Availability and diffusion kinetic process of phosphorus in the water–sediment interface assessed by the high-resolution DGT technique

Journal of Soils and Sediments - Desorption of phosphorus (P) bound to iron-containing minerals (Fe-P) is a crucial component of the eutrophication process in lakes. However, the main process and...     

Effects of dazomet on soil organisms and recolonisation of fumigated soil

Fumigation is a common practice to control soil pathogens, but little is known about the impacts of fumigation on other soil biota groups. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of fumigation on soil biota, including microorganisms, nematodes, and microarthropods. Bacteria were the most resistant group and some survived following treatment with 2000 mg kg⁻¹ dazomet. Some soil fungi survived 100 mg kg⁻¹ dazomet, although they were mainly Trichoderma. The fungi pathogenic to ginseng were all killed at 100 mg kg⁻¹, and showed both inter- and intra-species variation with respect to dazomet susceptibility. Among the nematodes, Aphelenchus was relatively resistant. The results suggested that susceptibility of soil organisms to dazomet differs between species, and that tolerant organisms may engage in recolonisation. In microcosm experiments, the microbial biomass and community were assessed using phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis while recolonisation of soil organisms was controlled by mesh size. The bacterial PLFA levels were changed little after fumigation, whereas the fungal PLFA levels gradually increased after fumigation. Principal analysis of the PLFA levels and the ratio of gram-negative to gram-positive bacteria showed that fumigation altered the microbial community. The number of nematodes did not recover even at 12 weeks after fumigation. The increased Collembolan numbers suggest that fumigated soil could be recolonised by specific organisms that have adapted to the conditions. In field experiments, we tested the ability of organic materials to enhance the recolonisation of fumigated soil by soil organisms. Bean powder and rice bran increased the microbial PLFA levels and nematode numbers at 6 weeks and 12 weeks after treatment, and the abundance of nematodes continued to increase 42 weeks after fumigation. The abundance of microarthropods was only slightly affected by the presence of the organic materials. We suggest that treating fumigated soils with organic materials is an effective technique to promote soil organism numbers. In addition, Trichoderma was observed to be relatively resistant to fumigation, and therefore, we propose that the fumigation effect can be improved by using a combination of resistant Trichoderma and dazomet.     

Both native and invasive bark beetles threaten exotic conifers within the spa towns in the Czech part of “The Great Spas of Europe”

Exotic coniferous trees in forests adjacent to spa towns and in parks within spa towns are increasingly being attacked by outbreak populations of native bark beetles in western Bohemia (Central Europe). In the 12 localities in western Czech Republic the current study, we detected a total of 19 native bark beetle species infesting more than 10 % of exotic tree species in the genera Abies, Picea, Pinus, and Pseudotsuga in 1 year. Several exotic tree species were identified as new hosts for native European bark beetles. We also identified three non-native bark beetles, including Phloeosinus aubei, a species that transmits the pathogens that cause cypress canker disease.The numbers of infested trees in the localities were not correlated with the distance from surrounding bark beetle outbreak sites in commercial forests, because all forests adjacent to spas and all forests in spa towns (i.e., “urban forests”) are close to commercial forests with infested trees. Infestations were greater in spa towns than in the forests adjacent to spa towns. We therefore assume that trees within spa towns will be further attacked due to the increasing abundance of native bark beetles.     

Planning small for winning big: Small urban green space distribution patterns in an expanding city

