2008 Ecological Systems Initiative Competitive Grants

List of all new grant projects - all initiatives

All Current Ecological Systems Initiative Grant Projects
  

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New Project Descriptions

 

Agronomic, Environmental and Economic Performance of Alternative Biomass Cropping Systems 
$91,153, 3 years, Lisa Schulte, Natural Resource Ecology and Management; Ken Moore, Agronomy; Rick Hall, Natural Resource Ecology and Management; Arne Hallam Economics; and Matt Helmers, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, ISU [E2008-24] BOONE AND STORY COUNTIES

Agricultural producers in Iowa and throughout the Midwest are gearing up to meet biomass demands associated with bioenergy production. While it is expected that corn will meet much of the initial need, cellulosic biomass feedstocks provide a longer term solution. Celluosic feedstocks pose numerous advantages including higher energy output:input, less negative impacts on soil and water resources, and they can be grown across a wider range of climate and landscape conditions. It is unlikely, however, that a single biomass cropping system will suit all of these purposes—a portfolio approach to bioenergy feedstock production is needed.

The goal of this project is to develop several biomass cropping systems that are productive, profitable, and mitigate the negative effects of annual crops on soil and water quality. Investigators are developing and testing several alternative systems that include sweet sorghum/triticale for superior biomass yields; a corn-soybean-triticale/soybean and corn-switchgrass rotation to reduce environmental impacts; and combining triticale with aspen and cottonwood plantings to achieve short-term biomass yields and superior long-term yields. All systems will be compared to conventional continuous corn for 1) energy/fertilizer inputs versus biomass outputs, 2) impacts on soil and water quality, and 3) establishment, production, harvest and transport costs.

Lisa Schulte
Lisa Schulte is an assistant professor of landscape ecology in ISU’s Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management. Her research focuses on ecosystem patterning and dynamics in forest and agroecosystems, with emphasis on long time periods, broad spatial scales, and sustainable land management. Much of her work has used landscape modeling techniques. Socioeconomic facets of sustainable land management, in addition to ecological ones, are an expanding component of her current research, and she has experience successfully working in and leading interdisciplinary teams. Schulte teaches courses in ecosystem management, stand dynamics, and landscape ecology, and is a member of ISU’s Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture. She is the recipient of ISU’s 2007 Award for Early Achievement in Teaching.

Ken Moore
Ken Moore is a professor of forage management and utilization in ISU’s Department of Agronomy. His research involves identifying factors that limit the nutritive value of and development of systems for improved utilization of forages. Current research efforts are concentrated on studying species diversity in pastures and its relationship to spatial and temporal variation in available nutrients for grazing livestock, development of complementary grazing systems, and the impact of various legumes grown in mixtures with grasses on forage protein quality and availability. He is also a biometrician with expertise in experimental design.

Rick Hall
Rick Hall is the Wallace Professor of Forestry in ISU’s Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management. His expertise is in tree genetics and silviculture, and current research focuses on the selection of genetically improved cottonwoods, aspens and other tree species for use in the biofuels and new wood products industries. Hall was the lead PI on a project to develop poplar clones for the Midwest Region under the USDOE Biofuels Development Program. He was the 2007 recipient of the College Diversity Enhancement Award and a former chair of the Interdepartmental Genetics Program. Hall teaches courses in renewable resources, silviculture and genecology.

Arne Hallam
Arne Hallam is a professor of agricultural economics and chair of ISU’s Department of Economics. His research addresses production economics, market structure, and risk and uncertainty. He teaches courses in resource and environmental economics, agricultural marketing and finance, and optimization, among others.

Matt Helmers
Matt Helmers is an assistant professor of drainage engineering and an extension agricultural engineer in the ISU Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. His work focuses on protecting and enhancing the quality of water resources by providing other researchers, agency personnel/policy makers, producers and the general public with up-to-date data and information on water resource issues. Helmers is the recipient of ISU’s 2007 Award for Early Achievement in Extension. He is an Iowa native from Sibley, and his family still farms in the area.

