Table of Content

18 August 2015, Volume 26 Issue 8

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Difference in responses of major tree species growth to climate in the Miyaluo Mountains, western Sichuan, China.

GUO Ming-ming1, ZHANG Yuan-dong1, WANG Xiao-chun2, LIU Shi-rong1

2015, 26(8):  2237-2243. 

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To explore the responses of different tree species growth to climate change in the semihumid region of the eastern Tibetan Plateau, we investigated climategrowth relationships of Tsuga chinensis, Abies faxoniana, Picea purpurea at an altitude of 3000 m (low altitude) and A. faxoniana and Larix mastersiana at an altitude of 4000 m (high altitude) using tree ringwidth chronologies (total of 182 cores) developed from Miyaluo, western Sichuan, China. Five residual chronologies were developed from the crossdated ring width series using the program ARSTAN, and the relationships between monthly climate variables and treering index were analyzed. Results showed that the chronologies of trees at low altitudes were negatively correlated with air temperature but positively with precipitation in April and May. This indicated that drought stress limited tree growth at low altitude, but different tree species showed significant variations. T. chinensis was most severely affected by drought stress, followed by A. faxoniana and P. purpurea. Trees at high altitude were  mainly affected by growing season temperature. Treering index of A. faxoniana was positively correlated with monthly minimum temperature in February and July of the current year and monthly maximum temperature in October of the previous year. Radial growth of L. mastersiana was positively correlated with monthly maximum temperature in May, and negatively with monthly mean temperature in February and monthly minimum temperature in March. In recent decadal years, the climate in northeast Tibetan Plateau had a warming and drying trend. If this trend continues, we could deduce that P. purpurea should grow faster than T. chinensis and A. faxoniana at low altitudes, while A. faxoniana would benefit more from global warming at high altitudes.

Application of three heat pulse technique-based methods to determine the stem sap flow.

WANG Sheng1,2, FAN Jun1,3

2015, 26(8):  2244-2252. 

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It is of critical importance to acquire tree transpiration characters through sap flow methodology to understand tree water physiology, forest ecology and ecosystem water exchange. Triprobe heat pulse sensors, which are widely utilized in soil thermal parameters and soil evaporation measurement, were applied to implement Salix matsudana sap flow density (V_s) measurements via heatratio method (HRM), T_Max method (T_Max) and singleprobe heat pulse probe (SHPP) method, and comparative analysis was conducted with additional Grainer’s thermal diffusion probes (TDP) measured results. The results showed that, it took about five weeks to reach a stable measurement stage after TPHP installation, V_s measured with three methods in the early stage after installation was 135%-220% higher than V_s in the stable measurement stage, and V_s estimated via HRM, T_Max and SHPP methods were significantly linearly correlated with V_s estimated via TDP method, with R² of 0.93, 0.73 and 0.91, respectively, and R² for V_s measured by SHPP and HRM reached 0.94. HRM had relatively higher precision in measuring low rates and reverse sap flow. SHPP method seemed to be very promising to measure sap flow for configuration simplicity and high measuring accuracy, whereas it couldn’t distinguish directions of flow. T_Max method had relatively higher error in sap flow measurement, and it couldn’t measure sap flow below 5 cm³·cm^-2·h^-1, thus this method could not be used alone, however it could measure thermal diffusivity for calculating sap flow when other methods were imposed. It was recommended to choose a proper method or a combination of several methods to measure stem sap flow, based on specific research purpose.

Estimating nonstructural carbon content of tree crown considering its spatial variability: A case study on Juglans mandshurica and Ulmus japonica.

2015, 26(8):  2253-2264. 

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Using Juglans mandshurica and Ulmus japonica as test materials, we examined the variability in nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) concentrations in the branches with different basal diameters with a branch analysis method and explored potential errors in estimating the crownscale NSC content introduced from various sampling protocols. The results showed that organs significantly influenced the crown NSC concentrations for both species. The mean concentrations of the sum of soluble sugars and starch (TNC) of the leaves, new twigs, old branches, and dead branches were 17.6%, 12.6%, 5.7% and 2.9%, respectively. Most of the NSC concentrations in leaves and new twigs varied insignificantly with basal diameter, age, length and height of the branch. However, the NSC concentration in old branches increased significantly with decreasing the basal diameter, age and length of the branch, and with increasing the relative height of the branch. Among the branch traits, basal diameter was the best predictor for the NSC concentration of the old branch (the R² between 0.87 and 0.95). The mean TNC contents of leaves, new branches, and old branches for the two species accounted for 28%, 2% and 70% of the crown TNC content, respectively. Considering the effect of the spatial variability in the estimation of NSC content, we recommend the sampling protocol that applies the NSC concentration of new twigs and old branches with a diameter of 3 cm to up-scale the crown NSC content as a simple and practical method.

Aboveground architecture and biomass distribution of Quercus variabilis.

YU Bi-yun1, ZHANG Wen-hui1, HU Xiao-jing1,2, SHEN Jia-peng1, ZHEN Xue-yuan1, YANG Xiao-zhou1

2015, 26(8):  2265-2272. 

