Transitioning from standard to minimum tillage: Trade-offs between soil organic matter stabilization, nitrous oxide emissions, and N availability in irrigated cropping systems

Few studies address nutrient cycling during the transition period (e.g., 1–4 years following conversion) from standard to some form of conservation tillage. This study compares the influence of minimum versus standard tillage on changes in soil nitrogen (N) stabilization, nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions, short-term N cycling, and crop N use efficiency 1 year after tillage conversion in conventional (i.e., synthetic fertilizer-N only), low-input (i.e., alternating annual synthetic fertilizer- and cover crop-N), and organic (i.e., manure- and cover crop-N) irrigated, maize–tomato systems in California. To understand the mechanisms governing N cycling in these systems, we traced ¹⁵N-labeled fertilizer/cover crop into the maize grain, whole soil, and three soil fractions: macroaggregates (>250 μm), microaggregates (53–250 μm) and silt-and-clay (<53 μm). We found a cropping system effect on soil N_new (i.e., N derived from ¹⁵N-fertilizer or -¹⁵N-cover crop), with 173 kg N_new ha⁻¹ in the conventional system compared to 71.6 and 69.2 kg N_new ha⁻¹ in the low-input and organic systems, respectively. In the conventional system, more N_new was found in the microaggregate and silt-and-clay fractions, whereas, the N_new of the organic and low-input systems resided mainly in the macroaggregates. Even though no effect of tillage was found on soil aggregation, the minimum tillage systems showed greater soil fraction-N_new than the standard tillage systems, suggesting greater potential for N stabilization under minimum tillage. Grain-N_new was also higher in the minimum versus standard tillage systems. Nevertheless, minimum tillage led to the greatest N₂O emissions (39.5 g N₂O–N ha⁻¹ day⁻¹) from the conventional cropping system, where N turnover was already the fastest among the cropping systems. In contrast, minimum tillage combined with the low-input system (which received the least N ha⁻¹) produced intermediate N₂O emissions, soil N stabilization, and crop N use efficiency. Although total soil N did not change after 1 year of conversion from standard to minimum tillage, our use of stable isotopes permitted the early detection of interactive effects between tillage regimes and cropping systems that determine the trade-offs among N stabilization, N₂O emissions, and N availability.     

Nomenclature and genetic relationships of apples and pears from Terceira Island

Heritage apple (Malus domestica Borkh. hybrids) and pear (Pyrus communis L. hybrid) trees grow in villages throughout Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal. Some of these pears have different names but similar morphology. The objective of this study was to determine synonymy, homology, and phylogeny of apples and pears from Terceira and to examine potential relationships of the island pears with standard apples and pears of Portuguese or American descent. Nine apple microsatellite markers were used to determine genetic relationships. Distance- and parsimony-based cluster analysis grouped these genotypes into separate apple and pear clades. The Terceira apples were divided into two clades: the maçā and the reineta-reinette. Among the 17 heritage apple genotypes, seven unique accessions were identified and four groups of synonyms, or possibly clones, were detected including: ‘Reineta Agosto’ and ‘Reineta Verde’ from Altares; ‘Reineta Castanha’ and ‘Reineta Verde Miuda’; ‘Maçā Pêra,’ ‘Maçā Calhau’, ‘Pêro Branco’ from Salga and from Terra-Chā and ‘Maçā Marmelo’; and the five genotypes ‘Maçā Sao Joao’, ‘Malápio Rosa’, ‘Maçā Gaspar’, ‘Maçā Branca’ and ‘Maçā Pato’. In addition, two homonyms were detected. ‘Pêro Vermelho’ from Terra Chā was a separate genotype from a tree from Doze Ribeiras of the same name, but Pêro Branco from Terra Chā appears to be a clone that can be distinguished by an additional allele at CH1F07a from a tree with that name from Salga. One pair of apple clones, ‘Reineta Agosto’ and ‘Reineta Verde’ from Altares appear to be derived from an unreduced gamete of ‘Golden Delicious.’ Another apple genotype ‘Maçā Acida’ could be a sibling of the ‘Maçā Pêra’ clonal group. Other tested standard apples from the US genebank were unrelated to Terceira genotypes. Of the seven heritage pears, five unique genotypes and one pair of synonyms were detected. ‘Pêra Papo Pintassilgo’ from Raminho and ‘Pêra Vermelha’ from the nursery of Serviço de Desenvolvimento Agario da Terceira (SDAT) were synonyms. ‘Passans du Portugal’ was related to ‘Pêra Cabaca’ but other standard pears from the US genebank were unrelated to Terceira genotypes. Future studies will include additional apple and pear cultivars from other Islands of the Azores and continental Portugal, and wild Asian species to further explore genetic relationships.     

