Performance of forest groups in achieving multifunctional forestry in Flanders

The forest group is a new policy instrument in Flanders (northern Belgium) to realise multifunctional forest management. This group was introduced in 1995 and organises the various kinds of forest owners, private as well as public, on a local basis (mean working area 751 km²), with voluntary participation (as in all forest owner organisations). This study evaluates forest groups in Flanders through an analysis of their relevance, effectiveness, utility and implementation. The targets of forest groups are relevant to the evolving needs and priorities at the local, regional, national and international level. The effectiveness analysis reveals that most indicators — including the quantity of timber harvest, the number of members, the forest area with an accepted management plan, the area under management and the area with small-scale ecological measures — have been improving between 1995 and 2004. The utility analysis emphasises that the owners are motivated because the forest group provides information and increases knowledge, includes the owner into a collective management plan, offers a platform for sharing management experiences and acts as a union force against the government. However, the forest group is not the solution to introduce multifunctional forest management by all forest owners. The implementation analysis identifies a number of impeding factors, including the imbalance between rights and duties, inconsistencies between various policy aims, and failure of forest groups to act as a common forum for all stakeholders in their working area.     

Effects of different management practices on the soil–water balance and crop yield for improved dryland farming in the Chinese Loess Plateau

Field experiments were carried out to study the effects of different soil management practices on the water balance, precipitation use efficiency (PUE), and crop yield (i.e. winter wheat and peanut) on a loess soil near Luoyang (east edge of the Chinese Loess Plateau, Henan Province, China). Field plots were set up in 1999 including following soil management practices: subsoiling with mulch (SS), no-till with mulch (NT), reduced tillage (RT), two crops per year (i.e. winter wheat and peanut, TC), and a conventional tillage control (CT). The field plots were equipped to monitor all components of the soil–water balance except evapotranspiration, which was computed by solving the water balance equation. The results showed that although soil management had smaller influence on the magnitude of the water balance components than did precipitation variations, small influences of the applied soil management practices on water conservation during the fallow period can greatly affect winter wheat yield. SS increased consistently precipitation storage efficiency (PSE) and PUE over the 5 years compared to CT except during the wettest year. NT also had a noticeable effect on postharvest water storage during the fallow period; however, the influence on yield of NT depended on the amount of precipitation. TC lowered the winter wheat yield mainly due to the unfavorable soil moisture conditions after growing peanut in summer; however, the harvested peanut gained an extra profit for the local farmer. No matter which kind of soil management practices was adapted, PSE never exceeded 41.6%, which was primarily attributed to high evapotranspiration. From data of five consecutive agricultural years between 2000 and 2005, it could be concluded that SS resulted in the highest PSE, PUE and crop yield. TC also showed promising results considering the economic value of the second crop. NT performed slightly less as SS. CT gave intermediate results, whereas RT was the worst alternative.     

Development of an indirect competitive ELISA for flumequine residues in raw milk using chicken egg yolk antibodies

To detect flumequine in raw milk, an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed. By carbodiimide conjugation, flumequine was conjugated to cationized bovine serum albumin (cBSA-flumequine) and to cationized ovalbumin (cOVA-flumequine). For the immunization of chickens, cBSA-flumequine was used, which allowed the isolation of specific chicken egg yolk immunoglobulins (IgY) for flumequine. As the coating antigen in the immunoassay, cOVA-flumequine was used. In the indirect competitive assay, standard flumequine was incubated together with the anti-flumequine antibodies. The antibody by which the lowest concentration of free flumequine that gives 50% inhibition of binding (IC50) was found in aqueous dilution was further tested for the applicability to detect flumequine in raw milk. An IC50 level in milk was reached that was about 5 times lower than in aqueous solution. So flumequine can be detected directly in raw milk at maximum residue level (50 microg/kg). No cross-reactivity was noticed with various related quinolones.     

Comparison of measured and simulated changes in base cation amounts using a one-layer and a multi-layer soil acidification model

Biogeochemical processes describing nutrient cycling strongly affect the development of different soil horizons and soil acidification. However, in many soil acidification models these processes are not directly simulated, and spatially distributed soil properties are lumped into average values. This paper describes the extension of a one-layer soil acidification model (SMART) to a multi-layer model (SMARTEX) by including nutrient cycling, and the performance of both models regarding their ability for the assessment of the effects of acid deposition on forest soil. This was done by comparing simulation results of the two models with respect to changes in base cation amounts to historical data from sites in south Sweden. The results showed that the multi-layer model gives better results for the top soil, whereas the one-layer model gives better results for the rootzone and the total profile. Since the top soil is most important, the extended model is more suited to relate acid deposition to forest growth than the more general results of the one-layer model. However, the sensitivity of the multi-layer model to some parameters is large. A change in these parameters had strong effects on the separate layers, whereas the effects were cancelled out over the total profile. This sensitivity requires a careful parameterization of the model which might be troublesome to lack of data.     

