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2021

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Full-Text Articles in Horticulture

Domestication Reshaped The Genetic Basis Of Inbreeding Depression In A Maize Landrace Compared To Its Wild Relative, Teosinte, Luis Fernando Samayoa, Bode A. Olukolu, Chin Jian Yang, Qiuyue Chen, Markus G. Stetter, Alessandra M. York, Jose De Jesus Sanchez-Gonzalez, Jeffrey C. Glaubitz, Peter J. Bradbury, Maria Cinta Romay, Qi Sun, Jinliang Yang, Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra, Edward S. Buckler, John F. Doebley, James B. Holland Dec 2021

Domestication Reshaped The Genetic Basis Of Inbreeding Depression In A Maize Landrace Compared To Its Wild Relative, Teosinte, Luis Fernando Samayoa, Bode A. Olukolu, Chin Jian Yang, Qiuyue Chen, Markus G. Stetter, Alessandra M. York, Jose De Jesus Sanchez-Gonzalez, Jeffrey C. Glaubitz, Peter J. Bradbury, Maria Cinta Romay, Qi Sun, Jinliang Yang, Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra, Edward S. Buckler, John F. Doebley, James B. Holland

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Inbreeding depression is the reduction in fitness and vigor resulting from mating of close relatives observed in many plant and animal species. The extent to which the genetic load of mutations contributing to inbreeding depression is due to large-effect mutations versus variants with very small individual effects is unknown and may be affected by population history. We compared the effects of outcrossing and self-fertilization on 18 traits in a landrace population of maize, which underwent a population bottleneck during domestication, and a neighboring population of its wild relative teosinte. Inbreeding depression was greater in maize than teosinte for 15 of …


Identification Of Candidate Genes And Genomic Regions Associated With Adult Plant Resistance To Stripe Rust In Spring Wheat, Amira M. I. Mourad, Mohamed A. Abou-Zeid, Shamseldeen Eltaher, P. Stephen Baenziger, Andreas Börner Dec 2021

Identification Of Candidate Genes And Genomic Regions Associated With Adult Plant Resistance To Stripe Rust In Spring Wheat, Amira M. I. Mourad, Mohamed A. Abou-Zeid, Shamseldeen Eltaher, P. Stephen Baenziger, Andreas Börner

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Wheat stripe rust (caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) is a major disease that damages wheat plants and affects wheat yield all over the world. In recent years, stripe rust became a major problem that affects wheat yield in Egypt. New races appeared and caused breakdowns in the resistant genotypes. To improve resistance in the Egyptian genotypes, new sources of resistance are urgently needed. In the recent research, a set of 95 wheat genotypes collected from 19 countries, including Egypt, were evaluated for their resistance against the Egyptian race(s) of stripe rust under field conditions in the two …


Relationships Among College-Level Science Course Enrollment, Environmental Perception, And Pro-Environmental Attitude: Evidence From The Us General Social Survey, Mazbahul G. Ahamad, Fahian Tanin Dec 2021

Relationships Among College-Level Science Course Enrollment, Environmental Perception, And Pro-Environmental Attitude: Evidence From The Us General Social Survey, Mazbahul G. Ahamad, Fahian Tanin

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Understanding pro-environmental attitudes is critical to encouraging pollution-minimizing behaviors. Therefore, identifying associated factors is essential for understanding different types of pro-environmental attitudes. We aimed to investigate the associations among individuals’ college-level science course enrollment and their perceptions of the level of spending to improve and protect the environment, as well as their pro-environmental attitudes. We used nationwide population-based cross-sectional survey data from 2,348 individuals obtained from the General Social Survey in the United States. An ordered logistic model was used to examine the associations among college-level science course enrollment, environmental perception, and pro-environmental attitude. We found that science course enrollment …


Cold Conditioned: Discovery Of Novel Alleles For Low-Temperature Tolerance In The Vavilov Barley Collection, Ahmad H. Sallam, Kevin P. Smith, Gongshe Hu, Jamie Sherman, Peter Stephen Baeziger, Jochum Wiersma, Carl Duley, Eric J. Stockinger, Mark E. Sorrells, Tamas Szinyei, Igor G. Loskutov, Olga N. Kovaleva, Jed Eberly, Brian J. Steffenson Dec 2021

