Dataset Information

Not just crop or forest: an integrated land cover map for agricultural and natural areas.

ABSTRACT: Due to the key role surrounding landscape plays in ecological processes, a detailed characterization of land cover is critical for researchers and conservation practitioners. Unfortunately, in the United States, land cover data are split across thematic datasets that emphasize agricultural or natural vegetation, but not both. To address this gap, we merged two datasets, the LANDFIRE National Vegetation Classification (NVC) and USDA-NASS Cropland Data Layer (CDL), to produce integrated 'Spatial Products for Agriculture and Nature' (SPAN). Our workflow leveraged strengths of the NVC and the CDL to create detailed rasters comprising both agricultural and natural land-cover classes. We generated SPAN annually from 2012-2021 for the conterminous United States, quantified agreement and accuracy of SPAN, and published the complete computational workflow. In our validation analyses, we found that approximately 5.5% of NVC agricultural pixels conflicted with the CDL, but we resolved most conflicts, leaving only 0.6% of agricultural pixels unresolved in SPAN. These ready-to-use rasters characterizing both agricultural and natural land cover will be widely useful in environmental research and management.

SUBMITTER: Kammerer M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10817889 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Not just crop or forest: an integrated land cover map for agricultural and natural areas.

Kammerer Melanie M Iverson Aaron L AL Li Kevin K Goslee Sarah C SC

Scientific data 20240126 1

Due to the key role surrounding landscape plays in ecological processes, a detailed characterization of land cover is critical for researchers and conservation practitioners. Unfortunately, in the United States, land cover data are split across thematic datasets that emphasize agricultural or natural vegetation, but not both. To address this gap, we merged two datasets, the LANDFIRE National Vegetation Classification (NVC) and USDA-NASS Cropland Data Layer (CDL), to produce integrated 'Spatial P ...[more]

PMID: 38278830

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Project description:Wilderness areas are not immune to changes in land use, land cover, and/or climate. Future changes will intensify the balancing act of maintaining ecological conditions and untrammeled character within wilderness areas. We assessed the quantitative and spatial changes in land use, land cover, and climate predicted to occur in and around wilderness areas by (1) quantifying projected changes in land use and land cover around wilderness areas; (2) evaluating if public lands surrounding wilderness areas can buffer future land-use change; (3) quantifying future climate conditions in and around wilderness areas; and (4) identifying wilderness areas expected to experience the most change in land use, land cover, and climate. We used projections of land use (four variables), land cover (five variables), and climate (nine variables) to assess changes for 707 wilderness areas in the contiguous United States by mid-21st century under two scenarios (medium-low and high). We ranked all wilderness areas relative to each other by summing and ranking decile values for each land use, land cover, and climate variable and calculating a multivariate metric of future change. All wilderness areas were projected to experience some level of change by mid-century. The greatest land-use changes were associated with increases in agriculture, clear cutting, and developed land, while the greatest land cover changes were observed for grassland, forest, and shrubland. In 51.6% and 73.8% of wilderness areas, core area of natural vegetation surrounding wilderness was projected to decrease for the medium-low and high scenarios, respectfully. Presence of public land did not mitigate the influence of land-use change around wilderness areas. Geographically, projected changes occurred throughout the contiguous U.S., with areas in the northeast and upper Midwest projected to have the greatest land-use and climate change and the southwestern U.S. projected to undergo the greatest land cover and climate change. Our results provide insights into potential future threats to wilderness areas and the challenges associated with wilderness stewardship and climate adaptation. Despite the high degree of protection and remoteness of wilderness areas, effective management and preservation of these lands must consider future changes in land use, land cover, and climate.

