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…
Carbon and water relations in perennial Kernza (Thinopyrum intermedium): An overview
Abstract: Perennial crops have been proposed as a more sustainable alternative to annual crops, because they have extended growing seasons, continuous ground cover, reduced nutrient leakage, and sequester more carbon…
Benefits of Native Mycorrhizal Amendments to Perennial Agroecosystems Increases with Field Inoculation Density
Perennial polyculture cropping systems are a novel agroecological approach used to mirror some of the ecological benefits provided by native perennial ecosystems including increased carbon and nitrogen storage, more stable…