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Alan L. Wright

Professor, Soil and Water Quality
Wright Soil and Water Science Laboratory
Indian River Research and Education Center

Program Areas

  • Research

    Departmental Research Areas:

    Research focus:

    My research program is a multi-faceted approach to addressing many issues related to agricultural crop production and wetlands in south Florida.  This program was focused on the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) and Everglades wetlands until 2015, then my research program shifted to focus more on agricultural and citrus production issues for the Indian River region.  My program encompasses basic and applied research activities affecting crop production and soil and water quality in south Florida.  The overall objective is to better understand soil biogeochemical cycles and to use the knowledge to optimize land and crop management practices while minimizing adverse effects on natural resources and sensitive aquatic ecosystems. 

  • Extension

    The goal of my extension program is to work with clientele groups (growers, water managers, private industry, students, teachers and the public) to disseminate information they need to ultimately improve their quality of life.  Being a faculty member of the Everglades REC until Spring 2015, and of the Indian River REC since Spring 2015, my job responsibilities primarily involve working closely with agricultural producers and water managers in the EAA and citrus growers in the Indian River region.  Other clientele groups served include schools and teachers within these two regions.  I partner with county extension agents on grant funding opportunities and demonstration projects to facilitate communication with clientele and conduct surveys to gauge changes in grower behavior and adoption of new management practices.

    My extension program focuses on 1) improving grower understanding and adoption of nutrient and fertilizer management strategies for crops grown on organic soils in the EAA and 2) improving Florida’s citrus production and management.  I educate growers, water managers, extension agents, and the public about land and water management strategies to improve crop production, reduce input costs, and reduce nutrient export from the EAA to improve water quality.  Citrus production is being severely hampered by citrus greening disease, and my extension focus in this area is to educate growers about new and emerging treatment methods that can be considered for adoption to aid growers in combating HLB.  The nature of this extension program necessitates the use of field demonstration projects to identify suitable treatments that can be used for wide-scale adoption by growers.  Likewise, I utilize the citrus undercover production systems (CUPS) to educate growers about a new way to produce citrus in the age of citrus greening disease, and provide information learned from our trials so that growers may take advantage of this unique production system.

