U nited S tates D epartment of A griculture

In proclaiming the week of August 23–29 National Community Gardening Week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack noted, “Community gardens provide numerous benefits including opportunities for local food production, resource conservation, and neighborhood beautification. But they also promote family and community interaction and enhance opportunities to eat healthy, nutritious foods. Each of these benefits is something we can and should strive for.” Vilsack’s statement was the latest in a string of signals in the past 7 months that suggest significant changes are afoot at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). On 29 July 2009 Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan inaugurated a new rooftop garden at the offices of the USDA Economic Research Service. In early spring, Vilsack “broke pavement” for a vegetable garden known as the People’s Garden, which was planted in front of USDA headquarters across from the National Mall. And a March 2009 planning meeting to discuss the People’s Garden and other sustainability initiatives, chaired by Vilsack, included people not typically seen at USDA meetings in the past: representatives from community garden associations, local food policy councils, botanical gardens, and the Rodale Institute, a nonprofit organization in Pennsylvania dedicated to organic farming research. Vilsack “talked about sustainability, linking agriculture, food, and human health in a way that you haven’t heard [from USDA],” recalls Rose Hayden-Smith, a fellow at the Minneapolis-based nonprofit Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and master gardener for the California Cooperative Extension service.

Ensuring Equitable Access to School Meals

The goals of any partnership have much to do with the mission and needs of each organization. The partnership between the Albert R. Mann Library and three agencies of the United States (US) Department of Agriculture helps illustrate one type of partnership. The partnership between the Albert R. Mann Library and three economic agencies of the US Department of Agriculture is already in its third year. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economics and Statistics System was introduced to the public at the end of 1993. In April 1995 the System was expanded significantly with the addition of time-sensitive commodity reports as an important feature of the service. The use of the USDA System has steadily increased. In May 1996 there were over 12,000 logins to the System. The USDA economic agencies are no exception to this phenomenon.

The Need for Investment in Rigorous Interventions to Improve Child Food Security

The Multiscale Epidemiologic/Economic Simulation and Analysis (MESA) Decision Support System (DSS) is the product of investments that began in FY05 by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate and continue today with joint funding by both DHS and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The DSS consists of a coupled epidemiologic/economic model, a standalone graphical user interface (GUI) that supports both model setup and post-analysis, and a Scenario Bank archive to store all content related to foreign animal disease (FAD) studies. The MESA epi model is an object-oriented, agent-based, stochastic, spatio-temporal simulator that parametrically models FAD outbreaks and response strategies from initial disease introduction to conclusion over local, regional, and national scales. Through its output database, the epi model couples to an economic model that calculates farm-level impacts from animal infections, responsive control strategies and loss of trade. The MESA architecture contains a variety of internal models that implement the major components of the epi simulation, including disease introduction, intra-herd spread, inter-herd spread (direct and indirect), detection, and various control strategies (movement restrictions, culling, vaccination) in a highly configurable and extensible fashion. MESA development was originally focused to support investigations into the economic and agricultural industry impacts associated with Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD outbreaks). However, it has been adapted to other FADs such has Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), Classical Swine Fever (CSF) and Exotic Newcastle Disease (END). The MESA model is highly parameterized and employs an extensible architecture that permits straightforward addition of new component models (e.g., alternative disease spread approaches) when necessary. Since its inception, MESA has been developed with a requirement to enable simulation of the very large scale, nationwide disease outbreaks that are of special interest to DHS. MESA has been developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and has benefited from the world-class experience in supercomputing application development held by LLNL staff as well as the best-in-class high performance computing infrastructure in place at LLNL. MESA incorporates novel architectural features that permit it to make efficient use of available compute cycles by dynamically increasing the fidelity of the simulation in spatial (geopolitical) regions where relevant activity is occurring and keeping other regions aggregated into a computationally simpler representation. In addition to the MESA epi and economic models, the MESA DSS incorporates other key components. Integral to the parametric approach MESA employs to setup and define disease outbreak scenarios is a GUI that enables the MESA user to efficiently manage the thousands of parameters required by the simulator. The GUI provides individual parameter editors for groups of variables that support a common high level function, such as disease introduction, spread, control strategies, etc. It also provides a capability to browse through multiple study projects and develop n-additional outbreak scenarios per project through successive refinement of existing scenarios. Finally, the MESA GUI links post-processing applications that permit extraction of key data from MESA raw output, generation of spreadsheets, and geospatial mapping of simulation results. The MESA GUI is a standalone application that normally runs on the user's desktop, although its Java source code is portable and can execute under virtually any modern operating system. The final major component of the MESA DSS is the Scenario Bank, which is a web-served archive of unclassified FAD study content. The Scenario Bank implements a hierarchy of spaces, structured primarily along organizational lines (e.g., 'USDA', 'LLNL', etc), that permits participants to store simulator inputs, outputs, analysis results, reports, etc. and explicitly control who among Bank users may access them. Documents can be shared within organizations or across organizations at the owner's discretion. The Scenario Bank is intended to be the system of record for USDA and DHS sponsored FAD study efforts and as such will archive content from a variety of models employed by USDA and DHS-sponsored researchers and analysts.

