Fungal and Bacterial Colonisation of Salix pedicellataLeaves Decaying in Permanent and Intermittent Streams in Eastern Morocco

Leaf degradation was investigated at four sites in the Zegzel/Cherraa river system (Oueds). Two sites (Upper Zegzel and Lower Zegzel) carry water throughout the year and two (Upstream and Downstream Cherraa) are dry for 5–7 months each year. The dynamics of leaf weight loss and microorganisms associated with Salix pedicellata leaves decaying at the four sites were compared for the first time during the same period over this permanent and intermittent system. Overall decay rates of leaves were significantly higher in the permanent Zegzel stream sections (k = 0.0094 d^–1 upstream and 0.0056 downstream) than in the intermittently flowing Cherraa sites (k = 0.0046 upstream, and 0.0036 downstream). In the latter, decay was much slower during dry than during wet periods (Upstream Cherraa: k = 0.0028 and 0.0446, respectively; Downstream Cherraa, k = 0.0008 and 0.0357, respectively). Similar gradients from permanent to intermittent sites were observed in numbers of bacteria per unit area or per weight of decaying leaves (direct counts by epifluorescence microscopy), in numbers of fungal species and in sporulation rates, from leaves recovered at the four sites. Ten hyphomycete species were new for Morocco.     

北京地区蒿柳的开花物候期及单花序开放过程中花粉活力和柱头可授性变化

Flowering phenology and flowering dynamics of female and male inflorescences of Salix viminalis Linn. in Beijing were observed in 2015 and 2016, and changes in pollen activity and stigma receptivity were also investigated. The results show that early flowering stage of S. viminalis in Beijing is happened in early?March, flowering period is 11-18 d, and flowering pattern is the first opening type of male flower. Flowering period of single inflorescence in male and female plants is 10-15 d and 8-10 d, respectively, which can be divided into five stages:emerging color stage, initial flowering stage, half flowering stage, full flowering stage and withered stage. Flowering date of male plant is earlier about 3-4 d than that of female plant. However, the difference of full flowering stage between male and female plants is only 1 d. Pollen germination rate and stigma receptivity show a trend of firstly increasing then decreasing during blossom process. Pollen germination rate reaches the highest of 72% at full flowering stage, and stigma receptivity is more than 90% at half and full flowering stages. Therefore, it is suggested that pollen collection and pollination in mid?March can improve success rate of cross breeding of S. viminalis.     

Time‐dependent climate impact and energy efficiency of combined heat and power production from short‐rotation coppice willow using pyrolysis or direct combustion

A life cycle assessment of a Swedish short‐rotation coppice willow bioenergy system generating electricity and heat was performed to investigate how the energy efficiency and time‐dependent climate impact were affected when the feedstock was converted into bio‐oil and char before generating electricity and heat, compared with being combusted directly. The study also investigated how the climate impact was affected when part of the char was applied to soil as biochar to act as a carbon sequestration agent and potential soil improver. The energy efficiencies were calculated separately for electricity and heat as the energy ratios between the amount of energy service delivered by the system compared to the amount of external energy inputs used in each scenario after having allocated the primary energy related to the inputs between the two energy services. The energy in the feedstock was not included in the external energy inputs. Direct combustion had the highest energy efficiency. It had energy ratios of 10 and 36 for electricity and heat, respectively. The least energy‐efficient scenario was the pyrolysis scenario where biochar was applied to soils. It had energy ratios of 4 and 12 for electricity and heat, respectively. The results showed that pyrolysis with carbon sequestration might be an option to counteract the current trend in global warming. The pyrolysis system with soil application of the biochar removed the largest amount of from the atmosphere. However, compared with the direct combustion scenario, the climate change mitigation potential depended on the energy system to which the bioenergy system delivered its energy services. A system expansion showed that direct combustion had the highest climate change mitigation potential when coal or natural gas were used as external energy sources to compensate for the lower energy efficiency of the pyrolysis scenario.     

Cuticular wax composition of Salix varieties in relation to biomass productivity

The leaf cuticular waxes of six Salix clones (one Salix miyabeana, one Salix dasyclados, one Salix eriocephala, two Salix purpurea, and one interspecific hybrid of Salix eriocephala x interior) with different biomass productivities were characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Total wax content ranged from 6.3 to 16.8 microg cm(-2), and two distinct patterns of wax were measured. The wax from leaves of S. dasyclados 'SV1' differed from all other clones and was dominated by fatty acids (42%), high concentrations of n-alkanes (25%) and n-alcohols (28%), with low n-aldehyde content (4%). All other clones produced cuticular wax dominated by n-alcohols (32-51%), particularly 1-hexacosanol, with fatty acids (14-37%) and n-aldehydes (19-26%) present in lower abundances. Clones of Salix grown under identical environmental conditions produce noticeably different amounts of cuticular wax. In contrast to previous studies of Salix, total wax content was independent of biomass productivity, measured as basal area, suggesting that wax production is not directly linked with woody biomass production by shrub willows under these site conditions.     

