Location: Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory
Project Number: 3098-21600-001-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Nov 16, 2023
End Date: Nov 15, 2028
Objective:
Objective 1: Develop and evaluate system management strategies to improve productivity and resilience of cropping systems and grazed and ungrazed grasslands.
Sub-objective 1.A: Improve agricultural systems, resilience, ecosystem services, and sustainability through manure and nutrient management practices and cropping systems in holistic and sustainable systems.
Sub-objective 1.B: Evaluation of precision agriculture for the adoption of precision nutrient applications.
Sub-objective 1.C: Grazing management to improve biomass production and soil health.
Objective 2: Investigate system-level responses of grasslands to natural and anthropogenic perturbations including extreme weather events and novel nutrient management practices.
Sub-objective 2.A: Quantify long-term effects of multiple nutrient fertilization and disturbance on productivity, species composition, and soil health in native C4 grasslands.
Sub-objective 2.B: Identify genetic control of plant traits conferring yield resilience in perennial bioenergy crops.
Objective 3: Develop, evaluate, and monitor indicators of agroecosystem productivity, sustainability, and resilience.
Sub-objective 3.A: Evaluate key indicators of resilience and sustainability across the LTAR network to evaluate soils, crop production, and environmental (i.e., water quality) outcomes.
Approach:
The overall aim of this research is to improve the multifunctionality of agroecosystems while simultaneously maximizing conservation efforts. The multifunctionality of these agroecosystems include food production, natural resource services, fiber production, and other ecosystem services. Each of these systems face increasing challenges ranging from extreme weather events to a growing world population that recently exceeded eight billion. The Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory (GSWRL) is well positioned to address the vast range of challenges being faced by our producers, policymakers, and stakeholders.
The researchers at GSWRL use a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach aiming to address the following research components: 1) develop and evaluate system management strategies to improve productivity and resilience of a range of agroecosystems; 2) investigate system-level responses of grasslands to natural and anthropogenic perturbations; and 3) develop, evaluate, and monitor indicators of agroecosystem productivity, sustainability, and resilience. Each of these components aim to face current and future agroecosystem challenges, while also maximizing conservation efforts for future generations of producers, consumers, and stakeholders.
The GSWRL will address these research components via field trials, laboratory analytics, mechanistic experiments, remote sensing and geospatial methodologies, and modeling. Each of the methods will take place at Texas Gulf (TG) Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) site, located within the Texas Blackland Prairies ecoregion, but will benefit from the inclusion of other ecoregions through established collaborative efforts as well as the expanding LTAR network. Reaching across agroecoregions provides opportunity to improve the multifunctionality of agroecosystems both within and outside the Texas Blackland Prairies. Such an approach will contribute new and innovative solutions and knowledge for a myriad of agroecosystem challenges leading to conservation, sustainability, and resilience of U.S. agricultural resources.
