A review of soil NO transformation: Associated processes and possible physiological significance on organisms

NO emissions from soils and ecosystems are of outstanding importance for atmospheric chemistry. Here we review the current knowledge on processes involved in the formation and consumption of NO in soils, the importance of NO for the physiological functioning of different organisms, and for inter- and intra-species signaling and competition, e.g. in the rooting zone between microbes and plants. We also show that prokaryotes and eukaryotes are able to produce NO by multiple pathways and that unspecific enzymo-oxidative mechanisms of NO production are likely to occur in soils. Nitric oxide production in soils is not only linked to NO production by nitrifying and denitrifying microorganisms, but also linked to extracellular enzymes from a wide range of microorganisms.Further investigations are needed to clarify molecular mechanisms of NO production and consumption, its controlling factors, and the significance of NO as a regulator for microbial, animal and plant processes. Such process understanding is required to elucidate the importance of soils as sources (and sinks) for atmospheric NO.     

Soil fauna across Central European sandstone ravines with temperature inversion: From cool and shady to dry and hot places

Sandstone massifs with their deep ravines or gorges offer the instructive opportunity to study the response of organisms to steep environmental gradients. In 2008–2010, many groups of soil fauna were studied along transects across three ravines in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park (north-western Czech Republic), a part of the Elbe Sandstone Massif. Each transect included five sampling positions: two opposite edges, two opposite mid-slope positions, and the ravine bottom. The ravines had a specific microclimate characterized by temperature inversion. In general, the cooler and more humid ravine bottoms had also less acid soil with lower carbon content but enriched by litter of deciduous trees and herbs. The other transect positions were characterized by spruce (mid-slopes) and pine (edges) stands with mor humus, exposed to drought in the upper parts. The soil animal communities (identified to species level) differed substantially in dependence on their position along the transects. Ravine bottoms hosted a diverse soil fauna, including a rich macrofauna. The thick duff layer of acid soils on the slopes and edges hosted a poorer fauna but supported high densities of important decomposers such as enchytraeids, oribatid mites and microbivorous nematodes. In general, these were higher on the slopes, presumably due to the drought exposure of the edges. Vertical position in the ravine and soil pH were the most important factors explaining community composition. This confirmed that the area's high geomorphological diversity, leading to steep microclimatic gradients and heterogenous soil conditions, is a major cause of its high biodiversity. A shift in community structure in the lower parts of the ravines, observed after the first half of the study period, was possibly caused by summer flash floods. An increased frequency and severity of dry spells and flash floods due to heavy rains, predicted by relevant climate warming scenarios, will probably have an detrimental effect on the ravines'soil fauna.     

Estimating spatial mean soil water contents of sloping jujube orchards using temporal stability

Estimating spatial mean soil water contents from point-scale measurements is important to improve soil water management in sloping land of semiarid areas. Temporal stability analysis, as a statistical technique to estimate soil water content, is an effective tool in terms of facilitating the upscaling estimation of mean values. The objective of this study was to examine temporal stability of soil water profiles (0–20, 20–40, 40–60 and 0–60 cm) in sloping jujube (Zizyphus jujuba) orchards and to estimate field mean root-zone soil water based on temporal stability analysis in the Yuanzegou catchment of the Chinese Loess Plateau, using soil water observations under both dry and wet soil conditions. The results showed that different time-stable locations were identified for different depths and the temporal stability of soil water content in 20–40 cm was significantly (P < 0.05) weaker than that in other depths. Moreover, these time-stable locations had relatively high clay contents, relatively mild slopes and relatively planar surfaces compared to the corresponding field means. Statistical analysis revealed that the temporal stability of root zone soil water (0–60 cm) was higher in either dry or wet season than that including both, and soil water exhibited very low temporal stability during the transition period from dry to wet. Based on the temporal stability analysis, field mean soil water contents were estimated reasonably (R² from 0.9560 to 0.9873) from the point measurements of these time-stable locations. Since the terrains in this study are typical in the hilly regions of the Loess Plateau, the results presented here should improve soil water management in sloping orchards in the Loess Plateau.     

