Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Plants Reduced Nitrous Oxide Emissions From A Northern Great Plains Saline/Sodic Soil, Sharon A. Clay, Thandiwe Nleya, David E. Clay, Deepak Joshi, Dwarika Bhattarai, Shin-Yi Marzano, Bhanu Prakash Petla

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

The slowly establishing salt-tolerant perennial grasses reduced nitrous oxide (N2 O- N) emissions from saline/sodic soil compared to barren areas. Other salt-tolerant species may accelerate vegetative establishment and reduce N 2 O-N emissions. In a greenhouse study, barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), Florida broadleaf mustard (Brassica juncea L.), and Kernza intermediate wheatgrass [Thinopyrum intermedium (Host) Barkworth & D. R. Dewey] were grown for 63 days to compare shoot biomass and chemical composition, N 2 O-N emissions, and the soil microbiome between saline/sodic and productive (non-salt impacted) soils. Emissions were measured six times daily from 1 to 22 and 42 to 63 …

Can Phytoremediation-Induced Changes In The Microbiome Improve Saline/Sodic Soil And Plant Health?, Achal Neupane, Duncan Jukubowski, Douglas Fiedler, Liping Gu, Sharon A. Clay, David E. Clay, Shin-Yi Marzano

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Increasing soil salinity and/or sodicity is an expanding problem in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) of North America. This study investigated the impact of phytoremediation on the soil microbiome and if changes, in turn, had positive or negative effects on plant establishment. Amplicon sequencing and gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer analysis compared root metabolites and microbial composition of bulk vs. rhizosphere soils between two soil types (productive and saline/sodic). Beta-diversity analysis indicated that bacterial and fungal communities from both the bulk and rhizosphere soils from each soil type clustered separately, indicating dissimilar microbial composition. Plant species also influenced both root-associated bacterial and …

Belowground Growth Strategies Of Native And Invasive Rhizomatous Perennial Grasses In Response To Precipitation Variability, Clipping, And Competition, Surendra Bam, Jacqueline P. Ott, Jack Butler, Lan Xu

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Invasive clonal species may exhibit different growth strategies than their native clonal competitors. In this study, we examined the spatial distribution of tiller outgrowth and the bud bank by comparing the investment in phalanx versus guerilla growth of a native and invasive perennial grass in North America. We also examined the efect of altered precipitation frequency, clipping, and competition on their clonal growth strategies. Investment in phalanx and guerilla growth was assessed by examining live propagule and tiller production from the plant crown versus its rhizomes. Although invasive Bromus inermis and native Pascopyrum smithii exhibited similar clonal growth strategies as …

Mineral Licks As A Potential Nidus For Parasite Transmission, William J. Severud, Todd M. Kautz, Jerrold L. Belant, Seth A. Moore

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Discrete landscape features can concentrate animals in time and space, leading to non-random interspecific encounters. These encounters have implications for predator-prey interactions, habitat selection, intraspecific competition, and transmission of parasites and other pathogens. The lifecycle of the parasitic nematode Parelaphostrongylus tenuis requires an intermediate host of a terrestrial gastropod. Natural hosts of P. tenuis are whitetailed deer, and an aberrant host of conservation concern is moose, which are susceptible to high levels of mortality as a naive host to the parasite. Intermediate hosts become infected when P. tenuis larvae are shed in deer feces, then consumed or enter the gastropod …

Natural Resource Management Newsletter, June 2023, Department Of Natural Resource Management

NRM Newsletter

Page 1: Departmental Faculty and Staff, and Dean's Message
Page 2: NRM Newbies
Page 3: Emeriti Publications and Award, Donor Obituary, Recent Graduate News, and Ten Year Service Award
Page 4: Donor News
Page 5: Sampling of Faculty and Staff Activities & Recognition
Page 6: Sampling of Graduate Students Activities
Page 7: Sampling of Undergraduate Students Activities
Page 8: Club Activities
Page 9: NRM Events
Page 10: Opportunities to Support NRM

Trophically Integrated Ecometric Models As Tools For Demonstrating Spatial And Temporal Functional Changes In Mammal Communities, Rachel A. Short, Jenny L. Mcguire, P. David Polly, A. Michelle Lawing

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

We are in a modern biodiversity crisis that will restructure community compositions and ecological functions globally. Large mammals, important contributors to ecosystem function, have been affected directly by purposeful extermination and indirectly by climate and land-use changes, yet functional turnover is rarely assessed on a global scale using metrics based on functional traits. Using ecometrics, the study of functional trait distributions and functional turnover, we examine the relationship between vegetation cover and locomotor traits for artiodactyl and carnivoran communities. We show that the ability to detect a functional relationship is strengthened when locomotor traits of both primary consumers (artiodactyls, n …

