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Full-Text Articles in Agriculture
Tamaulipan Thornforest Restoration: Factors Influencing Restoration Outcomes And Impacts Of Cover Crops During Replanting, Jerald Thomas Garrett
Tamaulipan Thornforest Restoration: Factors Influencing Restoration Outcomes And Impacts Of Cover Crops During Replanting, Jerald Thomas Garrett
Theses and Dissertations
Though the rate of deforestation has slowed in recent years, it remains a primary cause of land cover change within forest ecosystems. The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas (LRGV) has lost nearly 95% of its native thornforest since the early 1900’s due to agricultural and urban expansion. The focus of this study is to assess the current vegetative state of restored thornforest sites located in the eastern LRGV and to evaluate the use of cover crops during replanting of native seedlings. Our assessment of restored thornforest sites revealed actively restored sites demonstrated higher overall averages of richness, abundance, and diversity …
Diversifying Cornfields By Interseeding Cover Crops: Practical Implications And The Response Of Invertebrate Communities, Michael Bredeson
Diversifying Cornfields By Interseeding Cover Crops: Practical Implications And The Response Of Invertebrate Communities, Michael Bredeson
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The lack of suitable habitat conditions for beneficial organisms in simplified agroecosystems leads to unstable invertebrate communities and overreliance on chemical control of herbivores. It is possible to manage pest populations without agrichemicals by manipulating farmland so that herbivores are impaired by plant-driven bottom-up and enemy-driven top-down antagonisms. Interseeding cover crops between established crop rows is a method used by farmers to improve habitat suitability for natural enemies and hinder host-finding, feeding and movement by herbivores. Here I address three important research gaps related to interseeding cover crops. A calcium carbonate seed coating, used to improve seed-broadcasting efficiency, was tested …