Soil organic carbon changes as influenced by agricultural land use and management: a case study in Yanhuai Basin, Beijing, China

The effects of agricultural land use and management practices on soil organic carbon (SOC) are of great concern. In this study, SOC changes were investigated in sandy loam soils (Ustochrepts, USDA Soil Taxonomy) under orchard, vegetable, corn (Zea maize L.), and soybean (Glycine max L.) cultivation in northern China. The corn fields were further classified into three categories based on their inputs, i.e. high-input, mid-input, and low-input corn fields. In April 2005, a total of 197 soil samples were collected from 42 soil sites within 100 cm soil depth in Yanhuai Basin, Beijing, China. SOC contents were determined using rapid dichromate oxidation, and ANOVA statistical analysis was used to test the significances between land use and management practices at p<0.05. The results showed that: (1) the effects of land use and management practices on SOC primarily occurred within the topsoil (0–25 cm), and the SOC contents sharply decreased with the increase in soil depth. (2) SOC content and density values of orchard, vegetable, and high-input corn fields were higher than those of soybean, mid- and low-input corn fields.     

长江中下游地区农业气候资源时空变化特征

以1981年为时间节点,将1961-2007年分为1961-1980年（时段Ⅰ）和1981-2007年（时段Ⅱ）两个时间段,分析和比较两个时段的农业气候资源变化特征.结果表明：气候变暖背景下,长江中下游地区1961-2007年温度生长期内≥10 ℃积温气候倾向率平均为74 ℃·d·10 a^-1;时段Ⅱ≥10 ℃积温较时段Ⅰ平均增加了124 ℃·d;与时段Ⅰ相比,时段Ⅱ双季稻的安全种植界限向北推移了0.79个纬度.1961-2007年温度生长期内降水量总体表现为增加趋势;与时段Ⅰ相比,时段Ⅱ降水量增加了1.6%,降水量≥767 mm（双季稻正常生长的需水量）的面积增加了1.13×10.4 km².时段Ⅱ温度生长期内日照时数较时段Ⅰ平均减少了8.1%;近47年中91.1%的气象站点日照时数表现为减少趋势.与时段Ⅰ相比,时段Ⅱ温度生长期内参考作物蒸散量呈略微减少趋势,其低值区扩大、高值区缩小.时段Ⅱ稳定通过10 ℃初日平均较时段Ⅰ提前了2 d,而时段Ⅱ≥20 ℃终日平均较时段Ⅰ推迟了2 d,两个时段 ≥22 ℃终日基本相同.     

Genetic structure of cherry fruit fly (Rhagoletis cingulata) populations across managed,unmanaged, and natural habitats

The cherry fruit fly (CFF), Rhagoletis cingulata Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae: Trypetini), is endemic to eastern North America and Mexico, where its primary native host is black cherry [Prunus serotina Ehrh. (Rosaceae)]. Cherry fruit fly is also a major economic pest of the fruit of cultivated sweet (Prunus avium L.) and tart (Prunus cerasus L.) cherries. Adult CFF that attack wild black cherry and introduced, domesticated cherries in commercial and abandoned orchards are active at different times of the summer, potentially generating allochronic isolation that could genetically differentiate native from sweet and tart CFF populations. Here, we test for host‐related genetic differences among CFF populations in Michigan attacking cherries in managed, unmanaged, and native habitats by scoring flies for 10 microsatellite loci. Little evidence for genetic differentiation was found across the three habitats or between the northern and southern Michigan CFF populations surveyed in the study. Local gene flow between native black cherry, commercial, and abandoned orchards may therefore be sufficient to overcome seasonal differences in adult CFF activity and prevent differentiation for microsatellites not directly associated with (tightly linked to) genes affecting eclosion time. The results do not support the existence of host‐associated races in CFF and imply that flies attacking native, managed, and unmanaged cherries should be considered to represent a single population for pest management purposes.     

中国椰子害虫

为了弄清楚我国椰子害虫的种类及其分布情况,采用直接观察法、扫网法、拍打法、诱捕法和吸虫器法等调查方法,调查了我国海南、广东、广西、云南和福建等省区椰子园害虫。结果表明,我国椰子害虫共有64种,分属7目25科,其中新发现我国椰子害虫31种。     

Modeling population dynamics of a tea pest with temperature-dependent development: predicting emergence timing and potential damage

The tea leaf roller, Caloptilia theivora Walsingham (Lepidoptera: Gracillariinae), is one of the serious pests of tea plants in Japan. To understand the mechanism of seasonal occurrence of this insect pest, we developed a population dynamics model that explicitly incorporates the temperature-dependent development of the pest. The model predictions were compared with observed captures in pheromone traps at the experimental site of the Kagoshima Tea Experiment Research Station in Japan. The results showed that the emergence timing of the insect pest observed in the field was determined primarily by temperature. The relationship between the timing of adult emergence and the leaf damage level was also studied using a logistic regression model. The infestation level decreased as the interval between the adult peak emergence date and the date of tea plucking increased, implying that asynchrony between plant phenology and emergence of the insect pest is a critical factor reducing damage level. We examined how the damage level changes according to global warming. Increased temperature made the timing of insect appearance forward and enhance asynchrony of plant–pest phenology. Therefore, reduction of damage level by the insect pest is expected under global warming.     