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The aboveground architecture, biomass and its allocation, and the relationship between architecture and biomass of Quercus variabilis of different diameter classes in Shangluo, south slope of Qinling Mountains were researched. The results showed that differences existed in the aboveground architecture and biomass allocation of Q. variabilis of different diameter classes. With the increase of diameter class, tree height, DBH, and crown width increased gradually. The average decline rate of each diameter class increased firstly then decreased. Q. variabilis overall bifurcation ratio and stepwise bifurcation ratio increased then declined. The specific leaf areas of Q. variabilis of all different diameter classes at vertical direction were 0.02-0.03, and the larger values of leaf mass ratio, LAI and leaf area ratio at vertical direction in diameter level Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ appeared in the middle and upper trunk, while in diameter level Ⅳ, Ⅴ, Ⅵ, they appeared in the central trunk, with the increase of diameter class, there appeared two peaks in vertical direction, which located in the lower and upper trunk. The trunk biomass accounted for 71.8%-88.4% of Q. variabilis aboveground biomass, while the branch biomass accounted for 5.8%-19.6%, and the leaf biomass accounted for 4.2%-8.6%. With the increase of diameter class, stem biomass proportion of Q. variabilis decreased firstly then increased, while the branch and leaf biomass proportion showed a trend that increased at first then decreased, and then increased again. The aboveground biomass of Q. variabilis was significantly positively correlated to tree height, DBH, crown width and stepwise bifurcation ratio (R_2:1), and positively related to the overall bifurcation ratio and stepwise bifurcation ratio (R_3:2), but there was no significant correlation. Trunk biomass and total biomass aboveground were negatively related to the trunk decline rate, while branch biomass and leaf biomass were positively related to trunk decline rate, but their correlations were all not significant.

Bacterial community structure and diversity in soils of different forest ages and types in Baotianman forest, Henan Province, China.

BAI Xiao-xu1,2, SHI Rong-jiu1, YOU Ye-ming3, SHENG Hua-fang4, HAN Si-qin1, ZHANG Ying1

2015, 26(8):  2273-2281. 

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To compare the microbial compositions and diversities in soils of different forest ages and types in Baotianman forest, Henan Province, China, genomic DNA of forest soils was extracted for amplifying the 16S rRNA V4 hyper variable region by PCR and sequencing by Illumina MiSeq. The BIPES, UCHIME and QIIME were employed to analyze the soil bacterial community. It was shown that 60 phyla were identified, with Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia representing the most dominant lineages and accounting for 29%, 18.5% and 10% of all sequences, respectively. At the genus level, 1209 genera were identified, the most abundant phylotypes were DA101(6.3%), Acidobacteria2 (5.9%), Candidatus Solibacter (2.9%) and Candidatus Nitrososphaera(2.6%). Different forest age and type soil samples had unique compositions and specific high and rare genus. Forest type and age both impacted the soil microbial community structure, and the influence of the former was stronger than the latter. The soil microbial diversity of the 80yearold  Quercus aliena forest was the lowest among all age and type forest soil samples. Soil pH, soil nitrogen and organic carbon contents were the most important factors affecting soil bacterial community structure.

Characteristics of soil organic carbon and enzyme activities in soil aggregates under different vegetation zones on the Loess Plateau.

LI Xin1,2, MA Rui-ping1,3, AN Shao-shan1,2, ZENG Quan-chao4, LI Ya-yun1,2

2015, 26(8):  2282-2290. 

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In order to explore the distribution characteristics of organic carbon of different forms and the active enzymes in soil aggregates with different particle sizes, soil samples were chosen from forest zone, forestgrass zone and grass zone in the Yanhe watershed of Loess Plateau to study the content of organic carbon, easily oxidized carbon, and humus carbon, and the activities of cellulase, β-Dglucosidase, sucrose, urease and peroxidase, as well as the relations between the soil aggregates carbon and its components with the active soil enzymes were also analyzed. It was showed that the content of organic carbon and its components were in order of forest zone > grass zone >  forestgrass zone, and the contents of three forms of organic carbon were the highest in the diameter group of 0.25-2 mm. The content of organic carbon and its components, as well as the activities of soil enzymes were higher in the soil layer of 0-10 cm than those in the 10-20 cm soil layer of different vegetation zones. The activities of cellulase, β-Dglucosidase, sucrose and urease were in order of forest zone > grass zone > forestgrass zone. The peroxidase activity was in order of forest zone > forestgrass zone > grass zone. The activities of various soil enzymes increased with the decreasing soil particle diameter in the three vegetation zones. The activities of cellulose, peroxidase, sucrose and urease had significant positive correlations with the contents of various forms of organic carbon in the soil aggregates.

Influence of nitrogen and phosphorus addition on the aboveground biomass in Inner Mongolia temperate steppe, China.

2015, 26(8):  2291-2297. 

