Organic Carbon and Total Iron Effect on Soil Vis-SWNIR Spectraand Quantification of Their Contents Using PLS R Models

ABSTRACT

Many factors could influence simultaneously soil spectra. We aimed to study the single effect of organic carbon and total iron in soil visible and short-wave near-infrared spectra and to quantify their contents. Two datasets of soil mixture samples were prepared by mixing, in various fractions, an organic carbon-rich material with a total iron-rich material and then with a total iron-poor material. For these two datasets, contents in organic carbon are quite similar but contents in total iron are significantly different. Results show that samples of the same dataset have the same overall spectral shape. Organic carbon has a decreasing effect that affects the whole spectral range without showing any specific absorption peaks. By contrast, total iron has specific absorption peaks. Spectra of the second dataset characterized by soil mixtures with higher total iron contents were more compact within the spectral bands 400–440 and 920–950 nm. Besides, continuum removal enables to exaggerate absorption peaks of wavelengths linked to total iron content. Partial Least Squares Regression (PLS R) models of both total organic carbon and total iron assign high coefficients to the wavelengths that are considered relevant and conversely low coefficients to those that are considered irrelevant. Both organic carbon content and total iron content were well predicted. For these models, coefficients of determination were superior to 0.9 and RMSE was closed to zero. The global models calibrated on all the samples demonstrated that PLS R was able to integrate sample heterogeneity.     

Diurnal migration and responses to simulated rainfall in desert soil microarthropods and nematodes

Diurnal patterns of microarthropod abundance in surface leaf litter were related to its moisture content. Leaf litter moisture was nearly 7% by weight at 0800h but fell to less than 1% by mid-day. Oribatid and tydeid mites moved into litter in the early morning and back into the soil before mid-day. There were no significant differences in numbers of nematodes in litter or soil and 78–98% of the nematodes were anhydrobiotic (coiled) in soil and litter at all times sampled.Following simulated rainfall there were fewer microarthropods in litter at mid-day in the absence of marked decreases in soil and litter moisture content. During drying, there were gradual reductions in numbers and species diversity of litter microarthropods. Nematode numbers did not change as litter dried. Anhydrobiotic nematodes in the soil increased from 14% on day 1 to 85% on day 4. Between 24 and 36 h after simulated rainfall, the proportion of anhydrobiotic litter nematodes increased from 35 to 80%,.Within 1 h after simulated rainfall, there were marked increases in numbers and diversity of microarthropods in surface litter. No collembolans were extracted from dry litter controls but the wet litter was dominated by isotomid, sminthurid and onychiurid collembolans. There were increases in numbers and diversity of oribatid, tydeid and gamasid mites in the wet surface litter within l h after wetting compared to controls.     

Landscape‐scale modelling of erosion processes and soil carbon dynamics under land‐use and climate change in agroecosystems

Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and soil redistribution are linked to soil properties, land use, farming system and climate. In a global‐change context, landscape and climate changes are expected and will most probably have impacts on changes in the soil. Soil change was simulated from 2010 to 2100 in an 86‐ha hedgerow landscape under different scenarios of landscape and climate changes. These scenarios combined contrasting land uses, hedgerow networks and climates. Two models were combined to evaluate the impact of these scenarios on soils: LandSoil, a soil redistribution model, and a SOC model based on RothC‐26.3. A soil thickness of 105 cm was considered. The results indicate that the main factor influencing soil degradation was land‐use change: when compared with the baseline business‐as‐usual landscape, the landscape with the most intensive agricultural systems had the greatest soil erosion (+0.26 t ha^?1 year^?1) and reduced mean SOC stocks (?17 t ha^?1 after 90 years). The second significant factor was climate change, followed by hedgerow network density. Sensitivity to climate change differed between landscapes, and the most sensitive were those with continuous winter wheat. The results indicate that a hedgerow landscape is well adapted to protect soil (regarding carbon storage and soil erosion) in a context of climate change. However, this type of landscape is highly sensitive to cropping intensification and should be protected.     

On the potential of documenting decadal-scale avifaunal change from before-and-after comparisons of museum and observational data across North America

Studies of biodiversity dynamics have been cast on either long(systematics)or short(ecology)time scales,leaving a gap in coverage for moderate time scales of de...     

