A Critical Note on the Scientific Name of the Cultivated Edible Fungus,Zhudugu

Consumer demand for food diversity ,andtechnological developments in the domesti-cation and cultivation of edible mushrooms ,have ledto a continuous increaseinthe numberof cultivated mushroom varieties . Zhudugu(Chinese commercial name) is one of severalnewly cultivated species that has gainedpopularity in both domestic and overseasmarkets . The cultivated strain was originallyisolated froma wild mushroomby the SanmingInstitute of Fungi ,Fujian Province , initiallymisidentified asClitocybe i…     

Stakeholder perceptions of the socio-ecological role of nature-based solutions in the Les Glòries Park,Barcelona

The ongoing effects of the climate emergency and the recognition of the need to redesign cities to cope with future socio-environmental changes and increase the quality of life of urban inhabitants has pushed many cities to embrace the ‘re-naturalization’ of public space through Nature-based Solutions (NbS). Les Glòries park (Barcelona) is an ongoing massive urban transformation project that incorporates NbS as a multifunctional tool. It attempts to respond to complex environmental, social, and economic urban problems while at the same time mitigating and adapting to hazards, such as floods and droughts, both predicted to increase in the Mediterranean region due to climate change. While NbS are also expected to improve environmental quality, not much attention has been given to how those strategies would intersect with citizens’ expectations and visions of public space and the uneven socio-environmental relations they can enforce. Through a case of urban development of a new large green area in Barcelona, this article aims to discern different perceptions by the local community and planners on the socio-ecological role of NbS and the implications this has for sustainable urban transitions. In-depth interviews were held with 25 key stakeholders and users, complemented by the analysis of secondary data from the town council of Barcelona about the perception of the space by residents living in the surrounding neighborhoods of the park. The results of this paper show that perceptions around NbS are strongly divided into three groups: the believers, the opposers and the skepticals. These results contribute to nuance NbS, as they do not provide universal benefits, neither for nature nor for society, and that they are subject to urban tensions derived from inequities, conflicts, tradeoffs, and particularly from divided visions of what the ‘re-naturalization’ of cities should look like.     

Agriculture intensification and forest fragmentation in the St. Lawrence valley,Québec,Canada

Quantifying remaining forest cover and understanding how thefragmentation process operates with respect to the various land-use practicesare important steps when working to preserve the biodiversity associated withwoodlots in agricultural landscapes. We used LANDSAT satellite imagery, soiltypes, and boundaries of regional county municipalities (RCM) as the samplingunit of a 6 million-ha territory located in southern Québec (Canada), to provide a picture of the forest situation in the St. Lawrence Valley.We assessed the effect of human population densities and various types ofagricultural production on the fragmentation process. On average, 45% of thetotal land area of RCMs is forested. However, in 8 of the 59 RCMs studied 20%orless of the total area is still forest habitat. As agricultural use of landincreased, the density of woodlots also increased but their average sizedecreased. An overall fragmentation effect seems to occur where less than 50%ofthe territory is forested, as it is the case for 31 of the 59 studied RCMs.Fragmentation increased along a gradient from traditional dairyagriculture to more intensive cash crop agriculture. Finally, we foundthat the forest discontinuity index, mean woodlot area, and woodlot densitywerethe best indicators of the ongoing forest fragmentation process, but overallhuman population density is the most useful predictive variable.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Do landscape and riverscape shape genetic patterns of the Neotropical otter,Lontra longicaudis,in eastern Mexico?

Context

Functional connectivity of semiaquatic species is poorly studied despite that freshwater ecosystems are amongst the most threatened worldwide due to habitat deterioration. The Neotropical otter, Lontra longicaudis, is a threatened species that represents a good model to evaluate the effect of landscape-riverscape features on genetic structure and gene flow of freshwater species.

