A review of the role of excess soil moisture conditions in constraining farm practices under Atlantic conditions

The Less Favoured Area (LFA) scheme is a major element of the EU Rural Development Policy, aimed at supporting farming in areas with natural handicaps or low soil productivity. It has been in place since 1975 and accounts for 14% of total Community funding. In 2003, the European Court of Auditors recommended that the socio‐economic criteria on which the current scheme is based be replaced by biophysical criteria. Reviews of the proposals suggest that in Atlantic climates of Northwest Europe, the new criteria do not delineate adequately areas where agricultural productivity is constrained by the biophysical environment and that such areas are instead demarcated by the occurrence of excess soil moisture conditions. In this paper, we review the impact of excess soil moisture conditions on the sustainability of farming systems and their role in constraining strategic and tactical farm management practices. In particular, we review the scientific evidence on the impact of excess soil moisture conditions on herbage growth, herbage utilization, farm operations and environmental sustainability. On the basis of this, we propose an additional biophysical criterion for the new delineation of LFAs, namely the length of time that soil water is in excess of field capacity (‘field capacity days’). While there is no clear threshold for field capacity days above which agricultural sustainability is acutely constrained, the evidence reviewed in this paper suggests that the sustainability of intensive livestock farming and tillage systems is particularly challenging in scenarios where the 80 percentile of field capacity days exceeds 220–230 days.     

Comparison of nuclear and capacitance‐based soil water measuring techniques in salt‐affected soils

A field calibration experiment was carried out on salt‐affected clayey soil in Syria, to compare the sensitivity to soil electrical conductivity (ECe), and bulk density (ρ_b) of two instruments for estimating soil moisture: the neutron probe (NP) and the Diviner 2000 capacitance probe (CP). The results showed that the values of the correlation coefficient of the calibration were decreased when the ECe and ρ_b values increased; this decrease was more pronounced for the Diviner 2000, indicating that it was more sensitive to ρ_b and ECe than the NP. When only scaled frequency was used in the fitted equation, the Diviner 2000 in wet soil underestimated soil water content significantly at all depths, but especially in the top layer, by up to 0.09 cm³/cm³ compared with gravimetric determinations. However, in dry soil, the Diviner 2000 overestimated the volumetric water content by up to 0.05 cm³/cm³ in the top 15 cm, and by 0.03 cm³/cm³ at 30‐45 cm depth. The performance of the neutron probe was better overall; using a factory calibration curve no significant differences were observed between NP estimates and the gravimetric values. Including both ρ_b and ECe in the calibration equations improved the fits, although the regression coefficient (R²) for the Diviner 2000 remained low.     

Interrelationship of soil moisture and temperature to sylvatic plague cycle among prairie dogs in the Western United States

Plague, caused by Yersinia pestis, is a flea-borne disease that is endemic in areas throughout the world due to its successful maintenance in a sylvatic cycle, mainly in areas with temperate climates. Burrowing rodents are thought to play a key role in the enzootic maintenance as well as epizootic outbreaks of plague. In the United States, prairie dogs (Cynomys), rodents (Muridae), and ground squirrels (Spermophilus) are susceptible to infection and are parasitized by fleas that transmit plague. In particular, prairie dogs can experience outbreaks that rapidly spread, which can lead to extirpation of colonies. A number of ecological parameters, including climate, are associated with these epizootics. In this study, we asked whether soil parameters, primarily moisture and temperature, are associated with outbreaks of plague in black-tailed prairie dogs and Gunnison's prairie dogs in the Western United States, and at what depth these associations were apparent. We collected publicly available county-level information on the occurrence of population declines or colony extirpation, while historical soil data was collected from SCAN and USCRN stations in counties and states where prairie dogs have been located. The analysis suggests that soil moisture at lower depths correlates with colony die-offs, in addition to temperature near the surface, with key differences within the landscape ecology that impact the occurrence of plague. Overall, the model suggests that the burrow environment may play a significant role in the epizootic spread of disease amongst black-tailed and Gunnison's prairie dogs.     

稻谷籽粒的压缩特性与含水率关系的实验研究

通过Brookfield质构仪测定了不同含水率的稻谷籽粒(含水率为10.63%、12.25%、13.71%、15.18%、16.53%w.b.)在Z轴(短轴)方向上的压缩特性(破坏力、破坏能、表观接触弹性模量、最大接触应力、破坏应变),得出含水率对稻谷压缩特性的影响规律。实验结果表明:随着压缩形变的增加,稻谷籽粒受到的压力逐渐增加,当到达破裂点时达到最大值,随之急剧减小。随着含水率的增加,稻谷籽粒的压缩破坏力、破坏能、表观接触弹性模量、破坏应力逐渐减小,压缩破坏应变逐渐增加。     

