Regional environmental simulation of African cattle herding societies

Regional analyses of the interaction between human populations and natural resources must integrate landscape scale environmental problems. An approach that considers human culture, environmental processes, and resource needs offers an appropriate methodology. With this methodology, we analyze problems of food availability in African cattle-keeping societies. The analysis interrelates cattle biomass, forage availability, milk and blood production, crop yields, gathering, food subsidies, population, and variable precipitation. While an excess of cattle leads to overgrazing, cattle also serve as valuable food storage mechanisms during low rainfall periods. Food subsidies support higher population levels but do not alter drought-induced population fluctuations. Variable precipitation patterns require solutions that stabilize year-to-year food production and also address problems of overpopulation.     

Cycling of soil carbon in a Japanese red pine forest II. Changes occurring in the first year after a clear-felling

Cycling of soil carbon in the first year after a clear-felling was compared with that before the felling in a Japanese red pine forest in Hiroshima Prefecture, west Japan. The daily mean temperature at the soil surface in summer was increased after the felling in comparison to that before felling, and the water content of both the A₀ layer and the surface mineral soil was decreased due to the loss of the forest canopy. The rate of weight loss of the A₀ layer was reduced after felling. However, accumulation of the A₀ layer rapidly decreased because of the lack of litter supply to the forest floor. Low soil respiration after felling was mainly caused by the cessation of root respiration. Analysis of annual soil carbon cycling was then conducted using a compartment model. The relative decomposition rate of the A₀ layer decreased whereas that of humus and dead roots in mineral soil increased to some extent after felling. The accumulation of carbon in mineral soil, however, increased slightly due to the supply of humus from roots killed by the felling.     

Factors affecting invertase activity in soils

Summary The rate of reducing sugars released through invertase activity exhibited a buffer pH optimum of 5.0. Generally, the decline in invertase activity in its pH-profile near the optimal pH range was due to a reversible reaction that involved ionization or deionization of the functional groups in the active centre of the protein, but under highly acidic or alkaline conditions (pH<4 to >9) the reduced activity appears to be due to irreversible inactivation of the enzyme. The dependence of the reaction on the amount of enzyme present was linear up to 3 g of soil. By varying the substrate concentration, it was found that the reaction rate of this enzyme approached zero-order kinetics when 145mM of sucrose solution was added to soils. Application of three linear transformations of the Michaelis-Menten equation indicated that the apparent K_m constants varied among the soils studied, but the results obtained by the three plots were similar. By using the Lineweaver-Burk plot, the K_m values in five soils ranged from 16.3 to 42.1 (avg.=24.5) mM and V_max values ranged from 1.98 to 7.37 mg of reducing sugars released/g of soil/24 h. The optimum temperature for invertase activity in soils was observed at 50°C and denaturation of the enzyme began at 55°C. The activation energy (E_a) and enthalpy of activation (H^*) values for invertase activity, expressed in kJ/mole, ranged from 6.1 to 43.1 and 3.5 to 40.5, respectively. The Q₁₀ values for the invertase reaction in soils with a temperature range to 10 to 50°C ranged from 1.08 to 1.96. Under standerd conditions, the accumulation of reducing sugars was linear with time up to 48 h. Among the various pretreatments that affected invertase activity in soils, toluene, TCA, and PMA inhibited the enzyme by an average of 19, 54, and 11%, respectively. Steam-sterilization essentially destroyed soil invertase.     

The effect of soil water status on critical phosphorus concentrations inStylosanthes hamata cv. Verano

Summary The effect of soil water status on the critical phosphorus concentration (CPC) determined in apices and whole tops ofStylosanthes hamata cv. Verano was investigated in a glasshouse trial. The species was grown with six rates of P and three ranges of soil water potential and was harvested at 10 and 14 weeks after germination. The CPC of both whole tops and apices decliced between the two harvests. At the first harvest the CPC of both whole tops and apices increased as the soil water potential decreased but at the second harvest there was no effect of soil water potential on CPC. It is suggested that at the earlier harvest water stress was delaying physiological development, resulting in a CPC characteristic of chronologically younger tissue, but that by the second harvest the decline in CPC with age had ceased for all water treatments.     

