深松耕作对土壤水分物理特性及作物生长的影响

通过对两种土壤深松耕作及传统耕作的对比试验研究，表明深松耕作可有效打破犁底层，使土壤容重降低0．1t／m3，孔隙度增大3．6％～4．0％，110cm上体内可多蓄纳雨水15．2～17．5mm。对粘壤上深松耕作可提高土壤的入渗能力，而对粉砂壤土则没有提高。同传统耕作相比，深松耕作可明显提高夏玉米的根长、根深及根量，为有效利用土壤水分及养分创造了条件．可使夏玉米产量提高5．7％～11．3％。     

Conservation value of variable connectivity: aquatic invertebrate assemblages of channel and floodplain habitats of a central Australian arid-zone river, Cooper Creek

Rapidly expanding water resource development in arid and semi-arid zones of Australia threatens the flow regime and ecological integrity of the few large dryland rivers and their immense floodplains. Efforts to manage and conserve the surface waters of these rivers are hampered by limited scientific data on the ecology of their flora and fauna and on their responses to the high natural variability of flow regime that typifies dryland rivers. Irregular floods connect channel and floodplain wetlands to differing degrees and for varying periods of time but the ecological significance of this connectivity is poorly understood. On Cooper Creek, a large dryland river in central Australia, we explored the degree to which assemblage composition varied with connectivity and hydrological regime. Shortly after protracted regional flooding, we sampled aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages from the principal microhabitats in 12 channel and floodplain wetlands. Ephemeral and temporary lakes tended to have fewer taxa than semi-permanent channel or terminal lake habitats. Although hydrological connection had only recently been lost for some wetlands, there was already evidence of divergence in aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblage composition. Disruption of the natural variability in connectivity and hydrological regime by excessive water abstraction or river-flow regulation threatens the ecological integrity and aquatic macroinvertebrate biodiversity of dryland rivers. Preservation of the irregular flow regime and sporadic connectivity underpins conservation of the mosaic of floodplain wetlands that play such a crucial role in the ecosystem functioning of rivers such as Cooper Creek.     

Mercury antagonists: protection of plants against vapor injury by thiamine and other compounds

Mercury vapor-induced abscission ofColeus cuttings was prevented by Thiamine, other organo-S (Se) compounds and selenite, but not by common sugar metabolites, amino acids, non-auxin growth regulators and selenate. Protection was also afforded to other plants including ferns and gymnosperms. Thus the compounds that protect plants against Hg intoxication correspond to the Hg antagonists known in animals including man.     

Adaptive phenotypic plasticity in response to climate change in a wild bird population

Rapid climate change has been implicated as a cause of evolution in poorly adapted populations. However, phenotypic plasticity provides the potential for organisms to respond rapidly and effectively to environmental change. Using a 47-year population study of the great tit (Parus major) in the United Kingdom, we show that individual adjustment of behavior in response to the environment has enabled the population to track a rapidly changing environment very closely. Individuals were markedly invariant in their response to environmental variation, suggesting that the current response may be fixed in this population. Phenotypic plasticity can thus play a central role in tracking environmental change; understanding the limits of plasticity is an important goal for future research.     

Book review

Poultry Production, 11th edition, by L. Card and M. C. Nesheim. 1972. Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia and Baillière Tindall, London. £6·00.     

Cross‐breeding performance of white leghorn and Australorp lines selected under continuous light for short interval between eggs: Full‐year egg production and efficiency of food utilisation

1. White Leghorn (LS) and Australorp (AS) lines selected for short oviposition interval and their control lines (LC and AC), together with three strains of Australian commercial layers, were evaluated for crossbreeding performance.

2. The estimates of selection effect on crossbreeding performance in lines LS and AS respectively were 3·5% and 15·2% for survivors’ egg number, ‐3·3% and ‐2·0% for average egg weight, and 4·3% and 7·4% for efficiency of food utilisation.

3. Compared to the commercial strains, the LS × AS cross was 13 to 15% higher for egg number, 7 to 10% lower for egg weight and 2 to 7% better for efficiency of food utilisation.

4. The LC × AC cross laid more but smaller eggs than the commerical strains. This raised the question of how effective conventional selection in the commercial nucleus flocks had been in improving egg number in the previous 10 years, a period when the control lines had been bred without deliberate selection.