East-central Iowa Research Articles

Estimating erosion vulnerability within agricultural fields by downscaling the Daily Erosion Project (DEP): the OFEtool

AbstractAgriculture continues to be one of the most important sources of nonpoint source pollution to surface water bodies. Consequently, it is critical to identify and prioritize high‐contributing agricultural fields and sub‐field areas for reducing soil erosion and sediment delivery by implementing best management practices (BMPs). Current erosion risk assessment tools are either complex modelling approaches or rely on a simplified reality and generalized assumption. The Daily Erosion Project (DEP) is a daily estimator of precipitation, hillslope runoff, detachment and soil loss covering ~630 000 km2 across the Midwest United States. These estimations are reported daily and publicly at the hydrologic unit code 12 watershed resolution (approximately 100 km2). The main objective of this study was to develop a new tool (named Overland Flow Element tool [OFEtool]) that downscales the watershed scale of DEP to estimate average runoff and soil displacement within a field, helping to locate erosive hotspots at multiple scales. We also demonstrated the applicability of OFEtool in Bennet Creek‐Sugar Creek in East Central Iowa (the United States) and compared its results with other erosion vulnerability tools such as the Soil Vulnerability Index for Cultivated Cropland (SVI‐cc) and a GIS‐based Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). The same erosion risk classes and ranges (low, moderate, moderately high and high) were implemented for all indexes. The advantages of the OFEtool compared to the SVI‐cc and RUSLE models are related to the use of an event‐based modelling approach, such as DEP, with updated soil loss estimates based on temporal changes in climate inputs and land use and management. The OFEtool uses a 6‐year time frame and a more up‐to‐date field inputs, while RUSLE provides a long‐term average and SVI‐cc only considers soil and topographical factors for risk assessment. Results indicated that the spatial distribution of vulnerable fields (and parts of the fields) followed a similar trend as other tested indices. However, the risk level associated with each tool differed (SVI‐cc > RUSLE > OFEtool). These differences could arise from intrinsic disparities within the tools (inputs, timing, processes considered, assumptions). While currently limited to the DEP domain and relying on the DEP random sampling scheme, further research is warranted to validate the tool at other Midwest locations and ensure it captures the watershed's landscape variability (combination of terrain, soil, land use and management) required to identifying critical erosion hotspots.

Conulariid soft parts replicated in silica from the Scotch Grove Formation (lower Middle Silurian) of east-central Iowa

AbstractTwo specimens of Metaconularia manni (Roy, 1935) from the lower Middle Silurian Scotch Grove Formation (eastern Iowa) exhibit well-defined, relict soft parts replicated in silica. One of these specimens bears phosphatic periderm, whereas the other specimen is a mold. Present within the erect, undistorted apical region of the specimen preserving periderm, on opposite sides of the peridermal cavity, are two small, elongate masses of silica located near the midlines of two of the four faces. Present in the central portion of the other specimen, at a somewhat greater distance from the apex, are five pairs of hollow, elongate, keeled pouch-like bodies (hereafter pouches), the long axes of which converge on the center of the fossil. Each pair of pouches is associated with a short, narrow, gently curved or broadly U-shaped tube, also composed of silica. Additionally, two of the pouch/tube combinations are associated with a pair of rectilinear furrows that correspond to the paired internal carinae that straddled the conulariid's facial midlines. We interpret the paired pouches and short tubes in the moldic specimen as relic conulariid soft parts homologous, respectively, to the interradial gonads and retractor muscles of extant, stauromedusan and polypoid scyphozoan cnidarians. Unlike most conulariids, which exhibit four faces, this individual had five faces, an aberrant morphology known in one other conulariid. The two small masses in the other specimen are more difficult to interpret, but they, too, could be relic gonads or longitudinal muscles. These interpretations suggest that, as in certain extant scyphozoans, at least one conulariid lost the free-living, sexual medusoid life phase.

