Drivers of fine-scale avian functional diversity with changing land use: an assessment of the effects of eco-estate housing development and management

Landscape Ecology - The effects of changing land use, and especially urbanisation, on species and functional diversity are of global concern. Eco-estates are a form of urban housing development...     

Intensification of New Zealand beef farming systems

This study used whole-farm management, nutrient budgeting/greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and feed formulation computer tools to determine the production, environmental and financial implications of intensifying the beef production of typical New Zealand (NZ) sheep and beef farming systems. Two methods of intensification, feeding maize silage (MS) or applying nitrogen (N) fertiliser, were implemented on two farm types differing in the proportions of cultivatable land to hill land (25% vs. 75% hill). In addition, the consequences of intensification by incorporating a beef feedlot (FL) into each of the farm types were also examined.Feeding MS or applying N fertiliser substantially increased the amount of beef produced per ha. Intensifying production was also associated with increased total N leaching and GHG emissions although there were differences between the methods of intensification. Feeding MS resulted in lower environmental impacts than applying N even after taking into account the land to grow the maize for silage. Based on 2007/08 prices, typical NZ sheep and beef farms were making a financial loss and neither method of intensification increased profitability with the exception of small annual applications of N, especially to the 75% hill farm. These small annual additions of N fertiliser (<50 kg N/ha/yr applied in autumn and late winter) resulted in only small increases in annual N leaching (from 11 to 14 kg N/ha) and GHG emissions (from 3280 to 4000 kg CO₂ equivalents/ha). Limited N applications were particularly beneficial to 75% hill farms because small increases in winter carrying capacity resulted in relatively large increases in the utilisation of pasture growth during spring and summer than the 25% hill farms. Intensification by incorporating a beef feedlot reduced environmental emissions per kg of beef produced but considerably decreased profitability due to higher capital, depreciation and labour costs. The lower land-use capability farm type (75% hill) was able to intensify beef production to a proportionally greater extent than the higher land-use capability farm (25% hill) because of greater potential to increase pasture utilisation associated with a lower initial farming intensity and inherent constraints in the pattern of pasture supply.     

In situ net N transformations in pine,fir, and oak stands of different ages on acid sandy soil, 3 years after liming

Summary The effect of liming on in-situ N transformations was studied in two stands of different ages of each of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), Douglas fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco], and common oak (Quercus robur L.). The stands were located on acid sandy soils in an area with high atmospheric N input. The organic matter of the upper 10-cm layer of the soil, including the forest floor, had a relatively high N content (C: N ratio <25) in all stands. Using a sequential core technique, N transformations were measured in both control plots and plots that had been limed 3 years previously with 3 t ha^-1 of dolomitic lime. Limed plots had a higher net NO _inf3 ^sup- production and a higher potential for NO _inf3 ^sup- leaching than the controls in all stands except that of the younger oak. Net N mineralization did not differ significantly between limed and control plots in oak stands and younger coniferous stands but was significantly lower in the limed plots of the older coniferous stands. It is concluded that long-term measurements of net N mineralization in limed forest soils are needed to evaluate the effect of liming with respect to the risk of groundwater pollution.     

Soluble organic nitrogen in agricultural soils

 The existence of soluble organic forms of N in rain and drainage waters has been known for many years, but these have not been generally regarded as significant pools of N in agricultural soils. We review the size and function of both soluble organic N extracted from soils (SON) and dissolved organic N present in soil solution and drainage waters (DON) in arable agricultural soils. SON is of the same order of magnitude as mineral N and of equal size in many cases; 20–30 kg SON-N ha^–1 is present in a wide range of arable agricultural soils from England. Its dynamics are affected by mineralisation, immobilisation, leaching and plant uptake in the same way as those of mineral N, but its pool size is more constant than that of mineral N. DON can be sampled from soil solution using suction cups and collected in drainage waters. Significant amounts of DON are leached, but this comprises only about one-tenth of the SON extracted from the same soil. Leached DON may take with it nutrients, chelated or complexed metals and pesticides. SON/DON is clearly an important pool in N transformations and plant uptake, but there are still many gaps in our understanding. Received: 10 June 1999     

