Using shallow saline groundwater for irrigation and regulating for soil salt-water regime

Drought and fresh water shortage are the main limiting factorsfor sustainable development of agriculture in North China Plain.Using saline water for irrigation plays important role forovercoming the constraints and increasing crops yields. Theexploitation and utilization of shallow saline groundwaterenables to regulate the groundwater depth and to promote thetransform of precipitation into available water resources.Thispaper reviews the research and practice on the utilization ofshallow saline groundwater in the part east of South GreatCanal in Haihe River Plain. Findings are presented on the useof saline water, cycling and blending of saline and fresh waterfor irrigation, indexing of crops salt tolerances, regulating forsoil salt-water regime, saline-alkali land reclamation andgroundwater quality freshening. These approaches help therational regulation and utilization of the local water resourcesfor comprehensive control of drought, waterlogging and salinity.     

基于结构相似度的关中平原旱情空间分布特征

季节性干旱是影响关中平原农业生产最主要的灾害,研究气候变化背景下的关中平原旱情空间分布特征和变化规律具有重要的科学意义与应用价值。基于关中平原2003—2014年每年3月上旬—5月下旬的旬时间尺度条件植被温度指数(VTCI)的干旱监测结果,采用结构相似度(SSIM)研究关中平原VTCI的空间变化特征及其影响因子。结果表明:关中平原VTCI的空间变化特征具有明显的区域差异性和空间异质性,结构性因素是VTCI空间变化的主要影响因子,总体上受水热、地形分布格局等因素的结构性影响,但微地貌、下垫面覆盖的不同及变化和人为因素导致其主体产生变化。当微地貌、下垫面覆盖类型和人为因素成为主导因子时,结构相似度与其高度相关,对其变化的响应非常敏感。与利用某些指数直接作为干旱的指示因子或构建统计模型分析干旱特征相比,引入研究图像的结构信息的参量SSIM实现了定量、准确、形象地描述干旱的空间分布特征和变化规律。     

海河低平原深松播种对夏玉米根系生理的影响及其节水增产效应

于2012—2013年在河北省农林科学院旱作农业研究所深州试验站,以郑单958为供试品种,设置夏玉米深松播种和免耕播种两个处理,从玉米出苗开始,根据生育进程定期观察玉米根系形态、生理指标及微观结构、玉米冠层光合特性和叶面积指数,成熟期测定产量,计算水分利用效率和2 m土体水分储蓄情况。结果表明,0~60 cm土层,深松播种处理可提高玉米根系干物质积累、表面积、根长和活跃吸收面积比例,全生育期分别比免耕播种处理提高30.5%、24.6%、29.7%和56.3%。0~60 cm土层,深松播种处理玉米根系脯氨酸含量、硝酸还原酶活性和根系活力分别比免耕处理高140.0%、37.0%和36.5%。全生育期,深松播种处理根系伤流液总量比免耕播种处理提高15.2%。0~40cm土层,深松播种处理单根和整株根系导水率分别提高15.8%和17.0%。0~40 cm土层,深松播种处理玉米根系中柱导管直径增大,中柱鞘细胞壁及中柱内薄壁细胞的细胞壁增厚栓化,髓细胞数量增多但整体在髓腔横切面积中所占比例偏小,后生木质部导管直径增大、数量增多,皮层厚度降低;0~20 cm土层,深松播种处理根系皮层中部细胞虽也较大但层数较少,相当于免耕处理的86.2%。深松播种处理可提高玉米叶面积指数,全生育期平均比免耕处理高12.5%;深松播种处理还可提高叶片光合速率和光合势。深松播种处理玉米籽粒灌浆速率全生育期平均比免耕播种处理高5.0%。与免耕处理相比,深松播种处理2年平均穗粒数、千粒重和产量分别比免耕播种处理提高2.4%、3.9%和8.2%,耗水量降低9.1%,产量和水分利用效率分别比免耕处理高8.2%和14.4%,2 m土体贮水量提高31.7%。     