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The plants in arid environment are constrained not only by water availability, but also by soil nutrient conditions. In order to clarify to what extent nutrient addition would facilitate the growth of plants in semiarid region, we conducted a nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) addition experiment in Inner Mongolia temperate grassland in 2012 and 2013. In our experiment, N was added at 10 and 40 g N·m^-2·a^-1 alone or in combination with P addition (10 g P·m^-2·a^-1). N addition significantly improved plant aboveground biomass (AGB) during the two study years. AGB in the treatments of 10 and 40 g·m^-2·a^-1 was enhanced by 50.8% and 65.9% in 2012, and 71.6% and 93.3% in 2013, respectively. However, no significant difference in AGB enhancement was found between two N addition treatments. Compared with N addition treatments at the rates of 10 and 40 g·m^-2·a^-1, N plus P addition improved AGB by 98.4% and 186.8% in 2012, and 111.7% and 141.4% in 2013, respectively. N addition generally increased all the three main functional types (i.e., Gramineae, Asteraceae and others), and the three functional types contributed nearly equally to the increase of the community AGB. In comparison, Asteraceae contributed largest to the increments of AGB under the N plus P addition treatments. Our results also indicated that N and P addition remarkably increased the ground coverage, resulting in improved surface soil moisture condition, which might be one important reason that N and P addition could facilitate plant growth in arid environment.

Microbial community structure of the alpine meadow under different grazing styles in Naqu prefecture of Tibet. 

NIU Lei1,2, LIU Ying-hui1,2, LI Yue2,3, OUYANG Sheng-nan2,3

2015, 26(8):  2298-2306. 

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To clarify the effects of grazing styles on the soil microbial community in the alpine meadow, we explored the changes of soil microbial community structure in the alpine meadow located in Naqu district of Tibet Autonomous Region by analyzing the soil  chemical properties and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs). The results showed that the contents of soil total organic carbon, total phosphate and nitrate nitrogen under the different grazing styles followed the trend of 7-year rest grazing > free grazing > grazing prohibition. Except for the ratio of fungal PLFAs/bacterial PLFAs, total PLFAs, the bacterial PLFAs, the fungal PLFAs, the gram negative bacterial and the gram positive bacterial PLFAs over the different grazing types were in the order of 7-year rest grazing > 5-year grazing prohibition > 7-year and 9-year grazing prohibition. The principal component analysis (PCA) presented that the first principal component (PC1=74.6%) was mainly composed of monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids and branched fatty acids, and the second principal component (PC2=13.2%) was mainly composed of saturated fatty acids and some monounsaturated fatty acids. Total PLFAs content was significantly positively correlated with microbial biomass carbon content. Compared with grazing prohibition,  fallow grazing was best for the alpine meadow in Naqu district, and free grazing with light intensity was good for the alpine meadow.

Extraction of spectral difference characteristics of Stellera chamaejasme in Qilian County of Qinghai Province, Northwest China.

CHENG Di1, LIU Yong-mei1, LI Jing-zhong1, MO Chong-hui2

2015, 26(8):  2307-2313. 

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Stellera chamaejasme is one of the main poisonous weeds distributed in alpine meadow of Qinghai Province. Rapid spreading of S. chamaejasme has done serious harm to local animal husbandry and caused continuous grassland ecosystem degradation. This paper focused on the spectral differences between S. chamaejasme and herbage, taking the typical degraded alpine meadow dominated by S. chamaejasme in Qilian County of Haibei Region as the test site and using the spectral measurements acquired in the fullblossom period of S. chamaejasme from 2012 to 2014. The results showed that the spectral behavior of flowers of S. chamaejasme differed significantly from green background that included leaves of S. chamaejasme and herbage within 350-900 nm of VISNIR wavebands. The biggest reflectance difference between flowers of S. chamaejasme and green background was located in the red valley, followed by the blue valley. The reflectance of S. chamaejasme community increased with the rising of coverage, the biggest reflectance difference between S. chamaejasme and herbage communities lied in the nearinfrared peak, and the best separability between S. chamaejasme communities with different coverage was also at the point. The difference of first derivative spectra between flowers of S. chamaejasme and green background located in amplitude of yellow edge was remarkable, followed by amplitude of blue edge, the same as differences between S. chamaejasme and herbage communities. Linear regression analysis between coverage of S. chamaejasme and spectral feature parameters showed best result for red valley (R²=0.94). Finally, the red valley, the blue valley and the nearinfrared peak were proposed for discriminating S. chamaejasme from herbage in the fullblossom period of S. chamaejasme, and the combination of corresponding red, blue and nearinfrared bands could be used to build sensitive indices for S. chamaejasme recognition. 

Effects of NO₃^- stress on photosynthetic characteristics and nitrogen metabolism of strawberry seedlings.

HAN Yu-rui1, WANG Xiu-feng1,2, YANG Feng-juan1,2, WEI Min1,2, SHI Qing-hua1,2, LI Qing-ming1,2, CUI Xiu-min1,2

2015, 26(8):  2314-2320. 

