Did You Know?
Find out what's happening across our country in the world of
Conservation, brought to you by the
National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) and
the Oneida County Land and Water Conservation Department
Enjoy!
Conservation, brought to you by the
National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) and
the Oneida County Land and Water Conservation Department
Enjoy!
“The Oneida County Land and Water Conservation Department does not promote or oppose the
practices mentioned in the following articles. We only strive to provide our readers with the most
up-to-date information so they can make informative, personal decisions based on facts.”
practices mentioned in the following articles. We only strive to provide our readers with the most
up-to-date information so they can make informative, personal decisions based on facts.”
(December, 2019)
Star Tribune: As flooding and erosion rise, more Minnesota farmers buck tradition and plant cover crops
In a year when flooding and erosion smacked farmers in Minnesota and much of the country, a small but growing number of farmers are leaving fields unplowed and planting cover crops to protect their soil in the winter.
Scientific American: Farming Degrades Land; Farming Can Also Bring It Back
(Opinion) Agroforestry—the practice of growing trees intermixed with crops or livestock—can fight erosion and restore nutrients.
Science Daily: Warming climate will impact dead zones in Chesapeake Bay
In recent years, scientists have projected increasingly large summer dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay, areas where there is little or no oxygen for living things like crabs and fish to thrive, even as long-term efforts to reduce nutrient pollution continue. Researchers factored in local impacts of climate change to make projections of what the oxygen content of the Chesapeake Bay will look like in the future.
Phys.org: Wildfire residue may contribute to climate change
Wildfires leave behind large swathes of blackened earth when they raze a landscape. That charred material contains a host of molecules that could continue to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere days and weeks after the fire has gone out, according to new research.
(November, 2019)
USA Today: Our bird populations are dying off. Here's how we can save them.
By Sen. John Boozman, Sen. Martin Heinrich, Rep. Mike Thompson and Rep. Rob Wittman
(Opinion) Congress can take an important step to restore and promote even more habitat for birds by reauthorizing the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. The measure provides grants to increase bird populations and wetland habitat, while supporting local economies and American traditions such as hunting, fishing, bird watching, family farming and ranching.
Science Daily: Dead-zone report card reflects improving water quality in Chesapeake Bay
The 2019 'dead-zone' report card for Chesapeake Bay indicates that the volume of low-oxygen, 'hypoxic' water was on the high end of the normal range, a finding that scientists consider relatively good news given the unfavorable weather conditions.
CPR News: Sagebrush Helps Support Ecosystems Throughout The West. But Today, 50 percent Of The Plant’s Habitat Is Gone
By Michelle P. Fulcher
Sagebrush, which makes up the largest interconnected habitat in America, is vital for the survival of 350 species of plants and animals, and the plant is in trouble.
Penn Live: Research looks into 400 years of Pennsylvania’s forests, which have been ‘completely transformed’
By Marcus Schneck
While forests of the northeastern U.S., from Pennsylvania north to Maine, may hold mostly the same tree species as they did 400 years ago, significant differences emerge under closer inspection.
University of Tennessee: Mathematician Develops Model to Control Spread of Aquatic Invasive Species
Adjusting the water flow rate in a river can prevent invasive species from moving upstream and expanding their range. An applied mathematician at UT has developed a partial differential equation model to find the desired flow rate to reduce invasive populations.
(October, 2019)
The Spokesman-Review: Inland Northwest’s thriving turkey population is an invasive nuisance or a conservation success – or both
By Eli Francovich
How did a species that didn’t exist in the Inland Northwest less than a lifetime ago, and that was on the verge of extinction throughout the continent, become so ubiquitous? The answer starts thousands of years ago. In Mexico.
The Atlantic: The Forest Service Is About to Set a Giant Forest Fire—On Purpose
By Maddie Stone
A man-made blaze on a remote Utah mountainside could provide valuable insights into the behavior of the powerful wildfires growing more and more common out West.
