CO2 exchange in an organic field growing barley or grass in eastern Finland

The CO₂ dynamics were measured in an organic soil in eastern Finland during the growing season and wintertime, and the annual CO₂ balance was calculated for plots where barley or grass was grown. During the summer, the CO₂ dynamics were measured by transparent and opaque chambers using a portable infrared gas analyser for the CO₂ analyses. During the winter, the CO₂ release was measured by opaque chambers analysing the samples in the laboratory with a gas chromatograph. Statistical response functions for CO₂ dynamics were constructed to evaluate the annual CO₂ exchange from the climatic data. The net CO₂ exchange was calculated for every hour in the snow‐free season. The carbon balance varied extensively depending on the weather conditions, and type and phenology of vegetation. During the growing season, the grassland was a net source while the barley field was a net sink for CO₂. However, both soils were net sources for CO₂ when autumn, winter and spring were included also. The annual CO₂ emissions from the grassland and barley soil were 750 g CO₂‐C m^?2 and 400 g CO₂‐C m^?2, respectively. The carbon accumulated in root and shoot biomass during the growing season was 330 g m^?2 for grass and 520 g m^?2 for barley. The C in the aboveground plant biomass ranged from 43 to 47% of the carbon fixed in photosynthesis (P_G) and the proportion of C in the root biomass was 10% of the carbon fixed in photosynthesis. The bare soils had 10–60% higher net CO₂ emission than the vegetated soils. These results indicate that the carbon balance of organic soils is affected by the characteristics of the prevailing plant cover. The dry summer of 1997 may have limited the growth of grass in the late summer thus reducing photosynthesis, which could be one reason for the high CO₂ release from this grass field.     

江苏省土地利用变化的图谱特征

基于地学信息图谱理论与方法,运用ArcGIS 10.0软件,以江苏省1990、2000和2010年3期遥感解译数据为空间数据源合成江苏省1990—2000和2000—2010年两个10年阶段的土地利用变化图谱以及耕地利用变化模式图谱,据此揭示江苏省土地利用变化时空特征及规律.结果表明: 1990—2000年,江苏省土地利用变化以耕地与城乡建设用地、耕地与水域以及耕地与林草地的图谱单元互换为主要特征,尤其是以“耕地→城乡建设用地”、“耕地→水域”最为显著,耕地数量减少、空间分布集中.2000—2010年,江苏省土地利用变化最显著的仍是“耕地→城乡建设用地”图谱单元;同时,“草地→水域”、“城乡建设用地→水域”图谱类型分布集中且扩大趋势明显;与1990—2000年相比,空间图谱变化总面积和空间分离度均有所增大.江苏省耕地利用变化模式以后期变化型为主,前期变化型次之,反复和持续变化型耕地所占比例较小.     

Energy cover crops for biogas production increase soil organic carbon stocks: A modeling approach

Energy cover crops for biogas production through anaerobic digestion (AD) are inserted between two primary crops. They replace either bare soil or nonharvested cover crops, and their management is usually intensified to produce more biomass. They allow the production of renewable energy as well as digestate, used as an organic fertilizer, without directly competing with food production. Because of the increased biomass production and export and of the return of a digested biomass to the soil, the impact of energy cover crops on soil organic carbon (SOC) is questioned. The objective of this paper was to study the difference in SOC stocks induced by the introduction of energy cover crops for AD coupled with the application of the resulting amount of digestate. We used the AD model Sys-Metha combined with the soil C model AMG to simulate SOC stocks for 13 case studies in France, with scenarios comparing different intercrop management practices, with or without cover crops, harvested or not. Our results indicated that the higher biomass production of energy cover crops (from 6.7 to 11.1 t DM ha⁻¹) in comparison with nonharvested cover crops (2 t DM ha⁻¹) or bare soil led to higher humified C input (belowground input and digestate), despite the high C fraction exported in AD. This resulted in an increase in SOC stocks in comparison with nonharvested cover crops or bare soil (from 0.01 to 0.12 t C ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ over 30 years). The uncertainties in the model parameters did not modify these results. However, in the case of equal biomass production between energy cover crops and nonharvested cover crops, SOC stocks would be lower with energy cover crops.     

