Carbon sequestration potential in European croplands has been overestimated

Yearly, per‐area carbon sequestration rates are used to estimate mitigation potentials by comparing types and areas of land management in 1990 and 2000 and projected to 2010, for the European Union (EU)‐15 and for four country‐level case studies for which data are available: UK, Sweden, Belgium and Finland. Because cropland area is decreasing in these countries (except for Belgium), and in most European countries there are no incentives in place to encourage soil carbon sequestration, carbon sequestration between 1990 and 2000 was small or negative in the EU‐15 and all case study countries. Belgium has a slightly higher estimate for carbon sequestration than the other countries examined. This is at odds with previous reports of decreasing soil organic carbon stocks in Flanders. For all countries except Belgium, carbon sequestration is predicted to be negligible or negative by 2010, based on extrapolated trends, and is small even in Belgium. The only trend in agriculture that may be enhancing carbon stocks on croplands at present is organic farming, and the magnitude of this effect is highly uncertain. Previous studies have focused on the potential for carbon sequestration and have shown quite significant potential. This study, which examines the sequestration likely to occur by 2010, suggests that the potential will not be realized. Without incentives for carbon sequestration in the future, cropland carbon sequestration under Article 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol will not be an option in EU‐15.     

急性低氧对高原土生动物藏系绵羊血气的影响

为了探讨急性低氧时藏系绵羊(Ovis aries)的血气特点,揭示其低氧适应机制,将7只雄性藏系绵羊和5只雄性移居绵羊分别置于高低压氧舱内,测定模拟海拔0、2 300和4 500 m时各动物清醒状态下的血气指标。用热稀释法测定心输出量。使用血气分析仪和EG7血样板,测定动脉及混合静脉血的血气指标,按Ficks方法计算氧耗量。结果显示,随着模拟海拔高度的升高,藏羊和移居羊的动静脉血氧饱和度(So2)、氧分压(Po2)、二氧化碳分压(Pco2)都呈明显下降趋势(P<0.05),血红蛋白浓度(Hb)、血液pH、心输出量及氧耗量虽无明显的差异性改变,但它们在4 500 m处的绝对值是增加的。在相同海拔,藏羊的Hb明显低于移居羊(P<0.05),4 500 m时藏羊的动脉血氧饱和度(Sao2)及组织摄氧量显著高于移居羊(P<0.05)。表明藏羊在急性低氧时表现出的高Sao2及高组织摄氧量,低Hb、低pH是它适应高原低氧的生理基础。     

Crop row spacing and its influence on the partitioning of evapotranspiration by winter-grown wheat in Northern Syria

A study was conducted during the 1996–97 crop growth season at ICARDA in northern Syria, to investigate the influence of wheat canopy architecture on the partitioning of moisture between soil evaporation and crop transpiration, on a soil with high hydraulic conductivity. The study was conducted on the long-term two course wheat-lentil rotation trial, established on a swelling clay soil (Calcixerollic xerochrept). The wheat canopy architecture was manipulated by sowing the crop at either of two row-spacings, 0.17 or 0.30 m, both at a constant sowing rate equivalent to 120 kg ha^–1. In this study, evapotranspiration from the crop was inferred from changes in soil moisture content over time, evaporation and rainfall interception were measured daily using microlysimetry, drainage was estimated as being the difference between potential daily evapotranspiration, and the evapotranspiration estimated from the soil water deficit. Between sowing and day 80 (tillering stage), evapotranspiration was calculated to consist mainly of soil evaporation. However, after day 80, transpiration became an increasingly dominant component of evapotranspiration. For both row-spacings, cumulative evapotranspiration over the season was approximately 373 mm. In the narrow-row crop, transpiration and soil evaporation were approximately 185 mm and 183 mm of water respectively. Conversely for the wide row-spaced crop, 172 mm of water was transpired while about 205 mm of water evaporated from the soil surface. While green leaf area index did not differ between row-spacings, the architecture of the crops as a result of sowing affected solar radiation penetration such that more incident radiation was intercepted at the soil surface of the wide row-spaced crop. This is likely to have made some contribution to the elevated levels of evaporation from the soil beneath the canopy of the wide-sown crop.     

