Date Available
4-28-2014
Year of Publication
2014
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
College
Agriculture, Food and Environment
Department/School/Program
Plant and Soil Sciences
Advisor
Dr. Rebecca McCulley
Abstract
Grasslands comprise the greatest biome by land area, are sensitive to environmental factors affected by climate change, and can impact future climate change through their ability to store and release greenhouse gasses (GHGs). I performed two studies: 1) evaluated the effects of increased temperature and precipitation on slug herbivory/abundance and pasture forage production; 2) quantified different homeowner lawn system effects on soil-to-atmosphere GHG emissions. Climate change will likely affect pasture forage production, with implications for slug herbivory and abundance. I found little evidence that slugs have or will have significant effects on pasture production or plant community. Warming altered the abundance of slugs and modified seasonal trends, increasing slug abundance in spring/winter and reducing it in late-summer/fall, through both direct effects and changes in plant community and forage quality. Home lawns vary in levels of management, influencing the exchange of GHGs. I quantified the effects of three common home lawn systems of central Kentucky on GHG emissions, but found no significant differences in CO2, N2O, and NH3 fluxes. My research suggests that slug herbivory is not a dominant ecological process in Kentucky pastures and that common home lawn systems have similar soil-to-atmosphere GHG emissions.
Recommended Citation
Weber, Daniel Adam, "GRASSLAND SUSTAINABILITY IN KENTUCKY: CASE STUDIES QUANTIFYING THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON SLUG HERBIVORY IN PASTURES AND DIFFERENT HOME LAWN SYSTEMS ON TURF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS" (2014). Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences. 39.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/pss_etds/39
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Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Entomology Commons, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons