Variation in crushing strength and some related properties of a red pine

Summary Below-crown radial and height variations in maximum crushing strength parallel to grain, relative density and tracheid length of an immature, 55 year old, red pine were studied. All properties showed pronounced trends with radial age and increased from pith to bark. A radial age of 16 years was estimated as the age from which mature stem wood is formed. All properties studied varied with height above ground. Strong correlations were observed among properties. The study tree exhibited noticeably lower average crushing strength than is reported in the literature for wood from mature red pines.This work was undertaken with financial support from Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Operating Grant 0GP0004417     

Variation in juvenile traits of natural black poplar (Populus nigra L.) clones in Turkey

Natural black poplar (Populus nigra L.) clones sampled from river courses were tested in the arid southeast region of Turkey, using a randomized complete block field design with four replications. Clones were laid out in row plots of eight ramets each. Height and apical dominance were assessed at age one year; diameter, survival, bole straightness and branchiness were measured at age two years. Clones differed significantly in survival, growth and quality traits. The results showed that promising clones exist in natural populations. Two commercial clones out of four did not grow as fast as the top new selection clones. For bole straightness, three commercial clones had significantly lower grading scores than the top best 14 clones. Principal components analysis indicated that growth, apical dominance and branching are the most important traits distinguishing black poplar clones. Diameter had a moderate correlation (0.34) with bole straightness. Relationships between geographic variables (elevation, latitude and longitude) with growth and stem quality traits were weak. Considerable genetic variation was observed among clones for all the traits. Genetic differences among the clones accounted for 27% (survival, bole straightness) to 39% (height) of the total variance. Broad-sense individual heritability ranged from 0.27 (survival) to 0.37 (apical dominance). Clonal mean heritabilities were higher than individual heritabilities and ranged from 0.60 (survival) to 0.82 (diameter), implying considerable gain could be realized via selective improvement methods.     

Effects of some fungicides on <Emphasis Type="Italic">Isaria farinosa</Emphasis>, and <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis> growth and infection rate on <Emphasis Type="Italic">Planococcus citri</Emphasis>

The effects of some fungicides used against citrus diseases, on mycelial growth and conidial germination of Isaria farinosa (Holmsk.) Fries [Sordariomycetes: Hypocreales] and also on the pathogenicity of the fungus on citrus mealybug, Planococcus citri (Risso), were determined. Systemic fungicides such as tebuconazole, penconazole and nuarimol were the most effective as regards both conidial germination and mycelial growth. Protective fungicides such as captan, chlorothalonil, mancozeb and propineb inhibited conidial germination at between 1 and 5 μg ml⁻¹ concentration, but captan, chlorothalonil and propineb did not inhibit the mycelial growth at 5,000 μg ml⁻¹. Mancozeb inhibited mycelial growth between 2,500 and 5,000 μg ml⁻¹. Sulphur and copper oxychloride did not inhibit the fungus even at very high concentrations. Sulphur, copper oxychloride, fosetyl-al, chlorothalonil and carbendazim did not decrease the mortality percentage caused by I. farinosa. Tebuconazole, penconazole and mancozeb were the most effective and respectively reduced the mortality from 83% to 33%, 28% and 30% in the ovisacs, from 81% to 29%, 27% and 29% in the 1st instar larvae, and from 84% to 34% in the adult females.     

Genetic variation in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus taeda</Emphasis> wood properties predicted using non-destructive techniques

• Background   

Tree breeders have been reluctant to include wood traits in tree improvement programs owing to logistic difficulties and the cost associated with the assessing the traits.     

Wastewater Treatment Performance of Rotating Perforated Tubes Biofilm Reactor with Liquid Phase Aeration

A novel biofilm reactor named as `rotating perforated tubes biofilm reactor' was used for treatment of synthetic wastewaterwith and without liquid phase aeration. Effects of major processvariables such as feed wastewater flow rate, COD concentration and loading rate, liquid phase aeration on the rate and extent ofCOD removal were investigated. Liquid phase aeration was provento be advantageous especially for high strength wastewaters at highCOD loading rates. Kinetics of COD removal was investigated andkinetic constants were determined by using the experimental data.An empirical design equation was developed to quantify the system's performance as a function of major process variables.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Paecilomyces lilacinus</Emphasis>, a potential biocontrol agent on apple rust mite <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aculus,schlechtendali</Emphasis> and interactions with some fungicides <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis>

The apple rust mite Aculus schlechtendali (Nal.) (Acari: Eriophyidae), is a main pest in apple-growing areas in Ankara, Turkey, and chemical control applications have some limitations. Entomopathogenic fungi have a potential for biological control of mites. In this study, an entomopathogenic fungus, Paecilomyces lilacinus (Thom) Samson (Deuteromycota: Hyphomycetes), was first isolated from the mite cadavers on Japanese crab apple leaves and pathogenicity of the fungus was observed in different inoculum densities and relative humidities. The pathogen caused up to 98.22% mortality of the mite population. The effects of some fungicides on the entomopathogenic fungus were determined in in vitro studies. Carbendazim, penconazole and tebuconazole were the most effective fungicides on mycelial growth of P. lilacinus, with EC₅₀ values under 3 μg ml⁻¹. In spore germination tests, captan, mancozeb, propineb were the most effective fungicides, followed by tebuconazole, penconazole, nuarimol and chlorothalonil. Sulphur could not inhibit the conidia germination totally at 5,000 μg ml⁻¹. Copper oxychloride and fosetyl-al prevented conidia formation at concentrations above 1,000 μg ml⁻¹.     

