Scholarly Work - Research Centers
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/9236
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Item Soil bacterial community response to cover crop introduction in a wheat-based dryland cropping system(Frontiers Media SA, 2022-11) Eberly, Jed O.; Bourgault, Maryse; Dafo, Julia M.; Yeoman, Carl J.; Wyffels, Samuel A.; Lamb, Peggy F.; Boss, Darrin L.The incorporation of cover crops into cropping systems is important for enhancing soil health in agricultural systems. Soil microbes contribute to soil health by supplying key nutrients and providing protection against plant pests, diseases, and abiotic stress. While research has demonstrated the connection between cover crops and the soil microbiology, less is known regarding the impact of cover crops on the soil microbial community in semi-arid regions of the Northern Great Plains. Our objectives were to evaluate changes in the soil bacterial community composition and community networks in wheat grown after multi-species cover crops. Cover crops were compared to continuous cropping and crop/fallow systems and the effects of cover crop termination methods were also evaluated. Cover crops consisted of a cool season multispecies mix, mid-season multispecies mix, and a warm season multispecies mix, which were grown in rotation with winter wheat. A continuous cropping (wheat/barley) and wheat/fallow system were also included along with cover crop termination by grazing, herbicide application, and haying. Cover crop treatments and termination methods had no significant impact on microbial community alpha diversity. Cover crop termination methods also had no significant impact on microbial community beta diversity. Families belonging to the phyla Actinobacteria, Bacterioidota, and Proteobacteria were more abundant in the cool season cover crop treatment compared to the warm season cover crop treatment. Co-occurrence network analysis indicated that incorporation of cool season cover crops or mid-season mixes in a wheat-based cropping system led to greater complexity and connectivity within these microbial networks compared to the other treatments which suggests these communities may be more resilient to environmental disturbances.Item Introducing cover crops as a fallow replacement in the Northern Great Plains: I. Evaluation of cover crop mixes as a forage source for grazing cattle(Cambridge University Press, 2021-09) Wyffels, Samuel A.; Bourgault, Maryse; Dafoe, Julia M.; Lamb, Peggy F.; Boss, Darrin L.Crop-livestock integration has demonstrated that cover crops can be terminated using livestock grazing with minimal negative impacts on soil health, however, provides little information on system-level approaches that mutually benefit soil health and both crop and livestock production. Therefore, the objective of this research was to examine the effects of cover crop mixtures on biomass production, quality and the potential for nitrate toxicity on a dryland wheat-cover crop rotation. This research was conducted at the Montana State University-Northern Agricultural Research Center near Havre, MT (48°29′N, −109°48′W) from 2012 to 2019. This experiment was conducted as a randomized-complete-block design, where 29 individual species were utilized in 15 different cover crop mixtures in a wheat-cover crop rotation. Cover crop mixtures were classified into four treatment groups, including (1) cool-season species, (2) warm-season species dominant, (3) cool and warm-season species mixture (mid-season), and (4) a barley (Hordeum vulgare) control. All cover crop mixtures were terminated at anthesis of cool-season cereal species to avoid volunteer cereal grains in the following wheat crop. At the time of cover crop termination, dry matter forage production was estimated and analyzed for crude protein, total digestible nutrients and nitrates as indicators of forage quality. All mixtures containing oats (Avena sativa) had greater (P ⩽ 0.03) biomass production than other mixtures within their respective treatment groups (cool- and mid-season). Forage biomass was influenced by cover crop treatment group, with the barley producing the greatest (P < 0.01) amount of forage biomass when compared to cool-, mid- and warm-season cover crop treatments. Total digestible nutrients were greater (P < 0.01) in the barley control compared to the cool- and mid-season treatment groups. Crude protein was greatest in the warm-season treatment group (P < 0.01) compared to the barley control, cool- and mid-season treatment groups. The barley control produced fewer nitrates (P ⩽ 0.05) than the cool-, mid- and warm-season treatment groups; however, all cover crop mixtures produced nitrates at levels unsafe for livestock consumption at least one year of the study. The relatively high and variable nitrate levels of all cover crop mixtures across years in this study suggest that forage should be tested for nitrates before grazing. In conclusion, our research suggests that in a dryland wheat-cover crop rotation that requires early-July termination, cool-season cover crop mixtures are the most suitable forage source for livestock grazing most years.Item Genotypic variability in root length in pea (Pisum sativum L.) and lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) cultivars in a semi-arid environment based on mini-rhizotron image capture(Wiley, 2022-01) Bourgault, Maryse; Lamb, Peggy F.; McPhee, Kevin; McGee, Rebecca J.; Vandenberg, Albert; Warkentin, TomPhysiological breeding is an approach that complements conventional breeding by providing characterizations of traits present in breeding populations. This allows breeders the ability to choose crosses based on desirable and adaptive traits, an approach that may be more reliable than selection on yield alone. In this study, we determined how much genotypic variability was present in selected lines of modern field pea (Pisum sativum L.) and lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) cultivars from Montana, North