While major urban areas are expanding, becoming more crowded, vegetated lands areshrinking. Built-up densification limits the planning of large urban green spaces,depriving urban dwellers of the benefits provided by such structures. In this context,small public urban green spaces (SPUGS) become of high value for urban landscapes,and their distribution throughout the city should aim to compensate the lack of largergreen areas. The driving forces of SPUGS distribution may be linked to the urbanfunctions they are usually paired with.The current study aimed to determine which are the urban functions that benefit ofhigher amounts of SPUGS in their proximities and to map the distribution and densityof SPUGS within Bucharest, helping us expose the green deprived communities.Results revealed that multi-dwelling residential areas are the ones with higher share ofSPUGS within walking distance. Nevertheless, analysis on SPUGS deprivation withinthe city showed that communist planned residential neighbourhoods are greener thanthe ones developed in the past three decades. Healthcare and commercial functionswithin the city recorded smaller shares of SPUGS in their proximity, highlighting thatvulnerable groups (such as ill people) are exposed to less vegetation, and that publicplanning documents are not encouraging developers to allocate more land for greenfeature development.These results are relevant for projecting the quality of outdoor environmentsthroughout Romania’s capital and for assessing potential future managementchallenges. The outcomes of this research provide local policy makers and plannerswith the vulnerable areas in which immediate action for expanding the greeninfrastructures should take place. At the same time, the methodological approachdescribed in the study proved to be efficient in assessing the distribution of SPUGSthroughout the city and the determinants of this distribution. It can be easily replicatedin other cities by scholars and planners.     

Functional beetle diversity in managed grasslands: effects of region,landscape context and land use intensity

Current biodiversity conservation policies have so far had limited success because they are mainly targeted to the scale of individual fields with little concern on different responses of organism groups at larger spatial scales. We investigated the relative impacts of multi-scale factors, including local land use intensity, landscape context and region, on functional groups of beetles (Coleoptera). In 2008, beetles were suction-sampled from 95 managed grasslands in three regions, ranging from Southern to Northern Germany. The results showed that region was the most important factor affecting the abundance of herbivores and the abundance and species composition of predators and decomposers. Herbivores were not affected by landscape context and land use intensity. The species composition of the predator communities changed with land use intensity, but only in interaction with landscape context. Interestingly, decomposer abundance was negatively related to land use intensity in low-diversity landscapes, whereas in high-diversity landscapes the relation was positive, possibly due to enhanced spillover effects in complex landscapes. We conclude that (i) management at multiple scales, from local sites to landscapes and regions, is essential for managing biodiversity, (ii) beetle predators and decomposers are more affected than herbivores, supporting the hypothesis that higher trophic levels are more sensitive to environmental change, and (iii) sustaining biological control and decomposition services in managed grassland needs a diverse landscape, while effects of local land use intensity may depend on landscape context.     

Empirical estimation of dispersal resistance surfaces: a case study with red-cockaded woodpeckers

Persistence of wildlife populations depends on the degree to which landscape features facilitate animal movements between isolated habitat patches. Due to limited data availability, the effect of landscape features on animal dispersal is typically estimated using expert opinion. With sufficient data, however, resistance surfaces can be estimated empirically. After modeling suitable prospecting habitat using an extensive dataset from the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis), we used data from over 800 prospecting events from 34 radio-tagged birds to identify the best relationship between habitat suitability and resistance surfaces. Our results demonstrated that juvenile female P. borealis prospecting for new territories beyond their natal territories preferred to traverse through forests with tall canopy and minimal midstory vegetation. The non-linear relationship between habitat suitability and resistance surfaces was the most biologically relevant transformation, which in turn identified the specific forest composition that promoted and inhibited prospecting and dispersal behavior. These results corresponded with over 60 % of dispersal events from an independent dataset of short-distance dispersal events. This new understanding of P. borealis prospecting behavior will help to identify areas necessary for maintaining habitat connectivity and to implement effective management strategies. Our approach also provides a framework to not only estimate and evaluate resistance surfaces based on species-specific responses to intervening landscape features, but also addresses an often-neglected step, selecting a biologically relevant function to transform habitat suitability model into a resistance surface.     

不同施肥处理对南疆温室蔬菜根际土壤微生物的影响

以南疆塔里木盆地西缘城市喀什市的蔬菜温室为试验对象,测定温室土壤20 cm处的耕作层的微生物种类、生物活性和生物量碳氮等指标,研究了不同施肥处理对南疆温室蔬菜根际土壤中微生物的影响.结果表明:施用有机肥可明显增加土壤中细菌、真菌及放线菌数目和活性,有机肥种类对土壤中生物活性有一定的影响;适量施用化肥能一定程度提高根际土壤中生物量碳和氮的的含量.     

