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University of Vermont

Articles 271 - 300 of 300

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Genetic Patterns Of Domestication In Pigeonpea (Cajanus Cajan (L.) Millsp.) And Wild Cajanus Relatives, Mulualem T. Kassa, R. Varma Penmetsa, Noelia Carrasquilla-Garcia, Birinchi K. Sarma, Subhojit Datta, Hari D. Upadhyaya, Rajeev K. Varshney, Eric J.B. Von Wettberg, Douglas R. Cook Jun 2012

Genetic Patterns Of Domestication In Pigeonpea (Cajanus Cajan (L.) Millsp.) And Wild Cajanus Relatives, Mulualem T. Kassa, R. Varma Penmetsa, Noelia Carrasquilla-Garcia, Birinchi K. Sarma, Subhojit Datta, Hari D. Upadhyaya, Rajeev K. Varshney, Eric J.B. Von Wettberg, Douglas R. Cook

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) is an annual or short-lived perennial food legume of acute regional importance, providing significant protein to the human diet in less developed regions of Asia and Africa. Due to its narrow genetic base, pigeonpea improvement is increasingly reliant on introgression of valuable traits from wild forms, a practice that would benefit from knowledge of its domestication history and relationships to wild species. Here we use 752 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) derived from 670 low copy orthologous genes to clarify the evolutionary history of pigeonpea (79 accessions) and its wild relatives (31 accessions). We identified three well-supported lineages …


Do Anthropogenic Dark Earths Occur In The Interior Of Borneo? Some Initial Observations From East Kalimantan, Douglas Sheil, Imam Basuki, Laura German, Thomas W. Kuyper, Godwin Limberg, Rajindra K. Puri, Bernard Sellato, Meine Van Noordwijk, Eva Wollenberg Jun 2012

Do Anthropogenic Dark Earths Occur In The Interior Of Borneo? Some Initial Observations From East Kalimantan, Douglas Sheil, Imam Basuki, Laura German, Thomas W. Kuyper, Godwin Limberg, Rajindra K. Puri, Bernard Sellato, Meine Van Noordwijk, Eva Wollenberg

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Anthropogenic soils of the Amazon Basin (Terra Preta, Terra Mulata) reveal that pre-Colombian peoples made lasting improvements in the agricultural potential of nutrient-poor soils. Some have argued that applying similar techniques could improve agriculture over much of the humid tropics, enhancing local livelihoods and food security, while also sequestering large quantities of carbon to mitigate climate change. Here, we present preliminary evidence for Anthropogenic Dark Earths (ADEs) in tropical Asia. Our surveys in East Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) identified several sites where soils possess an anthropogenic development and context similar in several respects to the Amazon's ADEs. Similarities include riverside locations, …


Early Developmental Responses To Seedling Environment Modulate Later Plasticity To Light Spectral Quality, Eric J.B. Von Wettberg, John R. Stinchcombe, Johanna Schmitt Mar 2012

Early Developmental Responses To Seedling Environment Modulate Later Plasticity To Light Spectral Quality, Eric J.B. Von Wettberg, John R. Stinchcombe, Johanna Schmitt

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Correlations between developmentally plastic traits may constrain the joint evolution of traits. In plants, both seedling de-etiolation and shade avoidance elongation responses to crowding and foliage shade are mediated by partially overlapping developmental pathways, suggesting the possibility of pleiotropic constraints. To test for such constraints, we exposed inbred lines of Impatiens capensis to factorial combinations of leaf litter (which affects de-etiolation) and simulated foliage shade (which affects phytochrome-mediated shade avoidance). Increased elongation of hypocotyls caused by leaf litter phenotypically enhanced subsequent elongation of the first internode in response to low red:far red (R:FR). Trait expression was correlated across litter and …


Conservation And Livelihoods: Identifying Trade-Offs And Win-Wins, Brendan P. Fisher Jan 2012

Conservation And Livelihoods: Identifying Trade-Offs And Win-Wins, Brendan P. Fisher

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Biogenic Vs. Geologic Carbon Emissions And Forest Biomass Energy Production, John S. Gunn, David J. Ganz, William S. Keeton Jan 2012