Eel acetylcholinesterase inhibition studies with heteroarylphosphinates

The inhibition of eel acetylcholinesterase by the 4-nitrophenyl esters of 2-furyl(methyl)-, methyl(2-thienyl)-, di-2-furyl-, and di-2-thienylphosphinic acid (I, II, III, and IV, respectively) was investigated at pH 6.90 in 0.067 M phosphate buffer (25.0°C) using stopped-flow instrumentation and automated data processing. Our evaluation of the dissociation constant, K_d, the unimolecular bonding rate constant, k₂, and the bimolecular reaction constant, k_i, are the first reported values for these constants for alkyl/heteroaryl and diheteroaryl esters of phosphinic acids. The largest k_i value (19,330 M^?1 sec^?1) was observed for the reaction of I with the enzyme. The order for the remaining three is II > IV > III. There is no direct relationship between the hydrolysis rates of the esters and their anticholinesterase activities on eel acetylcholinesterase. Likewise, there is no direct relationship between their anticholinesterase activities and the LD₅₀ values in rats.     

Isolation of horse mononuclear cells,especially of monocytes,on Isopaque-Ficoll neutral density gradient

Horse mononuclear cells were separated from whole blood using neutral density gradient centrifugation on Isopaque-Ficoll. The resulting cell suspension was comparable in composition with similarly prepared human and bovine mononuclear cell preparations. The relative concentration of monocytes was increased by the use of a gradient with density lower than that originally proposed by Böyum (Böyum, A. 1968. Scand. J. Clin. Lab. Investig. 21 supple. 97:77–89). Contamination by neutrophils was limited either by using a gradient medium of lower density or by replacing Isopaque-Ficoll by Percoll-0.9% NaCl. Although the density of the Isopaque-Ficoll appears to be the main determinant in the isolation method of Böyum, the mechanism of separation of the cell population is complex and a substantial variability of the results can be expected.     

Leaching of aldicarb and thiofanox,and their uptake in soils by sugarbeet plants

The leaching of aldicarb and thiofanox in soils (sandy loam, silt loam and sandy clay loam), and their uptake by sugarbeet plants were studied. Three irrigation levels were maintained: half, normal and double dose. The residues were determined as the sum of the insecticidal metabolites (parent compound + sulphoxide+ sulphone) for both pesticides. Leaching was greatly influenced by the amount of water added and the soil type. Under normal conditions, leaching seemed to proceed very slowly, keeping the chemicals available for uptake by the root systems for a long time. The concentration of insecticide in the leaves was highest in beets grown on sandy loam and lowest in those grown on sandy clay loam. The quantity of irrigation did not influence the residue concentration in the leaves greatly, although its influence was obvious on the total residue present (μg per plant). Increasing the water dose always resulted in a higher total residue, and a greater plant weight. The breakdown in the soils was directly related to the water dose. The experiments show that thiofanox was more stable than aldicarb and was taken up by sugarbeet to a greater extent.     

Effects of annual applications of sodium azide on soil fungal populations with emphasis on Trichoderma species

The effect of a granular formulation of sodium azide, applied annually to pine nursery beds at rates of 0, 67.2, and 134.5 kg a. i. ha^?1 under water seal or plastic seal, on soil fungal populations was determined over a 3-year period. Populations of fungi in the soil decreased following application of the sodium azide each year; the greatest decrease occurred at the highest rate of application. Populations of fungi in soil treated with the azide generally remained lower than in the controls throughout each of the 3 years; however, the population disparity between treated and control plots decreased in magnitude with each succeeding year. Populations of Trichoderma spp., in plots treated with 134.5 kg sodium azide ha^?1, increased 2 weeks after treatment each year, and the population peaks increased in magnitude each year. In addition the effect of sodium azide (technical grade > 99%) at concentrations of 0, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 μg ml^?1 in potato dextrose agar and blackstrap molasses agar media was determined in vitro for 14 isolates of Trichoderma harzianum. Growth and sporulation differed among the isolates and between the two media tested. Generally, the azide temporarily inhibited growth of the fungi, but the majority of the isolates were able to grow on either medium containing 50 μg sodium azide ml^?1, although sporulation was more profuse on the molasses than on the potato dextrose agar medium.