About

Professor Adam S. Davis is a Professor and Head of the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois. He currently serves as the Head of Department and is not taking on new lab group members during this period. His research group has focused on various aspects of crop sciences, including weed management, herbicide resistance, soil nutrient provisioning, and sustainable intensification of production agriculture. The group has produced numerous alumni who have pursued careers in academia, research, and applied agricultural sciences, reflecting the broad impact of his mentorship and research. Professor Davis's work encompasses participatory research, extension services, and the application of hierarchical models to understand herbicide resistance evolution, contributing significantly to the field of crop sciences and agricultural sustainability.

Research topics

• Biology
• Botany
• Agronomy
• Biochemistry
• Computer Science
• Sociology
• Economics
• Ecology
• Natural resource economics
• Geography
• Agricultural economics
• Chemistry
• Marketing
• Business

Selected publications

• Seed survival in tropical pioneer trees is unrelated to conspecific distance but linked to fungal infection

  Oikos · 2025-10-20

  article

  Plant demography is heavily influenced by individual survival at local scales, with host‐specific natural enemies potentially reducing the survival of seeds and seedlings in high density patches near conspecific adults, favoring heterospecific recruitment, and ultimately increasing local plant diversity. Natural enemy pressure should differ 1) between sites directly beneath and away from their hosts' crowns, 2) between sites where their hosts are abundant versus rare, and 3) among potentially competing plant species. Assessing the potential pathways by which natural enemies affect diversity at local scales requires coupling experimental approaches that track plant performance with characterization of their natural enemy communities. Here, we focused on the fate of individuals at the seed stage, a critical demographic bottleneck in the plant life cycle. We tested how seed germination is affected by fungal infection, distance from the adult tree, burial duration, and host tree identity. We conducted a seed burial experiment on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, using four pioneer tree species ( Jacaranda copaia , Cecropia insignis , C. peltata and C. longipes ). Seeds were buried beneath and 30 m away from adult C. insignis and J. copaia trees and retrieved after 3 and 12 months. We measured germination, cultured seed‐infecting fungi, and evaluated fungal communities using a culture‐independent approach. Germination rates of all tree species declined with burial time. Germination of seeds buried below versus away from focal trees also did not differ. Fungal isolation frequency and richness increased after burial but did not change with distance or identity of the adult tree. Fungal communities in seeds differed markedly among tree species, but distance, burial duration, and seed viability status had little effect on community composition. Consequently, we found limited evidence that distance from conspecifics drives seed mortality in the soil. Nonetheless, seed exposure to the soil increases fungal infections and decreases seed survival, highlighting the role of fungi in seed demography. We recommend that future research explore the mechanisms by which host‐generalist soilborne fungi may drive seed mortality in plant communities.

  PublisherDOI

• ENHANCING ECOSYSTEM KNOWLEDGE THROUGH FIELD WORK AND GIS ANALYSES

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• U.S. cereal rye winter cover crop growth database

  Scientific Data · 2024-02-13 · 14 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Winter cover crop performance metrics (i.e., vegetative biomass quantity and quality) affect ecosystem services provisions, but they vary widely due to differences in agronomic practices, soil properties, and climate. Cereal rye (S ecale cereale ) is the most common winter cover crop in the United States due to its winter hardiness, low seed cost, and high biomass production. We compiled data on cereal rye winter cover crop performance metrics, agronomic practices, and soil properties across the eastern half of the United States. The dataset includes a total of 5,695 cereal rye biomass observations across 208 site-years between 2001–2022 and encompasses a wide range of agronomic, soils, and climate conditions. Cereal rye biomass values had a mean of 3,428 kg ha −1 , a median of 2,458 kg ha −1 , and a standard deviation of 3,163 kg ha −1 . The data can be used for empirical analyses, to calibrate, validate, and evaluate process-based models, and to develop decision support tools for management and policy decisions.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Optimizing reality-capture for construction monitoring: a study on employing semi-autonomous robots for frequent as-design and as-built comparisons on construction sites.

