Effect of Ploughing Depth on the Growth and Yield of Heracleum candicans： a Threatened Medicinal Herb and a Less-explored Potential Crop of the Himalayan Region

This paper examines the effect of ploughing depths （A -- 60 cm, B -- 45 cm and C -- 30 cm） on the growth and yield of Heracleum candicans Wall （Apiaceae）, a threatened medicinal herb of the Himalayan region. This less-explored plant is being suggested as a potential crop for the mountain agriculture. The study was carried out in an orchard in Himachal Pradesh, India at 2500 m altitude, for two successive growth years. During the first year, all plants remained in juvenile state; in the second year, nearly 65 % plants produced flowers only under 60cm ploughing depth. Among its morphological traits, plant height, collar diameter and aboveground flesh weight were found to be strongly correlated （P 〈 0.01） with the belowground biomass during the first year （r =0.968, 0.925 and 0.973, respectively） and during the second year （r=0.945, 0.928 and 0.775, respectively）. Increase in the ploughing depth was significantly correlated （P〈0.01） with all growth parameters, including the belowground dry weight, marketable portion of the produce. The belowground biomass （commercial yield; 16.28 Qt/hec） at depth A was about 2.6 and 4.7 times higher than those recorded at depths B and C, respectively. The results clearly justify the importance of deep ploughing and this paper strongly recommends it for economically sustainable cropping.     

鱼类寄生宫脂属线虫分种检索表

本文对宫脂属线虫的研究历史进行了简单的回顾,井论述了该属线虫分类中常用的一些形态学特征。依据2005年以前发表的有关宫脂属线虫的原始资料.分析了宫脂属线虫各种的形态学特征(主要包括:侧翼的有无,尾乳突的数目和分布.尾尖有无尾饰.肠盲囊和胃盲囊及食道的比值.交合刺的长度以及与体长的比值等),依据这些分类学特征编制了该属种的分类检索表。     

Taxonomical and Biogeochemical Investigation of Elements in Holocene Mollusk Shells in the South and Southwestern Marmara Basin,Turkey

Concentrations of some heavy metals and trace elements such as Cr, Ga, Ni, Zn, Mo, Cu, Pb, Yb, Y, Nb, Ti, Sr, Ba, Mn, Sc, Co, V, Zr, Fe, Al, W, Se, Bi, Sb, As, Cd in recent mollusk shells and factors affecting their distribution and deposits collected from various depths in the southern and southwestern parts of the Marmara Sea are investigated. The distribution of the elements in the shells is categorized into four groups. Of these, concentrations of 12 elements （As, Bi, Cd, Co, Ga, Mo, Nb, Sb, Se, Sc, W and Yb） are below zero [（0.053-0.79）×10^-6]; concentrations of seven elements （Cr, Ni, Pb, V, Y, Zr and Cu） are （1.0-6.0）×10^-6; concentrations of four elements （Ti, Mn, Ba and Zn） are 10- 20×10^-6; and concentrations of five elements （Si, Al, Fe, Mg and Sr） are （47.44-268.11）×10^-6. The taxonomic characteristics of the 29 elements were studied separately in mollusk shells such as Chamalea gallina （Linn6）, Pitar rudis （Poli）, Nassarius reticulatus （Linn6）, Venerupis senescens （Coocconi）, Mytilus galloprovincialis （Lamarck）, Mytilaster lineatus （Gemelin in Linne） and Chlamys glabra. It was found that, in mollusk taxonomy, the elements have unique values. In other words, element concentrations in various mollusk shells depend mainly on the taxonomic characteristics of mollusks. In various bionomic environments different element distributions of the same species are attributed to the different geochemical characters of the each environment. Data obtained in this study indicate that the organisms are the most active and deterministic factors of the environment.     

Chrysophyte stomatocyst taxonomy — classification of snowflakes?

The utility of classifying chrysophyte stomatocysts by their characteristic honeycomb and ridge patterns is questioned, because a strikingly similar expanding pattern appears on the surface of ionized polymer gels during osmotical swelling as a result of simple physical forces. The rapid accumulation of silicate into a spherical cyst inside a chrysophyte cell appears to be as a physical process sufficiently similar to result in an analogous pattern in microscopic scale. Chrysophyte stomatocysts that possess honeycomb or ridge patterns could be regarded as frozen moments of the pattern evolution during the silicate gel phase. As a consequence, such structures should have little taxonomical value.     

