Positionality and protocol in field research: Undertaking community‐based investigations in Samoa

This article considers the experiences of a Samoan female geographer undertaking community‐based field research in her home country, and identifies some lessons for researchers working in similar circumstances. The paper suggests that ethical behaviour in research is ‘place‐specific’, and there is therefore a need to employ culturally sensitive and ‘location‐specific’ methodologies when undertaking community‐based research fieldwork. For the lead researcher, growing up in Samoa played a significant role in gaining an understanding of a set of robust and effective procedures to evaluate citizens' resilience to climatic and other environmental challenges. Fluency in everyday and more formal local languages, and awareness of local differences, each with multi‐layered connections to local communities, understanding cultural nuances and practising respect for va tapuia [sacred space or relationships] protocols, together facilitated the process of knowledge acquisition and helped to confirm the validity of the conclusions derived from the study.     

四川新津白鹤滩国家湿地公园核心区植物景观配置研究

四川新津白鹤滩国家湿地公园位于成都市新津县境内,是典型的河流漫滩和沙洲地貌。受亚热带湿润气候影响,湿地公园核心区拥有种类丰富的湿地动植物资源,但近几年人们在场地周边的开发活动,对基地原有植物生态环境造成破坏_^[1]。现在核心区仅存那些对水质要求低和抗逆性强的植物,同时也因为植物种类过于单一,随之而来的就是湿地季节性功能失调现象,如对水质净化的能力差,水体富营养化严重。为缓解和改善湿地核心区现存问题,一个具有生态修复功能的植物景观配置就显得尤为重要,本论文主要以生态恢复学、植被演替理论等为理论支撑,借鉴LID技术在湿地生态修复的应用,结合对基地本身植物资源调查的基础,通过对不同植物的配置选择,构建起了多样的新旧植物景观模式,用以探索科学合理的湿地公园植物景观配置模式,以期恢复新津湿地公园植被生态多样性,提升视觉景观效果。     

Management strategies for forage rape (Brassica napus L. cv Goliath): Impact on dry-matter yield,plant reserves,morphology and nutritive value

Limited information is available on the grazing management principles of forage rape (Brassica napus L.), particularly in relation to grazing height and intensity and the impact of these on dry-matter (DM) yield and nutritive value. A glasshouse study was undertaken to investigate the effect of three defoliation heights (plant height at harvest; DH: 40, 70 and 90 cm; L, M and H DH respectively) and three defoliation intensities (height at which plants were cut; DI: 5, 20 and 35 cm of residual height; H, M and L DI respectively) on forage rape (cv Goliath) yield and nutritive value at two harvests (harvest 1, H1 and harvest 2, H2), and the impact of nitrogen (N) and water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) reserves on regrowth. Increasing DH from L to H increased estimated total DM yield (H1 plus H2) from 0.5 to 4.6 t DM/ha but DI did not affect yield. Dry-matter yield was optimized at 90 cm DH, but greater nutritive value was achieved by harvesting at lower levels of DH. Despite high in vitro DM digestibility (IVDMD; 852–889 g/kg), harvesting at 90 cm DH could not meet the protein requirement of lactating dairy cows and harvesting at lower levels risks nitrate poisoning. Our results indicate the optimum DH may be between 70 and 90 cm DH, and 20 and 35 cm DI, which requires further studies.     

Effects of germination and kilning on the phenolic compounds and nutritional properties of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and kiwicha (Amaranthus caudatus)

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and kiwicha (Amaranthus caudatus) are nutritious pseudocereals that originate from the Andean region. The aim of this research was to study the effect of germination and the subsequent kilning on the phenolic compounds and proximate composition in selected Peruvian varieties of quinoa (“Chullpi”) and kiwicha (“Oscar Blanco”). The germination process was carried out for 24, 48 and 72 h at 22 °C, and the kilning was performed with samples germinated for 72 h by drying the seeds at 90 °C for 5 min. Both processes increased the protein content of the samples. However, lipid content was reduced during germination. On the other hand, germination and kilning clearly increased the concentration of total phenolic compounds in both quinoa and kiwicha. Germination for 72 h either with or without kilning process resulted in a significant (p < 0.05) increase in the total content of phenolics compared to untreated materials, which was especially due to coumaric acid and a kaempferol tri-glycoside in quinoa and caffeoylquinic acid in kiwicha. Based on the results, germination and kilning may improve the nutritional quality of the Andean grains, encouraging the usage of the processed grains as ingredients in functional products for people with special gluten-free or vegetarian diets.     

