Optimising seed broadcasting and greenstock planting for restoration in the Australian arid zone

Vegetation within some parts of Western Australia has been degraded by resource extraction, and ecological restoration is necessary to prevent erosion and reinstate plant biodiversity. Two restoration approaches, seed broadcasting and planting of seedlings, were tested with plant species (Acacia tetragonophylla F. Muell., Atriplex bunburyana F. Muell. and Solanum orbiculatum Poir.) known to have been dominant prior to mining activities in the World Heritage Area at Shark Bay. For broadcast seeding, soil raking and/or ripping increased seedling emergence, but only after sufficient rainfall. Survival of A. bunburyana seedlings (≤92%) was higher than A. tetragonophylla (≤13%) almost two years after planting and soil ripping partly alleviated soil impedance and resulted in increased seedling survival. Shoot pruning, fertiliser and moisture retaining gel had a reduced or detrimental effect on survival. Seedling survival differed between the three experimental sites, with electrical conductivity being the most noted soil difference between the sites. Restoration in the arid environs of the World Heritage Area at Shark Bay in Western Australia is challenging, but this study shows that seedling establishment is technically feasible and provides methodology useful to other arid restoration projects.     

Globalization, grapes and gender: Women's work in traditional and agro-export production in northern Chile

Recent changes in the global political economy have had dramatic effects on the lives of women as they are incorporated into globalization processes, such as the expansion of agribusiness, in often marginal and unstable ways. However, it is vital to consider how these globalization processes are mediated by women in ways that reflect local geo-historical contexts. This paper explores the expansion of the fruit export sector, land tenure, community organization and female employment in agriculture in northern Chile. Agro-export production has marginalized but not destroyed the small-scale farming sector and large-scale export farms co-exist with small-scale domestically-orientated farms. Female labour has been very important in the success of fresh fruit exports and many rural women negotiate both waged work in the fruit export economy and unwaged work on family farms. The paper explores the women's perceptions of agricultural work and how these relate to their identities as unpaid workers on the family farm and as waged workers in the agro-export sector. The paper thus attempts to explore the multiplicity of ways that women experience rapid changes in the agrarian sector and how these changes relate to the maintenance of more 'traditional'practices and identities.     

Experimental effects of water stress on semi-arid Karoo seedlings: implications for field seedling survivorship

Very little is known about seedling establishment in the semi-arid Karoo of southern Africa. In a greenhouse study, we investigated the responses of seedlings of three shrub species to water stress by withholding water at different stages of seedling development. Mortality of the two Asteraceous species, Pteronia pallens and Osteospermum sinuatum was more rapid where seedlings were provided with water for longer periods before being subjected to water stress. Hardened seedlings, exposed to water stress at an earlier stage, survived the longest. These seedlings were the smallest with respect to root and shoot mass. Seedlings of the leaf succulent Ruschia spinosa were extremely hardy and after 400 days without water, approximately 80% of the seedlings were still alive. The last P. pallens seedling died 160 days after water had been withheld. Osteospermum sinuatum seedlings were the least tolerant to water stress and 100% mortality occurred within 120 days. These results are discussed in terms of microhabitat preferences of the seedlings in field situations.     

Pinus jeffreyi establishment along a forest-shrub ecotone in eastern California,USA

We examined large-scale climatic and small-scale biotic and abiotic factors affecting Pinus jeffreyi (Pinaceae) seedling establishment at its low-elevation boundary along the conifer forest-sagebrush steppe ecotone in eastern California, USA. In three successive growing seasons, P. jeffreyi seedlings were planted in three microhabitats (under Artemisia tridentata or Purshia tridentata canopies, and in open intershrub spaces) at a site within the ecotone (2300 m) and at a lower-elevation site (2200 m). We measured Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR; 400–700 nm), soil moisture and temperature, and air temperature in the three microhabitats, and monitored seedling survival, drought stress, and herbivory. At both sites, soil moisture decreased two- to six-fold between May and August of each summer. Maximum and minimum daily air temperatures were higher and lower, respectively, in intershrub areas, as were maximum daily soil temperatures and maximum daily PAR. At the ecotone site, mean P. jeffreyi seedling survival was longest following a very wet winter and shortest following a dry winter. For both elevations, seedlings had shorter survival times in intershrub microsites as compared to shrub microsites. Drought and herbivory both influenced seedling mortality within each microhabitat, but drought was the major determinant of seedling mortality by the end of each summer.     

