BMC ecology image competition 2017: the winning images

For the fifth year, BMC Ecology is proud to present the winning images from our annual image competition. The 2017 edition received entries by talented shutterbug-ecologists from across the world, showcasing research that is increasing our understanding of ecosystems worldwide and the beauty and diversity of life on our planet. In this editorial we showcase the winning images, as chosen by our Editorial Board and guest judge Chris Darimont, as well as our selection of highly commended images. Enjoy!     

Relative abundance and damage of some insect pests of wheat under different tillage practices in rice–wheat cropping in India

Tillage changes the physical and chemical properties of soil and can also inhibit or enhance useful and harmful fauna. In agriculture, different tillage technologies are being tried to enhance crop productivity, but little concrete information seems to exist on their effects on pest abundance and damage. To address this lack of information, sowing of wheat was investigated under different tillage systems. In order to monitor pest abundance and damage in altered tillage systems, the present studies on the relative abundance and damage due to insect pests viz. pink stem borer (PSB, Sesamia inferens Walker), termites (Microtermes obesi Holmgren and Odontotermes obesus Rambur) and root aphid (Rhopalosiphum rufiabdominalis Sasaki) were undertaken in a rice–wheat cropping system during 2010–11 and 2011–12. Pest abundance and damage was monitored in four tillage systems i.e. conventional tillage (CT), zero tillage (ZT), ZT + mulch and rotary tillage (RT) under insecticide protected and unprotected conditions. The application of insecticide did not affect root aphid incidence or termite damage. However, significant differences in PSB damage in insecticide protected (0.9%) and unprotected (1.2%) conditions were observed. The investigations demonstrated that in CT, damage by PSB (0.6%) was minimum; however termite damage (2.2%) was maximum as compared to all other tillage conditions. In ZT, PSB damage (1.4%) was maximum and root aphid incidence (3.1 aphids/tiller) was minimum in comparison to other tillage conditions. ZT + mulch resulted in inter-mediate insect pest incidence/damage; however, RT was the least effective practice which showed relatively high incidence/damage of these three insects (1.2% PSB damage, 1.9% termite damage and 5.1 aphids/tiller). The insecticide × tillage interaction indicated that insecticide application is needed only in ZT and RT for PSB management.     

Evaluation of optical sensor measurements of canopy reflectance and of leaf flavonols and chlorophyll contents to assess crop nitrogen status of muskmelon

Nitrogen losses from intensive vegetal production systems are commonly associated with contamination of water bodies. Sustainable and optimal economic N management requires correct and timely on-farm assessment of crop N status to detect N deficiency or excess. Optical sensors are promising tools for the assessment of crop N status throughout a crop or at critical times. We evaluated optical sensor measurement of canopy reflectance and of leaf flavonols and chlorophyll contents to assess crop N status weekly throughout a muskmelon crop. The Crop Circle ACS 470 was used for reflectance measurement, the SPAD 502 for leaf chlorophyll, and the DUALEX 4 Scientific for leaf chlorophyll and flavonols. Four indices of canopy reflectance (NDVI, GNDVI, RVI, GVI), leaf flavonols and chlorophyll contents and the nitrogen balance index (NBI), the ratio of chlorophyll to flavonols contents, were linearly related to crop N content and to crop Nitrogen Nutrition Index (NNI) throughout most of the crop. NBI most accurately predicted crop N status; in five consecutive weekly measurements, R² values were 0.80–0.95. For NDVI during the same period, R² values were 0.76–0.87 in the first three measurements but R² values in the last two measurements were 0.39–0.45. Similar relationships were found with the three other reflectance indices. Generally, the relationships with NNI were equal to or slightly better than those with crop N content. These optical sensor measurements provided (i) estimation of crop N content in the range 1.5–4.5%, and (ii) an assessment of whether crop N content was sufficient or excessive for optimal crop growth for NNI ranges of 0.8–2.0. Composite equations that integrated the relationships between successive measurements with the optical sensors and crop N content or NNI for periods of ≥2 weeks (often 2–3 weeks) were derived for most indices/parameters. Overall, these results demonstrated the potential for the use of these optical sensor measurements for on-farm monitoring of crop N status in muskmelon.     