Cold Conditioned: Discovery Of Novel Alleles For Low-Temperature Tolerance In The Vavilov Barley Collection, Ahmad H. Sallam, Kevin P. Smith, Gongshe Hu, Jamie Sherman, Peter Stephen Baeziger, Jochum Wiersma, Carl Duley, Eric J. Stockinger, Mark E. Sorrells, Tamas Szinyei, Igor G. Loskutov, Olga N. Kovaleva, Jed Eberly, Brian J. Steffenson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Climate changes leading to higher summer temperatures can adversely affect cool season crops like spring barley. In the Upper Midwest region of the United States, one option for escaping this stress factor is to plant winter or facultative type cultivars in the autumn and then harvest in early summer before the onset of high-temperature stress. However, the major challenge in breeding such cultivars is incorporating sufficient winter hardiness to survive the extremely low temperatures that commonly occur in this production region. To broaden the genetic base for winter hardiness in the University of Minnesota breeding program, 2,214 accessions from the …


Effect Of Biofertilizer In Organic And Conventional Systems On Growth, Yield And Baking Quality Of Hard Red Winter Wheat, Ammar Al-Zubade, Timothy D. Phillips, Mark A. Williams, Krista L. Jacobsen, David Van Sanford Dec 2021

Effect Of Biofertilizer In Organic And Conventional Systems On Growth, Yield And Baking Quality Of Hard Red Winter Wheat, Ammar Al-Zubade, Timothy D. Phillips, Mark A. Williams, Krista L. Jacobsen, David Van Sanford

Horticulture Faculty Publications

A two-year study (harvest years 2019 and 2020) was conducted to investigate the effect of a commercially available biofertilizer, in combination with variable nitrogen (N) rate, on bread baking quality and agronomic traits in hard winter wheat grown in conventional (CONV) and organic (ORG) farming systems in Kentucky, USA. The hard red winter wheat cultivar ‘Vision 45’ was used with three N rates (44, 89.6 and 134.5 kg/ha as Low, Med and High, respectively) and three biofertilizer spray regimes (no spray, one spray and two sprays). All traits measured were significantly affected by the agricultural production system (CONV or ORG) …


2021 Seedless Pickling Cucumber Variety Trial, Ben Phillips, Jessica Good Dec 2021

2021 Seedless Pickling Cucumber Variety Trial, Ben Phillips, Jessica Good

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

A pickling cucumber variety trial was planted at the Saginaw Valley Research and Extension Center (43.399097, -83.694497, Frankenmuth, Michigan). Bejo (BJ), Nunhems (NU), Rijk Zwaan (RZ), and Sakata (SK) seed companies donated parthenocarpic (seedless) varieties for mechanical once-over harvest. The top five varieties each had Total Percent Recovery scores of 100%. When arranged in order of their highest combined clean yields of the most profitable fruit sizes (2B + 3A + 3B), they were NU 2106 (711 bu/a), NU 2105 (699 bu/a), RZ 16 (639 bu/a), RZ 11 (446 bu/a), and BJ Aristan (303 bu/a).


Sustainable Intensification For A Larger Global Rice Bowl, Shen Yuan, Bruce A. Linquist, Lloyd T. Wilson, Kenneth G. Cassman, Alexander M. Stuart, Valerien Pede, Berta Miro, Kazuki Saito, Nurwulan Agustiani, Vina Eka Aristya, Leonardus Y. Krisnadi, Alencar Junior Zanon, Alexandre Bryan Heinemann, Gonzalo Carracelas, Nataraja Subash, Pathula S. Brahmanand, Tao Li, Shaobing Peng, Patricio Grassini Dec 2021

Sustainable Intensification For A Larger Global Rice Bowl, Shen Yuan, Bruce A. Linquist, Lloyd T. Wilson, Kenneth G. Cassman, Alexander M. Stuart, Valerien Pede, Berta Miro, Kazuki Saito, Nurwulan Agustiani, Vina Eka Aristya, Leonardus Y. Krisnadi, Alencar Junior Zanon, Alexandre Bryan Heinemann, Gonzalo Carracelas, Nataraja Subash, Pathula S. Brahmanand, Tao Li, Shaobing Peng, Patricio Grassini

