School of Sustainability Graduate Culminating Experiences
Student capstone and applied projects from ASU's School of Sustainability.
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- Creators: Beye, Alioune
- Creators: Boone, Christopher
Description
In Senegal, West Africa, soils are a vital resource for livelihoods and food security in smallholder farming communities. Low nitrogen (N) soils pose obvious challenges for crop production but may also, counterintuitively, promote the abundance of agricultural pests like the Senegalese locust, Oedaleus senegalensis. In this study I investigated how the abundance of locusts and grasshoppers are impacted by soil fertility through plant nutrients and how these variables change across land use types. We worked in two rural farming villages in the Kaffrine region of Senegal. Overall, there was little variation in soil properties and an agricultural landscape low in soil organic matter (SOM) and inorganic soil nitrogen. I corroborated that SOM is a significant driver of soil inorganic N, which had a positive relationship to plant N content. Of the management practices we surveyed, fallowing fields was important for soil nutrient restoration and years spent fallow was significantly correlated to inorganic soil N and SOM. O. senegalensis was least abundant in groundnut areas where plant N was highest. Additionally, I found a significant negative correlation between O. senegalensis abundance and plant N, suggesting that plant nutrients are an important driver of their populations. Grasshoppers, excluding O. senegalensis, were more numerous in grazing areas and fallow areas, perhaps due to a higher diversity of ecological niches and host plants. These results connect land use, soil, and vegetation to herbivores and suggest that improving soil fertility could be used as an alternative to pesticides to keep locusts at bay and improve crop yields.
ContributorsWord, Mira (Author) / Hall, Sharon (Contributor) / Robinson, Brian (Contributor) / Manneh, Balanding (Contributor) / Beye, Alioune (Contributor) / Cease, Arianne (Contributor)
Created2018-04-10
Description
Multiple studies have reported potential risks posed by a rapid expansion of glacial lakes in the Mt. Everest region of Nepal. People’s perception of such cryospheric hazards can influence their actions, beliefs, and responses to those hazards and associated risks. This paper analyzes local people’s perceptions of cryospheric hazards and risks using a social survey dataset of 138 households in the Khumbu and Pharak areas of the Mt. Everest region of Nepal. A statistical logit model of categorical household data showed a significant positive correlation with the perceptions of cryospheric risks to their livelihood sources, mainly tourism. Local people’s GLOF risk perceptions are also influenced by their proximity to rapidly expanding glacial lakes and potential flood zones located in Dudhkoshi River basin. The emergency remediation work implemented in the Imja glacial lake by the Government of Nepal in 2016 has served as a cognitive fix, especially in the low lying settlements in Pharak. Uncertainties of cryosphere that exist in the region can be attributed to a disconnect between how scientific knowledge on GLOFs risks is communicated to the local communities and how government policies on climate change adaptation and mitigation have been limited only to awareness campaigns and emergency remediation works. A sustainable partnership of scientists, policymakers, and local communities is urgently needed to build a science-driven, community-based initiative that focuses not just in addressing a single GLOF threat (e.g., Imja) but develops on a comprehensive cryospheric risk management plan and considers opportunities and challenges of tourism in the local climate adaptation policies.
ContributorsSherpa, Sonam Futi (Author) / Shrestha, Milan (Contributor) / Boone, Christopher (Contributor) / Eakin, Hallie (Contributor)
Created2018-04-18