in …


Modeling Soil Organic Carbon In Select Soils Of Southeastern South Dakota, Shaina Westhoff Jan 2018

Modeling Soil Organic Carbon In Select Soils Of Southeastern South Dakota, Shaina Westhoff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Soil organic matter (SOM) is composed of living biomass, dead plant and animal residues, and humus. Humus is a class of complex, organic molecules that are largely responsible for improving soil water holding capacity, nutrient mineralization, nutrient storage, and other critical soil functions. Soil organic carbon (SOC) accounts for approximately 60 percent of SOM and thus SOC is recognized as a strong indicator of soil health. Land use changes and intense cultivation of arable soils in the United States over the past century have led to large decreases in SOM. The objective of this research was to develop a multiple …


Quantifying The Short-Term Impacts Of Cover Crops And Grazing On Soil Health Under An Integrated Crop-Livestock System In South Dakota, Vishal Seth Jan 2018

Quantifying The Short-Term Impacts Of Cover Crops And Grazing On Soil Health Under An Integrated Crop-Livestock System In South Dakota, Vishal Seth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cover crops and grazing under Integrated Crop-Livestock System (ICLS) can impact the rhizosphere nutrient cycling and may have potential to increase the long-term sustainability and economic profitability of agricultural production system. In South Dakota, crop production practices and livestock husbandry are both common which provide the opportunity for ICLS to be successful in this region. However, little is known about the impacts of the cover crops and grazing under ICLS on soil properties in this region. The present study was conducted at South Dakota State University Research Farm (44°20'34.8"N, 96°48'14.8"W), Brookings, SD, to quantify the impacts of cover crops and …


Land Use Change Sustainability And Carbon Turnover Rate In The Northern Great Plains Soil, Deepak Raj Joshi Jan 2018

Land Use Change Sustainability And Carbon Turnover Rate In The Northern Great Plains Soil, Deepak Raj Joshi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sustainable land management involves the management of land, water, biodiversity and other resources that meet human requirements while maintaining ecosystem services. In the northern Great Plains (NGP), the combined impacts of landuse and climate variability have placed many soils at the tipping point of sustainability. The objectives of this study were to: 1) calculate land-use changes from 2006 to 2012 and from 2012 to 2014 in South Dakota and Nebraska; 2) assess if land use changes had impacted on soil sustainability; 3) calculate variation in total carbon budget and turnover due to seasonal climate variability, biomass quality and soil properties; …


Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Soil Applied Nitrogen Fertilizers, Samuel Thies Jan 2018

Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Soil Applied Nitrogen Fertilizers, Samuel Thies

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Greenhouse gases (GHG) absorb and emit radiant energy in the thermal range. Their concentrations in the atmosphere are increasing and becoming an ever increasing issue as the Earth’s average temperature continues to rise. Agricultural practices, such as applying nitrogen fertilizer to increase crop yield can be a major source of GHG emissions and methods are needed to decrease these emissions. The measurements of GHG emissions have been difficult, expensive, and erratic. However, advancing technologies have increased the accuracy and confidence in measuring GHG emissions. The objectives of this study were to determine the 1) effects of different nitrogen fertilizer sources, …