Compatible measurements of volumetric soil water content using a neutron probe and Diviner 2000 after field calibration

Field calibrations for a neutron probe and a capacitance sensor (Diviner 2000) for measuring the soil water content of a shrinking–swelling clay soil were substantially different from commonly used default values. Using our field calibrations, the two instruments estimated similar changes in the cumulative water content of a soil profile (0–1 m depth) over one growing season.     

Pedotransfer functions to assess adsorbed phosphate using iron oxide content and magnetic susceptibility in an Oxisol

Adsorbed phosphate in soils can be chemically extracted; however, this process is both time‐consuming and not cost‐effective if large numbers of samples have to be analysed. Indirect assessment of adsorbed phosphate by pedotransfer functions (PTFs) can help optimize fertilizer strategies. This study aimed to evaluate the spatial variability of adsorbed phosphate (P_ads), iron oxides and magnetic susceptibility (MS) in oxisols and to calibrate PTFs to predict P_ads. A total of 308 soil samples were collected from Hapludox and Eutrudox soils formed from sandstone in Brazil. The contents of clay (196–607 g/kg), iron oxides (40–165 g/kg), MS (1.2–29 × 10^?6 m³/kg) and P_ads (327–842 mg/kg) were in the range of typical values for these highly weathered soils. This study showed that the attributes studied were spatially dependent. Geomorphic surfaces enabled understanding of spatial variability and helped to develop a more efficient sampling scheme to calibrate PTFs. Moreover, the adsorbed phosphate in these oxisols could be predicted by a PTF using iron oxides and MS as predictors. The MS attribute enabled the most accurate prediction (concordance coefficient = 0.95, root‐mean‐square error = 46 mg/kg and relative improvement in root‐mean‐square error = ?4.12) of spatial variability through PTF compared to other predictors.     

Turbidity‐induced changes in emergent effects of multiple predators with different foraging strategies

Abstract – In natural systems, prey frequently interact with multiple predators and the outcome often cannot be predicted by summing the effects of individual predator species. Multiple predator interactions can create emergent effects for prey, but how those change across environmental gradients is poorly understood. Turbidity is an environmental factor in aquatic systems that may influence multiple predator effects on prey. Interactions between a cruising predator (largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides) and an ambush predator (muskellunge Esox masquinongy) and their combination foraging on a shared prey (bluegill Lepomis macrochirus) were examined across a turbidity gradient. Turbidity modified multiple predator effects on prey. In clear water, combined predators consumed in total more prey than expected from individual predator treatments, suggesting risk enhancement for prey. In moderately turbid water, the predators consumed fewer prey together than expected, suggesting a risk reduction for prey. At high turbidity, there were no apparent emergent effects; however, the cruising predator consumed more prey than the ambush predator, suggesting an advantage for this predator. Understanding multiple predator traits across a gradient of turbidity increases our understanding of how complex natural systems function.     

Nutritional significance of amino acids,vitamins and minerals as nutraceuticals in poultry production and health – a comprehensive review

Nutraceuticals have gained immense importance in poultry science recently considering the nutritional and beneficial health effects of their constituents. Besides providing nutritional requirements to birds, nutraceuticals have beneficial pharmacological effects, for example, they help in establishing normal physiological health status, prevent diseases and thereby improve production performance. Nutraceuticals include amino acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, etc. which are important for preventing oxidative stress, regulating the immune response and maintaining normal physiological, biochemical and homeostatic mechanisms. Nutraceuticals help in supplying nutrients in balanced amounts for supporting the optimal growth performance in modern poultry flocks, and as a dietary supplement can reduce the use of antibiotics. The application of antibiotic growth enhancers in poultry leads to the propagation of antibiotic-resistant microbes and drug residues; therefore, they have been restricted in many countries. Thus, there is a demand for natural feed additives that lead to the same growth enhancement without affecting the health. Nutraceuticals substances have an essential role in the development of the animals’ normal physiological functions and in protecting them against infectious diseases. In this review, the uses of amino acids, vitamins and minerals as well as their mode of action in growth promotion and elevation of immune system are discussed.     

