An Arizona Department of Fish and Game biologist releases a Mexican wolf. Photo courtesy of AZDFG.

Issue

The management and recovery of the translocated Mexican wolf in Arizona and New Mexico is the responsibility of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and state and tribal wildlife departments. Many of the decisions made regarding wolf management and research are guided—and often hampered—by politics. There is a need for a research team independent of federal, state, tribal, and local politics to be able to study Mexican wolves so that better and unbiased data can be collected to enhance the data being collected by state and federal biologists. The Mexican wolf recovery program is one of the most expensive in the United States, and considerable data are still needed so that informed recovery decisions can be made with the best information available. Millions of dollars can be allocated elsewhere once successful recovery occurs. The cooperation of this project’s independent group of scientists will assist with the timely management and recovery of this endangered wolf.

Wildlife managers monitor radio-collared Mexican wolves using radio-telemetry. Photo courtesy of USDA.

What has the project done so far?

The program met yearly for 5 years. Participants included researchers and managers from federal (U.S. FWS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Geological Survey) and state (Arizona Game and Fish Department, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish) agencies, as well as universities (University of Arizona, Texas Tech University, University of Montana). The annual meetings brought together scientists and managers working on a wide variety of Mexican wolf scientific issues and fostered communication among agency managers and biologists and university researchers, all working directly or indirectly with Mexican wolf recovery. The discussions allowed research priorities to be developed in a more structured setting, with priorities initiated by managers and conservationists and relayed directly to researchers. At the last meeting, group members initiated discussions about obtaining funds for new research projects, because they see this as the most effective way to add impact to what the team is already doing. Such funding would be distributed by the team as seed funds to new projects that address high-priority issues. The team believes that this will go far toward the goal of getting the wolf delisted as an endangered species.

The locations of radio-collared Mexican wolves from April-June, 2011. Map courtesy of the USFWS.

Impact Statements

• Brought together researchers and managers from federal and state agencies and universities, fostering better coordination of Mexican wolf recovery.
• Worked independently of—but coordinated with—federal and state Mexican wolf recovery programs, enhancing the research needed for better management and recovery.
• Set research priorities based on input from federal and state recovery programs to best enhance recovery of the Mexican wolf.
• Advised Mexican wolf management efforts based on results of the latest research on management in the wild, genetic issues, social aspects, and activities with the captive breeding program.

Research Needs for Future Impacts

Continued coordination for Mexican wolf scientific research is needed, but for the impact of this team to be realized, some level of funding needs to be available to the team (which represents a broad range of scientific and management expertise). These seed funds would be disbursed by the team to new projects to address research interests identified by the scientific team as relevant to Mexican wolf recovery. In particular, research is needed on the low growth rate of the Mexican wolf population, which is the most significant issue currently preventing full

recovery of this species. This multistate team determined that pup recruitment was currently the best research avenue to pursue. Pup recruitment research would attempt to assess why recruitment is poor, and it would attempt to improve recruitment.

Contact Information

C. Colin Kaltenbach, kltnbch@ag.arizona.edu

A University of Wyoming researcher prepares a sperm sample for artifical insemination in a Suffolk ewe. Photo courtesty of the University of Wyoming.

Issue

Poor reproductive efficiency in domestic ruminants, widely regarded as the most limiting factor to profitability in animal production systems, is a growing problem in the West. Livestock production is a critical component of the economic health of the western states, and the U.S. supply of livestock and products is dependent on the production efficiency of western farms and ranches. The project’s primary stakeholders are farmers and ranchers in the West, but the work has broad applicability to these industries nationwide. Secondary stakeholders are consumers of animal products, who benefit from reduced prices associated with efficient animal production systems. Additional stakeholders include citizens of communities in the West whose economies are improved by their proximity to profitable and sustainable animal industries. This cooperative research group seeks to bring both basic and applied expertise to bear on factors that limit fertility in these animals and to provide product and technique development and outreach for the benefit of animal producers in the western region.

What has the project done so far?

Established in 1970, this project’s original purpose was to combine basic and applied expertise to determine factors and develop methods to improve fertility of domestic ruminants in the Western states. The project now involves scientists from 18 states where more than 50 percent of the nation’s breeding cows (beef and dairy) and 64 percent of its breeding ewes exist. The original philosophy and mission—to conduct cooperative multi-state research that provides product and technique development and outreach for the benefit of animal producers in the Western region—continue to guide the group. From 2006 to 2011, project participants generated 349 refereed publications and technical bulletins and seven book chapters, and a symposium of research findings was presented to a nationwide audience of livestock producers at the 2007 Beef Improvement Federation Meetings in Fort Collins, Colorado. Related current and previous research by project participants continues to be based on the premise that applied research experiments stem from a foundation of previous basic research studies. 

Tom Geary, a USDA scientists performs an ultrasound on a pregnant cow. Photo courtesy of USDA.

