Article
Agronomy
Emmanuel Byamukama, Oscar Perez-Hernandez, Dalitso Nobble Yabwalo
Summary: Plant disease epidemics cause significant yield loss in crops annually. To ensure stable production of food, feed, fiber, and fuel from plants, stakeholders need to work together to develop resistant varieties, promote integrated disease management, and improve early detection capabilities of new pathogens.
Article
Environmental Sciences
David Smith, Amelie Davis, Claudia Hitaj, Daniel Hellerstein, Amanda Preslicka, Emma Kogge, David Mushet, Eric Lonsdorf
Summary: The study found that changes in land cover negatively impacted honey yields, with transitions from grassland to soybean particularly harmful. In North Dakota, these changes resulted in a 2.5% decline (1.6 million USD) in honey yields in 2012. Additionally, colonies in the study area experienced a 14% annual decline in honey yields.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Jeffrey D. Boehm Jr, Steve Masterson, Nathan Palmer, Xiwen Cai, Fernando Miguez
Summary: This study analyzed the genetic gains of winter wheat adapted to the Northern Great Plains of North America using long-term data. The results showed a decline in relative grain yield in recent years and limited genetic progress. The study suggests that winter wheat in this region has reached its yield potential and may be limited by environmental factors such as global warming.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Connor Clark, Gyan P. Nyaupane
Summary: This grounded theory research explores stakeholder attitudes towards tourism development and ecological restoration in a landscape-scale ecological restoration project in Montana, USA. The study reveals contrasting worldviews, ecological paradigm, landscape-scale land management, and lack of shared community vision among stakeholders. Furthermore, integrated threat theory is used to explain intergroup conflict in a tourism and ecological context, and a revised tourism area life cycle (TALC) model is proposed to understand the interrelationships between regional tourism and landscape-scale ecological restoration areas. The importance of bottom-up solutions, community-driven initiatives, and stakeholder engagement in the planning process is emphasized.
JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
William Timothy Treal Taylor, Pablo Librado, Mila Hunska Tasunke Icu, Carlton Shield Chief Gover, Jimmy Arterberry, Anpetu Luta Win, Akil Nujipi, Tanka Omniya, Mario Gonzalez, Bill Means, Sam High Crane, Mazasu, Barbara Dull Knife, Wakihyala Win, Cruz Tecumseh Collin, Chance Ward, Theresa A. Pasqual, Lorelei Chauvey, Laure Tonasso-Calviere, Stephanie Schiavinato, Andaine Seguin-Orlando, Antoine Fages, Naveed Khan, Clio Der Sarkissian, Xuexue Liu, Stefanie Wagner, Beth Ginondidoy Leonard, Bruce L. Manzano, Nancy O'Malley, Jennifer A. Leonard, Eloisa Bernaldez-Sanchez, Eric Barrey, Lea Charliquart, Emilie Robbe, Thibault Denoblet, Kristian Gregersen, Alisa O. Vershinina, Jaco Weinstock, Petra Rajit Sikanjic, Marjan Mashkour, Irina Shingiray, Jean-Marc Aury, Aude Perdereau, Saleh Alquraishi, Ahmed H. Alfarhan, Khaled A. S. Al-Rasheid, Tajana Trbojevit Vukicevit, Marcel Buric, Eberhard Sauer, Mary Lucas, Joan Brenner-Coltrain, John R. Bozell, Cassidee A. Thornhill, Victoria Monagle, Angela Perri, Cody Newton, W. Eugene Hall, Joshua L. Conver, Petrus Le Roux, Sasha G. Buckser, Caroline Gabe, Juan Bautista Belardi, Christina I. Barron-Ortiz, Isaac A. Hart, Christina Ryder, Matthew Sponheimer, Beth Shapiro, John Southon, Joss Hibbs, Charlotte Faulkner, Alan Outram, Laura Patterson Rosa, Katelyn Palermo, Marina Sole, Alice William, Wayne McCrory, Gabriella Lindgren, Samantha Brooks, Camille Eche, Cecile Donnadieu, Olivier Bouchez, Patrick Wincker, Gregory Hodgins, Sarah Trabert, Brandi Bethke, Patrick Roberts, Emily Lena Jones, Yvette Running Horse Collin, Ludovic Orlando
Summary: This article reveals the importance of horses in many Indigenous cultures across the American Southwest and the Great Plains, as well as how horses were integrated into Indigenous lifeways. The study shows that horses rapidly spread from the south into the northern Rockies and central plains by the first half of the 17th century CE, likely through Indigenous exchange networks. Horses were deeply integrated into Indigenous societies before the arrival of 18th-century European observers, as reflected in herd management, ceremonial practices, and culture.
