scholarly journals Sideroxylon mascatense: A new crop for high elevation arid climates?

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 02
Author(s):  
Eric Hopkins ◽  
Rashid Al Yahyai ◽  
Rashid Al Yahyai
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Climate Anomalies ◽  
Mountainous Regions ◽  
Commercial Cultivation ◽  
In The Wild

This paper reviews the existing research on Sideroxylon mascatense, and provides an argument for being considered a fruit crop in cultivated production systems in the Sultanate of Oman and elsewhere. Climate change due to global warming has adverse effects on the agro-ecosystems of mountain regions in marginal climate zones. For example, in the Western Hajar Mountains of Oman, yields of the temperate fruit crops have decreased in recent years as temperature and other climate anomalies have increased. Other fruit-bearing wild plants have also been impacted by extreme weather fluctuations, particularly those that occupy a narrow altitudinal range. One such plant is S. mascatense, a currently underutilized fruiting plant found growing in the wild all through the Middle East and other arid mountainous regions. Two fruiting types of S. mascatense are found in Oman, both of which are seasonally wild harvested by mountain inhabitants and sold in markets as well as along the roadsides. While some specimens exist in cultivated areas, propagation and new plantings are non-existent. Regeneration in the wild is also in decline in Oman, possibly due to climate change. Increasing S. mascatense populations could be achieved via propagation, as well as commercial cultivation, although further research is needed into cropping systems and best practice methods.

scholarly journals Innovative agroforestry interventions for alternative economically viable livelihood development to support climate resilient mountain agriculture

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raj Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Composite Structures ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Change Scenario ◽  
Mountainous Regions ◽  
Livelihood Options ◽  
Mountain Agriculture ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Innovative Products ◽  
High Yielding Varieties

Agroforestry holds the key in providing alternative economically viable livelihood development and to support mountainous farmers to adapt to climate change. Innovative agroforestry interventions integrating animal production, horticulture etc into cropping systems exist that can help farmers improve yields and build resilience for supporting livelihoods particularly among marginal communities. But, the lack of knowledge, technical know-how and other information among the farmers are major barriers in adoption of agroforestry. Millions of the farmers of mountainous regions are already wrestling with water scarcity, which would be more severe in climate change scenario. The Himalayan regions are have been considered to be highly sensitive to climate change. Indeed, Innovative agroforestry interventions have the potential to conserve natural resources, improve productivity and provide resilience to climate change. The present paper highlights the need for developing innovative agroforestry interventions to promote various alternate livelihood options through diversification, adoption of high yielding varieties and development of innovative products from forest resources.  Of these spice based agroforetry, silvi-medicinal systems, Van silk cultivation, bamboo and ringal cultivation  and development and use of farm resources based products like  bamboo based composite structures, Seabuckthorn herbal tea, Ghingaroo juice  (Crataegus crenulata) and incense products etc holds a promising potential to be explored as better options for future scenario.

scholarly journals Climate anomalies associated to the occurrence of rockfalls at high-elevation in the Italian Alps

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Paranunzio ◽  
Francesco Laio ◽  
Marta Chiarle ◽  
Guido Nigrelli ◽  
Fausto Guzzetti
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Slope Failure ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Slope Instability ◽  
Slope Failures ◽  
Italian Alps ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Climate Anomalies ◽  
Permafrost Thaw ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Climate change is seriously affecting the cryosphere, in terms, for example of permafrost thaw, alteration of rain/snow ratio, glacier shrinkage. There is concern about the increasing number of rockfalls at high elevation in the last decades. Nevertheless, the impact of climate variables on slope instability at high elevation has not been fully explored yet. In this paper, we investigate 41 rockfalls occurred at high elevation in the Italian Alps between 1997 and 2013 in the absence of an evident trigger. We apply and improve an existing data-based, statistical approach to detect the anomalies of climate parameters (temperature and precipitation) associated to rockfall occurrences. The identified climate anomalies have been related to the spatio-temporal distribution of the events. Rockfalls occurred in association with temperature anomalies in 83 % of our case studies. Temperature represents a key factor contributing to slope failure occurrence in different ways. As expected, warmer temperatures accelerate snowmelt and permafrost thaw; however, surprisingly, negative anomalies are also often associated to slope failures. Interestingly, different regional patterns emerge from the data: higher-than-average temperatures are often associated to rockfalls in the Western Alps, while in the Eastern Alps slope failures are mainly associated to colder-than-average temperatures. The results of this study represent a first step towards the identification of the possible role of climate change in the triggering of slope failures in a mountain environment.