Publications

  • Selected Publications

    Peer Reviewed

    • Xin, X., A.L. Wright, Z. He, and X. Jiang. 2017. Manganese oxide affects nitrification and N20 emissions in a subtropical paddy soil with variable water regimes. Eur. J. Soil Sci. (in press)
    • Jennewein, S.P., R.A. Gilbert, D.L. Rowland, A.L. Wright, B. Glaz, and J.M. Bennett. 2017. Four biofuel species’ responses to periodic flooding and high water tables on a Florida Histosol. Bioenergy Res. 1-12.
    • Kaler, A.S., J.M. McCray, A.L. Wright, and J.E. Erickson. 2017. Sugarcane yield and plant nutrient response to sulfur-amended Everglades Histosols. J. Plant Nutr. 40:187-196.
    • Kaler, A.S., J.M. McCray, A.L. Wright, and J.E. Erickson. 2016. Nutrient availability response to sulfur amendment in Histosols having variable calcium carbonates. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 47:2178-2188.
    • Xin, X., X Jiang, J. Su, X. Yan, J. Ni, S.J. Faeflen, X. Huang, and A.L. Wright. 2016. Manganese oxide affects nitrification and ammonia oxidizers in subtropical and temperate acid forest soils. Catena 137:24-30.
    • Faeflen, S.J., L. Shiwei, X. Xiaoping, A.L. Wright, and X. Jiang. 2016. Autotrophic and heterotrophic nitrification in a highly acidic subtropical pine forest soil. Pedosphere 26:904-910.
    • Hu, J., K.S. Inglett, A.L. Wright, and K.R. Reddy. 2016. Nitrous oxide production and reduction in seasonally-flooded cultivated peatland soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 80:783-793.
    • Julian, P., B. Gu, and A.L. Wright. 2016. Mercury stoichiometric relationships in a subtropical peatland. Water Air Soil Pollut. 227:472.
    • Julian, P., A.L. Wright, and T.Z. Osborne. 2016. Iron-sulfur porewater biogeochemical interactions in a subtropical peatland. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 80:794-802.
    • Dou, F., A.L. Wright, X. Jiang, R. Mylavarapu, and J.E. Matocha. 2016. Soil enzyme activity and organic matter composition affected by 26 years of continuous cropping. Pedosphere 26:618-625.
    • Dou, F., L. Tarpley, X. Yu, A.L. Wright, and A. Mohammad. 2016. Planting date and variety effects on rice main and ratoon crop production. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 47:2414-2420.
    • Xin, X., X. Jiang, J. Su, X. Yan, J. Ni, S. Faeflen, X. Huang, and A.L. Wright. 2016. Mn oxide affects nitrification and ammonia oxidizers in subtropical and temperate forest acid soils. Catena 137:24-30.
    • Irick, D.L., B. Gu, Y.C. Li, P.W. Inglett, P.C. Frederick, M.S. Ross, A.L. Wright, and S.M. Ewe. 2015. Wading bird guano enrichment of soil nutrients in tree islands of the Florida Everglades. Sci. Tot. Environ. 532:40-47.
    • Odero, D.C., R.H. Cherry, A.L. Wright, H.S. Sandhu, and Y. Luo. 2015. Woody host plants of the sugarcane root weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Florida sugarcane. J. Entomol. Sci. 50:3-13.
    • Odero, D.C., J.V. Fernandez, and A.L. Wright. 2015. Effects of Parthenium hysterophorus L. residue on early sugarcane growth in organic and mineral soils. Crop Protection 72:31-35.
    • Jiang, X., X. Xin, S. Li, J. Zhou, T. Zhu, C. Müller, Z. Cai, and A.L. Wright. 2015. Effects of Fe oxide in regulating N transformations in subtropical acid soils. Sci. Reports 5:8615.
    • Li, S., X. Jiang, X. Wang, and A.L. Wright. 2015. Tillage effects on soil nitrification and the dynamic changes in nitrifying microorganisms in a subtropical rice-based ecosystem: A long-term field study. Soil & Tillage Res. 150:132-138.
    • Jiang, X., X. Hou, X. Zhou, X. Xin, A.L. Wright, and Z. Jia. 2015. pH regulates key players of nitrification in acid soils. Soil Biol. Biochem. 81:9-16.
    • Rowland, J.H., J.L. Cisar, G.H. Snyder, J.B. Sartain, A.L. Wright, and J.E. Erickson. 2014. Drought resistance of warm-season putting green cultivars on U.S. Golf Association root zones with varied potassium. Agron. J. 106:1549-1558.
    • Dou, F., F.M. Hons, A.L. Wright, T.W. Boutton, and X. Yu. 2014. Soil carbon sequestration in sorghum and wheat cropping systems: evidence from stable isotopes and aggregate-size fractionation. Soil Sci. 179:68-74.
    • Xin, X., Q. Liu, W. Liu, X. Jiang, and A.L. Wright. 2014. Distribution of nitrifiers and nitrification associated with different sizes of aggregates along a 2000 year chronosequence of rice cultivation. Catena 119:71-77.
    • Odero, D.C., A.L. Wright, and J.V. Fernandez. 2014. Sweet corn response and weed control to Saflufenacil plus Dimethenamid-P in organic soils. Weed Technol. 28:281-285.
    • Rowland, J.H., J.L. Cisar, G.H. Snyder, J.B. Sartain, A.L. Wright, and J.E. Erickson. 2014. Drought resistance of warm-season putting green cultivars established from sod on native sand. Int. Turfgrass Soc. Res. J. 12:383-389.

    Extension and Popular Press Publications

    • Mylavarapu, R., G. Hochmuth, C. Mackowiak, A.L. Wright, and M. Silveira. 2015. Lowering soil pH to optimize nutrient management and crop production. UF EDIS SL437. p. 1-4.
    • Julian, P., G. Binhe, G. Redfield, K. Weaver, T. Lange, P. Frederick, J.M. McCray, A.L. Wright, F.E. Dierberg, T.A. DeBusk, M. Jerauld, W.F. DeBusk, H.S. Bae, and A. Ogram. 2014. Mercury and sulfur environmental assessment for the Everglades. Ch. 3B, 2015 South Florida Environmental Report.
    • Wright, A.L., D.C. Odero, H. Lu, R.N. Raid, and C.M. Miller. 2014. Recycling waste byproducts to reduce fertilizer inputs for vegetable production on muck soils. UF Vegetarian Newsletter. Issue 595.
    • Jennewein, S., R.A. Gilbert, D.L. Rowland, A.L. Wright, B. Glaz, and J.M. Bennett. 2014. Variable water table management effects on sugarcane, energy cane, and biofuel crops. Sugarcane Research Status Report. UF-IFAS Extension. p. 83-85.
    • Lu, H., A.L. Wright, and Y. Luo. 2014. Is silicon fertilization beneficial to lettuce grown on organic soils? UF Vegetarian Newsletter. Issue 594.
    • Lu, H., A.L. Wright, and D. Sui. 2015. Lettuce cultivars for insect resistance in southern Florida. UF EDIS HS1196. p. 1-4.
    • Mylavarapu, R., T. Obreza, K. Morgan, G. Hochmuth, V. Nair, and A.L. Wright. 2014. Extraction of soil nutrients using Mehlich-3 reagent for acid-mineral soils of Florida. University of Florida. EDIS SL407. p. 1-7.
  • Extension Publications (EDIS)

    Alan L Wright EDIS Publications

Alan Wright

CONTACT INFORMATION

Room 217
Indian River Research & Education Center
2199 South Rock Road
Fort Pierce, FL 34945-3138

(772) 577-7410

email: alwr@ufl.edu