Agriculture Commons^™

Changing Fire Regimes In The Great Basin Usa, Eva K. Strand, Kori Blankenship, Corey Gucker, Mark Brunson, Eugénie Montblanc

Aspen Bibliography

Wildfire is a natural disturbance in landscapes of the Western United States, but the effects and extents of fire are changing. Differences between historical and contemporary fire regimes can help identify reasons for observed changes in landscape composition. People living and working in the Great Basin, USA, are observing altered fire conditions, but spatial information about the degree and direction of change and departure from historical fire regimes is lacking. This study estimates how fire regimes have changed in the major Great Basin vegetation types over the past 60 years with comparisons to historical (pre-1900) fire regimes. We explore potential …

Wild Licorice (Glycyrrhiza Lepidota) Identification And Management In Pastures, Jacob Hadfield, Taun Beddes, Michael Caron, Corey Ransom

All Current Publications

Wild licorice, also known as American licorice, is a perennial legume native to North America, commonly found in the western United States. Wild licorice reproduces rapidly through seeds and rhizomes, leading to large infestations, particularly in pastures. The low preference of livestock for wild licorice results in overgrazing of other plant species, leaving them at a competitive disadvantage, further promoting the spread of wild licorice and contributing to pasture infestations. This fact sheet reviews the identification and management of wild licorice in pastures.

Drought Resilience And Legacy Effects In Two Forest Tree Species On Loess Plateau Of China: Growth And Water-Use Efficiency Under Different Drought Conditions, Lu Han, J. Julio Camarero, Guodong Jia, Zhiqiang Zhang, Lixin Chen

Aspen Bibliography

As droughts become more frequent and severer, understanding tree resilience and its role in mediating drought legacy effects (LEs) is critical for predicting forest ecosystem responses to future droughts and informing forest management. Both Pinus tabuliformis and Populus davidiana are widely distributed in the Loess Plateau region of western China and play important roles in provision of ecosystem services. In this study we quantified the LEs and resilience, including resistance (Rt) and recovery (Rc), of radial growth (BAI, basal area increment) and intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE) of the two species, determined the external and internal factors influencing Rt and …

Weed Incursion Of Irrigated Forage–Forb Mixtures Under Mob Grazing Or Mowing In The Mountain West Usa, Jennifer Macadam, Jared Gibbons, Xin Dai

Browse all Datasets

Improving the quality of irrigated pastures can increase the profitability of ruminant production systems. Increasing pasture plant biodiversity is beneficial for ruminants, pollinators, and soil health, but it is challenging to manage weed incursion in seeded mixed-species pastures. This study assessed the weed incursion that resulted when forage legumes or grasses were seeded as binary mixtures with one of four non-legume forbs. Defoliation occurred at 6-week intervals as either mowing or mob grazing. Forbs were chicory, plantain, Lewis flax, or small burnet and forages were alfalfa, birdsfoot trefoil, creeping foxtail, intermediate wheatgrass, kura clover, meadow bromegrass, orchardgrass, perennial ryegrass, reed …

Timber Harvesting Was The Most Important Factor Driving Changes In Vegetation Composition, As Compared To Climate And Fire Regime Shifts, In The Mixedwood Temperate Forests Of Temiscamingue Since Ad 1830, Daniela Robles, Yan Boulanger, Jesus Pascual, Victor Danneyrolles, Yves Bergeron, Igor Drobyshev

Aspen Bibliography

Context The vegetation composition of northeastern North American forests has significantly changed since pre-settlement times, with a marked reduction in conifer-dominated stands, taxonomic and functional diversity. These changes have been attributed to fire regime shifts, logging, and climate change.