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Energy Use and Nutrient Cycling in Pig Production Systems
$20,3300, 2 years, Mark Honeyman, ISU Agricultural Research Farms, and Peter Lammers Ph.D. candidate in Animal Science and Sustainable Agriculture, Ames [E2008-03] STORY COUNTY

This project will quantify energy use in pig production systems in Iowa using process analysis, all direct and indirect energy inputs in the construction and operation of a pig facility, and in the cultivation and processing of feed ingredients will be considered. The project will create an understanding of energy use and flows of an entire pig production system, both conventional and alternative systems.

Mark Honeyman
Mark Honeyman is based in Ames and coordinates ISU's Research and Demonstration Farms as well as coordinates agricultural land use and planning for Iowa State University. He received his Ph.D. from Iowa State University and his research and extension focus is in the areas of alternative swine production systems; alternative swine feeds; sustainable agriculture; teaching methods; and swine management.

Pete Lammers
Pete Lammers is a Ph.D. candidate in Animal Science and Sustainable Agriculture at ISU. His main areas of research are gestation systems for pigs, alternative pig production systems, energy flow through farming systems. He is a teaching assistant for classes in advanced swine management and animal nutrition, and leads the Introduction to Animal Science Lab and is a collaborator for a graduate-level course on Agroecosystems Analysis. On completion of his Ph.D, he would like to teach and conduct research on the design and critique of farming systems, particularly the role of livestock in a more sustainable agriculture.

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Grazing Prairie: Improving Species Diversity while Maintaining Cattle and Goat Productivity and Resting Home Pastures
$55,659, 3 years, Doran Ryan and Linda Appelgate, Iowa Heartland Resource Conservation and Development, Ankeny; Loren Lown, Natural Resources Specialist, Polk County [E2008-05] POLK COUNTY

This three-year project seeks to increase species diversity at Chichaqua Bottoms Wildlife Area in Polk County by grazing cattle on a 263-acre reconstructed prairie and browsing goats in three oak savanna areas degraded by invasive species. Calf-weaning weights, body condition scores, and the economic value of winter forage harvested or stockpiled on resting home pastures also will be measured.

Doran Ryan
Doran Ryan is president of Iowa Heartland Resource Conservation and Development, a non-profit that works in partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to build conservation and community enhancement partnerships in a six-county area in central Iowa. He is vice president of People's Trust and Savings Bank in Adel, and has represented the Dallas County Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioners on the IHRC&D board since 2002. 

Loren Lown
Loren Lown is a Natural Resources Specialist for the Polk County Conservation Board. His primary responsibilities include the restoration and management of natural areas within the 11,000 acres of Polk County's park land including the 7,000-acre Chichaqua Bottoms Wildlife Area. Prior to coming to Polk County in 1990, Loren worked for the Johnson County Soil and Water Conservation District and was a construction contractor in the Iowa City area.

Linda Appelgate
Linda Appelgate has been a resource conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and coordinator for Iowa Heartland RC&D since 2004. She served as Executive Director of the Iowa Environmental Council from 1994 to 2001 when she became a Peace Corps volunteer in Belize, Central America. Earlier, she served on the State Soil Conservation Committee for 12 years and the Iowa Department of Natural Resource Environmental Protection Commission for four years.

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This project continues and expands an “on-farm” evaluation of agroforestry techniques for improving pastures with tree shade and additional forage while producing woody biomass. It is being conducted on a cow-calf farm in southern Iowa with the owner/operator as closely involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of the research. Investigators will evaluate the mid-rotation growth phase of a silvopastoral system that combines one cycle of woody biomass harvest and alley-cropped hay production, then converted to shaded pasture. They also will look at the continued success of initial tilling, a weed mat cover, and mowing for hay in reducing competition between planted poplars and red clover/orchard grass pasture. They will share the development of these trials with interested landowners to obtain their inputs on opportunities and obstacles to adoption on their farms.

Rick Hall
Rick Hall is the Wallace Professor of Forestry in ISU’s Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management. His expertise is in tree genetics and silviculture, and current research focuses on the selection of genetically improved cottonwoods, aspens and other tree species for use in the biofuels and new wood products industries.  Hall was the lead PI on the project to develop poplar clones for the Midwest Region under the USDOE Biofuels Development Program.  He was the 2007 recipient of the college Diversity Enhancement Award and a former chair of the Interdepartmental Genetics Program.  Hall teaches courses in renewable resources, silviculture, and genecology.