Food vs Biofuel

ObjectiveThe goal of this scoping review is to examine the published research on federal nutrition assistance programs administered by the United States (U.S.) Department of Agriculture during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the U.S., U.S. territories, and tribal nations. The review will identify the scope of the available research and provide research and policy recommendations.IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic made individuals more vulnerable to experiencing food insecurity. Federal nutrition assistance programs help to address food insecurity and have been rapidly adapting to meet food and nutrition needs among affected communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to understand the scope of the current research on this topic to help inform future research, practice, and policy recommendations.Inclusion criteriaThis review will include studies focused on federal nutrition assistance programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the COVID-19 pandemic. The scoping review will consider all primary research designs.MethodsPubmed, CINHAL, Scopus, and Proquest’s Health Management databases will be used for the literature search. Only articles published in English since March 1, 2020 will be considered. Titles/abstracts followed by full-text articles will be reviewed to determine which articles meet the inclusion criteria and should be included in the review. Data will be extracted from each included article using a data extraction template in Covidence that will be developed by the study team. Data extracted will include information on key findings related to the review questions. At each step, two independent reviewers will be assigned to each article. Data will be summarized and presented in tables, charts, and narrative summary.

Fish and N-3 fatty acids for the prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease: nutrition is not pharmacology

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is one of the nation's oldest Federal departments. It employs more than 100,000 people whose work touches the lives of every American in various ways every day. It is one of the most complex departments in the Federal Government, with more than 300 programs that spend more than $75 billion each year to help lead and manage a variety of food, agriculture, natural resources, and related programs. The USDA goals and objectives, and the implementation of its programs, are sound public policy based on the best available science. USDA works with individuals, agricultural and natural resources organizations, and units of government throughout the U.S., and in many other countries throughout the world, to enhance economic opportunities for agricultural producers and rural communities, to protect the nation's food supply, to improve nutrition and health, and to protect the nation's natural resources and environment. Energy and water programs are critical components of the USDA. Agriculture in the U.S. is both a major consumer and producer of energy, with crops, forests and livestock requiring energy use for all aspects of production in the field, transport and processing, and conversely, the use of biofuels as a growing source of energy throughout the country. Irrigation is the largest user of freshwater in the U.S. and accounts for about 65 percent of total water withdrawals, excluding water used for thermoelectric power (Schaible 2004). Irrigation is critical in the U.S. as nearly half the value of all crops sold comes from the 16 percent of harvested cropland that is irrigated (Schaible 2004). Because energy and water are so critical for agriculture, the USDA strives to meet emerging issues by supporting the development and use of new technology for increased energy production and energy conservation, and by providing water supply information along with technical and financial assistance to improve the management decisions affecting both water quantity and quality. This paper provides a brief overview of the many energy and water programs managed in the USDA. The USDA was established on May 15, 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Department of Agriculture Organic Act into law. In addition to establishing this department, 1862 also saw the Homestead Act approved; the Act opened new lands for settlement and provided 160 acres of public lands to heads of families and adults. Also important was the Morrill Land Grant College Act, which donated public lands for colleges focused on agriculture and mechanical arts. The fact that this legislation passed highlights the importance which President Lincoln and Congress placed on agriculture and its place in the American society, the economy, and the future. The USDA was elevated to cabinet status in 1889. USDA develops and executes policy dealing with various aspects of farming, agricultural programs and activities, and food production, distribution, and safety. In addition, the department oversees research, assistance to rural communities, conservation and protection of natural resources, and global trade. Most funding in USDA is authorized through legislation known as the Farm Bill, which is renewed by Congress every five years, and covers the approximately 300 USDA programs. The 15 major titles of the 2008 Farm Bill, entitled the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, were enacted into law in June 2008. Included are the administrative and funding authorities for programs that cover income and commodity price support, farm credit, and risk management; conservation through land retirement, stewardship of land and water resources, and farmland protection; food assistance and agricultural development efforts abroad and promotion of international access to American farm products; food stamps, domestic food distribution, and nutrition