Fungal and bacterial growth following the application of slurry and anaerobic digestate of livestock manure to temperate pasture soils

How land-application of digestate sourced from anaerobic digestion (AD) of animal waste influences the functioning of a mixed pasture agroecosystem is not well characterised, particularly with regard to the response of the actively growing microbial community. We studied the impact of the liquid AD digestate on the decomposer community in two different soils, seeded with two different common grassland crops; a mixture of either grass or grass/clover in a greenhouse experiment. We studied bacterial (leucine incorporation into bacteria) and fungal (acetate incorporation into ergosterol) growth responses to AD cattle slurry digestate, undigested cattle slurry, mineral fertiliser (NPK and N) added at a rate equivalent to 150?kg?N?ha^?1, and a no-fertiliser control treatment. Differences in fungal and bacterial growth were evident between the soil and sward types. However, the fertilisers consistently stimulated a higher bacterial growth than the no-fertiliser control, and liquid digestate resulted in a level of bacterial growth higher or equal to that of mineral fertiliser, whilst undigested slurry resulted in lower bacterial growth. These fertiliser effects on bacterial growth mirrored the effects on plant growth. In contrast, the fungal community responded only marginally to fertiliser treatments. We conclude that the application of digestate stimulates the bacterial decomposer community in a similar way to that of mineral fertilisers. Our results suggest that mineral fertiliser can be exchanged for liquid digestate with limited impact on the actively growing soil microbial community that, in turn, regulate important soil processes including nutrient cycling in agricultural soils.     

棉花抗蚜性与可溶性糖含量的关系

为探讨可溶性糖含量与棉花抗蚜性的关系,在室内人工接蚜为害和田间自然蚜群两种条件下,测定不同抗蚜性棉花品种受棉蚜为害后叶片中可溶性糖含量及其对棉蚜生长发育和繁殖的影响。结果表明:未受棉蚜为害时,抗性品种中可溶性糖含量高于感性品种,棉蚜为害胁迫后,抗蚜棉花品种可溶性糖含量升高,感蚜品种的可溶性糖含量降低。棉蚜的生长发育和繁殖与棉花叶片中可溶性糖含量呈显著的相关,可溶性糖与棉蚜若蚜历期呈正相关,与内禀增长率呈负相关。本研究说明可溶性糖含量对棉花的抗蚜性有一定的影响,转基因棉可溶性糖含量低于常规棉品种可能是导致非目标害虫棉蚜猖獗的原因之一。     

Evaluating the effects of upstream lakes and wetlands on lake phosphorus concentrations using a spatially-explicit model

Lake phosphorus concentrations are strongly influenced by the surrounding landscape that generates phosphorus loads and water inflow to lakes, and the physical characteristics of the lake that determine the fate of these inputs. In addition, the presence, connectivity, and configuration of upstream lakes and wetlands likely affect downstream lake phosphorus concentrations. These freshwater landscape features have only sometimes been incorporated into phosphorus loading models, perhaps because of the need for spatially-explicit approaches that account for their location and hydrologic configuration. In this paper, we developed a lake phosphorus concentration model that includes three modules to estimate phosphorus loading, water inflow, and phosphorus retention, respectively. In modeling phosphorus loading and water inflow, we used a spatially-explicit approach to address their export at sources and their attenuation along flow-paths. We used 161 headwater lakes for model calibration and 28 headwater lakes for model validation. Using the calibrated model, we examined the effects of upstream lakes and wetlands on downstream lake phosphorus concentrations. To examine the effects of upstream lakes, we compared the output of the calibrated model for three additional datasets (208 lakes in total) that contained increasing area of upstream lakes. To examine the effect of upstream wetlands, we used the calibrated model to compare flow-path cell series that contained wetlands and those that did not. In addition, we simulated catchments in which all wetlands were converted to forest and recalculated downstream lake phosphorus concentrations. We found that upstream lakes decreased the phosphorus concentrations in downstream lakes; and, counter-intuitively, we found that wetlands increased phosphorus concentrations in most downstream lakes. The latter result was due to the fact that although wetlands reduced phosphorus loads to downstream lakes, they also reduced water inflow to downstream lakes and thus increased the phosphorus concentration of inflows to lakes. Our results suggest that when modeling lake phosphorus concentrations, freshwater features of the landscape and their spatial arrangement should be taken into account.