Methods In this study, we disentangled the individual effects of these drivers on the forest composition in southwestern Quebec from 1830 to 2000 by conducting retrospective modelling using the LANDIS-II forest landscape model. The model was run based on pre-settlement forest composition and fire history reconstructions, historical timber harvest records, and climate reanalysis data. We compared counterfactual scenarios excluding individual factors …

Halogeton And Greasewood Poisoning In Cattle And Sheep In Utah, E. Jane Kelly, Stephen T. Lee, Ammon Brown, Daniel Cook

Poisonous Plant Research (PPR)

Halogeton (Halogeton glomeratus) is a fast-growing annual plant while greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) is a perennial shrub of the Western States. Oxalates are the toxic principle in halogeton and greasewood. Most losses occur when hungry animals are allowed to graze in heavy stands of halogeton and greasewood. Halogeton and greasewood are always dangerous and become more toxic as the growing season progresses. Here we report on two clinical cases of halogeton and greasewood poisoning in cattle and sheep. Histologically, oxalate crystals were observed in the kidneys of the cow and sheep consistent with oxalate poisoning. Oxalate was …

Agricultural Producers' Motivations And Challenges With Improving Soil Health In Utah, Peggy Petrzelka, Jessica Ulrich-Schad, Matt Yost, Jenae Dean, Tony Richards, Kristy Davis

All Current Publications

The Utah Soil Health Program (USHP) developed a five-year project to increase understanding of how best to implement soil health practices into Utah’s diverse farming systems. Fifteen producers were selected to participate in the USHP On-Farm Soil Health Demonstration Project. During 2022, the trial’s first year, the participating farmers and ranchers were interviewed. We begin by discussing participant demographics and operation characteristics. Next, we turn to challenges the producers faced in implementing soil health practices in the IMW and then turn to motivations for the producers to enroll in the USHP trial. This will help (1) document what is currently …

Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Iii Program, Ty Aller

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Utah Producers And Soil Health: Statewide Survey Results, Peggy Petrzelka, Jessica Ulrich-Schad, Matt Yost, Jenae Dean, Earl Creech, Linda Schott, Tony Richards, Kristy Davis

All Current Publications

To gain soil health perspectives and actions from a representative sample of Utah farmers and ranchers, a mail and online survey of Utah producers was conducted in 2024, focused on those who indicated they produced crops in 2023. In this report, we provide an overview of the survey results, with a specific focus on producers’ views on soil health, indicators used for soil health, factors that influence soil health adoption, and information sources used for soil health.

Evaluating Elk Distribution And Conflict Under Proposed Management Alternatives At The National Elk Refuge In Jackson, Wyoming, Gavin G. Cotterill, Paul C. Cross, Eric K. Cole, Jonathan D. Cook, Margaret C. Mceachran, Tabitha A. Graves

Aspen Bibliography

We evaluated measurable attributes describing the current and future distribution of Cervus elaphus canadensis (elk) across a region surrounding Jackson, Wyoming, for five feedground management alternatives proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a revision to 2007 "Bison and Elk Management Plan" of the National Elk Refuge. A resource selection function evaluated measurable attributes of interest to managers, including elk use of private property and sensitive habitat types at monthly timesteps and varying winter conditions. The study area boundaries were created through an expert elicitation process and consist of the Jackson Elk Herd Unit, Grand Teton National Park, …

Increased Positive Tree Species Mixture Effects On The Abundance And Richness Of Collembola With Stand Development In Canadian Boreal Forests, Yakun Zhang, Sai Peng, Zilong Ma, Chen Chen, Bilei Gao, Xinli Chen, Han Y.H. Chen

Aspen Bibliography

It is well established that species mixtures could enhance ecosystem functioning in diverse ecosystem types, with these benefits increasing over time. However, the impact of tree mixtures on Collembola communities following stand development in natural forests remains unclear, despite the critical roles Collembola plays in litter decomposition and nutrient cycling. We investigated the effects of tree species mixtures on Collembola abundance, diversity, and community structure by sampling pure and mixed jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) of 15-year-old and 41-year-old stands in natural boreal forest. In total, 6,620 individuals of Collembola were identified …

Effect Of Ph And Iron Chelate On The Growth Of Basil And Soybean In Soilless Media, Christian Baker, Bruce Bugbee

Nutrients

Iron (Fe) deficiencies are common in alkaline root zones and can cause chlorosis and reduce growth. The most common approach to prevent deficiency is using synthetic chelates that keep iron in solution at high pH. Here we report the effects of pH and chelate type on the development of chlorosis and biomass in soybeans and basil. We grew the plants at a pH ranging from 6.0-7.8. Fe was chelated with either a less expensive EDTA chelate or a more expensive EDDHA chelate. There was no significant difference between chelates at pH 6.0 in either soybeans or basil. In soybeans, there …

