The Biology of the Larks (Alaudidae) of the Kalahari Sandveld

Pectoral spines from 750 Clarias gariepinus (Pisces:Clariidae) from Lake Sibaya were used for age and growth determinations. The spines have clear rings in the bone matrix. Rings formed on otoliths, vertebrae and opercula were less useful. A close correlation between ages determined from length frequency data and ages obtained by back-calculation of lengths for different ring classes exists. Spine rings are laid down annually, except in the first year. C. gariepinus in Lake Sibaya grow rapidly and remain in good condition to a length of about 500 mm (age 3+ years) but of the larger catfish, few exceed 650 mm (7+ years). Males grow slightly faster than females, and modal sizes are 580 - 590 mm TL, and 540 - 550 mm TL. Over one third of the adult population measures between 500 and 600 mm TL due to the sharp deceleration of growth rate after 500 mm TL. Modal length and growth rate of Sibaya catfish is equal to that of other C. gariepinus populations, but the number and condition of larger individuals is lower, probably because of inadequate food resources in deep water.     

智能温室综合性利用的设计及安装

智能温室是农业现代化的一个缩影,是都市农业的发展趋势。通过智能温室的塔型架,既能生产芽苗菜,又能生产叶菜。介绍了大棚和大棚里面芽菜、叶菜生长必要环境因子调控设施的安装,为智能温室的大面积推广和应用提供了技术支撑。     

甜樱桃设施栽培温度测控系统及其应用

选择适宜的通用型电子测控仪表,经电路改进后研制成甜樱桃设施栽培温度测控系统,替代传统的水银柱、红汞柱、煤油柱玻璃棒温度计和机械感应式温度计等测温装置,用于甜樱桃栽培大棚和温室的棚温遥测,取得预期效果。与传统的测温方式相比,避免了频繁进出大棚观看温度,降低了劳动强度,提高了棚温测控精度,特别是在夜间或雨雪天气,也能及时准确地观测棚温,适于甜樱桃设施栽培应用。     

WRF模式在Linux系统下的安装和运行

介绍了WRF模式在Linux系统下的调试运行过程,包括模式对计算机的硬件要求、模式的运行环境、相关编译器和函数库的安装,并着重介绍了模式的安装流程、运行流程及运行结果的后处理。利用WRF模式对四川省凉山州地区进行了中尺度气象模拟,模拟出冬季近地面风场和剖面温度,为进一步的气象分析和大气污染研究提供了数据基础。     

Grain yield increase in cereal variety mixtures: A meta-analysis of field trials

Plant ecology theory predicts that growing seed mixtures of varieties (variety mixtures) may increase grain yields compared to the average of component varieties in pure stands. Published results from field trials of cereal variety mixtures demonstrate, however, both positive and negative effects on grain yield. To investigate the prevalence and preconditions for positive mixing effects, reported grain yields of variety mixtures and pure variety stands were obtained from previously published variety trials, converted into relative mixing effects and combined using meta-analysis. Furthermore, available information on varieties, mixtures and growing conditions was used as independent variables in a series of meta-regressions. Twenty-six published studies, examining a total of 246 instances of variety mixtures of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), were identified as meeting the criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis; on the other hand, nearly 200 studies were discarded. The accepted studies reported results on both winter and spring types of each crop species. Relative mixing effects ranged from −30% to 100% with an overall meta-estimate of at least 2.7% (p < 0.001), reconfirming the potential of overall grain yield increase when growing varieties in mixtures. The mixing effect varied between crop types, with largest and significant effects for winter wheat and spring barley. The meta-regression demonstrated that mixing effect increased significantly with (1) diversity in reported grain yields, (2) diversity in disease resistance, and (3) diversity in weed suppressiveness, all among component varieties. Relative mixing effect was also found to increase significantly with the effective number of component varieties. The effects of the latter two differed significantly between crop types. All analyzed models had large unexplained variation between mixing effects, indicating that the variables retrievable from the published studies explained only a minority of the differences among mixtures and trials.     

Recruitment limitation in forests: Lessons from an unprecedented mountain pine beetle epidemic

Since the mid-1990s the forests of central British Columbia have undergone an unprecedented Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) (MPB) epidemic that has resulted in extensive mortality of canopy lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm.). This study investigated how seed-source availability, seedbed substrate, overstory structure, and time since MPB attack interact to affect post-MPB seedling recruitment of the dominant tree species of these forests. In addition to post-MPB recruitment, these forests may be regenerated by trees established in the understory prior to MPB disturbance. Accordingly, we examined abundance and patterns of all regeneration less than 130 cm tall. We found post-MPB recruitment was sparse. Subalpine fir (Abies laciocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.) comprised the majority of the post-MPB recruitment. It increased with local parent tree basal area and increased strongly with proximity to a major seed source. This resulted in a patchy distribution for subalpine fir post-MPB regeneration. Lodgepole pine post-MPB recruitment was limited by overstory shading. Recruitment of pine decreased as the total overstory basal area increased. Interior spruce (Picea glauca × engelmannii) post-MPB recruitment was similarly limited by total overstory basal area. Seedbed substrates were uniform and dominated by moss. Substrate type distribution did not change as time since MPB disturbance increased. The overall low post-MPB recruitment observed was likely due to a lack of disturbance to the moss-dominated forest floor. Moss is known to be a poor substrate in northern forests. The distribution of all regeneration less than 130 cm tall showed the same trends as the post-MPB regeneration. We believe the post-MPB seedling recruitment dynamics of these forests was not substantially changed from conditions prior to MPB disturbance. There was no pulse of regeneration up to 10 years post-MPB disturbance. Unless this changes, future stand structure will be dominated by the seedling bank established prior to the MPB epidemic. Subalpine fir dominated the seedling bank (68%) and post-MPB recruitment (94%). This suggests that MPB-disturbed forests are undergoing a substantial shift in landscape-level species composition.     

