Upland cotton (Gossypium hirstum L.), which produces more than 95% of the world natural cotton fibers, has a narrow genetic base which hinders progress in cotton breeding. Introducing germplasm from exotic sources especially from another cultivated tetraploid G. barbadense L. can broaden the genetic base of Upland cotton. However, the breeding potential of introgression lines (ILs) in Upland co...

Long-term data on nitrogen chemistry of streams draining Konza Prairie Biological Station (Konza), Kansas were analyzed to assess spatial and temporal patterns and examine the influence of agricultural activity on these patterns. Upland watersheds of Konza are predominantly tallgrass prairies, but agricultural fields and riparian forests border the lower reaches of the streams. We have up to 11...

BACKGROUND With world food demand expected to double by 2050, identifying farming systems that benefit both agricultural production and biodiversity is a fundamentally important challenge for the 21(st) century, but this has to be achieved in a sustainable way. Livestock grazing management directly influences both economic outputs and biodiversity on upland farms while contributing to potential...

INTRODUCTION The development of viable bio-based energy systems offers many potential benefits relative to energy availability, national security, a cleaner environment, and associated economic rewards (DOE 2000). Largescale bioenergy use will require the deployment of environmentally acceptable energy crops and cropping systems for producing large quantities of low-cost, high-quality biomass f...

Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is a naturally occurring photoperiod-sensitive perennial plant species. However, sensitivity to the day length was lost during domestication. The phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein (PEBP) gene family, of which three subclades have been identified in angiosperms, functions to promote and suppress flowering in photoperiod pathway. Recent evidence indica...

Seasonal and management influences on the fungal community structure of two upland grassland soils were investigated. An upland site containing both unimproved floristically diverse (U4a) and improved mesotrophic (MG7b) grassland types was selected. Samples from both grassland types were taken at five times in one year. Soil fungal community structure was assessed using fungal automated ribosom...

[1] Soil carbon dioxide efflux (soil respiration, SR) was measured with eight autochambers at two locations along a wetland to upland slope at Harvard Forest over a 4 year period, 2003–2007. SR was consistently higher in the upland plots than at the wetland margin during the late summer/early fall. Seasonal and diel hystereses with respect to soil temperatures were of sufficient magnitude to pr...

Rice is the most important crop consumed all over the world. In Brazil, irrigated rice covers 50 % of the rice producing area and is responsible for 75 % of the national production. Upland rice covers most of the remaining area, and is therefore, a very important production system in the country. In the present study, we have used the drought tolerant upland rice variety Três Meses Antigo to in...

Playa wetlands are important areas of soil organic carbon and nutrient storage in drylands. We conducted this study to assess how catchment biophysical variables control soil organic carbon and nitrogen in playas and how playas function differently than upland ecosystems. We found that playa organic carbon and nitrogen corresponded primarily with catchment vegetation cover and secondarily with ...

Tensions over water resources in upland areas of northern Thailand are often attributed to reductions in water supply caused by forest clearing. This article argues that the hydrological evidence for such reductions in supply is very weak and that, rather, the key hydrological issue in upland catchments is a significant increase in water demand, especially during the dry season. The arguments a...