Perennial groundcovers: an emerging technology for soil conservation and the sustainable intensification of agriculture
Integrating perennial groundcovers (PGC) — sometimes referred to as living mulches or perennial cover crops — into annual cash-crop systems could address root causes of bare-soil practices that lead to…
Challenges and Opportunities in Managing Diseases in No-Till Farming Systems
Abstract Under NT management, there are several pathogens that often increase, such as Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium spp., or decrease, such as Gaeumannomyces graminis and Pratylenchus neglectus. While NT farming…
An Aridamerican model for agriculture in a hotter, water scarce world
Societal Impact Statement Climate change is dramatically restructuring agriculture and damaging crops, food security, and human health, especially in deserts. To radically redesign food systems to buffer against climatic disruptions,…
Cover crop mixture expression is influenced by nitrogen availability and growing degree days
Abstract Cover crop mixtures can provide multiple ecosystem services but provisioning of these services is contingent upon the expression of component species in the mixture. From the same seed mixture,…
Abiotic and biotic context dependency of perennial crop yield
Perennial crops in agricultural systems can increase sustainability and the magnitude of ecosystem services, but yield may depend upon biotic context, including soil mutualists, pathogens and cropping diversity. These biotic…
New Food Crop Domestication in the Age of Gene Editing: Genetic, Agronomic and Cultural Change Remain Co-evolutionarily Entangled
The classic domestication scenario for grains and fruits has been portrayed as the lucky fixation of major-effect “domestication genes.” Characterization of these genes plus recent improvements in generating novel alleles…
Ecospheric Care Work
Caring for other beings – both human and more-than-human – is crucial to our ongoing existence. This article connects an analysis of care work with an ecospheric perspective to conceptualize…
Comparative Analysis of Early Life Stage Traits in Annual and Perennial Phaseolus Crops and Their Wild Relatives
Herbaceous perennial species are receiving increased attention for their potential to provide both edible products and ecosystem services in agricultural systems. Many legumes (Fabaceae Lindl.) are of special interest due…
Native Plant Abundance, Diversity, and Richness Increases in Prairie Restoration with Field Inoculation Density of Native Mycorrhizal Amendments
Ecological restoration efforts can increase the diversity and function of degraded areas. However, current restoration practices cannot typically reestablish the full diversity and species composition of remnant plant communities. Restoration…
Envisioning Perennial Agroecosystems in Palestine
Abstract: Climatic change will seriously impact Mediterranean areas. Palestine, which has given forth annual grain based agriculture, is particularly vulnerable given its political and economic situation. Research is needed to…
Community Structure of Soil Fungi in a Novel Perennial Crop Monoculture, Annual Agriculture, and Native Prairie Reconstruction
Abstract The use of perennial crop species in agricultural systems may increase ecosystem services and sustainability. Because soil microbial communities play a major role in many processes on which ecosystem…
Digging Deeper for Agricultural Resources, the Value of Deep Rooting
Recent studies have documented highly significant differences among current and potential crops, as well as genotypic differences, in the ability for deep rooting. Results have shown significant effects of deep…