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Future rice systems must produce more grain while minimizing the negative environmental impacts. A key question is how to orient agricultural research & development (R&D) programs at national to global scales to maximize the return on investment. Here we assess yield gap and resource-use efficiency (including water, pesticides, nitrogen, labor, energy, and associated global warming potential) across 32 rice cropping systems covering half of global rice harvested area. We show that achieving high yields and high resource-use efficiencies are not conflicting goals. Most cropping systems have room for increasing yield, resource-use efficiency, or both. In aggregate, current total rice production …


Climate And Agronomy, Not Genetics, Underpin Recent Maize Yield Gains In Favorable Environments, Gonzalo Rizzo, Juan Pablo Monzon, Fatima Amor Tenorio, Réka Howard, Kenneth G. Cassman, Patricio Grassini Dec 2021

Climate And Agronomy, Not Genetics, Underpin Recent Maize Yield Gains In Favorable Environments, Gonzalo Rizzo, Juan Pablo Monzon, Fatima Amor Tenorio, Réka Howard, Kenneth G. Cassman, Patricio Grassini

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Quantitative understanding of factors driving yield increases of major food crops is essential for effective prioritization of research and development. Yet previous estimates had limitations in distinguishing among contributing factors such as changing climate and new agronomic and genetic technologies. Here, we distinguished the separate contribution of these factors to yield advance using an extensive database collected from the largest irrigated maize-production domain in the world located in Nebraska (United States) during the 2005-to-2018 period. We found that 48% of the yield gain was associated with a decadal climate trend, 39% with agronomic improvements, and, by difference, only 13% with …


Arkansas Corn And Grain Sorghum Performance Tests 2021, J. F. Carlin, R. B. Morgan, R. D. Bond Dec 2021

Arkansas Corn And Grain Sorghum Performance Tests 2021, J. F. Carlin, R. B. Morgan, R. D. Bond

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Corn and grain sorghum performance tests are conducted each year in Arkansas by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. The tests provide information to companies marketing seed within the state and aid the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service in formulating recommendations for producers. The 2021 corn performance tests contained 70 hybrids and were conducted at the Northeast Research and Extension Center (NEREC) at Keiser, the Lon Mann Cotton Research Station (LMCRS) near Marianna, the Bell Farming Company (BFC) near Des Arc, the Rohwer Research Station (RRS) near Rohwer, and the Rice Research and Extension Center (RREC) near Stuttgart. The …


Multi-Dimensional Leaf Phenotypes Reflect Root System Genotype In Grafted Grapevine Over The Growing Season, Zachery N. Harris, Mani Awale, Niyati Bhaakta, Daniel H. Chitwood, Anne Fennell, Emma Frawley, Laura L. Klein, Laszlo G. Kovacs, Misha Kwasniewski, Jason P. Londo, Qin Ma, The Ohio State University Miogicovsky, Joel F. Swift, Allison J. Miller Dec 2021

Multi-Dimensional Leaf Phenotypes Reflect Root System Genotype In Grafted Grapevine Over The Growing Season, Zachery N. Harris, Mani Awale, Niyati Bhaakta, Daniel H. Chitwood, Anne Fennell, Emma Frawley, Laura L. Klein, Laszlo G. Kovacs, Misha Kwasniewski, Jason P. Londo, Qin Ma, The Ohio State University Miogicovsky, Joel F. Swift, Allison J. Miller

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Modern biological approaches generate volumes of multi-dimensional data, offering unprecedented opportunities to address biological questions previously beyond reach owing to small or subtle effects. A fundamental question in plant biology is the extent to which below-ground activity in the root system influences above-ground phenotypes expressed in the shoot system. Grafting, an ancient horticultural practice that fuses the root system of one individual (the rootstock) with the shoot system of a second, genetically distinct individual (the scion), is a powerful experimental system to understand below-ground effects on above-ground phenotypes. Previous studies on grafted grapevines have detected rootstock influence on scion phenotypes …


Genetic Control Of Sweetness, Acidity, And Seediness In Blackberry, Carly Elizabeth Godwin Dec 2021

