Gorres, Josef Northeast Pasture Consortium
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Pasturing cattle, dairy and beef, is thought to have environmental and economic advantages over operations that utilize most of their land for corn production as a way to feed their cattle. Rotational grazing systems in which large number of cattle are rotated through small paddocks are currently favored by many graziers. The advantage of this system is that it takes longer for cattle to return to the same area allowing the pasture to rejuvenate. This has been shown to increase pasture productivity. However, many hoofs in a small area can cause soil compaction which in turn can reduces the productivity of the soil. Compaction can be broken up by biotillage or by subsurface tillage. Both of these methods decrease soil moisture and thus reduce the impact of hoofs on soil quality. We also found that they increase earthworm populations further improving pasture soil structure.
Compaction occurs generally in wet soils with high clay contents. However, compaction may not be the only problem in pasture systems. Natural flooding and ponding may cause a reduction in the fertility of soils as soil chemistry changes when soils remain flooded for long times. Tropical storm Irene has alerted the agricultural community to the effects of flooding on rural communities. However, very little research has been done on the fertility of wet soils and whether landscape position affects flooding induced changes. The length of time that land stays flooded depends on its elevation and the distance to groundwater. This in turn will affect the chemistry of redox sensitive elements such as Mn, Fe, S and potentially P which strongly binds with Fe under normal conditions. Under flooded conditions it may be released from the Fe and become available. A study conducted by Lindsey Ruhl on crop land showed that these temporary chemical changes due to flooding can affect nutrient availability even when the variation in land elevation was only one foot. She showed that the availability of phosphorus and other nutrients decreased during flooding.
In this research I investigated how nutrient availability varies across small depressions in a beef cattle pasture on a Covington silty clay loam. Clayey soils can hold moisture for a long time increasing the length of time that the soils are deprived of oxygen. I hypothesized that this would leave soils vulnerable to the same changes in chemistry as observed for flooded soils. The depression was swale-shaped. Its long axis was on a 4% grade. Side slopes had a similar grade. Soil reaction (pH) varied across the depression (right angles to the long dimension) pH and organic matter, as well as Fe, Mn, Mg and S varied along the depression length. At the lower end of the depression organic matter was 30% greater than at the top of the depression. Mg availability decreased, Mn, Fe and S availability increased from higher to lower ground. Soil fertility in the pasture was clearly affected by prolonged high soil moisture contents.
This was the final year of this project. A CIG grant continues this work by demonstrating the effect of a variety of practices on mitigating soil compaction.
Harris, Jeanne Characterization of the effect of salt stress on nodulation.
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
The ability of legumes to form a symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria provides them with an internal source of fertilizer and is a lynchpin of sustainable agriculture. Nitrogen-fixing legume root nodules are the result of a symbiosis between legumes and soil bacteria collectively known as Rhizobium: only when the two symbiotic partners function together, can they fix nitrogen. The process of nodulation is an agriculturally important interaction, because not only are legumes productive without added nitrogen fertilizer, but they can also improve the nitrogen nutrition of plants grown nearby. The process of nodulation is sensitive to salt stress and is inhibited even at levels that do not have a large effect on plant biomass. Increased temperature, due to changes in overall climate, is leading to periodic drought stress, which results in the accumulation of salts in the soil as water evaporates. This increased salt in agricultural soils inhibits legume nodulation. We are studying the effect of salt stress on nodulation in the model legume, Medicago truncatula, which is closely related to the common forage crop, alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Although exposure to high salt can be stressful to plants, some studies show that pretreating plants with moderate concentrations of salt, called ""salt acclimation"", can reduce the negative effects of a subsequent high salt treatment on plant growth. Might M. truncatula plants also respond to salt acclimation by reducing detrimental responses when shifted to salt stress
conditions? Would salt acclimation help protect M. truncatula nodulation against the stress of high salt? What is the mechanism of this response? We propose to test these questions in this project by examining the effect of salt acclimation and salt stress on nodulation by monitoring plant gene expression, cell division and Rhizobial infection. We will also examine the natural diversity of M. truncatula and ask whether certain genetic signatures correlate with salt resistance. We hope that together, these approaches will help us to better understand the effect of salt stress on nodulation and determine whether salt acclimation can ameliorate the negative effects of salt. In addition, we hope to identify some salt-tolerant or salt-acclimation associated genes, that may be useful to plant breeders selecting salt-resistant strains of crop legumes, such as alfalfa.
Barrington, David Genetic variation in relation to ecogeographic distribution in the fiddlehead fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris, Onocleaceae)
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
The proposed work is a continued inquiry into the distribution of genetic diversity in the fiddlehead fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), a seasonable vegetable product harvested from the wild throughout Vermont. Starting from our work on the distribution of genetic diversity in this species across the northeastern United States; we used our current Hatch funding to focus on the genetic variation in a key nuclear gene, phosphoglucoisomerase (pgi). Our newly discovered primers led to retrieving DNA from 75% of the gene, revealing non-synonymous substitutions in three exons and additional variation in four introns. We are continuing on to expand our coverage of the gene with the goal of assembling a profile of geographic variation for the complete gene across North America. Given data from other groups of animals and plants, we predict that non-synonymous substitutions will vary in relation to the climate encountered by the plants. The potential exists to use this variation to assess the role and potential impact of climate change on the distribution of these ferns. The distribution of genetic diversity will provide the basis for input to harvesters and marketers about sustaining genetic diversity in spite of climate change and increased market demand for this non-timber forest product.
This has been a frustrating year in the activity relating to this project. Having successfully developed a set of primers for the majority of the pgiC gene for the organisms with which we are most familiar in our lab (the genus Polystichum) we began in this reporting period to adapt these primers for use in developing genetic-diversity data for the subject of this inquiry, the fiddlehead fern Matteuccia struthiopteris. Undergraduate student Brendan Lyons continued on post-graduation to work on this project (as well as others), because he was the most expert at working with pgiC. Brendan was unable to retrieve sequences from any of the newly resolved markers in pgiC that he had previously developed.
