Chris H. Wilson

University of Florida | UF · Department of Agronomy

Hyper-spectral imaging has recently gained increasing attention for use in different applications, including agricultural investigation, ground tracking, remote sensing and many other. However, the high cost, large physical size and complicated operation process stop hyperspectral cameras from being employed for various applications and research fi...

Predicting soil water status remotely is appealing due to its low cost and large‐scale application. During drought, plants can disconnect from the soil, causing disequilibrium between soil and plant water potentials at pre‐dawn. The impact of this disequilibrium on plant drought response and recovery is not well understood, potentially complicating...

Among options for atmospheric CO 2 removal, sequestering soil organic carbon (SOC) via improved grazing management is a rare opportunity because it is scalable across millions of globally grazed acres, low cost, and has high technical potential. Decades of scientific research on grazing and SOC has failed to form a cohesive understanding of how gra...

Integrating a perennial forage grass like bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flugge) into the traditional rotation of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) and peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) increases yields and reduces irrigation needs in the Southeast United States. However, the long‐term effects of this sod‐based rotation (SBR) on soil properties remain unclea...

Collecting and analyzing hyperspectral imagery (HSI) of plant roots over time can enhance our understanding of their function, responses to environmental factors, turnover, and relationship with the rhizosphere. Current belowground red-green-blue (RGB) root imaging studies infer such functions from physical properties like root length, volume, and...

BACKGROUND For a significant subset of agricultural products, including coffee, wine and tea, sensory perceptions of terroir (i.e., characteristic flavors imparted by the growing environment) are tightly linked to the product's value. With increasing climate change, it is critical to understand how shifts in climate, such as changes in precipitatio...

Anthropogenic climate change is a major challenge for agriculture globally, so agroecosystems more resilient to changing environmental conditions are necessary to continue sufficient production. However, high uncertainty surrounding the definition and evaluation of ecological resilience in agroecosystems inhibits effective development and improveme...

Bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flüggé)-a warm-season perennial grass-is one of the most important forage species for livestock production in the southeastern United States. Bahiagrass pastures are often managed extensively, without the data and tools necessary for complex management. Crop simulation models have been previously developed for warm-seas...

Winter annual forages can extend grazing into the cool‐season in the US southeast, however uncertainty regarding potential tradeoffs between winter annual mixtures versus monocultures exists. We examined increasingly species‐rich and functionally diverse winter annual forage mixtures at two Florida locations to evaluate impacts of including more pl...

Pastureland contributes a large share of the global soil C stock, much of which derives from root systems. Management practices like fertilization and the introduction of improved forages have clear benefits to aboveground forage production, but their impacts on belowground biomass (BGB) and hence soil C are less clear, especially in relatively und...

Growers in the United States (US) southeast are often recommended to reduce nitrogen (N) fertilization after peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) by cooperative Extension services. However, these guidelines are not supported by the scientific literature. An experiment was conducted to quantify N contributions from peanut residues to a subsequent carinata (...

Both the vastness of pasturelands and the value they contain—e.g., food security, ecosystem services—have resulted in increased scientific and industry efforts to remotely monitor them via satellite imagery and machine learning (ML). However, the transferability of these models is uncertain, as modelers commonly train and test on site-specific or h...

As a recently introduced crop in the United States, there are limited data regarding temporal nutrient accumulation and partitioning dynamics of Brassica carinata (carinata). A four site‐year study was conducted in Jay, FL and Salisbury, NC during the 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 growing seasons. Three carinata genotypes (DH‐157.715, M‐01, and Avanza 64...

Cultivated peanut produces pods of varying maturity throughout most of the plant developmental stages, often leading to a considerable proportion of immature seeds at harvest. Plants originating from immature seeds not only have reduced emergence and physiological performance, but also reduced vigor of both mature and immature seeds produced in sub...

Anthropogenic climate change is an urgent and pervasive challenge, yet it remains a polarizing subject. In the United States, studies have shown that rural communities tend to view climate change with less urgency than urban communities, which could delay action in response to the crisis. In rural areas that are highly dependent on agricultural pro...

Brassica carinata, a non-food oilseed feedstock mainly used for biofuel, is a potential alternative winter crop for the southeastern (SE) US. Data on carinata C and N mineralization dynamics are essential in lifecycle analyses (LCA) studies for sustainability certifications. Decomposition pattern of Brassica carinata (carinata) determines availabil...

There are limited data regarding temporal nutrient accumulation and partitioning dynamics of carinata (Brassica carinata). As a recently introduced crop in the US, such studies inform the rate of macro and micronutrient accumulation and will aid fertility management decisions in carinata. The objective of this study was to quantify nutrient uptake...

Farmers in the US southeast are often recommended to reduce nitrogen (N) fertilization after peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) by co-operative Extension services. However, these guidelines are not supported by the scientific literature. An experiment was conducted to quantify the N credit from peanut to a subsequent carinata (Brassica carinata) crop. A...

Leading an effective response to the accelerating crisis of anthropogenic climate change will require improved understanding of global carbon cycling. A critical source of uncertainty in Earth system models (ESMs) is the role of microbes in mediating both the formation and decomposition of soil organic matter, and hence in determining patterns of C...

