Anatomical variations in wood among four native species of Leguminosae grown in arid areas of China

Morphological features and anatomical variations are described and illustrated in detail for four native species of Legumi-nosae grown in arid sandy regions in China, which are Hedysarum scoparium Fisch.et Mey., Caragana korshiskii Kom., Lespedeza bicolor Turcz. and Ammopiptanthus mongolicus (Maxim. ex Kom.) Cheng f. All species showed similar morphological features: distinct growth ring boundaries, ring to semi-ring-porosity, simple perforation plates, alternate intervessel pitting, nonseptate fibers, para...     

Surface area processing in GIS for different mountain regions

Surface area is a fundamental parameter derived from terrain analysis in geographical information systems (GIS) for modeling the real world. Therefore, an evaluation of the techniques implemented by GIS models is important in order to obtain reliable area measurements. The study compares two raster-based methods with a TIN-based (triangulated irregular network) method for surface area approximation using a digital elevation model (DEM) with 25 m × 25 m resolution in six mountain regions of Shandong Province, China. Raster-based method Ⅰ calculates surface-area grids from DEMs directly. Eight 3-dimensional triangles connecting the center point of each cell with the center points of the eight surrounding cells are generated and then the areas of the portions of each triangle that lay within the cell boundary are calculated and summed. Raster-based method Ⅱ produces the surface area of each cell directly from the pixel size and the slope value for the pixel. The results demonstrate that the surface areas calculated by raster-based method Ⅰ are equal to those of the TIN-based method. The results of raster-based method Ⅱ are the lowest but the difference in areas between the two raster-based methods decreases with the decrease in terrain complexity. Compared to the method with TINs, raster-based method Ⅱ can do better because it has some advantages, such as neighborhood analysis, more consistent output and faster processing speed. The results also demonstrate that the difference between surface and horizontal areas should be considered if more than 30% of the area of a region has slopes steeper than 18.2 degrees.     

Research and field monitoring on transgenic crops by the Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT)

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) aims to genetically enhance both crops and generate public sector-provided products for the resource poor, e.g., drought tolerant wheat and insect resistant maize, and through international–national partnerships facilitate the acquisition of improved germplasm for non-mandate crops in the cropping systems where maize and wheat thrives; e.g., GM-papaya through a national food security undertaking in Bangladesh. The Center also engages in public awareness campaigns in projects such as Insect Resistance Maize for Africa (IRMA), which includes food, feed and environmental safety, monitoring of resistance and establishment of refugia, non-target effects and gene flow. Monitoring of genetic resources is a wide concern among the centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), with an emphasis on the quality of gene banks. Decisions, policies and procedures about monitoring should be science-based, and this requires education, an area where CIMMYT and other CGIAR centers can play an important role. There will be a need to continue to evaluate the need for, and type of monitoring, as new (and unique) products are developed and released in the emergent economies of the world.     

Germination of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Juniperus procera</Emphasis> seeds in response to stratification and smoke treatments,and detection of insect-damaged seeds with VIS + NIR spectroscopy

Seeds of Juniperus procera collected from five provenances across its geographic range in Ethiopia were subjected to cold-moist stratification at 5°C or 10°C for 6–12 weeks. The effect of aqueous smoke solution in overcoming the light requirement for germination, and the potential of visible (VIS) and near infrared reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy for sorting sound and insect-damaged seeds were also investigated. Highly significant differences in germination were detected among provenances (P < 0.0001) and stratification periods (P < 0.0001), but not between temperature regimes (P=0.111). Seeds from the south and southeast distribution ranges had higher percentage germination after 6 weeks of stratification than seeds collected from north, northwest and central ranges of distribution. The smoke treatment did not affect germination regardless of whether the seeds were exposed to light. Exposure to light increased germination capacity three fold. Sound and damaged seeds were distinguished with 90% accuracy using VIS + NIR spectroscopy. It can be concluded that dormancy in juniper seeds varies with provenances, and cold stratification for 6 weeks alleviates dormancy in some seed lots. Tentatively, smoke treatment seems ineffective in overcoming photo-dormancy in juniper seeds. VIS + NIR spectroscopy has demonstrated a great potential for sorting damaged seeds, thereby upgrading seed lot purity.     

Communities of saprobic fungi on leaf litter of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vismia guianensis</Emphasis> in remnants of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

We examined the mycobiota associated with Vismia guianensis leaf litter in three Atlantic Forest remnants of Brazil’s semiarid region. Among the study sites, two remnants were protected forest reserves, whereas the third was influenced by major anthropogenic activities. Eighteen litter samples were collected in wet and dry seasons and were processed by particle filtration technique. A total of 4750 fungal isolates of 142 taxa were identified. Species richness was higher in litter samples collected during wet season. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling multivariate analysis showed differences in the composition of fungal communities among the sampling sites and the seasons. Analysis of similarity showed that the differences were statistically significant (R = 0.85; P = 0.0001). Our findings revealed that spatial and temporal heterogeneity, and human activities had significant impacts on the saprobic fungi of V. guianensis leaf litter.     

