Life Sciences Commons^™

The Influence Of Framing And Recent Experience On Farmer Choices In Experimental Games Depicting Risk-Reducing Agricultural Technologies, Ana Maria Ospina Tobar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is a major threat to food security, particularly in low and middle-income countries that are highly dependent on staple crops for subsistence. The vulnerability of staple crops, like maize, in the face of climate change, is increasing due to the increasing frequency of droughts. This thesis aims to evaluate two mechanisms through which farmers may be more willing to adopt new technologies that increase their resilience to climate change: First, I evaluate the effectiveness of a new virtual maize farming game as a learning tool to teach farmers about the outcomes they could obtain under different weather events …

Determining The Impact Of Post-Harvest Water Management On Chironomid Abundance, Agrochemical Biomass And Potential Trophic Biomagnification, Mason Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Agriculture has diminished shorebirds’ natural habitat in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Remaining natural stopover sites are supplemented with agricultural fields during the fall and winter. This study evaluates the impact of 4 different post-harvest water management strategies on shorebird food abundance and potential agrochemical biomagnification. Chironomid samples estimated abundance, biomass, and chironomid agrochemical concentration in each field. A risk assessment of agrochemical biomagnification to shorebirds was made across all treatments. Of treatments represented on all study sites, winter treatment had greatest chironomid abundance and biomass. Models indicated that days since flood initiation, start date, and temperature are significant predictors of …

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. …

Application Of The Fine Sediment Biotic Index To Three Drain Tiled And Ditched Agricultural Systems In Southern Minnesota, Bailey Sanders

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Artificial drainage is a common agricultural management technique in the United States used to remove excess water from poorly drained soils. Approximately 22.48 million hectares of crop land are drain-tiled in the United States, providing long-term economic benefits to farmers. However, artificial drainage increases sediment transport in agricultural watersheds, which can degrade aquatic systems, destroy habitats, and limit biological diversity. Biotic indices based on benthic macroinvertebrates are commonly used to assess surface water quality, but recent studies show potential in developing sediment biotic indices using benthic macroinvertebrates to estimate fine sediment in streams. The objective of this study was to …

Exploring Beaver-Facilitated Restoration In Grassland Channelized Streams, Jessica L. Sikora

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Freshwater streams provide vital ecosystem services, but their ecological function is gravely impacted by agricultural practices especially in grassland ecosystems. Though there is evidence that the re-introduction of beavers can help restore the ecological function of streams, little is known about their restorative impacts in grasslands. At Nachusa Grasslands Preserve in Franklin Grove, IL, we investigated the presence and impact of beaver dams on their waterways. With increasing beaver dam volume, we found an increase in sediment retention and less sediment retention with increasing beaver dams upstream from a dam. Though we did not find evidence that beaver dam volume …

Groundwater Governance And Agricultural Sustainability: Examining Farmer Interactions With California’S Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, Zachary Matthew Goldstein

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Climate change has exacerbated groundwater depletion globally, and policymakers have struggled to effectively manage groundwater resources. California enacted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in 2014 to restore groundwater to sustainable levels.

The first paper of this thesis examines the drivers associated with uptake of groundwater conservation practices in agriculture. While a rich body of research has explored farmers’ conservation practice adoption, understanding of groundwater conservation practices is more limited. This study explores how information sources influence the actual and intended adoption of groundwater management practices in California. Using survey data from farmers (n = 553) in three largely agricultural …

Assessment Of Historical Climate Variability In Maine With Implications For Future Agricultural Productivity And Adaptation, Carly Frank

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is a wicked problem with global impacts, one of which being the sustainability of the existing global food system. As temperatures and variability in precipitation are projected to increase, the challenges to agriculture are expected to intensify. This thesis examines the Maine historical climate record over the growing season, in combination with future projections, to assess how conditions have changed and will change with agricultural implications. In this analysis, relevant climatic variables are analyzed, and agriculture-significant measures are derived for Maine’s three climate divisions using four decades of daily and monthly gridded datasets. In addition, this thesis explores …

Identifying Key Stream Restoration Variables In An Agriculturally Impaired Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Julia Portmann

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The Chesapeake Bay watershed spans several states, supports diverse ecosystems, and is crucial to local economies. However, agricultural practices in this region impair water quality. The Smith Creek watershed, within the Shenandoah Valley, was designated a showcase watershed in 2010 by the United States Department of Agriculture to demonstrate the efficacy of implementing restoration projects. We sampled fifteen farms ranging from unrestored to thirty-six years since restoration. At each site, we conducted a kick-net survey for macroinvertebrates, measured canopy cover, algal density, substrate size, and bank height and angle. We identified macroinvertebrates to family and calculated the Chesapeake Basin-wide Index …

