Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Avian Diversity, Abundance, And Nest Success Among Managed Prairies And Agricultural Plots In Oklahoma And Texas, Phillip J. Leonard, Douglas R. Wood, Wayne E. Meyer

The Prairie Naturalist

Over the last 50 years, grassland birds experienced rapid declines due to habitat loss and degradation as a result of agricultural practices. Our objective was to document the diversity, abundance, and nest success of bird communities using managed prairie and agricultural plots at the Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in southern Oklahoma and Hagerman NWR in northern Texas. From April 1 to July 15, 2013–2014, point count surveys, nest searches, nest monitoring, and vegetation sampling were conducted among three habitat treatments: managed prairie, unharvested wheat, and fallow agricultural plots. Species richness values for potential nesting species were higher in managed …

Ncer Assistance Agreement Annual Progress Report For Grant #83582401 - Assessment Of Stormwater Harvesting Via Manage Aquifer Recharge (Mar) To Develop New Water Supplies In The Arid West: The Salt Lake Valley Example, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean, Richard C. Peralta, Sarah E. Null, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The aims of the original proposed project remain the same, that is, to test the hypothesis that Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) for stormwater harvesting is a technically feasible, socially and environmentally acceptable, economically viable, and legally feasible option for developing new water supplies for arid Western urban ecosystems experiencing increasing population, and climate change pressures on existing water resources. The project is being carried out via three distinct but integrated components that include: 1) Monitoring of existing distributed MAR harvesting schemes involving a growing number of demonstration Green Infrastructure (GI) test sites; 2) Integrated stormwater/vadose zone/groundwater/ ecosystem services modeling; and …

Climate Change And Food Systems: Assessing Impacts And Opportunities, Meredith T. Niles, Richie Ahuja, Jimena M. Esquivel, Nelson Mango, Mil Duncan, Martin Heller, Cristina Tirado

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Organic Solvent Exposure And Depressive Symptoms Among Licensed Pesticide Applicators In The Agricultural Health Study, Miriam Siegel, Sarah E. Starks, Wayne T. Sanderson, Freya Kamel, Jane A. Hoppin, Fred Gerr

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Purpose

Although organic solvents are often used in agricultural operations, neurotoxic effects of solvent exposure have not been extensively studied among farmers. The current analysis examined associations between questionnaire-based metrics of organic solvent exposure and depressive symptoms among farmers.

Methods

Results from 692 male Agricultural Health Study participants were analyzed. Solvent type and exposure duration were assessed by questionnaire. An “ever-use” variable and years of use categories were constructed for exposure to gasoline, paint/lacquer thinner, petroleum distillates, and any solvent. Depressive symptoms were ascertained with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D); scores were analyzed separately as continuous (0–60) …

Nutrient Contamination From Non-Point Sources: Dissolved Nitrate And Ammonium In Surface And Subsurface Waters At Eku Meadowbrook Farm, Madison County, Kentucky, Reid E. Buskirk, Hunter R. Evans, Walter S. Borowski, Jonathan M. Malzone

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Agricultural activities often contaminate watersheds with excess nutrients leading to poor water quality and eutrophication. We assayed dissolved nutrient levels in surface and subsurface waters of Eastern Kentucky University’s Meadowbrook Farm in order to assess levels of dissolved nutrients leaving its farmland and draining into the Muddy Creek watershed. The Farm raises both crops and livestock so that nutrient sources include fertilizer and manure. We sampled springs, runoff, and subsurface pipe drainage as well as Muddy Creek on six days from May to August 2016 under a variety of weather conditions. Using established, standard colorimetric methods, we measured nitrate (NO …

Nutrient Contamination From Non-Point Sources: Dissolved Phosphate In Surface And Subsurface Waters At Eku Meadowbrook Farm, Madison County, Kentucky, Hunter R. Evans, Reid E. Buskirk, Walter S. Borowski, Jonathan M. Malzone

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Farms are non-point sources for nutrient contaminants that drain into watersheds and contribute to eutrophication and other environmental problems. Eastern Kentucky University’s Meadowbrook Farm raises both crops and livestock, causing dissolved phosphorus in the form of orthophosphate (PO₄^3-) from fertilizer and animal manure to enter surface and subsurface waters, eventually flowing into Muddy Creek, a tributary of the Kentucky River.

