The within-plant distribution of soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura has been attributed to various causes, yet it is unclear which factor or combination of factors most influence aphid within-plant distribution. Understanding soybean aphid distribution within the soybean canopy is important both in developing sampling programs and in evaluating injury. Because natural enemies have the pote...

Redbanded stink bug, Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood), is a significant soybean pest across the mid-south region of the United States. The objectives of these studies were to characterize: (1) redbanded stink bug oviposition in relationship to soybean maturity group (MG), plant structure, crop phenology, and vertical distribution within the plant canopy; and (2) redbanded stink bug adult sex rat...

Canopy chlorophyll content (Chl) closely relates to plant photosynthetic capacity, nitrogen status and productivity. The goal of this study is to develop remote sensing techniques for accurate estimation of canopy Chl during the entire growing season without re-parameterization of algorithms for two contrasting crop species, maize and soybean. These two crops represent different biochemical mec...

We measured growth and development variables on single soybean [Glycin max (L.) Merr.] plants under five management strategies in the upper Midwestern USA. Plants grown under different management strategies differed significantly in their geometric structures, and were classified into their proper categories with 75 to 100% correct classification, based mainly on differences in their fractal di...

A spray track was designed and built to conduct replicated laboratory and field studies to compare different nozzle configurations on the ability of each to achieve lower canopy spray coverage. The purpose was to determine which nozzles might be more affective in preventing or controlling Asian Soybean Rust. Twenty nozzle types were compared in the lab and twelve nozzle types were compared in t...

Soybean (Glycine max [L.] cv Bragg) was grown at 330 or 660 microliters CO(2) per liter in outdoor, controlled-environment chambers. When the plants were 50 days old, drought stress was imposed by gradually reducing irrigation each evening so that plants wilted earlier each succeeding day. On the ninth day, as the pots ran out of water CO(2) exchange rate (CER) decreased rapidly to near zero fo...

Although soybean seeds appear homogeneous, their composition (protein, oil and mineral concentrations) can vary significantly with the canopy position where they were produced. In studies with 10 cultivars grown over a 3-yr period, we found that seeds produced at the top of the canopy have higher concentrations of protein but less oil and lower concentrations of minerals such as Mg, Fe, and Cu ...

By affecting the physiology and structure of plant canopies, increasing atmospheric CO(2) and O(3) influence the capacity of agroecosystems to capture light and convert that light energy into biomass, ultimately affecting productivity and yield. The objective of this study was to determine if established remote sensing indices could detect the direct and interactive effects of elevated CO(2) an...