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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Evolutionary Potential Of A Dispersal-Restricted Species In Response To Climate Change, Lorena Torres Martinez Aug 2016

Evolutionary Potential Of A Dispersal-Restricted Species In Response To Climate Change, Lorena Torres Martinez

Open Access Dissertations

Habitat replacement and fragmentation associated with projected climate change pose a critical threat to global biodiversity. Edaphically limited plant species with restricted dispersal abilities will be especially handicapped to track their optimal climate spatially. Instead, the persistence of these species will depend on their capacity to adapt in situ to novel climate regimes. Here I evaluated the evolutionary potential of Lasthenia fremontii, an annual plant species restricted to ephemeral wetlands called vernal pools in California to adapt to the projected patterns of climate change. Across L. fremontii distribution there is a latitudinal gradient in precipitation which, combined with reduced …


The Effect Of Climate Change On The Economics Of Conservation Tillage: A Study Based On Field Experiments In Indiana, Whitney Hodde Aug 2016

The Effect Of Climate Change On The Economics Of Conservation Tillage: A Study Based On Field Experiments In Indiana, Whitney Hodde

Open Access Theses

This study evaluates the economics of conservation tillage (chisel till and no till) and examines how climate change will likely affect it. We use data from long-term experimental plots in Indiana to estimate how corn and soybean yields respond to weather patterns under alternative tillage practices. Yield functions are coupled with random draws of weather variables to construct distributions describing the probability that conservation tillage will result in higher profits than more intensive tillage, under current and future climatic regimes. Results suggest that, in our study area, projected climate change will make conservation tillage more attractive.


Irrigation Adoption, Groundwater Demand And Policy In The U.S. Corn Belt, 2040-2070, Molly A. Van Dop Aug 2016

Irrigation Adoption, Groundwater Demand And Policy In The U.S. Corn Belt, 2040-2070, Molly A. Van Dop

Open Access Theses

Climate change across the U.S. Corn Belt will significantly increase precipitation variability and temperatures by midcentury. Corn and soybean producers will seek to find strategies that may help to mitigate the potentially negative effects on yield. The adoption of irrigation technology has increased over the last several decades to improve yields in areas with insufficient rainfall, and is currently being adopted by producers who are choosing to minimize risk due to weather variability. To see if this trend in irrigation adoption has the potential to expand in the wake of climate change, this study uses weather data from four General …