Article
Ecology
D. Fiedler, S. A. Clay, S. Westhoff, C. L. Reese, S. A. Bruggeman, J. Moriles-Miller, L. Perkins, D. R. Joshi, S-Y Marzano, D. E. Clay
Summary: This study investigated the effects of phytoremediation on soil and plant health and found that combining phytoremediation with natural rainfall can reduce soil electrical conductivity and exchangeable sodium ions, but these benefits may be short-lived and the electrical conductivity may increase as the water table drops.
JOURNAL OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Water Resources
Erik Oerter, Eric Slessarev, Ate Visser, Kyungjin Min, Megan Kan, Karis J. McFarlane, Malay C. Saha, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Erin Nuccio
Summary: The study found that soil under the deeply rooted switchgrass had consistently higher water content compared to nearby soil under shallow-rooted crops by 15%-100%, likely due to hydraulic redistribution. This redistribution may be a drought avoidance strategy for switchgrass and could potentially be used to supplement soil water for shallow-rooted species in intercropping arrangements.
HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES
(2021)
Article
Ecology
David G. Angeler, Caleb P. Roberts, Dirac Twidwell, Craig R. Allen
Summary: Human activity causes biome shifts that alter biodiversity and spatial resilience patterns. However, in a new spatial regime after fundamental ecological changes, rare species only marginally contribute to resilience.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Demi M. Gary, Krista Mougey, Nancy E. McIntyre, Kerry L. Griffis-Kyle
Summary: Conservation efforts often focus on single species, but this study shows that managing the lesser prairie-chicken habitat can provide a net conservation benefit for other at-risk species, making the lesser prairie-chicken an effective umbrella species. The index-based approach used in this study can serve as a model for evaluating the efficacy of surrogate species in protecting a community of organisms.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Megan Housman, Susan Tallman, Clain Jones, Perry Miller, Catherine Zabinski
Summary: The study compared the effects of cover crop mixtures and single-species legume green manure on soil biological activity in semi-arid regions. The results showed that cover crops may alter soil processes and components, positively impacting soil biological parameters.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Limnology
Mariam Elmarsafy, Kayla L. Tasky, Derek K. Gray
Summary: The Great Plains of North America are expected to become more arid, causing lakes in the region to become more saline as the climate dries. This study using resurrection ecology found that a common zooplankton species, Ceriodaphnia dubia, demonstrated adaptability to long-term salinity changes and is likely to persist through future droughts. Further research is needed to determine the adaptability of other common zooplankton species in Great Plains lakes.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jessica S. J. Grenke, Edward W. Bork, Cameron N. Carlyle, Mark S. Boyce, James F. Cahill
Summary: The impacts of AMP grazing system management on plant diversity are minor, but it could hinder the conservation of native plant species.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Brandon Burda, Christopher M. Somers, Katherine Conkin, Ryan J. Fisher
Summary: The study emphasizes the importance of large patches of grassland to support the occurrence of sharp-tailed grouse leks, and highlights the need for a diverse set of habitat features for sharp-tailed grouse management.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Rodney T. Richardson, Ida M. Conflitti, Renata S. Labuschagne, Shelley E. Hoover, Rob W. Currie, Pierre Giovenazzo, M. Marta Guarna, Stephen F. Pernal, Leonard J. Foster, Amro Zayed
Summary: Urbanization and agricultural intensification have negative effects on honey bee health and overwintering survival. Landscape composition, particularly the availability of herbaceous land cover, plays a significant role in improving colony health. Our research emphasizes the need for investigating the impact of land use changes on resource competition between pollinator species.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Kaleb Baber, Clain Jones, Kevin McPhee, Perry R. Miller, Peggy Lamb
Summary: Pulse crops, such as lentil and pea, contribute to the sustainability of Northern Great Plains cropping systems through biological nitrogen fixation. However, there is limited knowledge on varietal differences in nitrogen fixation. Lentil varieties Riveland and CDC Richlea showed high nitrogen-fixing capabilities, while no pea variety consistently exhibited greater nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen fixation in lentil was influenced by flowering time, while nitrogen fixation in pea was influenced by maturity time. Breeding efforts based on traits like flowering time could be more successful, and there is a positive correlation between nitrogen fixation parameters and seed yield in pea.