Genetic Control Of Sweetness, Acidity, And Seediness In Blackberry, Carly Elizabeth Godwin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The global blackberry (Rubus L. subgenus Rubus Watson) industry has experienced rapid growth during the past 15 years. Even so, many industry stakeholders report complaints from consumers and grocers stating blackberries are often too tart, too seedy, or not sweet enough for their liking. The development of molecular markers for high sweetness, low acidity, and reduced seediness would allow breeding programs to expeditiously make selection and crossing decisions in the early stages of the breeding pipeline. The objective of this study was to use a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) to identify marker-trait associations, locate quantitative trait loci (QTL), and find …


Nutrient Uptake And Management Strategies In Recirculating Hydroponic Systems, Lauren Leigh Houston Dec 2021

Nutrient Uptake And Management Strategies In Recirculating Hydroponic Systems, Lauren Leigh Houston

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nutrient management in recirculating hydroponic systems requires the periodic replenishment of water and nutrients to the nutrient solution reservoir. Common nutrient management strategies, such as replenishing the reservoir with fresh solution and maintaining a constant solution electrical conductivity (EC), can lead to ion accumulation and nutrient imbalances since nutrients are taken up by roots and depleted from solution at different rates. To avoid nutritional disorders, commercial growers typically dump and replace the hydroponic solution periodically, which is wasteful and has an economic cost. A potential alternative is to specially formulate the nutrient replenishment solution to balance the supply of nutrients …


Impact Of Planting Arrangement And Drill Row Spacing For Direct-Seeded, Delayed Flood Rice, Mary Jane Lytle Dec 2021

Impact Of Planting Arrangement And Drill Row Spacing For Direct-Seeded, Delayed Flood Rice, Mary Jane Lytle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Direct-seeding is the most frequently utilized planting practice in Arkansas and Mid-South rice (Oryza sativa L.) production. Enhanced plant density and more rapid rice canopy formation may result from the implementation of innovative plant arrangements and spacings. Studies were initiated in 2019 and continued into 2020 to examine different cultural management practice experiments, including evaluating the impacts of planting arrangement, row spacing, and seeding rates on rice stand density, canopy coverage, grain yield, and milling yield. These small-plot trials were conducted at two locations, a silt loam site and a clay site, representative of soils produced to rice in eastern …


Assessing Freezing Effect On Kiwifruit Cultivars And Mapping Suitable Areas For Growing The Crop In Eastern Texas, Lais De Oliveira Machado Dec 2021

Assessing Freezing Effect On Kiwifruit Cultivars And Mapping Suitable Areas For Growing The Crop In Eastern Texas, Lais De Oliveira Machado

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Kiwifruit is a perennial vine originating from China where it has been grown for centuries. In the United States, green kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) is primarily produced commercially in California. They are fuzzy, green fleshed and well known in the marketplace. Kiwifruit plants require low to moderate soil pH, adequate winter chilling and adequate precipitation to guarantee plant development and good fructification. Actinidia chinesis or golden kiwifruit are smooth skinned, feature golden flesh and are a more recent introduction into the global market. Kiwifruit crops have attributes that favor production in east Texas, including low pest problems, current long …


Utility Of Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation For Weed And Disease Management In Solanaceous Vegetable Crops, Gursewak Singh Dec 2021

Utility Of Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation For Weed And Disease Management In Solanaceous Vegetable Crops, Gursewak Singh

All Theses

Managing weeds is one of the most challenging aspects of growing specialty crops. Weed control options are limited for specialty crops due to absence of effective herbicide options. The limited current herbicide options risk carryover and damage to subsequent crops. Bacterial wilt is another problem causing significant yield losses in southeast vegetable production. After the termination of methyl bromide due to health and environmental concerns, several other chemical fumigants gained interest, including 1,3-dichloropropene, chloropicrin and metam sodium/potassium. While less toxic to the environment than methyl bromide, these fumigants pose carcinogenic and mutagenic threats. Alternative weed control and diseases management tactics …


Comparing Organic And Conventional Yield Responses To Climate Variations, Joost Wilken Meyer Dec 2021

