Plants & Soil: Tools for a Cleaner Environment

Annual Newsletter

Fall 2013 The Tiller DEPARTMENT OF PLANT AND SOIL SCIENCE

WELCOME, FROM THE CHAIR

Welcome back Deb Neher!

This last year I filled in as PSS Acting Chair, while Deb Neher was

on sabbatical. Between the Spring and Fall of 2013 we had an aver-

age of 42 Ecological Agriculture and 26 Sustainable Landscape

Horticulture majors, for a total of 67 majors this academic year.

Including an increased number of PSS-related minors.

Our graduate program maintained its total number of 25 students

and continues to grow stronger. PSS faculty and students contin-

ued to actively participate in a variety of food system and plant and

soil science projects, ranging from research and extension on cli-

mate change impacts on Vermont agriculture, to interactions be-

tween earthworms and carbon in the northern forest.

This last year also saw a good number of PSS community-building

events that brought us together to get to know each other better

and enjoy good food.

Keep an eye out for these types of events this coming year !

We are proud of Anne-Marie Resnik, who got a much de-

served CALS Excellence in Staff Support Award. We were

also saddened by the departure of Dr. Jon Turmel, who had

lectured for our department for almost 2 decades, and was

much loved and appreciated by faculty and students. We

wish him all the best in his new endeavors in Washington

State.

I have really enjoyed leading the PSS department this year,

and to have had a chance to further interact with all of you.

I also wanted to thank you for bearing with me through my

first experience as department chair. Special thanks are due

to Anne-Marie Resnik, Pat Englert and Whitney Northrop

(PSS staff), Martha Caswell, Kate Westdijk and all the

ARLG members, who provided the necessary support to get

it all done. I am also grateful to everyone in the CALS dean's

office for their invaluable support.

It is now time to pass on the baton back to Deb and for me

to go and enjoy my own sabbatical. I wish you all the best in

the coming year !

Ernesto Mendez

V. Ernesto Mendez

The Tiller, Fall 2013

The Department is gearing up for its 50th Anniversary

in 2014.

We would love to hear your suggestions and ideas.

Send an email to pss@uvm.edu or post to Facebook

Facebook.com/PSS.UVM

Page 3

The Tiller

Annual newsletter for:

The Department of Plant and Soil Science

Jeffords Hall, 63 Carrigan Drive

Burlington, Vermont 05405-1737

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

University of Vermont

Editors Anne Marie Resnik, Deb Neher

Contributors, Terry Bradshaw, Rebecca Bourgault, Ann Hazelrigg,

Stephanie Hurley, Sarah Kingsley-Richards, Ernesto Me ndez, Anne

Marie Resnik

Photographers Rebecca Bourgault Whitney Northrop Rachel Schattman

Current Faculty

John Aleong - Applied Statistics

Sidney Bosworth - Field & Forage Crops

Yolanda Chen - Insect Agroecology

Josef Go rres - Ecological Soil Mgmt.

Vladimir Gouli - Insect Pathology

Ann Hazelrigg - Plant Pathology

Stephanie Hurley– Landscape Design

Ernesto Mende z - Agricultural Systems

Scott C. Merrill - Entomology

Deborah Neher - Soil Ecology

Bruce Parker - Entomology

Jason Parker– Agricultural Anthropology

Leonard Perry - Ornamental Horticulture

Donald Ross - Soil Chemistry

Margaret Skinner - Entomology

Mark Starrett - Horticulture/Landscape

Inside this issue:

Chair Welcome 2

Plant Diagnostic News 4

Horticulture Farm 6

Accolades 8

Class Matters 10

Research 12

The Tiller, Fall 2013

News from the UVM Plant Diagnostics Clinic

By Plant Pathologist, Ann Hazelrigg.

We have a new person assisting in the Clinic, Gabriella Maia. Gabriella has a Masters Degree from Florida in Plant Pathology. She has been invaluable helping with disease diagnostics and uploading disease and insect sample information including lots of great microscope images of fungi, to the National Plant Diagnostics Net-work (NPDN) database. She has also provided assistance on current research projects on organic apple manage-ment systems, compost bioassays for persistent pesticides and a multi-state weed and climate change research project. Gabriella is in the Clinic about 20 hours a week and is a great addition to the team!

