At any point in time, a cleared parcel of forest land (CPFL) used for swidden agriculture exists in either the fallow or in the non-fallow state. Further, the practice of swidden agriculture requires one to operate in an environment of uncertainty. These two points notwithstanding, there are virtually no probabilistic models of swidden agriculture that explicitly account for the above dichotomy...

To estimate relative risk for exposure to ticks infected with Lyme disease-causing spirochetes in different land-use types along a trail in Germany, we compared tick density and spirochete prevalence on ruminant pasture with that on meadow and fallow land. Risk was significantly lower on pasture than on meadow and fallow land.

Broadcast plantings of nonhost cultivars (alfalfa, barley, bean, onion, potato, and wheat) in soil in redwood boxes (4.2 x 30 x 14 cm) infested with Heterodera schachtii reduced the initial nematode populations (P = 0.05). The reduction was greater with sugarbeets, a host, than with all other cropping treatments except onion, bean, and fallow (P = 0.05). After 80 days, when the root growth of a...

We harvested 21 fallow deer (Dama dama) and 17 axis deer (Axis axis) in northern Mexico. Two fallow deer were positive for Babesia bigemina and one for Babesia bovis. Amplicons had the expected 170 and 291 base pairs and were identical to B. bigemina (S45366) and B. bovis (M38218), respectively.

In this paper, we study the use of wheat land fallow production systems as a climate change adaptation strategy. Using data from the U.S. Census of Agriculture, we find that fallow is an important adaption strategy for wheat farms in the U.S. Pacific Northwest region. In particular, we find that a warmer and wetter climate increases the share of fallow in total cropland and thus reduces croplan...

The efficacy of fallow and coastal bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) as a rotation crop for control of root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita race 1) and soilborne fungi in okra (Hibiscus esculentus cv. Emerald), squash (Cucurbita pepo cv. Dixie Hybrid), and sweet corn (Zea mays cv. Merit) was evaluated in a 3-year field trial. Numbers of M. incognita in the soil and root-gall indices were gre...

In the Great Plains of North America potential evaporation exceeds precipitation during most months of the year. About 75% of the annual precipitation is received from April through September, and is accompanied by high temperatures and low relative humidity. Dryland agriculture in the Great Plains has depended on wheat production in a wheat-fallow agroecosystem (one crop year followed by a fal...

There is increasing archaeological evidence that deer were being systematically cropped or “ranched” much earlier than has been previously supposed. In the Mediterranean region, fallow deer (Dama danm dama), made a sudden appearance on several islands at the same time as sheep, goats and pigs, and subsequently their bones make up 70 percent of those found at Neolithic sites between 6000 and 200...

Blowing dust from excessively tilled fallow fields is a major soil loss and air quality concern in the low precipitation (<300 mm annual) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production region of the Inland Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the United States. A 2-year tillage-based winter wheat-summer fallow (WW-SF) rotation is practiced on >90% of rainfed cropland in the region. Earlier research proved the u...

European honey bees Apis mellifera are important commercial pollinators that have suffered greater than normal overwintering losses since 2007 in North America and Europe. Contributing factors likely include a combination of parasites, pesticides, and poor nutrition. We examined diet diversity, diet nutritional quality, and pesticides in honey bee-collected pollen from commercial colonies in th...