Conulariid soft parts replicated in silica from the Scotch Grove Formation (lower Middle Silurian) of east-central Iowa

Conulariid soft parts replicated in silica from the Scotch Grove Formation (lower Middle Silurian) of east-central Iowa

Integrated carbon isotope and conodont biochemostratigraphy of the Silurian (Aeronian – Telychian) of the East-Central Iowa Basin, Iowa, USA

Integrated carbon isotope and conodont biochemostratigraphy of the Silurian (Aeronian – Telychian) of the East-Central Iowa Basin, Iowa, USA

Telychian (Llandovery, Silurian) conodonts from the LaPorte City Formation of eastern Iowa, USA (East-Central Iowa Basin) and their implications for global Telychian conodont biostratigraphic correlation

Telychian (Llandovery, Silurian) conodonts from the LaPorte City Formation of eastern Iowa, USA (East-Central Iowa Basin) and their implications for global Telychian conodont biostratigraphic correlation

Spatial and temporal dimensions of agricultural land use changes, 2001–2012, East-Central Iowa

In central regions of the U. S. Corn Belt, agricultural production since 2001 has changed in response to federal policies implemented to encourage production of biofuels. Such changes have influenced agricultural practices, land uses, and their spatial character. This study examines site-specific temporal and spatial patterns of agricultural land use dynamics from 2001 to 2012 in a nine-county region of East-Central Iowa using the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service Cropland Data Layer. Results indicate that increases in corn production in response to US biofuel policies and high grain prices have been achieved mainly by altering crop rotation patterns. These changes may be correlated with market forces, although variations suggest a multiplicity of causes. This study also examines spatial relationships between cultivated fields and crop rotation practices with respect to underlying soils and terrain. Intensity of cultivated land use depends on topographic and pedologic properties, although motivations and constraints perceived by producers and managers as they plan their use of landscapes are important. The most intensively cultivated lands have shallower slopes and fewer pedologic limitations than others, and corn was planted in higher quality soil while soybeans were moved to lesser quality soils. Declining acreage in the Conservation Reserve Program since 2007 indicates that they may be used for other crops displaced by corn.

Interview with John R. Wunder

Interview with John R. Wunder Jon K. Lauck (bio) In May 2014 the historian John R. Wunder, who spent the largest part of his career at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, took time out from his current projects to discuss his career in general, and more particularly, his interest in regional history, including the history of the Plains and the Midwest. Wunder, born in Iowa, earned his ba and law degrees at the University of Iowa before earning his PhD in history under the guidance of Vernon Carstensen at the University of Washington. John taught at several universities around the United States—in the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, the southern Great Plains, and the Deep South. Eventually, Wunder became the director of the Center for Great Plains Studies and a professor of history at the University of Nebraska. He also served as associate dean of the University of Nebraska’s College of Arts and Sciences and president of the Western History Association and the Mari Sandoz Heritage Society. He is the author or editor of nineteen books and over fifty academic articles. Wunder retired from the University of Nebraska in August 2011. He still lives in Lincoln, where he continues his research and writing. Where were you born? I was born in a hospital in Vinton, Iowa, a small county seat town in east central Iowa on January 7, 1945, to Mary (Remley) Wunder and Arnold Wunder. My middle name was my mother’s maiden name. I spent the first eighteen years of my life in Dysart, Iowa, which is a town of eight hundred about fifteen miles west of Vinton. What did your parents do for a living? My mother graduated from the University of Iowa and was a high school social studies teacher. She taught in several Iowa communities before she married my father, but her career was interrupted by my birth and then shortly thereafter by her contracting the awful disease multiple sclerosis which eventually [End Page 289] paralyzed her. My father graduated from Dysart High School; he worked first as a mechanic in a local gas station and then he had his own business supplying fuel oil and petroleum products to farmers and local businesses and homes. Where did you go to college and what did you study? I went to Iowa as a major in mathematics. We had had a wonderful high school math teacher who was a spinster and tough as nails. She taught us algebra, and trigonometry, geometry, and advanced algebra, but at Iowa I soon learned in my geometry class I just didn’t have a theoretical mathematics brain. At the end of my first semester and the beginning of the second, I first changed my major to accounting. That lasted one week. Instead I became a history major because my Western Civilization classes both semesters convinced me that history was to be my life’s work. I majored in history and political science graduating with a ba in 1967. I was captivated by the history of the American West classes (two courses for an entire academic year) taught by Professor Malcolm Rohrbough. I then took a fellowship to study the American West with Professor Rohrbough’s major professor, who was then at the University of Washington, Professor Vernon Carstensen.1 Rohrbough joked he was sending a son to study with his grandfather. [In 1974, after earning my PhD, I] received a position as a visiting assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University. There I taught the American survey, American West, and American legal history. If I recall correctly, you also encountered Christopher Lasch during your time at Iowa.2 Is that correct? Yes, he often would entertain an informal group of students at the student union. I remember once (probably spring of 1968) when tension was very high on campus with Vietnam demonstrations, I sat on the ballroom floor along with a hundred students as Lasch, also sitting on the floor, talked at length about historic American wars and compared them to Vietnam. He was quite inspirational. At some point, his departure that year from Iowa was not a happy one for him or the history department. It has been noted...