Soil Resilience And Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi: How Fungi Can Inform Climate Change Mitigation And Adaptation In Maya Milpa Management, Courtney Mathers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Mexico’s state of Yucatán, climate change impacts like prolonged and less predictable dry season length are manifesting as threats to agricultural production and food security. Nearly two thirds of Yucatán’s population is indigenous, many of whom live in rural communities that rely on rainfed subsistence agriculture (INEGI 2015). Ensuring sufficient food production in the face of climate change relies on the quality of agricultural soils. With both mismanagement of agricultural soils and climate change posing as threats to food production in Mexico, soil management practices that increase a soil quality should be identified and promoted. The primary objective of …

Policy Sustainability Issues: Case Study Of Cassava Farmers In Ikorodu. Lagos, Nigeria, Medinat Oluwatoyin Adetunji

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The inconsistency and lack of continuity of Nigeria's agricultural policies impact the cassava sector. Despite being the world's biggest producer, the country is yet to benefit from the advantage due to a lack of sustainable growth. The situation manifests in terms of low productivity, low production level, and poor income to the farmers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the experiences and perceptions of the cassava farmers on cassava policies and the effect on their income and livelihoods in the Ikorodu local government of Lagos State. This qualitative study adopted a case study research design using participatory …

Estimation Of Spatial Change In Cropland Area And Evaluation Of Irrigation Performance In Imperial Valley Using Remotely Sensed Data, Usha Poudel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Imperial Valley (IV) in the US is an extensively irrigated agricultural region, which includes multiple crops changing on an annual and semiannual basis. The valley is facing grave concerns about water management due to its semi-arid environment, water intensive crops, and limited water supply. A simple, inexpensive, and repeatable method to detect changes in cropping patterns may assist irrigation managers to understand crop diversification and associated consumptive use. In addition, a spatial assessment of existing water irrigation system performance and productivity is crucial to benchmark and improve current water management strategies. This thesis estimates the spatial pattern of change …

Long-Term Changes In Soil Surface Properties As Affected By Management Practices In A Wheat-Soybean, Double-Crop System, Machaela Morrison

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Long-term agricultural sustainability and productivity are controlled by the integrative effects of different management practices on the soil. Many Arkansas producers use the double-crop system to grow soybeans [Glycine max (L.) Merr] and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Studying combinations of different, non-traditional, alternative agricultural techniques may help producers better understand the long-term implications of various management practice options on sustainability and productivity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of agricultural management practices, including residue level, tillage, irrigation, and burning, and soil depth on the change in various soil properties from 2010 to 2020 in …

A Study Of The Social, Cultural, And Environmental Influences On Appalachian Agriculture, Morganne May

Senior Theses

Appalachia, despite its rich history and abundant biological and cultural diversity, is commonly associated with a generalized notion of ignorance, resistance to progress, and "backwardness." This study aims to shed light on the socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental influences which have shaped the present food systems of Appalachia through a review of relevant literature. This history provides the necessary context to strategize a region-specific, socioeconomically and environmentally sustainable food system moving forward.

Shaping Soil: Examining Relationships Between Agriculture And Climate Change, Lindsay Barbieri

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

As the ripple-effects of a changing climate shape our planet, understanding relationships between agriculture and climate change is critical. With agricultural practices shaping soils on over a third of the earth’s land surface, the soils and lands where food is produced are integral grounds for examining these relationships. While not all humans practice agriculture in similar or damaging ways, nevertheless, dominant agricultural practices are displacing beings and ecosystems and perturbing global nutrient cycles across the planet. These entwined imbalances of dominance and nutrients result in flows of excess nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon that are responsible for nearly three-fourths of the …

Evaluation Of The Relationship Between Land Use And Water Quality In Kittitas County, Wa, Lindsay Schulz

All Master's Theses

Water in Kittitas County is extremely valuable since it supports farming, recreation, and cultural activities, as well as environmental processes and a diversity of biological life while providing many ecosystem services. However, land conversions required by agricultural and urban land uses can negatively impact water quality and the biological function of the stream. I studied how forested, agricultural, and urban land use affect six streams. Fourteen sites were sampled, once each in July, August, and September 2019. Land use was calculated as a percentage of forested, agricultural, and urban land use within a 100-m buffer of the stream, upstream of …

The Conservation And Population Ecology Of The Imperiled Crawfish Frog (Lithobates Areolatus) In Human-Altered Landscapes, Chelsea Shannon Kross

