湿地植物根系及其分泌物对土壤脲酶、硝化-反硝化的影响

植物根际是人工湿地通过物理、化学、生物三重协同作用达到污染物去除的重要反应区域,然而关于植物根际土壤酶活性分布及根系分泌物及对人工湿地除污效果的影响目前仍缺乏系统研究。为了明确人工湿地中植物对脱氮的贡献,试验选取当地常见的7种经济耐寒性湿地植物——富贵竹(Dracaena sanderiana)、千屈菜(Spiked loosestrlfe)、美人蕉(Canna indica)、水葱(Scirpus tabernaemotani)、菖蒲(Acorus calamus)、香蒲(Typha angustiolia)、芦苇(Phragmites australis)作为研究对象,考察了不同植物的根际与非根际脲酶活性分布,并探究了植物根系分泌物对土壤脲酶活性及硝化-反硝化作用强度的影响。结果表明:湿地植物根系可以影响脲酶活性,表现为稳定生长的植物根际脲酶活性普遍高于非根际,以美人蕉和香蒲最为显著;不同植物根系对土壤脲酶活性的影响存在差异性,其中,富贵竹、美人蕉和菖蒲根际的脲酶活性接近,且明显高于香蒲、芦苇等其他受试植物;土著微生物对植物植入具有适应期和调整期,使植物对土壤酶活性的刺激效应滞后,表现为植物生长稳定期的脲酶活性平均值基本低于空白样,植物生长迅速期的脲酶活性平均值普遍明显高于空白样,说明植物的存在对土壤脲酶活性具有促进作用;25%的菖蒲根系分泌物对土壤脲酶具有一定程度的促进作用,在培养第25天时达到最佳效果;菖蒲根系分泌物对硝化作用强度有一定的促进作用,但对反硝化作用强度的影响不明显。     

南亚热带不同植被根际微生物数量与根际土壤养分状况

研究了包括尾叶桉、广东凤丫蕨、柳叶竹、大叶相思、青皮、木荷、湿地松在内的7种南亚热带不同植物植被下土壤根际微生物与根际养分状况及其相关关系。结果表明,根际环境对细菌有明显的正效应,对放线菌和真菌有正、负两方面的影响,但对根际微生物总量具有根际效应明显;在南亚热带森林生态系统中.在植物的某些生长季节,微生物的根际效应与土壤养分的根际效应一致     

植物根际微生态区域中铝的环境行为研究进展

铝毒是酸性土壤(pH<5.0)中影响植物生长的重要因素.根系环境中的铝离子可影响矿物营养的获取,增加植物对铝胁迫的风险.植物通过根系分泌有机酸、生物酶和其他物质来解除或减轻铝的毒害.从铝胁迫对根系分泌系统的影响、根际微环境中铝的毒理效应和根际微环境中铝的抗毒机制等3个方面对植物根际微生态区域中铝的环境行为研究进展进行了综述,并对今后该领域的研究方向进行了展望.     

小麦／玉米间作作物根系与根际微环境的交互作用

通过根箱模拟试验和水培试验，测定小麦／玉米间作条件下根系的分布与根际养分的含量，初步探讨了间作对作物根系分泌有机酸的影响。结果表明，间作显著提高了各层土壤中小麦根的重量，同时提高了小麦、玉米的根系数量和地上部生物量，使生长前期根系大小发生较大变化，而对根系活力影响较小。间作使玉米根际土速效N含量增加，速效P、K含量降低；使小麦根际土N含量降低，P、K含量提高。小麦与玉米间作以后，根系分泌有机酸的种类明显增加；而植株体内和根系中有机酸的种类和数量却有所降低。     

