Microbial catabolic activities are naturally selected by metabolic energy harvest rate

The fundamental trade-off between yield and rate of energy harvest per unit of substrate has been largely discussed as a main characteristic for microbial established cooperation or competition. In this study, this point is addressed by developing a generalized model that simulates competition between existing and not experimentally reported microbial catabolic activities defined only based on well-known biochemical pathways. No specific microbial physiological adaptations are considered, growth yield is calculated coupled to catabolism energetics and a common maximum biomass-specific catabolism rate (expressed as electron transfer rate) is assumed for all microbial groups. Under this approach, successful microbial metabolisms are predicted in line with experimental observations under the hypothesis of maximum energy harvest rate. Two microbial ecosystems, typically found in wastewater treatment plants, are simulated, namely: (i) the anaerobic fermentation of glucose and (ii) the oxidation and reduction of nitrogen under aerobic autotrophic (nitrification) and anoxic heterotrophic and autotrophic (denitrification) conditions. The experimentally observed cross feeding in glucose fermentation, through multiple intermediate fermentation pathways, towards ultimately methane and carbon dioxide is predicted. Analogously, two-stage nitrification (by ammonium and nitrite oxidizers) is predicted as prevailing over nitrification in one stage. Conversely, denitrification is predicted in one stage (by denitrifiers) as well as anammox (anaerobic ammonium oxidation). The model results suggest that these observations are a direct consequence of the different energy yields per electron transferred at the different steps of the pathways. Overall, our results theoretically support the hypothesis that successful microbial catabolic activities are selected by an overall maximum energy harvest rate.     

种植密度与施氮量对麦茬复种饲料油菜土壤微生物活性的影响

通过田间小区试验,研究了不同油菜种植密度与施氮肥对麦茬复种饲料油菜耕层土壤(0～5 cm)微生物活性的影响.结果表明,复种油菜能显著或极显著性提高耕层土壤微生物量碳(C_mic)、土壤微生物量氮(N_mic)、土壤细菌数(SBN)、土壤真菌数(SFN)和土壤放线菌数(SAN),而显著降低土壤微生物量碳/氮比(C_mic/N_mic).随油菜种植密度的提高,耕层C_mic、C_mic/N_mic、SBN呈逐渐增加态势,而N_mic、SAN呈降低趋势.随着施氮肥梯度增加,耕层SFN显著提高,C_mic和N_mic呈先降低后增加再降低趋势,以1 000 kg·hm^-2施肥处理最高.SFN和收获期SAN为先降低后升高,苗期SAN则为先升高后降低.相同处理油菜收获期各土壤微生物活性指标均高于苗期,而600 kg·hm^-2苗期SAN则相反.SBN和SAN与C_mic、N_mic呈正相关,与C_mic/N_mic呈负相关,SFN与C_mic、N_mic及C_mic/N_mic之间均无明显相关性.     

Maternal phenotypic effects due to soil nutrient levels and sink removal in Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae)

Three levels of soil nutrients and systematic removal of racemes and siliques, intended to reduce reproductive sink size, induced maternal effects in a genetically uniform, inbred accession of Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Col-0. Soil nutrient levels but not trimming treatments caused significant differences in maternal plant weight and number of seeds per silique. Trimming and increased soil nutrient level resulted in larger seeds. Germination rates were significantly affected only by the trimming main effect, while there were no significant effects on germination percentage. At 14 and 19 d harvest dates, soil nutrient level treatments resulted in significant differences in offspring aerial biomass, but this effect was nonsignificant at 24, 29, and 34 d harvest dates. The effect of trimming on offspring aerial biomass was significant at all harvest dates. No significant soil nutrient level × trimming interaction was observed on any harvest date. Phenotypic correlations among aerial biomass at each harvest date and seed weight of the six offspring classes were highly significant. Analyses of variance for germination and biomass data adjusted for seed weight showed no significant differences due to soil nutrient level, trimming, or their interaction, indicating that maternal effects influencing these variables were determined by seed weight. Relative growth rates were estimated from changes in biomass over time. The negative correlation between initial relative growth rate and rate of change of the relative growth rate was highly significant (R = -0.99; P < 0.01).     