The Clinic has been busy this season with lots of plant diseases and insect problems from commercial growers, landscapers, Master Gardeners and the general public. The wet period earlier in the summer was perfect for all sorts of fungi to flourish and we have seen lots of leafspots, blights and mildews.

Late blight of tomato and potato was diagnosed in July but so far as not been too widespread throughout the state. Our Plant Diagnostic samples will continue to climb until we breathe a sigh of relief at the first killing frost.

We are also involved in a new research project looking at the effect of three organic apple management programs on disease and arthropod pests at the Horticulture Re-search Center.

The three programs include; 1) conventional organic management program using copper and sulfur and or-ganic insecticides 2) conventional organic management with copper and reduced sulfur during rapid shoot elon-gation and 3) a Holistic Orchard Management system that uses no copper or sulfur and instead uses plant teas, essential microbes and Neem oil. Disease and arthropod incidence and severity are being measured and replicat-ed on 3 cultivars. Harvest data and tree growth data are also being measured. The project will be replicated in summer 2014.

Welcome Gabriella Maia, newest member of the

Plant Diagnostics team. She has her Masters de-

gree in Plant Pathology from University of Florida.

Page 5

The University of Vermont Horticulture Research Center, also

known as the "Hort Farm," is home for many trees, shrubs,

perennials, apples and small fruit. More than 700 kinds of or-

namental trees and shrubs, many of them uncommon or

unique, are planted at the Hort. Farm. One of the largest

known mature ornamental lilac and rhododendron collections

in the Northeast is located here.

Purchased in the early 1950s, the 97-acre Hort Farm is used for

agricultural research and instruction of UVM classes, and by

professional plant organizations and gardening groups. For

over 50 years, University horticulturists have been testing new

and unusual plants for their adaptation to the Vermont envi-

ronment, especially to our cold winters.

Growing up on a central Vermont dairy farm, apples were part

of the landscape, but not the focus, for HRC Assistant Director

Terry Bradshaw. After graduating from Plant & Soil Science in

1996, he worked in commercial apple orchards around the state

and soon found himself fascinated enough to come back to

UVM as an intern under Dr. Lorraine Berkett and her Apple

Team. The team’s research in 2000 was a multi-year project

assessing the performance of a novel, organically-acceptable

replacement to traditional insecticides. By 2006 the project

had grown into an Organic Apple Research Project (OrganicA)

that assesses the horticultural, pest management, and econom-

ic feasibility of organic apple production in the northeastern

United States. Along the way, enough data was gathered to

yield a Master’s thesis for Terry; "Assessment of Kelp Extract

Biostimulants in a Temperate-climate Organic Apple Orchard".

The Horticulture Research Center

97 Acres of Research, Horticulture, Farming, and Outreach

The Apple Team branched out in 2007 with the establishment

of a research vineyard at the Hort Farm. The vineyard is part

of a multi-state research project to evaluate performance of

newer, cold-hardy winegrape cultivars. This vineyard repre-

sents the coldest winter and coolest growing season condi-

tions of any of the sites in the East. Research is being con-

ducted to determine which cultivars not only consistently sur-

vive Vermont's winters, but which are least vulnerable to

spring frosts, and which will consistently ripen within Ver-

mont's short growing season. Data on cold hardiness, disease

incidence and severity, arthropod pest damage and popula-

tion levels, beneficial arthropod levels, vine growth and devel-

opment, and harvest and yield data is tracked over the grow-

ing season.

Yearly practices include tenting the vineyard in netting to

keep the birds away from fruit while allowing easy access the

vines. The netting only goes up as the fruit start to ripen and

is taken down for the winter. Each year the team hosts grow-

ers and interested parties at the vineyard for a well received

annual field day. As part of a New England wide project,

plant pathologist Ann Hazelrigg is working closely with the

team monitoring for the presence of Spotted Wing Drosophi-

la, an invasive fruit fly that affects soft-bodied fruits (SWD).

