Effect of livestock grazing and human uses on herbaceous species diversity in oriental beech （Fagus orientalis Lipsky） forests,Guilan, Masal,northern Iran

Plant diversity plays key ecological roles in forest ecosystems, including influencing succession, resilience and nutrient cycling. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of livestock grazing and human uses on herbaceous species diversity. We surveyed 50 ha of protected area and 50 ha of unprotected area to evaluate herbaceous species diversity in oriental beech （Fagus orientalis Lipsky） forests in northern Iran. We calculated and compared three indices each of diversity and evenness, and species richness between the two areas. Herbaceous cover was higher in the unprotected area while leaf litter depth and tree canopy cover were higher in the protected area. The diversity indices, H （Shan- non-Wiener index ）, N~ （McArthur index）, N2 （Hill＇s index）, EQ （Modified Nee index）, E,ar （Smith-Wilson index）, E5 （modified index of Hill） and R=S （species richness） and species richness R=S were greater in the protected area than in the unprotected area, suggesting that protection from grazing results in increased numbers of plants and species. The effect of land protection on plant diversity was more pronounced for evenness than for species richness and the positive correlation between diversity and evenness indices was higher than that between diversity and richness.     

The Role of Traditional Irrigation Canals in a Long Term Environmental Perspective A Case Study in Southern France： The Durance Basin

The agricultural sector is often considered to be the largest water consumer and the policy aimed at saving irrigation water exists across Europe. The flip-side of such policy, however, is the disappearance of traditional irrigation canals since farmers are encouraged to turn to drip irrigation and overhead irrigation gradually. Given this, we would like to argue that traditional irrigation canals need to be reexamined. Such canals are not only built aquatic infrastructure, they are also the product of a culture and social relationship with water in the Mediterranean region. Canals form a complex system which is driven by environmental, economic and social factors. Our sociological and environmental research in Provence （and around the Durance basin more specifically） points up how the very dense territorial network of gravity-fed canals is useful in water management, as well as in other shared uses over the long-term. The findings underscore the positive environmental role played by these historical and anthropogenic constructions. They contribute to refilling the aquifer and also act as a valuable environmental good and service （e.g., run-off regulation, biodiversity, landscape, recreation, etc.）. Further, several local actors have underscored their role as part of an intangible cultural heritage and as important for the area＇s economic and social development. Such canals play a central role in sustainable development since beyond their productive role in agriculture, they play a social role （new uses） and an ecological role （as reservoirs for biodiversity and ecological corridors）.     

Land-use effects on organic matter and physical properties of soil in a southern Mediterranean highland of Turkey

Forest and grassland soils in highlands of southern Mediterranean Turkey are being seriously degraded and destructed due to extensive agricultural activities. This study investigated the effects of changes in land-use type on some soil properties in a Mediterranean plateau. Three adjacent land-use types included the cultivated lands, which have been converted from pastures for 12 years, fragmented forests, and unaltered pastures lands. Disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were collected from four sites at each of the three different land-use types from depths of 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm in Typic Haploxeroll soils with an elevation of about 1400 m. When the pasture was converted into cultivation, soil organic matter (SOM) pool of cultivated lands for a depth of 0–20 cm were significantly reduced by, on average 49% relative to SOM content of the pasture lands. There was no significant difference in SOM between the depths in each land-use type, and SOM values of the forest and pasture lands were almost similar. There was also a significant change in soil bulk density (BD) among cultivation (1.33 Mg m⁻³), pasture (1.19 Mg m⁻³), and forest (1.25 Mg m⁻³) soils at depth of 0–20 cm. Only for the pasture, BD of the depth of 0–10 cm was significantly different from that of 10–20 cm. Depending upon the increases in BD and disruption of pores by cultivation, total porosity decreased accordingly. Cultivation of the unaltered pasture obviously increased the soil erodibility measured by USLE-K factor for each soil depth, and USLE-K factor was approximately two times greater in the cultivated land than in the pasture indicating the vulnerability of the cultivated land to water erosion. The mean weight diameter (MWD) and water-stable aggregation (WSA) were greater in the pasture and forest soils compared to the cultivated soils, and didn’t change with the depth for each land-use type. Aggregates of >4.0 mm size were dominant in the pasture and forest soils, whereas the cultivated soils comprised aggregates of the size ≤0.5 mm. I found that samples collected from cultivated land gave the lowest saturated hydraulic conductivity values regardless of soil depths, whereas the highest values were measured on samples from forest soils. In conclusion, the results showed that the cultivation of the pastures degraded the soil physical properties, leaving soils more susceptible to the erosion. This suggests that land disturbances should be strictly avoided in the pastures with the limited soil depth in the southern Mediterranean highlands.     

