Isolated cilia and crystalloid inclusions in murine bone marrow stromal cells

Bone marrow stromal cells, especially reticular cells and macrophages, are thought to have important functions in the hematopoietic inductive microenvironment (HIM). In order to define the details of their fine structure, the femoral bone marrow of 50 C 57 BL mice was examined by electron microscopy after fixation by vascular perfusion. Almost all the structures of the murine bone marrow stromal cells were similar to those previously reported. Murine bone marrow reticular cells had some isolated cilia (with a frequency of 6.0%) of 9 + 0 pattern in their axoneme. The murine bone marrow macrophages had crystalloid inclusions (CI) that revealed characteristic periodic substructure. These periodic structures could be classified into four types (types A-D). Type A inclusions had a rather amorphous structure and were the most common (with a frequency of 61.9%). Type B inclusions had a periodic lamellar structure oblique to the long axis of the CI itself at intervals of about 3.5 nm. Type C inclusions had a periodic lattice structure at intervals of about 3.7 nm, and were the least frequent (with a frequency of 6.0%). Type D inclusions had periodic laminated structure parallel to the long axis of CI at intervals of about 3.5 nm. Although the true significance of isolated cilia of murine bone marrow reticular cells and the periodic internal structures of CI in murine bone marrow macrophages remains unknown, they must not be ignored as only incidental findings: they may be useful to the understanding of the relationship between function and structure in future research on HIM.     

Nitrogen fertilization and fire act independently on foliar stoichiometry in a temperate steppe

Nitrogen (N) fertilization, as a grassland management strategy, has been widely used to improve forage quality and increase the productivity of grasslands degraded by overstocking. It is widely accepted that N addition will alter ecosystem structure and function, and that these effects may be altered by natural disturbances, such as fire. We examined the effects of annual burning and N fertilization (17.5 g N m^?2 year^?1, at a surplus rate in order to simulate agriculture treatment) on foliar chemistry and stoichiometric ratios of eight dominant species (Leymus chinensis, Stipa grandis, Cleistogenes squarrosa, Potentilla bifurca, Thalictrum squarrosum, Artemisia frigida, Kochia prostrata and Caragana microphylla) in a temperate steppe in northern China. After 3 years of treatments, annual burning significantly increased soil extractable phosphorus (P) concentration but showed no effects on soil inorganic N concentration, whereas N fertilization caused a significant increase in inorganic N concentration but not of extractable P. Species differed substantially with respect to all nutritional and stoichiometric variables. Both annual burning and N fertilization caused significant increases in foliar N and P concentrations and thus decreases in carbon (C):N and C:P ratios. While annual burning showed no effects on N:P ratios, N fertilization produced higher N:P ratios. However, species responded idiosyncratically to both fire and N fertilization in terms of foliar N concentration, C:N and N:P ratio. In addition, there was no interaction between fire and N fertilization that affected all variables. This study suggests that both annual burning and N fertilization have direct impacts on plant elemental composition and that fire- and N addition-induced changes of community composition may have important consequences for plant-mediated biogeochemical cycling pathways in temperate steppe ecosystem.     

Impacts of grazing and burning on spider assemblages in dry eucalypt forests of north‐eastern New South Wales,Australia

Abstract In the dry eucalypt forests of north‐eastern New South Wales, Australia, cattle grazing occurs at low intensities and is accompanied by frequent low‐intensity burning. This study investigated the combined effects of this management practice on the ground‐dwelling and arboreal (low vegetation) spider assemblages. Spiders were sampled at 49 sites representing a range of grazing intensities, using pitfall trapping, litter extraction and sweep sampling. A total of 237 spider morphospecies from 37 families were collected using this composite sampling strategy. The abundance, richness, composition and structure of spider assemblages in grazed and ungrazed forest sites were compared and related to a range of environmental variables. Spider assemblages responded to a range of environmental factors at the landscape, habitat and microhabitat scales. Forest type, spatial relationships and habitat variability at the site scale were more important in determining spider assemblages than localized low‐intensity grazing and burning. However, it is possible that a threshold intensity of grazing may exist, above which spiders respond to grazing and burning. Although low‐intensity grazing and burning may not affect spider assemblages below a threshold stocking rate, that stocking rate has yet to be established.     