Cover Crop Composition In Long-Term No-Till Soils In Semi-Arid Environments Do Not Influence Soil Health Measurements After One Year, Hunter Bielenberg, Jason D. Clark, Debankur Sanyal, Johnathon Wolthuizen, David Karki, Amin Rahhal, Anthony Bly

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Evaluating the influence of grass or broadleaf cover crops on soil health measurements is common in the northern US Midwest. However, the comparison among different cover crop mixtures, including blends of both grass and broadleaf species is limited. In 2018–2020, cover crop experiments were conducted in South Dakota at 11 site-years. Cover crops were planted in the summer after small grains harvest as mixtures of dominantly grasses or broadleaves, a 50/50 grass/broadleaf mixture, and a no cover crop control. Soil and above-ground plant residue samples were collected in the fall before winter termination and in the spring before corn planting. …

Why Are Some Plant Species Missing From Restorations? A Diagnostic Tool For Temperate Grassland Ecosystems, Marcello De Vitis, Kayri Havens, Rebecca S. Barak, Louise Egerton-Warburton, Adrienne R. Ernst, Matt Evans, Jeremie B. Fant, Alicia J. Foxx, Kyndall Hadley, Jim Jabcon, Joan O’Shaughnessey, Sai Ramakrishna, David Sollenberger, Sophie Taddeo, Rafael Urbina-Casanova, Chris Woolridge, Lan Xu, Jacob Zeldin, Andrea T. Kramer

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

The U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to accelerate actions to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems, and re-establish ecosystem functioning and species diversity. The practice of ecological restoration has made great progress in recent decades, as has recognition of the importance of species diversity to maintaining the long-term stability and functioning of restored ecosystems. Restorations may also focus on specific species to fulfill needed functions, such as supporting dependent wildlife or mitigating extinction risk. Yet even in the most carefully planned and managed restoration, target species may fail to germinate, establish, or persist. To support the successful …

The State Of Capacity Development Evaluation In Biodiversity Conservation And Natural Resource Management, Eleanor J. Sterling, Amanda Sigouin, Erin Betley, Jennifer Zavaleta Cheek, Jennifer N. Soloman, Kimberley Landrigan, Ana L. Porzecanski, Et. Al.

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Capacity development is critical to long-term conservation success, yet we lack a robust and rigorous understanding of how well its effects are being evaluated. A comprehensive summary of who is monitoring and evaluating capacity development interventions, what is being evaluated and how, would help in the development of evidence-based guidance to inform design and implementation decisions for future capacity development interventions and evaluations of their effectiveness. We built an evidence map by reviewing peer-reviewed and grey literature published since 2000, to identify case studies evaluating capacity development interventions in biodiversity conservation and natural resource management. We used inductive and deductive …

Separating Proactive Conservation From Species Listing Decisions, Adrienne I. Kovach, Amanda E. Cheeseman, Joathan B. Cohen, Chadwick D. Rittenhouse, Christopher M. Whipps

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Proactive Conservation is a paradigm of natural resource management in the United States that encourages voluntary, collaborative efforts to restore species before they need to be protected through government regulations. This paradigm is widely used to conserve at-risk species today, and when used in conjunction with the Policy for Evaluation of Conservation Efforts (PECE), it allows for successful conservation actions to preclude listing of species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Despite the popularity of this paradigm, and recent flagship examples of its use (e.g., greater sage grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus), critical assessments of the outcomes of Proactive Conservation are lacking …

Belowground Mechanism Reveals Climate Change Impacts On Invasive Clonal Plant Establishment, Surendra Bam, Jacqueline P. Ott, Jack L. Butler, Lan Xu

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Climate change and disturbance can alter invasion success of clonal plants by differentially affecting the clonal traits influencing their establishment as young plants. Clonal traits related to the vegetative reproduction of native Pascopyrum smithii and non-native Bromus inermis grass seedlings were evaluated under altered precipitation frequencies and a single grazing event. Pascopyrum smithii maintained similar vegetative reproduction under three simulated precipitation frequencies whereas B. inermis vegetative reproduction declined as precipitation became more intermittent. Vegetative reproduction of the non-native B. inermis was greater than the native P. smithii under all simulated precipitation frequencies except the most intermittent scenario. A single grazing …