Feasibility Of Producing Non-Structural Wood Products Using Trembling Aspen Lumber, Mengyuan Zhang

Aspen Bibliography

Trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) is abundant in Canada but underutilized in non-structural solid wood products.This study was aimed at evaluating the feasibility of using aspen lumber to produce flooring, moulding, and siding. The shrinkage, surface roughness, and wettability of aspen wood were tested. The surface hardness, screw withdrawal resistance, colour change, and dimensional stability of there products fabricated were examined. The wood yield of each product was analyzed. It was found that aspen showed superior machinability and wettability to silver maple and yellow poplar. Aspen flooring had a Brinell hardness of 13.47 MPa, 60% lower than silver maple. …

Potential Of Using Trembling Aspen To Make Structural Engineered Wood Products, Dawei Wang

Aspen Bibliography

Trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) is abundant in Canada but is widely considered an underutilized species. This study was aimed at evaluating the potential of using aspen lumber to produce cross-laminated timber (CLT), glued-laminated timber (glulam), and wood I-joists. The key mechanical properties of these engineered wood products, which were fabricated using a modified grading criterion, were examined. It was found that 1) The mean effective bending stiffness and characteristic bending moment resistance of 5-layer CLT specimens in the major-strength direction were 5,069x10⁹ N·mm²/m and 97.65x10⁶ N·mm/m; 2) The mean apparent MOE and characteristic modulus …

Cost-Effective Strategies For Feral Swine Control: Exploring Trapping Equipment Cooperatives, Phil Kenkel, Riza Radmehr, Rodney Holcomb, Mckenzie Boyce

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Feral swine (Sus scrofa) in the United States have become a growing concern, with a population of ≥6 million and causing annual damages of ≥$1.5 billion USD. Because of their high reproductive capacity, effective control methods are crucial to reducing or slowing their population growth. While remotely monitored and triggered traps have proven to be an effective control strategy, the cost of sophisticated trapping equipment, which can cost ≥$7,000 USD, is often cost prohibitive for many landowners. Despite the pressing need to address the challenge of making effective feral swine control methods more affordable, there are few studies …

Turbo Fladry Fencing To Mitigate Short-Term Agricultural Damage Caused By Wild Pigs, Michael P. Glow, Jesse A. Tussing, Johnathan G. Walls, Robert B. Hyle, Joseph M. Halseth, Nathan P. Snow, Kurt C. Vercauteren

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a destructive invasive species that damage agricultural crops in many regions of the world. Lethal techniques to reduce populations are most often used to mitigate damage, but additional techniques are also needed in conjunction with lethal tools to protect resources in some settings (e.g., where lethal control is not practical or possible to achieve population elimination). While additional tools such as deterrents or temporary fencing may provide short-term relief, few effective options are currently available because habituation by wild pigs often reduces long-term effectiveness. Turbo fladry, a type of electric fence, is an …

Utah Farmers Markets: Statewide Social And Economic Impacts, Bryn Watkins, Jaclyn Pace, Steven Price, Roslynn Mccann

All Current Publications

Utah is home to over 45 markets where local farmers and artisans sell their homegrown food and homemade wares. These markets gather community, stimulate regional commerce, champion nutrition for Utahns from all backgrounds, and most of all, create a home for local agriculture to flourish.

Weed Incursion Of Irrigated Forage–Forb Mixtures Under Mob Grazing Or Mowing In The Mountain West Usa, Jennifer Macadam, Jared Gibbons, Xin Dai

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Improving the quality of irrigated pastures can increase the profitability of ruminant production systems. Increasing pasture plant biodiversity is beneficial for ruminants, pollinators, and soil health, but it is challenging to manage weed incursion in seeded mixed-species pastures. This study assessed the weed incursion that resulted when forage legumes or grasses were seeded as binary mixtures with one of four non-legume forbs. Defoliation occurred at 6-week intervals as either mowing or mob grazing. Forbs were chicory, plantain, Lewis flax, or small burnet and forages were alfalfa, birdsfoot trefoil, creeping foxtail, intermediate wheatgrass, kura clover, meadow bromegrass, orchardgrass, perennial ryegrass, reed …

