Nitrogen addition overrides the effects of Stellera chamaejasme litter on the growth of Leymus chinensis and its associated mycorrhizal fungi

氮添加掩盖了狼毒凋落物对羊草生长及其菌根真菌的影响 退化草地上迅速蔓延、生长的有毒植物能产生大量的凋落物,而氮输入能促进有毒植物的生长, 并改变其根际微生物特别是丛枝菌根真菌(AMF)的特征。然而,有毒植物的凋落物如何影响可食牧草的生长及其根际AMF,N沉降是否以及如何介导这些影响,目前尚不清楚。本文在中国东北的草甸草原上进行了温室实验以检验添加狼毒(Stellera chamaejasme)凋落物和氮素对优势植物羊草(Leymus chinensis) 的生长、AMF和土壤特征的影响。结果表明,添加凋落物显著增加了羊草分株数、地上生物量和土壤速效磷(AP)浓度,并降低了AMF孢子密度。然而,凋落物与氮素的交互作用并未显著影响羊草和AMF。狼毒凋落物通过提高AP对羊草产生正效应,并结合土壤养分平衡与凋落物诱导的化感成分的变化对AMF产生负效应。另外,高氮添加能缓解土壤的氮限制并抑制凋落物分解,从而减缓凋落物对羊草和AMF的影响。上述结果表明,除了关注有毒植物对家畜的有害作用外,还应客观地、全面地评价有毒植物的生态功能;同时,氮沉降应作为预测退化草地有毒植物与可食植物的种间关系的一项重要指标。     

Predicting nutrient responses in poultry: future challenges

Predicting the response of poultry to nutrients has progressed to a stage where it is now not only possible to predict voluntary feed intake accurately, but broiler feeds and feeding programmes may now be optimised using the more advanced simulation models. Development of such prediction models has stimulated useful and purposeful research targeted at filling the gaps in our knowledge of critical aspects of the theory incorporated into these models. The aim of this paper was to review some of these past developments, discuss the controversy that exists in designing and interpreting response experiments, and highlight some of the most recent challenges related to the prediction of responses to nutrients by poultry. These latter include differences, brought about by selection for diverse goals, that have become apparent between modern broiler strains in their responses in feed intake and mortality, which are not independent of level of feeding or strain of broiler, as was previously believed. Uniformity, an important quality criterion in broiler processing, is also not independent of level of feeding, and the effect may now be predicted using stochastic models. It is not yet clear whether breast meat yield, the carcass component of broilers yielding the highest returns, is a function of the strain of broiler or simply that of the protein weight of the bird when processed. An important aspect of response prediction is dealing with constraints to performance: whereas it is relatively straightforward to simulate the potential performance of a broiler, such performance is often constrained by the physical, social and infectious environment, among others, providing a challenge to modellers attempting to predict actual performance. Some of these constraints to potential performance have not yet been adequately described, but are now receiving attention, suggesting that nutrient responses in poultry have the potential to be more accurately predicted in the future.     

Early-stage litter decomposition and its influencing factors in the wetland of the Sanjiang Plain, China

Using the litter bag technique, the decomposition rates and their influencing factors were studied by investigating three wetland macrophytes, Calamagrostics angustifolia, Carex meyeriana and Carex lasiocapa, in Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China. It was revealed that C. lasiocapa lost 28.91% of its weight, C. angustifolia lost 31.98% and C. meyeriana lost 32.99% after 164 days. Another finding was that the amount of organic carbon in the litter of C. angustifolia and C. lasiocapa fluctuated, but continuously decreased in that of C. meyeriana. However, all the three types of litter released organic carbon. Nitrogen was released substantially from the litter of both C. angustifolia and C. meyeriana, but accumulated in the litter of C. lasiocapa. Phosphorus concentrations in all the three types of litter apparently decreased first and then slightly increased. Overall, P release was observed in all the three types of litter. The C/N and C/P ratios varied significantly in the decomposition process. The decomposition rates and nutrient content variations were simultaneously influenced by the quality of the litter as well as the environmental factors in the Sanjian Plain, but they were more strongly affected by the quality of the litter.     