林木根系衰老研究方法与机制

根系衰老研究方法主要有根窗直接观测和挖根取样间接观测。在整株水平上,树木同化碳的能力,碳在不同器官间的分配,尤其是在地上部分和地下部分间的分配比例,对根的萌生和衰老起着重要作用;地上部分的生长过程和健康状况也对根系的生长和寿命有很大影响;当树木的生长环境受到某种胁迫时,树木的抵抗力下降,容易招致病原菌的危害,造成根系衰老和死亡。在生态系统水平上,干旱洪涝、干扰等胁迫和树木一土壤间的养分循环都会引起树木生长环境的改变,对根系的衰老过程发生作用;季节变化使树木的地上部分和地下部分的生理活动处于不同的旺盛期,从而使碳的分配方式有些改变,影响到根系的生长;土壤中养分的存在形式,某些离子的浓度也直接影响到根的寿命;病原菌对根系的危害与土壤中养分含量变化有关。所以,衰老过程受环境条件的影响,伴随着代谢,RNA和蛋白质合成速率的下降和(或)膜与细胞器结构的改变。     

干旱胁迫对植物根际环境影响的研究进展

全球气候变化下频发的干旱灾害已成为一个世界范围内的重大气候问题.根际环境是植物适应极端环境的有效方式之一,探讨干旱胁迫下根际环境改变及其与植物抗逆性和生产力的关系,已逐渐成为包括植物营养学、植物生理学、土壤学、微生物学等多学科的研究热点.本文在介绍干旱的严重性及根际环境的重要性的基础上,根据近年来国内外关于干旱对植物根际环境影响的研究成果,重点阐述干旱胁迫对植物根系分泌物的组成和含量、根际土壤碳氮磷养分状况、根际土壤酶活性及根际微生物数量和种群结构的影响,结果表明干旱胁迫不仅会提高植物根系分泌物的数量,改变其组成,而且会改变根际土壤酶活性及土壤微生物群落结构多样性与功能,同时也会改变土壤养分的循环与可利用性,从而影响植物生长,且这些改变会因植物种类、植物所处发育阶段、干旱胁迫强度与时间等的不同而异;但这些研究仅从现象上对其变化趋势进行了探究,目前对其相关机理性的研究仍非常缺乏、不够系统深入.未来应结合一些现代的新技术和方法,从根际化学信号及微生物组学的细微尺度上,加强干旱胁迫及其与其他环境胁迫耦合下植物根际环境变化与机理的系统深入研究,对丰富和推进植物对干旱逆境的适应与响应机理性的认识具有重要意义.(参91)     

根系分泌物对土壤重金属活化及其机理研究进展

植物通过调节根分泌物的组成来改变根际状态以适应外界环境。在重金属胁迫下,植物根系分泌物种类和量会发生显著变化。根系分泌物可通过溶解、螯合、还原等作用活化土壤重金属,提高重金属的植物有效性,或固定和钝化重金属,降低重金属的移动性。文章就根系分泌物对土壤重金属形态、有效性及其在重金属吸附解吸中的作用,根系分泌物活化土壤重金属的影响因素等国内外研究进展作了综述,并对该领域今后的研究方向进行了探讨。     

植物根系分泌物与根际营养关系评述

根系分泌物（ｒｏｏｔ ｅｘｕｄａｔｅｓ， ＲＥ）主要有粘胶、外酶、有机酸、糖、酚及各种氨基酸。不同营养基因型的植物， ＲＥ组分明显不同。存在养分和环境胁迫时，植物通过增加粘胶、酶及某些有机酸的分泌量以适应变化的环境。ＲＥ也是植物改善根际营养环境的重要手段。ＲＥ可改善土壤物理结构，促进矿物风化，提高土壤ＣＥＣ，影响土壤ｐＨ、土壤矿物表面吸附性能及土壤生物学性质。ＲＥ还在活化根际土壤养分，促进植物对养分吸收起主要作用。今后ＲＥ的研究应注重ＲＥ研究方法的完善，拓展研究领域，并加强与各学科的联合。     

