Sagittal crest morphology decoupled from relative bite performance in Pleistocene tapirs (Perissodactyla: Tapiridae)

Bite force is often associated with specific morphological features, such as sagittal crests. The presence of a pronounced sagittal crest in some tapirs (Perissodactyla: Tapiridae) was recently shown to be negatively correlated with hard-object feeding, in contrast with similar cranial structures in carnivorans. The aim of this study was to investigate bite forces and sagittal crest heights across a wide range of modern and extinct tapirs and apply a comparative investigation to establish whether these features are correlated across a broad phylogenetic scope. We examined a sample of 71 specimens representing 15 tapir species (5 extant, 10 extinct) using the dry-skull method, linear measurements of cranial features, phylogenetic reconstruction, and comparative analyses. Tapirs were found to exhibit variation in bite force and sagittal crest height across their phylogeny and between different biogeographical realms, with high-crested morphologies occurring mostly in Neotropical species. The highest bite forces within tapirs appear to be driven by estimates for the masseter–pterygoid muscle complex, rather than predicted forces for the temporalis muscle. Our results demonstrate that relative sagittal crest height is poorly correlated with relative cranial bite force, suggesting high force application is not a driver for pronounced sagittal crests in this sample. The divergent biomechanical capabilities of different contemporaneous tapirids may have allowed multiple species to occupy overlapping territories and partition resources to avoid excess competition. Bite forces in tapirs peak in Pleistocene species, independent of body size, suggesting possible dietary shifts as a potential result of climatic changes during this epoch.     

Model-Based Integrated Methods for Quantitative Estimation of Soil Salinity from Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Data:A Case Study of Seffected South African Soils

Soil salinization is a land degradation process that leads to reduced agricultural yields. This study investigated the method that can best predict electrical conductivity (EC) in dry soils using individual bands, a normalized difference salinity index (NDSI), partial least squares regression (PLSR), and bagging PLSR. Soil spectral reflectance of dried, ground, and sieved soil samples containing varying amounts of EC was measured using an ASD FieldSpec spectrometer in a darkroom. Predictive models were computed using a training dataset. An independent validation dataset was used to validate the models. The results showed that good predictions could be made based on bagging PLSR using first derivative reflectance (validation R2 = 0.85), PLSR using untransformed reflectance (validation R2 = 0.70), NDSI (validation R2 = 0.65), and the untransformed individual band at 2257 nm (validation R2 = 0.60) predictive models. These suggested the potential of mapping soil salinity using airborne and/or satellite hyperspectral data during dry seasons.     

Photosynthetic inhibition in Phaseolus vulgaris

Similar injuries to the leaves of bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Berna) were produced by exposure to CO₂-free air in the light and by ireatnient with simeton. The rate of production of leaf injuries and the degree of photosynthetic inhibition induced in plants exposed to CO₂-free air increased with exposure time and with light intensity. Exposure to CO₂-free nitrogen delayed the onset of the inhibition and the development of the injuries. These results showed some analogies with the action of herbicides which affect photosynthesis.     

中国塑料大棚中菜园土盐分含量研究

Field experiments were conducted on three main soils,brown soil,meadow soil and cinnamon soil,of Shandong Province to study the effect of plastic greenhouse gardening on soil salt contents.As compared to the open fields,the soil nutrient contents in the fields under platic greenhouse gardening all incereased significantly,The organic matter,quickly available N and P incereases were extremely significant and the quckly available K increase was also significant.Along with the nutrient incresases the soil salt contents increased clearly in all the soils investigated not only in the top layer but also in the deeper layers being extremely significant in the 0-10 cm lasyer and significant in the 10-40 cm layers .The salt contents in the plastic greenhouses had significant correlations with the soil available nitrogen and phosphorous.Soils with longer plastic greenhouse gardening time tended to have more salt.The platic greenhouse soils contained less CO3^2- and much more NO3^- than the open soils ,which indicated a higher influence of human intervention in plastic greenhouses.Among the constituent ions.Cl^-,NO3^-,Ca^2 and Mg^2 had positive while HCO3^- had negative significant or extremely significant correlations with total salt,with correlation coefficients being 0.66^*,0.80^**,0.92^**,0.80^**and -0.64^*, respectively.Nitrate decreased from the top to deeper layers both in the plastic greenhouses and in the open fields.The ,plastic greenhouse soils contained much more nitrate than the open fields in every layer and even the nitrate contents of the 80-100 cm layer were still several times those of the top layer in the open fields,The main reason for the salt increases was considered to be the inappropriate fertilization and selective absorption of nutrients by plants in the plastic greenhouses.The methods recommended to avoid soil salt increase in the plastic greenhouses were to apply fertilzers rationally according to the soils ,vegetalbes and fertilzer proerties and to adopt a good intercropping or rotation system.     

ADSORPTION OF HERBICIDE-DERIVED p-CHLOROANILINE RESIDUES IN SOILS: A PREDICTIVE EQUATION

Relationships between the adsorption of p-chloroaniline and the original adsorbate concentration were investigated for five soils ranging in organic matter content from 1.7 to 8.1 per cent and in clay content from 0.5 to 21 per cent. Adsorption data were analyzed applying the linear form of the Freundlich equation. To evaluate the general relationship between adsorption of p-chloroaniline by soils and the solution concentration (C₀), values of partition coefficient (Kp), reflecting the magnitude of distribution of chemical at equilibrium between soil colloids and solution were calculated. The experiments showed that the regression parameters were significantly correlated with the soil organic matter content. A comparison of the experimental results obtained with other soils and the calculated values gave satisfactory agreement.