Comparing Organic And Conventional Yield Responses To Climate Variations, Joost Wilken Meyer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis compares the responses of organic yields and conventional yields towards climate variations. To achieve this objective, weather variables such as growing season weather conditions (average temperature, precipitation, cloud cover, relative humidity, drought index), weather anomalies, the occurrence of severe or extreme droughts and excessive rainfalls, are combined with 23 data sets gathered from previous studies that compare organic and conventional yields from the same location and time periods. To narrow the scope, the thesis focuses on soybean, maize, and wheat production in Europe and North America. Study-level fixed-effects models are used to control for any time-invariant factors such …


Field Evaluation Of Struvite As A Phosphorus Source, Niyi Sunday Omidire Dec 2021

Field Evaluation Of Struvite As A Phosphorus Source, Niyi Sunday Omidire

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Phosphorus (P) is an element that is crucial in many biological processes in all forms of life and is not substitutable. Excess P in wastewaters leading to the degradation of receiving waters or eutrophication once released is a major environmental concern. Removal of excess P from wastewater as the mineral struvite (MgNH4PO4·6H2O) could be a promising solution to reduce P discharge into receiving waters and can potentially provide a valuable fertilizer-P source for agricultural production. The objectives of this project were to evaluate the effects of: 1) chemically precipitated struvite (CPST), compared to triple superphosphate (TSP) and an unamended control …


Palmer Amaranth [Amaranthus Palmeri (S.) Wats.] Resistance To S-Metolachlor In The Mid-Southern Us And S-Metolachlor Dissipation In Soil, Koffi Badou Jeremie Kouame Dec 2021

Palmer Amaranth [Amaranthus Palmeri (S.) Wats.] Resistance To S-Metolachlor In The Mid-Southern Us And S-Metolachlor Dissipation In Soil, Koffi Badou Jeremie Kouame

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Palmer amaranth [Amaranthus palmeri (S.) Wats.] presents both a high genetic diversity and propensity to evolve resistance to herbicides of several sites-of-action which have made it one of the worst weeds in US agriculture. In Arkansas, Palmer amaranth is resistant to herbicides of seven sites-of-action, which are 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) inhibitor, acetolactate synthase inhibitors, microtubule inhibitors, protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitors, very long chain fatty acid inhibitors, glutamine synthetase inhibitors, and hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase inhibitors. Sustainable management requires a better understanding of its biology and that of herbicide environmental fate. This research had five objectives: 1) characterize the current status of Palmer amaranth …


Arkansas Soybean Research Studies 2020, Jeremy Ross Dec 2021

Arkansas Soybean Research Studies 2020, Jeremy Ross

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

The 2020 Arkansas Soybean Research Studies includes research reports on topics pertaining to soybean across several disciplines from breeding to post-harvest processing. Research reports contained in this publication may represent preliminary or only data from a single year or limited results; therefore, these results should not be used as a basis for long-term recommendations. Several research reports in this publication will appear in other University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station publications. This duplication is the result of the overlap in research coverage between disciplines and our effort to inform Arkansas soybean producers of the research …


Winter Cover Crop Mixes: Effects On Strip-Tilled Plasticulture And No-Till Watermelon Production In Arkansas, Alden Neil Hotz Dec 2021

Winter Cover Crop Mixes: Effects On Strip-Tilled Plasticulture And No-Till Watermelon Production In Arkansas, Alden Neil Hotz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Watermelon, Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai, producers in Arkansas grow watermelons in either plasticulture or bare-ground systems. Both systems can benefit from the use of winter cover crops for weed control and to supply nitrogen (N) to the watermelon crop. Currently, the use of cover crops in watermelon production in AR is mostly limited to either cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) or winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L). The objective of this research is to evaluate the potential benefits of growing a mix of a legume and grass cover crops before watermelon production in both a strip-till plasticulture and a …


Molecular Markers Within And Beyond Viburnum: A Single Set Of Ssrs For An Immense Genus, Trinity Paige Hamm Dec 2021

Molecular Markers Within And Beyond Viburnum: A Single Set Of Ssrs For An Immense Genus, Trinity Paige Hamm