菌根真菌增加植物抗盐碱胁迫的机理

菌根是菌根真菌与高等植物根系形成的一种共生体，能够促进植物在瘠薄土壤中的生长。文章通过综合近20年来国内外在菌根植物抗盐碱研究方面的成就，论述了在高盐胁迫下，菌根对其寄主植物耐盐碱能力的影响；指出菌根植物可能主要通过以下4个方面增加对高浓度盐碱环境的抗性：增加植株对P等矿质营养元素的吸收，改善了盐胁迫引起的营养亏缺；改变植物体内离子平衡，降低其生理毒害；增加植株对水分的吸收和利用能力，缓解了生理性干旱；改变了植物根系形态，促进根系水分吸收能力。在分析菌根真菌增加植物抗盐碱胁迫机理的基础上，还对该问题的研究前景提出了设想，为盐碱地改良提供参考依据。     

臭椿治理铜污染土壤的实验测定

臭椿（Ailanthus altissima）具有很强的抗逆性，能适应多种不良的环境，在中国广泛分布，是一个很有潜力的修复铜污染土壤的物种。通过种植实验检验臭椿修复铜污染土壤的能力。臭椿实生苗移植于4种不同铜的质量分数（0、29、57和86 mg·kg-1）、3种不同的施肥处理（对照、有机肥、无机肥）的土壤，经过5周种植，测量臭椿根、茎、叶的铜含量及各部分生物量。试验结果表明：1）土壤铜浓度的差异对臭椿生长没有显著影响；2）土壤施肥处理显著影响臭椿生长，施加无机肥生长最佳，对照次之，施有机肥最低；3）随土壤铜浓度增加，臭椿根、茎、叶的铜含量增加，然后趋缓，但似乎根、茎、叶的铜含量变化不同步；4）土壤肥力对臭椿茎、叶的铜含量没有显著影响，但对根的铜含量影响显著，施加无机肥的根中铜含量显著增加。臭椿经过短短5周处理，其体内铜的质量分数就到达120μg·g-1，且铜在各组织中的分布比为根：茎：叶＝2?1?2。相比一些超富集铜的草本植物，臭椿的铜吸收能力尚有距离，但其高生长、高抗逆性、深根系的特点，加之其对其他众多重金属元素的吸收能力使得这个物种在生物修复污染土壤方面的作用不容小觑。本研究丰富了治理土壤重金属污染的物种库，为进一步寻找重金属“超富集植物”，更有效的治理土壤污染提供一定的参考价值。     

Arsenic uptake by plants and possible phytoremediation applications: a brief overview

This review focuses the behaviour of arsenic in plant?Csoil and plant?Cwater systems, arsenic?Cplant cell interactions, phytoremediation, and biosorption. Arsenate and arsenite uptake by plants varies in different environment conditions. An eco-friendly and low-cost method for arsenic removal from soil?Cwater system is phytoremediation, in which living plants are used to remove arsenic from the environment or to render it less toxic. Several factors such as soil redox conditions, arsenic speciation in soils, and the presence of phosphates play a major role. Translocation factor is the important feature for categorising plants for their remediation ability. Phytoremediation techniques often do not take into account the biosorption processes of living plants and plant litter. In biosorption techniques, contaminants can be removed by a biological substrate, as a sorbent, bacteria, fungi, algae, or vascular plants surfaces based on passive binding of arsenic or other contaminants on cell wall surfaces containing special active functional groups. Evaluation of the current literature suggests that understanding molecular level processes, and kinetic aspects in phytoremediation using advanced analytical techniques are essential for designing phytoremediation technologies with improved, predictable remedial success. Hence, more efforts are needed on addressing the molecular level behaviour of arsenic in plants, kinetics of uptake, and transfer of arsenic in plants with flowing waters, remobilisation through decay, possible methylation, and volatilisation.     

