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.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ceroplastes albolineatus</Emphasis>, the first scale insect shown to sequester pyrrolizidine alkaloids from its host-plant <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pittocaulon praecox</Emphasis>

Summary. The occurrence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in Pittocaulon (ex Senecio) praecox (Asteraceae) a species endemic to Mexico was established. The aboveground plant organs contain the 1,2-saturated monoester 7-angeloyl-dihydroxyheliotridane together with a small proportion of its 9-angeloyl isomer as major alkaloid. The monoesters are accompanied by the macrocyclic otonecine derivative senkirkine. Roots contain only related macrocyclic PAs with senecionine, senkirkine and platyphylline as major components; monoesters are absent. The broom-like succulent stems of P. praecox are infested by the scale insect Ceroplastes albolineatus conspicuously visible by its huge wax cover. All life-history stages, i.e. females, eggs, first instar nymphs (crawlers) and the wax cover were found associated with PAs. The measured PA concentrations clearly indicate sequestration. The highest PA concentrations (mg / g dry weight) reached are: mature females, 0.44; eggs, 0.58; crawlers, 0.37; wax cover, 0.08. The host plant as well as in the infesting scale insect contain the PAs exclusively as free bases. As a phloem-feeder C. albolineatus must acquire the PAs with the ingested phloem sap. This appears plausible since in Senecio species PA are transmitted and circulated through the phloem path. It is suggested that PAs may protect particularly the crawlers as the most endangered stage in the life-cycle of the scale insect.     

顶空-气相色谱法测定水中溴乙烷

建立了顶空-气相色谱法测定环境中不同基质水样中溴乙烷的方法,分别考察了顶空平衡温度、平衡时间、离子强度对溴乙烷富集的影响,从而确定最佳方法参数。结果表明,溴乙烷在0. 10~10. 0μg/L范围内线性关系良好,相关系数(r)为0. 999 0,检出限为0. 012μg/L,测定下限为0. 048μg/L,加标回收率为86. 7%~104. 7%,相对标准偏差(RSD)为2. 9%~4. 8%。该方法准确度和精密度高、检出限低,能够满足环境中不同基质水样中溴乙烷的检测要求。     

Land use change and carbon exchange in the tropics: I. Detailed estimates for Costa Rica,Panama, Peru,and Bolivia

Our group, composed of modelers working in conjunction with tropical ecologists, 3 has produced a simulation model that quantifies the net carbon exchange between tropical vegetation and the atmosphere due to land use change. The model calculates this net exchange by combining estimates of land use change with several estimates of the carbon stored in tropical vegetation and general assumptions about the fate of cleared vegetation. In this report, we use estimates of land use and carbon storage organized into sixlife zone (sensu Holdridge) categories to calculate the exchange between the atmosphere and the vegetation of four tropical countries. Our analyses of these countries indicate that this life zone approach has several advantages because (a) the carbon content of vegetation varies significantly among life zones, (b) much of the land use change occurs in life zones of only moderate carbon storage, and (c) the fate of cleared vegetation varies among life zones. Our analyses also emphasize the importance of distinguishing between temporary and permanent land use change, as the recovery of vegetation on abandoned areas decreases the net release of carbon due to clearing. We include sensitivity analysis of those factors that we found to be important but are difficult to quantify at present.     

Aerobic biometer analysis of glucose and starch biodegradation

The ASTM D5210-91 protocol for evaluating the biodegradability of a polymer was examined. The reactor design was modified not only to account for the total CO₂ evolved but also to allow for the simultaneous carbon assessment in microbes, soluble products, and solid samples. Improvements in the test procedure were implemented such as (1) refining the CO₂ pretrap and posttrap design, (2) optimizing the carbon dioxide removal efficiency, (3) accounting for the total polymeric carbon, (4) standardizing the inoculum, and (5) revising the nutrient medium. By growing the sludge on a suitable substrate prior to polymeric exposure, a constant microbial density was obtained. The modified ASTM method provides an assessment of the polymeric carbon degradation at any given time. The results of this work have specific significance to the behavior of polymers in a sewage waste treatment plant, where sludge is continuously being acrated, and also for aerobic biodegradation in general.     