Nematodes (Longidorus sp. andTylenchorhynchus microphasmis loof) in growth and nodulation of sea buckthorn (Hippophaë rhamnoides L.)

Summary Hippophaë rhamnoides seedlings were grown in sterilized and unsterilized soil from a decliningH. rhamnoides scrub, to which different numbers ofLongidorus sp. andTylenchorhynchus microphasmis were added. In sterilized and unsterilized soil, retardation of growth, content of dry matter in the shoots, and incidence of deformed short lateral roots of test plants were positively correlated with counts of both nematode species. Nitrogen content in the shoots, nodulation on the roots of test plants and increase increase in nematodes were negatively correlated with the initial number of both nematode species in sterilized soil. In unsterilized soil, an unknown biotic factor was present that reduces growth ofH. rhamnoides, nodulation and multiplication of the nematodes. This factor seems to interact with the nematodes in reducing growth ofH. rhamnoides.Deceased.     

Food web manipulation in Lake Zwemlust: Positive and negative effects during the first two years

The hypertrophic Lake Zwemlust, a small water body used as a swimming pool, was characterized by algal blooms in summer, reducing the Secchi disk transparency to less than 0.3 m. Since in The Netherlands a Secchi disk transparency of 1 m is obligatory for swimming waters, corrective measures were called for to improve the light climate of the lake. In March, 1987, as an experiment, the lake was drained by pumping out the water to facilitate fish elimination. Planktivorous and benthivorous fish species, which were predominant, were removed by seine- and electro-fishing. After the lake had refilled by seepage it was restocked by a new simple fish community comprising pike (Esox lucius) and rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus) only. Stacks of willow twigs (Salix) and macrophytes (roots ofNuphar lutea and seedlings ofChara globularis) were introduced into the lake as spawning grounds and refuges for the pike against cannibalism and as shelter for the zooplankton. The effects of this food web manipulation on the light climate, phytoplankton, zooplankton, fish, macrophytes, macrofauna and on the nutrient concentrations were monitored during 1987 and 1988. In summer 1987, despite of high nutrient concentrations, the phytoplankton density was low, due to control by zooplankton, causing a Secchi disk transparency of 2.5 m, the maximum depth. Chlorophyll-a concentrations were low (<5 g Chl.l^–1), blooms of cyanobacteria did not occur and a shift from rotifers to cladocerans took place. In 1988, however, also some negative effects were noticed. Macrophytes and filamentous green algae reached a much higher biomass (50–60% cover of the lake bottom) than in 1987; some species, growing through the entire water column, interfered with the lake's recreational use. Associated with the macro-vegetation and possibly with the absence of larger cyprinids, the diet of which also comprises snails, a large scale development of the snail population, among themLymnaea peregra var.ovata took place. This species is known to act as an intermediate host of the bird-parasitizing trematodeTrichobilharzia ocellata, the cercariae of which cause an itching sensation at the spot of penetration of the human skin, accompanied by rash (schistosome dermatitis or swimmers' itch); in July, 1988, about 40% of the bathers complained about this itching. A positive effect of the macrophytes and filamentous green algae was the high uptake of nitrogen, resulting in a low nitrogen concentration in the lake and growth limitation of the phytoplankton population by nitrogen in the summer of 1988. In 1988 the cladocerans were abundant in April only; and unlike in 1987, in the summer of 1988 there was a shift from cladocerans to rotifers. Therefore, only in early spring (April) zooplankton grazing controlled phytoplankton growth and in summer nitrogen limitation was the major controlling factor, keeping chlorophyll-a concentrations low.     