In this reporting year, we will continue to work with adapting primers for the fiddlehead fern and seek alternative routes to getting pgiC to work for us.
Beckage, Brian Projecting climate change impacts on Vermont forests using dynamic vegetation models
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Global climate is in the midst of rapid change associated with increasing concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases. Forests across New England are expected to respond to climate change through shifts in distribution and composition. Process-based vegetation models (PBMs) provide a mechanistic basis for projecting the distribution of forest trees in response to future climate change. PBMs incorporate physiological determinates of plant growth with respect to climate and other environmental conditions, but governing parameters are not strongly linked to data. Improving the parameterization and application of PBMs to project future forest distribution is a key step towards early identification of the likely impacts of climate change on Vermont forests. The objectives of our proposed research are (1) to assess the influence of the model spatial resolution on projections of forest distribution, (2) to determine the sensitivity of model projections to the method used for downscaling climate data that drive the PBMs, and (3) to improve the efficacy of process-based vegetation models by inversely estimating model parameters
that define plant functional types using data from the known distributions of tree species. Our proposed project will result in improved methodology for using process-based vegetation models to forecast the distribution of forest trees in Vermont in response to regional climate change.
Farley, Joshua Assessing the Potential for Carbon Neutral Food Systems for Chittenden County, Vermont
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
We have applied a rule set for GIS that determines the availability of urban, peri-urban and rural land in the food shed of Chittenden county for food production. From secondary literature, we estimated the nutritional value of 80 different foods along with their carbon footprint under different production techniques in different locations (urban and peri-urban, Chittenden foodshed, and imported food). We built a linear programming model that allows us to minimize the carbon footprint of food for Chittenden county, and are currently experimenting with parameters to maximize dietary choice (i.e. not forcing people to consume so many sweet potatoes).
I have given keynote and invited presentations on the general topic of agroecology, farmer livelihoods and ecosystem services at Berkeley's Food Institute, at the Spring Symposium for Iowa State's Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture, both in April, and a keynote address at the Primer Congreso Internacional de Economía Ecológica en Puerto Rico, in June.
We have requested a no cost extension in order to develop to finish the Bayesian models of food production and carbon footprints of different agricultural practices in Vermont, and will use the results this year to generate more realistic scenarios of food system options in a carbon constrained world. By January we will have completed the linear programming model that determines what practices are compatible with an 80% reduction in emissions. I will spend the remainder of the year exploring the barriers to the adoption of alternative low-carbon agriculture on Vermont farms, and the potential for payments for ecosystem services and higher food prices to overcome them.
Gorres, Josef Collaborate with the University of Vermont to Establish Accurate K Factors for High Clay Content Soils, Specifically the Vergennes Soil Series and Similar Soils
National Resources Conservation Service/Department of Agriculture
The Dust Bowl episode of the 1930ties highlighted soil erosion as a threat to food security and human health (e.g. silicosis). All soils have a tendency to erode over time. However, soils are also actively forming. Both of these are natural processes. Under natural conditions erosion and formation may have attained an equilibrium or soil formation may exceed the erosion losses. Human endeavors may accelerate soil loss. Now, soil conservation strives to manage erosion to achieve this balance again.
It takes high energy storms to erode clay soils. Thus, clay soils require less effort to control erosion than silty soils which are the most erodible soils. The low erosion potential of clays has recently been questioned. This project is evaluating soil erodibility, also known as the K-factor, for Vergennes clay, one of the most important agricultural clay soils in Vermont. The upper layer (A-horizon) of Vergennes Clay contains up to 25% silt and thus is somewhat susceptible to erosion and its K-factor of 0.49 is mid-range and regarded as high for a clay soil. Precise values of the K-factor are needed to confidently select practices that control erosion and thus sediment-bound pollutant loads to surface water.
The classic way to estimate the K-factor is to monitor soil loss from standard erosion plots over several years. These plots are relatively large and require the collection of large amounts of storm water and sediments. This technology is expensive and the time frame beyond the bounds of modern research projects. For this reason studies utilizing smaller plots have been used in conjunction with natural rain or rainfall simulators. In addition, there are several mathematical expressions that estimate the K-factor from the percentage of sand, silt, clay and organic matter. Soil composition is measured by very accessible and inexpensive technologies. A determination of K-factor by means of these equations is fast and practicable. However, the equations may be fraught with inaccuracies arising from the natural variability of soils.
We have to date estimated soil erosion by two equations (Wischmeier equation, Williams equation) that utilize sand, silt, clay and organic matter %. These results give K-factors of between 0.07 and 0.16 for the Wischmeier equation and between 0.15 and 0.24 for the Williams equation. These values are lower than the one reported in Soil Survey (0.49). However, utilizing small plot sediment collection under natural rainfall conditions gives average values of 0.30 which is much closer to the reported K-factor value of 0.49 than the estimates derived from equations that consider texture and organic matter. In addition we have collected sediments that were derived from small plots during natural rainfall. However, the variation in these sediment based estimates is 45%, ranging between 0.12 and 0.42 at different locations in a fallow cornfield. K also varied with storm energy. It decreased with the amount of rain energy (more intense storms had lower K values).
Next year we will employ a rainfall simulator to test soil erosion using controlled rainfall rates. We will also utilize several more farm field-based small plot sediment collectors to estimate further the spatial variability of K across a much wider scale than we did this year.
Hurley, Stephanie Climate Change Best Management Practices on Vermont Farms
National Institute of Agriculture
Climate change best management practices (CCBMPs) are systems and designs that can be used to help adapt to or mitigate the effects of climate change. This research focuses on the use of CCBMPs in Vermont agricultural landscapes, and specifically targets the processes around outreach and stakeholder engagement about the use of CCBMPs. Stakeholders include broad categories of farmers, landowners, technical assistance providers, extension agents, and other interested parties. Through this research we have conducted focus groups and surveys to identify stakeholder use of and interest in CCBMPs and investigate the utility of landscape visualizations for describing spatial and contextual features associated with implementation of CCBMPs on farms.