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Crawfish Frog (Lithobates areolatus) is an imperiled amphibian currently experiencing severe declines across its range. As a species with unique habitat requirements that is threatened by habitat loss, understanding their status across the landscape and how they respond to environmental stressors is key to developing effective conservation strategies that maintain and expand viable populations. We used a combination of observational, experimental, and theoretical approaches to understand the status of Crawfish Frog populations in Northwest Arkansas (NWA), their individual and population-level response to human-induced changes in vegetation surrounding breeding wetlands, and the effects of fire management on larval development within …

Viability Of Wetland Crops For Use In Treatment Wetlands: Nitrogen Removal From Water And Production Of Food, Andrew Denson Corder

Theses and Dissertations

Treatment wetlands are used to treat wastewater from a variety of sources, but their functionality depends on the macrophytes present therein. To better understand the viability of wetland macrophytes both as sources of food and as agents of nitrogen removal from wastewater, this study quantified plant growth, food production, and nitrogen removal capacity of three common wetland crops as well as three locally dominant graminoid species in a variety of relevant ecological contexts. All six plant species and a control were grown over a ten-week period in three related experiments: (1) under three moisture regimes, (2) with or without competition …

Governing Water Quality Limits In Agricultural Watersheds, Courtney Ryder Hammond Wagner

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The diffuse runoff of agricultural nutrients, also called agricultural nonpoint source pollution (NPS), is a widespread threat to freshwater resources. Despite decades of research into the processes of eutrophication and agricultural nutrient management, social, economic, and political barriers have slowed progress towards improving water quality. A critical challenge to managing agricultural NPS pollution is motivating landowners to act against their individual farm production incentives in response to distant ecological impacts. The complexity of governing the social-ecological system requires improved understanding of how policy shapes farmer behavior to improve the state of water quality. This dissertation contributes both theoretically and empirically …

Local Farmer Knowledge Of Adaptive Management On Diversified Vegetable And Berry Farms In The Northeastern Us, Alissa White

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Agricultural adaptation to climate change is notoriously context specific. Recently updated projections for the Northeastern US forecast increasingly severe and erratic precipitation events which pose significant risks to every sector of agricultural production in the region. Vegetable and berry farmers are among the most vulnerable to the risks of severe precipitation and drought due to the intensive soil and crop management strategies which characterize of this kind of production. To successfully adapt to a changing climate, these farmers need information which is tailored for the unique challenges of vegetable and berry production, framed at the level of climate impacts, and …

Through The Eyes Of Locals: A Changing Climate In Bolivia, Jacob D. Rex

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Deforestation and Agricultural Land-Use Change in Bolivia as a Function of Socio-Economic Realities.

This research combines semi-structured interviews of key informants and local participants, as well as field observations, which were conducted between January and April of 2019 in the Departments of Santa Cruz & Chuquisaca.

Successful Climate Change Strategies In Corporate Farming In North America, Deann Renee Reaves

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The impact of climate change on agriculture is evident in changing growing seasons, crop yield, crop quality, and even complete crop losses. Changing climate conditions negatively affect the profitability of agricultural organizations. This study was a single descriptive case of one agricultural corporation in the western United States. The purpose was to identify and explore successful climate change-based sustainability strategies. The conceptual framework for this study was legitimacy theory. The data collection methods consisted of a semistructured interview of a corporate exectutive and obtaining corporate documents, including the annual report from the company's website. Data were analyzed using content analysis …

Governing Environmental And Economic Flows In Regional Food Systems, Michael Bishop Wironen

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Globalization, specialization, and intensification have transformed the global food system, generating material flows and impacts that span multiple scales and levels, presenting novel governance challenges. Many argue for a transition toward a sustainable food system, although the scope and specific goals are fiercely contested. Theory and method is needed to evaluate competing normative claims and build legitimacy.

In this dissertation Vermont serves as a case study to investigate how environmental and economic flows impact regional governance, focusing on efforts to manage agricultural phosphorus to achieve water quality goals. A material flow account is developed to estimate phosphorus flows embedded in …

No Farm Is An Island: Pollinators And Pollination In Agricultural Landscapes, Charles C. Nicholson

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Productive, resilient and sustainable agricultural systems are required to meet the immediate needs of a burgeoning human population, while avoiding ecosystem collapse. Agriculture provides food, fiber, fuels and other products for our current population of 7 billion and is still the major livelihood for 40% of people worldwide. By replacing natural habitat and employing chemical inputs, agriculture also negatively impacts biodiversity and impairs the provision of ecosystem services. This poses a challenge for agriculture as these impacted services are often those required for high yielding and high-quality crop production. Evidence is accumulating that agricultural management can safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem …

