Journal of Soil and Water Conservation最新文献

{"title":"Rice producer enrollment and retention in a USDA regional conservation partnership program in the southern United States","authors":"T. Linder, K. Wallen, S. W. Manley, D. Osborne","doi":"10.2489/jswc.2023.00027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.2023.00027","url":null,"abstract":"Private lands conservation is critical to maintain available and quality natural resources in agriculture-dominated landscapes. Financial capital and technical assistance incentives are a primary tool to recruit and retain voluntary participation in private lands conservation programs and, subsequently, to induce persistence of innovative conservation practices. Fundamental to program success is to evaluate how, why, and to what extent incentives and program characteristics motivate participation and persistence. This study draws on diffusion of innovations’ attributes of innovation as our conceptual and interpretive framework to qualitatively explore and describe program participation and persistence of on-farm water, nutrient, and wildlife habitat management practices among a cohort of rice (Oryza sativa L.) producers enrolled in the Rice Stewardship Program (RSP) in the southern United States. A total of 50 interviews were conducted between January of 2019 and July of 2019 in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Findings suggest the program’s lack of complexity (practices were simple to enact) and relative advantage (practices were viewed as better than previous practices) were primary motivations that influenced initial and continued participation, as well as the persistence of specific practices. Compatibility with current on-farm practices and the observability of outcomes or benefits to program participation and its practices were reported consistently but as secondary motivations. Nutrient management practices were observed as having the highest potential persistence as these practices were perceived to be compatible, observable, and relatively advantageous, particularly in relation to the region’s existing nutrient stewardship framework. As few evaluations of private lands conservation programs specific to rice agriculture exist, our findings offer practical insights for managers to consider program evaluation or design that is based on the established innovation attributes framework common to other agricultural contexts.","PeriodicalId":50049,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Soil and Water Conservation","volume":"20 1","pages":"222 - 233"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88600283","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Benefits, barriers, and use of cover crops in the western United States: Regional survey results","authors":"L. A. Golden, M. Hubbard, S. Utych, S. Newman, S. Hines, Jason Thomas, N. Andrews, R. S. Som Castellano, D. P. Collins, C. Sullivan","doi":"10.2489/jswc.2023.00170","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.2023.00170","url":null,"abstract":"Cover crops provide known benefits to water, air, and soil quality. The western United States is a large cropping region where data on cover crop use are lacking. In this study, we draw on data from a 2020 survey of western farmers from 13 states and territories to broaden the understanding of current cover crop use and the factors that influence cover crop adoption. We examine cover crop use through farmer and farm characteristics, social networks and information access, and psychological measures of attitudes toward cover crops. Based on the results of the 894 survey responses, we find most respondents use or have used cover crops and recognize their many benefits. The highest ranked benefits of cover crops, according to cover crop users, are soil health benefits and reducing soil erosion. The biggest perceived barriers to cover crops, according to cover crop users and nonusers, are costs and knowledge. The greatest predictor of cover crop use in the western United States is larger farm size; however, as income increases, the odds of cover crop use decreases. Farmers who access agriculture-related information on a regular basis and western farmers who perceive more benefits than barriers to cover crops are more likely to use cover crops. This study informs future research, outreach, and policy through insight into motivations and barriers to cover crop use and factors that influence adoption for farmers in the West.","PeriodicalId":50049,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Soil and Water Conservation","volume":"30 1","pages":"260 - 271"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87441755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microbial respiration gives early indication of soil health improvement following cover crops","authors":"B. Crookston, M. Yost, M. Bowman, Kristen S. Veum, J. R. Stevens","doi":"10.2489/jswc.2023.00015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.2023.00015","url":null,"abstract":"Farmer participatory research in soil health is important to evaluating soil conservation practices like cover crops on working farms. The Soil Health Partnership (SHP) was a large farmer-led network that conducted a wide-scale assessment of soil health indicators, scores, and crop yields from on-farm research with consistent experimental methods across site-years. The focus of this study was to determine the effect of one to four years of cover crops on 12 soil health indicators, three soil health assessment composite scores, and yields of two crops using data collected from only 35 SHP sites from 2015 to 2019 (total of 45 site-years). Sites applied either single or mixed species winter cover crops in corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.) rotations. The strip-level soil health measurements were analyzed using a mixed model analysis of covariance with repeated measures. Observations taken prior to cover crop implementation