江苏淤泥质潮滩对海平面变化的形态响应

通过对江苏滨海平原淤泥质潮滩1980年以来19个固定潮滩断面112个测次滩面高程测量的统计分析，探讨典型淤泥质潮滩剖面形态对海平面变化的形态响应过程。结果表明，典型淤涨岸段海平面上升，多年平均潮位线以上滩面仍将淤积加高，但淤高幅度除多年平均高潮线附近滩面相对较大外，其余均较小，表明随海平面上升该滩带总体淤积速率将趋于减小；与此相反，多年平均潮位线以下滩面则趋于蚀低，且侵蚀强度较大，表明该滩带的侵蚀有加剧趋向，最终滩面总体形态将因上带不断淤高和下带不断蚀低而逐渐变陡，剖面上凸形态的曲率不断加大。曲型侵蚀岸段，海平面上升的效应则相反，海平面上升，多年平均潮位线以上滩面强烈蚀低；而多年平均潮位线以下滩面则强烈淤积加高，剖面的上凹形态最终将因上带不断蚀低和下带不断淤高而趋于平直。     

Morphological variation and reproductive biology of Polaskia chende (Cactaceae) under domestication in Central Mexico

The columnar cactus Polaskia chende, endemic to Central Mexico, occurs in the wild and in silviculturally managed populations where artificial selection for better edible fruits operates by sparing and favouring desirable phenotypes during vegetation clearance. Wild and managed populations were compared in morphology and reproductive biology to analyse if human selection has influenced phenotypic divergence, if it has modified breeding systems and if reproductive isolation exists between them. Fruits from managed populations were larger (6·36±0·17 cm³), heavier (19·62±1·32), sweeter (9·07±0·25 °Brix), and with thinner peel (2·09±0·13 mm) than those from wild populations (5·77±0·18 cm³, 15·73±0·85 g, 8·23±0·31 °Brix, and 2·58±0·14 mm, respectively). Both population types bloom synchronically, show diurnal anthesis, with bees as the most likely pollinators, and have breeding system predominantly self-incompatible. Spatial and temporal barriers to pollen exchange between wild and managed populations are unlikely, and morphological differences would be related with an ongoing process of artificial selection.     

Subfossil Chironomidae from Lake Tanganyika, East Africa. 2. Chironominae (Chironomini and Tanytarsini)

Analysis of subfossil remains of larval Chironomidae in 38 surface-sediment samples from between 53 and 189 meter depth in Lake Tanganyika (East Africa) yielded 77 morphotypes, among which 7 Tanypodinae, 19 Orthocladiinae, and 51 Chironominae. Character-state differences between these morphotypes resemble differences at the species level in the better-known Holarctic fauna, hence we consider most of our Lake Tanganyika morphotypes equivalent to morphological species. Individual morphotypes were identified to species, genus, or tribe level depending on current alpha-taxonomic knowledge on the larvae of the group concerned, and the taxonomic resolution of preserved diagnostic features. This paper presents taxon diagnoses and an illustrated key to the Chironominae (Chironomini and Tanytarsini) in this collection. As the living chironomid fauna of Lake Tanganyika has never been comprehensively studied, we also briefly discuss faunistic aspects, and the ecology of the recovered species and genera in relation to benthic habitat diversity in Lake Tanganyika.     

太湖生态环境演化及其原因分析

太湖地处长江下游三角洲,水域面积为2338km²,平均水深1.9m,最大水深不足2.6m,为一典型的大型浅水湖泊。太湖流域地势平坦,河网密布,河湖水力关系复杂。其主要补给径流来自西南部的天目山区及西部的宜溧河流域。每年夏天,大部分入湖洪水通过位于东太湖的太浦河及东北部的望虞河分别排入黄浦江与长江,由于出入湖河道的特殊位置,使得太湖南部的换水周期较短而北部较长。近几十年来,太湖由于污染而逐步呈现富营养化特征,污染物主要来自北部的无锡市和常州市,通过河道排入太湖北部的五里湖与梅梁湾,因此上述两地的水质较南部差。在东太湖,水产养殖对水环境的影响很大,亦呈现出富营养化特征,并殃及该地区的供水,加之该地区为太湖主要的泄洪通道,因此泥沙淤积严重,而且水生植物生长旺盛,呈现出明显的沼泽化趋势;在太湖四周地区,由于湖泊围垦和水利工程建设,其污染净化能力将降低,从而加速水环境恶化的趋势。太湖所面临这些问题,有待于强化湖泊科学管理来解决。     

一种基于向量序结构关系的多值形态变换

提出了一种向量型数据全序关系建立的一般方法，并以此为基础建立了多值形态变换的基本形式，并对其性质进行了讨论。多值形态变换作为数学形态学在多值图像空间中的扩展．具有与灰值形态变换类似的功能和作用，可有效地应用于多值图像的处理和目标形状特征的提取。