scholarly journals Climate Change, Ecosystem Processes and Biological Diversity Responses in High Elevation Communities

Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Timothy R. Seastedt ◽  
Meagan Oldfather
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Slope Aspect ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Mountainous Regions ◽  
Changing Climate

The populations, species, and communities in high elevation mountainous regions at or above tree line are being impacted by the changing climate. Mountain systems have been recognized as both resilient and extremely threatened by climate change, requiring a more nuanced understanding of potential trajectories of the biotic communities. For high elevation systems in particular, we need to consider how the interactions among climate drivers and topography currently structure the diversity, species composition, and life-history strategies of these communities. Further, predicting biotic responses to changing climate requires knowledge of intra- and inter-specific climate associations within the context of topographically heterogenous landscapes. Changes in temperature, snow, and rain characteristics at regional scales are amplified or attenuated by slope, aspect, and wind patterns occurring at local scales that are often under a hectare or even a meter in extent. Community assemblages are structured by the soil moisture and growing season duration at these local sites, and directional climate change has the potential to alter these two drivers together, independently, or in opposition to one another due to local, intervening variables. Changes threaten species whose water and growing season duration requirements are locally extirpated or species who may be outcompeted by nearby faster-growing, warmer/drier adapted species. However, barring non-analogue climate conditions, species may also be able to more easily track required resource regimes in topographically heterogenous landscapes. New species arrivals composed of competitors, predators and pathogens can further mediate the direct impacts of the changing climate. Plants are moving uphill, demonstrating primary succession with the emergence of new habitats from snow and rock, but these shifts are constrained over the short term by soil limitations and microbes and ultimately by the lack of colonizable terrestrial surfaces. Meanwhile, both subalpine herbaceous and woody species pose threats to more cold-adapted species. Overall, the multiple interacting direct and indirect effects of the changing climate on high elevation systems may lead to multiple potential trajectories for these systems.

scholarly journals Analysis of soybean germination, emergence, and prediction of a possible northward expansion of the crop under climate change

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Ram Lamichhane ◽  
Julie Constantin ◽  
Céline Schoving ◽  
Pierre Maury ◽  
Philippe Debaeke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Simulation Study ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Seedling Mortality ◽  
Sowing Dates

AbstractSoybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) has potential to improve sustainability of agricultural production systems. A higher focus on this crop is needed to re-launch its production in the EU. A better understanding of key determinants affecting soybean establishment represents a first step to facilitate its adoption in cropping systems. To this objective, we conducted laboratory and field experiments in order to better characterize seed germination and seedling growth in relation to temperatures, water content, and soil structure. We then used these data to parametrize the SIMPLE crop emergence model and to evaluate its prediction quality, by comparing observed field germination and emergence data with the predicted ones. Finally, we performed a simulation study over the 2020-2100 period, for three sowing dates, from mid-March to mid-April, in the northern climate of France to evaluate whether future climate change will help expand soybean from Southern to Northern part of the country. Soybean germination was very fast, taking only 15 °C days to reach 50% germination at optimal conditions. The base, optimum and maximum temperatures were determined as 4, 30 and 40°C, respectively while the base water potential was −0.7 MPa, indicating a high sensitivity to water stress. The SIMPLE model well-predicted germination and emergence courses and their final rates, compared with the observed field data. The simulation study showed average emergence rate ranging from 61 to 78% with little variability among sowing dates and periods, but a high variability between years. Main causes of non-emergence were seedling mortality due to clods or soil surface crust followed by non-germination and seedling mortality due to drought, especially for mid-April sowing. These results provide a better knowledge of soybean establishment that are encouraging to introduce soybean with early sowings to diversify current cropping systems.