initiatives; rural community and economic development initiatives, including regional development, housing, business support, renewable energy and energy efficiency, electrification, water and waste facilities, and access to telecommunications and broadband technology; research on critical areas of the agricultural and food sector; accessibility and sustainability of forests; encouraging production and use of agricultural and rural renewable energy sources; and initiatives for attracting and retaining beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers (USDA Farm Policy Team 2008). Within the 2008 Farm Bill, there are a number of Renewable Energy provisions. These include provisions for a Biobased Market Program, Biorefinery Assistance Program, Repowering Assistance, Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels, Biodiesel Fuel Education Program, Rural Energy for America Program, Biomass Research and Development Initiative, Rural Energy Self-Sufficient Initiative, Feedstock Flexibility Program for Bioenergy Producers, Biomass Crop Assistance Program, Forest Biomass for Energy, and Community Wood Energy Program. These programs illustrate how USDA supports the development of innovative and renewable energy production and use in the U.S. Within USDA there are 17 different agencies that focus on specific missions for supporting agricultural activities. The main focus of these agencies were obtained from their website and are listed in the references, below, along with the Internet link for users to access more information about the numerous and different functions of the agencies. The Agricultural Marketing Service is responsible for developing quality grade standards for agricultural commodities, administering marketing regulatory programs, marketing agreements and orders, and making food purchases for USDA food assistance programs (United States Department of Agriculture 2009a). The Agricultural Research Service is USDA's chief scientific research agency. Its job is finding solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day, from field to table. The Service is a leader in bioenergy research and the national program on Bioenergy and Energy Alternatives is expected to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil, improve the environment by developing alternative energy sources, and increase production of biofuels (United States Department of Agriculture 2009b). “Protecting American agriculture” is the basic charge of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that provides leadership in ensuring the health and care of animals and plants. The agency improves agricultural productivity and competitiveness and contributes to the national economy and the public health (United States Department of Agriculture 2009c). The USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion works to improve the health and well-being of Americans by developing and promoting dietary guidance that links scientific research to the nutrition needs of consumers (United States Department of Agriculture 2009d). The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) provides federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs. This investment in science helps solve critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future. With 60 identified program areas, CSREES collaborates with many partner organizations and institutions, namely the Land-Grant University System, to advance knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities (United States Department of Agriculture 2009e). The Economic Research Service is a primary source of economic information and research in the USDA. ERS conducts research programs to inform public and private decision making on economic and policy issues involving food, farming, natural resources, and rural development (United States Department of Agriculture 2009f). The Farm Service Agency (FSA) administers and manages farm commodity, credit, conservation, disaster and loan programs as laid out by Congress through a network of Federal, state and county offices. These programs are designed to improve the economic stability of the agricultural industry and to help farmers adjust production to meet demand. Economically, the desired result of these programs is a steady price range for agricultural commodities for both farmers and consumers (United States Department of Agriculture 2009g). The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) administers the food and nutrition assistance programs. FNS provides children and needy families with better access to food and a more healthful diet through its programs and nutrition education efforts (United States Department of Agriculture 2009h). The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the public health agency in USDA responsible for ensuring that the nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged, as required by the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act (United States Department of Agriculture 2009i). The Foreign Agricultural Service works to improve foreign market access for U.S. products, build new markets, improve the competitive position of U.S. agriculture in the global marketplace, and provide food aid and technical assistance to foreign countries (United States Department of Agriculture 2009j). The Forest Service administers programs for applying sound conservation and utilization practices to natural resources of the national forests and national grasslands, for promoting these practices on all forest lands through cooperation with states and private landowners, and for carrying out extensive forest and range research (United States Department of Agriculture 2009k). The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration facilitates the marketing of livestock, poultry, meat, cereals, oilseeds, and related agricultural products