We sampled surface water, springs, and water from French drains that emanate from the farm, and also sampled Muddy Creek waters from May through August 2016. Typically, 1 to 2 days after sampling, we colorimetrically measured dissolved …

Agricultural Intensification Can Preserve The Brazilian Cerrado: Applying Lessons From Mato Grosso And Goia's To Brazil’S Last Agricultural Frontier, Stephanie A. Spera

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

Food security and climate change are two pressing issues shaping the future of tropical land use. Brazil, home to abundant land that is rich in carbon, water, and biodiversity and often cleared for agropastoral and renewable energy purposes, is the ideal location for studying socioeconomic and environmental trade-offs of land use dynamics. Here, I use recent (2000–2016) land-use land-cover change dynamics in the established agricultural states of Mato Grosso and Goia's to demonstrate how incentivizing intensive agricultural practices and improving degraded pastures may be a means by which Brazil can increase agricultural production while conserving the remainder of the Cerrado. …

Determining Effects Of Heat Stress On Illinois Soybeans, Ava Alford, Charles Burroughs, Lisa Ainsworth

PRECS student projects

Rising global temperatures affect our food supply. Heat stress could negatively affect photosynthesis, plant development, and flower and pod production. The research summarized in this poster aims to better understand which physiological processes in soybeans are negatively affected by heat stress in order to identify targets for future soybean production. Using infrared heat arrays, two different cultivars of Illinois soybeans are continually heated. Throughout the experiment, data is collected on photosynthesis, leaf area index, and overall productivity of the plant. At the end of the growing season, all of the soybean plants will be harvested and their biomass will be …

Investigating The Effects Of Land-Cover Change On The Hydrologic Conditions Of A Restored Agricultural Area In Everglades National Park, Dillon Reio

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the Florida Everglades, remodeling of natural wetlands to promote agriculture and human settlement, have profoundly altered its hydrologic regime. As a result of anthropogenic changes, many restoration programs have been initiated to restore hydrologically controlled wetland ecosystems. One such restoration project that has been ongoing for the past 27 years is the Hole-in-the-Donut restoration program in Everglades National Park. The restoration program is unique in that it utilized an unorthodox technique to restore the landscape. The viability of the restoration technique was assessed by coupling long-term hydrologic and evapotranspiration data with water chemistry analyses. Key results indicated that the …

An Automated Approach To Map Winter Cropped Area Of Smallholder Farms Across Large Scales Using Modis Imagery, Meha Jain, Pinki Mondal, Gillian L. Galford, Greg Fiske, Ruth S. Defries

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Fine-scale agricultural statistics are an important tool for understanding trends in food production and their associated drivers, yet these data are rarely collected in smallholder systems. These statistics are particularly important for smallholder systems given the large amount of fine-scale heterogeneity in production that occurs in these regions. To overcome the lack of ground data, satellite data are often used to map fine-scale agricultural statistics. However, doing so is challenging for smallholder systems because of (1) complex sub-pixel heterogeneity; (2) little to no available calibration data; and (3) high amounts of cloud cover as most smallholder systems occur in the …

Identifying Irrigated Areas In The Snake River Plain, Idaho: Evaluating Performance Across Composting Algorithms, Spectral Indices, And Sensors, Eric W. Chance, Kelly M. Cobourn, Valerie A. Thomas, Blaine C. Dawson, Alejandro N. Flores

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

There are pressing concerns about the interplay between agricultural productivity, water demand, and water availability in semi-arid to arid regions of the world. Currently, irrigated agriculture is the dominant water user in these regions and is estimated to consume approximately 80% of the world’s diverted freshwater resources. We develop an improved irrigated land-use mapping algorithm that uses the seasonal maximum value of a spectral index to distinguish between irrigated and non-irrigated parcels in Idaho’s Snake River Plain. We compare this approach to two alternative algorithms that differentiate between irrigated and non-irrigated parcels using spectral index values at a single date …

Precipitation Drivers Of Cropping Frequency In The Brazilian Cerrado: Evidence And Implications For Decision-Making, Keith R. Spangler, Amanda H. Lynch, Stephanie A. Spera

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

The Amazon basin has been subjected to unprecedented rates of land-use change over the past several decades, primarily as a result of the expansion of agriculture. Enhanced rain forest conservation efforts toward the end of the twentieth century slowed deforestation of the Amazon but, in turn, increased demand for land repurposing in the adjacent Cerrado (savanna) region, where conservation regulations are less strict. To maintain or increase yields while minimizing the need for additional land, agricultural producers adopted a form of intensification in which two rain-fed crops are planted within a single growing season (double cropping). Using 10 years (August …