Investigations into genotypic variations of peanut carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are known to be important precursors in the development of roasted peanut quality. However, little is known about their genotypic variation. A better understanding of the role of carbohydrates in roasted peanut quality requires first an understanding of the genotypic variation in the soluble carbohydrate components. Ion exchange chromatography was used to isolate 20 different carbohydrate components in 52 genotypes grown in replicated trials at two locations. Inositol, glucose, fructose, sucrose, raffinose, and stachyose were quantitated, and 12 unknown peaks were evaluated on the basis of the peak height of the unknown relative to the cellobiose internal standard peak height. Peaks tentatively identified as verbascose and ajugose could not be properly integrated because of tailing. Of the 18 carbohydrates that were estimated, 9 exhibited significant variation between test environments, 5 among market types, 14 among genotypes within market types, and 11 exhibited some significant form of genotype x environment interaction. Genotypes accounted for 38-78% of the total variation for the known components, suggesting that broad-sense heritability for these components is high. The observed high genotypic variation in carbohydrate components is similar to the high genotypic variation observed for the sweetness attribute in roasted peanuts, which raises the question regarding possible interrelationships. The establishment of such interrelationships could be most beneficial to peanut breeding programs to ensure the maintenance of flavor quality in future peanut varieties.     

Distribution of microbial biomass and phospholipid fatty acids in Podzol profiles under coniferous forest

Microbial‐derived phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) can be used to characterize the microbial communities in soil without the need to isolate individual fungi and bacteria. They have been used to assess microbial communities of humus layers under coniferous forest, but nothing is known of their distribution in the deeper soil. To investigate the vertical distribution we sampled nine Podzol profiles on a 100‐m‐long transect in a coniferous forest and analysed for their microbial biomass and PLFA pattern to a depth of 0.4 m. The transect covered a fertility gradient from Vaccinium vitis‐idaea forest site type to Vaccinium myrtillus forest site type. The cores were divided into humus (O) and eluvial (E) layers and below that into 10‐cm sections and designated as either illuvial (B) or parent material (C), or as a combination (BC). Two measures of microbial biomass analyses were applied: substrate‐induced respiration (SIR) to determine microbial biomass C (C_mic), and the sum of the extracted microbial‐derived phospholipid fatty acids (totPLFA). The soil fertility had no effect on the results. The C_mic correlated well with totPLFA (r= 0.86). The microbial biomass decreased with increasing depth. In addition the PLFA pattern changed with increased depth as assessed with principal component analysis, indicating a change in the microbial community structure. The composition of the PLFAs in the O layer differed from that in the E layer and both differed from the upper part of the B layer and from the rest of the BC layers. The deeper parts of the B layer (BC₁, BC₂ and BC₃) were similar to one other. The O layer had more 18:2ω6, a PLFA indicator of fungi, whereas the E layer contained relatively more of the PLFAs 16:1ω9, 18:1ω7 and cy19:0 common in gram‐negative bacteria. With increased depth the relative amount of 10Me18:0, the PLFA indicator for actinomycetes, increased. We conclude that the PLFA method is a promising discriminator between the microbial community structures of the horizons in Podzols.     

