Light interception by grain legume row crops

Abstract. Four contrasting grain legume species ( Glycine max, Vigna radiata. Vigna mungo and Vigna angularis ) were grown as row crops with both 0.5 m and 1.0 m spacings between row centres. Light transmission profiles, at ground level, across rows of plants, were obtained for each crop on a number of occasions during growth. The proportion of the incident downward light flux density intercepted by each crop at solar noon was found to be simply and directly related to the product of the proportion of the ground area covered by the crop's leaf canopy and the proportion of the downward light flux density incident at the row centre that was intercepted by the crop. The average proportion of the incident light energy intercepted over the whole day could be related to the proportion intercepted at solar noon.     

用于农田非点源污染控制的生态拦截型沟渠系统及其效果

针对太湖流域农田非点源污染严重的现状,结合当地实际情况提出了一种新的生态工程学解决方法——生态拦截型沟渠系统,它主要由工程部分和植物部分组成,能减缓水速,促进流水携带颗粒物质的沉淀,有利于构建植物对沟壁、水体和沟底中逸出养分的立体式吸收和拦截,从而实现对农田排出养分的控制。试验区沟渠植物具有一定的经济价值,且景观效果良好。沟渠系统对农田径流中总氮、总磷的去除效果分别达到48．36％和40．53％。此外,该生态工程的另一个显著优点就是不另外占用土地,符合平原水网地区农田沟渠的实际,具有很好的推广应用潜力。     

Crop row spacing and its influence on the partitioning of evapotranspiration by winter-grown wheat in Northern Syria

A study was conducted during the 1996–97 crop growth season at ICARDA in northern Syria, to investigate the influence of wheat canopy architecture on the partitioning of moisture between soil evaporation and crop transpiration, on a soil with high hydraulic conductivity. The study was conducted on the long-term two course wheat-lentil rotation trial, established on a swelling clay soil (Calcixerollic xerochrept). The wheat canopy architecture was manipulated by sowing the crop at either of two row-spacings, 0.17 or 0.30 m, both at a constant sowing rate equivalent to 120 kg ha^–1. In this study, evapotranspiration from the crop was inferred from changes in soil moisture content over time, evaporation and rainfall interception were measured daily using microlysimetry, drainage was estimated as being the difference between potential daily evapotranspiration, and the evapotranspiration estimated from the soil water deficit. Between sowing and day 80 (tillering stage), evapotranspiration was calculated to consist mainly of soil evaporation. However, after day 80, transpiration became an increasingly dominant component of evapotranspiration. For both row-spacings, cumulative evapotranspiration over the season was approximately 373 mm. In the narrow-row crop, transpiration and soil evaporation were approximately 185 mm and 183 mm of water respectively. Conversely for the wide row-spaced crop, 172 mm of water was transpired while about 205 mm of water evaporated from the soil surface. While green leaf area index did not differ between row-spacings, the architecture of the crops as a result of sowing affected solar radiation penetration such that more incident radiation was intercepted at the soil surface of the wide row-spaced crop. This is likely to have made some contribution to the elevated levels of evaporation from the soil beneath the canopy of the wide-sown crop.     

Memory and prediction in natural gaze control

In addition to stimulus properties and task factors, memory is an important determinant of the allocation of attention and gaze in the natural world. One way that the role of memory is revealed is by predictive eye movements. Both smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements demonstrate predictive effects based on previous experience. We have previously shown that unskilled subjects make highly accurate predictive saccades to the anticipated location of a ball prior to a bounce in a virtual racquetball setting. In this experiment, we examined this predictive behaviour. We asked whether the period after the bounce provides subjects with visual information about the ball trajectory that is used to programme the pursuit movement initiated when the ball passes through the fixation point. We occluded a 100 ms period of the ball''s trajectory immediately after the bounce, and found very little effect on the subsequent pursuit movement. Subjects did not appear to modify their strategy to prolong the fixation. Neither were we able to find an effect on interception performance. Thus, it is possible that the occluded trajectory information is not critical for subsequent pursuit, and subjects may use an estimate of the ball''s trajectory to programme pursuit. These results provide further support for the role of memory in eye movements.     

Prey stimuli trigger trophic interception across ecosystems

Specialised predators foraging in the boundaries of adjacent ecosystems can control or redirect the flow of subsidies through trophic interception. Ecologically diverse predators can capture terrestrial invertebrates that fall on the water surface and, consequently, influence the flow of energy to aquatic environments. In this study, we show that the movement of prey triggers ripples on the surface of the water, and these stimuli are detected by bulldog bats (Noctilio albiventris, Noctilionidae) during foraging. Thus, the bats located live crickets (Gryllus assimilis, Gryllidae) on average of 15 times faster when compared to the location of dead or artificial crickets (i.e. without movements or ripples on the water surface). The bats also inspected (i.e. touched with their feet) all floating objects on the water surface. During this behaviour, the characteristics of the object (i.e. texture) were critical for bats to distinguish between debris (e.g. leaves and sticks) and the resource (i.e. insect carcasses) that floated on the water surface. In addition, when we compare the efficiency of predators (i.e. bats and fishes) in capturing this resource, our findings suggest that bats are extremely effective (i.e. consumed 100% of the available prey), since the fishes consumed only 40% of the available crickets on the surface of the water over a 60‐s period. These results bring novel information about the influence of prey‐based stimuli on the behaviour of its predators and, consequently, on the flow of nutrients between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.     

