Fractal features of soil particle size distribution and the implication for indicating desertification

Some of the effects of land desertification on soil properties are manifested by the coarsening of the soil particlesize distribution (PSD) and the losses in organic C and nutrients. The changes and characteristics of PSD and selected chemical properties in soils at the 0-15 cm plough layer from different degrees of desertified croplands are analyzed in the semiarid Horqin Sandy Land, northern China. The fractal dimension of the PSD is emanated to characterize the patterns of PSD. The relationships between the fractal dimension of the PSD and selected soil properties are discussed. The results show that: (1) in the transformation from potential desertified cropland to extremely desertified cropland, the sand content at the 0-15 cm soil increased from 69% to 93%, organic C and total N contents decreased by 65% and 69%, respectively; (2) the fractal dimension of PSD ranged from 2.179 to 2.611, the more the contents of sand, the lower the fractal dimension and the higher the desertified degree of farmland. In the desertification process within the studied area, the mean fractal dimension decreased from 2.555 for the potential desertified soils to 2.298 for extremely desertified soils; (3) there existed considerable linear relationships between fractal dimension and soil properties. It was shown that fractal dimensions of PSD are useful parameters able to monitor soil degradation and to estimate the degree of soil desertification.     

土壤颗粒的分形特征及其应用

本文应用土壤颗粒的质量分布原理来描述土壤颗粒的分形特征。通过对10种土壤颗粒的机械组成进行分析,分别计算出它们的分形维数（D=2.489～2.896）,并分析了其与土壤质地之间的关系。同时对土壤颗粒分形维数与所对应土壤的幂函数型水分特征曲线的拟合分形维数进行比较分析,建立了二者之间的相关关系。结果表明:分形维数的大小反映了土壤质地中粘粒、粉粒和砂粒含量的变化,随粘粒含量的增多分形维数增大,随砂粒含量的增多分形维数减小;同时土壤颗粒分形维数与所对应的水分特征曲线的拟合分形维数呈现出良好的一致性,因而对所研究的土壤而言,可应用土壤颗粒的质量分形维数结合幂函数模型来估算土壤水分特性曲线。     

土壤水溶性有机物的紫外光谱特征及地域分异

测定了中国中东部地区 1 7种土类 45个样点近表层 1 0cm土样中水溶性有机物的紫外光谱和分子量分布特征 ,同时测定部分样品富里酸的相应特征。在此基础上比较和分析水溶性有机物与富里酸紫外光谱特征的差异、紫外光谱特征与样品平均分子量分布的关系及其地域分异规律。结果表明土壤水溶性有机物和富啡酸具有相似的紫外光谱特征 ;WSOC样品紫外 /可见光比值与其平均分子量负相关 ,而WSOC单位浓度的紫外吸收值则与平均分子量正相关。研究区水溶性有机物的单位浓度紫外吸收值具有明显的自北向南和自东向西递降的趋势 ,从根本上受制于水热条件的WSOC分子量分布可能是影响样品紫外特征地域分异的主要因素。     

Crop responses to applied soil compaction and to compaction repair treatments

Crop responses to annual compaction treatments (applied to whole plots) and management treatments to ameliorate compacted soil were determined in a field experiment on a Vertisol. Initially, all treatments except a control were compacted with a 10 Mg axle load on wet soil (26% gravimetric water content compared with a plastic limit of 22%). Annually applied axle loads of 10 and 6 Mg on wet soil (25–32% soil water) tended to reduce seedling emergence, grain yield (wheat, sorghum and maize), soil water storage and crop water use efficiency (WUE). Annual applications of an axle load of 6 Mg on dry soil (<22% soil water) had little effect on crop performance. Mean reductions in the yield of five crops (three wheat, one sorghum and one maize) in comparison with the uncompacted control were 23% or 0.79 Mg ha⁻¹ (10 Mg on wet soil), 13% or 0.44 Mg ha⁻¹ (6 Mg on wet soil) and 1% or 0.03 Mg ha⁻¹ (6 Mg on dry soil). Maize grown in the fifth year of treatment application was most affected by compaction of wet soil, its WUE being reduced from 14.3 to 9.7 kg ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹ in response to an axle load of 10 Mg. Reduced WUE was associated with delayed soil water extraction at depth. A 3-year pasture ley was the most successful amelioration treatment. A wheat and a maize crop grown after the ley outyielded the control by 0.33 and 0.90 Mg ha⁻¹, respectively. So the pasture not only ameliorated the initial compaction damage, with respect to crop performance, but resulted in improvements in two subsequent crops.     

Implication of relationships among suspended sediment size, water discharge and suspended sediment concentration: the Yellow River basin, China

According to the yearly maximum suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) in the Yellow River and its tributaries, the rivers are divided into three types of more than 300, 20–300, and less than 20 kg/m³. The middle Yellow River basin is located in the transitional zone from subhumid to semiarid climates, and covered by a thick loess mantle. Neighboring on the desert areas to the northwest, the surface material of the Loess Plateau exhibits some marked areal differentiation in grain size and forms three zones covered by sandy loess, (typical) loess and clayey loess from northwest to southeast. Controlled by these physico-geographical conditions, the grain size of river-transported sediment shows some particular characteristics; at small water discharge or SSC, the grain size of suspended sediment abruptly decreases to a minimum with increasing water discharge or SSC. At water discharge of more than ca. 40 m³/s or at SSC of more than ca. 40 kg/m³, the grain size increases with water discharge or SSC.During the low-stage season, the relatively clear baseflow may scour the coarse bed materials, so the suspended sediment is relatively coarse. In the rainy season, rainstorm runoff washes out fine loess materials to the river, making suspended sediment fine. During relatively strong rainstorms, there often occur hyperconcentrated flows at SSC of more than 300 kg/m³. The relatively coarse grains could then remain suspended in the mixture of water and fine suspended sediment.     