Implementing ecosystem‐based management: evolution or revolution?

As a dominant paradigm, ecosystem‐based fisheries have to come to terms with uncertainty and complexity, an interdisciplinary visioning of management objectives, and putting humans back into the ecosystem. The goal of this article is to suggest that implementing ecosystem‐based management (EBM) has to be ‘revolutionary’ in the sense of going beyond conventional practices. It would require the use of multiple disciplines and multiple objectives, dealing with technically unresolvable management problems of complex adaptive systems and expanding scope from management to governance. Developing the governance toolbox would require expanding into new kinds of interaction unforeseen by the mid‐twentieth‐century fathers of fishery science – governance that may involve cooperative, multilevel management, partnerships, social learning and knowledge co‐production. In addition to incorporating relatively well‐known resilience, adaptive management and co‐management approaches, taking EBM to the next stage may include some of the following: conceptualizing EBM as a ‘wicked problem’; conceptualizing fisheries as social‐ecological systems; picking and choosing from an assortment of new governance approaches; and finding creative ways to handle complexity.     

Prediction of wood density breeding values of Pinus taeda elite parents from unbalanced data: A method for adjustment of site and age effects using common checklots

? Wood density of elite parents of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) was investigated in 6 to 18 year-old progeny trials. The sampling was carried out separately in seven testing regions in the southeastern US. A checklot was the only connection between elite parents planted at different trials in a testing region.

? We used a data normalization method suggested for unbalanced designs in cDNA microarray experiments to remove confounding site and age effects using the checklot as a reference sample. Wood density breeding values of parents were predicted by fitting a linear mixed model to the normalized data.

? Using the reference samples to remove site and age effects appears to be an effective method for analysis of unbalanced progeny tests data. In general, wood density (kg/m³) decreased from coastal to inland plantings and from the southern to the northern planting. Considerable genetic variation for wood density was detected among these fast-growing elite parents in six of seven testing regions, with half-sib family mean heritabilities ranging from 0.71 to 0.97 within a testing region. With the exception of two regions, checklots were stable across trials in a region, based on regressing the checklot means on trial means.

     

Effects of dietary <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-carnitine and chromium picolinate supplementations on performance and some serum parameters in rainbow trout (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Oncorhynchus mykiss</Emphasis>)

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of supplemental dietary l-carnitine, chromium picolinate (Cr-Pic) and their combination on growth performance and serum total protein, cholesterol, triglyceride and glucose of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). A total of 276 rainbow trout were randomly allocated to four groups. Fish (average initial body weight = 151 ± 1.69 g) were fed a basal diet without supplemental l-carnitine and chromium picolinate in the control group. The basal diet was supplemented with either 500 mg/kg l-carnitine, 1.6 mg/kg chromium picolinate or 500 mg/kg l-carnitine plus 1.6 mg/kg chromium picolinate for experimental groups 1 (C), 2 (Cr-Pic) and 3 (C + Cr-Pic), respectively. Fish were fed twice a day to apparent satiation for 58 days. Weight gain, growth rate, feed consumption and feed conversion ratio (feed/gain) were calculated for the whole period. At the end of the study, six fish were chosen randomly from each tank to represent the experiment and frozen at −20°C for subsequent dorsal muscle analysis. The results showed no significant differences in final body weight, weight gain or feed conversion ratio among groups. There were also no significant differences in serum total protein, cholesterol, triglyceride or glucose concentrations among groups. Significantly higher lipid concentration of dorsal muscle was observed in experimental groups 1 and 3. In conclusion, supplemental dietary l-carnitine, chromium picolinate and their combination have no beneficial effects on improving growth performance and feed conversion ratio in rainbow trout. However, dietary l-carnitine slightly increased lipid concentration in dorsal muscle of rainbow trout.     

Review of Groundwater Pollution and Protection in Karst Areas

Karst groundwater (the water in a karst aquifer) is a major water resource in many regions of some countries. Water requirements for most of the settlements in the karstic regions are supplied from karst aquifers. Karst environments are also used for the disposal of liquid and solid domestic agricultural, and industrial wastes, which result in karst groundwater pollution. Karst aquifers have specific hydraulic and hydrogeologic characteristics that render them highly vulnerable to pollution from human activities. Karst groundwater becomes polluted more easily and in shorter time periods than water in non-karstic aquifers. Thus, protection measures are required to preserve the quality and quantity of karst groundwater that specifically consider the vulnerability of the karst environment. In order to preserve karst groundwater, the geological, hydrological and hydrogeological characteristics of the karst area must be investigated and information on polluting activities and sources must be collected. Then, a comprehensive protection and control system must be developed consisting of the following six components: (1) develop and implement a groundwater monitoring system, (2) establish critical protection zones, (3) develop proper land use strategies, (4) determine the reasonable development capacity of the karst aquifer, (5) control and eliminate when necessary sources of pollution, (6) increase public awareness of the value and vulnerability of karst aquifers.