Wooden breast myopathy links with poorer gait in broiler chickens

Wooden breast myopathy, a condition where broiler breast muscles show a hardened consistency post-mortem, has been described recently. However, it is not known how wooden breast myopathy affects the bird activity or welfare. Altogether, over 340 birds of five commonly used commercial hybrids were housed in 25 pens, and sample birds killed at ages of 22, 32, 36, 39 and 43 days. Their breast muscle condition was assessed post-mortem by palpation. The birds were gait scored and their latency to lie was measured before killing. For further behavior observations, one affected and healthy bird in 12 pens were followed on 5 days for 20 minutes using video recordings. The connection of myopathy to gait score and activity was analyzed with mixed models. A higher gait score of wooden-breast-affected birds than that of unaffected birds (2.9 ± 0.1 v. 2.6 ± 0.1, P < 0.05) indicated a higher level of locomotor difficulties over all age groups. The wooden-breast-affected birds had fewer crawling or movement bouts while lying down compared with unaffected (P < 0.05). Wooden breast myopathy-affected birds were heavier (2774 ± 91 v. 2620 ± 91 g; P < 0.05) and had higher breast muscle yield (21 ± 1 v. 19 ± 1%; P < 0.05) than unaffected birds overall. Older birds had longer lying bouts, longer total lying time, fewer walking bouts, more difficulties to walk and to stand compared with younger birds (P < 0.05). Birds with poorer gait had longer total lying time and fewer walking bouts (P < 0.05). Birds with greatest breast muscle yield had the largest number of lying bouts (P < 0.05). It was concluded that wooden breast myopathy was associated with an impairment of gait scores, and may thus be partly linked to the common walking abnormalities in broilers.     

Influence of diet and manure management on ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions from dairy barns

Dairy systems are a source of pollutant emissions, such as greenhouse gases (GHG) and NH₃ that are associated with impacts on the environment. Gas emissions in barns are related mainly to diet intake and chemical composition, N excretion and manure management. A reduction in dietary N is known to be an effective way to reduce N excretion and the resulting NH₃ emissions. However, most studies consider manure in liquid form with frequent removal from the barn. In deep litter systems, several processes can occur during the accumulation of solid manure that result in variable gas emissions. The objective of this experiment was to investigate the influence of the interaction between dietary CP (low or high) and manure management (liquid or solid) on gas emissions (NH₃, N₂O, CH₄) at the barn level. Dietary treatments provided either low (LowN; 12% CP) or high (HighN; 18% CP) degradable protein to modify the amount of total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) excreted. The cows were housed for two 8-week periods in two mechanically ventilated rooms equipped to manage manure either in liquid (LM; slurry) or solid form (SM; deep litter). In the LM treatment, N balance was measured for 4 days. As expected, animals fed the LowN diet ingested 35% less N and excreted 65% less N in their urine, with no reduction in faecal N excretion and N secretion in milk. On the LowN diet, excretion of urea-N and NH₃-N emissions were reduced regardless of the manure management. On the HighN diet, urinary urea-N excretion was three times as high, while NH₃-N emissions were 3.0 and 4.5 times as high in LM and SM, respectively. Manure management strongly influenced CH₄-C emissions, which were 30% higher in SM than in LM, due to the accumulation of litter. Moreover, gas emissions from solid manure increased over the accumulation period, except for NH₃ on the LowN diet. Finally, our results suggest that methods used for national inventories would become more accurate by considering the variability in TAN excretion, which is the primary factor that influences NH₃ emissions.     