and promotes fair and competitive trading practices for the overall benefit of consumers and American agriculture (United States Department of Agriculture 2009l). USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service provides timely, accurate, and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture. It conducts hundreds of surveys every year and prepares reports covering virtually every aspect of U.S. agriculture. Production and supplies of food and fiber, prices paid and received by farmers, farm labor and wages, farm finances, chemical use, and changes in the demographics of U.S. producers are only a few examples (United States Department of Agriculture 2009m). Since 1935, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (originally called the Soil Conservation Service, SCS) has provided leadership in a partnership effort to help America's private land owners and managers conserve their soil, water, and other natural resources. The Service employees provide technical assistance based on sound science and suited to customers' specific needs. The Natural Resources Conservation Service oversees and coordinates the cooperative Snow Survey Program that provides the main source of mountainous climatic and snow data. This data is used to efficiently predict water supplies that are used by many water and energy managers in the U.S. to meet the numerous and often competing demands on this limited resource (United States Department of Agriculture 2009n). The Risk Management Agency promotes, supports, and regulates sound risk management solutions to preserve and strengthen the economic stability of America's agricultural producers by providing crop insurance to American producers, developing and the premium rate, administering premium and expense subsidy, approving and supporting products, and reinsuring companies (United States Department of Agriculture 2009o). USDA Rural Development's mission is to help individuals, communities, and businesses obtain the financial and technical assistance needed to increase economic opportunity and improve the quality of rural life. Through more than 40 programs, Rural Development works to make sure that rural citizens can participate fully in the global economy by funding needed infrastructure and development. Rural Development programs support the construction and modernization of essential public facilities and services such as water and sewer systems, housing, health clinics, emergency service facilities, response vehicles and electric and telecommunications service. It promotes economic development by guaranteeing loans to businesses through banks and community-managed lending pools, provides funds for micro-entrepreneurs, and funds renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. It also funds technical assistance programs to support formation of cooperatives and the establishment of small businesses (United States Department of Agriculture 2009p). Many USDA agencies deal with some aspect of energy and water research or have operational responsibilities. In fact, the Forest Service was established by the Transform Act of 1905 in order to protect the nation's water and timber resources. Today, the Forest Service manages the majority of the western watersheds where a large percent of the western water supply falls as snow, accumulates and melts providing the annual streamflow to meet numerous energy and water needs in the populated valleys. USDA energy programs and initiatives enable farmers, rural residents, and the nation to better respond to energy-related issues and opportunities. The range of activities include research and development, outreach and education, technical and financial assistance, energy efficient farming techniques, rural electrification and infrastructure loans, wind farms, ethanol plants, biorefinery support, funding for small hydroelectric projects, and biochemical and genomics research (United States Department of Agriculture 2009q). Some of the programs dealing with energy and water within specific agencies are listed in Table 1. Additional information is available at the USDA Energy web page along with a matrix to view various programs covered by the many agencies within USDA. Agriculture is a large user of electricity and water. The ability to conserve energy and water while producing food and fiber has broad impacts on the nation. For these reasons, USDA is heavily involved with energy use and with maintaining and enhancing the quality and quantity of water available for multiple uses. The wide variety of water and energy activities within the USDA are reflective of the broad mission of the Department. The 100,000 employees of USDA touch the lives of every American every day. Follow the agency's internet web pages to learn more about the work that the United States Department of Agriculture is accomplishing today to meet tomorrow's energy and water concerns. Ron Abramovich is the Water Supply Specialist for the Idaho Snow Survey Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA-NRCS, in Boise, Idaho. Idaho NRCS oversees the coordination and collection of snow survey data and provides snowmelt streamflow water supply forecasts. Ron provides current information to numerous public and private users to keep them aware of Idaho's ever changing snowpack and water supply conditions. He can be contacted at Ron.Abramovich@id.usda.gov. Michael Strobel is the Director of the National Water and Climate Center (NWCC), USDA-NRCS, in Portland, Oregon. NWCC oversees the Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program that operates over 780 SNOTEL stations in the western US and provides water supply forecasts. NWCC also oversees the Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) and a wide range of climate services for NRCS and its partners. He can be contacted at michael.strobel@por.usda.gov.