  Research Square · 2024-08-21

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Early‐season biomass and weather enable robust cereal rye cover crop biomass predictions

  Agricultural & Environmental Letters · 2024-02-13 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Farmers need accurate estimates of winter cover crop biomass to make informed decisions on termination timing or to estimate potential release of nitrogen from cover crop residues to subsequent cash crops. Utilizing data from an extensive experiment across 11 states from 2016 to 2020, this study explores the most reliable predictors for determining cereal rye cover crop biomass at the time of termination. Our findings demonstrate a strong relationship between early‐season and late‐season cover crop biomass. Employing a random forest model, we predicted late‐season cereal rye biomass with a margin of error of approximately 1,000 kg ha −1 based on early‐season biomass, growing degree days, cereal rye planting and termination dates, photosynthetically active radiation, precipitation, and site coordinates as predictors. Our results suggest that similar modeling approaches could be combined with remotely sensed early‐season biomass estimations to improve the accuracy of predicting winter cover crop biomass at termination for decision support tools. Core Ideas Cereal rye winter cover crop biomass modeled on data from 35 site‐years. We found a strong relationship between early and late‐season biomass. Random forest model with early‐season biomass and weather data performed well. Similar approach could improve decision support tools for cover crop management.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Decadal survival of tropical pioneer seeds in the soil seed bank is accompanied by fungal infection and dormancy release

  Functional Ecology · 2023-12-14 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Pioneer trees require high‐light environments for successful seedling establishment. Consequently, seeds of these species often persist in the soil seed bank (SSB) for periods ranging from several weeks to decades. How they survive despite extensive pressure from seed predators and soil‐borne pathogens remains an intriguing question. This study aims to test the hypotheses that decades‐old seeds collected from the SSB in a lowland tropical forest remain viable by (i) escaping infection by fungi, which are major drivers of seed mortality in tropical soils, and/or (ii) maintaining high levels of seed dormancy and seed coat integrity when compared to inviable seeds. We collected seeds of Trema micrantha and Zanthoxylum ekmanii at Barro Colorado Island, Panama, from sites where adult trees previously occurred in the past 30 years. We used carbon dating to measure seed age and characterized seed coat integrity, seed dormancy and fungal communities. Viable seeds from the SSB ranged in age from 9 to 30 years for T. micrantha , and 5 to 33 years for Z. ekmanii . We found no evidence that decades‐old seeds maintain high levels of seed dormancy or seed coat integrity. Fungi were rarely detected in fresh seeds (no soil contact), but phylogenetically diverse fungi were detected often in seeds from the SSB. Although fungal infections were more commonly detected in inviable seeds than in viable seeds, a lack of differences in fungal diversity and community composition between viable and inviable seeds suggested that viable seeds are not simply excluding fungal species to survive long periods in the SSB. Synthesis. Our findings reveal the importance of a previously understudied aspect of seed survival, where the impact of seed–microbial interactions may be critical to understand long‐term persistence in the SSB. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Probabilistic Assessment of Cereal Rye Cover Crop Impacts on Regional Crop Yield and Soil Carbon

  Agriculture · 2023-01-10 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  Field research for exploring the impact of winter cover crops (WCCs) integration into cropping systems is resource intensive, time-consuming and offers limited application beyond the study area. To bridge this gap, we used the APSIM model, to simulate corn (Zea mays L.)-rye (Secale cereale L.)-corn-rye and corn-rye-soybean (Glycine max L.)-rye rotations in comparison with corn-corn and corn-soybean rotations across the state of Illinois at a spatial resolution of 5 km × 5 km from 2000 to 2020 to study the impact of WCCs on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics and crop production. By propagating the uncertainty in model simulations associated with initial conditions, weather, soil, and management practices, we estimated the probability and the expected value of change in crop yield and SOC following WCC integration. Our results suggest that integrating cereal rye into the crop rotations imparted greater yield stability for corn across the state. It was found that the areas with low probability of increase in SOC (p < 0.75) responded equally well for soil carbon sequestration through long term adoption of WCCs. This study presents the most complete uncertainty accounting of WCC benefits across a broad region and provides greater insights into the spatiotemporal variability of WCCs benefits for increasing WCC adoption rate.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The relationship between farmer demographics, social identity and tillage behavior: Evidence from Michigan soybean producers

