Do cover crops change the lability of phosphorus in a clayey subtropical soil under different phosphate fertilizers?

Plants have developed different mechanisms to absorb and solubilize phosphorus (P) in the soil, especially in environments with low P availability. This study evaluated the effects of different winter cover crops on soil P availability in a clayey subtropical (Hapludox) soil receiving soluble P fertilizer and a rock phosphate applied to the summer crop, under no‐tillage. The experiment was carried out over 3 yrs (2009–2011) with five different cover crop species: common vetch, fodder radish, ryegrass, black oat, white clover and fallow as control. The soil was sampled after the third year of cover crop cultivation and analysed for inorganic and organic P forms according to the well‐established Hedley fractionation procedure. Phosphate fertilizers promoted accumulation of both labile and nonlabile P pools in soil in the near surface layer, especially under rock phosphate. Fertilizer applications were not able to change P fractions in deeper layers, emphasizing that the Brazilian clayey soils are a sink of P from fertilizer and its mobility is almost nil. Although the cover crops recycled a great amount of P in tissue, in a short‐term evaluation (3 yrs) they only changed the content of moderately labile P in soil, indicating that long‐term studies are needed for more conclusive results.     

Liver biopsy techniques for adult horses and neonatal foals to assess copper status

Objective To evaluate standing, percutaneous, ultrasound-guided, transthoracic liver biopsy in mares, and transabdominal, laparoscopically-guided, liver biopsy under general anaesthesia in foals, as techniques for obtaining tissue for assessment of copper status. The techniques were evaluated with respect to ease of use and effect on the animal.
Procedure Twenty of 24 Thoroughbred mares and 21 of their foals were biopsied. The animals were part of a larger study of the effect of copper supplementation on copper status and the prevalence of developmental orthopaedic disease. Livers were also collected from unrelated horses and sampled to investigate the variability in the distribution of copper in liver tissue.
Result The biopsy technique caused no lasting effect on the mares, but there was an increased risk of viscus penetration associated with taking multiple biopsy cores. The use of ultrasonography to scan the target area for the liver identified four cases that were not appropriate candidates for liver biopsy, because of large intestine being located in the biopsy area. In the foals there were no serious postoperative adverse effects, nor was there any evidence of problems caused by the procedure when the abdomen was examined post-mortem at 5 months of age. In livers collected to investigate the variability of copper concentration, copper appeared to be relatively evenly distributed through the liver.
Conclusion Standing, percutaneous, ultrasound-guided, transthoracic liver biopsy in mares, and transabdominal, laparoscopically-guided, liver biopsy under general anaesthesia in foals are convenient procedures for obtaining liver tissue for assessing copper status in horses. The use of ultrasound to identify liver tissue is recommended, especially in older mares.     

Incidental phosphorus losses – are they significant and can they be predicted?

Fresh applications of phosphorus (P) may cause ‘incidental’ losses of dissolved and particulate P forms in land runoff when rainfall interacts directly with fertilizers and manures which are spread, or excreted, onto the soil surface. Research indicates that when incidental P losses (IPL) occur, they often make the dominant (50–98 %) contribution to measured P loads in surface and sub‐surface runoff from field plots, with increased risk of eutrophication where P‐enriched runoff is routed directly to the watercourse. Rates of P loss are temporally and spatially very variable (< 1 to 25 % of total P applied) depending on the amount of P applied; the P release properties of the materials applied (% P extractable in water), the timing of storm events after application and the amounts of runoff generated. Large P applications left on the surface of wet, frozen, compacted, and intensively underdrained soils in high rainfall areas are particularly vulnerable to IPL. Concentrations of P in runoff are often greatest during the first storm event following P application, but can remain high for several weeks, or even months after application. Catchment scale impacts are more difficult to quantify due to the effects of dilution with runoff from fields without IPL, and the contributions of P from other sources. Approaches to predicting IPL are discussed and need to be improved in order to assess the contribution of IPL to catchment P loads in river basin management planning. Strategies to control IPL should focus on adoption of more sensitive management practices in fields with a high risk of rapid runoff or preferential flow, and are likely to very effective.     

Rise of the Andes

The surface uplift of mountain belts is generally assumed to reflect progressive shortening and crustal thickening, leading to their gradual rise. Recent studies of the Andes indicate that their elevation remained relatively stable for long periods (tens of millions of years), separated by rapid (1 to 4 million years) changes of 1.5 kilometers or more. Periodic punctuated surface uplift of mountain belts probably reflects the rapid removal of unstable, dense lower lithosphere after long-term thickening of the crust and lithospheric mantle.