Computed leaching of pesticides from soil under field conditions

With a computer model, pesticide behavior in soil after spring application to a sandy loam field with a potato crop, was simulated. Special attention was paid to the risk of leaching through the upper meter of soil in catchment areas. Unsaturated water flow resulting from rainfall was modeled in some detail. Uptake of water and solute by the developing root system of the annual crop was included in the model. The computations were carried out for hypothetical pesticides with first-order decomposition rate constants in soil of 0.03, 0.01, 0.003, and 0.001 day^–1 at 20°C. Adsorption decreased with increasing soil depth and the adsorption coefficient for the top layer ranged from 0.0 to 10.0. For 20 combinations of decomposition rates and adsorption strengths, the extent of leaching from a top layer 1 m thick was computed. With a decomposition rate constant at 20°C of 0.03 day^–1 or higher, leaching was extremely low; with 0.01 days^–1 leaching was 1.7% of the dosage or lower. For compounds with a high persistence and mobility, leaching from the soil ranged up to about 10% of the dosage or more. Besides decomposition, uptake by plants was an important factor in reducing leaching, particularly for the weakly adsorbed and comparatively persistent compounds.     

Rat bite fever

Rat bite fever (RBF) is a bacterial zoonosis for which two causal bacterial species have been identified: Streptobacillis moniliformis and Spirillum minus. Haverhill fever (HF) is a form of S. moniliformis infection believed to develop after ingestion of contaminated food or water.     

Sediments in the Catchment-coast Continuum (7 pp)

-  Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Ulrich Förstner on his 65th birthdayBackground   Sediments pose problems at their deposition sites when there is too little sediment (e.g. wetlands) or too much sediment (e.g. navigable waterways) and, additionally, when they are contaminated. These problems often have their origin upstream in the river catchment. Objective   Global aspects of changes concerning sediment quantity and quality, as they affect downstream areas, are reviewed. A case study of estuarine sediments demonstrates how a holistic approach helps in understanding and predicting their present and future quality. Results and Conclusions   Globally, large reservoirs intercept between 25 and 30% of the sediment and consequently supply the coast with impacts on wetlands and coastal morphology. In estuaries, the composition of sediments is determined by the mixing of marine sediments supplied from the coast and the supply by rivers. Natural tracers can be used to predict mixing ratios of marine to fluvial sediments in estuaries, and hence their contamination. Scenarios on implementation of pollution abatement, the implementation of regulations as well as climate change are needed to predict future sediment quality in downstream areas. The results show, even for a ‘green’ scenario, that sediment quality in the Rhine catchment will pose future problems due to the temporal storage of contaminants in soils and sediments.Recommendations and Outlook   The current methods applied make use of existing models linking sediment transport with point and diffuse sources in the river catchments and scenarios on the development of strength of point and diffuse sources. However, more effort is needed to come to a uniform framework which includes land use changes and links with more advanced scenario methodology for long to medium-term management of sediment quality and quantity in river catchments.     

A global benchmark map of water productivity for rainfed and irrigated wheat

The growing pressure on fresh water resources demands that agriculture becomes more productive with its current water use. Increasing water productivity is an often cited solution, though the current levels of water productivity are not systematically mapped. A global map of water productivity helps to identify where water resources are productively used, and identifies places where improvements are possible. The WATPRO water productivity model for wheat, using remote sensing data products as input, was applied at a global scale with global data sets of the NDVI and surface albedo to benchmark water productivity of wheat for the beginning of this millennium. Time profiles of the NDVI were used to determine the time frame from crop establishment to harvest on a pixel basis, which was considered the modelling period. It was found that water productivity varies from approximately 0.2 to 1.8 kg of harvestable wheat per cubic metre of water consumed. From the 10 largest producers of wheat, France and Germany score the highest country average water productivity of 1.42 and 1.35 kg m⁻³, respectively. The results were compared with modelling information by Liu et al. (2007) who applied the GEPIC model at a global scale to map water productivity, and by Chapagain and Hoekstra (2004) who used FAO statistics to determine water productivity per country. A comparison with Liu et al. showed a good correlation for most countries, but the correlation with the results by Chapagain and Hoekstra was less obvious. The global patterns of the water productivity map were compared with global data sets of precipitation and reference evapotranspiration to determine the impact of climate and of water availability reflected by precipitation. It appears that the highest levels of water productivity are to be expected in temperate climates with high precipitation. Due to its non-linear relationship with precipitation, it is expected that large gains in water productivity can be made with in situ rain water harvesting or supplemental irrigation in dry areas with low seasonal precipitation. A full understanding of the spatial patterns by country or river basin will support decisions on where to invest and what measures to take to make agriculture more water productive.     

Diffusible Factors Essential for Epidermal Cell Redifferentiaion in Catharanthus roseus

During postgenital tissue fusions, some plant epidermal cells redifferentiate into parenchyma, a different cell type. Diffusible factors cause this response in the fusing gynoecium of the Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus). Surgical manipulations of the gynoecium showed that epidermal cells from normally nonfusing surfaces could trasmit and respond to the diffusible factors. Furthermore, the diffusible fators could be trapped in agar-impregnated barriers, as shown by the redifferentiation of carpel epidermal cells from nonfusing regions when the factor-loaded barriers were appressed to them.