Identification of Helicobacter suis in pig-producing regions of the United States

Objectives: To develop a non-culture-based method to determine levels of Helicobacter suis infection in porcine stomachs and to test the method in a sample of pigs from a variety of regions in the United States. Materials and methods: A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was developed to quantitate total Helicobacter generic DNA and Helicobacter suis species-specific DNA in pig stomachs. Primers were derived from 16s ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences, selected on the basis of relative conservation and divergence of sequences across the various Helicobacter species. The assay was standardized using cloned 16s rRNA sequences and was initially tested with DNA isolated from cultured H suis. Gastric mucosal scrapings were collected from pigs in three geographic regions of the United States, including the North (Minnesota and Michigan), East Central (Iowa), and South (Oklahoma and North Carolina). Results: Of a total of 118 pigs tested, approximately half (55.1%; 95% CI, 46.1%-63.8%) were positive for H suis DNA. Helicobacter suis DNA was detected in pigs from all states tested. Implications: Helicobacter suis is present in US pigs and may be relevant to pig health and production. This quantitative PCR assay will facilitate further study of H suis in pigs, including potential therapeutic and prophylactic interventions.

Soil disturbances increase songbird use of monotypic re-established Grasslands

Extensive conversion of natural areas for agricultural production has had many consequences, including reduced habitat for nesting birds. Increasing focus on habitat re-establishment has led to the establishment of patches of perennial herbaceous vegetation in these agricultural landscapes, although these often consist of monotypic grass fields with little vegetation diversity. In 2001 and 2002, we assessed songbird responses to mowing followed by a soil disturbance (disking) meant to increase vegetation diversity and abundance of arthropod food resources in conservation easements in East-central Iowa, USA. We randomly assigned fields to disking and control treatments and collected data on breeding bird density and species richness in these habitats before and after treatments were applied. Disking increased density of all species combined, several individual species including dickcissel (Spiza americana; a declining species of concern), and overall conservation value of bird communities in treated fields. Total bird density increased with disking when the size of disked area was relatively small, and dickcissels and American goldfinches (Spinus tristis) responded positively and negatively to block-shaped treatments, respectively. Most species either showed no response or increased in density with disking. Changes associated with disking treatments were likely related to changes in both vegetation structure and increased abundance and biomass of arthropod food resources. Disking appears to be an effective management practice for maintaining herbaceous habitats, increasing vegetation diversity and food availability for insectivorous birds, and increasing habitat quality for priority bird species. Given the increasing availability of monotypic grasslands in agricultural landscapes, this practice may provide a relatively inexpensive way to improve re-established habitats. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.