Objectives

We aimed to assess the spatial genetic structure of L. longicaudis and to evaluate the landscape-riverscape attributes that shape its genetic structure and gene flow at local sites (habitat patches) and between sites (landscape matrix).

Methods

We conducted the study in three basins located in Veracruz, Mexico, which have a high degree of ecosystem deterioration. We used a non-invasive genetic sampling and a landscape genetics individual-based approach to test the effect stream hierarchical structure, isolation-by-distance, and isolation-by-resistance on genetic structure and gene flow.

Results

We found genetic structure that corresponded to the latitudinal and altitudinal heterogeneity of the landscape and riverscape, as well as to the hierarchical structure of the streams. Open areas and steep slopes were the variables affecting genetic structure at local sites, whereas areas with suitable habitat conditions, higher ecosystem integrity and larger streams enhanced gene flow between sites.

Conclusions

The landscape-riverscape characteristics that maintain functional connectivity of L. longicaudis differed between the upper, middle, and lower basins. Our results have important implications for the conservation of the species, including the maintenance of larger suitable areas in Actopan and the necessity to improve connectivity in Jamapa, through the establishment of biological corridors.

     

How do the green components of urban green infrastructure influence the use of ecosystem services? Examples from Leipzig,Germany

Landscape Ecology - The pressure on remaining open spaces of urban green infrastructure (UGI) is high due to increasing urbanization and the multiple requirements of a diverse urban population....     

Effects of the application of ‘cash’ on the growth,fruit yield,and nutrient status of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) grown in reclaimed saline soil

Summary

The effects of ‘cash’ [a novel 2:5:1 (w/w/w) mixture of calcium sulphate, ground sunflower heads, and humic acid] as a soil amendment on the growth, fruit yield, and leaf nutrient status of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) grown on reclaimed saline soil (EC = 9.4 dS m^–1) were investigated. A glasshouse experiment was performed in a completely randomised design with six treatments (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 g ‘cash’ kg^–1 soil) each with four replicates. The results indicated that ‘cash’ increased both the shoot dry weight (DW) plant^–1 and the root DW plant^–1, the free proline contents of leaves, and leaf chlorophyll contents. The use of ‘cash’ also increased the number of fruit plant^–1, fruit yield pot^–1, and fruit vitamin C contents, although total soluble solids (TSS) contents were not affected. The contents of nitrogen (N), potassium (K), and calcium (Ca), and the Ca:Na ratios of leaf tissues increased with all application rates of ‘cash’. Leaf phosphorus (P) contents showed no response to any applied level of ‘cash’. Leaf sodium (Na) contents declined gradually with an increase in the level of ‘cash’ applied to the soil. We concluded that ‘cash’ has a pronounced positive effect on the growth and fruit yield of tomato plants grown in reclaimed saline soil. ‘Cash’ therefore has the potential to be used as a soil amendment for vegetable crops such as tomato to overcome the adverse effects of salinity in newly-reclaimed soils.     

Forest recovery in a tropical landscape: what is the relative importance of biophysical,socioeconomic, and landscape variables?

Socioeconomic changes in many areas in the tropics have led to increasing urbanization, abandonment of agriculture, and forest re-growth. Although these patterns are well documented, few studies have examined the drivers leading to landscape-level forest recovery and the resulting spatial structure of secondary forests. Land cover transitions from agricultural lands to secondary forest in the island of Puerto Rico have been ongoing since the 1940s. This study is a glimpse into this landscape level trend from 1991 to 2000. First, we relied on Landsat images to characterize changes in the landscape structure for forest, urban, and agricultural land classes. We found that although forest cover has increased in this period, forest has become increasingly fragmented while the area of urban cover has spread faster and become more clustered. Second, we used logistic regression to assess the relationship between the transition to forest and 21 biophysical, socioeconomic, and landscape variables. We found that the percentage of forest cover within a 100 m radius of a point, distance to primary roads and nature reserves, slope, and aspect are the most important predictors of forest recovery. The resulting model predicts the spatial pattern of forest recovery with accuracy (AUC-ROC = 0.798). Together, our results suggest that forest recovery in Puerto Rico has slowed down and that increasing pressure from urbanization may be critical in determining future landscape level forest recovery. These results are relevant to other areas in the tropics that are undergoing rapid economic development.     