Assessing the impact of CO2 emission control scenarios in Finland on radiative forcing and greenhouse effect

Carbon dioxide emission reduction scenarios for Finland are compared with respect to the radiative forcing they cause (heating power due to the absorption of infrared radiation in the atmosphere). Calculations are made with the REFUGE system model using three carbon cycle models to obtain an uncertainity band for the development of the atmospheric concentration. The future emissions from the use of fossil fuels in Finland are described with three scenarios. In the reference scenario (business-as-usual), the emissions and the radiative forcing they cause would grow continuously. In the scenario of moderate emission reduction, the emissions would decrease annually by 1% from the first half of the next century. The radiative forcing would hardly decrease during the next century, however. In the scenario of strict emission reductions, the emissions are assumed to decrease annually by 3%, but the forcing would not decrease until approximately from the middle of the next century depending on the model used. Still, in the year 2100 the forcing would be considerably higher than the forcing in 1990. Due to the slow removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere by the oceans, it is difficult to reach a decreasing radiative forcing only by limiting fossil CO₂ emissions. The CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels in Finland contribute to the global emissions presently by about 0.2%. The relative contribution of Finnish CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels to the global forcing due to CO₂ emissions is presently somewhat less than 0.2% due to relatively smaller emissions in the past. The impact of the nonlinearity of both CO₂ removal from the atmosphere and of CO₂ absorption of infrared radiation on the results is discussed.     

Monitoring of Gin Drinkers' Bay landfill,Hong Kong: I. Landfill gas on top of the landfill

The present study centered on the composition of landfill gas and its effects on soil and plants at the Gin Drinkers' Bay (GDB) landfill in Hong Kong This first part of the study was a whole-year monitoring of landfill gas composition in the gas ventilation system installed on top of the landfill Methane, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and ethylene were measured It was shown that gas generation was positively correlated with the amount of precipitation and air temperature and negatively correlated with atmospheric pressure     

The change of gaseous carbon fluxes following the switch of dominant producers from macrophytes to algae in a shallow subtropical lake of China

Successions of lake ecosystems from clear-water, macrophyte-rich conditions into turbid states with abundant phytoplankton have taken place in many shallow lakes in China. However, little is know about the change of carbon fluxes in lakes during such processes. We conducted a case study in Lake Biandantang to investigate the change of carbon fluxes during such a regime shift. Dissolved aquatic carbon and gaseous carbon (methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂)) across air–water interface in three sites with different vegetation covers and compositions were studied and compared. CH₄ emissions from three sites were 0.62±0.36, 0.70±0.36, and 1.31±0.57 mg m⁻² h⁻¹, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that macrophytes, rather than phytoplankton, directly positively affected CH₄ emission. CO₂ fluxes of three sites in Lake Biandantang were significantly different, and the average values were 77.8±20.4, 52.2±14.1 and 3.6±26.8 mg m⁻² h⁻¹, respectively. There were an evident trend that the larger macrophyte biomass, the lower CO₂ emissions. Correlation analysis showed that in different sites, dominant plant controlled CO₂ flux across air–water interface. In a year cycle, the percents of gaseous carbon release from lake accounting for net primary production were significantly different (from 39.3% to 2.8%), indicating that with the decline of macrophytes and regime shift, the lake will be a larger carbon source to the atmosphere.     

Cold season CH4, CO2 and N2O fluxes from freshwater marshes in northeast China

Cold season (winter and thaw) CH₄, CO₂ and N₂O fluxes from freshwater marshes (47°35′N, 133°31′E, Northeast China) were measured, using the static chamber method. The mean CH₄ and CO₂ fluxes from Carex lasiocarpa (Cl) were 0.5 ± 0.19 and 6.23 ± 1.36 mg C m⁻² h⁻¹, respectively, and those from Deyeuxia angustifoli (Da) were 0.18 ± 0.15 and 5.22 ± 2.48 mg C m⁻² h⁻¹, respectively in winter. There was no significant difference between Cl and Da (p > 0.05). The contributions of winter CH₄ fluxes were about 5.5% and 3% in the Cl and Da, respectively. Marshes are an important potential N₂O sink in winter season in northeast China. During thaw, the CH₄ and CO₂ emissions rapidly increased, 4.5–6 times of winter emissions. Wetland became a source of N₂O. Cold season gases flux from northern wetlands play an important role in the seasonal gas exchange.