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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Impact Of Cover Crop Species Diversity On Soil Nutrient Availability And Crop Productivity, Amanda Kramer
Impact Of Cover Crop Species Diversity On Soil Nutrient Availability And Crop Productivity, Amanda Kramer
Masters Theses
Cover crops provide multiple environmental benefits that improve both soil and water quality; however, farmers only utilize them on approximately 5% of harvested U.S. cropland. Low adoption rates are attributed to yield impact concerns, seed and planting costs, and lack of advocacy. This study, which began in October 2019, assessed the effects of nitrogen rate and cover crop diversity on weed biomass, soil coverage, in-situ residue decomposition, soil nitrogen and phosphorus availability, and cash crop yield to better understand the costs and benefits of cover crop adoption at two locations in Tennessee (Milan and Spring Hill). Treatments were replicated 4 …
The Characterization Of Dynamic Soil Properties And Their Relation To Soil Organic Carbon In East Tennessee Soils, Shannon Marissa Newell
The Characterization Of Dynamic Soil Properties And Their Relation To Soil Organic Carbon In East Tennessee Soils, Shannon Marissa Newell
Masters Theses
Quantifying how dynamic soil properties (DSPs) are affected by different management regimes is essential for understanding how these vital resources can be better managed. The Dewey soil series is a critical soil series in East Tennessee. For this study, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) worked alongside the National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) in an effort to better understand the dynamics of the Dewey soil series through a wide range of DSP data. To accomplish this, Dewey soil was collected from five sites which are considered representative of five management regimes: well-managed cropland (WMC), poorly-managed cropland (PMC), well-managed pasture (WMP), …
Cover Crop Effects On Near-Surface Soil Aggregate Stability In The Southern Mississippi Valley Loess (Mlra 134), Chandler M. Arel
Cover Crop Effects On Near-Surface Soil Aggregate Stability In The Southern Mississippi Valley Loess (Mlra 134), Chandler M. Arel
Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses
Intensive agricultural cultivation within major land resource area (MLRA) 134, the Southern Mississippi Valley Loess, has led to soil erosion, soil compaction, and the overall destabilization of near-surface soil aggregates. The use of cover crops during the agricultural offseason has been shown to help alleviate soil compaction and provide stabilizing effects against soil erosion, which are particularly important as the silty soils of MLRA 134 have a large erosion potential. This study evaluated the effects of cover crop and no-cover crop treatment on silt-loam soils within MLRA 134. Treatments were implemented during Fall 2018 and Fall 2019 and consisted of …
Evaluation Of Nitrous Oxide Emissions From Furrow-Irrigated Rice On A Silt-Loam Soil In Arkansas, Jordan M. Slayden
Evaluation Of Nitrous Oxide Emissions From Furrow-Irrigated Rice On A Silt-Loam Soil In Arkansas, Jordan M. Slayden
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
As the number one rice (Oryza sativa)-producing state in the United States, Arkansas also ranks fourth as the largest user of groundwater. Recently, due to the development of drought- resistant hybrid cultivars, the furrow-irrigated rice production system has become an increasingly popular alternative to traditional flood-irrigated production with respect to conserving groundwater and maintaining yield. However, other environmental parameters, like greenhouse gas emissions, specifically nitrous oxide (N2O), have yet to be evaluated under furrow-irrigated rice. The objectives of this study were to i) evaluate the effects of site position (i.e., up-, mid-, and down-slope) and tillage treatment [i.e., conventional tillage …
Landuse And Soil Property Effects On Infiltration And Soil Aggregate Stability In The Lower Mississippi River Valley, Rebecca Lynn Anderson
Landuse And Soil Property Effects On Infiltration And Soil Aggregate Stability In The Lower Mississippi River Valley, Rebecca Lynn Anderson
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Following European settlement of the Lower Mississippi River Valley (LMRV), agricultural expansion and unsustainable, agriculturally related practices have caused groundwater depletion, soil erosion, and surface water contamination by eroded sediments and sediment-bound nutrients to become major environmental threats to the region. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of common landuses [i.e., native prairie, deciduous forest, coniferous forest, Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grassland, and conventional-tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT) agriculture] on surface water infiltration and aggregate-stability-related properties [i.e., water-stable macroaggregate (WSA) size distribution, total water-stable macroaggregate (TWSA) concentration, and mean weight diameter (MWD)]. The overall infiltration rate …
Seasonal Soil Carbon Fluxes In Transitioning Agricultural Soils In Central Washington State: Relations To Land-Use, Environmental Factors And Soil Carbon-Nitrogen Characteristics, Brandon Kautzman
All Master's Theses
Changing agricultural land-use practices to increase soil carbon sequestration contributes to climate change mitigation and improved food security by moving CO2 from the atmosphere into soil as soil organic carbon (SOC). In 2016, a farm in Thorp, Washington, Spoon Full Farm, began converting land historically farmed using conventional methods of tillage and synthetic fertilizers to conservation farming methods with direct seeding and organic soil amendments with a goal of sequestering carbon in the soil. This project evaluates relationships of soil CO2 respiration and net ecological exchange (NEE) with land-use types, seasonal environmental factors (air temperature, relative humidity, soil …
Spreading The Char: The Importance Of Local Compatibility In The Diffusion Of Biochar Systems To The Smallholder Agriculture Community Context, Laura C. V. Munoz
Spreading The Char: The Importance Of Local Compatibility In The Diffusion Of Biochar Systems To The Smallholder Agriculture Community Context, Laura C. V. Munoz
Pomona Senior Theses
This thesis enters the context of smallholder agriculture communities in the developing world. It explores the potentials of biochar and what biochar systems could bring to the smallholder communities while simultaneously bringing environmental benefits. It then acknowledges the challenges of diffusion –the spreading of an unfamiliar innovation. It seeks to answer the question of what will make diffusion of biochar systems more successful in the smallholder context, fixating on the characteristic of compatibility as well as the role local community members can play in making a new biochar system more visible to the rest of the communities.
Evaluation Of Soil Sustainability Along The Rio Grande In West Texas: Changes In Salt Loading And Organic Nutrients Due To Farming Practices, Christine L. Cox
Evaluation Of Soil Sustainability Along The Rio Grande In West Texas: Changes In Salt Loading And Organic Nutrients Due To Farming Practices, Christine L. Cox
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Growing populations demand an increase in the amount of food being produced, which in turn, puts pressure on the productivity and sustainability of soils. The use of flood irrigation from the Rio Grande has greatly increased the salinity, sodicity, and enhanced leaching of nutrients in the Rio Grande Basin soils. To evaluate soil health, water and soil samples were collected from two pecan, one cotton, and one alfalfa field in western Texas. Each site was equipped with sensors to measure soil moisture, temperature, and electrical conductivity (EC), along with lysimeters at depths of 15, 30, and 60 cm to collect …