Large old trees increase growth under shifting climatic constraints: Aligning tree longevity and individual growth dynamics in primary mountain spruce forests

In a world of accelerating changes in environmental conditions driving tree growth, tradeoffs between tree growth rate and longevity could curtail the abundance of large old trees (LOTs), with potentially dire consequences for biodiversity and carbon storage. However, the influence of tree-level tradeoffs on forest structure at landscape scales will also depend on disturbances, which shape tree size and age distribution, and on whether LOTs can benefit from improved growing conditions due to climate warming. We analyzed temporal and spatial variation in radial growth patterns from ~5000 Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] H. Karst) live and dead trees from the Western Carpathian primary spruce forest stands. We applied mixed-linear modeling to quantify the importance of LOT growth histories and stand dynamics (i.e., competition and disturbance factors) on lifespan. Finally, we assessed regional synchronization in radial growth variability over the 20th century, and modeled the effects of stand dynamics and climate on LOTs recent growth trends. Tree age varied considerably among forest stands, implying an important role of disturbance as an age constraint. Slow juvenile growth and longer period of suppressed growth prolonged tree lifespan, while increasing disturbance severity and shorter time since last disturbance decreased it. The highest age was not achieved only by trees with continuous slow growth, but those with slow juvenile growth followed by subsequent growth releases. Growth trend analysis demonstrated an increase in absolute growth rates in response to climate warming, with late summer temperatures driving the recent growth trend. Contrary to our expectation that LOTs would eventually exhibit declining growth rates, the oldest LOTs (>400 years) continuously increase growth throughout their lives, indicating a high phenotypic plasticity of LOTs for increasing biomass, and a strong carbon sink role of primary spruce forests under rising temperatures, intensifying droughts, and increasing bark beetle outbreaks.     

混合蛋白质体系中魟鱼和海兔肝铁蛋白释放铁的动力学研究

分别制备含有魟鱼肝铁蛋白(1iver ferritin of Dasyatis akajei,DALF)和海兔肝铁蛋白(Liver ferritin of Aplysia,ALF)的混合蛋白质体系。选用电子光谱技术和不同电子供体,研究在混合蛋白质体系中,DALF和ALF释放铁的动力学过程和规律。实验结果表明,采用Na2S2O4作为还原剂时,DALF以两相行为进行释放铁的反应;而选用抗坏血酸作为还原剂时,DALF却以一级反应动力学方式进行释放铁的反应,简化释放铁的过程。在混合蛋白质体系中且以抗坏血酸和Na2S2O4为电子供体时,ALF均以一级反应动力学过程进行释放铁的反应,认为某些蛋白质参与协助ALF释放铁反应,从而简化释放铁的过程。     

赤眼蜂田间混合种群的分离、鉴定及其性比的确定

介绍了一种适用于赤眼蜂Trichogramma田间混合种群分离、鉴定及性比确定的简单而有效的方法,并据此方法成功地鉴定出4种自然寄生于小菜蛾卵的寄生蜂种类,拟澳洲赤眼蜂TrichogrammaconfusumViggiani、玉米螟赤眼蜂Trichogramma.ostriniaePangetChen、微突赤眼蜂TrichogrammaraioNagaraja及卷蛾分索赤眼蜂TrichogrammatoideabactraeNagaraja。     

