P. Benalcazar, R. Kolka, A. C. Diochon, R. R. Schindelbeck, T. Sahota, B. E. McLaren, John Stanovick
{"title":"Predictive soil health indicators across a boreal forest to agricultural conversion gradient","authors":"P. Benalcazar, R. Kolka, A. C. Diochon, R. R. Schindelbeck, T. Sahota, B. E. McLaren, John Stanovick","doi":"10.1002/ael2.20123","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20123","url":null,"abstract":"<p>A changing climate offers new opportunities to expand agriculture in northern latitudes, and understanding forest-to-agriculture land conversion impacts is critical to ensure soil sustainability. Using the Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health (CASH) framework, we identified a minimum suite of indicators with little collinearity to reliably predict soil impacts during the conversion of boreal forest to agriculture and a time since conversion gradient (forest, <10 years, >10 and <50 years, and >50 years since conversion). We sampled paired forest and agricultural sites and used multiple linear regression to assess 16 indicators and found four- and six-indicator models predicted the CASH score with varying but reasonable accuracy depending on conversion class. Organic matter, water aggregate stability, and pH were consistent predictors across all classes, as well as one or more micronutrients. The CASH framework appears to be more suitable for agricultural soils and as time since conversion proceeds.</p>","PeriodicalId":48502,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural & Environmental Letters","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ael2.20123","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140641986","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Casey D. Kennedy, Austin Omer, Adrian R. H. Wiegman, Molly K. Welsh, David Millar, Anthony R. Buda
{"title":"Tailwater recovery systems can improve water quality: An area ripe for research in cranberry agriculture","authors":"Casey D. Kennedy, Austin Omer, Adrian R. H. Wiegman, Molly K. Welsh, David Millar, Anthony R. Buda","doi":"10.1002/ael2.20122","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20122","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <p>Tailwater recovery (TWR) systems, which divert phosphorus-rich drainage water from cranberry (<i>Vaccinium macrocarpon</i> Ait.) farms into reservoirs, have the potential to improve water quality of freshwater lakes in Massachusetts. However, residents and environmentalists have questioned the potential water quality benefits of TWR systems. In the southeastern United States, research shows that TWR systems decrease agricultural inputs of phosphorus (P) to surface water by 23%–92%. Additionally, a case study in Massachusetts demonstrated the efficacy of TWR and other best management practices in reducing P concentrations in White Island Pond. Although TWR systems appear effective as part of a P management strategy, more research is needed to quantify their environmental benefits and allay public concerns. We propose filling three critical research gaps to strengthen and broaden support for TWR systems in cranberry agriculture in Massachusetts: (1) quantifying physical properties, (2) quantifying water storage potential, and (3) quantifying P retention capacity.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Core Ideas</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Excess phosphorus (P) from cranberry farms may contribute to the eutrophication of freshwater lakes.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Agricultural tailwater recovery (TWR) systems are increasingly used to conserve water and improve water quality.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Earth removal, critical to create TWR ponds and provide sand for cranberry farms, has drawn public opposition.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Research and case studies indicate TWR systems may decrease P inputs from cranberry farms to surface water.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Long-term monitoring, research, and stakeholder engagement are needed to assess efficacy of cranberry TWR systems.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":48502,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural & Environmental Letters","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ael2.20122","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140606363","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Recipients of 2023 A&EL Editor's Citation for Excellence named","authors":"","doi":"10.1002/ael2.20127","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20127","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The editorial board of <i>Agricultural & Environmental Letters</i> is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 Editor's Citation for Excellence. These awards recognize the outstanding professional commitment and dedication of volunteer reviewers and editors who, through their excellent insights and comments, have helped maintain the high standard and quality of papers published in the journal. Recipients were nominated based on their thorough, competent, and timely reviews or editing of manuscripts.</p>","PeriodicalId":48502,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural & Environmental Letters","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ael2.20127","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140550190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andrew J. Margenot, Jordon Wade, Finnleigh S. Woodings
