Perennializing Marginal Agricultural Lands- A Solution to Boost Carbon, Biodiversity and the Bottom Line

Join the Faculty of Land and Food Systems Scholar's Series with Dr. Christy Morrissey (USask)

Presentation 

Marginal croplands are defined as areas within fields that are consistently low yielding and unprofitable. These are often in sensitive higher biodiversity areas near wetlands or field edges but are subject to salinity, flood risk, soil erosion and can be agrochemical sinks. Given the need to address the dual crisis of biodiversity loss and climate change, there is urgent need to find solutions that provide multiple ecosystem benefits without affecting producers’ bottom line.  Our team is working with farmers across the Canadian Prairies to identify, map and model where the marginal cropland exists and target these areas for experimental conversion to tame and native perennial forage mixes to study the changes in agronomic, economic and environmental costs and benefits over the transition. 

Biography

Dr.  Christy Morrissey is a Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Saskatchewan. Her research focusses on issues related to agricultural pesticides and other chemicals and the use of birds and insects as indicators of ecosystem health.  Dr. Morrissey has published over 90 highly cited journal articles and book chapters and in 2020 was named to the Royal Society College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Her work has also been featured broadly in the national and international media and documentaries (CBC, BBC, National Geographic, Nature of Things, and The Messenger film). She is currently co-leading the NSERC funded Prairie Precision Sustainability Network Marginal Land Solutions project and the Bridge to Land Water Sky Living Lab to implement Nature-based solutions to improve sustainable agricultural production.