氮改性褐煤的特性及其在退化土壤造林中的应用研究

通过研究褐煤在氧化氨解反应后特性的变化及其在退化土壤造林中的应用效果,旨在探索褐煤高效利用的有效途径.结果表明:氧化氨解工艺能有效地提高褐煤的阳离子交换量、腐殖酸总量和富里酸含量,降低胡敏素含量.反应生成的氮改性褐煤,全氮含量为5.8%,且呈不同形态(铵态、酰胺态和紧密有机态氮态)的分布,能在土壤中保存较长的时间.半干旱退化土壤中的应用试验表明,在土壤中掺入氮改性褐煤(每株137 g或274 g)可使樟子松林分造林成活率提高20%～25%,而施用相应含氮量的尿素对林木成活率几乎没有作用.随着立地条件的改善和植被的恢复,施用氮改性褐煤林分的土壤碳汇、土壤微生物总量以及脱氢酶、脲酶、β-葡糖苷酶、碱性磷酸酶等的活性都有明显的提高,证实了氮改性褐煤可以作为一类生态和环保的土壤改良剂.     

The ectomycorrhizal status of European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) seedlings from bare-root forest nurseries

In this paper, we report molecular investigation of an ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) community of European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) seedlings grown in a bare-root nursery. In total, we surveyed 32 nurseries that were each active in supplying planting stocks to restock forests and for afforestation of post-agricultural land. Sequence-based approach was used to identify EMF taxa, quantify EMF richness, and document differences in the relative abundance of individual taxa. We identified seven fungal species that might contribute to the mycorrhizal community structure of 1 to 3-year-old L. decidua seedlings. The species richness in the examined larches varied between one and four fungal taxa, depending on both the nursery stock samples (NSS) and age class of the seedlings. The average was 1.4 for 1-year-old seedlings and 2.3 for 2- and 3-year-old plants. The dominance of Ascomycota over Basidiomycota and the prevalence of two species, Wilcoxina mikolae and Suillus grevillei, as EMF partners were characteristic features of nursery-grown L. decidua seedlings. S. grevillei was the only one basidiomycetes colonized roots of tested seedlings. The rest of the mycorrhizal pool from forest nurseries was typically dominated by pioneer fungal ascomycetes. W. mikolae was the most common mycorrhizal ascomycete present at a high frequency on NSS from both age classes and with very high abundance (average 90%) on 1-year-old seedlings. Some other ascomycetes (Pezizales 1, Pezizales 2 and Pezizales 3) appeared on tested larches at a low frequency, but sometimes in high abundance. Tuber spp. appeared at a low frequency and low abundance. The relative abundance of S. grevillei was positively correlated with the age of seedlings, while W. mikolae was negatively correlated with age. Tuber sp. 1 and 2, Pezizales 2, and W. mikolae were positively associated with the basic soil pH values. However, forward selection of the environmental variables showed that only the age of the larch seedlings contributed significantly (F = 11.45, P = 0.02) to the variance in the ECF community.     

Backshoring and nearshoring: An overview

Increasingly, economies that have traditionally benefited from offshoring are losing some of their strategical advantages, with a consequent increase in backshoring by developed economies. This paper describes the phenomenon and tries to shed light on the current challenges, trends, and debates in the area, and on the main determinants of backshoring. A new phenomenon known as nearshoring is also analysed—this consists of relocating some previously offshored manufacturing activities so that they are now close to previous core locations, but not so close as to suffer from disagglomeration effects. This combines the advantages of offshoring and backshoring.     

Development of colchicine‐induced tetraploid St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) lines

St. Augustinegrass is well suited for lawns and commercial landscapes. While many genotypes are cross‐fertile, all cultivars are propagated vegetatively in sod production. To ensure varietal purity, development of sterile triploid hybrids by crossing tetraploid and diploid genotypes has been successfully used in other warm‐season turfgrasses. Applying this model in St. Augustinegrass would be beneficial to sod producers and turf managers who require purity for certification and uniformity for performance, respectively. This study was conducted to develop colchicine‐induced tetraploid lines of St. Augustinegrass. Seeds of cultivar ‘Raleigh’ were treated with four colchicine concentrations at four exposure times. A non‐treated control was included among the treatments. Seedlings that germinated were screened for genome size changes using flow cytometry. Line DSA 13005 and two progeny lines derived through selfing, DSA 16001 and DSA 16016, were corroborated as tetraploids (2n = 4x = 36) through chromosome counts. These lines will be used in future breeding efforts to attempt development of sterile triploid cultivars of St. Augustinegrass.     

Bioefficacy of compounds from Dittrichia viscosa (Asteraceae) as protectant of chickpea seeds against the cowpea seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - The efficacy of four bi- and tri-cyclic sesquiterpenes, namely inuloxins A, B and C and α-costic acid, extracted from aerial parts of Dittrichia...