Concentration and stock of carbon in the soils affected by land uses and climates in the western Himalaya,India

Soils are the third biggest sink of carbon on the earth. Hence, suitable land uses for a climatic condition are expected to sequester optimum atmospheric carbon in soils. But, information on how climatic conditions and land uses influence carbon accumulation in the soils on the Himalayan Mountains is not known. This study reports the impact of four climatic conditions (sub-tropical, altitude: 500–1200 m; temperate 1200–2000 m; lower alpine 2000–3000 m; upper alpine, 3000–3500 m) and four land uses (forest, grassland, horticulture, agriculture) on the concentrations and stocks of soil organic carbon (SOC) in upper (0–30 cm) and deeper (30–100 cm) soil depths on the western Himalayan Mountains of India. The study also explored the drivers which influenced the SOC stock build up on the mountains. Rainfall and soil moisture showed quadratic relations, whereas temperature declined linearly with the altitude. SOC stock as well as concentration was the highest (101.8 Mg ha^− 1 in 0–30 cm, 227.97 Mg ha^− 1 in 0–100 cm) in temperate and the lowest in sub-tropical climate (37 Mg ha^− 1 in 0–30 cm, 107.04 Mg ha^− 1 in 0–100 cm). Pattern of SOC stock build up across the altitude was: temperate > lower alpine > upper alpine > sub-tropical. SOC stocks in all land uses across the climatic conditions, except agriculture in lower alpine, was higher (0.7 to 41.6%) in the deeper than upper soil depth. SOC stocks in both the depths showed quadratic relations with soil temperature and soil moisture. Other factors like fine soil particles, land-use factor and altitude influenced positively whereas slope and pH, negatively to the SOC stocks. In all climatic conditions, other than temperate, SOC stocks were greater in natural ecosystems like forests and pastures (112.5 to 247.5 Mg ha^− 1) than agriculture (63 to 120.4 Mg ha^− 1). In temperate climate, SOC stock in agriculture (253.6 Mg ha^− 1) on well formed terraces was a little higher than forest (231.3 Mg ha^− 1) on natural slope. These observations, suggest that land uses on temperate climate may be treated as potential sinks for sequestration of the atmospheric carbon. However, agriculture in subtropical climate need to be pursued with due SOC protection measures like the temperate climate for greater sequestration of the atmospheric carbon.     

粮饲兼用玉米无公害生产技术研究

玉米无公害生产是一个复杂的系统管理过程,这个过程要充分考虑各种环境因子,以粮饲兼用玉米为中心,充分利用各种手段和方法为玉米创造最佳的生长环境,对病虫草害进行综合治理,对玉米生产进行产前、产中、产后全方位控制,从而达到无公害生产目的.     

不同利用方式下土壤有机质和全磷的可见近红外高光谱反演

以太湖流域直湖港小流域稻田、桃园和菜地的土壤样本为研究对象,研究了不同光谱建模方法和土地利用方式对土壤有机质和全磷高光谱反演的影响。结果表明:(1)偏最小二乘回归分析(Partial least squarer egression,PLSR)模型的建模和预测精度较高且稳定;人工神经网络中广义回归神经网络(Generalized regression neural network,GRNN)网络预测精度较高但易出现过拟合现象,反向传播神经网络(Back propagation neural network,BPNN)网络比较稳健但精度略低;偏最小二乘与人工神经网络相结合则可综合两者优点,改善复杂样本下的预测精度。(2)土壤有机质的光谱反演结果优于全磷。3种土地利用方式中,稻田的预测效果总体优于桃园和菜地。在当前研究区域内土地利用方式对土壤有机质光谱反演影响不大,但对全磷反演影响较大。今后利用光谱对土壤全磷反演时需分土地利用方式对模型进行校准。     

Proximate composition and selected functional properties of fermented and unfermented African oil bean (Pentaclethra macrophylla) seed flour