Impact Statements

• Project researchers developed more effective estrus synchronization methods. These served as a design for new protocols that increased pregnancy rates to artificial insemination by 10 to 15 percent compared to traditional programs. Implementation of this approach with 10 percent of U.S. beef and dairy cows could result in an enhanced profitability of approximately $31 million (through reduced days from calving to conception) and a $40 million savings due to a reduction in cow replacement rate. These values represent an overall economic impact of greater than $400 million to the U.S. cattle industry when considering multiplicative factors of 5 to 10 due to effects on allied industries.
• Feed supplied to pregnant animals is the single largest expense incurred in production of offspring. Using residual feed intakes (defined as the difference between an animal’s actual feed intake and their predicted feed intake), animals that most effectively use feed resources can be identified, resulting in annual savings of $20 to $40 per cow. On a national basis, this technology has the potential to save cow-calf producers $800 million to $1.6 billion in annual feed costs.
• The development of a vaccine for epizootic bovine abortion (EBA) could save beef producers in California alone $10 to $15 million annually due to increased numbers of calves born.
• The development of methods to control bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) would increase calf viability, resulting in an annual savings of $481 to $632.5 million for U.S. cow-calf producers.
• Cows exposed to bull biostimulation exhibit an increase in artificial insemination rates of up to 20 percent.
• Efforts for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of progesterone CIDR (controlled intravaginal drug release) insert use in sheep for synchronization of breeding provides producers a method to shorten lambing intervals, increase pregnancy rates, and reduce the number of open ewes in a flock.
• Selection of calves based on temperament has the potential to increase weaning weights by 5 to 6 percent and provide a 15- to 18-pound advantage in body weight gain in stocker calf operations.
• Gaining a better understanding of mechanisms that affect early embryonic loss, animal reproductive behavior, gamete quality, and prenatal programming will dramatically affect pounds of marketable animals/product for producers, increasing their profitability.
• Each day the postpartum interval is lengthened for the beef cow there is a loss of 2 pounds of weaning weight, with a $2.40 loss per day. Increasing pregnancy rates by 20 percent would result in 20 percent of the calves being 21 days older, 42 pounds heavier, and worth $50 more per calf at weaning. For every 1,000 cows artificially inseminated, the increased value of calves at weaning would be $10,000.

Research Needs for Future Impacts

In spite of significant improvements, reproductive efficiency is still widely regarded as the most limiting factor to profitability in animal production systems. Further work in this regard is still the number one priority of this project.

Contact Information

C. Colin Kaltenbach, kltnbch@ag.arizona.edu

Russian wheat aphid damage. Photo courtesy of Tom Royer, Oklahoma State University.

Issue

Insect pests, including Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia), greenbug (Schizaphis graminum), and Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor), are serious pests of cereal crops in the United States. Since its introduction into Texas in 1986, Russian wheat aphid (RWA) has spread throughout the western Great Plains cereal production area, the Pacific Northwest, and the desert Southwest. The total economic damage in the United States caused by RWA has exceeded $1 billion since 1986, considering crop loss, cost of pest control, and lost revenue to rural economies. Severe economic damage from greenbug and Hessian fly (HF) occurs throughout the West, and several other arthropods can also seriously impact wheat, barley, and oat production in the region. A primary goal of this group is to share research necessary to address comprehensive management of these pests in small grain cropping systems in the West and to shorten the time from initial research activity to adoption by the end user.

"Hatcher" winter wheat, resistant to some Russian wheat aphid biotypes, grows in a field trial in Colorado. Photo courtesy of Colorado State University.

What has the project done so far?

• With the development of RWA biotypes, WERA-066 has focused on characterizing differences among biotypes and on developing a naming protocol. This has resulted in a naming system that has been widely adopted beyond the committee.
• Identifying and characterizing new RWA biotypes and monitoring their geographic spread has provided growers with knowledge critical to variety selection and to deploying appropriate management tactics.
• A chief tactic in the management of RWA is the development of wheat and barley varieties that are resistant to RWA. Even with the advent of biotypes that have the ability to overcome resistance in some lines of cereals, the resistant varieties are still widely planted. For example, in Colorado, more than 50 percent of all acres are planted to resistant lines. WERA-066 serves as a coordination tool among cereal breeders interested in RWA resistance.
• Wheat and barley lines resistant to biotype RWA2 and other biotypes are advancing in breeding programs. Resistant cereal lines are being researched for HF, wheat stem sawfly, and wheat midge.
• Understanding the nature of damage caused by various biotypes of RWA, HF, and other cereal arthropod pests is a key factor in developing resistance in cereal varieties that is durable (i.e., resistance that is not rapidly overcome by the pest). Ongoing studies are yielding important results regarding gene expression in wheat when fed upon by different biotypes of RWA and HF.
• Molecular and population genetics studies of several pest species have shed new light on the formation of biotypes.
• Field ecology studies, particularly of RWA and HF, provided critical input into the development of sustainable pest management systems.
• RWA, HF, wheat stem sawfly, wheat midge, grasshoppers, various grain aphids, and other arthropod pests of wheat are monitored regularly in several participating states. Results communicated to growers enable them to be cognizant of pest pressures and likely future pressures when making management decisions.
• A 2010 USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture Risk Avoidance and Mitigation Program (RAMP) grant has several WERA-066 members as investigators, and their collaboration was facilitated by the activities of WERA-066. The goals of the RAMP project include pest, disease, and weed surveillance; surveys of regional IPM practices in wheat; and the development of an Internet 2 Web site (iWheat) designed to provide real-time regional pest, disease, and weed survey and management information. This will greatly enhance the ability of WERA-066 members to engage with the wheat industry.

