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Project properties |
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| Title | Measuring farmers’ agro-ecological resistance to weather extremes by agroecological soil management |
| Group | Farming Systems Ecology |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 36-39 |
| Supervisor(s) | Walter Rossing |
| Examiner(s) | To be decided |
| Contact info | walter.rossing@wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2017/01/01 |
| End date | 2019/12/31 |
| Description | Agroecological management of soils has been shown to provide resistance and resilience to weather extremes in the Pacific (Holt-Gimenez, 2002; Philpott et al., 2008). Europe has also faced weather extremes over the past years. In this thesis, you will combine data on land use and weather to assess to which extent soil management has contributed to greater resilience of crop yields. Results have a direct relevance for societal stakeholders with whom FSE collaborates.
Procedures • Get familiar with literature on resistance, resilience and soil management • Collect data from national GIS sources to build yield maps for years with and without weather extremes • Statistically analyse relations between weather extremes and yield response References - Holt-Gimenez, E., 2002. Measuring farmers’ agroecological resistance after Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua: a case study in participatory, sustainable land management impact monitoring. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 93: 87-105 - Philpott et al., 2008. A multi-scale assessment of hurricane impacts on agricultural landscapes based on land use and topographic features. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 128: 12–20. |
| Used skills | • Research methodology and hands-on experimental execution
• GIS-based and statistical data analysis • Reporting results in writing and public presentations |
| Requirements | Knowledge of GIS and agriculture |