A magnetic resonance imaging investigation of potential subclinical complications after in situ cranial bone graft harvest

The in situ harvest of cranial bone grafts, when assessed by clinical observation, has been shown to be a safe procedure when performed by experienced surgeons. However, might there be adverse sequelae from bone graft harvest that are not severe enough to produce observable changes and thus are missed by studies that rely on clinical outcomes? This study was designed to determine the incidence of "clinically silent" complications following routine bone graft harvest, such as punctate intracranial bleeding and cerebral contusions. This prospective clinical study included 20 patients. All patients had in situ cranial bone graft harvest performed by a single surgeon and underwent postharvest magnetic resonance imaging within 24 hours. Coronal computed tomographic scans were found to be the most helpful in the preoperative determination of donor sites. The average area of bone graft harvest was just under 14 cm2 (range, 3 to 30 cm2). No patients who had not previously undergone skull surgery were noted to have full-thickness breaches. Three patients identified with full-thickness breaches at surgery had harvest sites located in areas in which a previous craniotomy had occurred, suggesting that extreme care be used when harvesting bone from this subset of patients. All 20 postoperative magnetic resonance scans were reviewed by a neuroradiologist and determined to be completely normal. In conclusion, not only is in situ cranial bone graft harvest a safe procedure as assessed by clinical outcomes, but no subclinical complications were identified by post-operative magnetic resonance imaging.     

播期播量对旱地小麦土壤水分消耗和植株氮素运转的影响

为解决旱地小麦等雨播种的生产现状,明确播量对土壤水分利用和产量形成的调控机制,于2015—2017年在山西闻喜试验基地开展大田试验,以早播(9月20日,EB)、晚播(10月10日,LB)两个播期为主区,以低密度(67.5 kg·hm^-2,LD)、中密度 (90 kg·hm^-2,MD)、高密度(112.5 kg·hm^-2,HD)3个播量为副区,研究播期播量对旱地小麦土壤水分消耗和植株氮素运转的影响.结果表明: 早播较晚播生育期土壤总耗水量增加11～22 mm;随播种密度的增加,生育期土壤总耗水量增加2～20 mm,且早播条件下,花前土壤耗水量增加,晚播条件下,花后土壤耗水量显著增加.早播较晚播在低、中密度条件下花前氮素运转量、花后氮素积累量增加,高密度条件下降低.早播条件下,花前氮素运转量,茎秆+叶鞘、穗轴+颖壳花前氮素运转量对籽粒的贡献率以及花后氮素积累量均以低密度条件下最高;晚播条件下,花前氮素运转量和花后氮素积累量随播种密度增加而增加.早播较晚播产量显著提高163～996 kg·hm^-2,提高幅度达5%～26%,水分利用效率提高幅度达2%～21%,氮素吸收效率提高幅度达3%～36%,氮素收获指数提高幅度最高达11%.早播条件下产量、水分利用效率、氮素吸收效率、氮素收获指数以低密度条件下最高;晚播条件下以高密度条件下最高.此外,花前氮素运转量与花前100～200 cm土壤耗水量显著相关,尤其是茎秆+叶鞘、穗轴+颖壳;花后植株氮素积累量与花后100～300 cm土壤耗水量呈显著相关.总之,旱地小麦9月20日配套播量67.5 kg·hm^-2、10月10日配套播量112.5 kg·hm^-2有利于增产增效.     

Continuous production of prourokinase in feed harvest and perfusion cultures

The production of prourokinase (PUK) by a human kidney tumor cell line is studied in long term cultures. Cells are grown on microcarriers which are retained inside the reactor by sedimentation or with a spin filter. Two modes of operation are compared: feed harvest at an average medium exchange rate of 0.3 d(-1) and continuous perfusion at a higher dilution rate of 1.5 d(-1). In the two systems a stable production of PUK has been maintained for more than 400 h. Kinetics of cellular growth, nutrient consumption, and metabolite and PUK excretion are similar. After an initial rapid growth period, one observes a 10-fold reduction in all the cellular metabolic activities during the stationary phase. Continuous perfusion yields a higher cell density (7 x 10(6) cells.mL(-1)) than feed harvest (3 x 10(6) cells.mL(-1)), which results in a twofold increase in the reactor productivity. But higher final enzyme activities, about 250 ru.mL(-1), are obtained in the feed harvest recovered medium than in the perfusion medium, 100-150 ru.mL(-1). The cumulative medium consumption per mass of product is the same in the repeated batch and in the continuous operation mode.     