Biogenic Vs. Geologic Carbon Emissions And Forest Biomass Energy Production, John S. Gunn, David J. Ganz, William S. Keeton

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

In the current debate over the CO2 emissions implications of switching from fossil fuel energy sources to include a substantial amount of woody biomass energy, many scientists and policy makers hold the view that emissions from the two sources should not be equated. Their rationale is that the combustion or decay of woody biomass is simply part of the global cycle of biogenic carbon and does not increase the amount of carbon in circulation. This view is frequently presented as justification to implement policies that encourage the substitution of fossil fuel energy sources with biomass. We present the opinion that …


Carbon Storage, Timber Production, And Biodiversity: Comparing Ecosystem Services With Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis, W. Scott Schwenk, Therese M. Donovan, William S. Keeton, Jared S. Nunery Jan 2012

Carbon Storage, Timber Production, And Biodiversity: Comparing Ecosystem Services With Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis, W. Scott Schwenk, Therese M. Donovan, William S. Keeton, Jared S. Nunery

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Increasingly, land managers seek ways to manage forests for multiple ecosystem services and functions, yet considerable challenges exist in comparing disparate services and balancing trade-offs among them. We applied multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and forest simulation models to simultaneously consider three objectives: (1) storing carbon, (2) producing timber and wood products, and (3) sustaining biodiversity. We used the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) applied to 42 northern hardwood sites to simulate forest development over 100 years and to estimate carbon storage and timber production. We estimated biodiversity implications with occupancy models for 51 terrestrial bird species that were linked to FVS …


Eorganic: The Organic Agriculture Community Of Practice For Extension, Alexandra G. Stone, Danielle D. Treadwell, Alice K. Formiga, John P.G. Mcqueen, Michelle M. Wander, James Riddle, Heather M. Darby, Debra Heleba Jan 2012

Eorganic: The Organic Agriculture Community Of Practice For Extension, Alexandra G. Stone, Danielle D. Treadwell, Alice K. Formiga, John P.G. Mcqueen, Michelle M. Wander, James Riddle, Heather M. Darby, Debra Heleba

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

eOrganic is the organic agriculture community of practice (CoP) and resource area for eXtension. eOrganic's primary community of interest (CoI) is organic farmers and the agricultural professionals who support them. The 250 members of the eOrganic CoP include farmers, researchers, certifiers, and extension/other agricultural professionals. eOrganic's mission is to build a diverse national CoP and use web technologies to synthesize existing information, emerging science, and practical knowledge into information resources and training materials for its CoI. eOrganic strategies to achieve that mission include collaborative publication, stakeholder engagement, community development, projectmanagement, evaluation, and fundraising. eOrganic's public site currently offers 240 articles, …


Costs Of Food Safety Certification On Fresh Produce Farms In Vermont, Florence A. Becot, Virginia Nickerson, David S. Conner, Jane M. Kolodinsky Jan 2012

Costs Of Food Safety Certification On Fresh Produce Farms In Vermont, Florence A. Becot, Virginia Nickerson, David S. Conner, Jane M. Kolodinsky

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

This article addresses the economic costs of good agricultural practices (GAPs) audits of small and medium size farms in Vermont. It focuses on the costs of infrastructure, equipment, and labor required to successfully pass a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) GAPs audit. In-depth interviews and surveys of produce farmers in 2011 revealed that the cost of GAPs certification ranges between $37 and $54 per acre, and an additional 7 hours were required each week during the growing season. Based on this exploratory research, certifying all the farms in Vermont would cost between $228,216 and $3,019,114. Our study explored all the …


Randomization Tests For Quantifying Species Importance To Ecosystem Function, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Werner Ulrich, Fernando T. Maestre Dec 2011

Randomization Tests For Quantifying Species Importance To Ecosystem Function, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Werner Ulrich, Fernando T. Maestre

