Maize stover is beginning to be used as a cellulosic biofuel feedstock in the Midwestern United States; however, there are concerns that stover removal could result in increased soil erosion and loss of soil organic matter. Use of a winter cover crop following maize harvest has the potential to mitigate these impacts and may have additional benefits by providing continuous living cover in annua...

sleep plays a vital role in regulating physiological mechanisms in the human body. nowadays, by the change of lifestyle and as a consequence of longer work hours and increased accessibility to media, sleep disturbance becomes a common problem in modern society. many studies demonstrated that sleep disturbance triggers a systemic low-grade inflammation by increasing the level of several cytokine...

As the world's population increases, marginal lands such as drylands are likely to become more important for food production. One proven strategy for improving crop production in drylands involves shifting from conventional tillage to no-till to increase water use efficiency, especially when this shift is coupled with more intensive crop rotations. Practices such as no-till that reduce soil dis...

CT crop–fallow system in the central Great Plains (Shanahan et al., 1988; Halvorson, 1990; Peterson et al., Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–fallow (WF) using conven1993; Halvorson and Reule, 1994; Farahani et al., 1998). tional stubble mulch tillage (CT) is the predominant production practice in the central Great Plains and has resulted in high erosion potential Winter wheat yields in a WCF...

This study dynamically monitors ecosystem performance (EP) to identify grasslands potentially suitable for cellulosic feedstock crops (e.g., switchgrass) within the Greater Platte River Basin (GPRB). We computed grassland site potential and EP anomalies using 9-year (2000–2008) time series of 250 m expedited moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer Normalized Difference Vegetation Index da...

Blubaugh, Carmen K. Ph.D., Purdue University, May 2015. Undercover Predators: Vegetation Mediates Foraging, Trophic Cascades, and Biological Control by Omnivorous Weed Seed Predators. Major Professor: Ian Kaplan. Weed pressure is the most costly challenge that vegetable growers face, requiring more labor investment than other production inputs. Vertebrate and invertebrate seed predators destroy...

Pollinators may be declining globally, a matter of concern because animal pollination is required by most of the world's plant species, including many crop plants. Human land use and the loss of native habitats is thought to be an important driver of decline for wild, native pollinators, yet the findings of published studies on this topic have never been quantitatively synthesized. Here we use ...