Central Amazon Floodplain Forests: Root Adaptations to Prolonged Flooding

The floodplains of Central Amazonia represent a complex system of inundated river valleys and shallow lakes along the Solimões–Amazonas river, which is subjected to an annual flood-pulse lasting up to 10 months. Such flooding reaching an amplitude of about ten meters causes dramatic changes in the bioavailability of nutrients and oxygen levels and poses extreme constraints for plant survival and reproductivity. Tree species of inundation forests in Central Amazonia had to evolve adaptive mechanisms to both desiccation of soils and partial or full submergence. To adapt to flooded conditions, some trees overcome the flood period by dormancy accompanied by defoliation and formation of annual rings in the wood. Other species maintain metabolism and retain the foliage during the flooding, representing another adaptive mechanism to low oxygen availability. This investigation focused on the root physiology and morphology of six species typical of white-water inundation areas (várzea) led to a preliminary classification of adaptive strategies of trees inhabiting forest communities in floodplains of the Amazon basin.     

Comparison of volatile leaf compounds and herbivorous insect communities on three willow species

 Plants produce volatile compounds known to influence insect preferences for oviposition and feeding. To examine whether volatile leaf compounds are correlated with the herbivorous insect community, we analyzed volatile compounds in leaves from three co-occurring willow species, Salix serissaefolia, S. eriocarpa, and S. integra, and investigated their associated insect communities in 3 months across different years. The gas chromatographic profiles of volatile compounds were highly specific to each willow species and remained constant in the study months. In a comparison between the chemical composition of the volatile compounds and the taxon composition of the insect communities, dissimilarity patterns in chemical composition among the three willow species were very close to those in herbivorous insect communities. These findings indicate that willow leaves produce specific volatiles that are highly correlated with the community structure of herbivorous insects associated with them. Received: October 10, 2002 / Accepted: March 17, 2003     

毛乌素沙地北沙柳形态特征与花序分布习性研究

采用随机抽样法,对毛乌素沙地鄂尔多斯市乌审旗图克乡境内的北沙柳株丛的形态特征和花序数量进行了调查分析,以明确北沙柳的形态特征及其花序分布习性.结果显示:北沙柳树冠最大横截面积在5～10 m2的株丛最多,占总株丛数的40%,频率呈现偏左正态分布.北沙柳株高、近地直径和枝条长度频率均呈现正态分布;80%以上的株丛其花序数量小于3万个,频率呈现偏左正态分布;株丛树冠最大截面积与花序数量的相关系数为0.588(P＜0.05);着生花序枝段长度与花序数量间的相关系数为0.355(P＜0.05);2年和3年生萌蘖枝数平均花序数量分别为92个和138个.研究表明,花序数量主要取决于株丛最大横截面积、2年和3年生萌蘖枝数量以及着生花序枝段长度;生产中平茬周期以4年为宜,雌雄树比例应为1:0.75.     

Leaf Epidermal Microfeatures of 28 Salix Species under Scanning Electronic Microscope and Their Taxonomical Significances

In this paper, twenty eight species of the genus Salix, with similar phenotypic characters, were selected to study the leaf epidermal microfeatures under Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM). Seven types of wax layer are totally detected in those species, including smooth layer, crust, fissured layer, non entire platelets, membraneous platelets, conicoids and scale like conicoids. Among those types, conicoids and scale like conicoids are exclusively found in Salix, while non entire platelets and membraneous platelets in Salix are depicted for the first time. The microfeatures of leaf hairs of Salix plants under SEM are less diversified than their macrofeatures, with detectable microfeature variations on hair length, density and degree of curve (straight, slightly curved and deeply curved). In conclusion, our results showed leaf epidermal microfeatures of wax layer types and stomatal apparatus are relatively unchangeable, which are valuable in the discrimination of similar Salix species. The Salix species from colder region and/or higher elevation usually bear diverse microfeatures, which might be adaptive evolution to colder environments.     

Individual‐level differences in generalist caterpillar responses to a plant–plant cue

1. Plant–plant communication has been found to affect interactions between herbivores and plants in several model systems. In these systems, herbivore‐induced volatile chemical cues are emitted and perceived by other plants (receivers), which subsequently change their defensive phenotypes. Most studies have focused on how the effects of volatile cues affect plant damage, whereas herbivore performance has rarely been examined. 2. In this study, it is shown that plant–plant communication between willows reduced the growth rate, feeding rate, and conversion efficiency of some individuals but not others of a generalist caterpillar, Orgyia vetusta. 3. Using a paired, no‐choice trial design, there was substantial variation between caterpillar individuals in their response to willows that had been induced with a volatile plant–plant cue. This variation was explained by feeding parameters of the individual herbivores. Individuals behaved similarly when fed induced and non‐induced willow leaves. Specifically, growth rates of caterpillars that grew rapidly on non‐induced willow leaves were negatively affected by plant–plant cues, but growth rates of caterpillars that grew slowly on non‐induced willow leaves were not affected by the responses to volatiles from neighbouring willows. 4. Induction by volatile plant–plant cues reduced the growth rates of those individual herbivores that caused the greatest damage to willow, but had little effect on weak growers.