Soil water depletion depth by planted vegetation on the Loess Plateau

Evapotranspiration of much planted vegetation exceeds precipitation, and this can deplete soil water and cause a deep dry layer in the soil profile, which is a serious obstacle to sustainable land use on the Loess Plateau, China. This study aimed to determine water depletion depth of planted grassland, shrub, and forest in a semiarid area on the Loess Plateau. Soil moisture of five vegetation types was measured to >20 m in depth. The vegetation types were crop, natural grasse, seven-year-old planted alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), 23-year-old planted caragana (Caragana microphylla Lam.) shrub, and 23-year-old planted pine (Pinus tabulaeformis L) forest land. Through comparing moisture of planted alfalfa grass, caragana shrub, and pine forest to crop and natural grassland, the depth and amount of soil water consumed by grassland, caragana brush and pine forest was determined. The depth of soil water depleted by alfalfa, caragana brush, and pine forest reached 15.5, 22.4 and 21.5 m, respectively. Supported by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2007CB407204) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40471082)     

互花米草入侵下福建漳江口红树林湿地土壤生态化学变化

采集了福建云霄漳江口米草入侵下红树林自然湿地保护区内红树林群落、米草群落、红树林—米草交互群落以及光滩的剖面土壤样品,分析了土壤的总养分库、有效养分库及微生物活性等指标。结果表明,不同植被群落下土壤理化性质均存在明显差异。土壤有机质、全氮、全磷、阳离子交换量和微生物生物量碳、氮在同一深度的含量变化为：红树林>红树林—米草混作>米草>光滩;土壤蔗糖酶、脲酶、磷酸酶、过氧化氢酶和多酚氧化酶等酶活性指标也表现出相似的变化趋势。从深度变化而言,上述各项土壤质量指标均随剖面深度而降低。米草入侵后土壤的各项养分指标均有明显下降,湿地土壤生态化学性质发生了明显的退化。土壤有机碳、土壤微生物生物量碳、氮含量以及土壤蔗糖酶与磷酸酶活性对滨海湿地土壤退化的反映最为强烈, 可以作为指示性指标。     

几种禾本科植物淀粉粒形态比较及其考古学意义

对5种禾本科植物种子中的淀粉粒（包括粟、黍、青狗尾草、高粱及薏苡等）进行了形态学观察和描述,结合颗粒长度的测量和统计学分析,建立了区分这些作物淀粉粒的一般方法。结果显示,粟和黍的淀粉粒以多边形居多,比例分别为75％和96％;青狗尾草中的淀粉粒以圆形为主;高粱和薏苡的淀粉粒形态具有较高的多样性。表现在消光臂上,高粱淀粉粒的消光臂呈现弯曲特征,而其他4种作物淀粉粒的消光臂则较为平直。在颗粒的长度分布上,粟淀粉粒为2.77～18.40μm,黍淀粉粒为3.93～12.85μm,青狗尾草淀粉粒为 2.19～11.90μm,高粱淀粉粒为4.11～30.30μm,薏苡淀粉粒为 5.48～25.44μm。研究表明,粟、黍、青狗尾草、高粱及薏苡等5种禾本科植物的淀粉粒形态特征存在相似性,但是也有差异。综合运用二维形状、脐点位置、表面特征、消光臂特征及长度等多种指标,可以对这几种作物的淀粉粒进行一定程度的区分。这一研究结果可用于辅助对古代淀粉粒的种属鉴定。     

晋陕蒙接壤区林草覆盖变化的遥感分析

以晋陕蒙接壤区1986年和2000年的TM影象为信息源,运用遥感技术与地理信息系统技术,结合建立了两期全区土地资源数据库,从中提取林草覆盖空间数据.分析得出2000年全区有林草地面积332.19×104hm2,占总面积的56.87%,其中林地占13.72%,草地占86.28%.14年间林草植被净增加了2.29×104hm2,占林草面积的0.69%,总的变化趋势是林草覆盖对生态环境的保护和调节功能趋向衰减.林地被毁、草地开垦和沙漠化是林草覆盖减少的主要原因,而其新增部分主要是实施植树造林、退耕还林还草等生态环境建设措施的结果.     

Use of a by-product of peat excavation, cotton grass fibre, as a sorbent for oil-spills

The sorbents used to collect oil in case of oil-spills are mostly synthetic, which limits the possibilities of their disposal. We studied the absorption capacities and rates of cotton grass fibre, a by-product of peat excavation, and cotton grass mats for several oil types and compared them with a synthetic, commercially available oil sorbent. We found cotton grass fibre to have superior absorption properties: Cotton grass sorbent absorbed oil approximately two to three times as much, and two to three times as fast as the synthetic one. Cotton grass fibre absorbed no measurable amount of water in the conditions used in the tests making it ideal for absorbing oil from the surface of water. In removing diesel oil from the surface of water, the efficiency was over 99% up to an absorbing factor of 20 times its own weight. The biodegradable cotton grass fibre proved to be an effective oil sorbent with low raw-material costs.     