The Use Of Extrafloral Nectar In Pest Management: Overcoming Context Dependence, Ian Matthew Jones, Suzanne Koptur, Eric J. Von Wettberg

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Extrafloral nectar (EFN) provides plants with indirect defence against herbivores by attracting predatory insects, predominantly ants. Decades of research have supported the role of EFN as an effective plant defence, dating back to Thomas Belt's description of ants on acacia in 1874. Despite this extensive body of literature, knowledge of the ecological role of EFN has rarely been applied in the field of pest management. We review the existing literature on the use of EFN in agriculture and consider the obstacles that have hindered this transition. Chief among these obstacles is the influence of ecological context on the outcome of …

The Future Of Evapotranspiration: Global Requirements For Ecosystem Functioning, Carbon And Climate Feedbacks, Agricultural Management, And Water Resources, Joshua B. Fisher, Forrest S. Melton, Elizabeth M. Middleton, Christopher Hain, Martha C. Anderson, Richard G. Allen, Matthew Mccabe, Simon Hook, Dennis Baldocchi, Philip A. Townsend, Ayse Kilic, Kevin Tu, Diego Miralles, Johan Perret, Jean-Pierre Lagouarde, Duane Waliser, Adam J. Purdy, Andrew French, David Schimel, James S. Famiglietti, Graeme Stephens, Eric F. Wood

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The fate of the terrestrial biosphere is highly uncertain given recent and projected changes in climate. This is especially acute for impacts associated with changes in drought frequency and intensity on the distribution and timing of water availability. The development of effective adaptation strategies for these emerging threats to food and water security are compromised by limitations in our understanding of how natural and managed ecosystems are responding to changing hydrological and climatological regimes. This information gap is exacerbated by insufficient monitoring capabilities from local to global scales. Here, we describe how evapotranspiration (ET) represents the key variable in linking …

Nutrient Contamination From Non-Point Sources: Dissolved Phosphate In Surface And Subsurface Waters At Eku Meadowbrook Farm, Madison County, Kentucky, Hunter R. Evans, Reid E. Buskirk, Walter S. Borowski, Jonathan M. Malzone

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Farms are non-point sources for nutrient contaminants that drain into watersheds and contribute to eutrophication and other environmental problems. Eastern Kentucky University’s Meadowbrook Farm raises both crops and livestock, causing dissolved phosphorus in the form of orthophosphate (PO₄^3-) from fertilizer and animal manure to enter surface and subsurface waters, eventually flowing into Muddy Creek, a tributary of the Kentucky River.

We sampled surface water, springs, and water from French drains that emanate from the farm, and also sampled Muddy Creek waters from May through August 2016. Typically, 1 to 2 days after sampling, we colorimetrically measured dissolved …

Temporal Migration Shifts In The Aransas-Wood Buffalo Population Of Whooping Cranes (Grus Americana) Across North America, Joel G. Jorgensen, Mary Bomberger Brown

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Birds are altering the phenology of critical life history events, including migration, in response to the effects of global climate change. Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) are one of the most critically endangered birds in the world. Their remnant population, referred to as the Aransas-Wood Buffalo Population, numbers between 300-400 individuals and migrates between the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast and north-central Canada twice each year. Previous analyses suggested Whooping Crane migration was temporally constant in spring and fall. New analyses of observations spanning 1942-2016 show Whooping Crane migration is now occurring earlier in spring by approximately 22 days …

Aquacrop-Os: An Open Source Version Of Fao’S Crop Water Productivity Model, T. Foster, N. Brozovic, A. P. Butler, C. M. U. Neale, D. Raes, P. Steduto, E. Fereres, T. C. Hsiao

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Crop simulation models are valuable tools for quantifying crop yield response to water, and for devising strategies to improve agricultural water management. However, applicability of the majority of crop models is limited greatly by a failure to provide open-access to model source code. In this study, we present an open-source version of the FAO AquaCrop model, which simulates efficiently water-limited crop production across diverse environmental and agronomic conditions. Our model, called AquaCrop-OpenSource (AquaCrop-OS), can be run in multiple programming languages and operating systems. Support for parallel execution reduces significantly simulation times when applying the model in large geospatial frameworks, for …

