Indi Braden

By Michael Aide, Indi Braden and Sven Svenson

Tile drainage effluent from agriculture fields is beneficial to production agriculture; however, nitrate and phosphate transport from production fields to surface water resources is an environmental concern. The David M. Barton Agriculture Research Center (Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, USA) has a 40 ha controlled subsurface tile drainage/irrigation technology with associated denitrification bioreactor. Nitrate-bearing effluents from the controlled subsurface tile drainage/irrigation technology under a corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean (Glycine max L) rotation is sufficient to be an environmental concern. Nitrate-bearing effluent passage through the denitrification bioreactor typically promotes sufficient nitrate reduction (denitrification) that the bioreactor effluent water is less than 10 mg NO3-N/L. Phosphorus, ammonium-N, and sulfate-S concentrations are not appreciably influenced by denitrification bioreactor passage.

Part of the book: Soil Contamination

By Michael Thomas Aide, Byron McVay, Indi Braden and Christine Aide

Wetland conversion in southeastern Missouri initiated with the Little River Drainage Project (1914–1924) resulting in the permanent drainage and conversion of 5 million acres (2 million hectares) to productive agricultural land. Given that this ancestral wetland conversion has totally replaced the wetland ecosystem with prime agricultural land and with this conversion, the loss of wildlife habitat is nearly complete, the question remains what actions are now possible to restore key wetland soil pathways to support soil health and water quality. Key to any corrective practices involves agricultural producer involvement and commitment. The emerging concept of soil health supports the use of cover crops that promote soil structure development and soil carbon sequestration, each perceived as supporting farm profitability. Government programs supporting field flooding during the off-season supports migratory water fowl. Farming practices such as furrow irrigation and allied technologies for rice production limit aquifer overdraft. Edge of field technology involving riparian strips and denitrification bioreactors support down-stream water quality by limiting nitrate and phosphate off-field migration. The result is that emerging technologies (i) support farm profitability and environmental stewardship and (ii) which are designed specifically to provide farming practice compatibility with the soil and water resources re-establishes some wetland mechanisms appropriate for long-term land and water resource sustainability.

Part of the book: Wetlands Management

By Michael T. Aide, Christine Aide and Indi Braden

Based on the U.S. Soil Taxonomy Histosols are soils that have a histic epipedon, which is a surface horizon that exhibits a sufficient abundance of soil organic matter to be distinctively different than other soil orders predominantly composed of clastic materials. Gelisols are soils that have permafrost, with histels being a suborder that is dominated by organic materials. Collectively, these soil orders are abundant in peatland ecosystems. The abundance of soil organic material is primarily a consequence of climate, topography, hydrology, vegetation. Peatland ecosystems have been a major research arena; however, added research attention is being directed to the potential release of carbon because of accelerated climate change. This review focuses of the structure and dynamics of organic soils and an understanding of their creation, evolution and ultimate fate. Attention is focused on degraded peatland net primary productivity because of potential forthcoming differences attributed to rainfall, temperature, vegetation, hydrology and permafrost disappearance.

Part of the book: Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development

By Michael Aide, Indi Braden and Christine Aide

Academics and University Extension personnel have experience with soil mapping and providing soil suitability interpretations; however, a more efficient information conveyance to land custodians is desired to support informative land management applications. In the USA each state, in concert with the United States Department of Agriculture, has embarked on developing an online format linking soil survey with ecological site descriptions to provide information for forest and rangeland management to encourage soil protection - health and optimizing ecological services on individual land parcels. In this Missouri-based manuscript, we discuss three cases where soils and their associated ecological site descriptions provide land custodians information concerning their logical reference state vegetation community and detail land management decisions that transform the reference vegetation community to a different vegetation community. With each case, landscapes and their associated vegetations communities are potentially partitioned by soil, physiography, hydrology, and other attributes.

Part of the book: Environmental Management

By Michael Aide and Indi Braden

Arsenic uptake in rice (Oryza sativa) is recognized as a global health emergency, requiring the development of agronomic protocols to reduce human exposure to rice having elevated arsenic concentrations. Recent rice-arsenic investigations have centered around numerous agronomic approaches, including: (i) rice breeding and cultivar selection, (ii) altering irrigation water applications to reduce arsenic soil availability, (iii) application of soil amendments which either support arsenic adsorption on iron-plaque or provide antagonistic competition for root uptake, and (iv) phytoremediation. Given that rice cultivars vary in their arsenic accumulation capacity, this manuscript review concentrates on the influences of water management, soil amendments, and phytoremediation approaches on arsenic accumulation. Water management, whether alternating wetting and drying or furrow irrigation, provides the greatest potential to alleviate arsenic uptake in rice. Phytoremediation has great promise in the extraction of soil arsenic; however, the likelihood of multiple years of cultivating hyperaccumulating plants and their proper disposal is a serious limitation. Soil amendments have been soil applied to alter the soil chemistry to sequester arsenic or provide competitive antagonism towards arsenic root uptake; however, existing research efforts must be further field-evaluated and documented as producer-friendly protocols. The usage of soil amendments will require the development of agribusiness supply chains and educated extension personnel before farm-gate acceptance.