中国西部典型区生态环境本底遥感调查

1997年我国实施了西部大开发战略,西部地区的生态环境问题再次引起多方面的关注。“西部金睛行动计划”的实施旨在通过具有代表意义的7个典型区同步监测西部10年(1990～2000年)来的生态环境变化情况,为国家西部大开发战略提供科学的决策支持。项目采用遥感与地理信息系统技术相结合的方法,按照8个统一的原则,制订了生态环境遥感监测技术指南,对这些地区在1990年和2000年的生态环境变化进行了动态监测。监测结果表明,这10年来,由于人类活动加强,农业用地、城市用地大量增加,挤占了自然/半自然植被区,草场过牧引起草场退化,致使典型区生态环境仍处于逐渐恶化的状态。     

Prioritisation of conservation areas in the Western Ghats, India

Areas of high conservation value were identified in the Western Ghats using a systematic conservation planning approach. Surrogates were chosen and assessed for effectiveness on the basis of spatial congruence using Pearson’s correlations and Mantel’s tests. The surrogates were, threatened and endemic plant and vertebrate species, unfragmented forest areas, dry forests, sub-regionally rare vegetation types, and a remotely sensed surrogate for unique evergreen ecosystems. At the scale of this analysis, amphibian richness was most highly correlated with overall threatened and endemic species richness, whereas mammals, especially wide-ranging species, were better at capturing overall animal and habitat diversity. There was a significant relationship between a remote sensing based habitat surrogate and endemic tree diversity and composition. None of the taxa or habitats served as a complete surrogate for the others. Sites were prioritised on the basis of their irreplaceability value using all five surrogates. Two alternative reserve networks are presented, one with minimal representation of surrogates, and the second with 3 occurrences of each species and 25% of each habitat type. These networks cover 8% and 29% of the region respectively. Seventy percent of the completely irreplaceable sites are outside the current protected area network. While the existing protected area network meets the minimal representation target for 88% of the species chosen in this study and all of the habitat surrogates, it is not representative with regard to amphibians, endemic tree species and small mammals. Much of the prioritised unprotected area is under reserve forests and can thus be incorporated into a wider network of conservation areas.     

Status and distribution of the Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus on the Cabo Blanco peninsula (Western Sahara-Mauritania) in 1993–1994

The current geographical distribution of the Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus colony inhabiting the Cabo Blanco peninsula (Western Sahara-Mauritania) is described. Its distribution range has apparently not changed since surveys conducted in 1984–1988. Sightings of adults on the Tarf el Guerguerat coast, 20 km north of the known breeding caves, suggests the existence of other possible breeding groups further north. Two caves used by the seals are described for the first time. A review of historical trends in cave occupation by seals made it possible (1) to locate the so-called ‘maternity cave’, last reported in 1949; and (2) to establish that the colony, since its discovery, has occupied at least eight caves, five of which have collapsed. An index of population size based on counts of individuals of identified morphological types indicates that, during 1993–1994, the colony was composed of c.113–165 individuals (excluding pups), a larger number than previously assumed. Counting of seals at times of maximum haul-out is proposed as a tool to monitor population trends, although it is considered unreliable for estimating absolute numbers.     

不同土地利用方式下三江平原东北部土壤有机碳和全氮分布规律

利用在全国采集的1400个典型农田剖面数据(其中在此研究区域有53个剖面),系统分析了不同土地利用方式下三江平原东北部土壤有机C和全N的分布规律。三江平原东北部典型农田0～20cm土壤有机C和全N的平均含量是22.7g/kg和1.84g/kg,20～100cm平均含量为13.0g/kg和1.08g/kg,不同土壤类型和种植作物下土壤有机C和全N分布没有显著性差异(p0.05)。与第二次土壤普查时三江平原东北部典型剖面土壤有机C和全N数据进行比较发现,0～20cm有机C和全N含量呈现下降趋势,而20～100cm呈现增加趋势。     

Assessment of shoreline vegetation in relation to use by molting black brant Branta bernicla nigricans on the Alaska coastal plain

