Precipitation Regime Shift Enhanced the Rain Pulse Effect on Soil Respiration in a Semi-Arid Steppe

The effect of resource pulses, such as rainfall events, on soil respiration plays an important role in controlling grassland carbon balance, but how shifts in long-term precipitation regime regulate rain pulse effect on soil respiration is still unclear. We first quantified the influence of rainfall event on soil respiration based on a two-year (2006 and 2009) continuously measured soil respiration data set in a temperate steppe in northern China. In 2006 and 2009, soil carbon release induced by rainfall events contributed about 44.5% (83.3 g C m⁻²) and 39.6% (61.7 g C m⁻²) to the growing-season total soil respiration, respectively. The pulse effect of rainfall event on soil respiration can be accurately predicted by a water status index (WSI), which is the product of rainfall event size and the ratio between antecedent soil temperature to moisture at the depth of 10 cm (r ² = 0.92, P<0.001) through the growing season. It indicates the pulse effect can be enhanced by not only larger individual rainfall event, but also higher soil temperature/moisture ratio which is usually associated with longer dry spells. We then analyzed a long-term (1953–2009) precipitation record in the experimental area. We found both the extreme heavy rainfall events (>40 mm per event) and the long dry-spells (>5 days) during the growing seasons increased from 1953–2009. It suggests the shift in precipitation regime has increased the contribution of rain pulse effect to growing-season total soil respiration in this region. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating precipitation regime shift and its impacts on the rain pulse effect into the future predictions of grassland carbon cycle under climate change.     

Responses of soil respiration to simulated precipitation pulses in semiarid steppe under different grazing regimes

Aims Precipitation pulses and different land use practices (such as grazing) play important roles in regulating soil respiration and carbon balance of semiarid steppe ecosystems in Inner Mongolia. However, the interactive effects of grazing and rain event magnitude on soil respiration of steppe ecosystems are still unknown. We conducted a manipulative experiment with simulated precipitation pulses in Inner Mongolia steppe to study the possible responses of soil respiration to different precipitation pulse sizes and to examine how grazing may affect the responses of soil respiration to precipitation pulses.Methods Six water treatments with different precipitation pulse sizes (0, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 mm) were conducted in the ungrazed and grazed sites, respectively. Variation patterns of soil respiration of each treatment were determined continuously after the water addition treatments.Important findings Rapid and substantial increases in soil respiration occurred 1 day after the water treatments in both sites, and the magnitude and duration of the increase in soil respiration depended on pulse size. Significantly positive relationships between the soil respiration and soil moisture in both sites suggested that soil moisture was the most important factor responsible for soil respiration rate during rain pulse events. The ungrazed site maintained significantly higher soil moisture for a longer time, which was the reason that the soil respiration in the ungrazed site was maintained relatively higher rate and longer period than that in the grazed site after a rain event. The significant exponential relationship between soil temperature and soil respiration was found only in the plots with the high water addition treatments (50 and 100 mm). Lower capacity of soil water holding and lower temperature sensitivity of soil respiration in the grazed site indicated that degraded steppe due to grazing might release less CO₂ to the atmosphere through soil respiration under future precipitation and temperature scenarios.     

The world’s economically most important chelonians represent a diverse species complex (Testudines: Trionychidae: <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pelodiscus</Emphasis>)

Pelodiscus is one of the most widely distributed genera of softshell turtles, ranging from south-eastern Siberia and Korea over central and southern China to Vietnam. Economically, Pelodiscus are the most important chelonians of the world and have been bred and traded in high numbers for centuries, resulting in many populations established outside their native range. Currently, more than 300 million turtles per year are sold in China alone, and the bulk of this figure comprises farmed Pelodiscus. Due to easy availability, Pelodiscus also constitutes a model organism for physiological and embryological investigations. Yet, diversity and taxonomy of Pelodiscus are poorly understood and a comprehensive investigation using molecular tools has never been published. Traditionally, all populations were assigned to the species P. sinensis (Wiegmann, 1834); in recent years up to three additional species have been recognized by a few authors, while others have continued to accept only P. sinensis. In the present study, we use trade specimens and known-locality samples from Siberia, China, and Vietnam, analyze 2,419 bp of mtDNA and a 565-bp-long fragment of the nuclear C-mos gene to elucidate genetic diversity, and compare our data with sequences available from GenBank. Our findings provide evidence for the existence of at least seven distinct genetic lineages and suggest interbreeding in commercial turtle farms. GenBank sequences assigned to P. axenaria (Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991) are highly distinct. The validity of P. maackii (Brandt, 1857) from the northernmost part of the genus’ range is confirmed, whereas it is unclear which names should be applied to several taxa occurring in the central and southern parts of the range. The diversity of Pelodiscus calls for caution when such turtles are used as model organisms, because the respective involvement of more than a single taxon could lead to irreproducible and contradictory results. Moreover, our findings reveal the need for a new assessment of the conservation status of Pelodiscus. While currently all taxa are subsumed under ‘P. sinensis’ and listed as ‘vulnerable’ by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, some could actually be endangered or even critically endangered.     

