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ABSTRACT
Agribusiness is a well-oiled machine, feeding America 's hungry and providing for other, possibly not-so-fortunate families around the world. As the business aspect of farming expands with technology and increasing knowledge, it seems that less attention is being given to the environmental effects of agriculture. By looking out for number one, are we, as a culture of consumers, altering the environment? Sure we are. Over-farming a parcel of land may lead to erosion problems as well as problems with soil fertility. By digging deep into the science and history of farming, and manipulating certain variables, we hope to further understand the impacts of crops on climate and vice versa.
1. Introduction
A. Purpose/Problem
Depending on the photosynthesis mechanism, the amount of carbon dioxide acquisition will be affected as well as the amount of albedo. Carbon dioxide acquisition is regulated, in plants, by photosynthesis. The process by which carbon sequestration is monitored varies by plant families. C 3 , C 4 , and CAM plants all have different ways of obtaining carbon that is suited to the type of plant and its environment. Albedo is the amount of light that is reflected by a surface -- in this case the crop. Both albedo and the amount of carbon dioxide have direct impacts as far as climate is concerned.
B. What Do You Plan to Accomplish?
Turning our attention to corn it seems that the albedo would be considerably low because of the height of the corn. From the top of the plant to the ground offers a lot of room for horizontal light scattering as well as absorption. The green color of the corn seems, also, to be an important factor. The chloroplasts within the corn are going to collect and harvest most of the light in an attempt to turn their carbon dioxide and water into sugars and nutrients. By focusing on corn and analyzing different types of photosynthesis, we hope to come to an understanding about how plants contribute to, or are impacted by, climate change
C. Relevance
The two important variables here are the amount of carbon acquired through the plant and the amount of albedo. A crop with a high albedo is going to result in a higher localized climate. So, by establishing a large amount of land with a uniform distribution, would we effectively be producing a blanket of heat over the field? If so, what variables will change the amount of heat produced? Would we be better suited, then, to plant a specific type of crop to maximize the amount of carbon dioxide that is acquired via photosynthesis, changing the local climate regime? Or is the amount of carbon dioxide acquisition by plants negligible?
II. Relevance of your research question
For many people Ð farmers, grocers, and economists to name a few Ð the importance of how climate affects agriculture is of great importance. However, a small twist of the wording reveals another problem perhaps not as eminent as the original concept: How does agriculture affect the climate?
At present, it is evident that the United States are producing enough food to feed our population. Even when there are food shortages in developing worlds, it is often an effect of political complications, not agricultural shortfalls. A model by Cynthia Rosenzweig and Martin Parry was established showing what food production may be like in the year 2060. According to their research, the average temperature could be expected to rise 4-5 degrees Celsius or 7-9 degrees Fahrenheit, with a doubling of the carbon dioxide levels. Next, they predicted the changing yields resulting from the increased temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations. By changing agricultural practices and development, William J Burroughs has suggested that we can alter the amounts of carbon and nitrogen that is stored in the soil. Means by which this could be accomplished are a reduction in tillage(keeping root systems in tact) and the application of manure (which enables the soil to retain more organic matter). In addition to other effects, these practices could result in providing a carbon sink for atmospheric carbon. It is feasible, then, that obtaining considerable amounts of carbon in the soils could be a notion that could lead to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
An important factor when dealing with utilizing plants as a vehicle for sequestering carbon is the type of plant. The reason plant type is important is that not all plants utilize the same means of photosynthesis. According to work done by Annika Nilsson, depending upon the type of plant in question, photosynthetic rates, as well as water efficiency, will be altered as a result of what photosynthetic mechanism is being used by the plant. Both water efficiency and photosynthetic rate contribute largely to the amount of crop produced. The type of photosynthesis the plant uses, then, becomes an important factor when considering the crop yield.
Research done by R.M Gifford et al . indicates the possible sequence of events, in plants, resulting from an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Their study listed these phenomena in various levels, depending on the amount of time in question. They analyzed the possibility of whether or not the occurrence in question will result in increased productivity and carbon storage.