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In order to explore the effects of NO₃^- stress on photosynthetic characteristics and nitrogen metabolism, strawberry seedlings were grown in sand culture condition under different concentrations of NO₃^- (64, 112 and 160 mmol·L^-1) with the control of 16 mmol NO₃^-·L^-1. The results indicated that at the 8th day after treatment, with the increased NO₃^- concentration, the strawberry leaf net photosynthetic rate (P_n), stomatal conductance (g_s), PSⅡactual photochemical efficiency (Φ_PSⅡ), PSⅡmaximum photochemical efficiency (F_v/F_m), and photochemical quenching coefficient (q_P) significantly decreased, and decreased by 67.7%, 68.4%, 35.7%, 23.2% and 26.9%, respectively, when NO₃^- concentration reached 160 mmol·L^-1 compared with the control. The nonphotochemical quenching coefficient (q_N) increased by 4.4%, 10.9% and 75.8% respectively in the treatments of 64, 112 and 160 mmol NO₃^-·L^-1 compared with the control. The intercellular CO₂ concentration (C_i) decreased under low NO₃^- concentration stress and then increased under high NO₃^- concentration stress, while the stomatal limitation (L_s) was vice versa. With the increased NO₃^- concentration, the nitrate nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, total nitrogen and Kjeldahl nitrogen contents in the strawberry leaves and roots increased, but the protein nitrogen content decreased. The activities of nitrate reductase (NR), glutamine sybthetase (GS), glutamate synthase (GOGAT) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) increased at low NO₃^- concentration and then decreased at high NO₃^- concentration. Consequently, the net photosynthetic rate of strawberry seedling leaves decreased, the PSⅡ electron transfer was blocked, the nitrogen accumulated with the increasing NO₃- concentration, and the nitrogen metabolism enzyme activity decreased at high NO₃^- concentrations. When the NO₃^- concentration reached 64 mmol·L^-1 or higher in the nutrient solution, the growth of strawberry seedlings were inhibited significantly.

Influence of dehydration and diurnal variation on characteristics of chlorophyll fluorescence of leaves in Haloxylon ammodendron and H. persicum.

SHEN Liang1, CHEN Jun1, LIU Sa1, XU Rong1, XU Chang-qing1, LIU Tong-ning2

2015, 26(8):  2321-2328. 

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To evaluate the ecological adaptation mechanism of Haloxylon ammodendron and H. persicum from Ningxia, the host of Cistanche deserticola, the chlorophyll fluorescence under dehydration and diurnal variation was determined by IMAGINGPAM method. The results showed that H. ammodendron had higher photosynthetic electron transport activity (F_v/F_m), photosynthetic efficiency (q_P), and PSⅡ electron transport activity (ETR) than H. persicum. After 48 h dehydration, the chlorophyll fluorescence and waterretaining property of H. ammodendron were significantly higher than those of H. persicum. The significant difference in diurnal variation between H. ammodendron and H. persicum was observed and a‘V’trend was exhibited. It suggested that H. ammodendron had a stronger ability to adapt to the environment and had wider distribution, while H. persicum was limited by water and light and had narrow distribution.

Effects of rotations and different green manure utilizations on crop yield and soil fertility.

YAO Zhi-yuan1, WANG Zheng1, LI Jing1, YU Chang-wei2, CAO Qun-hu2, CAO Wei-dong3, GAO Ya-jun1,4

2015, 26(8):  2329-2336. 

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A 4year field experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of three rotation systems and three corresponding leguminous green manure (LGM) application methods on wheat yield and soil properties. The rotation patterns were summer fallow  winter wheat (SW), LGM  winter wheat (LW) and LGM  spring maize  winter wheat (LMW). The three LGM application methods of LW included: early mulch, early incorporation and late incorporation while the three LGM application methods of LMW were: stalk mulch, stalk incorporation and stalk moveaway. The results indicated that for LW, LGM consumed more soil water, thus the wheat yield was not stable. The nitrate storage in 0-200 cm soil after wheat harvest was significantly higher than that of the others, indicating an increasing risk of nitrate leaching. Early mulch under LW had the highest soil organic carbon (SOC) content and storage of SOC (SSOC) in 0-20 cm soil. For LMW, wheat yield was comparatively stable among years, because of higher water storage before wheat seeding, and the nitrate storage in 0-200 cm soil after wheat harvest was significantly lower than LW, which decreased the risk of nitrate leaching. Stalk mulch had higher SOC content in 0-20 cm soil after wheat harvest compared with moveaway. In addition, compared with the soil  when the experiment started, stalk much also increased SSOC in 0-20 cm soil. In conclusion, LMW with stalk mulch could increase soil water storage, stabilize crop yield, improve soil fertility and decrease 0-200 cm soil nitrate storage. This system could be treated as a good alternative for areas with similar climate.

Reactive nitrogen loss pathways and their effective factors in paddy field in southern China.

WANG Gui-liang1,2, CUI Zhen-ling1, CHEN Xin-ping1, ZHANG Fu-suo1, ZHANG Jia-hong2, WANG Shou-hong2

2015, 26(8):  2337-2345. 