Colorado State University researcher Scott Merrill mixes aphids with Cream of Wheat to immobilize them. He will apply this mixture to fields in early winter and re-sample in the spring to see how well the aphids survived the winter. Photo courtesy of Scott Merrill.

Impact Statements

WERA-066 has:

• Improved knowledge of cereal arthropods among scientists, producers, and other interested clientele.
• Monitored for newly introduced pests or the development and spread of new, more damaging biotypes.
• Developed new or improved management practices for cereal arthropods, including resistant varieties and biological control. These practices, together with chemical control practices validated through local testing, provide farmers with tools that can be integrated into reasonably effective pest management systems for most cereal pests. However, the system is far from ideal, and the pest situation continues to present new challenges through evolution within pest species and through establishment of new pest species.

Research Needs for Future Impacts

• Continued coordination of biological control, host plant resistance, and cropping system research to develop more effective management systems.
• Continued coordination of research in genetics, genomics, physiology, taxonomy, and ecology of arthropod pests and their natural enemies that aid in implementing integrated management strategies in diverse agricultural systems.
• Continued enhancement of the development of resistant varieties by coordinating the identification, monitoring, and characterization of RWA and HF biotypes.
• Increased host plant resistance to arthropods in commercial cultivars of small grains in the western United States through coordinated pre-breeding for multiple arthropod resistance via marker-assisted selection and other molecular tools.
• Coordinated research—in wheat genetics, genomics, physiology, and mechanisms of host plant resistance and susceptibility—that facilitates acquisition of basic knowledge that will lead to new management strategies.

Contact Information

Thomas Holtzer, thomas.holtzer@colostate.edu

Beet curly top virus (BCTV) infects a variety of vegetable crops including tomatoes, beans, potatoes, spinach, and beets--pictured here showing symptoms of infection. Photo courtesy of Colorado State University.

Issue

Beet curly top virus (BCTV) is the most widespread geminivirus (DNA virus that infects plants) in the United States. It is endemic in the West, causing economic damage to a wide variety of crops. Transmitted by the beet leafhopper, Circulifer tenellus, the virus infects a broad host range from many plant families. The leafhopper vector also feeds and breeds on an extensive range of plant hosts and can migrate considerable distances. Management of this viral pathogen and its leafhopper vector has proven difficult, and a sustainable management program is needed. Only when many individuals work together across state lines will significant progress in management of BCTV be possible. WERA-1007 meets to discuss, assess, and prioritize required research on BCTV genetics, vector biology and genetics, weed ecology, and disease management and to coordinate interdisciplinary research at a regional level. In addition to this needed coordination, another expected outcome is that the agricultural industry will know about new research on BCTV as it is being done, instead of after publication, and will be able to influence the direction of the research.

What has the project done so far?

Several funded collaborative projects on curly top were undertaken among working group members. One looked at transmission of curly top by the beet leafhopper to resistant tomato varieties. A second collaborative project was a screening for resistance to curly top in chile peppers, and a third compared viral infection in insects with plant infection. A collaborative project for 2011 was established to study the mechanism of resistance to curly top in dry beans.

Floating row covers used to protect newly transplanted tomato plants from beet leafhopper, the vector of curly top virus. Photo courtesy of New Mexico State University.

Impact Statements

The group has made an impact on curly top in the western United States. It has substantially improved communication and collaboration among researchers (including USDA researchers) and Extension personnel. It has helped keep the profile of the disease high so that growers and industry representatives plan for potential disease management and request more information about disease potential in advance of the planting season, instead of waiting to respond after the disease problem is prevalent in the field. Resistance to curly top in several hosts was reported. The use of management strategies, such as reflective mulch and row covers, was tested and reported. A better understanding of insect vector migration, feeding preferences, and vector activity was reported. Several reports were made on disease incidence in different locations in the West. Information on viral recombination was presented. These types of research and subsequent papers provided necessary background information on the nature and extent of curly top disease and the potential for predicting disease occurrence in future years. This research also helped predict the types of plant disease resistance screening that needs to occur to better assess potential new plant varieties.

