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ARS Home » Plains Area » Mandan, North Dakota » Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #405647
Research Project: Sustainable Agricultural Systems for the Northern Great Plains

Location: Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory

Title: Quantifying agroecosystem resilience with ecometabolomics

Author
item Clemensen, Andrea

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/7/2023
Publication Date: 1/7/2023
Citation: Clemensen, A.K. 2023. Quantifying agroecosystem resilience with ecometabolomics. Meeting Abstract. 1.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Industrialized agriculture has provided more efficient food production to support an increasing human population. However, methods that have improved agricultural efficiency are proving to have various negative impacts to ecosystem and social sustainability. The mission of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) - Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is to deliver scientific solutions to national and global agricultural challenges. Regenerative methods of agricultural production that may help mitigate negative environmental impacts include strategies such as reduced tillage, crop rotation (including perennial phases), cover- or inter-cropping systems, integrated crop-livestock systems, and crop genetic diversity. To discover how these different management strategies may expand the resilience of agricultural sustainability requires novel research questions. Our team at the USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory (NGPRL) integrates theories and methods from multiple disciplines, allowing for unique transdisciplinary research on cropping, grassland, and livestock systems while considering the ecological and human dimensions of these systems. Our projects build upon long-term research and leverage the Long-Term Agricultural Research (LTAR; https://ltar.ars.usda.gov/) network to evaluate how agricultural management practices contribute to increased resilience and expand ecosystem services to farmers and society. Our projects explore the potential linkages between soil and plant health and function to food nutritional quality while also investigating the ecometabolomic function of various crops in different agricultural management systems. We aim to develop agricultural management strategies that positively impact soil and plant function and the nutritional qualities of food crops, forages, and livestock products while enhancing ecosystem services and agroecosystem resilience.