Root,shoot and soil parameters required for process-oriented models of crop growth limited by water or nutrients

A review is given of the prospects for using process-oriented models of water and nutrient uptake in improving integrated agriculture. Government-imposed restrictions on the use of external inputs will increase the likelihood of (temporary) nutrient or water stress in crop production in NW Europe and thus a better understanding is required of shoot-root-soil interactions than presently available. In modelling nutrient and water uptake, three approaches are possible: 1) models-without-roots, based on empirically derived efficiency ratios for uptake of available resources, 2) models evaluating the uptake potential of root systems as actually found in the field and 3) models which also aim at a prediction of root development as influenced by interactions with environmental factors. For the second type of models the major underlying processes are known and research can concentrate on model refinement on the one hand and practical application on the other. The main parameters required for such models are discussed and examples are given of practical applications. For the third type of models quantification of processes known only qualitatively is urgently needed.     

Energy metabolism and ATP free-energy change of the intertidal wormSipunculus nudus below a critical temperature

The intertidal wormSipunculus nudus was exposed to various temperatures for an analysis of the integrated changes in energy and acid-base status. Animals were incubated in sea water or maintained for up to 8 days at 4 and 0°C while dwelling in the sediment. Cannulation of the animals prior to experimentation allowed the analysis of blood gas parameters ( , and pH). fell to 0 torr within 8 days at 0°C. A simultaneous reduction of ventilatory activity was derived from measurements of the pattern of coelomic fluid pressure changes associated with ventilatory movements. The increase in and an onset of anaerobic metabolism, indicated by the accumulation of end products like acetate and propionate both in the coelomic fluid and the body wall musculature, led to the development of a progressive acidosis and a deviation from the alphastat regulation of intracellular pH seen in unburied animals. The drop in intracellular pH together with the depletion of the adenylates and the phosphagen, phospho-l-arginine, reflect a significant decrease in the Gibb's free-energy change of ATP hydrolysis. These changes are interpreted to indicate lethal cold injuries, because recovery was not possible when the animals were returned to 12°C after more than 2 days of exposure to 0°C. A low critical temperature indicating the onset of cold-induced anaerobiosis is concluded to exist below 4°C owing to the insufficient response of the ventilatory system to the developing hypoxia.     

Evolutionary dynamics of predator-prey systems: an ecological perspective

 Evolution takes place in an ecological setting that typically involves interactions with other organisms. To describe such evolution, a structure is needed which incorporates the simultaneous evolution of interacting species. Here a formal framework for this purpose is suggested, extending from the microscopic interactions between individuals – the immediate cause of natural selection, through the mesoscopic population dynamics responsible for driving the replacement of one mutant phenotype by another, to the macroscopic process of phenotypic evolution arising from many such substitutions. The process of coevolution that results from this is illustrated in the context of predator–prey systems. With no more than qualitative information about the evolutionary dynamics, some basic properties of predator–prey coevolution become evident. More detailed understanding requires specification of an evolutionary dynamic; two models for this purpose are outlined, one from our own research on a stochastic process of mutation and selection and the other from quantitative genetics. Much of the interest in coevolution has been to characterize the properties of fixed points at which there is no further phenotypic evolution. Stability analysis of the fixed points of evolutionary dynamical systems is reviewed and leads to conclusions about the asymptotic states of evolution rather different from those of game-theoretic methods. These differences become especially important when evolution involves more than one species. Received 10 November 1993; received in revised form 25 July 1994     

Contribution of Monsoon Asia to the carbon budget of the biosphere,past and future

The High Resolution Biosphere Model (HRBM), which has been developed by the group of the author, was used to investigate the carbon balance of the vegetation and the soil in the ecosystems of Monsoon Asia in comparison to the rest of the world. The HRBM is a global grid-based (0.5 degree resolution) model with a monthly time step. It includes modules for natural vegetation, land use, vegetation fires, vegetation composition. A historical carbon budget was calculated for the period 1860–1978 and, on a global scale, validated using atmospheric CO₂ data. Based on the per-country development of the population and their requirements, different reasonable scenarios were used to investigate the potential impacts of land use and deforestation in the period 1990–2050. The HRBM calculates considerable contributions of Monsoon Asia to the global CO₂ emissions due to land use changes in the past. Between 1860 and 1978, about 1/4 of the global releases from land use changes came from South Asian and Southeast Asian biota. The future contributions in the period 1990–2050 depend on the assumed development of the agricultural methods. If the intensity of agriculture and the agricultural productivity will stay the same as in the 1980s, there will be a strong need to increase agricultural areas, and thus deforestation will dominate. If there will be a change over to intensive methods of agricultural production, the presently used areas might be sufficient to provide resources to the growing population.     

