Projects
LTAR Network Projects
Network-wide projects allow scientists from many disciplines to develop novel scientific insights at regional to national scales, evaluate whether and where these insights are applicable, and then adapt tools to local conditions. Working groups engage with stakeholders, producers, and industry in developing and disseminating these products.
AgPICKS: Agricultural Performance Indicator and Context Knowledge System
Leads: LTAR Indicators Working Group (contact Sheri Spiegal)
Purpose
To help agricultural scientists, producers, and other stakeholders evaluate how management performs in relation to goals in natural resources, socioeconomic, and production domains.
AgPICKS: Agricultural Performance Indicator and Context Knowledge System Page
Wind Erosion Network
Lead: Nick Webb and Brandon Bestelmeyer
Purpose
This working group conducts basic research and develops models to better understand, predict and manage impacts of wind erosion across agro-ecological systems – supporting production, sustainable management, and improved health and prosperity of communities. The group collects standardized measurements across croplands, rangelands and desert ecosystems to support new understanding and development of predictive tools that can leverage existing national inventory and monitoring datasets to assess wind erosion and support its management. The group conducts research and addresses wind erosion impacts across agro-ecological systems and at scales that wouldn’t be possible at individual sites. The group will increase the availability of wind erosion information to managers and partner agencies. Partners include stakeholders (NRCS, BLM) responsible for managing and supporting sustainable development of agro-ecological systems nationally.
Rangeland Soil Erosion
Leads: Carrie-Ann Houdeshell
Purpose
This project coordinates with NRCS CEAP Grazing Lands and collaborators at BLM and USGS to conduct basic research and develop models to better understand, predict and manage the impacts of soil erosion by wind and water across rangeland ecosystems. The research supports production, sustainable environmental management, and improved health and prosperity of communities. The group uses national inventory and monitoring datasets to assess soil erosion. The group conducts research and addresses soil erosion impacts across grazing land agroecological systems. The group will increase the availability of soil erosion information to managers and agencies including the NRCS and BLM. Research will directly support stakeholders to develop management objectives to mitigate runoff, soil erosion and blowing dust hazards, assess effectiveness of conservation practices and investments, and evaluate soil erosion management synergies and trade-offs relative to other resource concerns.
Cropland Water Erosion
Leads: Ron Bingner and Chris Renschler
Purpose
This working group conducts basic and applied research to address cropland water erosion issues on agricultural landscapes through the development of innovative, resilient agriculture solutions and assessment tools for scientists, NRCS soil and water conservation staff, stakeholders, and decision-makers. The group collects standardized measurements across croplands to provide site specific water erosion data from sources, conditions and land management practices covering the entire US to support a coordinated, integrated, and synchronous research effort. From this, communities will be better able to protect their health and environment, while laying the foundation for long-term water erosion research in agricultural cropland landscapes for the next 50 years. This will lead to a new understanding of water erosion processes, improvement of soil erosion control practices, and support for the development of new and innovative erosion predictive tools that can leverage existing and new national datasets to assess water erosion and to derive accurate field-specific agricultural management information for conservation planning.
ABOUT LTAR
The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Long-Term Agroecosystem Research network consists of 18 Federal and university agricultural research sites with an average of over 50 years of history. The goal of this research network is to ensure sustained crop and livestock production and ecosystem services from agroecosystems, and to forecast and verify the effects of environmental trends, public policies, and emerging technologies.