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications

1. Quantifying the contribution of different species to ecosystem function is an important challenge. We introduce simple randomization tests (and software) for quantifying the average effect of species on ecosystem variables measured in multiple plots with and without the presence of a particular species. These randomization tests formalize the analysis of uncontrolled 'natural experiments' and quantify species effects in standardized deviation units. 2.We tested the method with data on ecosystem function in biological soil crust assemblages of lichens in semi-arid gypsum outcrops in central Spain. In sixty-three 50cm×50cm sample plots, we measured the presence and percentage cover of 17 species …


Underestimating The Costs Of Conservation In Southeast Asia, David P. Edwards, Brendan Fisher, Xingli Giam, David S. Wilcove Dec 2011

Underestimating The Costs Of Conservation In Southeast Asia, David P. Edwards, Brendan Fisher, Xingli Giam, David S. Wilcove

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


The Limits To Prediction In Ecological Systems, Brian Beckage, Louis J. Gross, Stuart Kauffman Nov 2011

The Limits To Prediction In Ecological Systems, Brian Beckage, Louis J. Gross, Stuart Kauffman

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Predicting the future trajectories of ecological systems is increasingly important as the magnitude of anthropogenic perturbation of the earth systems grows.We distinguish between two types of predictability: the intrinsic or theoretical predictability of a system and the realized predictability that is achieved using available models and parameterizations. We contend that there are strong limits on the intrinsic predictability of ecological systems that arise from inherent characteristics of biological systems. While the realized predictability of ecological systems can be limited by process and parameter misspecification or uncertainty, we argue that the intrinsic predictability of ecological systems is widely and strongly limited …


Heating Up The Forest: Open-Top Chamber Warming Manipulation Of Arthropod Communities At Harvard And Duke Forests, Shannon L. Pelini, Francis P. Bowles, Aaron M. Ellison, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Nathan J. Sanders, Robert R. Dunn Oct 2011

Heating Up The Forest: Open-Top Chamber Warming Manipulation Of Arthropod Communities At Harvard And Duke Forests, Shannon L. Pelini, Francis P. Bowles, Aaron M. Ellison, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Nathan J. Sanders, Robert R. Dunn

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications

1.Recent observations indicate that climatic change is altering biodiversity, and models suggest that the consequences of climate change will differ across latitude. However, long-term experimental field manipulations that directly test the predictions about organisms' responses to climate change across latitude are lacking. Such experiments could provide a more mechanistic understanding of the consequences of climate change on ecological communities and subsequent changes in ecosystem processes, facilitating better predictions of the effects of future climate change. 2.This field experiment uses octagonal, 5-m-diameter (c.22m 3) open-top chambers to simulate warming at northern (Harvard Forest, Massachusetts) and southern (Duke Forest, North Carolina) hardwood …


The High Costs Of Conserving Southeast Asia's Lowland Rainforests, Brendan Fisher, David P. Edwards, Xingli Giam, David S. Wilcove Aug 2011

The High Costs Of Conserving Southeast Asia's Lowland Rainforests, Brendan Fisher, David P. Edwards, Xingli Giam, David S. Wilcove

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Mechanisms that mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions via forest conservation have been portrayed as a cost-effective approach that can also protect biodiversity and vital ecosystem services. However, the costs of conservation - including opportunity costs - are spatially heterogeneous across the globe. The lowland rainforests of Southeast Asia represent a unique nexus of large carbon stores, imperiled biodiversity, large stores of timber, and high potential for conversion to oil-palm plantations, making this region one where understanding the costs of conservation is critical. Previous studies have underestimated the gap between conservation costs and conversion benefits in Southeast Asia. Using detailed logging records, cost …


Subsurface Characterization Of Groundwater Contaminated By Landfill Leachate Using Microbial Community Profile Data And A Nonparametric Decision-Making Process, Andrea R. Pearce, Donna M. Rizzo, Paula J. Mouser Jun 2011

Subsurface Characterization Of Groundwater Contaminated By Landfill Leachate Using Microbial Community Profile Data And A Nonparametric Decision-Making Process, Andrea R. Pearce, Donna M. Rizzo, Paula J. Mouser

