A5082095291- Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Bioenergy crop production and management
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Agronomic Practices and Intercropping Systems
- Rangeland and Wildlife Management
- Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics
- Legume Nitrogen Fixing Symbiosis
- Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
- Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology
- Crop Yield and Soil Fertility
- Phosphorus and nutrient management
- Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions
- Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology
- Plant Parasitism and Resistance
- Pasture and Agricultural Systems
- Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
- Nematode management and characterization studies
- Agroforestry and silvopastoral systems
- Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development
- Plant Taxonomy and Phylogenetics
- Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies
- Rice Cultivation and Yield Improvement
- Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics
- Plant tissue culture and regeneration
- Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals
The Land Institute
2015-2024
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
2016
University of Minnesota
2016
Cornell University
1991-2016
Rothamsted Research
2014
Prescott College
2001-2013
Northern Arizona University
2004
Stanford University
1995-2001
Nutrient additions to intensive agricultural systems range from inadequate excessive—and both extremes have substantial human and environmental costs.
We tested the Walker and Syers (1976) conceptual model of soil development its ecological implications by analyzing changes in P, vegetation, other ecosystem properties on a chronosequence with six sites ranging age from 300 yr to 4.1 x 10 6 yr. Climate, dominant slope, parent material all were similar. As fractions total various pools phosphorus behaved very much as predicted Syers. HCI—extractable P (presumably primary mineral phosphates) comprised 82% at 300—yr—old site, then decreased 1%...
Perennial grains hold promise, especially for marginal landscapes or with limited resources where annual versions struggle.
Food systems are under increasing pressure to produce sufficient food for the global population, decrease environmental impacts of production, and buffer against complex change. security also remains elusive many populations worldwide. Greater emphasis on system resilience could reduce these vulnerabilities. We outline integrated strategies that together foster across scales, including (a) integrating gender equity social justice into research initiatives, (b) use ecological processes rather...
Non-technical summary Modern agriculture is associated with numerous environmental predicaments, such as land degradation, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emission. Socio-economically, it characterized by a treadmill of technological change, increased mechanization, economic consolidation, while depressing returns to farmers. A root cause the dominance annual plants cultivated in monocultures. Annual crops require yearly clearing vegetation resulting soil erosion other forms ecosystem...
Abstract There is an urgent need for agricultural systems to intensify sustainably, increasing crop productivity, farmer livelihoods and soil health while using fewer resources. Crop perennialization, the conversion of especially annual grains perennial forms, has shown such possibility. Here we report successful breeding rice assess its performance potential. Domesticated, Asian ( Oryza sativa ) was hybridized with African relative longistaminata . From a single planting, irrigated produced...
Plant breeders are increasing yields and improving agronomic traits in several perennial grain crops, the first of which is now being incorporated into commercial food products. Integration strategies management guidelines needed to optimize production these new differ substantially from both annual crops forages. To offset relatively low yields, cropping systems should be multifunctional. Growing grains for years regenerate soil health before rotating growing on sloped land ecologically...
Abstract: The ecological benefits of changing cattle grazing practices in the western United States remain controversial, due part to a lack experimentation. In 1997 we initiated an experimental study two rangeland alternatives, removal and high‐impact grazing, compared grassland community responses with those more conventional, moderate practices. was conducted high‐elevation, semiarid near Flagstaff, Arizona (U.S.A.). We annual plant surveys modified Whittaker plots for 8 years examined...
Silphium perfoliatum L. (cup plant, silphie) and S. integrifolium Michx. (rosinweed, silflower) are in the same subfamily tribe as sunflower ( Helianthus annuus L.). has been grown many countries a forage or bioenergy crop with quality approaching that of alfalfa Medicago sativa L.) biomass yield close to maize Zea mays some environments. large seeds taste oil similar traditional oilseed sunflower. species all long‐lived, diploid perennials. Crops from this genus could improve stability,...
The classic domestication scenario for grains and fruits has been portrayed as the lucky fixation of major-effect "domestication genes." Characterization these genes plus recent improvements in generating novel alleles (e.g., by gene editing) have created great interest de novo new crops from wild species. While editing technologies may accelerate some genetic aspects domestication, we caution that should be understood an iterative process rather than a singular event. Changes human social...
The development of new perennial crop species is gaining momentum as a promising approach to change the fundamental nature ecosystem processes in agriculture. ecological argument for crops grown polycultures strong, but until recently, herbaceous grain have been absent from agricultural landscape. This not because do exist nature—there are thousands grasses, legumes, and other broad leaf plants. Rather, variety reasons, early farmers focused on cultivating domesticating annuals, herbs were...