Grasslands once stretched undisturbed from Texas to Canada. But today, over half of North America's grasslands have been lost. South Dakota is home to some of the largest remaining intact grasslands in North America, and South Dakota State University researchers are fighting to protect this precious ecosystem from maybe its most challenging adversary: the Green Glacier.
Ecologists coined the term "Green Glacier" to describe the spread of unwanted trees onto prairies, pastures and grasslands. Specifically, eastern redcedars — a conifer native to the eastern United States — have buried grasslands under their thick evergreen canopies. A problem that began in Texas over 70 years ago has slowly spread north and is currently on South Dakota's doorstep.
Researchers in South Dakota State University's Department of Dairy and Food Science, led by associate professor Srinivas Janaswamy, have created a novel type of bread by pocketing healthy compounds inside of starch granules. Early findings show this "functional food" may help with blood sugar management and disease prevention.
Bhutan is a small, landlocked country nestled between Nepal, India and China and a world away from South Dakota State University. A decade ago, the country began an effort to increase its revered tiger population, and by 2022, it successfully had doubled. But what does the tiger's resurgence mean for Bhutan's other wildlife?
Karma Choki is a graduate research assistant in South Dakota State University's Department of Natural Resource Management and a native of Bhutan. She wanted to know what Bhutan's resurgent tiger population meant for other big cats and conducted the country's first-ever population estimate on the elusive common leopard.
In South Dakota State University's Department of Dairy and Food Science, researchers are developing plastic-like films, pictured above, from agricultural byproducts. These films share many of the same traits as traditional plastic packaging material but have one major difference. These films biodegrade in the environment in around 60 days while traditional plastic takes over 700 years.
This work has led to SDSU's worldwide recognition as a top packaging innovation research university. The top 5 ranking came from The Packaging School, which bridges the gap between academia and industry by partnering with companies, subject matter experts and associations to create a shared learning management system.
The South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and the South Dakota Foundation Seed Stock Division is releasing a new hulled oat cultivar — SD Ranger — and a hard red spring wheat cultivar — Enhance SD — to certified seed growers.
SDSU's plant breeding programs — including oats and winter and spring wheats — are designed to increase profits for farmers in South Dakota and surrounding states by developing and releasing new cultivars. SDSU's cultivars are widely used by farmers in South Dakota. For example, around 75% of hard red spring wheat acres in South Dakota are sown to cultivars developed by SDSU's hard red spring wheat breeding program.
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