Optimizing competitive uses of water for irrigation and fisheries

Choosing the appropriate reservoir water management strategy can be difficult when the water has multiple uses. This study examines this problem for reservoir managers where water use involves irrigation and fisheries. A stochastic dynamic programming (SDP) model is developed to facilitate reservoir management, using a case study illustration for southern Vietnam. The model includes the response of rice and fish yields to key factors including reservoir water levels, the timing and quantity of water release, and climatic conditions. The model also accounts for variation in rainfall patterns, irrigation requirements, and the demand for low water levels during the fish harvest season. Three production scenarios are examined where the reservoir's water is used for: only producing rice (scenario 1), only producing fish (scenario 2), and producing rice and fish (scenario 3). Key findings are: (1) for scenario 1, adequate water should be released to meet rice growing water requirements and residual water should be stored as a source of water in case of low rainfall, (2) for scenario 2, sufficient water needs to be released prior to the fish harvest to maximize this harvest; and (3) for scenario 3, water should be released prior to fish harvest, but sufficient water should remain to satisfy the water requirements of rice. When the reservoir is managed for joint production of rice and fish, net benefits are 6% greater than when the reservoir is managed solely for rice production. The SDP model developed in this paper could be adapted and applied to other multiple-use resources such as forests, river basins, and land.     

极干旱地区玉米节水灌溉制度的研究

本文根据阿拉善盟地区水资源严重紧缺的现状，对玉米进行了为期３ａ的非充分灌溉试验。经方差分析确认试验成果是可靠的。对国外几种有代表性作物──水模型，进行拟合检验，确认当地条件下，玉米适合于Ｊｅｎｓｅｎ模型。由此用随机动态规划方法进行优化灌溉制度的制定，为指导我国西北极干旱地区的农业生产提供理论依据和技术方法。     

Development of arable weed seedbanks during the 6 years after the change from conventional to organic farming

All of the arable land of a farm in southern Germany was investigated during an 8-year period, starting 2 years before and ending 6 years after the change to organic farming. The first 3 years after the conversion, the total seed number in the soil increased from 4050 to 17 320 m⁻². From the fourth to the sixth year, it dropped back to 10 220 m⁻². The number of seeds increased particularly at sites with a low crop cover and a high density of weed plants at the soil surface. The increase predominantly occurring on the more fertile soils may have been caused by the rotation commencing with less competitive crops. Crops which increased the seedbank by 30–40% were winter cereals, sunflowers and lupins. Potatoes and sown fallow caused no significant change and grass–clover mixtures even reduced the number of seeds by 39%. Among 44 species occurring frequently enough for statistical analysis, 31 increased and only 3 decreased. The change of management particularly increased summer annual, perennial and dicotyledonous weeds. This can be attributed to both operations which are characteristic of organic farming (e.g. replacing herbicide applications by mechanical weed control) and to general modifications of the management practice which may also occur in non-organic farming systems (increasing the percentage of broad leaved and spring sown crops in crop rotation). The present study confirms investigations into the aboveground vegetation that indicate that arable organic farming favours plant species diversity and provides evidence that the conversion need not encourage the dominance of a few noxious weeds.     

Influence of reward level on vertical distribution and growthof rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss fed on demand with self-feeders

ABSTRACT:   The influence of reward level on vertical distribution and growthwas examined in rainbow trout fed on demand with self-feeders. Groupsof 15 trout with initial body weight of 140 g were maintainedat 14°C and feed access was restricted to a 12-h photophase.The trout received three reward levels with triplicates: 0.051 (low),0.089 (medium) and 0.267 g/kg fish/triggeractuation (high). Vertical distribution in the higher reward groupswas generally more even than that in the lower-reward groups, butthe behavioral characteristics of some individuals in a group couldplay an important role in determining vertical distribution. Moreover,no fish including the individuals responsible for trigger actuation,occupied the vicinity of a trigger. The small groups of 15 troutreceiving the medium-reward level obtained as much feed and grewas fast as the high-reward groups, but this was not the case forthe low-reward groups.     