  Journal of Rural Studies · 2022-01-01 · 21 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Acrogenospora terricola sp. nov., a fungal species associated with seeds of pioneer trees in the soil seed bank of a lowland forest in Panama

  INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY · 2022-10-21 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  As currently circumscribed, Acrogenospora (Acrogenosporaceae, Minutisphaerales, Dothideomycetes) is a genus of saprobic hyphomycetes with distinctive conidia. Although considered common and cosmopolitan, the genus is poorly represented by sequence data, and no neotropical representatives are present in public sequence databases. Consequently, Acrogenospora has been largely invisible to ecological studies that rely on sequence-based identification. As part of an effort to identify fungi collected during ecological studies, we identified strains of Acrogenospora isolated in culture from seeds in the soil seed bank of a lowland tropical forest in Panama. Here we describe Acrogenospora terricola sp. nov. based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses. We confirm that the genus has a pantropical distribution. The observation of Acrogenospora infecting seeds in a terrestrial environment contrasts with previously described species in the genus, most of which occur on decaying wood in freshwater environments. This work highlights the often hidden taxonomic value of collections derived from ecological studies of fungal communities and the ways in which rich sequence databases can shed light on the identity, distributions and diversity of cryptic microfungi.

  PublisherDOI

• Estimating local eradication costs for invasive <i>Miscanthus</i> populations throughout the eastern and midwestern United States

  Invasive Plant Science and Management · 2022-07-29 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Several Miscanthus species are cultivated in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast, and feral populations can displace the native plant community and potentially negatively affect ecosystem processes. The monetary cost of eradicating feral Miscanthus populations is unknown, but quantifying eradication costs will inform decisions on whether eradication is a feasible goal and should be considered when totaling the economic damage of invasive species. We managed experimental populations of eulaliagrass ( Miscanthus sinensis Andersson) and the giant Miscanthus hybrid ( Miscanthus × giganteus J.M. Greef &amp; Deuter ex Hodkinson &amp; Renvoize) in three floodplain forest and three old field sites in central Illinois with the goal of eradication. We recorded the time invested in eradication efforts and tracked survival of Miscanthus plants over a 5-yr period, then estimated the costs associated with eradicating these Miscanthus populations. Finally, we used these estimates to predict the total monetary costs of eradicating existing M. sinensis populations reported on EDDMapS. Miscanthus populations in the old field sites were harder to eradicate, resulting in an average of 290% greater estimated eradication costs compared with the floodplain forest sites. However, the cost and time needed to eradicate Miscanthus populations were similar between Miscanthus species. On-site eradication costs ranged from $390 to $3,316 per site (or $1.3 to $11 m −2 ) in the old field sites, compared with only $85 to $547 (or $0.92 to $1.82 m −2 ) to eradicate populations within the floodplain forests, with labor comprising the largest share of these costs. Using our M. sinensis eradication cost estimates in Illinois, we predict that the potential costs to eradicate populations reported on EDDMapS would range from $10 to $37 million, with a median predicted cost of $22 million. The monetary costs of eradicating feral Miscanthus populations should be weighed against the benefits of cultivating these species to provide a comprehensive picture of the relative costs and benefits of adding these species to our landscapes.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Sharon A. Clay

  63 shared

• William K. Vencill

  University of Georgia

  57 shared

• Martin Williams

  Urbana University

  43 shared

• Brian J. Schutte

  41 shared

• Bhagirath Singh Chauhan

  ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture

  41 shared

• James W. Dalling

  34 shared

• Lovreet S. Shergill

  30 shared

• Anthony C. Yannarell

  Illinois Department of Natural Resources

  25 shared

Labs

• AS Davis Research GroupPI

  Research Group Members Principal Investigator Dr. Adam S. Davis, Professor and Head, University of Illinois Dept. of Crop Sciences N.B. I am currently serving as Head of Department, and not taking on new lab group members during this period. Research Group Alumni Dr. Rama Paudel, Ph.D. December