Evaluating changes in switchgrass physiology,biomass, and light-use efficiency under artificial shade to estimate yields if intercropped with Pinus taeda L.

There is growing interest in using switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) as a biofuel intercrop in forestry systems. However, there are limited data on the longevity of intercropped bioenergy crops, particularly with respect to light availability as the overstory tree canopy matures. Therefore, we conducted a greenhouse study to determine the effects of shading on switchgrass growth. Four treatments, each with different photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) levels, were investigated inside the greenhouse: control (no shade cloth, 49 % of full sunlight), low (under 36 % shade cloth), medium (under 52 % shade cloth), and heavy shade (under 78 % shade cloth). We determined the effect of shading from March to October 2011 on individually potted, multi-tillered switchgrass transplants cut to a stubble height of 10 cm. In the greenhouse, there was a reduction in tiller number, tiller height, gas exchange rates (photosynthesis and stomatal conductance), leaf area, above- and belowground biomass and light-use efficiency with increasing shade. Total (above- and belowground) biomass in the control measured 374 ± 22 compared to 9 ± 2 g pot^?1 under heavy shade (11 % of full sunlight). Corresponding light-use efficiencies were 3.7 ± 0.2 and 1.4 ± 0.2 g MJ^?1, respectively. We also compared PAR levels and associated aboveground switchgrass biomass from inside the greenhouse to PAR levels in the inter-row regions of a range of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) stands from across the southeastern United States (U.S.) to estimate when light may limit the growth of intercropped species under field conditions. Results from the light environment of loblolly pine plantations in the field suggest that switchgrass biomass will be significantly reduced at a loblolly pine leaf area index between 1.95 and 2.25, which occurs on average between ages 6 and 8 years across the U.S. Southeast in intensively managed pine plantations. These leaf area indices correspond to a 60–65 % reduction in PAR from open sky.     

Long-term catch trends and risk assessment of the Critically Endangered white-spotted wedgefish (Rhynchobatus djiddensis) from South Africa

1. The white-spotted wedgefish (Rhynchobatus djiddensis) is a Critically Endangered shark-like ray in the family Rhinidae. Throughout its Western Indian Ocean distribution, it is targeted for its valuable meat and fins and is reported to have undergone major population declines. However, there remains a need for species specific time-series data to accurately assess localized population declines.
2. This study used two independent long-term (37 and 40 years) time-series catch data from competitive shore angling and shark nets to investigate the size composition and catch per unit effort (CPUE) and conduct a risk assessment for the population on the east coast of South Africa.
3. From 1977 to 2017 the competitive shore fishery captured 7,703 individual R. djiddensis, whilst shark nets in the same region captured 2,856 individuals from 1981 to 2017. Individuals captured in the nets had a sex ratio of 1.8:1 females to males, and were larger than those caught by the anglers. Although the mean annual sizes of net-caught individuals were above the size of reported sexual maturity, there was little evidence to suggest that any individuals captured were reproductively active.
4. Both the competitive shore fishery and shark net catches exhibited strong seasonal trends with the majority of R. djiddensis catches occurring from October to May peaking in austral summer. Standardized CPUE from the competitive shore fishery declined substantially between 1977 and 2017 and shark net catches exhibited a significant (p < 0.05) fourfold decline in annual nominal CPUE from 1981 to 2017.
5. Ultimately, a risk assessment showed a 65.1% decline in abundance over a period of three generation lengths, which indicates that the sampled population of R. djiddensis in South Africa should be classified as Endangered according to the IUCN Red List using criterion A2b. The conservation implications of this are discussed.

