Spatial extrapolation of the vine (Vitis vinifera L.) water status: a first step towards a spatial prediction model

The goal of this study is to propose a model that allows for spatial extrapolation of the vine water status over a whole field from a single reference site. The precision of the model was tested using data of spatial plant water status from a commercial vineyard block located in the Languedoc-Roussillon region, France. Observations of plant water status were made on 49 sites (three vines per site) on a regular grid at various times in the growing seasons over two non-irrigated fields planted with Shiraz and Mourvèdre cultivars. Plant water status was determined by measuring predawn leaf water potential (PLWP). Results showed a significant within-field variability of PLWP over space and time, and the existence of significant linear relationship amongst PLWP values measured at different dates. Based on these results, a linear model of spatial extrapolation of PLWP values was proposed. This model was able to predict spatial variability of PLWP with a spatial and temporal mean error less than 0.1 MPa on Shiraz as well as on Mourvèdre. This model provides maps of spatial variability in PLWP at key phenological stages on the basis of one measurement performed on a reference site. The model calibration is, in its current state, based on a significant database of PLWP measurements. This makes unrealistic its application to commercial vineyards. However, the approach constitutes a significant step towards the spatial extrapolation of vine water status. Finally, the study mentions alternative ways to build up such models using auxiliary information such as airborne imagery, apparent soil conductivity and easily measured vine/canopy development parameters.     

Hydrolysed salmon meal as a replacement for salmon meal in practical diets for Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

A series of growth, feed stability and consumption trials were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of salmon by‐product in practical diets for Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. This included a salmon by‐product meal (Salmon meal: SM) and a silage hydrolysate (hydrolysed salmon meal: HSM). The basal diet containing 120 g/kg SM was incrementally replaced (0. 25, 50, 75, 100%) by HSM to produce five test diets used in two trials. A sixth diet was included which evaluated gelatin supplementation (trial 1) or pH neutralization (trial 2). In trial 1, each diet was produced using two processing conditions (laboratory extruded and formed with meat grinder) and offered to shrimp in a clear water system. The results demonstrate that up to 50% of the SM can be used to replace with HSM; however, further increases resulted in reduced performance of shrimp. The addition of gelatin reduced leaching but there was limited effect of processing on leaching. There were no detectible effects of pH adjustment of the diets. Results indicated that the growth performance of shrimp has not influenced by HSM up to 60 g/kg to replace 50% of the SM in practical diets; however, higher levels resulted in significant decrease in performance.     

Quantitative taurine requirement for juvenile Florida pompano (Trachinotus carolinus) fed soy‐based practical diets

Florida pompano Trachinotus carolinus is an important species in which the essentiality of taurine has been demonstrated, yet a quantitative requirement has not been estimated. Two experiments were conducted where a combined twelve diets were formulated with graded levels of taurine (ranging 1.6–41.6 g/kg dry matter) and fed to juvenile pompano (initial weight 7.73 and 4.37 g in trial 1 and 2, respectively). Dose responses were observed in terms of growth, feed efficiency and whole‐body taurine content, but there was no effect on survival. Several regression models were evaluated to determine the most appropriate one to draw conclusions from. A 4‐parameter saturation kinetic model was selected to model feed efficiency, while a 5‐parameter saturation kinetic model fitted the growth data (as thermal‐unit growth coefficient, TGC). A broken‐quadratic model served to estimate a breaking point in the whole‐body taurine content, although it also showed that whole‐body taurine kept increasing even at dietary levels in far excess of the requirement. The dietary taurine requirement was estimated at 2.5 g/kg (2.0–3.3 g/kg, 95% CI, dry matter basis) based on feed efficiency, while TGC was maximized at levels between 4.9 and 31.4 g/kg dietary taurine.     

Ecosystem services provided by heavy metal-contaminated soils in China

Purpose

Soils provide a variety of ecosystem services (ESs) that are crucial to food security, water security, energy security, climate change abatement, and biodiversity, especially in densely populated countries such as China. At present, China is facing great challenges from serious soil heavy metal (HM) contamination which has damaged soil ESs and soil security. In this paper, we evaluate the ESs that contaminated soils can potentially provide before and after remediation, and we explore the connections between these ESs and the achievement of soil security in China.

