Effect of dietary willow herb,Epilobium hirsutum extract on growth performance,body composition,haematological parameters and Aeromonas hydrophila challenge on common carp,Cyprinus carpio

The present study was conducted to evaluate the use of Epilobium hirsutum extract in diet of common carp, Cyprinus carpio (20 ± 2 g). Different levels of plant extract (0%, 0.5%, 1, 3% and 3%+2‰ multivitamin (2 g of multivitamin per kg diet) were spread on commercial diet. The feed was offered by 8 weeks. Results showed that fish fed experimental diets had no significant difference (P>0.05) in specific growth rates, condition factor, feed conversion ratios and survival compared with control. There were no significant difference (P>0.05) in moisture, crude protein, crude lipid and ash content of common carp fed diets containing various levels of plant extract. The mortality of fish challenged by Aeromonas hydrophila have been recorded for 30 days after challenging, results showed that mortality decreased significantly (P<0.05) in fish fed diet containing plant extract compared with the control. The lowest mortality observed in group fed diet containing 3% plant extract. Haematological parameters showed that white blood cells had significantly (P<0.05) increased in infected and uninfected groups compared with the control. Red blood cells, haemoglobin and haematocrit had no significant change (P>0.05) in infected and uninfected groups compared with the control.     

Stabilization of lead as affected by various amendments and incubation time in a calcareous soil

The effect of different kinds of amendments including coal fly ash (CFA), municipal solid waste compost (MSWC), rice husk biochars prepared at 300°C (B300) and 600°C (B600), zero valent iron (Fe°) and zero valent manganese (Mn°) were evaluated to determine their ability to stabilize lead (Pb) in Pb-spiked soil. The Pb-spiked soils were separately incubated with amendments at the rates of 2 and 5% (W/W) for 45 and 90 days at 25°C. The efficacy of amendments treatment was evaluated by desorption kinetic experiment and sequential extraction producer. According to the results, with increasing time, considerable changes in distribution of chemical forms of Pb occurred and carbonate-bound fraction significantly decreased, while amorphous Fe-bound fraction significantly increased. The applied treatments efficiently decreased the mobility factor of Pb compared to control treatment. Application of Mn°, Fe°, CFA, MSWC, and B600 in soils significantly decreased Pb desorption rate with respect to control treatment. Biphasic pattern of Pb desorption kinetic was fitted well by the model of two ?rst-order reactions. In general, present study showed that from the practical point of view, all applied amendments (except for B300) were effective in Pb immobilization; however, application of Mn° at 5% (W/W) rate was the best treatment to immobilize Pb, so it can be recommended for the immobilization of Pb in calcareous polluted soil.     

Influence of Biofertilizers and Phosphate Sources on the Phosphorus Uptake of Lettuce and Chemical Forms of Phosphorus in Soil

A greenhouse experiment was conducted with a factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design with three replications. Treatments consisted of two levels of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) (Pseudomonas fluorescens) (with and without inoculation), two levels of vermicompost (0 and 1% w/w), and four phosphate (P) sources (control, rock phosphate powder (RP), tricalcium phosphate (TCP), and triple super phosphate (SP) at 25 mg P kg^?1 level). Co-application of PGPR and RP in non-vermicompost treatments significantly increased shoot fresh weight, shoot dry matter yield, shoot P uptake, soil Ca₂-P concentration, but it significantly decreased soil Ca₈-P and Ca₁₀-P concentrations. The maximum shoot P uptake was obtained in combined application of RP with vermicompost which had no significant difference with the co-application of SP with vermicompost in bacterial and non-bacterial treatments. There was a negative correlation coefficient between shoot P concentration and chemical forms of phosphorus. It may be concluded that application of biofertilizers changed the chemical forms of inorganic phosphorus and increased P uptake by plant.     

