Life Sciences Commons^™

Plas 439: Organic Farming And Food Systems Faculty-Led Inquiry Into Reflective Scholarly Teaching Benchmark Portfolio, Christian Stephenson

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Organic Farming and Food Systems is a senior and graduate level course for students in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. This course was previously offered but has been significantly modified as I have taken on responsibility for the course. Goals for the course include student comprehension of the methods of organic and regenerative farming and the impacts of those methods on economic, environmental, and social sustainability. An additional goal is to build student competency in the evaluation of primary, secondary, and tertiary information resources and critical thinking surrounding issues in food production. Assessment for the course was through diverse …

Bioaccumulation Of Four Metals In The Same Genus Mosses (Barbula Hedw.) And Soil Pollution Assessment In An Abandoned Karst Bauxite Tailing Area, Dengfu Wang, Qimei Wu, Zhaohui Zhang

Turkish Journal of Botany

Soil metal pollution is a concern in bauxite tailing areas. This study aimed to effectively screen plants with strong tolerance to metal contamination by analyzing the levels of metals in Barbula rigidula (Hedw.) Mild. (BR), Barbula indica (Hook.) Spreng. (BI), and Barbula vinealis Brid. (BV) and in soils. The contents of metals in mosses obtained from the bauxite tailing area followed the following order: Al > Fe > Zn > Cu. Furthermore, the levels of these metals were highest in BR, followed by BI and BV. However, concentrations of Al (12,220-87,080 mg/kg), Fe (8520-62,690 mg/kg), Cu (98.5-185.4 mg/kg), and Zn (208.2-352.6 mg/kg) in …

Impact Of Grazing Management On The Productivity Of Cold Temperate Grasslands Of Southern Patagonia - A Critical Assessment, A. F. Cibils, M. B. Coughenour

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

The contention that productivity of cold temperate grasslands of southern Patagonia have been greatly affected by domestic herbivore grazing in the past is fairly widespread. The consequences of spatiotemporal interactions between grazing and abiotic factors on the overall productivity of such systems, however, are still poorly understood. Predictions of both short- and long-term impacts of grazing management strategies on grassland productivity require a better understanding of these interactions. In this paper we make a critical assessment of the impact of grazing management on long-term sustainability of the grass steppes of southern Patagonia (Argentina). We discuss this issue in the context …

Assessing The Impacts Of Different Initiatives On The Rehabilitation Of Pastoral And Silvopastoral Ecosystems: Big Data Oriented Approach, Said Moukrim, Said Lahssini, Mustapha Naggar, K. Menzou, H. Mharzi-Alaoui, A. Labbaci, L. Rhazi

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Moroccan forests, through the provision of goods and ecosystem services, underpins benefits to local communities and play a crucial role for rural area development. The legal framework recognizes to people, living near public forests, the right to graze their domestic livestock. Over the years, the grazing pressure is at levels far beyond the forestland’s carrying capacity throughout the country. Such pressure has been demonstrated as the main cause of forest cover loss and land degradation in Morocco and still threatening the sustainability of forests. To reduce the heavy grazing pressure on forest ecosystems and ensure their regeneration, several initiatives have …

Use Of Remote Sensing To Guide The Assessment Of Temperate Grassland Degradation In The Territory, M. Martinez

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

The methodology Participatory Rangeland and Grassland Assessment (PRAGA), in its baseline phase, more specifically in stage 4, suggests remote sensing to assess at landscape scale. In order to determine the sites to be evaluated, grassland pixels of the Modis sensor were taken into account. Within it, three types of soils were differentiated: superficial, medium and deep, according to the previous existing cartography (2).

Within each soil type, pixels with significant trends (ἀ < 0.05), positive and negative (bright and hot), for the period 2000 -2017, were searched for both, IPSE and RESTREND. Therefore, 6 pixels of the Modis sensor were selected for each landscape.

From the field evaluation it appears that the greatest difference between the bright and hot trends was the height of the forage, and that both are pasture conditions …

Coarse Woody Debris Decomposition Assessment Tool: Model Validation And Application, Zhaohua Dai, Carl C. Trettin, Andrew J. Burton, Martin F. Jurgensen, Deborah S. Page-Dumroese, Brian T. Forschler, Jonathan S. Schilling, Daniel L. Lindner

Aspen Bibliography

Coarse woody debris (CWD) is a significant component of the forest biomass pool; hence a model is warranted to predict CWD decomposition and its role in forest carbon (C) and nutrient cycling under varying management and climatic conditions. A process-based model, CWDDAT (Coarse Woody Debris Decomposition Assessment Tool) was calibrated and validated using data from the FACE (Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment) Wood Decomposition Experiment utilizing pine (Pinus taeda), aspen (Populous tremuloides) and birch (Betula papyrifera) on nine Experimental Forests (EF) covering a range of climate, hydrology, and soil conditions across the continental USA. …

The Application Of Remote Sensing To Ecosystem Health Assessment In Temperate Rangelands, Xulin Guo, Guodong Han, Xiaohui Yang, Mengli Zhao