PSS has added viticulture to the roster of summer classes, a

Cold-Climate Viticulture course was taught to eight eager stu-

dents this past summer. Student experience in crop produc-

tion varied from new undergraduates with interest but no ex-

perience in farming; several entrepreneurs in their initial

stages of vineyard planning and development; and the man-

ager of a vineyard in southern Vermont who was seeking to

expand the planting. Course evaluations were very positive.

The Tiller, Fall 2013

Terry began work this fall on his Ph.D., with a research focus on a com-

plete analysis of the OrganicA project. His goal is to conduct field-based

research and outreach projects for Vermont fruit growers that address

their changing needs in the face of changing environmental and econom-

ic times. He lives in Calais, VT with his wife Julie, six year-old daughter

Alice, two goats, and a dog.

Sarah Kingsley-Richards, (pictured, right) is an integral part of the Apple

Team as a Research Technician. Her responsibilities include coordina-

tion of multiple research projects, laboratory and data management,

grant preparation support, and database and website administration.

She works closely with the Plant Diagnostic Clinic. Sarah has a M.S. from

Plant & Soil Science studying cold hardiness in perennials and a B.S. in

Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, UVM.

Create higher quality student experience and increased

experiential learning opportunities

Provide the needed physical infrastructure to align our

facilities with new initiatives in food systems

Facilitate increased research activities

Planned Renovations at the University of

Vermont

Horticulture Research and Education Center

The UVM Farms reutilization project proposes upgrades to our Horticul-

ture teaching and research center with new state of the art facilities, an

essential step to implement CALS’ strategic planning initiatives for the

next decade.

Pictured left, T. Bradshaw. Below: Morgan Griffith,

Terry Bradshaw, Sarah Kingsley Richards, Apple &

Grape Team members.

Page 7

Undergraduate

Graduate Accolades

Jon Turmel, adjunct lec-

turer of Entomology for 17

years, was also the Ver-

mont state entomologist.

Now retired from both

jobs, rumor has it he’s fly

fishing somewhere, but like

all good fisherman, he

won’t say where. We miss

you Jon, good luck in your

retirement!

John Bruce

Alysia Bushey

Connor Eaton

Marielle Fisher

Rebecca Frye

Alexander Howe

Sam Hughes

Buddy Koener

Sarah Kresock

Jon Turmel shares a laugh with

Kit and Chet Parsons during his

going away party.

May 2013 Graduation. Professor Mark Starrett with some of our students.

PSS office staff member

Anne Marie Resnik was

honored with the College of

Agriculture and Life Sci-

ences yearly staff award.

Taylor Lawrence

Amber Liljeholm

Mark Paulsen

Meredith Porter

Molly Sanborn

James Seymour

Stephanie Thresher

Brian VanDeWeert

Justin Geibel, M.S. Advisor Don Ross. “Effects of Drainage Water Management on Phosphorus Loss from a Tile-drained Field in Northern

New York”

Katie Goodall, Ph.D. Advisor V. Ernesto Mendez. “Conservation, Agroecology and Livelihoods: Shade trees, Birds and Farmer Decisions

in Smallholder Coffee Cooperatives of Northern Nicaragua”

Victor Izzo, Ph.D. Advisor Yolanda Chen. “The Wild Wild pest: An Investigation of the Ecophysiological Adaptations of the Colorado pota-

to beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata"

Bridgett Jamison, M.S. Advisor Sid Bosworth. “Evaluation of Raw Milk as a Forage Biostimulant"

Katlyn Morris, Ph.D. Advisor V. Ernesto Mendez. “Food Security, Agricultural Management Practices, and Conservation In A Salvadoran

Organic Coffee Cooperative"

Tharshani Nishanthan, Ph.D. Advisor Deborah Neher. “Ecology Of Soybean Cyst Nematode-Suppressive Soils In Midwest Soybean-

Cropping Systems"

Meryl B. Richards, Ph.D. Advisor V. Ernesto Mendez. “Agrobiodiversity, Conservation, and Food Security Among Small-Scale Coffee Farmers in El Salvador”

Kristin Williams, M.S. Advisor Deborah Neher. “Nemotode Communities as Indicators of Environmental Impact of Road Design”

Graduate Degrees

Congratulations to our graduates:

The Tiller, Fall 2013

Samuel Hughes (left) and

Honors and Awards

Pictured left :

Sam Hughes and John Bruce with the Burlington

Garden Club Award, on the left with Sam is club

member Marti Webster, to the right with John is

Mary Scollins.