Dakota, Washington, and Saskatchewan, Canada, and if root growth, particularly at depth, improves the fitness of lines to semi-arid environments. We conducted experiments at the Northern Agricultural Research Center of Montana State University from 2017 to 2019 inclusively to investigate root growth with mini-rhizotrons in 29 field pea lines and 25 lentil lines. Results suggest there is large genotypic variability in root length across the soil profile and the proportion of root length found below 30 cm in both crops, and these root traits appear independent of each other. In field pea, the highest yielding cultivars were intermediary in both total root length and the proportion of root length below 30 cm, suggesting large root systems and/or deeper root profiles are not necessarily beneficial in this environment. By contrast, in lentil, total root length and root length found below 30 cm was well correlated with biomass and yield. For breeders interested in in improved adaptation to semi-arid environments, it may be too early to optimize root systems, and above-ground traits may still yield a better return on investment.Item Introducing cover crops as fallow replacement in the Northern Great Plains: II. Impact on following wheat crops(Cambridge University Press, 2021-12) Bourgault, Maryse; Wyffels, Samuel A.; Dafoe, Julia M.; Lamb, Peggy F.; Boss, Darrin L.Crop-livestock integration has demonstrated that cover crops can be terminated using livestock grazing with minimal negative impacts on soil health, however, provides little information on system-level approaches that mutually benefit soil health and both crop and livestock production. Therefore, the objective of this research was to examine the effects of cover crop mixtures on biomass production, quality and the potential for nitrate toxicity on a dryland wheat-cover crop rotation. This research was conducted at the Montana State University-Northern Agricultural Research Center near Havre, MT (48°29′N, −109°48′W) from 2012 to 2019. This experiment was conducted as a randomized-complete-block design, where 29 individual species were utilized in 15 different cover crop mixtures in a wheat-cover crop rotation. Cover crop mixtures were classified into four treatment groups, including (1) cool-season species, (2) warm-season species dominant, (3) cool and warm-season species mixture (mid-season), and (4) a barley (Hordeum vulgare) control. All cover crop mixtures were terminated at anthesis of cool-season cereal species to avoid volunteer cereal grains in the following wheat crop. At the time of cover crop termination, dry matter forage production was estimated and analyzed for crude protein, total digestible nutrients and nitrates as indicators of forage quality. All mixtures containing oats (Avena sativa) had greater (P ⩽ 0.03) biomass production than other mixtures within their respective treatment groups (cool- and mid-season). Forage biomass was influenced by cover crop treatment group, with the barley producing the greatest (P < 0.01) amount of forage biomass when compared to cool-, mid- and warm-season cover crop treatments. Total digestible nutrients were greater (P < 0.01) in the barley control compared to the cool- and mid-season treatment groups. Crude protein was greatest in the warm-season treatment group (P < 0.01) compared to the barley control, cool- and mid-season treatment groups. The barley control produced fewer nitrates (P ⩽ 0.05) than the cool-, mid- and warm-season treatment groups; however, all cover crop mixtures produced nitrates at levels unsafe for livestock consumption at least one year of the study. The relatively high and variable nitrate levels of all cover crop mixtures across years in this study suggest that forage should be tested for nitrates before grazing. In conclusion, our research suggests that in a dryland wheat-cover crop rotation that requires early-July termination, cool-season cover crop mixtures are the most suitable forage source for livestock grazing most years.Item Evaluation of environment and cultivar impact on lentil protein, starch, mineral nutrients, and yield(Wiley, 2021-12) Chen, Chengci; Etemadi, Fatemeh; Franck, William; Franck, Sooyoung; Abdelhamid, Magdi T.; Ahmadi, Jafar; Mohammed, Yesuf Assen; Lamb, Peggy F.; Miller, John H.; Carr, Patrick M.; McPhee, Kevin; Zhou, Yi; Torabian, Shahram; Qin, RuijunLentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is an important source of protein, starch, and mineral nutrients in many parts of the world. However, the impact of environment and cultivar on the enrichment of these nutrients is not well understood. Four lentil cultivars (‘Avondale’, ‘CDC Richlea’, ‘CDC Maxim’, and ‘CDC Imvincible’) varying in color, seed size, and maturity were evaluated at five Montana locations with diverse climatic and soil conditions over 3 yr. Significant cultivar, location, and year effects were found for yield, protein, starch, and minerals. Grain protein concentration was the highest at Moccasin (262 g kg−1) and lowest at Richland (246 g kg−1), whereas starch concentration was the highest at Richland (455 g kg−1) and lowest at Moccasin(441gkg−1). Among cultivars, Avondale was the top yielding cultivar (1965 kg ha−1)and adaptable to most of the environments; CDC Imvincible was the top protein producer (265 g kg−1); and CDC Richlea is the leading starch producer (456 g kg−1). Grain protein concentration was negatively correlated with starch. Lentil grains varied in nutrient concentrations across locations, with the north central Montana region producing 10- to 20-times greater selenium concentration than other locations. CDC Maxim had the highest iron (62.1 mg kg−1) and zinc (31.5 mg kg−1) concentrations.Seed protein concentration was positively correlated with phosphorus, sulfur, cop-per, and boron. Seed starch is positively correlated with magnesium and manganese.Results suggest that plant breeding and production site selection could enrich lentil nutrient concentrations to help combat malnutrition in the world.