were used as the covariate. Soil microbial respiration (carbon [C] mineralization) and the composite Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health score responded to cover crops. Their initial observation values did not influence the impact of cover crops on soil health indicators or scores. These results demonstrate that regardless of initial soil health values, soil respiration might be a helpful indicator to monitor for short-term soil health changes within one to four years following the adoption of conservation practices across the midwestern United States.","PeriodicalId":50049,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Soil and Water Conservation","volume":"100 1","pages":"272 - 281"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82294711","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cropping system drives microbial community response to simulated climate change and plant inputs","authors":"S. Bell, A. Zimmerman, K. Hofmockel","doi":"10.2489/jswc.2023.00069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.2023.00069","url":null,"abstract":"The soil microbiome’s role in regulating biogeochemical processing is critical to the cycling and storage of soil organic carbon (C). The function of the microbiome under different land management uses has become a focal area of research due to the interest in managing soil C to mitigate climate change. This study investigates the structural and functional response of soil microbiomes from annual monoculture (corn [Zea mays L.]) and perennial diversified (prairie) cropping systems, both under no-till management for bioenergy production. We used a full factorial soil incubation study to understand the influence of temperature and moisture on microbial C decomposition in these soils, with and without addition of cellulose as a model plant residue. Overall, perennial prairie soil supported distinct microbiomes with more diverse prokaryotic and fungal communities compared to annual corn soil. The less diverse corn microbiome was sensitive to the addition of C, resulting in significantly higher respiration compared to prairie, and this increased respiration was amplified under warmer temperatures. In contrast to C loss from the corn soil as carbon dioxide (CO2), prairie soil had significantly higher extracellular enzyme activities and small increases in microbial biomass, illustrating cropping system-specific tradeoffs between microbial C allocation. Specific community structure shifts occurred with added cellulose, where fast-growing, motile decomposers became more abundant under wet conditions, while a small subset of fungi dominated under dry conditions. These differential responses of fungi and bacteria reflect microbial traits important for accessing substrates like plant residues. These changes in community structure due to moisture and cellulose amendment were not necessarily reflected in community function, as potential enzyme activities of most hydrolases were insensitive to temperature and C amendment on this short time scale. Lower respiration occurred in prairie compared to corn soil in response to increased available C and temperature, indicating a more resistant prairie microbiome that may be beneficial when confronted with climate change. These findings support deploying perennial and diversified systems in place of annual monocultures as bioenergy feedstocks, cover crops, buffer strips, or urban greenspaces as part of a land management strategy and highlight the importance of microbial activity in developing sustainable agroecosystems.","PeriodicalId":50049,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Soil and Water Conservation","volume":"21 1 1","pages":"178 - 192"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77528699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil organic carbon and nitrogen storage estimated with the root-zone enrichment method under conventional and conservation land management across North Carolina","authors":"A. Franzluebbers","doi":"10.2489/jswc.2023.00064","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.2023.00064","url":null,"abstract":"Agriculture is a globally dominating land use, so efforts to restore soil organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) lost through historical degradation could have enormous benefits to production and the environment, particularly by storing an organic reserve of nutrients in soil and avoiding the return of a small portion of biologically cycling C to the atmosphere. Estimates of soil organic C and N storage from conservation agricultural management are still limited when considered in proportion to the large diversity of environmental and edaphic conditions. A study was undertaken to determine the total, baseline, and root-zone enrichment stocks of soil organic C and N as affected by land use on 25 research stations distributed throughout North Carolina. Root-zone enrichment of organic matter is that portion influenced by contemporary management, and baseline is that portion dominated by pedogenesis. These fractions were compared with more traditional estimation procedures. Soil organic C and N were strongly negatively associated with sand concentration. Although physiographic region influenced overall soil C and N contents, variations in soil type and research station management within a region were equally influential. Soil organic C and N stocks were strongly affected by land use, which did not interact with the soil textural effect. Across the 25 research station locations, root-zone enrichment of soil organic C followed the order (p < 0.01) conventional-till cropland (11.1 Mg C ha−1) < no-till cropland (21.5 Mg C ha−1) < grassland (29.6 Mg C ha−1) < woodland (38.6 Mg C ha−1). Root-zone enrichment of total soil N followed a similar order, except grassland and woodland effects were reversed. Root-zone enrichment provided an integrated soil-profile assessment and a more targeted response