Vegetation competition effects on aboveground biomass and macronutrients,leaf area,and crown structure in 5-year old Douglas-fir

Vegetation control (VC) in forest plantations often increases growth of crop trees but can also affect biomass and nutrient partitioning to tree components. We examined above-ground biomass and macronutrients, leaf area and crown structure in 5-year old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziessi (Mirb.) Franco) growing with VC and with no vegetation control (NVC) in coastal Washington, United States of America. Trees in VC had larger stem, branch, foliage and total biomass than trees of equal stem diameter at 1.3 m above ground in NVC. The difference in component biomass between treatments was in the order: branch > foliage > stem. Trees in the VC regime did not differ in macronutrient concentration in stem, branch and foliage except for branch N which was greater in NVC than in VC. Differences in tree macronutrient stores between VC and NVC ranged from 2.2 times for Mg to 2.6 times for N and K. The relationship between stem diameter and leaf area was linear in both VC treatments. The relationship between stem diameter and foliage biomass was curvilinear for both VC treatments. Results of this study support the need for separated allometric equations to estimate biomass for young Douglas-fir growing in areas with and without VC.     

Effects of C and N availability and soil-water potential interactions on N2O evolution and PLFA composition

Mitigation of agricultural N₂O emissions via management requires quantitative information about the regulation of the underlying processes. In this laboratory study, short-term evolution of N₂O from repacked soil was determined using an arable sandy loam soil adjusted to three water potentials (−15, −30 or −100 hPa) that were reached by adjustment of partly air-dried soil with nutrient solutions or water; a water retention curve of repacked soil had been determined prior to the incubation experiment. The amendments included a control treatment receiving water (CTL), and aqueous solutions of carbon in the form of glucose (C), ammonium sulfate (N), or both (CN). Rates of CO₂ and N₂O evolution were followed during 14 days. Soil inorganic N and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) composition were analyzed by the end of incubation. Across all nutrient treatments, the soil at the lower moisture content (−100 hPa) showed little or no N₂O evolution irrespective of nutrient treatment. Adding glucose alone reduced N₂O evolution relative to CTL. The addition of N alone had no effect on soil respiration, but significantly increased nitrate accumulation and N₂O evolution. The CN treatment resulted in higher respiration than with C amendment alone, but less N₂O evolution than with N alone, at least at −15 and −30 hPa. Whole-soil PLFA fingerprints at the end of incubation reflected the complex response of gaseous emissions. At −15 hPa growth of Gram negative bacteria, probably including denitrifiers, in the CN treatment was indicated by low cyclopropane-to-precursor ratios. At −100 hPa differentiation of branched-chain fatty acids was taken as evidence for an effect of C amendment on Gram positive bacteria. The highest potential for N₂O evolution was observed at the intermediate soil wetness level; the corresponding gas diffusivities indicated that this parameter may be a better predictor of N₂O emissions than water-filled pore space.     

Salmon gill poxvirus disease in Atlantic salmon fry as recognized by improved immunohistochemistry also demonstrates infected cells in non‐respiratory epithelial cells

Gill diseases cause serious losses in farming of Atlantic salmon and the number of agents involved increases. Salmon gill poxvirus (SGPV) and the gill disease in causes where SGPV apparently was the only disease‐causing agent were initially characterized. Recently, it was further shown that SGPV can be a common denominator in widely different multifactorial gill diseases. Here, we present the challenge of diagnosing gill disease with SGPV in salmon fry of 0,3–5 grams. Apoptosis of gill lamellar epithelial cells and hemophagocytosis was also observed in fry similar to findings in smolts and grow‐out fish. Using our newly developed immunohistochemistry method, we further demonstrate that some of the apoptotic epithelial cells covering the oral cavity were positive for SGPV. Thus, SGPV is not restricted to respiratory epithelium alone and may infect the fish at very early life stages. Furthermore, as the cases examined here are from Norway, Faroe Island and Scotland, we show that SGPV is more widespread than previously reported.     

Structure-specific detection of plant cuticle bound residues of chlorothalonil by ELISA

Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) against the main photo-addition products of chlorothalonil with olefinic compounds of plant cuticles were produced. An indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the detection of free and bound chlorothalonil and its derivatives. For the characterization of the binding properties of the mAb, derivatives of chlorothalonil (simulating structures of cuticle bound residues) were synthesized. The cross-reactivities of these products were determined by ELISA. The test system was employed to detect bound residues of chlorothalonil in enzymatically isolated tomato cuticles, which had been spiked with methanolic solutions of the compound, irradiated by simulated sunlight and extracted. The use of isolated cuticles allows work to be carried out with authentic material without disturbance by metabolic processes. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

Application of acute phase protein measurements in veterinary clinical chemistry

The body's early defence in response to trauma, inflammation or infection, the acute phase response, is a complex set of systemic reactions seen shortly after exposure to a triggering event. One of the many components is an acute phase protein response in which increased hepatic synthesis leads to increased serum concentration of positive acute phase proteins. The serum concentration of these acute phase proteins returns to base levels when the triggering factor is no longer present. This paper provides a review of the acute phase proteins haptoglobin, C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A and their possible use as non-specific indicators of health in large animal veterinary medicine such as in the health status surveillance of pigs at the herd level, for the detection of mastitis in dairy cattle and for the prognosis of respiratory diseases in horses.     