Biophysical stratification of the Amazon basin

In field measurement programmes, stratified sampling can optimize sampling efficiency, but stratification is often undertaken subjectively, and is frequently based on a priori classification schemes such as those used for vegetation maps. In order to avoid the problems associated with a priori subjective schemes, we explore here an objective procedure, Regression Tree Analysis (RTA). RTA has previously been used in local-scale studies, but here we apply it to a very large study domain, namely the entire humid tropical zone of South America. The aim of the study was to develop an optimal sampling design in preparation for the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA). Co-registered spatially continuous fields of rainfall, temperature, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), the normalized difference index (NDVI), an index of surface moisture, and other independent variables were used to predict three dependent variables, annual net radiation (Rn), latent heat (LE) and net primary production (NPP). Rather than simply dividing the study area based on differing levels of the three dependent variables, empirical models were developed using RTA to indicate how the relationships between these and possible forcing variables vary across the study area. For each variable long-term seasonal indices such as annual average, monthly minimum and amplitude were used to exclude effects of temporal phase differences between the hemispheres. The resulting hierarchical models revealed variations in the interdependence of the forcing variables throughout the study area and therefore provided a basis for a stratified sampling and identifying the most important variables to be collected in LBA for the Amazon basin as a whole as well as optimizing the sampling scheme for scaling up findings from the field scale to larger areas.     

Relation between environmental variables and aquatic megafauna in a first order stream of the Atlantic Forest, southern Brazil

The study was done in a first order stream in the southern portion of the Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest. Samples of the aquatic megafauna (amphibians, crustaceans and fishes) were taken with the aim of describing spatial (longitudinal) and temporal (seasonal) patterns in species composition and abundance. Thirty four structural and limnological variables at macro and mesoscales from three sampling reaches were analysed. The spatio-temporal analysis of species richness and diversity indicated a gradient in which values increased in an upstream–downstream direction, independently of the season of the year. The results showed a strong influence of structural environmental variables on community structure. Furthermore, they revealed a hierarchical relation between macroscale and mesoscale variables and their influence on community abundance and composition in the various spatio-temporal sampling units analysed. The spatial distribution of species richness and diversity in the Carvão creek was strongly influenced by the presence of waterfalls, being progressively richer and more diverse downstream. Waterfalls seem to function as selective filters more than as absolute barriers, presenting different efficiencies for different species.     

The influence of rate of temperature change and peak stimulus duration on pain intensity and quality

An important aspect of experimental pain research is that the assessment methods can investigate the different aspects of pain perception. The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of rate of temperature change and peak stimulus duration on heat evoked pain intensity and quality. All stimuli were applied within the medial aspect of the anterior forearm. The rate of temperature change was varied from 1 to 16 C/s without any effect on the pain threshold. The pain threshold decreased with an increasing peak stimulus duration from 0.1 to 2 s, but not from 2 to 3 s. The pain intensity for suprathreshold stimuli (46 C, 48 C, 50 C) increased for decreasing rates and increasing duration. The pain intensity was highly correlated with the energy of the stimulus. When the rates of temperature change (1-16 C/s) are varied, no differences between pricking and burning pain were present at either low stimulus intensity (46 C) or high stimulus intensity (50 C). At low stimulus intensity (46 C), the pricking pain was not influenced by the duration (0.1-3 s), but the burning pain was intensified when the duration was increased from 1.5 to 3 s. At high intensity stimuli (50 C), the pricking pain intensified with an increased duration, whereas burning pain did not. The heat pain threshold is influenced by the peak stimulus duration, and not by the rate of temperature change. If suprathreshold stimuli are used, both the rate of temperature change and the peak stimulus duration can strongly affect the pain intensity and the pain quality. Therefore, the same stimulus modality can be used to assess the modulation of different pain intensities and of the pricking and burning pain qualities simply by varying the stimulus configuration.     

