AFES Miscellaneous Publication 2013-03

Tracking the growth and development of a new industry is critical to the assessment of its success. Growers, industry support groups, government leaders, educational and research organizations and more use basic statistics on crop production, markets, and growth over time to support and fund activities that promote this industry. Annual statistics also provide an indicator of industry health and can be used to develop models of long-term trends in industry growth. Beginning in 2011, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station began compiling industry statistics. We summarize confidential grower information to provide baseline data that the industry can use to obtain funding, make business decisions, and promote their industry

Circular 119

The annual flower trials were planted from 30 May through 2 June, 2000 in the Perennial Landscape and All America Selections Display Garden of the Georgeson Botanical Garden (64°51/N, 147°52'W ). Fairbanks silt loam soil was fertilized with 10-20-20S (4 lbs per 100 sq feet; 195 g per sq meter) on 28 May. With the exception of dahlias, all flowers were grown as seedling transplants, and were hardened off outdoors for one week prior to transplanting. Tuberous roots of dahlias were planted in containers five weeks prior to transplanting and were hardened off

AFES Miscellaneous Publication 2010-02

Research has been conducted since 2001 to assist growers in identifying components of peony field cut flower production and distribution from field selection and planting to post harvest handling and packaging for export. This experiment addressed three components of the production cycle: field planting dates, root quality and plant productivity, and post harvest handling of cut stems. In a comparison of planting times (autumn, spring or as containerized plants in mid summer), ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ and ‘Felix Crouse’ showed no difference in shoot number and growth one full year after planting. ‘Duchess de Nemours’ and ‘Alexander Fleming’ showed significant reductions in growth compared to the other cultivars, and we suspect disease rather than planting time as the problem. All treatments where bud break had occurred in storage with ‘Duchess de Nemours’ and ‘Alexander Fleming,’ new shoots rotted, and recovery was slow. A treatment of elemental sulfur was not sufficient to protect roots from storage rot. ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ roots and crown buds were weighed, counted and measured prior to planting in order to learn if a correlation exists between root quality and subsequent growth and flowering. Three root attributes were correlated with the total number of stems produced: total number of eyes per plant, total number of roots per plant, and root fresh weight. Characteristics such as root length and maximum diameter were not correlated with subsequent growth. We found no relationship between any root characteristics and the number of flowering stems and foliage height in the first year. The attributes that showed correlation could not be fitted to a linear or curvilinear model explaining the nature of the correlation. Larger sample sizes will be necessary to clarify these relationships. The best method for handling peony cut flowers for greatest vase life is to cut peonies dry and store them dry in a cooler (34°F) at 80+% relative humidity until shipping. Use of water in buckets in the field or pulsing flowers with water in the cooler does not improve vase life of peonies. Under optimum conditions, ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ peonies lasted up to 15 days in a vase, 8-9 days from bud break to full bloom, and an additional 5-6 days in full bloom. Chilling in a cooler is the most important attribute to long vase life

MP 2012-02

Final report to BP.The Prudhoe Bay oil fields, Alaska were discovered in 1968, and commercial production commenced in 1977 with the completion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Oil production has been declining since 1989, although additional exploratory drilling continues. Support facilities for oil production are built on permafrost soils that surface-thaw in summer to form extensive wetlands composed of moist meadows, sedge marshes, moist sedge-dwarf shrub tundra, grass marshes, small ponds and lakes (Walker and Acevedo 1987). To prevent thawing and subsidence of subsurface, ice-rich soils, gravel pads, 2m (6 ft) or more thickness have been built to support drilling sites as well as roads, airstrips and building pads (Kidd et al. 2006). As well sites are decommissioned, the gravel is wholly or partially removed resulting in the need for site rehabilitation and/or restoration to support wetland plants and, in some instances, enhance wildlife habitat (McKendrick 1991, Jorgenson and Joyce 1994, Kidd et al. 2004, 2006). Since the 1970s, methods to revegetate arctic wetlands have included a variety of planting techniques, seed treatments, seeding with native and non-native species (mostly grasses), and fertilizer applications (Chapin and Chapin 1980; Bishop and Chapin 1989, Jorgenson 1988, Kidd and Rossow 1998, Kidd et al. 2004, 2006, Maslen and Kershaw 1989, McKendrick 1987, 1991, 2000, McKendrick et al. 1980, McKendrick and Mitchell 1978, Mitchell et al. 1974). Treatments also have included sprigging and plug transplantation (Kidd et al. 2004, 2006), surface manipulation (Streever et al. 2003), as well as natural re-colonization (Ebersole 1987, Schwarzenbach 1996). These methods have been partially successful. The gravelly soils often are dry, nutrient-poor, and have a higher pH and lower organic matter content than surrounding soils, so natural recolonization does not occur readily (Bishop and Chapin 1989, Jorgenson and Joyce 1994). Methods such as sprigging and plug transplanting are slow, labor intensive and expensive compared to direct seeding. Fertilization, especially with phosphorus, is recommended for long-term survival of plants grown on gravelly sandy soils (BP Exploration and McKendrick 2004). Two common species in the arctic coastal wetlands are water sedge, Carex aquatilis Wahlenb. and cotton sedge, Eriophorum angustifolium Honck. Carex aquatilis in particular forms large populations that spread vegetatively by rhizomes and often dominate these wetland environments (Shaver and Billings 1975). Despite their abundance, these species have not been considered for revegetation because of poor seed germination and inadequate information on seed development and viability (Dr. William Streever, BP Alaska, pers. comm.). Both Carex and Eriophorum in arctic environments produce abundant seeds, but seed viability and germination often is low and highly variable among years and locations (Archibold 1984, Billings and Mooney 1968, Ebersole 1989, Gartner et al. 1983). Germination recommendations for both species vary by location and have included an array of pretreatments such as light, alternating temperatures, cold stratification, scarification, and high and low temperature dry storage (Amen 1966, Billings and Mooney 1960, Bliss 1958, Hunt and Moore 2003, Johnson et al. 1965, Phillips 1954 and Steinfeld 2001). The purpose of this project was to explore methods of seed germination of Carex aquatilis and Eriophorum angustifolium, to learn the conditions for germination and dormancy control mechanisms, and identify seed treatments that might enhance germination for eventual use in direct-seeding or plug production for arctic wetland revegetation

The impact of boundary conditions on CO2 capacity estimation in aquifers

The boundary conditions of an aquifer determine the extent to which fluids (including formation water and CO2) and pressure can be transferred into adjacent geological formations, either laterally or vertically. Aquifer boundaries can be faults, lithological boundaries, formation pinch-outs, salt walls, or outcrop. In many cases compliance with regulations preventing CO2 storage influencing areas outside artificial boundaries defined by non-geological criteria (international boundaries; license limits) may be necessary. A bounded aquifer is not necessarily a closed aquifer. The identification of an aquifer’s boundary conditions determines how CO2 storage capacity is estimated in the earliest screening and characterization stages. There are different static capacity estimation methods in use for closed systems and open systems. The method used has a significant impact on the final capacity estimate. The recent EU Directive (2009/31/EC) stated that where more than one storage site within a single “hydraulic unit” (bounded aquifer volume) is being considered, the characterization process should account for potential pressure interactions. The pressure interplay of multiple sites (or even the pressure footprint of just one site) is heavily influenced by boundary conditions