{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/110480"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/110480","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Balancing water quality, nitrogen management, and corn production goals in Illinois","abstract":"Nitrogen (N) fertilizer inputs are required to maintain corn production in high-yielding cropping systems across much of the U.S. Midwest. However, applied N can also increase N losses through nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) leaching and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, negatively impacting water and air quality, respectively. Given these competing demands, there is a pressing need to develop new strategies for maintaining grain yields and economic returns while decreasing the risk of environmental N pollution. Therefore, the overall objectives of this dissertation research were to (i) evaluate the effectiveness of in-field recommended management practices for improving water quality while also assessing potential agronomic and environmental tradeoffs of those practices, and (ii) explore how process-based modeling tools could be used as an integrative approach for linking sustainability outcomes with improved agronomic efficiencies. Results from a 3-yr field experiment highlighted potential environmental tradeoffs between water and air quality when pairing in-season split N application with a cereal rye cover crop. Combining these two practices reduced NO3-N losses by 37% compared to pre-season N application alone, but soil N2O emissions also increased by 27%. Corn yields were not significantly affected by in-field management practices, indicating no agronomic tradeoffs. An analysis of 32 site-years of crop and soil data found that soil mineral N provided moderately good predictions for achieving optimum grain yields (R2 = 0.46 – 0.61). While increasing soil mineral N from deficiency to sufficiency levels increase corn yields by 22%, it also increased the probability of environmental N losses. Together, these results show that N fertilizer management and cover cropping can greatly impact production and sustainable goals. The delicate balance between productivity and environmental N losses illustrates the importance of incorporating multiple N loss pathways when developing sustainable in-field management strategies in the region.","abstract_html":"Nitrogen (N) fertilizer inputs are required to maintain corn production in high-yielding cropping systems across much of the U.S. Midwest. However, applied N can also increase N losses through nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) leaching and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, negatively impacting water and air quality, respectively. Given these competing demands, there is a pressing need to develop new strategies for maintaining grain yields and economic returns while decreasing the risk of environmental N pollution. Therefore, the overall objectives of this dissertation research were to (i) evaluate the effectiveness of in-field recommended management practices for improving water quality while also assessing potential agronomic and environmental tradeoffs of those practices, and (ii) explore how process-based modeling tools could be used as an integrative approach for linking sustainability outcomes with improved agronomic efficiencies. Results from a 3-yr field experiment highlighted potential environmental tradeoffs between water and air quality when pairing in-season split N application with a cereal rye cover crop. Combining these two practices reduced NO3-N losses by 37% compared to pre-season N application alone, but soil N2O emissions also increased by 27%. Corn yields were not significantly affected by in-field management practices, indicating no agronomic tradeoffs. An analysis of 32 site-years of crop and soil data found that soil mineral N provided moderately good predictions for achieving optimum grain yields (R2 = 0.46 – 0.61). While increasing soil mineral N from deficiency to sufficiency levels increase corn yields by 22%, it also increased the probability of environmental N losses. Together, these results show that N fertilizer management and cover cropping can greatly impact production and sustainable goals. The delicate balance between productivity and environmental N losses illustrates the importance of incorporating multiple N loss pathways when developing sustainable in-field management strategies in the region.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Preza-Fontes, Giovani"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Crop Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Christianson, Laura E","Pittelkow, Cameron M","Nafziger, Emerson D","Bollero, German"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-09-17T01:10:57Z","date_published":"2021-09-17T01:10:57Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:50Z","subjects":["nitrate leaching, nitrous oxide, nitrogen, cover crops"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2021 Giovani Preza-Fontes"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110480","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Christianson, Laura E","Pittelkow, Cameron M","Nafziger, Emerson D","Bollero, German"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Preza-Fontes, Giovani"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2021-09-17T01:10:57Z","2021-04-21","2021-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Crop Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["nitrate leaching, nitrous oxide, nitrogen, cover crops"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2021 Giovani Preza-Fontes"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110480"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Nitrogen (N) fertilizer inputs are required to maintain corn production in high-yielding cropping systems across much of the U.S. Midwest. However, applied N can also increase N losses through nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) leaching and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, negatively impacting water and air quality, respectively. Given these competing demands, there is a pressing need to develop new strategies for maintaining grain yields and economic returns while decreasing the risk of environmental N pollution. Therefore, the overall objectives of this dissertation research were to (i) evaluate the effectiveness of in-field recommended management practices for improving water quality while also assessing potential agronomic and environmental tradeoffs of those practices, and (ii) explore how process-based modeling tools could be used as an integrative approach for linking sustainability outcomes with improved agronomic efficiencies. Results from a 3-yr field experiment highlighted potential environmental tradeoffs between water and air quality when pairing in-season split N application with a cereal rye cover crop. Combining these two practices reduced NO3-N losses by 37% compared to pre-season N application alone, but soil N2O emissions also increased by 27%. Corn yields were not significantly affected by in-field management practices, indicating no agronomic tradeoffs. An analysis of 32 site-years of crop and soil data found that soil mineral N provided moderately good predictions for achieving optimum grain yields (R2 = 0.46 – 0.61). While increasing soil mineral N from deficiency to sufficiency levels increase corn yields by 22%, it also increased the probability of environmental N losses. Together, these results show that N fertilizer management and cover cropping can greatly impact production and sustainable goals. The delicate balance between productivity and environmental N losses illustrates the importance of incorporating multiple N loss pathways when developing sustainable in-field management strategies in the region.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2021-09-16 without embargo terms","The student, Giovani Preza-Fontes, accepted the attached license on 2021-04-15 at 10:01.","The student, Giovani Preza-Fontes, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2021-04-15 at 10:07.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2021-04-21 at 16:04.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #16343 on 2021-09-16 at 16:41:53","Made available in DSpace on 2021-09-17T01:10:57Z (GMT). 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However, applied N can also increase N losses through nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) leaching and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, negatively impacting water and air quality, respectively. Given these competing demands, there is a pressing need to develop new strategies for maintaining grain yields and economic returns while decreasing the risk of environmental N pollution. Therefore, the overall objectives of this dissertation research were to (i) evaluate the effectiveness of in-field recommended management practices for improving water quality while also assessing potential agronomic and environmental tradeoffs of those practices, and (ii) explore how process-based modeling tools could be used as an integrative approach for linking sustainability outcomes with improved agronomic efficiencies. Results from a 3-yr field experiment highlighted potential environmental tradeoffs between water and air quality when pairing in-season split N application with a cereal rye cover crop. Combining these two practices reduced NO3-N losses by 37% compared to pre-season N application alone, but soil N2O emissions also increased by 27%. Corn yields were not significantly affected by in-field management practices, indicating no agronomic tradeoffs. An analysis of 32 site-years of crop and soil data found that soil mineral N provided moderately good predictions for achieving optimum grain yields (R2 = 0.46 – 0.61). While increasing soil mineral N from deficiency to sufficiency levels increase corn yields by 22%, it also increased the probability of environmental N losses. Together, these results show that N fertilizer management and cover cropping can greatly impact production and sustainable goals. The delicate balance between productivity and environmental N losses illustrates the importance of incorporating multiple N loss pathways when developing sustainable in-field management strategies in the region.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2021-09-16 without embargo terms","The student, Giovani Preza-Fontes, accepted the attached license on 2021-04-15 at 10:01.","The student, Giovani Preza-Fontes, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2021-04-15 at 10:07.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2021-04-21 at 16:04.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #16343 on 2021-09-16 at 16:41:53","Made available in DSpace on 2021-09-17T01:10:57Z (GMT). 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