Arsenic toxicity in crop plants: physiological effects and tolerance mechanisms

Heavy metals are toxic substances released into the environment, contributing to a variety of toxic effects on living organisms in food chain by accumulation and biomagnifications. Certain pollutants such as arsenic (As) remain in the environment for an extensive period. They eventually accumulate to levels that could harm physiochemical properties of soils and lead to loss of soil fertility and crop yield. Arsenic, when not detoxified, may trigger a sequence of reactions leading to growth inhibition, disruption of photosynthetic and respiratory systems, and stimulation of secondary metabolism. Plants respond to As toxicity by a variety of mechanisms including hyperaccumulation, antioxidant defense system, and phytochelation. Arbuscular mycorrhizae symbiosis occurs in almost all habitats and climates, including disturbed soils. There is growing evidence that arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi may alleviate metal/metalloid toxicity to host plant. Here, we review (1) arsenic speciation in the environment and how As is taken up by the roots and metabolised within plants, and (2) the role of arbuscular mycorrhizae in alleviating arsenic toxicity in crop plants.     

土壤中稀土元素的生态毒性研究进展

为了解稀土元素对农田生态系统的影响,综述了近几十年来国内外有关土壤稀土元素生态毒性的研究进展,包括土壤稀土元素的主要来源途径,稀土元素对农田生态系统中植物、动物和微生物生长、发育、繁殖的影响。高浓度的稀土元素会破坏植物细胞膜的性质和结构,影响植物的抗氧化系统,扰乱植物对矿质营养元素的正常吸收和利用,诱使植物细胞发育不良、染色体畸变等现象发生。稀土元素可影响动物的消化、呼吸、生殖、神经、血液和免疫系统等。稀土元素对土壤微生物数量、种类、群落结构与功能多样性等均有影响。探讨了土壤稀土元素的生态毒性诊断方法,目前常见的植物毒性诊断法、蚯蚓毒性诊断法、土壤微生物诊断法、生物标记物诊断法和遗传毒性诊断法等可用来诊断土壤中稀土元素的生态毒性。提出了以后开展土壤稀土元素生态毒性研究应加强的方面:在群落、个体和细胞水平上研究稀土元素对土壤动物和微生物的影响,加强稀土元素生态毒性诊断新方法和新技术的探讨,进行稀土元素生物有效性与土壤因素关系的研究等。     

外来入侵植物化感作用与土壤相互关系研究进展

文章以全球普遍关注的外来植物入侵为背景,综述了外来入侵植物化感物质与土壤化学性质(土壤pH,土壤有机碳和有机质,土壤中的化学元素等)、土壤生物群落(土壤微生物、土壤动物)的关系。并探讨了未来研究需要加强的几个方面,包括将化感作用与野外实际情况相结合研究,更真实的反映田间状况;进一步探讨微生物在化感物质生物变化过程中的作用及其机理;化感物质作为信号物质如何影响微生物代谢,从而影响地上植物;深入研究化感作用与土壤之间的相互关系,为入侵植物生物防治的安全性提供理论指导等方面。     

Kelp (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Laminaria digitata</Emphasis>) increases germination and affects rooting and plant vigour in crops and native plants from an arable grassland in the Outer Hebrides,Scotland

Kelp and other seaweeds are traditionally used in many parts of the world as a soil amendment on arable fields. Seaweeds contain biochemical compounds that can act as plant growth regulators in terrestrial plants. In a low-intensity arable grassland in northwest Scotland an organic fertilizer, kelp (Laminaria digitata) has been used for hundreds of years, due to its anticipated positive effect as a soil conditioner and provider of plant nutrients. In this study the effects of kelp on germination and rooting of crops and native plants from this area were investigated in soil-free media. Germination was studied by incubation in the presence of kelp solutions. Rooting of plant cuttings was assessed after a pulse treatment with kelp solutions, and indole-3 acetic acid (IAA) as a reference plant growth regulator. Germination percentage of Plantago lanceolata, Trifolium repens and Avena strigosa seeds increased significantly when incubated with 0.05% kelp solutions. Total root weight and the individual weight of roots produced in cuttings of Vigna radiata and P. lanceolata were significantly increased when exposed to a 0.5% solution of kelp. Plant vigour, assessed visually, decreased significantly for P. lanceolata exposed to kelp at concentrations of 0.5 and 5.0% indicating the presence of a threshold level for an inhibitory effect of kelp at these concentrations, which may be due to high salinity. The results confirmed the presence of plant growth regulators in kelp, and indicates that amendment with kelp may potentially affect plant community composition. The threshold levels where some plants responded negatively to kelp amendment were close to or lower than the theoretical concentrations of kelp in soil water at field conditions with the current doses used on the machair, indicating that care should be taken in either administering kelp at the appropriate dose or leaching out salt before application.     