Bayesian Estimation of Hunting Success Rate and Harvest for Spatially Correlated Post‐stratified Data

We consider the estimation of success rate and harvest under post survey stratification at the sub‐domain (county) level. Often in this situation, the population size for the sub‐domain is unknown and the random mechanism that dictates the sample size for sub‐domains is ignored. Finding good estimators of success rate and harvest is very important for wildlife abundance. A Bayesian hierarchical model is developed to estimate both success rate and harvest simultaneously. The model includes a random sub‐domain sample size correlated with the number of successes in the sub‐domain, fixed week effects, random geographic effects, and spatial correlations between neighboring sub‐domains. The computation is done by Gibbs sampling and adaptive rejection sampling techniques. The method developed is illustrated using data from the Missouri Turkey Hunting Survey. The estimation of success rate is improved by treating the the sub‐domain sample size as a random variable instead of a fixed constant. The Bayesian model yields a reasonable harvest estimation. The spatial pattern of the estimated harvest matches the pattern of the check station data.     

Harvesting in seasonal environments

Most harvest theory is based on an assumption of a constant or stochastic environment, yet most populations experience some form of environmental seasonality. Assuming that a population follows logistic growth we investigate harvesting in seasonal environments, focusing on maximum annual yield (M.A.Y.) and population persistence under five commonly used harvest strategies. We show that the optimal strategy depends dramatically on the intrinsic growth rate of population and the magnitude of seasonality. The ordered effectiveness of these alternative harvest strategies is given for different combinations of intrinsic growth rate and seasonality. Also, for piecewise continuous-time harvest strategies (i.e., open / closed harvest, and pulse harvest) harvest timing is of crucial importance to annual yield. Optimal timing for harvests coincides with maximal rate of decline in the seasonally fluctuating carrying capacity. For large intrinsic growth rate and small environmental variability several strategies (i.e., constant exploitation rate, linear exploitation rate, and time-dependent harvest) are so effective that M.A.Y. is very close to maximum sustainable yield (M.S.Y.). M.A.Y. of pulse harvest can be even larger than M.S.Y. because in seasonal environments population size varies substantially during the course of the year and how it varies relative to the carrying capacity is what determines the value relative to optimal harvest rate. However, for populations with small intrinsic growth rate but subject to large seasonality none of these strategies is particularly effective with M.A.Y. much lower than M.S.Y. Finding an optimal harvest strategy for this case and to explore harvesting in populations that follow other growth models (e.g., involving predation or age structure) will be an interesting but challenging problem.     

Is hunting mortality additive or compensatory to natural mortality? Effects of experimental harvest on the survival and cause-specific mortality of willow ptarmigan

1. The effects of harvest on the annual and seasonal survival of willow ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus L. were tested in a large-scale harvest experiment. Management units were randomly assigned to one of three experimental treatments: 0%, 15% or 30% harvest. Seasonal quotas were based on the experimental treatment and estimates of bird density before the hunting season. Survival rates and hazard functions for radio-marked ptarmigan were then estimated under the competing risks of harvest and natural mortality. 2. The partially compensatory mortality hypothesis was supported: annual survival of ptarmigan was 0·54 ± 0·08 SE under 0% harvest, 0·47 ± 0·06 under 15% harvest, and was reduced to 0·30 ± 0·05 under 30% harvest. Harvest mortality increased linearly from 0·08 ± 0·05, 0·27 ± 0·05 and 0·42 ± 0·06 from 0% to 30% harvest, whereas natural mortality was 0·38 ± 0·08, 0·25 ± 0·05 and 0·28 ± 0·06 under the same treatments. 3. Realized risk of harvest mortality was 0·08-0·12 points higher than our set harvest treatments of 0-30% because birds were exposed to risk if they moved out of protected areas. The superadditive hypothesis was supported because birds in the 30% harvest treatment had higher natural mortality during winter after the hunting season. 4. Natural mortality was mainly because of raptor predation, with two seasonal peaks in fall and spring. Natural and harvest mortality coincided during early autumn with little potential for compensation during winter months. Peak risk of harvest mortality was 5× higher than natural mortality. Low natural mortality during winter suggests that most late season harvest would be additive mortality. 5. Environmental correlates of natural mortality of ptarmigan included seasonal changes in snow cover, onset of juvenile dispersal, and periods of territorial activity. Natural mortality of ptarmigan was highest during autumn movements and nesting by gyrfalcons Falco rusticolus L. Mortality was low when gyrfalcons had departed for coastal wintering sites, and during summer when ptarmigan were attending nests and broods. 6. Our experimental results have important implications for harvest management of upland gamebirds. Seasonal quotas based on proportional harvest were effective and should be set at ≤ 15% of August populations for regional management plans. Under threshold harvest of a reproductive surplus, 15% harvest would be sustainable at productivity rates ≥ 2·5 young per pair. Impacts of winter harvest could be minimized by closing the hunting season in early November or by reducing late season quotas.     