微灌地膜的节水保墒增温效应研究

在实验基础上 ,分析论述了微灌地膜的节水效果和增温保墒效应。试验结果表明 ,微灌地膜可比地面灌溉节水 61 % ,增加地温 3℃～ 6℃ ,近地面空气相对湿度提高 3 0 %～ 40 % ,综合效应明显。可供微灌地膜或膜下微灌的进一步研究设计参考     

制种玉米密度对土壤水分及产量构成的影响研究

通过田间试验,就制种玉米密度对土壤水分、农艺性状、产量构成及产量的影响进行了研究分析。结果表明:1在拔节期以前,低密组的土壤含水量比高密组的高;在拔节期到灌浆期,高密组的比低密组的高。在整个生育期,拔节期前土壤含水量比较高,而后逐渐降低,吐丝期达到最低,然后又逐步上升。2在一定密度范围内,制种玉米株高、亩产量随着密度的增大而增加单株产量产量相反;叶长、穗粗、穗粒数先随着密度的增大而减小,后随着密度的增大而增大;叶宽、穗长、百粒重、出籽率先随着密度的增大而增加,后随着密度的增大而减小;叶面积、茎粗、穗位先随着密度的增大而减小,后随着密度的增大而增加,然后又随着密度的增大而减小,秃顶变化规律相反。     

玉米秸秆残茬覆盖对大豆田土壤水温效应的影响

研究了传统耕作、玉米原垄留茬耕作、玉米原垄留茬全覆盖、玉米留茬条带覆盖、浅松覆盖和深松覆盖6种耕作方式下土壤含水率、棵间蒸发量和地温的变化。结果表明,条带覆盖对大豆不同生育期土壤剖面含水率影响最大;其他耕作方式对棵间蒸发的抑制作用均小于传统耕作;日平均地温在苗期变化明显;保护性耕作对日平均地温影响较大,传统耕作最高,留茬全覆盖最低。     

覆盖方式对旱地小麦花后旗叶抗氧化生理及粒重形成的影响

于2017—2018年和2018—2019年,在西北中部旱作雨养农业区以冬小麦‘康庄974’为试验材料,设秸秆带状覆盖(SM)、地膜覆盖(PM)和无覆盖对照(CK)共3个栽培处理,分析不同覆盖方式对小麦灌浆期土壤水分和温度及抗氧化能力的影响,探讨花后干物质积累量和粒重形成的关系。结果表明,随生育期推进,花后旗叶相对含水量(RWC)逐渐降低,丙二醛(MDA)含量逐渐升高,且PM较SM降、升幅度明显。与CK相比,覆盖显著提高花后旗叶抗氧化酶活性,增加渗透调节物质含量;开花时间越长,SM抗氧化酶活性升高的幅度越大,而PM主要提高花后7 d旗叶抗氧化能力。SM和PM的粒重分别较CK增加14.3%和19.1%(P<0.05)。相关分析表明,土壤水分(SW)是影响旗叶生理活性的关键因子,提高SW,有利于增加RWC(r=0.84^**),从而提高旗叶抗氧化能力,其中RWC和抗坏血酸酶(ASA)活性呈极显著正相关关系(r=0.82^**);ASA活性和脯氨酸(Pro)含量呈极显著正相关关系(r=0.94^**),和MDA含量呈极显著负相...     

适期收割对稻谷损失影响的研究

稻米原粮爆腰率是影响加工过程中出米率的重要因素。经调查，农家交售原粮中爆腰率高达25％，其中有干燥、储藏方面的原因，也有收割期不当的原因。本研究从一株稻穗中谷粒含水率与爆腰率的关系分析着手，通过对田间不同品种、不同含水率稻谷爆腰率的测定，并用概率统计方法进行分析的结果证明，完整谷粒的平均含水率在20％以上时收割，可以有效地避免田间爆腰率的发生。     

Existing Situation on Disposal of Sludge from Wastewater Treatment Plant in Three-Gorges Reservoir Area

At present 18 wastewater treatment plants operateing in the Small towns of Three Gorge Areas of Chongqing Municipality, producing 132.95 tons surplus sludge everyday. As regards to the disposition of such numerous surplus sludge, the major disposition technique in these wastewater water treatment plants, i. e. , thickening and mechanical dewatering technique followed by feeding into the municipal solid waste landfill, seems to have a rather bad effect on the normal operation of the municipal solid waste landfill, due to the unstabilized sludge resulted from this technique of the sludge disposition and high moisture in the sludge, which is higher than 80%. This paper has paid some attention to this phenomenon. With respect to the small towns having the the municipal solid waste landfill, the techniques of mechanical dewatering, calcareousness stabilized etc. before feeding into the municipal solid waste landfill, seem to be feasible, while the composting and comprehensive utilization of sludge is available in the small towns which have no municipal solid waste landfills.