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

Microbial biodiversity in groundwater and soil presents a unique opportunity for improving characterization and monitoring at sites with multiple contaminants, yet few computational methods use or incorporate these data because of their high dimensionality and variability. We present a systematic, nonparametric decision-making methodology to help characterize a water quality gradient in leachate-contaminated groundwater using only microbiological data for input. The data-driven methodology is based on clustering a set of molecular genetic-based microbial community profiles. Microbes were sampled from groundwater monitoring wells located within and around an aquifer contaminated with landfill leachate. We modified a self-organizing map (SOM) to weight the …


Governance Informatics: Managing The Performance Of Inter-Organizational Governance Networks, Christopher Koliba, Asim Zia, Brian H.Y. Lee May 2011

Governance Informatics: Managing The Performance Of Inter-Organizational Governance Networks, Christopher Koliba, Asim Zia, Brian H.Y. Lee

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

This article introduces an informatics approach to managing the performance of inter-organizational governance networks that are designed to create, implement and evaluate public policies and the range of activities undertaken by practicing public administrators. We label this type of information flow process management "governance informatics" and lay out a range of theoretical constructs that may be used to collect, categorize, and analyze performance in inter-organizational governance networks. We discuss how governance informatics may be able to assess and re-design the accountability and transparency regimes of information flows in inter-organizational governance networks. The integration of a governance informatics-driven performance management system …


Historical Carbon Emissions And Uptake From The Agricultural Frontier Of The Brazilian Amazon, Gillian L. Galford, Jerry M. Melillo, David W. Kicklighter, John F. Mustard, Timothy W. Cronin, Carlos E.P. Cerri, Carlos C. Cerri Apr 2011

Historical Carbon Emissions And Uptake From The Agricultural Frontier Of The Brazilian Amazon, Gillian L. Galford, Jerry M. Melillo, David W. Kicklighter, John F. Mustard, Timothy W. Cronin, Carlos E.P. Cerri, Carlos C. Cerri

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Tropical ecosystems play a large and complex role in the global carbon cycle. Clearing of natural ecosystems for agriculture leads to large pulses of CO2 to the atmosphere from terrestrial biomass. Concurrently, the remaining intact ecosystems, especially tropical forests, may be sequestering a large amount of carbon from the atmosphere in response to global environmental changes including climate changes and an increase in atmospheric CO2 Here we use an approach that integrates census-based historical land use reconstructions, remote-sensing-based contemporary land use change analyses, and simulation modeling of terrestrial biogeochemistry to estimate the net carbon balance over the period 1901-2006 for …


Scientific Instruments For Climate Change Adaptation: Estimating And Optimizing The Efficiency Of Ecosystem Service Provision, Ferdinando Villa, Ken Bagstad, Gary Johnson, Brian Voigt Jan 2011

Scientific Instruments For Climate Change Adaptation: Estimating And Optimizing The Efficiency Of Ecosystem Service Provision, Ferdinando Villa, Ken Bagstad, Gary Johnson, Brian Voigt

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Adaptation to the consequences of climate change can depend on efficient use of ecosystem services (ES), i.e. a better use of natural services through management of the way in which they are delivered to society. While much discussion focuses on reducing consumption and increasing production of services, a lack of scientific instruments has so far prevented other mechanisms to improve ecosystem services efficiency from being addressed systematically as an adaptation strategy. This paper describes new methodologies for assessing ecosystem services and quantifying their values to humans, highlighting the role of ecosystem service flow analysis in optimizing the efficiency of ES …


Incorporating Systems Thinking And Sustainability Within Civil And Environmental Engineering Curricula At Uvm, Nancy J. Hayden, Donna M. Rizzo, Mandar M. Dewoolkar, Lalita Oka, Maureen Neumann Jan 2011

Incorporating Systems Thinking And Sustainability Within Civil And Environmental Engineering Curricula At Uvm, Nancy J. Hayden, Donna M. Rizzo, Mandar M. Dewoolkar, Lalita Oka, Maureen Neumann