Habitat fragmentation in an urban environment: large and small fragments support different arthropod assemblages

We investigated the effects of fragmentation due to urbanisation on the species composition and functional roles of ants, beetles, spiders, flies and wasps. The study was conducted in 21 fragments of heath and woodland in south-eastern Australia classed as either ‘small’ (? 4 km²) or ‘large’ (? 80 km²). Arthropods were pitfall-trapped and identified to family or genus and morphospecies and microhabitat characteristics were recorded. Large fragments did not support more species per unit area than small fragments for most arthropods, although there were more species of ants per sampling unit in small than large woodland fragments, mainly due to a higher frequency of generalist species in smaller fragments. Large and small habitat fragments contained different assemblages of spiders, wasps and ants, indicating that predators and parasitoids are affected more strongly than other trophic groups. Arthropod assemblages within larger fragments where grids were furthest apart were less similar than those within smaller fragments where grids were closer together in woodland, but not in heath. The responses of arthropods to fragmentation suggest that, in addition to effects of reduced area and proximity to the urban matrix, changes in fire regimes and the degradation of habitats resulting from urbanisation, may have a role in altering arthropod assemblages, particularly affecting those species belonging to higher trophic levels. Management goals for urban remnants should identify mechanisms for controlling fire and anthropogenic disturbance such that they closely resemble the levels of these factors in larger fragments.     

堆体大小对猪粪堆肥影响和袋装堆肥的研究

研究了堆体大小对堆肥的影响以及堆制10 d的物料袋装堆肥的可行性。试验将猪粪和秸秆按一定比例混合均匀后分800 kg、400 kg和200 kg三种规格堆制40 d，另设800 kg组物料堆制10 d后转移分装到袋中继续堆制至40 d。每天上午、下午测定堆温，并于堆制第1、5、10、20、30和40 d取物料测定C/N比、水溶性碳、总腐殖质、氨态氮和硝态氮。结果表明，400 kg和800 kg组经40 d左右可以达到腐熟，而200 kg组不能完成彻底的有机质分解。与非袋装组比较，袋装堆肥堆制结束(40 d)物料的C/N比较低、腐殖质和氨态氮相近、水溶性碳和硝态氮较高。袋装法简单经济，占地少，便于畜牧场和农村推广应用。     

Historical Trace Metal Accumulation in the Sediments of an Urbanized Region of the Lake Champlain Watershed, Burlington, Vermont

This study documents the history ofpollution inputs in the Burlington region of LakeChamplain, Vermont using measurements of anthropogenicmetals (Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb, Cd, and Ag) in four age-datedsediment cores. Sediments record a history ofcontamination in a region and can be used to assessthe changing threat to biota over time and to evaluatethe effectiveness of discharge regulations onanthropogenic inputs.Grain size, magnetic susceptibility, radiometricdating and pollen stratigraphy were combined withtrace metal data to provide an assessment of thehistory of contamination over the last 350 yr inthe Burlington region of Lake Champlain. Magneticsusceptibility was initially used to identify land-usehistory for each site because it is a proxy indicatorof soil erosion. Historical trends in metal inputs inthe Burlington region from the seventeenth through thetwentieth centuries are reflected in downcorevariations in metal concentrations and accumulationrates. Metal concentrations increase above backgroundvalues in the early to mid nineteenth century. Themetal input rate to the sediments increases around1920 and maximum concentrations and accumulation ratesare observed in the late 1960s. Decreases inconcentration and accumulation rate between 1970 andthe present are observed for most metals. Theobserved trends are primarily a function of variationsin anthropogenic inputs and not variations in sedimentgrain size. Grain size data were used to removetexture variations from the metal profiles and resultsshow trends in the anthropogenic metal signals remain. Radiometric dating and pollen stratigraphy providewell-constrained dates for the sediments therebyallowing the metal profiles to be interpreted in termsof land-use history.     

不同类型粒用高粱生产力及光合能力的比较研究

本文以高粱籽粒高产为目的,采用适合于生产上的种植密度,对不同株高的粒用高粱品种、杂交种群体进行生产能力和逃命能力比较研究。研究结果表明,中秆杂交种具有最高收获指数,获得最高籽粒产量。但是,我国当前生产上种植的中秆杂交种都属于叶片宽长且平展的株型,在LAI较高的生育后期,群体过于郁蔽,透光通风不良,导致NAR     

水稻籽粒库强与其淀粉积累之间关系的研究

本试验以源限制型水稻品种亚优2号、献改优63和汕优63为材料，研究籽粒发育过程中籽粒库强与其淀粉积累之间的关系。结果表明：（1）强、弱势粒淀粉积累与其胚乳细胞的数目密切相关，两者表现出明显的同步性；（2）强势粒蔗糖合成酶、腺苷二磷酸葡萄糖焦磷酸化酶和淀粉合成酶最大活性高峰出现时间显著早于弱势粒的出现时间，