To evaluate the importance of large thaw lakes on the Alaska Coastal Plain for molting Pacific black brant Branta bernicla nigricans, distribution and life form of shoreline vegetation were assessed using several scales: satellite imagery, point-intercept transects, cover quadrats, and a parameter for water regime. Brant population and distribution estimates from aerial surveys were used to classify large lakes into high, moderate, and low use. Correlations between brant and abundance of their preferred feeding site — moss flats — were best demostrated by satellite imagery. Intercepts and cover ratings were not correlated, presumably because these techniques were less efficient at assessing area. General observations suggested that the presence of islands, large ice floes, and possibly other physical attributes of the habitat, influenced brant distribution. This area is unique because of low-lying, drained-lake basins that have ideal combinations of moss flats and large water areas where brant seek protection disturbance is vital to the success of this declining species because alternate habitats may not be available elsewhere on the Coastal Plain. in water or on ice floes. Protection of the area from     

Lakeshore diversity and rarity relationships along interacting disturbance gradients: catchment area, wave action and depth

Diversity patterns of riparian plant communities have been associated with disturbance. Populations of a diversity of Atlantic Coastal Plain plants occur as disjuncts on shores of large catchment area lakes in Nova Scotia. These lakeshore communities contain rare plants with local, national and global rankings. The populations of rare plants are dynamic and their management requires an understanding of the relationship between disturbance and the survival of rare plants. This present study measured (overwinter wooden dowel removal) and observed disturbance along gradients of catchment area (CA), exposure and depth. In three separate experiments ranging from the landscape to the lake, to the single shoreline level, disturbance was linked to lake CA, exposure and depth, respectively. At all scales, disturbance was positively associated with the presence of rare species. The pattern of rare species richness over the river system was complex; at the within-lake level, the frequency of rare species per site was greatest in the intermediate CA lake while the pool of rare species was greatest in the largest CA lake. The findings focus field efforts on wide, exposed shorelines of large CA lakes where new rare plants continue to be discovered. In addition, the discrepancy between highest frequency of rare plants on intermediate CA lakes and highest species pools of rarities on large CA lakes, reinforces the need for larger protected area systems for the most naturally disturbed ecosystems which often support populations having a high turnover rate but a low site to site frequency.     

Field compaction at different soil-water status: effects on pore size distribution and soil water characteristics of a Rhodic Ferralsol in Western Cuba

The level of compaction induced on cultivated fields through trafficking is strongly influenced by the prevailing soil-water status and, depending on the attendant soil degradation, vital soil hydraulic processes could be affected. Therefore, understanding the relationship between field soil-water status and the corresponding level of induced compaction for a given load is considered an imperative step toward a better control of the occurrence of traffic-induced field soil compaction. Pore size distribution, a fundamental and highly degradable soil property, was measured in a Rhodic Ferralsol, the most productive and extensively distributed soil in Western Cuba, to study the effects of three levels of soil compaction on soil water characteristic parameters. Soil bulk density and cone penetration index were used to measure compaction levels established by seven passes of a 10 Mg tractor at three soil-water statuses corresponding to the plastic (Fs), friable (Fc) and relatively dry soil (Ds) consistency states. Pore size distribution calculated from soil water characteristic curves was classified into three pore size categories on the basis of their hydraulic functioning: >50 μm (f_>50 μm), 50–0.5 μm (f_{50–0.5 μm}) and <0.5 μm (f_<0.5 μm). The greatest compaction levels were attained in the Fs and Fc soil water treatments, and a significant contribution to compaction was attributed to the existing soil water states under which the soil compaction was accomplished. Average cone index (CI) values in the range of 2.93–3.70 MPa reflected the accumulation of f_<0.5 μm pores, and incurred severe reductions in the volume of f_>50 μm pores in the Fs and Fc treatments, while an average CI value of 1.69 MPa indicated increments in the volume of f_{50–0.5 μm} in the Ds treatment. Despite the differential effects of soil compaction on the distribution of the different pore size categories, soil total porosity (f_Total) was not effective in reflecting treatment effects. Soil water desorption at the soil water potentials evaluated (0.0 to −15,000 cm H₂O) was adversely affected in the f_<0.5 μm dominated treatments; strong soil water retention was observed with the predominance of f_<0.5 μm, as was confirmed by the high water content at plant wilting point. Based on these findings, the use of field capacity water content as the upper limit of plant available soil water was therefore considered inappropriate for compacted soils.