Advances

(Advances gives a glimpse of the many significant research projects at the university. Tell us about your discoveries by e-mailing: wisweek@news.wisc.edu.)

Birds make comeback
More than 40 bird species breed in Wisconsin’s hayfields, prairies and pastures. From 1960 to 1990, populations of birds such as meadowlarks, savannah sparrows, upland sandpipers and bobolinks experienced the steepest decline of any group of birds in North America. Some of the decline in the Midwest can be traced to farmers who converted grasslands to corn and soybean fields. But rotational grazing in America’s Dairyland is giving Wisconsin grassland birds a second chance. A team of agronomists and wildlife biologists with the UW–Madison and the Department of Natural Resources has identified bird-friendly practices that graziers can implement at little or no expense, increasing the nesting success of grassland birds on these pastures.

Reducing water pollution
Kenneth Potter, professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Richard Lathrop, a researcher in the Center for Limnology, are leading a study of how urbanization is affecting groundwater quality, focused on the north fork of the Pheasant Branch Conservancy near Madison. An interdisciplinary research team will consider a range of urban development issues, including storm runoff, groundwater depletion, wastewater treatment, nuisance algae growth and wetland degradation. The team also is evaluating alternative management practices and urbanization patterns. In addition, researchers are examining the social and political opportunities for, and constraints on, effective management.

2001: A soybean odyssey
With fertilizer and energy prices high this year, Wisconsin growers may plant more soybeans and less corn. But state farmers, who planted 1.5 million acres of beans last year, face new pests that could cost them more than $50 per acre.

John Wedberg, a UW–Madison extension entomologist, says a type of aphid (shown above infesting a soybean leaf) and a bean leaf beetle have been found in many counties, moving in from Iowa and Illinois. Both insects feed on soybeans and transmit viral diseases. The insect/virus combination reduces yields and quality.

“Together, the soybean aphid and the bean leaf beetle may have a profound effect on how we manage soybeans in Wisconsin,” says Craig Grau, a UW–Madison expert on crop disease. Grau and Wedberg are part of a College of Agricultural and Life Sciences team trying to learn more about the insects, viral diseases and how best to manage them.

No one is sure what to expect in 2001. Last year’s weather may have been unusually favorable for many aphid species, including the soybean aphid. But the experts fear major problems in soybeans. The aphid alone can reduce yields by more than $30 per acre. Throw in the viruses and the leaf beetle, and damages could easily double, say Grau and Wedberg.

In addition to Grau and Wedberg, the team includes entomologists Dave Hogg and Tom German, and weed scientist Chris Boerboom.