Natural Resource Management Newsletter, January 2022, Department Of Natural Resource Management

NRM Newsletter

CAFES Awards: Teacher of the Year & Student Club Honorable Mention 2021
NRM Affiliate Professor Receives Fulbright to Norway
Service Awards
Elisha YT Summer Internship
Deva Raj Khanal 2021 ASPT Research Award
Gary Larson Memorial Burr Oak at Dakota Nature Park in Brookings
Oak Lake Field Station Jon Haertel Undergraduate Research Award
Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Day (URSCAD)
Seven Wokini Challenge Grants Awarded for FY 2022 - Lan Xu
Fire School at Oak Lake Field Station
USDA project to produce wildflower seeds, improve soil health
Pollinators in an Agricultural Context
Welcome new faculty members: Alison, Chris, Amanda & …

Pronounced Increases In Nitrogen Emissions And Deposition Due To The Historic 2020 Wildfires In The Western U.S., Patrick C. Campbell, Daniel Tong, Rick Saylor, Yunyao Lii, Siqi Ma, Xiaoyang Zhang, Shoba Kondragunta, Fangjun Li

GSCE Faculty Publications

Wildfire outbreaks can lead to extreme biomass burning (BB) emissions of both oxidized (e.g., nitrogen oxides; NOx= NO+NO2) and reduced form(e.g., ammonia; NH3) nitrogen (N) compounds. High N emissions aremajor concerns for air quality, atmospheric deposition, and consequential human and ecosystemhealth impacts. In this study, we use both satellite-based observations and modeling results to quantify the contribution of BB to the total emissions, and approximate the impact on total N deposition in the western U.S. Our results show that during the 2020 wildfire season of August–October, BB contributes significantly to the total emissions, with a satellite-derived fraction of NH3 to …

The Potential Of Bison Restoration As An Ecological Approach To Future Tribal Food Sovereignty On The Northern Great Plains, Hila Shamon, Olivia G. Cosby, Chamois L. Andersen, Helen Augare, Jony Bearcub Stiffarm, Claire E. Bresnan, Jeff M. Martin, Et Al.

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Future climate projections of warming, drying, and increased weather variability indicate that conventional agricultural and production practices within the Northern Great Plains (NGP) will become less sustainable, both ecologically and economically. As a result, the livelihoods of people that rely on these lands will be adversely impacted. This is especially true for Native American communities, who were relegated to reservations where the land is often vast but marginal and non-tribal operators have an outsized role in food production. In addition, NGP lands are expected to warm and dry disproportionately relative to the rest of the United States. It is therefore …

South Dakota Farmers’ Perceived Extreme Weather Frequency And Adaptation Measures, Tong Wang, Jim Ristau

South Dakota Farm Survey

Researchers at South Dakota State University (SDSU) conducted surveys of eastern South Dakota (SD) commodity crop producers with the support of the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council. Using publicly available addresses of government program participants, a random sample of 3,000 producers were sent the survey in 2018. 650 were ineligible and 708 responded to the survey for a response rate of 30%. In 2021, the same producers who took the survey in 2018 were asked to take a follow up survey. 94 were ineligible, and 350 responded for a 59% response rate. Producers could take the survey online or via …

Global Forces Of Change: Implications For Forest-Poverty Dynamics, Priya Shyamsundar, Laura Aileen Sauls, Jennifer Zavaleta Cheek, Kira Sullivan-Wiley, J.T. Erbaugh, P. P. Krishnapriya

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

This article examines global trends likely to influence forests and tree-based systems and considers the poverty implications of these interactions. The trends, identified through a series of expert discussions and review of the literature, include: (i) climatic impacts mediated through changes in forests, (ii) growth in commodity markets, (iii) shifts in private and public forest sector financing, (iv) technological advances and rising interconnectivity, (v) global socio-political movements, and (vi) emerging infectious diseases. These trends bring opportunities and risks to the forest-reliant poor. A review of available evidence suggests that in a business-as-usual scenario, the cumulative risks posed by these global …

Snowier Winters Extend Autumn Availability Of High-Quality Forage For Caribou In Arctic Alaska, J. C, Richert, A. J. Leffler, D. E. Spalinger, J. M. Walker

