Research Project: Improving Understanding of Soil Processes for Making More Informed Agricultural Management Decisions that Increase Agricultural Sustainability in the Central U.S.

Location: National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory

Publications (Clicking on the reprint icon will take you to the publication reprint.)

Phosphorus influx characteristics of maize at various growth stages - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Ampong, K., Penn, C.J., Camberato, J., Quinn, D., Zhang, C., Reinhart, K.O., Williams, M.R. 2026. Phosphorus influx characteristics of maize at various growth stages. BMC Biology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-026-09577-5.

Re-thinking corn phosphorus requirements: Can we optimize timing to get by with less? - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Penn, C.J., Ampong, K., Camberato, J.J., Williams, M.R., Yen, H. 2026. Re-thinking corn phosphorus requirements: Can we optimize timing to get by with less?. Agricultural & Environmental Letters. https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.70083.

Runoff and erosion responses to deadwood cover dynamics in windthrown mountain forests: Insights from WEPP simulations - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Koyanagi, K., Andreoli, A., Nordio, G., Anache, J.A.A., Pöppl, R., Renschler, C.S., Flanagan, D.C., Comiti, F. 2026. Runoff and erosion responses to deadwood cover dynamics in windthrown mountain forests: Insights from WEPP simulations. Physical Geography. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723646.2026.2683692.

Soil quality responses to gypsum and cover crops in no-till soybean–corn rotations across the midwest and southeast U.S - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Islam, K., Gonzalez, J.M., Watts, D.B., Rahman, A., Dick, W., Reeder, R., Fausey, N.R., Vantoai, T.T., Flanagan, D.C., Batte, M. 2026. Soil Quality Responses to Gypsum and Cover Crops in No-Till Soybean–Corn Rotations Across the Midwest and Southeast U.S. Agronomy. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy16101001.

Evaluation of nitrogen release of enhanced fertilizers in two different soil types through laboratory incubation and leaching studies - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Nagaraju, V., Chatterjee, R., Graef, R., Penn, C.J., Wassgren, C., Ambrose, K. 2025. Evaluation of nitrogen release of enhanced fertilizers in two different soil types through laboratory incubation and leaching studies. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2025.102602.

Impacts of hybrid selection and nitrogen fertilization on root-derived carbon inputs in maize - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Pearl, C., Ordonez, R., Prescott, C., Quinn, D., Wilhelm, R., Penn, C.J., Joshi, B., Rui, Y. 2026. Impacts of hybrid selection and nitrogen fertilization on root-derived carbon inputs in maize. Plant and Soil. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-025-08231-7.

Hyperspectral Image-Based Leaf-Level Spatial and Spectral Feature Mining for Phosphorus Deficiency Symptom Differentiation in Corn Plants at Early Vegetative Stage - (Peer Reviewed Journal)

Modeling archaeological excavation-induced soil erosion in cultural heritage landscapes: A QGeoWEPP-based assessment at the Resuloglu Mound, Türkiye - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Kocakli, K., Renschler, C.S., Flanagan, D.C., Mcgehee, R.P., Harbor, J., Arikan, B., Ozcan, O. 2025. Modeling archaeological excavation-induced soil erosion in cultural heritage landscapes: A QGeoWEPP-based assessment at the Resuloglu Mound, Türkiye. Geoderma Regional. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2025.e01018.

Phosphorus utilization efficiency among corn era-hybrids released over seventy-five years - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Ampong, K., Penn, C.J., Camerato, J., Quinn, D., Williams, M.R. 2025. Phosphorus utilization efficiency among corn era-hybrids released over seventy-five years. Agronomy. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15061407.

Tracing phosphorus from soil through mycorrhizal fungi to plants: Reply to Spohn and Wanek - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Lekberg, Y., Jansa, J., Johnson, D., Milham, P., Penn, C.J., Colman, B. 2024. Tracing phosphorus from soil through mycorrhizal fungi to plants: Reply to Spohn and Wanek. New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.20217.

Soil fertility and plant nutrition - (Review Article)
Mcgrath, J.M., Spargo, J., Penn, C.J. 2024. Soil fertility and plant nutrition. Encyclopedia of Agriculture and Food Systems. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-52512-3.00249-7.

An efficient subsampling method for estimating corn root characteristics with scanner-based image analysis - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Ampong, K., Penn, C.J., Camberato, J., Williams, M.R. 2024. An efficient subsampling method for estimating corn root characteristics with scanner-based image analysis. Agronomy Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.21645.