Serum-haptoglobin concentration in Danish slaughter pigs of different health status

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 617 finishing pigs aged 10–25 weeks in 11 commercial herds of different health statuses as defined by the Danish monitoring program for specific-pathogen-free (SPF) herds. A standard clinical examination was performed and a blood sample was obtained from each pig for determination of haptoglobin concentration in serum.

Pigs aged 10–14, 15–19 and 20–25 weeks in conventional herds had higher haptoglobin concentrations than high-health SPF (SPF-x) pigs of the same age. There was no significant difference between SPF-x pigs of different ages. Conventional pigs aged 15–19 and 20–25 weeks had higher haptoglobin concentrations than conventional pigs aged 10–14 weeks. Herd influenced the haptoglobin concentration. Lame pigs and pigs with tail or ear bite had elevated haptoglobin concentrations. No significant effect of respiratory symptoms or umbilical hernia was found.     

Crop coefficients for winter wheat in a sub-humid climate regime

Estimations of evapotranspiration (ET) from natural surfaces are used in a large number of applications such as agricultural water management and water resources planning. Lack of reliable, cheap and easy-to-use instruments, associated with the chaotic and varying nature of the meteorological and plant physiological factors influencing ET cause these estimations to be based on calculated values rather than the measured ones. The two-step approach where ET from a reference crop is calculated and multiplied by empirical crop coefficients to obtain ET from a crop has gained wide acceptance. Daily coefficients for a winter wheat crop growing under standard conditions, i.e. not short of water and growing under optimal agronomic conditions, were estimated for a cold sub-humid climate regime. One of the two methods used to estimate ET from a reference crop required net radiation (R_n) as input. Two sets of coefficients were used for calculating R_n. Weather data from a meteorological station was used to estimate R_n and ET from the reference crop. The winter wheat ET was measured using an eddy covariance system during the main parts of the growing seasons 2004 and 2005. The meteorological data and field measurements were quality controlled and discarded from the analysis if flagged for errors. Daily values of ET from the reference crop and winter wheat calculated from hourly values were used to calculate the crop coefficients. Average daily crop coefficients were in the 1.1–1.15 range during mid-season with standard deviations ranging from 0.13 to 0.23 for both years. These values exceed values used in some sub-humid climate regime studies, but agree well with values from the international literature.     

Holzbiologische Untersuchungen über den Einfluß von Auftausalz auf Hamburger Straßenbäume

Zusammenfassung Aus dem Stadtgebiet von Hamburg wurden 341 Stra?enb?ume der GattungenAcer, Aesculus, Betula, Fraxinus, Platanus, Quercus, Robinia, Sorbus undTilia hinsichtlich ihrer Empfindlichkeit gegenüber Streusalz untersucht. Als Untersuchungsmethoden dienten Jahrring-analyse sowie Histometrie und energiedispersive R?ntgen-Mikroanalyse. Auf Standorten mit hohem Bodensalzgehalt zeigten die meisten B?ume seit Mitte der 60er Jahre Zuwachsrückg?nge von über 50%, was zu einer Verringerung der wasserleitenden Querschnittsfl?che in den St?mmen und vermutlich zu den Blattnekrosen in der Krone führte. Alle an streusalzbelasteten Stra?en lebenden Ahornb?ume, Linden und Ro?kastanien zeigten eine starke Vitalit?tsminderung. Lediglich die Eichen und Robinien lassen keine streusalzbedingten Wachstums?nderungen erkennen. Zur Erholung der gesch?digten B?ume sowie zur Sicherung der toleranten Baumarten müssen eine weitere Salzzufuhr verhindert und die bereits angereicherten Salzmengen aus dem Kreislauf Boden-Baum-Boden entfernt werden.

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Wood-biological investigations on the influence of deicing salt on roadside trees in Hamburg

Summary From the urban area of Hamburg, 341 roadside trees of the generaAcer, Aesculus, Betula, Fraxinus, Platanus, Quercus, Robinia, Sorbus andTilia have been investigated concerning their sensitivity to deicing salt. The methods used were tree-ring analysis, histometrical studies, and X-ray microanalysis. Since the middle of the Sixties the radial growth of most tress decreased more than 50% on all sites with a high salt content in the soil, leading to a reduction of the water-conducting area in the stems. The necrosis of the leaves is presumably a result of this situation. All maples, horsechestnuts, and limes growing along roads affected by deicing salt showed a highly decreased vitality. Only oak and black locust do not exhibit any saltinfluenced growth responses. For the recovery of the injured trees as well as for safeguarding the more tolerant tree species a further salt transport to the roots must be prevented, and the amount of salt already accumulated must be removed from the soil-tree-soil cycle.

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Wir danken Dr.H. Meyer-Spasche, Ordinariat für Bodenkunde der Universit?t Hamburg, für die Bereitstellung der bodenchemischen Standortsdaten, Prof. Dr.N. Parameswaran für die energiedispersive R?ntgen-Mikroanalyse sowie Frau Dipl.-HolzwirtS. Wrobel und FrauF. Quiehl für ihre Mithilfe bei der Laborauswertung. Die Arbeit wurde von der Beh?rde für Bezirksangelegenheiten, Naturschutz und Umweltgestaltung (BBNU) der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg finanziell unterstützt. Die Baubeh?rde stellte Informationen über die Intensit?t der Streusalzanwendung zur Verfügung.