Phase 1 - Development of a yield response curve for corn with fertilizer, and comparison with manure N rates;

Phase 2 - Comparison of the mineralization/immobilization and availabilities of N from five different manures following fall and spring applications on one site;

Phase 3 - A laboratory study on the influence of soil texture involving four soils ranging from loamy sand to clay loam;

Phase 4 - A laboratory study involving four soils ranging in soil acidity in which ammonium and NO-3 contents are monitored during incubation;

Phase 5 - using feeding trials and characterization of the manure to develop one or more models for predicting manure N content of manures from animals given different feedstuffs.

1. To determine economic benefits of the CD/SI at the farm scale to the farmer;
2. To provide a field scale dataset for scaling up models calibrated at the plot scale (from Great Lakes Water Quality Study, Harrow);
3. To add further information on water quality within existing conventional and no-till monitored watersheds established in the SWEEP program;
4. To study the partitioning of nutrient losses between the tile drains and groundwater for a CD/SI system at field scale.

1. To review the current literature on the impact of agricultural activities on wildlife habitats, and the relevance of wildlife habitats in agricultural landscapes;
2. To make recommendations for improving habitat conditions for wildlife.

1. To conduct an initial survey of a variety of manures (animal, poultry) from a various sources and in various stages of decomposition to determine whether these materials exhibit an ability to suppress Verticillium;
2. To produce quantitative data as to the capacity of the "active" manures from various sources for reducing the survival of Verticillium and therefore controlling disease;
3. To monitor changes in populations of beneficial microbes in the various types of manures;
4. To identify factors which may influence disease control efficacy, such as: the source of the manure, rates of application, procedures used for composting, effect of soil type, etc. Treatments found effective in the laboratory will be field tested in microplots and on farm locations growing potato and tomato crops. Field observation will measure pathology, soil microbiology and agronomic changes in the crop plants tested. Information as to the appropriate methods of application of manures for disease control will be generated.

1. To establish sensitivity limits of the P-31 NMR technique using a set of pure phospholipid reagents;
2. To establish extraction protocols, minimum sample sizes, and extraction efficiencies as well as a set of phospholipid profiles for identifying the microfloral components in the soil samples using soil samples obtained from one set of the Green Plan Bioindicator sites (conventional vs. no-till vs. woodland).

1. To make comparisons and to establish correlations between this data set and other data sets from conventional microfloral characterizations of the soil, towards the objective of associating phospholipid profiles with specific groups of microflora. If these correlations prove successful, these associations can be used in the development of bioindicators;
2. To develop a (bio)indicator of land use practice, based on either fatty acid or phospholipid analysis, that could be related to the underlying soil biological community, and other soil characterizations being made that relate to soil quality.

1. To identify relevant sources of information with emphasis on work in North America since 1975;
2. to categorize and describe on-farm study designs and data evaluation methods;
3. to comment where possible on the potential impact of the studied designs as options in future studies.

1. To develop, test and adapt methodologies to examine the use of soil enzymes, lipids and light fraction of soil organic matter (SOM) as indicators of soil
2. fitness,current agro-ecological status and to inform the public on the impacts of management on soil resources;
3. To characterize and separate the temporal and spatial variabilities of soil enzymes, lipids and the light fraction from normal and random variation with a view to establishing quantitative relationships between soil enzyme properties, lipids and light fraction with other soil attributes that relate to quality in soil agro-ecosystems.

1. The final report will describe the relationship of the new map and database to the older 1:20000 Waterloo Soil Report # 44, and will include a discussion of appropriate ways of using the database;
2. The final report will include a plotted map produced at a scale of 1:50,000 showing soil polygons on an OBM base showing major cultural features (roads and urban areas), major watercourses and major land disturbances such as gravel pits and a printed legend showing soil attributes;
3. The final report will include digital data files of the map and associated database in standard ARC/Info format in a version and medium compatible with the hardware and software at the Ontario Land Resource Unit. Separate layers will be provided for the soil thematic layer, the hydrology layer, and the cultural layer. So far as possible the CanSIS conventions for naming of arc IDs will be used. The digital file record layout, format and contents will conform to the CanSIS standards as described in "CanSIS Manual 1 - CanSIS/NSDB: A general description" with the addition of a file which provides the linkage between the 1:50000 scale polygons and the 1:20000 scale polygons.

1. To register the high resolution imagery to topographic measurements obtained with a Global Positioning System;
2. To measure the increase in soil organic matter (SOM) content of the surface layers of no-till plots as compared to conventionally till paired plots;
3. To determine the range of spectral reflectance coefficient for mapping soils in Ontario.

1. To review Research Reports #3.4, #3.5, #3.6, #3.7, #3.8, and evaluate those proposals in the context of and evolving research directions in the Green Plan and the Canada-Ontario Agreement (COA) respecting the Great Lakes Basin;
2. To review literature to assist in the evaluation and the provision of context;
3. To establish a recommended approach based on the review, evaluation and literature.

1. To encourage the continued adoption of conservation tillage/cropping practices on three watersheds (Essex, Kettle, Kintore) through dialogue with landowners;
2. To monitor the water quality of the streams in the watersheds using existing monitoring equipment from previous programs (primarily the SWEEP [Soil and Water Environmental Enhancement Program]).

1. To encourage the continued adoption of conservation tillage/cropping practices on three watersheds (Essex, Kettle, Kintore) through dialogue with landowners;
2. To monitor the water quality of the streams in the watersheds using existing monitoring equipment from previous programs (primarily the SWEEP [Soil and Water Environmental Enhancement Program]).

1. To encourage the continued adoption of conservation tillage/cropping practices on three watersheds (Essex, Kettle, Kintore) through dialogue with landowners;
2. To monitor the water quality of the streams in the watersheds using existing monitoring equipment from previous programs (primarily the SWEEP [Soil and Water Environmental Enhancement Program]).

1. To determine the influence of variations in soil structure, bulk density, and the volume fraction of pores (VFP) belonging to different size classes, on N-mineralization subsequent to red clover incorporation and;
2. To develop equations to predict the rates of N-mineralization on different soils.

1. To identify approximately 12 farm sites across the province of Ontario which would meet at least one of the accepted design layouts for constructing an artificial wetland;
2. To install equipment for the monitoring of both surface and groundwater quality at each of the identified farm sites identified in Objective 1 in advance of the construction phase (which is to be completed by the end of 1994), to provide baseline water quality information.