Biodiversity meets the atmosphere: a global view of forest canopies

The forest canopy is the functional interface between 90% of Earth's terrestrial biomass and the atmosphere. Multidisciplinary research in the canopy has expanded concepts of global species richness, physiological processes, and the provision of ecosystem services. Trees respond in a species-specific manner to elevated carbon dioxide levels, while climate change threatens plant-animal interactions in the canopy and will likely alter the production of biogenic aerosols that affect cloud formation and atmospheric chemistry.     

Telemetered recording of hormone effects on hippocampal neurons

Frequency-modulated telemetry was used to record the effects of hormones on single-unit activity in the brains of freely moving rats. Corticosterone decreased unit activity in the dorsal hippocampus. Adrenocorticotrophic hormone had the opposite effect.     

Carbon in Amazon forests: unexpected seasonal fluxes and disturbance-induced losses

The net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide was measured by eddy covariance methods for 3 years in two old-growth forest sites near Santarém, Brazil. Carbon was lost in the wet season and gained in the dry season, which was opposite to the seasonal cycles of both tree growth and model predictions. The 3-year average carbon loss was 1.3 (confidence interval: 0.0 to 2.0) megagrams of carbon per hectare per year. Biometric observations confirmed the net loss but imply that it is a transient effect of recent disturbance superimposed on long-term balance. Given that episodic disturbances are characteristic of old-growth forests, it is likely that carbon sequestration is lower than has been inferred from recent eddy covariance studies at undisturbed sites.     

秸秆切碎灭茬机的设计与试验

针对双轴击切式破碎秸秆和根茬所存在的问题，本文提出单轴压切原理和非等长刀切碎模型，并对秸杆切碎灭茬机的关键参数进行了优化设计。该机田间试验表明切碎率达91．4％，根茬破碎率达86．5％。该机的应用必将促进一年两熟平作旱区保护性耕作技术的发展。     

杂交籼稻亲本愈伤组织培养力的研究

对多个重要杂交籼稻亲本愈伤组织培养力的研究结果表明 :不同水稻材料的愈伤组织诱导、继代、分化能力不同 ;不同外植体的愈伤诱导、继代、分化能力不同。成熟胚愈伤组织诱导率最高 ,从幼胚、幼穗获得的愈伤组织的继代和分化能力较强 ,质量也好 ;随着继代时间的延长 ,愈伤组织的质量下降 ;干燥处理有助于愈伤组织分化率的提高。本文还对不同外植体愈伤组织在转基因研究中的作用进行了讨论。     

Pituitary-adrenal influences on fear responding

In a passive avoidance situation, hypophysectomized male rats show less fear than normal rats, whereas adrenalectomized rats show greater fear than normals. These results probably occur because hypophysectomized rats lack adrenocorticotrophic hormone, which increases arousal or emotionality, whereas adrenalectomized animals lack certain adrenal steroids, which inhibit excitatory effects. The results indicate that adrenocorticotrophic hormone and certain adrenal steroids have opposite effects in regulating fear-motivated behavior.     

Glutamate receptor-like genes form Ca2+ channels in pollen tubes and are regulated by pistil D-serine

Elevations in cytosolic free calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)](cyt)) constitute a fundamental signal transduction mechanism in eukaryotic cells, but the molecular identity of Ca(2+) channels initiating this signal in plants is still under debate. Here, we show by pharmacology and loss-of-function mutants that in tobacco and Arabidopsis, glutamate receptor-like channels (GLRs) facilitate Ca(2+) influx across the plasma membrane, modulate apical [Ca(2+)](cyt) gradient, and consequently affect pollen tube growth and morphogenesis. Additionally, wild-type pollen tubes grown in pistils of knock-out mutants for serine-racemase (SR1) displayed growth defects consistent with a decrease in GLR activity. Our findings reveal a novel plant signaling mechanism between male gametophyte and pistil tissue similar to amino acid-mediated communication commonly observed in animal nervous systems.     

The impact of agricultural soil erosion on the global carbon cycle

Agricultural soil erosion is thought to perturb the global carbon cycle, but estimates of its effect range from a source of 1 petagram per year(-1) to a sink of the same magnitude. By using caesium-137 and carbon inventory measurements from a large-scale survey, we found consistent evidence for an erosion-induced sink of atmospheric carbon equivalent to approximately 26% of the carbon transported by erosion. Based on this relationship, we estimated a global carbon sink of 0.12 (range 0.06 to 0.27) petagrams of carbon per year(-1) resulting from erosion in the world's agricultural landscapes. Our analysis directly challenges the view that agricultural erosion represents an important source or sink for atmospheric CO2.     

紧凑型玉米高产栽培理论与技术研究

 采用裂区和正交旋转组合设计方法 ,研究了紧凑型玉米登海 6号的产量及产量结构、群体主要质量生理指标、田间小气候指标、高产栽培技术方案等。获得了登海 6号间套作种植条件下 ,产量在 12 996～ 13 2 2 7kg/ ha时的高产栽培理论参数和多套技术方案。大面积高产试验结果表明 :紧凑型玉米杂交种登海 6号有较大的增产潜力 ,两年13 .85 ha平均产量达到 12 5 10 kg/ ha,其中 75 4 .7m2产量高达 15 4 77kg/ ha。黔西北山区玉米生育期间的气候生态条件能满足高产的需要