Mitigating the greenhouse gas balance of ruminant production systems through carbon sequestration in grasslands

Soil carbon sequestration (enhanced sinks) is the mechanism responsible for most of the greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential in the agriculture sector. Carbon sequestration in grasslands can be determined directly by measuring changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and indirectly by measuring the net balance of C fluxes. A literature search shows that grassland C sequestration reaches on average 5 ± 30 g C/m2 per year according to inventories of SOC stocks and -231 and 77 g C/m2 per year for drained organic and mineral soils, respectively, according to C flux balance. Off-site C sequestration occurs whenever more manure C is produced by than returned to a grassland plot. The sum of on- and off-site C sequestration reaches 129, 98 and 71 g C/m2 per year for grazed, cut and mixed European grasslands on mineral soils, respectively, however with high uncertainty. A range of management practices reduce C losses and increase C sequestration: (i) avoiding soil tillage and the conversion of grasslands to arable use, (ii) moderately intensifying nutrient-poor permanent grasslands, (iii) using light grazing instead of heavy grazing, (iv) increasing the duration of grass leys; (v) converting grass leys to grass-legume mixtures or to permanent grasslands. With nine European sites, direct emissions of N2O from soil and of CH4 from enteric fermentation at grazing, expressed in CO2 equivalents, compensated 10% and 34% of the on-site grassland C sequestration, respectively. Digestion inside the barn of the harvested herbage leads to further emissions of CH4 and N2O by the production systems, which were estimated at 130 g CO2 equivalents/m2 per year. The net balance of on- and off-site C sequestration, CH4 and N2O emissions reached 38 g CO2 equivalents/m2 per year, indicating a non-significant net sink activity. This net balance was, however, negative for intensively managed cut sites indicating a source to the atmosphere. In conclusion, this review confirms that grassland C sequestration has a strong potential to partly mitigate the GHG balance of ruminant production systems. However, as soil C sequestration is both reversible and vulnerable to disturbance, biodiversity loss and climate change, CH4 and N2O emissions from the livestock sector need to be reduced and current SOC stocks preserved.     

Net greenhouse gas fluxes in Brazilian ethanol production systems

Biofuels are both a promising solution to global warming mitigation and a potential contributor to the problem. Several life cycle assessments of bioethanol have been conducted to address these questions. We performed a synthesis of the available data on Brazilian ethanol production focusing on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon (C) sinks in the agricultural and industrial phases. Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from fossil fuels, methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) from sources commonly included in C footprints, such as fossil fuel usage, biomass burning, nitrogen fertilizer application, liming and litter decomposition were accounted for. In addition, black carbon (BC) emissions from burning biomass and soil C sequestration were included in the balance. Most of the annual emissions per hectare are in the agricultural phase, both in the burned system (2209 out of a total of 2398 kg C_eq), and in the unburned system (559 out of 748 kg C_eq). Although nitrogen fertilizer emissions are large, 111 kg C_eq ha^?1 yr^?1, the largest single source of emissions is biomass burning in the manual harvest system, with a large amount of both GHG (196 kg C_eq ha^?1 yr^?1). and BC (1536 kg C_eq ha^?1 yr^?1). Besides avoiding emissions from biomass burning, harvesting sugarcane mechanically without burning tends to increase soil C stocks, providing a C sink of 1500 kg C ha^?1 yr^?1 in the 30 cm layer. The data show a C output: input ratio of 1.4 for ethanol produced under the conventionally burned and manual harvest compared with 6.5 for the mechanized harvest without burning, signifying the importance of conservation agricultural systems in bioethanol feedstock production.     

Plio-Pleistocene vegetation changes in the North China Plain: Magnetostratigraphy, oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of pedogenic carbonates

The Plio-Pleistocene history of C₄ plant biomass in northwestern China has been documented from the loess-soil sequences of the Loess Plateau region. However, how C₄ plants evolved in the warmer and low-elevation eastern China monsoon zone is still poorly known mainly because of the unavailability of well-dated geological records. In this study, a 203.6-m core of floodplain deposits was recovered from the North China Plain near Tianjin and dated magnetostratigraphically. The results define a chronosequence for the last 3.3 Ma. The late Quaternary portion of the core consists of fluvio-marine sediments while the rest of the section (3.3-0.6 Ma) contains abundant paleosols formed on the floodplain, as confirmed by soil micromorphological evidence. The stable carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of pedogenic carbonates was measured to document vegetation and climate changes. The results reveal mixed C₃ and C₄ vegetation with an estimated C₄ abundance of ~ 40-60% from ~ 3.1 to ~ 2.2 Ma, and a subsequent gradual decline to ~ 25% until ~ 0.6 Ma. This trend is consistent with the data from the loess-soil sequences further west on the Loess Plateau, suggesting they are regionally significant changes. The lowering of growing-season temperature and/or drier conditions induced by global cooling would explain this overall decline.     

