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Full-Text Articles in Agriculture

Long-Term Crop Rotation Diversification Enhances Maize Drought Resistance Through Soil Organic Matter, Leah L.R. Renwick, William Deen, Lucas Silva, Matthew E. Gilbert, Toby Maxwell, Timothy M. Bowles, Amélie C.M. Gaudin Aug 2021

Long-Term Crop Rotation Diversification Enhances Maize Drought Resistance Through Soil Organic Matter, Leah L.R. Renwick, William Deen, Lucas Silva, Matthew E. Gilbert, Toby Maxwell, Timothy M. Bowles, Amélie C.M. Gaudin

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Climate change adaptation requires building agricultural system resilience to warmer, drier climates. Increasing temporal plant diversity through crop rotation diversification increases yields of some crops under drought, but its potential to enhance crop drought resistance and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We conducted a drought manipulation experiment using rainout shelters embedded within a 36-year crop rotation diversity and no-till experiment in a temperate climate and measured a suite of soil and crop developmental and eco-physiological traits in the field and laboratory. We show that diversifying maize-soybean rotations with small grain cereals and cover crops mitigated maize water stress at the …


Understanding The Impact Of Covid-19 On Agriculture And Food Supply Chains: System Dynamics Modeling For The Resilience Of Smallholder Farmers, Busra Atamer Balkan, Andreas Nicolaidis Lindqvist, Kelechi Odoemena, Robert Lamb, Monique Ann Tiongco, Stueti Gupta, Arpitha Peteru, Hector Manuel Menendez Iii Aug 2021

Understanding The Impact Of Covid-19 On Agriculture And Food Supply Chains: System Dynamics Modeling For The Resilience Of Smallholder Farmers, Busra Atamer Balkan, Andreas Nicolaidis Lindqvist, Kelechi Odoemena, Robert Lamb, Monique Ann Tiongco, Stueti Gupta, Arpitha Peteru, Hector Manuel Menendez Iii

Quantitative Methods and Information Technology Faculty Publications

COVID-19 has caused severe agriculture and food supply chain disruptions; significantly affecting smallholder farmers who supply most of the world’s food; specifically their changes in vulnerability; resilience; and food loss and waste. Therefore; the objective of this study was to understand the complex causal and feedback relationships for this system by developing a dynamic hypothesis and causal loop diagrams utilizing the System Dynamics methodology. Results provide a roadmap for dialogue and a framework for case-specific model development and help to guide policy decisions for smallholder farmers’ survival during health crises.


The Effect Of Increasing Temperature On Crop Photosynthesis: From Enzymes To Ecosystems, Caitlin E. Moore, Katherine Meacham-Hensold, Pauline Lemonnier, Rebecca A. Slattery, Claire Benjamin, Carl J. Bernacchi, Tracy Lawson, Amanda P. Cavanagh Apr 2021

The Effect Of Increasing Temperature On Crop Photosynthesis: From Enzymes To Ecosystems, Caitlin E. Moore, Katherine Meacham-Hensold, Pauline Lemonnier, Rebecca A. Slattery, Claire Benjamin, Carl J. Bernacchi, Tracy Lawson, Amanda P. Cavanagh

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

As global land surface temperature continues to rise and heatwave events increase in frequency, duration, and/or intensity, our key food and fuel cropping systems will likely face increased heat-related stress. A large volume of literature exists on exploring measured and modelled impacts of rising temperature on crop photosynthesis, from enzymatic responses within the leaf up to larger ecosystem-scale responses that reflect seasonal and interannual crop responses to heat. This review discusses (i) how crop photosynthesis changes with temperature at the enzymatic scale within the leaf; (ii) how stomata and plant transport systems are affected by temperature; (iii) what features make …


Effects Of Thinning On Dynamics And Drought Resistance Of Aspen-White Spruce Mixtures: Results From Two Study Sites In Saskatchewan, Philip G. Comeau Jan 2021

Effects Of Thinning On Dynamics And Drought Resistance Of Aspen-White Spruce Mixtures: Results From Two Study Sites In Saskatchewan, Philip G. Comeau

Aspen Bibliography

Drought stress associated with warm temperatures is causing increased mortality and reduced growth of trees in drier portions of the boreal forests of western Canada with both warming and drought expected to increase over the coming decades. While thinning is often shown to reduce drought stress, there is little information on its effects in stands comprised of mixtures of trembling aspen and white spruce that are common in the forests of this region. This study examined effects of pre-commercial thinning on aspen and spruce growth, response to drought stress, and stand dynamics for two study sites located in Saskatchewan, Canada. …


Understanding Food And Climate Change: A Systems Perspective, Megan Brockelbank Jan 2021

Understanding Food And Climate Change: A Systems Perspective, Megan Brockelbank

Sustainability Education Resources

Climate change will profoundly affect our lives in many ways, even down to the very food we eat. Food is essential for survival and our complex food system, and all that depends on it, face a big threat with climate change. Throughout the semester we will explore the links between the food system and our changing climate with an emphasis on systems thinking. In science we tend to segregate, looking at just one part of a system, while systems thinking looks at the whole picture. Using this approach, we will think critically about how to build a more resilient food …


Collapse, Reorganization, And Regime Identity: Breaking Down Past Management Paradigms In A Forest-Grassland Ecotone, Victoria M. Donovan, Caleb P. Roberts, Carissa L. Wonkka, Daniel R. Uden, David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, David A. Wedin, Rhae A. Drijber, Dirac Twidwell Jan 2021

Collapse, Reorganization, And Regime Identity: Breaking Down Past Management Paradigms In A Forest-Grassland Ecotone, Victoria M. Donovan, Caleb P. Roberts, Carissa L. Wonkka, Daniel R. Uden, David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, David A. Wedin, Rhae A. Drijber, Dirac Twidwell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The identity of an ecological regime is central to modern resilience theory and our understanding of how systems collapse and reorganize following disturbance. However, resilience-based models used in ecosystem management have been criticized for their failure to integrate disturbance outcomes into regime identity. Assessments are needed to understand how well these classifications represent ecosystem responses that occur over management relevant time scales. We tracked post-wildfire forest and grassland dynamics 27 years after wildfire in eastern ponderosa pine savanna. We tested for differences between the assigned identity of a site (forest or grassland) versus classifications based on the site's disturbance history …