No-till practices in vulnerable areas significantly reduce soil erosion
2021-01-12
(Press-News.org) URBANA, Ill. - Soil erosion is a major challenge in agricultural production. It affects soil quality and carries nutrient sediments that pollute waterways. While soil erosion is a naturally occurring process, agricultural activities such as conventional tilling exacerbate it. Farmers implementing no-till practices can significantly reduce soil erosion rates, a new University of Illinois study shows.
Completely shifting to no-till would reduce soil loss and sediment yield by more than 70%, says Sanghyun Lee, doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at U of I and lead author on the study, published in Journal of Environmental Management.
But even a partial change in tilling practices could have significant results, he adds.
"If we focus on the most vulnerable area in terms of soil erosion, then only 40% no-till shows almost the same reduction as 100% no-till implementation," Lee says.
The study used physical data and computer modeling to estimate soil erosion in the Drummer Creek watershed, which is part of the Upper Sangamon River watershed in Central Illinois. The area's main crops are corn and soybeans, and tillage is a predominant agricultural practice.
"The rate of soil erosion is increased and accelerated by unsustainable agricultural production. One of the main reasons is conventional tillage in the field," Lee says. "Our model provides a tool to estimate the impacts of tilling on soil erosion across the watershed."
Lee and co-authors Maria Chu, Jorge Guzman, and Alejandra Botero-Acosta developed the modeling framework, coupling a hydrological model (MIKE SHE) with the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) to examine the impacts of no-till practice in the watershed. The WEPP model provided the sediment sources from the agricultural fields under different tillage practices and the hydrologic model simulated sediment transport across the watershed.
The researchers included historical data on climate, soil properties, sediment sample data, and other relevant measures, then used the coupled model to predict how different management practices affect soil erosion rates.
"Farmers may prefer tilling because wet climate conditions cause compacted soil," Lee says. "However, soil erosion removes topsoil, which contains lots of nutrients, and this may reduce yield in the long term. Soil erosion also affects water quality, both locally over time and at a distance.
"Therefore, farmers need to weigh the benefits of tilling with the consequences of soil erosion and choose the best management strategies."
The modeling framework can help identify the most vulnerable areas, so producers can implement sustainable management practices where it matters most, Lee notes.
INFORMATION:
The Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering is in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois.
The article, "A comprehensive modeling framework to evaluate soil erosion by water and tillage," is published in Journal of Environmental Management. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111631]
Authors are Sanghyun Lee, Maria Chu, Jorge Guzman, and Alejandra Botero-Acosta.
Funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture¬-National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) project # ILLU-741- 380.
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-01-12
Harmful medical practices, like inappropriate prescribing of opioids and racial and income-based discrimination in clinical settings, can vary across medical practices and individuals. Patients may find that even common primary care health services, like getting a chest x-rays or a referral to a heart or lung specialist, can differ widely depending on your doctor or clinic location. These variations in medical practice can have serious consequences for the quality, equity and cost of one's health care; however, it's unclear whether these disparities can be attributed to individual differences, from one ...
2021-01-12
Researchers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) have developed a technique to more quickly analyze extensive data from Arctic ice sheets in order to gain insight and useful knowledge on patterns and trends. Over the years, vast amounts of data have been collected about the Arctic and Antarctic ice. These data are essential for scientists and policymakers seeking to understand climate change and the current trend of melting. Masoud Yari, research assistant professor, and Maryam Rahnemoonfar, associate professor of information systems, have utilized new AI technology to develop a fully automatic technique to analyze ice data, published in the Journal ...
2021-01-12
Study published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases (AJKD) projects that prevalence of patients receiving dialysis in China will increase from 384.4 patients per million (PPM) in 2017 to 629.7 PMP in 2025 with a predicted 874,373 patients receiving dialysis in 2025.
The national prevalence of dialysis in China has not been well studied due to its large population and limited resources. Insurance claims data provide a unique opportunity to understand the burden of kidney failure and have been used to characterize dialysis patients in the ...
2021-01-12
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, in collaboration with Dutch scientists, have found that certain metabolites -- small molecules produced by the process of metabolism -- may be predictive indicators for persons at risk for recurrent major depressive disorder.
The findings were published in the January 11, 2021 online issue of Translational Psychiatry.
"This is evidence for a mitochondrial nexus at the heart of depression," said senior author Robert K. Naviaux, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, pediatrics and pathology at UC San Diego School of Medicine. "It's a small study, but it is the first to show the potential of using metabolic ...
2021-01-12
New Rochelle, NY, January 12, 2021--The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is committed to removing unnecessary medical barriers to contraception use by people with certain characteristics or medical conditions. The CDC is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the release of its U.S. Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (MEC), with an exclusive article published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Women's Health. Click here to read the article now.
The CDC has updated the MEC recommendations over the past decade based on new evidence. It has collaborated with national partners to disseminate and implement the guidelines and has conducted surveys of health ...
2021-01-12
The SARS-CoV-2 virus that is causing the COVID-19 pandemic is just one of many different viruses in the coronavirus family. Many of these are circulating in populations of animals like bats and have the potential to "jump" into the human population, just as SARS-CoV-2 did. Researchers in the laboratory of Pamela Björkman, the David Baltimore Professor of Biology and Bioengineering, are working on developing vaccines for a wide range of related coronaviruses, with the aim of preventing future pandemics.
Now, led by graduate student Alex Cohen, a Caltech ...
2021-01-12
Berkeley -- Each year, thousands of migratory mule deer and pronghorn antelope journey northwest from their winter homes in the Green River Basin, a grassland valley in western Wyoming, to their summer homes in the mountainous landscape near Grand Teton National Park.
But to reach their destination, these ungulates must successfully navigate the more than 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles) of fencing that crisscrosses the region. That's enough distance to span nearly twice the length of the U.S.-Mexico border.
In a new study, wildlife biologists at the University of California, Berkeley, combined GPS location data of tagged mule deer and pronghorn with satellite imagery of ...
2021-01-12
Curiosity has been found to play a role in our learning and emotional well-being, but due to the open-ended nature of how curiosity is actually practiced, measuring it is challenging. Psychological studies have attempted to gauge participants' curiosity through their engagement in specific activities, such as asking questions, playing trivia games, and gossiping. However, such methods focus on quantifying a person's curiosity rather than understanding the different ways it can be expressed.
Efforts to better understand what curiosity actually looks like for different people have underappreciated roots in the field of philosophy. Varying styles have been described with loose ...
2021-01-12
A lurking threat that has stymied US corn growers for decades is now returning to the forefront: western corn rootworm. Sometimes referred to as the "billion-dollar bug," the species' tiny larvae chew through the roots of corn plants, causing devastating yield losses. In 2003, farmers began planting a genetically engineered variety of corn known as "Bt," which produces a protein toxic to the pest species - but by 2009, the billion-dollar bug had already evolved adaptations for resistance to the toxin.
A new study suggests that slowing the resurgence of western corn rootworm may require a larger-scale strategy than previously thought. The findings, ...
2021-01-12
BOSTON - While investigating the underlying causes of a rare skin disorder, a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) discovered a previously unknown mechanism in the kidneys that is important for regulating levels of magnesium and calcium in the blood.
The discovery, described in the journal Cell Reports, highlights the role of a previously little-studied gene called KCTD1. The gene directs production of a protein that regulates the kidney's ability to reabsorb magnesium and calcium from urine and return it to the bloodstream.
A genetic mutation causing the loss of KCTD1 results in defects in nephrons, ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] No-till practices in vulnerable areas significantly reduce soil erosion
