Aboveground biomass increment and stand dynamics in tropical evergreen broadleaved forest

Forest ecosystems can modify the atmospheric CO₂ through biomass accumulation mostly in tree stems with diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 10 cm. Aboveground biomass increment (ΔAGB), and changes in stand AGB, no. stems and basal area (BA) were calculated from mortality, recruitment, and growth data of tree stems in tropical evergreen broadleaved forest, Central Highland Vietnam. Data were derived from ten 1-ha permanent plots established in 2004, where all stems with DBH ≥ 10 cm were tagged, identified to species, and measured for DBH in 2004 and 2012. In an 8-year duration, the increment was 53 ± 10 stems ha^–1, 7.8 ± 0.3 m² ha^–1 for BA and 86.0 ± 4.6 Mg ha^–1 for AGB. The stem mortality rate was 0.9% year^–1 and the stem recruitment rate was 2.2% year^–1. Annual ΔAGB was 10.8 Mg ha^–1 year^–1, equaling to 5.4 Mg C ha^–1 year^–1. Of which, tree stems of 35–80 cm DBH classes accounted for 65%. The results indicated that the forest is in stage of carbon sequestration. Any disturbances causing death of 35–80 cm DBH tree stems will much reduce carbon sequestration capacity and it will take a long time for AGB to return to pre-disturbance stage.     

Effect of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lactococcus lactis</Emphasis> K-C2 on the growth performance,amino acid content and gut microflora of amberjack <Emphasis Type="Italic">Seriola dumerili</Emphasis>

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Lactococcus lactis K-C2 on the growth performance, microbial diversity, and release of free amino acids in the intestinal tract and the edible parts of young amberjack, Seriola dumerili. Fish were fed a diet with or without strain K-C2 (2?×?10¹⁰ cfu/g feed) for 25 days. The results indicated that the growth performance of fish in the treated group was significantly higher than those in the control group (p?<?0.05). The amount of five amino acids (aspartate, sarcosine, taurine, alanine, and arginine) in the gut content and 13 of 21 amino acids in the edible parts of fish in the treated group were significantly higher (p?<?0.05) than those in the control group. Sphingomonas, Propionibacterium, and Mycobacterium were observed in gut microflora of fish in both the control and treated groups. Staphylococcus and Kocuria were detected in one sample from the control and treated groups; Acinetobacter and Acidobacteria were found in one sample from the control group. L. lactis was only found in one sample in the treated group. In conclusion, the dietary administration of probiotic L. lactis stimulated growth, reduced feed consumption, and improved the nutritional value of cultured amberjack.     

The potential of informal institutions for marine fisheries management—A case study of a coastal commune in Vietnam

The potential of informal institutions for sustainable management of marine fisheries was examined. The study is based on both primary data collected through two group discussions and interviews and secondary information, including material related to fishing gear operation and whale worship. It shows that informal institutions, including fisher groups, fishing community norms, fisher's knowledge and whale worship have potential to strengthen institutional, ecological, social and community aspects of sustainable fisheries development. Although these informal institutions are not able to fix completely all the problems faced by formal institutions, they are able to complement and consolidate formal institutions to manage marine fisheries effectively. The findings of this study suggest it is imperative that formal institutions should be improved simultaneously with informal institutions to enhance current management for sustainable marine fisheries development.     

Assessment of household risk management strategies for coastal aquaculture: the case of clam farming in Thaibinh Province,Vietnam

Clam farmers have experienced different types of risks that have been further exacerbated by the rapid expansion of clam farming areas, increased growing densities, and increased market difficulties in recent years in the Thaibinh Province of Vietnam. Most farmers have been seriously affected by production risk, market risk, and financial risk, while a number of others have met with success in almost all of their clam-raising cycles. This study applied a differentiating comparative analysis method and multiple discriminant analysis method to discuss the differences in risk management strategies between and among clam farming households and the impacts of those differences on their success/failure rates. In general, the tactics are related to increase in farm size, the application of technical innovations, diversifying livelihood activities, and accessing secure financial sources all provided better conditions for clam growth, diminished losses, and led to speedier recovery from shocks. To support farmers in managing risks, several government interventions are needed: (1) better re-zoning of clam farming areas in parallel with an increase in the farm size of each household, (2) promoting sustainable linkages between the farmers and the formal financial market and output market, and (3) investing more funding into research and extension related to sustainable clam farming practices and to the improvement of farmers’ skills in cooperative works and management.     

Effect of ingredient particle sizes and dietary viscosity on digestion and faecal waste of striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus)

The ingredients’ particle size and dietary viscosity may alter digestion, performance and faecal waste management of fish. This study aimed to assess the effect of grinding screen sizes of feed ingredients and dietary viscosity on digestibility, faecal waste and performance of striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus, Sauvage, 1878). The experiment had a 2 × 3 factorial‐design: two feed mesh particle sizes, by grinding ingredient mixtures at two screen sizes (0.8 versus 1.0 mm); and three dietary viscosity levels, created by exchanging carboxymethylcellulose by guar gum (GG) (0, 3 and 6 g of GG/kg of diet). Six diets were assigned to 18 tanks, each connected to three faecal settling tanks. All aquaria were stocked with 20 fish (82 g per fish). After 52 experimental days, dietary viscosity negatively affected both feed digestibility and performance of striped catfish; as a result, the amount of organic matter in the culture system through faeces had increased significantly. The coarse diets significantly increased the digestibility of dry matter and carbohydrate but worsened feed conversion ratio. Increasing dietary viscosity tended to increase the viscosity and moisture content of the faeces, but significantly accelerated the faecal disintegration through the reduction of both faecal recovery and the amount of recovered faeces.     

Investigation of Polymorphisms in Coding Region of OsHKT1 in Relation to Salinity in Rice

Rice(Oryza sativa) is sensitive to salinity, but the salt tolerance level differs among cultivars, which might result from natural variations in the genes that are responsible for salt tolerance. High-affinity potassium transporter(HKTs) has been proven to be involved in salt tolerance in plants. Therefore, we screened for natural nucleotide polymorphism in the coding sequence of Os HKT1, which encodes the HKT protein in eight Vietnamese rice cultivars differing in salt tolerance level. In total, seven nucleotide substitutions in coding sequence of Os HKT1 were found, including two non-synonymous and five synonymous substitutions. Further analysis revealed that these two non-synonymous nucleotide substitutions(G50T and T1209A) caused changes in amino acids(Gly17Val and Asp403Glu) at signal peptide and the loop of the sixth transmembrane domain, respectively. To assess the potential effect of these substitutions on the protein function, the 3D structure of HKT protein variants was modelled by using PHYRE2 webserver. The results showed that no difference was observed when compared those predicted 3D structure of HKT protein variants with each other. In addition, the codon bias of synonymous substitutions cannot clearly show correlation with salt tolerance level. It might be interesting to further investigate the functional roles of detected non-synonymous substitutions as it might correlate to salt tolerance in rice.