Antifungal potentials of some botanicals on Sclerotium rolfsii schum., the causal pathogen of damping-off of Gmelina arborea Roxb. in Ibadan,Southwestern Nigeria

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Gmelina arborea (Gmelina) is a drought-tolerant tree species with rapid growth. It has excellent wood properties, and these have made this tree an...     

Magnetic removal/immobilization of cadmium and zinc in contaminated soils using a magnetic microparticle solid chelator and its effect on rice cultivation

Purpose

Magnetic removal techniques using functionalized magnetic nanoparticles as adsorbents have been frequently tested for use in the removal of heavy metals in aqueous solution, but seldom in farmland soil. Here, a novel magnetic microparticle solid chelator (MSC) was employed as the adsorbent for magnetic removal and/or immobilization of Cd and Zn in a paddy soil (PS), an upland soil (US), and a paddy–upland rotation soil (RS) with different degrees of pollution.

Materials and methods

MSC was applied to 14 kg air-dried soil samples (PS, US, and RS) at the dosage of 1% (w/w), and then watered, and intermittently stirred. Finally, the MSC–metal complexes were retrieved using a magnetic device (MCR treatment) or not (MC treatment), and the removal efficiency of soil Cd and Zn in MCR treatment was evaluated. After magnetic separation of MSC–metal complexes, pot experiments were performed to investigate the impacts of the magnetic remediation process on rice growth, the phytoavailability of soil Cd and Zn, and the accumulation of Cd and Zn in rice plants.

Results and discussion

The MCR treatment exhibited recovery rates of 55.4%, 49.6%, and 19.0% for MSC–metal complexes in PS, US, and RS, respectively, which brought about removal efficiencies of 2.2–12.2% for Cd and 1.9–4.6% for Zn. The MC and MCR treatments substantially decreased the availability of soil Cd, but not soil Zn; this effect was more remarkable when using CaCl₂ instead of DTPA as the extractant for determination of bioavailable metals. Furthermore, the CaCl₂-extractable Cd and Zn had a more significant relationship with Cd and Zn concentrations in rice roots. The MC and MCR treatments led to dramatic reductions in rice grain Cd of 23.9–72.1% and 37.3–63.9%, respectively, in the three soils relative to the respective controls. The MC and MCR treatments also exhibited an inhibitory effects on rice grain Zn accumulation in US (10.6% and 4.3% decreases, respectively) and RS (9.3% and 19.5% decreases, respectively), but not in PS. Moreover, the grain yield was unaffected under the MCR treatment in the three soils, and significantly increased by 29.8% under the MC treatment in US.

Conclusions

Our study suggests that MSC-based magnetic remediation technique can effectively immobilize and/or remove Cd and Zn in farmland soils, decreasing their uptake by rice plants, with no adverse effects on grain yield.

     

Effect of herbicide application on weed flora under conservation agriculture in Zimbabwe

Increased challenges of weed control in the smallholder farming sector of southern Africa have often resulted in small yields. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different weed control strategies on weed flora and composition under conservation agriculture (CA) systems in Zimbabwe. This study was conducted at three on-station trial sites namely Domboshawa Training Centre (DTC), University of Zimbabwe farm (UZ farm) and Henderson Research Station (HRS) in a maize–soybean rotation for four seasons from 2009–2010 to 2012–2013 seasons. Hand weeding was done whenever weeds were 10 cm tall or 10 cm in circumference for weeds with a stoloniferous growth habit. Weed identification was done up to the weed species level, and the Shannon–Weiner diversity and evenness index was used to determine the response of weed flora to herbicides. Results showed that there were more weeds in the early years which decreased gradually until the final season. Weed species diversity was not affected by herbicide application and the results indicated that weed species diversity was small in CA systems. Annual weed species constituted a greater proportion of species, and species richness decreased with the duration of the study. Richardia scabra L. and Galinsoga parviflora Cav. were the most common dominant weed species at all sites and in all seasons. Moreover, herbicide application had no effect on the evenness of weeds in the plots but site characteristics had a significant effect on the distribution of weed species (weed species evenness). The results presented in this study suggest that herbicide application facilitates a depletion of weed seed bank/number of weeds over time. Thus, herbicide application in CA has potential to reduce weed density, species richness and species diversity in the long term which may lead to more labour savings and larger yields.     

