Differential N uptake by maize cultivars and soil nitrate dynamics under N fertilization in West Africa

Nitrate is prone to leaching in the sandy soils of the West African moist savannas. Better management of nitrogen (N) resources and maize cultivars with enhanced genetic capacity to capture and utilize soil and fertilizer N are strategies that could improve N-use efficiency. In two field experiments conducted at Zaria, northern Nigeria, five maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars planted early in the season were assessed under various N levels for differences in N uptake, soil N dynamics, and related N losses. Cultivar TZB-SR accumulated more N in the aboveground plant parts in both years than the other cultivars. All, except the semi-prolific late (SPL) variety, met about 50–60% of their N demand by the time of silking (64–69 DAP). In both years, SPL had the greatest capacity to take up N during the grain filling period, and it had the highest grain-N concentration and the least apparent N loss through leaching in the second year. There were no significant differences in soil N dynamics among cultivars in both years. At harvest, the residual N in the upper 90 cm of the profile under all the cultivars ranged from 56 to 72 kg ha⁻¹ in the first year and from 73 to 83 kg ha⁻¹ in the second year. Apparent N loss from 0 to 90 cm soil profile through leaching ranged from 35 to 122 kg ha⁻¹ in both years. N application significantly increased N uptake by more than 30% at all sampling dates in the second year of the experiment, but had no effect on apparent N loss. Results indicate that the use of maize cultivars with high N uptake capacity during the grain filling period when maximum leaching losses occur could enhance N recovery and may be effective in reducing leaching losses of mineral N in the moist savanna soils.     

黄河上游西线调水工程对调出区气候影响的初步分析

在分析南水北调西线工程水量调出区气候特征的基础上,采用定性与定量相结合的方法,重点分析了调水工程对库区与坝址下游临近河段局地气候的影响,以及调水对引水坝址下游“干旱河谷”区的可能影响,并对干旱河谷的分布及其成因进行了较深入的分析。结果表明:调水对库区气候影响不大;对坝址下游临近地区的气温、降水等将不会造成明显的影响;对干旱河谷区的局地气候虽有影响,但很微弱。     

中国东、西部工业污染和经济发展的分析比较

从经济发展水平和工业污染排放角度出发,对比分析了东部、中部和西部3个地区的差异。结果表明,90年代以来,中国的经济发展和工业污染在东、西部之间存在着较显著的差异,所表现出的综合效应是形成了明显的工业污染物排放强度梯度。即在空间上,工业污染物排放强度存在从东部、中部到西部逐渐升高的梯度。建议在西部大开发过程中,要充分利用西部环境保护的后发优势,减缓或遏制工业污染的“西迁”,实现环境保护的跨越式发展。     

厦门西港和九龙江口浮游植物生化组成及其环境因子效应

厦门西港和九龙江口浮游植物碳水化合物与光强、盐度和叶绿素ａ均显著正相关，蛋白质与光强有负相关关系，脂类受光强的影响较小，蛋白质与碳水化合物之比与氮磷比显正相关。１０月该海域浮游植物叶绿素ａ与生化组分含量都比４月高，与１０月海水温度和海面辐照度较高有关     

西部旅游资源的困境与保护

充分评价了西部旅游资源的优势特点，详细地分析了目前西部旅游资源受到的各种威胁和存在的困境，并有针对性地提出了一些切实可行的保护措施。     

发展中国西部的生态旅游业

生态旅游作为“保护生态”和“发展经济”双赢理念的新兴旅游类型,被西部各省(区、市)所关注并将其定为本地区发展的主导产业.通过对西部地区的生态旅游资源优缺点、市场定位、产品转化及空间布局的分析,初步勾画了西部生态旅游业的发展前景,并提出相应地发展策略.     

Traditional water bodies and ecosystem services: Empirical evidence from West Bengal,India

Traditional water harvesting systems are multi-functional in nature and provide a variety of ecosystem services that contribute to the overall wellbeing of local people. This study aims to identify and analyze the factors influencing the variations in the level of awareness across households residing around three selected traditional water bodies in the Indian state of West Bengal. Ordinary least square (OLS) regression models have been used to identify and analyze the determinants of household perception on ecosystem services from tank water bodies. Results show that while a majority of households have strong perceptions on the provisioning and cultural ecosystem services of the tanks, the household perceptions on regulating and supporting services of the tank is found to be relatively weak. Households belonging to lower caste and poor are likely to be more dependent on ecosystem services from tanks than upper caste and rich households, and hence they have better perceptions of provisioning ecosystem services. Households’ awareness about provisioning ecosystem services is negatively related to their level of education and wealth. It is observed that household awareness about regulating and supporting ecosystem services is positively associated with the level of education of the households, ownership of tube well and private tanks. While it is essential to consider household perception on all the ecosystem services for sustainable use and management of traditional water harvesting systems, incorporating the local norms, customs and preferences in policy design are critical for achieving effective conservation outcomes.     

