Area of Expertise: Soil and Water Sciences

Main Area of Focus: Soil fertility

Download CV

Research Interests 

My work is dedicated towards enhancing soil nutrient management in various cropping systems. The research program aims to improve nutrient use efficiency through an integrated approach including the development of nutrient recommendation algorithms which estimate crop nutrient needs with improved accuracy. My research in dryland cropping systems focuses on evaluating soil fertility improvement through diverse crop rotations and appropriate tillage practices. The aim is not only to ensure availability of moisture to support crop production but also the development of cropping systems that promote soil health. The program also continues to manage long-term experiments to understand the long-term effects of tillage methods on soil fertility and quality in dryland environments so as to sustainably produce crops. The rich data sets obtained and continue to be generated from this experiment located in Sidney, Nebraska allows us to understand how each tillage practice affects soil health and the overall system productive and to model the future based on past trends. With these research efforts, the program will contribute to reducing soil and nutrient losses while enhancing soil health and increased crop nutrient uptake for sustainable production.

Publications

Google Scholar Publications List 

1. Aula, L., Easterly, A.C., Mikha, M.M. and Creech, C.F., 2024. Tillage practices affect soil fertility of a long‐term winter wheat–fallow rotation. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 88(2), pp.498-509.
2. Aula, L., Mikha, M.M., Easterly, A.C. and Creech, C.F., 2023. Winter wheat grain yield stability under different tillage practices. Agronomy Journal, 115(2), pp.1006-1014.
3. Rayne, N. and Aula, L., 2020. Livestock manure and the impacts on soil health: A review. Soil Systems, 4(4), p.64.
4. Aula, L., Omara, P., Nambi, E., Oyebiyi, F.B. and Raun, W.R., 2020. Review of active optical sensors for improving winter wheat nitrogen use efficiency. Agronomy, 10(8), p.1157.
5. Aula, L., Dhillon, J.S., Omara, P., Wehmeyer, G.B., Freeman, K.W. and Raun, W.R., 2019. World sulfur use efficiency for cereal crops. Agronomy Journal, 111(5), pp.2485-2492.