John Bruce holding all four of his awards, American

Society for Horticulture Science, Outstanding

Horticulture Student, The James E. Ludlow

Scholarship Fund and a Teaching Assistant Award

Zachary Noel with Extension Professor Vernon

Grubinger being presented with the Vermont

Vegetable & Berries Award.

Professor Mark Starrett with Zachary Noel. Zach was

also the recipient of Distinguished Undergraduate

Research Status. In April 2013, his research was

chosen by the American Phytopathological Society to

receive the Frank L. Howard Undergraduate

Research Fellowship Award.

Donald Keith III is one of five recipients of the

Professional Grounds Management Society

scholarships this year.

Great Job All!

Page 9

Dropping in on some classes….

Assistant Professor Stephanie Hurley’s class,

Ecological Landscape Design worked on two different pro-

jects with Vermont stakeholders interested in integrating natural systems

into their landscapes.

In Burlington, our students developed design ideas for the schoolyard and

gardens around the Sustainability Academy, a public elementary school in

the Old North End neighborhood. UVM students visited the school on

several occasions; the needs and interests expressed by the community

informed the class’s designs. A wide variety of landscape elements were

depicted, including outdoor education spaces, a food forest, a geology wall,

a chicken coop, natural playgrounds, and areas for parents and visitors to

gather outside the school entrances. The class presented its ideas to par-

ents, students, and teachers at the end of the semester and received a lot of

positive feedback.

The second project for the UVM class was in an entirely different setting.

Students were charged with researching and designing a meadow restora-

tion on the property of Southface Condominiums—a development near the

Sugarbush Ski Area in Warren, Vermont. Property owners sought creative

and scientifically-sound design ideas for restoring to a naturalistic condi-

tion what had been mowed as a lawn for more than twenty years. The stu-

dents’ proposals for the landscape—which also addressed a wetland and

stream corridor adjacent to the meadow—were aimed at increasing the

habitat value of the area, using less fuel for property maintenance and,

ultimately, integrating ecology with aesthetics through design. Students

recommended native vegetation suited to the local landscape and also in-

cluded landscape elements that would benefit the Southface community;

these ranged from interpretive overlooks, woodland boardwalks, informal

and formal gathering spaces, and recreational trails interwoven within the

meadow. After reviewing the students’ work, stakeholders were impressed

and enthusiastic. Zeke Church, the Southface property manager, re-

marked that the meadow restoration would be a long-term transitional

project, but he could imagine many of the students’ ideas coming to frui-

tion.

In June, Mr. Church reported to Dr. Hurley the following:

“There were so many wildflower species present that we could almost fill a guidebook... As we were head-

ing out of the meadow I was in the middle of a sentence saying how had we been mowing these blooms

wouldn’t have been here, when we flushed a Bobolink at our feet, and we found the nest and eggs... Now

that’s a nest that certainly wouldn’t have been there, so already, in a small way, we can feel good about

enhancing habitat. Birds, bees, butterflies...in places that they would have had no interest in being. We’re

ready to start defining our ongoing plan. Thanks again for all your input.”

Principal Brian Williams said this in a letter to Dr. Hurley: “The Sus-

tainability Academy's schoolyard transformation project received a

tremendous boost from the energy and efforts of students from the

UVM Ecological Landscape Design class… The students dedication to

listening to our dreams, considering the obstacles, and producing in-

spired and inspiring designs will guide our planning for years to

come... Most importantly, our students got to interact with the UVM

students and this is a critical step in helping them begin to visualize a

future where they pursue higher education.”

Top, out in the field, with TA Annie White. Middle, labor-

ing in the design lab. Bottom, Stephanie Hurley with her

students handiwork.

The Tiller, Fall 2013

Student numbers continue to follow

an upward trajectory. Fall 2013 en-

rollment was 68 majors, 50 minors,

& 25 graduate students.

The XIV International Agroecology

Shortcourse, was cosponsored by UVM’s Agroecology and

Rural Livelihood Group (ARLG) – led by PSS professor Ernesto

Méndez, and the Community Agroecology Network (CAN) – a non-

profit organization founded by agroecology pioneer Dr. Stephen R.

