Modelling biomass of mountainous grasslands by including a species composition map

High mountain grasslands offer multiple goods and services to society but are severely threatened by improper land use practices such as abandonment or rapid intensification. In order to reduce abandonment and strengthen the common extensive agricultural practice a sustainable land use management of high mountain grasslands is needed. A spatially detailed yield assessment helps to identify possible meadows or, on the contrary, areas with a low carrying capacity in a region, making it easier to manage these sites. Such assessments are rarely available for remote and inaccessible areas. Remotely sensed vegetation indices are able to provide valuable information on grassland properties. These indices tend, however, to saturate for high biomass. This affects their applicability to assessments of high-yield grasslands.The main aim of this study was to model a spatially explicit grassland yield map and to test whether saturation issues can be tackled by consideration of plant species composition in the modelling process. The high mountain grassland of the subalpine belt (1800 – 2500 m a.s.l.) in the Kazbegi region, Greater Caucasus, Georgia, was chosen as test site for its strong species composition and yield gradients.We first modelled the species composition of the grassland described as metrically scaled gradients in the form of ordination axes by random forest regression. We then derived vegetation indices from Rapid Eye imagery, and topographic variables from a digital elevation model, which we used together with the multispectral bands as predictive variables. For comparison, we performed two yield models, one excluding the species composition maps and one including the species composition map as predictors. Moreover, we performed a third individual model, with species composition as predictors and a split dataset, to produce the final yield map.Three main grassland types were found in the vegetation analysis: Hordeum violaceum-meadows, Gentianella caucasea-grassland and Astragalus captiosus-grassland. The three random forest regression models for the ordination axes explained 64%, 33% and 46% of the variance in species composition. Independent validation of modelled ordination scores against a validation data set resulted in an R² of 0.64, 0.32 and 0.46 for the first, second and third axes, respectively. The model based on species composition resulted in a R² = 0.55, whereas the benchmark model showed weaker relationships between yield and the multispectral reflectance, vegetation indices, and topographical parameters (R² = 0.42). The final random forest yield model used to derive the yield map resulted in 62% variance explained and an R² = 0.64 between predicted and observed biomass. The results further indicate that high yields are generally difficult to predict with both models.The benefit of including a species composition map as a predictor variable for grassland yield lies in the preservation of ecologically meaningful features, especially the occurrence of high yielding vegetation type of Hordeum violaceum meadows is depicted accurately in the map. Even though we used a gradient based design, sharp boundaries or immediate changes in productivity were visible, especially in small structures such as arable fields or roads (Fig. 6b), making it a valuable tool for sustainable land use management. The saturation effect however, was mitigated by using species composition as predictor variables but is still present at high yields.     

白毛新木姜子[Neolitsea aurata var.glauca]胚胎学研究

应用光学显微镜对白毛新木姜子的胚胎学特征进行了研究,首次在非寄生性樟科植物中发现了细胞型胚乳。对樟科8属进行了胚胎学特征的比较。花药四室,药室壁的发育属于"基本型",周原质团型绒毡层。小孢子母细胞连续型分裂。等四面体型四分体。二细胞成熟花粉,无孔沟。雌孢原多个,一般仅一个能继续发育。蓼型胚囊。助细胞具丝状器。反足细胞宿存。大孢子母细胞和合子具极性。宿存的一个助细胞具有吸器功能。细胞型胚乳,胚胎发育属于柳叶菜型的三叶变型。种皮源于外珠被,内表皮细胞壁螺旋状加厚。胚胎学特征表明,新木姜子属与木姜子属有密切的亲缘关系。较多的双胚囊异常现象,支持樟科与Monimiaceae具有紧密关系的推测。胚胎学特征不支持将无根藤属独立为科的观点。     

Seed production in fens and fen meadows along a disturbance gradient

Question: The seed production in several wetland communities across Europe was investigated and differences in seed output in relation to disturbance intensity were tested. The relationship between the vegetation composition and the seed production profile was examined and the results are discussed in relation to restoration. Location: Poland, Germany and the Netherlands. Methods: The seed production in various plant communities was estimated, based on field counts. In addition, records from available databases were used for missing data. Multivariate methods were used to characterize the vegetation and seed production. Communities were grouped according to level of disturbance and tested for differences in seed production. Similarity between vegetation composition and seed profile was examined using the Sørensen index and Spearman correlation coefficient. Results: It was found that the seed production of the studied communities is large, variable and in general increasing with disturbance intensity. The estimated median seed production was ca. 24 × 10³ seeds m^?2 in fens, 167 × 10³ in fen meadows and 556 × 10³ seeds m^?2 in degraded meadows. The majority of seeds was produced by just a few species. The similarity between the vegetation composition and the seed production profile was low (similarity 52%, correlation coefficient 0.42, P<0.05) and slightly increased with disturbance intensity. Conclusions: Increased disturbance enhances seed production at the community level. The composition of the vegetation is a poor predictor of the seed output. It is estimated that the number of seeds transferred with hay is much lower than the seed production in fens and fen meadows.     