“Landscape visualizations” or “photo-simulations” depict computer-altered proposed future conditions of agricultural landscapes. Photo-simulations are a type of landscape visualization that can be used to facilitate increased understanding of spatial components of various CCBMPs. These images can also help support dialogue and decision-making among farmers, researchers, and other stakeholders in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Vermont is predicted to experience increasing precipitation, flooding, droughts, and extremes in weather and temperature due to climate change.
This research project includes a CCBMP literature review describing how a set of twenty-two BMPs can be related to Vermont farms. In addition, 15 Vermont farms have been visited and photographed, documenting existing BMPs and areas of opportunity and constraints for potential implementation of new BMPs. Development of effective landscape visualizations is underway through photo-simulations of many CCBMPs, including riparian conservation buffers, cover crops and green manures, silvopasture, rotational grazing, hoop houses, productive buffers, bioretention systems, retention ponds, constructed wetlands, and alternative energy systems.
In 2014-15, our research team surveyed attendees at six different farm conferences that spanned topics ranging from conventional to organic farming, and included producers, technical assistance providers, and other interested parties. We collected 133 survey responses with details regarding interest in, barriers to, visualization of, and implementation of CCBMPs. We also conducted two, and are preparing for a third, focus groups on the subject. All data are being coded and analyzes toward at least two publications in 2016.
Hurley, Stephanie Implementing Low Impact Development in Waitsfield, Vermont
Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR)
Both water quality and water quantity problems can be dramatically improved using green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), which are systems designed to mimic natural water flow patterns in the built landscape. “Bioretention” raingardens are increasingly being used to offset the pollution runoff from impervious surfaces. The design for the project in the Village Square Shopping Center in Waitsfield, VT included the use of engineered soils and native vegetation to capture, treat, and infiltrate the stormwater runoff from more than an acre of impervious surfaces comprised by the parking lot and rooftops. The design slows and filters the runoff and keeps stormwater from reaching the Mad River during storm events, reducing erosion and pollution in the river. We built the project in 2013 and our research included pre- and post-construction monitoring, the latter of which was conducted in 2014.
Funding from this project came from the Vermont Ecosystem Restoration Grant Program. Collaborators included Friends of the Mad River, Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District, and Watershed Consulting Associates.
Hurley, Stephanie An Evaluation of Potential Nutrient Leaching From Six Types of Compost
Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR)
This research explored the leaching of nutrient pollutants, nitrogen and phosphorus, from five different types of compost when the compost was exposed to saturation for durations ranging from 10 minutes to 10 days. Composts were made from a variety of feedstocks including yard waste, foodscraps, various types of manure and a vermicompost. In the laboratory, liquid was extracted from the vessel containing saturated compost using syringes and its nutrients constituents were analyzed at 10-minute, 1-day, 5-day, and 10-day intervals. These timeframes may be analogous to the saturation compost would be exposed to in a mild storm, an all-day storm event, flooded conditions, and an extreme flood event, respectively.
We found that all compost types leached nutrients after only ten minutes of inundation. Phosphate (PO4) and ammonium (NH4) concentrations in the extracted water increased across measurements the four time intervals, while nitrate (NO3) concentrations decreased from the initial measurement at 10-minutes to the 10-day concentration. The implications of the research findings suggest using caution when applying compost in projects designed for wet sites or water treatment purposes, particularly in ecosystems where downstream water bodies suffer from phosphorus pollution, such as in the Lake Champlain Basin. In these circumstances, “low-phosphorus” compost should be used.
Keller, Stephen LTREB: Impacts of Polyandry Over the Lifetime of a Social Mammal
University of Maryland
Mating involves costs such as increased exposure to diseases and parasites, and a female usually obtains all the sperm she needs from a single mating. Paradoxically, however, polyandry (i.e., mating with multiple males) is ubiquitous among animals of all types. Longterm research with prairie dogs has revealed that reproductive success (RS) is higher for polyandrous females than for monandrous females. To investigate the costs and benefits of polyandry, researchers from The University of Maryland will perform a manipulative field experiment that will compare monandry versus polyandry for female prairie dogs matched for age, body mass, colony size, and the sex ratio among adults. This comprehensive experiment will assess the causal effects of polyandry per se on female RS, and will be the most detailed examination of polyandry to date for a mammal living under natural conditions. The researchers will use two innovations—ultrasounds and remote-controlled serpentine robots (snakebots)—to count offspring at previously un-observable portions of the life-history. Further, they will capitalize on a powerful combination of behavioral observations of matings with molecular analyses of paternity to investigate genetic mechanisms by which polyandry might enhance female RS.
During the current project year, we have been analyzing genetic samples collected from Gunnison’s prairie dogs, including isolating DNA and amplifying the DNA for genetic markers that are diagnostic for assessing paternity. In addition, we have been analyzing genetic paternity in the related White Tailed prairie dog, and are preparing a manuscript for peer review to communicate our findings, which include substantial multiple-paternity, with consequent effects on offspring viability and health.
This long-term research of polyandry under natural conditions will have sweeping consequences for our understanding of animal behavior, including the causes and consequences of mate choice in social animals and its importance for maintaining diversity in species of conservation concern.
Keller, Stephen Combining Genomics, Remote Sensing, and Geospatial Modeling to Understand Adaptation to Growing Season Length in Balsam Poplar
National Science Foundation
Forest trees have tremendous ecological and economical value, and possess abundant standing genetic variation for adaptive responses to growing season length, such as seasonal timing of growth and reproduction. This adaptive variation often varies across landscapes as a result of genetically controlled responses to gradients of photoperiod and climate. The goal of this project is to address the genetic basis of climate adaptation in forest trees, and the extent to which genetic variation for growth traits will interact with climate change to affect the adaptation of tree populations. To accomplish this goal, we are integrating tools from genomics, remote sensing, and geospatial modeling to study the genetic basis of climate adaptation in balsam poplar, Populus balsamifera, a keystone tree species in North America with a transcontinental distribution.