Research Needs for Future Impacts

The primary research needs are to 1) understand the reasons for rapid development of new strains of curtoviruses (viruses that cause curly top disease), 2) develop additional plant varieties resistant to curtoviruses, 3) better predict leafhopper population movement, and 4) develop more cost-effective, practical methods for disease management.

Contact Information

Steven Loring, sloring@nmsu.edu

Scientists retrieve trap spotted wing drosphila cider vinegar traps from an orchard.

Issue

Spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii, SWD) was recorded on multiple crops in California during 2008 and 2009 and in British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington in 2009. Producers of stone fruits (cherries and peaches) and small fruits (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries) experienced substantial economic losses. California growers reported a 25 percent loss of fresh cherries. Several California, Oregon, and Washington berry growers reported 100 percent crop losses in late-ripening small fruits during 2009, and growers in Oregon reported 100 percent crop losses on fresh peaches. Because of the rapid spread and uniqueness of this pest in the United States, very little information is available on SWD biology, monitoring, and management. Information is needed for local strains of SWD (e.g., overwintering capability, spring emergence, seasonal abundance, susceptible fruit stages, and detailed control strategies), and information on integrated and sustainable system-wide control strategies is essential in order to facilitate financial survival of growers. The pest subsequently invaded Florida, North Carolina, Michigan, and beyond.

Experiments conducted at the Oregon State University's fly lab have helped scientists understand fly biology and control options.

What has the project done so far?

This project has served as a framework for information exchange among multiple states on research and related extension activities needed for management of SWD. Prior to funding of an SWD Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) grant in late summer of 2010, Oregon State University hosted a stakeholder meeting in Portland, on March 30, 2010. In the morning session, approximately 20 scientists participated from California, Washington, Oregon, Canada, Michigan, and Florida, including participants from state, federal, and private industry. The afternoon session provided approximately 130 stakeholder/industry/extension agent participants the opportunity to learn about SWD and do hands-on projects, including identifying SWD and its life cycle, building monitoring traps, detecting the pest, introducing an SWD Web site, reporting data, reviewing control options, etc. This session was critical in helping to identify additional funding sources for research in Oregon and beyond.

In November 2010, the SWD SCRI participants met with the stakeholder group for that grant. In addition to presenting research and outreach accomplishments to date, project participants for Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, and Utah presented their own experiences.

Following the November 2010 session with stakeholders, the SWD SCRI scientists were joined by other W-504 members for an Adobe Connect conference in March 2011. Publications are pending from that full-day session. The fall meeting for the SWD SCRI stakeholder advisory group is scheduled for November 9 and 10, 2011, and members of W-504 will meet jointly with them. A new 5-year Education/Extension and Research project to succeed W-504 is being planned.

Summaries of research outcomes are being provided in a variety of ways that are specific to the location of the researcher. Research outcomes for Oregon and Washington can be accessed at http://swd.hort.oregonstate.edu/. (Links to the work at other institutions can also be found via this Web page.) The following Web sites provide information for other locations:

• Michigan: http://www.ipm.msu.edu/SWD.htm
• North Carolina: http://ncsmallfruitsipm.blogspot.com/search/label/SWD
• Utah: http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/ENT-140-10.pdf

Impact Statements

• Creation of this rapid-response project allowed the coordination and development of human capital far beyond the western region.
• This project created a framework for multistate cooperation and collaboration around control of this new pest and provided evidence of SWD’s importance to state and national leaders.
• The project has ensured continued collaborations to determine the most effective sustainable control options for SWD based on effective monitoring, susceptible life stages, and timing of control.
• Project participants have developed training programs for identification and management of SWD and provided resources to growers. Detection of the pest and the use of thresholds for control before application of chemicals have reduced the amount of chemicals applied, providing an economic advantage for growers and reducing environmental and health risks for applicators and consumers.
• This multistate project provides opportunities for researchers across the United States, Canada, and beyond to collaborate and respond to this nationally and internationally important pest.

Research Needs for Future Impacts

Beyond the need to have further research projects funded, additional information is needed on biology and alternate control options, especially for organic growers. Assessing the value of training/control programs, both in terms of effectiveness and economic return, is also needed. Providing an ongoing national coordination of the research and education/extension efforts for management of this pest will reduce duplicate efforts and provide broad benefit to growers and consumers.

