Field, Lab, Earth

"Effects of Biomass Removal Levels on Soil Carbon and Nutrient Reserves in Conifer-Dominated, Coarse-Textured Sites in Northern Ontario: 20-Year Results" with Dr. Dave Morris

Forest harvesting varies greatly from annual harvests of agricultural crops, with extended times between harvests, the amount of harvested material removed, and the degree of site disturbance. Trees can grow to impressive sizes, but can take up to 60 years or more to reach a merchantable size. Because of these factors, the potential impact of these forest harvest operations on the environmental conditions needed for successful tree regeneration and growth can be substantial. Dr. Dave Morris, in collaboration with colleagues from the Canadian Forest Service, have been examining the potential impacts of forest biomass removal on the sustainability of these harvesting practices. With his team from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry in Canada and sites from across the North American Long-term Soil Productivity Network, he's spent 25-years looking at how forest soils and the regenerating forest recover after different intensities of forest biomass removal.

Tune in to learn more about:

• How does the removal of forest biomass affect the health of soil and the regenerating forest?
• How does the forest "recover" after stand-replacing disturbances?
• How do foresters try to minimize environmental impact?
• How does one coordinate a 25-year research project?

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2018.08.0306

It will be freely available from 19 July to 2 August, 2019.

If you would like to find transcripts for this episode or sign up for our newsletter, please visit our website: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe.

If you would like to reach out to Dave, you can find him here: [email protected]

Listener Survey

As a reminder, we are running a listener survey until July 27. Listeners who complete the survey and join our newsletter will get a free, exclusive loyal listener sticker. You can complete the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N8V2YSL

Resources

CEU Quiz: http://www.soils.org/education/classroom/classes/813

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry: https://www.ontario.ca/page/ministry-natural-resources-and-forestry

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ONresources/posts/2121303117916894

Dead wood facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/ONresources/photos/a.735069293206957/1796941180353091/?type=3

#MNRFScience on social media

Local Citizens Committees: https://www.ontario.ca/page/forest-management-planning

Field, Lab, Earth is copyrighted to the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

Happy birthday to us! In honor of our first birthday, we've put together a blooper reel. And to keep the good times rolling, we've developed a short, five minute survey to help us improve. Please take the time to fill it out, and enjoy some of our favorite flubs! Thank you to all of our amazing guests from year one!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N8V2YSL

If you would like to sign up for our newsletter, please visit our website: https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/podcast

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe.

Field, Lab, Earth is copyrighted to the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

"A Low-Cost Automated System for High-Throughput Phenotyping of Single Oat Seeds" with James Clohessy.

A Rube Goldberg machine is a machine intentionally designed to complete a simple task using overly complicated steps. James Clohessy and his team are doing just the opposite. Using machine learning, web cameras, open software, and photogrammetry techniques, they're developing low cost, high-throughput, high efficiency phenotyping systems. With these systems, researchers can save hours of time that would normally be spent on taking individual seed measurements by hand, such as height, width, and color, all while gaining greater detail about the seed such as volume and density.

Listen in to learn more about James' new system as well as:

• What are phenotyping and photogrammetry?
• What are some of the applications of knowing seed size, color, and weight?
• What are some of the limitations of high-throughput phenotyping?
• What are some of the future applications of these machine learning systems?

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.2135/tppj2018.07.0005

This paper is always freely available.

If you would like to find transcripts for this episode or sign up for our newsletter, please visit our website: http://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe.

If you would like to reach out to James, you can find him here: [email protected] https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameswclohessy/ @ufifasnfrec

Resources

CEU Quiz: http://www.agronomy.org/education/classroom/classes/814

Cornell Plant Breeding and Genetics Section: https://plbrgen.cals.cornell.edu/

Paul Armstrong: https://www.ars.usda.gov/plains-area/mhk/cgahr/spieru/people/paul-armstrong/

Dr. Guo's Easy PPC program: http://park.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/Field-Phenomics/ninolab/PhenotypingTools/EasyPCC.html

HeatSync Labs: https://www.heatsynclabs.org/

Field, Lab, Earth is copyrighted to the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

"Vadose Zone Gas Migration and Surface Effluxes after a Controlled Natural Gas Release into an Unconfined Shallow Aquifer" with Olenka Forde.

Olenka Forde thinks a lot about a world that we'll never see – the world existing right underneath our feet. Olenka's research is related to hydraulic fracturing and she is interested in how we can safely extract oil and gas resources without negative impacts on fresh water supply, wildlife, and even humans. She does this by monitoring the fate and transport of gases in the subsurface and emissions at the ground surface at a controlled natural gas release experiment, essentially simulating what happens when a gas well leaks.