What Are the New Nutrition Standards for the Child and Adult Care Food Program?

I. INTRODUCTION The U.S. sugar program guarantees sugar producers a minimum price for their sugar through a combination of import quotas and restrictions on domestic marketing. The minimum price is called the loan rate because sugar producers can use sugar as collateral for a loan from the Commodity Credit Corporation, a federal corporation in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The amount of the loan equals the loan rate multiplied by the quantity of sugar put up as collateral. The loan is a non-recourse loan because the USDA has no recourse to collect payment other than to take ownership of the collateral sugar, which is either refined or raw sugar. If domestic production plus imports exceed domestic consumption at the loan rate, then surplus sugar may be absorbed by the USDA through purchasing at the open market. Otherwise, the sugar price will fall below the loan rate and sugar will flow to the USDA through forfeiture of collateral sugar. Whichever way the USDA accumulates surplus sugar, it will incur program costs to acquire and store surplus sugar. In recent history, the USDA had to acquire and then subsequently dispose of surplus sugar on several occasions. Specifically, in 2000, it entered the sugar market for the first time since 1986 to purchase sugar in an attempt to maintain sugar prices. It also accumulated sugar through loan forfeitures. However, the USDA managed to clear its sugar inventories the following years and succeeded in operating the sugar program at no net cost to taxpayers for the period covered by the last farm bill (2002-2007). Most of the sugar in the USDA inventory was either released through the payment-in-kind (PIK) program or sold to storing warehouse operators. Under the PIK program, sugar producers could reduce their sugar production in return for payment, which was in the form of sugar in government inventory. Because the USDA is required to operate the sugar program at no taxpayer cost, it tries to avoid acquiring sugar. Cuts in future marketing allotments or import quotas have been used to manage domestic sugar supply to support prices at the loan rates. But the ability to restrict imports is becoming more difficult due to trade liberalization agreements that came into effect recently or will become effective in the near future. Notably, beginning in January 2008, Mexico is allowed to export sugar to the United States without restriction. Mexico has the potential to produce exportable sugar, so many feel that the ability to support U.S. sugar prices above world price levels is in jeopardy. (1) In response to these fears Congress created the Feedstock Flexibility Program in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (the 2008 farm bill). This program, more commonly known as the sugar-to-ethanol program, is designed to divert surplus sugar from food markets into fuel markets by having the USDA sell its sugar to ethanol producers through competitive procedures. In addition to this program, the farm bill authorizes the USDA to sell surplus sugar to sugar producers who agree to reduce their production by the amount of sale. (2) However, the law does not require the USDA to exercise this authority. The extent to which the domestic sugar industry can be protected from increased import competition depends on the price that the USDA will receive for its surplus sugar and the target of a sugar program operating at no net cost to taxpayers. If the willingness to pay (WTP) for sugar is significantly less than the loan rate, then either taxpayers will have to cover the difference or the U.S. sugar program will have to be modified. The lawmakers who championed the sugar-to-ethanol program insisted that it would reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil and help protect against imported sugar. The skeptics, including the previous Bush administration, claimed that only at a huge loss could the surplus sugar be sold to ethanol facilities. The objective of this paper is to provide insight into the WTP for surplus sugar by sugar and ethanol producers, that is, the maximum price that these producers are willing to bid for surplus sugar. …

The United States (U.S.) Department of Agriculture (USDA)-administered Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) made substantial changes in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. These changes highlight the need to identify the digital literacy skills and capacities of SNAP adults to purchase healthy groceries online. We conducted a scoping review of four electronic databases, Google and Google Scholar to identify studies that measured food and nutrition literacy outcomes for U.S. adults. We applied a multi-dimensional digital food and nutrition literacy (MDFNL) model to assess six literacy levels and components. Of 18 studies published from 2006–2021, all measured functional and interactive literacy but no study measured communicative, critical, translational, or digital literacy. Six studies examined SNAP or SNAP-Education outcomes. Adults with higher food or nutrition literacy scores had better cognitive, behavioral, food security and health outcomes. We suggest how these findings may inform research, policies, and actions to strengthen the multi-dimensional literacy skills of SNAP participants and SNAP-eligible adults to support healthy purchases in the online food retail ecosystem.

