Habitat quality,not habitat amount,drives mammalian habitat use in the Brazilian Pantanal

Landscape Ecology - An understanding of species-habitat relationships is required to assess the impacts of habitat fragmentation and degradation. To date, habitat modeling in fragmented landscapes...     

LED-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence Spectral Analysis for the Early Detection and Monitoring of Cadmium Toxicity in Maize Plants

Chlorophyll fluorescence spectral analysis permits detection, monitoring, and evaluation of abiotic stresses upon healthy plants using illumination of a light source in the UV?CVIS spectral range. This technique indirectly assesses the amount of physiological stress caused by photosynthetic damage, specifically damage to photosystem II, in plants. The objective of this study was to detect the toxicity of cadmium in maize plants via spectral analysis of chlorophyll fluorescence. The analysis is noninvasive and nondestructive and is used to follow the temporal evolution of changes in the chlorophyll content and physiological state of Zea mays L. seedlings under cadmium stress. Conventional techniques were also used to evaluate the dry matter production and Cd accumulation in plant leaves. Plants exhibited a notable reduction in dry matter production and chlorophyll levels with the administration of increasing doses of Cd in the nutrient solution. The fluorescence analysis was sensitive to changes caused by Cd in maize plants, detecting damage caused by different treatments before visual symptoms were observed. This technique has a practical application and produces rapid results that can be used in the evaluation of Cd-induced stress in plants and the detection of areas contaminated by this element.     

Dynamic oxygen mapping in the root zone by fluorescence dye imaging combined with neutron radiography

Purpose  

The rooted zone of a soil, more precisely the rhizosphere, is a very dynamic system. Some of the key processes are water uptake and root respiration. We have developed a novel method for measuring the real-time distribution of water and oxygen concentration in the rhizosphere as a biogeochemical interface in soil. This enables understanding where and when roots are active in respect to root respiration and water uptake and how the soil responds to it.     

MODELING GROWTH AND ION CONCENTRATION OF LILIUM IN RESPONSE TO NITROGEN:POTASSIUM:CALCIUM MIXTURE SOLUTIONS

Nutrient solution composition plays an important role in root uptake rate due to interactions among nutrients and internal regulation. Studies to determine the optimum nutrient solution concentration are focused on individual ions, ignoring the adaptation mechanisms triggered by plants when growing in a varying external nutrient concentration. The objective of the present study was to determine the response in growth and tissue ion concentration of lilium cv. ‘Navona’ to nutrient mixtures of varying proportions of nitrogen (N), potassium (K⁺), and calcium (Ca²⁺) in solution using mixture experiments methodology in order to determine the optimum concentration. Bulbs of lilium were transplanted in plastic crates and drip-irrigated with the treatment solutions, which consisted of a mixture of N, K⁺, and Ca²⁺ whose total concentration was 340 mg L^?1 and minimum concentrations of each ion was 34 mg L^?1. Chlorophyll concentration (SPAD), shoot fresh weight (FW), leaf FW, and leaf area were measured 60 days after transplanting and ion analysis was performed on shoot tissues from selected treatments. Lilium exhibited a moderate demand for N and K⁺ (136–170 mg L^?1 N and 116–136 mg L^?1 K⁺) and a very low demand for Ca²⁺ (34–88 mg · L^?1). This low demand may be due to the remobilization of the nutrients stored in the bulbs. Integrating the predictions of the models estimated to produce >90% of maximum growth, the optimum nutrient solution should contain Ca²⁺ at a concentration between 34 and 126 mg · L^?1, K⁺ between 119 and 211 mg · L^?1, and N between 92 mg · L^?1 and 211 mg · L^?1. Increasing external N concentration affected internal N concentration but not internal K⁺ or Ca²⁺ concentrations, despite that the increase in external N was associated with a decrease in external K⁺ and Ca²⁺. Similar trends were observed for external K⁺ and Ca²⁺ concentration. In conclusion, lilium was able to maintain a relatively constant K⁺ and Ca²⁺ concentration regardless of the lower concentration in the nutrient solution when N was increased (similar response was observed for K⁺ and Ca²⁺) and it has a low Ca²⁺ demand and moderate N and K⁺ supply.     

基于SIRMOD模型的畦灌入渗参数估算及灌溉模拟

土壤入渗参数是地面灌溉中制定灌溉制度、评价灌水质量的重要指标。针对现有估算方法存在计算工作量较大、精度不高的现状,根据田间实测资料,利用SIRMOD模型,对小麦畦灌条件下田间土壤入渗参数进行了估算。与用Maheshwari法计算结果较为接近,差异均在2.0%以内。根据估算的土壤入渗参数,应用SIRMOD模型进行了多组合灌溉模拟,在保证灌水质量较高的条件下,得出了在不同亏缺水量时的适宜灌水量和灌水流量,通过田间实例验证表明模拟效果较好。     

Changes in sorghum production,soil P forms and P use efficiency following long-term application of manure,compost and straw in a Ferric Lixisol

