A new dihydrodibenzodioxinone from Hypericum x ‘Hidcote’

One new compound, 4-hydroxy-4a,7-dimethoxy-4,4a-dihydrodibenzo-p-dioxin-2(3H)-one (1), was isolated from the aerial parts of the hybrid Hypericum x ‘Hidcote’, together with 8 known compounds: caryophyllene-4,5-epoxide, quercetin, quercitrin, quercetin-3-O-β-D-galactopyranoside, epicatechin, betulinic acid methyl ester, β-sitosterol and β-sitosterol glucoside. The structure of the new compound, as well as its absolute configuration, was established by means of spectroscopic data analyses, including 2D NMR spectroscopy and X-ray structural analysis.     

Woody plant regeneration after blowdown, salvage logging, and prescribed fire in a northern Minnesota forest

Salvage logging after natural disturbance has received increased scrutiny in recent years because of concerns over detrimental effects on tree regeneration and increased fine fuel levels. Most research on tree regeneration after salvage logging comes from fire-prone systems and is short-term in scope. Limited information is available on longer term responses to salvage logging after windstorms or from forests outside of fire-prone regions. We examined tree and shrub regeneration after a stand-replacing windstorm, with and without salvage logging and prescribed fire. Our study takes place in northern Minnesota, USA, a region where salvage logging impacts have received little attention. We asked the following questions: (i) does composition and abundance of woody species differ among post-disturbance treatments, including no salvage, salvage alone, and salvage with prescribed burning, 12 years after the windstorm?; (ii) is regeneration of Populus, the dominant pre-blowdown species, inhibited in unsalvaged treatments?; and (iii) how do early successional trajectories differ among post-blowdown treatments? Twelve years after the wind disturbance, the unsalvaged forest had distinctly different composition and abundance of trees and woody shrubs compared to the two salvage treatments, despite experiencing similar wind disturbance severities and having similar composition immediately after the blowdown. Unsalvaged forest had greater abundance of shade tolerant hardwoods and lower abundance of Populus, woody shrubs, and Betulapapyrifera, compared to salvage treatments. There was some evidence that adding prescribed fire after the blowdown and salvage logging further increased disturbance severity, since the highest abundances of shrubs and early successional tree species occurred in the burning treatment. These results suggest that salvage treatments (or a lack thereof) can be used to direct compositional development of a post-blowdown forest along different trajectories, specifically, towards initial dominance by early successional Populus and B.papyrifera with salvage logging or towards early dominance by shade tolerant hardwoods, with some Populus, if left unsalvaged.     

Resources,population and migration in the Pacific: Connecting islands and rim

This article examines international migration in the Pacific and argues that there should be still greater opportunities for the people of Pacific countries to migrate between their home states and the developed states of the Pacific Rim. The case for borders that are more permeable to human migration is based in part on the common Pacific predicament of poor resource endowments, rapidly growing populations, depletion and degradation of existing resources, and threats posed by anthropogenic climate change. Coupled with this is a history of colonisation that has left some Pacific peoples with liberal access to economic opportunities in developed states by virtue of their citizenship or preferential visa status, while others have no such opportunities. Both New Zealand and the United States have been reasonably generous in facilitating migration from Polynesia and Micronesia. It is Australia that stands out as the Pacific neighbour with the greatest capacity to develop new migration streams. The seasonal worker scheme announced by the Australian Government in August 2008 takes a cautious but valuable step along this path, yet there is scope for further expanding Pacific access by broadening the geographical, temporal and material scope of existing migration arrangements.     

Five-year radial growth of red oaks in mixed bottomland hardwood stands

We studied the relationships among 5-year radial (diameter and basal area) growth of red oak (genus Quercus, subgenus Erythrobalanus) crop trees and predictor variables representing individual tree vigor, distance-dependant competition measures, and distance-independent competition measures. The red oaks we examined are representative of the commercially and ecologically important oak species of the bottomland hardwood forests of the southeastern US. The crown class score, a quantitative measure of crown class and tree vigor, performed best in accounting for the variability in tree diameter growth. Plot-level variables failed to account for a significant proportion of the variability in tree radial growth. The basal area of the first-order neighbors that were taller than the crop trees and located within 2.4 times the mean overstory crown radius had the highest negative correlation with crop tree 5-year radial growth. Red oaks were a major part of these competitors and likely exerted the greatest competitive pressure. However, crop tree radial growth was positively associated with the basal area of the red oaks which were indirect (second order) neighbors and which were taller than the crop trees. It is possible that indirect neighbors do not compete with the crop trees, but they likely compete with the direct competitors of the crop trees, thus having an indirect positive influence on crop tree growth. Such reasoning is consistent with previously observed spatial dependence up to four times the mean overstory crown radius. The findings may have implications for thinning hardwoods stands and crop tree management in that foresters need to take into account (1) oak intra-genus competition, (2) the negative competitive effect of direct neighbors, and (3) the potentially positive effect of the indirect neighbors, the competitors’ competitors.     

广西田林县麻竹产业与农户收入变化

竹产业在地方经济发展和生态旅游中占有重要的地位。特别是对一些贫困地区而言,竹产业已成为许多地区脱贫致富的主要途径。退耕还林、荒山造林和异地安置脱贫等工程为竹产业的发展提供了机遇,同时林业改革政策的推动也给竹产业的发展造成了一定的外部环境。田林县麻竹林资源丰富,麻竹业发展潜力大,特别是麻竹笋加工业发展较快,是当地的支柱产业之一。主要论述从1995~2005年,三个五年期间,田林县农民收入的变化及麻竹产业产值增加的变化。同时随机挑选了85户农户进行收入调查,分析麻竹产业收入占总收入中的变化及麻竹产业对不同类型农户的影响程度。     

BAC-derived SSR markers chromosome locations in cotton

Bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries with large DNA fragment inserts have rapidly become the preferred choice for physical mapping. BAC-derived microsatellite or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) markers facilitate the integration of physical maps with genetic maps. The objective of this research was to identify chromosome locations of the BAC-derived SSR markers in tetraploid cotton. A total of 192 SSR primer pairs were derived from BAC clones of an Upland cotton genetic standard line TM-1 (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Metaphor agarose gel electrophoresis results revealed 76 and 59 polymorphic markers between TM-1 and 3–79 (G. barbadense) or G. tomentosum, respectively. Using deletion analysis method, we assigned 39 markers out of the 192 primer pairs to 17 different chromosomes or chromosome arms. Among them, 19 and 17 markers were localized to A-subgenomes (chromosome 1–13) and D-subgenomes (chromosome 14–26), respectively. The subgenome status for the remaining three markers remained unclear due to their two potential chromosome locations achieved by tertiary monosomic stocks deletion analysis. Chromosomal assignment of these BAC-derived SSR markers will help in integrating physical and cotton genetic linkage maps and thus facilitate positional candidate gene cloning, comparative genome analysis, and the coordination of chromosome-based genome sequencing project in cotton. Disclaimer: Mention of trademark, proprietary product, or vendor does not constitute a guarantee or warranty of the product by USDA, ARS and does not imply its approval to the exclusion of other products or vendors that may also be suitable. The U.S. Government’s right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty-free license in and to any copyright is acknowledged.