Plants are often subjected to periods of water stress. There are little data examining the effect of water stress on the forage species Plantago lanceolata and Cichorium intybus. In two pot experiments with P. lanceolata and C. intybus, morphological responses under optimum, dry, and very‐dry water treatments with weekly, fortnightly and 3‐weekly defoliation intervals and physiological responses under optimum and very‐dry water treatments were measured. A third experiment compared the rooting depths of P. lanceolata and C. intybus under field conditions. These findings suggest that both P. lanceolata and C. intybus can survive and continue to grow under water stress conditions with the main differences between the two species being attributable to morphological characteristics (root mass, taproot diameter and shoot mass fraction) rather than differences at a physiological level. Overall, the results suggest plantain may be more productive under moderate drought due to its greater shoot mass fraction, whereas chicory may be more productive and persistent under severe drought due to its greater root mass, taproot diameter and root depth under field conditions. 相似文献
A long-term rangeland monitoring programme needs to employ a field survey technique that is practicable, precise, powerful enough to distinguish change, not prone to worker bias, and able to distinguish real change from operator error arising from staff turnover. These criteria were used to evaluate a widely used grassland sampling technique in South Africa – the nearest-plant (with 200 points) method (NP) – against common alternatives, namely NP excluding forbs (NP-nf), the plant number scale (PNS; a cover-abundance method) and quadrat frequency (QF), using multivariate ordination and permutation tests. Four trained teams surveyed four grasslands using each method. PNS took more than twice as long as the other techniques, which were similarly rapid. Estimates of composition using NP methods were the most precise and PNS was least repeatable, with QF intermediate. Compositional differences between sites were most finely distinguished using NP-nf, followed by NP and QF. PNS was able to detect only marked differences and had the greatest potential for surveyor bias. The NP method, with or without including forbs, is therefore recommended for monitoring the species composition of mesic, dense grassland. Some suggestions for monitoring agencies on how best to use multivariate methods are presented. 相似文献
The Succulent Karoo, one of two arid biodiversity hotspots in the world, is known for its high plant species richness, but little is known about the influence of topography and how it mediates the potentially deleterious effects of grazing. Changes in vegetation species composition, cover and species diversity were examined along piosphere gradients on northerly slopes, bottomlands and low-lying plains on 45 farms. Landscapes differed in the plant speciesand life-form composition, species richness and cover, with the more species-rich, heterogeneous grassy northerly slopes distinct from the plains and bottomlands, which were dominated by Pteronia pallens, Psilocaulon junceum and Drosanthenum spp. with more annual and ephemeral species. Overall, species richness declined linearly with decreasing rangeland condition. A weak grazing effect was detected only on the north-facing slopes, where shrubs and grass decreased with intense grazing. Years of overgrazing have resulted in the widespread dominance of P. pallens, especially on the plains and bottomlands, rendering them insensitive to grazing. The current condition of the northern slopes should be maintained and managed such that palatable species can spread to more degraded areas of the landscape. 相似文献
BACKGROUND: The acute-phase protein C-reactive protein (CRP) is used as a diagnostic and prognostic marker in humans with various neoplasias, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if CRP could be used to detect different remission states in dogs with lymphoma. ANIMALS: Twenty-two dogs with untreated multicentric lymphoma. METHODS: Prospective observational study. Blood samples were collected at the time of diagnosis, before each chemotherapy session, and at follow-up visits, resulting in 287 serum samples. RESULTS: Before therapy, a statistically significant majority of the dogs (P = .0019) had CRP concentrations above the reference range (68%, 15/22). After achieving complete remission 90% (18/20) of the dogs had CRP concentrations within the reference range, and the difference in values before and after treatment was statistically significant (P < .001). CRP concentrations of dogs in complete remission (median, 1.91; range, 0.2-103) were significantly different (P = .031) from those of dogs with partial remission (median, 2.48; range, 0-89), stable disease (median, 1.77; range, 1.03-42.65), or progressive disease (median, 8.7; range, 0-82.5). There was profound variation of CRP measurements within each dog. CONCLUSIONS: CRP is useful in determining complete remission status after treatment with cytotoxic drugs. However, the individual variation between dogs means CRP concentration is not sufficiently different in other remission states to permit its use in monitoring progression of the disease. Greater reliability in determining remission status might be achieved by combining CRP concentration with other serum markers. 相似文献
