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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Strong influence of convective heat transfer efficiency on the cooling benefits of green roof irrigation

Abstract By enhancing evapotranspiration (ET), green roofs provide cooling benefits for the urban environment and are recognized as a promising heat mitigation strategy. The evaporative cooling effects of green roofs strongly depend on the soil moisture conditions and thus irrigation may be needed to sustain the cooling benefits. It has been shown that the magnitude of cooling benefits offered by green roof irrigation varies spatially, but its controlling factors remain elusive. In this study, we combine a surface energy balance (SEB) model with global simulations generated by an improved Earth System Model to illustrate the key factors controlling the cooling benefits of green roof irrigation. We employ a simple irrigation scheme, which is only active when there is no ice in soil layers and when the soil moisture is below field capacity. As a result, most of the irrigation water leaves the green roof system via ET. We find that the magnitude and also the spatial variability of the cooling benefits of green roof irrigation are controlled by the irrigation amount, and a surface energy redistribution factor that encodes the efficiencies of different SEB components in transferring heat. Further analysis indicates that the enhancement of latent heat flux due to irrigation is largely balanced by the reduction of sensible heat flux on green roofs. Therefore, the amount of irrigation needed per unit decrease of green roof surface temperature is mainly controlled by the convective heat transfer efficiency. A lower convective heat transfer efficiency (e.g. under a lower wind speed) helps reduce the amount of irrigation needed per unit decrease of green roof surface temperature. This study highlights the importance of SEB in constraining the cooling benefits of green roof irrigation and provides valuable guidance for urban planners and policy makers in terms of heat mitigation and sustainable water management.

Wang, Linying (ORCID:0000000308769220)↗
DOE OSTI2020

Phosphorus alleviation of nitrogen‐suppressed methane sink in global grasslands

Abstract Grassland ecosystems account for more than 10% of the global CH 4 sink in soils. A 4‐year field experiment found that addition of P alone did not affect CH 4 uptake and experimental addition of N alone significantly suppressed CH 4 uptake, whereas concurrent N and P additions suppressed CH 4 uptake to a lesser degree. A meta‐analysis including 382 data points in global grasslands corroborated these findings. Global extrapolation with an empirical modelling approach estimated that contemporary N addition suppresses CH 4 sink in global grassland by 11.4% and concurrent N and P deposition alleviates this suppression to 5.8%. The P alleviation of N‐suppressed CH 4 sink is primarily attributed to substrate competition, defined as the competition between ammonium and CH 4 for the methane mono‐oxygenase enzyme. The N and P impacts on CH 4 uptake indicate that projected increases in N and P depositions might substantially affect CH 4 uptake and alter the global CH 4 cycle.

Zhang, Lihua↗
DOE OSTI2021

Bioenergy sorghum’s deep roots: A key to sustainable biomass production on annual cropland

Abstract Bioenergy sorghum has high biomass yield potential, drought resilience, good nitrogen use efficiency, and a root system that contributes to the accumulation of soil organic carbon. In this study, field grown bioenergy sorghum root systems were analyzed during the growing season to characterize their depth, biomass, morphology, anatomy, and gene expression profiles. Bioenergy sorghum roots grew continuously during a 155‐day growing season producing ~175 nodal roots, accumulating ~7 Mg of dry biomass per hectare, and reaching >2 m deep in the soil profile. Nodal roots within 20 cm of the stem were 1–5 mm in diameter, whereas roots deeper in soil profiles were enriched in lateral roots with small diameters (~30–500 µm) enabling growth through soil macropores. In older field‐grown plants, roots with intact endodermal, vascular and inner root tissues were surrounded by degraded or aerenchyma‐filled epidermal and cortical cell layers. Transcriptome analysis of nodal, surface, and deep roots identified >2,500 differentially expressed genes involved in root growth, transport, adaptation, defense, and AMF–root interaction. Deep roots (180–240 cm) differentially expressed genes that regulate lateral root growth. Surface roots (0–20 cm) located mid‐row differentially expressed genes involved in nitrate transport, whereas ammonium transport genes were expressed in surface and deep roots and genes involved in phosphate transport were expressed in nodal, surface, and deep roots. Overall, bioenergy sorghum's long growing season enables root systems to grow deeper and accumulate more biomass than annual grain crops such as maize, attributes that could help restore annual cropland soil organic carbon levels and improve soil productivity. Deep roots active in nutrient transport are positioned to take‐up fertilizer leached deep into soil profiles mitigating potential nutrient run‐off. Bioenergy sorghum's large and deep root system is a key to sustainable production of biofuels, biopower, and bioproducts on annual cropland.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Investigating Soil Organic Matter Complexation using Spectral Induced Polarization

