Location: Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research
Project Number: 5070-12000-001-013-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jun 1, 2023
End Date: May 31, 2025
Objective:
Develop and implement protocols for assessing and comparing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, biodiversity, and ecosystem services in natural and agronomic systems represented by the Central Mississippi River Basin (CMRB) Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) treatments.
Approach:
Standard protocols will be implemented and new protocols will be developed and evaluated for making comparisons among the CMRB LTAR treatments, including Tucker Prairie (a native, perennial ecosystem) and the LTAR grain cropping systems, including the “Aspirational” system (a corn-soybean-wheat-hay rotation with cover crops) and the “Business-as-Usual” system (a corn-soybean rotation). Data will include GHG emissions, floristic biomass and diversity (i.e., cash crops, cover crops, native species, and weedy/invasive species), plant tissue and grain quality (e.g., tissue carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients), soil microbial diversity (i.e., metagenomics data), soil carbon stocks, and a suite of standard soil health indicators. Cooperator will collaborate on development of appropriate protocols, data collection, and data interpretation.