Characterizing long-term forest disturbance history and its drivers in the Ning-Zhen Mountains,Jiangsu Province of eastern China using yearly Landsat observations (1987–2011)

Forest losses or gains have long been recognized as critical processes modulating the carbon flux between the biosphere and the atmosphere. Timely, accurate and spatially explicit information on forest disturbance and recovery history is required for assessing the effectiveness of existing forest management. The major objectives of our research focused on testing the mapping efficacy of the vegetation change tracker (VCT) model over a forested area in China. We used a new version of VCT algorithm built upon the Landsat time series stacks (LTSS). The LTSS consisted of yearly image acquisitions to map forest disturbance history from 1987 to 2011 over the Ning-Zhen Mountains, Jiangsu Province of east China. The LTSS consisted of TM and ETM+ scenes with different projections due to distinct data sources (Beijing remote sensing ground station and the USGS EROS Center). The validation results of the disturbance year maps showed that most spatial agreement measures ranged from 70 to 86 %, comparable with the VCT accuracies reported for many places in USA. Very low accuracies were identified in 1995 (38.3 %) and 1992 (56.2 %) in the current analysis. These resulted from the insensitivity of the VCT algorithm to detect low intensity disturbances and also from the mis-registration errors of the image pairs. Major forest disturbance types existing in our study area were identified as agricultural expansion (39.8 %), urbanization (24.9 %), forest management practice (19.3 %), and mining (12.8 %). In general, there was a gradual decreasing trend in forest cover throughout this region, caused principally by China’s economic, demographic, environmental and political policies and decisions, as well as some weather events. While VCT has largely been used to assess long term changes and trends in the USA, it has great potential for assessing landscape level change elsewhere throughout the world.     

An evaluation of methods used to cull invasive cane toads in tropical Australia

To identify cost-effective ways to control invasive species, we need to evaluate alternative methods. The invasion of tropical Australia by cane toads (Rhinella marina) has killed many native predators, prompting efforts to cull adult toads. We analyzed a dataset on >?17,500 toads killed by government-employed teams from 2005 to 2008, using a range of methods (incidental captures, targeted searches, traps) as well as records of toads found as road kills. The culling occurred in the northwestern part of the Northern Territory, moving west as the toad front expanded into Western Australia. Both season and method affected rates of capture and demographic attributes (sex ratio, proportion of adults) of the culled anurans, with a strong interaction between these factors. Most methods were more effective during and after the seasonal monsoons (when moist conditions facilitated anuran activity), but that seasonal variation was greater for numbers of toads found on the roads than captured in other ways. Juvenile toads and adult female toads constituted higher proportions of total captures in the Early Dry than in other times of year, reflecting seasonal breeding. Traps caught a higher proportion of adult female toads than did other methods, but overall had low capture rates. Rates of range expansion by toads were similar before, during and after the culling effort, suggesting that removing adult toads did not affect the speed of the invasion. Nonetheless, culling adult cane toads may be effective in some situations (“island” populations, extralimital translocations), and results from this program may be valuable for future toad-control efforts.     

Therapeutic use of plants by local communities in and around Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary: implications for protected area management in Bangladesh

Traditional systems of medicine have become a topic of global importance recently. Increased commercialization of economically important medicinal plants has resulted in overharvesting, threatening their survival. The present study was carried out to document the indigenous uses of medicinal plants by the local communities in and around Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, Bangladesh. Data collection was predominantly qualitative recording the species use, identifying their relative importance (RI) and assessing the informants’ consensus factor (F_ic) on associated knowledge. We interviewed 140 households of the local community and 5 local herbal practitioners. A total of 44 plant species were in use to treat 33 ailments under 10 broad disease categories. Five species were found to have high use versatility (RI > 1), Emblica officinale L. being the most versatile. Respiratory problems scored the highest F_ic value (0.56) involving the use of 30% of the species recorded. Terminalia bellerica Roxb., Sterculia villosa Roxb., Dillenia pentagyna Roxb. and Terminalia arjuna Bedd. were being harvested commercially. Use by the community, particularly for subsistence consumption, seemed to be sustainable, but commercial extraction of some species appeared unsustainable. Buffer zone-based commercial farming of medicinal plants with a commercial value could serve a dual purpose of assuring sustainable alternative income generation for local communities as well as conserving the natural resources in protected areas.     

Early shoot and root growth dynamics as indicators for the survival of black poplar cuttings

The relationship between early root and shoot formation at the beginning of the vegetation period and cutting survival on sandy and loamy fluvisol for 14 genotypes of black poplars was analyzed. Considerable cutting mortality was observed only within the first 80 days since planting. Intensive root formation in the first 20 days since the planting and vigorous shoot growth and development in subsequent 20 days was observed in easy-to-root genotypes. Coefficients of correlation revealed close relationship between early root and shoot growth and development and cutting survival of tested genotypes. The obtained results could be used in the breeding process, as well as for the design of cultivar-adjusted nursery and plantation establishment technology. Tested shoot characteristics, were found to be especially interesting since they could be measured rapidly, by non-destructive means.