Sacred sites as habitats of culturally important plant species in an Indian megacity

Cultural ecosystem services related to urban green spaces contribute significantly to liveable cities. While previous studies highlight the intersection of cultural ecosystem services with societal values, spiritual or religious values associated with urban nature have received less attention. In India, as in other parts of the world, sacred sites are known for their biological richness, but analyses from urban sacred sites are largely missing. Based on a stratified random sampling approach, we analysed the cultivated and wild plant species assemblages of 69 sacred sites in the megacity of Bengaluru, India, in relation to biological and cultural features, and parameters related to the urban matrix and type of sacred sites (temple vs. katte). Unlike other urban studies, we found a dominance of native species in the cultivated and spontaneous species pools (121 species in total), with Ficus religiosa and Azadirachta indica as most frequently planted species. Culturally relevant species prevailed in the species pool (89%), with overlaps between religious (36%), medicinal (50%) and ornamental (62%) plants; only 11% of species were weeds. Urban matrix parameters (age of development, housing density) and size and type of sacred sites were related to differences in species assemblages. We identified key species for different classes of age and housing density, and for types of sacred sites. Our study demonstrates that urban sacred sites have an important potential in harbouring both native and culturally significant species that can support urban livelihoods in developing countries by a range of cultural and provisioning ecosystem services, including medicinal uses. As such sites are conserved by communities for spiritual or cultural beliefs, local biodiversity can be enhanced, e.g. by adapting management practices through community participation. This would strengthen the important contribution of sacred sites within the green infrastructure of rapidly growing megacities.     

智慧图书馆微观知识生态系统运行机理研究

伴随多元化时代的来临,用户的知识需求日益多元化、专业化,对图书馆服务提出了新的挑战。对智慧图书馆微观知识生态系统运行机理的研究,能够为新型知识服务提供理论基础,保障知识资源进行有效的优化整合,实现服务升级。文章在简要分析智慧图书馆微观知识生态系统四大要素的基础上,着重从社会发展、技术进步,知识富集、优化调整和需求驱动、服务升级三方面探讨其形成动因,重点分析智慧图书馆微观知识生态系统的生命周期,最后从合作、循环和保障三方面探讨其运行机理。     

耐盐抗旱优质高产棉花新品种‘衡棉1670’的选育研究

抗逆优质丰产棉花新品种的培育及应用是当前棉花生产节水提质增效的关键。‘衡棉1670’是河北省农林科学院旱作农业研究所以中早熟陆地棉品种资源材料‘衡棉210’为母本,以‘衡棉4号’为父本杂交,后代多年南繁北育,经旱棚盐池鉴定选择,在枯黄萎病混生重病地、不防治棉铃虫的高压胁迫下,经过多年连续定向选择育成。其突出表现为抗枯黄萎病、丰产优质、耐盐抗旱节水,适宜在河北省及黄河流域同类生态春播棉区推广种植,2019年8月通过河北省农作物品种审定委员会审定（审定编号为冀审棉20190013）。     

Soil quality assessments in integrated crop–livestock–forest systems: A review

Integrated crop–livestock–forest is a promising strategy to improve soil quality. It comprises four different integrated farming systems: crop–livestock, crop–forest, forest–livestock and crop–livestock–forest. This work systematically reviewed studies about integrated crop–livestock–forest systems and soil quality. A total of 92 papers were retrieved from the Web of Science—Clarivate Analytics platform, and the following information was analysed: publication year, institution, region of the studied site, type of integrated system, soil type, tillage system, maximum soil depth and the soil quality indicators assessed. Most studies were published in the second half of the 2010s. Brazil is a prominent focus of research about soil quality and integrated crop–livestock–forest systems, with significant contribution from its central and southern regions. The Embrapa was the main publishing institution, present in over one‐third of the studies. Crop–livestock was the most common integrated system, Ferralsols was the most common soil group, and most of the studied soils were clayey. No tillage was the main tillage system. Most studies focused on the topsoil, assessing physical and/or chemical soil quality indicators. More emphasis on biological indicators of soil quality is required, as well as assessments integrating biological, physical and chemical indicators of soil quality. Future works should compare different integrated systems, including assessments deeper in the soil profile, especially in systems with the forest component, and also in sandy and silty soils. Soil quality indicators that have been rarely used should be further tested. Novel indicators should be added to better understand the promotion of soil quality by integrated crop–livestock–forest systems.     

