The concept of habitat specificity revisited

Habitat specificity indices reflect richness (α) and/or distinctiveness (β) components of diversity. The latter may be defined by α and γ (landscape) diversity in two alternative ways: multiplicatively () and additively (). We demonstrate that the original habitat specificity concept of Wagner and Edwards (Landscape Ecol 16:121–131, 2001) consists of three independent components: core habitat specificity (uniqueness of the species composition), patch area and patch species richness. We describe habitat specificity as a family of indices that may include either area or richness components, or none or both, and open for use of different types of mean in calculation of core habitat specificity. Core habitat specificity is a beta diversity measure: the effective number of completely distinct communities in the landscape. Habitat specificity weighted by species number is a gamma diversity measure: the effective number of species that a patch contributes to landscape richness. We compared 12 habitat specificity indices by theoretical reasoning and by use of field data (vascular plant species in SE Norwegian agricultural landscapes). Habitat specificity indices are strongly influenced by weights for patch area and patch species richness, and the relative contribution of rare vs. common species (type of mean). The relevance of properties emphasized by each habitat specificity index for evaluation of patches in a biodiversity context is discussed. Core habitat specificity is emphasized as an ecologically interpretable measure that specifically addresses patch uniqueness while habitat specificity weighted by species number combines species richness and species composition in ways relevant for conservation biological assessment. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

光环境调控及LED在蔬菜设施栽培中的应用和前景

综述了近年来光环境调控及发光二极管（LED）在蔬菜设施栽培中的研究与应用,主要内容包括：我国蔬菜设施栽培中光环境现状及问题,光环境调控在蔬菜设施栽培中的应用研究进展,LED在蔬菜设施栽培中的应用前景分析。     

PEG对10℃低温吸胀下实葶葱种子萌发的影响

基于种子萌发试验,测定了10℃低温对实葶葱种子发芽的影响及浓度为0%、10%、15%、20%、25%、30%的PEG处理对实葶葱种子低温吸胀1、2、3、5、7 d的缓解作用.结果表明:10℃低温吸胀持续时间超过临界时间(1 d)时就会抑制实葶葱种子的萌发.10℃低温吸胀通过PEG的渗透调节,可显著改善实葶葱种子的萌发,其中以处理浓度15%时效果最好,并随着低温吸胀时间的延长PEG的作用越明显.各浓度PEG处理10℃低温吸胀的实葶葱种子1d时种子萌发效果最佳.     

黄瓜根际促生菌的促生效应与防病作用

对黄瓜植物根际促生菌(PGPR)菌株的分离筛选、分类鉴定以及人们对其促生防病作用的应用和防病机制的研究现状进行了综述,以期为新型PGPR制剂的进一步研制、开发和应用提供参考.     

平邑甜茶后代双胚苗的倍性鉴定及核型分析

为了确定平邑甜茶双胚苗的倍性特征和核型特点,采用压片和流式细胞仪观测的方法对平邑甜茶后代中双胚苗进行染色体倍性观察和核型分析。结果表明:4株供试材料均为三倍体,2n=3x=51,染色体为小型,染色体长度比差异不大;核型组成由中部着丝点染色体(m)和亚中部着丝点染色体(sm)组成;株系8-1、8-2、12-1和12-2的核型公式分别为2n=3x=45m+6sm,2n=3x=48m+3sm,2n=3x=27m+24sm,2n=3x=33m+18sm;染色体相对长度和着丝点指数的变异范围分别为1.21%～2.68%和34.19%～42.37%,1.44%～2.63%和35.59%～44.08%,1.36%～3.02%和32.85%～42.18%,1.43%～2.87%和34.23%～44.02%;核型分别属于1B、1A、2B和1B类型,表现为株系之间的核型不完全相同。本研究为丰富无融合生殖型砧木的育种理论,获得新的苹果无融合生殖型砧木提供有益的借鉴。     

荔枝的功能及活性成分研究现状

自古以来,中国就有荔枝各组织保健医疗功能的记载。现代医学、营养学、植物化学和药理学为荔枝的医疗和保健功能提供了坚实的证据,其功能活性成分正不断被揭示。对荔枝果肉抗氧化、"上火"和致敏原,果皮抗氧化和抗癌功效,核抗癌、抗病毒、降血糖、调血脂等功能和相关成分研究现状进行了介绍。     

侧杂食跗线螨在海南危害西瓜

描述了采自海南省三亚市西瓜上的侧杂食跗线螨Polyphagotarsonemus latus(Banks)及其为害症状和发生情况,并提出了防治措施。     

Optimizing supplemental irrigation: Tradeoffs between profitability and sustainability