Soil erosion risk assessment using GIS and CORINE model: a case study from western Shiraz,Iran

This study employs the Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) model with geographic information system to assess soil erosion risk for restoring and protecting areas within the Bonrod Zangane watershed, western Shiraz, Iran. Actual soil erosion risk was determined by combining two main parameters including potential soil erosion risk and vegetation cover. The potential soil erosion risk was generated by integrating soil erodibility, erosivity and slope parameters. Soil texture, depth and stoniness layers were overlaid to form a soil erodibility map. Modified Fournier index and Bagnouls–Gaussen aridity index were integrated to generate the erosivity layer. The slope classes also were generated from digital elevation model. In order to estimate vegetative land cover, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was used. The raster-based layers were then integrated to produce erosion risk map. The results showed that 34.7% of the study area has high and only 31.4% of the study area has low soil erosion risk. It is concluded that CORINE model can be used to delineate the soil erosion risk and also to discriminate the potential soil erosion risk areas.     

Influence of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria,Compost, and Biochar of Azolla on Rosemary (Rosmarinus Officinalis L.) Growth and Some Soil Quality Indicators in a Calcareous Soil

In order to study the effect of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), Azolla compost and Azolla biochar on some soil quality indicators and rosemary growth, a greenhouse experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with six replications. Treatments consisted of T₁ (control), T₂ (1% Azolla compost), T₃ (1% Azolla biochar), T₄ (PGPR (P. fluorescens), T₅ (1% compost + PGPR) and T₆ (1% biochar + PGPR). Rosemary growth parameters and nutrients concentration increased in all treatments compared to control. Treatments increased soil nutrient concentrations, soil microbial respiration (SMR) and microbial biomass C (MBC) but decreased soil metabolic quotient (qCO₂) compared to control treatment. A significant enhancement in rosemary growth occurred due to the improved soil quality as a result of organic fertilizers application, particularly by co-application of P. fluorescens and compost or biochar of Azolla.     

Comparative study of metal micronutrients release from two calcareous soils

Adsorption and release are the most influential reactions controlling zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn) and copper (Cu) availability in soils. Characteristics of native Zn, Mn and Cu release by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) in two calcareous soils for periods from 1 min to 24 h were studied. The pattern of Zn, Mn and Cu release from both soils fitted well with power function, Elovich and parabolic diffusion models. The magnitude and rate of release was greatest for Mn, followed by Zn and Cu, respectively. This trend suggests a higher ability of the studied soils to replenish soil solution Mn, compared with Zn and Cu. The results showed that higher Mn release in clay soil compared with sandy loam soil was considerably related to higher initial Mn release rates in the former compared with the latter. However, Cu release rates of the two soils at initial times were not significantly different. Higher Cu release in clay soil was, therefore, attributed tohigher Cu release rates at subsequent time intervals. It is assumed that the different Zn release rates of these soils were due to consistent differences in Zn release rates throughout the release periods.     

The effects of dietary vitamin C on mucosal immune responses and growth performance in Caspian roach (Rutilus rutilus caspicus) fry

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of dietary vitamin C on some skin mucus immune parameters, mucus antimicrobial activity and growth performance of Caspian roach (Rutilus rutilus caspicus) fry. Six hundred sixty Caspian roach (1.4 ± 0.02 g) fry were allocated to 12 tanks (55 fish per tank), and triplicate groups were fed diets containing 0, 1,000, 1,500 and 2,000 mg kg^?1 vitamin C for 60 days. At the end of the trial, the epidermal mucus protein level, alkaline phosphatase and antimicrobial activity against two gram-positive bacteria (Streptococcus faecium and Micrococcus luteus) and gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Serratia marcescens) as well as growth performance were measured. The results demonstrated that feeding on vitamin C significantly elevated skin mucus alkaline phosphatase and protein levels compared to the control group (P < 0.05). However, lysozyme activity was undetectable in both the vitamin C-fed roach fry and the control group. Skin mucus antimicrobial activity was increased following vitamin C administration, and the bacterial growth inhibition zones were significantly elevated in vitamin C-fed roach (P < 0.05). Similar results were obtained in case of the minimum inhibitory concentration of skin mucus. Also fish fed the control diet had a significantly lower weight gain, specific growth rate and condition factor compared to the other treatments (P < 0.05). These results revealed that dietary vitamin C beneficially affects the skin mucus immune parameters and growth performance of Caspian roach fry.     