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Based on the literature data, the N₂O emission, N leaching, N runoff and NH₃ volatilization were compared from different rice production regions and their effective factors were evaluated. The results showed that N₂O emission, N leaching and N runoff in single rice in Yangtze River basin were higher than in other rice production regions, with N loss of 1.89, 6.4 and 10.4 kg N·hm^-2, and N loss rate of 0.8%, 3.8% and 5.3%, respectively. The high N₂O emission, N leaching and N runoff in these regions might be attributed to highrate N application and drywet alternation. The NH₃ volatilization was the highest in late rice in southern China, with N loss of 54.9 kg N·hm^-2 and N loss rate of 35.2% due to higher temperature at late rice growing stage. In the field, the practice often decreased one reactive N loss but increased another one, indicating that intergated practical management is necessary to reduce reactive N loss. Reactive N loss often increase with increasing grian yield, which is associed with the highrate N application. The N₂O emission, N leaching and N runoff decreased with increasing the partial factor productivity of applied N (PFP). Therefore, reducing N losses per unit of yield is necessary for integrating higher yield with minimum environmental pollution.

Index screening and comprehensive evaluation of phenotypic traits of low nitrogen tolerance using BILs population derived from Dongxiang wild rice

HU Biao-lin1,2, LI Xia1, WAN Yong1, QIU Zai-hui1, NIE Yuan-yuan3, XIE Jian-kun2

2015, 26(8):  2346-2352. 

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To identify the low nitrogen tolerance of Dongxiang wild rice (DXWR) and its progenies, ten phenotypic traits including plant height (PH), heading day (HD), panicle length (PL), number of effective tillers per plant (NETP), number of filled grains per panicle (NFGP), number of grains per panicle (NGP), grain density (GD), spikelet fertility (SF), 1000grain mass (TGM) and grain yield per plant (GYP) were studied under normal and low nitrogen treatments, using backcross inbred lines (BILs) of Xieqingzao B//DXWR/Xieqingzao B in BC₁F₁₂. Comprehensive evaluation on the low nitrogen tolerance of the BILs population was conducted using principal component analysis and the subordinate function. The evaluation results indicated that the low nitrogen tolerance of the line 116, 143 and 157 was the strongest, which could be served as the intermediate materials for genetic studies on the low nitrogen tolerance of DXWR and breeding for the low nitrogen tolerance in rice. The optimal regression equation of the low nitrogen tolerance in rice was established using stepwise regression analysis. The relative values of five traits including PH, NGP, SF, TGM and GYP were screened out and could be used as comprehensive evaluation indices for the low nitrogen tolerance in the whole growth stage. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the relative values of these five traits, especially for NGP and GYP, in the genetic improvement of the low nitrogen tolerance in rice.

Effects of supplemental irrigation by measuring moisture content in different soil layers on water consumption characteristics, photosynthesis and grain yield of winter wheat.

MAN Jian-guo, YU Zhen-wen, SHI Yu, ZHANG Yong-li

2015, 26(8):  2353-2361. 

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Field experiments were conducted during 2012—2014 winter wheat growing seasons. Six irrigation treatments were designed: rainfed, W₀; a local irrigation practice that irrigated at jointing and anthesis with 60 mm each time, W₁; four irrigation treatments were designed with target relative soil moisture of 65% field capacity (FC) at jointing and 70% FC at anthesis in 0-20 (W₂), 0-40 (W₃), 0-60 (W₄), and 0-140 cm (W₅) soil layers, respectively, to study the effects of supplemental irrigation by measuring moisture content in different soil layers on water consumption characteristics and photosynthesis and grain yield of winter wheat. The irrigation amounts at jointing in W₅ and W₄ were the highest, followed by W₃ treatment, W₂ and W₁ were the lowest. The irrigation amounts at anthesis and total irrigation amounts were ranked as W₅＞W₁, W₄＞W₃＞W₂, the total water consumption in W₃ was higher than that in W₂, but had no difference with that in W₁, W₄ and W₅ treatments, W₃ had the higher soil water consumption than W₁, W₄ and W₅ treatments, and the soil water consumption in 40-140 cm soil layers from jointing to anthesis and in 60-140 cm soil layers from anthesis to maturity in W₃ were significantly higher than the other treatments. The photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate and water use efficiency of flag leaf at middle stage of grain filling from the W₃ treatment were the highest, followed by the W₁and W₄ treatments, and W₀ treatment was the lowest. In the two growing seasons, the grain yield and water use efficiency in the W₃ were 9077-9260 kg·hm^-2 and 20.7-20.9 kg·hm^-2·mm^-1, respectively, which were higher than those from the other treatments, and the irrigation water productivity in the W₃ was the highest. As far as highyield and highwater use efficiency were concerned in this experiment, the most appropriate soil layer for measuring moisture content was 0-40 cm.

Effects of longterm mixed application of organic and inorganic fertilizers on canopy apparent photosynthesis and yield of winter wheat.

ZHAO Jun, DONG Shu-ting, LIU Peng, ZHANG Ji-wang, ZHAO Bin

2015, 26(8):  2362-2370. 

