NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH
| NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Project acronym: | CNH |
| Status: | Completed |
| Project leads: | |
| Funding source: | National Science Foundation NSF |
| Project start: | 2013 |
| Project end: | 2019 |
| Keywords: | Ecology, Physiology, Nutrition, Agriculture, Livelihoods, Field research, Grazing |
| Species purview | |
| Species purview: | |
| Geographic purview | |
| Africa, Oceania, Asia, Americas, Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Eastern Asia, Northern America, Western Africa, Senegal, Australia, China, United States, Sahel region | |
| Associated resources: | |
Linking Livestock Markets and Grazing Practices with the Nutritional Ecology of Grasses and Locusts Under Alternative Property Rights Regimes
Description
This project integrated novel fundamental research from multiple disciplines across four different countries —Australia, China, Senegal, and the US—to improve our ability to manage social-ecological systems. We investigated physiological, ecological, and nutritional mechanisms responsible for locust outbreaks and migration. This is one of the first projects to apply both highly-controlled lab and field-based techniques to connect physiological mechanisms to agricultural practices and livelihoods.
Associated publications
| Title | Year published | Projects | DOI |
|---|---|---|---|
| A global review on locusts (Orthoptera: Acrididae) and their interactions with livestock grazing practices. | 2019 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Corrigendum: A global review on locusts (Orthoptera: Acrididae) and their interactions with livestock grazing practices | 2023 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Heavy livestock grazing promotes locust outbreaks by lowering plant nitrogen content | 2012 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Landscape level patterns of grasshopper communities in Inner Mongolia: interactive effects of livestock grazing and precipitation gradient | 2015 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Linking land use and the nutritional ecology of herbivores: A case study with the Senegalese locust | 2020 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Living with locusts: connecting soil nitrogen, locust outbreaks, livelihoods, and livestock markets | 2015 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Nitrogen fertilizer decreases survival and reproduction of female locusts by increasing plant protein to carbohydrate ratio | 2020 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Nutritional imbalance suppresses migratory phenotypes of the Mongolian locust (Oedaleus asiaticus) | 2017 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Physiological status is a stronger predictor of nutrient selection than ambient plant nutrient content for a wild herbivore | 2021 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Soil-targeted interventions could alleviate locust and grasshopper pest pressure in West Africa | 2019 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Woody vegetation remnants within pastures influence locust distribution: Testing bottom-up and top-down control | 2020 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
Associated resources
No results found in the database at this time—please reach out if you have any to share!
Research questions
- How do insect-nutrient relations and livestock grazing strategies interact to affect food prices, food security, and rangeland degradation?
- How do property rights regimes affect the adaptive capacity of societies to respond to the linkages between overgrazing and locust outbreaks?
Key findings
A new paradigm for plant-insect interaction research: many locust species are actually harmed by excessive nitrogen. Farmers may be able to keep locust populations in check through soil management practices that increase nitrogen. Government policy intervention may provide herders with less assurance of land rights; unwittingly incentivizing overstocking and reduced nitrogen levels. Farmers and herders face many tradeoffs between stocking rates, weather events, and financial decisions.
Major outcomes
- Increased understanding of how livestock grazing influences locust outbreaks through changes in plant nutrition.
Enhanced knowledge of how locust outbreaks impact livelihoods, livestock markets, and grazing decisions by developing models, *theoretical predictions, and enterprise budgets.
- Generated livestock enterprise budgets to calculate profit per animal unit sold and determined economic shocks to the meat sector due to locust outbreaks.
Future pathways
Research on this project is developing new insights into the interaction between environmental risks and property rights. We are learning about novel feedbacks between livestock production, policy mechanisms, and land tenure institutions. This fundamental research is also being applied in the USAID OFDA project.
Associated publications
| Title | Year published | Projects | DOI |
|---|---|---|---|
| A global review on locusts (Orthoptera: Acrididae) and their interactions with livestock grazing practices. | 2019 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Corrigendum: A global review on locusts (Orthoptera: Acrididae) and their interactions with livestock grazing practices | 2023 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Heavy livestock grazing promotes locust outbreaks by lowering plant nitrogen content | 2012 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Landscape level patterns of grasshopper communities in Inner Mongolia: interactive effects of livestock grazing and precipitation gradient | 2015 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Linking land use and the nutritional ecology of herbivores: A case study with the Senegalese locust | 2020 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Living with locusts: connecting soil nitrogen, locust outbreaks, livelihoods, and livestock markets | 2015 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Nitrogen fertilizer decreases survival and reproduction of female locusts by increasing plant protein to carbohydrate ratio | 2020 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Nutritional imbalance suppresses migratory phenotypes of the Mongolian locust (Oedaleus asiaticus) | 2017 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Physiological status is a stronger predictor of nutrient selection than ambient plant nutrient content for a wild herbivore | 2021 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Soil-targeted interventions could alleviate locust and grasshopper pest pressure in West Africa | 2019 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
| Woody vegetation remnants within pastures influence locust distribution: Testing bottom-up and top-down control | 2020 | NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts CNH | View |
Associated resources
No results found in the database at this time—please reach out if you have any to share!