Estimation irrigation water requirements with derived crop coefficients for upland and paddy crops in ChiaNan Irrigation Association,Taiwan

Field experiments were performed at the HsuehChia Experimental Station from 1993 to 2001 to calculate the reference and actual crop evapotranspiration, derived the crop coefficient, and collected requirements input data for the CROPWAT irrigation management model to estimate the irrigation water requirements of paddy and upland crops at the ChiaNan Irrigation Association, Taiwan. For corn, the estimated crop coefficients were 0.40, 0.78, 0.89 and 0.71 in the initial, crop development, mid-season and late-season stages, respectively. Meanwhile, the estimated crop coefficients for sorghum were 0.44, 0.71, 0.87 and 0.62 in the four stages, respectively. Finally, for soybean, the estimated crop coefficients were 0.45, 0.89, 0.92 and 0.58 in the four stages, respectively. With implementation of REF-ET model and FAO 56 Penman–Monteith method, the annual reference evapotranspiration was 1268 mm for ChiaNan Irrigation Association.In the paddy fields, the irrigation water requirements and deep percolation are 962 and 295 mm, respectively, for the first rice crop, and 1114 and 296 mm for the second rice crop. Regarding the upland crops, the irrigation water requirements for spring and autumn corn are 358 and 273 mm, respectively, compared to 332 and 366 mm for sorghum, and 350 and 264 mm for soybean. For the irrigated scheme with single and double rice cropping patterns in the ChiaNan Irrigation Association, the CROPWAT model simulated results indicate that the annual crop water demands are 507 and 1019 mm, respectively, and the monthly water requirements peaked in October at 126 mm and in January at 192 mm, respectively.     

Management strategies for short lived species: The case of Australia's Northern Prawn Fishery: 2. Choosing appropriate management strategies using input controls

A Management Strategy Evaluation framework is used to evaluate management strategies based on input controls for the fishery for two tiger prawn species (Penaeus esculentus and Penaeus semisulcatus) in Australia's Northern Prawn Fishery. Three “assessment procedures” are considered and two forms of decision rule. The performance of the management strategies is evaluated in terms of whether stocks are left at (or above) the spawning stock size at which Maximum Sustainable Yield is achieved (S_MSY), the long-term discounted total catch and the extent of inter-annual variation in catches. The focus of the analysis is on management strategies based on the current method of stock assessment because an alternative method of assessment based on a biomass dynamics model is found to be highly variable. None of the management strategies tested is able to leave the spawning stock size of P. esculentus near S_MSY if the target effort level used in the management strategy is set to E_MSY. Accounting for stock structure through the application of a spatially- (stock-) structured assessment approach fails to resolve this problem. Since the assessment method is generally close to unbiased, the failure to leave the stocks close to S_MSY is because the measure of control is total effort and the two species are found (and caught) together. Reducing the target effort level to below E_MSY increases the final stock size, but the reduced risk comes at a cost of reduced catches. The best management strategy in terms of leaving both species close to S_MSY is found to be one that changes the timing of the fishing season so that effort is shifted from P. esculentus to P. semisulcatus and sets more precautionary effort targets for P. esculentus.     

Impact of high temperatures on the marketable tuber yield and related traits of potato

A rapid warming of 2.8–5.3 °C by the end of this century is expected in South Korea. Considering the current temperature during the spring potato growing season (emergence to harvest; ca. 18 °C), which is near the upper limit of the optimum temperature for potato yield, the anticipated warming will adversely affect potato production in South Korea. The present study assessed the impact of high temperature on the marketable tuber yield and related traits of cv. Superior (which makes up 71% of the annual potato production in South Korea) in four temperature-controlled plastic houses and an outdoor field (37.27°N, 126.99°E) during 2015–2016. The target temperatures of the four plastic houses were set to ambient (AT), AT+1.5 °C, AT+3.0 °C, and AT+5.0 °C. The marketable tuber yield was significantly reduced by 11% per 1 °C increase over a temperature range of 19.1–27.7 °C. The negative impact of high temperature was associated not only with the yield loss of total tubers, which was mostly explained by the slower tuber bulking rate, but also the reduced marketable tuber ratio under temperatures above 23 °C, which was mainly attributed to the reduced number of marketable tubers (r = 0.79***). Under moderate temperatures below 23 °C, the source limited the number of marketable tubers without reducing the marketable tuber ratio. In contrast, the number of marketable tubers was limited by the marketable tuber set at the early growth stage rather than the source under the higher temperatures, which resulted in the reduction in the marketable tuber ratio below 56%. These results suggest that the objectives of breeding and agronomic management for adapting to the rapid warming in South Korea should include maintaining the ability to form tubers at the early growth stage under high temperatures, as well as the photosynthetic capacity and sink strength of the tubers.     

