Contributions from different microbial processes to N2O emission from soil under different moisture regimes

Nitrous oxide emissions from a sandy-loam textured soil wetted to matric potentials of either-1.0 or-0.1 kPa were determined in laboratory experiments in which the soil was incubated in air (control), air plus 10 Pa C₂H₂ (to inhibit nitrification), 100 kPa O₂ (to suppress denitrification), 10 kPa C₂H₂ (to inhibit N₂O reduction to N₂ in denitrification) or following autoclaving. The total N₂O production, consumption and net N₂O emission from the soils together with the contributions to N₂O emission from different processes of N₂O production were estimated. The rate of N₂O production was significantly greater in the wetter soil (282 pmol N₂O g^-1 soil h^-1) than in the drier soil (192 pmol N₂O g^-1 soil h^-1), but because N₂O consumption by denitrifiers was also greater in the wetter soil, the net N₂O emissions from the wetter and the drier soils did not differ significantly. Non-biological sources made no significant contribution to N₂O emission under either moisture regime and biological processes other than denitrification and nitrification made only a small contribution (1% of the total N₂O production) in the wetter soil. Denitrifying nitrifiers were the predominant source of N₂O emitted from the drier soil and other (non-nitrifying) denitrifiers were the predominant source of N₂O emitted from the wetter soil.     

Analysing spatially intermittent variation of nitrous oxide emissions from soil with wavelets and the implications for sampling

Emissions of gases from the soil are known to vary spatially in a complex way. In this paper we show how such data can be analysed with the wavelet transform. We analysed data on rates of N₂O emission from soil cores collected at 4‐m intervals on a 1024‐m transect across arable land at Silsoe in England. We used a thresholding procedure to represent intermittent variation in N₂O emission from the soil as a sparse wavelet process, i.e. one in which most of the wavelet coefficients are not significantly different from zero. This analysis made clear that the rate of N₂O emission varied more intermittently on this transect than did soil pH, for which many more of the wavelet coefficients had to be retained. This account of intermittent variation motivated us to consider a class of random functions, which we call wavelet random functions, for the simulation of spatially intermittent variation. A wavelet random function (WRF) is an inverse wavelet transform of a set of random wavelet coefficients with specified variance at each scale. We generated intermittent variation at a particular scale in the WRF by specifying a binormal process for the wavelet coefficients at this scale. We showed by simulation that adaptive sampling schemes are more efficient than ordinary stratified random sampling to estimate the mean of a spatial variable that is intermittent at a particular scale. This is because the sampling can be concentrated in the more variable regions. When we simulated values that emulate the intermittency of our data on N₂O we found that the gains in efficiency from simple adaptive sampling schemes were small. This was because the emission of N₂O is intermittent over several disparate scales. More sophisticated adaptive sampling is needed for these conditions, and it should embody knowledge of the relevant soil processes.     

Generation of Recombinant Equine Influenza Vaccine Candidate RgH3N1 Virus by Reverse Genetics

The antigenic variation of influenza A virus hemagglutinin (HA) glycoproteins requires frequent changes in vaccine formulation. The new strategy of creating influenza seed strains for vaccine production is to generate 7 + 1 reassortants that contain seven genes from a high-yield virus A/Puerto Rico/8/34[A/PR/8/34](H1N1) and the HA gene from the circulating strains. By using this DNA-based cotransfection technique, we generated 7 + 1 reassortants rgH3N1 which had the antigenic determinants of influenza virus A/Songbird/HongKong/102/00[SB/HK/01](H3N8) and 7 other genes from A/PR/8/34. The hemagglutinin of A/Songbird/HongKong/102/00 is 96.3% homologous to that of A/Equine/Jilin/98[Eq/J1/89] (H3N8). The resulting virus rgH3N1 grows to high HA titers in chicken embryonated eggs, allowing vaccine preparation in unconcentrated allantoic fluid. The rgH3N1 is stable after multiple passages in embryonated eggs. The reassortant rgH3N1 virus could be used as vaccine candidate to reduce the reemergence of equine influenza outbreaks.     

A loss function to evaluate agricultural decision-making under uncertainty: a case study of soil spectroscopy

Modern sensor technologies can provide detailed information about soil variation which allows for more precise application of fertiliser to minimise environmental harm imposed by agriculture. However, growers should lose neither income nor yield from associated uncertainties of predicted nutrient concentrations and thus one must acknowledge and account for uncertainties. A framework is presented that accounts for the uncertainty and determines the cost–benefit of data on available phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in the soil determined from sensors. For four fields, the uncertainty associated with variation in soil P and K predicted from sensors was determined. Using published fertiliser dose–yield response curves for a horticultural crop the effect of estimation errors from sensor data on expected financial losses was quantified. The expected losses from optimal precise application were compared with the losses expected from uniform fertiliser application (equivalent to little or no knowledge on soil variation). The asymmetry of the loss function meant that underestimation of P and K generally led to greater losses than the losses from overestimation. This study shows that substantial financial gains can be obtained from sensor-based precise application of P and K fertiliser, with savings of up to £121 ha^?1 for P and up to £81 ha^?1 for K, with concurrent environmental benefits due to a reduction of 4–17 kg ha^?1 applied P fertiliser when compared with uniform application.