Effects of wildfire and permafrost on soil organic matter and soil climate in interior Alaska

The influence of discontinuous permafrost on ground‐fuel storage, combustion losses, and postfire soil climates was examined after a wildfire near Delta Junction, AK in July 1999. At this site, we sampled soils from a four‐way site comparison of burning (burned and unburned) and permafrost (permafrost and nonpermafrost). Soil organic layers (which comprise ground‐fuel storage) were thicker in permafrost than nonpermafrost soils both in burned and unburned sites. While we expected fire severity to be greater in the drier site (without permafrost), combustion losses were not significantly different between the two burned sites. Overall, permafrost and burning had significant effects on physical soil variables. Most notably, unburned permafrost sites with the thickest organic mats consistently had the coldest temperatures and wettest mineral soil, while soils in the burned nonpermafrost sites were warmer and drier than the other soils. For every centimeter of organic mat thickness, temperature at 5 cm depth was about 0.5°C cooler during summer months. We propose that organic soil layers determine to a large extent the physical and thermal setting for variations in vegetation, decomposition, and carbon balance across these landscapes. In particular, the deep organic layers maintain the legacies of thermal and nutrient cycling governed by fire and revegetation. We further propose that the thermal influence of deep organic soil layers may be an underlying mechanism responsible for large regional patterns of burning and regrowth, detected in fractal analyses of burn frequency and area. Thus, fractal geometry can potentially be used to analyze changes in state of these fire prone systems.     

Fire effects on insect herbivores in an oak savanna: the role of light and nutrients

Abstract.  1. Environmental heterogeneity created by prescribed burning provided the context for testing whether the distribution of an oak specialist (the lace bug, Corythuca arcuata ) could be explained by stoichiometric mismatches between herbivore and host plant composition.
2. Field observations showed that lace bug density was seven-fold higher in frequently burned than in unburned units.
3. Lace bug density did not increase with leaf nutrient concentrations, but was instead associated with higher light levels, higher concentrations of leaf carbon (C), lignin and total phenolics, and lower levels of cellulose. In addition, lace bugs reared on high-light leaves had higher levels of survivorship than those fed on low-light leaves.
4. Sampling restricted to full-sun leaves was used to test whether fire-related changes in leaf nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations have a secondary influence on lace bug success. This sampling provided only limited evidence for nutrient limitation, as decreases in leaf N and P were associated with an increase in lace bug mass but a decrease in density.
5. It is concluded that burning probably promotes lace bug population growth by increasing canopy openness, light penetration, and the availability of C-based metabolites, and thus simple stoichoimetric mismatches between herbivores and host plants are not of primary importance in this system.     

Systematical evaluation of the effects of sample collection procedures on low-molecular-weight serum/plasma proteome profiling

Blood is an ideal source for biomarker discovery. However, little has been done to address the effects of sampling, handling and storage procedures on serum/plasma proteomes. We used magnetic bead-based MALDI-TOF MS to systematically evaluate the influence of each procedure on low-molecular-weight serum/plasma proteome profiling on the basis of the whole spectra. We found that sampling procedures, including the selection of blood collection tubes and anticoagulants, variations in clotting time or time lag before centrifugation, and hemolysis, displayed significant effects on the proteomes. Moreover, serum and plasma were mutually incompatible for proteome comparison. By contrast, overnight fasting, handling procedures, including centrifugation speeds (1500 x g vs. 3000 x g) or time (15 min vs. 30 min), and storage conditions, such as at 4 degrees C or 25 degrees C for up to 24 h or at -80 degrees C for up to 3 months, and repeated freeze/thaw of up to ten cycles, had relatively minor effects on the proteomes based upon our analysis of about 100 peaks. We concluded that low-molecular-weight serum/plasma proteomes were diversely affected by sampling, handling and storage with most change from variations of sampling procedures. We therefore suggest the necessity of standardizing sampling procedure for proteome comparison and biomarker discovery.     

