Assessment of herbaceous plant habitats in water-constrained environments: predicting indirect effects with fuzzy logic

Herbaceous plant production plays a key role in determining the function of rangeland ecosystems in the semi-arid and Mediterranean regions. Therefore, assessment of herbaceous plant habitats is important for understanding the ecosystem functioning in these regions and for applied purposes, such as range management and land evaluation. This paper presents a model to assess herbaceous plant habitats in a basaltic stony environment in a Mediterranean region. The model is based on geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing and fuzzy logic, while four indirect variables, which represent major characteristics of herbaceous habitats, are modeled: rock cover fraction; wetness index (WI); soil depth; and slope orientation (aspect). A linear unmixing model was used to measure rock cover on a per pixel basis using a Landsat TM summer image. The wetness index and local aspect were determined from digital elevation data with 25 m × 25 m pixel resolution, while soil data were gathered in a field survey. The modeling approach adopted here is process-based and assumes that water availability plays a crucial role in determining herbaceous plant production in Mediterranean and semi-arid environments. The model rules are based on fuzzy logic and are written based on the hypothesized water requirements of the herbaceous vegetation. The results show that on a polygon basis there is positive agreement between the model proposed here and previous mapping of the herbaceous habitats carried out in the field using traditional methods. Intrapolygon tests show that the use of a continuous raster data model and fuzzy logic principles provide an added value to traditional mapping. Moreover, herbaceous biomass measurements at two time intervals—mid- and peak winter season—corresponded with the habitat assessment predictions achieved using a new scenario that is proposed in this research. This scenario suggests that rockiness increases herbaceous production on south-facing slopes, while in other slope aspects the rock cover has lower impact on herbaceous growth. Due to its simplicity, the model suggested here can be used by planners and managers, to adjust range activities over large areas. The process-based approach should allow adaptation of the model to other regions more effectively than models that were formulated on a purely empirical basis. The model could also be used to study the relationship between water availability and ecosystem productivity on a regional scale.     

Nutrients Can Enhance Phytoremediation of Copper-Polluted Soil by Indian Mustard

An orthogonally designed experiment was conducted to study the single and combined effects of N, P and K on phytoremediation of Cu-polluted soil by Indian mustard. Addition of fertilizer N and P significantly increased Indian mustard shoot yield. Two high treatments combined with N resulted in the highest yields, followed by low-P combined with N. In contrast, high P with no N gave no yield increase and K had no effect on yield of Indian mustard. Nitrogen and P increased the amount of chlorophyll in the leaves, indicating that the yield increases were due to enhanced photosynthesis. Nitrogen application had no effect on plant Cu concentrations but addition of P slightly decreased plant Cu concentrations, likely a dilution effect resulting from the increase in yield. Among the treatments, N and P applied at 100 and 200 mg kg^–1 respectively with no K application resulted in the highest Cu uptake. Thus, a combination of low N and high P produced a yield increase in Indian mustard that was more than adequate to compensate for a slight decrease in Cu concentration, resulting in the highest Cu removal from the contaminated soil.     

不同生育期遮荫对番茄氮素分配的影响

以番茄为材料，研究了不同生长阶段(开花早期、盛花期和开花后期)夏季午间不同光照强度(不遮荫，40％遮荫和75％遮荫)对氮素在番茄各器官中分配的影响。结果显示，遮荫不影响开花早期和盛花期叶片氮的含量及其分配效应，但40％遮荫使开花后期叶片中氮的含量增加，叶、茎、茬中氮的分配指数高于开花早期和盛花期。这表明，在开花后期适度遮荫有利于氮优先分配给叶组织，改善番茄氮素状况，增加开花后期番茄的经济产量，在设施栽培中具有一定实际意义。图3表1参21。     

煤矸石复垦中的氮素积累途径

进行了煤矸石上种植接菌种草及加覆盖物种植牧草的盆栽和小区试验。结果表明，接菌种植可以显著提高植物的固氮酶活性和结瘤率，改善煤矸石的氮素贫瘠状况，促进牧草根系和地上部分的生长和煤矸石的进一步风化；这些结果在施氮量中等区w(N)=15g/100kg更为明显。同时在煤矸石上加薄层覆盖物种植豆科植物，对其氮素的积累提高和生物性状的同样具有明显的促进作用，并以黄土覆盖效果更佳。这些结果为解决煤矸石复垦中氮素缺乏的问题提供了有效途径。表3参4     

Preferences of six leaf beetle species among qualitatively different leaf age classes of three Salicaceous host species