Spectral induced polarization (SIP) laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the sensitivity of this method to the formation of soil organic matter (SOM) complexes, with a long-term goal of field-scale monitoring. There are few SIP experiments that have explored this topic, yet understanding the dynamic behavior and interactions of SOM at the field scale could provide insight into soil fertility and health which influences crop yields, microorganisms that degrade organic pollutants, and carbon stabilization. We present the results of three experiments where the iron oxide, ferrihydrite (Fhy), was used to coat different media, and then the OM compound pentaglycine (PG) was pulse injected to form SOM complexes. SIP data was collected during these injections to capture any surface complexation changes. These experiments were performed in 1) a fluidic cell containing a micromodel, 2) a column containing Fhy coated ceramic beads and 3) a column containing Fhy coated Accusand®. Our results show a higher frequency response (defined here as > 1 Hz) in all three experiments, with the largest amplitude response after the first PG injection (Figure S.1). The repeatability of this response is encouraging and supporting data collected on the Accusand® experiment provides preliminary insight into the mechanisms controlling the SIP signatures. Sampling of fluid conductivity $σ_w$ and pH may indicate deprotonation of SOM occurring or rapid adsorption and release of protons from the Fhy sites. However additional experiments are needed to identify and confirm the primary and secondary reactions impacting the SIP response. We are looking towards other opportunities to continue this work, particularly to repeat experiments while collecting supporting datasets.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Conversion of marginal land into switchgrass conditionally accrues soil carbon but reduces methane consumption

Abstract Switchgrass is a deep-rooted perennial native to the US prairies and an attractive feedstock for bioenergy production; when cultivated on marginal soils it can provide a potential mechanism to sequester and accumulate soil carbon (C). However, the impacts of switchgrass establishment on soil biotic/abiotic properties are poorly understood. Additionally, few studies have reported the effects of switchgrass cultivation on marginal lands that have low soil nutrient quality (N/P) or in areas that have experienced high rates of soil erosion. Here, we report a comparative analyses of soil greenhouse gases (GHG), soil chemistry, and microbial communities in two contrasting soil types (with or without switchgrass) over 17 months (1428 soil samples). These soils are highly eroded, ‘Dust Bowl’ remnant field sites in southern Oklahoma, USA. Our results revealed that soil C significantly increased at the sandy-loam (SL) site, but not at the clay-loam (CL) site. Significantly higher CO2 flux was observed from the CL switchgrass site, along with reduced microbial diversity (both alpha and beta). Strikingly, methane (CH4) consumption was significantly reduced by an estimated 39 and 47% at the SL and CL switchgrass sites, respectively. Together, our results suggest that soil C stocks and GHG fluxes are distinctly different at highly degraded sites when switchgrass has been cultivated, implying that carbon balance considerations should be accounted for to fully evaluate the sustainability of deep-rooted perennial grass cultivation in marginal lands.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Rhizosphere Microbiome Diversity Potentially Supports Robust Nature of Field Pennycress ( Thlaspi arvense L.) in Dryland Cropping Systems of Eastern Washington

ABSTRACT Field pennycress ( Thlaspi arvense L.) is an annual in the Brassicaceae family and is currently being developed as an oilseed intermediate crop suitable for renewable biodiesel and jet fuel. It displays many desirable characteristics for this role including cold tolerance, a rapid life cycle, and a seed fatty acid profile conducive to bioenergy generation. These traits make field pennycress favorable for winter oilseed cultivation in the inland Pacific Northwest (iPNW). Simultaneously, intermediate crops are an increasingly recognized component of both agronomic sustainability and soil health management. Intermediate crops enhance soil microbial diversity, which benefits both soil and plant health. To understand the impact of field pennycress on soil microbial diversity, two natural accessions and seven experimental accessions were grown at three sites in Eastern Washington. Aboveground biomass and rhizosphere soil were then collected. Soil genomic DNA was extracted from rhizosphere samples and used to generate an amplicon library for bacterial (16S) and fungal (ITS) rRNA sequences. The resulting libraries were analyzed in QIIME2, which revealed that not only did the fad2 deficient line from the Spring32‐10 background have significantly increased aboveground biomass production compared to other pennycress genotypes, but also displayed significantly higher β‐diversity in the rhizosphere community specifically at the site experiencing the driest conditions. ANCOM analysis showed that multiple sequences similar to beneficial plant and soil health enhancing organisms such as Trichoderma spirale , Pseudomonas spp., and Methylobacterium goesingense were found to be enriched in the microbiome of the fad2 Spring32‐10 background also at that site. To add additional context to rhizosphere community data, root exudates from two pennycress genotypes were captured in magenta boxes and analyzed using HPLC. Future work will expand our understanding of the mechanisms by which field pennycress creates diversity in the rhizosphere, thus expanding our ability to cultivate this crop in the iPNW.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Data for: Time to anoxia: Observations and predictions of oxygen drawdown following coastal flood events