Mass effects,clonality, and phenology but not seed traits predict species success in colonizing restored grasslands

Preserved grasslands commonly host species‐rich plant communities but a large part of the grasslands were plowed up in the past. Their restoration often requires a long time and initial restoration measures might trigger ecosystem recovery, which is then followed by spontaneous colonization. We evaluate the establishment success of target grassland species, which were not sown but established spontaneously in the restored grasslands of Bílé Karpaty Mts., SE Czech Republic. According to their key functional traits and incidence in the landscape (mass effect; acquired from the results of a grid mapping project in the region), we examined the frequency of species and their mean cover in 82 restored grasslands. The best predictor of species frequency in the grasslands was their mass effect, followed by a high capacity for clonal growth and late phenology. Seed dispersal traits (seed mass, terminal velocity, epizoochory ranking index) and plant height had no significant effect. Specific leaf area was positively correlated with mass effect. Species having a high cover in the restored grasslands had a high capacity for clonal growth. In the preparation of seed mixtures, we should therefore consider that nonclonal species relying on regeneration from seeds will be generally less able to reproduce and should be promoted by artificial sowing. At the same time, species common in the landscape, which spread well clonally, and those with a late phenology, might be expected to colonize restored meadows on their own, so that sowing them is not necessary.     

施肥和降水对生土熟化的影响

农业生产中常采用深耕、秸秆还田和施用土壤改良剂等措施促进生土熟化。本研究旨在探索施肥与降水配合对生土棉花根、苗、土及微生物间的相互影响机制,为不同降水年型下生土作物合理施肥提供科学依据。试验连续3年以黄土母质生土为供试土壤,探讨施肥深度在0～20 cm,施氮肥(N)、磷肥(P)、氮磷钾复合肥(NPK)、有机肥(ORG)以及干旱、平水、丰水三个降水年型下在40～60 cm施ORG和ORG+NPK分别对生土熟化的效果。研究结果表明,生土地0～20 cm施有机肥显著增加棉花杆重、棉桃总重和地上部总重量,施有机肥或含磷肥对生土棉花根际土壤养分、根系养分含量和酶活性有明显促进作用。施有机肥明显改善了土壤微生物多样性和丰富度;相同施肥条件下,降水对土壤熟化的效果至关重要。其中,干旱年和丰水年施有机肥均显著增加棉花产量,在平水年施有机肥和氮磷钾复合肥,干旱年或丰水年单施有机肥能更有效的提高土壤微生物多样性。综合分析得出,生土地快速改良熟化土壤的施肥措施为有机肥加磷肥。结合降水的条件下,加快生土熟化、提高土壤微生物多样性的最佳施肥方式为:平水年配施有机肥和氮磷钾复合肥,干旱年和丰水年单施有机肥。     

亚高山草甸弃耕地植物群落演替的数量研究I.群落组成分析

本文采用由植被的空间序列推断时间上演替系列的方法对甘南亚高山草甸弃耕地上的植物群落组成进行了分析。结果表明：(1)弃耕初期,莎草,禾草类在群落中的地位从开始时的71%急剧地下降到弃耕十二年时的6%;以后随着密丛型的莎草,禾草的侵入,它们地位又开始上升而恢复到30%一40%：杂类草的地位在开始时上升较快,而到了后期又有所下降;毒害草在群落中的地位基本稳定,保持在10%左右。 (2)群落的种丰富度、均匀度、Simpson多样性指数随弃耕年限增加而增大,而群落优势度随弃耕年限而减小。 (3)优势度—多样性曲线在弃耕初期为几何分布型,中后期演变为对数正态分布型,而对放牧顶极群落又近似于MacArthur分布型。     

典型峰丛洼地耕地、聚落及其与喀斯特石漠化的相互关系——案例研究

喀斯特石漠化,近年来已成为研究热点和引起国家层面重视,但当前研究并没揭示岩溶山地土地为什么会发生石漠化这一现象的本质,没有阐明岩溶山地农户为什么要进行不合理活动。通过典型案例研究从理论上解释岩溶山地农户为什么要进行不合理活动这个问题,以从本质上揭示石漠化发生的机理。为此,在贵州选择了6个典型峰丛洼地,采用2010年的10 m分辨率ALOS影像作为数据源,比较了6种不同的峰丛洼地组合地形中的耕地资源分布、聚落特征和石漠化发育情况。结果表明,6个研究点耕地和聚落数量、分布和石漠化的面积和分布存在一定的相互关系,这些相互关系可阐明土地承载力较低情形、土地承载力中等情形和土地承载力较高情形石漠化发生的过程;发现严重的石漠化只能出现在土地承载力低、人口压力大的区域,并据此进一步总结了峰丛洼地区石漠化形成的理论模型。从理论上揭示了峰丛洼地区土地承载力和人口压力是否协调决定了峰丛洼地区的生态质量状况,有助于从本质上认识石漠化的发生机理和指导石漠化的治理。     