A trade-off between prey- and predator-induced polyphenisms in larvae of the salamander Hynobius retardatus

Organisms in natural habitats participate in complex ecological interactions that include competition, predation, and foraging. Under natural aquatic environmental conditions, amphibian larvae can simultaneously receive multiple signals from conspecifics, predators, and prey, implying that predator-induced morphological defenses can occur in prey and that prey-induced offensive morphological traits may develop in predators. Although multiple adaptive plasticity, such as inducible defenses and inducible offensive traits, can be expected to have not only ecological but also evolutionary implications, few empirical studies report on species having such plasticity. The broad-headed larval morph of Hynobius retardatus, which is induced by crowding with heterospecific anuran (Rana pirica) larvae, is a representative example of prey-induced polyphenism. The morph is one of two distinct morphs that have been identified in this species; the other is the typical morph. In this paper, we report that typical larval morphs of Hynobius can respond rapidly to a predatory environment and show conspicuous predator-induced plasticity of larval tail depth, but that broad-headed morphs cannot respond similarly to a predation threat. Our findings support the hypothesis that induction or maintenance of adaptive plasticity (e.g., predator-induced polyphenism) trades off against other adaptive plastic responses (e.g., prey-induced polyphenism). For a species to retain both an ability to forage for larger prey and an ability to more effectively resist predation makes sense in light of the range of environments that many salamander larvae experience in nature. Our results suggest that the salamander larvae clearly discriminate between cues from prey and those from predators and accurately respond to each cue; that is, they adjust their phenotype to the current environment.     

SPACSYS: Integration of a 3D root architecture component to carbon, nitrogen and water cycling—Model description

It is an ongoing challenge to develop and demonstrate management practices that increase the sustainability of agricultural systems. Soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics directly affect soil quality, crop productivity and environmental impacts. Root systems are central to the acquisition of water and nutrients by plants, but are also a major pathway for the inputs of carbon and nutrients to soil. The complexity of both biotic and abiotic interactions, combined with stochastic changes in root architecture, makes it difficult to understand below-ground dynamics on the basis of experimentation alone. The integration of dynamic models of above-ground growth, three-dimensional root system demography, and interactions between plants and the environment, into one single model is a major challenge because of the complexity of the systems.In order to understand the interaction between a plant and the environment, it is advantageous to develop a model framework to integrate submodels that simulate various plant and environmental components. The objective of this paper is to outline a mechanistic and process-based model, which is capable of simulating interactions among environmental conditions around plants, plant growth and development, nitrogen and carbon cycles, with a three-dimensional root system submodel as an interface.The model presented in this paper is a mixed dimensional, multi-layer, field scale, weather-driven and daily time-step dynamic simulation model. The current version includes a plant growth and development component, a nitrogen cycling component, a carbon cycling component, plus a soil water component that includes representation of water flow to field drains as well as downwards through the soil layers, together with a heat transfer component. The components themselves and linkage among components are designed using object-oriented techniques, which makes the model robust, understandable and reusable. The components are implemented in the C++ programming language, and inputs and outputs of all components are organised as a database in either Microsoft^® SQL Server 2000, Access 2000 or MySQL5.0. Root architecture is visualised by using the OpenGL graphics system. Preliminary validation with two separate experimental datasets shows that the model can reasonably simulate root systems, nitrogen cycling, water movement and plant growth.     

