Observations of dew amount using in situ and satellite measurements in an agricultural landscape

Estimating the amount of water on leaf surfaces is an increasing concern for remote sensing and hydrology. Measuring the magnitude and spatial extent of leaf wetness events will provide useful information for water and energy balance modeling and remote sensing. As part of the Soil Moisture Experiments 2005 (SMEX05), the temporal and spatial characterization of leaf wetness over a heterogeneous agricultural domain was investigated. Leaf wetness sensors and physical measurements were collected from 15 June to 3 July 2005 in and around the Walnut Creek Watershed near Ames, Iowa, USA. Comparison of the results of the in situ leaf wetness sensor measurements and the physical sampling revealed a moderate correlation for both corn (Zea mays L.) and soybeans (Glycine max Merr.). Regression equations were developed to estimate leaf wetness quantity from these leaf wetness sensors and combined with a vegetation leaf area index map to produce a spatial leaf wetness product hourly during the experiment with an error of approximately 0.05 kg/(m² LAI). Using this strategy, future efforts in spatial hydrologic modeling and remote sensing would be able to incorporate quantitative estimates of leaf wetness amount in watershed scale studies using only in situ measurements.     

Experimental evidence for nest-site competition between invasive ring-necked parakeets (Psittacula krameri) and native nuthatches (Sitta europaea)

Ring-necked parakeets (Psittacula krameri) originate from Africa and Asia, but have been widely introduced and are thought to compete for nest-sites with native hole-nesting birds, raising concerns for the loss of native avifauna. In this study, we adopt a replicated before-after-control experimental design to test for competition between parakeets and native cavity-nesters. In experimental plots in Brussels, Belgium we blocked parakeet nesting cavities and conducted surveys to evaluate availability and use of cavities by parakeets and native hole-nesters. Numbers of breeding pairs, as well as cavity quality index - based on cavity occupancy rates - were evaluated before and after blocking. After blocking, numbers of native nuthatches (Sitta europaea) declined significantly, largely due to nest take-overs by parakeets. Nuthatches and parakeets strongly overlap in preferred nest-sites and this overlap explains the competition that leads to a reduction in nuthatch numbers when suitable cavities become scarce. Average quality of parakeet nests was lower after blocking, indicating that parakeets will utilize alternative cavities when preferred sites are not available, bringing them into greater conflict with other cavity nesters. Although some nuthatches remain in areas dominated by ring-necked parakeets, our results raise conservation concerns for the vulnerability of native cavity-nesting birds to the expansion of invasive parakeet populations.     

The impact of extraction methodologies on the toxicity of sediments in the zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo test

Purpose

Traditionally, methods for sediment extractions are characterised using chemical analyses. However, in order to evaluate sediment extracts with regard to biological effects and, thus, bioaccessibility, extraction methods have to be compared to effect data obtained from experiments with in situ exposure scenarios, i.e., sediment contact tests. This study compares four extraction methods and sediment contact test data from a previous project with respect to predictive power in the fish embryo test with zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Materials and methods

A natural and an artificial sediment spiked with a mixture of six organic pollutants (2,4-dinitrophenol, diuron, fluoranthene, nonylphenol, parathion and pentachlorophenol) were extracted using (a) membrane dialysis extraction (MDE), (b) a Soxhlet procedure, (c) hydroxypropyl-??-cyclodextrin (HPCD) or (d) Tenax^®-TA. Whereas the former two are regarded being exhaustive with respect to non-covalently bound contaminants, the latter two are considered to predict bioaccessibility. Resulting extracts were tested in the fish embryo assay with D. rerio for embryotoxic and teratogenic potential.

Results and discussion

Mortalities caused by organic extracts from Soxhlet extraction and MDE were high. However, HPCD extracts turned out to be at least as effective as extracts obtained with these two methods. One possible reason might be short ageing time of the spiked sediments. Only Tenax^®-TA extracts gave results comparable to the sediment contact assay for natural sediment, but revealed low reproducibility. Significant differences between natural and artificial sediment were found for extracts obtained with techniques using native (i.e., non-freeze-dried) sediments, i.e., HPCD and Tenax^®-TA. In contrast, MDE and Soxhlet extracts used freeze-dried sediment and did not differentiate between natural and artificial sediment. Therefore, freeze-drying has likely altered and equalised sediment properties that influence accessibility, such as composition of bacterial communities and organic matter quality.