Effect of PGPR,Phosphate sources and vermicompost on growth and nutrients uptake by lettuce in a calcareous soil

In order to study the effect of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), vermicompost and phosphate sources on the growth and nutrients uptake by lettuce, a greenhouse experiments was conducted. Treatments consisted of PGPR (Pseudomonas fluorescens) (with and without inoculation), vermicompost (0 and 1% w/w) and phosphate sources (control, rock phosphate (RP), tricalcium phosphate and triple super phosphate (TSP) at 25 mg P kg^?1 level). Biological fertilizers, RP and TSP significantly increased shoot dry matter (SDM) and some measured nutrients uptake. Co-application of PGPR and RP, in non-vermicompost treatments significantly increased SDM, shoot nitrogen, phosphorus (P), potassium, zinc and manganese uptake rates. Shoot P uptake had no significant difference between TSP and RP treatments. Co-application of PGPR, vermicompost and TSP significantly decreased SDM, which may be due to the P toxic levels in the plant aerial parts and/or the inhibition of the bacterial activities in the rhizosphere soil.     

Water stress effects on growth, development and yield of opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.)

The effects of pre-anthesis water deficit and cycle length were examined in Papaver somniferum L., cultivated for alkaloid production, in two locations in southern Spain. The vegetative period was shortened by extending the photoperiod through supplemental lighting in the field, while water deficit in pre-anthesis was induced by avoiding irrigations and installing rain shelters. The treatments were: IN (irrigated-normal photoperiod), IL (irrigated-hastened flowering), DN (water deficit in pre-anthesis-normal photoperiod) and DL (water deficit in pre-anthesis and hastened flowering). The artificial photoperiod hastened the flowering by 15 and 21 days, for irrigated and deficit treatments respectively. Seasonal evapotranspiration (ET) ranged from 398 (DN) to 505 mm (IN). There was evidence of root water uptake deeper than 1.5 m. Stomatal conductance was reduced (16%) during water stress, and did not recover in post-anthesis after resuming irrigation. Head yields (capsule + seeds + 7 cm stem) ranged between 3.8 and 4.3 t ha⁻¹; water deficit and short vegetative period both reduced the biomass accumulated, although the effect on yields in these treatments was counterbalanced by a higher harvest index. Early flowering had a detrimental effect on alkaloid concentration in the capsule. Alkaloids yield ranged between 27 and 37 kg ha⁻¹. Water use efficiency (WUE) ranged between 0.78 and 0.96 kg m⁻³ ET for yield and between 63.4 and 73.7 g m⁻³ ET for alkaloids. Water stress increased slightly the Water Use Efficiency. A shorter vegetative phase had no effect on WUE for biomass or yield, but decreased the WUE for alkaloids production.     

Evaluation of various quick methods for estimating furrow and border infiltration parameters

For estimating infiltration properties of surface irrigation, some ‘quick’ and easy methods have been developed. The main objective of this study was to evaluate different ‘quick’ methods and to compare the obtained results with two new methods proposed based on the Shepard one-point approach. For this purpose, data sets measured in six borders and five furrows were used for evaluating different methods. Using the volume balance equation and estimated infiltration parameters, the total infiltrated volume and advance times were predicted to evaluate the accuracy of estimated infiltration parameters. The results showed that the modified Mailapalli and Elliott and Walker methods provided the lowest errors for both furrow and border irrigations. The Elliott and Walker method predicted advance times with highest accuracy. There was very small difference between the Shepard and new proposed one-point methods. The performance of the Elliott and Walker method was slightly better than the new proposed two-point method for the experimental furrows, while a minor difference was found for the experimental borders. The results also showed that the performance of the Elliot and Walker method would be improved using binomial approximation instead of Kiefer approximation.