Flumioxazin and S-metolachlor are widely used in conventional sweetpotato production in North Carolina and other states; however, some growers have recently expressed concerns about potential effects of these herbicides on sweetpotato yield and quality. Previous research indicates that activated charcoal has the potential to reduce herbicide injury. Field studies were conducted in 2021 and 2022 to determine whether flumioxazin applied preplant and S-metolachlor applied before and after transplanting negatively affect sweetpotato yield and quality when activated charcoal is applied with transplant water. The studies evaluated five herbicide treatments and two activated charcoal treatments. Herbicide treatments included two flumioxazin rates, one S-metolachlor rate applied immediately before and immediately after transplanting, and no herbicide. Charcoal treatments consisted of activated charcoal applied at 9 kg ha−1, and no charcoal. No visual injury from herbicides or charcoal was observed. Likewise, no effect of herbicide or charcoal treatment on no. 1, marketable (sum of no. 1 and jumbo grades), or total yield (sum of canner, no. 1, and jumbo grades) was observed. Additionally, shape analysis conducted on calculated length-to-width ratio (LWR) for no. 1 sweetpotato roots found no effect from flumioxazin at either rate on sweetpotato root shape. However, both S-metolachlor treatments resulted in lower LWR of no. 1 sweetpotato roots in 2021. Results are consistent with prior research and indicate that flumioxazin and S-metolachlor are safe for continued use on sweetpotato at registered rates.

Greenhouse trials were conducted to determine the response of stevia to reduced-risk synthetic and nonsynthetic herbicides applied over-the-top post-transplant. In addition, field trials were conducted with stevia grown in a polyethylene mulch production system to determine crop response and weed control in planting holes to reduced-risk synthetic and nonsynthetic herbicides applied post-transplant directed. Treatments included caprylic acid plus capric acid, clove oil plus cinnamon oil, d-limonene, acetic acid (200 grain), citric acid, pelargonic acid, eugenol, ammonium nonanoate, and ammoniated soap of fatty acids. Stevia yield (dry aboveground biomass) in the greenhouse was reduced by all herbicide treatments. Citric acid and clove oil plus cinnamon oil were the least injurious, reducing yield by 16% to 20%, respectively. In field studies, d-limonene, pelargonic acid, ammonium nonanoate, and ammoniated soap of fatty acids controlled Palmer amaranth (>90% 1 wk after treatment (WAT). In field studies caprylic acid plus capric acid, pelargonic acid, and ammonium nonanoate caused >30% injury to stevia plants at 2 WAT, and d-limonene, citric acid, acetic acid, and ammoniated soap of fatty acids caused 18% to 25% injury 2 WAT. Clove oil plus cinnamon oil and eugenol caused <10% injury. Despite being injurious, herbicides applied in the field did not reduce yield compared to the nontreated check. Based upon yield data, these herbicides have potential for use in stevia; however, these products could delay harvest if applied to established stevia. In particular, clove oil plus cinnamon oil has potential for use for early-season weed management for organic production systems. The application of clove oil plus cinnamon oil over-the-top resulted in <10% injury 28 d after treatment (DAT) in the greenhouse and 3% injury 6 WAT postemergence-directed in the field. In addition, this treatment provided 95% control of Palmer amaranth 4 WAT.

Field studies were conducted to assess the efficacy of physical weed management of Palmer amaranth management in cucumber, peanut, and sweetpotato. Treatments were arranged in a 3 × 4 factorial in which the first factor included a treatment method of electrical, mechanical, or hand-roguing Palmer amaranth control and the second factor consisted of treatments applied when Palmer amaranth was approximately 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, or 1.2 m above the crop canopy. Four wk after treatment (WAT), the electrical applications controlled Palmer amaranth at least 27 percentage points more than the mechanical applications when applied at the 0.3- and 0.6-m timings. At the 0.9- and 1.2-m application timings 4 WAT, electrical and mechanical applications controlled Palmer amaranth by at most 87%. Though hand removal generally resulted in the greatest peanut pod count and total sweetpotato yield, mechanical and electrical control resulted in similar yield to the hand-rogued plots, depending on the treatment timing. With additional research to provide insight into the optimal applications, there is potential for electrical control and mechanical control to be used as alternatives to hand removal. Additional studies were conducted to determine the effects of electrical treatments on Palmer amaranth seed production and viability. Treatments consisted of electricity applied to Palmer amaranth at first visible inflorescence, 2 wk after first visible inflorescence (WAI) or 4 WAI. Treatments at varying reproductive maturities did not reduce the seed production immediately after treatment. However, after treatment, plants primarily died and ceased maturation, reducing seed production assessed at 4 WAI by 93% and 70% when treated at 0 and 2 WAI, respectively. Treatments did not have a negative effect on germination or seedling length.