Contact Information

Stella Melugin Coakley, stella.coakley@oregonstate.edu

Issue:

Clams and oysters are the most economically important groups of mollusks in the United States. Total commercial landings of all clam species in 2004 were valued at $117 million. Commercial landings of Eastern oysters in 2004 were valued at $111 million, and production of Pacific oysters on the West Coast in 2003 was valued at $63 million. Diseases and overfishing have contributed to major declines in the oyster harvest on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Although the Pacific oyster is not susceptible to major diseases, losses due to “summer mortality” have caused considerable economic damage to the industry. WERA-099 provides a forum for coordination of research among U.S. and international molluscan geneticists, physiologists, and pathologists to exchange ideas and information on genetics, reproduction, diseases, chromosome and genetic manipulation techniques, broodstock management, and breeding programs. This coordination allows researchers to reduce duplication of efforts and costs; identify research needs for enhancement of commercial molluscan production through genetic improvement; evaluate different approaches for restoration of depleted stocks of native oysters; and provide industry members with up-to-date research information that will lead to optimal broodstock management and breeding programs to enhance commercial production nationwide.

Chris Langdon, Oregon State University’s oyster breeder, keeps track of the progress of males and females in dozens of families and generations of Kumamoto oysters. Photo by Lynn Ketchum.

What has the project done so far?

This project has provided a forum for U.S. and international molluscan researchers to exchange ideas and information. Discussions among project researchers have helped to modify current breeding programs to make them more efficient. Proposal and research activities have been coordinated and leveraged. International developments have been factored into U.S. efforts. For example, project researchers learned from international participants about strategies to transfer selected broodstock and information to industry.

Impact Statements:

• Continued conversations among researchers are resulting in development of markers for marker-assisted selection that could be used in more efficient breeding programs to produce disease-resistant strains.
• Research efforts are geared to provide industry with stocks, families, and lines that show improved performance.
• International efforts to map the genome of the Pacific and Eastern oyster and to sequence the genome of the Pacific oyster are moving forward. Exchange of information on the development of new maps and mapping techniques will lead to a better understanding of the genetic basis of disease resistance in Eastern oysters as well as growth and survival in farmed Pacific oysters.
• The West Coast has made progress in understanding larval survival related to coastal and hatchery water quality, coastal upwelling and ocean acidification, and Vibrio tubiashii (a bacterium that attacks oysters).
• Monitoring of Virginia oyster restoration efforts has shown little evidence of reproduction and dispersion.
• Release of improved oysters as sterile triploids in cages has raised interest in oyster aquaculture in the Chesapeake Bay.
• Project researchers are working with industry to develop markers (to diagnose disease status) for certain characteristics that interest farmers. The goal is to provide tools rather than broodstock.
• The clam culture industry is rapidly expanding in the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute region.

Scientists are working in partnership with the oyster industry to improve the health and performance of Pacific oysters.

Research Needs for Future Impacts:

• The USDA-NIFA funded West Coast Molluscan Broodstock Program (MBP) has lost funding as a Congressional Special Research Grant program and will focus on transferring developed breeding technologies and improved broodstock to industry.
• The West Coast USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) oyster genetics program will revitalize its quantitative genetic research efforts by developing direct partnerships with industry. These partnerships will use mixed-family approaches to conduct more sophisticated experiments on larval traits under more relevant conditions.
• Major challenges remain for the West Coast industry if water quality issues cannot be mitigated.
• Testing sterile triploids planted for disease resistance, shelf life, hybrid vigor, and production improvement is needed.
• Better understanding of the oyster transcriptome (the set of all RNA molecules in one or a group of cells) and genome should be used to develop high-density SNP chips (silicon chips used to identify the presence of specific DNA sequences) or, alternatively, to develop low-density chips which may provide the necessary resolution at a lower cost.

Contact Information:

Christopher J. Langdon, participating scientist, chris.langdon@oregonstate.edu

Issue:

Virus and virus-like diseases in potatoes in the West create a costly situation requiring limited-generation seed programs and the use of multiple pesticides to minimize yield and quality losses in commercial crops. Substantial yield losses and rejections of seed lots for certification have resulted in tremendous dollar losses to growers. Public and environmental concerns surround the use of pesticides on potatoes. In addition, potato growers face potential registration cancellation of key pesticides and the difficulties of developing new information for re-registration or development of new pesticides. Pest resistance to current pesticides is always of concern. Loss of pesticides or pesticide effectiveness will increase yield and quality losses if alternative solutions are not developed. This group provides a regional forum for collaboration among potato virus disease researchers and the dissemination of information on control strategies. The group also advises regional and national organizations, evaluating concerns, recommending policies, and reviewing quarantine and seed certification issues with the goal to improve plant health and crop sustainability.

Potato plants showing symptoms of potato virus Y infection. Photo by Nina Zidack, Montana State University.

What has the project done so far?

Members have organized several annual meetings to discuss current concerns regarding virus and virus-like diseases occurring in potato crops. This forum has also included presentations of ongoing research on potato viruses and virus-like diseases, their vectors, and alternate hosts. In addition, participants have considered research priorities for upcoming years. Sub-groups were formed to work on specific projects throughout the year, including development of educational materials, presentations, and reference sheets.