Gliessman and his wife, environmental educator, Robbie Jaffe. CAN

is based in Santa Cruz, California and works in partnership with

Mesoamerican community-based organizations, farmers’ coopera-

tives, nonprofits, and universities to generate local approaches to

sustainable development. More information about the history of the

courses, which started in 1999, can be found here.

This year’s course’s theme was Agroecological Approaches for Cli-

mate Change and Food Systems Resilience. The course brought to-

gether 38 participants from Mexico, Australia, England and all over

the US, including UVM students, professors, extensionists and oth-

ers working in nonprofit organizations. For two weeks in early July,

participants engaged in intensive classroom and outdoor learning.

Topics ranged from ecological foundations to food sovereignty to

climate change best management practices, and the resilience of all

the participants was tested as full days continued into nights out en-

joying Vermont’s incredible local food scene.

Because cogeneration of knowledge is a core principal of agroecology

and participatory action research (PAR), instructors, students, farm-

ers and friends were encouraged to learn and experience topics as a

working team. The group was divided into five farm teams and spent

significant time listening, weeding, walking and questioning farmers

at Bella Farm, The Farm Between, Diggers’ Mirth Collective Farm,

Intervale Community Farm and Jericho Settlers Farm. Guest in-

structors included a diversity of academics and practitioners from

Vermont institutions, several UVM units, Santa Clara University, the

University of Chapingo and the Intercultural University, both in

Mexico. Presenters shared experiences from Malawi, Southern Mexi-

co, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, which were compared and contrasted

to what was being observed in Vermont and participants’ own experi-

ences.

In the words of Steve Gliessman,

“Concepts such as resilience, sovereignty, and sus-

tainability took on new meaning when they were

linked across natural and social science knowledge

systems. Tools such as networking, geographic in-

formation systems, and participatory action re-

search could be seen as important ways of promot-

ing food-system change. And actions such as cli-

mate mitigation, alternative market development,

and social movements could all be seen as im-

portant means of food-system transformation.”

Read more from his 2013 course report and keep

an eye out for continued offerings of the Agroecol-

ogy Shortcourse in Vermont in coming years.

Learning about rice produc-

tion from New Farms for New

Americans representative

Rita Neopaney

Page 11

Hardy Kiwi vine on the south wall of Jeffords Hall

Silene DeCiucies, summer

field assistant digs a soil pit

in Watershed 3. Digging in

glacial till soils of the White

Mountains is great exercise

due to the quantity of large

rock fragments and tree

roots.

Hydropedology is an inter-disciplinary science that examines the linkages be-tween soils and water, especially how they interact to influence processes in the earth’s critical zone.

Rebecca Bourgault, Ph.D. candidate, and her advisor, Don

Ross, are part of an inter-disciplinary team of scientists

who are conducting a hydropedologic investigation of Wa-

tershed 3 at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in the

White Mountains of central New Hampshire. Hubbard

Brook has been at the forefront of long-term ecological

monitoring, biogeochemistry and hydrology research for

over 50 years, and in the 1980s was the first place that acid

rain was discovered. However, until now, there has been

little research documenting soils from a pedologic (or hy-

dropedologic) standpoint.

The Watershed 3 hydropedology team, which also includes

US Forest Service research geologist Scott Bailey; Virginia

Tech hydrologists Kevin McGuire and JP Gannon, and GIS

specialist Cody Gillin; and USGS geochemist Tom Bullen,

was awarded a 3-year NSF-Hydrologic Sciences grant in

2010. The idea was to peer inside the “black box” of soils in

the catchment and gain a better understanding of how

catchment structure affects catchment function. More spe-

cifically, they wanted to better understand relationships

between soil formation, chemistry, and hillslope-scale

groundwater dynamics and how these interact to produce

observed spatial variations in headwater stream chemistry.

Watershed 3 was chosen because it is a forested headwater

hydrologic reference catchment that has not had any exper-

imental manipulations or logging for over 100 years.

