Modern wheat cultivars have greater root nitrogen uptake efficiency than old cultivars

The availability of nitrogen (N) contained in crop residues for a following crop may vary with cultivar, depending on root traits and the interaction between roots and soil. We used a pot experiment to investigate the effects of six spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars (three old varieties introduced before mid last century and three modern varieties) and N fertilization on the ability of wheat to acquire N from maize (Zea mays L.) straw added to soil. Wheat was grown in a soil where ¹⁵N‐labeled maize straw had been incorporated with or without N fertilization. Higher grain yield in three modern and one old cultivar was ascribed to preferred allocation of photosynthate to aboveground plant parts and from vegetative organs to grains. Root biomass, root length density and root surface area were all smaller in modern than in old cultivars at both anthesis and maturity. Root mean diameter was generally similar between modern and old cultivars at anthesis but was greater in modern than in old cultivars at maturity. There were cultivar differences in N uptake from incorporated maize straw and the other N sources (soil and fertilizer). However, these differences were not related to variation in the measured root parameters among the six cultivars. At anthesis, total N uptake efficiencies by roots (total N uptake per root weight or root length) were greater in modern than in old cultivars within each fertilization level. At maturity, averaged over fertilization levels, the total N uptake efficiencies by roots were 292?336 mg N g^?1 roots or 3.2?4.0 mg N m^?1 roots for three modern cultivars, in contrast to 132?213 mg N g^?1 roots or 0.93?1.6 mg N m^?1 roots for three old cultivars. Fertilization enhanced the utilization of N from maize straw by all cultivars, but root N uptake efficiencies were less affected. We concluded that modern spring wheat cultivars had higher root N uptake efficiency than old cultivars.     

Is N‐feedback involved in the regulation of nitrogenase activity in Medicago truncatula?

To determine whether senescing leaves provoke an active nitrogen (N) remobilization that results in the reduction of nitrogenase activity, 60% of Medicago truncatula lower leaves were either darkened or individually excised for two weeks. Although a considerable amount of N was remobilized, N₂ fixation activity was found to be increased to maintain the N source/sink balance, indicating an absence of the negative N‐feedback regulation of nitrogenase activity in the senescing M. truncatula.     

Effects of climate factors and soil properties on soil nutrients and elemental stoichiometry across the Huang–Huai–Hai River Basin,China

Purpose

Soil nutrients, elemental stoichiometry, and their associated environmental control play important roles in nutrient cycling. The objectives of this study were (1) to investigate soil nutrients and elemental stoichiometry, especially potassium and its associative elemental stoichiometry with other nutrients under different land uses in terrestrial ecosystems; (2) to discuss the impacts of climate factors, soil texture, and soil physicochemical properties; and (3) to identify the key factors on soil nutrient levels and elemental stoichiometry.

Materials and methods

Soil data, including pH, bulk density (BD), cation exchange capacity (CEC), volumetric water content (VMC), clay, silt and sand contents, total carbon (TC), nitrogen (TN), phosphorous (TP) and potassium (TK), available nitrogen (AN), phosphorus (AP), potassium (AK), and soil organic matter (SOM) under different land-use types, were collected, and their elemental stoichiometry ratios were calculated. Climate data including temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, wind speed, and evapotranspiration were collected. The least significant difference test and one-way analysis of variance were applied to investigate the variability of soil nutrients and elemental stoichiometry among land-use types; the ordinary least squares method and the general linear model were used to illustrate the correlations between soil nutrients, elemental stoichiometry, and soil properties or climate factors and to identify the key influencing factors.

Results and discussion

Woodlands had the highest SOM, TN, AN, and AK contents, followed by grasslands, croplands, and shrublands, while the TP and TK contents only varied slightly among land-use types. SOM, TN, AN, N/P, and N/K were strongly negatively correlated to soil pH (p <?0.05) and were strongly positively correlated to soil CEC (p <?0.05). For soil texture, only C/N was moderately negatively correlated to silt content but moderately positively correlated to sand content (p <?0.05). For climate factors, SOM, TN, AN, N/P, and N/K were significantly negatively correlated to evapotranspiration and temperature (p <?0.05), and the correlations were usually moderate. Soil pH explained most of the total variation in soil nutrients, and climate factors explained 5.64–28.16% of soil nutrients and elemental stoichiometry (except for AP (0.0%) and TK (68.35%)).

