Influence of soil mineralogy and chemistry on site quality within geological regions in Sweden

The relationship between soil properties and forest site quality was investigated. The site quality functions currently used fail in predicting variations within regions and the purpose of this study was to evaluate if the local accuracy in forest resource assessments could benefit from the use of geological and geochemical data. The investigation was conducted in mid-Sweden within two geological regions. The mineralogy of the parent material (C horizon) was estimated using a method for normative mineralogical assessment and the soil chemistry was determined for five soil horizons. The importance of individual minerals for site quality was different within the two geological regions. Functional relations were established between the properties in different soil horizons and site index. The functions between mineralogy and site index were improved by splitting the data according to the geologically different regions. The mineralogy explained 37–61% of the variation in site index, whereas the properties in the upper soil profile (O–B horizon) related more strongly to site index (18–80%). Stronger relations could be established in the mineralogically rich than in the mineralogically poor area.     

Local water vapor diffusion coefficient when drying Norway spruce sapwood

In this article, a one-dimensional and a two-dimensional approach to the evaluation of local diffusion coefficients for Norway spruce sapwood from measured moisture content (MC) values are presented. A studied wood sample was dried from the initial green condition to about 15% mean MC, but here only the diffusive part of the drying process between approximately 25% and 15% mean MC was treated. Measured local MC values were based on nondestructive X-ray computed tomography data. Finite element calculations were performed with two alternative diffusion coefficients to test the appropriateness of the diffusion coefficients that were evaluated from the measured MC values. The evaluated diffusion coefficients show interesting dependence on MC and distance from the evaporation surface. The advantage of using the methods presented is that the diffusion coefficient is calculated on a local level without having to define a function for the diffusion coefficient’s dependency on other parameters.     

Risk factors associated with fecal Salmonella shedding among hospitalized horses with signs of gastrointestinal tract disease

OBJECTIVE: To estimate prevalence of and identify risk factors for fecal Salmonella shedding among hospitalized horses with signs of gastrointestinal tract disease. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. ANIMALS: 465 hospitalized horses with gastrointestinal tract disease. PROCEDURE: Horses were classified as positive or negative for fecal Salmonella shedding during hospitalization by means of standard aerobic bacteriologic methods. The relationship between investigated exposure factors and fecal Salmonella shedding was examined by means of logistic regression. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of fecal Salmonella shedding was 13%. Salmonella serotype Newport was the most commonly isolated serotype (12/60 [20%]), followed by Anatum (8/60 [13%]), Java (13%), and Saint-paul (13%). Foals with gastrointestinal tract disease were 3.27 times as likely to be shedding Salmonella organisms as were adult horses with gastrointestinal tract disease. Adult horses that had been treated with antimicrobial drugs prior to hospitalization were 3.09 times as likely to be shedding Salmonella organisms as were adult horses that had not been treated with antimicrobial drugs prior to hospitalization. Adult horses that underwent abdominal surgery were 2.09 times as likely to be shedding Salmonella organisms as were adult horses that did not undergo abdominal surgery. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggest that a history of exposure to antimicrobial drugs prior to hospitalization and abdominal surgery during hospitalization were associated with Salmonella shedding in adult horses with gastrointestinal tract disease. Foals with gastrointestinal tract disease were more likely to shed Salmonella organisms than were adult horses with gastrointestinal tract disease.     

A semantic model for assessing the experience of urban biodiversity

Biodiversity is a significant element of our everyday experience of urban environments, though it is generally only perceived subconsciously. Thus, there is a need to develop a method for defining and measuring experienced biodiversity. As a first step towards such a method, a semantic test was presented to a group of 102 participants. The test consisted of a form containing words/expressions selected as possible components of biodiversity. The participants rated the words on a five-grade scale, and the form was completed at six different study sites. Statistical analyses indicated that words with biological content were strongly correlated with biodiversity, as were words associated with wilderness and variation. Correlations with words of preference were less strong. Following factor analysis, a biodiversity experience index was calculated based on the factor loadings of words strongly correlated with biological diversity. The index was then calculated for all six sites. It was suggested that the index, by measuring words/expressions with higher linguistic codability, offers a valuable tool for assessing experienced biodiversity. It was further concluded that areas containing spontaneous vegetation and water obtained higher biodiversity index scores than did areas characterized by a short-cut lawn and more uniform vegetation.     