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

As part of an NSF Department Level Reform (DLR) grant, the civil and environmental engineering programs at the University of Vermont (UVM) incorporated systems thinking and a systems approach to engineering problem solving within their programs. A systems thinking approach regards social, environmental and economic factors as necessary components of the problem solution. Because it is a whole systems approach it also encompasses sustainability. We have integrated systems thinking in the following ways; 1) new material has been included into key courses (e.g. the first-year introductory and senior design courses), 2) a sequence of three related environmental and transportation systems …


Cost-Effective Conservation: Calculating Biodiversity And Logging Trade-Offs In Southeast Asia, Brendan Fisher, David P. Edwards, Trond H. Larsen, Felicity A. Ansell, Wayne W. Hsu, Carter S. Roberts, David S. Wilcove Jan 2011

Cost-Effective Conservation: Calculating Biodiversity And Logging Trade-Offs In Southeast Asia, Brendan Fisher, David P. Edwards, Trond H. Larsen, Felicity A. Ansell, Wayne W. Hsu, Carter S. Roberts, David S. Wilcove

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

The Sundaland Biodiversity Hotspot of Southeast Asia is widely regarded as one of the most imperiled biodiversity hotspots due to high degrees of endemism coupled with extensive logging and forest conversion to oil palm. The large financial returns to these activities have made it difficult to conserve much of the region's lowland primary forest, suggesting a large trade-off between economic interests and biodiversity conservation. Here, we provide an empirical examination of the magnitude of this trade-off in Borneo. By incorporating both financial values and biodiversity responses across logging regimes, we show that selectively logged forests represent a surprisingly low-cost option …


Alternative Organic Fungicides For Apple Scab Management And Their Non-Target Effects, Morgan L. Cromwell, Lorraine P. Berkett, Heather M. Darby, Takamaru Ashikaga Jan 2011

Alternative Organic Fungicides For Apple Scab Management And Their Non-Target Effects, Morgan L. Cromwell, Lorraine P. Berkett, Heather M. Darby, Takamaru Ashikaga

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

A major challenge in organic apple production in humid production regions is the available fungicide options for apple scab [Venturia inaequalis (Cooke) Wint.] management. The standard sulfur/lime sulfur fungicide program can be injurious to the applicator, the apple ecosystem, and the apple tree itself. The objectives of this study were to compare the efficacy of three potential alternative fungicides [potassium bicarbonate (PB), neem oil (NO), and Bacillus subtilis (Bs)] with a standard organic sulfur/lime sulfur (SLS) fungicide program and a non-treated control (NTC) for management of apple scab and to evaluate potential non-target impacts on pest and beneficial arthropod populations. …


Cross-Scale Value Trade-Offs In Managing Social-Ecological Systems: The Politics Of Scale In Ruaha National Park, Tanzania, Asim Zia, Paul Hirsch, Alexander Songorwa, David R. Mutekanga, Sheila O'Connor, Thomas Mcshane, Peter Brosius, Bryan Norton Jan 2011

Cross-Scale Value Trade-Offs In Managing Social-Ecological Systems: The Politics Of Scale In Ruaha National Park, Tanzania, Asim Zia, Paul Hirsch, Alexander Songorwa, David R. Mutekanga, Sheila O'Connor, Thomas Mcshane, Peter Brosius, Bryan Norton

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Management of social-ecological systems takes place amidst complex governance processes and cross-scale institutional arrangements that are mediated through politics of scale. Each management scenario generates distinct cross-scale trade-offs in the distribution of pluralistic values. This study explores the hypothesis that conservation-oriented management scenarios generate higher value for international and national scale social organizations, whereas mixed or more balanced management scenarios generate higher value for local scale social organizations. This hypothesis is explored in the management context of Ruaha National Park (RNP), Tanzania, especially the 2006 expansion of RNP that led to the eviction of many pastoralists and farmers. Five management …


Enhanced Detection Of Groundwater Contamination From A Leaking Waste Disposal Site By Microbial Community Profiles, Paula J. Mouser, Donna M. Rizzo, Gregory K. Druschel, Sergio E. Morales, Nancy Hayden, Patrick O'Grady, Lori Stevens Dec 2010