基于高通量测序技术分析2种菌草根际土壤真菌群落多样性

为了解福州菌草基地巨菌草和绿洲一号2种菌草的根际土壤真菌群落多样性,采用Illumina Miseq高通量测序技术和生物信息学方法,对菌草根际土真菌的多样性及群落结构进行分析。结果表明：从3份土壤样本中获得525 292条ITS序列,在97%序列相似性基础上可划分为7267个可操作分类单元（OTU）。真菌群落的丰富度指数（ACE）以菌草非根际土最低,绿洲一号根际土略高于巨菌草根际土;而多样性指数（Shannon-Wiener和Simpson）菌草根际土高于非根际土,绿洲一号根际土略高于巨菌草根际土。3份样品的优势菌门为子囊菌门（Ascomycota）、担子菌门（Basidiomycota）、接合菌门（Zygomycota）、壶菌门（Chytridiomycota）、球囊菌门（Glomeromycota）;优势菌纲为散囊菌纲（Eurotiomycetes）、粪壳菌纲（ Sordariomycetes）、座囊菌纲（Dothideomycetes）、伞菌纲（Agaricomycetes）、锤舌菌纲（Leotiomycetes）、圆盘菌纲（Orbiliomycetes）、银耳纲（Tremellomycetes）、粘膜菌纲（Wallemiomycetes）;优势菌属为篮状菌属（Talaromyces）、深黄伞形霉属（Umbelopsis）、枝孢菌属（Cladosporium）、暗双孢菌属（Cordana）、镰刀菌属（Fusarium）、隐球菌属（Cryptococcus）、淡紫紫霉属（Purpureocillium）、赤霉菌属 （Gibberella）、灵芝属（Ganoderma）。研究结果表明,菌草根际土真菌群落多样性高于非根际土,为进一步更好地利用菌草提供理论参考依据。     

菜豆细菌性萎蔫病菌传入中国的风险分析

从世界分布、主要寄主、经济重要性、传入可能性和风险管理难度5个方面对菜豆细菌性萎蔫病菌传入我国的风险进行评估。结果表明,该病菌是特别危险的有害生物。根据分析结果提出了非疫区输入、输出国应严格检疫、进境口岸加严检查等相应的风险管理措施。     

植物来源药物联合抗肿瘤的研究进展

主要对长春碱、小檗碱、喜树碱和苦参碱等生物碱类、紫杉醇类药物联合抗肿瘤治疗进行了综述,并指出植物来源药物联合抗肿瘤的发展方向。     

Strong functional stability of soil microbial communities under semiarid Mediterranean conditions and subjected to long-term shifts in baseline precipitation

We investigated the effect of soil microclimate on the structure and functioning of soil microbial communities in a Mediterranean Holm-oak forest subjected to 10 years of partial rain exclusion manipulations, simulating average drought conditions expected in Mediterranean areas for the following decades. We applied a high throughput DNA pyrosequencing technique coupled to parallel measurements of microbial respiration (R_H) and temperature sensitivity of microbial respiration (Q₁₀). Some consistent changes in the structure of bacterial communities suggest a slow process of community shifts parallel to the trend towards oligotrophy in response to long-term droughts. However, the structure of bacterial communities was mainly determined by short-term environmental fluctuations associated with sampling date (winter, spring and summer) rather than long-term (10 years) shifts in baseline precipitation. Moreover, long-term drought did not exert any chronic effect on the functioning of soil microbial communities (R_H and Q₁₀), emphasizing the functional stability of these communities to this long-term but mild shifts in water availability. We hypothesize that the particular conditions of the Mediterranean climate with strong seasonal shifts in both temperature and soil water availability but also characterized by very extreme environmental conditions during summer, was acting as a strong force in community assembling, selecting phenotypes adapted to the semiarid conditions characterizing Mediterranean ecosystems. Relations of climate with the phylogenetic structure and overall diversity of the communities as well as the distribution of the individual responses of different lineages (genera) to climate confirmed our hypotheses, evidencing communities dominated by thermotolerant and drought-tolerant phenotypes.     

植物种群构件的理论概述及研究进展

综述了植物种群构件的理论概况和国内外的研究现状以及对我国种群构件的研究展望.文中指出构件理论的思想依据、形态依据、生理依据和构件理论的五项基本内容.同时,论述了近30余年来,包括植物花构件、叶构件、芽构件、枝构件、茎构件、根构件等在内的植物种群构件研究现状.我国植物种群构件研究要注意构件间的相互作用以及构件与环境间的相互作用;注意与生理生态相结合;研究对象多元化,为开发和保护我国植物资源提供科学依据,将构件研究成果转化为生产力.     

Artificial neural network modeling of microbial community structures in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil

Microbial communities vary across the landscape in forest soils, but prediction of their biomass and composition is a difficult challenge due to the large numbers of variables that influence their community structures. Here we examine the use of artificial neural network (ANN) models for extraction of patterns among soil chemical variables and microbial community structures in forest soils from three regions of the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. At each location, variations in soil chemical properties and FAME profiles of microbial community structures were mapped at 20 × 20 m intervals within 10 ha parcels. Geostatistical analyses showed that spatial variability in soil physical and chemical variables could be mapped at scale distances of 20 m, but that FAME profiles representing the microbial communities were highly variable and had no spatial dependence at the same scale in most cases. RDA analysis showed that FAME signatures representing different microbial groups were positively associated with soil pH, OM, P and base cations concentrations, whereas microbial biomass was negatively associated with the same environmental factors. In contrast, ANN models revealed clear relationships between microbial community structures at each parcel location, and generated verifiable predictions of variations in FAME profiles in relation to soil pH, texture, and the relative abundances of base cations. The results suggest that ANN modeling provides a useful approach for describing the relationships between microbial community structures and soil properties in tropical forest soils that were not able to be captured using geostatistical and RDA analyses.