Estimates of genetic parameters and genetic trends for growth,reproduction, milk production and milk composition traits of Awassi sheep

Genetic parameters and genetic trends for growth, reproduction, milk production and composition traits were estimated for Syrian (S) and Turkish (T) Awassi sheep and their crosses maintained at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas Tal Hadya station, Aleppo, Syria (now in Terbol station in Lebanon). The data were spread over 9 years. The individual breed additive effects of T were positive and significant (P<0.05) for birth weight (BW). However, the values for weaning weight (WW) and pre-weaning weight gain (WG) were negative, even though they were significant (P<0.05). These estimates were positive and significant (P<0.05) for all reproduction and milk traits, except for litter weight at birth (LWB). The additive contributions of T were 60.72±0.94 days, 1.643±0.359 kg, 13.09±0.89 days, 16.13±0.89 kg, 1.12±0.44 kg, 0.71±0.26 kg, 2.80±0.72 kg and 0.83±0.32 kg for lambing interval (LI), litter weight at weaning (LWW), lactation length, milk yield, fat yield, protein yield, total solids yield and lactose yield, respectively. The heterosis effects, both individual and maternal, were non-significant (P>0.05) for most growth traits. Crossing of T with S, however, resulted in desirable and significant (P<0.05) individual heterosis effects for all the reproduction, milk production and constituent yields. The heritability (h²) estimates, both direct and maternal, were low for BW, WW, WG and all reproductive traits indicating major influence of environmental factors, whereas milk yield and composition had medium values. Birth weight had moderate genetic correlation with WW and WG. The genetic correlation between WW and WG was high (0.724±0.951). Lambing interval had large negative genetic correlation with LWB and LWW. However, LI had medium significant correlations with all the milk production and composition traits. Larger litter weights at birth had high and negative influence on milk yield of the dam and its constituents. Genetic changes over years for all traits were non-significant. The lack of genetic change in the studied traits calls for systematic and organized selection scheme.     

Pathways of soil organic matter formation from above and belowground inputs in a Sorghum bicolor bioenergy crop

When aboveground materials are harvested for fuel production, such as with Sorghum bicolor, the sustainability of annual bioenergy feedstocks is influenced by the ability of root inputs to contribute to the formation and persistence of soil organic matter (SOM), and to soil fertility through nutrient recycling. Using ¹³C and ¹⁵N labeling, we traced sorghum root and leaf litter‐derived C and N for 19 months in the field as they were mineralized or formed SOM. Our in situ litter incubation experiment confirms that sorghum roots and leaves significantly differ in their inherent chemical recalcitrance. This resulted in different contributions to C and N storage and recycling. Overall root residues had higher biochemical recalcitrance which led to more C retention in soil (27%) than leaf residues (19%). However, sorghum root residues resulted in higher particulate organic matter (POM) and lower mineral associated organic matter (MAOM), deemed to be the most persistent fraction in soil, than leaf residues. Additionally, the overall higher root‐derived C retention in soil led to higher N retention, reducing the immediate recycling of fertility from root as compared to leaf decomposition. Our study, conducted in a highly aggregated clay‐loam soil, emphasized the important role of aggregates in new SOM formation, particularly the efficient formation of MAOM in microaggregate structures occluded within macroaggregates. Given the known role of roots in promoting aggregation, efficient formation of MAOM within aggregates can be a major mechanism to increase persistent SOM storage belowground when aboveground residues are removed. We conclude that promoting root inputs in S. bicolor bioenergy production systems through plant breeding efforts may be an effective means to counterbalance the aboveground residue removal. However, management strategies need to consider the quantity of inputs involved and may need to support SOM storage and fertility with additional organic matter additions.     

