Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Forage Yield And Soil Moisture Content In Panicum Maximum Cv. Tanzania Monoculture And In A Mixture With Leucaena Leucocephala With Different Densities In Mexico, H. J. Delgado Gómez, Juan C. Ku-Vera, J. Ku Vera, J. Escamilla Bencomo, P. A. Velázquez Madrazo

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Cattle production is limited by forage availability during the dry season since water and soil fertility are the main factors limiting production. Leucaena leucocephala has good nutritive value (24-30% CP). It can stand drought and grazing and so its introduction into pastures is recommended as an alternative to forage production during the dry season. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the introduction of L. leucocephala with different densities on biomass production of P. maximum and soil water content.

The Effect Of Extremes In Soil Moisture Content On Perennial Ryegrass Growth, A. Scott Laidlaw

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Seasonal distribution of rainfall in the UK and Ireland is predicted to become more variable (Sweeney, 2003). The problems of excessive soil moisture on grass utilisation and the effect of deficit in soil moisture on grass growth are well known. However the effect of excess rainfall on the growth of sown grass is less clear and is usually not taken into account in grass growth models. This study was carried out to investigate the potential impact of excess moisture on perennial ryegrass growth in the field and to investigate the relative effect of soil moisture varying from deficit to excess …

Effects Of Grass Suppression On Legume Abundance In A Naturalised Pasture, Christian Hepp, I. Valentine, P. D. Kemp

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Low abundance and poor persistence of legumes is a generalised problem in hill country pastures in New Zealand, even at adequate soil phosphorus levels (Woodfield & Caradus, 1996). Likely causes of low legume contents in swards include lack of soil moisture, high temperatures (Barker et al., 1993), frequency and intensity of defoliation (Suckling, 1975; (Lambert et al., 1982) and increased grass competition due to increasing fixed nitrogen in the soil (Lambert et al., 1982). On this later point there is anecdotal evidence that suppression of the grass component with herbicide will boost clover content, colloquially called 'chemical topping'.

Daytime Versus Nighttime Sprinkler Irrigation Of Two Urban Crops In A Semi-Arid Climate At High-Elevation, Samikshya Pyakurel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Nighttime irrigation scheduling is a longstanding water conservation approach to reduce evaporative losses in Utah's semi-arid, urban landscapes. However, residential demand now exceeds system capacity, and the efficiency of the practice has come under question. Therefore, the objectives of this study include: 1) quantify whether a water savings exists between day and night irrigation with a water balance and energy balance approach, and 2) analyze microclimate and crop quality effects to determine any changes to evaporative demand or plant stress by irrigation timing. In 2019, we established 12 field plots in North Logan, UT (41.77° N, -111.81° W, 1380 m …

Soil Water Use Efficiency Under Integrated Soil Management Practices In The Drylands Of Kenya, Nathan O. Oduor, Monicah Mucheru-Muna, Jayne Njeri Mugwe, Isaya Sijali, George Nyabuga, Daniel Njiru Mugendi

Graduate School of Media and Communications

Soil moisture scarcity and soil fertility decline in the drylands contribute to declining crop productivity. The possible synergistic effects of integrating soil & water conservation, and soil fertility management practices on soil moisture, and hence water use efficiency (WUE) in the drylands of Tharaka-Nithi County in Kenya was assessed. The experiment was laid in a three by three split plot arrangement, with four replications, for four cropping seasons. Minimum tillagewith mulch, tied ridges, and conventional tillage formed the main plot factors. The sub-plot factors included animal manure plus fertilizer at 120, 60, and 30 N kg ha−1. There was significant …

Low Soil Nitrogen And Moisture Limit The Expansion Of The Invasive Grass, Megathyrsus Maximus (Guinea Grass) In Semi-Arid Soils, E. Penelope Holland, Vanessa Thomas, Pushpa G. Soti

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The goal of this study was to predict the range expansion potential of an invasive forage grass, Guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus). We collected rhizosphere soil samples of M. maximus and coexisting species from 150 different locations and analysed them for soil properties. We estimated the probability of M. maximus presence as a function of soil moisture, organic matter, pH, salinity, total N, and CN ratio using logistic regression. Presence of M. maximus was associated with higher soil moisture, higher organic matter, pH, and nitrogen, but lower salinity and CN ratio. Soil nitrogen and moisture …

Effect Of Nitrogen Fertilization On Central Tendency And Spatial Heterogeneity Of Soil Moisture, Ph And Dissolved Organic Carbon And Nitrogen In Two Bioenergy Croplands, Xuehan Wang, Siyang Jian, Lahiru Gamage, Jianwei Li

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Background

Soil moisture, pH, dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen (DOC, DON) are important soil biogeochemical properties in switchgrass (SG) and gamagrass (GG) croplands. Yet their spatiotemporal patterns under nitrogen (N) fertilization have not been studied.