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) rely on the short Arctic growing season to restore body condition, support the demands of lactation, and prepare for the long arctic winter, making them susceptible to even small changes in forage availability or quality. Body condition in the summer and autumn is linked to winter survival rates and fecundity in cows, critical factors in the productivity of caribou populations. Climate change predictions of warmer and wetter northern winters suggest increased snowfall over Alaska’s North Slope, which has recently been verified between 1995 and 2017. However, a comprehensive analysis of how deeper snow will affect caribou forage …

Assessment And Improvement Of Performance Of Septic Systems In Cold Climates (Year 1), Stu Geza, Todd Menkhaus, Lianping Li, Galen Hoogestraat

SDWRI Publications and Reports

Onsite septic systems are used for wastewater treatment for households not connected to sewers. There is a concern about surface and groundwater pollution when effectiveness becomes limited due to soil texture, soil temperature, neighborhood density, and distance to water resources. The goal of this study was to assess treatment performance of local soils and selected treatment media. Lab-scale column experiments were conducted using wastewater from Wastewater Reclamation Facility in Rapid City. The experiments were conducted inside and outside the lab to evaluate the effect of temperature. The columns outside the lab were subject to seasonal variation in temperature. Moisture content, …

Expanding Grass-Based Agriculture On Marginal Land In The U.S. Great Plains: The Role Of Management Intensive Grazing, Tong Wang, Hailong Jin, Urs Kreuter, Richard Teague

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Water News, Spring 2021, Department Of Agriculture And Biosystems Engineering

SDWRI Water News

Contents:
North Central Region tackle harmful algal blooms
Algae pull nutrients from swine facility manure, air
Study examines woodchip quality in bioreactors
Nonprofit joins battle to mitigate Lake Mitchell algal blooms

Comprehensive Record Of Volcanic Eruptions In The Holocene (11,000 Years) From The Wais Divide, Antarctica Ice Core, Jihong Cole-Dai, David G. Harris, Joshua A. Kennedy, Michael Sigl, Joseph R. Mcconnell, T. J. Fudge, Lei Geng, Olivia J. Maselli, Kendrick C. Taylor, Joseph M. Souney

Ice Core and Environmental Chemistry Lab Datasets and Publications

A comprehensive record (WHV2020) of explosive volcanic eruptions in the last 11,000 years is reconstructed from the West Antarctica Ice Sheet Divide deep ice core (WDC). The chronological list of 426 large volcanic eruptions in the Southern Hemisphere and the low latitudes during the Holocene are of the highest quality of all volcanic records from ice cores, owing to the high-resolution chemical measurement of the ice core and the exceptionally accurate WDC timescale. No apparent trend is found in the frequency (number of eruptions per millennium) of volcanic eruptions, and the number of eruptions in the most recent millennium (1,000–2,000 …

Natural Resource Management Newsletter, Fall 2020/Winter 2021, Department Of Natural Resource Management

NRM Newsletter

[Page] 2 One Day for State
[Page] 2 SDSU Extension NPI Range Roundup
[Page] 3 Con McCrea and NRLE News
[Page] 3 Pete Bauman Updates Western SD Undisturbed Land Data
[Page] 4 First Annual NPI Photo Contest
[Page] 4 Conservation Planning & Park Management Undergraduate Student Eagle Scout Project
[Page] 5 Joe Jenks' Zoom Retirement Celebration
[Page] 6 NRM Affiliate Assistant Professor, Maaz Gardezi - NSF Precision Ag Project: NSF project to build farmers’ confidence in precision ag technologies
[Page] 6 NRM Affiliate, Stella Liu - Faculty Feature video
[Page] 7 SDSU Extension to assess farm-ranch stress statewide
[Page] 8 …

Documenting Macrophytes And Thier Habitat Preferences In Southeastern South Dakota, Jessica Kading, Lan Xu

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

One of the most pressing environmental problems that waterbodies currently face is eutrophication. When eutrophication occurs in lakes, phytoplankton dominance increases and macrophyte (aquatic plant) populations decrease. Macrophyte population fluctuation can be used to detect eutrophication and indicate lake health. Despite this novel use of macrophytes, the state of South Dakota has few, if any, baseline public records of its macrophyte species. In an effort to establish a record and work towards the use of macrophytes as potential eutrophication indicators in South Dakota, this study seeks to provide a better understanding of the macrophytes that occur in the southeastern portion …

Annual Concentration And Flux Of Non-Sea-Salt Sulfate In The Wais Divide Ice Core (Wdc) For The Last 11,000 Years, Jihong Cole-Dai

Ice Core and Environmental Chemistry Lab Datasets and Publications

Annual concentration and flux of non-sea-slat sulfate in the WAIS Divide ice core (WDC) for the last 11,000 years.

