Life histories of two desert species of the bulbous genus Bellevalia

Summary Annual biomass increment and biomass partitioning to leaves, roots and reproduction, and biomass storage in the below-ground bulb was measured in plants of two species of the geophytic genus Bellevalia grown outdoors at three levels of soil moisture. The differences between the species were in accordance with the hypothesis that plants of more arid environments should rely more on internal reserves than plants of more productive environments. In Bellevalia desertorum, a shallow rooted species of the most arid habitats in the Central Negev, leaf and root development during outgrowth at the beginning of winter was rather variable, and followed soil moisture availability to a certain degree. A small portion of its biomass budget was committed to seed production, which varied little among the irrigation regimes. The rest of the biomass was stored in the bulb. The amount of biomass devoted annually to reproduction was mainly determined by the amount of reserves already present in the bulb. In contrast, in B. eigii, which grows in the more productive wadis with its bulb at a depth of 15 to 30 cm, leaf and root growth was not only determined by water availability, but also by initial bulb mass. This resulted in a greater potential relative growth rate than in B. desertorum, but also in a greater risk of accumulating less biomass than it spent in root and leaf construction under poor soil moisture conditions. In this species, reproductive biomass and seed yield were proportional to current biomass gain and, in contrast to B. desertorum, independent of initial bulb mass, provided that the bulb was large enough to initiate flowering.     

Carbon and nitrogen cycling during old-field succession: Constraints on plant and microbial biomass

Soil C and N dynamics were studied in a sequence of old fields of increasing age to determine how these biogeochemical cycles change during secondary succession. In addition, three different late-successional forests were studied to represent possible "steady state" conditions. Surface soil samples collected from the fields and forests were analyzed for total C, H₂O-soluble C, total N, potential net N mineralization, potential net nitrification, and microbial biomass. Above-and belowground plant biomass was estimated within each of the old field sites.Temporal changes in soil organic C, total N and total plant biomass were best described by a gamma function [y =at ^b e ^ctd +f] whereas a simple exponential model [y =a(l – e^–bt ) + c] provided the best fit to changes in H₂O-soluble C, C:N ratio, microbial C, and microbial N. Potential N mineralization and nitrification linearly increased with field age; however, rates were variable among the fields. Microbial biomass was highly correlated to soil C and N pools and well correlated to the standing crop of plant biomass. In turn, plant biomass was highly correlated to pools and rates of N cycling.Patterns of C and N cycling within the old field sites were different from those in a northern hardwood forest and a xeric oak forest; however, nutrient dynamics within an oak savanna were similar to those found in a 60-yr old field. Results suggest that patterns in C and N cycling within the old-field chronosequence were predictable and highly correlated to the accrual of plant and microbial biomass.     

Transformations in soil and availability to plants of15N applied as inorganic fertilizer and legume residues

Summary A pot experiment was conducted to study the transformations of organic and inorganic N in soil and its availability to maize plants. Inorganic N was in the form of¹⁵N labelled ammonium sulphate (As) and¹⁵N labelledSesbania aculeata (Sa), a legume, was used as organic N source. Plants utilized 20% of the N applied as As; presence of Sa reduced the uptake to 14%. Only 5% of the Sa-N was taken up by the plants and As had no effect on the availability of N from Sa. Losses of N from As were found to be 40% which were reduced to 20% in presence of Sa. Losses of N were also observed from Sa which increased in the presence of As. Application of As had no effect on the availability of soil or Sa-N. However, more As-N was transported into microbial biomass and humus components in the presence of Sa.Plants derived almost equal amounts of N from different sourcesi.e., soil, Sa and As. However, more As-N was transported into the shoots whereas the major portion of nitrogen in the roots was derived from Sa.     

Clone dynamics,population dynamics and vegetation pattern ofGlaux maritima on a Baltic sea shore meadow

The vegetative propagation ofGlaux maritima is correlated with growth habit which is inturn related to the light environment. Plant form and vegetative behaviour were recorded 1980–1984 and an attempt to correlate this to population dynamics and vegetation development was made.The type of vegetative propagation gives rise to a size hierarchy of propagules and thus a strong within clone dynamics. A range of life stages may be permanently present in a clone. Clones from different parts of a shore meadow have different patterns of vegetative propagation. The offshoot growth behaviour can be used to explain vegetation patterns and neighbour relationships.     

Fate of [carbonyl-14C]methabenzthiazuron in an arid region soil — effect of organic amendment,soil disturbance and fumigation

[Carbonyl-¹⁴C] methabenzthiazuron (MBT) was applied to an arid region soil at a rate of 5mg kg⁻¹ soil to give a¹⁴C content of 2400 KB kg⁻¹ soil. After 15 weeks of incubation at 22°C and 50% of the maximum water holding capacity of the soil, 7.2% of the applied¹⁴C was mineralized to¹⁴CO₂. Where the soil was amended with wheat straw, total mineralization increased to 17.3%. Soil disturbance caused a significant increase while chloroform fumigation caused a significant decrease in the rate of¹⁴CO₂ production, both from amended and unamended soils. These results suggest that MBT is degraded mainly through microbial co-metabolism. Wheat straw amendment resulted in increased transformation of MBT into soil humus. In unamended soil, a major portion of¹⁴C was recovered in fulvic acid and in fractions extracted with organic solvents. Recovery of¹⁴C in non-extractable bound residues (humins) increased as incubation progressed and seemed to be derived from the fulvic acid fraction, which showed a concomitant decrease. More than 99% of the residual¹⁴C in unamended soil consisted of unaltered MBT; the remainder occurred as 1-methyl-1 (benzthiazolyl) urea. In amended soil, a relatively higher percentage of the extractable¹⁴C was found in the metabolite. Small amounts of three unidentified¹⁴C-labelled compounds were also observed. In amended soil, disturbance caused a decrease in extractable-¹⁴C whereas fumigation caused a significant increase, as compared to the untreated control. The effects were more pronounced when the soils were reated at an early stage of incubation. In general, soil disturbance increased the availability of MBT for further transformations while chloroform fumigation decreased the process.     