Gas leakage at oil and gas wells is an old problem, but has garnered renewed interest with the advent of hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is a process that works to free valuable natural gas from beneath rock deep in the earth through injecting a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals at a very high pressure. The gas is released through these cracks and up through a constructed well to the surface for collection. Occasionally; however, sealing of wells is imperfect and gas present along the borehole escapes, causing the potential for groundwater contamination and surface emissions. Olenka works to map the pathway of gases after the point of release, eventually with the goal of creating improved action plans for industry professionals to keep people and the environment safe. Tune in to learn about her research and find answers to questions such as:

• What's the difference between an unconventional and conventional gas well?
• What makes a well leak?
• What are the risks associated with gas leakage?
• What happens to gas after it enters an aquifer?
• Why can it be challenging to find gas leakage?
• What's a flux chamber?

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2018.02.0033

This paper is always freely available.

If you would like to find transcripts for this episode or sign up for our newsletter, please visit our website: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe.

If you would like to reach out to Olenka, you can find her here: [email protected]

Resources

CEU Quiz: http://www.soils.org/education/classroom/classes/833

Cahill, 2017: https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo2919

Cahill, 2018: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896971733468X

Steelman, 2017: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169772217300360?via%3Dihub

Vidic, 2013: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/340/6134/1235009

Alvarez, 2018: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6398/186

Soeder, 2018: http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/science/G361A/article.htm

Field, Lab, Earth is copyrighted to the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

"Color, Transfer, and Application Parameters of Turfgrass Colorants" with Garland (Drew) Pinnix.

In kindergarten, we're taught that colors can be one of seven colors of the rainbow. Later, we learn fun colors like purple mountain majesty and get excited when our friend brings a 50-pack of crayons. In reality though, color is much more complex, a mixture of hue, brightness, and saturation. Drew Pinnix thinks a lot about color, specifically in relation to turfgrass. Most of the time, the beautiful turfgrass we see at golf courses or football fields is due to careful management by professionals trained in plant science or agronomy. However, sometimes weather or cost restrictions gets in the way, and turfgrass managers look to colorants to get the turfgrass ready for use and for cameras quickly.

However, getting a natural color that won't rub off as football players slide in after a fumble is incredibly complicated. That's where Drew's team comes in. He works to scientifically evaluate turfgrass colorants so football fields and golf courses can keep looking gorgeous year-round. Tune in to learn more about Drew's experimental design, turfgrass management, and learn answers to the following:

• What are some reasons that turfgrass managers might use colorants?
• What is overseeding, and why might it be done intentionally?
• What is hue angle?
• What is the difference between hue, saturation, and brightness?
• Does a colorant work better on wet or dry turf?

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.2134/agronj2017.03.0164

It will be freely available from 19 April to 3 May, 2019.

If you would like to find transcripts for this episode or sign up for our newsletter, please visit our website: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe.

If you would like to reach out to Drew, you can find him here: [email protected]

Resources

CEU Quiz: http://www.agronomy.org/education/classroom/classes/832

"Air Temperature Effects on Turfgrass Colorant Transfer" paper: dx.doi.org/doi:10.2134/cftm2017.12.0091

"Leaf Wetness Influences Turf Colorant Application" paper: dx.doi.org/10.2134/cftm2018.12.0099

TurfFiles: https://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/

Field, Lab, Earth is copyrighted to the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

"Toward Better Understanding of Terrestrial Processes through Long-Term Hydrological Observatories" with Dr. Heye Bogena.

Hydrology, put plainly, is the study of water: how it moves, where it goes, and what's inside it. Hydrologists gather as much information as they can about water in order to understand current water trends and to predict potential water patterns in the future. In a changing climate, this is more crucial than ever. Using data from multiple networks of hydrological observatories, hydrologists gather information and create and test models surrounding questions such as: How will land use change affect water flux? Will climate change create conditions for more low or high flow events? How can forestation affect frequency of high flow events? They then use this information to create resources for natural resource managers, officials, and the public to make informed decisions. In this episode, we'll take a deeper look at how hydrological observatories are making strides in understanding water and its movement around the world.

We'll discuss:

• What's a catchment?
• What is the history of hydrological observatories?
• How do hydrological observatories communicate?
• Why should different disciplines of sciences collaborate with hydrology?

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper, the introductory paper to the Hydrological Observatories special section in Vadose Zone Journal, is available here: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.2136/vzj2018.10.0194

This paper is always freely available.

If you would like to find transcripts for this episode or sign up for our newsletter, please visit our website: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe.