Habitat Selection Of White-Tailed Deer Fawns And Their Dams In The Northern Great Plains, Eric S. Michel, Bailey S. Gullikson, Katherine L. Brackel, Brian A. Schaffer, Jonathan A. Jenks, William F. Jensen

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Habitat availability can affect important life-history traits such as survival; however, little information exists on how microhabitat characteristics found at parturition sites selected by dams and bed sites selected by their offspring differ fromthe surrounding area and from each other. Therefore, we assessed how vegetation affected maternal parturition and offspring bed site selection for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the Northern Great Plains. Dams selected for sites with decreased vegetation height, potentially improving their visibility, which may increase their ability to escape approaching predators. Conversely, there was no variation between vegetative characteristics at neonate bed sites and their associated random …

Uav For Precision Agriculture, Jiyul Chang

iLEARN Teaching Resources

Readers will find answers to the following questions:

1. What is Precision Ag Practice?
2. Why is Remote Sensing used in Agriculture?
3. What and Why is NDVI?
4. UAV for Precision Agriculture?
5. How to use UAV for Precision Agriculture?
6. What are the main steps involved in Drone Work (Planned Flying)?

How Much Variation In Land Surface Phenology Can Climate Oscillation Modes Explain At The Scale Of Mountain Pastures In Kyrgyzstan?, Monika A. Tomaszewska, Geoffrey M. Henebry

NASA Land-Cover Land-Use Change Data Sets

Climate oscillation modes can shape weather across the globe due to atmospheric teleconnections. We built on the findings of a recent study to assess whether the impacts of teleconnections are detectable and significant in the early season dynamics of highland pastures across five rayons in Kyrgyzstan. Specifically, since land surface phenology (LSP) has already shown to be influenced by snow cover seasonality and terrain, we investigated here how much more explanatory and predictive power information about climatic oscillation modes might add to explain variation in LSP. We focused on seasonal values of five climate oscillation indices that influence vegetation dynamics …

Land Surface Phenology In The Highland Pastures Of Montane Central Asia: Interactions With Snow Cover Seasonality And Terrain Characteristics, Monika A. Tomaszewska, Lan H. Nguyen, Geoffrey Henebry

NASA Land-Cover Land-Use Change Data Sets

Many studies have shown that high elevation environments are among very sensitive to climatic changes and where impacts are exacerbated. Across Central Asia, which is especially vulnerable to climate change due to aridity, the ability of global climate projections to capture the complex dynamics of mountainous environments is particularly limited. Over montane Central Asia, agropastoralism constitutes a major portion of the rural economy. Extensive herbaceous vegetation forms the basis of rural economies in Kyrgyzstan. Here we focus on snow cover seasonality and the effects of terrain on phenology in highland pastures using remote sensing data for 2001–2017. First, we describe …

Tree Cover In The Surrounding Landscape Reduces Burrowing Owl (Athene Cunicularia) Occupancy Of Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Colonies In South Dakota, Jason P. Thiele, Kristel K. Bakker, Charles D. Dieter

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) population declines have led to the owl’s designation as a species of conservation concern in South Dakota. Burrowing Owls nest primarily in black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colonies, but a significant proportion of colonies in South Dakota are not occupied by owls. We studied the influence of landscape-level habitat variables on colony selection by Burrowing Owls. We used call-playback surveys to document presence or absence of Burrowing Owls at 613 prairie dog colonies throughout western and central South Dakota. We used a geographic information system to calculate the percent cover of prairie dog colonies, grassland, cropland, …

Forum: Critical Decision Dates For Drought Management In Centraland Northern Great Plains Rangeland, Alexander J. Smart, Keith Harmoney, J. Derek Scasta, Mitchell B. Stephenson, Jerry D. Volesky, Lance T. Vermeire, Jeffrey C. Mosley, Kevin Sedivec, Miranda Meehan, Tonya Haigh, Justin D. Derner, Mitchel P. Mcclaran

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Ranchers and other land managers of central and northern Great Plains rangelands face recurrent droughts that negatively influence economic returns and environmental resources for ranching enterprises. Accurately estimating annual forage production and initiating drought decision-making actions proactively early in the growing season are both critical to minimize financial losses and degradation to rangeland soil and plant resources. Long-term forage production data sets from Alberta, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming demonstrated that precipitation in April, May, and June (or some combination of these months) robustly predict annual forage production. Growth curves from clipping experiments and ecological site …