Summary. As Salicaceous plants produce new leaves for a prolonged period of time, they expose a wide range of differentially aged leaves to herbivores during the growing season. In this work, I show that young leaves of three Salicaceous species, Populus tremula L., Salix phylicifolia L. and S. pentandra L., contain more nitrogen than conspecific old leaves. In P. tremula and S. pentandra young leaves also contained more low-molecular weight secondary compounds, phenolic glucosides. Leaves of S. phylicifolia did not contain phenolic glucosides in detectable amounts. Furthermore, in P. tremula and S. pentandra young leaves contained less polymeric digestability-reducing phenolics, condensed tannins, than old leaves. In S. phylicifolia, higher concentrations of condensed tannins were found in young leaves. In laboratory feeding trials with six leaf beetle species, young leaves of the studied plants were invariably preferred in all tested herbivore × host species combinations. In particular, it is remarkable that three leaf beetle species with known different overall relationships to phenolic glucosides equally preferred more glucoside-containing young S. pentandra leaves over conspecific old ones. Four beetle species were found to prefer young leaves of S. phylicifolia despite the higher content of condensed tannins in young leaves. These results indicate that the general preference of leaf beetles for young leaves of Salicaceous plants probably does not primarily result from variable distribution of secondary compounds. Apparently, the preference for young leaves is fundamentally due to variation in leaf nutritive traits, such as nitrogen content. Received 9 February 2001.     

玉米-花生混作系统中的氮铁营养效应

采用盆栽试验的方法研究了不同施氮水平和种间相互作用对花生铁营养、根瘤固氮能力以及系统氮营养的影响。结果表明,在本试验种植密度下,施氮水平和种植方式对下针期单株花生生物量无显著影响。在不同施氮水平下,玉米-花生混作不仅均显著改善了花生铁营养,而且玉米对氮素的大量吸收显著降低了混作花生根际土壤硝态氮的质量分数,从而使得花生根瘤数增加,根瘤固氮酶活性增强。混作花生铁营养受混作玉米氮营养及作物发育状况的影响较大,并且下针期花生固氮酶活性受施氮抑制及花生铁营养改善的促进。这说明,根际土壤硝态氮的质量分数的降低和花生铁营养的改善是石灰性土壤上花生固氮能力增强的关键因素,而花生生物固氮作用的增强是该混作系统体现氮营养优势的主要原因。     

上海市蔬菜地土壤硝态氮状况研究

以上海市郊不同管理方式下菜地表层土壤采样测定土壤硝态氮含量为基础,并以水稻土等土壤作为对照,以期了解上海蔬菜地土壤硝态氮的现状,为菜地的合理施肥提出科学依据。结果表明,由于管理方式不同,土壤的硝态氮的NO3--N质量分数差异明显。大棚蔬菜地土壤中NO3--N明显高于其它其他用地管理方式下的土壤,依次为:w(大棚蔬菜地)>w(露天蔬菜地)>w(传统自留地),而且土壤硝态氮的积累是全剖面性的,而非仅在表层,如在80~100cm土层,大棚土壤硝态氮也为农田的好几倍。而且,大棚蔬菜地土壤盐渍化明显,主要特点之一是硝态氮积累,盐分高的土壤一般硝态氮也高。此外,长期大量的N肥投入引起了土壤酸化。土壤pH与土壤NO3--N质量分数呈线性负相关,经统计检验相关性达极显著水平。     

环太湖丘陵地区农田氮素随地表径流输出特征

对环太湖丘陵地区农田氮素随地表径流的输出特征进行了研究,结果表明,地表径流中TN浓度随径流量而变化,浓度峰值出现时间滞后于径流量峰值;径流发生前期,NH3 N和NO-3 N浓度水平相当,后期NO-3 N浓度缓慢抬升,而NH3 N含量缓慢下降;NO-2 N浓度相对较低,随时间快速下降;对于TN和NO-3 N而言,溶解态含量高于悬浮态,而溶解态和悬浮态NH3 N的浓度相当;无机氮平均浓度高于有机氮,有机氮尤其是悬浮态有机氮浓度表现出随径流量而变化的特点。     

盐碱土壤基质人工湿地对低浓度氮磷废水的净化效果

采用实验室模拟研究了以盐碱土壤为基质的不同湿地植物人工湿地系统以及对水中低质量浓度氮和磷的去除效率。实验表明，芦苇系统、香蒲系统、车钱草系统和无植物系统均对水中低质量浓度的N具有净化效果。3种植物系统相比，香蒲系统的净化效果较其他二者较佳，芦苇系统与车钱草的净化效果相当；同时实验也表明4种湿地系统对低质量浓度的P不具有净化效果，随着水力停留时间的增加，系统中的P质量浓度反而会有所增加。