不同养殖模式翘嘴鲌肌肉营养品质比较

为评价池塘与大湖不同养殖模式翘嘴鲌(Culter alburnus)肌肉营养品质差异,试验分析了商品翘嘴鲌肌肉常规营养成分、氨基酸、脂肪酸、矿物元素含量等营养指标。结果表明:大湖翘嘴鲌肌肉水分含量显著低于池塘翘嘴鲌(P<0.05),粗蛋白质含量高于池塘翘嘴鲌,差异不显著(P>0.05)。池塘与大湖翘嘴鲌肌肉,除了赖氨酸和组氨酸以外(P<0.05),绝大部分氨基酸含量均无显著性差异(P>0.05)。大湖翘嘴鲌肌肉的总氨基酸、必需氨基酸和鲜味氨基酸含量分别较池塘翘嘴鲌高出2.72%、2.87%和2.50%。根据氨基酸评分(AAS)和化学评分(CS)结果,池塘与大湖翘嘴鲌肌肉中第一限制性氨基酸均为蛋氨酸+胱氨酸,赖氨酸相对含量最高,必需氨基酸指数(EAAI)分别为68.81和69.62。池塘翘嘴鲌的棕榈油酸(C16:1)含量显著高于大湖翘嘴鲌(P<0.05),而大湖翘嘴鲌肌肉的单不饱和脂肪酸(MUFAs)、高不饱和脂肪酸(HUFAs)、必需脂肪酸(EFA)、EPA+DHA含量则高于池塘翘嘴鲌(P>0.05)。试验检测了池塘与大湖翘嘴鲌肌肉11种矿物元素,其中镁有显著差异(P<0.05),重金属元素(铬、镉、铅)含量均在限量范围以内。综上所述,大湖养殖翘嘴鲌营养品质优于池塘养殖。     

石羊河尾闾黏土质夹层结构土壤对降雨入渗的响应

为探明该种土壤结构如何影响降雨在土壤中再分配及其影响效果,采用自然降雨背景下的人工试验方法开展了黏土质夹层对降雨入渗影响效果的试验研究。结果表明:(1)降雨后经过相同时间水分再分布后的土壤末期含水率主要受控于降雨初期含水率、降雨入渗所能达到的最高含水率及其黏土夹层厚度;(2)黏土质夹层表层沙土土壤含水率在降雨条件下经过长期水分再分布后表现出黏土层厚度越小,表层含水率越低的特征;黏土层及黏土层下部的沙土层初始含水率越高,在降水初期水分增加量、增加速度以及水分流失量、流失速度与初始含水率具有一定的正相关关系。因此,黏土质夹层结构土壤阻滞水分入渗到植物难以利用到的深层,将水分固持于黏土层及黏土层上下部,在表层覆沙20 cm情景下,10,20,30 cm厚度的黏土质夹层以10 cm处理总体水分保持效果最好。     

耕地棕壤酸碱缓冲性能及酸化速率研究

辽宁省耕地棕壤自第二次土壤普查以来酸化趋势明显,pH整体平均值从第二次普查时期的6.42降至5.73。对辽宁省4个典型地区(昌图、沈阳、瓦房店、清原)的耕地棕壤耕层(0-20cm)缓冲性能、酸化速率及其影响因素进行研究,结果表明:各地区酸碱缓冲容量变幅为29.66～39.87mmol/kg.pH unit,其中辽宁北部和中部地区酸碱缓冲容量明显高于辽南和辽东地区。酸化速率以辽南地区下降速率最快,其值为2.69H+kmol/(hm2.a),而速率最慢的地区为辽东,其酸化速率为1.44H+kmol/(hm2.a)。土壤初始pH、阳离子交换量、颗粒组成及有机质含量均是影响酸碱缓冲容量变化的主要因素。北部和中部质地以粉(砂)壤土为主,阳离子交换量、盐基饱和度及粘粒含量均高于南部和东部地区,因此缓冲性能也较强。施肥及其他人为因素对辽宁耕地棕壤酸碱缓冲容量及酸化速率的影响有待进一步研究。     

