Reduced tillage in temperate organic farming: implications for crop management and forage production

To promote conservation tillage in organic farming systems, weed control and ley removal within arable-ley rotations need to be optimized. A long-term field trial was thus established in Frick, Switzerland in 2002 on a clayey soil and with a mean precipitation of 1000 mm/year. The tillage experiment distinguished between conventional tillage with mouldboard ploughing (CT, 15 cm depth) and reduced tillage (RT), including a chisel plough (15 cm) and a stubble cleaner (5 cm). Results of a 2-year grass-clover ley (2006/2007) and silage maize (2008) are presented. Due to dry conditions, mean grass-clover yields were 25% higher in RT than in CT, indicating better water retention of RT soils. Clover cover and mineral contents of the fodder mixture were also higher in RT. The ley was successfully removed in autumn 2007 in RT plots, and a winter pea catch crop was sown before maize. In CT, ploughing took place in spring 2008. Maize yields were 34% higher in RT than in CT, despite a two- to three-fold higher but still tolerable weed infestation. Maize in RT plots benefited from an additional 61.5 kg of easily decomposable organic N/ha incorporated into the soil via the pea mulch. Measurement of arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization of maize roots indicated a similar mechanical disturbance of the topsoil through the reduced ley removal system compared with ploughing. It is suggested that RT is applicable in organic farming, even in arable-ley rotations, but long-term effects need further assessment.     

光照、氧气、pH和盐度对沼泽红假单胞菌2-8菌株生长和亚硝酸盐消除的影响

以1株具有亚硝酸盐消除能力的沼泽红假单胞菌（Rhodopseudomonas palustris）2-8菌株（简称2-8菌株）为材料,研究了不同光照和氧组合、pH、盐度对菌株生长和亚硝酸盐消除能力的影响。结果发现,光照厌氧条件最利于2-8菌株的生长,该条件下菌株亚硝酸盐消除能力最强,25h消除率达（91.33±1.27）%;菌株在pH7.0时生长和亚硝酸盐消除能力最强,25h亚硝酸盐消除率达到（95.58±4.34）%,在pH9.0以上和5.0以下时基本不生长;菌株在w（NaCl）为0和0.4%的培养基中生长和亚硝酸盐消除能力最强,在w（NaCl）为0.8%～2.0%的培养基中,生长和亚硝酸盐消除能力随w（NaCl）增高而减弱。测定的4个环境因子主要通过影响菌株的生长来影响其对亚硝酸盐的消除能力。     

密集烤房群应用烟气处理系统的研究

[目的]降低密集烤房群的颗粒物和二氧化硫排放量,减少其对环境的污染。[方法]在密集烤房群建造烟气处理系统,通过管道连接将烤房烟囱排放的烟气输送到除尘脱硫塔中,使烟气先进行碱水净化处理,然后再排放到大气中。[结果]试验表明,处理后的烟气中的颗粒物排放浓度(59.75 mg/m3)较处理前(156.35 mg/m3)减少了96.65 mg/m3,减幅为61.82%;SO2排放浓度(7 193.5 mg/m3)较处理前(9 062.9 mg/m3)减少了1 869.4 mg/m3,减幅为20.63%。[结论]烟叶密集烤房的烟气经除尘脱硫装置处理后,颗粒物和SO2的排放浓度大幅降低,有利于环境保护。     

某生活饮用地下水源处理工程设计方案

地下水具有水质较好、水温稳定、出水水质的特点,是生活饮用水的首选水源。同时,地下水易于对水源地进行卫生防护,防止可能对水源造成的污染。本项目是北方城镇生活供水工程,采用地下水源,水源水质含铁、锰较高,因此需经除铁、锰后达到生活饮用水标准再供居民饮用。     

Response of Cotton to Irrigation Methods and Nitrogen Fertilization: Yield Components,Water‐Use Efficiency,Nitrogen Uptake,and Recovery

Efficient crop use of nitrogen (N) fertilizer is critical from economic and environmental viewpoints, especially under irrigated conditions. Cotton yield parameters, fiber quality, water‐ and N‐use efficiency responses to N, and irrigation methods in northern Syria were evaluated. Field trials were conducted for two growing seasons on a Chromoxerertic Rhodoxeralf. Treatments consisted of drip fertigation, furrow irrigation, and five different rates of N fertilizer (50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 kg N /ha). Cotton was irrigated when soil moisture in the specified active root depth was 80% of the field capacity as indicated by the neutron probe.

Seed cotton yield was higher than the national average (3,928 kg/ha) by at least 12% as compared to all treatments. Lint properties were not negatively affected by the irrigation method or N rates. Water savings under drip fertigation ranged between 25 and 50% of irrigation water relative to furrow irrigation. Crop water‐use efficiencies of the drip‐fertigated treatments were in most cases 100% higher than those of the corresponding furrow‐irrigated treatments. The highest water demand was during the fruit‐setting growth stage. It was also concluded that under drip fertigation, 100–150 N kg/ha was adequate and comparable with the highest N rates tested under furrow irrigation regarding lint yield, N uptake, and recovery. Based on cotton seed yield and weight of stems, the overall amount of N removed from the field for the drip‐fertigated treatments ranged between 101 and 118kg and 116 and 188 N/ha for 2001 and 2002, respectively. The N removal ranged between 94 and 113 and 111 and 144 kg N/ha for the furrow‐irrigated treatments for 2001 and 2002, respectively.     

