Variability in the performance of juvenile Chinook salmon is explained primarily by when and where they resided in estuarine habitats

Estuarine habitats provide rearing opportunities for the juvenile life stage of anadromous fishes. Because survival is positively correlated with juvenile performance, these estuarine habitats play an important role in population abundance and productivity. To provide information for the recovery of several depressed stocks of Chinook salmon in the Columbia River Basin, we sought to identify the factors that explain variability in performance. Using otolith‐derived estimates of juvenile somatic growth rate as an index of recent performance, we observed a negative nonlinear relationship between growth rate and day of year, and a decreasing and increasing trend of growth rate over the 8 years of this study and distance from the river mouth respectively. Using a generalised linear modelling approach, we found that variability in juvenile somatic growth rate was best explained by where and when individuals were collected, their body size, contaminant loads, stock of origin, and whether a fish was hatchery produced or unmarked. Lastly, we argue that a considerable improvement to the growth rate of juveniles in estuarine habitats is physiologically possible. The results of this 8‐year study provide a baseline of the performance of juvenile Chinook salmon to evaluate habitat restoration programs and to compare against future anthropogenic conditions.     

Changes in photosynthesis,growth, and sugar content of commercial sugarcane cultivars and Erianthus under flood conditions

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is an economical crop in the tropical and subtropical countries. However, because of global climate change, flooding has become problematic, particularly during the rainy season, in Thailand. We investigated the effects of floods on three commercial sugarcane cultivars, namely NiF8, U-thong 6 (UT6), and U-thong 9 (UT9), as well as Erianthus spp. Growth was assessed using a pot experiment in a glasshouse with two treatments: (1) control and (2) 60 d of flooding followed by 30 d of normal conditions. In comparison with control, during prolonged flooding, Erianthus showed greatly decreased CO₂ assimilation, whereas NiF8, UT6, and UT9 showed slightly declined CO₂ assimilation. Growth in plants subjected to 60 d of flooding was less influenced by floods while sucrose content was not affected except in UT6. During flooding, some roots died, resulting in plants compensating adventitious roots to offset the negative effects of root death and to assist them in maintaining their growth, which appeared from the submerged nodes, with different characteristics for each cultivar. However, 30 d after draining, roots remained damaged, while adventitious roots died, resulting in lesser growth as compared with the control, but it did not significantly affect sucrose content and sugar yield. This study suggests that sugarcane plants need to produce the adventitious roots to compensate their roots’ death during flooding and require time to recover their root system after flooding for obtaining the optimum yield and quality at harvest.     

Replacing Soybean Meal with Alternative Protein Sources in Diets for Pond‐raised Hybrid Catfish, ♀ Ictalurus punctatus × ♂ Ictalurus furcatus

The present study investigated the replacement of soybean meal with combinations of two or three alternative protein sources in diets for pond‐raised hybrid catfish, ♀ Ictalurus punctatus × ♂ Ictalurus furcatus. Alternative protein sources evaluated included cottonseed meal, distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), peanut meal, and porcine meat and bone meal (PMBM). Hybrid catfish fingerlings with a mean initial weight of 35 g/fish were stocked into 25 earthen ponds (0.04 ha) at a density of 14,826 fish/ha. Fish were fed once daily to apparent satiation for 166 d. No significant differences were observed for total diet fed, net yield, weight gain, survival, carcass yield, fillet yield, or fillet proximate composition among dietary treatments. Results show soybean meal may be completely replaced by combinations of cottonseed meal and one or two other alternative protein sources including DDGS, peanut meal, and PMBM in the diet without markedly affecting production and processing characteristics and fillet proximate composition of pond‐raised hybrid catfish. These alternative diets may be used during foodfish production when prices are favorable.     

不同施肥处理对枳及柠檬容器苗生长的影响

研究9个不同施肥处理对枳及柠檬容器苗生长的影响。结果表明:不同施肥处理对枳容器苗的苗高、地径、分枝高度及嫁接后柠檬苗的发芽率、株高、茎粗、分枝数及生物量都存在显著差异;不同施肥处理对枳及柠檬容器苗综合表现最好的为T4(撒施柠檬专用肥1.6 g)处理,其次是T2(撒施尿素0.6 g)、T3(撒施柠檬专用肥0.8 g)处理,表现最差的是T8(浇施5%柠檬专用肥)和T7(浇施3%柠檬专用肥)处理。在一定施肥浓度范围内,施肥对嫁接后柠檬容器苗的生物量积累有明显促进作用。柠檬容器苗培育时建议采用在基质中撒施柠檬专用肥1.6 g。     

