The influence of fruit abundance on the use of forest and cultivated field habitats by the endemic Madeira laurel pigeon Columba trocaz: Implications for conservation

This study was conducted over a two year period in the north west of Madeira Island (Macaronesian Atlantic Islands, Portugal). It investigates the relationship between fruiting patterns in the indigenous forest and the use by the Madeira laurel pigeon of forest habitats and cultivated areas. Habitat use observations were carried out using line-transects in forest sites where the availability of fruit (the most important element of the diet) was assessed. The use of agricultural fields was measured indirectly by the assessment of the damage caused to crops. The findings provided strong evidence that bird movements and shifts in abundance are related to fruit usage and availability. The use of fruits is mostly opportunistic but when many species are available, selection was observed. From an ecological perspective, our findings indirectly confirm a high concordance between pigeon diet, studied by microhistological techniques, and habitat use. The use of crops also seems to be mostly opportunistic and is governed by the birds’ movements within the adjacent forest. It is hypothesised that fruit phenology will influence the use of agricultural areas only to the extent that it governs such movements; there is no strong evidence that crops are attacked only when the availability of natural foods is low. Our results suggest that the current management strategy for the forest is adequate for the conservation of this pigeon but that the conservation value of forest edges should be redefined. It is also proposed that crop damage may be reduced by identifying the proximate factors, which lead to the use of specific fields.     

What is the impact of Impatiens glandulifera on species diversity of invaded riparian vegetation?

Effect of invasion by Impatiens glandulifera (Balsaminaceae) on the community characteristics and species composition of invaded riparian communities was studied at six rivers in the Czech Republic. Two approaches were used: space for time substitution approach, i.e., comparing invaded and uninvaded sites under the same habitat conditions, and removal of the invader from experimental plots. Differences in the number of species, Shannon diversity index H′ and evennes J were compared between invaded and uninvaded plots. Uninvaded plots of the comparative study harboured by 0.23 more species per 16 m², and had higher value of H′ and J, calculated with species covers as importance values; however only the difference in J was marginally significant (p = 0.04). Other effects were not significant, indicating that once I. glandulifera is removed, communities recover without any consequences for species diversity. Multivariate analysis did not reveal any effect of invasion on the species composition in terms of species presence but their cover hierarchies changed after the invasion, as I. glandulifera became dominant at the expense of tall native nitrophilous dominants. It is concluded that I. glandulifera exerts negligible effect on the characteristics of invaded riparian communities, hence it does not represent threat to the plant diversity of invaded areas. This makes it very different from other Central European invasive aliens of a similar performance.     

Macroinvertebrate Community and Chemistry of the Most Atmospherically Acidified Streams in the Czech Republic

We performed a comparative study of strongly acidified mountain streams covering 10 sites in the Czech Republic in the season 1999/2000. The aim of the study was to determine how acidification influenced macroinvertebrate community structure within a relatively narrow pH range. We focused on strongly acidified, non-humic running waters with low ionic content (pH < 4.6, total organic carbon < 10 mg l^?1, specific conductivity < 100 μS cm^?1) and minimum human influence in the catchment. The actual pH values ranged from 3.98 to 4.65, and concentrations of reactive aluminium ranged from 0.2 to 2.0 mg l^?1. Characteristic macroinvertebrates were the stoneflies Leuctra nigra, Nemurella pictetii, and Protonemura spp.; the chironomids Corynoneura spp.; and the caddisfly Plectrocnemia conspersa – the former two stoneflies formed together 46% of total organisms. The sites were divided into three groups with use of divisive classification. Individual groups reflected similarity in water chemistry, catchment characteristics, and geographical proximity. The largest biotic difference detected by PCA was in the abundance of stoneflies, mainly Diura bicaudata and Leuctra major. The strongest correlation with this gradient was shown by pH (and associated heavy metals), followed by the distance from source. The results show that even in such narrow pH range, the number of taxa is determined by the low pH value and related high concentrations of aluminium and heavy metals.     

