Nitrogen fertilization increases diversity and productivity of prairie communities used for bioenergy

Using prairie biomass as a renewable source of energy may constitute an important opportunity to improve the environmental sustainability of managed land. To date, assessments of the feasibility of using prairies for bioenergy production have focused on marginal areas with low yield potential. Growing prairies on more fertile soil or with moderate levels of fertilization may be an effective means of increasing yields, but increased fertility often reduces plant community diversity. At a fertile site in central Iowa with high production potential, we tested the hypothesis that nitrogen fertilization would increase aboveground biomass production but would decrease diversity of prairies sown and managed for bioenergy production. Over a 3 year period (years 2–4 after seeding), we measured aboveground biomass after plant senescence and species and functional‐group diversity in June and August for multispecies mixtures of prairie plants that received no fertilizer or 84 kg N ha^?1 year^?1. We found that nitrogen fertilization increased aboveground biomass production, but with or without fertilization, the prairies produced a substantial amount of biomass: averaging (±SE) 12.2 ± 1.3 and 9.1 ± 1.0 Mg ha^?1 in fertilized and unfertilized prairies, respectively. Unfertilized prairies had higher species diversity in June, whereas fertilized prairies had higher species diversity in August at the end of the study period. Functional‐group diversity was almost always higher in fertilized prairies. Composition of unfertilized prairies was characterized by native C₄ grasses and legumes, whereas fertilized prairies were characterized by native C₃ grasses and forbs. Although most research has found that nitrogen fertilization reduces prairie diversity, our results indicate that early‐spring nitrogen fertilization, when used with a postsenescence annual harvest, may increase prairie diversity. Managing prairies for bioenergy production, including the judicious use of fertilization, may be an effective means of increasing the amount of saleable products from managed lands while potentially increasing plant diversity.     

高山被孢霉淬灭方法及胞内代谢产物的气相色谱-质谱分析比较

在花生四烯酸生产菌高山被孢霉代谢组学研究中,需利用胞内代谢物的提取手段并基于气相色谱-质谱（GC-MS）分析方法对其进行检测。比较了3种胞内代谢物提取方法及不同色谱柱条件下GC-MS分析结果。研究表明：采用冷甲醇淬灭分别较液氮直接淬灭及真空过滤后,减少了胞内代谢物的泄露并更好地实现了胞外及胞内代谢物的分离。在对代谢物分析的比较中,极性色谱柱（DB-FFAP）检出的代谢物仅为11种,主要为有机酸、醛类;而代谢物经衍生化后采用非极性色谱柱（DB-5）共检出32种化合物,主要为糖、糖苷及醇类。     

植物分类学实验教学模式改革

以使学生通过实验学习顺利掌握“鉴别植物种类所需的基本技能”的训练为出发点,来对植物分类学实验教学体系进行重新构建,并根据新体系对实验教学方法和考核方法进行改革和调整,从而提高了教学效果,促进了学生综合素质的提高。     

Where should wild species be sampled? New method based on isolation‐by‐distance objectively gives the answer

Random sampling is an important statistical assumption, but virtually impossible when sampling a wild species as we cannot know where all the individuals exist. While interpopulation or intrataxa sampling methods have been developed, there are currently few intrataxon sampling methods to objectively decide where to sample wild taxa. We suggest a new sampling method which computes appropriate sampling locations from coordinates, assuming geographical autocorrelation of phylogeny within a taxon (isolation‐by‐distance). The computed locations encompass the highest genetic diversity, providing a genetically representative sample. In addition, it can utilize presence/absence information during sampling to reoptimize sampling scheme. Comparing to the single existing method of the similar purpose, the merits of ours is unnecessity of environmental data resulting in easy application, and is theoretically deduced. We tested this method using published phylogeographical data. The test result was generally encouraging, but the method failed where species showed uniform genetic structure or recent distribution expansion which violate the assumption of geographical autocorrelation of phylogeny. Though simple, our method constructs a methodological and statistical foundation for sampling wild species, and is applicable to revising taxonomic study and conservation biology.     