We have collected new samples (ca. 500 trees from 55 populations) from the southern range edge and interior range core of balsam poplar in order to study the physiological adaptations of populations to the warmest, earliest onset growing seasons within its geographic range. We have generated genomic data using high throughput DNA sequencing techniques and targeted assays on genes in the Populus flowering time/phenology gene pathway. Vegetatively rooted trees have been planted into two experimental gardens (Indian Head, SK and Burlington, VT) during 2014, and trait measurements commenced in 2015, involving measurements of bud phenology, height increment growth, integrated water use efficiency using stable isotopes (13C), photosynthesis (Amax), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf morphometrics, leaf %N and C:N ratio, stomatal density, stomatal gas exchange (gs), and leaf rust infection. Genomic and trait data are being used to perform tests for local adaptation and genome-wide association mapping to determine the genetic architecture and spatial distribution of genetic variation important for climate adaptation. In addition, we are studying how range-edge populations are subject to increased hybridization pressure from several co-occurring species (P. trichocarpa and P. angustifolia) and the effect that hybridization has on local adaptation. Candidate associations for climate adaptation will be used to predict field performance using an independent sample of 1,000 clones and satellite remote sensing to measure phenology at landscape scales. New spatial analytical methods are being developed that characterize the associations between genomic variation and environmental gradients of climate and growing season length, and visualize the landscape surface of adaptive variation under current and projected climates.
We have also been active in creating a citizen science program associated with this research. Our citizen science outreach program (‘PopClock’) relates ground-based phenology observations from local citizens to remotely sensed satellite data. This year we also hosted a special 2 day workshop for citizen scientists at the University of Vermont to discuss climate change impacts on tree phenology and train volunteers on the use of sensor technologies coupled with on the ground direct observations to estimate spring leaf out timing.
McKay, Stephanie National Animal Genome Research Program
National Institute of Food and Agriculture/Department of Agriculture
We are working towards generating a comprehensive survey of methylation in the bovine brain and investigating differential methylation between two groups of cattle with extreme measures of docility. DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification of DNA that regulates gene transcription and may influence variation in economically important phenotypes in agricultural species. Brains from six cattle (3 high and 3 low docility) have been dissected and nine functionally distinct regions of the brain have been harvested. Our primary objective is to generate a map of the bovine brain methylome. Towards that end, we have measured global DNA methylation levels for each of the nine brain regions harvested from each of the six cattle. Harvested brain regions are all derived from the limbic system and include the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, dorsal raphe, hypothalamus, periaqueductal gray, cingulate cygrus and nucleus accumbens and percentages of global DNA methylation are 1.4%, 5.9%, 3.3%, 1.9%, 4.8%, 3.3%, 1.6%, 4.5% and 1.7%, respectively. To date, results of this project have been disseminated to the animal genomics community through a poster presentation entitled "Investigating Extreme Measures of Docility and Global DNA Methylation in the Bovine Brain” at the 2015 Plant and Animal Genome conference in San Diego, CA. An abstract of the poster and a pdf copy of the poster can be found online at the following website: https://pag.confex.com/pag/xxiii/webprogram/Paper14108.html. Based upon these results and biological function, the amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, hypothalamus, and periaqueductal gray from each of 6 cattle will undergo reduced representation bisulfite sequencing in order to obtain high resolution genome wide data.
Mendez, Ernesto Climate Adaptation and Mitigation in the Lake Champlain Basin (LCB) of Vermont
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
In partnership with farmers, we identified best on-farm strategies related to climate change mitigation and adaptation for the Vermont Landscape, and evaluated the impact of these strategies on the economic health of farms, their environmental impacts, and their contribution to resilience in the face of extreme weather events. Our work also involved and informed state and federal level policy makers.
General Objectives:
-Identifying existing farming practices that contribute to climate change mitigation and/or adaption (CCBMPs)
-Assessing farmers’ interest in pursuing farm management strategies under different climate change and policy scenarios
-Improving existing practices through agroecology, outreach and policy innovations
-Providing decision support for policy makers and farmers- directly and through extension and outreach programs
Since the start of the project in June 2012, we have produced the following outputs as a transdisciplinary team:
-A survey of farmers in the Lake Champlain Basin of Vermont (N=1,100; 78 responses)
-Partnerships with 12 farms in this geographic area to collect data on 5 potential climate change BMPs through 5 different disciplinary lenses
- An agent-based model predicting outcomes of different policy scenarios including regional climate data and data on farmer decision making for this geographic area
-14 academic publications (5 completed, 9 in process)
-2 publications for a Vermont agricultural technical assistant audience
-4 farmer workshops
-4 policy-maker oriented events
-9 presentations at research conferences
-13 landscape visualizations of potential climate change BMPs on Vermont farms
- 10 grant proposals
- Other miscellaneous outputs including a report of findings and recommendations to VT NRCS (Conner subteam), a training program for Vermont Farm Service Providers (Mendez and Berlin subteams), a new graduate level academic course on Water Quality Management with an emphasis on Agricultural Landscapes (Hurley and Faulkner), an article in the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources newsletter, and several others.
Lastly, we partnered with a Master’s student to observe and evaluate the practice of transdisciplinary participatory action research (PAR) in the context of our team, resulting in presentations to several on and off campus audiences (including an international conference) and intentions for an academic publication.
Mendez, Ernesto On-Farm Best Management Practices and Service-Provider Professional Development
High Meadows Fund
A 2011 University of Vermont survey of agricultural service providers identified Tropical Storm Irene as a catalyst for increased farmer interest in education on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Despite trust in farmers’ knowledge of climate change, these service providers believe farmers are not well supported to innovate and make changes on their farms. Sixty four percent of service providers who participated in the above-mentioned survey cited lack of information as the biggest barrier to addressing climate change in Vermont agriculture. This was corroborated during a focus group with 60 Vermont service providers, researchers, and policy makers, who reported that education on Climate Change Best Management Practices (CCBMPs) and translation of those concepts into actionable knowledge was crucial for both farmers and service providers.
