Carbon sequestration,vegetation dynamics and soil development in the Boreal Transition ecoregion of Saskatchewan during the Holocene

Boreal forest soils have the potential to sequester large amounts of carbon by accumulating charcoal from fire. Some suggest that sequestration rates could be large enough to account for some of the missing sink in the global CO₂ budget, but further data on soil charcoal pools are necessary to adequately develop boreal carbon budgets under a changing climate and fire regime. The primary objective of this study was to determine the amount of charred wood in surface mineral soil horizons (Ah) of the Boreal Transition of Saskatchewan, a fire-prone grassland forest ecotone region of western Canada. A second objective was to use the charcoal data to infer vegetation dynamics and the development of these Ah horizons as a function of parent material type, i.e. glacio-fluvial, glacio-lacustrine and glacial till. The latter objective served to provide information in regards to future vegetation shifts and ecosystem C budgets of Boreal Plain ecosystems under climatic warming. The carbon fraction measured as charcoal is an important component of organic matter in Ah horizons of Chernozemic soils in Saskatchewan and differs from the classical model of humus fractions in Chernozems which suggests that it is a system created from microbial degradation of root litter only. The carbon sequestered as charcoal within the whole ecoregion was estimated at 36.1 Tg, which is the lower limit of the global annual rate of charcoal accumulation in terrestrial environments estimated from experimental fires. Charcoal pools were consistently lower in the fluvial soils relative to the lacustrine and till soils. We suggest a model where dry conditions and low water availability prevailing under the coarser fluvial soils during the Holocene favoured the dominance of low productivity herbaceous vegetation that led to a high ash to charcoal production ratio from fire and to the development of relatively thick Ah horizons through below ground additions of organic matter from root decay. We propose that the more available water in lacustrine and till soils favoured the growth of trembling aspen which, through less frequent/intense fires relative to grasslands and incomplete burning of the woody material, led to high charcoal accumulation rates in soil. The development of thick Ah horizons in lacustrine soils likely occurred during a warm and dry period of the early Holocene (i.e. the hypsithermal) when herbaceous vegetation invaded forested land or during dry spells in the mid to late Holocene (e.g. the Medieval Warm Period) when opening of forest canopies occurred, thus augmenting light transmission to the forest floor and favouring the growth of herbaceous vegetation in the understory. Such events did not create deep Ah horizons in the tills soils as a consistent rock impediment near the surface limited the penetration of understory roots at greater depth. These results suggest that fluvial sites my be the first shifting to herbaceous vegetation in the future due to climatic warming, followed by till sites and then lacustrine sites.     

Quantity, motility and fertility of tench Tinca tinca (L.) sperm in relation to LHRH analogue and carp pituitary treatments

The spermiation of tench males was stimulated with Supergestran containing mammalian LHRHa lecireline at the following doses: 5, 10, 20 and 40 g kg⁻¹ b.w.; then with carp pituitary suspension (CPS) at a dose of 2 mg kg⁻¹ b.w. and with a control of saline physiological solution. The following days, meaning 24, 48 and 72 h after injection, sperm was collected to evaluate volume and the number of sperm per male per kg body weight (B.W.) The percentage of motile sperm and velocity of spermatozoa were measured 48 h after hormonal injection, and 72 h after hormonal injection the sperm was evaluated for fertilization and hatching ability. All 42 males in experimental groups were diploid. Live weight did not differ significantly among experimental groups. The strongest stimulation of spermiation was achieved with LHRHa in dosage of 20 and 40 g kg⁻¹ b.w. and CPS compared to males of the control group and lower dosage of LHRHa. Analysis of variance showed no significant influence of the treatment on the velocity and percentage of motile spermatozoa. The effect of different treatment on the fertilization capacity (the number of spermatozoa per egg was equilibrated) was significant. Significantly the highest quality of sperm collected 72 h after injection expressed by percentage of fertilization and hatching (62–65% fertilization and 61–64% hatching rates, respectively) was found for LHRHa in dosage of 20 and 40 g kg⁻¹ b.w. Significantly the lowest parameters of fertilization and hatching were found for the control group, on the 12% level.     

Population size does not influence mitochondrial genetic diversity in animals

Within-species genetic diversity is thought to reflect population size, history, ecology, and ability to adapt. Using a comprehensive collection of polymorphism data sets covering approximately 3000 animal species, we show that the widely used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) marker does not reflect species abundance or ecology: mtDNA diversity is not higher in invertebrates than in vertebrates, in marine than in terrestrial species, or in small than in large organisms. Nuclear loci, in contrast, fit these intuitive expectations. The unexpected mitochondrial diversity distribution is explained by recurrent adaptive evolution, challenging the neutral theory of molecular evolution and questioning the relevance of mtDNA in biodiversity and conservation studies.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Fusarium temperatum</Emphasis> isolated from maize in France

The presence of Fusarium temperatum in France was investigated by analyzing 40 Fusarium strains, previously isolated from infected maize ears in 2011 and formerly identified as Fusarium subglutinans based on morphological characteristics. In this study, 26 strains out of the 40 were identified as F. temperatum and 14 as F. subglutinans based on sequencing of the translation elongation factor 1α gene. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the two species represented two clades strongly supported by bootstrap values. The pathogenicity of F. temperatum strains was confirmed on maize ears. This study provides new information about F. temperatum isolated from maize in France.     