This dataset contains data and code associated with the paper Patel et al. "Time to anoxia: Observations and predictions of oxygen drawdown following coastal flood events".The coastal terrestrial-aquatic interface (TAI) is a highly dynamic system characterized by strong physical, chemical, and biological gradients. In particular, shifting soil redox conditions and consumption of terminal electron acceptors, due in part to dynamic hydrologic conditions, is a strong driver of carbon availability and transformations across TAIs. However, while redox dynamics are well described, our ability to quantitatively forecast rates of oxic to anoxic shifts in soils with different characteristics and inundation regimes is limited. We integrated field measurements, laboratory incubations, and model simulations to improve mechanistic understanding of oxygen consumption dynamics in coastal soils. Continuous in situ monitoring unexpectedly revealed that flooding caused temporary spikes in subsurface dissolved oxygen followed by rapid consumption in the wetlands. To further investigate these mechanisms in a controlled setting, we performed laboratory incubations using surface and subsurface soils from a TAI gradient (defined here as upland forest to transitional forest to wetland) in Western Lake Erie to measure oxygen consumption rates in TAI soils during flood events. In our experiments, wetland soils reached anoxia the fastest, in ∼ 9 h on average, whereas upland soils turned anoxic in ∼ 18 h. Subsurface upland soils did not turn anoxic even after two weeks of saturation in the lab, and their oxygen consumption patterns suggested carbon and/or nutrient limitation. These results are consistent with in-situ groundwater redox and oxygen measurements in the field, where wetland soils exhibited the highest rates of oxygen consumption along the TAI. Model simulations of oxygen consumption suggested that oxygen consumption had stronger abiotic controls in wetland soils but stronger biotic controls in upland soils, providing a useful framework for future incubation experiments. Microbial activity is a strong driver of oxygen consumption in TAI soils, although it is constrained by the availability of dissolved carbon in subsurface soils.This dataset contains a compressed (.zip) archive of the data and R scripts used for this manuscript. The dataset includes files in .csv format, which can be accessed and processed using MS Excel or R. This archive can also be accessed on GitHub at https://github.com/COMPASS-DOE/cmps-time_to_anoxia (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10815374).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Spectral induced polarization (SIP) measurements across a PFAS-contaminated source zone

There is a pressing need for the development of field-scale, in situ screening technologies for assessing variations in aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) concentrations in soils at former fire training and storage sites. Field-scale Spectral Induced Polarization (SIP) geophysical measurements were acquired on a transect crossing an AFFF source zone. Soil samples were acquired from ten locations and used to determine variations in poly- and per-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) concentrations in soils and soil texture. These samples were also used to create triplicate soil columns for laboratory-grade SIP measurements. Field and laboratory observations provide evidence that SIP measurements are sensitive to the concentration of AFFF constituents associated with the pore surface in soils. The phase of the SIP measurements on the laboratory samples was linearly correlated with total soil-sorbed PFAS concentration. The phase from the field SIP measurements was highest over the location of maximum PFAS concentration measured on the laboratory samples, although a significant correlation between field-measured phase and laboratory-measured total PFAS concentration was not established. The sensitivity of the SIP response to the removal of soil PFAS using a methanol wash procedure (total PFAS concentration drop of 366 ppb) adds evidence for the case for SIP characterization of AFFF source zones. The results of these studies suggest that SIP might be developed into a field-scale technology for rapid, indirect assessment of AFFF source zones. Such a technology could improve the effectiveness of AFFF source zone characterization at reduced costs.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Extrapolating carbon dynamics of seasonally dry tropical forests across geographic scales and into future climates: improving simulation models with empirical observations. Final report