播种密度对秸秆覆盖旱地冬小麦产量和土壤水分的影响

为了解秸秆覆盖下作物群体对土壤水分和小麦产量的影响,于2012年6月至2013年6月在渭北旱塬研究秸秆覆盖与常规耕作模式下播种密度对土壤储水量、冬小麦群体动态变化、小麦产量及水分利用效率的影响。秸秆覆盖与常规耕作相比休闲期在0~3.6 m土层多蓄水105 mm,主要于小麦拔节后利用。不同播种密度主要影响小麦抽穗前的群体大小,抽穗后群体差异不显著。小麦籽粒产量为2 841~3 496 kg/hm, 不同密度水平或覆盖均没有显著影响小麦产量,但是高密度处理较中、低密度显著降低小麦收获指数。另外,秸秆覆盖小麦较常规增加20%耗水量,小麦水分利用效率降低11%。因此,在休闲期降雨丰富,生育期特旱的气候条件下播种密度对秸秆覆盖小麦产量没有影响,显著增加耗水量,降低水分利用效率。播种密度、秸秆覆盖及其交互效应还有待于在其他气候年型下进一步研究观测以便综合评价这些因素的影响效应,进而建立旱地小麦高产高效用水的管理措施。     

Toward sustainable use of Palm leaves by a rural community in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

There is increasing pressure from communities neighbouring protected areas in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, to harvest resources from these areas. For example,Hyphaene coriacea Geartn. (vegetable ivory palm) leaves are extensively used by Zulu people for commercial and subsistence craftwork. This study investigates the effect of varying leaf harvest intensities on leaf production ofHyphaene coriacea in the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and aims to provide some management guidelines for sustainable use. Replicate plots subjected to three different harvest intensities were established and numbers and lengths of unopened leaves were monitored over four years. Results suggest that a harvest intensity of one leaf stem^-1 year^-1 would be sustainable. This is equivalent to 34% of calculated annual production. The 650 ha harvest area is estimated to produce 191 750 leaves year^-1 (4793 bundles) which could be harvested sustainably. The effects of leaf harvest, even at maximum harvest rate, on leaf production over the four year study period appear negligible although there was a slight decline over time in leaf production of trees subjected to high harvest intensity. A slight increase in leaf production was observed at moderate levels of harvest intensity.     

QTLs linked to leaf epicuticular wax,physio-morphological and plant production traits under drought stress in rice (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Oryza sativa</Emphasis> L.)

Drought stress is the major constraint to rice (Oryza sativa L.) production and yield stability in rainfed ecosystems. Identifying genomic regions contributing to drought resistance will help to develop rice cultivars suitable for rainfed regions through marker-assisted breeding. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) linked to leaf epicuticular wax, physio-morphological and plant production traits under water stress and irrigated conditions were mapped in a doubled haploid (DH) line population from the cross CT9993-5-10-1-M/IR62266-42-6-2. The DH lines were subjected to water stress during anthesis. The DH lines showed significant variation for epicuticular wax (EW), physio-morphological and plant production traits under stress and irrigated conditions. A total of 19 QTLs were identified for the various traits under drought stress and irrigated conditions in the field, which individually explained 9.6%–65.6% of the phenotypic variation. A region EM15_10-ME8_4-R1394A-G2132 on chromosome 8 was identified for leaf EW and rate of water loss i.e., time taken to reach 70% RWC from excised leaves in rice lines subjected to drought stress. A large effect QTL (65.6%) was detected on chromosome 2 for harvest index under stress. QTLs identified for EW, rate of water loss from excised leaves and harvest index under stress in this study co-located with QTLs linked to shoot and root-related drought resistance traits in these rice lines and might be useful for rainfed rice improvement.     