Moderate water supply and partial sand burial increase relative growth rate of two Artemisia species in an inland sandy land

Artemisia ordosica and Artemisia sphaerocephala seedlings were buried in sand to depths of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1 and 1.25 times the seedling height (H) and supplied with 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 mm of water every three days. For A. ordosica, the highest relative growth rate (RGR) and seedling height were achieved with 75 mm/month water supply and 0.5 H burial at 50 days, and the RGR decreased with 100 mm/month water supply. For A. sphaerocephala, the highest RGR was reached with 50 mm/month water supply and 0.5 H burial, but plants from this species had the greatest seedling height with 25 mm/month water supply and 0.75 H burial. A. ordosica and A. sphaerocephala have different proportions of their biomass in roots and shoots and thus are adapted to sandy environments in different ways. Partial sand burial significantly increased the RGR and growth height of the two Artemisia species, but complete burial lead to seedling death. Differences in the growth response to burial and moisture levels help explain why A. sphaerocephala is primarily found on drifting dunes and A. ordosica on semi-fixed and fixed dunes.     

一株南极生境来源木霉菌株抗菌及诱导植物抗盐抗寒作用的初步研究

由南极苔藓样品中分离到一株木霉菌株NTYM-0112,利用传统分类学与ITS序列及系统发育分析相结合方法对其进行分类鉴定,并对其抑植物病原菌活性、范围及对植物抗盐、抗寒的诱导作用进行了初步研究.结果表明,该菌株属于棘孢木霉(Trichoderma asperellum),对稻瘟霉菌(Pyricularia oryzae...     

An assessment of revegetation treatments following removal of invasive Pennisetum ciliare (buffelgrass)

In semi-arid regions of North America and Australia, Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link (syn. Cenchrus ciliaris; buffelgrass) is highly invasive and has the potential to introduce fire to fire-intolerant ecosystems. Major efforts to remove P. ciliare continue and it is essential that P. ciliare be prevented from recolonizing. This study investigated potential methods to revegetate with native herbaceous plants: sowing seeds; sowing seeds and mulching; sowing seeds and transplanting seedlings; and relying on natural revegetation from the seedbank. The treatments were applied in 2009 and 2010 at sites in the Sonoran Desert which had undergone P. ciliare removal. Monsoon precipitation was below average each year and seedling emergence and establishment rates were low. There are indications that soil disturbance associated with planting seedlings promoted P. ciliare emergence and increased mortality of brittlebush (Encelia farinosa A. Gray ex Torr.), a common native perennial forb. Addition of mulch may have promoted P. ciliare over native grasses, and seeding had no effect. We did not find competition between herbaceous seedlings. Rather, native and exotic grass seedling densities were positively correlated across sites. Under prevailing conditions, low precipitation appeared to limit herbaceous plant establishment and none of the treatments reduced P. ciliare abundance.     

Role of nurse shrubs in restoration of an arid rangeland: Effects of microclimate on grass establishment

A perennial forage grass, Agropyron desertorum was sown under the canopies of four shrub species or in open areas to test for facilitation during seedling establishment in an arid rangeland in Karnakh, Northeast Iran. Height, area and volume of shrubs were measured. Microclimate conditions and seedling establishment were assessed three times within two consecutive growing seasons. Near surface light intensity and air temperature were lower under shrubs, which led to initially higher soil moisture and grass establishment under the canopy of some shrub species. The leguminous shrub (Astragalus gossypinus) showed facilitation during moderate stress (summer 2009), but shifted to a negative effect during the severe drought (summer 2010). Competition, possibly for light, reduced the establishment of Agropyron seedlings under the cushion-like shrub (Acantholimon prostegium). Salsola arbusculiformis and Artemisia kopetdaghensis respectively showed a neutral and a facilitation effect in the first season, but a combined effect of allelopathy and drought led to the high mortality of Agropyron seedlings under their canopy. In conclusion in this arid rangeland, shrubs may facilitate establishment of understory plants under moderate drought stress, and for non-resource factors (light and temperature), but these positive effects are suppressed due to competition under severe drought conditions.     