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

A Rapid Assessment Technique To Evaluate Rangeland Health, Michael Pellant, Jeffrey E. Herrick, P. L. Shaver, F. Busby, D. A. Pyke

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Inter‐Annual Dynamics Of Grassland Yields And Assessment Of Herbage Supply In The Headwater Region Of Three Rivers Over 18 Years, Jiangwen Fan, Junbang Wang, Zhouqi Chen, Huaping Zhong, Quanqin Shao, Jiyuan Liu, Wenyan Zhang

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Vegetative Community And Health Assessment Of A Constructed Juncus-Dominated Salt Marsh In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Nickolas R. Murphy

Master's Theses

Deer Island is a coastal habitat which provides a buffer from storm and flood damage as well as shore-line stabilization to the mainland of Biloxi, Mississippi. A third of the land has been lost since 1850, largely driven by tropical storm and hurricane impacts as well as sea level rise. The United States Army Corps of Engineers and Mississippi Department of Marine Resources have targeted the shores of the island as sites for restoration using beneficial use dredged material, and two sites of differing age have since been planted with Spartina alterniflora, Juncus roemerianus, Uniola paniculata, S. patens, and Panicum …

Assessment Of Drought Resistance For 17 Alfalfa Varieties At The Seedling Stage, Lin Meng, Peichun Mao, Qiang Guo

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Alfalfa is a crop of relative water demand, and the good quality, the high and stable yield could be obtained directly depending on water supplies and strong or weak drought resistance ability of alfalfa cultivars (Geng 1995; Chen and Jia 2000). To guide steady and effectively development of alfalfa industrialization in the arid and semi-arid regions of China, we systematically selected the excellent drought resistant alfalfa cultivars, and then identified and assessed their drought resistant capacity. In this study, a pot experiment was conducted by simulating drought stress in a greenhouse to assess the drought resistance of seventeen alfalfa cultivars …

A Technique To Evaluate Rangeland Health, N. Barakanova, B. Kirychuk

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

According to pasture law in Kyrgistan, pasture management is executed by local communities. The aim of Community Pasture Management Plans is to decrease risks of reducing pasture quality and to raise pasture resource use sustainability. One of the important parts of a pasture management plan is pasture health assessment. The objective of our work was to develop a rapid and simple technique to assess pasture health for community members and other land managers who live or work on pastures. This tool is the result of a collaborative effort of scientists from different countries. This technique utilizes 6 indicators, which are …

Performance Of Floristic Quality Assessment In Massachusetts Forested Wetlands, Carolyn Gorss

Masters Theses

In order to combat the loss of valuable wetland functions and services, federal, state and tribal governments must have the tools to accurately assess and monitor the condition of wetland ecosystems. One particular method of wetland assessment is Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA), which has been growing in popularity throughout the United States since its creation in the 1970s. FQA relies on vegetative indicators of human disturbance to assess the integrity of an ecosystem. FQA calculations are based on Coefficients of Conservatism (C-scores), professionally-assigned scores ranging from 0-10 that denote a local species' tolerance to anthropogenic disturbance. Despite increasing interest in …

A Vegetation-Based Index Of Biotic Integrity For Wetlands Of Kentucky, Noelle Newman Smith

Online Theses and Dissertations

Wetland ecosystems have experienced severe declines across the United States, prompting efforts to assess the status of remaining wetlands and regulate their development. The Clean Water Act and the policy of “No Net Loss” have resulted in a system of permitting and mitigation for impacts to wetlands. Professional judgments of wetland quality are inherent in regulatory decisions related to preservation and mitigation, but many states, and until recently including Kentucky, have no standard, quantifiable means of assessing wetlands to guide the decision process. A rapid assessment method has recently been developed for Kentucky, but there is no intensive assessment method …

Role Of Icts In Improving Drought Scenario Management In India, Shubhangi S. Wankhede, Niketa Gandhi, Leisa Armstrong

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Drought is a natural phenomenon that affects social, economic and environmental sectors. It is caused due to low or no rainfall in the specific region and for some duration of time. Reduced soil moisture and ground water level are the other causes for drought. Based on its intensity, drought has impacts on various sectors like agriculture, transportation, forest fire, environment and many more. Agriculture is the major sector being affected by drought resulting in low crop production and having great detriment to economy of the country. In this paper, an attempt is made to study the different causes and effects …

Establishing Warm-Season Grasses And Forbs Using Herbicides And Mowing, Thomas B. Bragg, David M. Sutherland

Biology Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

The objective of this study was to provide a preliminary assessment of the use of selected herbicides in establishing a diverse stand of prairie grasses and forbs. An upland and a lowland site in eastern Nebraska, consisting of well-drained, fine-silty clay, loess-derived soils, were seeded with 23 native prairie grass and forb species and subsequently mowed or treated at rates of 0.6, 1.1, 1.7, and 2.2 kg/ha with atrazine [6-chloro-Nethyl- N' -(l-methylethyl)-l ,3,S-triazine-2,4-diamine] or 2,4-0 (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid). Treatments were applied at one and two-year intervals. Canopy cover in unreplicated treatment areas (12 x 30 m) was evaluated in ten randomly …