Agricultural & Environmental Letters最新文献

Transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) make difficult tasks more accessible and convenient. Since 2018, the use of AI in research has increased drastically, with annual publication rates of 3–5 times higher than pre-2017. Currently, >100,000 manuscripts using AI are published annually within science and engineering, and >20,000 of these belong to the agricultural and environmental fields. Given the magnitude of use, clear communication on how AI is used and how it helps advance scientific knowledge is essential. Clear communication is perhaps more necessary with AI than previous technologies due to its broad and flexible spectrum of uses, the “black-box” nature of deep-learning algorithms, and ongoing debates regarding AI's predictive power versus knowledge of first-principles mechanistic and process-based theories and models. In this commentary, we provide guidelines and discussion points to the scientific community to ensure transparent and effective communication of AI research in agricultural and environmental research publications.

Both agricultural lands and the role of crop advisors remain comparatively understudied in the Intermountain West (IMW) when it comes to the topic of soil health. Data from a survey of crop advisors in Utah is used to understand current and future soil health work in the region. Not all crop advisors engage in soil health work, but more are discussing it with clients than in the past. Respondents noted that information and costs are key barriers for farmers to managing soil health. Advisors also do not always feel they have the information and answers about soil health practices that farmers need. While crop advisors are one option for promoting producer understanding about soil health in the IMW, work is needed to better prepare them, and farmers will need other options and support to be successful in managing soil health.

The oasis effect, characterized by atmospheric cooling due to excessive evapotranspiration (ET) and the inflow of warm air from the surroundings, has been well documented in vegetated oases. Despite its significant ET rates, the atmospheric cooling phenomenon in rice paddies has not received extensive exploration. This study investigates the oasis effect during July and August, the peak months for ET in rice fields in temperate climate. Over 3 years (2020–2022), energy flux observations using the eddy covariance method were conducted to analyze atmospheric cooling in paddy fields. The findings revealed a pronounced atmospheric cooling effect associated with negative sensible heat in paddy fields. Moreover, this cooling phenomenon exhibited heightened activity during periods of increased wind speeds (>3.5 m/s) and subdued net radiation (<400 W/m²). These results highlight rice paddies' potential to cool the atmosphere, acting as a countermeasure against global warming and the urban heat island effect.

The crystallinity index (CI) is an important parameter in evaluating cotton fiber quality. Due to its ease and speed in measuring CIs from X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, the Segal method is popularly used. In this study, we assessed the Segal method for monitoring the crystallinity evolution in developing cotton (Gossypium L.) fibers between 20 and 60 days post anthesis (DPAs) by comparing Segal CIs with those obtained from a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-based method and other XRD-based methods. The Segal method estimated higher CIs than other methods, especially for shorter DPAs. The Segal method suggested a rapid evolution of crystallinity in the early developmental stage, whereas other methods suggested a gradual increase in crystallinity. The calculation of diffraction patterns for cellulose Iβ crystallites with different sizes showed very little effect of the crystallite size on the Segal CIs for developing cotton fibers studied.

Over the last two decades, soil science research has undergone rapid expansion. Understanding public interest in soil science is vital for evaluating dissemination efforts and situating it in the broader environmental discourse. Analyzing Google Trends search data from 2004 to 2023, this study investigates spikes in search volume index (SVI) for soil-related searches and potential influences. Significant spikes in SVI between 2019–2020 and 2021–2022 were observed for a number of soil characteristics and soil conservation searches. Similar spikes were observed for possible influences such as the documentary “Kiss the ground,” and SVI related to climate change and carbon sequestration. Notably, SVI for “sustainable development goals” aligned with similar patterns in SVI for “soil health,” indicating a possible link between soil interest and the United Nations’ sustainability goals. This study underscores the seemingly rising interest in soil science, possibly linked with dissemination events, and broader environmental concerns and policies.

Maintaining the editorial standards of a scientific journal is the primary task of the journal editors. Their task is made much easier with the help of colleagues who are invited to review manuscripts. Through their critical comments and helpful suggestions, these volunteer reviewers have done much to maintain and further the quality of research reported in Agricultural & Environmental Letters. The members of the Agricultural & Environmental Letters Editorial Board express their appreciation to the following individuals who reviewed manuscripts in 2023. Many of the reviewers listed below reviewed more than one paper. We extend our apologies and thanks to those reviewers whose names have been inadvertently omitted from this list.

Anapalli, Saseendran

Ansari, Jamshid

Armstrong, Shalamar

Asci, Serhat

Bhandari, Ammar

Buda, Anthony

Castellano, Michael

Chatterjee, Amitava

Chen, Chang-Er

Chiluwal, Anuj

Choi, Woo-Jung

Christianson, Laura

Cihacek, Larry

Crespo, Cecilia

Culman, Steven

Daigh, Aaron

Dey, Shuvashis

Dhakal, Madhav

Douzals, Jean Paul

Duquette, Cameron

Duzy, Leah

Fernández Jorquera, Francisco José

Galagedara, Lakshman

Ghatrehsamani, Shirin

Haruna, Samuel

He, Jinxi

He, Yangbo

Hopkins, Bryan

Jha, Gaurav

Joshi, Deepak R.

Joshi, Vijaya

Kharel, Tulsi

Knappenberger, Thorsten

Kolka, Randy

Kral-O'Brien, Katherine

Kronenberg, Raelin

Kumar, Chandan

Li, Sheng

Licht, Mark

Locke, Anna

Malone, Lindsay

Marx, Adam

McGuire, Andrew

Millar, David

Moore, Matt

Mowrer, Jake

Nam, Sunghyun

O'Brien, Peter

Pease, Lindsay

Provin, Tony

Ranville, Michelle

Ricart, Sandra

Roper, Wayne

Rosinger, Christoph

Ruark, Matthew

Rui, Yichao

Sanford, Gregg

Sassenrath, Gretchen

Sawadgo, Wendiam

Schlossberg, Maxim

Schneider, S. K.

Severino Da Silva, Liliane

Singh, Arshdeep

Singh, Hardeep

Slaughter, Lindsey C.

Smith, William

Sun, Luyi

Swenson, Rebecca

Villarreal, R.

Wade, Jordon

Wherley, Benjamin

White, Charles

White, Paul

Wooliver, Rachel

Worosz, Michelle

Young, Joseph

Zhang, Hailin