不同覆盖措施无公害清除五味子园杂草的试验

通过对凤城市郊区北五味子园杂草种群分布情况的调查和实施不同覆盖措施清除杂草试验，结果表明：凤城市郊区五味子园杂草具有鲜明的季节特性和杂草分布不均匀特性，杂草滋生数量较大，对五味子植株生产影响较大；杂草主要通过草籽和串根繁殖；不同覆盖措施间控制杂草的效果差异极显著，以覆双层黑地膜取得的效果最好，杂草比对照减少99．80％。采取双层黑地膜覆盖技术是有效控制五味子园杂草滋生蔓延的最佳措施，能够达到彻底控制杂草的目的。     

Settling velocity characterization of aquacultural solids

A top-loading settling column is described and used to characterize the settling properties of the solids in the discharge water from a commercial rainbow trout production facility. Mass-based and phosphorus-based settling curves are presented. The median settling velocity on a mass-basis for the settleable solids was 1.7 cm s⁻¹. The median settling velocity for the settleable phosphorus was 1.15 cm s⁻¹. Manually stripping fecal material from rainbow trout resulted in settleable solids with a median settling velocity of 0.7 cm s⁻¹. Examination of the settling velocity curves show that halving the overflow rate (OFR) from 2 to 1 cm s⁻¹ changes the removal efficiency from 0.61 to 0.73, an increase of about 20%. Halving the OFR again to 0.5 cm s⁻¹ increases the removal efficiency to 0.81, an improvement of about 11%. Settling characteristics of aquacultural solids will vary from facility to facility. The methods described in this paper can be used to perform a similar type of analysis at other aquacultural sites, which may be growing other species under different management regimes.     

Use of saline aquaculture wastewater to irrigate salt-tolerant Jerusalem artichoke and sunflower in semiarid coastal zones of China

In 2004 and 2005, the feasibility of agricultural use of saline aquaculture wastewater for irrigation of Jerusalem artichoke and sunflower was conducted in the Laizhou region using saline aquaculture wastewater mixed with brackish groundwater at different ratios. Six treatments with different electrical conductivities (EC) were included in the experiment: CK1 (rainfed), CK2 (irrigation with freshwater, EC of 0.02 dS m⁻¹), and saline aquaculture wastewater (EC of 39.2 dS m⁻¹) mixed with brackish groundwater (EC of 4.4 dS m⁻¹) at volumetric ratios of 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, and 1:4 with corresponding EC of 22.0, 16.1, 13.2, and 11.4 dS m⁻¹. Soil electrical conductivity (ECe) in the saline aquaculture wastewater irrigation treatments was significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) than that in the rainfed or freshwater irrigation treatments, and the maximum value occurred in the 22.0 dS m⁻¹ treatment. The sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) ranged from 4.1 to 11.7 mmol^1/2 L^−1/2 and increased with decreasing salinity of irrigation water. The biomass of Jerusalem artichoke significantly decreased (P ≤ 0.05) when irrigated with saline aquaculture wastewater compared to the rainfed or freshwater irrigation treatments; however, the effect of salinity on root biomass was much smaller than the aerial parts. Concomitantly, the highest tuber yield of Jerusalem artichoke occurred in the 11.4 dS m⁻¹ treatment, while the highest seed yield of sunflower occurred in the rainfed treatment. Additionally, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations of Jerusalem artichoke were significantly higher in the 11.4 dS m⁻¹ treatment than the other treatments. This study demonstrated that properly diluted saline aquaculture wastewater can be used successfully to irrigate Jerusalem artichoke with higher economic yield and nutrient removal, but not sunflower due to the difference in salt tolerance.     

Random point sampling to detect gain and loss in tree canopy cover in response to urban densification

Urban tree canopy cover (UTC) is a simple, and common, measure of urban forest resource. Urban infill development is likely to lead to losses in UTC under private tenure, at a time when local governments are setting ambitious targets to increase UTC overall. Simple, statistically rigorous methods are required to benchmark and track change in UTC, whilst identifying which land-use types or tenures experience change.We estimated UTC in six Melbourne suburbs in 2010 and 2015 by randomly sampling 2000 points across public land, public streetscapes and private land. We were able to detect a net change in UTC of <2% over five years to a 95% level of confidence. A significant net decrease in UTC (−2.4%) was only detected in one of the six suburbs. Two suburbs had a net increase in UTC by +2.7% over five years. On private land, there was often areas of UTC loss, but this was generally offset by canopy gain in other areas of the private realm as well as in streetscapes and public land. Losses in UTC on private land were mainly due to tree removal, with or without subsequent construction works.This study describes a simple, but statistically rigorous, method to quantify UTC change and the drivers of change in different land-use types and tenure. Despite studying two suburbs will high rates of infill development, only one suburb showed evidence of net UTC decrease. The ‘dynamic equilibrium’ in UTC, whereby canopy losses area approximately offset by concurrent canopy gain, means that ambitious targets being set by local governments to increase UTC may be difficult to achieve without changes in tree protection and infill development policy and planning.