Maturity is not only critical for vigour and other seed quality characteristics but also impacts the subsequent plant performance. If these impacts on the subsequent plant are long lasting, the potential to produce vigorous, mature seed may also be affected. This scenario lends itself to the concept of seed maturity memory (SMM) – an understanding...

Brassica carinata (carinata), a non‐food oilseed feedstock mainly used for biofuel, is a relatively new alternative winter crop in the southeastern (SE) United States (US). However, there are limited N rate and N application timing data available at the regional scale. These data are needed to expand production in the SE US. A N rate study was cond...

Grasslands occupy significant land area and account for a large proportion of the global soil carbon stocks, yet the direct effects of grazing and genotypic composition on relationships between shoot and root production are poorly resolved. This lack of understanding hinders the development of models for predicting root production in managed grassl...

Leading an effective response to the accelerating crisis of anthropogenic climate change will require improved understanding of global carbon cycling. A critical source of uncertainty in Earth Systems Models (ESMs) is the role of microbes in mediating both the formation and decomposition of soil organic matter, and hence in determining patterns of...

Anthropogenic climate change is predicted to cause shifts in temperature and precipitation patterns that will be detrimental for global agriculture. Developing comprehensive strategies for building climate resilient agroecosystems is critical for maintaining future crop production. Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) is highly sensitive to the quantity...

Irrigation decision support systems (DSS) are tools that can help achieve higher system level water use efficiency by more accurately targeting water application to crop need. They also have a role to play in preventing over-irrigation of drought tolerant crops that can be sensitive to flooded conditions. However, there are challenges in developing...

There are limited data regarding temporal nutrient accumulation and partitioning dynamics of carinata (Brassica carinata). As a recently introduced crop in the SE US, such studies inform the rate of macro and micronutrient accumulation and aid fertility management decisions. The objective of this study was to quantify nutrient uptake and partitioni...

Farmers in the US southeast are often recommended to reduce nitrogen (N) fertilization after peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) by co-operative Extension services. However, these guidelines are not supported by the scientific literature. An experiment was conducted to quantify the N credit from peanut to a subsequent carinata (Brassica carinata) crop. A...

Brassica carinata, a non-food oilseed feedstock mainly used for biofuel, is a potential alternative winter crop for the southeastern (SE) US. However, there are agronomic constraints to regional Brassica carinata production, including fertility optimization. An N rate study was conducted during the winter-spring growing season during 2017-2018 and...

Forecasting rates of forest succession at landscape scales will aid global efforts to restore tree cover to millions of hectares of degraded land. While optical satellite remote sensing can detect regional land cover change, quantifying forest structural change is challenging. We developed a state‐space modeling framework that applies Landsat satel...

While many clonal plants are highly successful invaders, the contribution of clonal integration (i.e., the translocation of resources among ramets) to invasion is often unknown. We used model simulations to ask if clonal integration would facilitate photosynthate translocation, if the performance of daughter ramets might be enhanced by clonal integ...

Leading an effective response to the accelerating crisis of anthropogenic climate change will require improved understanding of global carbon cycling. A critical source of uncertainty in Earth Systems Models (ESMs) is the role of microbes in mediating both the formation and decomposition of soil organic matter, and hence in determining patterns of...

Local ecological knowledge (LEK) can play an important role in ecological restoration by guiding landholder decision‐making towards more ecologically oriented land management. Silvopastures are a promising option for restoring ecological function to degraded landscapes because they increase tree cover and diversity, moderating the impacts of cattle...

Background: Grasslands occupy significant land area and account for a large proportion of the global soil carbon stock, yet the direct effects of grazing and genotypic composition on relationships between shoot and root production are poorly resolved. This lack of understanding hinders the development of models for predicting root production in man...

Despite the large contribution of rangeland and pasture to global soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, there is considerable uncertainty about the impact of large herbivore grazing on SOC, especially for understudied subtropical grazing lands. It is well known that root system inputs are the source of most grassland SOC, but the impact of grazing on p...

Soil carbon sequestration in agroecosystems could play a key role in climate change mitigation but will require accurate predictions of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks over spatial scales relevant to land management. Spatial variation in underlying drivers of SOC, such as plant productivity and soil mineralogy, complicates these predictions. Recen...

Premise of research. Hypotheses to explain nonnative plant invasions often suggest that propagule pressure promotes invasion success. However, interactions between propagule pressure and abiotic or biotic habitat characteristics also may regulate establishment and persistence of invaders, but they are not often tested. Additionally, results from th...

Propagule pressure is commonly considered a primary driver of invasive plant establishment and spread. However, the physical size or condition (i.e., quality) of propagules may also affect establishment, particularly under unfavorable habitat conditions such as low light environments. We used an outdoor mesocosm experiment to test the relative cont...

Invasive plant fecundity underlies propagule pressure and ultimately range expansion. Predicting fecundity across large spatial scales, from regions to landscapes, is critical for understanding invasion dynamics and optimizing management. However, to accurately predict fecundity and other demographic processes, improved models that scale individual...

Background/Question/Methods Invasive plant fecundity is a key demographic parameter underlying propagule pressure. Thus, fecundity is critical for range expansion and establishment success across habitats. However, as a function both of plant traits and environmental conditions, it can vary significantly across ecological habitats and gradients....