The interplay between local and landscape scales on the density of pond-dwelling anurans in subtropical grasslands

We investigated the role of local and landscape environmental variables on anurans density classified as habitat specialists and generalists in grassland landscapes, known as South Brazilian grasslands (SBG). In this region, we surveyed 187 ponds distributed over 40 landscape sampling units. For each pond, 31 local environmental variables were measured. Each landscape sampling unit was embedded within a larger regional sampling unit with different landscape properties. For each landscape and regional sampling units, 16 landscape metrics were extracted from a land cover and use map. We recorded 35 species, eleven of which are specialists in the SBG. The specialists were affected by 11 local and 2 landscape environmental variables, while generalists were affected by 14 local and one landscape environmental variable. Thus, specialists and generalists presented different relationships with local and landscape variables, but in general local variables had a greater influence on the density of anurans than the landscape variables. However, the landscape indirectly influenced local variables because higher quality ponds were in landscapes with higher percentages of natural habitat. In conclusion, reproductive sites with higher local quality and located within landscapes with higher percentages of natural grasslands are essential to conserve anurans in this habitat. Effective conservation of such sites would benefit from further studies that assess effects of land use and biotic integrity of ponds, which can help to determine (a) the relative effects of local habitat quality of ponds and (b) the effectiveness of protecting ponds and their local surroundings for anuran conservation in SBG. Abstract in Portuguese is available with online material.     

Late quaternary vegetation dynamics and human impact on Alexander Selkirk Island, Chile

Aim To reconstruct the history of vegetation and environments using pollen, charcoal and sediment analysis, and to identify the timing and nature of climate change and human impact on the vegetation of a remote Pacific island. Location Cerro de Los Inocentes, 1000 m above sea level, Alexander Selkirk Island (33°45′S, 80°45′W), Chile. The westernmost island of the Juan Fernandez Archipelago, south‐east Pacific Ocean. Methods A 150‐cm long sediment core comprising 87 cm dark brown peat overlying 63 cm of yellow grey clay was extracted from a shallow depression on the southern slopes of Cerro de Los Inocentes. Pollen, charcoal, sediment and accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon analyses were used to construct a record of vegetation change through time. Numerical analysis of multispecies data allowed the classification of fossil assemblages into distinct pollen zones. Results Pollen and spores are preserved throughout the sediment with high concentrations coinciding with the beginning of organic sediment accumulation at around 8000 ¹⁴C yr BP. Prior to 8000 ¹⁴C yr BP, the deposition of clays, presumably from upslope erosion, occurred in a landscape sparsely vegetated by grasses, ferns and Pernettya rigida heath, including several plants that are only found 100–200 m above the site today (Zone CI‐1). After 8000 ¹⁴C yr BP, a P. rigida heath was the dominant vegetation (Zone CI‐2). A shift to a wet heath–shrubland (Zone CI‐3) occurred at 6000 ¹⁴C yr BP and was followed by a transition to a treefern–shrubland mosaic accompanied by periodic burning (Zone CI‐4) after 4500 ¹⁴C yr BP. The impact of human occupation is evident in Zone CI‐5 at 450 ¹⁴C yr BP with the loss of forest species, increased burning and invasion of the exotic plant Rumex. Main conclusions The pollen and charcoal record provides the first evidence of vegetation changes spanning at least the last 8000 ¹⁴C yr BP from the high altitude environment of Alexander Selkirk Island. Prior to 8000 ¹⁴C yr BP, the altitudinal ranges of different plant species may have been suppressed by a cooler and drier climate. Increasing precipitation and temperatures at the end of the last glacial period may have mobilized exposed sediments in a sparsely vegetated upland environment, altering local drainage patterns, eventually leading to slope stabilization and deposition of organic detritus under an increasing density of heath and shrub vegetation. The subalpine heath–shrubland persisted until 4500 ¹⁴C yr BP when first evidence for sustained burning is found in association with the establishment of a more open treefern–shrubland vegetation pattern. In the absence of human occupation at this time, the influence of increased climatic variability associated with more frequent El Niño‐Southern Oscillation events during the mid to late Holocene is considered one of the main driving forces behind increased vegetation disturbance during this period. The record provides evidence that island vegetation patterns have been highly dynamic over millennial to decadal time‐scales and that the flora has persisted through periods of rapid and major climate change. This changed with the discovery of the island by European explorers in the late sixteenth century and the subsequent introduction of goats and exploitation and burning of forests, which resulted in the progressive destruction of native vegetation and the invasion of introduced plants. There is evidence that reduced burning and control of the goat population within the last 50 years has resulted in marginal recovery of some high altitude native plant species.     

