Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons^™

Pengaruh Cuaca, Musuh Alami, Dan Persentase Kerusakan Buah Terhadap Populasi Serangga Penyerbuk Kelapa Sawit Di Tanah Sulfat Masam, Rio Dwi Pernando, Darwati Susilastuti, Fetty Dwi Rahmayanti, Fizrul Indra Lubis

Jurnal Kultivasi

Produktivitas kelapa sawit tidak terlepas dari peran serangga penyerbuk Elaeidobius kamerunicus Faust. Berbagai kondisi lingkungan yang kurang mendukung dan musuh alami dapat menurunkan populasinya. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mempelajari pengaruh cuaca, musuh alami dan persentase kerusakan buah terhadap populasi serangga penyerbuk E. kamerunicus di tanah sulfat masam. Penelitian dilakukan menggunakan metode observasi di lapang produksi di Selangkun Estate, Rungun Estate, PT. Sawit Sumbermas Sarana Tbk. dan Kanamit Estate, PT. Menteng Kencana Mas, Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia pada tanaman berumur 6 dan 9 tahun sebanyak 4.144 tanaman atau seluas 30 ha.. Analisis data pada penelitian ini menggunakan ANOVA dan Uji lanjut Tukey …

Viability Test Of Halotolerant Nitrogen-Fixing Rhizobacteria On Different Carrier Composition And Application Dosage Of Nitrogen Biofertilizer To Increase Rice Growth On Saline Ecosystems, Fiqriah Hanum Khumairah, Fachruddin Azwari, Mieke Rochimi Setiawati, Betty Natalie Fitriatin, Tualar Simarmata

Jurnal Kultivasi

The use of saline soils as productive agricultural land poses major challenges. The utilization of nitrogen biofertilizer with halotolerant N-fixing rhizobacteria as the active material at the right dosage can increase soil productivity and support plant growth. The aim of this study was to obtain the composition of the carrier material that can maintain rhizobacteria viability, water content, and pH of nitrogen biofertilizer and to obtain the right dosage to increase the growth of rice plants in saline ecosystems. The research location was at Microbiology Laboratory of CV Bintang Asri Arthauly, Bandung and greenhouse of Jayamukti Village, Banyusari District, Karawang …

Perbandingan Daya Hasil Dan Toleransi Naungan Berbagai Genotipe Jagung Padjadjaran Pada Naungan Eukaliptus, Adilah Nurul Fitrah, Nono Carsono, Dedi Ruswandi

Jurnal Kultivasi

Kebutuhan jagung sebagai bahan pangan, pakan dan industri selalu meningkat, namun terdapat kendala dalam produksi jagung domestik, yaitu konversi lahan pertanian. Sistem agroforestri eukaliptus-jagung dapat menjadi alternatif yang digunakan untuk pengembangan jagung. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mengidentifikasi daya hasil, mengestimasi nilai indeks toleransi, dan menyeleksi galur jagung Padjadjaran yang toleran terhadap naungan Eucalyptus sp. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan pada April – November 2019 di Sanggar Penelitian Latihan dan Pengembangan Pertanian (SPLPP) Fakultas Pertanian Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung. Rancangan percobaan menggunakan rancangan petak terbagi (Split plot) dengan dua faktor (naungan dan genotipe) dan tiga ulangan. Petak utama adalah faktor naungan yang terdiri dari …

Variation In Bacterial Community Structure Under Long-Term Fertilization, Tillage, And Cover Cropping In Continuous Cotton Production, Ning Duan, Lidong Li, Xiaolong Liang, Aubrey Fine, Jie Zhuang, Mark Radosevich, Sean M. Schaeffer

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Agricultural practices alter the structure and functions of soil microbial community. However, few studies have documented the alterations of bacterial communities in soils under long-term conservation management practices for continuous crop production. In this study, we evaluated soil bacterial diversity using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and soil physical and chemical properties within 12 combinations of inorganic N fertilization, cover cropping, and tillage throughout a cotton production cycle. Soil was collected from field plots of the West Tennessee Agriculture Research and Education Center in Jackson, TN, United States. The site has been under continuous cotton production for 38 years. A total …