Masters Theses

Comprised of more than 160 species, Viburnum is the largest genus in the Viburnaceae (formerly Adoxaceae) alongside Adoxa and Sambucus. The native range of Viburnum species spans much of the Northern Hemisphere and extends into the mountains of South America and Southeastern Asia. Their wide geographic range has made Viburnum particularly interesting to phylogeographers and phylogeneticists. This diverse genus is also horticulturally valuable with varying traits such as fragrance, fruit color, and bud and inflorescence form. There is sufficient morphological diversity in the genus for there to be more than 70 species and intraspecific hybrids in cultivation, and in …


Formation Of B Horizons In Engineered Putting Green Soils, Glen Obear Dec 2021

Formation Of B Horizons In Engineered Putting Green Soils, Glen Obear

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Engineered turfgrass putting green soils are designed to drain quickly, while maintaining adequate water- and nutrient-holding capacity to sustain plant growth. These soils are designed to meet specific performance characteristics when they are constructed, but the process of soil formation changes these characteristics over time. Chapter 1 of this dissertation is a literature review of soil formation in engineered putting green soils. Pedogenesis of putting greens is such that A horizons form as organic matter accumulates near the surface, and B horizons form as particles and solutes are translocated to textural or pH boundaries in soil profiles. In the engineered …


A Method For Visualizing Water Flow Through Modified Root Zones, Dallas M. Williams Dec 2021

A Method For Visualizing Water Flow Through Modified Root Zones, Dallas M. Williams

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As the number of impervious surfaces in urban environments increases, the ability of modified root zones to infiltrate water is becoming more important. Current methods of tracing water flow through soil profiles include excavating large pits in situ or analyzing soil cores in the laboratory with computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. While useful, these methods may not be suitable for urban settings or practical in every laboratory. We propose a new method that is less invasive, does not require extensive technical equipment and can reliably trace water movement through the soil profile in order to calculate flow rate based …


Livestock Grazing Impacts On Crop And Soil Responses For Two Cropping Systems, Alyssa Kuhn Dec 2021

Livestock Grazing Impacts On Crop And Soil Responses For Two Cropping Systems, Alyssa Kuhn

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Diversified crop, forage, and livestock systems are assumed to be more sustainable and economically competitive than traditional cropping systems. Objectives of this study were to determine effects of integrating grazing livestock into corn (Zea mays)-soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) (C-S) and corn-soybean-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (C-S-W) cropping systems on plant population, grain yield, soil nutrients and soil carbon dioxide (CO2) flux following winter grazing corn residue (both systems) and an oat (Avena sativa) cover crop (C-S-W only) planted after wheat. For the 2019 and 2020 production seasons, neither corn nor soybean plant …


American Burying Beetle, Plant Richness, And Soil Property Responses To Collapse Of Juniperus Virginiana Woodlands With Fire, Alison Ludwig Dec 2021

American Burying Beetle, Plant Richness, And Soil Property Responses To Collapse Of Juniperus Virginiana Woodlands With Fire, Alison Ludwig

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Grasslands are declining in the Great Plains due to land use changes, woody plant encroachment, and loss of historic fire cycles. Prescribed burn associations have utilized prescribed fire to collapse invading woodlands and allow the restoration of grasslands. This fire is considered “extreme” because it is capable of changing the structure and function of an ecosystem. Our study site is the Loess Canyons Experimental Landscape, a long-term, ecoregion-scale experiment to apply prescribed fire across the region to restore grasslands. The Nebraska Natural Legacy Project established the Loess Canyons ecoregion as a Biologically-Unique Landscape in 2005 with the state’s wildlife action …


Seeding Rate Effects On Forage Mass And Vegetation Dynamics Of Cool-Season Grass Sod Interseeded With Sorghum-Sudangrass, John A. Guretzky, D. D. Redfearn Nov 2021

Seeding Rate Effects On Forage Mass And Vegetation Dynamics Of Cool-Season Grass Sod Interseeded With Sorghum-Sudangrass, John A. Guretzky, D. D. Redfearn

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Interseeding annual warm-season grasses into perennial cool-season grasses has the potential to increase summer forage mass and nutritive value. Knowledge of how seeding rate affects annual warm-season grass establishment, forage mass, and vegetation dynamics remains limited. From 2016–2017, we conducted a field experiment evaluating the effects of seeding rates on sorghum-sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor x S. bicolor var. sudanense) density and forage mass and on the frequency of occurrence of plant species in cool-season grass sod in Lincoln, NE. The experiment had a completely randomized design consisting of six replicates of four seeding rates [0, 14, 28, and 35 …