Field studies were conducted to determine the effects of synthetic auxin herbicides at simulated exposure rates applied to ‘Covington’ sweetpotato propagation beds on the quality of nonrooted stem cuttings (slips). Treatments included diglycolamine salt of dicamba, 2,4-D choline plus nonionic surfactant (NIS), and 2,4-D choline plus glyphosate at 1/10, 1/33, or 1/66 of a 1X application rate (560 g ae ha−1 dicamba, 1,065 g ae ha−1 2,4-D choline, 1,130 g ae ha−1 glyphosate) applied at 2 or 4 wk after first slip harvest (WASH). Injury to sweetpotato 2 wk after treatment was greatest when herbicides were applied 2 WASH (21%) compared to 4 WASH (16%). More slip injury was caused by 2,4-D choline than by dicamba, and the addition of glyphosate did not increase injury over 2,4-D choline alone. Two weeks after the second application, sweetpotato slips were cut 2 cm above the soil surface and transplanted into production fields. In 2019, sweetpotato ground coverage 8 wk after transplanting was reduced 37% and 26% by the 1/10X rates of dicamba and 2,4-D choline plus NIS, respectively. Though dicamba caused less injury to propagation beds than 2,4-D choline with or without glyphosate, after transplanting, slips treated with 1/10X dicamba did not recover as quickly as those treated with 2,4-D choline. In 2020, sweetpotato ground coverage was 90% or greater for all treatments. Dicamba applied 2 WASH decreased marketable sweetpotato storage root yield by 59% compared to the nontreated check, whereas treatments including 2,4-D choline reduced marketable yield 22% to 29%. All herbicides applied at 4 WASH reduced marketable yield 31% to 36%. The addition of glyphosate to 2,4-D choline did not increase sweetpotato yield. Results indicate that caution should be taken when deciding whether to transplant sweetpotato slips that are suspected to have been exposed to dicamba or 2,4-D choline.

The final effort of the CLIMAP project was a study of the last interglaciation, a time of minimum ice volume some 122,000 yr ago coincident with the Substage 5e oxygen isotopic minimum. Based on detailed oxygen isotope analyses and biotic census counts in 52 cores across the world ocean, last interglacial sea-surface temperatures (SST) were compared with those today. There are small SST departures in the mid-latitude North Atlantic (warmer) and the Gulf of Mexico (cooler). The eastern boundary currents of the South Atlantic and Pacific oceans are marked by large SST anomalies in individual cores, but their interpretations are precluded by no-analog problems and by discordancies among estimates from different biotic groups. In general, the last interglacial ocean was not significantly different from the modern ocean. The relative sequencing of ice decay versus oceanic warming on the Stage 6/5 oxygen isotopic transition and of ice growth versus oceanic cooling on the Stage 5e/5d transition was also studied. In most of the Southern Hemisphere, the oceanic response marked by the biotic census counts preceded (led) the global ice-volume response marked by the oxygen-isotope signal by several thousand years. The reverse pattern is evident in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, where the oceanic response lagged that of global ice volume by several thousand years. As a result, the very warm temperatures associated with the last interglaciation were regionally diachronous by several thousand years. These regional lead-lag relationships agree with those observed on other transitions and in long-term phase relationships; they cannot be explained simply as artifacts of bioturbational translations of the original signals.

Populations of many frogs have declined alarmingly in recent years, placing nearly one third of the > 6,000 species under threat of extinction. Declines have been attributed largely to habitat loss, environmental degradation and/or infectious diseases such as chytridiomycosis. Many frogs undergo dramatic natural population fluctuations such that long-term data are required to determine population trends without undue influence of stochastic factors. We present long-term quantitative data (individuals encountered per person hour of searching) for four monotypic frog genera endemic to an Afromontane region of exceptional importance but growing conservation concern: one endemic to the Ethiopian highlands (Spinophrynoides osgoodi) and three endemic to the Bale Mountains (Altiphrynoides malcolmi, Balebreviceps hillmani, Ericabatrachus baleensis), collected during 15 field trips to the Bale Mountains between 1971 and 2009. Only a single confirmed sighting of S. osgoodi has been made since 1995. The other three species have also declined, at least locally. E. baleensis appears to have been extirpated at its type locality and at the same site B. hillmani has declined. These declines are in association with substantial habitat degradation caused by a growing human population. Chytrid fungus has been found on several frog species in Bale, although no dead or moribund frogs have been encountered. These results expose an urgent need for more amphibian surveys in the Bale Mountains. Additionally, we argue that detrimental human exploitation must be halted immediately in at least some parts of the Harenna Forest if a conservation crisis is to be averted.