Enhanced Detection Of Groundwater Contamination From A Leaking Waste Disposal Site By Microbial Community Profiles, Paula J. Mouser, Donna M. Rizzo, Gregory K. Druschel, Sergio E. Morales, Nancy Hayden, Patrick O'Grady, Lori Stevens

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

Groundwater biogeochemistry is adversely impacted when municipal solid waste leachate, rich in nutrients and anthropogenic compounds, percolates into the subsurface from leaking landfills. Detecting leachate contamination using statistical techniques is challenging because well strategies or analytical techniques may be insufficient for detecting low levels of groundwater contamination. We sampled profiles of the microbial community from monitoring wells surrounding a leaking landfill using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) targeting the 16S rRNA gene. Results show in situ monitoring of bacteria, archaea, and the family Geobacteraceae improves characterization of groundwater quality. Bacterial T-RFLP profiles showed shifts correlated to known gradients of …


Conclusions About Niche Expansion In Introduced Impatiens Walleriana Populations Depend On Method Of Analysis, Lisa Mandle, Dan L. Warren, Matthias H. Hoffmann, A. Townsend Peterson, Johanna Schmitt, Eric J. Von Wettberg Dec 2010

Conclusions About Niche Expansion In Introduced Impatiens Walleriana Populations Depend On Method Of Analysis, Lisa Mandle, Dan L. Warren, Matthias H. Hoffmann, A. Townsend Peterson, Johanna Schmitt, Eric J. Von Wettberg

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Determining the degree to which climate niches are conserved across plant species' native and introduced ranges is valuable to developing successful strategies to limit the introduction and spread of invasive plants, and also has important ecological and evolutionary implications. Here, we test whether climate niches differ between native and introduced populations of Impatiens walleriana, globally one of the most popular horticultural species. We use approaches based on both raw climate data associated with occurrence points and ecological niche models (ENMs) developed with Maxent. We include comparisons of climate niche breadth in both geographic and environmental spaces, taking into account differences …


Nutrient Enrichment Enhances Hidden Differences In Phenotype To Drive A Cryptic Plant Invasion, Christine Holdredge, Mark D. Bertness, Eric Von Wettberg, Brian R. Silliman Nov 2010

Nutrient Enrichment Enhances Hidden Differences In Phenotype To Drive A Cryptic Plant Invasion, Christine Holdredge, Mark D. Bertness, Eric Von Wettberg, Brian R. Silliman

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Many mechanisms of invasive species success have been elucidated, but those driving cryptic invasions of non-native genotypes remain least understood. In one of the most successful cryptic plant invasions in North America, we investigate the mechanisms underlying the displacement of native Phragmites australis by its Eurasian counterpart. Since invasive Phragmites' populations have been especially prolific along eutrophic shorelines, we conducted a two-year field experiment involving native and invasive genotypes that manipulated nutrient level and competitor identity (inter- and intra-genotypic competition) to assess their relative importance in driving the loss of native Phragmites. Inter-genotypic competition suppressed aboveground biomass of both native …


The Amazon Frontier Of Land-Use Change: Croplands And Consequences For Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Gillian L. Galford, Jerry Melillo, John F. Mustard, Carlos E.P. Cerri, Carlos C. Cerri Oct 2010

The Amazon Frontier Of Land-Use Change: Croplands And Consequences For Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Gillian L. Galford, Jerry Melillo, John F. Mustard, Carlos E.P. Cerri, Carlos C. Cerri

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

The Brazilian Amazon is one of the most rapidly developing agricultural frontiers in the world. The authors assess changes in cropland area and the intensification of cropping in the Brazilian agricultural frontier state of Mato Grosso using remote sensing and develop a greenhouse gas emissions budget. The most common type of intensification in this region is a shift from single-to double-cropping patterns and associated changes in management, including increased fertilization. Using the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor, the authors created a green-leaf phenology for 2001-06 that was temporally smoothed with a wavelet filter. …


Protecting Degraded Rainforests: Enhancement Of Forest Carbon Stocks Under Redd+, David P. Edwards, Brendan Fisher, Emily Boyd Sep 2010