Impact Statements:

• Early response and prevention of emerging diseases: The WERA-089 network responds to reports and findings of new viruses and vector-transmitted diseases detected in potato fields. These responses include diagnosis and characterization of new or uncommon disease agents, identification of potential vectors, description of disease etiology and epidemiology, and development of appropriate management or control strategies and practices. Some recent diseases that participants have been involved with include PVYNTN (a strain of potato virus Y), PMTV (potato mop top virus), TRV (tobacco rattle virus), TSWV (tomato spotted wilt virus), AMV (alfalfa mosaic virus), purple top, and zebra chip.
• Project participants have characterized new strains of PVY (potato virus Y) and assessed the impact of tuber-borne infection by different strains of PVY on different potato cultivars on potato yield and quality. Identifying the components of the tuber necrotic complex and developing new diagnostic tools will allow heightened confidence in the diagnoses of viruses when high seed volumes move interstate for recertification and for commercial planting. Seed with internal necrosis due to PVY cannot be used for planting commercial potatoes. The PVY survey and the Canadian quality assurance survey will provide information about the health status of seed.
• Research by project participants demonstrated there is a PVY strain-aphid vector species interaction and that transmission efficiency and transmission properties differ among different strain-aphid combinations. It was also demonstrated that hairy nightshade is a significant source of both virus and aphids, so managing the alternate hosts of PVY and its vectors is strongly recommended as part of any devised virus management plan. This can be accomplished primarily by collaborating with state commodity commissions, agricultural departments, and seed certification agencies. Management of alternate hosts is necessary for PVY control, and appropriate recommendations will be a component of Regional Best Management Practices for PVY as they are developed and published by project participants.
• Potato growers in the Pacific Northwest have recently experienced serious outbreaks of potato purple top disease. These outbreaks have caused significant yield losses and reductions in tuber processing quality. Research by project participants demonstrated that this disease is caused by BLTVA (beet leafhopper-transmitted virescence agent) phytoplasma. Project researchers described the phenology of the beet leafhopper in the Pacific Northwest and determined the seasonal incidence of BLTVA phytoplasma in local populations of leafhoppers. Group members determined there are significant differences in susceptibility to purple top among potato cultivars important to the Pacific Northwest and discovered that potato plants of younger growth stages are more susceptible to the disease than older ones. Information from this research is helping potato growers in the Pacific Northwest to effectively manage the beet leafhopper by timely and appropriately insecticide applications to reduce incidence of purple top disease.
• Project participants discovered that zebra chip, a new and damaging potato disease in the southwestern and central United States, Mexico, Central America, and New Zealand, is associated with a previously undescribed species of the bacterium Liberibacter, and is transmitted by the potato psyllid. Development of effective management strategies for the potato psyllid is under way to minimize damage caused by this potato disease.

Potatoes infected with zebra chip develop unsightly dark lines that resemble the stripes of a zebra. Photo by Joseph Munyaneza, USDA-ARS.

Research Needs for Future Impacts:

Continue to provide a regional forum for the exchange of ideas through cooperation and collaboration among those involved in potato virus and virus-like disease research, with the long-term goal of improving plant health and crop sustainability. Continue to assist participants in the identification, transfer, and utilization of knowledge, methods, and resources that will be directed toward dissemination of information to concerned parties for implementation of potato virus and virus-like disease control strategies. Continue to act in an advisory capacity with regional and national organizations to evaluate concerns, recommend policies, and review quarantine and seed certification issues and other pertinent matters as they relate to potato viruses or virus-like organisms and their control.

Contact Information:

Administrative Advisor, Donn Thill, dthill@uidaho.edu

Installing soil moisture sensors.

Issue: Water, soil, and air are interconnected resources that are finite and need to be carefully managed. Thus, an in-depth understanding of the biotic and abiotic processes and transformations that affect these resource interfaces is critically important for choosing appropriate land-management activities. We can monitor, change, and enhance our stewardship of these finite resources if we know how, when, and why human activities that impact them are chosen. Activities that affect these resources and their interfaces are diverse and can include waste storage and containment; management of nutrients, plant residue, salinity, and pesticides in agricultural and horticultural systems; mitigation of climate change impacts; mitigation of noxious weed impacts on surface and subsurface water resources; optimizing of storage of greenhouse gases in soil and geologic formations; and minimizing of societal costs of catastrophic events like fire, drought, and flooding through improved predictions.

What has the Project done so far?