Characteristics and simulation of snow interception by the canopy of primary spruce‐fir Korean pine forests in the Xiaoxing'an Mountains of China

Snow interception by the forest canopy is an important control on the forest hydrological cycle in the Xiaoxing'an Mountains within the northern temperate region of China. In this study, the effects of snowfall characteristics and stand structures on the snowfall redistribution of the canopies within primary spruce‐fir Korean pine forests are analyzed at the forest stand scale. Characteristics of snowfall, through‐canopy snowfall, and stand structure are continuously measured using positioning observations. A semiempirical theoretical model is used to conduct snow interception simulations in the Xiaoxing'an Mountain region. The results indicate that the snowfall, canopy density, slope gradient, and tree height have a significant effect on the through‐canopy snowfall. The interception efficiency gradually decreases with an increase in the amount of snowfall and is particularly sensitive to the snowfall and canopy density, although it shows no significant correlation with average diameter at breast height, tree height, basal area, canopy height, canopy width, leaf area, or slope gradient. Very similar results have been observed in Canada and Switzerland, suggesting the transferability of the results between North America, Western Europe, and China. However, although model results provide a satisfactory simulation of snow interception, further studies are required to optimize the model in this region.     

SWAT模型在天山林区林冠截留过程中的改进应用

林冠截留是森林生态水文的重要环节,SWAT （Soil and Water Assessment Tool）模型对其模拟过程还较为粗糙,为了在流域水文模拟中更精细的刻画林冠截留过程从而得到更佳的模拟结果,以SWAT模型为基础,使用半理论林冠截留模型（Gash模型）与SWAT模型进行耦合,以天山林区为研究区对SWAT模型林冠截留模块进行优化改进。通过对改进前后的模拟结果进行对比分析,结果表明：1） SWAT模型和SWAT-Gash模型的R²分别为0.59-0.83和0.65-0.86,NSE值分别为0.58-0.82和0.63-0.85,两种模型PBIAS为7.2%-17.1%,证明SWAT-Gash模型具有更好的适用性;2）相较于出山口径流数据,SWAT模型和SWAT-Gash模型的RMSD值分别为3.49-7.80 m³/s和3.22-4.68 m³/s,SWAT-Gash模型在校准期和验证期的皮尔逊相关系数分别为0.93和0.81,高于SWAT模型的0.91和0.77;3）基于分位数回归（QR）的不确定性分析表明,SWAT模型和SWAT-Gash模型验证期的P因子分别为0.93和0.96,R因子为1.26和1.19,95%不确定性置信区间平均宽度分别为13.50 m³/s和12.86 m³/s;4） SWAT模型与SWAT-Gash模型在验证期的月平均地表径流量分别为6.55 m³/s和8.50 m³/s,表明在该流域内原始SWAT模型会高估林冠截留量。以天山北坡中段林区为例对云杉森林的林冠截留进行精细化模拟,虽然对模型输入数据要求提高,林冠截留数据的收集增加了模型模拟的不确定性,但对本研究区基于物理过程的水文模拟精度提升明显,改进后模型与出山口实测径流数据一致性更强,可以为天山林区小流域水资源管理提供更可靠的依据。     

Social context-dependent modification of courtship behaviour in Drosophila prolongata

Induction of alternative mating tactics by surrounding conditions, such as the presence of conspecific males, is observed in many animal species. Satellite behaviour is a remarkable example in which parasitic males exploit the reproductive investment by other males. Despite the abundance of parasitic mating tactics, however, few examples are known in which males alter courtship behaviour as a counter tactic against parasitic rivals. The fruit fly Drosophila prolongata shows prominent sexual dimorphism in the forelegs. When courting females, males of D. prolongata perform ‘leg vibration’, in which a male vibrates the female''s body with his enlarged forelegs. In this study, we found that leg vibration increased female receptivity, but it also raised a risk of interception of the female by rival males. Consequently, in the presence of rivals, males of D. prolongata shifted their courtship behaviour from leg vibration to ‘rubbing’, which was less vulnerable to interference by rival males. These results demonstrated that the males of D. prolongata adjust their courtship behaviour to circumvent the social context-dependent risk of leg vibration.     

不同放牧制度下呼伦湖流域草原植被冠层截留

冠层截留是降雨过程中的水量分配和流域水平衡的一个重要组成部分,通过水浸泡法和降雨模拟实验研究呼伦湖流域草原3种放牧制度下(休牧、轮牧、自由放牧(超载放牧))植被冠层截留量的变化规律,并利用遥感解译植被归一化指数(NDVI),确定3种放牧制度下草原面积,估算呼伦湖流域草原降雨截留量。研究表明:在休牧、轮牧、自由放牧3种制度下,水浸泡法测定的截留量分别是0.468、0.320、0.271 mm。降雨模拟实验法测得的结果分别是0.957、0.613、0.431 mm。休牧、轮牧、自由放牧草场叶面积指数、盖度、容重、生物量等指标差异显著(P0.05),且单株植被高度、鲜重对截留量影响显著呈线性正相关关系。呼伦湖流域草原一次降雨量为大于等于30 mm全流域降雨,其植被截留量为6.462×106m3。     

六盘山主要植被类型冠层截留特征

通过野外观测和模型模拟,研究了六盘山主要森林类型的冠层截留量、冠层截留容量和冠层截留模拟参数的变化.结果表明：六盘山主要森林类型的冠层截留率在8.59%～17.94%,穿透降雨率超过80%,树干茎流率在0.23%～3.10%;冠层截留容量在0.78～1.84 mm,其中叶截留容量在0.62～1.63 mm,枝干截留容量在0.13～0.29 mm,且针叶林的冠层截留容量高于阔叶林.考虑冠层叶面积指数的冠层截留改进模型较原有模型具有更好的模拟精度, 其中,研究区红桦林、华山松林、李灌丛和辽东栎-少脉椴混交林的模拟效果较好,辽东栎林、油松林和华西四蕊槭 石枣子灌丛模拟效果相对较差,这可能与冠层结构、叶面积指数以及降水特性等差异有关.