Effect of soil pore size distribution on plant-available water and least limiting water range as soil physical quality indicators

Soil pore size distribution(SPSD) is one of the most important soil physical properties. This research investigated the relationships of location and shape parameters of the SPSD curves with plant-available water(PAW) and least limiting water range(LLWR) of the light-textured soils at the Torogh Agricultural Research Station in north-eastern Iran. Soil moisture release curve(SMRC), PAW and LLWR in matric heads of 100 and 330 h Pa for the field capacity and location and shape parameters of the SPSD curves of 30 soils with different texture and organic carbon contents were determined, and the variable relationships were statistically analyzed. The results showed that the median equivalent pore diameter(de), mean de, standard deviation(SD*), and skewness of the SPSD curves were significantly correlated with PAW(PAW330) and LLWR(LLWR330) measured in a matric head of 330 h Pa. Decrease in deand increase in the diversity of soil pore size(SD*) increased PAW330 and LLWR330. The SD* values of all the soil samples were lower than the optimal ranges suggested in literature. Neither PAW nor LLWR values were significantly different in the soils with the optimal modal deand those with non-optimal modal de. Optimal values of median and mean equivalent pore diameters and kurtosis of SPSD curves led to a significant improvement of PAW330 and LLWR330 as soil physical quality indicators. It was recommended to revise the optimal ranges for SD* and modal defor future studies.     

基于渐进形态学开运算和偏度平衡法的LiDAR数据滤波方法

基于高程的偏度参数统计的LiDAR数据滤波对地形起伏城区滤波适应性不强的弱点,对该方法进行了改进,提出了结合渐进形态学开运算和偏度平衡法的LiDAR数据滤波方法,该方法的原理就是将所有引起高程的突变转换成全由植被、建筑等非地面点引起,而不是由地形高程引起的,这个转换的中间量就是高差,即将高差作为偏度系数的统计对象.并通过实验验证了该方法的合理性,实验结果表明,改进的方法不仅延续了参数统计法无需阈值的优势,而且对城区滤波更具适应性、合理性和稳定性,能够明显地提高滤波精度.     

Untersuchungen zum Einfluß von Konkurrenzbedingungen auf die Entwicklung der Bestandesstruktur von Sommerraps

Investigations on the effect of competition on stand structure of spring oilseed rape
On the basis of a field experiment with spring oilseed rape, frequency distributions of plant dry matter and plant height were investigated. Samples were taken at four developmental stages: rosette, begin of flowering, end of flowering, ripeness (harvest). To understand the effect of competition in a plant population on frequency distribution, distance of rows (16 cm, 32 cm) and number of plants (60, 90 and 120 plants/m²) were varied. Differences in frequency distribution were estimated by skewness and kurtosis.
The results show that with age of the plant population the skewness of the plant character dry matter decreases from a high positive value till ripeness to a low positive value; kurtosis also decreases during development and tends to a value of 0 at ripeness. The effect of competition as produced by number of plants for area is mirrored by a positive skewness increasing with increasing number of plants per area. The value for kurtosis also increases with the stronger competition as consequence of plant density. Row distance did not show specific effects of frequency distribution. Plant height did, generally speaking, not react to competition.     

Relationship Between Spectral Data from an Aerial Image and Soil Organic Matter and Phosphorus Levels

Early ventures into site-specific management involved fertilizer management decisions based on soil chemical properties characterized by some form of grid sampling. This is both labor and capital intensive and practitioners quickly began investigating other methods to get a measure of spatial variability. Aerial photographs, which were mainly used to evaluate and assess crop status, allow for the collection of whole-field data at relatively low cost. Our objective is to determine what relationships exist between aerial spectral data and intensive grid soil test results and whether this information can be used to improve future soil sampling strategies. Soil-test organic matter (OM) and Bray-1 P concentrations were measured on soil samples taken using an alternating 12.2- by 24.4-m grid in late March 1994 from a quarter section under center pivot irrigation. Spectral data were collected in the spring of 1996 prior to planting using a multispectral network of digital cameras. Correlations of brightness values from the blue, green, and NIR bands with both OM and Bray-1 P were significant, but relatively low. Normality tests revealed that brightness values for the spectral data sets were generally evenly distributed while those of the soil test OM and Bray-1 P were positively skewed. Many of the very high soil-test data values were due to past management. When those values were removed from the database, greater correlations between spectral data and soil test data were obtained. These results substantiated that aerial imagery can be used to improve sampling strategies, but it must be used in conjunction with existing knowledge and past management histories.     

