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Agroecosystem diversity
Published in Stephen R. Gliessman, V. Ernesto Méndez, Victor M. Izzo, Eric W. Engles, Andrew Gerlicz, Agroecology, 2023
Stephen R. Gliessman, V. Ernesto Méndez, Victor M. Izzo, Eric W. Engles, Andrew Gerlicz
Covercropping. A cover crop is a non-crop species planted in a field to provide soil cover, usually in-between cropping cycles. Cover crops range from annuals to perennials, and include many different taxonomic groups, although grasses and legumes are used predominantly. Increasing the diversity of a system by planting one or more cover crop species has a variety of important benefits. Covercropping enhances soil organic matter, stimulates soil biological activity and diversity of the soil biota, traps nutrients in the soil left over from previous crops, reduces soil erosion, contributes biologically fixed nitrogen (if one of the cover crop species is a legume), and provides alternate hosts for beneficial enemies of crop pests. In some systems, such as orchards, cover crops may serve the additional purpose of inhibiting weed development (Sullivan 2003; Lemessa & Wakjira 2015).
Urban and Area Source BMPs
Published in Roger D. Griffin, Principles of Stormwater Management, 2018
Cover crops include grasses, legumes, and herbs planned for a seasonal soil cover. These practices are designed to Reduce erosionIncrease soil organic matterSuppress weedsCapture and recycle nutrientsManage soil moistureMinimize soil compaction and promote nitrogen fixation in the soils
Farming: Organic
Published in Brian D. Fath, Sven E. Jørgensen, Megan Cole, Managing Soils and Terrestrial Systems, 2020
Cover crops are used to reduce erosion potential and nutrient loss between crops. For instance, a cover crop of rye might be seeded after the harvest of a summer annual crop. The rye would act to stabilize the soil during the erosion-prone fall and spring. In the case of a legume crop, the cover crop could also act to sequester the nitrogen released from the legumes, so that it would not leach away.
Optimizing best management practices to control anthropogenic sources of atmospheric phosphorus deposition to inland lakes
Published in Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 2018
Lee Weiss, Jesse Thé, Jennifer Winter, Bahram Gharabaghi
Cover crops provide cover and protection to both soil and seeds. They are grown close to the production crop and often act as wind breaks to shorter crops within a field. In this way, cover crops can effectively reduce wind erosion and protect production crops from weeds. Some of the major costs associated with establishing cover crops are the seed and planting costs, which for this study are considered minimal, since we are assuming that this task would have been done by the farmer regardless. Within the Lake Simcoe airshed, approximately 13% of all farms that took part in the recent census reported applying winter cover crops. The PM10 control efficiency is defined as 35% by Greenland International Consulting Ltd (2010). The Sustainable Agriculture Network (1998) estimates the cost of putting this practice in place to be $4–20/acre, which is consistent with $20/acre figure estimated by Schnitkey, Coppess, and Paulson (2017). Schnitkey, Coppess, and Paulson (2017) estimate approximately $8/acre is associated with seeding while $13/acre is for drilling. For the purpose of this study, only the additional cost of seeding is accounted for at $8/acre or $2,000/km2. This BMP can be applied to all active agricultural land uses.
The greenhouse gas benefits of corn ethanol – assessing recent evidence
Published in Biofuels, 2020
Jan Lewandrowski, Jeffrey Rosenfeld, Diana Pape, Tommy Hendrickson, Kirsten Jaglo, Katrin Moffroid
Cover crops protect soils between harvest and planting. Using cover crops can reduce indirect N2O emissions related to leaching of N fertilizer. The COMET-Planner attributes a 1.24 Mg CO2e/ha/year reduction in emissions to cover crops. This is a 76.8% reduction in N2O emissions from leaching, which we incorporate in the HEHC scenario.