The environmental impacts of biomass crops: use by birds of miscanthus in summer and winter in southwestern England

We compared birds in a group of established and well‐managed miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus) fields in Somerset and East Devon, southwestern England, with plots of short rotation coppice (SRC) willow, arable crops and grassland in two winters and one summer. Following early spring cutting, 19 miscanthus fields grew taller, initially produced greater cover and were less weedy than SRC. As stubble in May, the miscanthus contained broadly similar species at similar densities to arable and grassland comparison plots. By July, at 2‐m‐tall, miscanthus held higher densities of birds but of fewer species, most of them characteristic of woodland and scrub. SRC, previously identified as being a beneficial crop for many birds, always contained more species and individuals than miscanthus. Throughout each of two winters, 15 miscanthus plots remained unharvested and contained more wood/scrub species such as Blackbirds Turdus merula, tits, Reed Buntings Emberiza schoeniclus and Woodcock Scolopax rusticola than the comparison plots, which held more corvids and Skylarks Alauda arvensis amongst others. Similar overall mean densities of birds in the miscanthus and the comparison plots masked relatively low density variance in miscanthus and very high variance in the comparison plots. Unharvested miscanthus crops grown in place of habitat types supporting flocks of wintering birds would displace these flocks. Miscanthus plantations with open patches attracted more finches and waders in winter. The two previous studies of birds in miscanthus in the UK found more species and more individuals than we did in summer and winter. Both these studies documented high levels of weediness and patchy crop growth. In the context of this previous work our data suggest that bird use of miscanthus in summer and winter is likely to be variable, affected by region, weediness, crop structure and patchiness. While large‐scale cropping of SRC in England is likely to have a positive overall impact on a suite of common farmland and woodland birds, our data suggest that miscanthus in the southwest of England may have an approximately neutral effect. However, some open farmland specialist species may be lost when planting either crop.     

Diversity and spacio‐temporal distribution of mushrooms in a Nigerian savanna: implication for their conservation

We surveyed the macrofungi of an area dominated by northern Guinea savanna habitats in north‐east Nigeria. A total of 93 different species of mushrooms were found in the study area. These species belong to 29 different families, most species belonging to the family Agaricaceae, Lyophyllaceae, Bolbitiaceae, Pluteaceae and Polyporaceae. A total of 48 species belonged to the Agaricaceae, followed by Lyophyllaceae represented by 6 species. The micro‐habitats of mushrooms in the study area include wood, soil around dead tree stump, waste dump, cow dung, fallow, arable land, and 22 different living trees species. The most important habitats in term of mushroom species diversity were Parkia biglobosa, Tamarindus indica and dead wood. The Parkia biglobosa tree had the highest species richness (45) and species diversity (Shannon diversity index, SDI: 3.6). Tamarindus indica was the second, having 28 species richness and 2.7 SDI. These were followed by dead wood where 22 different mushroom species were recorded and has of 2.1 SDI. Also, these three habitats (Parkia biglobosa, dead wood and Tamarindus indica) had the highest number of mushroom species (14, 8 and 6 respectively) that were confined to them. Most of the other mushroom species were confined to only one microhabitat. There was no statistically significant difference in mushroom abundance between arable land and fallow. Collectively, the indigenous trees were associated by more mushroom species (63) than the exotic trees (20) and the indigenous trees also had significantly higher mushroom abundance than the exotic trees. However, the non‐indegenous trees had more species forming mycorrhiza than the indegenous trees, presumaby because the former were able to form symbioses with both native fungi and introduced species from their origina habitats. Inter‐annual variation of mushroom species diversity was also observed. Human activities contribute positively to mushroom diversity in the study area by creating some unique micro‐habitats that support the growth of certain unique mushroom species. Therefore, for maximum conservation of mushroom diversity, conservation measures excuding all human activities should be avoided.