A quantitative review of the effects of biochar application to soils on crop productivity using meta-analysis

Increased crop yield is a commonly reported benefit of adding biochar to soils. However, experimental results are variable and dependent on the experimental set-up, soil properties and conditions, while causative mechanisms are yet to be fully elucidated. A statistical meta-analysis was undertaken with the aim of evaluating the relationship between biochar and crop productivity (either yield or above-ground biomass). Results showed an overall small, but statistically significant, benefit of biochar application to soils on crop productivity, with a grand mean increase of 10%. However, the mean results for each analysis performed within the meta-analysis covered a wide range (from −28% to 39%). The greatest (positive) effects with regard to soil analyses were seen in acidic (14%) and neutral pH soils (13%), and in soils with a coarse (10%) or medium texture (13%). This suggests that two of the main mechanisms for yield increase may be a liming effect and an improved water holding capacity of the soil, along with improved crop nutrient availability. The greatest positive result was seen in biochar applications at a rate of 100 t ha⁻¹ (39%). Of the biochar feedstocks considered and in relation to crop productivity, poultry litter showed the strongest (significant) positive effect (28%), in contrast to biosolids, which were the only feedstock showing a statistically significant negative effect (−28%). However, many auxiliary data sets (i.e. information concerning co-variables) are incomplete and the full range of relevant soil types, as well as environmental and management conditions are yet to be investigated. Furthermore, only short-term studies limited to periods of 1 to 2 years are currently available. This paper highlights the need for a strategic research effort, to allow elucidation of mechanisms, differentiated by environmental and management factors and to include studies over longer time frames.     

A reporting guide for studies on individual differences in traffic safety

Problem

Studies on individual differences in traffic safety report differently on their methodologies, and use different statistics, and these are therefore difficult to compare and meta-analyze.

Method

Based upon a previous, extensive review and meta-analysis of the traffic safety literature, several recommendations are made about what features of the methodology of studies on individual differences (including evaluations) in safety need to be reported to facilitate interpretation and meta-analysis. Similarly, some basic types of statistical values are recommended.

Impact on Industry

The accumulation of knowledge about individual differences in traffic safety would be facilitated if scientific authors and journals adhered to these guidelines.     

A second life for old data: global patterns in pollution ecology revealed from published observational studies

A synthesis of research on the responses of terrestrial biota (1095 effect sizes) to industrial pollution (206 point emission sources) was conducted to reveal regional and global patterns from small-scale observational studies. A meta-analysis, in combination with other statistical methods, showed that the effects of pollution depend on characteristics of the specific polluter (type, amount of emission, duration of impact on biota), the affected organism (trophic group, life history), the level at which the response was measured (organism, population, community), and the environment (biome, climate). In spite of high heterogeneity in responses, we have detected several general patterns. We suggest that the development of evolutionary adaptations to pollution is a common phenomenon and that the harmful effects of pollution on terrestrial ecosystems are likely to increase as the climate warms. We argue that community- and ecosystem-level responses to pollution should be explored directly, rather than deduced from organism-level studies.     

The utility of behavioral studies for aquatic toxicology testing: A meta-analysis

Behavioral responses have been applied for decades as tools for aquatic toxicity testing, but have received far less attention than studies assessing lethality, development or reproduction. With improved visual and non-visual assessment tools and increased knowledge of the importance of behavior for organism health and fitness, interest in behavioral analysis has increased in recent years. However, to our knowledge there has never been a quantitative assessment of the available techniques for organismal toxicity testing, so it is not clear whether behavioral studies represent valuable additions to environmental monitoring. We performed a meta-analysis comparing the relative sensitivities and average durations of behavioral studies to those assessing acute lethality, development and reproduction. Results demonstrate that the average duration of behavioral studies is consistently less than developmental or reproductive studies, and that behavioral endpoints are generally more sensitive than those assessing development or reproduction. We found effect sizes to be lower but power to be higher in behavioral and reproductive studies compared to studies assessing development, which likely relates to low sample sizes commonly used in developmental studies. Overall, we conclude that behavioral studies are comparatively fast and sensitive, and therefore warrant further attention as tools for assessing the toxicological effects of environmental contaminants. We suggest that research aimed at developing and optimizing techniques for behavioral analysis could prove extremely useful to the field of toxicology, but that future work must be directed at determining what specific behaviors are most sensitive to various classes of contaminants, and at understanding the relevance of changes to discrete behaviors for influencing organismal and population-level health and fitness.     

The Effectiveness of Management Interventions Used to Control Ragwort Species

Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea and S. aquaticus) causes major losses to agricultural revenue and induces livestock morbidity throughout parts of Europe, North America, and Australasia. The introduction of legislation in the U.K. and Australia has meant that landowners can be prosecuted if the plant spreads to adjacent land, which has led to an increase in activities attempting to control these species. Commonly used interventions include natural enemies, herbicide applications, manual and mechanical removal. Through the use of explicit systematic methodology involving comprehensive searches and detailed inclusion criteria, data from primary research are collated for each type of intervention. Meta-analyses show that 2,4-D, Asulam, Clopyralid, and MCPA are effective at reducing ragwort densities. However, when the datasets were analysed for their effectiveness against individual species, 2,4-D and MCPA were only effective against S. jacobaea, while Asulam was only effective against S. aquaticus. Natural enemies Longitarsus jacobaeae and a combination of L. jacobaeae and Tyria jacobaeae appear to have the potential to reduce S. jacobaea densities. Only applying T. jacobaeae does not appear to significantly reduce S. jacobaea densities, but does reduce the number of capitula per plant, seeds per capitula, viability of seeds, and dry weight of the plants. There is insufficient experimental evidence available to assess other interventions such as manual or mechanical removal. Further research into these types of interventions is recommended, as well as more detailed reporting of site characteristics and experimental design to allow full investigation of each intervention to explain possible reasons for variations in their effectiveness.     

