Fate of the soil seed bank of giant ragweed and its significance in preventing and controlling its invasion in grasslands

Giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida, L. henceforth referred to as GR), an annual non‐native invasive weed, may cause health problems and can reduce agricultural productivity. Chemical control of GR in grasslands may have irreversible side effects on herbs and livestock. In an attempt to propose a solution to the harmful effects of GR on grasslands, this study explores the fate of its soil seed bank (SSB) and considers the physical control of its SSB reduction. By studying GR distributed in grasslands of the Yili Valley, Xinjiang, China, we measured the spatial and temporal changes in seed density, seed germination, dormancy, and death. We analyzed seed germination, dormancy, and death following different storage periods. The study analyzed population characteristics over time, including seed fate, and examined physical control methods for reducing the SSB density. The SSB of GR occurs in the upper 0–15 cm of soil in grasslands. Seed density in the SSB decreased by 68.1% to 82.01% from the reproductive growth period to the senescence period. More than 98.7% of the seeds were rotten, eaten, germinated, dispersed, or died within one year after being produced. The seed germination rate of the SSB decreased with the number of years after invasion. When stored for 0.5 or 3.5 years, seed germination rates fell by 40%, during which time seed death rate increased by almost 40%. When GR was completely eradicated for two consecutive years, the SSB and population densities decreased by >99%. The vast majority of GR seeds germinated or died within one year; the germination rate decreased significantly if the seeds were stored dry at room temperature for a long time. Newly produced seeds are the main source of seeds in the SSB. Therefore, thoroughly eradicating GR plants for several years before the seeds can mature provides an effective control method in grasslands.     

入侵植物三裂叶豚草在中国的潜在适生区预测

[目的] 三裂叶豚草是中国重点防控的入侵植物,研究其潜在的适生区分布格局变化对预警防控具有重要意义。[方法] 基于MaxEnt优化模型预测当前及未来（RCP2.6、RCP4.5、RCP8.5）气候情景下三裂叶豚草潜在的地理分布格局。[结果] 当调控倍频（RM）=3.5,FC（特征组合）=LQH（线性、二次型、片段化组合）时为最优模型,MaxEnt模型的预测结果较准确,受试者工作特征曲线下的面积（AUC值）达0.9287;综合8种途径评估出人类活动因子（hfp,贡献率69%）、等温性（bio3,贡献率8.9%）、温度季节变动系数（bio4,贡献率2.9%）、年降水量（bio12,贡献率7.3%）和海拔（ELEV,贡献率3.7%）是制约三裂叶豚草潜在地理分布的主要环境因子;在当前气候情景下,三裂叶豚草的高适生区主要集中在东北平原、江淮地区、京津冀、山东半岛等经济发达地区。[结论] 在未来气候变化情景下,三裂叶豚草在我国的潜在适生区范围总体呈现不同程度的缩减,即丧失率大于增加率;三裂叶豚草将有向南迁移的趋势;最冷月最低温度（bio6）是最不相似变量分析中出现频次最高的因子,表明温度因素对三裂叶豚草潜在地理分布变迁起到重要制约作用。本研究结果可为三裂叶豚草的预防和控制提供理论基础。     

广聚萤叶甲成虫的繁殖习性和活动规律初步观察

广聚萤叶甲Ophraella communa是豚草Ambrosia artemisiifoliaL.的一种重要专一性天敌昆虫,对豚草抑制作用显著。本文在室内对广聚萤叶甲成虫交配和产卵活动进行观察,结果表明广聚萤叶甲成虫一生多次交配多次产卵,雄虫交配前期为2.7d,明显长于雌虫的0.9d。交配雌虫有产卵前期,然后开始产卵。成虫交配活动主要在8:00-21:00,一般产卵高峰在12:00-16:00,在交配后的前16天,雌虫产卵处在高峰期,随后产卵逐渐减少。本论文为进一步开展广聚萤叶甲繁殖生物学研究和大量繁殖提供基础。     