Zoledronate is a bisphosphonate frequently used for the treatment of hypercalcaemia of malignancy and tumour-associated bone pain in dogs, however, there is a paucity of information regarding its use in veterinary medicine. The aim of this retrospective study was to report the tolerability of zoledronate in the palliative treatment of cancer-bearing dogs and secondarily to to assess the efficacy of zoledronate for the treatment of hypercalcaemia of malignancy. Thirty-seven dogs (22 with tumour-associated bone pain and 15 with hypercalcaemia of malignancy) that received 114 zoledronate infusions were included. Tolerability was assessed by the absence of post-zoledronate hypocalcaemia or other adverse events as defined by Veterinary Cooperative Oncology Group-Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events criteria. Efficacy was assessed by comparison of available ionized calcium levels before and after zoledronate administration in hypercalcaemic dogs. In 79% of zoledronate infusions, no adverse events were reported. The majority of adverse events which occurred in the other 21% of infusions could be attributed to concurrent chemotherapy or the underlying neoplastic disease. There was a small but significant increase in creatinine following treatment with zoledronate, however, none of the dogs developed clinically significant renal disease. In eight hypercalcaemic dogs with available ionized calcium following zoledronate administration, ionized calcium decreased rapidly within 7 days following treatment with zoledronate. Zoledronate is well-tolerated with few recorded adverse events, however, monitoring of serum creatinine is advised. Zoledronate seems to be effective in the treatment of hypercalcaemia of malignancy. 相似文献
It is proposed that the standard economist's model of optimum land use is extended to include the interaction with land cover and land condition. Such a model allows consideration of the influence of market factors and government policies and programmes on land use patterns and management practices, and the feedback effect on land cover and land condition. Recent developments in the approach to modelling land condition, which include the joint consideration of economic factors and physical processes, are discussed. Factors affecting the pattern of agricultural land use in Australia are then reviewed. The importance of considering economic and physical interactions when assessing land use patterns is increasingly being recognized in research and policy development. If research is to meet the needs of land managers in the future then economists and physical scientists will need to integrate their data modelling capabilities in order to address natural resource management issues. 相似文献
A key problem facing soil physics and hydropedology at present is some of the standard theories of water flow in soils do not fully reflect the processes at the pore scale, and thus, cannot be adequately used for prediction. As such, examination of soil structure is vital for hydropedologists. Realisation that solutes move preferentially through soil into groundwaters has meant research in this area has increased in importance. This paper describes a multi-scale approach to analyse transport mechanisms using visualisation techniques. Chloride and Brilliant Blue tracers were applied to undisturbed soil cores to examine the physical and morphological properties associated with preferential flow in a range of soil types. Following collection of serial digital images, it was possible to examine and quantify the nature of active water flow mechanisms in terms of both dye-stained pathways and spatial distribution of dye concentration, using image analysis. Preferential flow linked to water potential and soil structural discontinuity was observed in all but the coarsest textured soil which conformed to uniform flow theory. A high level of variability in flow patterns was noted between the soil types. Such information as to how a soil dynamically re-wets is key for hydropedologists involved in applications such as pollution modelling. This is especially significant when considering a wetting mechanism, such as preferential flow, that cannot be adequately described by conventional soil physics. 相似文献
Predicting ecosystem resilience is a challenge, especially as climate change alters disturbance regimes and conditions for recovery. Recent research has highlighted the importance of spatially-explicit disturbance and resilience processes to long-term ecosystem dynamics. “Neoecological” approaches characterize resilience mechanisms at relatively fine spatio-temporal resolutions, but results are difficult to extrapolate across broad temporal scales or climatic ranges. Paleoecological methodologies can consider the effects of climates that differ from today. However, they are often limited to coarse-grained spatio-temporal resolutions.
Methods
In this synthesis, we describe implicit and explicit examples of studies that incorporate both neo- and paleoecological approaches. We propose ways to build on the strengths of both approaches in an explicit and proactive fashion.
Results
Linking the two approaches is a powerful way to surpass their respective limitations. Aligning spatial scales is critical: Paleoecological sampling design should incorporate knowledge of the spatial characteristics of the disturbance process, and neoecological studies benefit from a longer-term context to their conclusions. In some cases, modeling can incorporate non-spatial data from paleoecological records or emerging spatial paleo-data networks with mechanistic disturbance/recovery processes that operate at fine spatiotemporal scales.
Conclusions
Linking these two complementary approaches is a powerful way to build a complete understanding of ecosystem disturbance and resilience.