Anthropogenic influences on potential fire spread in a pyrogenic ecosystem of Florida, USA

Fire has historically been an important ecological factor maintaining southeastern U.S. vegetation. Humans have altered natural fire regimes by fragmenting fuels, introducing exotic species, and suppressing fires. Little is known about how these alterations specifically affect spatial fire extent and pattern. We applied historic (1920 and 1943) and current (1990) GIS fuels maps and the FARSITE fire spread model to quantify the differences between historic and current fire spread distributions. We held all fire modeling variables (wind speed and direction, cloud cover, precipitation, humidity, air temperature, fuel moistures, ignition source and location) constant with exception of the fuel models representing different time periods. Model simulations suggest that fires during the early 1900's burned freely across the landscape, while current fires are much smaller, restricted by anthropogenic influences. Fire extent declined linearly with patch density, and there was a quadratic relationship between fire extent and percent landscape covered by anthropogenic features. We found that as little as 10 percent anthropogenic landcover caused a 50 percent decline in fire extent. Most landscapes (conservation or non-conservation areas) are now influenced by anthropogenic features which disrupt spatial fire behavior disproportionately to their actual size. These results suggest that land managers using fire to restore or maintain natural ecosystem function in pyrogenic systems will have to compensate for anthropogenic influences in their burn planning. This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Anthropogenically disturbed potentially toxic elements in roadside topsoils of a suburban region of Bishkek,Central Asia

The ecological environment in Central Asia is vulnerable to pressure from human activity due to the physical geography and climatic fragility of this region. A set of indicators suitable for the future assessment of this pressure needs to be proposed. Thirty‐six topsoil samples (0–5 cm) were collected from roadsides in a suburban region of Bishkek, the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic in Central Asia, and a risk assessment of anthropogenically disturbed potentially toxic elements (PTEs) was systematically conducted with classic statistical methods. The results of detrended correspondence analysis and principal component analysis clearly showed that topsoil samples with high contents of PTEs (Pb, Zn and Cu) were strongly affected by traffic within a distance threshold of 200 m and that anthropogenic effects decreased significantly with increasing distance from the highway. The enrichment factor and anthropogenic contribution for Pb were the highest among the three PTEs, with average values of 2.0% and 47.4%, respectively, suggesting enrichment. However, the results of the human health risk assessment also indicated that noncarcinogenic risks did not occur for any of the anthropogenic PTEs. The reported method provides a new systematic pathway to reveal anthropogenic influences on the geochemical composition of soil. The conclusions of this work will be highly valuable as important guidelines for agriculture, and the results of the PTE contents will provide a scientific basis for soil collection in future studies.     

黔东南土鸡不同醒抱方法的效果研究

为研究黔东南土鸡的醒抱方法，将刚进入抱窝状态的母鸡分成4个组，分别采用4种不同的醒抱方法进行试验。I组自然醒抱；Ⅱ组自由活动，加喂异烟肼；Ⅲ组采取隔离；lV组采取隔离，加喂异烟肼。结果表明：（1）醒抱时间：Ⅰ组、Ⅱ组和Ⅲ组、Ⅳ组比较，均差异极显著（P〈0．01）；Ⅲ组和Ⅳ组比较，差异不显著（P〉0．05）。（2）复产时...     

四川及藏东南荞麦资源的调查研究

本文叙述了2010年中国农业科学院农业生物资源考察队对四川及藏东南荞麦资源的详细调查结果.考察队共调查了40个乡镇的120个村,360余个村小组,共获得荞麦资源88份,其中苦荞资源64份,甜荞资源20份,野生荞麦资源4份.当地少数民族认知有价值的荞麦资源分别是长锥大粒型资源、短锥皮薄型资源、抗病资源、抗虫资源、抗旱资源和抗寒资源等.     

Performance of CERES-Rice and CERES-Wheat models in rice–wheat systems: A review

Rice–wheat (RW) systems are critical to food security and livelihoods of rural and urban poor in south Asia and China, and to regional economies in southeast Australia. The sustainability of RW systems in south Asia is, however, threatened by yield stagnation or decline, and declining partial factor productivity, soil organic C and water availability. Crop models potentially offer a means to readily explore management options to increase yield, and to determine trade-off between yield, resource-use efficiency and environmental outcomes. This paper reviews the performance of CERES-Rice and CERES-Wheat in Asia and Australia in relation to their potential application towards increasing resource use efficiency and yield of RW systems.

The performance of the models was evaluated using simulated and observed data on anthesis and maturity dates, in-season LAI and growth, final grain yield and its components, and soil water and N balances from published studies across Asia and Australia, and then by computing the statistical parameters for the major characters. Over the four data sets examined for anthesis and six for maturity dates, CERES-Rice predicted those dates fairly well (normalised RMSE = 4–5%; D-index = 0.94–0.95), but over the 11 sets for grain and 4 for biomass yield, the predictions were more variable (normalised RMSE = 23% for both; D-index 0.90 and 0.76, for grain and biomass, respectively). Model performance was poorer under conditions of low N, water deficit, and low temperatures during the reproductive stages. Over the three data sets examined, CERES-Wheat predicted the anthesis and maturity dates quite well (normalised RMSE = 4–5%; D-index = 0.94–0.99), and over eight sets for grain and two sets for biomass yield the model predicted them also reasonably well (RMSE = 13–16%; D-index = 0.86–0.97). Only one study evaluated the DSSAT RW sequence model with fairly satisfactory predictions of rice and wheat yields over 20 years with adequate N, but not the long-term change in soil organic C and N. Predictions of in-season LAI and crop growth, and soil and water processes were quite limited to investigate the robustness of model processes.

