南疆植被总初级生产力对区域降水的响应规律

为研究总初级生产力(Gross primary productivity,GPP)对区域降水的响应规律,本研究通过对南疆地区喀什、阿克苏、和田3个市2000—2014年的GPP进行分析,得出GPP的时空分布规律,进而与2000—2011年同期的降水进行耦合分析,以探寻植被GPP与降水之间的响应关系,从而为南疆地区植被生态保持和可持续发展提供依据。结果表明:1)从时间尺度来看,GPP呈现出与季节相关的波动性,年均GPP的极值点基本出现在每年的7月;2)在空间分布上,和田地区的GPP在空间上呈现北低南高的空间格局,阿克苏地区的GPP呈现北高南低的空间格局,并且在数值上存在较大的差异性,喀什地区的GPP呈现北高南低的空间格局,西北部GPP分布比较集中并有较高的值;3)变化趋势上,和田地区呈现上升趋势、阿克苏地区整体比较稳定、喀什地区呈现上升的趋势;4)研究区域内GPP与降水之间均为正相关关系。当降水滞后1个月时,和田及喀什GPP与降水之间的相关系数显著提高,但是阿克苏地区没有表现出时滞性,说明响应关系更加明显。     

Geostatistical and fuzzy clustering approach for delineation of site-specific management zones and yield-limiting factors in irrigated hot arid environment of India

Precision Agriculture - Delineation of management zones (MZs) are needed to manage fields in order to maximize economic return, minimize environmental impact, and improve soil and crop management....     

A deep-level region-based visual representation architecture for detecting strawberry flowers in an outdoor field

Precision Agriculture - An accurate and robust strawberry flower representation and detection scheme is a key step to enable the reliable forecasting of fruit yield for use in precision...     

The profitability of variable rate lime in wheat

Grid sampling allows a variable rate of lime to be applied and has been marketed as a cost saver to producers. However, there is little research that shows if this precision application is profitable or not. Previous research on variable-rate lime has considered only a small number of fields. This paper uses soil sampling data from 111 fields provided by producers in Oklahoma and Kansas. The 5-year average net present values are compared between variable-rate and uniform-rate lime for grain-only wheat production, dual-purpose wheat grain and forage production, and a wheat–soybean rotation. Sensitivity analysis was done for varying grain prices as well as grain yield potential. When using historical average yields and recent prices for Oklahoma, variable rate was not profitable on average for these 111 fields for either a grain-only, dual-purpose, or wheat–soybean production. However, when yield or prices were above average, variable rate was profitable. Thus, variable rate liming can be profitable for these fields, but it requires either above average yields, a high value crop, or above average prices.

     

Delineating site-specific management zones on pasture soil using a probabilistic and objective model and geostatistical techniques

Precision Agriculture - In recent years, different algorithms have been utilised to delineate management zones, areas with similar properties, within agricultural fields. However, there are few...     

Golf course superintendents’ knowledge of variability within fairways: a tool for precision turfgrass management

Precision Agriculture - Golf course superintendent’s knowledge of variability may be an overlooked and underutilized tool for precision turfgrass management (PTM). This case study used a...     

Effect of melatonin on visceral fat deposition,lipid metabolism and hepatic lipo-metabolic gene expression in male rats

Melatonin (MT) influences lipid metabolism in animals; however, the mechanistic effect of melatonin on liver fat and abdominal adipose deposition requires further clarity. In order to study the effects of melatonin on lipid metabolism, and hepatic fat and abdominal adipose deposition in animals, twenty Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats of 6 weeks of age with similar bodyweight were randomly divided into two groups: control (CTL) and MT-treated (10 mg/kg/day). During a 60-day experiment, food intake and bodyweight were measured daily and weekly respectively. At the end of treatment, blood samples were collected to collect plasma to quantify hormones and metabolic indicators of lipid metabolism. In addition, organ and abdominal adipose depots including liver, and omental, perirenal, and epididymal fat were weighed. Liver tissue was sampled for sectioning, long-chain fatty acid (LCFA) quantification, and gene chip and Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) analyses. The results showed that liver weight and index (ratio of liver weight to body weight) in MT group reduced by 20.69% and 9.63% respectively; omentum weight and index reduced by 59.88% and 54.93% respectively, and epididymal fat weight reduced by 45.34% (p = 0.049), relative to CTL. Plasma lipid indices, triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and total cholesterol (TC) with MT treatment decreased significantly compared with the control. Fat and 8 LCFA content in liver in MT group also decreased. Gene chip and qPCR demonstrated that there were 289 genes up-regulated and 293 genes down-regulated by MT. Further analysis found that the mRNA expression of lipolysis-related genes increased, while the mRNA expression of lipogenesis-related enzymes decreased (p < 0.05) with MT. This study concluded that melatonin greatly affected fat deposition, and hepatic LCFA supply and the expression of genes associated with lipogenesis and lipolysis.     

Possibility of Reducing Soil Allelotoxicity for Grain Crops

Eurasian Soil Science - The results of experiments on possible reduction of soil allelotoxicity level for grain crops are presented. It was found that autoclaving of soils significantly reduces...     

Assessing the Complexing Properties of Soil Organic Matter by IMAC (Case Study of Copper Ions)

Eurasian Soil Science - Immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) has been used to fractionate organic compounds in alkaline extracts from forest soils of the Komi Republic by their ability...