This research focused on seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs), a biome that exhibits strong variation in ecological, hydrological and physical characteristics. Climate change is expected to strongly impact the atmospheric environment of SDTFs, and long-term trends in precipitation seasonality have already been detected. The extent to which such changes in seasonal moisture availability will impact SDTF carbon dynamics is highly uncertain, and much of this uncertainty hinges on poorly-understood belowground processes. Thus, the central objectives of this research were to qualitatively and quantitatively describe how belowground processes mediate the response of SDTF carbon dynamics to environmental change. We accomplished these aims through field campaigns in four tropical countries to characterize soil biogeochemistry and plant hydraulic traits, ecosystem-scale field experiments that manipulated both nutrients and rainfall, and simulation modeling.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

N 2 Onet: a global collaborative network facilitating advances in measurement, modeling, and mitigation of agricultural soil nitrous oxide emissions

Nitrogen (N) fertilizer supports global food production, but its use and overuse drive emissions of nitrous oxide (N 2 O), a potent and long-lived greenhouse gas. Understanding the drivers of N 2 O fluxes remains elusive, making it difficult to predict emissions in time and space and to develop and evaluate ways to lower emissions through management. Major scientific uncertainties underlying the understanding of the drivers of N 2 O fluxes identified in a workshop of N 2 O emissions experts include poor process-based understanding of controls on soil N 2 O emissions in the field; insufficient data to reduce uncertainty in N 2 O budgets from the field to regional scales, including N 2 O emission measurements and importantly, field-scale N balances; and high uncertainty in model predictions of soil N 2 O emissions across environmental and management conditions. To reduce these uncertainties, we present the concept of N 2 Onet, a global collaborative initiative to accelerate advances in N 2 O measurement, analyses, and mitigation. N 2 Onet will serve as an observational network of supersites with multi-scale measurements; a database hub for N 2 O flux and ancillary data; and a catalyst for community building, information sharing, and training. By coalescing and coordinating the global community of researchers, N 2 Onet will provide a roadmap for reducing N 2 O emissions from agriculture worldwide.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Influences of Hillslope Biogeochemistry on Anaerobic Soil Organic Matter Decomposition in a Tundra Watershed

In this work, we investigated rates and controls on greenhouse gas (CO 2 and CH 4 ) production in two contrasting water-saturated tundra soils within a permafrost-affected watershed near Nome, Alaska, United States. Three years of field sample analysis have shown that soil from a fen-like area in the toeslope of the watershed had higher pH and higher porewater ion concentrations than soil collected from a bog-like peat plateau at the top of the hillslope. The influence of these contrasting geochemical and topographic environments on CO 2 and CH 4 production was tested in soil microcosms by incubating both the organic- and mineral-layer soils anaerobically for 55 days. Additionally, nitrogen (as NH 4 Cl) was added to half of the microcosms to test potential effects of N limitation on microbial greenhouse gas production. We found that the organic toeslope soils produced more CO 2 and CH 4 , fueled by higher pH and higher concentrations of water-extractable organic C (WEOC). Our results also indicate N limitation on CO 2 production in the peat plateau soils but not the toeslope soils. Together these results suggest that the weathering and leaching of ions and nutrients from tundra hillslopes can increase the rate of anaerobic soil organic matter decomposition in downslope soils by (1) increasing the pH of soil porewater; (2) providing bioavailable WEOC and fermentation products such as acetate; and (3) relieving microbial N limitation through nutrient runoff. We conclude that the soil geochemistry as mediated by landscape position is an important factor influencing the rate and magnitude of greenhouse gas production in tundra soils.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Whole-soil warming decreases abundance and modifies the community structure of microorganisms in the subsoil but not in surface soil