Determinants for cassava production expansion in the semi-arid zone of West Africa

The study focuses on evaluating factors that farmers consider relevant in adopting cassava production in five semi-arid zone of West African countries. The study is based on primary data randomly collected as part of collaborative study of cassava in semiarid zones of Africa (COSCASSA) village level survey from five West African countries namely: Nigeria, Ghana, Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso. This study models effects of farm, farmer and technology specific factors on the decision of semi arid farmers to adopt cassava into their farming system. By way of threshold decision models—Probit and Logit models, the estimation of each country and the pooled data adoption models reveal different adoption models for the countries considered. For each country, different variables appeared as major adoption shifters. Comparatively, the adoption models for Nigeria and whole region appear to have the highest significance variables, being seven in number. This is followed by Chad (6), Ghana (4), and Burkina Faso and Niger with three each. For the variables considered, distance to nearby urban market appears a major adoption shifter in all the country, except for Niger. This is closely followed by contact with extension, variety, pest/disease resistance and livestock feeds, which appear significant in four of the countries. Membership of cooperative societies appears as the least adoption predictor, which is only significant in Chad republic. The study therefore recognizes the importance of varietial characteristics and farmers’ characteristics in acceptance of cassava as a major root tuber crop in the semi arid region of West Africa. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Influence of temporally variable groundwater flow conditions on point measurements and contaminant mass flux estimations

Monitoring of contaminant concentrations, e.g., for the estimation of mass discharge or contaminant degradation rates, often is based on point measurements at observation wells. In addition to the problem, that point measurements may not be spatially representative, a further complication may arise due to the temporal dynamics of groundwater flow, which may cause a concentration measurement to be not temporally representative. This paper presents results from a numerical modeling study focusing on temporal variations of the groundwater flow direction. “Measurements” are obtained from point information representing observation wells installed along control planes using different well frequencies and configurations. Results of the scenario simulations show that temporally variable flow conditions can lead to significant temporal fluctuations of the concentration and thus are a substantial source of uncertainty for point measurements. Temporal variation of point concentration measurements may be as high as the average concentration determined, especially near the plume fringe, even when assuming a homogeneous distribution of the hydraulic conductivity. If a heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity field is present, the concentration variability due to a fluctuating groundwater flow direction varies significantly within the control plane and between the different realizations. Determination of contaminant mass fluxes is also influenced by the temporal variability of the concentration measurement, especially for large spacings of the observation wells. Passive dosimeter sampling is found to be appropriate for evaluating the stationarity of contaminant plumes as well as for estimating average concentrations over time when the plume has fully developed. Representative sampling has to be performed over several periods of groundwater flow fluctuation. For the determination of mass fluxes at heterogeneous sites, however, local fluxes, which may vary considerably along a control plane, have to be accounted for. Here, dosimeter sampling in combination with time integrated local water flux measurements can improve mass flux estimates under dynamic flow conditions.     

Magnetic mapping of fly-ash pollution and heavy metals from soil samples around a point source in a dry tropical environment

The Singrauli region in the southeastern part of Uttar Pradesh, India is one of the most polluted industrial sites of Asia. It encompasses 11 open cast coalmines and six thermal power stations that generate about 7,500 MW (about 10% of India’s installed generation capacity) electricity. Thermal power plants represent the main source of pollution in this region, emitting six million tonnes of fly-ash per annum. Fly-ash is deposited on soils over a large area surrounding thermal power plants. Fly-ashes have high surface concentrations of several toxic elements (heavy metals) and high atmospheric mobility. Fly ash is produced through high-temperature combustion of fossil fuel rich in ferromagnetic minerals. These contaminants can be identified using rock-magnetic methods. Magnetic susceptibility is directly linked to the concentration of ferromagnetic minerals, primarily high values of magnetite. In this study, magnetic susceptibility of top soil samples collected from surrounding areas of a bituminous-coal-fired power plant were measured to identify areas of high emission levels and to chart the spatial distribution of airborne solid particles. Sites close to the power plant have shown higher values of susceptibility that decreases with increasing distance from the source. A significant correlation between magnetic susceptibility and heavy metal content in soils is found. A comparison of the spatial distribution of magnetic susceptibility with heavy-metal concentrations in soil samples suggests that magnetic measurements can be used as a rapid and inexpensive method for proxy mapping of air borne pollution due to industrial activity.