Low phosphorus availability in cultivated soils limits sustainable crop production in sub‐Saharan Africa. This study aimed at evaluating the effect of long‐term application of different types of organic amendments on soil P forms, P use efficiency and sorghum yields. A long term experiment established in 1980 at Saria in Burkina Faso, comparing the effects of manure, compost and sorghum straw was used. Manure and compost significantly increased organic P and resin‐P by about 35% and 64%, respectively after 10 and 32 years of sorghum cultivation, and HCl‐P after 32 years of cultivation compared to the control. Manure significantly increased NaHCO₃-Pi and NaOH-Pi by 63% and 26%, respectively compared to the control. Sorghum straw had little effect on measured soil P forms. Manure and compost were the best in increasing sorghum grain yield, which effect were strongly correlated to soil pH, carbon and nitrogen. The partial factors productivities of P resulting from the application of studied organic amendments were similar and low, but significantly higher than that of the control treatment. Organic amendments with high P content, maintaining soil carbon and pH could be used to improve soil P availability, sorghum yield and reduce the demand for mineral phosphorus fertilizers.     

Insights into the Effect of a Natural Arsenate Dose on Growth, Nodulation and Redox Metabolism of Soybean Plants

<正>Dear Editor,Arsenic(As) is a harmful metalloid that occurs in soil and water; its concentration varies considerably among geographic regions, with groundwater being the principal source of human contamination(Smedley and Kinniburgh, 2002). Besides the direct contamination effect of drinking water that contains high As concentration, human poisoning may also occur after inges-     

Weed abundance and soil seedbank responses to tillage systems in continuous maize crops

Weed abundance in crops undergoes frequent changes, often due to changes in tillage practices. Annual species, with quick germination, a short vegetative stage, profuse seed production and long-lived seeds become problematic under zero-tillage systems. Portulaca oleracea L. and Amaranthus blitoides L. are widespread weeds in the Mediterranean area, prominent in irrigated crops. We studied the total weed abundance in the field, and specifically these two species (Portulaca oleracea and Amaranthus blitoides) with high frequency of occurrence in monoculture maize, from 2012 to 2014, in the field and soil seedbank. Results showed significant differences between zero-tillage (ZT) and conventional tillage (CT) systems on total weed abundance and relative abundance of Portulaca oleracea. Total weed abundance decreased in ZT plots (from 136 plants m^?2 to 25 and 46 plants m^?2, in 2013 and 2014 respectively). The same trend was observed in Portulaca oleracea recorded in ZT plots, but the abundance of Amaranthus blitoides did not vary in this system. Weed seedling germination and weed seed numbers both of total weed seedbank and Portulaca oleracea, were greater in ZT plots compared to CT, regarding Amaranthus blitoides seedling germination and seed count, the values did not increase with ZT, in continuous maize crops.     

Combining endophytic fungi and bacteria for the biocontrol of Radopholus similis (Cobb) Thorne and for effects on plant growth

Eight endophytic fungal and bacterial isolates with antagonistic activity against Radopholus similis were evaluated in vivo for their individual and combined effects on biocontrol of R. similis and on the growth of “Grand Naine” cultivar banana plantlets in the greenhouse. Penetration efficiency (PE) of R. similis was between 3 and 21% in 29 biological agents (BAs) treatments, less than the 29% of the nematode-alone control (p ≤ 0.0001); 24 of the BAs treatments did not differ from the PE of 5% for a nematicide control. Twenty nine BAs treatments exhibited antagonistic activity against nematodes which reduced final population levels between 18 and 93%, relative to those on nematode-alone control plants (p ≤ 0.0001), and 14 BAs treatments were statistically similar to the nematicide treatment (88% reduction). Twenty four BAs treatments had increments of plant root biomass ranging from 20 to 58%, greater than the control plants; 37% of the treatments with single and combined BAs inoculations had root length increments ranging from 29 to 54% compared with control and chemical treatment. The nematicide, Terbufos 10GR, did not affect plant growth.     

Evaluating eddy covariance cotton ET measurements in an advective environment with large weighing lysimeters

Eddy covariance (EC) systems are being used to assess the accuracy of remote sensing methods in mapping surface sensible and latent heat fluxes and evapotranspiration (ET) from local to regional scales, and in crop coefficient development. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the accuracy of EC systems in measuring sensible heat (H) and latent heat (LE) fluxes. For this purpose, two EC systems were installed near large monolithic weighing lysimeters, on irrigated cotton fields in the Texas High Plains, during the months of June and July 2008. Sensible and latent heat fluxes were underestimated with an average error of about 30%. Most of the errors were from nocturnal measurements. Energy balance (EB) closure was 73.2–78.0% for daytime fluxes. Thus, daylight fluxes were adjusted for lack of EB closure using the Bowen ratio/preservation of energy principle, which improved the resulting EC heat flux agreement with lysimetric values. Further adjustments to EC-based ET included nighttime ET (composite) incorporation, and the use of ‘heat flux source area’ (footprint) functions to compensate ET when the footprint expanded beyond the crop field boundary. As a result, ET values remarkably matched lysimetric ET values, with a ‘mean bias error ± root mean square error’ of −0.03 ± 0.5 mm day⁻¹ (or −0.6 ± 10.2%).