Chukar Watering Patterns and Water Site Selection

We evaluated chukar (Alectoris chukar) watering patterns as well as habitat variables influencing water site selection in western Utah. Motion-sensing cameras and chukar dropping counts were primary techniques to evaluate watering patterns. We took vegetative and other habitat measurements at each water source (n = 43) to discriminate use from nonuse sites using logistic regression. Chukars watered during daylight hours with a modal hour from 1200 hours to 1300 hours daylight savings time. Annual patterns suggest limited use of water sources from November to May with first observed visits occurring in June and last observed visits in October. Shrub canopy cover was the only variable to discriminate between site types (P &spilt; 0.01). Cross validation showed a predictive success rate of 84%. Significant differences were found between use and nonuse sites in terms of security cover (P &spilt; 0.01), but not total cover (P &spigt; 0.05). Chukars seem to have a loose shrub canopy threshold near 11% that is likely due to predation risk. Water sources meeting this threshold received use, whereas those not meeting this threshold did not. Increasing shrub canopy cover above 11% did not translate into increased water source use. Managers might want to consider annual patterns when setting hunt season timing and structure as well as judging sites for new water developments based on shrub canopy cover. More generally, these results suggest a behavioral constraint on the use of water sources as a function of predation risk—we should expect other species to demonstrate similar behavioral constraints. These constraints must be considered in any effort to determine benefits or impacts of water developments.     

Metal toxicity assessment in soils using enzymatic activity: Can water be used as a surrogate buffer?

Ecotoxicological tests based on soil enzyme activity are widely used to assess the terrestrial ecotoxicology of metals in soils. However, several standard enzymatic methods use buffers that may alter the chemical pseudoequilibrium of soils and affect metal speciation, and, in turn, the metal effects on enzymes and enzyme kinetics. Researchers have suggested the use of H₂O as a solvent rather than chemical buffers, but opponents are concerned about pH fluctuations during incubation and the resulting difficulty in comparing enzymatic studies. Enzyme assays were conducted on 10 pairs of Zn-contaminated soils to evaluate 1) the buffer effect on Zn lability 2) the pH fluctuation during enzymatic assays conducted in water and 3) the comparison of enzymatic results obtained using chemical buffers versus water. Four standard enzymatic methods covering the major biogeochemical cycles were targeted: arylsulfatase (acetate pH 5.8), urease (borate pH 10), acid phosphatase (modified universal buffer pH 6.5) and protease (THAM pH 8.1). Furthermore, deionized water was tested in parallel as a surrogate solvent for these four methods. With the exception of the acetate buffer, the tested solvents did not significantly change the labile Zn concentration in the soil samples. The pH slightly fluctuated by +0.57 pH unit, corresponding to the intrinsic variability of soils. Enzymatic methods using buffers showed similar results compared to those using water, except for urease. These observations suggest that enzymatic methods setting alkaline conditions should be used with caution and that H₂O could be used as surrogate solvent in this context.     

Communication between forest scientists and forest policy-makers in Europe — A survey on both sides of the science/policy interface

Improving communication in the science/policy interface has received increased attention from scientists and policy-makers in recent years. This paper discusses recent science/policy interface literature and reports on the results of two surveys, sent out to forest scientists and forest policy-makers, asking them to evaluate communication in the forest science/policy interface in Europe. The questionnaires are based on a model of the communication process between scientists and policy-makers which was developed for this study, comprising information sources, channels, types and topics of information. The results indicate that policy-makers and scientists largely share the same ideas on how they should communicate with each other. However, the results also show that policy-makers' expectations from science differ from scientists' estimations on what policy-makers consider relevant topics of scientific information. Another result of the study is that scientists and policy-makers give largely the same suggestions for improving communication in the science/policy interface.     

华北地区农田土壤镉来源及大气沉降的贡献

为研究农田土壤重金属镉（Cd）的来源,采用源清单法统计了华北地区（北京、天津、河北和山东）大气沉降、灌溉水、畜禽粪便、化肥施用和市政污泥5种途径对农田土壤Cd的输入量。结果表明：2005—2009年华北农田土壤Cd的输入量范围为1.56~2.63 mg·m^-2·a^-1,其中灌溉水输入贡献最大（63.0%）,其次为大气沉降（30.9%）、畜禽粪便（5.2%）、化肥施用（0.6%）和市政污泥（0.3%）。2015—2019年华北农田Cd的输入量减小为0.22~0.35 mg·m^-2·a^-1,其主要来源变为大气沉降,贡献占比56.5%;灌溉水、畜禽粪便、化肥施用和市政污泥占比分别为13.7%、23.8%、3.9%和2.1%。除了化肥施用,其他4种源的Cd输入量在过去15 a中均呈现不同程度的下降趋势,大气沉降取代灌溉水成为近年来华北地区农田土壤Cd的主要来源。