Optimal harvesting of a logistic population in an environment with stochastic jumps

Dynamic programming is employed to examine the effects of large, sudden changes in population size on the optimal harvest strategy of an exploited resource population. These changes are either adverse or favorable and are assumed to occur at times of events of a Poisson process. The amplitude of these jumps is assumed to be density independent. In between the jumps the population is assumed to grow logistically. The Bellman equation for the optimal discounted present value is solved numerically and the optimal feedback control computed for the random jump model. The results are compared to the corresponding results for the quasi-deterministic approximation. In addition, the sensitivity of the results to the discount rate, the total jump rate and the quadratic cost factor is investigated. The optimal results are most strongly sensitive to the rate of stochastic jumps and to the quadratic cost factor to a lesser extent when the deterministic bioeconomic parameters are taken from aggregate antarctic pelagic whaling data.Research supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grants MCS 81-01698 and MCS 83-00562.     

Differences on Pb accumulation among plant tissues of 25 varieties of maize (Zea mays)

Pollution of agricultural land by heavy metals has imposed an increasingly serious risk to environmental and human health in recent years.Heavy metal pollutants may enter the human food chain through agricultural products and groundwater from the polluted soils.Progress has been made in the past decade on phytoremediation,a safe and inexpensive approach to remove contaminants from soil and water using plants.However,in most cases,agricultural land in China cannot afford to grow phytoremediator plants instead of growing crops due to food supply for the great population.Therefore,new and effective methods to decrease the risk of heavy metal pollution in crops and to clean the contaminated soils are urgently needed.If we can find crop germplasms (including species and varieties) that accumulate heavy metals in their edible parts,such as the leaves of vegetables or grains of cereals,at a level low enough for safe consumption,then we can grow these selected species or varieties in the lands contaminated or potentially contaminated by heavy metals.If we can find crop germplasms that take in low concentrations of heavy metals in their edible parts and high content of the metals in their inedible parts,then we can use these selected species or varieties for soil remediation.In this study,the feasibility of the method is assessed by analyzing Pb concentrations in edible and inedible parts of 25 varieties of maize (Zea mays) grown in Pb-contaminated soils.The soil concentrations of Pb were 595.55 mg/kg in the high Pb exposed treatment and 195.55 mg/kg in the control.The results showed that the Pb concentrations in different tissues were in the order of root ＞ shoot ≌ leaf＞ grain.Compared with the control,the Pb concentrations in root,shoot and leaf were greatly increased under the high Pb exposed condition,while the increments of Pb concentration in grain were relatively lower.Under the high Pb exposure,the grain Pb concentrations of 12 varieties exceeded the maximal Pb limitation of the National Food Hygiene Standard of China (NFHSC) and were inedible.This indicates that there is a high Pb pollution risk for maize grown on Pb polluted sites.Although 22 of the 25 tested varieties had harvest loss under the highly Pb stressed condition,ranging from 0.86%-38.7% of the grain biomass acquired at the control,the average harvest loss of all the tested varieties was only 12.6%,which is usually imperceptible in normal farming practices.Therefore the risk of Pb pollution in maize products cannot be promptly noticed and prevented based only on the outcome of the harvest.However,we did find that 13 of the 25 tested varieties had grain Pb concentrations lower than the limitation of the NFHSC.It is,therefore,possible to reduce the pollution risk if these favorable varieties are used for maize production in Pb-contaminated or potentially contaminated agricultural lands.Pb concentrations in vegetative tissues (root,stem and leaf) were significantly correlated with each other,while Pb concentrations of each vegetative tissue were not significantly correlated with that of grain.Among the 25 tested varieties,some varieties had Pb concentrations in grain lower than (No.1-3 and No.6) or slightly above (No.4) the limitation of the NFHSC,while their Pb concentrations in the vegetative tissues were among the highest.When excluding these varieties,correlations between the Pb concentrations of grain and those of vegetative tissues of the rest of the tested varieties became highly significant.In addition,variety No.1 had the lowest harvest loss under high Pb exposed,and the highest Pb accumulation in vegetative tissues (51.69 mg/plant,12 times as much as in the control).Similar features were also observed in varieties No.2,No.3 and No.6,which absorbed Pb for 36-42 mg/plant under high Pb exposed.We recommend these varieties of maize to be used for bioremediation of Pb contaminated soil and crop production at the same time.     