Changes in human burn fluid biological activity during normal burn healing

The main goal of this work was monitoring the changes occurring in human burn fluid biological activity during normal burn healing. The fluid available in the burn until healing makes a good material for controlling biochemical microenvironment of burn cells. This environment involves factors, such as extracellular matrix proteins and matrix metalloproteinases. In this work our previous studies of the influence of wound and burn fluids on the functional activity of cells were extended to include the effect of burn fluid on fibroblasts and keratinocytes, i. e. human skin cells present in the wound and involved in wound healing. It was shown that human burn fluid biological activity depends on the time that passed after burning, and on the correctness of healing. Migration of human fibroblasts becomes more intensive under the influence of such a fluid independently on the time of fluid sampling. Unlike, keratinocyte migration was inhibited by burn fluid sampled 1-3 days after burning but was enhanced by fluids sampled 6 days following burning. The obtained data are to be necessarily taken into consideration at burn treatment and also at transplantation of cells for healing of wounds of different nature.     

Effect of pre-analytical handling on haematological variables in minipigs

Pre-analytical handling may be an important determinant of haematological variables, if analysis is delayed. We investigated the effect of anticoagulants, i.e. tripotassium ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and citric acid, theophylline, adenosine, dipyridamole (CTAD), storage time (0.5, 1.5, 3.5, 5.5, 7.5, 25.5 and 27.5 h after blood sampling), and storage temperature (5 degrees C and 20 degrees C) on the variation in haemoglobin (HGB), red blood cell count (RBC), haematocrit (HCT), white blood cell count (WBC), and platelet count (PLT) in minipigs. Medians of HGB, RBC, HCT, WBC and PLT were significantly higher in EDTA tubes than in CTAD tubes due to the dilution effect of the anticoagulant. We found a minor significant increase in HCT after 25.5 h in blood stored at 20 degrees C, and at the same time a minor significant increase in WBC in EDTA tubes stored at 20 degrees C. We found a significant decrease in PLT in blood stored at 5 degrees C, especially in EDTA tubes. Minor variations were also observed in HGB and RBC. Our results indicate that PLT should only be measured in tubes placed at room temperature. If HCT or WBC analyses are to be performed on the day after blood sampling, the samples must be stored in a refrigerator until analysis. Our studies underline that time delay before analysis of haematological variables can cause increased variation, and should therefore be limited as far as possible in order to reduce the number of animals needed to make reliable conclusions.     

Sequential sampling plans for western flower thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on greenhouse cucumbers

The development of cost-effective and reliable sampling programs for the management of western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), on greenhouse cucumbers is important for getting growers to adopt economic injury levels and economic thresholds. The objectives of this study were to develop two sequential sampling plans. A fixed-precision sequential sampling plan was designed for estimating F. occidentalis adult density at a fixed-precision level on cucumber flowers. Also, a sequential sampling plan for classifying thrips population levels as below or above economic thresholds was developed to assist in decision making for the timing of pesticide applications. Both sequential sampling plans were validated using a resampling simulation technique on nine independent data sets ranging in density from 1.25 to 12.95 adults per flower. With the fixed-precision sampling plan, average means obtained in 100 repeated simulation runs were within the 95% CI of the estimated mean for all data sets. Appropriate levels of precision for the different population densities were recommended based on the simulation results. With sequential sampling for classifying the population levels of thrips in terms of an economic threshold, it has the advantage of requiring smaller sample sizes to determine the population status when the population densities differ greatly from the critical density (i.e., economic threshold). However, this plan needs a great number of samples when population density is close to the critical density. In this case, use of a combination of both sampling plans is recommended.     