Animal GeneticsVolume 36, Issue 2 p. 168-168 Linkage mapping of the porcine chromogranin B (CHGB) gene to chromosome 171 J. G. Kim, J. G. Kim US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and US Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE, USA. Present address: Department of Pathology, LSU Health Science Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USASearch for more papers by this authorD. Nonneman, D. Nonneman US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and US Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE, USA. Present address: Department of Pathology, LSU Health Science Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USASearch for more papers by this authorJ. L. Vallet, J. L. Vallet US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and US Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE, USA. Present address: Department of Pathology, LSU Health Science Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USASearch for more papers by this authorG. A. Rohrer, G. A. Rohrer US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and US Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE, USA. Present address: Department of Pathology, LSU Health Science Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USASearch for more papers by this authorR. K. Christenson, R. K. Christenson US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and US Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE, USA. Present address: Department of Pathology, LSU Health Science Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USASearch for more papers by this author J. G. Kim, J. G. Kim US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and US Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE, USA. Present address: Department of Pathology, LSU Health Science Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USASearch for more papers by this authorD. Nonneman, D. Nonneman US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and US Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE, USA. Present address: Department of Pathology, LSU Health Science Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USASearch for more papers by this authorJ. L. Vallet, J. L. Vallet US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and US Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE, USA. Present address: Department of Pathology, LSU Health Science Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USASearch for more papers by this authorG. A. Rohrer, G. A. Rohrer US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and US Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE, USA. Present address: Department of Pathology, LSU Health Science Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USASearch for more papers by this authorR. K. Christenson, R. K. Christenson US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and US Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE, USA. Present address: Department of Pathology, LSU Health Science Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USASearch for more papers by this author First published: 31 March 2005 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2052.2005.01241.x Ronald K. Christenson ([email protected]) 1 Mention of trade names or commercial products in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the US Department of Agriculture. Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume36, Issue2April 2005Pages 168-168 RelatedInformation

Rapid climate change over the coming century will impact suitable habitat for many tree species. In response to these changes in climate, areas that become unsuitable will see higher mortality and lower growth and recruitment. Therefore, early detection of demographic trends is critical for effective forest management. Recent 10-year remeasurement data from the United States (US) Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program’s national annual inventory of forest land provides an ideal data set for analyzing such trends over large areas. However, failure to distinguish between areas of future habitat contraction and expansion or persistence when estimating demographic trends may mask species’ shifts. We used remeasurement data to compare observed tree demographic rates with projected impacts of climate change for five important tree species in the Pacific Northwest. Projected impacts were based on spatial-Bayesian hierarchical models of species distributions, which were used to project areas where habitat would persist (remain climatically suitable), expand (become suitable), or contract (become unsuitable) under four future climate scenarios for the 2080s. We compared estimates of mortality and net-growth between these areas of shifting suitability and a naïve division of habitat based on elevation and latitude. Within these regions, we assessed the sustainability of mortality and determined that observational data suggest that climate change impacts were already being felt in some areas by some species. While there is an extensive literature on bioclimatic species distribution models, this work demonstrates they can be adapted to the practical problem of detecting early climate-related trends using national forest inventory data. Of the species examined, California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) had the most notable instances of observed data suggesting population declines in the core of its current range.