Abstract. The microbial community composition in subsoils remains understudied, and it is largely unknown whether subsoil microorganisms show a similar response to global warming as microorganisms at the soil surface do. Since microorganisms are the key drivers of soil organic carbon decomposition, this knowledge gap causes uncertainty in the predictions of future carbon cycling in the subsoil carbon pool (> 50 % of the soil organic carbon stocks are below 30 cm soil depth). In the Blodgett Forest field warming experiment (California, USA) we investigated how +4 ∘C warming in the whole-soil profile to 100 cm soil depth for 4.5 years has affected the abundance and community structure of microorganisms. We used proxies for bulk microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and functional microbial groups based on lipid biomarkers, such as phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs). With depth, the microbial biomass decreased and the community composition changed. Our results show that the concentration of PLFAs decreased with warming in the subsoil (below 30 cm) by 28 % but was not affected in the topsoil. Phospholipid fatty acid concentrations changed in concert with soil organic carbon. The microbial community response to warming was depth dependent. The relative abundance of Actinobacteria increased in warmed subsoil, and Gram+ bacteria in subsoils adapted their cell membrane structure to warming-induced stress, as indicated by the ratio of anteiso to iso branched PLFAs. Our results show for the first time that subsoil microorganisms can be more affected by warming compared to topsoil microorganisms. These microbial responses could be explained by the observed decrease in subsoil organic carbon concentrations in the warmed plots. A decrease in microbial abundance in warmed subsoils might reduce the magnitude of the respiration response over time. The shift in the subsoil microbial community towards more Actinobacteria might disproportionately enhance the degradation of previously stable subsoil carbon, as this group is able to metabolize complex carbon sources.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Kinetic and temperature sensitivity properties of soil exoenzymes through the soil profile down to one-meter depth at a temperate coniferous forest (Blodgett, CA)

This dataset contains data on kinetic and temperature sensitivity parameters of the exoenzymes β-glucosidase (BG), leucine/leucyl aminopeptidase (LAP) and acid phosphatase (AP) across a soil profile down to 90 cm depth at Blodgett forest, CA, USA. These data were generated to determine if kinetic and thermal properties of microbial exoenzymes involved in organic matter decomposition varied with soil depth, following variation in soil properties and microbial communities, as part of the study: Alves et al. (2021). Kinetic Properties of Microbial Exoenzymes Vary with Soil Depth but Have Similar Temperature Sensitivities Through the Soil Profile. Frontiers in Microbiology 12:3618. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.735282. This research was performed within the framework of the TES Belowground Biogeochemistry SFA project, in particular association with a long-term field warming experiment of the whole soil profile at Blodgett forest. Samples for this work were collected from locations representative of the field experimental plots. Potential enzyme activity rates were measured using laboratory fluorometric assays with soils collected at 0-10, 10-20, 30-40, 50-60, 60-70 and 80-90 cm deep in biological triplicates (i.e., three soil cores collected at different representative locations). Assays with each soil were conducted over a gradient of eight substrate concentrations per enzyme, and incubated at 4, 10, 16, 25, 35 or 50°C. Enzyme Michaelis-Menten kinetics were modeled over the eight substrate concentrations at each temperature, and the temperature sensitivity of the kinetic parameters was modeled over the six temperatures using linear Arrhenius/Q10 and non-linear Macromolecular Rate Theory (MMRT) models. The dataset includes the fully processed enzyme activity rate data used to model Michaelis-Menten kinetics, calculated kinetic and temperature sensitivity parameters, and basic soil and microbial biomass chemistry for each sample. All data is provided for each individual biological replicate, and kinetic and temperature sensitivity parameters are also provided as means of the biological replicates. The dataset also includes all raw measurement data and code used to parse, combine and perform the analyses described by Alves et al. (2021). For file descriptions, see the file-level metadata files: “enzymes_dataProcessed_flmd.xlsx” (processed data); “enzymes_dataRaw_flmd.xlsx” (compressed raw data and metadata); and “enzymes_code_flmd.xlsx” (compressed code). The experimental design, list of parameters measured, soil and microbial biomass chemistry data, and means of biological replicates for kinetic and temperature sensitivity parameters are also provided as human-readable tables in file “enzymeTraits_design_results_tables.xlsx”.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Alterations in soil pH emerge as a key driver of the impact of global change on soil microbial nitrogen cycling: Evidence from a global meta-analysis