Agricultural Trade Publications And The 2012 Midwestern U.S. Drought: A Missed Opportunity For Climate Risk Communication, Sarah P. Church, Tonya Haigh, Melissa Widhalm, Silvestre Garcia De Jalon, Nicholas Babin, J. Stuart Carlton, Michael Dunn, Katie Fagan, Cody L. Knutson, Linda Stalker Prokopy

Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The Midwestern United States experienced a devastating drought in 2012, leading to reduced corn and soybean yields and increased instances of pests and disease. Climate change induced weather variability and extremes are expected to increase in the future, and have and will continue to impact the agricultural sector. This study investigated how agricultural trade publications portrayed the 2012 U.S. Midwestern drought, whether climate change was associated with drought, and whether these publications laid out transformative adaptation measures farmers could undertake in order to increase their adaptive capacity for future climate uncertainty. We performed a content analysis of 1000 media reports …

Technological Modernization And Its Impact On Agriculture, Fisheries And Fossil Fuel Utilization In The Asia Pacific Countries With Emphasis On Sustainability Perspective, Rajee Olaganathan, Kathleen Quigley

Publications

Modernization is a process that moves towards efficiency. This affects most of the fields such as agriculture, fisheries, forestry, urban planning, policy, fossil fuel usage, manufacturing, technology, economic growth etc. This process plays a major role in moving forward making things faster, better and basically more efficient. The effects of modernization on all these fields bring about the major changes to aspects such as social, economic and the environment. The level of operation has increased from a domestic level; small family scale business to large commercial levels. As the level of operation increased, the utilization of natural resources increased gradually …

Reducing Emissions From Agriculture To Meet The 2 °C Target, Eva Wollenberg, Meryl Richards, Pete Smith, Petr Havlík, Michael Obersteiner, Francesco N. Tubiello, Martin Herold, Pierre Gerber, Sarah Carter, Andrew Reisinger, Detlef P. Van Vuuren, Amy Dickie, Henry Neufeldt, Björn O. Sander, Reiner Wassmann, Rolf Sommer, James E. Amonette, Alessandra Falcucci, Mario Herrero, Carolyn Opio, Rosa Maria Roman-Cuesta, Elke Stehfest, Henk Westhoek, Ivan Ortiz-Monasterio, Tek Sapkota, Mariana C. Rufino, Philip K. Thornton, Louis Verchot, Paul C. West, Jean François Soussana, Tobias Baedeker

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

More than 100 countries pledged to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Yet technical information about how much mitigation is needed in the sector vs. how much is feasible remains poor. We identify a preliminary global target for reducing emissions from agriculture of ~1 GtCO2e yr−1 by 2030 to limit warming in 2100 to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. Yet plausible agricultural development pathways with mitigation cobenefits deliver only 21–40% of needed mitigation. The target indicates that more transformative technical and policy options will be needed, …

Small-Scale Catchment Analysis Of Water Stress In Wet Regions Of The U.S.: An Example From Louisiana, Hisham Eldardiry, Emad H. Habib, David M. Borrok

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Groundwater is increasingly being overdrafted in the Southeastern U.S., despite abundant rainfall and the apparent availability of surface water. Using the state of Louisiana as an example, the current study quantifies the stresses on water resources and investigates the potential for opportunities to use surface water in lieu of groundwater pumping. The assessment is based on a fine watershed scale (12-digit Hydrological Unit Code [HUC] boundaries) water balance between the availability of surface and groundwater and surface water and groundwater demand. Water demand includes environmental flows, as well as public supply, rural domestic, industrial, power generation, agricultural, and aquaculture sectors. …

Ncer Assistance Agreement Annual Progress Report For Grant #83582401 - Assessment Of Stormwater Harvesting Via Manage Aquifer Recharge (Mar) To Develop New Water Supplies In The Arid West: The Salt Lake Valley Example, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean, Richard C. Peralta, Sarah E. Null, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The aims of the original proposed project remain the same, that is, to test the hypothesis that Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) for stormwater harvesting is a technically feasible, socially and environmentally acceptable, economically viable, and permittable option for developing new water supplies for arid Western urban ecosystems experiencing increasing population, and climate change pressures on existing water resources. The project is being carried out via three distinct but integrated components that include: 1) Monitoring of existing distributed Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) harvesting schemes involving a growing number of demonstration Green Infrastructure (GI) test sites; 2) Integrated stormwater/vadose zone/groundwater/ ecosystem services …

Testing Predictions Used To Build An Agrivoltaics Installation On A Small-Scale Educational Model, Katie Kinney, Rebecca Minor, Greg Barron-Gafford

