Effect of an intensive mechanical removal effort on a population of non‐native rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in a South African headwater stream

1. Invasions by non‐native species can compromise the conservation value of otherwise pristine headwater streams. While both developed and developing countries recognize this threat, few of the latter have suitable budgets to implement control programmes.
2. This study assessed the effectiveness of a mechanical project to remove non‐native rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss from a 6 km section of the upper Krom River, a small headwater stream in the Cederberg Mountains in South Africa's Cape Floristic Region (CFR).
3. From October 2013 to February 2014, 354 O. mykiss were removed by angling (58%), fyke netting (28%) and gill netting (14%). This resulted in a marked reduction, but not eradication, of the O. mykiss population (fish relative abundance decreased from 0.53 ± 0.09 fish per net per night in October 2013 to 0.21 ± 0.09 fish per net per night in February 2014). Following the cessation of manual removals, the relative abundance of O. mykiss had increased to 0.56 ± 0.18 fish per net per night by March 2016, suggesting that without sustained removal effort, the population will rapidly return to its pre‐removal abundance level.
4. Further work is needed to refine the methodology and test the effectiveness of mechanical removal of non‐native freshwater fish in a variety of ecological settings in the CFR. This approach holds potential for meeting the dual goals of reducing the ecological impacts of non‐native fishes and generating employment opportunities in line with the policy objectives of developing nations.

     

The potential of mini-ridging for controlling intrarow weeds: estimating minimum lethal burial depth

Weed management using synthetic herbicides is undergoing a global decline, necessitating a re-evaluation of existing control measures and the development of novel weed management tools. ‘Mini-ridging’ is a non-discriminatory, physical weeding method that functions by burying weeds in the intrarow with a laterally shifted ridge of soil. In glasshouse trials using potted plants, we found that plant recovery after soil application was influenced by plant size, which in turn was influenced by plant species, developmental stage and/or age. The likelihood of plant recovery after soil application was negatively related to the depth of soil applied: very few plants survived total coverage by soil but, conversely, survival could be substantial if some parts of the plants were not covered. The results suggest that burial under a depth of 6 cm of soil would eliminate most plants regardless of species or growth stage. Larger plants would require the application of a greater total depth of soil to achieve this 6 cm of soil cover, and weed management would, therefore, tend to be more successful and more practical if weeds were targeted when still small. This research demonstrates the potential of plant burial as a simple and reliable means of non-chemical weed management, and re-emphasises that, for weed control to be effective, the applied soil layer must cover the whole plant.     

农业机器人自主导航改进自适应滤波控制器研究

为提高导航精度与控制精度,对农业机器人的自主导航控制进行研究。结合Sage-Husa自适应滤波与强跟踪卡尔曼滤波两种算法优点,利用严格收敛判据,设计了改进的自适应卡尔曼滤波算法。新算法保证了系统的实时性和稳定性,且具有更好的滤波精度。利用变结构切换方法来阻止PID控制器积分饱和现象,有效解决了控制器过饱和问题。将改进的自适应滤波算法与变结构PID控制器相结合,可提高导航系统的稳定性和精度。对所提理论进行仿真与试验,结果表明该方法大幅度提高了滤波器抑制发散的能力和导航的控制精度。     

Inferences of the cycle ratio-time surged flow infiltration function

Researchers have found that changes in infiltration characteristics that result from surged flow, often inferred from advance trajectories, vary considerably with site and management practices. Previously developed methods for adjusting the infiltration function for the surged effect are examined to better understand these effects. The easily implemented cycle ratio-time (CRT) surged flow infiltration function indicates that soil and management factors can impact surged flow effectiveness. If changes in flow rate result in changes in the on/off pulse patterns, the CRT function will reflect this with changes in infiltration characteristics; otherwise the model is insensitive to changes in flow rate. The duration of the first surge has a more pronounced effect than later surges, and soils that reach steady state infiltration quickly are less likely to exhibit decreased infiltration rates as a result of surged flow. Surged flow simulation runs are used to show that the CRT function predicts differences in performance on opposite sides of tee-type surge valves; the result of uneven off-times associated with expanding cycle times.     

砒砂岩区水土流失治理措施调研

通过对砒砂岩区治理水土流失的生物措施及工程措施进行调研,本文对最适合砒砂岩区生长的油松、沙棘、柠条的特点进行了详细的调查分析,给出砒砂岩区植被建设的几点建议.提出了砒砂岩区综合治理的总体思路,并总结了不同类型砒砂岩区的措施空间配置模式.生物措施方面以沙棘作为砒砂岩区生物措施治理的突破口,在立地条件较好的地方栽种油松、柠条,在造林方式上宜采用混交造林;在工程措施方面要结合沙棘植物"柔性坝"技术,以大、中型拦泥库为骨架,以淤地坝为主体,建设支流坝系.实现淤粗排细,改善进入下游河道的水沙条件及泥沙组成.     

工厂化水产养殖智能监控系统设计

提出了一种工厂化水产养殖中具有可溯源功能的智能监控系统.系统利用PROFIBUS-DP总线和工业以太网技术实现了数据的传输与共享,利用模糊控制与神经网络相结合的算法实现了对数据的处理分析,并得到控制信号,进行闭环控制,利用无线射频识别技术( RFID)实现了水产品质量的可溯源功能.结果表明,养殖环境各关键环境因子均满足控制精度,水产品的可溯源信息写入与读出均完整有效,完全达到了设计要求,能够满足工厂化水产养殖智能化的需要.     

Genetic analysis of flowering and maturity time in high latitude spring wheat

Due to the short growing season in the high northern latitudes, the development of early maturing spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars is important to avoid frost damage which can lower production and quality. We investigated earliness of flowering and maturity, and some associated agronomic traits, using a set of randomly selected high northern latitude adapted spring wheat cultivars (differing in maturity) and their F₁ and F₂ crosses made in a one-way diallel mating design. The parents, and their F₁ and F₂ crosses were evaluated under field conditions over 2 years. Anthesis and maturity times were controlled by both vernalization response and earliness per se genes, mainly acting additively. Non-additive genetic effects were more important in controlling grain fill duration, grain yield and plant height. Additive × additive epistatic effects were detected for all traits studied except time to anthesis. Segregation analyses of the F₂ populations for time to anthesis indicated the presence of different vernalization response genes. Molecular genetic analyses revealed the presence of Vrn-A1 and Vrn-B1 genes in the parental cultivars. Narrow-sense heritability was medium to high (60–86%) for anthesis and maturity times but low to medium (13–55%) for grain fill duration, plant height and grain yield. Selection for early flowering/maturity in early segregating generations would be expected to result in genetic improvement towards earliness in high latitude spring wheats. Incorporation of the vernalization responsive gene Vrn-B1 in combination with vernalization non-responsive gene Vrn-A1 into spring wheats would aid in the development of early maturing cultivars with high grain yield potential for the high latitude wheat growing regions of the northern hemisphere.