This project engaged service providers who make regular on-farm visits in a series of training workshops on agricultural CCBMPs and their practical applications. The series included conference sessions, workshops facilitated by the project team (UVM ARLG staff and key service provider representatives), and on-farm meetings where local CCBMP farmer-innovators will serve as instructors on their farms.
• Recruited 8 Vermont Service-providers, including Certified Crop Advisors (CCAs) and one Feed Dealer, to participate in a 6-month professional development program titled Climate Change Resilient Farming in Vermont. Participants reported increased knowledge of projected climate change impacts on agriculture and general practices for adaptation.
• Tabling, presenting, and/or facilitating sessions at 15 Vermont farmer and service provider gatherings in Winters 2014 and 2015, including organizing a day-long farmer intensive workshop as part of the NOFA-VT conference. Service-providers and farmers as co-presented (sponsored by the Vermont Community Foundation) . Service-provider co-presenters included Sam Smith (Intervale Center), Liz Brownlee (VT River Conservancy), and Joshua Faulkner (Center for Sustainable Agriculture).
• Convened multiple meetings of the “Outreach Working Group” with meetings specifically dedicated to planning service-provider outreach. Other meetings included defining a collective “outreach vision” to address challenges (and delays) arising from diverse opinions in the group, specifically around when this project would be “outreach ready”.
• Deepened our partnership with the UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture (in Extension) and particularly the newly hired Farming and Climate Change Program Coordinator, Joshua Faulkner, PhD, who is now working with us closely on our farmer and service-provider outreach programs.
• Joined the USDA Northeast Regional Climate Hub as a leader and liaison to the University Network. This was the first “train the trainers” for on-farm climate change adaptation program within the network. Since then Cornell has launched a modified version of our program. We plan to present webinar of “promising practices” and convene university representatives who have piloted similar programs to refine our collective offerings into one program for implementation across the Northeast region.
Mendez, Ernesto University of Vermont Collaboration with the USDA Northeast Climate Hub
Forest Service/Department of Agriculture
The goal of this collaboration is to mutually develop and deliver science-based, region-specific information and technologies to agricultural and natural resource managers that enables climate-smart decision-making and provides assistance to implement those decisions; to engage networks of extension professionals, researchers, and educators in capacity building to address climate-related issues; and to transform and innovate the delivery and sharing of science-based climate adaptation and mitigation information from discovery, to translation, to practice.
Work Accomplished in 2014-2015:
• Coordinated the Vermont Agricultural Resilience in a Changing Climate Initiative, including facilitating and reporting of transdisciplinary team member activities, convening the advisory committee, and representing the initiative at UVM and region-wide events.
• Responded promptly to all requests, e-mails, and calls from Hub personnel
• Attended all but one conference call, and presented slides on two of these calls
• Discussed opportunities to collaborate with Hub peers at Cornell, resulting in a collaborative funding proposal.
• Formed organic agriculture Hub team at UVM to develop content and outreach materials
• Scheduled attendance and table displays at multiple organic agriculture conferences across NE for early 2015
• Work completed by the Vermont Farm Resilience in a Changing Climate Initiative:
Research Updates
· Snapshot of preliminary results:
o Prelim. Finding: Key strategies for limiting risks associated with climate change at the farm scale in Vermont include (1) diversity of markets, production, household income and land base, (2) sustainable soil management, including water management in soils, and (3) innovative cropping systems. (Schattman et al., draft research brief)
o Why do farmers choose to adopt a ""Climate Change Best Management Practice- CCBMP"" on their farms?
· Prelim. Finding: When farmers perceive that they know how to adopt BMP, they are more likely to adopt. (Zia, et al., submitted for publication)
· Prelim. Finding: The ability to visualize a practice (instead of/or in addition to hearing/reading about it) has a large effect on potential adoption. (Hurley and Greenleaf). Stephanie Hurley and her team are creating landscape visualizations of selected CCBMPs on VT farms.
o How much does it cost farmers to implement a CCBMP and are government programs sufficient incentives to adoption?
· Prelim. Finding: NRCS is underpaying farmers 50-80%, especially reduced tillage hardest to adopt. (Miller, Conner, and Helling, submitted for publication)
· Facilitated a 2 hour ""Research Integration"" session in late October to explore opportunities to synergize results from multiple UVM researchers and plan reports/other publications integrating them.
· Conducting an evaluation of our approach to facilitating Transdisciplinary Action Research (and presented preliminary findings at an International conference in New Orleans in Fall 2014)
· Awarded USDA AFRI grant, led by UVM Extension Farming and Climate Change Coordinator Joshua Faulkner, to evaluate alternative management systems on 2 dairy farms using a paired watershed approach- includes carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions, sediment and nutrient loss, hydrologic impacts, and socio-economic factors related to implementation.
Mendez, Ernesto Confronting the Thin Months: Participatory Learning on Best Practices and Impacts of the GMCR Food Security Program
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.
One of the most pressing challenges facing the world today is how to sustainably feed a growing population while conserving the ecosystem services we depend on. Coffee landscapes are an important site for research on agrifood systems because they reflect global-scale dynamics surrounding conservation and livelihood development. Within them, we find both what is broken in our global agrifood system, as well as the grassroots struggles that strive to change the system by building socio-ecologically resilient, sustainable livelihoods. Research shows that smallholder shade coffee farmers steward high biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services. At the same time, studies in the last decade demonstrate that many smallholder coffee farmers in Mesoamerica suffer annual periods of seasonal hunger, as well as pervasive poverty. This project centered around a comparative evaluation of food security and sustainable livelihoods projects for two sites (one each in Nicaragua and Southern Mexico), with a particular emphasis on agroecology, and how Keurig Green Mountain Coffee can contribute to building sustainable systems that secure food and maintain biodiversity in coffee communities.
