Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Forest Sciences (7)
- Agriculture (6)
- Forest Management (4)
- Environmental Sciences (3)
- Physical Sciences and Mathematics (3)
-
- Biosecurity (2)
- Earth Sciences (2)
- Environmental Monitoring (2)
- Natural Resources and Conservation (2)
- Other Forestry and Forest Sciences (2)
- Soil Science (2)
- Agricultural Education (1)
- Agronomy and Crop Sciences (1)
- Education (1)
- Educational Methods (1)
- Environmental Education (1)
- Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment (1)
- Fruit Science (1)
- Indigenous Education (1)
- Laboratory and Basic Science Research (1)
- Natural Resources Management and Policy (1)
- Other Environmental Sciences (1)
- Outdoor Education (1)
- Plant Breeding and Genetics (1)
- Plant Sciences (1)
- Sustainability (1)
- Viticulture and Oenology (1)
- Water Resource Management (1)
- Keyword
-
- Fire (2)
- Monterey pine (2)
- Regeneration (2)
- Adaptation Decision-Making (1)
- Agriculture (1)
-
- Agroecology (1)
- Agroecosystem (1)
- Agroforestry (1)
- Biogeochemistry (1)
- Burn Severity (1)
- California (1)
- Cauliflower (1)
- Climate Adaptation (1)
- Climate change (1)
- Compost (1)
- Crop productivity (1)
- Dehesa (1)
- Demonstration orchard (1)
- Density (1)
- Drought tolerant orchards (1)
- Ecological productivity (1)
- Economic value (1)
- Encroachment (1)
- Eucalyptus (1)
- Fire Management (1)
- Fuel (1)
- Greenhouse gas emissions (1)
- Heat stress (1)
- Heat tolerance (1)
- Hillslope erosion (1)
Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Fire Effects On Soil Organic Matter In The Creek Fire, Gracie E. Doolin
Fire Effects On Soil Organic Matter In The Creek Fire, Gracie E. Doolin
Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects
Wildfires have increased in frequency and severity over the past few decades due to the increased concertation of CO2 emissions from anthropogenic influence. Soil carbon (C) sequestration has been identified as a climate change mitigation strategy; however, the influx of large-scale wildfires has accelerated landscape processes such as erosion, reducing soil aggradation, and soil C and nitrogen (N) protection. This trend is highlighted by the Creek Fire that occurred in September 2020 and burned 379,895 acres in the Sierra National Forest. This research is designed to close the knowledge gap regarding the impact of burn severity on soil organic matter …
Analysis And Installation Of A Demonstration Agroforestry Orchard For Californian Mediterranean Plant Communities, Brandon Hurd
Analysis And Installation Of A Demonstration Agroforestry Orchard For Californian Mediterranean Plant Communities, Brandon Hurd
Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects
Climate-appropriate agroforestry can provide low-input food security and ecosystem services for local Californian Mediterranean climates, while conserving natural resources (e.g., water, nitrogen, etc.). This project showcases a variety of agroforestry methods for five common plant communities of California and other analogous Mediterranean climates at the CAFES Experimental Farm on the campus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Plant community species and their ethnobotanical uses were analyzed to mimic and incorporate aspects of native flora. Agricultural plants were also characterized to represent each of the five selected plant communities. GIS was used to assess the project site for soil, slope, and …
Vermicompost Versus Traditional Compost Amendments Leads To Different Soil Health Outcomes In A Mediterranean Vineyard, Elizabeth L. Luck
Vermicompost Versus Traditional Compost Amendments Leads To Different Soil Health Outcomes In A Mediterranean Vineyard, Elizabeth L. Luck
Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects
Compost application has become a common practice in vineyard management to increase soil and crop health, however, the environmental externalities such as greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from cropping systems that utilize organic fertilizers, such as compost, is uncertain. Vermicompost, which is compost created through the digestion of organic matter by earthworms, and its related ‘extract’ are commonly thought to provide more benefits for soil and crop health compared to standard compost. However, organic fertilizers such as vermicompost, vermicompost extract, and compost have not been compared in their effects on soil health in Mediterranean vineyards. In this two-year study, I assessed …
Post-Fire Erosion Following The Czu Lightning Complex Fire: Quantifying Hillslope Erosion And Providing Guidance Towards Improving Post-Fire Response, Matthew C. Crockett, Matthew Crockett
Post-Fire Erosion Following The Czu Lightning Complex Fire: Quantifying Hillslope Erosion And Providing Guidance Towards Improving Post-Fire Response, Matthew C. Crockett, Matthew Crockett
Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects
The size and severity of wildfires have increased in California during recent decades. This trend is highlighted through the CZU Lightning Complex fire of August 2020 which burned over 86,000 acres in the Santa Cruz mountains of California. The fire greatly impacted the Little Creek watershed, a roughly 1,300 acre watershed that exists largely within Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Swanton Pacific Ranch (SPR). The current trends of California’s increased wildfire regime are expected to continue, raising concerns regarding the direct and secondary effects on forest watersheds and the effectiveness of current post-fire erosion control management. Accelerated rates of erosion …
Post-Czu Lightning Complex Regeneration In The Año Nuevo Monterey Pine Stand, Allison Trutna
Post-Czu Lightning Complex Regeneration In The Año Nuevo Monterey Pine Stand, Allison Trutna
Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects
Climate induced increases in fire frequency and severity along with years of fire suppression and drought are predicted for California. The recent CZU Lightning Complex, a high severity wildfire, burned in the Santa Cruz Mountains on California’s central coast and affected an assortment of vegetation, including the survival and recovery of the native Año Nuevo Monterey pine (Pinus radiata (D. Don)) stand. This stand is partially located in Cal Poly’s Swanton Pacific Ranch and has been monitored for over 20 years for the presence of pitch canker (Fusarium circinatum) fungal disease. This study characterized the survival and initial recovery of …