Soil nitrogen (N) cycling is critical to the productivity of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the impact of global change factors (GCFs) on the microbial mediators of N cycling pathways has yet to be synthesized, and it also remains unclear whether the response of the abundance of N-cycling genes can predict changes in their corresponding processes. We synthesized 8322 paired observations of soil microorganisms related to N cycling from field experiments in which GCFs (climate change and nutrient addition) were manipulated. We found that the abundance of soil microbes and most N-cycling genes were resistant to elevated CO 2 , experimental warming and water addition/reduction; however, N addition and the combination of N addition with other GCFs significantly increased the abundance of ammonia oxidizer bacteria (amoA-AOB). The results indicated that in steady-state (natural) conditions, the main factors driving the global abundance of soil bacteria, archaea and N-cycling genes varied in terms of the contributions of climatic and edaphic factors. However, upon manipulation of GCFs, the induced change in soil pH was the most essential factor associated with changes in the abundance of soil microbes and N-cycling genes. Notably, the changes in ammonia-oxidizing archaea (amoA-AOA) and amoA-AOB genes, in addition to genes involved in denitrification (nirS and nirK), were significantly correlated with the rates of their corresponding processes, but GCF-induced shifts in the potential nitrification rate (PNR) were explained well by changes in the abundance of the amoA-AOB gene under GCFs. In conclusion, our study highlights how ongoing GCFs impact the abundance of soil microbes and N-cycling genes, which might have a profound impact on terrestrial N cycling. Our field-based results provide new insights into the drivers of the abundance of soil microbes and N-cycling genes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Distinct xylem responses to acute vs prolonged drought in pine trees

Increasing dryness challenges trees’ ability to maintain water transport to the leaves. Most plant hydraulics models use a static xylem response to water stress. Yet, in reality, lower soil moisture and warmer temperatures during growing seasons feed back onto xylem development. In turn, adjustments to water stress in the newly built xylem influence future physiological responses to droughts. In this study, we investigate the annual variation of anatomical traits in branch xylem in response to different soil and atmospheric moisture conditions and tree stress levels, as indicated by seasonal predawn leaf water potential (??L,pd). We used a 6-year field experiment in southwestern USA with three soil water treatments applied to Pinus edulis Engelm trees—ambient, drought (45% rain reduction) and irrigation (15–35% annual water addition). All trees were also subject to a natural 1-year acute drought (soil and atmospheric) that occurred during the experiment. The irrigated trees showed only moderate changes in anatomy-derived hydraulic traits compared with the ambient trees, suggesting a generally stable, well-balanced xylem structure under unstressed conditions. The artificial prolonged soil drought increased hydraulic efficiency but lowered xylem construction costs and decreased tracheid implosion safety ((t/b)2), suggesting that annual adjustments of xylem structure follow a safety–efficiency trade-off. The acute drought plunged hydraulic efficiency across all treatments. The combination of acute and prolonged drought resulted in vulnerable and inefficient new xylem, disrupting the stability of the anatomical trade-off observed in the rest of the years. The xylem hydraulic traits showed no consistent direct link to ??L,pd. In the future, changes in seasonality of soil and atmospheric moisture are likely to have a critical impact on the ability of P. edulis to acclimate its xylem to warmer climate. Furthermore, the increasing frequency of acute droughts might reduce hydraulic resilience of P. edulis by repeatedly creating vulnerable and less efficient anatomical structure.

Guerin, Marceau↗
DOE OSTI2024

Further adoption of conservation tillage can increase maize yields in the western US Corn Belt

Conservation tillage can reduce soil erosion, increase soil health, and decrease labor and fuel input costs. Despite these benefits, potential yield impacts remain an important concern for farmers considering adoption. Previous research suggests that conservation tillage is likely to have the largest yield benefits in more arid conditions, but a lack of field-level analyses across climatic, management and soil conditions limits confidence in such predictions. Satellite imagery provides the opportunity to monitor agricultural lands at sub-field resolution across large spatial scales and wide environmental gradients. Here we investigate the maize yield impacts of conservation tillage in the semi-arid western US Corn Belt, using sub-field resolution datasets on tillage practices and crop yields derived from satellite data spanning four states (Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, and North Dakota) between 2008 and 2020. On these datasets, we estimate heterogenous yield outcomes for several thousand maize fields across gradients in climate, soil quality and irrigation status by using a causal forests analysis, an adaptation of the random forests machine-learning algorithm for causal inference on observational data. We find that long-term adoption of conservation tillage increased rainfed maize yields by an average of 9.9% in the region. Impacts on irrigated yields were small and not statistically significant. These results, along with an analysis of variables related to greater than average yield benefits, indicate that improved water infiltration and retention are the primary reasons for conservation tillage benefits. Despite yield benefits, many fields estimated to see increased yields under long term low till have not adopted the practice. Therefore, we identify specific counties likely to benefit most from increased levels of adoption. Our results strengthen the understanding of the impacts of conservation agriculture on crop yields and help define environments and counties most likely to benefit from conservation tillage.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