Research was conducted using a mixed methods approach, which included the collection of quantitative and qualitative socio-ecological data through focus groups, surveys, semi-structured interviews, participant observation and plant inventories. In Mexico, surveys were conducted with 79 households in 11 communities, all located within the buffer zone of a biosphere reserve. A stratified random sample of 31 households from these 79 was surveyed again to collect more in-depth data, including the collection of biophysical data in their subsistence and coffee land use systems. In Nicaragua, surveys were conducted with a random sample of 50% of the cooperatives that participated in the Community Agroecology Network (CAN)-Prodecoop food security project (resulting in 9 cooperatives). Of these 9 cooperatives we stratified by food security level - low, medium and high - and within each strata randomly sampled 30% of households. This resulted in a total of 46 households.
The following research questions were explored:
1) What are the major ecological, social, economic, and political drivers of seasonal hunger?
2) What is the relationship between agrobiodiversity (plant and livestock diversity) and food security (months of adequate household food provisioning and dietary diversity)?
3) What household livelihood assets and strategies contribute to or limit food security and food sovereignty?
Across the sample population for Mexico, total agrobiodiversity and maize and bean production were strongly correlated with improved food security. Coffee income was not strongly correlated with improved food security, which suggests that income is used for priorities within the household other than food, despite seasonal food shortages. Results demonstrate the importance of balancing subsistence and commodity (i.e. coffee) production in these communities, where subsistence food serves as a risk management strategy to buffer against volatility in coffee prices, in addition to offsetting income that might be used for food towards non-food expenses. Subsistence production, which typically applies agroecological practices in this site, also holds important cultural and environmental value. The results of this research indicate that government policy and development practice should enable farmers to maintain the social, ecological and cultural processes that support the management of agrobiodiversity for subsistence and coffee.
In Mexico, results were disseminated to communities through workshops at the farmer cooperative and at coffee communities where a process of sharing data and reflecting on results was facilitated. A report was also written specifically for the coffee cooperative. In addition, 3 presentations on results were conducted in local universities of Chiapas, Mexico to share results.
In Nicaragua, a baseline survey conducted by CAN and Prodecoop in 2010 revealed that nearly 2/3 of households experienced over three months of food insecurity per year. A project was then developed to promote three key strategies for addressing food insecurity, including community food banks, native seed banks and home gardens. The community food banks were set up in order to stem the outflux of surplus maize and bean production by creating a local market, providing adequate storage space, and distributing it back to the local community during the months of seasonal hunger at a lower market price and with the option of bartering. Seed banks were another strategy used in an effort to promote in-situ conservation of native varieties, provide better storage for seeds to reduce loss, and ensure that farmers could access local varieties adapted to their zone, which are more resilient to climatic changes and support diverse agroecological production practices. When we collected data again in 2013, there was a general decrease in the average reported number of months of food scarcity, and the percentage of households reporting 0 months of food insecurity went up from 2% to 16%.
In Nicaragua, results were shared with cooperative staff and coffee farmers through presentations.
Additionally, a manual for coffee farmers and technical service providers that includes findings from both sites associated with this research project is currently being developed and will be disseminated to both co-ops, with plans for further distribution throughout the Keurig Green Mountain supply chain.
We are continuing to pursue research projects around coffee farmer livelihood strategies and the adoption of agroecological practices, and have also integrated a focus on strategies that promote resilience to climate change for these communities. This is allowing us to compare and contrast conditions in Mesoamerica with the research we are conducting on similar topics in Vermont.
Molofsky, Jane Eco-Evolutionary Feedbacks and the invasive success of introduced Phalaris arundinacea
National Institute of Food and Agriculture/Department of Agriculture
Our project examined how genetic changes post introduction contribute to the invasive characteristics of the plant Phalaris arundinacea, a major invasive plant in Vermont wetland communities. Through genetic analysis, greenhouse experiments and theoretical models, we have shown how Phalaris arundinacea plants have undergone a change in their DNA content that allows them to grow greater leaf material. This leaf material is more resistant to decomposition and slows down decomposition processes in the wetland community. When decomposition processes slow down, Phalaris arundinacea can better compete for resources in the wetland community and achieve a competitive advantage. Having a competitive advantage ultimately leads to greater invasiveness. We have shared this information at scientific conferences and publications.
Molofsky, Jane Understanding the Role of Population Genetic Structure and Population Dynamics in the Invasion of Knapweeds
Department of Agriculture USDA
The purpose of the project is to determine how hybridization contributes to invasive behavior in a widespread commonly occurring weed in the Centaurea complex. In this species complex, two introduced European weeds (Centaurea jacea and Centaurea nigra) can hybridize to produce meadow knapweed (Centaurea moncktonii). Our project will determine the frequency of these three species in habitats in New York and Vermont and will determine the traits associated with each species and whether the traits associated with the hybrid knapweed are different and linked to traits associated with invasive behavior. Both seeds and leaf material from 20 individuals from 10 Centaurea populations in Vermont and 10 Centaurea populations in New York were collected in July –August 2015. Currently, we are performing DNA analysis on the leaf material for species identification and growing up a subset of the seeds from each collected individual in the population for phenotypic trait studies.
Neher, Deborah Plant Toxicity Tests
Green Mountain Power Corporation
Digestate solids produced from anaerobic digestors was evaluated for two potential uses, as a 1) potting medium for vegetable seedlings, and 2) organic amendment to soil for suppression of root diseases. First, plant toxicity tests were conducted for sensitive plant species, including lettuce (Latuca sativa) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculenta). Plants were grown in a gradient of digestate mixed with potting media at concentrations of 0, 25, 50 and 100%. The replicated experiment was conducted with pasteurized digestate and repeated with non-sterile digestate. Plant toxicity occurred in both pasteurized and non-sterile digestate at all concentrations. Second, a greenhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate the ability of digestate to suppress root disease prior to seed germination or in seedlings. Fungal pathogen, Rhizoctonia solani, on radish served as a model system. Approximately, 20% reduction of disease severity (compared to controls) was observed for plants grown in mixtures of 5% digestate in field soil infested with Rhizoctonia solani. In conclusion, digestate may be useful in suppression of root pathogens of plants in small doses but is phytotoxic to plants in concentrations of 25% or higher.
