Location: Natural Resources and Sustainable Agricultural Systems
Project Number: 0202-11000-001-069-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 28, 2017
End Date: Sep 27, 2022
Objective:
Expand participation in the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network LTAR by the University of Florida/Range Cattle Research and Education Center, and specifically participation as the Archbold-UF LTAR site. UF/Range Cattle REC participation in the LTAR network will contribute towards supporting the sustainable intensification of US agriculture to meet anticipated increasing demands for food, feed, fiber and bio-energy. The Archbold-UF LTAR site will address and contribute to the following LTAR network objectives related to sustainable intensification:
1) What factors drive agricultural productivity and its environmental impacts?
2) What are the tradeoffs between productivity, quality, societal preferences, and ecosystem services?
3) What are the barriers to sustainable intensification?
4) How do we better target our use of resources?
5) What technologies and management strategies are needed for agriculture to be resilient to extreme events?
6) What scientific synthesis products are needed for decision making?
Approach:
The primary focus of the national LTAR network is to develop and assess sustainable agricultural production systems that integrate environmental and socio-economic needs from local, regional, to national scales. The Archbold-University of Florida Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Site (Archbold-UF LTAR) is one of a network of nineteen LTAR sites across the United States. The Archbold-UF LTAR site is managed by a partnership between Archbold Biological Station (Venus, FL) and University of Florida (Range Cattle Research and Extension Center, Ona, FL). Archbold Biological Station, as the key partner for the Archbold-UF LTAR site, will implement enhanced LTAR network activities, specifically monitoring and observatory measurements, contributions to the Common Experiment, data management, cross-site analyses, syntheses and modeling, and participate in LTAR working groups and other network initiatives. This approach will be implemented in close collaboration with the Archbold's partner, the University of Florida.