Application of models to evaluate options to increase water and N use efficiency requires the ability to perform well at the margin where deficit stress begins. While both models generally perform satisfactorily under water and N non-limiting conditions, the little evidence available suggests that they do not perform well under resource-limiting situations. We recommend that the models’ key processes under the water and N limiting conditions be further evaluated urgently. The DSSAT sequence model also needs to be further evaluated against observations for a range of locations and management using data from long-term experiments in RW systems.     

Visits to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from South Asia and the Middle East, 1946–1990: An indicator of changing international programs and politics

International study programs have contributed to the diffusion of modern irrigation technologies, approaches, and problems. But the patterns and processes of international travel have received little attention to date. This paper examines foreign visits to the US Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from South Asia and the Middle East from 1946 to 1990. Using data from the Foreign Activities Branch of the USBR, we compare the participation rates from 16 countries in South Asia and the Middle East. India, Turkey, and Egypt had the highest rates of participation, followed by Pakistan, Iran, and Israel. The frequency of visits is influenced by political, economic, cultural, and institutional factors. But the most important factors appear to be foreign relations and geopolitics. Given the problems faced by national irrigation bureaucracies around the world, there is a need to focus more directly on political factors than in the past.     

新疆中亚生态群杏品种果实与叶片形态特征相关性

【目的】研究新疆中亚生态群杏品种果实和叶片的形态特性及相关性,为新品种选育提供理论依据。【方法】以隶属于该生态群的80个新疆杏品种为研究对象,测定其在果实成熟期的叶面积、叶片长、叶片宽、叶周长、单果重、果实纵横侧径,分析这些指标的分布特性和彼此间的相关性。【结果】80个新疆中亚生态群杏品种中,77.5%的杏品种叶面积分布在19.8~30.3 cm²,最大叶面积为44.18 cm²,最小叶面积为12.82 cm²,叶面积整体偏小;86.3%杏品种叶周长分布在16.7~22.7 cm,最大叶周长为24.44 cm,最小叶周长为13.66 cm;63.8%杏品种单果重分布在16.1~32.1 g FW,最大单果重为48.07 g FW,最小单果重为12.13 g FW,果实整体偏小。叶面积与叶片宽之间相关性最高(0.910^**),叶周长与叶片长之间相关性最高(0.870^**),单果重与果实横径之间相关性最高(0.913^**)。【结论】叶面积和叶周长与果实的单果重之间极显著正相关,可作为预测果实单果重的重要指标。     

A typology of agricultural production systems: Capability building trajectories of three Asian economies

Analysing the agricultural sectors of Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore, this paper examines the capability‐building process that encourages productivity and innovation. It describes and explains the origins and subsequent evolution of three forms of agricultural production system, each generating different farming capabilities and distinct forms of competitive advantages. The paper argues that Taiwan's rice‐oriented agricultural production system stimulates both productivity and innovation, helping Taiwanese farmers raise their income level and living standards. The active deployment of state institutions and a malleable labour force, evidenced in the Malaysian palm oil industry, is effective in raising farming productivity but not the ability to innovate. Singapore's aquaculture‐oriented agricultural production system is somewhat useful in stimulating productivity and innovation. Yet the city‐state's inherent lack of space and open international trade regime have circumscribed the potential of its aquaculture industry. It now relies on the regional ethnic Chinese business networks to expand the aquaculture industry's knowledge base and its industrial commons. The principles discussed in this paper provide policy lessons, or at least some initial guidance, for other developing economies aspiring to modernise their agricultural sector.     

Field measurement of the sheltering effect of vegetation on erodible land surfaces

Natural vegetation on erodible land surfaces, such as the loose sandy soils found in the southwestern United States and in Soviet Central Asia, absorbs part of the wind momentum flux (stress) and thus protects the erodible soil to a degree that depends on the geometry of plant distribution and profile. The sheltering effect of natural plants may be expressed as the ratio, R, of threshold friction velocity for the bare soil (determined in the laboratory or in specially prepared areas of bare soil in the field) to that for the naturally vegetated surface. We used new automated instrumentation to detect erosion thresholds in locations where erosion events are widely separated in time. Measured values of R were low for our most vegetated sites and nearer unity for the sparsely vegetated site.     

BUILDING CLIMATE-RESILIENT FOOD SYSTEMS IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA: VULNERABILITIES,RESPONSES AND FINANCING

Food system resilience to climate change is uniquely imperative for bringing Sustainable Development Goals within reach and leaving no one behind. Food systems in East and Southeast Asia are interacting with planetary boundaries and are adversely affected by extreme weather-related events. A practical question for East and Southeast Asian stakeholders is how to foster climateresilient food systems in the face of lingering food system vulnerabilities and policy gaps. This paper reviews food syste...