Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Florida, 2004. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 343 pages. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

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Excessive delivery of fine sediment from agricultural river catchments to aquatic ecosystems can degrade chemical water quality and ecological habitats. Management of accelerated soil losses and the transmission of sediment-associated agricultural pollutants, such as phosphorus, is required to mitigate the drive towards sustainable intensification to increase global food security. Quantifying soil erosion and the pathways and fate of fine-grained sediment is presently under-researched worldwide, and particularly in Ireland. This thesis established a sediment monitoring network upon an existing catchment study programme (Agricultural Catchments Programme) in five instrumented catchments (~10 km2) across Ireland. The research used novel, high quality measurement and analysis techniques to quantify sediment export, determine controls on soil erosion and sediment transport, and identify sediment contributions from multiple sources in different agricultural systems over time to evaluate approaches to fine sediment management. Results showed suspended sediment measurement using a novel ex situ methodology was valid in two of the study catchments against in situ and direct depth-integrated cross-section methodologies. Suspended sediment yields in the five intensive agricultural catchments were relatively low compared to European catchments in the same climatic zone, attributed to regionally-specific land use patterns and land management practices expressed in terms of ‘landscape complexity’ (irregular, small field sizes partitioned by abundant hedgerows and high drainage ditch densities) resulting in low field-to-channel connectivity. Variations in suspended sediment yield between catchments were explained primarily by soil permeability and ground cover, whereby arable land use on poorly-drained soils were associated with the largest sediment yields. Storm-event sediment export and sediment fingerprinting data demonstrated that sediment connectivity fluctuations resulted from rainfall seasonality, which in turn regulated the contrasting spatial and temporal extent of surface hydrological pathways. Increased transport occurred when and where sediment sources were available as a result of hillslope land use (low groundcover) or channel characteristics. Field topsoils were most vulnerable when low groundcover coincided with surface hydrological pathways; frequently on poorly-drained soils and following extreme rainfall events on well-drained soils as storage decreased. Although well-drained soils currently demonstrate low water erosion risk, past sugar beet crops exposed freshly drilled soils during periods of greater rainfall risk and soil removal during crop harvesting. Sediment loss from grassland catchments dominated by poorly-drained soils and extensive land drainage (sub-surface and surface) primarily derived from channel banks due to the delivery of high velocity flows from up-catchment drained hillslopes. Catchment specific soil erosion and sediment loss mitigation measures are imperative to cost-effectively preserve or improve soil and freshwater ecosystem quality worldwide.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on April 21, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

Over the last 50 years populations of certain farmland birds have undergone severe declines over the same timescale that agriculture has intensified. The larvae of grassland sawflies (Hymenoptera, Symphyta) are a key component of the fledgling diet and it is thought that agri-intensification has reduced the numbers of these insects to such an extent that the populations of bird species dependent on them are limited. Sawfly populations may be more than usually susceptible to disturbance because firstly, their adult stages are poor dispersers and secondly, some species possess Complementary Sex Determination (CSD), a mechanism which can produce sterile males under inbreeding conditions. This study has produced a sawfly transcriptomic library through the use of 454 pyrosequencing, the first genetic resource for any farmland sawfly. From this library, a set of 13 polymorphic microsatellite markers were isolated for use in the common farmland sawfly Dolerus aeneus. Using these markers, three Scottish populations of D. aeneus, a species common to all six UK sites sampled in this study, exhibited similar levels of genetic diversity and low levels of genetic differentiation. However, evidence of inbreeding was detected in each of the three populations. In addition, potential diploid males were detected in D. aeneus using microsatellite markers, a primary indication that CSD may be operating in this species. The population genetic analysis in the current study suggests that fragmentation of suitable sawfly habitat as a result of agricultural intensification has not yet acted to isolate D. aeneus populations, although some genetic effects (inbreeding and low diversity compared with non-threatened hymenopterans) are apparent. In addition, diploid males have been detected which may have compromised fertility. This study will be of interest to research groups working on the genetics of the Hymenoptera and on the conservation and management of sawflies and the bird species dependent on them.

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It has been argued that organic farming sustains a higher biodiversity than conventional farming. This might promote the ecosystem services that exist in agricultural landscapes such as pollination and pest control. Here, I examined the effect of farming system (organic vs. conventional) with respect to the time since farming system transition, landscape heterogeneity and plant richness on pollinating and predatory insects. In total, data from 30 farms were used, of which 20 were organic and 10 were conventional. The data were analyzed using general linear models and model averaging. The results show that insect groups responded differently to various factors. Pollinators were more sensitive to landscape complexity, showing an increase of abundance and species richness with an increased heterogeneity. Predators on the other hand reacted to farming system, where there was an increase in abundance and species richness on organic farms.

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