Nitrate Leaching to a Shallow Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain Aquifer as Influenced by Conventional No-Till and Low-Input Sustainable Grain Production Systems

1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (3-5) ◽  
pp. 691-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Craig ◽  
R. R. Weil
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Atlantic Coastal Plain ◽  
Grain Production ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
Low Input ◽  
No Till

In December, 1987, the states in the Chesapeake Bay region, along with the federal government, signed an agreement which called for a 40% reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus loadings to the Bay by the year 2000. To accomplish this goal, major reductions in nutrient loadings associated with agricultural management practices were deemed necessary. The objective of this study was to determine if reducing fertilizer inputs to the NT system would result in a reduction in nitrogen contamination of groundwater. In this study, groundwater, soil, and percolate samples were collected from two cropping systems. The first system was a conventional no-till (NT) grain production system with a two-year rotation of corn/winter wheat/double crop soybean. The second system, denoted low-input sustainable agriculture (LISA), produced the same crops using a winter legume and relay-cropped soybeans into standing wheat to reduce nitrogen and herbicide inputs. Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in groundwater were significantly lower under the LISA system. Over 80% of the NT groundwater samples had NO3-N concentrations greater than 10 mgl-1, compared to only 4% for the LISA cropping system. Significantly lower soil mineral N to a depth of 180 cm was also observed. The NT soil had nearly twice as much mineral N present in the 90-180 cm portion than the LISA cropping system.

scholarly journals Precision agriculture and geospatial techniques for sustainable disease control

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel P. Roberts ◽  
Nicholas M. Short ◽  
James Sill ◽  
Dilip K. Lakshman ◽  
Xiaojia Hu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Disease Control ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Plant Disease ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Agricultural Community ◽  
Plant Disease Control ◽  
Crop Germplasm

AbstractThe agricultural community is confronted with dual challenges; increasing production of nutritionally dense food and decreasing the impacts of these crop production systems on the land, water, and climate. Control of plant pathogens will figure prominently in meeting these challenges as plant diseases cause significant yield and economic losses to crops responsible for feeding a large portion of the world population. New approaches and technologies to enhance sustainability of crop production systems and, importantly, plant disease control need to be developed and adopted. By leveraging advanced geoinformatic techniques, advances in computing and sensing infrastructure (e.g., cloud-based, big data-driven applications) will aid in the monitoring and management of pesticides and biologicals, such as cover crops and beneficial microbes, to reduce the impact of plant disease control and cropping systems on the environment. This includes geospatial tools being developed to aid the farmer in managing cropping system and disease management strategies that are more sustainable but increasingly complex. Geoinformatics and cloud-based, big data-driven applications are also being enlisted to speed up crop germplasm improvement; crop germplasm that has enhanced tolerance to pathogens and abiotic stress and is in tune with different cropping systems and environmental conditions is needed. Finally, advanced geoinformatic techniques and advances in computing infrastructure allow a more collaborative framework amongst scientists, policymakers, and the agricultural community to speed the development, transfer, and adoption of these sustainable technologies.

scholarly journals Projections of Local Knowledge-Based Adaptation Strategies of Mexican Coffee Farmers

Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Patricia Ruiz-García ◽  
Cecilia Conde-Álvarez ◽  
Jesús David Gómez-Díaz ◽  
Alejandro Ismael Monterroso-Rivas
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Local Knowledge ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Agroforestry Systems ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Coffee Farmers ◽  
Extreme Hydrological Events ◽  
Adaptation Policies

