Factors driving natural regeneration beneath a planted urban forest

Cities around the world are investing in urban forest plantings as a form of green infrastructure. The aim is that these plantations will develop into naturally-regenerating native forest stands. However, woody plant recruitment is often cited as the most limiting factor to creating self-sustaining urban forests. As such, there is interest in site treatments that promote recruitment of native woody species and simultaneously suppress woody non-native recruitment. We tested how three, common site treatments—compost, nurse shrubs, and tree species composition (six-species vs. two-species)—affected woody plant recruitment in 54 experimental plots beneath a large-scale tree planting within a high-traffic urban park. We identified naturally regenerating seedling and sapling species and measured their abundance six-years after the site was planted. This enabled us to examine initial recruitment dynamics (i.e. seedlings) and gain a better understanding of seedling success as they transition to the midstory (i.e. saplings). Seedling and sapling recruitment (native and total) was greater in areas with higher canopy cover. The combination of the nurse shrub treatment with compost and species composition (six-species) treatments increased seedling recruitment by 47% and 156%, respectively; however, the nurse shrub treatment by itself decreased seedling recruitment by 5% and native seedling recruitment by 35%. The compost treatment alone had no effect on the total number of recruits but resulted in 76% more non-native seedlings. The sizes of these treatment effects were strongly dependent on whether the forest plantings were in open areas, versus areas with existing tree canopy, the latter condition facilitating recruitment. Our findings therefore suggest that combinations of site treatments, paired with broad canopy tree species, may be most effective for promoting regeneration of native species resulting in more self-sustaining urban forests.     

Measuring trail users’ perception of crowding in a peri-urban nature park: A best-worst scaling experiment

This paper evaluates the perception of crowding, its determinants and relationship with trail users’ experience in a peri-urban nature park. Existing crowding surveys rely heavily on a single-item 9-point crowding scale which was originally developed for backcountry areas. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to test the validity and reliability of this measure in detecting crowding issues and formulating visitor capacity limits. Low validity and reliability raised concerns about the applicability of this scale in similar frontcountry areas. Inability of this simple crowding measure to detect a visitor threshold brings to the fore its another important limitation – ignorance of the complexity of crowding phenomenon. The perception of crowding varies with various social, psychological and situational factors, and a best-worst scaling (BWS) experiment was designed to simultaneously evaluate different aspects of crowding in the Medvednica Nature Park, a peri-urban nature park near Zagreb, Croatia. The findings of BWS experiment revealed that occupancy of mountain huts, number of other hikers on the trail and amount of litter along the trail on average contributed most to the trail users’ sense of crowding. A latent class analysis identified a large heterogeneity in the perception of crowding; while one group of trail users (63%) was more disturbed by the direct social impacts, the others (37%) were more disturbed by the secondary impacts of other visitors, especially by the negative externalities from road traffic in the park. Older visitors had a greater tendency to primarily associate crowding with the environmental conditions. A higher impact of trail use level in the perception of crowding, younger age and more frequent use were associated with a more negative evaluation of crowding. The park management should closely monitor road traffic in the park and visitor activity on highly used trails, especially on those popular among younger trail users.     

Influence of soil phosphorus status,texture, pH and metal content on the efficacy of amendments to pig slurry in reducing phosphorus losses

Cost‐effective strategies for using chemically amended organic fertilizers need to be developed to minimize nutrient losses in surface and groundwater. Coupling specific soil physical and chemical characteristics with amendment type could increase their effectiveness. This study investigated how water‐extractable phosphorus (P) was affected by chemical amendments added to pig slurry and how this effect varied with soil properties. A 3‐month incubation study was conducted on 18 different mineral soils, stored at 10 °C and 75% humidity and treated with unamended and amended slurry which was incorporated at a rate equivalent to 19 kg total P (TP )/ha. The amendments examined were commercial‐grade liquid alum, applied at a rate of 0.88:1 [Al:TP ], and commercial‐grade liquid poly‐aluminium chloride (PAC ), applied at a rate of 0.72:1 [Al:TP ]. These amendments were previously identified by the authors as being effective in reducing incidental losses of P. The efficacy of the amendments varied with the soil test P, the degree of P saturation (DPS ) and the Mehlich aluminium, iron and calcium, but not soil texture. Chemical amendments were most effective in soils with DPS over approximately 20%. Due to their high cost, the incorporation of amendments into existing management practices can only be justified as part of a holistic management plan where soils have high DPS .     