• Researchers have created artificial systems in the laboratory to allow small-scale measurements of the transport and transformation properties of water, energy, compounds, and gas (single and multiple) under controlled conditions.
• Researchers have taken measurement devices and sensors they have developed, calibrated, and refined in the laboratory and then evaluated and improved them for field monitoring applications.
• Applications of new mathematical and statistical techniques have improved modeling approaches and have evolved our ability to efficiently and quantitatively measure important parameters at the laboratory, field, and catchment (drainage basin) scales.
• New collaborative and shared research instrumentation facilities have been created for use by all participating scientists, reducing duplication and greatly enhancing the quality of field and laboratory analytical capacities.
• State and federal resource management agencies have developed best management practices and policies to improve resource stewardship, minimize environmental degradation, and avoid catastrophic events.
• Scientific capacity has been increased through collaboration and training with graduate students; joint creation of lecture and laboratory manuals and software; engagement with non-land-grant institutions, USDA Agricultural Research Service, and international faculty exchanges and training programs; and, securing/leveraging of funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, USDA, USEPA, the National Science Foundation, and state(s) competitive awards.

The dynamics of snow cover.

Impact Statements:

• Agriculture production is influenced by water, soil type, climate, tillage, crops, temperature, application of nutrients and pesticides, chance, and management practices. The inherent nature of agricultural land use—whether it is for dryland and irrigated crop production, nursery and greenhouse practices, turf, forestry, or livestock grazing—is that it has the potential to impact the environment. The research activities of this project have improved the efficiency of irrigation systems (California), managed salinity and irrigation return flow on site (California, Kansas), decreased nutrient loss through leaching or runoff  (Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Minnesota), and developed methods and equipment to enhance measurements and monitoring (Iowa, all).
• Historical methods of mineral extraction and energy development throughout the United States, and particularly in the West (Arizona, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming), have left large expanses of landscapes drastically disturbed and subject to ongoing environmental problems. Mitigating these problems involves a variety of techniques, all of which are designed to keep the problem materials on site. Monitoring by project researchers of above-ground movement of these materials that occurs through erosion processes and below-ground transport that occurs through water or gas processes has demonstrated good mitigation practices. Contamination from mine tailings has been stabilized through the use of adapted plants and their positive synergies with microbial populations. These create a “biological cap” that prevents movement off site caused by wind erosion and minimizes water transport of these materials..
• Human activities create by-products that, if not properly reused, recycled, or stored, have the potential to cause extreme environmental and health damage. An example of remediation is the injection of gases and compounds into nuclear waste storage sites, which has helped to protect water resources. The injection of the gases and compounds causes a chemical and physical barrier so that transport/movement of harmful by-products is severely limited. In addition, based upon monitoring techniques and devices from this research (Arizona, California, Washington), municipal landfill sites have been modified to decrease the type and amount of off-site transport of harmful materials, including hazardous household products, pathogens, pharmaceuticals, and hormones.
• Water quality and quantity are increasingly prominent issues creating conflict and challenges. These challenges require thoughtful policy decisions that are based on quantitative monitoring of resources and the use of appropriate and accurate scaling technologies that integrate a site (plant, soil, water), multiple sites, a catchment, and larger geographies with differing water uses. Situations in which these data could be applied include state and federal water and land resource agencies and municipalities (snow pack, surface waters) (Arizona, California, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico), water treatment and reuse facilities (North Dakota), drought prediction (California), fire risk management (many), sustainability and conservation initiatives (Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming), climate change (all), and surface and ground water use and protection practices (all).

Research Needs for Future Impacts:

• To improve our understanding of vadose zone (zone extending from the top of the ground surface to the water table) properties and processes and how they interact with other environmental and biogeochemical processes across time, space, and scales.
• To develop, evaluate, and improve instruments and analytical methods that measure mass and energy transport and environmental transformation in the soil and vadose zone at different scales.
• To apply scale-appropriate methodologies to enhance the management of vadose zone resources that benefit agricultural systems, natural resources, and environmental sustainability.

Contact Information:

Administrative Advisor: Jeff Jacobsen, agdean@montana.edu

Fort Collins flood site.

Issue: Weather data are used by numerous clienteles, including farmers for irrigation scheduling, landowners and fire agencies for predicting and responding to wildfires, agencies involved with natural disasters like droughts and floods, and researchers in academia and a variety of agencies.

What has the project done so far?

This project is a coordinating committee with the following objectives: (a) to coordinate collection and dissemination of weather and climate data and information in the western United States and to serve as a forum for discussion of related issues; (b) to identify weather and climate issues and support research related to agriculture and natural resources, especially in the West; (c) to promote access to, and use of, weather- and climate-based products in order to improve monitoring and decision making related to agriculture and natural resources issues (e.g., drought, fire, and water supply); and (d) to coordinate the development of new climatological analysis technologies such as remote sensing and geographic information systems.

Impact Statements:

• A study at the New Mexico Climate Center demonstrated a loss of $200–600 an acre by pecan growers because of not using weather- or soil-based methods in irrigation scheduling. As a result of this study, a new study was initiated on the development of a simpler method of scheduling irrigations using long-term average climate data.
• The Oregon Climate Service, in cooperation with the Oregon State University Department of Veterinary Science, conducted research that focused on the effects of weather and climate trends on the development and spread of diseases in livestock (horses and goats) in Oregon.
  