Event Abstract Back to Event A transdisciplinary framework for predictive disease ecology based on cross-scale interactions: Insights from long-term data Debra P. Peters1, N D. Burruss2, Luis L. Rodriguez3, D S. McVey4, Emile H. Elias5, Angela M. Pelzel-McCluskey6, Justin D. Derner7, Steven J. Pauszek3, Heather M. Savoy1*, Dannele E. Peck7, 8, Barbara Drolet4, Lee Cohnstaedt4, Rachel Palinski3 and John M. Humphreys5* 1 USDA ARS Jornada Experimental Range, United States 2 New Mexico State University, United States 3 Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, United States 4 Arthropod-borne Animal Diseases Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, United States 5 Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, United States 6 USDA APHIS Veterinary Services, United States 7 Rangeland Resources and Systems Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, United States 8 USDA Northern Plains Climate Hub, United States The availability of long-term environmental data for many variables at multiple scales across large spatial extents provides opportunities for novel questions to be addressed as well as new insights into unresolved questions. These questions can pertain to regional- to continental-scale dynamics that affect animal and human health, and are driven by interactions among processes occurring at multiple spatial and temporal scales. We are developing a strategic framework based on pattern-process integration and interactions across scales with human guided-machine learning to identify, harmonize, analyze, and interpret big data involving a variety of variables from online and local sources to meet these challenges. We illustrate our framework with questions related to drivers of spatial and temporal patterns in the invasion by vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), a vector-borne, zoonotic RNA virus that affected > 1500 livestock premises from 2004-2016 across 10 states in the western US. In addition to incidence and phylogenetic data, we obtained online data for 9 environmental drivers and host density data. For each driver, we selected variables for analysis based on hypothesized relationships with disease processes. The geo-referenced maps of the >50 variables were harmonized in time and space. Multivariate analyses of the resulting data cube showed that the initial incursion of VSV from Mexico into the southwestern US in 2 separate years (2004, 2014) occurred under similar conditions (low surface water in summer and fall, above-average summer vegetation, below-average winter precipitation) that were different from conditions when VSV expanded throughout the 10-state region (2005, 2015: below-average summer temperatures on locations containing soils with high water holding capacity). Watershed-based analyses showed that VS incidents were distributed near streams with 72% located within 1 km of stream habitat. All first incidents (n = 35) occurred following peak annual streamflow, with 89% of these occurring after streams returned to baseflow. Our big data-model integration framework is being applied to other disease systems that are temporally variable and spatially heterogeneous across large spatial extents, e.g. West Nile Virus in the conterminous US. Acknowledgements This work was supported by USDA-ARS CRIS Projects at the Jornada Experimental Range (#6235-11210-007), Plum Island Animal Disease Center (Project No. 8064-32000-058-00D), Center for Grain and Animal Health Research (#8064-32000-058-00D, #3020-32000-008-00D), and the Rangeland Resources and Systems Research Unit (#3012- 21610-001-00D). Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation to NMSU for the Jornada Basin Long Term Ecological Research Program (DEB 12-35828) and DEB 14-40166. References Elias, E., D.S. McVey, D. P.C. Peters, J. D. Derner, A. Pelzel-McCluskey, T.S. Schrader, and L. Rodriguez. 2019. Contributions of hydrology to Vesicular Stomatitis virus emergence in the western USA. Ecosystems 22: 416-433. Peters, D.P.C., N.D. Burruss, L.L. Rodriguez, D.S. McVey, E.H. Elias, A. M. Pelzel-McCluskey, J.D. Derner, T.S. Schrader, J. Yao, S. J. Pauszek, J. Lombard, S. R. Archer, B. T. Bestelmeyer, D. M. Browning, et al. 2018. An integrated view of complex landscapes: a big data-model integration approach to transdisciplinary science. BioScience 68: 653-669. Keywords: big data, transdisciplinarity, Vector-borne disease, continental-scale dynamics, Cross-scale interactions Conference: GeoVet 2019. Novel spatio-temporal approaches in the era of Big Data, Davis, United States, 8 Oct - 10 Oct, 2019. Presentation Type: Poster-no session Topic: Spatial data sources, open data, accessibility and information integration Citation: Peters DP, Burruss ND, Rodriguez LL, McVey DS, Elias EH, Pelzel-McCluskey AM, Derner JD, Pauszek SJ, Savoy HM, Peck DE, Drolet B, Cohnstaedt L, Palinski R and Humphreys JM (2019). A transdisciplinary framework for predictive disease ecology based on cross-scale interactions: Insights from long-term data. Front. Vet. Sci. Conference Abstract: GeoVet 2019. Novel spatio-temporal approaches in the era of Big Data. doi: 10.3389/conf.fvets.2019.05.00025 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 20 Jun 2019; Published Online: 27 Sep 2019. * Correspondence: Mx. Heather M Savoy, USDA ARS Jornada Experimental Range, Las Cruces, NM, United States, heather.savoy@usda.gov Mx. John M Humphreys, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington D.C., United States, jmh09r@my.fsu.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Debra P Peters N D Burruss Luis L Rodriguez D S McVey Emile H Elias Angela M Pelzel-McCluskey Justin D Derner Steven J Pauszek Heather M Savoy Dannele E Peck Barbara Drolet Lee Cohnstaedt Rachel Palinski John M Humphreys Google Debra P Peters N D Burruss Luis L Rodriguez D S McVey Emile H Elias Angela M Pelzel-McCluskey Justin D Derner Steven J Pauszek Heather M Savoy Dannele E Peck Barbara Drolet Lee Cohnstaedt Rachel Palinski John M Humphreys Google Scholar Debra P Peters N D Burruss Luis L Rodriguez D S McVey Emile H Elias Angela M Pelzel-McCluskey Justin D Derner Steven J Pauszek Heather M Savoy Dannele E Peck Barbara Drolet Lee Cohnstaedt Rachel Palinski John M Humphreys PubMed Debra P Peters N D Burruss Luis L Rodriguez D S McVey Emile H Elias Angela M Pelzel-McCluskey Justin D Derner Steven J Pauszek Heather M Savoy Dannele E Peck Barbara Drolet Lee Cohnstaedt Rachel Palinski John M Humphreys Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. 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