If you would like to reach out to Heye, you can find him here: Email: [email protected] Agrosphere Institute (IBG-3) web page: http://www.fz-juelich.de/ibg/ibg-3/EN/Home/home_node.html http://www.fz-juelich.de/ibg/ibg-3/EN/Staff/B/Bogena%20Heye/Bogena%20Heye.html?nn=1239630

Resources

CEU Quiz: http://www.soils.org/education/classroom/classes/831

TERENO web page: www.tereno.net

Bi-annual TERENO newsletter (downloadable at the TERENO website and distributed via email).

European Network of Hydrological Observatories (ENOHA): https://www.enoha.eu/

German Drought Monitor: https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=37937

AMMA-Catch paper from VZJ Special Section: https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2018.03.0062

Bogena TERENO paper from VZJ Special Section: https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2018.03.0055

Heinrich TERENO paper from VZJ Special Section: https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2018.06.0116

Kiese TERENO paper from VZJ Special Section: https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2018.03.0060

OZCAR paper from VZJ Special Section: https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2018.04.0067

Field, Lab, Earth is copyrighted to the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

Precision Agriculture Basics with Dr. David Clay

Dr. David Clay, along with the precision agriculture community, are working like codebreakers to crack the secret to more efficient, more environmentally friendly farming. The key? Understanding variability.

Across any given farm field, there are many discrepancies in how given points of the field react to similar management practices. If farmers understand what causes those discrepancies, they can fine tune management in ways that can optimize fertilizer and pesticide use, inputs, and time. Getting this type of information used to mean extensive and costly soil sampling. Dr. Clay discusses how tech has made it possible to make great management decisions from data obtained miles above a farm.

• Learn about this as well as:
• What are the types of variability found in a field?
• Why does topography affect yield?
• How does the Dust Bowl impact us and the land today?
• What is soil's memory effect?
• What are zone sampling and grid sampling? Why is the difference important?
• How can one identify chlorophyll from miles away?

If you would like more information about this topic, Precision Agriculture Basics is available here: https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.2134/precisionagbasics

Front Matter: https://doi.org/10.2134/precisionagbasics.2018.frontmatter

The first chapter will be freely available from 15 February to 1 March, 2019.

If you would like to find transcripts for this episode or sign up for our newsletter, please visit our website: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe.

If you would like to reach out to David, you can find him here: [email protected] https://www.sdstate.edu/directory/david-clay

Resources

CEU Quiz: http://www.agronomy.org/education/classroom/classes/830

Precision Agriculture Basics: https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.2134/precisionagbasics

Practical Mathematics for Precision Farming: https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.2134/practicalmath

Precision Conservation: Geospatial Techniques for Agricultural and Natural Resources Conservation: https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.2134/agronmonogr59

"Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities in the Precision Agriculture Workforce: An Industry Survey," published in Natural Sciences Education: https://doi.org/10.4195/nse2018.04.0010

On-Farm Research Special Section in Agronomy Journal: https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14350645/2019/111/6

You can sign up for alerts for new Agronomy Journal content from the sidebar here: https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14350645

Sensor-Based Nutrient Management community: https://www.agronomy.org/membership/committees/view/A012.1#

Precision Agriculture Systems community: https://www.agronomy.org/membership/committees/view/A012.3#

Sensor-Based Water Management community: https://www.agronomy.org/membership/committees/view/A014.6#

Field, Lab, Earth is copyrighted to the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

"Hand Planter for the Developing World: Factor Testing and Refinement" with Dr. Bill Raun

Across Central America, South America, and Africa, there are thousands of acres of land with slopes and landscapes that will never be suitable for mechanized agriculture. For hundreds of years, they have been planted by hand, a practice that continues today.

The problem is, as technology in chemical seed treatments has advanced, technology in hand-planting techniques has not, resulting in thousands of farmers' exposure to seed-friendly chemicals that can lead to sickness and even birth defects in humans.

After splitting much of his childhood and early career between North, South, and Central America and seeing the results of this exposure, Dr. Bill Raun decided it was time to do something about it. Working with engineering students and professors at Oklahoma State University, he has spent more than 20 years developing a new hand planter that will work with existing hand-planting techniques to increase yields and get good, chemically treated seed out of farmers' hands.

Listen now to learn:

• What are some of the problems Central American farmers face when using traditional hand-planting techniques?
• How can use of the hand-planter and modified hand-planting techniques double yields for developing world farmers?
• Why is anthropology so key in designing new tools, and how does human interaction affect design?

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.2134/age2018.03.0002

This paper is always freely available.

If you would like to find transcripts for this episode or sign up for our newsletter, please visit our website: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe.