STAR Program Research Presentations

Models are valuable tools for explaining and testing systems. Small-scale models can be especially useful for educational purposes. For models to be useful, they have to accurately depict the larger system that they are describing. A novel man-made system, known as an agrivoltaic structure, is being constructed at Biosphere 2 near Oracle, Arizona. The word agrivoltaic is a combination of agriculture and photovoltaics, or solar farming. My research involved creating a small-scale version of this system for educational purposes. The model of this system tested two predictions: that plants will grow better in the shade of a panel and that …

Dispersion Of Ammonia From Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, Austin D. Wardall

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this research is to investigate the dispersion of ammonia (NH3) from three Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in western Kentucky, as well as to investigate the Weather Research and Forecasting – Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model’s sensitivity response to initial NH3 concentrations under both wet conditions (significant precipitation) and dry conditions (no precipitation). As expected, pollutant concentrations generally were significantly higher near their points of origin and generally declined away from the sources. Contrary to expectations, ammonia tended to rise through the planetary boundary layer (PBL) regardless of atmospheric conditions. Results showed modeled NH3 pollution levels at the surface …

Farmer Perceptions Of Climate Change: Associations With Observed Temperature And Precipitation Trends, Irrigation, And Climate Beliefs, Meredith T. Niles, Nathaniel D. Mueller

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

How individuals perceive climate change is linked to whether individuals support climate policies and whether they alter their own climate-related behaviors, yet climate perceptions may be influenced by many factors beyond local shifts in weather. Infrastructure designed to control or regulate natural resources may serve as an important lens through which people experience climate, and thus may influence perceptions. Likewise, perceptions may be influenced by personal beliefs about climate change and whether it is human-induced. Here we examine farmer perceptions of historical climate change, how perceptions are related to observed trends in regional climate, how perceptions are related to the …

Slides: Arizona Contributions To Address Lake Mead's Structural Deficit, Amy Mccoy

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Amy McCoy, Director, Aylward + McCoy & Pilz Consulting LLC, University of Arizona

18 slides

Slides: Crystalised Not Frozen: Addressing Historical Exclusion Of Traditional Owners From Water, Poh-Ling Tan

Indigenous Water Justice Symposium (June 6)

Poh-Ling Tan, Griffith University

13 slides

Role Of Multiple High-Capacity Irrigation Wells On A Surficial Sand And Gravel Aquifer, Logan C. Seipel, Eric W. Peterson, David H. Malone, Jason F. Thomason

Faculty Publications-- Geography, Geology, and the Environment

Within McHenry County, IL, the fastest growing county in Illinois, groundwater is used for 100% of the water needs. Concerns over water resources have prompted the investigation of the surficial sand and gravel aquifers of the county. While the eastern portion of the county is urbanizing, the western portion remains devoted to agriculture. High-capacity irrigation wells screened within the surficial sand and gravel aquifer are used for crop production. To assess the impacts of the irrigation wells on the aquifer, a groundwater flow model was developed to examine five different scenarios reflecting drought conditions and increased pumping. Results show that …

Exploring Elementary Students’ Agricultural And Scientific Knowledge Using Evidence Centered Design, Molly R. Brandt

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The public is more disconnected from agriculture than ever. Americans are two to four generations removed from the farm, and a majority of Americans, even in rural agricultural states have no direct link to agriculture. As a result, the public lacks the knowledge and appreciation of the food, fuel, and fiber it demands. The National Center for Agricultural Literacy (NCAL) uses National Agricultural Learning Objectives (NALOs) to measure student’s agricultural knowledge. The purpose of this project is to develop assessments aligned with the NALOs and to use results from the assessments to further understand students’ agricultural literacy. This study focuses …

The Measure Of Nematode Diversity In Response To Varying Management Practices And Features In Restored And Remnant Prairie Ecosystems, Heaven A. Hulshizer

UCARE Research Products

"Tallgrass prairies are the most endangered ecosystem in North America” (Helen et al 2013). “Surveys suggest that since European settlement, declines in area of native prairie range as high as 99.9%”(Sampson, Fred and Fritz Knopf 1994). Prairie ecosystem services are abundant and range from mitigating floods to promoting biodiversity. (USDA Forest Service).Given these benefits, restoring prairies and maintaining native areas should be an important conservation priority. Nematodes, the most abundant animal species on earth, have been used as bio-indicators of soil quality (Neher; Todd). To better understand the dynamics of nematode diversity in native and restored prairies we examines whether …