Aims

The objective of this study is to investigate the main and interactive effects of N fertilization and bioenergy crop type on central tendencies and spatial heterogeneity of soil moisture, pH, DOC and DON.

Methods

Based on a 3-year long fertilization experiment in Middle Tennessee, USA, 288 samples of top horizon soils (0–15 cm) under three fertilization treatments in SG and GG croplands were collected. …

Performance Of Napier Grass (Cenchrus Purpureus L.) Genotypes Grown Under Limited Soil Moisture, E. Habte, M. S. Muktar, A. T. Negawo, A. M. Sartie, C. S. Jones

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus Schumach L.) is an important perennial forage native to Africa and grown in many tropical and subtropical countries. It is considered as a short-term drought tolerant forage which is a useful trait in areas that are characterized by low precipitation during the dry season. To exploit the potential of this grass and identify water use efficient (WUE) genotypes, a field drought stress trial was conducted at Bishoftu, Ethiopia. Eighty-four Napier grass genotypes were planted in a p-rep design in four replications. The genotypes were evaluated for forage performance during the dry season of 2019 and …

Magnitude And Rates Of Agriculturally-Induced Soil Erosion In The Midwestern United States, Evan Thaler

Doctoral Dissertations

Fertile, agricultural productive soils are essential for producing food for a growing global population. Soil erosion diminishes soil quality, threatens food security by decreasing crop productivity, and degrades ecosystem health through increased rates of sedimentation and runoff. Despite decades and thousands of soil erosion studies, robust scalable methods for estimating the magnitude and rates of soil erosion have been elusive. In this dissertation, we develop a remote sensing method for quantifying the areal extent of historical loss in an agricultural landscape and provide a method for estimating the total thickness of soil loss and rates of historical soil loss in …

Nitrogen Response Efficiencies From Grazed Dairy Pastures Under Dry Conditions, Frank R. Mckenzie, Joseph L. Jacobs

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Experiments were conducted within a long-term nitrogen (N) fertiliser experiment under grazing. The objective was to examine N response efficiencies (kg dry matter (DM)/kg N) and herbage crude protein (CP) content to fertiliser N applied under dry soil conditions (gravimetric soil moisture content of 17% at 10cm; soil field capacity = 38% and wilting point = 11%) during autumn (April 1999) and late spring (November 1999) in southeastern Australia. Visually, N treated plots were greener in colour than control (no N) plots. No differences were recorded in primary or residual DM yields, N response efficiencies, and pasture growth rates between …

Impacts Of Wildfire And Landscape Factors On Organic Soil Properties In Arctic Tussock Tundra, Jiaying He, Dong Chen, Liza K. Jenkins, Tatiana V. Loboda

Michigan Tech Publications

Tundra ecosystems contain some of the largest stores of soil organic carbon among all biomes worldwide. Wildfire, the primary disturbance agent in Arctic tundra, is likely to impact soil properties in ways that enable carbon release and modify ecosystem functioning more broadly through impacts on organic soils, based on evidence from a recent extreme Anaktuvuk River Fire (ARF). However, comparatively little is known about the long-term impacts of typical tundra fires that are short-lived and transient. Here we quantitatively investigated how these transient tundra fires and other landscape factors affected organic soil properties, including soil organic layer (SOL) thickness, soil …

Effect Of Different Mulch Materials On Seedling Establishment Of Cleistogenes Songorica, J. H. Tai, Yanrong Wang

