Drought responses of above‐ground and below‐ground characteristics in warm‐season turfgrass

Water shortages have become more chronic as periodic droughts prolong and water demand for urban and agricultural use increases. Plant drought responses involve coordinated mechanisms in both above‐ and below‐ground systems, yet most studies lack comparisons of root and canopy responses under water scarcity and recovery. This is particularly true of research focused on warm‐season turfgrasses in sandy soils with extremely low water holding capacity. To address the lack of examination of coordinated stress and recovery responses, this study compared the above‐ and below‐ground plant responses during a dry‐down period of 21 days and recovery among four warm‐season turfgrass species in the field. Canopy drought responses and recovery were quantified using digital image analysis. In situ root images were captured using a minirhizotron camera system. Common bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] endured the entire drought period without losing 50% green cover while other species lost 50% green cover in 11–34 days predicted from the regression. The interspecific differences in drought resistance were mainly due to root characteristics. Other drought mechanisms appear to be responsible for differences identified in drought resistance between “Zeon” and “Taccoa Green” manilagrass [Zoysia matrella (L.) Merr.]. Recovery was delayed for up to 2 weeks in the second year, warranting further evaluation for turfgrass persistence under long‐term drought. Three‐week drought posed no threat to the survival of zoysiagrass. Species and genotypic variations were found in achieving full post‐recovery, which can be used to develop water conservation strategies and to adjust consumer expectations.     

Identifying autism loci and genes by tracing recent shared ancestry

To find inherited causes of autism-spectrum disorders, we studied families in which parents share ancestors, enhancing the role of inherited factors. We mapped several loci, some containing large, inherited, homozygous deletions that are likely mutations. The largest deletions implicated genes, including PCDH10 (protocadherin 10) and DIA1 (deleted in autism1, or c3orf58), whose level of expression changes in response to neuronal activity, a marker of genes involved in synaptic changes that underlie learning. A subset of genes, including NHE9 (Na+/H+ exchanger 9), showed additional potential mutations in patients with unrelated parents. Our findings highlight the utility of "homozygosity mapping" in heterogeneous disorders like autism but also suggest that defective regulation of gene expression after neural activity may be a mechanism common to seemingly diverse autism mutations.     

Habitat and food supply across multiple spatial scales influence the distribution and abundance of a nocturnal aerial insectivore

Context

Conservation research often focuses on individual threats at a single spatial scale, but population declines can result from multiple stressors occurring at different spatial scales. Analyses incorporating alternative hypotheses across spatial scales allow more robust evaluation of the ecological processes underlying population declines.

Objectives

Populations of many aerially insectivorous birds are declining, yet conservation efforts remain focused on habitat due to an absence of data on changes in prey availability. We evaluate the potential for prey and habitat availability at multiple spatial scales to influence a population of eastern whip-poor-wills (Antrostomus vociferous).

Methods

We assess relationships between landcover (topographical map and satellite imagery) and insect abundance (moths and beetles from blacklight traps), and whip-poor-will distribution and abundance within eastern Canada using Ontario breeding bird atlas data (1980s and 2000s), acoustic recordings (regional), and point counts (local).

Results

Whip-poor-will occurrence in both atlas time periods was positively associated with forest area and fragmentation, but only a delayed effect of urban area explained reductions in detection. Contemporary regional whip-poor-will presence was positively related to moth abundance, and local whip-poor-will abundance was best predicted by area of open-canopy forest, anthropogenic linear disturbance density, and beetle abundance. Our finding that bird presence and abundance were associated with human activity and insect abundance across spatial scales suggests factors beyond habitat structure are likely driving population declines in whip-poor-wills and other aerial insectivores.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates the importance of examining multiple hypotheses, including seasonally and locally variable food availability, across a range of spatial scales to direct conservation efforts.

