Effects of inbreeding on nodal root system morphology and architecture of white clover (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Trifolium repens</Emphasis> L.)

Plants of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) cultivar Crau, a self-fertile Crau genotype, and nine generations of inbred progeny were raised in sand culture in a glasshouse experiment. Digital images of the root systems were made and root morphological characteristics were determined on all the plants. Root architectural parameters were measured on the Crau parent and the S₁, S₄, S₆, and S₉ inbred lines. The clover roots became shorter and thicker with inbreeding but the number of root tips per plant was unchanged. Root architecture (branching pattern) was largely unaffected by inbreeding. It is concluded that inbreeding white clover will lead to shorter, thicker roots, and reduced nutrient uptake efficiency compared with the parent clover. The degree to which these deleterious traits are overcome during the development of F₁ hybrids needs to be determined.     

Estimation of genetic variance components and heritabilities for cut-flower yield in gerbera using least squares and maximum likelihood methods

Summary Genetic variance components and heritability were estimated for cut-flower yield of gerbera in the Davis population using ordinary least squares and maximum likelihood methods. The overall estimate of narrow-sense heritability is 0.33 based on least squares (LS) and 0.31 based on maximum likelihood (ML). The results of the study indicate that (1) ML and LS provide very similar results if sample size is large enough, suggesting both are useful for plant breeding programs; (2) about one third of the variation in gerbera cut-flower yield is additive, implying selection in cut-flower will be successful; and (3) although additive variation gradually decreased, heritability remained near 0.27 suggesting there is still potential variation in the population for further selection.     

Screening for low grain cadmium phenotypes in sunflower, durum wheat and flax

Cadmium (Cd) level in nonoilseed sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), and durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) grown on uncontaminated, alkaline soils has exceeded limits established in Northern Europe. Separate field experiments were conducted to investigate variability of grain Cd levels among sunflower, durum wheat and flax germplasm, and to seek an efficient screening method for future breeding. There were large variations in leaf Cd concentration among 200 sunflower lines. These lines performed more consistently for Cd uptake at the R5 stage than at the V8 stage across 4 locations with markedly differing soils. Cd concentration in V8 leaves was not related to Cd in grain. The positive correlation between R5 leaf Cd and kernel Cd level was obtained from nonoilseed hybrid (Sigco 954) (R²; = 0.74**), and 200 lines (R² = 0.44**) tested over 4 locations in 2 field trials, respectively. This indicates that an efficient and low cost screening method can be developed for genotype selection, but plants must be grown to the R5 stage. A preliminary evaluation of 30 durum wheat and 74 flax lines indicated large variations in grain Cd level of durum wheat and flax. Grain Cd concentration ranged from 0.11 to 0.34 mg Cd kg^-1 DW for durum wheat, and 0.14 to 1.37 mg Cd kg^-1 DW for flax, respectively. This variability indicates that breeding for low grain Cd in durum wheat and flax should be feasible. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effects of multiple fires on tree invasion in montane grasslands

There is circumstantial evidence that grasslands on the Bunya Mountains were once maintained by Aboriginal burning, and with lack of fire under European management are being colonised by trees. To assess the efficacy of burning for maintaining grasslands, 119 fires were lit between 1996 and 2006. The total area of unburnt grasslands decreased by 27%, while grasslands burnt at least once decreased by 1%. The density of invading trees was recorded from fixed plots on 23 grasslands burnt between one and six times. Cassinia was virtually eliminated and the density of the Rainforest species guild slowly but continually declined. Acacia irrorata exhibited a humped response, with initial increases resulting from vegetative resprouting and gradual decline with persistent burning. Phyllodinous Acacia and Woodland trees were the least fire sensitive guilds, having stable or increased density with repeated burning. Multi-factor regression modelling detected no significant relationships between changes in woody plant density and the interval between fires, fire intensity, the initial density of large trees, an index of soil moisture, or the cumulative number of fires for any species guild. The survivorship of both Cassinia and Rainforest guilds was significantly lower with summer burning than winter burning, but a seasonal effect of burning was not evident for other guilds. The findings suggest that regardless of fire conditions, frequent burning will reduce the number of adult trees, maintain resprouts in an immature state, facilitate further fire and reduce the rate of grassland loss. Woodland species are especially resilient to fire, and burning to maintain grassy ecosystems will be most successful where the main colonisers are rainforest species and burning is conducted in summer. The findings suggest that the montane grasslands of the Bunya Mountains were maintained by anthropogenic burning and active fire management will prolong their existence.     

Towards an integrated understanding of green space in the European built environment

In recent years social, economic and environmental considerations have led to a reevaluation of the factors that contribute to sustainable urban environments. Increasingly, urban green space is seen as an integral part of cities providing a range of services to both the people and the wildlife living in urban areas. With this recognition and resulting from the simultaneous provision of different services, there is a real need to identify a research framework in which to develop multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research on urban green space. In order to address these needs, an iterative process based on the delphi technique was developed, which comprised email-mediated discussions and a two-day symposium involving experts from various disciplines. The two outputs of this iterative process were (i) an integrated framework for multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research and (ii) a catalogue of key research questions in urban green space research. The integrated framework presented here includes relevant research areas (i.e. ecosystem services, drivers of change, pressures on urban green space, human processes and goals of provision of urban green space) and emergent research themes in urban green space studies (i.e. physicality, experience, valuation, management and governance). Collectively these two outputs have the potential to establish an international research agenda for urban green space, which can contribute to the better understanding of people's relationship with cities.     