Evaluation Of Heat Tolerant Cauliflower Varieties On California’S Central Coast, Lauren Booke
Evaluation Of Heat Tolerant Cauliflower Varieties On California’S Central Coast, Lauren Booke
Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects
Heat tolerant trials of vegetable crops will help to improve food security when it becomes affected by rising temperatures due to climate change. By having heat tolerant vegetable crops, we can ensure the well-being of individuals in our society—nutritionally, economically, and socially. California is responsible for 90% of the cauliflower production in the United States. This research aims to determine the overall productivity of three heat tolerant cauliflower varieties (Bishop, Mardi, Flame Star) during the summer months (July- September) on California’s central coast. Stomatal conductance and chlorophyll fluorescence were measured throughout the growing cycle to evaluate plant stress and photosynthetic …
Pitch Canker In The Año Nuevo Monterey Pine Stand: A Retrospective Analysis, Davis Harrison
Pitch Canker In The Año Nuevo Monterey Pine Stand: A Retrospective Analysis, Davis Harrison
Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects
Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) is a closed cone conifer tree native to California. Although it is an ecologically and economically valuable tree, there are only five remaining native populations, including, the Año Nuevo stand along California’s central coast. All the remaining native populations have faced threats to their survival, none more than the non-native disease pitch canker (Fusarium circinatum). This fungal infection causes lesions, dead branches, tree top death, and can be potentially fatal to infected trees. This paper is a continuation of a study beginning in 2001, aimed at evaluating the impact of silvicultural management practices on pitch canker …
Fuel Inventory Report For Montana De Oro State Park, Spencer Gordon
Fuel Inventory Report For Montana De Oro State Park, Spencer Gordon
Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects
Within the last century anthropogenic effects have shifted fire resilient habitats that are adapted to thousands of years of frequent low intensity fires to landscapes that are susceptible to extreme fire behavior which threaten human assets and sensitive natural resources. Entities that manage forests will need to prioritize fuel reduction as a management tool to promote forest health and mitigate hazardous fire conditions. A fuel inventory of a eucalyptus forest at Montana De Oro State Park in Los Osos, CA was collected using a combination of Brown’s 1973 and Brown’s 1982 methods. The fuel inventory revealed the eucalyptus forest yielded …
Soil Disturbance In Sierra Nevada Montane Meadow Following Lodgepole Pine Removal, Nicholas Cary
Soil Disturbance In Sierra Nevada Montane Meadow Following Lodgepole Pine Removal, Nicholas Cary
Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects
Climate change and other anthropogenic stressors are driving conifer encroachment into meadow habitat. Encroachment, if ignored, can revert meadows back into dense forested habitat, negating meadow’s ecologic services (Durak et al. 2014). This research attempts to measure soil and stream habitat disturbances in Rock Creek meadow, located with Collins Pine Company land in Plumas County, California after clear-cut removal of encroaching lodgepole pine with mechanical machinery. Soil bulk density, ground cover transect data, and stream habitat conditions were monitored before (July 2019) and after (June 2021) restoration to measure changes in soil compaction, stream temperature, and surface disturbance (rutting/ tracks). …
Plastic In Agricultural Soils And Its Biological Impacts, Olivia Mckay
Plastic In Agricultural Soils And Its Biological Impacts, Olivia Mckay
Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects
Agricultural plastic mulch reduces weeds, yields higher crop quality and quantity, and increases soil temperature, but it can also become a soil pollutant. The impact of agricultural plastic contamination on soil microbial activity remains poorly documented. To better understand how plastic pollution influences soil microbial decomposers, we sampled three farms in Watsonville, CA. Each site is characterized by large amounts of plastic contamination in the form of polyethylene mulch and polyvinyl chloride dripline. The fields contain marked amounts of macro- (and presumably micro-) plastic fragments primarily derived from PVC dripline and polyethylene mulch. We haphazardly collected 6" deep soil samples …
Intercropping And Denisity Impacts In A Lettuce And Chard Agroecosystem, Sophia Moser
Intercropping And Denisity Impacts In A Lettuce And Chard Agroecosystem, Sophia Moser
Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects
Conventional agriculture that uses machinery management, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides, is a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, reduction of biodiversity and soil health. Agroecological methods, such as intercropping, have the potential to make farming more sustainable, financially feasible and to be implemented on a large scale. Gaps in agricultural research have led to limited information as to how intercropped arrangements can be adapted to be as productive as conventional systems. This research evaluates the ecological and economic performance of a lettuce and chard agroecosystem, specifically investigating the impact that density and intercropping has on plant productivity and profitability. Both species …
Climate Adaptation And Water Conservation Decision-Making In Paso Robles, California Vineyards, Christopher Klier
Climate Adaptation And Water Conservation Decision-Making In Paso Robles, California Vineyards, Christopher Klier
Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects
This paper examines vineyard perceptions and adoption of climate change adaptation and water conservation measures in the Paso Robles American Viticultural Area (AVA). A survey was distributed to all 220 vineyards and vineyard management companies that operate in the AVA, with a 53.64% response rate. The objective of the survey was to determine vineyard manager and owner attitudes towards climate change and adaptation, as well as their perceptions of how these threats would impact their operation. A second objective was to document the current level of water conservation and climate adaptation while identifying the barriers and opportunities for further adoption …