Have the Flowers,Fruitlets, Ripe Fruit and Leaves of Apples Cultivars Similar Compositions of Phenolic and Antioxidant Capacity?

Total and specific phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity were quantified over two seasons in flowers, leaves, fruitlets, and ripe fruit at harvest of the apple cultivars ‘Brookfield’, ‘Granny Smith’ and ‘Fuji’, as well the crabapple cultivars ‘Hillary’ and ‘Manchurian’. The results showed that leaves had the highest phenol concentrations and antioxidant capacity. Phenolic and antioxidant content was progressively lower from flowers, fruitlets, and ripe harvested fruit. There were high concentrations of phloridzin in flowers and leaves, while concentrations were lower in fruitlets, peel, and entire fruit at harvest. The phenolic compound with the highest concentration in peel was quercetin glycoside, while in the entire fruit it was flavanols. The studied crabapple cultivars did not present differences between them in phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity.

     

Holocene palaeo-invasions: the link between pattern, process and scale in invasion ecology?

Invasion ecology has made rapid progress in recent years through synergies with landscape ecology, niche theory, evolutionary ecology and the ecology of climate change. The palaeo-record of Holocene invasions provides a rich but presently underexploited resource in exploring the pattern and process of invasions through time. In this paper, examples from the palaeo-literature are used to illustrate the spread of species through time and space, also revealing how interactions between invader and invaded communities change over the course of an invasion. The main issues addressed are adaptation and plant migration, ecological and evolutionary interactions through time, disturbance history and the landscape ecology of invasive spread. We consider invasions as a continuous variable, which may be influenced by different environmental or ecological variables at different stages of the invasion process, and we use palaeoecological examples to describe how ecological interactions change over the course of an invasion. Finally, the use of palaeoecological information to inform the management of invasions for biodiversity conservation is discussed.     

Fire-driven dynamic mosaics in the Great Victoria Desert,Australia – I. Fire geometry

The dominant ground cover in the Great Victoria Desert is porcupine grass or spinifex, a fire-prone perennial grass that grows in hummocks or tussocks. Lightning sets hundreds of wildfires annually in inland arid Australia, generating an ever changing spatial-temporal patchwork of habitats that differ in their state of post-fire recovery. The spatial configuration of this patchwork is determined by the size, shape, frequency and inter-spatial relationships of fires, and is likely to play a vital role in the maintenance of the desert biota. Chronosequences of satellite imagery spanning the years 1972–1991 are used to extract and describe the geometry of over 800 fires from fire scars. In the imagery study area, an average of 43 fires occur annually, fire size frequency distributions are roughly log-normal with mild right skew, with average area of 28 km², burning between 2 and 5% of the burnable landscape each year. Average fire return interval is estimated to be at least 20 years. These empirical findings are an important prerequisite for developing a more sophisticated understanding of the dynamics of the fire cycle in this ecosystem.     

Understanding the role of urban forests for migrants – uses,perception and integrative potential

Worldwide migration and integration are current issues facing big cities. Immigrants and their descendants represent an important percentage of today's urban populations. Different policies ranging from labour markets to education, housing or health policies address the specific needs of this part of society. However, public policy and planning concepts related to urban forests rarely focus on immigrants. Very few studies investigate the recreation patterns of immigrants despite the potential influence of their different cultural backgrounds on their perceptions or preferences regarding urban woodlands. In addition, urban woodlands could potentially play a role in the social integration of migrants into the society due to being an element of nature with a strong symbolic identification potential and also a public space for social interactions. This paper discusses the results of a qualitative enquiry carried out in Freiburg, Germany, involving migrants from Turkey, the Balkan countries and Russia-Germans. The results point towards many differences in their recreational use patterns and their perception of urban forests, especially between the Turkish interviewees and the other two groups. Furthermore, the results suggest that the emotional attachment to forests can play diverse roles in the identification process of immigrants to their host country. Finally, social interactions were depicted in the interviews as being an important aspect of a forest visit. Nevertheless, social contact between forest visitors seemed to remain mostly on a ‘small-talk’ level.     

