Changes in forest cover and carbon stocks of the coastal scarp forests of the Wild Coast,South Africa

Land-use intensification and declines in vegetative cover are considered pervasive threats to forests and biodiversity globally. The small extent and high biodiversity of indigenous forests in South Africa make them particularly important. Yet, relatively little is known about their rates of use and change. From analysis of past aerial photos we quantified rates of forest cover change in the Matiwane forests of the Wild Coast, South Africa, between 1942 and 2007, as well as quantified above and belowground (to 0.5?m depth) carbon stocks based on a composite allometric equation derived for the area. Rates of forest conversion were spatially variable, with some areas showing no change and others more noticeable changes. Overall, the net reduction was 5.2% (0.08% p.a.) over the 65-year period. However, the rate of reduction has accelerated with time. Some of the reduction was balanced by natural reforestation into formerly cleared areas, but basal area, biomass and carbon stocks are still low in the reforested areas. The total carbon stock was highest in intact forests (311.7 ± 23.7 Mg C ha^?1), followed by degraded forests (73.5 ± 12.3 Mg C ha^?1) and least in regrowth forests (51.2 ± 6.2 Mg C ha^?1). The greatest contribution to total carbon stocks was soil carbon, contributing 54% in intact forests, and 78% and 68% in degraded and regrowth forests, respectively. The Matiwane forests store 4.78 Tg C, with 4.7 Tg C in intact forests, 0.06 Tg C in degraded forests and 0.02 Tg C in regrowth forests. The decrease in carbon stocks within the forests as a result of the conversion of the forest area to agricultural fields was 0.19 Tg C and approximately 0.0003 Tg C was released through harvesting of firewood and building timber.     

Leaf-water potential and soil-water depletion of walnut mulched with polyethylene and intercropped with alfalfa in Central Italy

In Italy, new agroforestry cultural models could play an important role in the diffusion of plantation forestry timber species. We studied the stem growth rates and leaf water potentials () of common walnut (Juglans regia L.), and gravimetric soil moisture (_DW) depletion during the third and fourth growing seasons in an agroforestry trial in central Italy. Since the establishment of experimental plots in 1992, walnut was intercropped with alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), with or without polyethylene (PE) mulching along tree rows. By the end of the study period, the unmulched-intercropped walnut was almost 68% smaller in stem diameter and height than the sole-unmulched control, demonstrating walnuts sensitivity to alfalfa competition. The competitive effect of alfalfa on walnut stem growth was effectively controlled/reduced by PE mulching. Stem growth rates of mulched-intercropped walnut were always lower than the control, but much higher (ca. 235% in stem diameter and height) than those of unmulched-intercropped walnut. The higher field performance of mulched-intercropped walnut compared to the un- mulched-intercropped treatment was associated with higher soil moisture and predawn and midday values during the summers driest periods. The presence of PE mulching was also associated with lower levels of soil moisture during the early and late growing season, but this did not negatively affect walnut and growth rates. These results suggest that in the climatic conditions of central Italy, competition for soil moisture between young common walnut trees and alfalfa can be substantially lowered, but not completely eliminated, by PE mulching.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Influence of chloride and sulphate ions on soil enzymes

Ammonium chloride (AC) and ammonium sulphate (AS) are commonly used nitrogen fertilizers. But the effect of chloride and sulphate ions from these fertilizers on soil enzyme activity has received scant attention. Hence, we conducted a pot culture study to assess the influence of chloride (as AC) and sulphate (as AS) on the activities of urease, amidase, phosphatase and dehydrogenase in soil using rice as the test crop. Chloride and sulphate levels were fixed at 132, 264 and 396 kg ha⁻¹ respectively. Controls were also performed. The enzymes were assayed at three stages of the crop growth viz., active tillering, panicle initiation and harvest.
The enzyme activities decreased with increasing chloride and sulphate levels; however, the degree of inhibition varied among the enzymes assayed and the nature and amounts of salts added. The inhibition may be due to the specific effects of chloride and sulphate ions on microbial growth and subsequent enzyme synthesis, osmotic desiccation leading to microbial cell lysis, and a salting-out effect modifying the ionic conformation of the active site of the enzyme protein.