Protecting Degraded Rainforests: Enhancement Of Forest Carbon Stocks Under Redd+, David P. Edwards, Brendan Fisher, Emily Boyd

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

The likely Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) mechanism includes strategies for the enhancement of forest carbon stocks. Recent concerns have been expressed that such enhancement, or restoration, of forest carbon could be counterproductive to biodiversity conservation, because forests are managed as "carbon farms" with the application of intensive silvicultural management that could homogenize diverse degraded rainforests. Restoration increases regeneration rates in degraded forest compared to naturally regenerating forest, and thus could yield significant financial returns for carbon sequestered. Here, we argue that such forest restoration projects are, in fact, likely to provide a number of benefits to biodiversity …


Temporal And Spatial Monitoring Of Mobile Nanoparticles In A Vineyard Soil: Evidence Of Nanoaggregate Formation, N. Perdrial, J. N. Perdrial, J. E. Delphin, F. Elsass, N. Liewig Aug 2010

Temporal And Spatial Monitoring Of Mobile Nanoparticles In A Vineyard Soil: Evidence Of Nanoaggregate Formation, N. Perdrial, J. N. Perdrial, J. E. Delphin, F. Elsass, N. Liewig

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications

Mechanisms of formation, stabilization, liberation, transport and deposition of nanoparticles and their relationship to contaminant transport remain scarcely investigated in natural porous media. This study investigated nanoparticles mobilized in the pore space of a French vineyard soil by observing mobile soil-derived organic matter (SOM) and minerals in pore fluids over an 8-month monitoring period. Samples were collected in situ and investigated by transmission electron microscopy coupled to electron-dispersive spectroscopy. The main types of nanoparticles transported within the soil were clay, bacteria, SOM and nanoaggregates. Nanometric clay particles were enriched in various metals (Fe, Zn, As and Pb) and organically-derived constituents. …


How Anthocyanin Mutants Respond To Stress: The Need To Distinguish Between Stress Tolerance And Maximal Vigour, Eric J. Von Wettberg, Maureen L. Stanton, Justen B. Whittall May 2010

How Anthocyanin Mutants Respond To Stress: The Need To Distinguish Between Stress Tolerance And Maximal Vigour, Eric J. Von Wettberg, Maureen L. Stanton, Justen B. Whittall

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Anthocyanins are produced by plants in response to diverse stresses. Mutants that block the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway (ABP) at various steps can easily be compared across numerous abiotic stresses. Hypothesis: Anthocyanins or their precursors are required for stress tolerance. Thus, ABP loss-of-function mutants should have proportionately lower fitness than wildtype plants under stress, compared with benign conditions. In contrast, a decrease in maximal vigour - the general capacity for growth and fecundity - should be most pronounced under benign conditions that allow luxuriant growth by the most vigorous genotypes. Tests: Determine whether, under stressful conditions, ABP loss-of-function mutants have …


Fire Effects On Demography Of The Invasive Shrub Brazilian Pepper (Schinus Terebinthifolius) In Florida Pine Savannas, Jens T. Stevens, Brian Beckage Jan 2010

Fire Effects On Demography Of The Invasive Shrub Brazilian Pepper (Schinus Terebinthifolius) In Florida Pine Savannas, Jens T. Stevens, Brian Beckage

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Fire is a common disturbance in savanna ecosystems that may either facilitate or impede non-native plant invasions. Although fire can create recruitment opportunities for non-native plants, it can also prevent their invasion if it exerts strong negative effects on their demographic processes. Some savannas may, therefore, be able to resist invasion provided the natural, frequent-fire regime remains intact. We examined the effects of fire on the demography of the invasive shrub Brazilian pepper, Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi., which is invading fire-prone slash pine savannas of southern Florida. We studied survivorship, growth, and reproduction of low-density populations of Brazilian pepper in a …


Sustainable Soils: Reducing, Mitigating And Adapting To Climate Change With Organic Agriculture, Meredith T. Niles Oct 2008

Sustainable Soils: Reducing, Mitigating And Adapting To Climate Change With Organic Agriculture, Meredith T. Niles

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.