具有中等毒性的马氏钳蝎神经毒素的纯化和初步晶体学研究

运用柱层析技术对产自淅川和常德的马氏钳蝎毒素进行分离纯化,得到８种哺乳动物神经毒素。运用制备型等电聚焦电泳技术,对常德样品中具有中等毒性的蝎神经毒素（ＢｍＫ５）进一步纯化,获得了高纯度样品。两个产地的蝎毒素ＢｍＫ５均已经成功地获得了大晶体。空间群均为Ｐ２１２１２１,晶胞参数分别为：ａ＝３８．４６埃,ｂ＝３７．２８埃,ｃ＝３６．９７埃（淅川）;ａ＝３８．４４埃,ｂ＝３７．５５埃,ｃ＝３６．８３埃（常德）。对两个产地的晶体分别收集了２．１埃（淅川）和１．６２埃（常德）分辨率的衍射数据。     

大鹏湾反曲原甲藻种群动态机理模型辨识

建立了我国南海大鹏湾反曲原甲藻种群动态机理模型,在温度、盐度、溶解氧（ＤＯ）、可溶性无机磷（ＤＩＰ）、可溶性亚硝态氮、可溶性硝态氮和酸碱度（ＰＨ值）等７个因子的分析中,辨识出温度为反曲原甲藻的限制因子;种群数量变动中引入自回归平稳随机模拟,并建立３个站位６个层面的６个自回归与非线性回归联立模型,以动态递阶的方式对反曲原甲藻种群动态进行回代,研究模型对实测值的拟合结果,拟合率达８１．７％。     

鼎湖山植被演替过程中椎栗和荷木种群的动态

 森林群落的演替过程,是以各优势种群的动态为其表现特征的。本项研究系统地研究了鼎湖山森林植被演替过程各优势种群的动态。本文研究演替顶极建群种椎栗和荷木等阳生性种群的动态,结果表明其生态位宽度在演替过程中由入侵针叶林起逐渐开始增大,至阳生性为优势常绿阔叶树阶段时为最大,此后渐渐下降,但不会下降为零。在其演变过程中,这些阳生性的种群格局由集群分布演变为趋于随机分布;其与早期先锋种马尾松树种的生态位宽度重叠值和种间联结值由高向低转变,而与中生性树种却有较高的生态位重叠值和种间联结值,但这两方面的值在后期有减弱的趋向。这些结果一方面说明该种群的先锋特性,另一方面也说明由于成熟群落的循环更新使群落结构出现不均匀与镶嵌,使这些阳生性先锋种群 在演替的后期仍以一定数量存在。     

Responses to recent climatewarming of Pinus sylvestris and Pinus cembra within their montane transition zone in the Swiss Alps

Abstract. Altitudinal and latitudinal distribution limits of trees are mainly controlled by temperature. Therefore climate warming is expected to induce upslope or poleward migrations. In the Swiss Central Alps, summers in the period 1982-1991 were on average 0.8 °C warmer than those of the period 30 yr before. We investigated whether populations of conifers at the montane Pinus sylvestris-Pinus cembra ecocline exhibit demographic trends in response to that warming. We found no evidence for this. Young seedlings of Pinus sylvestris, the species which is expected to expand its range upward in a warmer climate, were virtually absent from all sites, whereas large fractions of Pinus cembra populations were observed in the seedling and juvenile categories even below the present lower distribution limit of adult trees. This suggests that there are no major altitudinal shifts in response to the recent sequence of warmer summers. Germination and seedling survival trials with Pinus sylvestris suggest that temperature per se would not exclude this species even from establishing at the current treeline in the Swiss Central Alps. Similar results were found at the polar treeline. Phytotron tests of seedling survival showed much less drought resistance in Pinus sylvestris than in Pinus cembra which is in contrast to their phytogeographic distributions. Thus, the montane pine ecocline in the Swiss Central Alps seems to be stabilized by species interactions and may not be directly responsive to moderate climatic change, which needs to be taken into account in predictive attempts.     

Population dynamic consequences of competition within and between age classes

We investigate the population dynamics of a semivoltine species whose juvenile development takes two years to complete, and is followed by a very short reproductive adult stage. Reproduction is synchronized so at any given time the juvenile population consists of two cohorts. Coexistence of the two cohorts requires that the strength of intea-cohort competition exceeds that of inter-cohort competition, an extension of the competitive exclusion principle. The population may exhibit population cycles with low integer period. We identify two mechanisms for two-year cycles, and note that four-year cycles are a natural consequence of overcompensation. Three year cycles can occur and we discuss the mechanisms involved.     

A genetic linkage map of Picea abies Karst., based on RAPD markers,as a tool in population genetics

Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst.) is a most important species among European forest trees for both economical and ecological reasons. However, this species has suffered from a lack of information on the genetic side due to the scarcity of linkage data. In this study we have used a population of 72 megagametophytes from a single tree in a natural Italian stand to produce a genetic linkage map by means of RAPD markers. Ninety-six random decamers used as primers yielded 185 polymorphic loci showing Mendelian inheritance. Analysis of the segregation by multipoint analysis allowed us to define 17 major linkage groups covering a total distance of 3584 cM, with an average spacing between markers of 22 cM. Possible uses of a genetic linkage map with respect to population ecology and genetics are discussed.