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A field experiment was conducted using the winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) variety Shimai 15. The source of organic nitrogen was cow manure, and four fertilization treatments were included, i.e., no N fertilizer application, single application of urea, single application of cow manure, and mixed application of urea and cow manure. The effects of different applications of inorganic and organic nitrogen on canopy apparent photosynthesis (CAP), photosynthetic rate of flag leaves (P_n), leaf area index (LAI), florescence parameters and grain yield of winter wheat were determined. The results showed that urea had the largest effect on the early growth period, as at this stage the CAP, P_n and LAI of the single application of urea were the highest, which was followed by the mixed application and the single application of cow manure. However, 10 days after anthesis, the single application of cow manure and the mixed application delayed the leaf senescence process when compared with the single application of urea. This could be due to the two treatments having higher antioxidant enzyme activity and promoting a longer green leaf duration, which could maintain a higher photosynthetic capability. What’s more, the mixed application had a better performance and got the highest grain yield. Consequently, the mixed application of organic and inorganic fertilizers could delay leaf senescence and maintain a better canopy structure and higher photosynthesis capability at the late grain filling stage, which resulted in a higher grain yield.

Estimation of sugar to nitrogen ratio in wheat leaves with near infrared spectrometry.

YAO Xia, WANG Xue, HUANG Yu, TANG Shou-peng, TIAN Yong-chao, CAO Wei-xing, ZHU Yan

2015, 26(8):  2371-2378. 

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The soluble sugar to nitrogen ratio reflects the coordination degree of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) metabolism. Precise and realtime monitoring of soluble sugar to nitrogen ratio is of significant importance for nitrogen diagnosis and management regulation in wheat production. In this study, timecourse near infrared spectroscopy and soluble sugar to nitrogen ratio of fresh and dry leaves were obtained under different field experiments with varied years and cultivar and N rates. The methods of partial least squares (PLS), backpropagation neural network (BPNN) and wavelet neural network (WNN) were used to develop the calibration models with the preprocessed spectra, respectively, and the dataset selected randomly was used to evaluate the constructed models. The results showed that the performance of the models for freshleaves was not satisfied, but good for dryleaves with the root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) by PLS, BPNN and WNN models based on 1655-2378 nm less than 0.3% and with the coefficients of determination (R²) over than 0.9, respectively. In comparison, the model based on WNN was the best one. All these indicated that near infrared spectrometry could be applied to estimating the soluble sugar to nitrogen ratio in plant. The results provided the theoretical basis and technological approach for diagnosing crop C/N.

 

Effects of irrigation using dairy effluent on grain yield, phosphorus utilization and distribution in soil profile in winter wheatsummer maize rotation system.

DU Hui-ying, FENG Jie, GUO Hai-gang, WANG Feng, ZHANG Ke-qiang

2015, 26(8):  2379-2386. 

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Field experiments of winter wheatsummer maize rotation were conducted in North China Plain irrigation area to explore the effects of wheat season irrigation with dairy effluent on grain yield, phosphorus uptake, accumulative phosphorus usage efficiency and phosphorus accumulation in soil. The results showed that the irrigation with dairy effluent significantly improved the yields of winter wheat and summer maize. With the increasing of P₂O₅ carried by dairy effluent into soil, winter wheat yield increased at first and then decreased. When the P₂O₅ increased 137 kg·hm^-2, winter wheat yield increased to the maximum (7646.4 kg·hm^-2) and the phosphorus utilization rate was the highest (24.8%). But excessive phosphorus decreased the winter wheat yield and phosphorus utilization efficiency. Summer maize yield and phosphorus uptake increased with the increase of P₂O₅ carried by dairy effluent. The summer maize yield increased by 2222.4-2628.6 kg·hm^-2 and the phosphorus uptake increased by 13.9-21.1 kg·hm^-2 in contrast to the control (CK). Under  conventional phosphorus fertilization at 88 kg·hm^-2, and the summer maize yield increased by 2235.0 kg·hm^-2 compared with CK. As the time of irrigation with dairy effluent increasing, the grain yield increased more significantly. The cumulative phosphorus utilization in this rotation system increased year by year. After six seasons of crop harvest, the cumulative phosphorus utilization rate increased into 40.0%-47.7%. Under the experimental condition, two times of irrigation with the dairy effluents in the winter wheatsummer maize rotation system was the best operating mode.

Effects of long-term different fertilizations on biomass and nutrient content of maize root.

CAI Miao, MENG Yan, MOHAMMAD Amin Ahmadzai, ZHOU Jian-bin

2015, 26(8):  2387-2396. 