Simulated performance of multi-year harvest regulation cycles for wild turkeys

Wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) are a prolific species and valuable game animal throughout the United States. Stochastic simulations are commonly used to inform harvest management, and we used simulation to test performance of fall harvest management that included 1-, 3-, and 5-year cycles of population assessment and updating of harvest targets, respectively. To assess robustness of our conclusions, we replicated analyses across 18 combinations of model parameters that included population productivity (3 levels), sex-specific vulnerability to fall harvest (3 levels), and magnitude of spring harvest (2 levels). Performance of multi-year cycles, measured using abundance of males and annual harvest, depended on the context of model parameters that interacted to determine responses of populations to harvest. One- and 3-year cycles had similar performance so long as female harvests were less than or equal to male harvests. However, when harvest of females was greater than males, or when 5-year regulation cycles were implemented, there was greater risk due to nonlinear population responses to increased harvest. For example, nonlinearity resulted in thresholds where declines to abundance and harvest could occur with small increases to harvest rates, and thus the sustainability of fall harvests was less robust for multi-year cycles with time-lagged assessment and decision making. Moreover, the harvest rate resulting in threshold responses depended on model parameters and often occurred within the range of harvest rates recommended by earlier modeling studies (7–15%). Our results imply that multi-year cycles can be a viable approach to harvest management. Monitoring that provides information on sex-specific harvest is recommended, however, to determine if nonlinear population responses should be anticipated. Ideally, information on population-specific vital rates would also be available to allow managers to avoid harvest rates near thresholds that are expected to result in population declines. © The Wildlife Society, 2019     

Effects of size‐ and sex‐selective harvesting: An integral projection model approach

Harvesting is often size‐selective, and in species with sexual size dimorphism, it may also be sex‐selective. A powerful approach to investigate potential consequences of size‐ and/or sex‐selective harvesting is to simulate it in a demographic population model. We developed a population‐based integral projection model for a size‐ and sex‐structured species, the commonly exploited pike (Esox lucius). The model allows reproductive success to be proportional to body size and potentially limited by both sexes. We ran all harvest simulations with both lower size limits and slot limits, and to quantify the effects of selective harvesting, we calculated sex ratios and the long‐term population growth rate (λ). In addition, we quantified to what degree purely size‐selective harvesting was sex‐selective, and determined when λ shifted from being female to male limited under size‐ and sex‐selective harvesting. We found that purely size‐selective harvest can be sex‐selective, and that it depends on the harvest limits and the size distributions of the sexes. For the size‐ and sex‐selective harvest simulations, λ increased with harvest intensity up to a threshold as females limited reproduction. Beyond this threshold, males became the limiting sex, and λ decreased as more males were harvested. The peak in λ, and the corresponding sex ratio in harvest, varied with both the selectivity and the intensity of the harvest simulation. Our model represents a useful extension of size‐structured population models as it includes both sexes, relaxes the assumption of female dominance, and accounts for size‐dependent fecundity. The consequences of selective harvesting presented here are especially relevant for size‐ and sex‐structured exploited species, such as commercial fisheries. Thus, our model provides a useful contribution toward the development of more sustainable harvesting regimes.     

Predicting Wood Duck Harvest Rates in Eastern North America

Abstract: We developed a method for predicting wood duck (Aix sponsa) harvest rates in eastern North America using waterfowl banding and recovery data, annual indices of hunter numbers, and harvest survey data from the United States and Canada. We predicted that under the current season length (60 days), if hunter numbers remain unchanged, increasing the wood duck bag limit from 2 to 3 would increase harvest of adult male wood ducks in the Atlantic and Mississippi flyways by 12.3%, causing an increase in harvest rate of 7.1% from 0.087 to 0.093. The Flyway Councils and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service can consider this information to predict the impacts of regulatory changes.     