Decentralized selection and participatory approaches in plant breeding for low-input systems

Heterogeneous environments make it difficult to apply consistent selection pressure because often it is difficult to identify a single or a few superior genotypes across all sets of conditions. However, when the target system is characterized by heterogeneity of environmental stress, varieties developed in high-yielding conditions may fail to satisfy farmers’ needs. Although this type of system is often found in marginal environments of developing countries, heterogeneous environmental conditions are also a feature of organic and low-external-input systems in developed countries. To meet the needs of these systems, breeding programs must decentralize selection, and although decentralized selection can be done in formal breeding programs, it is more efficient to involve farmers in the selection and testing of early generation materials. Breeding within these target systems is challenging, both genetically and logistically, but can identify varieties that are adapted to farming systems in marginal environments or that use very few external inputs. A great deal has been published in recent years on the need for local adaptation and participatory plant breeding; this article reviews and synthesizes that literature.     

Characterization of drought stress environments for upland rice and maize in central Brazil

Drought stresses arise when the combination of rainfall and soil water supply are insufficient to meet the transpiration needs of the crop. In the Cerrado region of Goiás state, Brazil, summer rainfall is typically greater than 1000 mm. However, drought stress can occur during rain-free periods of only 1–3 weeks, since roots are frequently restricted to shallow depths due to Al-induced acidity in deeper soil layers. If these droughts are frequent, then plant breeding programs need to consider how to develop suitable germplasm for the target population of environments (TPE). A crop simulation model was used to determine patterns of drought stress for 12 locations and >30 environments (6 years × 5–6 planting dates) for short and medium duration rice crops (planted in early summer), and for maize grown either as a 1st or 2nd crop in the summer cycle. Regression analysis of the simulations confirmed the greater yield impact in both crops of drought stress (quantified as the ratio of water-limited to potential transpiration) when it occurred around the time of flowering and early grain-filling. For rice, mild mid-season droughts occurred 40–60% of the time in virgin (0.4 m deep for rice or 0.5 m for maize) soils and improved (0.8 m for rice or 1.0 m for maize) soils, with a yield reduction of <30%. More severe reproductive and grain-filling stress (yield reductions of 50% for rice to 90% for maize) occurred less frequently in rice (<30% of time) and 1st maize crop (< 10% of time). The 2nd maize crop experienced the greatest proportion (75–90%) of drought stresses that reduced yield to <50% of potential, with most of these occasions associated with later planting. The rice breeding station (CNPAF) experiences the same pattern of different drought types as for the TPE, and is largely suitable for early-stage selection of adapted germplasm based on yield potential. However, selection for virgin soil types could be augmented by evaluation on some less-improved soils in the slightly drier parts of the TPE region. Similarly, the drought patterns at the maize research station (CNPMS) and the other maize screening locations are better suited to selection of lines for the improved soil types. Development of lines for the 2nd crop and on more virgin (acidic) soils would require more targeted selection at late planting dates in drier sites.     

设施蔬菜连作障碍综合防治技术

在设施农业生产中,高肥栽培是非常普遍的现象,经过2～3年就会产生较严重的土壤次生盐渍化,产生土壤连作障碍,影响产量和经济效益,通过工程洗盐和土壤消毒可使土壤恢复原来的生产性能。     

Indirect changes associated with a selection program for increased seed-yield in wild species of Lesquerella (Brassicaceae): Are we developing a phenotype opposite to the expected ideotype?

Seed-yield stability, frequently associated with drought-tolerance strategies, is one of the main breeding objectives for the development of crops for semi-arid mediterranean-type environments. Since breeding of new industrial crops targeted for arid lands is not appreciably different from that of traditional crops, higher yield is achieved by increased harvest-index, at the cost of losing traits associated with drought-tolerance and reduced seed-yield stability. Using Lesquerella as a model we compared selected and unselected accessions of annual (L. gracilis and L. angustifolia) and perennial (L. pinetorum and L. mendocina) genotypes grown in field experiments in Patagonia, Argentina. Our objective was to assess the effects of breeding for increased seed-yield on traits related to the main characteristics that define the most common ideotype for mediterranean-type environments: early vigor, conservative growth strategy post-anthesis and reserves storage. Our specific question was: Have any of the attributes associated with seed-yield stability been indirectly selected during the domestication process? Our results show that these characteristics were reduced or lost, in selected lines compared to their wild relatives. Early vigor was lower in selected accessions and was associated mainly with reduced relative growth rate and CO₂ assimilation. During the reproductive period the growth strategy was changed by selection towards a non-conservative and more acquisitive resource use strategy. Traits associated with this strategy were linked to higher water use efficiency and growth capacity (higher CO₂ assimilation rate, specific leaf area, and leaf allocation), but also with loss of structural adaptation to low resource environments (i.e. low specific leaf area), an increase in nutrient and water demands, and reduced nutrient use efficiency. Carbohydrates accumulation pre-anthesis was lower in selected accessions of all four species, and also, just in perennials we found lower reserves storage post-anthesis. These changes in the pattern of carbohydrates accumulation could be associated to lower seed-yield stability due to the loss of buffer capacity linked with the use of pre-anthesis reserves for seed filling. On the other hand, in perennial species lower reserves storage after seed harvest could reduce plant longevity and survival. We conclude that indirect changes occurred during the preliminary domestication of both annual and perennial species of Lesquerella used in our experiment. These changes were against those required if these species were to be developed as crops for semi-arid, mediterranean environments and should result in low seed-yield stability.