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Taking two longterm local field trials at the south edge of the Loess Plateau, which were found in 1990 and 2003, respectively, as test subjects, the effects of different fertilization practices on the maize root biomass and nutrient content were investigated in this paper. Maize roots in the 0-20 cm top soil postmaize harvest from the different fertilization practices were collected by hand in October 2011. The results showed that compared with control without fertilization and N, NK, or PK treatments, the NP, NPK, fertilizers plus manure (M₁NPK and M₂NPK) or plus straw return (SNPK) treatments significantly increased the dry mass of maize root. The C, N, P and K contents in maize roots in the NP, NPK, M₁NPK, M₂NPK and SNPK treatments were also significantly higher than those of control, especially in the NPK plus organic manure treatments (M₁NPK and M₂NPK) in the trial. Compared with the N fertilizer free treatment (N₀), root biomass in the 120 kg N·hm^-2 (N₁₂₀) and 240 kg N·hm-2 (N₂₄₀) fertilization treatments increased by 38% and 45%, respectively, but there was no significant difference between N₁₂₀ and N₂₄₀ treatments. Nitrogen fertilizer application (N₁₂₀ and N₂₄₀) also improved the C, N, P and K contents in maize root. The water soluble organic C and total soluble N contents of maize root in the NP, NPK, M₁NPK, M₂NPK, SNPK and the N₁₂₀ and N₂₄₀ treatments were greater than those of control and other treatments. Otherwise, the cellulose and lignin contents in maize roots declined in the NPK, M₁NPK, M₂NPK, and SNPK treatments compared with other treatments. So the root C/N and lignin/N ratios in the control, PK and N₀ treatments were significantly higher than those in the NP, NPK, M₁NPK, M₂NPK and SNPK treatments. We concluded that the optimum fertilization (e.g., NP, NPK, MNPK and SNPK treatments) could increase maize root growth and nutrient content and improve soil fertility and carbon sequestration through root residue into soil.

Effects of sowing depth on seedling traits and root characteristics of summer maize.

CAO Hui-ying1, WANG Ding-bo2, SHI Jian-guo1, ZHU Kun-lun1, DONG Shu-ting1, LIU Peng1, ZHAO Bin1, ZHANG Ji-wang1

2015, 26(8):  2397-2404. 

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Two summer maize hybrids, Zhengdan 958 (ZD958) and Xianyu 335 (XY335), were used as experimental materials. 4 sowing depths (3, 5, 7 and 9 cm) and uneven sowing depth (CK) were designed under sand culture and field experiments to investigate the effects of sowing depth on seedling traits and root characteristics of summer maize. The results showed that the seedling emergence rate gradually decreased and seedling emergence time gradually lengthened as the sowing depth increased. Compared with the sowing depth of 3 cm, the seedling emergence rates of ZD958 and XY335 sown at the depth of 9 cm were reduced by 9.4% and 11.8%, respectively, and the seedling emergence duration was prolonged 1.5 d. With the increasing sowing depth, the seedling length and uniformity decreased significantly, the mesocotyl length increased significantly, while the coleoptile length had no significant difference; the primary radicle length gradually decreased, the total length of secondary radicle gradually increased, and the total root length had no significant difference; the total dry mass of seedling and mesocotyl increased significantly, and the total root dry mass had no significant difference. With the increasing sowing depth, the soluble sugar content in each part of seedling increased and the amount of nutritional consumption of germinating seeds increased, the seedling root growth rate increased, but the root activity decreased, and the number of total nodal root and nodal layers increased. With the increasing sowing depth, harvested ears per unit area were reduced by decreased seedling emergence rate and seedling vigor, thus influenced the yield. In addition, uniform sowing depth could improve the canopy uniformity and relative characteristics, then increase the yield.

 

Effects of strong wind lodging at pre and posttasseling stages on growth and yield of summer maize.

LI Shu-yan1, WANG Yu-xiang2, HU Cheng-da1, YAN Ying2

2015, 26(8):  2405-2413. 

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Surveying data for wind lodging disaster happening in Nanyang of Henan Province in August 1, 2013, were used to analyze the effects of strong wind lodging at pre and posttasseling stages on growth and yield of summer maize, and to determine the differences in lodging resistance among varieties and the suitable sowing time for summer maize. The survey included two varieties of summer maize, Xundan 20 and Zhengdan 958, with five and three sowing dates, respectively. The lodging was divided into four types, i.e., root slope (RS), root lodging (RL), stem bending (SB) and stem broken (SBK). The results showed that wind lodging occurring at pre and posttasseling stages resulted in high lodging percentages for both varieties and all sowing dates. The lodging percentage of Xundan 20 variety ranged between 86.0% and 98.5% for five sowing dates. For Zhengdan 958 variety, it ranged between 60.0% and 76.4% for three sowing dates. After tasseling, the earlier the sowing date, the lower the lodging rate occurred. The main lodging types happening around the tasseling stage were RL with the lodging rate of 53.0%-84.3% for sowing dates Ⅱ-Ⅴ of Xundan 20. The main lodging type for sowing date Ⅰwas SB with the lodging rate of 37.5%. Lodging reduced the aboveground dry matter with the greatest reduction rate occurring in SB, followed by RS and RL. Lodging increased the allocation of dry matter to leaves and stems, but decreased the allocation to spikes. RL and SB shortened the length and diameter of spike, and reduced the grain number per spike. The lodging occurring after the tasseling stage also reduced 100grain mass. RS had no significant effects on spike characters and yield components. The lodging had serious effects on the yield of summer maize. The yield loss was highest for SB with the reduction percentages of 74.2% and 68.7% for Xundan 20 and Zhengdan 958, respectively. SB occurring before the tasseling stage would lead to a complete crop failure. RL decreased the average yield by 46.3% and 46.5% for Xundan 20 and Zhengdan 958, respectively. RS decreased the averaged yield by 8.4% and 13.2% for Xundan 20 and Zhengdan 958, respectively. The mean  yields of Xundan 20 and Zhengdan 958 were 4959.9 and 6026.1 kg·hm^-2 after the wind lodging, respectively. The later the sowing date, the higher the yield loss rate was observed for Xundan 20, however, there were no significant difference in yield loss among different sowing dates of Zhengdan 958. In general, Zhengdan 958 had stronger lodging resistance than Xundan 20.