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Active Layer Thickness As A Function Of Soil Water Content, Leah K. Clayton, Kevin Schaefer, Michael Battaglia, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Jingyi Chen, Richard H. Chen, Albert Chen, Kazem Bakian-Dogaheh, Sarah L. Grelik, Elchin Jafarov, Lin Liu, Roger John Michaelides, Mahta Moghaddam, Andrew D. Parsekian, Adrian V. Rocha, Sean R. Schaefer, Taylor Sullivan, Alireza Tabatabaeenejad, Kang Wang, Cathy J. Wilson, Howard A. Zebker, Tingjun Zhang, Yuhuan Zhao

Michigan Tech Publications

Active layer thickness (ALT) is a critical metric for monitoring permafrost. How soil moisture influences ALT depends on two competing hypotheses: (a) increased soil moisture increases the latent heat of fusion for thaw, resulting in shallower active layers, and (b) increased soil moisture increases soil thermal conductivity, resulting in deeper active layers. To investigate their relative influence on thaw depth, we analyzed the Field Measurements of Soil Moisture and Active Layer Thickness (SMALT) in Alaska and Canada dataset, consisting of thousands of measurements of thaw depth and soil moisture collected at dozens of sites across Alaska and Canada as part …

Investigating The Lagged Relationship Between Smap Soil Moisture And Live Fuel Moisture In California, Usa, Shenyue Jia, Seung Hee Kim, Son V. Nghiem, Keun Hang S. Yang, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Live fuel moisture (LFM), defined as the ratio between water in the fresh biomass out of the dry biomass, is a vital measurement of vegetation water content and flammability. In this study, we investigated the dynamics of in-situ measurement of LFM at all the active sites in California, USA and revealed the difference between evergreen forest and shrub/scrub, the two dominant land cover types in California's fire-prone regions. We found that LFM of evergreen forest responses to soil moisture increase later than shrub/scrub, due to a later occurrence of major precipitation, a lower air temperature, and the different plant physiology. …

Spatial Pattern And Heterogeneity For Soil Moisture Across Cropland‐Grassland Ecological Boundary In North Agro‐Pasturing Transition, China, H. M. Wang, K. Wang, Yingzhong Xie

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Factors Affecting Pasture Growth In A Densely Planted Willow Browse Block, Z. Hussain, Peter D. Kemp, David J. Horne, I. K. D. Jaya

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Strategic Trampling To Conserve Soil Moisture In A Namibian Rangeland, I. Zimmermann, J. Labuschagne, V. K. Namupala

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Rangeland Sustainability Modeling Using Soil Exposure And Soil Moisture Parameters, J. Tibbitts, Keith T. Weber, J. Théau, Temuulen Tsagaan Sankey

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Livestock Grazing On Soil Moisture And Rangeland Vegetation Cover In Upland Grasslands Of Iran, Fazel Amiri, M. Farahpour, Sh. Fadai

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Silicon Application On Water Use Efficiency Of Alfalfa Plants, Zhenggang Guo, Huixia Liu, Suomin Wang

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Soil Temperature And Soil Moisture On Soil Respiration Of Ungrazed Grassland In Loess Plateau , Gansu, Xudong Li, Ding Guo, Xiaodong Li, Xiaoyu Dong, Hua Fu

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Hay Covered On Soil Evaporation, Xiangxin Cui, Yong Gao, Xingyuan Zhang

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Growing Season Rainfall Amount And Clipping Intensity On Aboveground Net Primary Productivity In Leyums Chinensis Steppe, Feng He, Xianglin Li, Liqiang Wan, Yaxiong Jia, Dan He

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Earth Observation And Cloud Computing In Support Of Two Sustainable Development Goals For The River Nile Watershed Countries, Wenzhao Li, Hesham El-Askary, Venkat Lakshmi, Thomas Piechota, Daniele Struppa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In September 2015, the members of United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with universal applicability of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. The SDGs are consequential for the development of the countries in the Nile watershed, which are affected by water scarcity and experiencing rapid urbanization associated with population growth. Earth Observation (EO) has become an important tool to monitor the progress and implementation of specific SDG targets through its wide accessibility and global coverage. In addition, the advancement of algorithms and tools deployed in cloud computing platforms provide an equal opportunity to use EO …

Estimation Of Net Rainfall Through Guava Tree For In-Situ Soil Moisture Conservation In Guava Based Hortipasture System In Central India, Akram Ahmed, Sunil Kumar