农林废弃物混配基质的理化性质及其对油茶幼苗生长效应的综合评价

以腐熟的甘蔗渣( SB)、木薯皮( CP)、花生壳( PS)和火炭灰( BA)及园土( GS)为原料,按照不同体积比配制成9种混配基质,并以等体积比泥炭和园土混配基质为对照,对各基质的理化性质及基质中油茶( Camellia oleifera Abel)幼苗的生长状况进行比较;在对基质理化指标和油茶幼苗的壮苗指数进行线性回归分析和通径分析的基础上,采用主成分分析和综合评价法对各基质的育苗效果进行综合评价。结果表明：9种农林废弃物混配基质的容重、总孔隙度和毛管孔隙度分别为0.23~0.47 g·cm-3、60.90%~67.23%和46.53%~58.27%, pH 6.72~pH 7.14,各基质的速效氮含量、速效磷含量、速效钾含量、pH值、电导率和通气孔隙度均高于或显著高于对照,容重则显著低于对照。在不同基质中油茶幼苗的茎粗、单株叶片数、叶长、叶宽、叶绿素相对含量( SPAD)、单株茎叶干质量、单株根干质量和壮苗指数均存在一定差异,而株高和根冠比却无显著差异;其中S9混配基质也V( SB)：V( CP)：V( BA)=2：1：1页中幼苗的大部分生长指标较高,表现出明显的生长优势。线性回归和通径分析结果显示：除通气孔隙度外,基质的其他8个理化指标基本涵盖了影响幼苗壮苗指数的关键因素;其中,速效钾含量是对壮苗指数直接影响最大的负相关因子,而速效磷含量、电导率和总孔隙度对壮苗指数则有较大的正向直接作用,并且三者通过速效钾含量对壮苗指数产生较大的负向间接作用;此外,基质容重对壮苗指数也有一定的负向直接作用。综合评价结果显示：S9和S7混配基质也V( SB)：V( BA)：V( GS)=4：3：3页对油茶育苗效果的综合得分较高,分别为14.363和14.337,建议将S9混配基质作为油茶育苗的首选替代基质,S7混配基质作为备选基质。     

Within-host competition between Borrelia afzelii ospC strains in wild hosts as revealed by massively parallel amplicon sequencing

Infections frequently consist of more than one strain of a given pathogen. Experiments have shown that co-infecting strains often compete, so that the infection intensity of each strain in mixed infections is lower than in single strain infections. Such within-host competition can have important epidemiological and evolutionary consequences. However, the extent of competition has rarely been investigated in wild, naturally infected hosts, where there is noise in the form of varying inoculation doses, asynchronous infections and host heterogeneity, which can potentially alleviate or eliminate competition. Here, we investigated the extent of competition between Borrelia afzelii strains (as determined by ospC genotype) in three host species sampled in the wild. For this purpose, we developed a protocol for 454 amplicon sequencing of ospC, which allows both detection and quantification of each individual strain in an infection. Each host individual was infected with one to six ospC strains. The infection intensity of each strain was lower in mixed infections than in single ones, showing that there was competition. Rank-abundance plots revealed that there was typically one dominant strain, but that the evenness of the relative infection intensity of the different strains in an infection increased with the multiplicity of infection. We conclude that within-host competition can play an important role under natural conditions despite many potential sources of noise, and that quantification by next-generation amplicon sequencing offers new possibilities to dissect within-host interactions in naturally infected hosts.     

Life cycle assessment of forest biomass energy feedstock in the Northeast United States

Life cycle assessment (LCA) was combined with primary data from nine forest harvesting operations in New York, Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont, from 2013 to 2019 where forest biomass (FB) for bioenergy was one of several products. The objective was to conduct a data‐driven study of greenhouse gas emissions associated with FB feedstock harvesting operations in the Northeast United States. Deterministic and stochastic LCA models were built to simulate the current FB bioenergy feedstock supply chain in the Northeast US with a cradle‐to‐gate scope (forest harvest through roadside loading) and a functional unit of 1.0 Mg of green FB feedstock at a 50% moisture content. Baseline LCA, sensitivity analysis, and uncertainty analyses were conducted for three different FB feedstock types—dirty chips, clean chips, and grindings—enabling an empirically driven investigation of differences between feedstock types, individual harvesting process contributions, and literature comparisons. The baseline LCA average impacts were lower for grindings (4.57 kg CO_2eq/Mg) and dirty chips (7.16 kg CO_2eq/Mg) than for clean chips (23.99 kg CO_2eq/Mg) under economic allocation, but impacts were of similar magnitude under mass allocation, ranging from 24.42 to 27.89 kg CO_2eq/Mg. Uncertainty analysis showed a wider range of probable results under mass allocation compared to economic allocation. Sensitivity analysis revealed the impact of variations in the production masses and total economic values of primary products of forest harvests on the LCA results due to allocation of supply chain emissions. The high variability in fuel use between logging contractors also had a distinct influence on LCA results. The results of this study can aid decision‐makers in energy policy and guide emissions reductions efforts while informing future LCAs that expand the system boundary to regional FB energy pathways, including electricity generation, transportation fuels, pellets for heat, and combined heat and power.     

