Causes of variation in the rate of increase of wheat harvest index

Several crop simulation models calculate grain yield by assuming that the rate of change of harvest index (δHI/δt) is constant (at rate k) during grain growth. Such behaviour has been identified in many crops, although the literature contains many examples of variations in k. The concept is useful if it approximates the truth in most circumstances, or if departures from both linearity and constancy are predictable from either the environment or the state of the crop. In this paper we examine the hypothesis that much of the variation in k is related to both crop biomass at the start of grain filling (BGF) and the crop growth rate during grain growth (CGF). Calculations using simple partitioning rules indicated that both factors are important. We showed that k increases rapidly as BGF decreases below about 9.0 Mg DM/ha, but decreases only slowly with increases of BGF above 9.0 Mg DM/ha. The analysis also showed that the increase in HI with time is quadratic rather than linear. We analysed data from 68 field grown wheat crops with variation in cultivar, location, irrigation, ambient CO₂ concentration and sowing dates. These showed an almost three-fold variation in k (0.0058–0.0164 day⁻¹). Across all data sets, there was a negative linear relationship (y = 0.02 − 0.0006x, R² = 0.41, p < 0.001) between k and BGF. Overall, these results suggest that some of the variation in k can be accounted for by differences in BGF. We suggest that any model that uses harvest index change as a basis for calculating yield should account, at least, for variations in BGF.     

Bee communities in forestry production landscapes: interactive effects of local-level management and landscape context

Landscape Ecology - Land-use change is a key driver of pollinator declines worldwide. Plantation forests are a major land use worldwide and are likely to expand substantially in the near term,...     

Pulmonary function and metabolic physiology of theropod dinosaurs

Ultraviolet light analysis of a fossil of the theropod dinosaur Scipionyx samniticus revealed that the liver subdivided the visceral cavity into distinct anterior pleuropericardial and posterior abdominal regions. In addition, Scipionyx apparently had diaphragmatic musculature and a dorsally attached posterior colon. These features provide evidence that diaphragm-assisted lung ventilation was present in theropods and that these dinosaurs may have used a pattern of exercise physiology unlike that in any group of living tetrapods.     

棉籽粕补饲对新疆细毛羊氮代谢的影响

将２４只约１５月龄的新疆细毛母羊（平均体重２８．９ｋｇ）随机分为６个处理组（每处理４只）,以基础日粮作对照,混合精料日粮作标准,研究不同水平棉籽粕补饲的效果。结果表明,棉籽粕补饲显著提高了（Ｐ〈０．０５）绵羊的总氮采食量、氮表现消化率、氮沉积、尿囊素排出量和由尿囊素排出量估测的瘤胃微生物氮产量。补饲棉籽粕绵羊的瘤胃微生物氮产量显著低于（Ｐ〈０．０５）饲喂混合精料的绵羊,这可能与前者的能量采食量较低     

Climate-Ocean Variability and Ecosystem Response in the Northeast Pacific

The role of climatic variation in regulating marine populations and communities is not well understood. To improve our knowledge, the sign, amplitude, and frequency of climatic and biotic variations should be compared as a necessary first step. It is shown that there have been large interannual and interdecadal sea-surface temperature changes off the West Coast of North America during the past 80 years. Interannual anomalies appear and disappear rather suddenly and synchronously along the entire coastline. The frequency of warm events has increased since 1977. Although extensive, serial, biological observations are often incomplete, it is clear that climate-ocean variations have disturbed and changed our coastal ecosystems.     

Evidence for extreme climatic warmth from late cretaceous arctic vertebrates

A Late Cretaceous (92 to 86 million years ago) vertebrate assemblage from the high Canadian Arctic (Axel Heiberg Island) implies that polar climates were warm (mean annual temperature exceeding 14 degreesC) rather than near freezing. The assemblage includes large (2.4 meters long) champsosaurs, which are extinct crocodilelike reptiles. Magmatism at six large igneous provinces at this time suggests that volcanic carbon dioxide emissions helped cause the global warmth.     

Killer whale predation on sea otters linking oceanic and nearshore ecosystems

After nearly a century of recovery from overhunting, sea otter populations are in abrupt decline over large areas of western Alaska. Increased killer whale predation is the likely cause of these declines. Elevated sea urchin density and the consequent deforestation of kelp beds in the nearshore community demonstrate that the otter's keystone role has been reduced or eliminated. This chain of interactions was probably initiated by anthropogenic changes in the offshore oceanic ecosystem.     

Protactinium-231 and thorium-230 abundances and high scavenging rates in the western arctic ocean

The Canadian Basin of the Arctic Ocean, largely ice covered and isolated from deep contact with the more dynamic Eurasian Basin by the Lomonosov Ridge, has historically been considered an area of low productivity and particle flux and sluggish circulation. High-sensitivity mass-spectrometric measurements of the naturally occurring radionuclides protactinium-231 and thorium-230 in the deep Canada Basin and on the adjacent shelf indicate high particle fluxes and scavenging rates in this region. The thorium-232 data suggest that offshore advection of particulate material from the shelves contributes to scavenging of reactive materials in areas of permanent ice cover.     

The Solar Acoustic Spectrum and Eigenmode Parameters

The Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) project estimates the frequencies, amplitudes, and linewidths of more than 250,000 acoustic resonances of the sun from data sets lasting 36 days. The frequency resolution of a single data set is 0.321 microhertz. For frequencies averaged over the azimuthal order m, the median formal error is 0.044 microhertz, and the associated median fractional error is 1.6 x 10(-5). For a 3-year data set, the fractional error is expected to be 3 x 10(-6). The GONG m-averaged frequency measurements differ from other helioseismic data sets by 0.03 to 0.08 microhertz. The differences arise from a combination of systematic errors, random errors, and possible changes in solar structure.     

Viral tissue tropisms and interferon production in white leghorn chickens infected with two avian reovirus strains

Inoculation of 6-day-old and 4-week-old chickens with pathogenic or attenuated avian reovirus resulted in an inapparent infection. The virus had a greater tissue distribution and persisted longer in tissues of 6-day-old chickens. Interferon was detected in only the serum and lung of infected chickens and appeared to be related to route of inoculation. Titers of interferon were greater and appeared sooner in the tissues of older chickens. Reovirus-neutralizing antibody was not detected in the serum of chickens of either age 120 days postinfection.