青霉菌发酵液对大豆幼苗生长及生理特性的影响

采用室内生理检测及生物化学方法,研究了青霉菌发酵液对大豆幼苗生长及生理特性的影响。结果表明:用一定浓度的青霉菌发酵液对大豆浸种和茎叶处理,大豆幼苗的生长呈明显上升趋势,处理后大豆的株高、根长、株鲜重和根鲜重均明显得到了提高,且生长状态好于对照,不同浓度处理间具有明显差异,在发酵液浓度为5 g·L-1时,效果最佳。尤其是对根鲜重的影响,促进率最高可达56.21%,同时增强了幼苗根系活力,最大可以提高57.82%,浸种和茎叶处理后,分别提高了叶绿素含量41.25%和15.40%;超氧化物歧化酶活性12.20%和11.70%;过氧化物酶31.33%和29.95%;过氧化氢酶活性42.8%和20.0%,这为发酵液在大豆田推广应用、提高大豆产量提供了重要理论依据。     

Mapping the spatial distribution of shade provision of street trees in Boston using Google Street View panoramas

Street trees provide shade and increase human thermal comfort during hot summer. In this study, we investigated the spatial distribution of shade provision of street trees in Boston, Massachusetts. The sky view factor (SVF), which influences the solar radiation to the ground and affects human thermal comfort, was used to indicate the contribution of street trees on shade provision. Google Street View (GSV) panoramas were used to calculate the photographic method based SVF (SVF_P), with the consideration of all kinds of obstructions within street canyons. A building height model was used to calculate the simulation based SVF (SVFs), with consideration of obstruction of building blocks only. Considering the fact that street trees and building blocks are the two major obstructions of radiation within street canyons, therefore, the difference between the two SVF estimation results can be considered as the shade provision of street trees. The results show that street trees help to decrease the SVF by 24.61% in Boston, Massachusetts. The shading level varies spatially in the study area. Generally, the southwestern area has much higher shading level than the north and the east. We further explored the shading variation among different socioeconomic groups in the study area. Result shows that Hispanics tend to live in neighborhoods with lower shading level. This study can help to provide a reference for future urban greening projects for global climate change adaption.     

养猪场沼渣制备包膜缓释肥理化性质表征

文章以分散式养猪场沼渣为应用研究对象,以8%聚乙烯醇为包膜材料,改性斜发沸石为肥料载体和缓控释材料调理剂,通过添加不同沸石量制备3种复混包膜缓释肥。利用红外光谱、扫描电镜及三维荧光对3种缓释肥的进行表征。结果表明:添加改性沸石的复混包膜肥除了增加显著的沸石红外特征谱外,其余红外光谱图差异不明显,表明添加沸石对有机质(富里酸和腐殖酸)结构和化学键型并未产生明显的影响,即不影响沼渣理化性质;添加改性沸石可以使聚乙烯醇完整的覆盖在肥料表面,膜壳更加平整光滑,膜层更加致密;三维荧光光谱显示复混包膜肥Ⅰ浸出富里酸和腐殖酸浓度最大,复混包膜肥Ⅲ浓度最低,表明添加沸石有减缓肥料养分释放的效果。该研究对于利用养猪场沼渣制备包膜缓释肥有一定的参考价值。     

Effects of elevated CO2 concentration on bulbil germination and early seedling growth in Chinese yam under different air temperatures

The present study investigated the effects of elevated carbon dioxide concentration ([CO₂]) and air temperature on the germination of seed bulbils and the seedling vigour of two Chinese yam lines. Plants were grown under two [CO₂] levels, ambient and elevated (ambient + 200 μmol mol^?1), and two mean air temperature regimes, 22.2 °C (ambient + 1.4 °C) and 25.6 °C (ambient + 5.2 °C). Elevated [CO₂] did not affect bulbil germination under both air temperature regimes. During the early growth stage, the dry weight (DW) of leaves, vines, shoots, roots, belowground parts (roots + tubers) and whole plants were higher under elevated [CO₂] than ambient [CO₂] for both lines under the low- and high-temperature regimes. The values of vigour indexes (index I = germination % × seedling length and index II = germination % × seedling DW) were also higher under elevated [CO₂] than ambient [CO₂] for both lines. These results indicated that Chinese yam seedlings respond positively to elevated [CO₂] during the early growth stage. The above:belowground DW ratios were lower under elevated [CO₂] than ambient [CO₂] in seedlings with very small new tubers for both yam lines, indicating that elevated [CO₂] strongly affected the root growth in the early growth stage. The DWs of post-treatment seed bulbils were higher in the elevated [CO₂] under both air temperature regimes. The results showed that Chinese yam used a smaller amount of the reserves in seed bulbils under elevated [CO₂] than under ambient [CO₂].