Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

McConnell, Mark D.

Committee Member

Li, Xiaofei

Committee Member

Evans, Kristine O.

Committee Member

Rey, Mark

Date of Degree

8-6-2021

Original embargo terms

Visible to MSU only for 2 years

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture

Degree Name

Master of Science

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Forest Resources

College

College of Forest Resources

Department

Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture

Department

Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture

Abstract

Intense agriculture is detrimental to the environment and leads to nutrient runoff, decreased water quality, soil erosion, greenhouse gas emissions, and decreased wildlife habitat. In addition to negative environmental impacts, intense agriculture increases the financial strain on farmers. Farmers also face inconsistent yields from environmentally vulnerable lands. Due to these financial constraints and inconsistent yields, conservation goals are not always economically attractive to farmers and agricultural producers. One possible solution to this issue is the use of precision agriculture (PA) to inform strategic conservation efforts. We used PA technology to identify low-revenue field areas in the Mississippi Delta and Black Prairie regions. We created spatially explicit revenue maps and overlaid it with the Biologist Ranking Index (BRI) to illustrate where economic and conservation opportunities overlap. Our results indicate that, on average, upwards of 20.1% of the Black Prairie and 18.0% of the Mississippi Delta generate less revenue than conservation enrollment.

Download

Share

COinS