35 research outputs found
Using Forages to Conserve Water in Semi-Arid Irrigated Cropping Systems
The Texas High Plains are part of the largest, contiguously irrigated cropland in the USA, and draws water from the Ogallala aquifer. High crop prices, increased demand for maize for ethanol production, and severe drought have increased water depletion rates. Research has shown that integrating forages and grazing cattle into the cotton-dominant cropping system can reduce overall water use (Allen et al. 2012) while still offering farmers positive net returns (Johnson et al. 2013). Integrating forages with row crops also reduces needs for nitrogen (N) fertilizer, rebuilds soil organic matter (Acosta-Martinez et al. 2010), and reduces fossil energy use and associated carbon emissions (Zilverberg et al. 2012). Advances in irrigation delivery that minimize evaporation losses and the use of irrigation scheduling tools that factor in soil water availability and crop needs for evapotranspiration (ET) are keys to improving whole-system water use efficiency. The Texas Alliance for Water Conservation (TAWC) is a multi-disciplinary team of agricultural scientists, resource managers, and producers formed in 2004 to demonstrate tools and irrigation technologies for conserving water on commercial farms in the Southern High Plains of Texas. We report progress in demonstrating advances in water conservation in a region where production of forages and livestock can help alleviate the decline in ground water supplies used for crop irrigation
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A Perspective on the Biology of Florida Keys Coral Reefs
South Florida is a unique enclave of the Caribbean thanks to the nexus of geography and environmental factors. Tropical mangrove, sea grass, coral reef epifaunal and infaunal sedimentary communities are common from Stuart on the east coast to Tampa Bay on the west coast. Florida is the only state in the continental United States to have such an ecosystem in its coastal waters. Climate and hydrodynamic features support a variety of plants and animals. The Florida Keys are the most Caribbeanlike region in Florida. These “islands in the sun” have attracted millions of visitors and residents; some of the more famous include: George Meade (Union General in the Civil War ), James Audubon (artist), President Harry Truman (built the Little White House in Key West ), Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall (who made the movie Key Largo in Key Largo), Ted Williams (baseball player and avid fisherman), Tennessee Williams (playwright), Ernest Hemingway (writer), and Jimmy Johnson (football coach). Many respected scientists worked their crafts in the coral reefs of the Florida Keys including Louis and Alexander Agassiz, Louis Pourtalès, Alfred G. Mayer, Thomas W. Vaughan, William Longley, Reginald Daly, Lawrence Cary, Walter Stark, Robert Ginsburg, and Eugene Shinn. A significant portion of the foundation of coral reef science is the result of research conducted in the Florida Keys. The first underwater photographs (some in color) of coral reef fish were taken in the Keys. The first coral reef underwater park (John Pennekamp) and marine protected area (Dry Tortugas ) were created in the Keys
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Source–sink recruitment of red snapper: Connectivity between the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean
Geopolitical fishery management boundaries are often misaligned with the ecological population structure of marine species, which presents challenges for assessment and management of these species. Red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, is an iconic and heavily exploited species in both the US Gulf of Mexico and off the southeastern US Atlantic coast and is managed separately in the two jurisdictions. It is hypothesized that the Atlantic red snapper stock is sustained partially by larval subsidies from the Gulf of Mexico. Here we use a biophysical modeling approach to simulate recruitment of red snapper across the entire Southeastern US region, and quantify rates of larval exchange across management jurisdictions. The biophysical framework simulates realistic red snapper behaviors and traits with respect to spatial distribution and timing of spawning, larval vertical migration and pelagic larval duration, and settlement habitat. Our results suggest that areas of the West Florida Shelf south of Tampa Bay are important sources of larvae for the Atlantic population, supplying as much as one third of the recruitment during some years. Yet, contributions of Gulf‐spawned red snapper to the Atlantic stock are highly dynamic given large variability in spatial and temporal patterns of red snapper recovery in each region. As such, effective management of the Gulf of Mexico red snapper stock, particularly the spawning population in southwest Florida, may have important consequences for the sustainable harvest of red snapper off the Atlantic coast