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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Long-Term Impacts Of Conservation Management Practices On Soil Carbon Storage, Stability, And Utilization Under Cotton Production In West Tennessee, Candace Brooke Wilson Dec 2015

Long-Term Impacts Of Conservation Management Practices On Soil Carbon Storage, Stability, And Utilization Under Cotton Production In West Tennessee, Candace Brooke Wilson

Masters Theses

Biogeochemical cycling of soil carbon (C) is heavily influenced by conservation agricultural (CA) practices. This study examined SOC stability under three CA practices: reduced nitrogen (N) fertilizer application rate, cover cropping, and zero-tillage implemented for 31 years. Respiration rates measured from a 602-day incubation period were fitted to a double-pool first order exponential model of SOC decomposition. The active [respired] SOC pool showed distinct differences between applications of reduced (34N kg ha-1 [-1]) and high fertilization rates (101N kg ha-1) combined with tillage, and suggest that high fertilizer applications with conventional tillage allocated more C into a …


Impacts Of Changing Snowmelt Timing On Non-Irrigated Crop Yield, Erin Murray Aug 2015

Impacts Of Changing Snowmelt Timing On Non-Irrigated Crop Yield, Erin Murray

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

As climate changes, the final date of spring snowmelt is projected to occur earlier in the year within the western United States. This earlier snowmelt timing may impact crop yield in snow-dominated watersheds by changing the timing of water delivery to agricultural fields. There is considerable uncertainty about how agricultural impacts of snowmelt timing may vary by region, crop type, and practices like irrigation vs. dryland farming. We utilize parametric regression techniques to isolate the magnitude of impact snowmelt timing has had on historical crop yield independently of climate and physiographic variables that also impact yield. To do this, we …


Model Of Residence Time And Analysis Of Nitrogen Removal For Two Constructed Wetlands At The Franklin Demonstration Farm In Lexington, Illinois, Emma Singh Baghel Apr 2015

Model Of Residence Time And Analysis Of Nitrogen Removal For Two Constructed Wetlands At The Franklin Demonstration Farm In Lexington, Illinois, Emma Singh Baghel

Theses and Dissertations

Pollution from nonpoint agricultural runoff has become a major problem facing our streams and rivers today. Not only are fish and aquatic life affected, but so is the quality of our drinking and recreational water resources. Studies have shown that wetlands have proven to be the most cost-effective and low maintenance method of removing nonpoint or diffused contaminate inputs. The biological processes and removal of nutrients in wetlands depend on the total surface area available for microbial activity in the soil and a certain period of water retention time. Since chemical processes take time, the measure of residence time is …


Stoichiometric Controls On Denitrification In High Nitrate Watersheds, Brian Grebliunas Feb 2015

Stoichiometric Controls On Denitrification In High Nitrate Watersheds, Brian Grebliunas

Theses and Dissertations

Watershed biogeochemistry throughout Midwestern agroecosystems have been altered through hydrologic manipulation and over-application of nitrogenous fertilizers. As a result, nitrate (NO3-N) export from subsurface drainage has negative impacts on local and downstream ecosystem health. Wetland installation has proven to be a viable option for targeted management where a large proportion of NO3-N is removed through the bacterially mediated process denitrification. For denitrification to maintain high rates under prolonged NO3-N saturation, a stable supply of labile dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is required. The focus of this dissertation was to study how the stoichiometry of agricultural wetlands limits denitrification within a controlled …