Climate Change And Management Impacts On Soybean N Fixation, Soil N Mineralization, N2o Emissions, And Seed Yield, Elvis F. Elli, Ignacio A. Ciampitti, Michael J. Castellano, Larry C. Purcell, Seth Naeve, Patricio Grassini, Nicolas C. La Menza, Luiz Moro Rosso, Andre F. De Borja Reis, Peter Kovacs, Sotirios V. Archontoulis

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Limited knowledge about how nitrogen (N) dynamics are affected by climate change, weather variability, and crop management is a major barrier to improving the productivity and environmental performance of soybean-based cropping systems. To fill this knowledge gap, we created a systems understanding of agroecosystem N dynamics and quantified the impact of controllable (management) and uncontrollable (weather, climate) factors on N fluxes and soybean yields. We performed a simulation experiment across 10 soybean production environments in the United States using the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) model and future climate projections from five global circulation models. Climate change (2020–2080) increased N …

Pestfacts Wa Issue 01 - April 2022, Cindy L. Webster, Svetlana Micic, Saleh Adnan, Janette Pratt, Jean Galloway, Adam H. Sparks, Jeff Russell

PestFacts WA

PestFacts WA Issue 01 - April 2022 contents:

• What to expect from mollusc pests after a hot dry summer
• Meet our new team member – Dr Saleh Adnan
• Canola blackleg risk forecasts
• Have you checked out the new Grains Farm Biosecurity website?

Drivers And Barriers Of The Transition To Regenerative Agriculture Within The Eu’S Common Agricultural Policy Reform: Comparative Analysis With The Us Farm Bill, Samantha Gish

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the wake of multiple crises, such as climate change and international conflict, there is increased urgency to ensure a stable food system. Additionally, changing priorities of citizens have fostered the desire for sustainable production of food. One innovative method of food production is regenerative agriculture and in this practice the main goals are to increase system resilience, improve soil and sequester carbon. This is done through practices such as no tilling, cover and intercropping, and incorporation of livestock into crop fields. Although great in theory, these practices go against traditional agricultural practices and therefore the policy currently in place …

Evaluating Traits Influencing Hybrid Wheat Seed Production Using A Double Haploid Population Derived From Freeman × Camelot, Emre Karahan

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

Hybrid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars are preferred for their advanced agronomic traits such as a yield improvement increase up to 20%. However, hybrid cultivars remain difficult to produce on a commercial scale due to inadequate pollen dispersal, the closed nature of the wheat floret and the high cost of inducing sterility or restoring fertility in cleistogamous wheat. Redesigning parent-specific traits and understanding their potential interactions with related agronomic traits are needed to breed improved male lines in hybrid seed production fields. To better understand the genetic control of anther extrusion (AE), 174 double haploid lines derived from Freeman …

Cattle Diet Selection During The Growing Season On Upland Sandhills Rangelands, Alejandro Orozco-Lopez

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

The Sandhills is a diverse and complex ecosystem comprised of different topographic positions (i.e. slopes and interdunes) that influence grazing distribution, plant species composition, and cattle diet selection. The first objective of this study was to evaluate how grazing intensity influences species composition on slopes and interdunes on native rangeland within the Hillside pasture (160 ha) at the UNL Gudmundsen Sandhill’s Laboratory (GSL). The second objective of this study was to evaluate forage quality of individual species from three plant functional groups (i.e. warm-season grasses, cool-season grasses, and forbs/shrubs) on native rangeland within the Hillside pasture (160 ha) at GSL. …

Fine Mapping And Cloning Of The Major Seed Protein Quantitative Trait Loci On Soybean Chromosome 20, Christina E. Fliege, Russell A. Ward, Pamela Vogel, Hanh Nguyen, Truyen Quach, Ming Guo, João Paulo Gomes Viana, Lucas Borges Dos Santos, James Specht, Thomas Clemente, Matthew E. Hudson, Brian W. Diers