Rectifying I: three point and continuous fit of the spatial autocorrelation metric,Moran’s I,to ideal form

Landscape Ecology - Interpreting spatial autocorrelation is complicated by differences in data type, spatial conformation, and contiguity definitions. Though lacking consistent meaning,...     

Socioecological features of plant diversity in domestic gardens in the city of Bogotá, Colombia

Domestic gardens contribute substantially to green spaces in cities, where urbanization removes and fragments natural landscapes, causing the loss of biodiversity and the homogenization of biota. We analyzed the diversity and composition of the flora of 70 domestic gardens in seven localities in Bogotá, Colombia, which represent different periods of expansion of the city. Floristic composition and diversity were related to the origin and use of plants, the urbanization history, and the income of owners. We recorded 4110 individuals belonging to 238 species. The mean species richness per garden was 15.4, with older localities having significantly higher species richness. The similarity among the localities, which evaluated the distinctness of assemblages, ranged from 0.42 to 0.50. Plants from the Neotropical region and exotic plants were the most abundant in all gardens. The most common use was ornamental, and use depended on the socioeconomic status of the owner. The lower-income homes cultivated larger proportions of edible and medicinal plants. Gardens at the oldest localities, with the largest number of native species, contribute to the conservation of flora because they contain the largest number of native species. Furthermore, domestic gardens are good sources of employment for gardeners and are useful places to keep senior citizens active, helping these citizens relieve stress, maintain good health and teach young people the cultural uses of plants. The receptivity of the homeowners to the study opens the door to future research and conservation programs in the city.     

Influences on the use of urban green space – A case study in Odense,Denmark

Increasing the use of urban green space has appeared on the political agenda, primarily because increased use is expected to improve the health and well-being of the urban population. Green space is contributing to restoring mental fatigue, serving as a resource for physical activity, reducing mortality and reducing the level of stress.However, knowledge and experience on how to implement this agenda are scarce. In this paper, we use a socio-ecological model as framework when studying influences on the use of respondents’ nearest urban green space in the Danish city of Odense. Data were obtained from a survey sent to 2500 randomly selected adult residents within the central part of the city. We tested the relative importance of different factors on the frequency of use of the nearest urban green space by using a multivariate logistic regression model. The results show that almost half of the respondents did not use their nearest green space the most. Whether or not respondent used their nearest green space most depends primarily on area size, distance to the area and factors that are likely to express a reduced mobility; old age, young children and poor health.If the nearest urban green space also is the most used green space, having a dog is the only factor that significantly increases the frequency of use. Further research is needed to determine what it is that makes people use an area more, if the basic conditions of a reasonable size (>5 ha) within a reasonable distance (<600 m) are fulfilled.     

Effect of the acupotome therapy and electro-acupuncture on the serum contents of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in rabbits with knee osteoarthritis