我国肉牛养殖风险及影响因素分析

为探讨肉牛养殖风险,基于1995—2013年河北等11个省区的非平衡面板数据,通过测算肉牛养殖利润、成本和产量的均值、方差和偏度,对肉牛养殖风险进行评估,并分析影响风险的相关因素。研究结果表明:我国肉牛养殖的利润和产量风险较大,利润和成本总体呈现左偏态,而产量则主要呈现右偏态,年际和区域间存在较大差异;利润风险大体呈现下降趋势,产量风险近年有所增加,成本风险较小且呈现下降趋势。养殖密度、疫病风险、产业优势、饲料结构、资本装备、养殖周期、技术进步和区域差异等因素,影响着肉牛养殖利润、成本和产量及其风险大小和发生概率。应警惕肉牛养殖左偏为常态的认识,建议合理调整载畜量,优化产业规模,调整饲料结构,加强资本装备水平,推进新型养殖模式,提升科技进步对肉牛产业贡献力度。     

Body size distributions in North American freshwater fish: small‐scale factors and synthesis

The ecosystem size/trophic structure hypothesis predicts that the shape of body size distributions will change with ecosystem size because of increases in the relative importance of large, predatory, species. I test the hypothesis by examining the statistical moments, as measures of shape, of species body size distributions of North American freshwater fish assemblages in lakes. Species lists, coupled with dietary and body size information, are used to document the patterns. Body size distributions in small lakes are unimodal and right‐skewed, but distributions become more symmetrical and bimodal in large ecosystems. In small lakes, body sizes are generally small and fish trophic levels low, but size and trophic level increase up to lake volumes of about 0.001 km³, and change little in larger lakes. Adding trophic level to the analysis greatly improves the variance explained by the body size–lake size relation. The conclusions of Griffiths (2012, Global Ecology & Biogeography 21: 383‐392), that postglacial recolonisation and evolutionary change are important determinants of body size distributions at regional and larger scales, are combined with those of this study. Mean body size in local assemblages of lake‐dwelling species is larger than in regional and continental ones. Overall, body size distributions are affected by processes operating at a variety of spatial and temporal scales, with the type, size and duration of the ecosystem probably playing a central role by influencing the proportions of vagile and predatory species, the species which dominate the large size mode.     

Untersuchungen zum Einfluß von Konkurrenz auf die Bestandesentwicklung von Sommerraps bei unterschiedlicher Gunst der Umweltbedingungen

Investigations on the effect of competition with regard to the stand development of spring oilseed rape as dependent on environmental conditions
Field experiments were conducted to investigate the frequency distribution in spring oilseed rape as dependent on environmental growing conditions and plant density. As measures for frequency distribution skewness and kurtosis were estimated. The plant character determined was single plant dry matter. To understand the changes in the stand structure, samples were taken at the following developmental stages: rosette, begin of flowering, end of flowering and ripeness (harvest). Plant densities ranged from 60 plants/m², 90 plants/m² till 120 plants/m²
The results show that under unfavourable growing conditions, generally speaking, the values of (positive) skewness and kurtosis increase with the development of the plants; under favourable growing conditions, however, the values of skewness and kurtosis decrease from rosette till harvest.
Under unfavourable growing conditions as well as favourable ones, the values of skewness and kurtosis increase with strengthening of plant competition as consequence of increasing plant density. However, the trend during development and the height of the values as well as the quantitative relationships are strongly controlled by the general growing conditions. Frequency distribution, therefore, is not only a result of plant competition but also of differences in resources due to the general conditions of the location.     

Comparison of Harvest Index and Grain/Straw-Ratio with Applications to Winter Oilseed Rape

To compare the statistical properties of harvest index and grain/straw-ratio their variabilities (expressed by the relative measure coefficient of variation), their skewnesses and kurtoses have been compared theoretically.
With regard to variability, the harvest index exhibits a clear superiority (= smaller variability) compared to the grain/straw-ratio. For skewness and kurtosis no such generally valid relationships exist. But, for the range of the empirically most relevant parameter values one obtains approximately equal numerical values for skewness as well as for kurtosis of harvest index and grain/straw-ratio. Finally, the theoretical results and conclusions have been checked and applied to the experimental data sets from a field trial with ten European cultivars/lines of winter oilseed rape.     

Ⅱ型乘法频率曲线应用可行性研究

利用60项全国大型水利工程的洪水系列,通过Ⅱ型乘法频率曲线(X-Ⅱ)与P-Ⅲ型间的全面对比分析证明:X-Ⅱ型比P-Ⅲ型具有更多的优点,因此已具有工程应用的条件。     

The effect of skewness on selection in a plant breeding program

Summary The distribution of many plant characters is skewed. The standard formula for the expected gain from selection is based on the assumption that the character value is the sum of two independent normal variables, one genetic and the other environmental. If the genetic variable is normal, but the environmental variable has a positively skewed distribution, then upwards selection will give a lower gain than that expected if both distributions are normal. If the distribution of the environmental variable is negatively skewed, then upwards selection will give a larger than expected gain. Of course, with downwards selection, the results will be reversed. This leads to asymmetry of response if both upwards and downwards selection are used. In cases where unexpected responses to selection are obtained and normality of the character distribution has been assumed, skewness of the data should be checked as possible cause.