{"title":"The misuse of permanganate as a quantitative measure of soil organic carbon","authors":"Andrew J. Margenot, Jordon Wade, Finnleigh S. Woodings","doi":"10.1002/ael2.20124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20124","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In the last two decades, permanganate has been used to define what is assumed to be a labile or “active” soil carbon (C) pool, commonly referred to as “permanganate-oxidizable carbon” (POXC). However, uncertainties in the reduction reaction (Mn<sup>7+</sup> → Mn<sup>4+</sup>/Mn<sup>2+</sup>) and even greater uncertainties in the oxidation reaction (C<sup>?</sup> → C<sup>?</sup>) as well as the reaction of non-C reductants in the soil sample preclude the calculation of milligram C per kilogram of soil oxidized. Combined variation in the reduction–oxidation reactions can entail up to fivefold variation in how much soil organic C is oxidized per unit permanganate reduced. Without determining final reduction state of Mn and the initial and final oxidation states of C, the amount of C oxidized cannot be calculated. Unless a concrete understanding of the reduction and oxidation half-reactions is achieved, an alternative expression of permanganate reactivity of a soil sample (i.e., not mg C kg<sup>−1</sup> soil) is needed.</p>","PeriodicalId":48502,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural & Environmental Letters","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ael2.20124","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140541137","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Are crop insurance discount programs for cover crops effective? Evidence from Iowa","authors":"Wendiam P. M. Sawadgo","doi":"10.1002/ael2.20125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20125","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Cover crops are promoted by agronomists and governments due to their on-farm and off-farm benefits. Incentive programs were created because high planting costs have hindered cover crop adoption in the United States. Crop insurance discount programs are novel incentives that subsidize farmers’ crop insurance premiums by $5 per acre ($12.36 ha<sup>−1</sup>) on cover cropped land. While this payment is smaller than those typically offered through the Natural Resources Conservation Service and state-level cost-share programs, crop insurance discount programs have the potential to reach a significant proportion of farmers who purchase crop insurance. This paper uses data from a survey of Iowa farmers to quantify whether participation in the Iowa Crop Insurance Discount Program (ICIDP) affects the area planted to cover crops. I find that 11% of the ICIDP area would not have been planted to cover crops in the absence of the program, which is similar to other programs after considering the lower payment rate.</p>","PeriodicalId":48502,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural & Environmental Letters","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ael2.20125","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140541092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alexandra Huddell, Brian Needelman, Eugene P. Law, Victoria J. Ackroyd, Muthukumar V. Bagavathiannan, Kevin Bradley, Adam S. Davis, Jeffery A. Evans, Wesley Jay Everman, Michael Flessner, Nicholas Jordan, Lauren M. Schwartz-Lazaro, Ramon G. Leon, John Lindquist, Jason K. Norsworthy, Lovreet S. Shergill, Mark VanGessel, Steven B. Mirsky
{"title":"Early-season biomass and weather enable robust cereal rye cover crop biomass predictions","authors":"Alexandra Huddell, Brian Needelman, Eugene P. Law, Victoria J. Ackroyd, Muthukumar V. Bagavathiannan, Kevin Bradley, Adam S. Davis, Jeffery A. Evans, Wesley Jay Everman, Michael Flessner, Nicholas Jordan, Lauren M. Schwartz-Lazaro, Ramon G. Leon, John Lindquist, Jason K. Norsworthy, Lovreet S. Shergill, Mark VanGessel, Steven B. Mirsky","doi":"10.1002/ael2.20121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20121","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <p>Farmers need accurate estimates of winter cover crop biomass to make informed decisions on termination timing or to estimate potential release of nitrogen from cover crop residues to subsequent cash crops. Utilizing data from an extensive experiment across 11 states from 2016 to 2020, this study explores the most reliable predictors for determining cereal rye cover crop biomass at the time of termination. Our findings demonstrate a strong relationship between early-season and late-season cover crop biomass. Employing a random forest model, we predicted late-season cereal rye biomass with a margin of error of approximately 1,000 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> based on early-season biomass, growing degree days, cereal rye planting and termination dates, photosynthetically active radiation, precipitation, and site coordinates as predictors. Our results suggest that similar modeling approaches could be combined with remotely sensed early-season biomass estimations to improve the accuracy of predicting winter cover crop biomass at termination for decision support tools.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Core Ideas</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <div>\u0000 <ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Cereal rye winter cover crop biomass modeled on data from 35 site-years.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>We found a strong relationship between early and late-season biomass.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Random forest model with early-season biomass and weather data performed well.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Similar approach could improve decision support tools for cover crop management.