Part of the book: Soil Science

By Michael Aide and Indi Braden

Floodplain ecosystems have been substantially altered because of land management decisions. Land management decisions have been made primarily for economic development, increased food demand, and reducing flood risks. Recently, increased attention has been devoted to restoring selected floodplain ecosystem services that have important benefits for habitat and wildlife, water purification, forest restoration, and carbon sequestration. Considering the Mississippi River floodplain as a portion of the state of Missouri, we summarize the key soil and soil features and elaborate on ecosystem site descriptions to support assessment of land management’s influence on ecosystem services. Given the significant government investment in detailed soil mapping and development of the ecosystem site descriptions, the fusion of these two advancements is critical for evaluating ecosystem service restoration.

Part of the book: Sustainable Management of Natural Resources

By Michael Aide, Samantha Siemers Indi Braden, Sven Svenson, Shakirah Nakasagga, Kevin Sargent, Miriam Snider and Marissa Wilson

Hydric soils and prior converted soils are frequently used for agricultural production. Agriculture production and their associated agribusinesses are the chief economic sector; thus, agriculture is critical for rural prosperity. However, the continuous production of grain crops increases the risk of disease and insect outbreaks, which may lead to soil nutrient exhaustion or substantial usage of annual fertilizer amendments, loss of soil carbon, and soil structure degradation attributed primarily to tillage, decrease in biodiversity, and increased soil compaction. At the David M. Barton Agriculture Research Center at Southeast Missouri State University, our focus has been to support profitable agriculture production and environmental stewardship. We have developed a decade-long research program specializing in subsurface controlled irrigation with the gradual development of edge-of-field technologies. We further developed a constructed wetland to address nutrient pollution concerns with confined feeding operations. Pastures associated with the confined feed facility and the constructed wetland have initiated a soil health program. Our evolution has now permitted the David M. Barton Agriculture Research Center to become a regional center to showcase the relationships that support both profitable agriculture and environmental stewardship.

Part of the book: Wetlands

By Michael Aide and Indi Braden

Riparian buffers are engineered landscapes designed to protect fresh-water resources and to promote esthetics, soil and habitat health, reduce flooding, and provide economic benefits. An emerging attribute of riparian buffers is the preservation and accumulation of soil organic carbon. This review discusses riparian buffers to support and protect ecosystem services, the potential to sequester carbon, and the presentation of a case study to demonstrate soil fertility enhancement and soil organic matter accumulation. The riparian buffer involved in this study was in east-central Missouri and the stand age was approximately 18 years. Within the riparian buffer, soil organic matter averaged 3.4%, whereas in the adjacent production field soil organic matter averaged 1.7%, showing that the riparian buffer significantly supported soil carbon capture and preservation. Similarly, ammonium and sulfate concentrations were significantly greater in the riparian buffer. Habitat and soil water quality are important outcomes.

Part of the book: Land-Use Management

By Indi Braden and Michael Aide

Livestock operations have many challenges. In addition to animal health and genetics, producers must also manage healthy environments for raising their animals. Forage-based systems allow producers to use solar energy as one input for their overall production through the photosynthetic potential of the forage species. Intensive grazing can allow producers opportunities for more efficiency of forages over space and time when managed properly. Producers must consider the needs of the livestock, the seasonal aspects of forage production, and environmental resources available. Rotating animals from paddock to paddock requires the producer to make decisions daily. Best management practices used in livestock production systems aid in environmental quality improvement, soil health, and practical forage systems. Several methods are employed at the Southeast Missouri State University Agriculture Research Center, Gordonville, Missouri, United States of America. Some of these best management practices in place at the Center include the following: smaller paddocks with rotational grazing schedules, animal access to water with protected streambanks, movable shade areas, cool-season and warm-season species, specific areas for winter feeding, and more. Providing producers with knowledge and examples allows for informed decisions and management of forage system goals based on science, environment, and economics.

Part of the book: Grazing Strategies and Animal Production Systems [Working title]