Crop production and prevailing farming practices have greatly reduced biodiversity and nearly eliminated native prairie in the central USA. Restoring small areas of prairie on cropland may increase plant biodiversity and native species abundance while benefiting the cropland. In Iowa, we incorporated buffer strips composed of prairie vegetation within catchments (0.5 ha to 3.2 ha land areas in which precipitation drained to a collection point at the slope bottom) used for corn (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max) production. We planted prairie buffer strips in three designs, varying the proportion of the catchment converted to buffer and/ or the continuity of the buffer. Within the catchments, we determined the identity and percent cover of buffer strip plant species during 2008-2011 and of weed species in cropped areas during 2009-2011. We found 380% more species in 6 m2 of buffer strip than in 6 m2 of crop, indicating that the presence of buffer strips greatly increased catchment diversity. Plant community composition did not differ among the three buffer designs. Despite being surrounded by cropland, the buffer vegetation was dominated by native perennial species-the targeted vegetation type for both ecohydrological functions (e.g., erosion control) and native species conservation-within four years of establishment. Furthermore, weed species richness and prevalence did not differ between cropped areas of catchments with buffer strips and cropped areas of catchments without buffer strips. These results indicate that converting 10-20% of cropland to prairie buffer strips successfully reintroduced perennial species characteristic of native prairie without increasing weeds in adjacent crops. ABSTrACTCrop production and prevailing farming practices have greatly reduced biodiversity and nearly eliminated native prairie in the central USA. Restoring small areas of prairie on cropland may increase plant biodiversity and native species abundance while benefiting the cropland. In Iowa, we incorporated buffer strips composed of prairie vegetation within catchments (0.5 ha to 3.2 ha land areas in which precipitation drained to a collection point at the slope bottom) used for corn (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max) production. We planted prairie buffer strips in three designs, varying the proportion of the catchment converted to buffer and/or the continuity of the buffer. Within the catchments, we determined the identity and percent cover of buffer strip plant species during 2008-2011 and of weed species in cropped areas during 2009-2011. We found 380% more species in 6 m2 of buffer strip than in 6 m2 of crop, indicating that the presence of buffer strips greatly increased catchment diversity. Plant community composition did not differ among the three buffer designs. Despite being surrounded by cropland, the buffer vegetation was dominated by native perennial species-the targeted vegetation type for both ecohydrological functions (e.g., erosion control) and native species conservationwithin four years of estab...
N itrogen (N) loading to water bodies in humid temperate regions occurs primarily by leaching during the nongrowing season when evapotranspiration is minimal (Meisinger and Delgado, 2002). In the mid-Atlantic United States, where corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] are the main annual crops (USDA NASS, 2012), NO 3-N commonly leaches >1 m between fall and spring (Angle, 1990; Forrestal et al., 2014; Meisinger and Delgado, 2002). Here, corn typically ceases N uptake by early September when maturity is approached (Ciampitti et al., 2013; Hanway, 1963). Excessive N contributes to eutrophication and hypoxia in the Chesapeake Bay (Ator and Denver, 2015; Phillips and Caughron, 2014), motivating the Maryland legislature to mandate nutrient management plans (Parker, 2000) that regulate N application to crops (Maryland Department of Agriculture, 2014). Even with mandated efforts, however, N leaching continues to be a concern in Maryland (USEPA, 2017). Spatiotemporal patterns of soil N influence the accessibility of N to growing crops and its susceptibility to leaching. End-of-growing-season residual N, especially in deeper soil layers, is at risk of leaching below the root zone of subsequent crops and eventually into groundwater (Thorup-Kristensen, 1994). Even when crops are fertilized at recommended rates, substantial mineral N (N min) remains in the soil at the end of the growing season. In Pennsylvania, following corn fertilized at economic optimum rates, 74 and 94 kg NO 3-N ha-1 remained in the upper 120 cm of nonmanured and manured soils, respectively (Roth and Fox, 1990). Furthermore, fall uptake of 80 to 220 kg N ha-1 by earlyplanted cover crops (Dean and Weil, 2009; Wang and Weil, 2018) suggests that substantial soil N remains following even high yields of cash crops. Data on the amounts and depth distribution of residual N min in fall could assist in optimizing N conservation practices, such as cover cropping. Materials and Methods Twenty-nine row-crop fields were sampled across the Piedmont, Ridge and Valley, and Coastal Plain regions of Maryland and southeastern Pennsylvania between 2014 and 2016. Fields were selected from farm operations that responded
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2. METHODS CHAPTER 3. RESULTS CHAPTER 4. DISCUSSION CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION APPENDIX A. MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES 46 APPENDIX B. IOWA COEFFICIENTS OF CONSERVATISM 47
Core Ideas Deep tillage practices increase soybean yield.Irrigation is a recommended practice for maximizing soybean yields.As the irrigation deficit is increased the soybean seed yield decreases. A major limitation to soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merri.] yield is the availability of water for crop production; however, water available for irrigation is declining in many of the crop growing regions. The objectives of this study were to validate and/or refine current allowable deficit recommendation for evapotranspiration (ET)‐based irrigation scheduling for furrow irrigated soybean and to examine the effects of deep tillage and gypsum amendment on yields and water use efficiency (WUE). This experiment was conducted near Stuttgart, AR, across three growing seasons on a soil type described as a fine, smectitic, thermic Typic Albagualf. The soil management treatments were deep tillage, deep tillage/gypsum application, conventional tillage/gypsum application, and conventional tillage. Irrigation treatments (fully irrigated, +1 deficit, +2 deficit, and non‐irrigated), were replicated three times within each soil treatment. Increases in soybean yields above 20% (2013), 9% (2014), and above 10% (2015), were observed in the deep tillage treatments. No yield benefits were observed in the gypsum amendment treatments. The +1 deficit resulted in reduction of irrigation water used and can be used in conjunction with deep tillage to obtain similar yield responses as fully irrigated treatments. In conventional treatments reduction in yield was observed at all levels of irrigation deficit except for fully irrigated treatments, indicating that conventional soil management practices should follow Arkansas allowable deficit recommendation for ET‐based irrigation scheduling as a maximum allowable deficit to prevent yield loss.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.