     

Selection for cold chipping genotypes from three early generations in a potato breeding program

Chipping potatoes are an important market for the processing industry. Of the traits influencing chip quality,chip color is market limiting since other traits have diminished value without light chip color. Cold (4 ^°C) storage can reduce storage losses and cultivars producing light colored chips directly from cold storage are needed for this reason. Selection for cold chipping cultivars is traditionally practiced by visual evaluation of progeny the first few years in the field, followed by selection for cold chipping in years 4–5. Early generation selection for cold chipping may reduce cultivar development time by identifying good chipping progeny, families and parents earlier in the breeding cycle. Progeny from 175 4x × 4x families were evaluated from three early generations. They were greenhouse grown tubers (GGT) evaluated after6 mo. storage using randomly selected progeny, and field grown single hills propagated from either seedling transplants (FTR), or from greenhouse grown tubers (FGT). Progeny from field grown generations were selected first by visual evaluation, and then by random selection and chipped after6 mo. (visual selections) or 3 and 6 mo. storage (random selections). Cold chipping progenies were found in all three early generations. The earliest generations for selection are GGT or FTR, but may be less efficient than FGT. Correlations suggest that reliable parent and family selection is possible using GGT data. Visual selection eliminated 4/5 of the good chipping progeny, while identifying 8 of 11,714 genotypes combining visual merit and cold chipping potential. Increased genetic variation and sexual polyploidization are possible strategies for increasing the number of desirable genotypes. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Barley–legumes rotations for semi-arid areas of Lebanon

In arid and semi-arid areas of West Asia and North Africa, including the northern Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, farmers have been increasingly practicing continuous barley cultivation. The objectives of the study were to (1) determine whether barley monoculture is unsustainable¹, (2) ascertain if barley and total dry matter yields can be increased and sustained by including a legume crop in the rotation, and (3) determine which barley–legume rotations are more productive. The trial was set up in a randomised complete block design with two replicates under rain-fed conditions in 1994–1995 at the Agricultural Research and Educational Center (33°56′ N, 36°5′ E, 995 m above sea level). Eight two-phase barley-based rotations were compared: barley in rotation with barley, lentil, common vetch, bitter vetch, common vetch for grazing, medics for grazing, common vetch for hay, and common vetch with barley for hay. Seed and straw were harvested from barley and legumes in the first four rotations. Relative to the trial mean, seed and straw yield under barley monoculture slumped in 1997–1998 and did not recover since then. Infestation of wild barley was a cause of this yield decline. Barley–legume rotations yielded 44–80% more barley grain and 27–53% more barley straw than the barley monoculture over the 6 years (1995–1996 to 2000–2001). Furthermore, in the legume phase, common and bitter vetch gave higher seed yield than barley monoculture. Thus, all barley–legume rotations, except barley–medics, yielded more total dry matter than barley monoculture on the basis of per rotation cycle. Among the barley–legume rotations, the barley-common vetch for seed rotation gave the highest and most stable dry matter yield. In conclusion, barley monoculture was unsustainable, but barley yields could be increased and sustained by including legumes in the rotation. Farmers in semi-arid areas of Lebanon should discontinue practicing barley monoculture and adopt a barley–legume, such as common vetch, rotation.     

Identification of phenolic compounds in tissues of the novel olive cultivar hardy's mammoth

A methodological approach to phenolic profiling making extensive use of LC-MS with extracted ion chromatograms was applied to extracts of five different olive tissues: pulp, seed, stone, new-season leaves, and old-season leaves. Tissue extracts of the cultivars Hardy's Mammoth, Corregiola, Verdale, and Manzanillo were analyzed by HPLC with UV and ESI MS detection. Chromatograms of samples of green Hardy's Mammoth drupes, a uniquely Australian olive cultivar, were dominated by a large, broad peak. This peak was not attributable to oleuropein, which is usually the dominant phenolic compound in green olive fruit, but the phenolic compound I. This compound was isolated by semipreparative HPLC and characterized by 1D- and 2D-NMR. Extraction studies showed that the compound was not likely to be an artifact of an enzymatic degradation process. Tritium labeling studies were used to establish a possible relationship between the biosynthesis of I and oleuropein.     

