The Development and Evolution of the Soil Health Nutrient Tool (AKA Haney Test) after Ten Years of Implementation in a Commercial Agricultural Laboratory

The growing focus on soil health and regenerative agriculture has brought about the need for new integrated approaches for the analysis of soil. Prior, commercial agricultural laboratories relied on methods to measure chemical properties of the soil, such as pH and nutrients. The Soil Health Nutrient Tool (aka. Haney Test) developed by Dr. Rick Haney (USDA-ARS Blackland Research and Extension Station, Temple, TX) integrates chemical and biological properties to provide a more holistic understanding of soil fertility management. Following adoption by commercial laboratories in 2013, criticisms regarding variability in measurements and lack of calibration were apparent. In this research, we present the development of new tools and instrumentation to reduce variability of specific measures, namely soil respiration, used as part of the test. The development of the Soil Respiration-1 (SR-1) instrument, which employs an infrared gas analysis (IRGA) detector for measuring carbon dioxide (CO2) was compared to the Solvita® gel system. The data suggest that Solvita® underestimates CO2 respiration at values above 100 mg CO2-C kg-1 and overestimates values below 30 mg CO2-C kg-1, compared to the SR-1, leading to compounding effects on the overall results of the Haney Test. These findings led to the development of the Mini-Cube using nondispersive infrared (NDIR) microsensor technology as a potential cost-effective solution compared to the SR-1. The comparison yielded a strong correlation (r2=0.99, p\u3c0.001) and suggests that the Mini-Cube could be a viable, cost-effective option for soil respiration in commercial laboratories. We then explored complimentary measures to CO2 respiration by coupling an IRGA CO2 sensor with UV Flux to measure oxygen (O2) consumption. The results show that O2 uptake is correlated (r2 = 0.97, p \u3c 0.001) to CO2 efflux, and could be used in lieu of CO2 measurements for biological activity. Finally, we explore the utility of the Haney test as a tool for regenerative agriculture verification processes using Regen Certified® and Microbially Verified Carbon scoring. Advisor: Rhae A. Drijbe

The Development and Evolution of the Soil Health Nutrient Tool (Aka. Haney Test) After Ten Years of Implementation in a Commercial Agricultural Laboratory

The growing focus on soil health and regenerative agriculture has brought about the need for new integrated approaches for the analysis of soil. Prior, commercial agricultural laboratories relied on methods to measure chemical properties of the soil, such as pH and nutrients. The Soil Health Nutrient Tool (aka. Haney Test) developed by Dr. Rick Haney (USDA-ARS Blackland Research and Extension Station, Temple, TX) integrates chemical and biological properties to provide a more holistic understanding of soil fertility management. Following adoption by commercial laboratories in 2013, criticisms regarding variability in measurements and lack of calibration were apparent. In this research, we present the development of new tools and instrumentation to reduce variability of specific measures, namely soil respiration, used as part of the test. The development of the Soil Respiration-1 (SR-1) instrument, which employs an infrared gas analysis (IRGA) detector for measuring carbon dioxide (CO2) was compared to the Solvita® gel system. The data suggest that Solvita® underestimates CO2 respiration at values above 100 mg CO2-C kg-1 and overestimates values below 30 mg CO2-C kg-1, compared to the SR-1, leading to compounding effects on the overall results of the Haney Test. These findings led to the development of the Mini-Cube using nondispersive infrared (NDIR) microsensor technology as a potential cost-effective solution compared to the SR-1. The comparison yielded a strong correlation (r2=0.99, p\u3c0.001) and suggests that the Mini-Cube could be a viable, cost-effective option for soil respiration in commercial laboratories. We then explored complimentary measures to CO2 respiration by coupling an IRGA CO2 sensor with UV Flux to measure oxygen (O2) consumption. The results show that O2 uptake is correlated (r2 = 0.97, p \u3c 0.001) to CO2 efflux, and could be used in lieu of CO2 measurements for biological activity. Finally, we explore the utility of the Haney test as a tool for regenerative agriculture verification processes using Regen Certified® and Microbially Verified Carbon scoring