异硫氰酸丙烯酯毒杀松材线虫作用机制初步研究

对异硫氰酸丙烯酯毒杀松材线虫作用机制进行了初步研究。测定了其对线虫虫体形态、运动行为、体内总糖和蛋白质含量的影响,以及处理前后线虫体内过氧化氢酶(CAT)、乙酰胆碱酯酶(AChE)和谷胱甘肽-S-转移酶(GST)活性变化。结果表明:经异硫氰酸丙烯酯处理后的松材线虫虫体形态严重扭曲,运动形态出现由正常的S形变化为多节弯曲和螺旋状卷曲等异常状况,线虫行动随时间的推移变得迟缓,最终呈C形、新月形或直接死亡。随着异硫氰酸丙烯酯处理质量浓度的增大,线虫体内总糖和蛋白质含量显著上升,糖和蛋白质的代谢发生紊乱;线虫体内CAT、AChE和GST活性显著降低,且均低于对照组,表明线虫体内氧化和抗氧化作用失衡;细胞受到极大的影响,神经系统遭到破坏,解毒能力明显降低。研究结果可为研究利用异硫氰酸丙烯酯作为植物源杀线虫剂提供依据。     

MYB转录因子参与植物非生物胁迫响应与植物激素应答的研究进展

基因的时空表达受转录因子的精确调控。植物在面对不利环境因素比如高温、低温、干旱、盐碱等胁迫时其细胞生理生化会迅速地从“舒适”状态转变进入“胁迫响应”状态。这种快速响应的状态转变依赖于植物对胁迫信号的感知及传递、激素通路(脱落酸、茉莉酸等)的激发、转录因子的活化等复杂的过程;最终植物通过胁迫相关基因的表达、次生代谢转变、抗氧化物质的积累等实现胁迫条件下细胞内环境的再平衡从而获得生存。植物MYB(v-MYB avian myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog)转录因子就是上述转变中的重要参与者。本文介绍了植物MYB转录因子的结构特征、分类,综述了近些年来MYB转录因子与非生物胁迫,以及植物激素应答过程相关的研究进展。     

捕食线虫性真菌的分离培养及分布规律

对自然界中的捕食线虫性真菌进行了分离和种属区分，并对分布规律进行了研究。从土壤、粪便等材料中获得了2类活性较强的捕食线虫性菌株：即套捕型(hooping)捕食线虫性真菌和粘捕型(sticking)捕食线虫性真菌。主要的代表种类有3种。这些捕食线虫性真菌在捕食性结构分生孢子形态及某些生物学特性上有一定差异。套捕型捕食线虫性真菌代表种为少孢节丛孢菌(Arthrobotrys oligospara)和梨形指环菌(Dactylaria pyriformis)，它们以菌环、菌网作为捕食性结构(器官)，以套捕方式杀灭线虫幼虫。梨形指环菌可产生多量厚垣孢子(chlamyalospore)。粘捕型捕食线虫性真菌代表种为纺锤隔指孢菌(Dactylella ellipsospora)。可形成菌结捕食线虫性结构，以粘捕的方式杀灭线虫幼虫。结果表明：捕食线虫性真菌在土壤和家畜粪便中的分离率是40．41％；此类菌适合于生存在阴暗、潮湿、富含腐植质的环境中。在温暖季节时，采用0．4g／L玉米粉琼脂培养基(CMA)易于对其进行分离培养。     

羊支原体性肺炎两标准株对抗菌药物敏感性的研究

本实验测定了环丙沙星、氧氟沙星、单诺沙星、红霉素、罗红霉素、泰勒菌素、泰妙菌素、四环素等8种药物对羊肺炎支原体两个标准株Y98和Y-goat的体外抑菌浓度以及红霉素与氧氟沙星、泰勒菌素对Y-goat和四环素与氧氟沙星、泰勒菌素对Y98的联合药敏作用。对羊肺炎支原体两个标准株对抗菌药物的敏感性进行了分析。     

呼和浩特市大气污染状况的研究及遥感信息的利用

利用遥感技术结合地物波谱测定和叶表面内大气污染元素的含量测定分析研究大气污染是一种有效可靠的方法。克服了常规大气监测的弊病。充分显示了快速、准确的优越性。为城市规划和环境的综合治理提供了可靠的科学依据。     

微量元素Se缺乏或过量对雏鸡组织Se含量影响的研究

选用１０２６只１周龄罗斯蛋用雏鸡为试验动物，研究不同日粮Ｓｅ水平对雏鸡组织Ｓｅ含量的影响。结果表明雏鸡的Ｓｅ缺乏或过量均可通过各组织Ｓｅ含量的变化反映出来，但反映的敏感性及临界指示值因组织及发育期不同而异。日粮Ｓｅ水平缺乏或过量时，各组织Ｓｅ含量相应降低或增加。在本试验条件下得出罗斯蛋用雏鸡的Ｓｅ需要量范围为０．１４５×１０￣（－６）～０．４９５×１０￣（－６），其中以０．１９５×１０￣（－６）最佳；日粮Ｓｅ含量≤０．０９５×１０￣（－６）或≥０．９９５×１０￣（－６），雏鸡出现Ｓｅ缺乏症或中毒症。     

瓜叶菊开花生物学及杂交育种技术探讨

根据有关文献及试验观测，探讨了瓜叶菊的开花生物学特性及杂交育种工作中的几个技术性问题，为瓜叶菊杂交育种工作提供了有益参考。