Over the past several years, more than 100 soil profiles

have been excavated, described, sampled, and analyzed for

extractable metals and organic carbon. Hydrologic instru-

ments (including auto-recording piezometers and lysime-

ters) have been installed throughout the catchment to mon-

itor dynamics in groundwater flow and chemistry. Ground

water isotopes have been analyzed to determine sources

and residence times.

Recent Research and Publications

The researchers have made many intriguing observations

since the project began three years ago. Five unique soil types

have been recognized in the catchment and called Hy-

dropedologic Units (HPUs). This classification does not rely

on USDA Soil Taxonomy, but the HPUs are distinctly differ-

ent from each other with regards to morphology and chemical

composition. These differences result from unique water ta-

ble regimes that are a function of subsurface (bedrock and

till) topography, distance to streams, and other topographic

factors. As a result, HPUs tend to have predictable spatial

patterns in the catchment. Classic, vertically developed Spod-

osols occur in about 60% of the catchment, on steep, linear

backslopes where vertical, unsaturated groundwater flow is

dominant.

These soils have relatively thin E and Bhs (dark red spodic)

horizons. Following storm events, groundwater tends to move

laterally due to steep slopes and shallow, coarse-textured

soils. This lateral flow is thought to produce lateral soil for-

mation in about 40% of the watershed. Lateral flow appears

to be the factor leading to the formation of soils that have

very thick spodic horizons with large quantities of metals (Al,

Fe, Mn, and rare earth elements) and metal-bound carbon

translocated from upslope. These laterally developed soils

occur on gentler slopes where water and soil materials accu-

mulate, such as riparian zones of ephemeral and perennial

streams. Lateral soil formation is a relatively new concept in

pedology, but it has tremendous implications for spatial pre-

dictions of soil and water chemistry, and practical applica-

tions to soil survey efforts. In addition, Hubbard Brook ecol-

ogists are interested in using HPU information to predict spa-

tial patterns in distribution of organisms.

For more information:

Hubbard Brook

Hydropedology Project

The Tiller, Fall 2013

The results of this research emphasize the need to examine the mechanisms of soil and water in-

teractions at the hillslope and catchment scales. Catchments are complex systems, but natural var-

iability and catchment function can be better understood and predicted using an interdisciplinary,

hydropedologic approach.

Above left, Rebecca Bourgault. Below; Conceptual diagram of hydropedological units (HPUs) in watershed 3. Each HPU is classified by the

presence and thickness of particular soil horizons found in podzols (Spodosols). Diagram by Kevin McGuire.

This is a sampling of recent publications by our faculty and graduate students. To see the

full listing, visit our Research web page.

Bradshaw, T.L., Berkett, L.P., Griffith, M.C., Kingsley-Richards, S.L., Darby, H.M., Parsons, R.L., Moran, R.E. and Garcia, M.E. 2013.

Assessment of kelp extract biostimulants on arthropod incidence and damage in a certified organic apple orchard. Acta Hort. 1001:139-

145.

Sangha, J. S., Chen,Y. H., J. Kaur, W. Khan, Z. Abduljaleel, M. Alanazi, A. Mills, C. B. Adalla, J. Bennett, H. Leung. 2013. Proteome Analy-

sis of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Mutants reveals candidate genes for resistance to brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) Infestation. Inter-

national Journal of Molecular Sciences, Special Issue Abiotic and Biotic Stress Tolerance Mechanisms in Plants. 14:3921-3945.

Morris, K.S., Méndez, V.E., S.T. Lovell & M. Olson 2013. Conventional food plot management in an organic coffee cooperative: explaining

the paradox. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 37(7): 762-787.

Neher, D.A., Asmussen, D., and Lovell, S.T. 2013. Roads in northern hardwood forests affect adjacent plant communities and soil chemis-

try in proportion to maintained roadside area. Science of the Total Environment. 449: 320-327.

Lawrence, G.B., I.J. Fernandez, D. deB. Richter, Ross D.S., P.W. Hazlett, S.W. Bailey, R. Oiumet, R.A.F. Warby, A.H. Johnson, H. Lin,

J.M. Kaste, A.G. Lapenis, and T.J. Sullivan. 2013. Measuring environmental change in forest ecosystems by repeated soil sampling: a

North American perspective. Journal of Environmental Quality 42(3): 623-639.

Fresh Ink

Page 13

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