Diet partitioning in sympatric Atlantic salmon and brown trout in streams with contrasting riparian vegetation

Prey intake by Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and brown trout Salmo trutta was measured across different riparian vegetation types: grassland, open canopy deciduous and closed canopy deciduous, in upland streams in County Mayo, Western Ireland. Fishes were collected by electrofishing while invertebrates were sampled from the benthos using a Surber sampler and drifting invertebrates collected in drift traps. Aquatic invertebrates dominated prey numbers in the diets of 0+ year Atlantic salmon and brown trout and 1+ year Atlantic salmon, whereas terrestrial invertebrates were of greater importance for diets of 1+ and 2+ year brown trout. Terrestrial prey biomass was generally greater than aquatic prey for 1+ and 2+ year brown trout across seasons and riparian types. Prey intake was greatest in spring and summer and least in autumn apart from 2+ year brown trout that sustained feeding into autumn. Total prey numbers captured tended to be greater for all age classes in streams with deciduous riparian canopy. Atlantic salmon consumed more aquatic prey and brown trout more terrestrial prey with an ontogenetic increase in prey species richness and diversity. Atlantic salmon and brown trout diets were most similar in summer. Terrestrial invertebrates provided an important energy subsidy particularly for brown trout. In grassland streams, each fish age class was strongly associated with aquatic, mainly benthic invertebrates. In streams with deciduous riparian canopy cover, diet composition partitioned between conspecifics with older brown trout associated with surface drifting terrestrial invertebrates and older Atlantic salmon associated with aquatic invertebrates with a high drift propensity in the water column and 0+ year fish feeding on benthic aquatic invertebrates. Deciduous riparian canopy cover may therefore facilitate vertical partitioning of feeding position within the water column between sympatric Atlantic salmon and brown trout. Implications for riparian management are discussed.     

我国微茎类吸虫研究:ⅩⅢ.微茎类吸虫成虫结构特征排序

对我国52种微茎类吸虫的18项成虫形态学特征进行主成分分析,结果表明:卵巢位置、子宫延伸位置等7项性状对第一主成分贡献较大,提示描述器官位置的指标是重要的分类依据。52个虫种在前三个主成分上的排序图显示应将其划分成4个亚科。     

Long-term effects of metals in sewage sludge on soils,microorganisms and plants

Summary This paper reviews the evidence for impacts of metals on the growth of selected plants and on the effects of metals on soil microbial activity and soil fertility in the long-term. Less is known about adverse long-term effects of metals on soil microorganisms than on crop yields and metal uptake. This is not surprising, since the effects of metals added to soils in sewage sludge are difficult to assess, and few long-term experiments exist. Controlled field experiments with sewage sludges exist in the UK, Sweden, Germany and the USA and the data presented here are from these long-term field experiments only. Microbial activity and populations of cyanobacteria,Rhizobium leguminosarum bv.trifolii, mycorrhizae and the total microbial biomass have been adversely affected by metal concentrations which, in some cases, are below the European Community's maximum allowable concentration limits for metals in sludge-treated soils. For example, N₂-fixation by free living heterotrophic bacteria was found to be inhibited at soil metal concentrations of (mg kg^–1): 127 Zn, 37 Cu, 21 Ni, 3.4 Cd, 52 Cr and 71 Pb. N₂-fixation by free-living cyanobacteria was reduced by 50% at metal concentrations of (mg kg^–1): 114 Zn, 33 Cu, 17 Ni, 2.9 Cd, 80 Cr and 40 Pb.Rhizobium leguminosarum bv.trifolii numbers decreased by several orders of magnitude at soil metal concentrations of (mg kg^–1): 130–200 Zn, 27–48 Cu, 11–15 Ni, and 0.8–1.0 Cd. Soil texture and pH were found to influence the concentrations at which toxicity occurred to both microorganisms and plants. Higher pH, and increased contents of clay and organic carbon reduced metal toxicity considerably. The evidence suggests that adverse effects on soil microbial parameters were generally found at surpringly modest concentrations of metals in soils. It is concluded that prevention of adverse effects on soil microbial processes and ultimately soil fertility, should be a factor which influences soil protection legislation.     

柱萤叶甲属研究（Ⅰ）鞘翅具黑色刻点的种类记述（鞘翅目：叶甲科）

本文就萤叶甲亚科中柱萤叶甲属鞘翅具黑色刻点的种类进行研究,共记述４种,我国已记录３种,其中１种为新种。     

Estimates of the residual nitrogen benefit of groundnut to maize in Northeast Thailand