Relational Agriculture: Gender,Sexuality, and Sustainability in U.S. Farming

Although 97% of U.S. farms are “family-owned,” little research examines how gender and sexual relationships – inherent in familial dynamics – influence farmers’ practices and livelihoods. Gender and sexual dynamics – shaped by race and class – affect who is considered a farmer, land management decisions, and access to resources like land, subsidies, and knowledge. We use feminist and queer lenses to illuminate how today’s agricultural gender and sexual relations are not “natural,” but when left uninterrogated are constructed in ways that harm women and queer farmers while limiting potential to develop sustainable practices. Women and queer farmers also resist, “re-orienting” gender and sexual relations in ways that expand possibilities for achieving food justice and ecological sustainability. We offer “relational agriculture” as a tool for making visible and re-orienting gender and sexual relations on farms. Relational agriculture brings sexuality into food justice and demonstrates the centrality of gender and sexuality to agricultural sustainability.     

Effects of sand burial on survival and growth of Artemisia halodendron and its physiological response

There is a great deal of literature on the effects of sand burial upon the survival and growth of desert plants, but the physiological adaption mechanisms of desert plants to sand burial have as yet ra...     

咸水灌溉对沙漠中罗布麻适应性的调控

 通过模拟测定不同矿化度咸水灌溉下红花罗布麻（Apocynum venetum）幼苗叶绿素荧光参数、叶水势和株高生长速率,研究了不同矿化度咸水灌溉对其适应性的调控。研究结果表明,随着灌水矿化度的增加,叶片样本的叶绿素含量呈先下降再升高的波动状态,叶水势基本保持稳定;光能的吸收、分配和耗散在10 g·L-1达到平衡,株高生长速率在10 g·L-1出现最大值9.8 mm·d-1;随着胁迫时间的延长,表征健康程度的最大量子产率Fv/Fm下降,对溶液中金属离子的吸收增加;第21天,表征抗逆性大小的非光化学淬灭系数NPQ出现极大值,吸收能量比例参数Y(Ⅱ)先下降再恢复,3种能量吸收、分配、耗散参数比例在10 g·L-1稳定于Y(Ⅱ):Y(NO):Y(NPQ)=65%∶20%∶15%。根据研究结果,建议在塔克拉玛干沙漠南缘红花罗布麻的育苗过程中,应该分阶段抚育,幼苗期宜采用5~10 g·L-1矿化度的咸水灌溉,保持较高叶水势,可以防止叶绿素分解;采用10 g·L-1的咸水灌溉可使其幼苗保持稳定的、较高的光化学能量转化比例,能够较好地调控其对塔克拉玛干沙漠南缘绿洲荒漠过渡带生境的适应性,有助于过渡带的恢复和建设。     

微生物结皮对两种一年生植物种子萌发和出苗的影响

在温室中对两种一年生植物的种子在微生物结皮和流沙对照上的萌发和出苗状况进行了实验.结果表明:在湿润和干燥状况下,苔藓结皮和藻结皮对种子萌发和出苗状况的影响,完整的和破坏的苔藓结皮和藻结皮对种子萌发和出苗状况的影响,总的来说雾冰藜(Bassia dasyphlla)在完整的苔藓结皮和破坏的两种结皮中出苗率均较高.完整致密的藻结皮能阻止雾冰藜的根接触土壤从而对其出苗设置了物理屏障.小种子植物小画眉草(Eragrostics poaeoides)因其种子较大,种子植物有相对大的土壤接触面积和具有特殊的结构须根,从而较容易克服结皮造成的物理屏障,穿透完整致密的结皮层而到达土壤.在破坏的微生物结皮中小画眉的出苗率略有降低.水分处理仅对雾冰藜的出苗有显著影响.在湿润处理下雾冰藜的出苗率要高于在干燥处理下的.因此,自然状况下年降雨量和分配状况的差异可能会影响这两种植物每年幼苗出苗率的差异,进而会影响到这两个种群在人工固沙区分布格局的差异.     