Use of a population model to assess the impact of longline fishing on wandering albatross Diomedea exulans populations

An age-structured model of a wandering albatross Diomedea exulans population is developed to stimulate population trends over time, using demographic parameters from the population at Possession Island, Crozets, during 1968–1986. The simulation results portray a population decreasing at a rate of 2·29% per year, which concurs with global population trends. Sensitivity analyses of model parameters indicate that both adult and juvenile mortality are contributing to the decrease. Wandering albatross mortality is presumed to have increased as a result of deaths caused by longline fishing vessels; such deaths are likely to be relatively more frequent among young, naive birds. The model is used to investigate the potential impacts of new longline fisheries such as that for Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides in Antarctica. Assuming longline fishing operations affect juveniles more than adults, there is a time lag of 5–10 years before further decreases in population numbers are reflected in the breeding population. Also, because wandering albatrosses are long-lived, population growth rates take approximately 30–50 years to stabilize after a perturbation. Consequently, caution must be exercised when interpreting population trends; short-term (<20 year) estimates may not provide good indications of long-term trends.     

Drought and fire suppression lead to rapid forest composition change in a forest-prairie ecotone

Altered fire regimes and increased drought can lead to major vegetation changes, especially in ecotones. A decrease in fire can lead to woody species encroachment in prairies and increasing forest stand density. The threat of global climate change raises questions about potential increases in the length, severity, and incidence of droughts substantially altering species composition. Re-measured upland forests in south-central North America's midcontinent forest-prairie ecotone exhibited major changes in woody species composition and structure over fifty years and successional trajectories appeared to favor invasive Juniperus virginiana L. over the previous dominant Quercus species. The objective of this study was to determine whether climate and fire exclusion affected the recruitment history of dominant woody species in these upland forests located near the xeric western edge of the eastern deciduous forest biome of North America. We removed cores and cross-sections from 992 J. virginiana, Quercus marilandica Münchh. and Q. stellata Wangenh. trees from eleven forest stands located across central and northwest Oklahoma, and determined their ages using standard dendrochronological methods. Recruitment of all species increased following a severe mid-20th century drought, but a rapid increase in J. virginiana recruitment and decrease in Quercus recruitment appeared to be linked to a decrease in fire. Future fire regime changes and increased drought due to global climate change could lead to widespread shifts from Quercus- to Juniperus- dominated forests and cause substantial changes to ecosystem services.     

Robust two-stage approach to repeated measurements analysis of chronic ozone exposure in rats

A robust two-stage approach is used to reanalyze the repeated measurements from an experiment of airway responsiveness in rats randomized to long-term exposure at four ozone doses. The concentration-response data generated for each rat may be represented as a hierarchical nonlinear model encompasing the sources of variation within and between individual profile for each rat, the conditional modeling approach can assess the adequacy of an assumed mean model, a fundamental advantage not intrinsic to marginal techniques. The two-stage population inference is based on the estimated individual parameters, thus maintaining an intuitive appeal to the toxicologists who traditionally have fitted a separate curve for each animal and then applied ANOVA to the summary statistics. However, we formally adjust the standard errors for the extra variability due to the initial estimation of the individual parameters and also allow for their within-rat correlation. The robust two-stage method appropriately down weights the a berrant responses arising sporadically within individualsand, more importantly, the rats which may be outlying relative to the usual population variation. The true effect of chronic ozone exposure, including a significant gender interaction, may be masked by a few rats which exert undue influence on the population estimates in a nonrobust analysis.     

Conservation of argali Ovis ammon in western Mongolia and the Altai-Sayan

Management of argali in Mongolia historically has been tied to improving biological research and anti-poaching activities within the framework of trophy hunting. Argali populations in protected areas, where trophy hunting does not occur, have received little attention, and conservation or management plans for these areas generally do not exist. In this study, results from interviews with pastoralists in Siilkhemiin Nuruu National Park in western Mongolia indicate that local people revere argali and are generally aware of and support government protections, but may not be inclined to reduce herd sizes or discontinue grazing certain pastures for the benefit of wildlife without compensation. Because past protectionist approaches to argali conservation in western Mongolia and the greater Altai-Sayan ecoregion have not achieved effective habitat conservation or anti-poaching enforcement, alternative management policies should be considered. Results from this study suggest local receptiveness to management programs based on community involvement and direct benefit.