The effects of freezing,boiling and degreasing on the microstructure of bone

The histology of bone has been a useful tool in research. It is commonly used to estimate the age of an individual at death, to assess if the bone is of human or non-human origin and in trauma analysis. Factors that affect the histology of bone include age, sex, population affinity and burning to name but a few. Other factors expected to affect bone histology are freezing, boiling and degreasing but very little information is available for freezing and the effect thereof, and it is unknown if boiling and degreasing affects bone histology. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of freezing, freezing and boiling, and freezing, boiling and degreasing on the histological structure of compact bone. Five cadaver tibiae were frozen at −20 °C for 21 days followed by segments being boiled in water for three days and degreased in trichloroethylene at 82 °C for three days. Anterior midshaft sections were prepared as ground sections and for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Quantitatively, there were no significant differences between freezing, boiling and degreasing; however, qualitative differences were observed using SEM. After being frozen the bone displayed cracks and after boiling the bones displayed erosion pits on the surface. It is suggested that further research, using different durations and temperatures for boiling and freezing be undertaken on bone samples representing different ages and various skeletal elements.     

Species richness and composition assessment of spiders in a Mediterranean scrubland

Intensive fieldwork has been undertaken in Portugal in order to develop a standardized and optimized sampling protocol for Mediterranean spiders. The present study had the objectives of testing the use of semi-quantitative sampling for obtaining an exhaustive species richness assessment of spiders and testing the effects of day, time of day, collector and sampling method on the collected species richness and composition of a Mediterranean scrubland. The collecting summed 224 samples corresponding to one person-hour of effective fieldwork each. In total, 115 species were captured, of which 110 were recorded inside a delimited one-hectare plot, corresponding to more than 70% of the about 160 estimated species. Although no estimator reached the asymptote, the Michaelis-Menten curve behaviour indicates that the estimated richness should be accurate. Most different sampling approaches (day, time of day, collector and sampling method) were found to influence richness, abundance or composition of the samples to some extent, although sampling method had the strongest influence whereas “collector” showed no effect at all. The results support the idea that the only variables that need to be controlled in similar protocols are the sampling methods and the time of day when each method is executed. We conclude that populations in structurally simple habitats present narrower peaks of adult abundance, which implies higher percentages of juveniles in samples. Finally, results also indicate that habitats with a relatively simple structure like scrublands may require as much sampling effort, in order to reach similar proportions of captured species in relation to the estimated richness, as habitats that are much more complex.     

Patient-specific bone modelling and remodelling simulation of hypoparathyroidism based on human iliac crest biopsies

We previously developed a load-adaptive bone modelling and remodelling simulation model that can predict changes in the bone micro-architecture as a result of changes in mechanical loading or cell activity. In combination with a novel algorithm to estimate loading conditions, this offers the possibility for patient-specific predictions of bone modelling and remodelling. Based on such models, the underlying mechanisms of bone diseases and/or the effects of certain drugs and their influence on the bone micro-architecture can be investigated. In the present study we test the ability of this approach to predict changes in bone micro-architecture during hypoparathyroidism (HypoPT), as an illustrative example. We hypothesize that, apart from reducing bone turnover, HypoPT must also lead to increased osteocyte mechanosensitivity in order to explain the changes in bone mass seen in patients. Healthy human iliac crest biopsies were used as the starting point for the simulations that mimic HypoPT conditions and the resultant micro-architectures were compared to age-matched clinical HypoPT biopsies. Simulation results were in good agreement with the clinical data when osteocyte mechanosensitivity was increased by 40%. In conclusion, the results confirm our hypothesis, and also demonstrate that patient-specific bone modelling and remodelling simulations are feasible.     