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Rainfall (R) falling on any vegetation can be partitioned in Stemflow (SF), Throughfall (TF) and Interception loss (I). Stemflow is that part of rainfall which flows down to the ground via leaves, stem, branches and trunk (above ground vegetative part). Throughfall is the part of rainfall which drips down through the canopy to the ground. Interception is the part of the rainfall after absorption by different parts of tree which remains with the above ground vegetative part and later on lost by the process of evaporation. Thus, SF and TF are combined termed as net rainfall and flow as runoff …

Effect Of Mulching Practices On Soil Moisture And Yield Of Forage Crops, Champak Kumar Kundu, Himangshu Das, Pintoo Bandopadhyay

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

One of the main impediments in the way of improvement of livestock production is insufficiency of fodder. The gap between supply and demand would further aggravate due to increase in livestock population. In eastern India and Bengal delta land is usually devoted to fodder crops beyond monsoon when soil moisture becomes a limiting factor for crop production. Appropriate soil moisture conservation practices may reduce the evaporation loss and increase the yield. Among the different soil water conservation measures, mulching has gained popularity because it reduces the direct evaporation loss of soil water by restricting the transport of water vapour from …

Effect Of Soil Moisture Status And Animal Treading On N2O Emissions And The Effectiveness Of A Nitrification Inhibitor Mitigation Technology, H. J. Di, K. C. Cameron, B. Ball, A. Podolyan, Jizheng He

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is a potent greenhouse gas with a long-term global warming potential about 298 times that of carbon dioxide (CO₂). In grazed grassland, most of the N₂O is emitted from nitrogen (N) excreted by the grazing animal, particularly in the animal urine. When the soil is wet, such as that in winter grazing conditions, animal grazing can cause soil structural damage, leading to soil compaction. The combination of a wet soil plus soil compaction is particularly conducive for N₂O production. A nitrification inhibitor technology using dicyandiamide (DCD) has been developed …

Remote Sensing Using I-Band And S-Band Signals Of Opportunity, Kadir Efecik, Benjamin R. Nold, James L. Garrison

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Measurement of soil moisture, especially the root zone soil moisture, is important in agriculture, meteorology, and hydrology. Root zone soil moisture is concerned with the first meter down the soil. Active and passive remote sensing methods used today utilizing L-band(1-2GHz) are physically limited to a sensing depth of about 5 cm or less. To remotely sense the soil moisture in the deeper parts of the soil, the frequency should be lowered. Lower frequencies cannot be used in active spaceborne instruments because of their need for larger antennas, radio frequency interference (RFI), and frequency spectrum allocations. Ground-based passive remote sensing using …

Estimating Live Fuel Moisture In Southern California Using Remote Sensing Vegetation Water Content Proxies, Shenyue Jia, Seung Hee Kim, Son V. Nghiem, Wonhee Cho, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Wildfires are a major ecological disturbance in Southern California and often lead to great destruction along the Wildland-Urban Interface. Live fuel moisture has been used as an important indicator of wildfire risk in measurements of vegetation water content. However, the limited field measurements of live fuel moisture in both time and space have affected the accuracy of wildfire risk estimations. Traditional estimation of live fuel moisture using remote sensing data was based on vegetation indices, indirect proxies of vegetation water content and subject to influence from weather conditions. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of estimating live fuel moisture …

The Optical Trapezoid Model: A Novel Approach To Remote Sensing Of Soil Moisture Applied To Sentinel-2 And Landsat-8 Observations, Morteza Sadeghi, Ebrahim Babaeian, Markus Tuller, Scott B. Jones

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

The “trapezoid” or “triangle” model constitutes the most popular approach to remote sensing (RS) of surface soil moisture based on coupled thermal (i.e., land surface temperature) and optical RS observations. The model, hereinafter referred to as Thermal-Optical TRAapezoid Model (TOTRAM), is based on interpretation of the pixel distribution within the land surface temperature - vegetation index (LST-VI) space. TOTRAM suffers from two inherent limitations. It is not applicable to satellites that do not provide thermal data (e.g., Sentinel-2) and it requires parameterization for each individual observation date. To overcome these restrictions we propose a novel OPtical TRApezoid Model (OPTRAM), which …