Neher, Deborah Plant-Parasitic Nematode Management as a Component of Sustainable Soil Health Programs in Horticultural and Field Crop Production Systems
National Institute of Food and Agriculture/Department of Agriculture
Four subprojects are at various stages of completion.
First, data analysis was performed on a four-year field experiment conducted in southern Minnesota to study the effects of cultivation and/or application of crop rotation/general biocides on natural soil suppressiveness to the soybean cyst nematode (SCN). Crop rotation had more impact on breaking suppression than did tillage or biocide applications, and the major effect was observed for the fungivorous and bacterivorous nematodes rather than plant-parasites or omnivores-predators. High throughput sequencing results suggest that microbial community consortia are likely involved in biological control instead of single genera or species. Extracellular enzyme analyses suggest that microbial communities produce more collegenase in no-till than cultivated soils and with continuous cultivation of soybean than rotated with corn. Collagenase is an enzyme that can damage the cuticle of the SCN.
Second, composts made of varying feedstocks and maturity was evaluated for their ability to suppress Rhizoctonia damping-off disease on radish in a bioassay. Feedstock quality alters relative competition between pathogen and biocontrol. Feedstock containing hardwood bark had the greatest suppressiveness. Mature (cured) composts are more suppressive than immature or barely cured composts (P<0.05). As one of several biological indicators, the Maturity Index of nematode communities was evaluated for its ability to predict suppression of damping-off. The compost with hardwood bark as the primary carbon component suppressed disease incidence more than composts made from other feedstocks including poultry waste, mixed food waste, dairy manure/silage only, and a mixture of poultry and food waste (p < 0.0001). There was a positive correlation between disease suppressiveness by composts of varying feedstocks and values of nematode community indicators.
Third, we devoted unsuccessful four months in testing a protocol to inoculate cabbage with the bacterial pathogen to evaluate 'designer' compost teas for their ability to suppress black rot disease. Therefore, we replaced this goal with a field experiment to quantify the effects of dairy and poultry compost on survival of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in field soils. Four treatments were applied: 1) dairy manure composted first by aerated static pile followed by an earthworm vermicompost treatment, 2) dairy manure composted by windrow, 3) poultry manure composted by windrow, and 4) no compost additions. All composts met thermophilic requirements to kill pathogens and pests. Each treatment contained spinach plants and was sprayed with a cocktail of three benign isolates E. coli. Treatments were replicated three times at two separate locations The poultry compost increased the E. coli population by about 1,000 fold in the first week, and sustained those populations. E. coli in plots without compost or dairy-based composts slowly died off and was no longer detected in soil after three months. In a complementary controlled experiment, the presence of indigenous microbes in non-sterile dairy compost extracts reduced the survival of E. coli more than if extracts were sterilized. This suggests that there are endemic organisms in the dairy composts that are antagonistic to E. coli. In contrast, there were organisms conducive to survival of E. coli in the poultry compost extract.
Fourth, we initiated a new project in collaboration with John Barlow in UVM Animal and Veterinary Science to investigate bedded pack management in relationship to fly control. Our focus was on fly species that vector the bacterial pathogen causing mastitis. We collected monthly samples of bedded pack, flies from cow pies in the pasture, flies from cows in the pasture and milking parlor, and samples of milk and teat swipes of individual cows, while recording the incidence of mastitis. We discovered high incidence of pseudoscorpions in bedded pack and plan to conduct subsequent tests to validate their role as fly predators. We observed seasonal patterns in composition of fly communities in the pasture and milk barn. Samples for fly, milk and skin samples have been submitted for sequencing for comparison of their microbiomes.
Perry, Leonard Herbaceous Perennial Hardiness and Adaptability to a Changing Climate
National Institute of Agriculture
Many retail and wholesale nurseries grow herbaceous perennials, and many such growers in northern climates need to successfully overwinter plants either in production, or held from the previous year, in overwintering structures such as greenhouses. Results from hardiness studies will help them overwinter plants at colder temperatures, or group them by temperatures needed for optimum survival. Such results will result in significant economic savings in both fuel and plant losses, and from less fuel usage there will be less climate impact. Results are being shared in presentations, grower articles, and online (perrysperennials.info). In addition to producers, northern retailers need to know which of the many new introductions perform well in the field in cold climates during the growing season, and survive overwinter. Results are posted online of the field trials of coneflowers (pss.uvm.edu/ppp/susres.htm) and ornamental grasses (grasstrials.com), addressing these needs.
One of the issues growers face during winter is the fluctuation of temperatures in greenhouses during sunny periods, warming considerably in day and dropping to quite cold at night. Previous studies showed Becky Shasta daisy only survived at higher subsequent freezing temperatures (-2 or -5C) no matter the deacclimation (warming daytime) treatment, while Route 66 coreopsis showed little effect from deacclimation treatment or subsequent freezing levels. Based on this, studies this past year with that coreopsis looked at longer deacclimation intervals prior to freezing to various levels (-2, -5, -8, -11, or -14C). Similar to the previous study, the control treatment (4C greenhouse prior to freezing) resulted in plants regrowing to saleable quality (rating 3.0 or above out of 5 point scale). Similar ratings were from those exposed to 4 days at 16C or 10 days alternating temperatures. Those exposed to 10 days at 16C had poorest regrowth, saleable only from the -2 or -5C treatments. Those at -5C rated similar to those in the control (3.5-3.8), while the other treatments after this temperature rated 4.0 or above. The main apparent trend from these results is the decreasing hardiness after exposure to 10 days at 16C.
