Landscape geological age explains large scale spatial trends in oribatid mite diversity

Landscape Ecology - To understand the overwhelming species richness in soil the focus of attention has traditionally been on local soil conditions, such as physical and chemical characteristics....     

Organic carbon and total nitrogen variability in permafrost-affected soils in a forest tundra ecotone

Soils of the high latitudes are expected to respond sensitively to climate change, but still little is known about carbon and nitrogen variability in them. We investigated the 0.44‐km² Little Grawijka Creek catchment of the forest tundra ecotone (northern Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russian Federation) in order (i) to relate the active‐layer thickness to controlling environmental factors, (ii) to quantify soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (NT) stocks, and (iii) to assess their variability with respect to different landscape units. The catchment was mapped on a 50 × 50 m grid for topography, dominant tree and ground vegetation, organic‐layer and moss‐layer thickness, and active‐layer thickness. At each grid point, bulk density, and SOC and NT concentrations were determined for depth increments. At three selected plots, 2‐m deep soil cores were taken and analysed for SOC, NT and ¹⁴C. A shallow active layer was found in intact raised bogs at plateaux situations and in mineral soils of north‐northeast (NNE) aspect. Good drainage and greater solar insolation on the south‐southwest (SSW) slopes are reflected in deeper active layers or lack of permafrost. Organic carbon stocks to a soil depth of 90 cm varied between 5 and 95 kg m^–2. The greatest stocks were found in the intact raised bogs and on the NNE slopes. Canonical correspondence analysis indicates the dominant role of active‐layer thickness for SOC and NT storage. The 2‐m soil cores suggest that permafrost soils store about the same amount of SOC from 90 to 200 cm as in the upper 90 cm. Most of this deep SOC pool was formed in the mid‐Holocene (organic soils) and the late Pleistocene (mineral soils). Our results showed that even within a small catchment of the forest tundra, active‐layer thickness and, hence, SOC and NT storage vary greatly within the landscape mosaic. This has to be taken into account when using upscaling methods such as remote sensing for assessing SOC and NT storage and cycling at a regional to continental level.     

Soils of Eagle crater and Meridiani Planum at the Opportunity Rover landing site

The soils at the Opportunity site are fine-grained basaltic sands mixed with dust and sulfate-rich outcrop debris. Hematite is concentrated in spherules eroded from the strata. Ongoing saltation exhumes the spherules and their fragments, concentrating them at the surface. Spherules emerge from soils coated, perhaps from subsurface cementation, by salts. Two types of vesicular clasts may represent basaltic sand sources. Eolian ripples, armored by well-sorted hematite-rich grains, pervade Meridiani Planum. The thickness of the soil on the plain is estimated to be about a meter. The flatness and thin cover suggest that the plain may represent the original sedimentary surface.     

Aphid abundance and potato virus y transmission in imidacloprid-treated potatoes

Imidacloprid is a commonly used insecticide that is highly effective in controlling insect pests of potato. The relatively high cost of imidacloprid provides commercial growers with a strong incentive to reduce field application rates. In the present study, we investigated the impact of reduced imidacloprid rates on aphid abundance and potato virus Y transmission within potato fields. Infurrow applications of imidacloprid provided better aphid control even at a reduced rate when compared to threshold-based foliar applications, but did not suppress the spread of the non-persistently transmitted potato virus Y. Virus transmission was significantly decreased in foliar-sprayed plots, possibly because foliar applications incapacitated aphid vectors probing or feeding on infected plants. Despite these generally encouraging results, we still observed 2.3 to 2.7 fold increase in virus infection at foliar-treated plots at the end of the growing season.     

Photon-induced Kondo satellites in a single-electron transistor

We measure the differential conductance of a single-electron transistor (SET) irradiated with microwaves. The spin-entangled many-electron Kondo state produces a zero-bias peak in the dc differential conductance if the quantum dot in the SET contains an unpaired electron. When the photon energy hf is comparable to the energy width of the Kondo peak and to e (the charge on the electron) times the microwave voltage across the dot, satellites appear in the differential conductance shifted in voltage by +/-hf/e from the zero-bias resonance. We also observe an overall suppression of the Kondo features with increasing microwave voltage.     

Resistance and cross-resistance to imidacloprid and thiamethoxam in the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata

One of the major challenges in managing the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) is its remarkable ability to develop resistance to virtually every insecticide that has ever been used against it. Resistance is particularly common throughout northeastern USA as far north as Maine. The first instances of resistance to imidacloprid have already been reported from several locations in New York, Delaware and southern Maine. Rotating insecticides with different modes of action may delay insecticide resistance, but successful implementation of this technique depends on a good understanding of resistance and cross-resistance patterns in populations of target pests. LC(50) values were measured for imidacloprid and thiamethoxam in Colorado potato beetle populations from a variety of locations in the USA and Canada using diet incorporation bioassays. The field performance of imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianidin against imidacloprid-resistant beetles on a commercial potato farm in southern Maine was also evaluated. Correlation between LC(50) values for imidacloprid and thiamethoxam was highly significant, even when populations previously exposed to thiamethoxam were excluded from the analysis. There was no statistically detectable difference in the LC(50) values between populations exposed to both insecticides and to imidacloprid alone. Applications of neonicotinoid insecticides at planting delayed build-up of imidacloprid-resistant beetle populations on field plots by 1-2 weeks but failed to provide adequate crop protection. Consistently with bioassay results, there was also substantial cross-resistance among the three tested neonicotinoid insecticides. Results of the present study support the recommendation to avoid rotating imidacloprid with thiamethoxam as a part of a resistance management plan.     

Vertical structure of evapotranspiration at a forest site (a case study)

The components of ecosystem evapotranspiration of a Norway spruce forest (Picea abies L.) as well as the vertical structure of canopy evapotranspiration were analyzed with a combination of measurements and models for a case study of 5 days in September 2007. Eddy-covariance and sap flux measurements were performed at several heights within the canopy at the FLUXNET site Waldstein-Weidenbrunnen (DE-Bay) in the Fichtelgebirge mountains in Germany. Within and above canopy fluxes were simulated with two stand-scale models, the 1D multilayer model ACASA that includes a third-order turbulence closure and the 3D model STANDFLUX. The soil and understory evapotranspiration captured with the eddy-covariance system in the trunk space constituted 10% of ecosystem evapotranspiration measured with the eddy-covariance system above the canopy. A comparison of transpiration measured with the sap flux technique and inferred from below and above canopy eddy-covariance systems revealed higher estimates from eddy-covariance measurements than for sap flux measurements. The relative influences of possible sources of this mismatch, such as the assumption of negligible contribution of evaporation from intercepted water, and differences between the eddy-covariance flux footprint and the area used for scaling sap flux measurements, were discussed. Ecosystem evapotranspiration as well as canopy transpiration simulated with the two models captured the dynamics of the measurements well, but slightly underestimated eddy-covariance values. Profile measurements and models also gave us the chance to assess in-canopy profiles of canopy evapotranspiration and the contributions of in-canopy layers. For daytime and a coupled or partly coupled canopy, mean simulated profiles of both models agreed well with eddy-covariance measurements, with a similar performance of the ACASA and the STANDFLUX model. Both models underestimated profiles for nighttime and decoupled conditions. During daytime, the upper half of the canopy contributed approximately 80% to canopy evapotranspiration, whereas during nighttime the contribution shifted to lower parts of the canopy.