Genotypic variation for phosphorus uptake dinitrogen fixation in cowpea on low‐phosphorus soils of southern Cameroon

In cowpea, efficient N₂‐fixing genotypes are being selected to promote sustainable cropping systems in southern Cameroon (SC). However, N₂ fixation and growth of these genotypes are largely hampered by low levels of soil plant‐available P. To evaluate the genotypic variation in N₂ fixation and P uptake among cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) genotypes, field experiments were conducted over two years on two acid soils low in available P. The experiments were laid out in a split‐block design with four replications on typic (TK) and rhodic (RK) Kandiudult soils with seven cowpea genotypes. Phosphorus (P) fertilizers were applied on the main plots with 0 kg P, 30 kg P ha^–1 as triple superphosphate (TSP) and 90 kg P ha^–1 as Togo phosphate rock (PR). Nodule dry matter (DM), shoot DM, grain yield, and P uptake of cowpea significantly varied with site, P application, and genotype (p < 0.05). The N₂ fixation of the cowpea genotypes ranged from 29 to 51 kg N ha^–1 on both TK and RK soils and was significantly increased with P application. Significant genotypic variations in N₂ fixation were observed with superior ability of the genotypes IT89KD‐391 and IT90K‐59 to fix N₂. The harvest index (HI) did not significantly differ between soils and P application levels (p > 0.05). Four genotypes were selected to investigate root mechanisms responsible for efficient P acquisition in pot experiments. The results suggest that a better root infection by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in genotype IT90K‐59 and root morphological and physiological characteristics in IT89KD‐391 were the most important factors for increasing P uptake.     

Small lateral air pressure gradients generated by a large chamber system have a strong effect on CO2 transport in soil

Gas transport in soils is usually assumed to be purely diffusive, although several studies have shown that non-diffusive processes can significantly enhance soil gas transport. These processes include barometric air pressure changes, wind-induced pressure pumping and static air pressure fields generated by wind interacting with obstacles. The associated pressure gradients in the soil can cause advective gas fluxes that are much larger than diffusive fluxes. However, the contributions of the respective transport processes are difficult to separate. We developed a large chamber system to simulate pressure fields and investigate their influence on soil gas transport. The chamber consists of four subspaces in which pressure is regulated by fans that blow air in or out of the chamber. With this setup, we conducted experiments with oscillating and static pressure fields. CO₂ concentrations were measured along two soil profiles beneath the chamber. We found a significant relationship between static lateral pressure gradients and the change in the CO₂ profiles (R² = 0.53; p-value <2e-16). Even small pressure gradients between −1 and 1 Pa relative to ambient pressure resulted in an increase or decrease in CO₂ concentrations of 8% on average in the upper soil, indicating advective flow of air in the pore space. Positive pressure gradients resulted in decreasing, negative pressure gradients in increasing CO₂ concentrations. The concentration changes were probably caused by an advective flow field in the soil beneath the chamber generated by the pressure gradients. No effect of oscillating pressure fields was observed in this study. The results indicate that static lateral pressure gradients have a substantial impact on soil gas transport and therefore are an important driver of gas exchange between soil and atmosphere. Lateral pressure gradients in a comparable range can be induced under windy conditions when wind interacts with terrain features. They can also be caused by chambers used for flux measurements at high wind speed or by fans used for head-space mixing within the chambers, which yields biased flux estimates.     

Simulating the soil phosphorus dynamics of four long-term field experiments with a novel phosphorus model

Phosphorus is a nonrenewable resource, which is required for crop growth and to maintain high yields. The soil P cycle is very complex, and new model approaches can lead to a better understanding of those processes and further guide to research gaps. The objective of this study was to present a P-submodel, which has been integrated in the existing Carbon Candy Balance (CCB) model that already comprises a C and N module. The P-module is linked to the C mineralization and the associated C-pools via the C/P ratio of fresh organic material. Besides the organic P cycling, the module implies a plant-available P-pool (P_av), which is in a dynamic equilibrium with the nonavailable P-pool (P_na) that comprises the strongly sorbed and occluded P fraction. The model performance was tested and evaluated on four long-term field experiments with mineral P fertilization, farmyard manure as organic fertilizer and control plots without fertilization. The C dynamics and the P_av dynamics were modelled with overall good results. The relative RMSE for the C was below 10% for all treatments, while the relative RMSE for P_av was below 15% for most treatments. To accommodate for the rather small variety of available P-models, the presented CNP-model is designed for agricultural field sites with a relatively low data input, namely air temperature, precipitation, soil properties, yields and management practices. The CNP-model offers a low entry threshold model approach to predict the C-N and now the P dynamics of agricultural soils.     

Composition rather than viscosity modifies the aroma compound retention of flavored stirred yogurt

The influence of thickening agents (modified starch/pectin mixture 0 and 7 g/L) and mechanical treatment (low, medium, and high) on the retention of esters (pentyl acetate and ethyl pentanoate), aldehydes (hexanal and (E)-2-hexenal), and a lactone (gamma-octalactone) in low-fat flavored stirred yogurts were investigated under equilibrium conditions. In the range studied, the thickening agent and mechanical treatment had little influence on aroma compound retention compared to the decreasing effect of increasing dairy protein concentration on aldehyde retention and the "salting out" effect of carbohydrates on esters. Moreover, experiments in dynamic mode (study of the release of hexanal when yogurts were heated) showed, in the conditions studied, that heat and mass transfer coefficients were not influenced by any of the studied factors (thickening agents and mechanical treatment). These results under static and dynamic conditions are not related to the significant decreasing effect of thickening agents on apple sensory scores associated with hexanal, observed in a previous sensory study. Thus, this sensory effect of thickening agents may be due to sensory interactions between perceptions rather than physicochemical interactions.     