Conclusions

Four extraction methods were successfully characterised with respect to their stringency and predictiveness for bioaccessibility. MDE was confirmed as an alternative to Soxhlet extraction. High mortalities induced by HPCD extracts underline the need to include ageing into consideration when assessing sediments. Although Tenax^®-TA may basically be used to predict bioaccessibility in the fish embryo test, the high variability observed warrants further investigation of the relation between effect and extractability. Apparently, freeze-drying can severely affect sediment properties, potentially eliminating individual properties of natural sediments.     

Evaluation of aluminum tolerance of three barley cultivars by two short-term screening methods and field experiments

Productivity of cereal crops growing in acid soils of Southern Chile have adversely being affected by acidification and aluminum phytotoxicity. For overcoming such constraints, farmers need to apply heavy amounts of lime and/or use AI-tolerant plants especially with AI-sensitive crops, as barley is. The objectives of this study were to determine the degree of Al tolerance of . three barley cultivars commonly grown in volcanic soils by using two shortterm screening methods and to relate their rankings with field experiments. Additionally, the amounts of citric and malic acids exuded from roots were determined for studying the mechanism involved in Al tolerance. Relative root length (RRL) was the criterion used to evaluate Al tolerance both in nutrient solution and in soil-based culture and yield for field experiments. Results showed a close relationship between the RRL values obtained with the three barley cultivars by applying the two short-term screening methods. Barley yields obtained in field experiments carried out in two soils differing in Al contents agreed well with the ranking observed in the laboratory suggesting that the short-term screening methods could be a useful tool for knowing Al tolerance of cereals habitually cropped in our acidic volcanic soils. Citric and malic acids were detected mainly in the exudates from the most AI-tolerant barley which could indicate a chelation mechanism implied in such a tolerance.     

Root-released organic acids and phosphorus uptake of two barley cultivars in laboratory and field experiments

A major portion of phosphorus (P) applied as fertilizers is bound in soils as P compounds of variable adsorption strength, reducing the effectiveness of P fertilization. Plant genotypes equipped with mechanisms for utilizing the adsorbed P more efficiently can, therefore, enhance the effectiveness of P fertilization. Such genotypes will also enrich plant gene pools for further analysis and upgrading of P efficiency by selection and breeding. We studied the variation and the mechanisms of P uptake of two winter barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars Marinka and Sonate (parents of existing 200 haploid progeny lines), by laboratory and field experiments. After cultivation in nutrient solution for 21 days, Marinka produced more roots than Sonate, but similar amounts of dry shoots of lower P content (Marinka 3.4±0.4 mg g⁻¹, Sonate 4.9±0.6 mg g⁻¹). The total P uptake per plant did not differ between the cultivars. Marinka retained more P in roots as indicated by the higher concentration of P in the roots (Marinka 3.9±0.3 mg g⁻¹ and Sonate 3.0±0.4 mg g⁻¹). In sterile nutrient solution culture, the cultivars differed mainly in release of organic acids from the roots, with Marinka releasing three times more citric acid and nearly two times more acetic acid than Sonate. The cultivars had similar root hair lengths and they did not differ (P>0.05) in depletion of available soil P fraction (extracted with 0.5 M NaHCO₃) in the rhizosphere. Marinka absorbed nearly twice as much P from the strongly adsorbed soil P fraction (extracted with 0.1M NaOH). Also under field conditions, Marinka absorbed more P and produced more shoot dry matter. The higher P uptake by Marinka than Sonate can be attributed to its ability to acquire P from strongly adsorbed soil P by releasing more organic acids, especially citric acid, from its roots.     

Marker-based screening of maize inbred lines using support vector machine regression

The phenomenon of heterosis is widely used in hybrid breeding programmes, despite the fact that no satisfactory molecular explanation is available. Estimators of quantitative genetic components like GCA and SCA values are tools used by the plant breeder to identify superior parental individuals and to search for high heterosis combinations. Obtaining these estimators usually requires the creation of new parental combinations and testing their offspring in multi-environment field trials. In this study we explore the use of ɛ-insensitive Support Vector Machine Regression (ɛ-SVR) for the prediction of GCA and SCA values from the molecular marker scores of parental inbred lines as an alternative to these field trials. Prediction accuracies are obtained by means of cross-validation on a grain maize data set from the private breeding company RAGT R2n. Results indicate that the proposed method allows the routine screening of new inbred lines despite the fact that predicting the SCA value of an untested hybrid remains problematic with the available molecular marker information and standard kernel functions. The genotypical performance of a testcross hybrid, originating from a cross between an untested inbred line and a well-known complementary tester, can be predicted with moderate to high accuracy while this cannot be said for a cross between two untested inbred lines.