Effects of planting method and seed mix richness on the early stages of tallgrass prairie restoration

Tallgrass prairie restoration has been practiced for more than 75years, yet few studies have systematically tested restoration methods over large geographic regions with the intent of refining methodology. In this study, we used three planting methods (dormant-season broadcast, growing-season broadcast and growing-season drill) fully crossed with three levels of seed species richness (10, 20, and 34 spp). We replicated the study on nine former agricultural fields located from east-central Iowa (Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge) to northwestern Minnesota (Litchfield, Fergus Falls and Morris Wetland Management Districts), USA, within the northern tallgrass prairie biome. Objectives were to evaluate the relative influences of planting method, seed mix richness, and their interactions, on (1) planted cover (both total and by guild) and richness, (2) exotic species cover, and (3) non-planted native species cover. Optimal techniques varied between the two study areas: the dormant broadcast method produced greater cover of planted species at the Minnesota sites and the growing-season drill method produced greater cover of planted species at Iowa sites. The dormant broadcast method strongly favored establishment of perennial forbs while the growing-season drill favored warm-season grasses. Although increasing richness of the seed mix produced greater planted species richness, this did not result in greater resistance to exotic invasion. We conclude that, if planting during the growing season, drilling seed is preferable to broadcasting, but if the choice is between broadcasting seed in the dormant or growing season, the dormant season is preferred.

Short-term Effects of Burning and Disking on Songbird Use of Floodplain Conservation Easements

Extensive conversion of Midwestern riparian areas for agricultural production has had many consequences including reduced habitat for nesting birds. However, more than 120,000 ha of riparian habitat have been restored in this region through USDA conservation programs. In 2001 and 2002, we assessed songbird responses to burning and disking for management of conservation easements in east-central Iowa. We randomly assigned herbaceous riparian fields to burning and disking treatments and collected data on density and species richness of songbirds in these habitats. Total density of grassland and wetland species and red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) were reduced by burning in the first and second breeding seasons after burning; common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) density decreased with burning only in the first season. Disking led to increased density of grassland and wetland birds and greater overall avian conservation value on treated relative to untreated fields in the year after treatment. Changes associated with burning and disking treatments were likely related to changes in both vegetation structure and abundance of arthropod food resources. Despite decreased bird densities with burning, fire is a necessary management tool to control woody vegetation. Overall, both burning and disking appear to be effective management practices for maintaining herbaceous riparian habitats for grassland birds.

Micromorphology of a Late Woodland Cave Site, East-Central Iowa

AbstractThis article discusses a micromorphological investigation conducted at Bogus Cave (13JN23), a Late Woodland occupation in Jones County, Iowa. Micromorphology–the study of undisturbed soil and sediment in thin section–was used to evaluate, and differentiate between, natural and cultural processes evidenced within the cave sediments. Twenty-two thin sections were prepared from samples collected from test units excavated in the front room of the cave, the principal site of human occupation. The cultural material was confined to a 55-cm-thick surface layer that rests on an accumulation of angular to subangular boulder-size dolostone blocks, the result of one or more episodes of pre-Holocene ceiling collapse. The thin sections revealed an accumulation of exogenous mineral grains, chert microdebitage, microvertebrate remains, and charcoal fragments in an organic-rich clay matrix. The absence of microstratification in the samples collected from the artifact-bearing stratum supports previous macroscopic e...

Pollen, plant macrofossils and microvertebrates from mid-Holocene alluvium in east-central Iowa, USA: Comparative taphonomy and paleoecology

