Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Plant Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Soil

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Plant Sciences

A Method For Visualizing Water Flow Through Modified Root Zones, Dallas M. Williams Dec 2021

A Method For Visualizing Water Flow Through Modified Root Zones, Dallas M. Williams

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As the number of impervious surfaces in urban environments increases, the ability of modified root zones to infiltrate water is becoming more important. Current methods of tracing water flow through soil profiles include excavating large pits in situ or analyzing soil cores in the laboratory with computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. While useful, these methods may not be suitable for urban settings or practical in every laboratory. We propose a new method that is less invasive, does not require extensive technical equipment and can reliably trace water movement through the soil profile in order to calculate flow rate based …


Does Integrating Crops With Livestock Production Impact Soil Properties And Crop Production?, Lindsey Anderson May 2021

Does Integrating Crops With Livestock Production Impact Soil Properties And Crop Production?, Lindsey Anderson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Re-integrating crop and livestock production through cover crop (CC) and corn residue grazing could efficiently utilize resources and ensure profitability while improving environmental quality, but how this integration affects soils and crops is not well understood. We conducted two studies to address this. In the first study, we evaluated the impact of cattle (1.3-3.7 head ha-1) grazing an oat (Avena sativa L.) CC on soil and crop yields in two adjacent irrigated no-till corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean (Glycine max L.) fields on silt loam soils in eastern Nebraska. Field I was grazed twice, while Field …