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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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2018

Environmental Sciences

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Sustainable Agriculture

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Deep Soils Modify Environmental Consequences Of Increased Nitrogen Fertilizer Use In Intensifying Amazon Agriculture, Kathi Jo Jankowski, Christopher Neill, Eric A. Davidson, Marcia N. Macedo, Ciniro Costa, Gillian L. Galford, Leonardo Maracahipes Santos, Paul Lefebvre, Darlisson Nunes, Carlos E.P. Cerri, Richard Mchorney, Christine O’Connell, Michael T. Coe Dec 2018

Deep Soils Modify Environmental Consequences Of Increased Nitrogen Fertilizer Use In Intensifying Amazon Agriculture, Kathi Jo Jankowski, Christopher Neill, Eric A. Davidson, Marcia N. Macedo, Ciniro Costa, Gillian L. Galford, Leonardo Maracahipes Santos, Paul Lefebvre, Darlisson Nunes, Carlos E.P. Cerri, Richard Mchorney, Christine O’Connell, Michael T. Coe

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Agricultural intensification offers potential to grow more food while reducing the conversion of native ecosystems to croplands. However, intensification also risks environmental degradation through emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitrate leaching to ground and surface waters. Intensively-managed croplands and nitrogen (N) fertilizer use are expanding rapidly in tropical regions. We quantified fertilizer responses of maize yield, N2O emissions, and N leaching in an Amazon soybean-maize double-cropping system on deep, highly-weathered soils in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Application of N fertilizer above 80 kg N ha−1 yr−1 increased maize yield and N2O emissions only slightly. Unlike experiences in …


National Contributions To Climate Change Mitigation From Agriculture: Allocating A Global Target, Meryl Breton Richards, Eva Wollenberg, Detlef Van Vuuren Nov 2018

National Contributions To Climate Change Mitigation From Agriculture: Allocating A Global Target, Meryl Breton Richards, Eva Wollenberg, Detlef Van Vuuren

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Globally, agriculture and related land use change contributed about 17% of the world’s anthropogenic GHG emissions in 2010 (8.4 GtCO2e yr−1), making GHG mitigation in the agriculture sector critical to meeting the Paris Agreement’s 2°C goal. This article proposes a range of country-level targets for mitigation of agricultural emissions by allocating a global target according to five approaches to effort-sharing for climate change mitigation: responsibility, capability, equality, responsibility-capability-need and equal cumulative per capita emissions. Allocating mitigation targets according to responsibility for total historical emissions or capability to mitigate assigned large targets for agricultural emission reductions to North America, Europe and …


Alteration Of Rumen Bacteria And Protozoa Through Grazing Regime As A Tool To Enhance The Bioactive Fatty Acid Content Of Bovine Milk, Melissa L. Bainbridge, Laurel K. Saldinger, John W. Barlow, Juan P. Alvez, Joe Roman, Jana Kraft May 2018

Alteration Of Rumen Bacteria And Protozoa Through Grazing Regime As A Tool To Enhance The Bioactive Fatty Acid Content Of Bovine Milk, Melissa L. Bainbridge, Laurel K. Saldinger, John W. Barlow, Juan P. Alvez, Joe Roman, Jana Kraft

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Rumen microorganisms are the origin of many bioactive fatty acids (FA) found in ruminant-derived food products. Differences in plant leaf anatomy and chemical composition between cool- and warm-season pastures may alter rumen microorganisms, potentially enhancing the quantity/profile of bioactive FA available for incorporation into milk. The objective of this study was to identify rumen bacteria and protozoa and their cellular FA when cows grazed a warm-season annual, pearl millet (PM), in comparison to a diverse cool-season pasture (CSP). Individual rumen digesta samples were obtained from five Holstein cows in a repeated measures design with 28-day periods. The treatment sequence was …


Climate-Smart Land Use Requires Local Solutions, Transdisciplinary Research, Policy Coherence And Transparency, Sarah Carter, Bas Arts, Ken E. Giller, Cinthia Soto Golcher, Kasper Kok, Jessica De Koning, Meine Van Noordwijk, Pytrik Reidsma, Mariana C. Rufino, Giulia Salvini, Louis Verchot, Eva Wollenberg, Martin Herold May 2018

Climate-Smart Land Use Requires Local Solutions, Transdisciplinary Research, Policy Coherence And Transparency, Sarah Carter, Bas Arts, Ken E. Giller, Cinthia Soto Golcher, Kasper Kok, Jessica De Koning, Meine Van Noordwijk, Pytrik Reidsma, Mariana C. Rufino, Giulia Salvini, Louis Verchot, Eva Wollenberg, Martin Herold

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Successfully meeting the mitigation and adaptation targets of the Paris Climate Agreement (PA) will depend on strengthening the ties between forests and agriculture. Climate-smart land use can be achieved by integrating climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and REDD+. The focus on agriculture for food security within a changing climate, and on forests for climate change mitigation and adaptation, can be achieved simultaneously with a transformational change in the land-use sector. Striving for both independently will lead to competition for land, inefficiencies in monitoring and conflicting agendas. Practical solutions exist for specific contexts that can lead to increased agricultural output and forest protection. …


