PLSCS 6017

Cropping Systems Ecology

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2022-2023.

Crop ecology is the integrative study of biological, physical, social, and technological factors that govern the emergent properties arising from cropping systems at different spatial and temporal scales. It implicitly recognizes that achieving the goals for multi-functional (i.e. 'sustainable') agriculture cannot be achieved without understanding the functional interdependencies among these factors. This course serves as a graduate-level synthesis of 1) how crop and crop communities are influenced by the physical and chemical growth environment, 2) how the growth environment is modified by agronomy and, in turn, 3) how production processes are shaped by both managed and unmanaged factors. Readings and class discussions of key concepts compose the first half of the course, with the hands-on application of systems analysis tools emphasized in the second half.

When Offered Fall.

Permission Note Enrollment limited to: graduate students.

Course Attribute (CU-SBY)

• Identify environmental drivers of crop performance and characterize how they vary in time and space.
• Apply foundational crop growth and development concepts at the individual plant and community level to understand productivity outcomes.
• Quantify how agronomic management affects the biophysical environment and shapes productivity outcomes.
• Use predictive models of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum to characterize emergent properties of cropping systems under different scenarios of change.

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