低温条件下广聚萤叶甲成虫的耐饥饿能力

【背景】广聚萤叶甲是恶性入侵杂草豚草的一种重要专一性天敌,在冬季低温且缺乏食物的条件下,广聚萤叶甲的耐饥饿能力直接关系到其越冬种群的虫源基数。【方法】在室内观察广聚萤叶甲成虫在10℃低温条件下的存活率和死亡率,研究了水分(有水、无水)、不同密度(一雌一雄、二雌二雄、五雌五雄)、加入泥土枯枝对广聚萤叶甲耐饥饿能力的影响。【结果】无水、有水条件下,广聚萤叶甲成虫的平均存活时间分别为(15.23±1.01)、(13.33±0.88)d,水分对广聚萤叶甲的耐饥力的影响不显著;随着密度的增加,广聚萤叶甲的耐饥饿能力增强,一雌一雄、二雌二雄和五雌五雄的平均存活时间依次为(11.96±0.57)、(13.78±0.60)、(14.81±0.42)d;加入泥土和豚草枯枝后,广聚萤叶甲的耐饥饿能力明显提高,其平均存活时间为(15.97±1.05)d。【结论与意义】低温条件下广聚萤叶甲的耐饥饿能力较强,可保证部分广聚萤叶甲的自然种群在野外安全越冬,研究低温条件下广聚萤叶甲的耐饥饿能力对豚草的生物防治具有重要意义。     

Photosynthetic and Respiratory Acclimation to Experimental Warming for Four Species in a Tallgrass Prairie Ecosystem

Global temperature has been Increased by 0.6 ℃ over the past century and is predicted to Increase by 1.4-5.8 ℃ by the end of this century. It is unclear what impacts global warming will have on tallgrass species. In the present study, we examined leaf net photosynthetic rate （P.） and leaf respiration rate in darkness （Rd） of Aster erlcoldes （L.） Nesom, Ambrosia psllostachya DC., Helianthus mollis Lam., and Sorghastrum nutans （L.） Nash In response to experimental warming in a tallgrass prairie ecosystem of the Great Plains, USA, in the autumn （fall） of 2000 and through 2001. Warming has been Implemented with infrared heaters since 21 November 1999. The P. increased significantly In spring, decreased in early fall, and did not change in summer and late fall in the four species under warming compared with control. The Rd of the four species increased significantly until mid-summer and then did not change under warming. Measured temperature-response curves of P. showed that warming Increased the optimum temperature of P. （Topt） by 2.32 and 4.59 ℃ for H. mollis and S. nutans, respectively, in August, whereas there were no changes in May and September, and A. ericoldes and A. psllostachya also showed no changes in any of the 3 months. However, P. at optimum temperature （Popt） showed downregulation in September and no regulation in May and August for all four species. The temperature-response curves of Rd Illustrate that the temperature sensitivity of Rd, Q10, was lower in the warmed plots compared with the control plots, except for A. ericoides in August, whereas there were no changes In May and September for all four species. The results of the present study indicate that photosynthetic and respiratory acclimation varies with species and among seasons, occurring In the mid-growing season and not in the early and late growing seasons.     

Germination and emergence of Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. under changing environmental conditions in China

Laboratory and greenhouse studies were conducted to determine the effects of key environmental factors on germination and seedling emergence of the invasive weed Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. (common ragweed) collected from Mudanjiang (temperate climate), Nanjing (temperate–subtropical) and Nanchang (subtropical) in China. Germination of seeds occurred at temperatures ranging from 5 to 40°C, under both a 12‐h photoperiod and continuous darkness. Germination success exceeded 48% in solutions with pH values between 4 and 12, with maximum rates occurring in distilled water at pH 5.57. Germination was greatly reduced in solutions with osmotic potentials below ?0.8 MPa. Accordingly, the final germination ratio exceeded 69% at <200 mmol/L NaCl, but only reached 8% at 400 mmol/L NaCl. Emergence was greater than 75% at burial seed depths of 1–4 cm; no seedlings emerged from a soil depth of 8 cm. Seeds collected from Mudanjiang, Nanjing and Nanchang had very similar germination traits, with the main differences occurring in relation to temperature. The great germination success of common ragweed over highly variable conditions throughout its Chinese distribution range explains its successful large‐scale invasion.     