Deseret News: Crisis in the West: Americans will soon have a $5 billion wild horse problem and few know about it
By Amy Joi O’Donoghue
Nearly 90,000 wild horses and burros roam in 10 Western states where government range watchers say there should be just under 27,000, and the horses are multiplying quickly.
KCUR: Missouri Farmers Try To Reduce Runoff, But Cleaning Gulf Dead Zone May Take Decades
By Eli Chen
Missouri has not set targets for the reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus. The state’s approach to curtailing farm runoff, which environmentalists say lacks strength, is to use sales tax revenue to provide farmers financial incentives to improve crop and livestock practices.
Civil Eats: Planting Native Prairie Could Be a Secret Weapon for Farmers
By Nathan Beacom
In Iowa, researchers and farmers are discovering that planting strips of native prairie amidst farmland benefits soil, water, biodiversity, and more.
Chicago Tribune: Where are all the pheasants? Habitat loss is tied to more farming
By Greg Stanley
Minnesota farmers have withdrawn hundreds of thousands of acres from the government's biggest conservation program in the last decade, shifting land that was set aside for grasses and wildflowers back into corn, soybeans and other crops.
Phys.org: Lakes worldwide are experiencing more severe algal blooms
10/14/19
The intensity of summer algal blooms has increased over the past three decades, according to a first-ever global survey of dozens of large, freshwater lakes.
(September, 2019)
Engadget: How conservationists are controlling invasive species in the 21st century
By Andrew Tarantola
Invasive species, defined as those plants and animals imported through human action and which cause harm, account for an estimated $100 billion in damages to the U.S. economy every year.
Yale Environment 360: New Jersey Soil Microbe Shown to Break Down ‘Forever Chemicals’
Scientists have discovered that a soil microbe commonly found in New Jersey wetlands can break down one of the toughest class of pollutants, known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
The Los Angeles Times: Forest thinning projects won’t stop the worst wildfires. So why is California spending millions on them?
By Bettina Boxall
Four months after the town of Paradise was incinerated in the most destructive wildfire in California history, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an emergency proclamation, ordering agencies to thin trees and clear shrubs near some of the state’s most fire-threatened communities.
Star Tribune: As monarch butterflies vanish, University of Minnesota investigates road salt as culprit — and cure
By Greg Stanley
Too much sodium is toxic for butterflies and can delay or hinder their muscle development. But smaller amounts may prove beneficial.
NBC News: How the Amazon's fires, deforestation affect the U.S. Midwest
By Erik Ortiz
The continued loss of vegetation in the Amazon could have a cumulative effect, not only in contributing to climate change but also affecting rainfall patterns around the globe, including the U.S. Midwest, threatening food production and destabilizing ecosystems, according to the experts.
Bridge: Battle looms over laws to slow spread of invasive species in Great Lakes
By Jim Malewitz and Sarah Whites-Koditschek
At least 80 invasive species have arrived in the ballast water transatlantic ships take in and discharge for balance.
(July, 2019)
Star Tribune: Invasive grasses choke birds’ habitat
By Jennifer Bjorhus
When the forest canopy along the Mississippi River gaps and shrinks, an aggressive, sun-loving invasive plant called reed canary grass takes hold, a species that thrives in areas disturbed by fluctuating water. Hundreds of bird species are affected.
Star Tribune: As flooding and erosion rise, more Minnesota farmers buck tradition and plant cover crops
In a year when flooding and erosion smacked farmers in Minnesota and much of the country, a small but growing number of farmers are leaving fields unplowed and planting cover crops to protect their soil in the winter.
Scientific American: Farming Degrades Land; Farming Can Also Bring It Back
(Opinion) Agroforestry—the practice of growing trees intermixed with crops or livestock—can fight erosion and restore nutrients.
Science Daily: Warming climate will impact dead zones in Chesapeake Bay
In recent years, scientists have projected increasingly large summer dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay, areas where there is little or no oxygen for living things like crabs and fish to thrive, even as long-term efforts to reduce nutrient pollution continue. Researchers factored in local impacts of climate change to make projections of what the oxygen content of the Chesapeake Bay will look like in the future.