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is a unique crop species because it has high levels of both protein and oil in its seed. Of the many quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling soybean seed protein content, alleles of the cqSeed protein-003 QTL on chromosome 20 exert the greatest additive effect. The high-protein allele exists in both cultivated and wild soybean (Glycine soja Siebold & Zucc.) germplasm. Our objective was to fine map this QTL to enable positional-based cloning of its underlying causative gene(s). Fine mapping was achieved by developing and testing a series of populations in which the chromosomal region surrounding …

Soybean Gall Midge (Resseliella Maxima Gagné): Insecticide Efficacy And Seasonal Larval Abundance, Vilma Maria Montenegro Castro

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Soybean gall midge, Resseliella maxima Gagné was recently identified as a new species injuring soybean in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Missouri. Resseliella maxima injury is caused by its three instars that feed on tissues within the soybean stem. Infested plants exhibit a darkening of the stem, disrupting nutrient flow within the plant and can lead to wilting or death of plants. Total yield losses can occur in the first 30 m of the field in heavily infested sites. The biology and behavior of this newly described insects is not well understood and management strategies for the management of …

Water Quality Adjacent To Swine Slurry Holding Ponds Associated With A Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation, Andrew Sharpley, James Burke, Kristofor Brye, Larry Berry, Phillip Hays, Mike Daniels, Karl Vandevender, Tim Glover, Brian Haggard

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Environmental concerns exist over extended storage of liquid animal waste in outdoor holding ponds before land application, particularly in regions with underlying karst geology. To determine the effects of holding ponds on water quality, belowground interceptor trenches, groundwater (well), and a downslope ephemeral stream were monitored for water quality parameters. Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations increased (p < .0001) in well and ephemeral stream samples but decreased in trench samples (Trench 1 with a p < .0001) near the swine production facility and holding ponds over a 5-yr monitoring period (April 2014–June 2019). In contrast, chloride, which is a conservative element that can move freely through the soil without chemical, physical, or biological modification, and electrical conductivity decreased (p < .0001 to .0203) over the monitoring period in well and Trench 1 samples. Flow in the interceptor trenches was highly responsive to rainfall, suggesting the trenches were mainly capturing shallow subsurface flows initiated by rainfall. A lack of any increasing trend in chloride and electrical conductivity for ephemeral stream, well, or trench samples suggests that elevated nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in well and ephemeral stream samples may have been influenced by sources other than the liquid manure holding ponds (i.e., sources that have low chloride and electrical conductivity values). In regions with underlying karst geology, surface and subsurface water resources may require more expansive monitoring to demonstrate liquid manure holding ponds effects on nearby water quality.

Arkansas Rice: Herbicide Resistance Concerns, Production Practices, And Weed Management Costs, Thomas R. Butts, K. Badou-Jeremie Kouame, Jason K. Norsworthy, L. Tom Barber

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

An online survey to better understand current weed management practices and concerns in Arkansas rice was distributed in the fall of 2020. A total of 123 respondents from across the Arkansas rice growing region returned the survey covering a total of 236,414 rice hectares, representing about 40% of the planted Arkansas rice hectares in 2020. The most problematic weeds were Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv. (ECG), Cyperus spp., and Oryza sativa L. (weedy rice), respectively, in flooded rice, and ECG, Amaranthus palmeri S. Wats., and Cyperus spp., respectively, in furrow-irrigated rice. Most respondents (78%) reported high concern with herbicide-resistant weeds, …

Microbiome Variation Across Populations Of Desert Halophyte Zygophyllum Qatarensis, Abdul Latif Khan, Lucas Dantas Lopes, Saqib Bilal, Sajjad Asaf, Kerri M. Crawford, Venkatesh Balan, Ahmed Al-Rawahi, Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Daniel P. Schachtman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Microbial symbionts play a significant role in plant health and stress tolerance. However, few studies exist that address rare species of core-microbiome function during abiotic stress. In the current study, we compared the microbiome composition of succulent dwarf shrub halophyte Zygophyllum qatarensis Hadidi across desert populations. The results showed that rhizospheric and endosphere microbiome greatly varied due to soil texture (sandy and gravel). No specific bacterial amplicon sequence variants were observed in the core-microbiome of bulk soil and rhizosphere, however, bacterial genus Alcaligenes and fungal genus Acidea were abundantly distributed across root and shoot endospheres. We also analyzed major nutrients …