Changes in fatty acids,amino acids and carbon/nitrogen biomass during nitrogen starvation of ammonium- and nitrate-grownIsochrysis galbana

Growth of cells ofIsochrysis galbana with either nitrate or ammonium as the N-source, and the effects of subsequent N-starvation of these cells, were compared. During exponential N-sufficient growth nitrate-grown cells had double the fatty acid content of the ammonium-grown cells but lower concentrations of a few amino acids. Following resuspension in N-free medium the fatty acid content of the ammonium-grown cells increased to that of the nitrate-grown cells, but there was no further increase in fatty acid content on a C-biomass or cellular basis during the following 4 days for either culture. Fatty acid synthesis was continuous during N-starvation, while it occurred during the light-phase only in exponential growth. The proportion of 18:1n9 fatty acid increased from 10 to 25% total fatty acids during N-starvation. Intracellular free amino acid content decreased in a similar manner in both cultures on N-starvation, the ratio of intracellular free amino-N/cell-C falling more rapidly than overall cellular N/C. It was concluded that optimal amino acid and fatty acid content would be attained by growth in the presence of excess nitrate. Measurements of chlorophyll and carotenoid content and ofin vivo fluorescence indicated that these parameters had potential for monitoring the C and N biomass in cultures grown under relatively constant (not necessarily continuous) illumination.     

高寒矮嵩草草甸地上生物量与气象因子的关系

初级生产量是生态系统研究的主要内容之一。初级生产量的高低,决定了整个系统的生产力。初级生产量一方面取决于群落类型、种类组成、结构特征;另一方面它又受到周围环境条件的制约。高寒草甸是青藏高原上主要的植     

Differences in biomass production and carrageenan yields among four strains of farmed carrageenophytes in Northern Bohol,Philippines

Comparative studies on the biomass and carrageenan production of two strains ofEucheuma denticulatum and two strains ofKappaphycus alvarezii were made to assess the seasonality in their production capacities.The high and similar refined carrageenan (RC) yields (43–53% of dry wt.) of the four strains in the first cropping season (June–October) coincided with their high biomass production with plants averaging from 1.1 to 1.8 kg each at harvest. The poor RC yields (21–33%) recorded in the second cropping (October–February) coincided with their season of low biomass (av. wt: 0.34 to 1.0 kg). The four strains, however, recorded contrasting performance in the third cropping season (February–July) with the twoE. denticulatum strains recording high RC yields (43 and 42.5%) together with high biomass (av. wt: 1.5 and 1.6 kg) in contrast to the low RC yields (30 and 39%) and low biomass (av. wt. 0.21 and 0.28 kg) of the twoK. alvarezii strains. Records for semi-refined carrageenan (SRC) yields in the second and third cropping seasons were quite consistent and similar for the four strains (42–55%), except in the second cropping where the twoK. alvarezii strains recorded low SRC. These differences in production potentials highlight the need for cropping management of the four strains to improve their cropping performance.     

Growth and substrate consumption of Nitrobacter agilis cells immobilized in carrageenan: part 2. Model evaluation

A dynamic model that predicts substrate and biomass concentration profiles across gel beads and from that the overall substrate consumption rate by the gel beads containing growing cells was evaluated with immobilized Nitrobacter agilis cells in an airlift loop reactor with oxygen as the limiting substrate. The model predictions agreed well with the observed oxygen consumption rates at three different liquid phase oxygen concentrations. Image analysis showed that 90% of the immobilized cells after 42 days of cultivation was situated in the outer shells in a film of 140 mum, while the bead radius was about 1 mm. The maximum biomass concentration in the outmost film of 56 mum was 11 kg . m(-3) gel.     

Biomass axial distribution in airlift bioreactor with yeast and plant cells

This study was aimed at determining the degree of biomass homogeneity in the various parts of an internal loop airlift bioreactor, thus verifying the assumption, often made in bioreactor studies, of a well-mixed liquid-biomass system. Following characterization of the hydrodynamics of the vessel with water, the axial biomass distribution in the riser and downcomer was determined for plant and yeast cell suspensions of 5.8, 8.5, and 12.5 g DW/L Phaseolus vulgaris and of 30 and 46 g DW/L Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The airlift bioreactor with a surface ratio A(D)/A(D) of 1.04 and aspect ratio of 4.95 was investigated under various aeration rates. The yeast cells were found to be distributed practically uniformly throughout the vessel at the aeration rates of 0.1-1.45 vvm. However, in the case of the denser and cluster-forming plant cells, a clear trend of a gradual bio-mass accumulation in the downcomer, a slightly lower but uniform biomass loading in the riser, and a slightly higher biomass concentration in the gas-liquid separator was observed at the lower aeration rates of 0.1-0.61 vvm. In the case of powderized calcium carbonate (55g/L) often used in fermentations of organic acids, a slight trend of a gradual accumulation of solids towards the bottom parts in both the downcomer and riser was observed. A better representative sampling location, in terms of solids and biomass loading, seems to be in the middle part of the vessel. It is suggested that airlift bioreactors with higher aspect ratios (>5) may be prone to a more significant inhomogeneity of solids (biomass and particles).