Getting cosy in freshwater: Assumed to be brackish pike are not so brackish after all

Pike (Esox lucius) occupy coastal streams and rivers of the Baltic Sea, where they attain large sizes (>5 kg). These large sizes are perhaps due to the fact that they can tolerate relatively high salinities and can thus forage in the nearby more productive brackish environments. In an attempt to quantify the extent to which pike utilise brackish environments, and to provide some insight into the underlying causes for brackish water migrations, we tagged 30 pike from a western Baltic river with acoustic transmitters and were able to track 21 individuals for 1 year. Based on experienced from local anglers, this population was assumed to be brackish in nature, where individuals underwent freshwater migrations to spawn. Our findings however suggest that the smallest and most active individuals make short exits into brackish waters and do so on rare occasions. Our results further indicate that neither sex nor size is related to activity level. We suggest that these patterns reflect two distinct behaviours—active and passive—and that large pike can be supported by the food availability in the river, without the need to venture into coastal zones, thus defying the conventional view that Baltic pike are all brackish in nature.     

旱地棉花主要促控措施的产量效应分析

本文根据三年试验结果所建立的数学模型,结合4—9月份的不同降雨量条件,对旱地棉花增加种植密度以后各种促控措施(施(?)量、施磷量、打顶日期、化控日期)的合理定量进行了分析。结果认为:早地棉花的高产栽培方案应以种植密度和磷肥的合理定量为基本內容,氮肥、打顶和化控作为依据天气情况和苗情酌情实施的调节措施。最后,依据试验结果,对方案的可行性及优点进行了讨论。     

Mid-storage and pre-sowing seed treatments for lettuce and carrot

Mid-storage hydration-dehydration treatments with medium-vigour lettuce seed very effectively reduced physiological deterioration in storage and ultimately showed better field emergence and final yield. Soaking-drying treatment of high-vigour lettuce seed was not effective. Pre-sowing treatment of medium-vigour lettuce seed, though less effective than mid-storage treatment, gave better field performance, but high-vigour seed did not benefit from the treatment. For carrot, both mid-storage and pre-sowing seed treatments proved beneficial, with the former showing better performance than the latter. Unlike lettuce, well-preserved carrot seed responded positively to the pre-sowing treatment.     

叉斑巨齿蛛的研究

在武汉地区叉班巨齿蛛以成蛛和幼蛛越冬,一年4代,有世代重叠现象。第一代平均75天左右,第二代49天左右,第三代45天左右,第四代66天左右。 雌蛛交配一次可终生产受精卵,雌蛛有护卵习性。单头产卵袋数最多11个以上;每个卵袋平均卵数为134粒,最多有277粒。单雌平均产卵量883粒,最多1,261粒,平均孵化率70％左右。     

西藏山南地区草地资源及其合理利用

由于对西藏山南地区草原状况缺乏全面认识，未能合理利用，出现了草原退化等一系列问题。为了合理开发利用草地资源，通过调查提出：调整畜群结构，推行草场有偿承包责任制，开展季节性畜牧业，建立草地农业生态系统等建议。     

猪场废水的生物处理技术及其效果

规模化养猪场所产生的废水污染，已成我国农村面临污染的重要来源。针对这种污染，近年来出现了多种养猪场废水处理法，其中研究和应用最广的是生物处理法。本文通过对目前国内猪场废水生物处理法的现状分析后认为：用生物处理法处理猪场废水是今后猪场废水处理的发展方向；而生物处理法自身的发展方向是混合处理法；计算机和生物工程技术将进一步与生物处理法相结合运用于猪场废水处理。