Flour samples were prepared from fermented and unfermentedAfrican oil bean (Pentaclethra macrophylla) seeds (AOBS). The flour samples were evaluated for proximate composition and certain functional properties. The influenceof defatting on these properties was also determined. Fermentation significantly increased (p<0.05) the proteinand decreased the crude fiber, ash, fat and carbohydrate contents of the AOBS flours. The nitrogen solubility of both fermented and unfermented flours was pH dependent withminimum and maximum solubility at pH 4.0 and pH 8.0, respectively, and with increased nitrogen solubility in the fermented sample. The fermented and unfermented flour sampleshad least gelation concentrations of 14 and 16% (w/v), respectively. The water absorption capacity and foam capacitiesof the fermented flour were 36 and 34%, respectively, over the unfermented seed flour. On the other hand, fermentation decreased the fat absorption capacity, emulsion activity and emulsion and foam stabilities. Fermentation decreased (p<0.05) the bulk density of AOBS flour by 15%. Defattingimproved all the functional properties evaluated except emulsion activity. These results indicate potential food usesof fermented and unfermented AOBS flour samples as protein supplements in diets and as functional ingredients in formulated foods.     

沱江流域不同土地利用方式紫色土有机碳储量特征

沱江流域是长江上游四川境内的重要支流，紫色土为其主要的耕地资源。由于长期人口过载和不合理利用，流域内紫色土退化普遍严重。以四川盆地沱江流域紫色土为研究对象，按流域各区段分上中下游三层选样，研究不同土地利用方式下紫色土有机碳储量特征，为紫色土退化评估及地力维护提供参考。结果显示，不同土地利用方式紫色土壤有机碳总量以林地（13．876g／kg）显著高于果园地（9．655g／kg）、菜园地（9．261g／kg）、草坡地（7．968g／kg），以玉米地（6．134g／kg）最低。水溶性有机碳的含量呈现林地〉果园地〉菜园地〉草坡地〉玉米地趋势。同时，流域上、中、下游紫色土有机碳总量总体上差异显著，且以上游区段紫色土壤有机碳总量最高。流域中下游紫色土有机碳总量变化较大。其中，林地以下游高于中游，果园及草坡地以中游高于下游。而且，菜园地、玉米地在3个区段上差异未达显著水平。沱江流域紫色土有机碳储量总体特征表现上游最高，中下游变化复杂，下游略高于中游区域。     

Physicohemical basis for the preferential uses of certain rice varieties

Rice varieties such as IR-20, Ponni, Bhavani and IR-50 that are preferred for cooking showed larger surface area, higher water uptake at 96°C, greater cooked volume, soft gel consistency and greater elongation ratio. Rice varieties which are exclusively used for makingidli anddosai exhibited lower protein content, medium alkali score and higher percentage of total as well as soluble starch and amylopectin. Rice varieties which are used for making flakes showed hard gel consistency, higher alkali digestibility values, lower soluble amylose content and relatively higher amount of hot water-soluble reducing sugars. Varieties used for making puffed rice do not show any specific characteristics to differentiate them from the above types. All the rice varieties studied belong to the high amylose group except ASD-1 which belongs to the medium amylose group.     

Cadmium Sorption and Desorption Characteristics of Tropical Alfisols from Different Land Uses

Cadmium (Cd) sorption and desorption characteristics by Alfisols from different land uses were examined, and the relationships between soil and sorption/desorption characteristics were investigated. Adsorption studies were done using Cd concentrations (0–100 mg Cd kg^?1) in 0.01 M CaCl₂. The Cd sorbed by the soils was then subjected to two desorption runs. The soils' adsorption conformed to Freundlich and Langmuir equations. The amount of Cd sorbed by the soils varied. Two desorption runs detached more than 95% of sorbed Cd, but the first accounted for more than 80% of the total. Desorption of Cd in degraded soils was more than in soils from other land uses. The amount of Cd desorbed correlated with amount applied (r = 0.90??), solution concentration (r = 0.83??), and amount sorbed (r = 0.70??). A positive relationship exists between the adsorption maxima of the soils and soil organic matter (r = 0.13, p = 0.87). The relationship between amount of Cd desorbed and sorbed is quadratic for all the soil.