     

Hydraulic conductivity in roots of ponderosa pine infected with black-stain (Leptographium wageneri) or annosus (Heterobasidion annosum) root disease

Roots from healthy and diseased mature ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa Laws., trees were excavated from a site near Burns, Oregon. The diseased trees were infected with black-stain root disease, Leptographium wageneri Kendrick, or annosus root disease, Heterobasidion annosum (Fr.) Bref., or both. Axial hydraulic conductivity of the roots was measured under a positive head pressure of 5 kPa, and the conducting area was stained with safranin dye to determine specific conductivity (k(s)). In diseased roots, only 8-12% of the cross-sectional xylem area conducted water. Resin-soaked xylem completely restricted water transport and accounted for 13-16% of the loss in conducting area. In roots with black-stain root disease, 17% of the loss in conducting area was associated with unstained xylem, possibly resulting from occlusions or embolisms. Based on the entire cross-sectional area of infected roots, the k(s) of roots infected with black-stain root disease was 4.6% of that for healthy roots, whereas the k(s) of roots infected with annosus root disease was 2.6% of that for healthy roots. Although these low values were partly the result of the presence of a large number of diseased roots (72%) with no conducting xylem, the k(s) of functional xylem of diseased roots was only 33% of that for healthy roots. The low k(s) values of functional xylem in diseased roots may be caused by fungus induced occlusions preceding cavitation and embolism of tracheids. The k(s) of disease-free roots from diseased trees was only 70% of that for healthy roots from healthy trees. The disease-free roots had the same mean tracheid diameter and tissue density as the healthy roots, suggesting that the lower k(s) in disease-free roots of diseased trees may also have been caused by partial xylary occlusions.     

An “electronic nose” as a potential device for fire detection of forest product fire loads in enclosures

Abstract

Saving lives and properties are of primary importance in fire disasters. Unfortunately, current fire detectors are not fast enough to allow the detection of many fires, especially, at the smouldering stages. Some preliminary studies on laevoglucosan (LG), as an important product from cellulose degradation, have shown interesting properties and could be detected by devices classified as “electronic noses” (e-noses). In the present work, the mechanisms of pyrolysis of some ligno-cellulosic materials were investigated using thermo-gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and by a tube furnace with a view to determining the major degradation products from wood, white paper and cardboard samples. Additionally, an odour sensor, made of tin oxide semiconductor thin film, was employed to evaluate its sensitivity in detecting LG. It was found that LG can be readily found among the thermal degradation products of cellulosic materials in question, and that the metal oxide sensor employed was sufficiently sensitive in detecting its presence. Therefore, the work opens up the potential of using such a sensor as an “e-nose” for the early detection of fires stemming from forest product fire loads in storage places and in other enclosures.     

Technical change in forest sector models: the global forest products model approach

Technical change is developing rapidly in some parts of the forest sector, especially in the pulp and paper industry where wood fiber is being substituted by waste paper. In forest sector models, the processing of wood and other input into products is frequently represented by activity analysis (input–output). In this context, technical change translates in changes over time of the input–output (I–O) coefficients and of the manufacturing cost (labor, capital, and materials, excluding wood and fiber). In the case of the global forest products model, the I–O coefficients and the manufacturing costs are determined empirically from historical data, while correcting for possible reporting errors. The method consists of goal programming. The objective function is the sum of the weighted absolute value of the deviations from estimated and observed production in each country of interest. The constraints express the relationship between the multiple output (sawnwood, panels, pulp, paper) and input (wood, waste paper, other fiber) and prior knowledge on the limits of the I–O coefficients. The paper presents observed technical changes from 1993 to 2010 and projections to 2030 with their consequences for the global forest sector in terms of prices, production and consumption, value added, and carbon sequestration in forest biomass.     

Transverse shrinkage in G-fibers as a function of cell wall layering and growth strain

Transverse drying shrinkage was measured at microscopic and mesoscopic levels in poplar wood characterised by an increasing growth strain (GS), from normal to tension wood. Results show that: (a) the drying shrinkage, measured as a relative thickness decrease, was significantly higher for G-layer (GL) than for the other layers (OL), GL shrinkage was not significantly correlated with GS, and OL shrinkage was negatively correlated with GS. (b) In gelatinous fibre (G-fibre), lumen size increased during drying and this increase was positively related with GS, but in normal wood fibre, lumen size decreased during drying. These findings suggest that GL shrank outwards (i.e., its internal perimeter increases), so that its shrinkage weakly affected the total cell shrinkage and the mesoscopic shrinkage was controlled by the OL shrinkage which shrank inwards (i.e., its external perimeter decreases). (c) Measurements done on 7 × 7 mm2 thin sections evidenced a negative correlation between transverse shrinkage and GS, significant in T direction but weak in R direction. These observations at both levels allow to discuss the contribution of GL to the mesoscopic shrinkage of tension wood.