Function Over Form: The Benefits Of Aspen As Surrogate Brood-Rearing Habitat For Greater Sage-Grouse, Michel T. Kohl, Charles P. Sandford, Paul C. Rogers, Renee Chi, Terry A. Messmer, David K. Dahlgren

Aspen Bibliography

Species of conservation concern are often habitat specialists, posing significant risk to those species when specific plant communities are threatened. As a result, practitioners habitually focus conservation efforts on these communities while ignoring ecological mechanisms that explain the wildlife–plant relationships. In doing so, practitioners may overlook alternative vegetation communities that could maintain wildlife populations under alternative conditions (e.g., climate change). Here, we term these areas surrogate habitat, defined as vegetation communities or resource sites that provide similar critical resources as conventional sites, and assess their potential for conservation using a case study of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) on …

Tree Rings Reveal Mixtures Of Aspen And Spruce Exhibit Greater Drought Resilience In A Planted Field Experiment, Jéssica Chaves Cardoso, Linhao Wu, Marcel Schneider, Charles A. Nock

Aspen Bibliography

Boreal forests provide a wealth of ecosystem services, many of which are linked to forest productivity. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency, duration, and severity of drought, and undermine the productivity of western boreal forests. Favouring species mixtures has emerged as a potential strategy to increase forest resilience to drought. To test the hypothesis that mixtures of trembling aspen and white spruce were more productive than pure stands because they were more resistant and resilient to drought, we analyzed community and species responses to drought utilizing measurements of annual growth obtained from stem disc samples from a planted …

Assessing Spatial Distribution And Quantification Of Native Trees In Saskatchewan's Prairie Landscape Using Remote Sensing Techniques, Elham Shafeian, Bryan J. Mood, Kenneth W. Belcher, Colin P. Laroque

Aspen Bibliography

The importance of trees in non-forest landscapes has been the focus of only a few studies. However, these trees provide many important ecosystem services. In this study, we mapped and quantified these trees using Sentinel-2 (S2) and very high-resolution (VHR) Google satellite imagery without any field campaigns. We performed a Random Forest (RF) classification to map the spatial distribution of native trees in different scenarios. The optimal model showed an overall accuracy and kappa of 0.99 and 0.98, respectively. We mapped 40,500 km² of tree cover, including native tree cover (approximately 29,565 km²≈10.5%), excluding plantations, regional and …

Condition And Management Futures In A Quaking Aspen Recreation Area. Final Report To Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District, Paul C. Rogers, Georgie Corkery, Anna B. Miller

Aspen Bibliography

In partnership with Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District (SBSRD), we undertook a study of ecological conditions and user preferences within a quaking aspen recreational destination forest. The location, in two sections know as Run-A-Muk and Right Turn Sage (RAM/RTS), has experienced some forest die-off in the principally aspen dominated forest dissected by ski, bike, and hiking trails. Graduate student Georgie Corkery led the study and successfully completed a Master's degree, in addition to providing needed information to SBSRD regarding the status, uses, and preferred actions at this facility. Key outcomes regarding aspen conditions include assigning causal factors—ungulate browsing and elevated …

Dual Mechanisms Of Salinity Tolerance In Wheat Germplasm Lines W4909 And W4910, Richard R.-C. Wang, Steven S. Xu, Thomas A. Monaco, Matthew D. Robbins

Forage and Range Research Laboratory Publications

Soil salinity adversely affects plant growth and development, reducing the yield of most crops, including wheat. The highly salt-tolerant wheat germplasm lines W4909 and W4910 were derived from a cross between two moderately salt-tolerant lines, the Chinese Spring (CS)/Thinopyrum junceum disomic addition line AJDAj5 (AJ) and the Ph-inhibitor line (Ph-I) derived from CS/Aegilops speltoides. Molecular markers for gene introgressions in W4909 and W4910 were not reported. Four sequence-tagged site (STS) molecular markers of Ph-I were developed and tested in the above-mentioned lines and the F₂ progenies of the two crosses, Anza (AZ) x 4740 (sib of …