of soil organic C and N change than did more traditional paired land use approaches, primarily due to separation of a variable pedogenic influence among sites. These point-in-time results gave a clear indication that conservation agricultural management approaches will foster surface soil organic C and N restoration across a diversity of soil types in the southeastern United States.","PeriodicalId":50049,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Soil and Water Conservation","volume":"20 1","pages":"124 - 140"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78201109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Invasive annual grasses—Reenvisioning approaches in a changing climate","authors":"D. Archer, D. Toledo, D. Blumenthal, J. Derner, C. Boyd, K. Davies, E. Hamerlynck, R. Sheley, P. Clark, S. Hardegree, F. Pierson, C. Clements, B. Newingham, B. Rector, J. Gaskin, C. Wonkka, K. Jensen, T. Monaco, L. Vermeire, S. Young","doi":"10.2489/jswc.2023.00074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.2023.00074","url":null,"abstract":"For nearly a century, invasive annual grasses have increasingly impacted terrestrial ecosystems across the western United States. Weather variability associated with climate change and increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) are making even more difficult the challenges of managing invasive annual grasses. As part of a special issue on climate change impacts on soil and water conservation, the topic of invasive annual grasses is being addressed by scientists at the USDA Agricultural Research Service to emphasize the need for additional research and future studies that build on current knowledge and account for (extreme) changes in abiotic and biotic conditions. Much research has focused on understanding the mechanisms underlying annual grass invasion, as well as assessing patterns and responses from a wide range of disturbances and management approaches. Weather extremes and the increasing occurrences of wildfire are contributing to the complexity of the problem. In broad terms, invasive annual grass management, including restoration, must be proactive to consider human values and ecosystem resiliency. Models capable of synthesizing vast amounts of diverse information are necessary for creating trajectories that could result in the establishment of perennial systems. Organization and collaboration are needed across the research community and with land managers to strategically develop and implement practices that limit invasive annual grasses. In the future, research will need to address invasive annual grasses in an adaptive integrated weed management (AIWM) framework that utilizes models and accounts for climate change that is resulting in altered/new approaches to management and restoration.","PeriodicalId":50049,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Soil and Water Conservation","volume":"6 1","pages":"95 - 103"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75175834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How resilient are US rangeland ecosystems?","authors":"J. Brown","doi":"10.2489/jswc.2023.00053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.2023.00053","url":null,"abstract":"While “resilience” has become a buzzword in agriculture and land management circles, notably as a framework for the response to climate change, there has not been a clear path as to how to organize and deploy a range of resilience-related ideas, tools, and practices to improve climate change response. Generic statements about the need for improved resilience are common, and programs to help enhance resilience are common as a basis for policy development and implementation. These initiatives include references to a range of “climate-smart practices” that should be encouraged, but because they are national strategies, they seldom go beyond general principles. Land management requires a level of spatiotemporal precision in decision-making, planning, and application that calls for much more than broad principles and generic practice. This paper reviews the concepts that have made resilience an important part of land management goals across policy, programs, and application; demonstrates how those concepts can be organized and applied to decision-making to respond to climate change on rangelands; and finally, proposes some approaches that can help improve the value of a resilience-based approach.","PeriodicalId":50049,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Soil and Water Conservation","volume":"59 1","pages":"104 - 110"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80457996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of gypsum and cover crop on greenhouse gas emissions in soybean cropping systems","authors":"D. Watts, G. Runion, W. Dick, J.M. Gonzalez, K. Islam, D. Flanagan, N. Fausey, T. Vantoai, M. Batte, R. Reeder, D. Kost, L. Chen, P. Jacinthe","doi":"10.2489/jswc.2023.00042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.2023.00042","url":null,"abstract":"Agriculture has the opportunity to mitigate anthropogenic contributions to global change by increasing soil sequestration of greenhouse gases (GHG) and by reducing efflux through management. Common agricultural management practices include crop rotation and use of cover crops. Interest in the use of gypsum in agricultural systems has also increased in recent years. However, little is known regarding how combining gypsum with other management practices impact GHG emissions in soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.)