Materials and methods

After an introduction to the concepts of ESs and soil security and a review of the current status of soil HM contamination in China, the ESs that can potentially be provided by HM-contaminated soils are discussed. Finally, we discuss the current remediation status of HM-contaminated soils from the standpoint of optimizing the ability of these soils to provide ESs.

Results and discussion

The status of the provision of ESs by HM-contaminated soils of croplands, brownfields, and mining wastelands is described in detail. Contaminated cropland soils fail to provide provisioning (e.g., food production), cultural, and regulating services, while the regulating and supporting services of brownfield soils are greatly reduced. The ESs of mining wasteland soils have been severely damaged, resulting in a high potential for contamination of surrounding ecosystems. Recent soil remediation projects have demonstrated that the damaged ESs of HM-contaminated soils can be restored, which would enhance Chinese soil security. However, it has often been the case that only visible ESs (e.g., food production and vegetation cover) are addressed, while other less noticeable but important services (e.g., water quality and biodiversity) are neglected. Therefore, we propose a framework for the evaluation of ESs provided by HM-contaminated soils.

Conclusions

The ESs that could potentially be provided by HM-contaminated soils would help to achieve soil security in China, not only by improving food security, water security, and energy security but also by helping to protect soil biodiversity and abate global climate change. The ESs provided by HM-contaminated soils should be taken into account in soil policy and management systems as well as by the remediation industry.

     

Quantitative Dietary Taurine Requirement for California Yellowtail,Seriola lalandi

Although taurine has been identified as a required nutrient in several Seriola species, there are no available quantitative data on dietary taurine requirements for these commercially important species and recommendations are highly variable. Therefore, juvenile Seriola lalandi were fed one of eight practical diets supplemented with graded levels of taurine (0.11–1.08% of the dry diet, analyzed) to estimate their taurine requirement. Response in growth rate, feed efficiency, and nutrient deposition were evaluated using a broken‐quadratic model and 4‐ and 5‐parameter saturation kinetic models (4‐SKM and 5‐SKM) Blood serum composition was analyzed using linear models. Requirement estimates based on growth rates (thermal‐unit growth coefficient) and protein deposition were similar at 0.26% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.23–0.28) and 0.29% (95% CI: 0.25–0.34) dietary taurine, respectively. Feed and protein deposition efficiencies were optimized at 0.26–1.02% and 0.26–1.00% dietary taurine, respectively. Taurine deposition in the animal was maximized at higher dietary levels (0.64%). Levels of serum taurine increased in response to dietary levels and peaked at around 0.80% dietary taurine. Concomitantly, serum urea and total amino acid levels decreased with increasing dietary taurine levels, suggesting a reduced amino acid catabolism relative to the aforementioned improvement in protein deposition efficiency.     

Coping with change in predation risk across space and time through complementary behavioral responses

Background

Our picture of behavioral management of risk by prey remains fragmentary. This partly stems from a lack of studies jointly analyzing different behavioral responses developed by prey, such as habitat use and fine-scale behavior, although they are expected to complement each other. We took advantage of a simple system on the Kerguelen archipelago, made of a prey species, European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus, a predator, feral cat Felis catus, and a mosaic of closed and open foraging patches, allowing reliable assessment of spatio-temporal change in predation risk. We investigated the way such a change triggered individual prey decisions on where, when and how to perform routine activities.

Results

Rabbit presence and behavior were recorded both day and night in patches with similar foraging characteristics, but contrasted in terms of openness. Cats, individually recognizable, were more active at night and in closed patches, in line with their expected higher hunting success in those conditions. Accordingly, rabbits avoided using closed patches at night and increased their vigilance if they did. Both day and night, rabbits increased their use of closed patches as compared to open patches in windy conditions, thereby probably reducing the thermoregulatory costs expected under such harsh environmental conditions.

Conclusions

Overall, our data map the landscape of fear in this study system and indicate that prey habitat use and vigilance complement each other. Solely focusing on one or the other tactic may lead to erroneous conclusions regarding the way predation risk triggers prey decisions. Finally, future studies should investigate inter-individual variability in the relative use of these different types of complementary behavioral responses to perceived risk, along with the determinants and outcomes of such tactics.

