Environmental stress response limits microbial necromass contributions to soil organic carbon

The majority of dead organic material enters the soil carbon pool following initial incorporation into microbial biomass. The decomposition of microbial necromass carbon (C) is, therefore, an important process governing the balance between terrestrial and atmospheric C pools. We tested how abiotic stress (drought), biotic interactions (invertebrate grazing) and physical disturbance influence the biochemistry (C:N ratio and calcium oxalate production) of living fungal cells, and the subsequent stabilization of fungal-derived C after senescence. We traced the fate of ¹³C-labeled necromass from ‘stressed’ and ‘unstressed’ fungi into living soil microbes, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total soil carbon and respired CO₂. All stressors stimulated the production of calcium oxalate crystals and enhanced the C:N ratios of living fungal mycelia, leading to the formation of ‘recalcitrant’ necromass. Although we were unable to detect consistent effects of stress on the mineralization rates of fungal necromass, a greater proportion of the non-stressed (labile) fungal necromass C was stabilised in soil. Our finding is consistent with the emerging understanding that recalcitrant material is entirely decomposed within soil, but incorporated less efficiently into living microbial biomass and, ultimately, into stable SOC.     

Contrasting development of soil microbial community structure under no-tilled perennial and tilled cropping during early pedogenesis of a Mollisol

A range of agricultural practices influence soil microbial communities, such as tillage and organic C inputs, however such effects are largely unknown at the initial stage of soil formation. Using an eight-year field experiment established on exposed parent material (PM) of a Mollisol, our objectives were to: (1) to determine the effects of field management and soil depth on soil microbial community structure; (2) to elucidate shifts in microbial community structure in relation to PM, compared to an arable Mollisol (MO) without organic amendment; and (3) to identify the controlling factors of such changes in microbial community structure. The treatments included two no-tilled soils supporting perennial crops, and four tilled soils under the same cropping system, with or without chemical fertilization and crop residue amendment. Principal component (PC) analysis of phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiles demonstrated that microbial community structures were affected by tillage and/or organic and inorganic inputs via PC1 and by land use and/or soil depth via PC2. All the field treatments were separated by PM into two groups via PC1, the tilled and the no-tilled soils, with the tilled soils more developed towards MO. The tilled soils were separated with respect to MO via PC1 associated with the differences in mineral fertilization and the quality of organic amendments, with the soils without organic amendment being more similar to MO. The separations via PC1 were principally driven by bacteria and associated with soil pH and soil C, N and P. The separations via PC2 were driven by fungi, actinomycetes and Gram (−) bacteria, and associated with soil bulk density. The separations via both PC1 and PC2 were associated with soil aggregate stability and exchangeable K, indicating the effects of weathering and soil aggregation. The results suggest that in spite of the importance of mineral fertilization and organic amendments, tillage and land-use type play a significant role in determining the nature of the development of associated soil microbial community structures at the initial stages of soil formation.     

毕节市漆树品种产量与树皮性状的灰色关联度分析

为漆树优良品种的选择以及灰色系统理论在林业林木品种评价上的运用提供参考，对毕节市8个漆树品种红漆大木、粉皮大木、灯台大木、红尖大木、肤胭皮、粉红皮、白杨皮、青杠皮等树皮解剖中6个主要性状与产漆量的关系进行灰色关联度分析。结果表明：漆树树皮解剖的单个性状对产漆量有直接影响，其中以漆汁道直径的大小关系最重要，直接关联度达0．7964；其次是活皮漆汁道单位面积与活皮厚度。从树皮解剖的综合性状看，漆树品种最好的依次是红尖大木＞红漆大木＞肤胭皮＞灯台大木＞白杨皮＞粉皮大木＞粉红皮＞青杠皮。分析结果与实际生产基本一致，表明在林业生产中运用灰色关联分析进行综合评价是可行的。     

Effects of spent mushroom substrates and inorganic fertilizer on the characteristics of a calcareous clayey‐loam soil and lettuce production

We evaluated the effects of the addition of two types of spent mushroom substrate (SMS), SMS from an Agaricus bisporus crop (SMS1) and a mixture of SMSs from an A. bisporus crop and a Pleurotus crop (50% v/v each) (SMS2), on the characteristics of a calcareous clayey‐loam soil and the yield and nutritional status of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), relative to crops receiving mineral fertilizer (M) and a control (C) without amendment. The application of SMS, especially SMS1, improved soil fertility compared with C and M soils. Moreover, the use of these organic substrates as soil amendments did not harm the plants and gave yields similar to that obtained with mineral fertilizer. The nutritional contents of the lettuce plants were greater than or similar to those of the plants from treatment C or M, except for the plant tissue concentrations of K, Fe and Zn, which were significantly reduced by SMS application. However, this latter fact did not reduce the lettuce yield in the amended soils. Therefore, the use of SMSs as organic amendments contributes to residue utilization, in an environmentally friendly way, and to improved soil fertility and crop yield.     