Establishment of microscale vegetation pattern in maritime chaparral after fire

We quantified microscale pattern in vegetation and seed assemblages along a 24 m transect before and for two years following a controlled burn in chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum) chaparral in central coastal California. Our objective was to document scale-dependent correlation between pre-burn seed assemblages, pre-burn canopy cover, microtopography, soil temperatures during burning, post-burn seed assemblages and post-burn vegetation. Scale-dependent correlations among pre- and post-burn seed densities, maximum soil temperatures during burning, microtopography and post-burn vegetation were measured based on two-term local covariance analysis.Seed distribution varied among species prior to fire, with seeds of some annual species concentrated in gap areas. Maximum soil temperatures during burning ranged from less than 50 °C to 225 °C, and were generally lowest in gaps in the pre-burn canopy. These gaps were associated with local topographic depressions. After burning, readily germinable seeds were concentrated in or near gaps in the pre-burn canopy. Germination of different species was variously enhanced, diminished or unchanged by the passage of fire. Post-burn vegetation was very patchy, with some areas nearly devoid of seedlings and other areas, especially pre-burn canopy gaps, supporting numerous seedlings. Seedling recruitment patterns in the second year were generally highly correlated with patterns in pre-burn seed banks and first year vegetation. Although many species exhibited similar recruitment patterns, several different mechanisms may have been responsible for the origin of those patterns.     

稻草—凤尾菇—蚯蚓—肉鸡食物链的氮流与能流研究

稻草养菇、菇渣喂蚓、以蚂喂鸡是通过营养关系将三个生产过程有机地连接起来,形成农业生态系统特有的食物链。关于这三个环节各自的经济效益及栽培技术方面的研究工作已经做了很多,而作为一条食物链的整体状况,主要是能流和物流状况。尚未见到更深入具体的报道。作者试图通过实验定量分析和评价该食物链中每一链节上以及整体上的氮流和能流状况,进而对其生产应用价值做一初步探讨。     

Artificial Feeding Systems for Plant-Parasitic Nematodes

Feeding of an "obligate" plant-parasitic nematode (nonfungal feeder), Pratylenchus scribneri, in the absence of plant tissue was demonstrated in an artificial system consisting of liquid media and indicator dyes including amaranth and various nontoxic food colors. Among the compounds tested, sucrose, dextrose, Gamborg''s B5 medium, and DL-methionine stimulated a small percentage of feeding (12-36%). A high percentage of feeding (90-100%) occurred in a filtrate from excised corn roots cultured in Gamborg''s B5 medium. This feeding system has the potential to develop an artificial medium for plant-parasitic nematodes and to screen novel nematicides that are stomach poisons.     

Influences of root distribution and growth on predicted water uptake and interspecific competition

Summary Root distribution and growth measured in the field were incorporated into a water uptake model for the CAM succulent Agave deserti and its nurse plant Hilaria rigida, a common desert bunchgrass. Agave deserti responds to the infrequent rainfalls of the Sonoran Desert by extending its existing established roots and by producing new roots. Most of such root growth was completed within one month after soil rewetting, total root length of A. deserti increasing by 84% for a seedling and by 58% for a mediumsized plant in the summer. Root growth in the winter with its lower soil temperatures was approximately half as much as in the summer. For a 15-year period, predicted annual root growth of A. deserti varied more than 18-fold because of annual variations in rainfall amount and pattern as well as seasonal variation in soil temperature. Predicted annual water uptake varied 47-fold over the same period. The nurse plant, which is crucial for establishment of A. deserti seedlings, reduced seedling water uptake by 38% during an average rainfall year. Lowering the location of the root system of a medium-sized A. deserti by 0.24 m reduced its simulated annual water uptake by about 25%, reflecting the importance of shallow roots for this desert succulent. Lowering the root system of a medium-sized H. rigida by 0.28 m increased the simulated annual water uptake of an associated A. deserti seedling by 17%, further indicating the influence of root overlap on competition for water.