黄土丘陵沟壑区主要草种枯落物的持水能力与养分潜在归还能力

黄土丘陵沟壑区由于土壤侵蚀严重,天然植被恢复缓慢,植被稀疏,枯枝落叶层的生态效应就显得尤为重要。对该区坡沟不同立地条件下草本群落主要物种的枯落物蓄积量、持水与养分潜在归还能力进行了分析,探讨主要物种枯落物对土壤的改善作用。结果表明:1)坡沟不同立地条件下枯落物蓄积量差异显著(P0.05),在73.74—175.26 g/m2之间变化,表现为阴沟坡峁顶阳沟坡阴梁峁坡阳梁峁坡;在坡面不同微地形下也差异显著(P0.05),在阳坡表现为株丛浅沟鱼鳞坑裸地,在阴坡为浅沟鱼鳞坑株丛裸地,在峁顶为株丛裸地。2)主要物种枯落物最大持水量可达自身干重的1.22—4.34倍;不同物种枯落物间的持水能力差异极显著(P0.01),表现为白羊草叶铁杆蒿叶白羊草茎达乌里胡枝子叶长芒草达乌里胡枝子枝铁杆蒿枝。3)枯落物C、N含量分别在7.35%—40.33%和0.61%—1.60%之间,不同物种间差异极显著(P0.01),同一物种枯落物C、N含量在坡沟不同立地条件下差异不显著。4)影响枯落物分解的木质素含量(1.00%—8.20%)、纤维素含量(3.16%—14.06%)、木质素/N值(0.78—12.48)、C/N值(5.61—57.41)在不同物种间差异极显著(P0.01);同一物种木质素含量、纤维素含量和木质素/N值在坡沟不同立地条件下差异显著(P0.05),而C/N值不显著。5)铁杆蒿叶的枯落物养分潜在归还能力最大,达乌里胡枝子和白羊草的枯落物次之,长芒草的枯落物养分潜在归还能力最小。     

川西亚高山粗枝云杉人工林地上凋落物对土壤呼吸的贡献

采用Li-8100土壤碳通量分析仪对川西亚高山典型的粗枝云杉(Picea asperata)人工林土壤呼吸(凋落物去除和对照)及其环境因子进行为期1年的连续观测。结果表明:凋落物去除处理和对照土壤呼吸速率均具有显著的季节动态变化,并呈现一致的动态特征,变动范围分别为0.35—4.39μmol m-2s-1和0.40—5.15μmol m-2s-1。整个观测期间,凋落物去除对土壤温度、水分以及土壤呼吸速率产生的差异均不显著。与对照相比,凋落物去除分别使土壤呼吸速率和土壤水分平均下降了14.21%和4.95%。两种处理的土壤呼吸速率和土壤温度均呈显著指数相关,与土壤水分呈显著线性相关。凋落物去除和对照的土壤温度敏感性(Q10)分别为3.84和4.09。凋落物对土壤呼吸速率的年均贡献率为14.93%,且存在明显季节动态。可见,地表凋落物是亚高山森林土壤呼吸的重要组成部分。     

杉木和米槠凋落叶DOM对土壤碳矿化的影响

DOM(Dissolved organic matter)是土壤微生物呼吸的重要底物,凋落物淋溶的DOM对土壤碳矿化具有重要影响。选择中亚热带地区具有代表性的杉木(Cunninghamia lanceolata)和米槠(Castanopsis carlesii)凋落叶作为研究对象,通过两个月的短期室内培养,把不同凋落叶浸提出的DOM添加到培养瓶中,定期测定土壤碳矿化速率,计算土壤碳累积矿化量,探讨两种等浓度等量DOM添加对土壤碳矿化的影响,并分析DOM化学性质在土壤碳矿化过程中的重要性。结果表明:米槠凋落叶浸提得到的DOC(Dissolved organic carbon)和DON(Dissolved organic nitrogen)浓度均显著高于杉木凋落叶的(P0.05),而杉木凋落叶浸提得到的DOM的UV吸收值(SUVA_(254))和HIX(Humification index)均显著低于米槠凋落叶的(P0.01)。添加等浓度等量杉木和米槠凋落叶DOM到土壤中均显著增加了土壤碳矿化速率,在第1天内分别比对照高198%和168%,3d后下降到61.8%和44.1%,14d后基本处于平稳状态,表明外源有机物添加对土壤碳矿化的前期影响较大。培养过程中,添加杉木和米槠凋落叶DOM的土壤碳矿化累积量均能采用双因素指数模型进行拟合(r~2=0.99),但添加两者凋落叶DOM后土壤碳矿化累积量没有显著差异。