Modelling Impacts of Atmospheric Deposition,Nutrient Cycling and Soil Weathering on the Sustainability of Nine Forest Ecosystems

To assess the impact of acid deposition on the long-term sustainability of nine oak, pine and spruce stands on sandy to loamy sandy parent material in Sweden, Denmark and The Netherlands, a dynamic soil acidification model (ReSAM) was applied. Two deposition scenarios for the period 1990–2090 were used: a business as usual scenario (BAU) and a restrictive critical load scenario (CL). The BAU scenario leads to a strong decrease in both Al concentrations and pH in the topsoil of the Dutch and the Danish sites due to a decrease in the amount of amorphous Al compounds. The decline in pH leads to an enhanced release of base cations by silicate weathering. Despite the ongoing acidification, base saturation increases during the simulation period, due to both the increase in base cation weathering and an increased input from mineralization with the ageing of the tree stands. No change in Al concentration is predicted for northern Sweden as deposition levels are below critical loads. Soil chemistry at the recently replanted Swedish sites is dominated by changes in N cycling instead of by deposition. The CL scenario leads, especially after 2010, to a stronger decline in Al concentration compared with the BAU scenario, which is mainly caused by a reduction of the acid input. Up to 2010, a considerable acid input to the soil system is maintained as N supply is larger than the consumption of N by the trees. Despite the reduction of the deposition of S and N to critical loads, the readily available cation pools are still declining on the Danish and Dutch sites in 2090. It is concluded that deposition levels above critical loads lead to exhaustion of the pool of amorphous Al compounds and a decline in pH. Base saturation does not decline due to an increase in mineralization with stand age and an increase in weathering rate due to the decline in pH.     

Conditions related to solubility of rare and minor elements in forest soils

Soil solutions expelled by high‐speed centrifugation (13900 g) of intact soil sample cores at field moisture from 30 forest topsoils (A horizons of mainly Dystric and Eutric Cambisols, according to the FAO‐Unesco system) low in clay were subjected to analysis of 60 elements, using ICP‐MS and ICP‐AES. Concentrations measured were related to soil and soil solution properties assumed to be important for the solubility of elements, using stepwise regression analysis. On an average two thirds of the variability in soil solution concentration of elements were accounted for by, in particular, organic C concentrations, pH and/or nitrate concentrations of the solutions, varying among elements from 19 to 90 %. Concentrations of elements strongly positively related to soil solution acidity were Al, Be, Ge, Li, Ni, Pb, and Zn, strongly negatively related to acidity were Ca, Mo, and W. Most positively related to nitrate concentrations in soil solutions were B, Ba, Cd, Mg, Mn, and Sr; negatively were Nb, Ta, and Ti. Concentrations of organic C in the soil solutions correlated positively, often quite closely, with most of the other elements studied, including La, all the lanthanides, and with Ag, Br, Cr, Fe, Ga, Hf, Hg, In, P, Th, U, Y, and Zr. Soluble organic compounds were apparently ’︁carriers’ of these elements in the soil solution. The concentrations of elements in HNO₃ digests of the soils usually accounted for just little or no statistical variability of their soil solution concentrations.     

Canopy reflectance, thermal stress, and apparent soil electrical conductivity as predictors of within-field variability in grain yield and grain protein of malting barley

Three consecutive crops of malting barley grown during 2002–2004 on clay-loam on a Swedish farm (59°74’ N, 17°00’ E) were monitored for canopy reflectance at growth stages GS32 (second node detectable) and GS69 (anthesis complete), and the crops were sampled for above ground dry matter and nitrogen content. GPS-positioned unfertilised plots were established and used for soil sampling. At harvest, plots of 0.25 m² were cut in both fertilised and unfertilised plots, and 24 m² areas were also harvested from fertilised barley. The correlations between nine different vegetation indices (VIs) from each growth stage and yield and grain protein were tested. All indices were significantly correlated (at 5% level) with grain yield (GY), and protein when sampled at GS69 but only four when sampled at GS32. Three variables (the best-correlated vegetation index sampled at GS32; an index for accumulated elevated daily maximum temperatures for the grain filling period, and normalised apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) of the soil) were sufficient input in the final regressions. Using these three variables, it was possible to make either one multivariate (PLS) regression model or two linear multiple regression models for grain yield (GY) and grain protein, with correlation coefficients of 0.90 and 0.73 for yield and protein, respectively.     

