Past and present outbreaks of the balsam fir sawfly in western Newfoundland: An analytical review

Historical data of defoliation and population density were examined to determine whether a sustained outbreak of balsam fir sawfly (Neodiprion abietis Harris) in western Newfoundland, Canada is unprecedented in severity and duration. Results indicate that the current outbreak departs substantially from historical trends, covering a surface area twice the sum of all infestations occurring in the preceding 50 years. The current outbreak is also of longer duration due to a northward expansion of the range usually subjected to severe defoliation by this insect. Time-series analysis indicates that balsam fir sawfly dynamics have a strong second-order component, providing testable hypotheses for future studies investigating the factors responsible for population fluctuations.     

Changes in the content of steroidal glycoalkaloids in potato tubers grown in the field and in the greenhouse under different conditions of light, temperature and daylength

Differences in the content of steroid glycoalkaloids (SGA) were noted in the peels of potato tubers cultivars Alpha, Cara, Désirée and LT-7. Cultivar LT-7 had always the highest SGA content, Désirée was intermediate and Alpha and Cara had the lowest SGA content, regardless of growing conditions, tuber ageing and tuber treatments. Tubers grown during the summer developed the highest SGA content as compared to those grown in the spring and winter seasons, respectively. Tubers grown during winter showed an increase in SGA toward the end of the storage period. Similar results were obtained with tubers of LT-7 grown in a greenhouse under cool temperatures in combination with short days (which imitate the winter conditions in Israel). A decrease in SGA content was observed in tuber slices treated with a fungal cell-wall preparation fromPhytophthora citrophthora. This decrease was much stronger in the pith than in the peel, indicating a possible role for SGA in the defence mechanism because peels are the first part of the tuber to be invaded by pathogens. The above results were observed in tubers of all cultivars regardless of the growing season or tuber ageing.     

Detecting interactive effects of N fertilization and heat stress on maize productivity by remote sensing techniques

The objective of this study was to compare the performance of two different remotely sensed techniques in detecting the effects of terminal heat stress and N fertilization on final maize aerial biomass (AB) and grain yield (GY). The study was conducted under field conditions for two consecutive growing seasons. Six N treatments combining three doses [0, 100, 200 Kg N ha⁻¹] and two timings [at V4 and at 15 days before silking] were applied. Within each N treatment three heat treatments were applied (pre-flowering, post-flowering and the control treatment at ambient air temperature). Remote sensing measurements were taken with a multispectral band camera to measure the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and a digital Red/Green/Blue (RGB) camera to measure the normalized green red difference index (NGRDI). Both indices failed to predict the GY of pre-flowering heat-treated plants due to grain set establishment problems that could not be detected by vegetation indices which are designed to capture differences in green canopy area. In contrast, both the NGRDI and the NDVI correlated positively with GY and AB in the control heat treatment and to a lesser extent in the post-flowering heat treatment. Under the control heat treatment, the NGRDI exhibited higher correlations with AB and GY than the NDVI across the N fertilization treatments. Since the NGRDI is formulated based only on the reflectance in the visible regions (VIS) of the spectrum (Green and Red) without dependence on the near infrared regions (NIR), it performs better than the NDVI. This is because it overcame the reported saturation patterns at high leaf area index and was more efficient at capturing even small differences in leaf colour (chlorophyll content) due to the different applied N treatments. Also, the NGRDI seemed to be a more seasonally independent parameter than the NDVI, which is more affected by temporal variability within the field, and thus the NGRDI predicted AB and GY better than the NDVI when combining the data of the two growing seasons.     

In-field management of corn cob and residue mix: Effect on soil greenhouse gas emissions

In-field management practices of corn cob and residue mix (CRM) as a feedstock source for ethanol production can have potential effects on soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of CRM piles, storage in-field, and subsequent removal on soil CO₂ and N₂O emissions. The study was conducted in 2010–2012 at the Iowa State University, Agronomy Research Farm located near Ames, Iowa (42.0°′N; 93.8°′W). The soil type at the site is Canisteo silty clay loam (fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Typic Endoaquolls). The treatments for CRM consisted of control (no CRM applied and no residue removed after harvest), early spring complete removal (CR) of CRM after application of 7.5 cm depth of CRM in the fall, 2.5 cm, and 7.5 cm depth of CRM over two tillage systems of no-till (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) and three N rates (0, 180, and 270 kg N ha⁻¹) of 32% liquid UAN (NH₄NO₃) in a randomized complete block design with split–split arrangements. The findings of the study suggest that soil CO₂ and N₂O emissions were affected by tillage, CRM treatments, and N rates. Most N₂O and CO₂ emissions peaks occurred as soil moisture or temperature increased with increase precipitation or air temperature. However, soil CO₂ emissions were increased as the CRM amount increased. On the other hand, soil N₂O emissions increased with high level of CRM as N rate increased. Also, it was observed that NT with 7.5 cm CRM produced higher CO₂ emissions in drought condition as compared to CT. Additionally, no differences in N₂O emissions were observed due to tillage system. In general, dry soil conditions caused a reduction in both CO₂ and N₂O emissions across all tillage, CRM treatments, and N rates.     