Microbiome Variation Across Populations Of Desert Halophyte Zygophyllum Qatarensis, Abdul Latif Khan, Lucas Dantas Lopes, Saqib Bilal, Sajjad Asaf, Kerri M. Crawford, Venkatesh Balan, Ahmed Al-Rawahi, Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Daniel P. Schachtman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Microbial symbionts play a significant role in plant health and stress tolerance. However, few studies exist that address rare species of core-microbiome function during abiotic stress. In the current study, we compared the microbiome composition of succulent dwarf shrub halophyte Zygophyllum qatarensis Hadidi across desert populations. The results showed that rhizospheric and endosphere microbiome greatly varied due to soil texture (sandy and gravel). No specific bacterial amplicon sequence variants were observed in the core-microbiome of bulk soil and rhizosphere, however, bacterial genus Alcaligenes and fungal genus Acidea were abundantly distributed across root and shoot endospheres. We also analyzed major nutrients …

Microgreens Grow Kit: A Novel Pilot Study To Improve Nutrition Awareness, Ben Haslund-Gourley, Chris Para, Swaksha Rachuri, Sascha Enders, Rayna Marshall, Vibhuti Mishra, Simone Udeh, Jessica Nwabeke, Annette Gadegbeku

Transformative Medicine

Obesity and associated non-communicable illnesses including coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke have steadily increased in prevalence over the last decade. Previous studies identified the involvement of individual, family, and community support intervention strategies used to prevent and manage obesity. Additionally, education on nutrition from the early stages of development is crucial for obesity prevention and control. Therefore, new preventative methods are needed to further engage and educate individuals and communities about health-conscious diets. Microgreen cultivation utilizes a reduced cost, low-footprint, recyclable, weather-independent, and transportable method to provide less nutrition-privileged communities with exposure to healthy foods within one …

Effect Of Sowing Date And Topping Process On Some Morphological And Productivity Traits Of Cotton Under A Zone Condition In Al Hasaka Governorate/ Syria, تأثير موعد الزراعة وعملية التطويش في بعض الصفات الشكلية والإنتاجية لمحصول القطن في ظروف منطقة الاستقرار الأولى لمحافظة الحسكة/سورية, Momena Rakkad

Arab Journal of Arid Environments المجلة العربية للبيئات الجافة

This research was carried out during growing season 2014 in Tel Half village (AL Hasaka governorate/Syria) In order to study the effect of sowing date and topping process on some morphological and productivity Traits of cotton (Var. Halab-90 ), planting were applied in tow dates, the first of date planting took place in 19/4/2014, and the second in 5/5/2014.and applying three methods of topping main stem topping, fruit shoots topping, total topping (main stem topping and fruit shoots topping) in addition to control treatment (without topping), The experiment was design according to spilt plot design with three replication, where main …

Management Strategies And Distribution Of Aphanomyces Root Rot Of Alfalfa (Medicago Sativa), A Continuing Threat To Forage Production In The United States, Jennifer M. Giles, Conner L. Tordsen, Travis R. Rebstock, Bruna Bucciarelli, Deborah A. Samac, Andrew E. Sathoff

Research & Publications

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is one of several legumes that is affected by Aphanomyces root rot (ARR) caused by Aphanomyces euteiches. Symptoms of ARR on alfalfa seedlings include a yellow-grey discolouration of roots, rotting and loss of lateral roots, stunted growth, chlorotic foliage and reduction of nitrogen-producing nodules on roots. Infection can also occur on adult plants leading to loss of lateral roots and nodules. At the seedling stage, ARR decreases alfalfa stand establishment, and field longevity is reduced when adult plants are infected. A. euteiches is an oomycete pathogen that has motile zoospores and thick-walled oospores that …