Plant characteristics determine insect borer assemblages on Protea species in the Cape Fynbos, and importance for conservation management

The influence of regional climate, biotope and host-plant variables on the frequency of occurrence of insect borers associated with infructescences of Protea species in the species-rich flora of the Cape Fynbos was investigated. Large samples of infructescences (n=1000) were collected on a seasonal basis and borers identified and quantified. Data were analysed using DECORANA and CANOCO so as to correlate environmental variables with borer occurrence. Distinct differences in frequency of occurrence of the various insect taxa were recorded on the various plant species studied. These differences were primarily accounted for by physical host-plant characteristics (infructescence and seed set variables), and secondarily, by biotope variables and climatic factors. Fynbos plant characteristics therefore play a major role in determining insect abundance. Plant diversity in the Fynbos is maintained by burning. These management burns, however, should not be applied too frequently or over areas large enough to extirpate any borer species. As these borers are excellent umbrellas for many other insects, their conservation covers Fynbos insect diversity in general.     

Influence of long-term repeated prescribed burning on mycelial communities of ectomycorrhizal fungi

To demonstrate the efficacy of direct DNA extraction from hyphal ingrowth bags for community profiling of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) mycelia in soil, we applied the method to investigate the influence of long-term repeated prescribed burning on an ECM fungal community. DNA was extracted from hyphal ingrowth bags buried in forest plots that received different prescribed burning treatments for 30 yr, and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles of partial fungal rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions were compared. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and sequence analyses were also used to compare clone assemblages between the treatments. The majority of sequences derived from the ingrowth bags were apparently those of ECM fungi. DGGE profiles for biennially burned plots were significantly different from those of quadrennially burned and unburned control plots. Analysis of clone assemblages indicated that this reflected altered ECM fungal community composition. The results indicate that hyphal ingrowth bags represent a useful method for investigation of ECM mycelial communities, and that frequent long-term prescribed burning can influence below-ground ECM fungal communities.     

秸秆焚烧对土壤有机质和氮磷钾含量的影响

秸秆露天焚烧作为对废弃秸秆常见的处理方式在中国普遍存在。目前的研究多集中在焚烧对区域大气环境的影响,对土壤环境的化学效应研究较少。因此,为揭示大田秸秆焚烧对土壤生物化学性质的影响,设置不焚烧(CK)、减量焚烧(A1)、全量焚烧(A2)、增量焚烧(A3)4个处理,通过连续4个月的田间小区定位试验,探究不同小麦秸秆焚烧量对耕层0—5 cm土壤有机质含量、微生物数量、土壤养分含量的即时效应和各指标在玉米各生育期内的变化情况。结果表明:小麦秸秆焚烧1 d后土壤有机质含量和微生物数量相对于CK显著降低(P0.05)。其中,有机质含量在焚烧后减少11.0%—22.1%,真菌数量降低30.8%—56.1%,细菌数量降低50.6%—72.6%,放线菌数量降低46.9%—68.3%。土壤全效和速效养分含量显著增加(P0.05):全磷含量增加6.5%—12.9%,全钾含量增加4.6%—18.1%,全氮含量增加2.6%—13.2%。速效磷含量增加9.8%—39.1%,速效钾含量增加13.2%—39.1%,铵态氮含量增加8.6%—38.7%,硝态氮含量增加1.4%—9.2%。各指标的变化幅度随焚烧量的增多而加大(A3A2A1)。玉米生育期内,焚烧处理的土壤有机质含量平均恢复5.6%(A1A2A3)。与有机质相比,焚烧处理土壤微生物数量恢复程度较高,其中细菌的恢复速率最快。在玉米苗期各焚烧处理的真菌、细菌和放线菌平均数量相对于CK依次降低12.7%、17.4%、11.9%,在大喇叭口期和成熟期,微生物数量与CK间差异不显著。速效养分含量在玉米生育期显著高于CK。在玉米苗期、大喇叭口期和成熟期,相对于CK速效磷含量平均增加24.9%、27.0%、29.2%,速效钾平均增加24.0%、14.1%、15.2%,铵态氮平均增加25.5%、23.1%、20.2%,硝态氮平均增加20.8%、19.2%、19.8%。