Effects of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Trichoderma harzianum</Emphasis> YC459 and soil types on seed germination and seedling growth in rock slope restoration

We carried out experiments with various concentrations of Trichoderma harzianum YC459 in different soil types (forest soil, mixed soil, merchantable soil, and leaf mold soil) to evaluate its effect on seed germination and seedling establishment of four species (Festuca arundinacea Schreb., Dianthus barbatus var. asiaticus Nakai, Lespedeza cyrtobotrya Miq., and Parthenocissus tricuspidata Planch) for rock slope restoration. We also investigated the use of drilled slanted holes on the rock slopes for seedling establishment. The results showed that T. harzianum concentration had significant effects on seed germination, seedling growth, and seedling survival for all the species with different soil types. Seed germination and survival rates peaked at 5% T. harzianum concentration with leaf mold soil and decreased as T. harzianum concentration increased from 5% to 10%. Seedling survival rates of all four species were generally lowest at 0% T. harzianum concentration in all soil types. The height of F. arundinacea and L. cyrtobotrya peaked at 5% T. harzianum concentration whereas that of D. barbatus and P. tricuspidata peaked at 10% T. harzianum concentration. We concluded that 5% T. harzianum concentration with leaf mold soil is appropriate for seed germination and seedling survival rates of most species, thus enhancing seedling establishment. Practical application of the findings of this study will contribute in the vegetation restoration of steep rocks in mountain environments     

The European research project on reed die-back and progression (EUREED)

Reeds (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steudel) are dying back at a fast rate in sizeable areas of Europe, with significant impacts on important wetland functions (biodiversity, stability of river and lake margins, water quality) and local economy. EUREED is a European strategic fundamental research initiative that aims at analyzing the mechanisms which control the growth dynamics and stability of reed-dominated ecosystems, at modelling and predicting how the ecosystem is disturbed by human activities and climate change, and at developing remedial management options. Expected achievements include (i) assessment of the functional role of reed-dominated ecotones as nutrient accumulators and transformers and as sources for atmospheric greenhouse gases, (ii) an ecosystem model capable of predicting future changes in ecosystem functioning in relation to climatic conditions, trophic status and water table management, (iii) assessment of genetic diversity of reed populations and its relation to die-back, and (iv) development of management tools, including preventative and restorative measures in relation to die-back. The project is carried out by research groups with complimentary skills and expertise from nine European countries. A reference study site is selected in each country as the basis for the field studies. The reference sites cover boreal-mediterranean and oceanic-continental climatic gradients, and the observational and experimental studies at these sites will permit interpolation between sites and extrapolation of results to the European scale.     

Geochemical evidence for the nature of the crust beneath the eastern North Penninic basin of the Mesozoic Tethys ocean

The North Penninic basin was a subbasin in the northern part of the Mesozoic Tethys ocean. Its significance within the framework of this ocean is controversial because it is not clear whether it was underlain by thinned continental or oceanic crust. Remnants of the eastern North Penninic basin are preserved in the Alps of eastern Switzerland (Grisons) as low metamorphic "Bündnerschiefer" sediments and associated basaltic rocks which formed approximately 140–170 Ma ago (Misox Bündnerschiefer zone, Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous). Nb/U, Zr/Nb, and Y/Nb ratios, as well as Nd–Sr isotopic and REE data of most of the metabasalts point to a depleted MORB-type mantle origin. They have been contaminated by magmatic assimilation of Bündnerschiefer sediments and by exchange with seawater, but do not prove the existence of a subcontinental lithospheric mantle or continental crust beneath the North Penninic basin. This suggests that the studied part of the North Penninic realm was underlain by oceanic crust. Only the metabasalts from two melange zones (Vals and Grava melanges) show a more important contamination by crustal material. Since this type of contamination cannot be observed in the other tectonic units, we suggest that its occurrence is related to melange formation during the subduction of the North Penninic basin in the Tertiary. The North Penninic basin was probably, despite the occurrence of oceanic crust, smaller than the South Penninic ocean where the presence of oceanic crust is well established. Modern analogues for the North Penninic basin could be the transitional zone of the Red Sea or the pull-apart basins of the southernmost Gulf of California where local patches of oceanic crust with effusive volcanism have been described.