Pollen, plant macrofossils, and micromammals are commonly used in paleoecological interpretations, but rarely are found associated because of distinctly separate taphonomic pathways into the fossil record. The Lilienthal local biota, dating between 5920 ± 60 and 6300 ± 80 14C B.P., is a rare exception as the site contains all three proxies juxtaposed in alluvium, impounded upstream from a fossil log near the headwaters of Mud Creek, east-central Iowa, U.S.A. A variety of taphonomic processes can strongly influence the composition of fossil assemblages. This paper compares the taphonomic framework for each fossil group, interprets the paleoecologic signal from each, and then compares the three interpretations. Pollen and plant macrofossils are found in organic silts, indicating deposition in a quiet water environment. Microvertebrates ordinarily occur in sand-sized sediments and show evidence of fluvial transport. Despite these different pathways, all Lilienthal assemblages indicate that a largely closed mesic deciduous forest grew along Mud Creek in mid-Holocene time. Therefore, a narrow north–south ecotone must have existed between the forest and tall-grass prairie biomes in eastern Iowa. This robust data set provides a detailed picture of the paleoecology and paleogeography of this past environment.

Measuring Edge Effects on Nest Predation in Forest Fragments: Do Finch and Quail Eggs Tell Different Stories?

Experiments assessing rates of avian nest predation often find that nests near forest edges are at high risk of predation, suggesting the importance of forest fragmentation in recent population declines of ground-nesting passerines. However, the use of quail (Coturnix spp.) eggs in nest predation experiments may confound conclusions about edge effects because only large-mouthed predators are able to consume these relatively large eggs, but both large and small-mouthed predators consume smaller passerine eggs. We directly compared predation rates on artificial nests baited with quail eggs or with zebra finch (Poephila guttata) eggs; the latter are similar in size to the eggs of many neotropical passerines. In 1998 and 1999 we placed 392 artificial ground nests at edge and interior locations in two east-central Iowa forest fragments. Predation on these nests varied with egg type (quail or finch) and location (edge or interior) and there was a significant interaction between egg type and location: predation on quail eggs was greater at edges than in the interior, whereas finch egg predation was high in both edge and interior locations. Based on tooth imprints in clay eggs, we determined that large-mouthed predators were six times more active at edges, whereas activity of small-mouthed nest predators was evenly distributed between edge and interior locations. We suggest that the use of only quail eggs can exaggerate edge effects and that finch eggs or clay eggs used in conjunction with quail eggs in artificial nests can be used to estimate relative predation rates by large- and small-mouthed predators.

Age and origin of authigenic K-feldspar in uppermost Precambrian rocks in the North American Midcontinent

Authigenic K-feldspar occurs widely in the North American Midcontinent in an alteration profile developed on uppermost Precambrian rocks. In the study areas of west-central Wisconsin and southeast Missouri, the alterationprofiles are kaolinitic and interpreted as former saprolite formed by weathering prior to deposition of Upper Cambrian sandstone. K-feldspar in granitic alteration profiles of west-central Wisconsin occurs either as coarse-grained red crystals and veins replacing kaolinite or as overgrowths and fine-grained crystals in pore space of partly altered granite. In a granitic profile of southeast Missouri, K-feldspar replaces primary feldspar and probably kaolinite. In a diabasic profile, K-feldspar is disseminated and forms veins in saprolite, and it replaces the outer 3-5 cm of core-stones. Dating was conducted with the 4 0 Ar/ 3 9 Ar method using incremental heating. Observed spectral types are plateaus (6), near plateaus (3), undulatory (14), and stair-step (5). Undulatory patterns are attributed chiefly to recoil, and integrated ages of these are usually within the error of plateau ages where present, indicating a balanced enrichment/depletion of 3 9 Ar due to recoil. Stair-step spectra are attributed to severe recoil. Plateau 4 0 Ar/ 3 9 Ar ages of 446-427 Ma (Late Ordovician and Silurian) were obtained from coarse-grained K-feldspar replacing kaolinite in Wisconsin, suggesting a duration of the alteration episode of ∼19 m.y. However, potentially accurate nonplateau age measurements (integrated and near-plateau ages) suggest that alteration continued for a considerable time thereafter, possibly to ca. 399-395 Ma (Early Devonian). Integrated 4 0 Ar/ 3 9 Ar ages of ca. 362 Ma (Late Devonian and/or Early Mississippian) were obtained from fine-grained K-feldspar. Plateau ages of ca. 450 (Late Ordovician) were obtained from K-feldspar of the diabase profile in Missouri; duration of K-feldspar alteration in this region was at least ∼16 m.y. and may have been as long as ∼52 m.y. The Late Devonian-Early Mississippian K-feldspar formed at temperatures of ∼100 °C from saline fluid averaging ∼10% NaCl equivalent and having a δ 1 8 O value of ∼3.5%. This brine may have originated from the Michigan Basin, East-Central Iowa Basin, and/or the Illinois Basin, coincident with the Acadian orogeny. The Middle Ordovician to Early Devonian dates of K-feldspar do not generally correspond in time with orogenic activity at the continental margin, and the mechanism(s) for forming the K-feldspar are uncertain. Fluid sources proposed for some or all of the K-feldspar include the Michigan Basin, Taconic mountains, Reelfoot Rift, Illinois Basin, and Midcontinent epeiric seas. Middle Ordovician K-feldspar of Missouri very likely formed at elevated temperatures, but evidence of fluid temperature is lacking for other pre-Late Devonian K-feldspar.

TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS EXPLAINING THE EXTENT OF AGRICULTURAL AWARENESS ACTIVITIES INTEGRATED INTO THE ELEMENTARY

The exploratory correlational-regression study investigated the extent that the variability in the number of agricultural awareness activities conducted by elementary teachers in east-central Iowa could be explained by selected teacher characteristics—degree of education, grade level, agricultural classes, agricultural experience, and perceptions toward integrating agriculture. A sample of 689 teachers was systematically drawn from the target population of 2,067 elementary teachers. A survey was conducted using a mailed questionnaire. Forty-five percent of the teachers (311/689) returned the questionnaire, but because some questionnaires were unusable, the data sample consisted of 281 questionnaires (41% response rate). The four teacher characteristics (Degree, Grade Level (K-2), Agricultural Classes, and Agricultural Experience) and the perception of integrating agriculture domain (integration perception) were entered into a stepwise, multiple linear regression model. The full model was significant (p = .032) excluding the independent variable—degree. The variables of integration perception, grade level (K-2), agricultural classes, and agricultural experience explained 20% of the variance in the number of agricultural awareness activities conducted. According to Cohen (1988), this relationship (r2 = .20) had a large effect size. Unique variance was 7.8% for integration perception, 4.0% for grade level (K-2), 2.4% for agricultural classes, and 1.4% for agricultural experience.

Rummells-Maske Revisited: A Fluted Point Cache from East Central Iowa

The Rummells-Maske site, 13CD15, is a fluted point cache discovered in 1964 by two amateur archaeologists. It is one of the few finished fluted point caches in North America. It was originally interpreted as a cache, but because the site was reported as a "findspot" in the original report title, it has not received the attention it deserved in Paleo indian literature. In this paper, we review the history of the discovery, describe the Rummells-Maske assemblage, and reassess the typological affinities of the points from the perspective of research on the Early Paleoindian period conducted across North American since the 1972 publication. Our analyses indicate that Rummells-Maske represents a fluted point cache closely affiliated with the Gainey complex.

Preferred sources and channels of soil and water conservation information among farmers in three midwestern US watersheds