Conclusions

The results suggest that climate factors and soil properties both affect soil nutrients and elemental stoichiometry, and soil properties generally contribute more than climate factors to soil nutrient levels. The findings will help to improve our knowledge of nutrient flux responses to climate change while also assisting in developing management measures related to soil nutrients under conditions of climate change.

     

Biochar-induced soil phosphate sorption and availability depend on soil properties: a microcosm study

Journal of Soils and Sediments - The effects of soil properties on biochar-induced soil phosphate sorption and availability are not well investigated. An alkaline biochar-induced soil phosphate...     

Effects of freeze-thaw cycles and initial soil moisture content on soil aggregate stability in natural grassland and Chinese pine forest on the Loess Plateau of China

Journal of Soils and Sediments - Ongoing global warming is decreasing the thickness of snow covers and increasing initial soil moisture content (SMC), which increase the number of freeze-thaw...     

Random-effects linear model application to herd-level assessment of bovine hepatic trace mineral concentrations

To evaluate the utility of random-effects linear modeling for herd-level evaluation of trace mineral status, we performed a retrospective analysis of the results for trace mineral testing of bovine liver samples submitted to the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory between 2011 and 2017. Our aim was to examine random-effects models for their potential utility in improving interpretation with minimal sample numbers. The database consisted of 1,658 animals distributed among 121 herds. Minerals were assayed by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectroscopy, and included cobalt, copper, iron, molybdenum, manganese, selenium, and zinc. Intraclass correlation coefficients for each mineral were significantly different (p < 0.001) from zero and ranged from 0.38 for manganese to 0.82 for selenium, indicating that the strength of herd effects, which are presumably related to diet, vary greatly by mineral. Analysis of the distribution and standard errors of best linear unbiased predictor (BLUP) values suggested that testing 5–10 animals per herd could place herds within 10 percentile units across the population of herds with 70–95% confidence, the confidence level varying among minerals. Herd means were generally similar to BLUPs, suggesting that means could be reasonably compared to BLUPs with respect to the distributions reported here. However, caution in interpreting means relative to BLUPs should be exercised when animal numbers are small, the standard errors of the means are large, and/or the values are near the extremes of the distribution.     

促进绿色未来的全球木材科学与技术研究进展——国际林联第25届世界大会木材议题综述

国际林业研究组织联盟（IUFRO）第25届世界大会于2019年在巴西召开。文中从木材生长、木材性质与质量、木材识别、木材加工利用和木文化5个方面分别论述了这次大会在木材科学与技术领域的国际最新研究热点与进展，以反映全球木材科学的研究现状，并梳理学科发展方向。木材形成、木材质量、木材高附加值利用、木材识别新技术等议题依然是木材科学与技术领域的未来研究热点。     

滩地造林抑螺作用机理研究进展

长江流域滩地是我国钉螺分布的主要区域，也是血吸虫病的主要流行区。近些年我国大力实施的林业血防工程通过滩地营造人工杨树林，使得钉螺原有孳生地的多种生物要素和非生物要素发生了明显变化，显著减少了钉螺种群的分布空间，从而有效控制了血吸虫病的传播。目前，国内外在滩地造林后单一要素改变对钉螺的影响方面已有较多研究，但有关生物要素与非生物要素对钉螺分布的交互作用还未有深入探索，对钉螺孳生产生抑制作用的关键要素尚不明确。文中综述了滩地造林后林下的草本植物群落、土壤理化性质、光照、地温等诸多要素发生变化对钉螺生存的不利影响，总结了滩地造林抑螺作用机理的研究进展，提出该领域今后的重点研究方向，以期为滩地造林抑螺作用机理的深入研究提供参考和借鉴。