  Climbing out of a lysimeter tube.

• An irrigator in southern Idaho reported energy savings for pumping that ranged from $10–30 per acre annually on irrigated potatoes after he started using the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s AgriMet weather data to schedule his irrigations. He reported total annual power savings from $14,000–17,000 over his 1,400 acres.
• Feedback from users of the Wyoming State Climate Office and the Wyoming Water Resources Data System Web sites has been overwhelmingly positive over the past year, with users accessing nearly 250,000 unique page views each month.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service has developed statistical relationships between number and location of large fire events in the West and climate, drought, and fire index variables. They found that a model to predict large fire occurrences using monthly mean temperature and the Palmer drought severity index showed potential to distinguish areas of high probability of large fires from areas of low to moderate probability of large fires. The model was superior to predictions based on historical fire frequency.
• The U.S. Department of the Interior (USDI) Bureau of Land Management continues to operate a national interagency network of nearly 2,000 near-real-time solar-powered fire weather stations throughout the country. Other participating agencies include the USDA Forest Service, the USDI Bureau of Indian Affairs, the USDI National Park Service, the USDI U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Association of State Foresters.

Solar irradiation monitor.

Research Needs for Future Impacts:

Continue coordination of climate data collection, interpretation, and utilization.

Contact Information:

Administrative Advisor: Lee Sommers, lee.sommers@colostate.edu

A growers' field day.

Issue: Growers, Extension personnel, and scientists need to manage diseases of small cereal grains. Increased intra-regional cooperation and rapid exchange of information regarding techniques and management strategies will result in effective solutions through early identification of new and emerging cereal diseases and timely implementation of management options.

What has the project done so far?

• Given the renewed importance of rust diseases, members of WERA-097 reviewed procotols monitoring stripe (Puccinia striiformis), stem (P. graminis), and leaf (P. recondita) rust populations.  Plans were made to optimize state monitoring as well as to coordinate with rust experts to provide a more comprehensive assessment of population (race) changes.
• Members of WERA-097 devised monitoring sites and procedures for High Plains disease of corn and wheat to identify potential inoculum sources. A network of committee members continues to survey for Karnal bunt in wheat throughout the region and has played an important role in determining how best to handle this disease when it is found in states outside the initial infestation sites in California and Arizona.
• WERA-097 members have assessed nematode populations in most of the northwestern United States to address new information about losses due to root lesion nematodes and cereal cyst nematodes in wheat production.
• WERA-097 educated its own members and other invited academic and industry participants, such as the Western Wheat Workers, on new approaches for controlling chronic disease problems (e.g., take-all root rot and Fusarium crown rot) and on the importance of newly identified pests such as nematodes in some semi-arid regions. Participants have acquired the technical knowledge to evaluate potential pest problems within their own states.
• WERA-097 maintains a Web site (http://plantsciences.montana.edu/wera97/Default.htm) and an electronic mailing list server (wcc97@listserv.montana.edu) to enhance communication and coordination. These serve committee members and the committee’s clientele by providing useful information in a timely manner and permitting rapid dissemination of information. In addition, WERA-097 has been actively involved in facilitating the publication of materials regarding cereal diseases for use by farmers, extension personnel, and researchers.
  

  The project team.

Impact Statements:

• Following discovery of Karnal bunt in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), the quick response to achieve containment and ongoing monitoring for new occurrences of the disease allowed grain exports from PNW states to continue. In contrast, the quarantine of Arizona and California due to Karnal bunt prevented export of grain from those states.
• As a result of WERA-097, pathologists in Kansas were provided with barley yellow dwarf (BYD) virus-resistant germplasm for inclusion in a “crossing block” to be used to enhance resistance to BYD in winter wheat cultivars. This could save wheat producers in Kansas $13.4 million per year.
• Research by WERA-097 members that resulted in improved resistance to eyespot in winter wheat cultivars led to a significant reduction in crop acreage treated with fungicides for control of this disease. It’s estimated that the wheat industry in Washington saves $5 million annually in fungicide costs alone by not treating for this disease.
• Data presented at WERA-097 meetings showed that a new race of the wheat foliar pathogen Septoria tritici developed in far-western states and that resistance in existing cultivars was not effective against it. Concerned that a similar situation might develop in Kansas, isolates from Oregon and California were sent to Kansas for laboratory comparison to Kansas isolates to help predict whether resistance currently deployed in Kansas cultivars would remain effective.

Research Needs for Future Impacts:

Although a few diseases of small grains, including Fusarium head blight and Black stem rust race UG99, have high visibility and national funding, substantial damage to small grains results from endemic diseases that do not have high visibility or national funding. Continued research on endemic diseases thus needs to remain a priority through support of positions and formula funding.

Contact Information:

Administrative Advisor: Dr. John Sherwood, sherwood@montana.edu