Phys.org: Wildfire residue may contribute to climate change
Wildfires leave behind large swathes of blackened earth when they raze a landscape. That charred material contains a host of molecules that could continue to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere days and weeks after the fire has gone out, according to new research.
(November, 2019)
USA Today: Our bird populations are dying off. Here's how we can save them.
By Sen. John Boozman, Sen. Martin Heinrich, Rep. Mike Thompson and Rep. Rob Wittman
(Opinion) Congress can take an important step to restore and promote even more habitat for birds by reauthorizing the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. The measure provides grants to increase bird populations and wetland habitat, while supporting local economies and American traditions such as hunting, fishing, bird watching, family farming and ranching.
Science Daily: Dead-zone report card reflects improving water quality in Chesapeake Bay
The 2019 'dead-zone' report card for Chesapeake Bay indicates that the volume of low-oxygen, 'hypoxic' water was on the high end of the normal range, a finding that scientists consider relatively good news given the unfavorable weather conditions.
CPR News: Sagebrush Helps Support Ecosystems Throughout The West. But Today, 50 percent Of The Plant’s Habitat Is Gone
By Michelle P. Fulcher
Sagebrush, which makes up the largest interconnected habitat in America, is vital for the survival of 350 species of plants and animals, and the plant is in trouble.
Penn Live: Research looks into 400 years of Pennsylvania’s forests, which have been ‘completely transformed’
By Marcus Schneck
While forests of the northeastern U.S., from Pennsylvania north to Maine, may hold mostly the same tree species as they did 400 years ago, significant differences emerge under closer inspection.
University of Tennessee: Mathematician Develops Model to Control Spread of Aquatic Invasive Species
Adjusting the water flow rate in a river can prevent invasive species from moving upstream and expanding their range. An applied mathematician at UT has developed a partial differential equation model to find the desired flow rate to reduce invasive populations.
(October, 2019)
The Spokesman-Review: Inland Northwest’s thriving turkey population is an invasive nuisance or a conservation success – or both
By Eli Francovich
How did a species that didn’t exist in the Inland Northwest less than a lifetime ago, and that was on the verge of extinction throughout the continent, become so ubiquitous? The answer starts thousands of years ago. In Mexico.
The Atlantic: The Forest Service Is About to Set a Giant Forest Fire—On Purpose
By Maddie Stone
A man-made blaze on a remote Utah mountainside could provide valuable insights into the behavior of the powerful wildfires growing more and more common out West.
Deseret News: Crisis in the West: Americans will soon have a $5 billion wild horse problem and few know about it
By Amy Joi O’Donoghue
Nearly 90,000 wild horses and burros roam in 10 Western states where government range watchers say there should be just under 27,000, and the horses are multiplying quickly.
KCUR: Missouri Farmers Try To Reduce Runoff, But Cleaning Gulf Dead Zone May Take Decades
By Eli Chen
Missouri has not set targets for the reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus. The state’s approach to curtailing farm runoff, which environmentalists say lacks strength, is to use sales tax revenue to provide farmers financial incentives to improve crop and livestock practices.
Civil Eats: Planting Native Prairie Could Be a Secret Weapon for Farmers
By Nathan Beacom
In Iowa, researchers and farmers are discovering that planting strips of native prairie amidst farmland benefits soil, water, biodiversity, and more.
Chicago Tribune: Where are all the pheasants? Habitat loss is tied to more farming
By Greg Stanley
Minnesota farmers have withdrawn hundreds of thousands of acres from the government's biggest conservation program in the last decade, shifting land that was set aside for grasses and wildflowers back into corn, soybeans and other crops.
Phys.org: Lakes worldwide are experiencing more severe algal blooms
10/14/19
The intensity of summer algal blooms has increased over the past three decades, according to a first-ever global survey of dozens of large, freshwater lakes.