Impact Of Urbanization Trends On Production Of Key Staple Crops, José F. Andrade, Kenneth G. Cassman, Juan I. Rattalino Edreira, Fahmuddin Agus, Abdullahi Bala, Nanyan Deng, Patricio Grassini Nov 2021

Impact Of Urbanization Trends On Production Of Key Staple Crops, José F. Andrade, Kenneth G. Cassman, Juan I. Rattalino Edreira, Fahmuddin Agus, Abdullahi Bala, Nanyan Deng, Patricio Grassini

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Urbanization has appropriated millions of hectares of cropland, and this trend will persist as cities continue to expand. We estimate the impact of this conversion as the amount of land needed elsewhere to give the same yield potential as determined by differences in climate and soil properties. Robust spatial upscaling techniques, well-validated crop simulation models, and soil, climate, and cropping system databases are employed with a focus on populous countries with high rates of land conversion. We find that converted cropland is 30–40% more productive than new cropland, which means that projection of food production potential must account for expected …


Influence Of Surfactant-Humectant Adjuvants On Physical Properties, Droplet Size, And Efficacy Of Glufosinate Formulations, Estefania G. Polli, Guilherme S. Alves, Jesaelen Gizotti De Moraes, Greg Robert Kruger Nov 2021

Influence Of Surfactant-Humectant Adjuvants On Physical Properties, Droplet Size, And Efficacy Of Glufosinate Formulations, Estefania G. Polli, Guilherme S. Alves, Jesaelen Gizotti De Moraes, Greg Robert Kruger

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Glufosinate efficacy is inconsistent among weed species and under environmental conditions that favor rapid droplet drying. Surfactant-humectant adjuvants could maximize glufosinate efficacy by increasing wetting and penetration into the leaf surface while decreasing evaporation rate (ER). However, there is a lack of information in the literature about the interaction of surfactant-humectants adjuvants with glufosinate. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of surfactanthumectant adjuvants on the physical properties, droplet size, and efficacy of two glufosinate formulations. Laboratory, greenhouse, and field studies were conducted at the Pesticide Application Technology Laboratory of the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. Treatment design …


Prosopis Glandulosa Persistence Is Facilitated By Differential Protection Of Buds During Low- And High-Energy Fires, Heath D. Starns, Carissa L. Wonkka, Matthew B. Dickinson, Alexandra G. Lodge, Morgan L. Treadwell, Kathleen L. Kavanagh, Douglas R. Tolleson, Dirac L. Twidwell Jr, William E. Rogers Nov 2021

Prosopis Glandulosa Persistence Is Facilitated By Differential Protection Of Buds During Low- And High-Energy Fires, Heath D. Starns, Carissa L. Wonkka, Matthew B. Dickinson, Alexandra G. Lodge, Morgan L. Treadwell, Kathleen L. Kavanagh, Douglas R. Tolleson, Dirac L. Twidwell Jr, William E. Rogers

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Rangelands worldwide have experienced significant shifts from grass-dominated to woody-plant dominated states over the past century. In North America, these shifts are largely driven by overgrazing and landscape-scale fire suppression. Such shifts reduce productivity for livestock, can have broad-scale impacts to biodiversity, and are often difficult to reverse. Restoring grass dominance often involves restoring fire as an ecological process. However, many resprouting woody plants persist following disturbance, including fire, by resprouting from protected buds, rendering fire ineffective for reducing resprouting woody plant density. Recent research has shown that extreme fire (high-energy fires during periods of water stress) may reduce resprouting …


Managing Vegetation Around Fruit Trees, Teryl Roper Nov 2021

Managing Vegetation Around Fruit Trees, Teryl Roper

All Current Publications

Fruit trees thrive along the Wasatch Front and in many other locations in Utah. Backyard fruit trees are very common in Utah, and producers quickly become attuned to insect and disease pests that can swiftly spoil substantial amounts of fruit. They are typically less aware of the detrimental effect of competing vegetation around fruit trees. This fact sheet describes the nature of vegetation competition and proposes management strategies to reduce or eliminate competition.