A calibration method of detecting soil water content based on the information-sharing in wireless sensor network

In agricultural production, there is contradiction between the cost and accuracy of detection during the course of acquiring soil water content (θ) online. This conflict is one of the core issues of automatic water-saving irrigation technology in agriculture. At the same time, capacitive soil moisture sensor (CSMS) has received considerable attention, for it can acquire θ with low cost and high precision, and meet the application requirements of wireless sensor network (WSN). But CSMS is vulnerable to the soil temperature (T_s) and salinity (S_s) in the measurement process. Therefore, this study took EC-5 sensor for example to establish water detection calibration models of soil temperature and salinity for single sensor, using Least Squares Support Vector Machines on MatLAB (LS-SVMlab) as the tool. On this basis, we explored the spatial variability of T_s and S_s, and then a method, which could be used to calibrate the output signals of sensors in multi-point network, was proposed based on the information-sharing (T_s or S_s) technology of WSN. Through laboratory experiment, we effectively reduced the impact of soil temperature and salinity on the single sensor. In example analysis, we investigated the detection precision and costs under different information-sharing radiuses (r). And the results indicated that the method we proposed based on the information-sharing technology of WSN could successfully calibrate the influence of soil temperature and salinity on sensors in multi-point network, and it was an efficacious approach to determine the balance between the calibration accuracy of moisture sensor and the investment of agricultural production. For example, while the calibration precision of soil temperature and salinity is respectively 1%, the costs can be reduced by 30%.     

土壤pH值对极小种群毛枝五针松生理特性的影响

幼苗建成期是毛枝五针松(Pinus wangii)天然更新的关键阶段,为找出影响毛枝五针松幼苗存活的关键生态因子,采用植物生理学方法,研究在7个酸碱度土壤培育下,毛枝五针松松针超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化物酶活性(POD)活性和脯氨酸、可溶性糖质量分数及丙二醛(MDA)摩尔质量浓度的变化。结果表明:毛枝五针松在弱碱土壤中抗逆性更强,形态观察得知其在弱碱性土壤中生长更好;生理指标测定结果表明,土壤在p H=7.69~8.42时最适宜毛枝五针松幼苗的生长发育。     

基于GIS的土壤肥力质量综合评价——以天然云冷杉针阔混交林为例

以吉林汪清林业局金沟岭林场中41块天然云冷杉针阔混交林样地为对象,采用主成分-聚类分析,结合GIS技术,对该区域土壤肥力质量进行综合评价。结果表明,按主成分-聚类分析结果将41块样地分为4类:第1类土壤肥力质量综合得分为11.17~18.86(优),包括5块样地;第2类土壤肥力质量综合得分为3.01~7.44(良),包括8块样地;第3类土壤肥力质量综合得分为-6.97~1.27(一般),包括24块样地;第4类土壤肥力质量综合得分为-12.40~-9.63(差),包括4块样地。然后采用Arc GIS软件对综合得分进行普通Kriging插值,其标准均方根预测为0.9544,在1的附近,这基本达到插值精度的要求。从生成的研究区土壤肥力质量综合得分空间分布图来看,森林土壤肥力质量由西向东呈现先降低后升高的趋势;由北向南,森林土壤肥力质量变化幅度逐步减小,表明研究区南部土壤肥力质量变化较北部均匀。就研究区的整体土壤肥力质量而言,土壤肥力质量中等以上(优,良,一般)样地数占所研究区样地总数比例为90.24%,表明所研究区森林土壤肥力质量整体处于良好水平。     

Flowability,moisture sorption and thermal properties of tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] grain flours