Agricultural intensification increases deforestation fire activity in Amazonia

Fire-driven deforestation is the major source of carbon emissions from Amazonia. Recent expansion of mechanized agriculture in forested regions of Amazonia has increased the average size of deforested areas, but related changes in fire dynamics remain poorly characterized. We estimated the contribution of fires from the deforestation process to total fire activity based on the local frequency of active fire detections from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors. High-confidence fire detections at the same ground location on 2 or more days per year are most common in areas of active deforestation, where trunks, branches, and stumps can be piled and burned many times before woody fuels are depleted. Across Amazonia, high-frequency fires typical of deforestation accounted for more than 40% of the MODIS fire detections during 2003–2007. Active deforestation frontiers in Bolivia and the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso, Pará, and Rondônia contributed 84% of these high-frequency fires during this period. Among deforested areas, the frequency and timing of fire activity vary according to postclearing land use. Fire usage for expansion of mechanized crop production in Mato Grosso is more intense and more evenly distributed throughout the dry season than forest clearing for cattle ranching (4.6 vs. 1.7 fire days per deforested area, respectively), even for clearings >200 ha in size. Fires for deforestation may continue for several years, increasing the combustion completeness of cropland deforestation to nearly 100% and pasture deforestation to 50–90% over 1–3-year timescales typical of forest conversion. Our results demonstrate that there is no uniform relation between satellite-based fire detections and carbon emissions. Improved understanding of deforestation carbon losses in Amazonia will require models that capture interannual variation in the deforested area that contributes to fire activity and variable combustion completeness of individual clearings as a function of fire frequency or other evidence of postclearing land use.     

农田灌溉对印度区域气候的影响模拟

为满足人类对粮食的需求,全球灌溉农田面积迅速扩张,农田灌溉对区域气候的影响引起广泛地关注。利用区域环境系统集成模式(RIEMS2.0)和最新的土地利用变化资料,选取农田灌溉面积最大的印度区域作为研究区域,进行雨养农田和灌溉农田的对比试验,探讨农田灌溉对区域气候的影响。结果表明:(1)农田灌溉使得印度区域年平均气温降低1.4℃,年平均降水率增加0.35mm/d。农田灌溉对印度区域气候的影响存在明显的季节波动,季风前期及6月份该区域气候对下垫面变化的响应最为敏感;7-9月各气候要素变化较小。(2) 农田灌溉使得印度区域地表净辐射增加,且地表净辐射在潜热通量和感热通量之间的分配发生了较大的改变,潜热通量增加,感热通量减少;对地表起冷却作用;同时由于土壤湿度增加,蒸散作用增强,大气中水汽含量增加,潜热不稳定能量增加,导致对流性降水增加。     

Effect of host plant on cornucopia of mango fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and their triumphant management in context of climate change

A study was performed to assess the preference of fourteen mango cultivars for fruit flies and their management by bagging. So the choice of Tephritid flies to mango cultivars during fruiting phase is crucial. Fourteen different cultivars of mango viz., ‘Dusehri’, ‘Malda’, ‘Langra’ early cultivars, ‘Chaunsa’, ‘Fajri Klan’, ‘Sensation’ medium whereas ‘Sanglakhi’, ‘Retaul-12’, ‘Mehmood Khan’, ‘Tukhmi’, ‘Kala Chaunsa’, ‘Chitta Chaunsa’, ‘Dai Wala’ and ‘Sobey De Ting’ late cultivars were assessed for their suitability for fruit flies. The results indicate that the population density of fruit flies was higher on late cultivars like ‘Sanglakhi’ (20.61 percent), ‘Mehmood Khan’ (20.22 percent) and ‘Reutal-12’ (19.92 percent) were proved to be highly susceptible to fruit flies. Among these the cultivar ‘Reutal-12’ was selected being commercial and future cultivar for the management of fruit flies through bagging. The results reported that the attack of tephritid fruit flies and other insect pests were zero in bagged fruits as compared with control. It was further recorded that the bagged fruits has maximum average fruit weight i.e. 203.50 and 197.83 g per fruit was noted in those treatments where butter paper bag and brown paper bag was wrapped with better coloration as compared with un-bagged fruit with 159.5 g per fruit. Similarly, on an average fruit length were more i.e. 90.17, 91.33 mm in bagged fruit and 85.33 in un-bagged fruits. Furthermore, bagged fruits have zero incidence of disease with reduced fruit crack, fruit sunburn, mechanical damage, bird damage, fruit blemished and agrochemical residues on the fruit. So, it is concluded that the special attention should be given on ‘Reutal-12’ for the management of fruit flies when devising an IPM program for the control of fruit flies. Further, bagging has proved to be the good agricultural practices for the production of quality mango.     

The effects of geographic origin and antibiotic treatment on the gut symbiotic communities of Bactrocera oleae populations

The olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is the major insect pest of olive orchards (Olea europaea L.), causing extensive damages on cultivated olive crops worldwide. Due to its economic importance, it has been the target species for a variety of population control approaches including the sterile insect technique (SIT). However, the inefficiency of the current mass‐rearing techniques impedes the successful application of area‐wide integrated pest management programs with an SIT component. It has been shown that insect mass rearing and quality of sterile insects can be improved by the manipulation of the insect gut microbiota and probiotic applications. In order to exploit the gut bacteria, it is important to investigate the structure of the gut microbial community. In the current study, we characterized the gut bacterial profile of two wild olive fruit fly populations introduced in laboratory conditions using next generation sequencing of two regions of the 16S rRNA gene. We compared the microbiota profiles regarding the geographic origin of the samples. Additionally, we investigated potential changes in the gut bacteria community before and after the first exposure of the wild adult flies to artificial adult diet with and without antibiotics. Various genera – such as Erwinia, Providencia, Enterobacter, and Klebsiella – were detected for the first time in B. oleae. The most dominant species was Candidatus Erwinia dacicola Capuzzo et al. and it was not affected by the antibiotics in the artificial adult diet used in the first generation of laboratory rearing. Geographic origin affected the overall structure of the gut community of the olive fruit fly, but antibiotic treatment in the first generation did not significantly alter the gut microbiota community.