土壤持水特性参数与土壤质地尺度关系的联合多重分形分析

Soil water-retention characteristics at measurement scales are generally different from those at application scales, and there is scale disparity between them and soil physical properties. The relationships between two water-retention parameters, the scaling parameter related to the inverse of the air-entry pressure (αvG, cm-1) and the curve shape factor related to soil pore-size distribution (n) of the van Genuchten water-retention equation, and soil texture (sand, silt, and clay contents) were examined at multiple scales. One hundred twenty-eight undisturbed soil samples were collected from a 640-m transect located in Fuxin, China. Soil water-retention curves were measured and the van Genuchten parameters were obtained by curve fitting. The relationships between the two parameters and soil texture at the observed scale and at multiple scales were evaluated using Pearson correlation and joint multifractal analyses, respectively. The results of Pearson correlation analysis showed that the parameter αvG was significantly correlated with sand, silt, and clay contents at the observed scale. Joint multifractal analyses, however, indicated that the parameter αvG was not correlated with silt and sand contents at multiple scales. The parameter n was positively correlated with clay content at multiple scales. Sand content was significantly correlated with the parameter n at the observed scale but not at multiple scales. Clay contents were strongly correlated to both water-retention parameters because clay content was relatively low in the soil studied, indicating that water retention was dominated by clay content in the field of this study at all scales. These suggested that multiple-scale analyses were necessary to fully grasp the spatial variability of soil water-retention characteristics.     

Some characteristics of the humus in soil types (part 3) composition groups of humus

In most literature on soil, the term humus has been used as synonymous with soil organic matter, on the other hand, it has been applied to a portion of soil organic matter that has decomposed and has lost the structure of the original matter, from which it has derived. Scheffer and Schachtschabel ¹⁾ defined the humus not synonymously with soil organic matter, but, in a broad sense, as all the dead organic substances which are accumulated on the soil surface as well as in the soil layer, and undergo continually decomposition, alteration, and synthetic reactions. According to them, the composition groups of humus are divided into non-humic and humic, and the latter group is sub-divided into (1) fulvic acid and humo-lignin acid, (2) humic acid, (3) humin, and (4) humus coal. Some natures of these composition groups of humus are shown in Table 1.     

Roughness of biopores and cracks in Bt‐horizons assessed by confocal laser scanning microscopy

In structured soils, water and reactive solutes can preferentially move through larger inter‐aggregate pores, cracks, and biopores. The surface roughness of such macropores is crucial for describing microbial habitats and the exchange of water and solutes between macropores and the soil matrix together with other properties. The objective of this study was to compare the roughness of intact structural surfaces from the Bt‐horizons of five Luvisols developed on loess and glacial till and to test the applicability of confocal laser scanning microscopy. Samples of 5 to 10 cm edge length with intact structural surfaces including cracks with and without clay‐organic coatings, earthworm burrow walls, and root channels were prepared manually. The surface roughness of these structures was determined with a confocal laser scanning microscope of the type Keyence VK‐X100K. The root‐mean‐squared roughness (R_q) the curvature (R_cu) and the ratio between surface area and base area (R_A) were calculated from selected surface regions of interest of 0.342 mm² with an elevation resolution of 0.02 µm. The roughness was smaller for coated as compared to uncoated cracks and earthworm burrows of the Bt‐horizons. This reduction of roughness by the illuviation of clayey material was similar for the structural surfaces of the coarser textured till‐Bt and the finer‐textured loess‐Bt. This similarity suggested a dominant effect of pedogenesis and a minor effect of the parent material on the roughness levels of structural surfaces in the Bt‐horizons. An expected “smoothing” effect of burrow wall surfaces by earthworm activity was not reflected in the roughness values compared to those of uncoated cracks at the chosen spatial scale. However, for root channel walls from one loess‐Bt, the roughness was reduced as compared to that of other structures. These results suggest that the surface roughness of the structural surface types should separately be considered when describing preferential flow and macropore‐matrix exchange or analysing root growth, microbial habitats, and colloidal transport in structured soils. The confocal laser scanning microscopy technique was found useful for characterizing the roughness of intact structural surfaces.