An Efficient ELLAM Implementation for Modeling Solute Transport in Fractured Porous Media

The goal of this study is to introduce an adaptation of the Eulerian-Lagrangian localized adjoint method (ELLAM) for the simulation of mass transport in fractured porous media, and to evaluate the performance of ELLAM in such a case. The fractures are represented explicitly using the discrete fracture model. The velocity field was calculated using the mixed hybrid finite element method. A sound ELLAM implementation is developed to address numerical artifacts (spurious oscillations and numerical dispersion) arising from the presence of fractures. The efficiency of the developed ELLAM implementation was further improved by taking advantage of the parallel computing on shared memory architecture for the tasks related to particles tracking and linear system resolving. The performance of ELLAM was tested by comparing its results with the Eulerian discontinuous Galerkin method based on several benchmark problems dealing with different fracture configurations. The results highlight the robustness and accuracy of ELLAM, as it allows the use of large time steps, and overcomes the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) restriction. The outcome also shows that ELLAM is more efficient when fracture density is increased.     

Quantifying the effects of soil and climate on aboveground biomass production of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Salix miyabeana</Emphasis> SX67 in Quebec

Soil and climatic conditions for optimizing aboveground biomass yields of bioenergy short rotation coppices (SRCs) of Salix are not well elucidated. The objective of this study was to identify and quantify the limitations induced by soil and climate, and compare the magnitude of their effects, on annual aboveground yields across ten SRCs of Salix miyabeana SX67 in Quebec, Canada. The effects of weather variation between years on yields were also tested within locations. In five plots per SRC, soil bulk density, particle size, exchangeable cations and bulk composition were analysed, and moisture deficits were estimated using leaf δ¹³C. For each location, numerous weather variables were simulated for spring, summer and the whole growing season. Climate was calculated by averaging weather variables for growing seasons for which annual yields were available. Annual aboveground biomass yields were modelled using linear regression, partitioning of the variance and mixed models with soil, weather and climate variables as predictors. Across SRCs, silt content, soil organic matter, pH, exchangeable Ca and Mg, and total N and Zn were significantly and positively related to aboveground yields (adj. R ² ranging from 0.38 to 0.79). Generally, annual yields were negatively related to summer temperature within SRCs (adj. R ² = 0.92) and drought across SRCs (adj. R ² = 0.54). Partitioning of the variance revealed that soil variables (~80%) had a greater effect on productivity than did climate variables (~10%). In fact, soil properties buffered or exacerbated water shortages and, thus, had a preponderant effect on yield.     

Influence of the surrounding landscape on the colonization rate of cereal aphids and phytovirus transmission in autumn

Ecological control has often focused on factors enhancing control of pests by their natural enemies, while factors reducing the colonization rate of crops by pests have been comparatively neglected. We present an approach to assess landscape influence on the intensity of wheat colonization by a major crop pest, the aphid Rhopalosiphum padi. We used trays containing wheat seedlings to monitor field colonization by R. padi and barley yellow dwarf viruses’ transmission in two areas in France in autumn. We assessed the influence of landscape components likely affecting aphid colonization, i.e. maize and grasslands as source of migrants on the number of aphids landing per tray, as well as the host plant of origin and the viruliferous potential of migrants. During the survey, maize was the main source of migrants. Virus transmission was detected in a few cases (4 % positive assays). Colonization was increased by the presence of maize, but reduced by the presence of grasslands at the landscape scale considered here (i.e. at a radius of 1000 m). Our study contributes to a better understanding of disease dynamics in agricultural landscapes. By identifying features of the landscape that surrounds fields and affects these dynamics, growers can develop more efficient crop protection strategies relying on habitat manipulation and rational use of pesticides.     

Beating heart mitral valve replacement with a bovine pericardial bioprosthesis for treatment of mitral valve dysplasia in a Bull Terrier

OBJECTIVES: To describe an open, beating heart surgical technique and use of a bovine pericardial prosthetic valve for mitral valve replacement (MVR) in the dog. STUDY DESIGN: Clinical case report. ANIMALS: Male Bull Terrier (17-month-old, 26 kg) with mitral valve dysplasia and severe regurgitation. METHODS: A bovine pericardial bioprosthesis was used to replace the mitral valve using an open beating heart surgical technique and cardiopulmonary bypass. RESULTS: Successful MVR was achieved using a beating heart technique. Mitral regurgitation resolved and cardiac performances improved (left ventricular end-diastolic diameter decreased from 57.6 to 48.7 mm, and left atrium/aorta ratio returned to almost normal, from 1.62 to 1.19). Cardiopulmonary by-pass time and total surgical duration were decreased compared with standard cardioplegic techniques. Surgical recovery was uneventful and on echocardiography 6 months later valve function was excellent. CONCLUSION: Considering the technique advantages (no cardiac arrest, ischemic reperfusion injury, and hypothermia, or the need for aortic dissection and cannulation for administration of cardioplegic solution), short-term mortality and morbidity may be reduced compared with standard cardioplegic techniques. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Based on experience in this dog, beating heart mitral valvular replacement is a seemingly safe and viable option for the dog and bovine pericardial prosthesis may provide better long-term survival than mechanical prostheses.