This research examines farmers’ use of various sources and channels of conservation information in three midwestern US watersheds. A primary objective was to determine perceptual and farm structure factors influencing the use of particular information sources for farm-level decision-making. Data were collected from 1011 farm operators, the Maquoketa River watershed in east-central Iowa, the Lower Minnesota River watershed in southeast Minnesota, and the Darby Creek watershed in central Ohio. Respondents were asked to indicate frequency of use for 22 sources of conservation information identified from the literature and to rank the perceived importance of 11 of the most common communication channels for accessing agricultural information. Factor analysis was used to reduce the number of information sources to a smaller set of variables that explained much of the variance of the original data set. Selected elements of diffusion, risk communication, and farm structure theories were used to interpret the factor loadings and to identify predictors of information use. Regression analysis was used to test the communication source models developed for the overall data set and for each state. Descriptive findings revealed that farmers use multiple sources and channels when accessing soil and water conservation information. Substantial differences in information-use patterns were noted among the study watersheds. The results of the factor analysis showed that the 22 information sources could be categorized into six overarching groups based on their intercorrelation. The regression models were shown to vary widely in their predictive capacity, explaining from 1 to 29% of the total variance in source use. The variability noted among farmers’ information-use patterns and perceptions across the three study areas casts doubt on the value of broad-based or “shotgun” approaches for delivering agricultural information. The use of factor analysis has promise in future studies as a valuable tool for developing empirical measures of information use and improving measurement of key theoretical constructs in agricultural communication.

Outbreaks of Soybean Frogeye Leaf Spot in Iowa.

Frogeye leaf spot of soybean, caused by Cercospora sojina, is typically a disease of warm and humid regions (2). Although the disease was reported in the Midwest in the 1920s (1), no outbreaks have been recorded in Iowa. Outbreaks of frogeye leaf spot occurred during 1999 in soybean fields in Ames and Grand Junction in central Iowa. During the 2000 growing season, the disease occurred in southwestern, southcentral, central, southeastern, and east-central Iowa. Occurrences of the disease with severity (reduction of green leaf area) greater than 50% were observed in production soybean fields at Grand Junction in central Iowa and Central City in eastern Iowa. In a 12-ha no-till field planted with cv. Asgrow 2501, the disease was noticeable and uniformly distributed in the entire field in mid July. Disease severity in this field was greater than 70% by the end of August. Disease incidence, however, was less than 10% in three adjacent soybean fields. In a soybean performance test at a central Iowa location where the disease occurred in 1999 and 2000, the disease was observed on all 80 varieties, with four having a severity equal to or greater than 40%. Fourteen entries had less than a 10% disease severity and 19 entries had a disease severity equal to or greater than 30%. Infected leaves in these locations had typical lesions of frogeye leaf spot, which appeared as reddish brown margins surrounding light brown or ash gray centers. On the infected tissues, hyaline, straight, and multiseptate conidia from clustered conidiophores were found, isolated, and identified to C. sojina. The relatively warm winter temperatures in 1998 to 1999 and 1999 to 2000 were associated with frogeye leaf spot epidemics. Because of the seedborne nature of C. sojina, efforts are warranted to monitor and survey the occurrence of frogeye leaf spot in Iowa, an important seed production state in the northern soybean production region.

AGRICULTURAL AWARENESS ACTIVITIES AND THEIR INTEGRATION INTO THE CURRICULUM AS PERCElVED BY ELEMENTARY TEACHERS

The purpose of this study was to analyze the status of agricultural awareness efforts in elementary grades (K through 6) in a selected seven county area in east central Iowa. The two objectives of this study were: (I) To identify elementary school teachers' perceptions regarding the agricultural industry, the integration of agriculture into the elementary curriculum and the need for agricultural awareness; and (2) to identify selected agricultural activities being used in elementary school instruction. This study was conducted using a mailed questionnaire that measured teachers' perceptions. Agriculturally related activities were identified to indicate the extent to which these activities were conducted in elementary classrooms. Demographic information was also collected. Elementary teachers had positive perceptions about the agricultural industry, the need for agricultural awareness, and the integration of agriculture into the elementary curriculum. Elementary teachers use numerous agricultural awareness activities in their instruction. Over 80 per cent of the elementary teachers in this study were using agricultural activities to enrich the curriculum. Most of these activities focused on the study of animals, plants, food, nutrition, environment, wildlife and insects. Fifty percent of the respondents reported teaching in an urban or metropolitan community. Teachers reported that agriculture can be taught as a part of nearly all subject areas. The results of this study support Fishbein & Azjen's (1975) attitude theory that positive beliefs and attitudes lead to specific intentions and behaviors.