Water production functions are used to model yield response to various levels of supplemental irrigation (SI), to assess water productivity coefficients, and to identify optimum irrigation under various input-output price scenarios. The SI production function is taken as the difference between the total water production function (irrigation + rain) and that of rainwater. Theoretical analysis of the unconstrained objective function shows that the seasonal depth of SI to maximize profit occurs when the marginal product of water equals the ratio of unit water cost to unit product sale price. Applying this analysis to wheat in northern Syria, the production functions of SI under different rainfall conditions are developed. Coupled with current and projected water costs and wheat sale prices, the functions are used to develop an easy-to-use chart for determining seasonal irrigation rates to maximize profit under a range of seasonal rainfall amounts.Results show that, for a given seasonal rainfall, there is a critical value for the ratio of irrigation cost to production price beyond which SI becomes less profitable than rainfed production. Higher product prices and lower irrigation costs encourage the use of more water. Policies supporting high wheat prices and low irrigation costs encourage maximizing yields but with low water productivity. The resulting farmer practice threatens the sustainability of water resources. Balancing profitability versus sustainability is a challenge for policy makers. Our analysis can help national and local water authorities and policy makers determine appropriate policies for water valuation and allocation; and assist extension services and farmers in planning irrigation infrastructure and farm water management.     

An integrated water trading-allocation model, applied to a water market in Australia

Temporary water trading is an established and growing phenomenon in the Australian irrigation sector. However, decision support and planning tools that incorporate economic and biophysical factors associated with temporary water trading are lacking. In this paper the integration of an economic trading model with a hydrologic water allocation model is discussed. The integrated model is used to estimate the impacts of temporary water trading and physical water transfers. The model can incorporate economic and biophysical drivers of water trading. The economic model incorporates the key trade drivers of commodity prices, seasonal water allocations and irrigation deliveries. The hydrologic model is based on the Resource Allocation Model (REALM) framework, which facilitates hydrologic network simulation modelling. It incorporates water delivery system properties and operating rules for the main irrigation and urban centres in a study area.The proposed integration method has been applied to a case study area in northern Victoria, Australia. Simulations were conducted for wet and dry spells, a range of commodity prices and different irrigation distribution system configurations. Some example analyses of scenarios incorporating water trading were undertaken. From these analyses potential bottlenecks to trade that constrain the economic benefits from temporary water trading were identified. Furthermore, it was found that in certain areas of the system, trading can make impacts of long drought spells worse for water users, e.g. irrigators. Thus, the integrated model can be used to quantify short-term and long-term third party impacts arising from temporary water trading. These findings also highlight the need to link “paper trades” (estimated by economic models) to physical water transfers (estimated by biophysical models).     

Yield and water-production functions of two durum wheat cultivars grown under different irrigation and nitrogen regimes

Wheat (Triticum durum L.) yields in the semi-arid regions are limited by inadequate water supply late in the cropping season. Planning suitable irrigation strategy and nitrogen fertilization with the appropriate crop phenology will produce optimum grain yields. A 3-year experiment was conducted on deep, fairly drained clay soil, at Tal Amara Research Station in the central Bekaa Valley of Lebanon to investigate the response of durum wheat to supplemental irrigation (IRR) and nitrogen rate (NR). Three water supply levels (rainfed and two treatments irrigated at half and full soil water deficit) were coupled with three N fertilization rates (100, 150 and 200 kg N ha⁻¹) and two cultivars (Waha and Haurani) under the same cropping practices (sowing date, seeding rate, row space and seeding depth). Averaged across N treatments and years, rainfed treatment yielded 3.49 Mg ha⁻¹ and it was 25% and 28% less than half and full irrigation treatments, respectively, for Waha, while for Haurani the rainfed treatment yielded 3.21 Mg ha⁻¹, and it was 18% and 22% less than half and full irrigation, respectively. On the other hand, N fertilization of 150 and 200 kg N ha⁻¹ increased grain yield in Waha by 12% and 16%, respectively, in comparison with N fertilization of 100 kg N ha⁻¹, while for cultivar Haurani the increases were 24% and 38%, respectively. Regardless of cultivar, results showed that supplemental irrigation significantly increased grain number per square meter and grain weight with respect to the rainfed treatment, while nitrogen fertilization was observed to have significant effects only on grain number per square meter. Moreover, results showed that grain yield for cultivar Haurani was less affected by supplemental irrigation and more affected by nitrogen fertilization than cultivar Waha in all years. However, cultivar effects were of lower magnitude compared with those of irrigation and nitrogen. We conclude that optimum yield was produced for both cultivars at 50% of soil water deficit as supplemental irrigation and N rate of 150 kg N ha⁻¹. However, Harvest index (HI) and water use efficiency (WUE) in both cultivars were not significantly affected neither by supplemental irrigation nor by nitrogen rate. Evapotranspiration (ET) of rainfed wheat ranged from 300 to 400 mm, while irrigated wheat had seasonal ET ranging from 450 to 650 mm. On the other hand, irrigation treatments significantly affected ET after normalizing for vapor pressure deficit (ET/VPD) during the growing season. Supplemental irrigation at 50% and 100% of soil water deficit had approximately 26 and 52 mm mbar⁻¹ more ET/VPD, respectively, than those grown under rainfed conditions.