Screening for Drought Resistance of Rice Recombinant Inbred Populations in the Field

In a 2-year experiment, 187 genotypes were grown under well-watered and drought stress conditions, imposed at panicle initiation stage. The relationship of genotypic variation in yield under drought conditions to potential yield, heading date and flowering delay, reduction in plant height, and to a drought response index (DRI) was detected. Grain yield under drought stress conditions was associated with yield under well-watered conditions (r= 0.47**, and r= 0.61** during 2 years of tests). The delay of heading date ranged from -1 (no delay) to 24days, and was negatively associated with grain yield(r=-0.40*), spikelet fertility percentage (r=-0.40**), harvest index (r=-0.58**), but positively associated with yield reduction percentage (r= 0.60**). The reduction in plant height was negatively associated with grain yield (r =-0.24**, and r =-0.29**), spikelet fertility percentage (r =-0.23**, and r =-0.21*), harvest index (r =-0.37**, and r = -0.54**), and positively associated with yield reduction percentage (r = 0.58**, and r = 0.58**) in 2003 and 2004, respectively. The DRI of genotypes was strongly associated with grain yield (r = 0.87**, and r= 0.77**), fertility percentage (r= 0.66** and r = 0.54**), harvest index (r=0.67** and r=0.61**), and negatively associated with grain reduction percentage (r=-0.70**, and r=-0.73**)under drought stress. The results indicate that genotypes with drought resistance can be identified by measuring yield potential, delay in flowering, reduction in plant height, or DRI under test environments of well-watered and drought stress.     

Screening for Drought Resistance of Rice Recombinant Inbred Populations in the Field

In a 2-year experiment, 187 genotypes were grown under well-watered and drought stress conditions, imposed at panicle initiation stage. The relationship of genotypic variation in yield under drought conditions to potential yield, heading date and flowering delay, reduction in plant height, and to a drought response index （DRI） was detected. Grain yield under drought stress conditions was associated with yield under well-watered conditions （r= 0.47^＊＊, and r= 0.61^＊＊ during 2 years of tests）. The delay of heading date ranged from -1 （no delay） to 24days, and was negatively associated with grain yield （r =-0.40^＊）, spikelet fertility percentage （r =-0.40^＊＊）, harvest index （r =-0.58^＊＊）, but positively associated with yield reduction percentage （r = 0.60^＊＊）. The reduction in plant height was negatively associated with grain yield （r =-0.24^＊＊, and r=-0.29^＊＊）, spikelet fertility percentage （r = -0.23^＊＊, and r= -0.21^＊）, harvest index （r = -0.37^＊＊, and r= -0.54^＊＊）, and positively associated with yield reduction percentage （r = 0.58^＊＊, and r= 0.58^＊＊） in 2003 and 2004, respectively. The DRI of genotypes was strongly associated with grain yield （r = 0.87^＊＊, and r= 0.77^＊＊）, fertility percentage （r = 0.66^＊＊ and r= 0.54^＊＊）, harvest index （r= 0.67^＊＊ and r= 0.61^＊＊）, and negatively associated with grain reduction percentage （r=-0.70^＊＊, and r=-0.73^＊＊） under drought stress. The results indicate that genotypes with drought resistance can be identified by measuring yield potential, delay in flowering, reduction in plant height, or DRI under test environments of well-watered and drought stress.     

Optimal harvesting of prey–predator system with interval biological parameters: A bioeconomic model

The paper presents the study of one prey one predator harvesting model with imprecise biological parameters. Due to the lack of precise numerical information of the biological parameters such as prey population growth rate, predator population decay rate and predation coefficients, we consider the model with imprecise data as form of an interval in nature. Many authors have studied prey–predator harvesting model in different form, here we consider a simple prey–predator model under impreciseness and introduce parametric functional form of an interval and then study the model. We identify the equilibrium points of the model and discuss their stabilities. The existence of bionomic equilibrium of the model is discussed. We study the optimal harvest policy and obtain the solution in the interior equilibrium using Pontryagin’s maximum principle. Numerical examples are presented to support the proposed model.