Facilitation across stress gradients: the importance of local adaptation

While there is some information on genetic variation in response to competition in plants, we know nothing about intraspecific variation in facilitation. Previous studies suggest that facilitation should increase fitness in stressful environments. However, whether a plant experiences an environment as stressful may depend on prior adaptive responses to stressors at a site. Local adaptation to stress at a site may reduce the likelihood of facilitation. Seeds of Plantago erecta from stressful (serpentine soil) and non-stressful (non-serpentine soil) edaphic environments were reciprocally planted into these two soil types. Although competition did not differ significantly among seed sources, there was evidence for a local adaptation effect on facilitation. Non-serpentine seeds planted into serpentine soil exhibited greater individual plant biomass at higher densities. The interaction between population source and growth environment indicates a role for evolutionary processes such as local adaptation in the expression of facilitation in plants.     

Interactive effects of plant species diversity and elevated CO2 on soil biota and nutrient cycling

Terrestrial ecosystems consist of mutually dependent producer and decomposer subsystems, but not much is known on how their interactions are modified by plant diversity and elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Factorially manipulating grassland plant species diversity and atmospheric CO2 concentrations for five years, we tested whether high diversity or elevated CO2 sustain larger or more active soil communities, affect soil aggregation, water dynamics, or nutrient cycling, and whether plant diversity and elevated CO2 interact. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pools, symbiotic N2 fixation, plant litter quality, soil moisture, soil physical structure, soil nematode, collembola and acari communities, soil microbial biomass and microflora community structure (phospholipid fatty acid [PLFA] profiles), soil enzyme activities, and rates of C fluxes to soils were measured. No increases in soil C fluxes or the biomass, number, or activity of soil organisms were detected at high plant diversity; soil H2O and aggregation remained unaltered. Elevated CO2 affected the ecosystem primarily by improving plant and soil water status by reducing leaf conductance, whereas changes in C cycling appeared to be of subordinate importance. Slowed-down soil drying cycles resulted in lower soil aggregation under elevated CO2. Collembola benefited from extra soil moisture under elevated CO2, whereas other faunal groups did not respond. Diversity effects and interactions with elevated CO2 may have been absent because soil responses were mainly driven by community-level processes such as rates of organic C input and water use; these drivers were not changed by plant diversity manipulations, possibly because our species diversity gradient did not extend below five species and because functional type composition remained unaltered. Our findings demonstrate that global change can affect soil aggregation, and we advocate that soil aggregation should be considered as a dynamic property that may respond to environmental changes and feed back on other ecosystem functions.     

Effects of soil biota from different ranges on Robinia invasion: acquiring mutualists and escaping pathogens

The net effects of soil biota on exotic invaders can be variable, in part, because net effects are produced by many interacting mutualists and antagonists. Here we compared mutualistic and antagonistic biota in soils collected in the native, expanded, and invasive range of the black locust tree, Robinia pseudoacacia. Robinia formed nodules in all soils with a broad phylogenetic range of N-fixing bacteria, and leaf N did not differ among the different sources of soil. This suggests that the global expansion of Robinia was not limited by the lack of appropriate mutualistic N-fixers. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) from the native range stimulated stronger positive feedbacks than AMF from the expanded or invasive ranges, a biogeographic difference not described previously for invasive plants. Pythium taxa collected from soil in the native range were not more pathogenic than those from other ranges; however, feedbacks produced by the total soil biota were more negative from soils from the native range than from the other ranges, overriding the effects of AMF. This suggests that escape from other pathogens in the soil or the net negative effects of the whole soil community may contribute to superior performance in invaded regions. Our results suggest that important regional evolutionary relationships may occur among plants and soil biota, and that net effects of soil biota may affect invasion, but in ways that are not easily explained by studying isolated components of the soil biota.