Navigating the chaos of an unfolding global cycle

There are many calls to use the COVID 19 crisis as an opportunity for transforming to a future trajectory that is more equitable and environmentally sustainable. What is lacking is a cohesive framework for bringing these calls together. We propose that such transitions could be informed by lessons from three decades of scholarship on abrupt and surprising change in systems of humans and nature. Over time, many social-ecological systems exhibit cycles of change consisting of sequential patterns of growth, development, crisis, and reorganization. A critical phase in the cycle is the brief period after crisis when novelty and innovation can change the future trajectory. Without being prepared for this window of opportunity, deep, systemic change may be unachievable. We propose a three-step process to identify the major drivers of the global system that need to be changed: (1) identifying what society values; (2) identifying the determinants of these valued variables; and (3) identifying the underlying drivers of the determinants and how they need to be changed. A tentative list of five such drivers are identified and discussed: (i) the economic system, (ii) homogenization, (iii) human population growth, size, and densities, (iv) consumption patterns, human ethics, and behavior, and (v) governance. They are linked to seven questions relating to how we might proceed in addressing the drivers. If response to the crisis merely reinforces the existing system, its incompatibility with the natural world and its propensity to increase inequity and conflict will likely increase fragility and lead to another version of the present calamity. If it is a deliberately transformed system that emerges its future will depend on the reorganization process, and the way the system is guided into the future. What is needed is a deliberate, fundamental cultivation of emergence to enable transformation toward better futures in order to avoid an inevitable deepening of a system that ultimately is worse for all.</p

Path Dependency in Marketing Systems

Path dependency in marketing systems occurs when what has happened at an earlier time affects the possible outcomes of a sequence of events occurring at a later point in time (Sewell 1996). Unlike the wider category of all social systems, in marketing systems path dependency is innate in the evolutionary dynamics underlying the formation and growth of a marketing system, beginning with the historical framing of choices made by all participants, generating, through self-organization and emergence, four complex social mechanisms - delivery systems, stakeholder action fields, technology evolution systems and value change fields. These complex social mechanisms interact over time generating marketing system outcomes that feedback continually into participant choices. The paper argues that all marketing systems, whether micro, meso or macro in scale and level, exhibit path dependence, and explores the implications of this finding. The paper identifies three ways of approaching path dependence in marketing systems - a narrative, partial and strong approach. It concludes that in a specific marketing systems setting all three approaches complement each other, the first establishing in narrative terms what happened, the second identifying the key path dependencies in a partial analysis, and finally, the third, drawing on a detailed or strong understanding of the causal dynamics at work to provide insights needed to extend theories of marketing system formation and growth and to provide the foundations for policy prescription. The occurrence of path dependency in all marketing systems and the complementary nature of the three distinctive approaches are the two major contributions of this paper

Epigenetic programming alterations in alligators from environmentally contaminated lakes

Previous studies examining the reproductive health of alligators in Florida lakes indicate that a variety of developmental and health impacts can be attributed to a combination of environmental quality and exposures to environmental contaminants. The majority of these environmental contaminants have been shown to disrupt normal endocrine signaling. The potential that these environmental conditions and contaminants may influence epigenetic status and correlate to the health abnormalities was investigated in the current study. The red blood cell (RBC) (erythrocyte) in the alligator is nucleated so was used as an easily purified marker cell to investigate epigenetic programming. RBCs were collected from adult male alligators captured at three sites in Florida, each characterized by varying degrees of contamination. While Lake Woodruff (WO) has remained relatively pristine, Lake Apopka (AP) and Merritt Island (MI) convey exposures to different suites of contaminants. DNA was isolated and methylated DNA immuno-precipitation (MeDIP) was used to isolate methylated DNA that was then analyzed in a competitive hybridization using a genome-wide alligator tiling array for a MeDIP-Chip analysis. Pairwise comparisons of alligators from AP and MI to WO revealed alterations in the DNA methylome. The AP vs. WO comparison identified 85 differential DNA methylation regions (DMRs) with ⩾3 adjacent oligonucleotide tiling array probes and 15,451 DMRs with a single oligo probe analysis. The MI vs. WO comparison identified 75 DMRs with the ⩾3 oligo probe and 17,411 DMRs with the single oligo probe analysis. There was negligible overlap between the DMRs identified in AP vs. WO and MI vs. WO comparisons. In both comparisons DMRs were primarily associated with CpG deserts which are regions of low CpG density (1–2 CpG/100 bp). Although the alligator genome is not fully annotated, gene associations were identified and correlated to major gene class functional categories and pathways of endocrine relevance. Observations demonstrate that environmental quality may be associated with epigenetic programming and health status in the alligator. The epigenetic alterations may provide biomarkers to assess the environmental exposures and health impacts on these populations of alligators