基于文献荟萃分析方法的中国空心村整治潜力与模式

中国快速城镇化进程中农村空心化现象日益突出并成为制约乡村振兴发展的关键问题。采用文献荟萃分析方法,基于中国知网CNKI数据库,分析了中国空心村整治潜力时空格局及其影响因素,解析了空心村整治模式及其机制的地域差异特征。结果显示：1996—2019年CNKI数据库空心村研究文献呈快速增长态势,空心村研究文献增加与全国农村常住人口减少呈显著正相关;空心村整治潜力等级呈现“北方高南方低”“平原地区高、丘陵山地区低”“传统农区高、城市群地区低”的总体分布特征;农村自然地理条件、常住人口减少幅度和人均占有耕地面积是影响空心村整治潜力大小的关键因素;89.80%的县域采用村内集约型整治模式,集中分布在黄淮海平原区、长江中下游地区、四川盆地及周边地区东部,迁村并点型和城乡融合型整治模式的占比均超过50%,易地搬迁型整治模式相对较少,主要集中在胡焕庸线附近生态脆弱和贫困叠加区域。因地制宜、分类分步推进空心化村庄整治,有助于提高农村土地利用效率,显化农村土地价值。     

Meta-analysis of the Chinese studies of the association between ambient ozone and mortality

To investigate short-term effects of ambient ozone exposure on mortality in Chinese cities, we conducted a meta-analysis of 10 effect estimates of 5 short-term studies, which reported associations between ambient ozone and mortality in Chinese mainland cities. And we estimated pooled effects by non-accidental mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and respiratory mortality. Combined estimates and their 95%CI were tested by RevMan 5, and Funnel plots were used for the bias analysis. For a 10 μg m⁻³ increase of maximum 8-h average concentration of ozone, the percent change for non-accidental mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and respiratory mortality were 0.42 (95%CI, 0.32–0.52%), 0.44% (95%CI, 0.17–0.70%) and 0.50% (95%CI, 0.22–0.77%), respectively. Compared with pooled estimates from other meta-analyses on ambient ozone-associated mortality, our pooled estimate for non-accidental mortality was slightly higher than previous ones and pooled estimate for cardiovascular mortality was consistent with others. However, we observed significantly positive association between ambient ozone and respiratory mortality, which were generally nonsignificant in earlier studies. By combining estimates from published evidence, a small but substantial association between ambient ozone level and mortality was observed in Mainland China.     

小麦籽粒镉含量影响因素Meta分析和决策树分析

快速的城市化、工业化和农业集约化造成了严重的土壤问题,如土壤酸化和镉污染等,严重威胁着中国的粮食安全和人体健康.小麦是中国第二大粮食作物,对镉有较强的积累能力.探明小麦籽粒镉含量的影响因素对保障小麦安全生产至关重要.然而,目前对小麦籽粒镉含量的影响因素还缺乏全面和定量的分析.对近10年发表的56篇相关论文进行Meta分析和决策树分析,结果表明,土壤样点中镉含量超过农用地土壤污染风险筛选值的比例为52.6%,小麦籽粒镉含量超过食品安全国家标准(0.10 mg·kg^-1,GB 2762-2017)的比例为64.1%.土壤理化性质中,pH、有机质、有效磷和土壤全镉含量是影响小麦籽粒镉含量的重要因素.土壤的pH≤5.5和5.5-1≤土壤有机质含量<30 g·kg^-1时,小麦籽粒镉含量超标率最高,为61.0%.农田土壤的pH≥7.1且全镉含量<1.60 mg·kg^-1时有利于小麦安全生产.不同小麦品种籽粒镉含量...     

基于Meta分析的矿业城市生态服务价值转移研究

采矿活动剧烈干扰了区域土地利用,对生态系统健康造成了严重影响。论文在综合国内若干资源型城市生态系统服务价值研究实例的基础上,提炼系列指标参数,运用Meta分析方法建立并验证了专门针对矿业城市耕地、林地、草地、水域的价值转移模型,并以河北省武安市为例估算了1987、2001和2014年的生态系统服务价值。研究结果表明：1）价值转移模型可以有效地评估矿业城市生态系统服务价值;2）武安市生态系统服务总价值呈现先增后减的趋势,2001年之后呈现快速下降状态;3）从地类面积来看,1987—2014年间武安市经济发展对生态用地产生的干扰程度为：耕地>草地>水域>林地,从服务价值角度看,干扰程度为：耕地>水域>草地>林地;4）在生态用地总面积减少的情况下,适当优化生态用地土地利用结构可以提高生态系统服务总价值。     

A meta-analysis of wetland contingent valuation studies

There is growing interest in the potential for producing generally applicable models for valuing non-market environmental services which do not rely upon expensive and time-consuming survey work, but rather extrapolate results from previous studies. This paper presents a meta-analysis for the use and non-use values generated by wetlands across North America and Europe. The study assesses the socio-economic values attributable to the hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological functions provided by such complex environmental assets. The clustering of multiple values derived from single studies is examined through the application of multilevel modelling methods allowing for the hierarchical structure of such data. Received: 24 February 1999 · Accepted: 6 June 1999