Intra- and interpopulation diversity for HMW glutenin subunits in Spanish spelt wheat

The diversity of HMW glutenin subunits in spelt wheat, Triticum aestivum ssp. spelta, was studied electrophoretically in 333 accessions grouped in 50 populations originally collected from Asturias, North of Spain, in 1939. The inter- and intra-population distribution of HMW glutenin alleles at the Glu-A1, Glu-B1 and Glu-D1 loci were investigated. The results show that the genetic variation in HMW glutenin subunits is mainly present within populations, being the variation between populations only 21%. The materials analysed showed a wide polymorphism for the HMW glutenin subunits, although some allelic variants were clearly dominant. This suggests the possibility of a loss of variability before the collection that could have increased with the subsequent reduction of the cultivation area of this species in this Spanish region.     

Electrokinetic-enhanced remediation of actual arsenic-contaminated soils with approaching cathode and Fe0 permeable reactive barrier

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate the remediation efficiency of actual arsenic-contaminated soils by electrokinetic (EK)-enhanced remediation with approaching cathode and Fe⁰ permeable reactive barrier (PRB).

Materials and methods

Experiments were conducted in a lab-made apparatus consisting of the anode reservoir, the soil specimen chamber, and the cathode reservoir.

Results and discussion

In this study, the enhanced combination methods (approaching cathode and Fe⁰-PRB) were assisted for EK remediation of actual arsenic-contaminated soils under a voltage gradient of 1 V/cm and a treatment period of 96 h. Experimental results showed that arsenic accumulated in the anode sections (I, II) of the soil by employing EK alone with an arsenic removal rate of less than 5%. In contrast, EK-enhanced remediation with either approaching cathode (EK/AC) or Fe⁰-PRB (EK/PRB) reduced the arsenic concentrations in both central and anode sections of the soil and afforded the removal rates of 20% in both cases. However, EK-enhanced remediation with the combination of approaching cathode and Fe⁰-PRB (EK/PRB/AC) reached the removal efficiency of 45% without arsenic accumulation in any soil sections. This phenomenon is mainly caused by the approaching cathode that creates an alkaline environment to promote the migration of arsenic, as well as PRB filled with Fe⁰ that achieves the adsorption and immobilization of arsenic.

Conclusions

The highest remediation efficiency was achieved in the EK/PRB/AC test, which was attributed to the fact that the combination of this two methods solved the problem of arsenic accumulation in treated soil and ensured a more thorough arsenic removal. Furthermore, enhanced remediation efficiency does not elevate the costs.

     

Ectomycorrhizal fungi identification in single and pooled root samples: terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) and morphotyping compared

We describe here the results of a study conducted to evaluate a terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) approach targeting rRNA genes for determination of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) communities colonizing the roots of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.). Root tips separated from soil cores were classified according to morphological characteristics and DNA was then extracted from each group of morphotyped tips. Labeled primers were used to generate terminal restriction fragments (TRF) for molecular fingerprinting of root colonizing fungi and to determine how well TRFLP could be used to discriminate between ectomycorrhizal types. Morphotypes generally correlated well with specific TRFs and sequence analysis confirmed that TRFs could be used to discriminate among fungal types. Sequence analysis indicated that important ECM fungi including Russulaceae, Thelephorales, and Tricholomataceae could be fingerprinted with TRFLP. In addition, a fixed proportion of the DNA extracted from each morphotype from the same core was used in a pooling experiment used to assess whether previously identified fungal species types could be distinguished from one another within reconstructed communities. Since some morphotypes share TRFs, dual analysis of ITS1 and ITS2 was necessary for accurate fingerprinting of fungal types. Approximately, 5.0±0.3 phylotypes were detected per core with TRFLP-corrected morphotyping as compared to 4.0±0.4 phylotypes using TRFLP on pooled community samples. TRFLP made on experimental sporocarp communities suggested that reduced ECM richness with TRFLP may be partly caused by differences in the amount of DNA available for PCR and primer bias. Nonetheless, TRFLP on pooled morphotypes accounted for more than 93% of colonized root tips. The method can be used to facilitate analysis of mycorrhizal communities using root tips collected from soil cores.