scholarly journals Farmer identities influence wildlife habitat management in the US Corn Belt

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam P. Dixon ◽  
J. Gordon Arbuckle ◽  
Erle C. Ellis
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Willse ◽  
Lex Flagel ◽  
Graham Head

Abstract Following the discovery of western corn rootworm (WCR; Diabrotica virgifera virgifera) populations resistant to the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) protein Cry3Bb1, resistance was genetically mapped to a single locus on WCR chromosome 8 and linked SNP markers were shown to correlate with the frequency of resistance among field-collected populations from the US Corn Belt. The purpose of this paper is to further investigate the relationship between one of these resistance-linked markers and the causal resistance locus. Using data from laboratory bioassays and field experiments, we show that one allele of the resistance-linked marker increased in frequency in response to selection, but was not perfectly linked to the causal resistance allele. By coupling the response to selection data with a genetic model of the linkage between the marker and the causal allele, we developed a model that allowed marker allele frequencies to be mapped to causal allele frequencies. We then used this model to estimate the resistance allele frequency distribution in the US Corn Belt based on collections from 40 populations. These estimates suggest that chromosome 8 Cry3Bb1 resistance allele frequency was generally low (<10%) for 65% of the landscape, though an estimated 13% of landscape has relatively high (>25%) resistance allele frequency.


2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (45) ◽  
pp. 12081-12085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Griffis ◽  
Zichong Chen ◽  
John M. Baker ◽  
Jeffrey D. Wood ◽  
Dylan B. Millet ◽  
...  

Nitrous oxide (N2O) has a global warming potential that is 300 times that of carbon dioxide on a 100-y timescale, and is of major importance for stratospheric ozone depletion. The climate sensitivity of N2O emissions is poorly known, which makes it difficult to project how changing fertilizer use and climate will impact radiative forcing and the ozone layer. Analysis of 6 y of hourly N2O mixing ratios from a very tall tower within the US Corn Belt—one of the most intensive agricultural regions of the world—combined with inverse modeling, shows large interannual variability in N2O emissions (316 Gg N2O-N⋅y−1to 585 Gg N2O-N⋅y−1). This implies that the regional emission factor is highly sensitive to climate. In the warmest year and spring (2012) of the observational period, the emission factor was 7.5%, nearly double that of previous reports. Indirect emissions associated with runoff and leaching dominated the interannual variability of total emissions. Under current trends in climate and anthropogenic N use, we project a strong positive feedback to warmer and wetter conditions and unabated growth of regional N2O emissions that will exceed 600 Gg N2O-N⋅y−1, on average, by 2050. This increasing emission trend in the US Corn Belt may represent a harbinger of intensifying N2O emissions from other agricultural regions. Such feedbacks will pose a major challenge to the Paris Agreement, which requires large N2O emission mitigation efforts to achieve its goals.


2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Morrissey ◽  
Michael R. Saunders ◽  
William L. Hoover

Abstract We simulated growth and development from 481 plots within 21 even-aged, mixed hardwood stands (21‐35 years old) under no treatment and crop tree release (CTR) treatments using the new Central States Variant of the US Forest Service Forest Vegetation Simulator. We assumed a multiobjective approach focused on financial returns (timber production) and wildlife benefits (provision of species that produce hard mast) in crop tree selection. We compared simulation results by age class, site variables, and species groups. All age classes showed returns on investment (ROI) of 7.8% or greater, but stands 26‐35 years old exhibited greater net present values (NPVs). CTR treatments across site, as delineated by aspect and slope positions, also exhibited higher NPVs, with ROI of 8.4% or greater. North and east aspects yielded higher NPVs than south and west aspects within both no-thinning and CTR treatments, and no strong patterns of NPV or ROI emerged among slope positions. CTR treatment delayed financial maturity by 5‐10 years because of increased growth rates and assumed higher quality stems. Desirable overstory mast trees for wildlife habitat, primarily oaks (Quercus spp.) and hickory (Carya spp.), increased in importance value, and mortality of crop trees declined with CTR in all age classes. Simulated CTR treatments indicated potential benefits to enhance financial and wildlife forest values in even-aged, mixed hardwood stands.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 124038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jillian M Deines ◽  
Sherrie Wang ◽  
David B Lobell

Ecology ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 684-685
Author(s):  
Frank E. Egler

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