Four cultivars of groundnut were grown in upland soil in Northeast Thailand to study the residual benefit of the stover to a subsequent maize crop. An N-balance estimate of the total residual N in the maize supplied by the groundnut was made. In addition three independent estimates were made of the residual benefits to maize when the groundnut stover was returned to the land and incorporated. The first estimate (Estimate 1) was an N-balance estimate. A dual labelling approach was used where ¹⁵N-labelled stover was added to unlabelled microplots (Estimate 2) or unlabelled stover was added to ¹⁵N-labelled soil microplots (Estimate 3). The nodulating groundnut cultivars fixed between 59–64% of their nitrogen (as estimated by the ¹⁵N isotope dilution method using non-nodulating groundnut as a non-fixing reference) producing between 100 and 130 kg N ha^-1 in their stover. Although the following maize crop suffered from drought stress, maize grain N and dry weights were up to 80% and 65% greater respectively in the plots where the stover was returned as compared with the plots where the stover was removed. These benefits were comparable with applications of 75 kg N ha^-1 nitrogen in the form of urea. The total residual N estimates of the contribution of the nodulated groundnut to the maize ranged from 16.4–27.5 kg N ha^-1. Estimates of the residual N supplied by the stover and fallen leaves ranged from 11.9–21.3 kg N ha^-1 using the N-balance method (Estimate 1), from 6.3–9.6 kg N ha^-1 with the labelled stover method (Estimate 2) and from 0–11.4 kg N ha^-1 with the labelled soil method. There was closest agreement between the two ¹⁵N based estimates suggesting that apparent added nitrogen interactions in these soils may not be important and that N balance estimates can overestimate the residual N in crops following legumes, even in very poor soils. This work also indicates the considerable ability of local groundnut cultivars to fix atmospheric nitrogen and the potential benefits from returning and incorporating legume residues to the soil in the upland cropping systems of Northeast Thailand. The applicability of the ¹⁵N methodology used here and possible reasons for the discrepancies between estimates 1, 2 and 3 are discussed.     

我国微茎类吸虫的研究Ⅻ.类茎属及多黄属二新种报道：复殖目：微茎科

本文报道在湛江市附近海域海鸟体内获得的两种吸虫,经鉴定为新种,命名为巨口类茎吸虫,新种Ｍｉｃｒｏｐｈａｌｌｏｉｄｅｓ ｍａｃｒｏｓｔｏｎｒｓ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．,珊瑚多黄吸虫,新种Ｍｕｌｔｉｖｉｔｅｌｌｕｓ ｃｏｒａｌｉｕｓ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．     

Manipulation of quality and mineralization of tropical legume tree prunings by varying nitrogen supply

The effect of N supply on the quality of Calliandra calothyrsus and Gliricidia sepium prunings was studied in a glasshouse over a 7-month growing period. Increasing the concentration of N supplied from 0.625 to 10.0 mM NO₃-N resulted in increased N concentration but decreased polyphenol concentration, protein-binding capacity and C:N ratio of prunings from both species. Lignin concentration was not consistently altered by the N treatment. Mineralization of N from the prunings was measured over a 14-week period under controlled leaching and non-leaching conditions. The results indicated a strong interaction between legume species and concentration of N supply in their influence on N mineralization of the prunings applied to the soil. Differences in the %N mineralized were dictated by the quality of the prunings. The (lignin + polyphenol):N ratio was the pruning quality factor which could be used most consistently and accurately to predict N mineralization of the legume prunings incubated under leaching conditions, and the relationship was best described by a linear regression. Under non-leaching conditions, however, the protein-binding capacity appeared to be the most important parameter in determining the patterns of N release from the prunings studied. The relationship between the N mineralization rate constant and the protein-binding capacity was best described by a negative exponential function, y=0.078 exp(–0.0083x). The present study also indicated that the release of N from legume prunings containing a relatively high amount of polyphenol could be enhanced by governing the N availability conditions under which the plant is grown, for example whether or not it is actively fixing nitrogen. Estimates of pruning N mineralization after 14 weeks with the difference method averaged 6% (leaching conditions) and 22% (nonleaching conditions) more than with the ¹⁵N method for all legume prunings studied. The recovery of pruning by maize (4–38%) was well correlated with the % pruning N mineralized suggesting that incubation data closely reflect the pruning N value for a given catch crop under non-leaching conditions.     

Diversity of Rhizobia Nodulating Phaseolus vulgaris L. in Two Kenyan Soils with Contrasting pHs

Rhizobia were isolated from two Kenyan soils with pHs of 4.5 and 6.8 and characterized on the basis of their host ranges for nodulation and nitrogen fixation, colony morphologies, restriction fragment fingerprints, and hybridization with a nifH probe. The populations of rhizobia nodulating Phaseolus vulgaris in the two soils were similar in numbers and in effectiveness of N(inf2) fixation but were markedly different in composition. The population in the Naivasha soil (pH 6.8) was dominated by isolates specific in host range for nodulation to P. vulgaris; these all had multiple copies, in most cases four, of the structural nitrogenase gene nifH. Only one of the isolates from this soil formed effective nodules on Leucaena leucocephala, and this isolate had only a single copy of nifH. By contrast, the population in the acid Daka-ini soil (pH 4.5) was composed largely of broad-host-range isolates which had single copies of nifH. The isolates from the Daka-ini soil which were specific to P. vulgaris generally had three copies of nifH, although one isolate had only two copies. These rhizobial isolates are indigenous to Kenyan soils and yet have marked similarities to previously described Rhizobium species from other continents.