-based cropping systems. A study was implemented at three locations (i.e., east-central Indiana, northwest Ohio, and east-central Alabama) to evaluate the influence of gypsum and cover cropping within a continuous soybean and a corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean rotation on crop yield and soil properties. Within this study, carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) were also monitored periodically following soybean seeding through harvest from 2012 to 2016. The combined gas data were then used to calculate a global warming potential (GWP). Overall, few differences in GHG emissions were observed across sites and years, and no consistent patterns were noted, likely due to large variabilities in gas efflux measurements and limited influence of treatments on trace gases. However, treatment differences were observed for one or more GHG within specific years and at specific sites. Comparison across sites revealed the warmer/wetter climate in Alabama resulted in greater CO2 efflux, while climate and soil factors at the northern sites led to greater N2O efflux. At all locations, CH4 emissions were generally low and sites tended to be small net sinks. Given that GHG emissions drive GWP, it also showed few treatment responses and no consistent patterns. It can be concluded from this study that contributions of gypsum and cover crop to GHG emissions from soil in soybean cropping systems will likely have little influence on contributions to global climate change.","PeriodicalId":50049,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Soil and Water Conservation","volume":"17 1","pages":"154 - 162"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89384183","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Women taking action: Multisession learning circles, storytelling, and an ecosystem of relationships for conservation","authors":"L. Shenk, J. Eells, W. Almitra","doi":"10.2489/jswc.2023.00129","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.2023.00129","url":null,"abstract":"Current conservation outreach largely focuses on single-day, presentation-heavy events typically addressed to farmers, mostly men. Our project created a multisession learning circle series for a cohort of women landowners that introduced conservation education through storytelling and a more conversation-driven format. Its objective was to build relationships that would empower women landowners to take action. Its outcomes, however, far exceeded expectations. The program’s facilitators and the women landowner-participants not only built relationships of action but also developed a partnership that resembles what researchers call a cognitive ecology. This cognitive ecology involves collaboration among diverse and equal partners who expand each other’s thinking and capacity, use tools and technologies to extend cognition (maps, soil tests, lease agreements, and simulation models), and interact with the environment. As a cognitive ecology, our group—facilitators and women landowners—produced this article together, as coauthors. Our collaboration offers a storytelling- and exchange-based framework to engage individuals whose needs have not been fully met through conventional programming. Our preliminary findings suggest that conservation programming might better empower a larger range of underinvolved stakeholders by offering multisession programming that builds an ecosystem of relationships for action.","PeriodicalId":50049,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Soil and Water Conservation","volume":"1 1","pages":"245 - 259"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78837744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate and pest interactions pose a cross-landscape management challenge to soil and water conservation","authors":"J. Campbell, M. R. Fulcher, B. Grewell, Stephen L. Young","doi":"10.2489/jswc.2023.1025A","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.2023.1025A","url":null,"abstract":"Climate change and biological invasions by plant pests (weeds), agriculture and forest insect pests (insects), and microbial pests (plant pathogens) are complex interactive components of global environmental change. The influence of pest distribution and prevalence across landscapes are challenging the conservation and sustainability of natural resources, agricultural production, native biological diversity, and the valuable ecosystem services they provide (Huenneke 1997; Vitousek 1997; Juroszek and von Tiedemann 2013; Ziska and Dukes 2014). Since 2000, numerous scientific studies indicate accelerating climate change is posing substantial risks to natural and managed systems in North America (IPPC 2022). Intensified droughts, large-scale wildfires, and increased demands for limited surface and groundwater water supplies in arid regions are threatening the sustainability of irrigated agriculture and contributing to economic losses (Stewart et al. 2020), while extreme rainfall events are contributing to severe riverine and urban flooding across the United States. Climate change affects crops, rangelands, forests, and natural areas directly through the immediate effects of temperature, precipitation, and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and thereby impacts production and management systems. These effects are amplified by climate-driven increases in weed, insect, and plant pathogen problems that further complicate related factors such as water, nutrient, and pest management (Walthall et al. 2013). Changing climates also alter physiological, ecological, and evolutionary processes that can support increased establishment, invasiveness, local spread, and geographic range changes of weeds, insects, and plant pathogens (Chidawanyika et al. 2019; Gallego-Tevár et al. 2019; Ziska et al. 2019) that have cascading effects on soil and water quality, and human livelihoods. Thus, a need exists for cross-habitat and landscape/watershed-scale perspectives to improve understanding of mechanisms underlying pest fitness and impacts within and across integrated systems.","PeriodicalId":50049,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Soil and Water Conservation","volume":"79 1","pages":"39A - 44A"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91371800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}