Resources

CEU Quiz: http://www.agronomy.org/education/classroom/classes/837

Hand Planter Site: http://nue.okstate.edu/Hand_Planter.htm Nitrogen Use Efficiency Site: http://nue.okstate.edu/

CSA News article: https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/story/2016/feb/mon/handplanter-could-boost-productivity-for-worlds-poorest-farmers

Field, Lab, Earth is copyrighted to the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

"Review: Sediment-Related Controls on the Health of the Great Barrier Reef" with Dr. Peter Hairsine.

In 2016, a catastrophic bleaching event killed off around 30% of the Great Barrier Reef's coral. The reef has been in a precarious spot for decades, but climate change and human-caused pollution have amplified the threats to its existence. Dr. Peter Hairsine is a scientist with The Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National Univ., Canberra, Australia, working on the front lines of monitoring and researching the reef's responses to these changes, with an ultimate goal of preserving it as one of the world's richest and most unique ecosystems.

Join us as Dr. Hairsine and I discuss the stresses that the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) currently experiences. Warming ocean temperatures, deteriorating river water quality, and tropical storms all threaten the fragile coral that houses thousands upon thousands of native species. You'll learn the three ecosystems of reef within the GBR, as well as the sources of sediment and attached pollutants that currently feed into it.

Also in the episode:

• Why is the reef considered a "nutrient desert"? Why is that a good thing?
• What is a bleaching event? Why does it happen?
• How does a "plague" of starfish occur?
• How do reservoirs help trap sediment before it can reach the reef?
• What is an evidence based way of prioritizing the locations where rehabilitation money should be spent?

If you would like more information about this topic, today's paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2017.05.0115

This paper is always freely available.

If you would like to find transcripts for this episode or sign up for our newsletter, please visit our website: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe.

If you would like to reach out to Peter, you can find him here: [email protected]

Resources

CEU Quiz: http://www.soils.org/education/classroom/classes/829

Mentioned around 6:30 in the interview: De'ath, G., Fabricius, K.E., Sweatman, H. and Puotinen, M., 2012. The 27–year decline of coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef and its causes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, p.201208909. https://www.pnas.org/content/109/44/17995

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/about-the-reef/reef-health

Australian Institute of Marine Science: https://www.aims.gov.au/

The Australian Government's Reef Trust: http://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/reef-trust

Queensland Government Reef Water Quality Improvement Plan: https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/coasts-waterways/reef-program

Fighting the crown-of-thorns foe video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGN0z29e3fM

Crown of Thorns Starfish video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBkv_SSvm5U

Field, Lab, Earth is copyrighted to the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

"Pyramiding of Alleles from Multiple Sources Increases the Resistance of Soybean to Highly Virulent Soybean Cyst Nematode Isolates" with Dr. Brian Diers.

One of a farmer's greatest enemies is a nemesis that they never even see. A nematode sounds like a ghastly swamp monster – in reality, it's a microscopic worm that does some big time damage to soybean fields. These little guys love living in the soil and sucking on soybean roots. A bad infestation of soybean cyst nematodes can cost a farmer around 30 to 40% of his or her crop.

So how does one fight a nemesis that is too small to see? You build up a resistance. That's what Dr. Brian Diers is developing through his soybean breeding research. He's been working with crop wild relatives, soybean varieties, and plant breeders to identify sources of resistance and ways to incorporate that resistance into soybean.

This process is a race against time. Resistant soybean varieties are almost entirely from a single source. Nematodes are becoming more and more capable of overcoming this resistance.

Listen in to learn:

• How Dr. Diers team finds a gene location responsible for resistance
• How to visually identify nematode infestation
• How to create a genetic marker
• How a polymerase chain reaction is used in genetics research

If you would like more information about this topic, today's paper is available here: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.2135/cropsci2016.12.1007

It will be freely available from 16 November to 30 November, 2018.

If you would like to find transcripts for this episode or sign up for our newsletter, please visit our website: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe.

If you would like to reach out to Brian, you can find him here: [email protected] https://cropsciences.illinois.edu/people/profile/bdiers http://soybeaninnovationlab.illinois.edu/team-members http://www.tropicalsoybean.com/tropical-soybean-university/brian-diers

Resources

CEU Quiz: http://www.agronomy.org/education/classroom/classes/828

State Extension programs: https://nifa.usda.gov/extension

Find your State Extension program: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/extension-search

United Soybean Board, Soybean Checkoff program: http://unitedsoybean.org/

Brian's Other Crop Science Papers "Impact of Soybean Cyst Nematode Resistance on Soybean Yield" http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.2135/cropsci2016.07.0628

"Fine Mapping of the SCN Resistance QTL cqSCN-006 and cqSCN-007 from Glycine soja PI 468916" http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.2135/cropsci2012.07.0425

Field, Lab, Earth is copyrighted to the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.