Extreme Development Of Dragon Fruit Agriculture With Nighttime Lighting In Southern Vietnam, Shenyue Jia, Son V. Nghiem, Seung-Hee Kim, Laura Krauser, Andrea E. Gaughan, Forest R. Stevens, Menas Kafatos, Khanh D. Ngo

Institute for ECHO Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Dragon fruit is widely grown in Southeast Asia and other tropical or subtropical regions. As a high-value cash crop ideal for exportation, dragon fruit cultivation has boomed during the past decade in southern Vietnam. Light supplementing during the winter months using artificial lighting sources is a widely adopted cultivation technique to boost productivity in the major dragon fruit planting regions of Vietnam. The application of electric lighting at night leads to a significant increase of nighttime light (NTL) observable by satellite sensors. The strong seasonality signal of NTL in dragon fruit cultivation enables identifying dragon fruit plantations using NTL images. …

Effect Of Solitary And Combined Use Of Cover Crops On Soilborne Disease Suppressiveness In Woody Ornamental Nursery Production Systems, Madhav Parajuli, Fulya Baysal-Gurel, Milan Panth

Student Research

Cover crops are known to be effective in reducing soilborne diseases in woody ornamentals. However, it remains unknown how solitary and combined uses of cover crops influence soilborne disease, and whether these effects differ with seed rate. The objective of this study was to explore the impacts of cover crops, in solitary and combined use, on soilborne disease suppressiveness in woody ornamental nursery production systems. Soils were sampled from the established red maple (Acer rubrum L.) plantation grown with and without cover crops [crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.)] or triticale (× Triticosecale W.) or (their mixture)] following the cover crop …

Seabem: An Artificial Intelligence Powered Web Application To Predict Cover Crop Biomass, Aime Christian Tuyishime, Andrea Basche

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

SEABEM, the Stacked Ensemble Algorithms Biomass Estimator Model, is a web application with a stacked ensemble of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms running on the backend to predict cover crop biomass for locations in Sub-Saharan. The SEABEM model was developed using a previously developed database of crop growth and yield that included site characteristics such as latitude, longitude, soil texture (sand, silt, and clay percentages), temperature, and precipitation. The goal of SEABEM is to provide global farmers, mainly small-scale African farmers, the knowledge they need before practicing and benefiting from cover crops while avoiding the expensive and time-consuming operations that come …

A Global Soil Spectral Calibration Library And Estimation Service, Keith D. Sheperd, Rich Ferguson, David Hoover, Fenny Van Egmond, Jonathan Sanderman, Yufeng Ge

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

There is growing global interest in the potential for soil reflectance spectroscopy to fill an urgent need for more data on soil properties for improved decision-making on soil security at local to global scales. This is driven by the capability of soil spectroscopy to estimate a wide range of soil properties from a rapid, inexpensive, and highly reproducible measurement using only light. However, several obstacles are preventing wider adoption of soil spectroscopy. The biggest obstacles are the large variation in the soil analytical methods and operating procedures used in different laboratories, poor reproducibility of analyses within and amongst laboratories and …

Estimating Effects Of Radiation Frost On Wheat Using A Field-Based Frost Control Treatment To Stop Freezing Damage, Brenton A. Leske, Ben Biddulph

Grain and Other Field Crops Research Articles

Crop phenotyping experiments have long struggled to have a reliable control treatment that excludes frost and associated freezing damage to plants. Previous attempts used a barrier, such as a removable shelter or cloth to exclude frost. However, these methods were labour intensive and varied in their effectiveness. An automated diesel heater was used to protect field plots of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from frost damage. In 2018 and 2019 there were 22 and 33 radiation frost events from July to October at the field site. The heater maintained canopy air temperature above freezing (>0 °C) for the duration of …