16S rRNA基因高通量测序方法检测奶牛场常用干草表面微生物群落结构及多样性

【目的】随着中国奶牛业的发展,干草需求量与日俱增。作为天然牧草,干草可以成为家畜传播病原体的载体。以干草表面附着物为研究对象,了解干草中细菌群落结构以及致病菌属特征。【方法】对来自6个不同奶牛场饲草舍的干草样本,应用Illumina Mi Seq高通量测序技术测定干草表面附着物细菌的16S r RNA基因V3-V4变异区序列,分析不同干草样本细菌群落组成。【结果】干草样本中的细菌在97%的相似水平下共得到OTU个数为15 416,涵盖了29门87纲144目219科323属的细菌。微生物多样性分析表明,干草样本具有很高的细菌多样性,不同样本多样性存在差异。对干草样本菌群中丰度较高的14种病原菌属进行分析,发现相较于人工种植牧草制备的干草,天然牧草制备的干草中病原菌属丰度较高。【结论】研究解析了干草样本中微生物的多样性、丰度及主要病原菌属的特征,对奶牛场疾病防控有一定指导意义。     

Land use impacts on physical properties of 28 years old reclaimed mine soils in Ohio

Reclamation enhances soil quality by improving physical and chemical properties, which helps in restoration of mine soils. Evaluation of the effects of post-reclamation land uses on physical and chemical properties of mine soils helps to identify suitable land uses for mining companies. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of post-reclamation land uses (e.g., forest, hay and pasture) on selected physical properties of soil in relation to undisturbed forest and agricultural land use. Soil samples were collected from the 0- to 5-, 5- to 15- and 15- to 30-cm depths in order to determine particle size distribution, bulk density, water-stable aggregates, mean-weight diameter and soil moisture retention. Cone index and infiltration rate were determined at soil surface. After 28 years of reclamation, bulk density in the surface layer of all land uses in the reclaimed mine soil (RMS) was similar to that of undisturbed forest (1.1 Mg m⁻³) but lower than that of agricultural soils (1.3 Mg m⁻³). However, soil bulk density at lower depths was not affected. The cone index was higher in the RMS-pasture (2.6 MPa) than the RMS-forest (1.4 MPa) and RMS-hay (1.5 MPa) due to the trampling effect of grazing animals. The water-stable aggregates (>2 mm), of 5–8 mm aggregates, were higher in RMS-forest by 24%, 90%, 66%, and under RMS-hay by 13%, 74%, 43% for the 0- to 5-, 5- to 15-, and 15- to 30-cm depths, respectively, than that under undisturbed forest. The mean-weight diameter (0- to 30-cm) of aggregates under RMS-forest and RMS-hay were higher than that under undisturbed forest by 41% and 27%, respectively. The initial infiltration rates at 5 min in RMS under forest, hay and pasture were less by 20%, 53% and 85%, respectively, than that under undisturbed forest (19.3 cm min⁻¹). The reclamation of mine soils with forest and hay improved surface soil bulk density and cone index, and enhanced water infiltration capacity and water-stable aggregates at the lower depths. Therefore, establishment of forest and hay should be encouraged in the RMS.     

Halophytic crops for cultivation at seawater salinity

Summary Several hundred halophytes from salt marshes and salt deserts of the world have been evaluated in our laboratory at various degrees of intensity, and a few have been selected for development as crops. The development of the cultivars and the basic biology of the plants is being studied in Delaware in the United States. Agronomic testing, feeding trials, and development of the best agronomic practices are taking place in the saline desert at the American University in Cairo research station in Sadat City. Our present efforts focus primarily on three forages, one grain, and one vegetable.Sporobolus virginicus cultivars for both hay and pasture are being tested. ADistichlis spicata cultivar for hay has been identified, andSpartina patens is being evaluated as a hay as well. Although we do not yet have the data for a full year's growth in Egypt, forage yields of these various cultivars, when harvested as hay crops, range to 6.9 or more tons per acre, depending on the salinity and other environmental conditions, and the crude protein content as indicated by the nitrogen content ranges from 6 to 10%. Cultivars having the most useful agronomic qualities have been identified and are being increased in quantity. The grain cropKosteletzkya virginica is a perennial, producing a seed which resembles millet; its whole seeds contain approximately 25% protein and 15% oil. The yields of one of our better cultivars are about 1460 kg/ha (1300 lb/acre) when grown under 25 salinity. The vegetableAtriplex triangularis (similar to spinach) has been under mass selection for four years; a cultivar has been identified and seed is now being increased for this species.     

Methods for fitting dominance/diversity curves

Abstract. Dominance/diversity curves, displaying the relative abundances of the species within a community, have often been constructed from field data. Several ecological and statistical models of dominance/diversity have been proposed, to explain the curves. Yet, rarely have curves of different models been fitted to field data. In this paper the appropriate parameters and methods of curve fitting for plant communities are described for the General Lognormal, Canonical Lognormal, Geometric, Broken Stick, Zipf and Zipf-Mandelbrot models. Distinction is made between fixed and optimised parameters, to clarify para-meterisation of the models. It is concluded that all should be fitted by minimising the deviance in a ranked-abundance plot. Statistical tests of goodness of fit are discussed. It is concluded that consistency of fit between replicate quadrats of a community provide the best test. Curves of all the models discussed are fitted to data from a species-rich Spanish hay meadow, and to data from a New Zealand intertidal algal community. The Spanish meadow data are best fitted by General Lognormal. The New Zealand algal data are best fitted by Geometric or General Lognormal. Goodness of fit for a sample is usually relatively good or poor for all models, since much of the deviance comes from steps in the curve which none of the models can fit closely.