Local knowledge can be a strategy for coping with extreme events and adapting to climate change. In Mexico, extreme events and climate change projections suggest the urgency of promoting local adaptation policies and strategies. This paper provides an assessment of adaptation actions based on the local knowledge of coffee farmers in southern Mexico. The strategies include collective and individual adaptation actions that farmers have established. To determine their viability and impacts, carbon stocks and fluxes in the system’s aboveground biomass were projected, along with water balance variables. Stored carbon contents are projected to increase by more than 90%, while maintaining agroforestry systems will also help serve to protect against extreme hydrological events. Finally, the integration of local knowledge into national climate change adaptation plans is discussed and suggested with a local focus. We conclude that local knowledge can be successful in conserving agroecological coffee production systems.

scholarly journals Flood Risk and Adaptation Strategies for Soybean Production Systems on the Flood-Prone Pampas under Climate Change

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1187
Author(s):  
Wouter Julius Smolenaars ◽  
Spyridon Paparrizos ◽  
Saskia Werners ◽  
Fulco Ludwig
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Flood Events ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Soybean Production ◽  
Drying Trend ◽  
Sowing Season

In recent decades, multiple flood events have had a devastating impact on soybean production in Argentina. Recent advances suggest that the frequency and intensity of destructive flood events on the Argentinian Pampas will increase under pressure from climate change. This paper provides bottom-up insight into the flood risk for soybean production systems under climate change and the suitability of adaptation strategies in two of the most flood-prone areas of the Pampas region. The flood risk perceptions of soybean producers were explored through interviews, translated into climatic indicators and then studied using a multi-model climate data analysis. Soybean producers perceived the present flood risk for rural accessibility to be of the highest concern, especially during the harvest and sowing seasons when heavy machinery needs to reach soybean lots. An analysis of climatic change projections found a rising trend in annual and harvest precipitation and a slight drying trend during the sowing season. This indicates that the flood risk for harvest accessibility may increase under climate change. Several adaptation strategies were identified that can systemically address flood risks, but these require collaborative action and cannot be undertaken by individual producers. The results suggest that if cooperative adaptation efforts are not made in the short term, the continued increase in flood risk may force soybean producers in the case study locations to shift away from soybean towards more robust land uses.

scholarly journals iHSD Mill Efficacy on the Seeds of Australian Cropping System Weeds

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Walsh ◽  
John C. Broster ◽  
Stephen B. Powles
Keyword(s):  
Moisture Content ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
High Efficacy ◽  
Weed Seed ◽  
Rigid Ryegrass ◽  
Mill Speed ◽  
Wheat Chaff

AbstractIn Australia, widespread evolution of multi-resistant weed populations has driven the development and adoption of harvest weed seed control (HWSC). However, due to incompatibility of commonly used HWSC systems with highly productive conservation cropping systems, better HWSC systems are in demand. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the integrated Harrington Seed Destructor (iHSD) mill on the seeds of Australia’s major crop weeds during wheat chaff processing. Also examined were the impacts of chaff type and moisture content on weed seed destruction efficacy. Initially, the iHSD mill speed of 3,000 rpm was identified as the most effective at destroying rigid ryegrass seeds present in wheat chaff. Subsequent testing determined that the iHSD mill was highly effective (>95% seed kill) on all Australian crop weeds examined. Rigid ryegrass seed kill was found to be highest for lupin chaff and lowest in barley, with wheat and canola chaff intermediate. Similarly, wheat chaff moisture reduced rigid ryegrass seed kill when moisture level exceeded 12%. The broad potential of the iHSD mill was evident, in that the reductions in efficacy due to wide-ranging differences in chaff type and moisture content were relatively small (≤10%). The results from these studies confirm the high efficacy and widespread suitability of the iHSD for use in Australian crop production systems. Additionally, as this system allows the conservation of all harvest residues, it is the best HWSC technique for conservation cropping systems.

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