Electrochemiluminescence of an electrocatalytic action of etimicin on Tris(2,2′‐bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) immobilized in Nafion modified carbon paste electrode

A sensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) detection of etimicin at Tris(2,2′‐bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) [Ru(bpy)₃²⁺]–Nafion modified carbon paste electrodes was developed. The immobilized Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ shows good electrochemical and photochemical activities. Electrochemical and electrochemiluminescence characterizations of the modified carbon electrodes were made by means of cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impendence spectroscopy. The modified electrode showed an electrocatalytic response to the oxidation of etimicin, producing a sensitized ECL signal. The ECL sensor showed a linear response to etimicin in the range of 8.0–160.0 ng mL^?1 with a detection limit of 6.7 ng mL^?1. This method for etimicin determination possessed good sensitivity and reproducibility with a coefficient of variation of 5.1% (n = 7) at 100 ng mL^?1. The ECL sensor showed good selectivity and long‐term stability. Its surface could be renewed quickly and reproducibly by a simple polish step. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

外源一氧化碳对干旱胁迫下水稻幼苗抗氧化系统的影响

以水稻(Oryza sativa L.) 品种‘D奇宝优1号'幼苗为材料,采用20%聚乙二醇(PEG-6000)模拟水分胁迫,研究外源一氧化碳(CO)对干旱胁迫下水稻幼苗抗氧化能力的影响,以探索CO提高水稻幼苗抗旱性的机制.结果显示,CO供体高铁血红素(Hematin,H)显著降低干旱胁迫下水稻幼苗叶片质膜相对透性和丙二醛(MDA)含量,提高脯氨酸和可溶性蛋白的含量,不同程度地促进叶片中超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)和过氧化物酶(POD)的活性,而CO清除剂血红蛋白(Hemoglobin,Hb)则逆转CO供体对干旱胁迫下水稻幼苗氧化损伤的缓解效应.由此表明,外源CO能通过调整保护酶活性和渗透调节物质含量来提高水稻幼苗的抗氧化能力,有效增强其抗旱性.     

上海城市森林群落结构对固碳能力的影响

基于上海市区航片数字化、代表性样地群落调查、优势树种生理参数测定和CITYgreen模型软件,对上海城市森林固碳能力进行评估,并探讨群落结构对固碳能力的影响。结果表明:上海城市森林总碳贮量为478472t,年碳固定量为6256t.a-1,平均碳密度为47.80t.hm-2,平均固碳率为0.625t.hm-2.a-1;城市森林的固碳率与郁闭度及群落密度均呈极显著正相关,而与平均胸径负相关;碳密度与郁闭度及平均胸径均呈极显著正相关,而与群落密度无显著相关;低密度高胸径群落比中、高密度群落具有更高的碳密度;混交林碳密度高于纯林,复层林碳密度和固碳率都高于单层林,且固碳能力的差异在一定程度上受平均胸径、群落密度等因子影响。     

不同压力二氧化碳气腹对兔血液流变学和微循环的影响

目的：研究不同压力二氧化碳气腹对兔血液流变学和微循环的影响。方法：18只雌性健康实验兔按气腹压力随机均分为三组：气腹压0mmHg组（Ⅰ组）、气腹压10mmHg组（Ⅱ组）和气腹压15mmHg组（Ⅲ组）。每组兔均在不同的压力下接受气腹1h。在二氧化碳气腹前5min（T0）、气腹后30min（T1）、气腹后60min（T2）测定血液流变学指标。监测心率（HR）、平均动脉压（MAP）、耳廓微循环的血流量和血流速率并记录在相应时点的上述参数值。结果：气腹后30min、60min,Ⅱ组与Ⅰ组比较,HR、MAP、全血粘度、红细胞刚性指数和聚集指数显著增加（P〈0.05）,红细胞变形指数、耳廓微循环的血流量和血流速率显著下降（P〈0.05）,Ⅲ组与Ⅰ组比较,各参数变化更为显著（P〈0.01）。血浆粘度和红细胞压积气腹前后无明显变化。结论：二氧化碳气腹后血液流变性减弱;虽然HR、MAP增加,但微循环的血流量和血流速率下降。