甘蓝黑腐病菌rPf基因簇对胞外蛋白酶Ⅰ基因表达的调控

甘蓝黑腐病黄单胞菌（ＸａｎｔｈｏｍｏｎａｓｃａｍｐｅｓｔｒｉｓＰｖ．ｃａｍｐｅｓｔｒｉｓ）产生的胞外蛋白酶Ⅰ在致病的早期阶段起重要作用，该酶以及其它胞外酶和胞外多糖的合成受一致病因子调控基因簇（ｒＰｆ基因簇）的正向调控。本研究利用带有β－半乳糖苷酶报道基因（ｌａｃＺ）的转座子Ｔｎ５－Ｂ２０诱变蛋白酶Ⅰ基因克隆，获得了ｌａｃＺ在蛋白酶Ⅰ基因启动子控制下表达的Ｔｎ５－Ｂ２０插入突变质粒。通过将这种突变质粒导入野生型和各ｒｐｆ基因突变体菌株后，测定ｌａｃＺ基因在细胞生长周期中的表达水平，不仅进一步证实了这些ｒｐｆ基因对蛋白酶Ⅰ基因的正向调控作用，而且明确了它们的调控水平．发现ｒｐｆＡ、ｒｐｆＣ、ｒｐｆＥ、ｒｐｆＧ或ｒｐｆＨ突变后，蛋白酶Ⅰ基因的转录会降低９０％左右，而ｒｐｆＢ突变后，蛋白酶Ⅰ基因的转录只降低４８％。     

Short-term effects of nitrogen on methane oxidation in soils

 The short-term effects of N addition on CH₄ oxidation were studied in two soils. Both sites are unfertilized, one has been under long-term arable rotation, the other is a grassland that has been cut for hay for the past 125 years. The sites showed clear differences in their capacity to oxidise CH₄, the arable soil oxidised CH₄ at a rate of 0.013 μg CH₄ kg^–1 h^–1 and the grassland soil approximately an order of magnitude quicker. In both sites the addition of (NH₄)₂SO₄ caused an immediate reduction in the rate of atmospheric CH₄ oxidation approximately in inverse proportion to the amount of NH₄ ⁺ added. The addition of KNO₃ caused no change in the rate of CH₄ oxidation in the arable soil, but in the grassland soil after 9 days the rate of CH₄ oxidation had decreased from 0.22 μg CH₄ kg^–1 h^–1 to 0.13 μg CH₄ kg^–1 h^–1 in soil treated with the equivalent of 192 kg N ha^–1. A ¹⁵N isotopic dilution technique was used to investigate the role of nitrifiers in regulating CH₄ oxidation. The arable soil showed a low rate of gross N mineralisation (0.67 mg N kg^–1 day^–1), but a relatively high proportion of the mineralised N was nitrified. The grassland soil had a high rate of gross N mineralisation (18.28 mg N kg^–1 day^–1), but negligible nitrification activity. It is hypothesised that since there was virtually no nitrification in the grassland soil then CH₄ oxidation at this site must be methanotroph mediated. Received: 31 October 1997     

有机肥对水稻根际土壤中微生物和酶活性的影响

利用根际箱在红壤上研究了有机肥对水稻根际有效磷、根际微生物和土壤酶活性的影响。试验结果表明,有机肥明显地提高水稻根际和非根际土壤真菌、放线菌和细菌的数量及土壤有效磷的含量。根际土壤各类微生物的数量大于非根际土壤,表现出明显的根际效应。施用有机肥使根际效应增加,其效应为细菌 放线菌 真菌。有机肥还明显地促进水稻根际无机磷溶解菌和有机磷分解数量以及磷酸酶和脲酶的活性,同时对水稻根际土壤磷转化速率有明显的提高,从而加速了土壤养分的转化。     

Fractional extraction of compounds from grape seeds by supercritical fluid extraction and analysis for antimicrobial and agrochemical activities

White grape seeds were subjected to sequential supercritical fluid extraction. By increasing the polarity of the supercritical fluid using methanol as a modifier of CO(2), it was possible to fractionate the extracted compounds. Two fractions were obtained; the first, which was obtained with pure CO(2), contained mainly fatty acids, aliphatic aldehydes, and sterols. The second fraction, obtained with methanol-modified CO(2), had phenolic compounds, mainly catechin, epicatechin, and gallic acid. The fractions were bioassayed. Antimicrobial activities were checked on human pathogens, and a high degree of activity was obtained with the lipophilic fraction. Agrochemical activities on phytopathogenic fungi and activities on the etiolated wheat coleoptile bioassay were also checked. The more polar fraction was active in the latter bioassay.