Concentrations of 60 elements in the soil solution as related to the soil acidity

Little is known about solubility and soil solution concentrations of most elements occurring in the solid phase of soils. This study reports changes in solution concentrations of 60 mineral elements following CaCO₃ addition to a moderately acid semi‐natural soil, and possible mechanisms accounting for the differing solubility patterns as related to soil acidity are discussed. Soil solutions were obtained by high‐speed centrifuging and ultrafiltration (0.2 μm) of samples at 60% water‐holding capacity of the A horizon of a Cambisol developed from a shale–gneiss moraine and supplied with CaCO₃ at 20 rates to yield a soil solution pH range of 5.2–7.8. Concentrations of elements were determined in the solutions by ICP‐AES or (for most elements) ICP‐MS. Several distinct patterns of soil solution concentrations as a function of soil solution pH were demonstrated. Positively related to pH and CaCO₃ supply were soil solution concentrations of As, Br, Mo, S, Sb, Se, U, and W, and to a lesser degree, Co, Cr, Hg, Mg, and Sr. Inversely related to pH were concentrations of Al, B, Ba, Bi, Cs, Ce, Eu, Ga, Ge, Fe, Li, K, Rb, Na, Th, and Ti; less distinctly inversely rated were Dy, Er, Gd, Hf, La, Lu, Mn, Nd, Pr, Sm, Sc, Si, Tl, Tm, and Yb. ‘U‐shaped’ relationships to pH were demonstrated for the concentrations of Ag, Cd, Nb, Ni, P, V, and Zr. There were no or irregular relations between pH and concentrations of Be, Cu, Ho, Pb, Ta, and Tb. Differences between elements in their soil solution concentrations as related to total (HNO₃‐digestible) concentrations and the solubility of organic C were also treated. Increasing the pH of a soil by adding CaCO₃ changes the solubility of most mineral elements substantially, the several distinct patterns observed being governed by, for example, ionic properties and charge, affinity for organic compounds, and pH‐dependent formation and solubility of complexes.     

Evaluation of a Radioimmunoassay Technique Measuring Calcitonin in The Bovine,Ovine and Porcine Species

A heterologous RIA system was set up for measuring bovine, ovine and porcine calcitonin (CT). The system consisted of porcine GT used as standard and for the preparation of an iodinated tracer. The antiserum used was raised against ovine GT. For each analysis was used 25–200 µl blood plasma. Practical detection limit was 0.25 µg of CT per litre of blood plasma.The parallelism between the dose response curves for the p-GT standard and for the assay of increasing amounts of bovine, ovine and porcine blood plasma showed the suitability of the present assay system to study the GT secretion in these species. Furthermore, the reliability of the method was verified by a clearly recognized CT response to calcium infusion.     

Surveillance programme for Campylobacter species in Swedish broilers, July 2001 to June 2002

A total of 20,599 samples from 4133 slaughter groups representing about 71 million broilers slaughtered between July 1,2001 and June 30, 2002 were tested for Campylobacter species. From each slaughter group, 40 cloacal samples and 10 samples of neck skin were taken from the carcases on the slaughter line and the samples were pooled, 10 to a pool. Campylobacter species were detected in cloacal samples from 17 per cent of the slaughter groups and in neck skin samples from 22 per cent of the groups, and the monthly prevalence figures ranged from 6 to 32 per cent. In most of the infected groups all four pooled cloacal samples were positive, but 18 per cent of the infected groups had only one or two positive samples. More than 90 per cent of the Campylobacter-positive slaughter groups were delivered by half the producers, and one in four of the producers delivered no Campylobacter-positive slaughter groups.