Zn distribution and bioavailability in whole grain and grain fractions of winter wheat as affected by applications of soil N and foliar Zn combined with N or P

A two-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of foliar Zn combined with N or P on Zn concentration and bioavailability in wheat grain and its milling fractions under different soil N levels. At maturity, grains were harvested and fractionated into flour and bran for nutrient analysis. Both high soil N supply and foliar Zn-enriched fertilizer applications greatly increased Zn concentration and bioavailability in both whole grain and grain fractions. Compared with foliar Zn alone, foliar Zn combined with N increased Zn concentration and bioavailability, whereas foliar Zn combined with P decreased Zn concentration and bioavailability. However, foliar Zn combined with P slightly increased the protein concentration compared to foliar Zn alone. Protein concentration significantly increased, whereas phytate concentration decreased, in whole grain and flour, both in soil N and foliar Zn-enriched N treatments. Therefore, foliar Zn plus N (with appropriate soil N management) may be a promising strategy for addressing dietary Zn micronutrient deficiencies, especially in countries where flour is a significant component of the daily diet.     

Community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with Robinia pseudoacacia in uncontaminated and heavy metal contaminated soils

The significance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in soil remediation has been widely recognized because of their ability to promote plant growth and increase phytoremediation efficiency in heavy metal (HM) polluted soils by improving plant nutrient absorption and by influencing the fate of the metals in the plant and soil. However, the symbiotic functions of AMF in remediation of polluted soils depend on plant–fungus–soil combinations and are greatly influenced by environmental conditions. To better understand the adaptation of plants and the related mycorrhizae to extreme environmental conditions, AMF colonization, spore density and community structure were analyzed in roots or rhizosphere soils of Robinia pseudoacacia. Mycorrhization was compared between uncontaminated soil and heavy metal contaminated soil from a lead–zinc mining region of northwest China. Samples were analyzed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) screening with AMF-specific primers (NS31 and AM1), and sequencing of rRNA small subunit (SSU). The phylogenetic analysis revealed 28 AMF group types, including six AMF families: Glomeraceae, Claroideoglomeraceae, Diversisporaceae, Acaulosporaceae, Pacisporaceae, and Gigasporaceae. Of all AMF group types, six (21%) were detected based on spore samples alone, four (14%) based on root samples alone, and five (18%) based on samples from root, soil and spore. Glo9 (Rhizophagus intraradices), Glo17 (Funneliformis mosseae) and Acau3 (Acaulospora sp.) were the three most abundant AMF group types in the current study. Soil Pb and Zn concentrations, pH, organic matter content, and phosphorus levels all showed significant correlations with the AMF species compositions in root and soil samples. Overall, the uncontaminated sites had higher species diversity than sites with heavy metal contamination. The study highlights the effects of different soil chemical parameters on AMF colonization, spore density and community structure in contaminated and uncontaminated sites. The tolerant AMF species isolated and identified from this study have potential for application in phytoremediation of heavy metal contaminated areas.     

The effect of orifice shape and the injection pressure on enhancement of the atomization process for pressure-swirl atomizers

The following paper presents results of studies on the atomization process of water in pressure-swirl atomizers with different shapes of orifice using a laser diffraction technique. The effect of the shape of the orifice and the injection pressure on the droplet size distributions and mean droplet diameters was analyzed. The results obtained showed that droplet size decreases with an increasing injection pressure and droplet size distributions are expanded. The smallest droplet diameters were obtained by atomization in profiled and conical shaped orifice atomizers, however the largest droplet diameters were achieved for plain orifice atomizers. The analysis of the interfacial surface produced by the atomizers has shown that the greater enhancement of the atomization process had occurred using profiled and conical shaped orifice atomizers compared with plain orifice atomizers. The correlation for the Sauter mean diameter as a function of the Reynolds number and the ratio of orifice length to diameter has been proposed. The paper is related to agricultural water management. The data obtained are important from the point of view of the design of atomizers, agricultural treatments and crop protection.     

Can arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi improve competitive ability of dill + common bean intercrops against weeds?

Competition for soil resources plays a key role in the crop yield of intercropping systems. There is a lack of knowledge on the main factors involved in competitive interactions between crops and weeds for nutrients uptake. Hence, the purpose of this work was to compare the effects of arbuscular mycorrhial fungi (Funneliformis mosseae) colonization in interspecific competitive relations and its effect on nutrients uptake and weed control in dill and common bean intercropping. Two field experiments were carried out with factorial arrangements based on randomized complete block design with three replications during 2013–2014. The factors were cropping systems including a) common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) sole cropping (40 plants m⁻²), b) dill (Anethum graveolens L.) sole cropping at different densities (25, 50 and 75 plants m⁻²) and c) the additive intercropping of dill + common bean (25 + 40, 50 + 40 and 75 + 40 plants m⁻²). All these treatments were applied with (+AM) or without (-AM) arbuscular mycorrhiza colonization. In both cropping systems, inoculation with F. mosseae increased the P, K, Fe and Zn concentrations of dill plants by 40, 524, 57 and 1.0 μg kg⁻¹ DW, respectively. Intercropping increased Mn concentration in common bean (4.0 μg kg⁻¹ DW) and dill (3.0 μg kg⁻¹ DW), and also seed yields of both crops (198 g m⁻² and161 g m⁻², respectively). AM colonization improved seed yields of dill and common bean by 169 and 177 g m⁻² in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Moreover, AM application enhanced competitive ability of dill + common bean intercrops against weeds at different intercropping systems. Intercropping significantly changed weed density compared to sole cropping, as weed density was decreased in the dill + common bean intercropping. Diversity (H), Evenness (E) and richness of weed species of weeds for intercrops were higher than those for sole crops.