Jesse Randall
Jesse Randall is ISU Extension forester. His extension and research efforts focus on applied forestry and silvicultural techniques to create, maintain, and/or enhance forested systems in the Midwest.

Ron Abbott
Ron Abbott is the owner/operator of a cow/calf operation near Diagonal.  His background in machining, construction and farming, combined with an innovative nature make him a valuable asset to the research team. He is a member of Practical Farmers of Iowa.

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Investigators hope to gain a better understanding of how soil moisture and plant water use vary under differing annual-perennial plant communities. This information will help land use managers to understand how placement of different vegetative cover types on the landscape can influence the hydrologic balance and potentially enhance the sustainability of agricultural production systems. The study will provide data on soil moisture dynamics and plant water use of various plant communities. Sixteen different treatments (3 replications) will be studied including corn, soybeans, brome grass, switchgrass, winter cover crops in a corn soybean system, and four different native perennial species both in monoculture and polyculture plots (big bluestem, Canada wild rye, false blue indigo, and stiff goldenrod).

Matt Helmers
Matt Helmers is an assistant professor of drainage engineering and an extension agricultural engineer in the ISU Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. His work focuses on protecting and enhancing the quality of water resources by providing other researchers, agency personnel/policy makers, producers and the general public with up-to-date data and information on water resource issues. Helmers is the recipient of ISU’s 2007 Award for Early Achievement in Extension. He is an Iowa native from Sibley, and his family still farms in the area.

Heidi Asbjornsen
Heidi Asbjornsen is an associate professor of ecosystem ecology and restoration in the ISU Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management. Her research focuses on restoring ecological structure and function to degraded ecosystems, particularly related to water cycling and the hydrologic balance on the scale from individual plants to watersheds. She currently has projects that address these issues in oak savanna and agricultural ecosystems in the Midwestern U.S. and in montane cloud forests and high-elevation pine-oak forests in southern Mexico.

Amy Kaleita
Amy Kaleita is an assistant professor in the ISU Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in the area of remote sensing of near-surface soil moisture for precision farming applications. Her research is in the areas of information technologies for precision conservation, including high-resolution modeling, sensors and sensor networks, and data-rich decision support systems. She teaches classes in soil and water conservation management and engineering, and design of soil and water monitoring systems.

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Reducing Pesticide Use in Iowa Vineyards:  Alternatives to Herbicides for Vineyard Weed Management
$25,776, 2 years, Gail Nonnecke and Paul Domoto, Horticulture; and Thomas Loynachan,Agronomy, ISU [E2008-18] STORY COUNTY

This project will investigate alternatives to using herbicides for controlling weeds in Iowa vineyards. Weed management treatments will be evaluated using a holistic approach by measuring weed growth, grapevine growth and development, and soil characteristics. The project will evaluate two conventional (tillage and herbicide), and two alternative (straw mulch and living mulch), weed management systems and their influence on weed and grapevine growth and development, fruit quality, and selected physical, chemical and biological soil properties. It will also investigate the influence of using trickle irrigation within conventional and alternative weed management systems. A final objective is to help Iowa fruit and vegetable growers learn more about alternatives to herbicide use for vineyard weed management and impacts on soil quality.

Gail Nonnecke
Gail Nonnecke is a professor in the ISU Department of Horticulture. She conducts applied research to develop new approaches in sustainable small fruit and viticulture (berry crops and grapes) systems that benefit producers, consumers and the environment. Her additional responsibilities include teaching undergraduate and graduate students in horticulture for which she has been recognized through numerous awards – including the USDA's Food and Agricultural Sciences Excellence in Teaching National Award in 2006, and the Carnegie Foundation and Council for Advancement and Support of Education, U.S. Professor of the Year Iowa Award in 2007.

Tom Loynachan and Paul Domoto are professors in the ISU Departments of Agronomy and Horticulture. Loynachan conducts research in soil-plant-microbe-environment interactions and teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in soil science. Domoto’s research interest is in fruit adaptation and culture for Iowa and he collaborates on evaluating grape cultivars and cultural practices for Iowa vineyards.  He also serves as a statewide ISU Extension fruit specialist.

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Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, 209 Curtiss Hall,
Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011-1050 PH: (515)294-3711
Fax:(515)294-9696 Email: leocenter@iastate.edu