动物气味的顶空取样技术及其在水貂肛腺成分分析中的应用

我们设计了一种用于动物气味的顶空 (headspace)取样装置 ,并结合溶剂解吸附和气质联用技术 ,通过对水貂 (Mustelavision)肛腺分泌物的挥发性成分的分析验证这种装置的可行性。出现 5个气谱峰 ,对应的质谱显示其分子量和分子式依次为峰 1:10 2 (C5H10 S)、峰 2 :10 4(C5H12 S)、峰 3:10 2 (C5H10 S)、峰 4:136(C5H12 S2 )和峰 5 :134 (C5H10 S2 )。峰 1、峰 3和峰 5分别为以前研究所鉴定出的 3种主要成分 :2 ,2 二甲基硫代环丁烷、2 乙基硫代环丁烷和 3,3 二甲基 1,2 二硫代环戊烷 ,2 ,2 二甲基硫代环丁烷为优势成分 ,组成无性别间差异。这些结果与以前研究一致 ,说明了这种顶空取样装置的可靠性。峰 2和峰 4两种成分以前在水貂肛腺中未曾发现 ,初步分析可能分别为 3 甲基 1 丙基硫醇和 1,5 戊二硫醇。尽管这两个成分有待进一步分析确定 ,但可以肯定分子量为 10 4和 136的成分不仅在水貂肛腺分泌物中没有发现过 ,而且在已经研究过的鼬属动物和食肉类的肛腺中都未发现过 ,能检测出更多的成分 ,说明这种方法的可靠性很高。     

Relieving efforts in palm‐tree tissue sampling for population genetics analyses

1. The young leaves are the main source of nucleic acids for population genetic studies in palm‐trees; however, the access to this tissue may be limited by specific features of each species. Using root tissues as an alternative source of nucleic acids could facilitate the sampling in large populations.
2. This study tests root tissue viability as an alternative nucleic acid source (root versus. leaf) and explores different protocols (tissue storage and DNA extraction methods) to obtain high‐quality DNA samples.
3. The results showed no significant differences in DNA concentration (603.7 vs. 599.1 ng/μl) and quality ratios (A260/280:2.1 vs. 1.9, and A260/230:2.1 vs. 2.0) for the comparisons of tissue source (leaf vs. root) and DNA extraction method (manual vs. kit). For tissue storage method, DNA concentration was significantly higher for root tissues stored in 70% and 90% alcohol solutions (692.8 and 822.6 ng/μl, respectively) versus those obtained from leaf tissue (603.7 ng/μl); however, for the quality parameters, no differences were found.
4. Results showed the effective potential of using root tissue as an alternative source for nucleic acids, which could facilitate population sampling of palm‐tree species for future studies, and this methodological alternative could be applied to other plant systems with similar sampling challenges.

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Strategies for rapid assessment of fungal diversity

The problems of estimating fungal diversity are considerable, due especially to the large numbers of species even in small study sites, only a small proportion of which are adequately characterized, and the lack of trained staff and appropriate identification manuals. These difficulties are multiplied in the tropics. Strategies for providing preliminary assessments of fungal diversity which can be carried out within short time-frames are discussed, which will allow initial site valuations to be made for conservation purposes. The necessity of identifying all species discovered is considered, and the need emphasized for strictly defined sampling protocols which allow proper comparison between sites. The advantages and disadvantages of preliminary diversity analyses involving different taxonomic and ecological groups, fungus/plant associations, spatial sampling, soil and litter analysis, molecular methods and indirect assessment are considered.     

A comparison of five distance‐based methods for spatial pattern analysis

Abstract. The behaviour of five statistics (extensions of Pielou's, Clark and Evansapos;, Pollard's, Johnson & Zimmer's, and Eberhardt's statistics, which are denoted as P_i, C_e, P_o, J_z and E_b respectively) that involve the distance from a random point to its jth nearest neighbour were examined against several alternative patterns (lattice‐based regular, inhomogeneous random, and Poisson cluster patterns) through Monte Carlo simulation to test their powers to detect patterns. The powers of all the five statistics increase as distance order j increases against inhomogeneous random pattern. They decrease for P_i and C_e and increase for P_o, J_z, and E_b against regular and Poisson cluster patterns. P_o, J_z, and E_b can reach high powers with the third or higher order distances in most cases. However, P_o is recommended because no extra information is needed, it can reach a high power with the second or third distance even though the sample size is not large in most cases, and the test can be performed with an approximate χ² distribution associated with it. When a regular pattern is expected, J_z is recommended because it is more sensitive to lattice‐based regular pattern than P_o and E_b, especially for the first distance. However, simulation tests should be used because the speed of convergence of J_z to normal distribution is very slow.