Another aspect of agriculture that warrants attention is the topic of albedo. By analyzing photosynthetic mechanisms as well as contributions of the crop to albedo, we can determine the impacts a particular crop can have on the local climate regime. Photosynthesis and albedo are closely tied. There are various methods of plant metabolism. For a plant to be able to produce its own food, carbon dioxide and water are turned into glucose (or other sugars) and oxygen. With few exceptions (beyond the scope of this paper) this process cannot happen without sunlight. Chloroplasts are the main players in the process of photosynthesis. All of the reactions involved with plant metabolism take place in the chloroplasts. The nature of visible light is such that it is composed of a spectrum of colors. These colors of light have wavelengths between 400 and 700 nanometers. Light with specific wavelength values within this range are used during photosynthesis. The rest of the light is reflected. Something as simple as the color of the plant in question, also, determines how much light is absorbed and how much is reflected. The interplay between albedo and photosynthetic mechanisms will establish how much carbon dioxide is taken up by the plant. Applications of albedo and photosynthetic light absorption include research in areas of remote sensing, whereby different wavelengths are analyzed to determine what type of vegetation is present in an area.
According to Paul Newbury,within the realm of agriculture, there are a number of systems throughout the world by which crops are grow. One very obvious system in our society is that consider to be a commercially extensive system of agriculture, which grew out of rapid commercial and industrial development in Western Europe where emigrants used labor-intensive practices to increase yields. Another system involved is that of plantation agriculture, which involves a cooperative group of people working on attaining crops with the labor being provided not by machinery, but by human efforts. Factory farming, which is still in its infancy, is a system in which crops can be grown until strictly controlled conditions to provide consitent yields and to protect crop from harmful natural factors. Collective and co-operative farming is when land is divided and distributed among families or groups of individuals on which particular crops would be grown. An excellent example of when and where this has occurred is in Russia after the Bolshevik
Revolution in 1917 when Communism was imparted on the Soviet Union. Another system worth including is that of third world, or primitive cultures, in which small farms provide just enough yields to sustain the size of that group. This method of agriculture has a drastic range of techniques by which it can be carried out.( A Geography of Agriculture).
There are a number of possible ways in which modern day agriculture can negatively influence the surrounding environment. Just as car emissions pollute, so do agricultural machinery, often to a more substantial degree due to their size and processes they involve. Agricultural machinery also contributes to soil compaction due to the loads of the machinery. In doing this, water flow can move across surfaces in greater quantities and velocities and cause erosion as well as increased sedimentation loads within rivers, streams and other water reservoirs. The burden of extensive agriculture can leave soils void of nutrients vital to plant growth, creating conditions for desertification to occur. Groundwater can be contaminated with fertilizers and pesticides as well as be overdrawn from aquifers to reduce available groundwater for consumption. Eutrophication, the process of by which organisms consume and use up all available oxygen due to an overabundance of nutrients in water, can create serious impacts within rivers and beyond. With the growing need for land on which to grow crops, the
destruction of natural habitats can be destroyed, rerouting water systems and ruining windbreaks which can alter local weather conditions. The biodiversity of that area destructed or altered can also decrease or become altered as well. With decreased habitats, animals and insects may also be forced to move, leading to possible interruptions in annual migration of existance patterns as well
as push animals and pests into areas inhabited by humans causing pest and insect problems there. www.writing.ucsb.edu/faculty/tingle/courses/W109W/industrial%20farming/industrialfarming-Aaron%20Perez.ppt
Gifford, R.M., et al. Agriculture and global change: scaling direct carbon dioxide impacts and feedbacks through time. In Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems. Ed. Walker, Brian and Steffen, Will. 2nd title in series. New York : Cambridge University Press, 1996. 229.
Goudriaan, J. Predicting crop yields under global change. In Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems. Ed. Walker, Brian and Steffen, Will. 2nd title in series. New York : Cambridge University Press, 1996. 260.
Nilsson, Annika. Greenhouse Earth. New York : John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 1993.
Schulze, E.D., et al. The role of vegetation in controlling carbon dioxide and water exchange between land surface and the atmosphere. In Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems. Ed. Walker, Brian and Steffen, Will. 2nd title in series. New York : Cambridge University Press, 1996. 77.
Tate, K.R., et al. Impacts of Atmospheric Composition and Climate Change on Temperate and Tropical Pastoral Agriculture. In Greenhouse: Coping With Global Climate Change. Ed. Bouma, W.J., et al. 1994 edition. Australia : CSIRO Publishing, 1996. 171.
Changing Global Land Surface: This article is put out by NASA and talks about the implications of the greenhouse effect and evapotranspiration in plants. The article also goes into the carbon cycle. Similar to one of the articles we read in class, this article talks about the Ômigration' of plants due to changing temperatures.
Climate Change: Human impact on the climate is the main focus of this article . The contributions to and causes of the beginning of the climate change are discussed.
Climate Change and U.S. Agriculture: Explanation of what is currently happening with climate change. Also, this article talks about how climate change is affecting agriculture and how agriculture is effecting climate change. Steps are being taken by the USDA to help farmers cope with climate change.