沙拐枣群落特征与生态学特性的研究

本文通过定量定性分析，对沙拐枣群落的组成成分及种的多样性、群落的外貌特征、垂直结构、分布格局和种间联结以及群落的演替等方面进行了研究，结果表明：沙拐枣群落Ｓｈａｎｎｏｎ－Ｗｉｅｎｅｒ指数为２．５１９７、均匀度为０．８００４，个体密度为８．８９株／１００ｍ￣２，群落盖度约１％；沙拐枣种群王泊松分布，天然更新能力强，呈入侵状态；群落演替表现为初期种的多样性较高而向顶极方向趋于减少；并根据群落密度提出了治沙栽植密度为７４－１１１株／亩和封沙育草中对沙拐枣群落的利用途径。     

番茄多茸毛基因Ln的遗传研究

研究番茄多茸毛基因Ln的遗传模式，按孟德尔质量性状遗传研究设计，以栽培番茄多茸毛品系LS1369与普通品系强力62配制的六世代遗传研究群体，研究番茄多茸毛形态突变基因Ln的遗传机理，通过研究分析各世代的表现型和基因型的关系，提出控制多茸毛性状的Ln基因为单基因不完全显性遗传模式。     

Vertical distributions of two herbivorous cichlid fishes of the genus Tropheus in Lake Tanganyika, Africa

The vertical distributions of two herbivorous cichlid fishes, Tropheus moorii and Tropheus duboisi, were studied on the rocky slope at Luhanga and Bemba, 12 km apart, in Lake Tanganyika, Zaire, Africa. At Luhanga, where T duboisi were not present, T. moorii ranged from the shoreline to a site 30 m deep. At Bemba, T moorii occupied areas less than 18 m and T duboisi areas between 5 and 30 m. In the overlapping zone, 5–18 m depth, each fish held an intra- and interspecific feeding territory, involving size-dependent dominance relationship between neighbors irrespective of species. We indicate that the vertical distributions of these species are restricted by competitive interactions.     

Changes in landscape patterns in Georgia,USA

The objectives of this study were to determine how landscape patterns in Georgia, USA have changed through time and whether the spatial patterns varied by physiographic region. Historical aerial photography was used to analyze spatial patterns of land use from the 1930's to the 1980's. Land use patterns were quantified by: (1) mean number and size of patches; (2) fractal dimension of patches; (3) amount of edge between land uses; and (4) indices of diversity, dominance, and contagion. Forest cover increased in aerial extent and in mean patch size. The mean size of agricultural patches increased in the coastal plain and decreased in the mountains and piedmont. Edges between land uses decreased through time, indicating less dissection of the landscape. Fractal dimensions also decreased, indicating simpler patch shapes. Indices of diversity and dominance differed through time but not among regions; the contagion index differed among regions but not through time. A geographic trend of decreasing diversity and increasing dominance and contagion was observed from the mountains to the lower coastal plain. Landscape patterns exhibited the greatest changes in the piedmont region. Overall, the Georgia landscape has become less fragmented and more connected during the past 50 years. Changing patterns in the landscape may have implications for many ecological processes and resources.     

Simulation of the options for a national control programme to eradicate scrapie from Great Britain

Because of the risk to public health posed by the potential presence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in sheep, there are plans to eradicate transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) from the British sheep population. We used a mathematical model for the spread of scrapie between sheep flocks to assess the efficacy of five control strategies at eradicating the infection from the national flock. These range from ram-genotyping schemes through whole-flock genotyping with selective culling to whole-flock slaughter. The impact of control was considered under three scenarios for the long-term dynamics of scrapie in GB: two in which scrapie is ultimately eliminated (with different median extinction times) and one in which scrapie remains endemic. Results suggested that it is feasible to eradicate scrapie from the British sheep flock, but that any national control programme will take decades to eliminate the disease and be costly. The most-effective strategy, measured in terms of the probability of eradication and time taken for eradication, was predicted to be whole-flock culling, which was effective under all three scenarios for the long-term dynamics of scrapie. Strategies involving whole-flock genotyping with selective culling were also effective, though they were predicted to take longer to eradicate scrapie than whole-flock culling. Ram-genotyping schemes were effective in some instances, but not for the scenario where scrapie remained endemic in the national flock. At low levels of reporting of clinical disease (<20%) the probability of eradication within 100 years was predicted to be <100% and, consequently, low levels of reporting could compromise the effectiveness of a control programme. Moreover, the predicted time taken to eradicate scrapie would increase markedly if the reporting compliance decreased.     

农产品供应链绩效评价研究

从供应链节点企业绩效水平、供应链合作绩效水平、供应链运作水平和供应链绿色水平4个方面,分析了评价农产品供应链绩效应考虑的主要因素,建立了农产品供应链绩效评价指标体系,并进一步给出基于随机模拟的农产品供应链绩效评价的模型和算法。最后通过实例分析,验证了该方法的有效性和实用性。