Southeast Asia Must Narrow Down The Yield Gap To Continue To Be A Major Rice Bowl, Shen Yuan, Alexander M. Stuart, Alice G. Laborte, Juan I. Rattalino Edreira, Achim Dobermann, Le Vu Ngoc Kien, Lưu Thị Thúy, Kritkamol Paothong, Prachya Traesang, Khin Myo Tint, Su Su San, Marcelino Q. Villafuerte Ii, Emma D. Quicho, Anny Ruth P. Pame, Rathmuny Then, Rica Joy Flor, Neak Thon, Fahmuddin Agus, Nurwulan Agustiani, Nanyan Deng, Tao Li, Patricio Grassini

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Southeast Asia is a major rice-producing region with a high level of internal consumption and accounting for 40% of global rice exports. Limited land resources, climate change and yield stagnation during recent years have once again raised concerns about the capacity of the region to remain as a large net exporter. Here we use a modelling approach to map rice yield gaps and assess production potential and net exports by 2040. We find that the average yield gap represents 48% of the yield potential estimate for the region, but there are substantial differences among countries. Exploitable yield gaps are relatively …

Editorial: Genomics-Enabled Triticeae Improvement, Xue-Feng Ma, Xianchun Xia, Shuyu Liu, P. Stephen Baenziger, Hakan Özkan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Building Sustainable Rangeland Management Systems Through A One System Innovative Approach, Benedict C. Irwin, T. A. Ameha, M. Mangano, B. W. Solomon, T. Wood

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Working through a collaborative working partnership between the USAID Feed the Future Resilience in Pastoralist Areas (RiPA)1 program and Land Governance Activity (LGA)2 and selected technical partners, these new rangeland programs aim to build on significant breakthrough successes in rangeland management from their previous lowland programs3. These new lowlands pastoralist development programs have been purposely positioned by USAID to coordinate, collaborate and combine working activities focused on the continued improvement and strengthening of rangeland management systems in the lowlands of Ethiopia. In light of this positioning, it is proposed that the programs work together to build a comprehensive sustainable rangeland …

Sustainable Development And The Transformation Of Female Rural Labor: The Case Of Woman Cattle Ranchers In Uruguay, Virginia Courdin

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Internationally, rural women are considered key to sustainable development. However, in the Uruguayan livestock sector, women’s work is largely unrecognized by public policy makers, causing younger women to migrate, and resulting in the "masculinization" of livestock husbandry. In Uruguay, extensive livestock production (range livestock) analysis has historically ignored the genuinely productive role that women play in rangelands, limiting the visibility of their action to reproductive activities while ignoring their importance in terms of income generation, herd management, networking, strategic planning, etc. Although family production integrates women, their work is often invisible, subsumed within domestic chores or seen as "helping" the …

Source Of Off-Type Frequencies In Winter Wheat Varieties, Michaela Benes

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The enzyme polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is undesirable in most wheat products due to the discoloration it causes. Purifying wheat varieties through selective breeding is the best way at getting rid of PPO in a variety. The variety NW15443 was planted in both a field in McCook, NE, and in a greenhouse in Lincoln, NE. Individual heads were snapped from the field and the greenhouse seed was harvested in bulk. After completing a PPO test of the seed, it was determined that the percentages of off-type frequencies from the field seed and the greenhouse seed were 11% and 3.6%, respectively. Using …

Ruminant Livestock Production Systems And Imperatives For Sustainable Development, J. W. Smith

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Biodiversity Conservation And Sustainable Livelihoods In Rangelands: Trends, Challenges And Opportunities, J. Waithaka

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Rangelands cover about 54% of the earth’s surface and are essential for agricultural and livestock production, environmental protection and the in-situ conservation of genetic resources. Despite providing services that support life on earth, rangelands have been neglected to a large extent when compared to other types of ecosystems. This paper provides an overview of the importance of rangelands in conserving biodiversity and supporting the livelihoods of millions of people globally. Rangelands have lost ecological integrity due to unsustainable anthropogenic land-use changes and impacts. It is estimated that over 80% of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are either not adequately protected or …