Multi-Decadal Aspen Dynamics Show Recruitment Bottleneck Across Complex Mountain Community, Michael T. Stoddard, Kyle C. Rodman, Connor D. Crouch, David W. Huffman, Peter Z. Fulé, Kristen M. Waring, Margaret M. Moore

Aspen Bibliography

Changes in forest structure and shifts in tree species composition have occurred globally due to climate change and altered disturbance regimes. With climate trending toward warmer and drier conditions, these altered forest communities may reorganize in diverse and unpredictable ways. This is especially true in mountain environments where a range of vegetation types and abiotic conditions coexist. In this study, we used long-term permanent plot data from a site spanning broad environmental gradients to assess regeneration and mortality patterns in populations of aspen (Populus tremuloides). The study site, located on the San Francisco Peaks, Arizona, USA, is near …

The Primacy Of Density-Mediated Indirect Effects In A Community Of Wolves, Elk, And Aspen, Elaine M. Brice, Eric J. Larsen, Daniel R. Stahler, Daniel R. Macnulty

Aspen Bibliography

The removal or addition of a predator in an ecosystem can trigger a trophic cascade, whereby the predator indirectly influences plants and/or abiotic processes via direct effects on its herbivore prey. A trophic cascade can operate through a density-mediated indirect effect (DMIE), where the predator reduces herbivore density via predation, and/or through a trait-mediated indirect effect (TMIE), where the predator induces an herbivore trait response that modifies the herbivore's effect on plants. Manipulative experiments suggest that TMIEs are an equivalent or more important driver of trophic cascades than are DMIEs. Whether this applies generally in nature is uncertain because few …

Building Resilience: Incentivizing Agricultural Water Conservation In Utah Amid Climate Uncertainty And Prior Appropriation Water Rights, Man Li

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Target Consumers For Locally Grown Fruit In Utah, Kynda R. Curtis, Makaylie Langford, Tammy King

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes target consumers for locally grown fruits and fruit products in Utah. The data examined here comes from an online survey (via Qualtrics) of Utah consumers conducted in 2023. Here, we compare consumers who are willing to pay a higher premium for local fruit products and those who are not, outlining the distinction between them in terms of their demographics, purchasing patterns and shopping habits, as well as their lifestyle and attitudes.

Target Consumers For Organically Grown Fruit In Utah, Kynda R. Curtis, Makaylie Langford, Tammy King

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides an overview of target consumers for organically grown fruits and fruit products in Utah. The data examined here comes from an online survey (via Qualtrics) of Utah consumers conducted in 2023. Here, we compare those willing to pay premiums for organically grown fruit and those unwilling to do so, outlining the distinction between them in terms of their demographics, purchasing patterns and shopping habits, as well as their lifestyle and attitudes.

Nursery Cultural Practices Influence Morphological And Physiological Aspen Seedling Traits: Implications For Post-Fire Restoration, Aalap Dixit, Owen Burney

Aspen Bibliography

Aspen forests are threatened by the impacts of a changing climate and are showing large-scale mortality with meager natural regeneration to restore these loses. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for high-quality aspen seedlings to assist with forest restoration efforts. Nursery cultural practices can be used to alter aspen seedling traits to improve adaptability to dry planting conditions. In this study, the effects of container size (SC10 and D30; 158 and 590 mL, respectively) and nursery irrigation treatment (high and low irrigation; 90% and 70% container capacity, respectively) on seedling growth and a suite of morphological and physiological traits were …

Alfalfa Nutrient Management Guide, Megan Baker, Matt Yost, Clara Anderson, Grant Cardon, Jody Gale, Earl Creech, Cody Zesiger, Kalen Taylor

All Current Publications

Proper nutrient management is key to maintaining high yields, quality, and stand longevity for profitable alfalfa production. By the time that visible symptoms of nutrient deficiencies have appeared, yield, quality, and economic losses have already occurred. Soil tests provide a proactive opportunity to prepare fertilizer or amendment supplementation before the growing season. Fertilizer applications can greatly improve crop yield and quality and, in turn, greatly increase economic returns.