Constraints on physiological function associated with branch architecture and wood density in tropical forest trees

This study examined how leaf and stem functional traits related to gas exchange and water balance scale with two potential proxies for tree hydraulic architecture: the leaf area:sapwood area ratio (A(L):A(S)) and wood density (rho(w)). We studied the upper crowns of individuals of 15 tropical forest tree species at two sites in Panama with contrasting moisture regimes and forest types. Transpiration and maximum photosynthetic electron transport rate (ETR(max)) per unit leaf area declined sharply with increasing A(L):A(S), as did the ratio of ETR(max) to leaf N content, an index of photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency. Midday leaf water potential, bulk leaf osmotic potential at zero turgor, branch xylem specific conductivity, leaf-specific conductivity and stem and leaf capacitance all declined with increasing rho(w). At the branch scale, A(L):A(S) and total leaf N content per unit sapwood area increased with rho(w), resulting in a 30% increase in ETR(max) per unit sapwood area with a doubling of rho(w). These compensatory adjustments in A(L):A(S), N allocation and potential photosynthetic capacity at the branch level were insufficient to completely offset the increased carbon costs of producing denser wood, and exacerbated the negative impact of increasing rho(w) on branch hydraulics and leaf water status. The suite of tree functional and architectural traits studied appeared to be constrained by the hydraulic and mechanical consequences of variation in rho(w).     

酸化剂对杜长大商品猪生产性能的影响

为探索酸化剂对杜长大系列商品猪生产性能的影响,将40头4周龄体重相近的杜长大(或杜大长)断奶仔猪随机分为4组(即对照组、添加酸化剂BGIFEX001组、添加酸化剂BGIFEX002组、添加酸化剂BGIFEX003组),每组10头(母猪和阉公猪各半),测定4周龄至90kg体重时的生长性能,并测定达90kg屠宰体重时的胴体性能及肉质性能。结果显示,BGIFEX001和BGIFEX002组有改善日增重和料重比的趋势,4～10周龄阶段料重比分别比对照组降低9.88%和8.70%,全期料重比分别降低5.19%和4.81%;各处理组未对屠宰和胴体性能产生显著影响;肉质测定结果显示酸化剂有显著改善肉的红度(a)和拿破率的效应(P<0.05),各处理间肉质常规参数和风味前体物质(脂肪酸和氨基酸)含量无显著差异。总体数据提示酸化剂BGIFEX001和BGIFEX002可在一定程度上改善杜长大商品猪的生长性能和肉品质量。     

Integrating functional diversity into tropical forest plantation designs to study ecosystem processes

? The elucidation of relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem processes has been limited by the definition of metrics of biodiversity and their integration into experimental design. Functional trait screening can strengthen the performance of these designs.

? We suggest the use of Rao’s quadratic entropy to measure both functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity of species mixtures proposed for an experimental design, and demonstrate how they can provide complementary information.

? We also present an index assessing the statistical performance of these independent variables in different experimental designs. Measurement of independent variables as continuous vs. discrete variables reduces statistical performance, but improves the model by quantifying species differences masked by group assignments.

? To illustrate these advances, we present an example from a tropical forest tree community in which we screened 38 species for nine functional traits. The proposed TropiDEP design is based on the relative orthogonality of two multivariate trait axes defined using principal component analysis.

? We propose that independent variables describing functional diversity might be grouped to calculate independent variables describing suites of different traits with potentially different effects on particular ecosystem processes. In other systems these axes may differ from those reported here, yet the methods of analysis integrating functional and phylogenetic diversity into experimental design could be universal.

     

Diameter and death of whorl and interwhorl branches in Atlas cedar (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cedrus atlantica</Emphasis> Manetti): a model accounting for acrotony

• Introduction   

Branch size and branch status (dead or alive) are important characteristics closely related to tree growth and wood quality. The aim of this study was to design models for the diameter and status of branches in Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica Manetti).     

Interactive effects of nocturnal transpiration and climate change on the root hydraulic redistribution and carbon and water budgets of southern United States pine plantations