植物残茬对土壤酸度的影响及其作用机理

土壤强酸性是作物生长的最主要限制因子之一,某些植物残茬可以有效地提高土壤pH,降低活性铝含量,提高作物产量。植物残茬改良土壤酸度的效能因种而异,最高土壤pH升幅可达4.53个单位,多种豆科植物材料可使土壤pH提高2个单位以上,当pH>5时,土壤溶液活性铝降至极低水平,从而消除铝害。植物残茬改良土壤酸度的效能受植物残茬自身特性与土壤特性的影响,而且pH的上升通常在几个月后消失,但这种效能对当季作物有效。植物体内有机酸根的去羧化作用被认为是pH上升的主要机理之一,去羧化机理存在的主要证据是,随着土壤pH升高,植物材料内的可溶性有机成分下降,CO2排放与pH上升高度相关,以及杀菌条件下土壤pH上升速度显著减慢。超量碱机理是植物残茬导致pH上升的又一可能的重要机理,亦即有机盐的作用,有机盐分解转化为碳酸盐,其作用与石灰完全相似,有机盐水解也可导致土壤溶液的碱性反应。铵化作用与硝化作用是高氮植物材料影响土壤酸度的重要机理,有机氮的铵化直接消耗质子,铵的硝化则产生质子,pH的变化与这些氮过程高度相关。含硫植物材料及有机物质分解过程产生的氧化还原条件的变化,也可对土壤pH产生影响,但它们的作用较小。综合来看,去羧化作用机理基于间接证据,没有得到严格验证,超量碱机理可能是土壤pH上升的主要原因,超量碱只能转移,不能制造,含超量碱高的外源性有机材料施入耕地,将是改良土壤酸度,提高作物产量的一种有效途径。     

土壤养分库对缺苞箭竹叶片养分元素再分配的影响

研究了王朗自然保护区3个密度的缺苞箭竹群落的土壤养分库和叶片养分元素再分配能力的相互关系。结果表明,不同密度箭竹群落的土壤N、K贮量没有显著差异,土壤P贮量随着密度增加而显著减少（P〈0．01）,土壤Ca和Mg贮量则随着密度增加而增加。不同密度的箭竹叶片N和K的再分配能力没有显著差异,叶片P的再分配能力随着密度的增加而显著增加,Ca和Mg随着箭竹密度的增加在凋落叶中有显著积累的趋势。这表明,基于密度的箭竹叶片养分元素再分配能力与土壤养分库的大小密切相关,可能的机理过程是不同密度的箭竹在生长发育过程中改变了土壤养分库的大小,土壤养分库通过反馈机制导致箭竹叶片养分元素再分配能力的变化,体现了土壤与植被之间的互动关系。综合分析表明,P可能是限制缺苞箭竹生长发育的重要因子。     

桂西北喀斯特土壤对生态系统退化的响应

在桂西北喀斯特地区选取玉米 红薯轮作地（KMS）、放牧+冬季火烧草地（KGB）、自然恢复地（KNR）和原生林地（KPF）4种典型生态系统,研究了土壤有机碳、全氮、全磷,微生物生物量碳、氮、磷和土壤结构对生态系统退化的响应.结果表明：KPF土壤有机碳、全氮、全磷和微生物生物量碳、氮、磷均极显著高于其他3种土壤;其他3种土壤中,有机碳和全氮为：KNR > KGB > KMS,但差异不显著;KMS土壤全磷含量（0.87g·kg^-1）分别是KNR和KGB的2.07和9.67倍 (P<0.01);KGB和KNR土壤微生物生物量碳、氮、磷含量均显著大于KMS;KGB中微生物生物量碳显著大于KNR,但二者间微生物生物量氮和磷含量差异不显著.说明减少人为干扰后喀斯特退化生态系统可以缓慢增加土壤有机碳含量,适当放牧和自然恢复都可以作为退化生态系统恢复的方式;土壤微生物生物量对生态系统的变化响应较灵敏,可以作为喀斯特地区土壤养分变化或生态系统退化的一个敏感指标.土壤结构以>0.25 mm水稳性大团聚体为主（>70%）(KMS除外,以2～0.25 mm团聚体为主),并以>2 mm团聚体为主;土壤结构破坏率KMS（51.62%）大于KGB（23.48%）,KNR和KPF较小（分别为9.09%和9.46%）.说明人为干扰或农业耕作破坏了土壤水稳性大团聚体,使其向小粒级转变,土壤结构破坏率增大.对喀斯特地区退化严重的生态系统应减少人为干扰,以自然恢复等保护性措施为主.     