Clubmoss, precipitation, and microsite effects on emergence of graminoid and forb seedlings in the semiarid Northern Mixed Prairie of North America

Clubmoss (Selaginella densa Rydb.) provides extensive ground cover throughout the Northern Mixed Prairie of North America, but little is known about how this cryptogam affects seedling emergence relative to precipitation. Seedbed treatments including a control, Glyphosate applied to kill clubmoss, and clubmoss removal were factorially combined with ambient precipitation, precipitation reduced, and irrigation. Graminoid and forb emergence in the seedbeds and the microsites of live clubmoss, dead clubmoss, bare soil, litter, and caespitose grasses was determined. Forb emergence was greatest with clubmoss removal and irrigation. About 2.6-3.6-fold more forbs emerged from bare soil microsites, but clubmoss reduced forb emergence by 32-76%. Litter reduced forb emergence in 2 of 3 years. Graminoid emergence did not vary among seedbeds (P ≥ 0.780), but irrigating increased seedling emergence. Graminoid emergence was unaffected or improved in live clubmoss, dead clubmoss, bare soil, and litter microsites. In the semiarid Northern Mixed Prairie, above-average precipitation combined with bare soil will favor emergence of forbs. By contrast, clubmoss does not limit graminoids because seedlings emerge from a range of seedbeds and microsites provided diaspores are present and precipitation is above average. Emergence of graminoids and forbs is constrained primarily by precipitation in the semiarid Northern Mixed Prairie.     

Converting to organic agriculture—Danish farmers' views and motivations

Expanded organic food production has been an issue of public debate in Denmark since its promotion by two government-sponsored plans. Yet the number of organic farms, constituting 5% of alt Danish farms, is still small. Farmers' attitudes and motivations around converting their farms to organic agriculture were surveyed in the counties of Ribe and Vestsj?lland in order to assess the feasibility of expansion. New organic farmers come either from the ranks of conventional farmers or from ‘beginners’ who initiate organic agriculture from the start. Only 7% of conventional farmers plan to convert their farms by the year 2003, but beginners will have increasing importance and augment the number. Farmers most frequently mentioned consideration for the environment as a reason for conversion. A considerable expansion of organic agriculture will be difficult, due to an insufficient number of farmers interested in organic agriculture. A high number of less productive hobby or spare-time farmers among new organic farmers also hinders expanded organic food production. Organic agriculture shows parallels to conventional agriculture, with a surplus of very small and very large farms, regional specialisation, and oil-farm specialisation.     

GROWING NIPA PALM FOR RESTORATION OF ABANDONED SHRIMP PONDS

1 INTRODUCTIONThe rapid increase in the production of culturalmarine shrimp in many countries has caused largescale conversion of mangrove to shrimp ponds.Manyof these endeavors have proven non-sustainable,largely due to inappropriate construction methods…     

Arbuscular mycorrhizal associations in Solanum centrale (bush tomato), a perennial sub-shrub from the arid zone of Australia

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi convey well documented benefits to plant growth in domesticated species. We investigated AM in Solanum centrale, a desert shrub of central Australia and traditional food for Indigenous Australians. AM were observed in roots of S. centrale from wild and cultivated stands of different ages and management regimes. Greenhouse seedlings grown in sterilised sand were provided with no or minor additions of phosphorus, with or without AM fungi. Inoculated seedlings not fertilised with phosphorus exhibited moderate AM formation. Added phosphorus resulted in an absence of AM. Inoculation did not significantly affect dry weight, root length and plant height of seedlings fertilised with phosphorus but significantly increased the size of unfertilised seedlings. Inoculation significantly increased root phosphorus content, decreased root to shoot ratio and decreased root biomass at all phosphorus additions, despite the absence of observable AM. Thus it appears AM fungi in the root zone influenced certain plant characteristics, regardless of phosphorus nutrition. Overall, S. centrale benefited from the presence of AM through increased phosphorus uptake, but only when the seedlings were growing in soil with extremely low available phosphorus. The response was immediate in our experimental system and is likely to be important in the wild.     