A biological oil adsorption filter

A new oil adsorption method called adsorption filtration (AF) has been developed. It is a technology where by oil residues can be cleaned from water by running it through a simple filter made from freeze treated, dried, milled and then fragmented plant material. By choosing suitable plants and fragmentation sizes it is possible to produce filters, which pass water but adsorb oil. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibilities of manufacturing oil adsorbing filter materials from reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea), flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) or hemp fibre (Cannabis sativa L.). The oil (80 ml) was mixed with de-ionised water (200 ml) and this mixture was filtered through 10 or 20 g adsorption filters. Fine spring harvested hemp fibre (diameter less than 1 mm) and reed canary grass fragments adsorb 2-4 g of oil per gram of adsorption material compared to 1-3 g of water. Adsorption filtration is thus a novel way of gathering spilled oil in shallow coastal waters before the oil reaches the shore.     

草鱼血清中一种新的凝集素免疫因子

于1998年5月－2000年3月，在浙江省杭州市采集草鱼，采用硫酸铵盐析和梯度聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳技术，从血清中分离出一种自然凝集素，对其理化和生物学性质进行研究。结果表明，该凝集素能够识别和凝集多种不同的红细胞、细菌和酵母，具有100000g离心不沉降，不被透析，耐热、耐酸、耐碱，抗DNase、RNase、SDS和乙醚，对胰蛋白酶、糖苷酶、糖氧化剂NaIO4和β－巯基乙醇敏感等特性，是一种分子量为67kD、等电点为6．2的糖蛋白分子。其活性能被半乳糖、乳糖、甘露糖和N－乙酰葡糖胺所抑制，其抗原特异性不同于草鱼凝集集抗IgM，表明两者是不同的物质。草鱼凝集素显著地促进巨噬细胞的吞噬、杀菌能力，说明是一种重要的免疫活性因子。     

The detailed palaeoecology of a mid‐Wisconsinan interstadial (ca. 32 000 14C a BP) vegetation surface from interior Alaska

We present a multi‐proxy reconstruction from a well‐preserved vegetation surface (ca. 32 000 ¹⁴C a BP) from the Fox Permafrost tunnel near Fairbanks, Alaska. A thick litter layer of plant material on the vegetation surface is consistent with the vegetation lacking evidence of disturbance. Plant macrofossils and graminoid cuticle analysis show the presence of a graminoid assemblage consistent with phytolith data. The pollen data indicate that trees were not local to the site and that Artemisia sp. was present in the region. The insect and bryophyte reconstructions are consistent with the vascular plant reconstruction, indicating the site was at least periodically wet. δ¹³C values from the graminoids present show a large range encompassing both the wet and dry range displayed by modern graminoids in Alaska. Sequential δ¹³C analyses conducted along the length of leaves attached to the vegetation surface indicate a seasonal shift towards relatively higher water use efficiency. The lower water use efficiency earlier in the growing season may have stemmed from the use of winter season meltwater by plants at the site – a scenario consistent with the site's cryostratigraphy. Our multi‐proxy reconstruction contributes to the limited palaeoecological data available for graminoid‐dominated vegetation present in Eastern Beringia and particularly the interior of Alaska during the mid‐Wisconsinan interstadial. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrated biological control of water hyacinths, Eichhornia crassipes by a novel combination of grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes, 1844), and the weevil, Neochetina spp.

The efficacy of grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella (Cyprinidae) and weevils Neochetina spp. (Curculionidae) to control the aquatic weed, water hyacinth, is investigated in a square net cage (happas) setting at a farm in Cuddalore District, South India. This novel combination of insects and fish is found to be superior to individual treatments for controlling the weed growth within 110 d. The biomass of the weed, number of plants, percentage of flowered plants and chlorophyll contents were studied. The weed ...     

Quantitative evaluation of strategies for erosion control on a railway embankment batter

Strategies for erosion control on a railway embankment batter (side slope) are quantitatively evaluated in this paper. The strategies were centred on control (‘do nothing’ treatment), grass seeding, gypsum application, jute mat (an erosion control blanket) placement and planting hedgerows of Monto vetiver grass. Rainfall and runoff were monitored at 1 min intervals on 10 m wide embankment batter plots during 1998 and 1999. Total bedload and suspended sediment eroded from the plots were also measured but only for a group of storm events within sampling intervals. It has been demonstrated that vetiver grass is not cost‐effective in controlling erosion on railway batters within Central Queensland region. Seeding alone could cause 60% reduction in the erosion rate compared with the control treatment. Applying gypsum to the calcium‐deficient soil before seeding yielded an additional 25% reduction in the erosion rate. This is the result, primarily, of 100% grass cover establishment within seven months of sowing. Therefore, for railway embankment batter erosion control, the emphasis needs to be on rapid establishment of 100% grass cover. For rapid establishment of grass cover, irrigation is necessary during the initial stages of growth as the rainfall is unpredictable and the potential evaporation exceeds rainfall in the study region. The risk of seeds and fertilizers being washed out by short‐duration and high‐intensity rainfall events during the establishment phase may be reduced by the use of erosion control blankets on sections of the batters. Accidental burning of grasses on some plots caused serious erosion problems, resulting in very slow recovery of grass growth. It is therefore recommended that controlled burning of grasses on railway batters should be avoided to protect batters from being exposed to severe erosion. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.