The year 2023 started with a better understanding of the research project I am currently involved in as a post-doc at Auburn University. I am involved in a research project that aims at colocating agricultural crops with a solar energy generation system–also called as agrivoltaic system–to meet dual purpose of food and energy production and reduce carbon emission from fossil fuels and coals. Even though I was supposed to design an economic optimization model, delay on the data acquisition shifted my focus towards solar developers survey design. I started designing survey from February. The initial plan was to develop choice…
Title: Economic returns and the perceived obstacles to adopting active management in the forest-grassland transition ecoregion in south-central USA. Authors: Bijesh Mishra, Omkar Joshi, Ronald E. Masters, Caleb McKinney, Arjun Adhikari, Chris B. Zou, Rodney E. Will Highlights: Treatment burned every four years provided the highest economic returns. Annualized values were highest from cattle forage. The cost was identified as the primary obstacle to active management. Landowners having a higher proportion of rangelands were less concerned about costs. Abstract: Forest-grassland ecotones are a mosaic of grassland, savanna, and upland forest. As such, landowners may have opportunities to choose to manage…
Title: Forage quantity and protein concentration changes across a forest-savanna gradient with management implications for white-tailed deer Authors: Caleb M. McKinney, Ronald E. Masters, Arjun Adhikari, Bijesh Mishra, Omkar Joshi, Chris B. Zou, Rodney E. Will Abstract: White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) hunting is an important economic activity associated with the management of forests and rangelands in the USA, with over $12.9 billion dollars of related annual expenditures. Reducing tree cover through thinning and prescribed fire both have the potential to increase the quantity and quality of deer forage. We evaluated the long-term impacts of eight different combinations of fire return intervals and tree harvest on forage productivity and protein content of the forage.…
Title: Intentions of Landowners towards Active Management of Ecosystem for Deer Habitat Authors: Bijesh Mishra, Omkar Joshi, Binod P. Chapagain, Lixia He Lambert & Rodney E. Will Abstract Active management such as prescribed fire and thinning can restore savanna and prairie ecosystem to maintain a full suite of ecosystem services and create suitable habitat for wildlife species such as white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Active management comes with the cost of management and acceptance of management tools. The south-central transitional ecoregion of the USA, which otherwise was a mixture of forest, savanna, and tallgrass prairie, is increasing in woody plant dominance due to the exclusion…
Title: Exploring Opinions for Using Prescribed Fire to Control Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) Encroachment in the Southern Great Plains, United States Authors: Katelyn Jeffries, Bijesh Mishra, Aaron Russell, & Omkar Joshi ABSTRACT Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) is rapidly encroaching on grasslands in the southern Great Plains. This has several adverse effects on the landscape including increased wildfire risk, decreased water runoff, and reduced forage available for cattle production. Several best management practices have been identified to reduce the spread of eastern redcedar, including the use of prescribed fire. However, numerous barriers exist against the use of prescribed fire such as societal acceptance or liability concerns. The purpose of this study was…