Biodiversity in sacred urban spaces of Bengaluru,India

Urban green spaces provide critical social and ecological support for cities, but we know little about their diversity and composition in cities of the Global South. This is especially true of lesser known urban spaces such as sacred sites, which are of important cultural and biodiversity significance. We examine tree diversity and composition in sacred sites in Bengaluru, one of India’s fastest growing cities. We recorded 5504 trees from 93 species across 62 temples, churches, and Hindu, Christian and Muslim cemeteries in central areas of Bengaluru. Over half (52%) of the tree species were of native origin, a much higher proportion when compared to other green spaces in the city such as parks. Tree density in sacred sites was much higher than that in parks and informal settlements in Bengaluru. Temples and Hindu cemeteries contained the highest proportion of native species, with large numbers of Ficus benghalensis, a keystone sacred species. Trees in sacred spaces provide an important buffer against urban environmental stress in Indian cities, and serve as refuges for urban wildlife and biodiversity. We need greater information on these lesser known, but culturally significant alternate spaces. They play an important, though ignored role in the environmental sustainability of rapidly growing cities in the Global South.     

25种农药对家蚕的毒性评价和中毒症状观察

采用食下毒叶法,测定了18种杀虫剂、4种杀菌剂、2种除草剂和1种植物生长调节剂对家蚕的毒性,系统观察了杀虫剂处理家蚕后的中毒症状。结果表明:甲氨基阿维菌素苯甲酸盐、高效氯氰菊酯等14种杀虫剂的LC50值均小于0.5 mg/L,属剧毒级药剂,对家蚕有极高风险性;杀虫单和甲氧虫酰肼的LC50值分别为0.5493 mg/L和0.604 0mg/L,属高毒级药剂,对家蚕有高风险性;溴虫腈和丁醚脲的LC50值分别为72.370 mg/L和27.824 mg/L,属中毒级药剂,毒性较低;4种杀菌剂、2种除草剂和1种植物生长调节剂中仅有1种杀菌剂为中毒级,其余为低毒级,对家蚕的风险性较低;由不同杀虫剂引起的家蚕中毒症状表现出多种相似的特征,急性中毒主要特征有吐液、拒食、身体扭曲呈"C"或"S"形、静卧等,而蜕皮激素和几丁质合成的抑制剂类杀虫剂引起的家蚕中毒过程却比较缓慢。     

Trace elements bioavailability to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum aestivum</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dendrobaena veneta</Emphasis> in a multielement-contaminated agricultural soil amended with drinking water treatment residues

Purpose

The in situ stabilization of multielement-contaminated agricultural soils has limited effectiveness when using common single amendments. This study examined the use of drinking water treatment residues (WTR), based on (hydr)oxides of Fe, Al, or Mn, as a cost-effective solution to optimize the immobilization of metals (Cd, Pb, Zn) and As.

Materials and methods

Trace elements (TE) bioavailability was assessed under semi-controlled conditions in a pot study cultivating winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Tiger) until maturity. An Fe-based WTR and a Mn-based WTR, applied at rates of 0.5 and 1% (m/m), were related to effects of lime marl (LM) application. Additionally, a bioassay with earthworms (Dendrobaena veneta) was conducted. Both bioassays were compared with measurements of NH₄NO₃-soluble, diffusive gradients in thin film (DGT)-available and soil solution TE concentrations, representing well-established surrogates for mimicking the bioavailable element fractions in soil.

Results and discussion

The application of the Fe-based WTR reduced As accumulation in vegetative wheat tissues (by up to 75%) and earthworms (by up to 41%), which corresponded with the findings from soil chemical analyses and improved plant growth and earthworm body weight. However, As concentrations in cereal grains were not affected, Cd or Pb accumulation by wheat was not mitigated, and Zn uptake was enhanced. By contrast, the Mn-based WTR effected the greatest reduction in Pb uptake, and lowered Cd transfer to wheat grain (by up to 25%). Neither the NH₄NO₃-soluble nor DGT-available concentrations matched with Cd and Zn accumulation in plants or earthworms, indicating interferences due to competition for binding sites according to the biotic ligand model.

Conclusions

The results obtained in this study suggest that a bioassay with key species prior to field application should be mandatory when designing in situ stabilization options. The application of WTR to an agricultural soil strongly affected TE bioavailability to plants and earthworms. Low application rates tended to improve biomass production of biota. Higher application rates involved risks (e.g., P fixation, TE inputs), and none of the amendments tested could immobilize all targeted elements.