AIM: IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α play important roles in emergence of osteoarthritis. This study aims at observing the effect of the acupotome therapy and electro-acupuncture on the cytokines in serum of rabbits with osteoarthritis. METHODS: 52 New Zealand rabbits were divided randomly into the normal group, model group, acupotome group and electro-acupuncture group. Knee osteoarthritis of the model rabbits was made with the straightened immobilization method. The acupotome and electro-acupuncture therapies were applied for three weeks. One week after the treatment the serum was collected, and the changes of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in serum were detected with RIA. RESULTS: In comparison with the control group, the contents of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α elevated significantly in the knee osteoarthritis model group (P<0.05). Compared to the knee osteoarthritis model group, the contents of the cytokines in acupotome treatment group and electro-acupuncture treatment group decreased significantly (P<0.05). No significant difference between the content of cytokines in the acupotome treatment or electro-acupuncture treatment groups (P<0.05) was observed, also no statistical difference between the acupotome treatment or electro-cupuncture treatment groups and the control group was found. However, the contents of the three cytokines in the acupotome treatment and electro-acupuncture treatment groups were still higher than those in control group. CONCLUSION: The acupotome and electro-acupuncture treatment can decrease the release of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α, indicating that the two therapies play an important role in improvement of the articular cartilage cell injury and function through inhibiting the generation of matrix protease and alleviation of degradation of the cartilage matrix.     

Effects of crop load and time of thinning on the incidence of split pits,fruit yield,fruit quality,and leaf mineral contents in ‘Andross’ peach

Summary

The effects of light, moderate, or heavy thinning (5, 10, or 20 cm between fruit, respectively), conducted before (7 d or 15 d), during, or after (7 d or 15 d) pit hardening (PH), on the incidence of split pits, fruit yield, fruit quality characteristics, and leaf mineral contents, were studied in the canning peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch.) cultivar ‘Andross’ over two growing seasons. The percentage of fruit with split pits increased by 58.2% in heavily-thinned trees compared with moderately- or lightly-thinned trees, and by 22.9% for the earliest time of thinning (15 d before PH) compared with thinning during, or after PH. Fruit fresh weight (FW) was greater in moderately- and heavily-thinned trees compared with lightly-thinned trees, but yields were similar among the different crop-load treatments. The latest time of thinning (15 d after PH) also had a negative impact on yield at first harvest and on total yield, fruit FW, and delayed fruit ripening compared to thinning during, and 15 d before PH. Total anti-oxidant capacities and phenolic contents were usually greater in fruit from heavily-thinned compared with lightly- or moderately-thinned trees only when thinning was conducted during, or 15 d after PH. Moreover, anti-oxidant levels were highest in fruit from the earliest-thinned trees. There was no significant effect of crop load, or of time of thinning application treatment on fruit colour, or on the K, P, Fe, Mn, and Cu contents of leaf tissues. In conclusion, light or moderate thinning during PH resulted in minimal split pits during processing, and in optimal yields and fruit quality characteristics in the canning peach cultivar ‘Andross’.     

邹洋,梁维依,周金盼,李浩

通过分析《辋川集》及辋川图历代摹本,辋川别业中部分植物的造景手法得出了以下结论:辋川别业有采用四时造景的艺术手法进行植物造景;造景形式多为植物围合建筑;植物选取方面,除季相因素外大多采用当时流行的意向植物,以此为获得更好的诗意栖居体验。     

Resolving the Parentage of the Apple Cultivar ‘Meran’

In the mid-1970s, a new apple variety named ‘Meran’ was discovered in South Tyrol (northern Italy), which harbours the largest continuous apple growing area in Europe. The cultivar was registered for varietal protection and patented in several countries, and was declared to be a cross of the varieties ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Morgenduft’ (synonym ‘Rome Beauty’). The parentage of ‘Meran’ has, however, been questioned, and the present study aimed to assess the descent of this cultivar by the combined use of molecular genetic and bioinformatic tools. Five accessions of ‘Meran’ were collected from three different European germplasm collections and analysed at 14 variable microsatellite DNA loci. Subsequently, computer software was used to allocate the most likely parent pair from a set of cultivars representative for the apple growing area of South Tyrol in 1975. The molecular genetic data clearly excluded ‘Morgenduft’ as a gene donor to ‘Meran’ and provided strong evidence that ‘Meran’ is a cross of the cultivars ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Jonathan’, confirming previous assumptions based on morphological traits of the tree and fruit.