     

Evaluation of thermomechanical pretreatment for enzymatic hydrolysis of pure microcrystalline cellulose and cellulose from Brewers’ spent grain

Microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel PH102) and Brewers’ spent grain (BSG) were subjected to Détente Instantanée Contrôlée (DIC) thermomechanical pre-treatment before exposure to cellulases (Celluclast 1.5 L). In a first part, we showed that the addition of β-glucosidase (Novozym-188) increased the hydrolysis yield of Avicel. A maximal theoretical yield (100%), was obtained for 5 and 10 g/L of Avicel using a mixture of Celluclast 1.5 L/Novozym-188. After DIC pre-treatments, the initial rate and final yield of hydrolysis decreased in comparison with those from untreated microcrystalline cellulose. This phenomenon may be due to the modification of the crystallinity of pure cellulose and the formation of inhibitors during the pre-treatment. In a second part, BSG was thermomechanically pre-treated and hydrolyzed. The results showed that the hydrolysis yield of BSG treated at pressure levels between 2 and 7 bar during 15 min was strongly improved compared to hydrolysis yield of untreated BSG. The optimized hydrolysis process, under intensive DIC conditions, achieved a glucose yield corresponding to 100% of the theoretical cellulose value. The morphology of BSG samples was studied with Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) and highlighted that the structure of pre-treated BSG showed an important disruption compared to the rigid structure of untreated BSG.     

A first step towards improving copepod cultivation using modelling: the effects of density,crowding, cannibalism,tank design and strain selection on copepod egg production yields

Copepods are the optimal live feed for hatcheries and improvement of cultivation techniques, to provide a constant food source, is crucial for the expansion of the industry. However, studies based on experimental work and real observations can be labour intensive and expensive. A simple model was developed based on the well‐known life history traits of Acartia tonsa to describe batch cultures and their productivity. Model results were compared to observations from real cultures. For maximizing egg production yields, the optimal stocking density of copepods should be adapted to the design (depth) of the culture tanks. At high densities, stress due to encountering conspecifics, as well as cannibalism of eggs by adults, limits egg production yields. Using this model, the potential selection efficacy of copepod strains was also evaluated in order to increase production yields. Selecting larger copepods increases the egg production per litre of culture, but decreases the optimal stocking density and the range of densities at which egg production yield is high, and vice‐versa. Selecting copepods that are less affected by stress due to conspecifics only affect production yields at very high adult densities. However, selecting copepods with a high Specific Growth Rate (SGR), or improving their SGR, was found to be an alternative which did not affect the optimal cultivation densities but improved egg production yields.     

An inconvenient truth about xylem resistance to embolism in the model species for refilling <Emphasis Type="Italic">Laurus nobilis</Emphasis> L.

Key message

Direct, non-invasive X-ray microtomography and optical technique observations applied in stems and leaves of intact seedlings revealed that laurel is highly resistant to drought-induced xylem embolism. Contrary to what has been brought forward, daily cycles of embolism formation and refilling are unlikely to occur in this species and to explain how it copes with drought.

Context

There has been considerable controversy regarding xylem embolism resistance for long-vesselled angiosperm species and particularly for the model species for refilling (Laurus nobilis L.).

Aims

The purpose of this study was to resolve the hydraulic properties of this species by documenting vulnerability curves of different organs in intact plants.

Methods

Here, we applied a direct, non-invasive method to visualize xylem embolism in stems and leaves of intact laurel seedlings up to 2-m tall using X-ray microtomography (microCT) observations and the optical vulnerability technique. These approaches were coupled with complementary centrifugation measurements performed on 1-m long branches sampled from adult trees and compared with additional microCT analyses carried out on 80-cm cut branches.

Results

Direct observations of embolism spread during desiccation of intact laurels revealed that 50% loss of xylem conductivity (Ψ₅₀) was reached at ??7.9?±?0.5 and ??8.4?±?0.3 MPa in stems and leaves, respectively, while the minimum xylem water potentials measured in the field were ??4.2 MPa during a moderate drought season. Those findings reveal that embolism formation is not routine in Laurus nobilis contrary to what has been previously reported. These Ψ₅₀ values were close to those based on the flow-centrifuge technique (??9.2?±?0.2 MPa), but at odds with microCT observations of cut branches (??4.0?±?0.5 MPa).

Conclusion

In summary, independent methods converge toward the same conclusion that laurel is highly resistant to xylem embolism regardless its development stage. Under typical growth conditions without extreme drought events, this species maintains positive hydraulic safety margin, while daily cycles of embolism formation and refilling are unlikely to occur in this species.