The DAWGPAWS pipeline for the annotation of genes and transposable elements in plant genomes

Background  

High quality annotation of the genes and transposable elements in complex genomes requires a human-curated integration of multiple sources of computational evidence. These evidences include results from a diversity of ab initio prediction programs as well as homology-based searches. Most of these programs operate on a single contiguous sequence at a time, and the results are generated in a diverse array of readable formats that must be translated to a standardized file format. These translated results must then be concatenated into a single source, and then presented in an integrated form for human curation.     

Image processing-based study of soil porosity and its effect on water movement through Andosol intact columns

The soil pore network and marcoporosity are important factors affecting water and solute transport. The transfer of contaminants to water resources is of particular importance in the Valle de Bravo watershed as it provides 10% of the drinking water for the 20 million inhabitants of Mexico City. This watershed is composed mainly of Andosols with unique mineralogical and physical characteristics. Soil porosity is usually examined on thin sections, using various image analysis techniques. We propose a novel methodology combining image analysis and a displacement experiment to study relationships between soil structure and water tracer transport parameters. H₂¹⁸O displacement experiments were conducted through intact soil columns sampled at three depths from a representative cultivated Andosol profile. The soil structure and pore characteristics were obtained by image analysis on thin sections obtained from each column at the end of the displacement experiment. The total 2D porosity (for pores larger than 50 μm) varied from 80% of the total section area in the topsoil to around 60% in the subsoil. Tubular pores were the most abundant in the soil profile, but ploughing of the topsoil had destroyed sections of these pores and replaced them with packing pores. Water transport in the intact subsoil columns was always in physical non-equilibrium, showing the existence of preferential flow pathways. In the topsoil, one column out of three showed no preferential flow, demonstrating that soil ploughing also homogenised pore connections. Pore connectivity was larger in the ploughed topsoil than in their deeper soil horizon counterparts. Our methodology offers a 2D quantitative characterisation of the macroporous network at 50 μm resolution and the determination of water transport parameters on the same intact soil samples. 3D characterisation of soil porosity using X-ray computed tomography (CT) gives a better picture of pore connection but usually has lower spatial resolution and a larger cost.     

Can giant clam (Tridacna squamosa) populations be restored on Singapore's heavily impacted coral reefs?

• 1. Giant clams have been a sustainable resource for millennia, but unregulated harvesting has led to local extinctions within the Indo‐Pacific region. Giant clam mariculture can produce large numbers of juveniles for restocking wild populations where natural recruitment is low or absent.
• 2. Singapore is surrounded by more than 60 small islands, many with fringing reefs. These reefs, however, experience increased turbidity and sedimentation resulting from massive coastal development projects and regular dredging of shipping lanes.
• 3. Seven reefs off Singapore's southern islands were surveyed (9670 m²) for giant clams. Also, an experiment was conducted to determine the growth of Tridacna squamosa reared in aquaria under three light treatments: ～50% ambient photosynthetically active radiation (PAR); ～25% ambient PAR; and ～12% ambient PAR. Finally, 144 clams (T. squamosa) were transplanted to four reefs around Singapore to study survival and growth in a heavily impacted environment.
• 4. A total of 23 adult clams from three species were found during the survey, representing a mean density of 0.24 per 100 m². Most clams were found at Raffles Lighthouse, Singapore's ‘best’ reef. No juvenile clams were encountered. In the aquarium experiment, clam growth was significantly different among the three light treatments, with growth greatest in the ～50% ambient PAR treatment. Of the 144 transplanted clams, 116 (80.6%) were recovered after 7 months. All specimens had increased in size, with growth rates among reefs ranging from 3.3 mm month^?1 (SD=1.3 mm) to 4.8 mm month^?1 (SD=1.6 mm).
• 5. Results suggest that, despite high levels of sedimentation and turbidity on Singapore's reefs, giant clams can survive and grow well. Restocking efforts using maricultured clams may be effective in enhancing the dwindling local populations. It is not clear, however, whether a self‐sustaining community can be established as high sedimentation may hinder larval settlement and survival.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) bycatch in Canadian pelagic longline fisheries: Relative importance in the western North Atlantic and opportunities for mitigation

Little is known about the ecology of loggerhead turtles, Caretta caretta, in Canadian waters. However, Canada's eastern waters off the Scotian Shelf, Georges Bank and Grand Banks appear to be seasonal foraging habitats based on dates and locations where they have been captured as fishery bycatch. Estimates derived from data recorded by the international observer program (IOP) and used for this study suggest that thousands of mostly immature loggerheads have been captured in the Canadian pelagic longline fishery (PLF) in the western North Atlantic since 1999. These data suggest that the PLFs for tuna and swordfish are among the most important causes of incidental capture. Although U.S. and Canadian bycatch estimation methods differ and uncertainty associated with the estimates is high, it is clear from the IOP data that bycatch in the Canadian PLF is substantial and roughly within the same magnitude as that reported for the entire U.S. fleet in the North Atlantic for the same period (1999–2005). Analysis of bycatch observer data from the Canadian PLF and other empirical data suggests that fishing at temperatures below 20 °C using fish rather than squid bait and size-18 circle hooks could reduce loggerhead bycatch and mortality. However, research is needed to identify the best options and their commercial viability. Loggerheads that use Canadian Maritime waters are one of the least studied groups of loggerheads in the world, so systematic long-term studies on the ecology of loggerheads in Canada would help fill important information gaps and assist in developing effective recovery plans for this species.