Polyacetylenes accumulation in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ambrosia maritima</Emphasis> hairy root and cell cultures after elicitation with methyl jasmonate

Three lines of hairy root culture of Ambrosia maritima induced by Agrobacterium rhizogenes ATCC15834 were established. Thiarubrine A, thiarubrine A epoxide, thiarubrine A diol and their precursor pentayneene were produced by the hairy roots after elicitation with methyl jasmonate, the common signal molecule in the plant defense and development. Thiarubrine A diol was the main form detected in the medium. Maximum yield was achieved when the 13-day-old hairy root cultures were exposed to 40 M methyl jasmonate for 72 h. Callus and cell suspension cultures were established and maintained on Murashige and Skoog medium supplied with -naphthylacetic acid (NAA) and kinetin. When the cell suspension cultures were elicited with methyl jasmonate, pentayneene was the only polyacetylene produced. The yield of pentayneene in hairy root cultures was much higher (9.6 times) than that of cell suspension cultures.     

广聚萤叶甲对广东佛冈豚草的控制作用

广聚萤叶甲Ophraella communa是恶性入侵杂草豚草Ambrosia artemisiifolia的一种重要专一性天敌。为了评价其对广东省豚草的野外控制效果,2009和2010年分别在佛冈进行释放,试验调查了释放后的种群动态及其对豚草的控制效果。结果表明:广聚萤叶甲在广东省佛冈县可成功建立自然种群。广聚萤叶甲释放后,其虫口密度不断增加,豚草植株的死亡率也不断上升,2009年豚草死亡率低于20%,2010年叶甲对豚草的控制作用较好,豚草死亡率可达到95%以上,而大量豚草死亡后,广聚萤叶甲的虫口密度又急剧下降。广聚萤叶甲种群扩张与气象因子有密切关系,温度偏低是5～6月广聚萤叶甲的种群数量难以扩增的主要因素,大雨频繁和光照偏少也一定程度上限制了其种群增长,7～8月是广聚萤叶甲种群激增的关键时期,此时其种群数量急剧增加。     

Ambrosiozyma kamigamensis sp. nov. and A. neoplatypodis sp. nov., two new ascomycetous yeasts from ambrosia beetle galleries

Two new yeast species of the genus Ambrosiozyma are described on the basis of comparison of nucleotide sequences of large subunit of ribosomal DNA D1/D2 region. Ambrosiozyma kamigamensis and Ambrosiozyma neoplatypodis differ from Ambrosiozyma ambrosiae by 17 nucleotides (3.0%) and 16 nucleotides (2.8%), respectively, out of 565. The two species differ from each other by 13 nucleotides. Ambrosiozyma kamigamensis was isolated from galleries of the ambrosia beetle, Platypus quercivorus, in specimens of Quercus laurifolia and Castanopsis cuspidata located in the southern part of Kyoto, Japan. Ambrosiozyma neoplatypodis was isolated from similar material, but only in Q. laurifolia. Ambrosiozyma kamigamensis can be distinguished from the other Ambrosiozyma species by the inability to assimilate erythritol, whereas A. neoplatypodis can be distinguished by the ability to assimilate both L: -arabinose and nitrate. The type strains of A. kamigamensis and A. neoplatypodis are JCM 14990(T) (=CBS 10899(T)) and JCM 14992(T) (=CBS 10900(T)), respectively. This is the first report of new Ambrosiozyma species since the genus was proposed.