Effect of the rearing system on financial returns from Murciano-Granadina breed goats

In dairy goats, the kid rearing system can have critical importance in financial returns. Commonly used criteria for the choice of rearing system are not always clear due to the high number of factors involved. The aim of this study was to quantify all those factors to facilitate decision making. So, the effect of two different kid rearing systems, mixed rearing system (MRS) and artificial rearing system (ARS), on milk yield, milk composition and somatic cell count (SCC), milk yield loss at weaning for MRS, kid growth and costs of the different traits on the financial returns in Murciano-Granadina breed goats was studied. Twenty-four goats per group were used. In the MRS, goats reared only one kid, which had free access to goat milk 24 h a day and were weaned at week 6 of lactation, whereas kids in the ARS were separated from their mothers at kidding, colostrum and artificially reared. In both systems, dams were machine-milked once a day throughout lactation and the records took place weekly. Potential milk yield was estimated according to the oxytocin method up to week 12 of lactation, and was similar for both rearing systems, although a 12.3% drop in potential milk yield at weaning was observed for MRS. During the first 6 weeks of lactation, marketable milk was lower for dams in MRS compared to those in ARS (72.1 v. 113.0 l), but similar for the rest of the experiment (101.5 v. 99.4 l, respectively). Marketable milk composition and SCC throughout the 12 weeks of lactation were unaffected by the rearing system. Artificial rearing system entailed an increment in production cost of 22.2€ per kid compared to the rearing by MRS. A similar economic return per goat and kid was obtained from ARS and MRS in this experiment, although, due to one herd’s prolificacy of 1.8, the actual results would be 16.2€ per goat in favour of MRS. The real interest of this experiment may be the possibility of extrapolation to different flocks with diverse levels of milk production, prolificacy and prices and costs for incomes and outputs, to estimate the production system that increases returns. In conclusion, the results showed an increase in the cost of €22.2 per kid bred in the ARS, compared to the MRS, and a final return of 16.2€ per goat in favour of the mixed system.     

Constructing High‐Performance All‐Small‐Molecule Ternary Solar Cells with the Same Third Component but Different Mechanisms for Fullerene and Non‐fullerene Systems

Two types of all‐small‐molecule ternary solar cells consisting of two small‐molecule donors and one acceptor (fullerene/non‐fullerene) are developed. Interestingly, both these devices have a common component: a carefully designed medium bandgap small molecule, which possesses appropriate energy levels and displays good compatibility with the host donor. In the fullerene system, the charge‐relaying role of the additive donor is confirmed by the improved charge transportation and suppressed charge recombination. While in the non‐fullerene system, the mixed face‐on and edge‐on orientation of the ternary film induced by the additive donor dominates the promotion of charge transportation. Accordingly, both ternary devices deliver higher short‐circuit current density, fill factor, and power conversion efficiencies of over 10% compared to binary ones. This work offers a promising guideline on the construction of high‐performance all‐small‐molecule ternary solar cells by incorporating a miscible small‐molecule donor.     

Vitamin C modulates glutamate transport and NMDA receptor function in the retina

Vitamin C (in the reduced form ascorbate or in the oxidized form dehydroascorbate) is implicated in signaling events throughout the central nervous system (CNS ). In the retina, a high‐affinity transport system for ascorbate has been described and glutamatergic signaling has been reported to control ascorbate release. Here, we investigated the modulatory role played by vitamin C upon glutamate uptake and N ‐methyl‐d ‐aspartate (NMDA ) receptor activation in cultured retinal cells or in intact retinal tissue using biochemical and imaging techniques. We show that both forms of vitamin C, ascorbate or dehydroascorbate, promote an accumulation of extracellular glutamate by a mechanism involving the inhibition of glutamate uptake. This inhibition correlates with the finding that ascorbate promotes a decrease in cell surface levels of the neuronal glutamate transporter excitatory amino acid transporter 3 in retinal neuronal cultures. Interestingly, vitamin C is prone to increase the activity of NMDA receptors but also promotes a decrease in glutamate‐stimulated [³H] MK 801 binding and decreases cell membrane content of NMDA receptor glutamate ionotropic receptor subunit 1 (GluN1) subunits. Both compounds were also able to increase cAMP response element‐binding protein phosphorylation in neuronal nuclei in a glutamate receptor and calcium/calmodulin kinase‐dependent manner. Moreover, the effect of ascorbate is not blocked by sulfinpyrazone and then does not depend on its uptake by retinal cells. Overall, these data indicate a novel molecular and functional target for vitamin C impacting on glutamate signaling in retinal neurons.