Social vulnerability indices have found widespread acceptance and application in planning and risk management. However, though a valuable tool for addressing equity concerns, prior studies have demonstrated shortcomings of such indices in terms of …
Government agencies and researchers often rely on quantitative measures to map where rural places are and who belongs to rural communities. To better understand the consistency, or lack thereof, across different quantitative rural measures, we …
Diversifying crop systems represents a promising pathway to improved climate resilience in agriculture. After a century of radical crop system simplification, understanding processes of crop system diversification requires accounting for multiple …
Agricultural diversity, productivity, and human well-being have been popular topics in recent decades, partly fueled by our quest for sustainability. However, the exact nature of the interconnections among these global priorities remains an area yet …
As the 21st century progresses, rural residents across the United States have often found themselves in disadvantaged positions by many socio-economic measures compared to their urban counterparts. In addition, agriculture– once the emblem of …
Landscape complexity promotes ecosystem services and agricultural productivity, and often encompasses aspects of compositional or configurational land cover diversity across space. However, a key agricultural diversification practice, crop rotation, …
Mulching practice offers farmers an opportunity to minimize the effects of drought, water loss, and soil erosion on crop production. Plastic film is widely used as a mulching material; however, contamination of arable lands by residual plastic has …
Ecological theory on diversity suggests that agriculture requires sufficient biodiversity, ecological function, and critical ecosystem services to remain sustainable and resilient. As such, research related to the effect of ecosystem services and …
Prior research suggests that greater spatial diversity in crops and land use is associated with higher crop yields and improved ecosystem function. However, what leads to the emergence of agricultural systems that meet both productivity and …
Rurality is often viewed as presenting challenges to community sustainability, well-being, and equity. To address the unique challenges of rural areas, policies and practices have been designed specifically for application in places designated as …