Analyzing The Greenhouse Gas Impact Potential Of Smallholder Development Actions Across A Global Food Security Program, Uwe Grewer, Julie Nash, Noel Gurwick, Louis Bockel, Gillian Galford, Meryl Richards, Ciniro Costa Junior, Julianna White, Gillian Pirolli, Eva Wollenberg Apr 2018

Analyzing The Greenhouse Gas Impact Potential Of Smallholder Development Actions Across A Global Food Security Program, Uwe Grewer, Julie Nash, Noel Gurwick, Louis Bockel, Gillian Galford, Meryl Richards, Ciniro Costa Junior, Julianna White, Gillian Pirolli, Eva Wollenberg

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

This article analyses the greenhouse gas (GHG) impact potential of improved management practices and technologies for smallholder agriculture promoted under a global food security development program. Under 'business-as-usual' development, global studies on the future of agriculture to 2050 project considerable increases in total food production and cultivated area. Conventional cropland intensification and conversion of natural vegetation typically result in increased GHG emissions and loss of carbon stocks. There is a strong need to understand the potential greenhouse gas impacts of agricultural development programs intended to achieve large-scale change, and to identify pathways of smallholder agricultural development that can achieve food …


Relationship Between Food Waste, Diet Quality, And Environmental Sustainability, Zach Conrad, Meredith T. Niles, Deborah A. Neher, Eric D. Roy, Nicole E. Tichenor, Lisa Jahns Apr 2018

Relationship Between Food Waste, Diet Quality, And Environmental Sustainability, Zach Conrad, Meredith T. Niles, Deborah A. Neher, Eric D. Roy, Nicole E. Tichenor, Lisa Jahns

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Improving diet quality while simultaneously reducing environmental impact is a critical focus globally. Metrics linking diet quality and sustainability have typically focused on a limited suite of indicators, and have not included food waste. To address this important research gap, we examine the relationship between food waste, diet quality, nutrient waste, and multiple measures of sustainability: use of cropland, irrigation water, pesticides, and fertilizers. Data on food intake, food waste, and application rates of agricultural amendments were collected from diverse US government sources. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index-2015. A biophysical simulation model was used to estimate …


Ecology And Economics Of Using Native Managed Bees For Almond Pollination, Insu Koh, Eric V. Lonsdorf, Derek R. Artz, Theresa L. Pitts-Singer, Taylor H. Ricketts Jan 2018

Ecology And Economics Of Using Native Managed Bees For Almond Pollination, Insu Koh, Eric V. Lonsdorf, Derek R. Artz, Theresa L. Pitts-Singer, Taylor H. Ricketts

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Native managed bees can improve crop pollination, but a general framework for evaluating the associated economic costs and benefits has not been developed. We conducted a cost–benefit analysis to assess how managing blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria Say [Hymenoptera: Megachildae]) alongside honey bees (Apis mellifera Linnaeus [Hymenoptera: Apidae]) can affect profits for almond growers in California. Specifically, we studied how adjusting three strategies can influence profits: (1) number of released O. lignaria bees, (2) density of artificial nest boxes, and (3) number of nest cavities (tubes) per box. We developed an ecological model for the effects of pollinator activity on …


The Climate-Smart Village Approach: Framework Of An Integrative Strategy For Scaling Up Adaptation Options In Agriculture, Pramod K. Aggarwal, Andy Jarvis, Bruce M. Campbell, Robert B. Zougmoré, Arun Khatri-Chhetri, Sonja J. Vermeulen, Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Leocadio S. Sebastian, James Kinyangi, Osana Bonilla-Findji, Maren Radeny, John Recha, Deissy Martinez-Baron, Julian Ramirez-Villegas, Sophia Huyer, Philip Thornton, Eva Wollenberg, James Hansen, Patricia Alvarez-Toro, Andrés Aguilar-Ariza, David Arango-Londoño, Victor Patiño-Bravo, Ovidio Rivera, Mathieu Ouedraogo, Bui Tan Yen Jan 2018

The Climate-Smart Village Approach: Framework Of An Integrative Strategy For Scaling Up Adaptation Options In Agriculture, Pramod K. Aggarwal, Andy Jarvis, Bruce M. Campbell, Robert B. Zougmoré, Arun Khatri-Chhetri, Sonja J. Vermeulen, Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Leocadio S. Sebastian, James Kinyangi, Osana Bonilla-Findji, Maren Radeny, John Recha, Deissy Martinez-Baron, Julian Ramirez-Villegas, Sophia Huyer, Philip Thornton, Eva Wollenberg, James Hansen, Patricia Alvarez-Toro, Andrés Aguilar-Ariza, David Arango-Londoño, Victor Patiño-Bravo, Ovidio Rivera, Mathieu Ouedraogo, Bui Tan Yen

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Increasing weather risks threaten agricultural production systems and food security across the world. Maintaining agricultural growth while minimizing climate shocks is crucial to building a resilient food production system and meeting developmental goals in vulnerable countries. Experts have proposed several technological, institutional, and policy interventions to help farmers adapt to current and future weather variability and to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper presents the climate-smart village (CSV) approach as a means of performing agricultural research for development that robustly tests technological and institutional options for dealing with climatic variability and climate change in agriculture using participatory methods. It …