Of the nine species frozen to the above five temperatures, May Night salvia, Black Adder agastache, Kit Kat Nepeta, and Max Frei geranium had no differences in regrowth, either from early January or late February freezings. Geranium Cedric Morris was saleable after -8C and above in January, and -11 or above in February. Route 66 coreopsis was slightly hardier than the Full Moon cultivar, saleable after -11C exposure with the later after -8C. Plants of both were dead after -14C exposure. Lady in Black aster was hardier in January, saleable to -11C compared to -8C in February. Plants of the latter were dead after -11C or -14C in February, but only after -14C in January. Little Spire perovskia was an unexplained exception, hardier in February (when plants are typically becoming less hardy) than January, saleable after only -5C in January, but after -11C in February.
Due to retirement, only the field trials of perennials and coneflowers will be continued in 2016.
Perry, Leonard Optimizing the Ecological Value of Ornamental Perennials: An Evaluation of Nectar and Pollen Production in Open-Pollinated Native Flowers versus Native Cultivars
New Hampshire Plant Growers Association
This research sought to highlight the ecological value potential of flowering perennials, and specifically, to understand the differences between open-pollinated straight-species native flowers and cultivars of native flowers in terms of attracting and supporting beneficial pollinators. Pollinating insects—bees in particular—play a critical role in ensuring the pollination of food crops, the production of seed in flowering plants, and maintaining natural plant communities and ecosystems. Bee communities, both wild and managed, have declined dramatically in recent years, and habitat loss has been identified as one of the factors attributing to their decline. Numerous efforts are underway to encourage the restoration of pollinator habitat into agricultural lands, natural areas, and landscape gardens, but little research exists to quantitatively justify plant selection decisions.
Two field plots and two educational gardens were designed and installed at three farms in Vermont in 2012. These gardens were monitored and maintained through the 2013 growing season. Additional support from the New Hampshire Plant Growers Association enabled the research to continue and to be expanded during the 2014 season, with additional data to fill voids in summer 2015. A selection of native herbaceous flowers, and cultivars of the same species, were chosen following research about each plant’s form, habits, and availability. Effort was made to choose flowers that bloomed at different times throughout the season and varied in size, color, and flower structure. Fourteen straight species and 16 native cultivars were included in the study. One native cultivar of each species was selected for the study, except for Echinacea purpurea, which was paired with three cultivars.
Preliminary observations were made on pollinator diversity and abundance in and around the study plots in 2012. Between May and October of 2013 and 2014, weather, flower, and pollinator data were collected weekly at the field plots. This data included temperature, cloud cover, wind speed, flower bloom stage, flowers per plant, plant height, time of observation, and pollinator visits. Field methods for nectar sampling were tested during 2014 and utilized for three species, with subsequent data collected in 2015.
Of the 13 plant pairs being evaluated, seven of the native cultivars attracted significantly fewer bee pollinators than the straight species. (Two additional Echinacea purpurea cultivars also attracted significantly fewer native pollinators than the species.) There was no significant difference in pollinator visits in five of the pairs. One native cultivar, Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Lavender Towers’ attracted significantly more native bee pollinators than the straight species.
Our nectar analysis technique was successful for measuring nectar standing crop in Monarda sp. and standing crop and secretion rate in Lobelia cardinalis. There was no significant difference in the standing crop of nectar available in Monarda fistulosa and Monarda fistulosa ‘Claire Grace.’ Lobelia cardinalis and Lobelia cardinalis ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ had significantly different bloom periods, which didn’t allow for a side-by-side comparison of nectar production, which is largely influenced by weather conditions. An additional nectar analysis study was planned for summer 2015, investigating nectar production in three different cultivars of Lobelia cardinalis.
Results have been, and are being, disseminated through videos, online, and presentations in previous years. Articles are being prepared. Since the results suggest that every species and cultivar is different, many more species and multiple cultivars of each species should be evaluated.
Preston, Jill Evolution of a cold season adaptation in the temperate grass subfaily Pooideae
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Grasses contain some of the world's most important crops, several of which (e.g. oats, wheat, and ryegrass) are locally adapted to cold temperate seasonal climates such as Vermont. An important adaptation to "escape" from winter frost is a chilling requirement for flowering. This chilling requirement (also known as a vernalization response) readies so-called winter ecotypes to flower rapidly in the spring or summer, when conditions are conducive to maximizing flower development and seed set. In the next several decades it is predicted that high latitude areas, including the northeastern US, will experience dramatic warming events and/or severe weather events, which might lead to mismatches between flowering time and favorable seasons, particularly in vernalization responsive species.
Ross, Donald Multistate Research Coordination Northeastern Region National Institute of Food and Agriculture The overall goal of the project is to increase our understanding of the bioavailability of soil phosphorus and the likelihood that, if eroded, it will contribute to harmful algal blooms. The primary objective is to determine the amount and type of organic phosphorus in stream corridor soils of Vermont's Lake Champlain Basin. Most past research has focused either on inorganic phosphorus or total phosphorus, largely because good methodologies were not available for characterizing the organic fraction. Soils from different land uses in the Missisquoi watershed are being sampled, along with samples from adjacent stream banks. As expected, our preliminary results show much higher phosphorus in agricultural fields than forest soils (1225 vs. 550 mg/kg total phosphorus). Surprisingly, wetlands soils were nearly as high as the agriculture fields. Streambanks adjacent to agricultural fields were much lower in both total phosphorus and soil test phosphorus, which reflects fertilizer and manure additions to the fields. Organic phosphorus was 11-39% of the total and appeared to be a lower percentage of streambank soils. These preliminary data are being presented at the annual meeting of the Soil Science Society of America and the annual meeting of SERA-17 (Innovative Solutions to Minimize Phosphorus Losses from Agriculture). In future work, we expect to elucidate the pathways of phosphorus transformations in soils of the Lake Champlain Basin with the results being regionally applicable. Rapid and reliable methods for determining soil organic phosphorus have not previously been available and this work will also further advance a new technique. By being able to quantify the organic phosphorus fractions in field and lab studies, we will provide new information on how bioavailable phosphorus changes over time. Our results will be useful for targeting efforts to minimize the movement of phosphorus into Lake Champlain.