Exploring the mechanism and efficient use of a durable gene-mediated resistance to bacterial blight disease in rice

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) causes bacterial blight, the most devastating bacterial disease of rice worldwide. The major disease resistance gene Xa3/Xa26 confers a durable resistance to Xoo with a dosage effect. However, the mechanism of Xa3/Xa26-mediated resistance remains to be elucidated. We created near-isogenic lines carrying Xa3/Xa26 with a background of indica and japonica, the two major subspecies of Asian cultivated rice. Analyzing these rice lines showed that the japonica background facilitated resistance to Xoo, which was associated with increased Xa3/Xa26 expression, compared with rice lines with an indica background. This characteristic of Xa3/Xa26 was related to the WRKY45 locus, which had higher expression with the japonica background than with the indica background. However, the two alleles of the WRKY45 locus had different expression levels, with the WRKY45-1 expression level being higher than that of WRKY45-2 for both japonica and indica backgrounds. In addition, the resistance level conferred by Xa3/Xa26 was higher in the presence of WRKY45-1 than in the presence of WRKY45-2 for both japonica and indica backgrounds. Xa3/Xa26-mediated resistance was associated with increased accumulation of jasmonic acid (JA), JA-isoleucine, and terpenoid and flavonoid phytoalexins. Exogenous JA application enhanced Xa3/Xa26-mediated resistance. These results not only provide more knowledge toward understanding the mechanism of Xa3/Xa26-mediated resistance but also offer the best choice for using Xa3/Xa26 for rice resistance improvement, specifically, a japonica background with the WRKY45-1 allele.     

中国蚋属一新种：双翅目：蚋科

本文报道中国蚋属一新种,重庆蚋Ｓｉｍｕｌｉｕｍ（Ｓｉｍｕｌｉｕｍ）ｃｈｏｎｇａｉｎｇｅｎｓｅ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ。标本采自重庆四面山,模式标本保存重庆市卫生防疫站。     

真蚋亚属一新种（双翅目：蚋科）

本文报道蚋属（Ｓｉｍｕｌｉｕｍ）真蚋亚属（Ｅｕｓｉｍｕｌｉｕｍ）一新种──四面山真蚋Ｓ．（Ｅ）ｓｉｍｉａｎｓｈａｎｅｎｓｉｓｓｐｎｏｖ．。模式标本采自重庆四面山,保存于重庆市卫生防疫站。     

骨髓移植后的白血病患者环境微生物控制与感染关系研究

白血病患者骨髓移植后,易引起各类微生物感染而死亡。通过F_1鼠9Gy^(60)Co照射(最大致死量)骨髓移植后,行环境微生物控制,将其数据结合临床特点,设计的白血病患儿骨髓移植,环境微生物监控的层流病房。自1989～1993年12例患儿行骨髓移植无一例感染。     

生态系统关键参量监测设备研制与生态物联网示范

本文主要介绍国家重点研发计划2016年首批立项的重点专项"生态系统关键参量监测设备研制与生态物联网示范"(2016YFC500100)的项目立项背景、主要研究内容及总体目标。本项目紧密围绕国家生态监测需求,与国际上生态监测科学技术前沿并跑,研发生态系统关键参量监测设备和生态物联网关键技术,开展示范和产业化推广,推动我国生态监测技术的自主创新,服务我国脆弱生态修复与保护需求,增强我国生态监测的立体化、自动化、智能化水平,满足国家实时生态监测的需求。