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Of Nutritionally Equivalent Meals With And Without Pork, Kelli Young

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The following report details a life cycle assessment of several dietary and meal scenarios with and without pork. The goal of the LCA was to identify the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and land use of pork containing and porkless diets and meal plans in a field-to-fork analysis. The dietary and meal plan scenarios are iso-caloric meaning they contain the same number of calories. The first set of diets is based on a USDA consumption pattern, 2000 kcal per day. This diet was used to create three other dietary scenarios with and without pork. The USDA recommended food …

Financial Assessment Of Agricultural Lands At Risk To Coastal Salt Marsh Migration In Relation To Climate Change Induced Sea Level Rise In Dorchester County, Maryland, Jewell Porter

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

The increasing rate and effects of sea level rise is a major environmental concern in the Chesapeake Bay. This paper evaluates the impacts of rising sea level on coastal salt marshes and the surrounding agricultural lands at risk in Dorchester County, Maryland to build off existing environmental monitoring work performed by NOAA’s Sentinel Site Program. The results of the spatial analysis were used to estimate monetary benefits to incentivize farmers to protect these marshes by making their land available for marsh migration to occur. Looking at three scenarios of sea level rise and marsh migration, grain crops (corn, soybeans, and …

Human Dimensions Of Habitat Loss In The Plains And Prairie Potholes Ecoregion, Lily A. Sweikert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Plains and Prairie Potholes Ecoregion (PPPE), is located in the north-central contiguous United States and is one of the most imperiled grassland regions in the world. Most of the region is privately owned and used for the production of agricultural commodities. In addition to its direct benefits to humanity, the PPPE provides multiple ecosystem services including, soil and water quality improvements, carbon sequestration, weather amelioration, and wildlife habitat. Recent increases in expansion of row crop agriculture concerns conservation practitioners about the long-term integrity of the PPPE. Conservation practitioners are looking to improve their private landowner conservation initiatives in the …

Effects Of Silvopasture Establishment On Aqueous And Gaseous Soil N Losses At The University Of New Hampshire Organic Dairy Research Farm, Kathryn Ann Slebodnik

Honors Theses and Capstones

The expansion of local agriculture in the New England region is putting increased pressure on farmers to expand their arable land base. While clear-cutting is a traditional method of converting forested land to agriculture, it is known for having adverse ecological impacts. To minimize these impacts, farmers can create a silvopasture which incorporates a portion of the original forest canopy into pastures or crop fields. This study evaluates the impact of land-use changes for agriculture on soil nitrogen (N) retention. In particular, this study investigates the differences in soil N turnover, gaseous loss, and aqueous loss among an established forest, …

A Demonstration Study Of Drainage Water Management In Eastern South Dakota, Ashik Sahani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Subsurface drainage is a common water management practice for improving crop production in poorly drained soils; however, the practice is associated with several environmental concerns such as nutrient losses to downstream surface waters. These environmental concerns from subsurface drainage have prompted interest in drainage water management strategies such as controlled drainage. This study assessed the agronomic and environmental impacts of drainage water management in eastern South Dakota by using two demonstration plots for controlled and conventional drainage. Drain flow, nitrate and dissolved phosphorous concentration in drain water, shallow groundwater, crop yield, residual soil nitrate, soil moisture and temperature, soil penetration …

Sustainable Agriculture: How France Promotes Sustainability, Jordan Pulling

Honors Theses

High consumption lifestyles led to a rapid decline in natural resources. The daily gestures of the people of the world use a quantity massive resource and energy that cannot be replaced. Decision makers of the world are invited to consider what changes will be needed to focus about sustainable and sustainable practices if we want to continue living in the way which we have become accustomed to. The development of renewable energies was a first step towards total sustainable development. Recently, however, we have seen a new way to reduce negative impacts on the rights of the Earth: changes in …

From Empty Lot To Garden Plot: Urban Agriculture In Chula Vista, Jennifer E. Gutierrez

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project is an exploration of how agriculture can be incorporated into the fabric of the city of Chula Vista, which has both uniquely urban and suburban areas. The proposal is to integrate agriculture as a design tool to reconnect to the city’s agricultural past and as a model for cities of the future. First, I discuss Chula Vista’s history and contemporary context, including demographics. I review the existing urban agriculture policies Chula Vista has and compare them to other cities in California. The second part of the project is concerned with how to choose and develop a site for …