Empowering Freetown’s women farmers

In Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone, rapid urbanisation combined with the lingering impacts of the devastating decade long civil war (1991–2002), has left large portions of the population without reliable work or income. One response to this has been an increase in urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) which provides participants with employment, income and food security. According to local government estimates, women comprise around 80% of Freetown’s UPA community, and many women rely totally on UPA as a livelihood strategy to feed and support their households. This article focuses on the experiences of these women farmers, and in doing so sheds new light on their vital contribution to Freetown’s growing UPA community who are not thus far represented in published literature. Globally, women are also underrepresented in UPA literature, and as a result their distinct challenges are not well understood. Reporting on field-based research, this article identifies challenges facing Freetown’s women farmers, including land tenure, access to clean water, limited capital for purchasing tools, fertilisers, and pesticides, and difficult relationships with government, NGOs, and other farmers. The manner in which these challenges manifest themselves in relation to women farmers, as distinct from their male counterparts, are identified, and opportunities for Freetown’s UPA community to support and empower women farmers will be highlighted.     

Effects of land conversion on the regeneration of Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum and its consequences on the population dynamics in northwestern Mexico

Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum is a columnar cactus currently threatened by the conversion of natural vegetation to buffelgrass pasture (Pennisetum ciliare) in Sonora, Mexico. However, knowledge about its population dynamics is extremely poor, particularly in response to disturbance caused by pasture conversion. We set up experiments to evaluate seed removal, germination, seedling survival and compared demographic patterns on permanent plots from natural vegetation and pasture. Our experiments on regeneration show that seedlings were unable to establish in pasture because of high levels of mortality due to soil drying and cattle trampling. The population growth rate (λ) was 1.060 and 1.086 for the 2006–2007 and 2007–2008 periods, respectively, in the native thornscrub vegetation. The slight increase in λ in 2007–2008 was a result of increased fecundity and seedling survival. The highest elasticity values correspond to the survival of large/old individuals. Using the average of both matrices, we obtained a mean matrix to perform numerical analyses simulating demographic variation to project the population behavior under buffelgrass pasture conditions. The numerical simulations suggest a decreasing population only when adult survival probabilities were affected. Given these limitations for population growth, our data suggest that adult populations that persist on pastures will be driven into local extinction.     

Urban migrant women’s everyday food insecurity coping strategies foster alternative urban imaginaries of a more democratic food system

Urban migrant women worldwide utilize a creative combination of food insecurity coping strategies to procure food for themselves and their families. Using in-depth interviews with 72 migrant women in Medellín, Colombia, and Washington, DC, this paper argues that in low-income urban communities these everyday strategies can further their demands for autonomy in determining what foods they produce and consume. Relying on feminist geography and food sovereignty literature, this research explores how migrant women living in poverty rely on informal networks for growing and sharing food, seek out organic, fresh foods, and utilize independent survival strategies to counter exclusionary rhetoric and a food system they view as unhealthy. In doing so, they devise alternative urban imaginaries of a more democratic food system. This research contributes a more nuanced understanding of the food insecurity experiences of urban migrant women.     

Growth response of three globose cacti to radiation and soil moisture: An experimental test of the mechanism behind the nurse effect

Cactus seedlings often establish under nurse plants which modify environmental conditions by increasing moisture and decreasing solar radiation, which may cause beneficial and detrimental effects, respectively, on seedling growth. Three soil moisture treatments (5%, 25% and 60%) and two solar radiation levels (100% exposure=243 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹, and 40%=102 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹) were used in a factorial design to analyze seedling growth response of three rare cactus species (Mammillaria pectinifera, Obregonia denegrii and Coryphantha werdermannii). The variables evaluated were relative growth rate (RGR), root/shoot ratio (R/S), and K (RGR_roots/RGR_shoot), obtained from an initial seedling harvest (6-month-old seedlings) and a final harvest 6 months after treatment application. All three species had slow RGRs (0.002–0.012 g g⁻¹ day⁻¹). O. denegrii had the lowest RGR values, but was the only species for which R/S and K varied with soil moisture. While all seedlings responded markedly to soil moisture, no response was observed to radiation treatments. The latter might have been related to the relatively low solar radiation levels present in the greenhouse. Yet, our results suggest that the main benefit nurse plants offer to seedlings is the increase in soil moisture.