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":48502,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural & Environmental Letters","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ael2.20121","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139727788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Agroeconomic costs for meeting the Environmental Protection Agency's mitigation menu approach to pesticide regulation","authors":"Leah M. Duzy, David J. Campana, Richard Brain","doi":"10.1002/ael2.20119","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20119","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In April 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced a workplan for pesticide registration and reregistration to meet obligations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which included a menu of suggested mitigation measures to reduce potential for exposure of nontarget species to runoff, spray drift, and erosion. If adopted on registered product labels, it enables a prospective registrant to meet more stringent ESA criteria for registration, even during non-ESA-issued interim decisions. This paper identifies and evaluates complexities posed by the mitigation menu approach that could undermine good intentions underlying this new process and uses existing economic considerations to analyze positive and negative externalities. Several points of complexity demonstrate how the mitigation menu approach would benefit from further regulatory development or refinement. Changes should be informed by fundamental questions about the dynamics between landowners and land managers and, crucially, different motivations decision-makers face in adopting voluntary versus regulatory mitigations.</p>","PeriodicalId":48502,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural & Environmental Letters","volume":"8 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ael2.20119","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138679015","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sarah E. McCord, Nicholas P. Webb, Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, Kristopher Bonefont, Joseph R. Brehm, Joel Brown, Ericha M. Courtright, Chris Dietrich, Michael C. Duniway, Brandon Edwards, Christopher Fraser, Jeffrey E. Herrick, Anna C. Knight, Loretta Metz, Justin W. Van Zee, Craig Tweedie
{"title":"The Landscape Data Commons: A system for standardizing, accessing, and applying large environmental datasets for agroecosystem research and management","authors":"Sarah E. McCord, Nicholas P. Webb, Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, Kristopher Bonefont, Joseph R. Brehm, Joel Brown, Ericha M. Courtright, Chris Dietrich, Michael C. Duniway, Brandon Edwards, Christopher Fraser, Jeffrey E. Herrick, Anna C. Knight, Loretta Metz, Justin W. Van Zee, Craig Tweedie","doi":"10.1002/ael2.20120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20120","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understanding where, when, and why agroecosystems are changing requires quality information about ecosystems that span land tenure, ecological processes, and spatial scales. Over the past two decades, land management agencies and research groups have adopted a suite of standardized methods for monitoring rangelands, which have been implemented at over 85,000 monitoring locations globally. However, the ability to use these data to understand agroecosystem dynamics and change across scales and across land ownership has been limited because, until now, these data have not been available in a harmonized, accessible format for analyses, modeling, and decision-support tools. We present the Landscape Data Commons, a cyberinfrastructure platform that harmonizes and aggregates standardized agroecosystem data, enables linkages to models, and facilitates analysis and interpretation of data within decision-support tools. The Landscape Data Commons provides a community platform for users to contribute data and develop next-generation tools to support agroecosystem management through the 21st century.</p>","PeriodicalId":48502,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural & Environmental Letters","volume":"8 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ael2.20120","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138564854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anuoluwapo Ogunleye, Vesh R. Thapa, Deb R. Aryal, Rajan Ghimire, Veronica Acosta-Martinez
{"title":"Microbial community response to cover cropping varied with time after termination","authors":"Anuoluwapo Ogunleye, Vesh R. Thapa, Deb R. Aryal, Rajan Ghimire, Veronica Acosta-Martinez","doi":"10.1002/ael2.20118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20118","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study evaluates cover crop (CC) effects on microbial community structure in a winter wheat–sorghum–fallow rotation with pea, oat, and canola; mixtures of pea and oat; pea and canola; pea, oat, and canola; and six species mixture (SSM) of pea, oat, canola, hairy vetch, forage radish, and barley as CCs, and fallow as treatments. Soil microbial community structure was analyzed at CC termination (phase I), 36 days (phase II), and a year (phase III) after termination using an ester-linked fatty acid methyl ester analysis. Total microbial biomass (TMB) under oats was significantly greater than under canola (by 47%) in phase I (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.05). The TMB was >48% under pea, pea + canola, and SSM, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi was 70%–93% more under pea, canola, and their mixtures than fallow in phase II. While microbial abundance varied with CCs at and after 36 days post-termination, these effects did not persist for a year. Long fallow period after cropping or cover cropping appears detrimental to microbial community proliferation.</p>","PeriodicalId":48502,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural & Environmental Letters","volume":"8 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ael2.20118","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"109231633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}