College of Science and Humanities

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Browsing College of Science and Humanities by Author "Northington, Robert"

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    INFLUENCE OF SOIL MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ON RASPBERRY CROPS
    (2023-04-20) Northington, Robert; Eisenmann, August
    Different soil management strategies have been shown to increase crop yields for farmers in many places. Raspberries are a very common crop grown during the warmer months in New England, which makes them a good candidate for crop research. Over the past two semesters, I have been working in gardens in multiple locations to distinguish how different soil management strategies affect raspberry crops. These sample locations included Husson University Garden, the personal raspberry crop of HU professor Roberta Trefts, and Butternut Farm in New Hampshire. The techniques used to farm these crops were all unique, so the data will show more about how these techniques affect the health of the raspberry crop. During the summer of 2022, samples of soil and raspberry plants were taken from the three farms over a three week period in order to determine plant biomass, soil texture, soil water content, and nutrient concentrations. The data showed that the chemistry and characteristics of the soils in Butternut farm and the Husson garden were very similar, and both farms had crops with fruit on them. Trefts farm soil had unique characteristics and chemistry compared to the other sites and the crops lacked fruit. The traditional management practices of the Husson Garden and Butternut Farms likely affected both the soils and the crops compared to the unique, but more natural methods found on Trefts farms. The data shows that the location of plants and how they are cultivated are important considerations for predicting yields of important agricultural crops.
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    LAND USE EFFECTS ON LOCAL STREAM ECOSYSTEMS IN AND AROUND BANGOR, ME
    (2023-04-20) Belmont. Megan; Northington, Robert
    The goal of this project is to gain an understanding of the impacts cities and increased human influence can have on a stream, because it is important to see the toll that human activity takes on the streams and life within them for the health of the environment. Two different streams were tested for this project, one in an urban area, and one in a rural area. Urban areas and rural areas have very different land uses, so this project will allow insight on the effect that land use has on its local streams. The first stream studied was the Kenduskeag Stream which is in a more urban setting, tested within the city limits of Bangor. The second stream was Little Birch Stream in Milford which is in a rural area located within the Sunkhaze National Wildlife Refuge. Water quality was assessed using both biological and chemical methods, including insect sampling, chlorophyll-a analysis, and water nutrient sampling for nitrogen and phosphorus. These methods helped to provide quantitative and qualitative data to determine the direct impacts of land use on water quality. Through use of the Hilsenhoff Biotic Index, the aquatic insects found in Kenduskeag Stream are more tolerant to organic pollution than the insects living in Little Birch Stream which are more intolerant to organic pollution. Chlorophyll-a trends for late summer show an average concentration of about 0.02 mcg/m2 for Little Birch Stream and 0.09 mcg/m2 for Kenduskeag Stream, indicating higher human influence at the urban site. Data suggests there are water nutrient differences between the two sites. Between insect and chlorophyll-a analysis, Kenduskeag Stream shows that it could be impacted by pollution due to human influence, while Little Birch Stream shows little to no evidence of pollution due to human influence.