Recently tef is attracting the attention of the modern food industry since it is a gluten-free grain encompassing highly appreciated nutritional advaxntages. As a relatively new raw material, little information on its handling and processing properties is available. Flowability, water sorption characteristics and thermal properties of flours from three Ethiopian tef varieties were studied. Wheat (whole and refined) and rice flours were included as references. Tef flours were less flowable than the reference flours and their flow properties were more sensitive to water activity changes. Tef flours led to sigmoidal sorption isotherms with estimated monolayer water content of 0.053 (BET model) and 0.057 (GAB model) g water/g dry solids. No significant differences among the three tef varieties were observed on their gelatinization enthalpies that were higher than that of wheat and similar to rice. The amylopectin recrystallization extent after 7 days of storage at 4 °C was significantly higher in tef than in wheat flour.     

Effects of burning on soil macrofauna in a savanna-woodland under different experimental fuel load treatments

In West African savanna-woodland, the use of prescribed burning as a management tool has ecological implications for the soil biota. Yet, the effects of fire on soil inhabiting organisms are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to examine the responses of soil macro-invertebrates to early fires in a Sudanian savanna-woodland on a set of experimental plots subject to different fuel load treatments. The abundance of major macro-invertebrate taxa and functional groups, and taxon richness were quantified in soil cores collected from three different soil layers before and immediately after burning. The results indicated that, overall, there was substantial spatial and temporal variation in the composition of macro-invertebrate assemblages. The immediate effects of fire were to reduce total invertebrate numbers and numbers of many invertebrate groups dramatically. This is probably due to the fact that many of the surface-dwelling macrofauna perished as a result of less favorable microclimate due to fire, diminished resources, or migrate to safer environments. Fuel load treatment did not affect the community taxonomic richness or abundance of the soil-dwelling fauna. Furthermore, annual changes in community composition were more pronounced at the burnt site than in the control. This could be related to the inter-annual difference in precipitation pattern recorded during the two-year study period at our site. Since soil macrofauna population declines in fire-disturbed areas, increasing fire prevalence may jeopardize the long-term conservation of fire sensitive macrofauna groups. Special fire management attention is therefore recommended with due consideration to the type of burning and fuel properties to avoid the detrimental effects of intense fire affecting the resilience of savanna soil macrofauna species.     

Soil enzyme activities during the 2011 Texas record drought/heat wave and implications to biogeochemical cycling and organic matter dynamics

Extreme droughts and heat waves due to climate change may have permanent consequences on soil quality and functioning in agroecosystems. During November 2010 to August 2011, the Southern High Plains (SHP) region of Texas, U.S., a large cotton producing area, received only 39.6 mm of precipitation (vs. the historical avg. of 373 mm) and experienced the hottest summer since record keeping began in 1911. Several enzyme activities (EAs) important in biogeochemical cycling were evaluated in two soils (a loam and a sandy loam at 0–10 cm) with a management history of monoculture (continuous cotton) or rotation (cotton and sorghum or millet). Samplings occurred under the most extreme drought and heat conditions (July 2011), after precipitation resulted in a reduction in a drought severity index (March 2012), and 12 months after the initial sampling (July 2012; loam only). Eight out of ten EAs, were significantly higher in July 2011 compared to March 2012 for some combinations of soil type and management history. Among these eight EAs, enzymes key to C (β-glucosidase, β-glucosaminidase) and P cycling (phosphodiesterase, acid and alkaline phosphatases) were significantly higher (19–79%) in July 2011 than in March 2012 for both management histories regardless of the soil type (P > 0.05). When comparing all sampling times, the activities of alkaline phosphatase, aspartase and urease (rotation only) showed this trend: July 2011 > March 2012 > July 2012. Activities of phosphodiesterase, acid phosphatase, α-galactosidase, β-glucosidase and β-glucosaminidase were higher in July 2011 than July 2012 in at least one of the two management histories. Total C was reduced significantly from July 2011 to March 2012 in the rotation for both soils. Only the activities of arylsulfatase (avg. 36%) and asparaginase showed an increase from July 2011 to March 2012 for both soil types, which may indicate they have a different origin/location than the other enzymes. EAs continued to be a fingerprint of the soil management history (i.e., higher EAs in the rotation than in monoculture) during the drought/heat wave. This study provided some of the first evidence of the adverse effects of a natural, extreme drought and heat wave on soil quality in agroecosystems as indicated by EAs involved in biogeochemical cycling.