Global Warming Changes the Forecast for Agriculture: Increasing water availability is a benefit of the warmer temperatures. However, the article also cautions that if the temperatures get too high the carbon dioxide will no longer have an effective Ôfertilizing' effect.
Net Carbon Sequestration in Agriculture: A National Assessment: This article provides a good view of national data on the amount of carbon that is able to be sequestered in various types of crops. B. Website References
Agriculture and Climate Change Ð NCRS: How is agriculture effecting climate change? Carbon sequestering can help reduce greenhouse gases. How is climate change effecting agriculture? Climate change is altering the times and lengths of growing seasons. It is also changing the harvest dates. A need to change the variety of crops may appear in the future.
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ECS/air/change.html
Carbon Dioxide and Temperature Effects on Evapotranspiration and Water-Use: Efficiency of Soybean. University of Florida is experimenting with soybeans' response to increased levels of carbon dioxide. http://www.nal.usda.gov/ttic/tektran/data/000012/53/0000125308.html
Global Warming Could Disrupt Agriculture Around the Globe: Rising temperatures could play havoc with crops. However, in the short-run some crops could grow better, but other functions, such as reproduction may become inhibited. http://www.napa.ufl.edu/98news/greenhou.htm
High Carbon Dioxide Levels can Retard Plant Growth: Higher temperatures and increased precipitation (both effects of higher carbon dioxide) actually impede plant growth. This is a generational plant/ecosystem study done at Stanford. http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2002/december11/jasperplots-124.html
Rising Carbon Dioxide is Great for Plants: With a higher amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, plants would be better off. Plants would grow faster and higher with more carbon dioxide. Also, if there was an increase in carbon dioxide water loss would be reduced. http://www.purgit.com/co2ok.html
C. How Does Your Research Relate to a Larger Question?
The effects of farming on the environment are closely associated with carbon dioxide acquisition and albedo. Also, we should pay attention to the limitations the environment is playing on farming. The overall question, here, is what effect is farming having on the environment?
III. Materials and Methods
Research has told us that there are plenty of problems associated with agriculture. Soil compaction is one of these problems. Compaction leads to a snowball of events, increasing run-off, thereby increasing erosion. In addition farming which utilizes chemicals may be contributing to the pollution of nearby rivers or streams when some of these pesticides are carried off the fields because of this soil compaction. Research is being done to determine how much hardpack, via soil compaction, is formed as a result of farming.
Nearly 12,000 years ago, some humans began to abandon the traditional methods of hunting and gathering for subsistence and began replacing them with domestication of animals and crop production, aka: agriculture. It is believed that agriculture's roots are set in the Middle East region where humans first began to produce crops by collecting wild grasses and seeds and planting them within the ground ( historylink101 ). Over time, their skill, range of crops, and innovation in crop growing techniques increased to produce greater varieties of single crops as well as larger yields providing human groups rather consistent source of nutrition. This source did not come without its share of impacts, some of those being sedentary lifestyles for many of these groups as well as influencing the distribution of gender roles within these groups. Over time, agriculture was honed to the extent that it could support large communities within a relatively small area, and allowed people to remain rooted in one place and explore various areas of interest such as arts, crafts, wood and metal working, etc. Many of these communities became elaborate civilizations that flourished and evolved through the ages, to our current period of time, with much thanks having to be given to nutrition and lifestyle crop production provided to them.
A . What is your research design? Is it statistically sound?
We plan on comparing graphs of carbon dioxide and albedo between various types of crops to determine if there is any correlation between carbon dioxide uptake, albedo and optimal crop yield. For our data, we will be pooling various information and interpreting statistics to draw conclusions about crop yield vs. crop type and amount of carbon dioxide and light reflectance.
B. Describe important materials and how they will be used.
The most important materials will be graphs and data noting national crop yields from the United States Department of Agriculture. Also, we will be utilizing various charts from NOAA and the NWS for carbon dioxide and albedo distributions.
C. Describe other methods .
Possibly incorporate GIS methods from various resources. Also, look into talking with the Botany department and other resources on campus.
D. Have you included a Data Sheet?
Not yet.
E. Include a specific time-line of research execution
3/28-3/31 Ð create graphs from data sets 4/1-4/15 Ð analyze data sets and graphs. Make comparisons between graphs and draw conclusions from graphs as to which data is significant and in what relation does each have to the prospect of being effected by global climate change 4/16-forward Ð draw further conclusions and solidify write-up.