Deep root water uptake and hydraulic redistribution (HR) have been shown to play a major role in forest ecosystems during drought, but little is known about the impact of climate change, fertilization and soil characteristics on HR and its consequences on water and carbon fluxes. Using data from three mid-rotation loblolly pine plantations, and simulations with the process-based model MuSICA, this study indicated that HR can mitigate the effects of soil drying and had important implications for carbon uptake potential and net ecosystem exchange (NEE), especially when N fertilization is considered. At the coastal site (C), characterized by deep organic soil, HR increased dry season tree transpiration (T) by up to 40%, and such an increase affected NEE through major changes in gross primary productivity (GPP). Deep-rooted trees did not necessarily translate into a large volume of HR unless soil texture allowed large water potential gradients to occur, as was the case at the sandy site (S). At the Piedmont site (P) characterized by a shallow clay-loam soil, HR was low but not negligible, representing up to 10% of T. In the absence of HR, it was predicted that at the C, S and P sites, annual GPP would have been diminished by 19, 7 and 9%, respectively. Under future climate conditions HR was predicted to be reduced by up to 25% at the C site, reducing the resilience of trees to precipitation deficits. The effect of HR on T and GPP was predicted to diminish under future conditions by 12 and 6% at the C and P sites, respectively. Under future conditions, T was predicted to stay the same at the P site, but to be marginally reduced at the C site and slightly increased at the S site. Future conditions and N fertilization would decrease T by 25% at the C site, by 15% at the P site and by 8% at the S site. At the C and S sites, GPP was estimated to increase by 18% and by >70% under future conditions, respectively, with little effect of N fertilization. At the P site, future conditions would stimulate GPP by only 12%, but future conditions plus N fertilization would increase GPP by 24%. As a consequence, in all sites, water use efficiency was predicted to improve dramatically with future conditions. Modeling the effect of reduced annual precipitation indicated that limited water availability would decrease all carbon fluxes, including NEE and respiration. Our simulations highlight the interactive effects of nutrients and elevated CO(2), and showed that the effect of N fertilization would be greater under future climate conditions.     

Recent growth changes in Western European forests are driven by climate warming and structured across tree species climatic habitats

Key message

Recent growth changes (1980–2007) in Western European forests strongly vary across tree species, and range from +42% in mountain contexts to ?17% in Mediterranean contexts. These changes reveal recent climate warming footprint and are structured by species' temperature (?) and precipitation (+) growing conditions.

Context

Unprecedented climate warming impacts forests extensively, questioning the respective roles of climatic habitats and tree species in forest growth responses. National forest inventories ensure a repeated and spatially systematic monitoring of forests and form a unique contributing data source.

Aims

A primary aim of this paper was to estimate recent growth changes in eight major European tree species, in natural contexts ranging from mountain to Mediterranean. A second aim was to explore their association with species’ climatic habitat and contemporary climate change.

Methods

Using >315,000 tree increments measured in >25,000 NFI plots, temporal changes in stand basal area increment (BAI) were modelled. Indicators of climate normals and of recent climatic change were correlated to species BAI changes.

Results

BAI changes spanned from ?17 to +42% over 1980–2007 across species. BAI strongly increased for mountain species, showed moderate/no increase for generalist and temperate lowland species and declined for Mediterranean species. BAI changes were greater in colder/wetter contexts than in warmer/drier ones where declines were observed. This suggested a role for climate warming, further found more intense in colder contexts and strongly correlated with species BAI changes.

Conclusion

The predominant role of climate warming and species climatic habitat in recent growth changes is highlighted in Western Europe. Concern is raised for Mediterranean species, showing growth decreases in a warmer climate with stable precipitation.

     

Monitoring water interception by crop fields from passive microwave observations

In the present work, the time variations of a wheat field microwave emission are analysed during irrigation phases. The aim of the study is to investigate the use of low-frequency microwave measurements to monitor hydrological variables over a wheat crop: surface soil moisture and water interception by the vegetation canopy. The irrigation phases were representative of rainfall or dew events. It appears that the radiometric measurements are strongly sensitive to the hydrological characteristics of the soil and of the vegetation canopy. The 1.4GHz measurements are mainly sensitive to surface soil moisture m_v, whereas the 5 GHz measurements are sensitive to both m_v and to the vegetation water content W_v. A simple model approach is implemented to retrieve simultaneously these two surface parameters. The results of this procedure show the high potential of the microwave remote sensing measurements to monitor the time variations of soil moisture and of the total vegetation water content. The value of the wheat water storage capacity is derived from the microwave measurements and is in good agreement with experimental data.     

New method for reducing the binding power of sweet white wines

Sulfur dioxide is now considered to be a toxic chemical by most world health authorities. However, it remains an irreplaceable additive in enology for wine conservation, combining antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Sweet white wines from botrytized grapes retain particularly high SO 2 levels due to their high sulfur dioxide binding power. This paper presents a new method for reducing this binding power by removing some of the carbonyl compounds responsible, which are naturally present in these wines. The main carbonyl compounds responsible for the SO 2 binding power of sweet wines were removed, that is, acetaldehyde, pyruvic acid, 2-oxoglutaric acid, and 5-oxofructose. The method retained was selective liquid-solid removal, using phenylsulfonylhydrazine as a scavenging agent. The scavenging function was grafted on different classes of porous polymer supports, and its efficiency was evaluated on sweet white wines under conditions intended to conserve their organoleptic qualities. The results obtained showed that the method was efficient for removing carbonyl compounds and significantly reduced the binding power of the wines. Sensory analysis revealed that this process did not deteriorate their organoleptic qualities.