Quantification of soil properties based on external information by means of fuzzy‐set theory

The increasing demand for improved large‐scale thematic maps of soil properties for use in such areas as hydrological modeling and landscape planning requires the inclusion of external information in the computerized construction of soil maps. As this data is often purely qualitative, regionalization methods are called for, that permit consideration of uncertain empirical information. A method based on fuzzy‐set theory is presented, which enables a GIS‐based quantification of soil properties with no loss of content input when transforming ”︁soft” data. This approach, which is also applicable to other tasks, is demonstrated by the construction of maps of soil properties based on uncertain qualitative information from the Hessian Forestry Survey and the small‐scale soil map of Hesse (1:50.000). Quality and uncertainty can be judged from a separate map of uncertainty indices. The thematic output map of the available water capacity of the rooting zone in the Dietzhölztal (Hesse) research site prepared using the fuzzy approach provided an increase of 101 % in spatial resolution compared with the 1:50.000 soil map.     

Comparison of rye,triticale, durum wheat and bread wheat genotypes for Fusarium head blight resistance and deoxynivalenol contamination

Small-grain winter cereal crops can be infected with Fusarium head blight (FHB) leading to mycotoxin contamination and reduction in grain weight and quality. Although a number of studies have investigated the genetic variation of genotypes within each small-grain cereal, a systematic comparison of the winter crops rye, triticale, durum and bread wheat for their FHB resistance, Fusarium-damaged kernels (FDK) and deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination across species is still missing. We have therefore evaluated twelve genotypes each of four crops widely varying in their FHB resistance under artificial infection with one DON-producing F. culmorum isolate at constant spore concentrations and additionally at crop-specific concentrations in two environments. Rye and triticale were the most resistant crops to FHB followed by bread and durum wheat at constant and crop-specific spore concentrations. On average, rye accumulated the lowest amount of DON (10.08 mg/kg) in the grains, followed by triticale (15.18 mg/kg) and bread wheat (16.59 mg/kg), while durum wheat had the highest amount (30.68 mg/kg). Genotypic variances within crops were significant (p ≤ .001) in most instances. These results underline the differing importance of breeding for FHB resistance in the different crops.     

Mitteilungen über Diebkäfer (Ptinidae) von wirtschaftlicher Bedeutung

Ohne Zusammenfassung Mit 1 Abbildung     

Das Brasilianische Forstschutzesetz vom 1. M?rz 1934

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The potential of genomic‐assisted breeding to improve Fusarium head blight resistance in winter durum wheat

Durum wheat is the most important tetraploid wheat mainly used for semolina and pasta production, but is notorious for its high susceptibility to Fusarium head blight (FHB). Our objectives were to identify and characterize quantitative trait loci (QTL) in winter durum and to evaluate the potential of genomic approaches for the improvement of FHB resistance. Here, we employed an international panel of 170 winter and 14 spring durum lines, phenotyped for Fusarium culmorum resistance at five environments. Heading date, plant height and mean FHB severity showed significant genotypic variation with high heritabilities and FHB resistance was negatively correlated with both heading date and plant height. The dwarfing gene Rht‐B1 significantly affected FHB resistance and the genome‐wide association scan identified eight additional QTL affecting FHB resistance, explaining between 1% and 14% of the genotypic variation. A genome‐wide prediction approach yielded only a slightly improved predictive ability compared to marker‐assisted selection based on the four strongest QTL. In conclusion, FHB resistance in durum wheat is a highly quantitative trait and in breeding programmes may best be tackled by classical high‐throughput recurrent phenotypic selection that can be assisted by genomic prediction if marker profiles are available.     

Land cover,riparian zones and instream habitat influence stream fish assemblages in the eastern Amazon

The Amazon rainforest has experienced rapid land‐use changes over the last few decades, including extensive deforestation that can affect riparian habitats and streams. The aim of this study was to assess responses of stream fish assemblages to deforestation and land cover change in the eastern Amazon. We expected that percentage of forest in the catchment is correlated with local habitat complexity, which in turn determines fish assemblage composition and structure. We sampled 71 streams in areas with different land uses and tested for relationships between stream fish assemblages and local habitat and landscape variables while controlling for the effect of intersite distance. Fish assemblage composition and structure were correlated with forest coverage, but local habitat variables explained more of the variation in both assemblage composition and structure than landscape variables. Intersite distance contributed to variance explained by local habitat and landscape variables, and the percentage of variance explained by the unique contribution of local habitat was approximately equivalent to the shared variance explained by all three factors in the model. In these streams of the eastern Amazon, fish assemblages were most strongly influenced by features of instream and riparian habitats, yet indirect effects of deforestation on fish assemblage composition and structure were observed even though intact riparian zones were present at most sites. Long‐term monitoring of the hydrographic basin, instream habitat and aquatic fauna is needed to test for potential legacy effects and time lags, as well as assess species responses to continuing deforestation and land‐use changes in the Amazon.