(September, 2019)
Engadget: How conservationists are controlling invasive species in the 21st century
By Andrew Tarantola
Invasive species, defined as those plants and animals imported through human action and which cause harm, account for an estimated $100 billion in damages to the U.S. economy every year.
Yale Environment 360: New Jersey Soil Microbe Shown to Break Down ‘Forever Chemicals’
Scientists have discovered that a soil microbe commonly found in New Jersey wetlands can break down one of the toughest class of pollutants, known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
The Los Angeles Times: Forest thinning projects won’t stop the worst wildfires. So why is California spending millions on them?
By Bettina Boxall
Four months after the town of Paradise was incinerated in the most destructive wildfire in California history, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an emergency proclamation, ordering agencies to thin trees and clear shrubs near some of the state’s most fire-threatened communities.
Star Tribune: As monarch butterflies vanish, University of Minnesota investigates road salt as culprit — and cure
By Greg Stanley
Too much sodium is toxic for butterflies and can delay or hinder their muscle development. But smaller amounts may prove beneficial.
NBC News: How the Amazon's fires, deforestation affect the U.S. Midwest
By Erik Ortiz
The continued loss of vegetation in the Amazon could have a cumulative effect, not only in contributing to climate change but also affecting rainfall patterns around the globe, including the U.S. Midwest, threatening food production and destabilizing ecosystems, according to the experts.
Bridge: Battle looms over laws to slow spread of invasive species in Great Lakes
By Jim Malewitz and Sarah Whites-Koditschek
At least 80 invasive species have arrived in the ballast water transatlantic ships take in and discharge for balance.
(July, 2019)
Star Tribune: Invasive grasses choke birds’ habitat
By Jennifer Bjorhus
When the forest canopy along the Mississippi River gaps and shrinks, an aggressive, sun-loving invasive plant called reed canary grass takes hold, a species that thrives in areas disturbed by fluctuating water. Hundreds of bird species are affected.
(April 25, 2019)
KMUW:
As Weeds Outsmart The Latest Weedkillers, Farmers Are Running Out Of Easy Options
By Daniel Charles
Culpepper tells farmers that they still can control this superweed, but they need to use a bunch of different tools. That means deploying multiple chemicals, alternating the crops that they plant, and planting extra "cover crops" in the off season to cover the soil and make it harder for weeds to emerge.
(February 21, 2019)
The Guardian:
Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature'
By Damian Carrington
More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, suggesting they could vanish within a century.
Los Angeles Times:
Navajo shepherds cling to centuries-old tradition in a land where it refuses to rain
By David Kelly
A brutal drought gripping the Southwest is hitting New Mexico and the Navajo Nation reservation especially hard, threatening traditional shepherds and a pastoral way of life going back generations.
The Mercury News:
California’s ‘dry farmers’ grow crops without irrigation
By Priyanka Runwal
While unfamiliar to many consumers, dry farming is an age-old practice that entails carefully managing soils to lock winter rainfall into the top layers until it’s time to begin growing crops during the spring and summer.
KMUW:
As Weeds Outsmart The Latest Weedkillers, Farmers Are Running Out Of Easy Options
By Daniel Charles
Culpepper tells farmers that they still can control this superweed, but they need to use a bunch of different tools. That means deploying multiple chemicals, alternating the crops that they plant, and planting extra "cover crops" in the off season to cover the soil and make it harder for weeds to emerge.
(February 21, 2019)
The Guardian:
Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature'
By Damian Carrington
More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, suggesting they could vanish within a century.
Los Angeles Times:
Navajo shepherds cling to centuries-old tradition in a land where it refuses to rain
By David Kelly
A brutal drought gripping the Southwest is hitting New Mexico and the Navajo Nation reservation especially hard, threatening traditional shepherds and a pastoral way of life going back generations.
The Mercury News:
California’s ‘dry farmers’ grow crops without irrigation
By Priyanka Runwal
While unfamiliar to many consumers, dry farming is an age-old practice that entails carefully managing soils to lock winter rainfall into the top layers until it’s time to begin growing crops during the spring and summer.