Project description:BackgroundCover cropping is an agricultural practice that uses secondary crops to support the growth of primary crops through various mechanisms including erosion control, weed suppression, nutrient management, and enhanced biodiversity. Cover crops may elicit some of these ecosystem services through chemical interactions with the soil microbiome via root exudation, or the release of plant metabolites from roots. Phytohormones are one metabolite type exuded by plants that activate the rhizosphere microbiome, yet managing this chemical interaction remains an untapped mechanism for optimizing plant-soil-microbiome interactions. Currently, there is limited understanding on the diversity of cover crop phytohormone root exudation patterns and our aim was to understand how phytochemical signals selectively enrich specific microbial taxa and functionalities in agricultural soils.ResultsHere, we link variability in cover crop root exudate composition to changes in soil microbiome functionality. Exudate chemical profiles from 4 cover crop species (Sorghum bicolor, Vicia villosa, Brassica napus, and Secale cereal) were used as the chemical inputs to decipher microbial responses. These distinct exudate profiles, along with a no exudate control, were amended to agricultural soil microcosms with microbial responses tracked over time using metabolomes and genome-resolved metatranscriptomes. Our findings illustrated microbial metabolic patterns were unique in response to cover crop exudate inputs over time, particularly by sorghum and cereal rye amended microcosms. In these microcosms, we identify novel microbial members (at the genera and family level) who produced IAA and GA4 over time. Additionally, we identified cover crop exudates exclusively enriched for bacterial nitrite oxidizers, while control microcosms were discriminated for nitrogen transport, mineralization, and assimilation, highlighting distinct changes in microbial nitrogen cycling in response to chemical inputs.ConclusionsWe highlight that root exudate amendments alter microbial community function (i.e., N cycling) and microbial phytohormone metabolisms, particularly in response to root exudates isolated from cereal rye and sorghum plants. Additionally, we constructed a soil microbial genomic catalog of microorganisms responding to commonly used cover crops, a public resource for agriculturally relevant microbes. Many of our exudate-stimulated microorganisms are representatives from poorly characterized or novel taxa, revealing the yet to be discovered metabolic reservoir harbored in agricultural soils. Our findings emphasize the tractability of high-resolution multi-omics approaches to investigate processes relevant for agricultural soils, opening the possibility of targeting specific soil biogeochemical outcomes through biological precision agricultural practices that use cover crops and the microbiome as levers for enhanced crop production. Video Abstract.

Project description:BackgroundCover cropping is an agricultural practice that uses secondary crops to support the growth of primary crops through various mechanisms including erosion control, weed suppression, nutrient management, and enhanced biodiversity. Cover crops may elicit some of these ecosystem services through chemical interactions with the soil microbiome via root exudation, or the release of plant metabolites from roots. Phytohormones are one metabolite type exuded by plants that activate the rhizosphere microbiome, yet managing this chemical interaction remains an untapped mechanism for optimizing plant-soil microbiome interactions. Currently, there is limited understanding on the diversity of cover crop phytohormone root exudation patterns and how these chemical messages selectively enrich specific microbial taxa and functionalities in agricultural soils.ResultsHere, we link variability in cover crop root exudate composition to changes in soil microbiome functionality. Exudate chemical profiles from 4 cover crop species (Sorghum bicolor, Vicia villosa, Brassica napus, and Secale cereal) were used as the chemical inputs to decipher microbial responses. These distinct exudate profiles, along with a no exudate control, were amended to agricultural soil microcosms with microbial responses tracked over time using metabolomes and genome-resolved metatranscriptomes. Our findings illustrated microbial metabolic patterns were unique in response to cover crop exudate inputs over time, particularly by sorghum and cereal rye amended microcosms where we identify novel microbial members (at the genera and family level) who produced IAA and GA4 over time. We also identify broad changes in microbial nitrogen cycling in response chemical inputs.ConclusionsWe highlight that root exudate amendments alter microbial community function and phytohormone metabolisms, particularly in response to root exudates isolated from cereal rye and sorghum plants. Additionally, we constructed a soil microbial genomic catalog of microorganisms responding to commonly used cover crops, a public resource for agriculturally-relevant microbes. Many of our exudate-stimulated microorganisms are representatives from poorly characterized or novel taxa, highlighting the yet to be discovered metabolic reservoir harbored in agricultural soils. Our findings emphasize the tractability of high-resolution multiomics approaches to investigate processes relevant for agricultural soils, opening the possibility of targeting specific soil biogeochemical outcomes through biological precision agricultural practices that use cover crops and the microbiome as levers for enhanced crop production.

Dataset Information

Not just crop or forest: an integrated land cover map for agricultural and natural areas.

Publications

Not just crop or forest: an integrated land cover map for agricultural and natural areas.

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