Interaction of FIE,a Polycomb protein,with pRb: a possible mechanism regulating endosperm development

Inactivation of the Arabidopsis protein FERTILIZATION INDEPENDENT ENDOSPERM (FIE) induces division of the central cell of the embryo sac, leading to endosperm development in the absence of fertilization. The mechanism whereby FIE regulates this process is unknown. We postulated that activation of central cell division in fie mutant plants might involve the retinoblastoma protein (pRb), a cell cycle regulatory element. Pull-down and surface plasmon resonance assays demonstrated that FIE interacts in-vitro with the pRb homologues from Arabidopsis (AtRb), maize (ZmRb) and human (HuRb). The interaction of FIE with ZmRB and HuRb in the yeast two-hybrid system supports the possibility that a FIE-pRb interaction may occur also in planta. Mutational analysis showed that this interaction does not occur via the LxCxE motif of the FIE protein nor via the pocket B domain of pRb. These results suggest that FIE may inhibit premature division of the central cell of the embryo sac, at least partly, through interaction with pRb, and suppression of pRb-regulated genes.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at Communicated by R. G. Herrmann     

The Rooting of the Universal Tree of Life Is Not Reliable

Several composite universal trees connected by an ancestral gene duplication have been used to root the universal tree of life. In all cases, this root turned out to be in the eubacterial branch. However, the validity of results obtained from comparative sequence analysis has recently been questioned, in particular, in the case of ancient phylogenies. For example, it has been shown that several eukaryotic groups are misplaced in ribosomal RNA or elongation factor trees because of unequal rates of evolution and mutational saturation. Furthermore, the addition of new sequences to data sets has often turned apparently reasonable phylogenies into confused ones. We have thus revisited all composite protein trees that have been used to root the universal tree of life up to now (elongation factors, ATPases, tRNA synthetases, carbamoyl phosphate synthetases, signal recognition particle proteins) with updated data sets. In general, the two prokaryotic domains were not monophyletic with several aberrant groupings at different levels of the tree. Furthermore, the respective phylogenies contradicted each others, so that various ad hoc scenarios (paralogy or lateral gene transfer) must be proposed in order to obtain the traditional Archaebacteria–Eukaryota sisterhood. More importantly, all of the markers are heavily saturated with respect to amino acid substitutions. As phylogenies inferred from saturated data sets are extremely sensitive to differences in evolutionary rates, present phylogenies used to root the universal tree of life could be biased by the phenomenon of long branch attraction. Since the eubacterial branch was always the longest one, the eubacterial rooting could be explained by an attraction between this branch and the long branch of the outgroup. Finally, we suggested that an eukaryotic rooting could be a more fruitful working hypothesis, as it provides, for example, a simple explanation to the high genetic similarity of Archaebacteria and Eubacteria inferred from complete genome analysis.     

长期培肥黑土微生物量磷动态变化及影响因素

长期采用两种不同量有机肥(M2、M4)、化肥(NPK)方式培肥黑土,研究微生物量P在作物生长季动态变化．结果表明。施用有机肥微生物量P显著高于施用化肥(NPK)和不施肥(CK),微生物量P分别为M48．75～47．68mg·kg^-1,M2 3．02～37．16mg·kg^-1,NPK1．59～10．62mg·kg^-1,CK0．76～6．74mg·kg^-1之间,波动性较大．M4、M2处理微生物量P最大值出现在抽雄吐丝期,NPK、CK处理最大值出现在大喇叭口期;施肥数量和种类不同所引起的黑土微生物量P的差异并未因季节变化及玉米生育时期影响而明显改变．微生物量P的动态变化与绝大多数黑土生物、理化特性指标的动态变化没有显著的相关性;微生物量P与黑土生物、理化特性(除全钾外),植物氮、磷、钾含量有极显著的正相关关系,与黑土含水量呈显著正相关关系．