Effects of maize plant types on dry matter accumulation characteristics and yield of soybean in maizesoybean intercropping systems.

CUI Liang, YANG Wen-yu, HUANG Ni, LIU Jiang, WANG Yan-ling, WANG Xiao-hui, LIU Yang, YAN Shou

2015, 26(8):  2414-2420. 

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In order to explore the effects of maize plant types on dry matter accumulation and yield of soybean, a field experiment was conducted in 2013, including three maizesoybean relay strip intercropping systems. The relay strip intercropping systems were designed as soybean (Gongxuan 1) intercropped with Denghai 605 (RI₁), Chuandan 418 (RI₂) or Yayu 13 (RI₃), and the monocultured soybean was used as control. The results demonstrated that the dry matter accumulation rates of intercropped soybean in RI₂ and RI₃ treatments were lower than in RI₁ treatment, and the leaf, stem and pod dry matter accumulation of intercropped soybean in RI₁ treatment was 17.6%, 16.5% and 13.7% higher than that in RI₂ treatment, and 34.6%, 33.1% and 28.4% higher than that in RI₃ treatment, respectively. The distribution proportion of leaf and stem of intercropped soybean was in the order of RI1 > RI2 > RI3. However, the trend of the distribution proportion of pod was opposite. Compared with RI₂ and RI3, the dry matter translocation amount, translocation proportion, contribution proportion of soybean vegetative organs to pod of soybean were improved in RI₁ treatment, and the pod per plant, seeds per plant, seeds per pod, yield per plant and yield of soybean in RI₁ were higher than RI₂ and RI₃ by 6.8%, 11.5%, 4.4%, 15.9%, 15.6% and 14.3%, 22.2%, 6.7%, 33.4%, 36.8%, respectively. The results showed that the yield was positively related with the accumulation rate of dry matter, dry matter translocation, dry matter translocation ratio and the contribution of dry matter accumulation, and these indices were highest in RI₁ treatment. The results indicated that the compact maize relay intercropped with soybean could effectively regulate the dry matter accumulation, translocation and distribution, and improve the yield of soybean.

Effects of corn and soybean straws returning on CO₂ efflux at initial stage in black soil.

LIU Si-yi1,2, ZHANG Xiao-ping1, LIANG Ai-zhen1, JIA Shu-xia1, ZHANG Shi-xiu1, SUN Bing-jie1,2, CHEN Sheng-long1,2, YANG Xue-ming3

2015, 26(8):  2421-2427. 

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In this study, the CO₂ emission characteristics and its relationships with C and N concentration in soil amended with different types of residues were studied by thermostatic incubation method to investigate the decomposition characteristics of different types of residues after adding to the soil and the effect of C, N concentration in residues on carbon sequestration. The results showed that during 61 days incubation, the CO₂ efflux rates in the soils added with the different residues changed over time and exhibited an initial decrease, followed by a stable low plateau, and then an increase to a high plateau and finally followed by a decrease. The characteristics of CO₂ emissions varied with residues, with the differences mainly occurring in the starting and duration of the high plateau CO₂ emission period. The cumulative CO₂C emission was significantly affected by residue type. The cumulative CO₂C emissions from soils amended with corn roots, bottom corn stalks, corn leaves, and soybean leaves (about 160 μmol·g^-1 of soil and residue) were significantly greater than those from soils amended with other residues for the initial 21 days. Except for soybean leaves, the cumulative soil CO₂ emissions over the 61 day incubation period from soils amended with soybean residues were higher than that from soil amended with corn residues. There were significant linear relationships between the ratio of cumulative CO₂C emission to residue carbon concentration (CR), and both C/N and nitrogen concentration of residues in the initial 21 days incubation, but not for the entire 61 days incubation. Our study suggested that soil CO₂ emission was closely dependent upon the type of residue. Soybean residues decomposed more easily than corn residues. However, the decay rate of soybean residues was slower than that of corn residues at the initial stage of incubation. Soil CO2 emission was significantly affected by the C/N ratios and nitrogen concentrations of crop residues only at the early phase of incubation.

Key time window of fiber quality formation in response to shortterm higher temperature stress.

GUO Lin-tao, XU Bo, ZHOU Zhi-guo, ZHAO Wen-qing, WANG You-hua

2015, 26(8):  2428-2436. 

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By taking two cotton cultivars with different temperaturesensitivity (Sumian 15, temperaturesensitive cultivar and Kemian 1, temperatureinsensitive cultivar) as materials, an experiment with two  temperature regimes (high temperature: 34 ℃\[38/30 ℃\], HT and control: 26 ℃\[30/22 ℃\], CK) were set in climate chamber to study the change of key matters in different genotypes cotton in response to high temperature and their relationships with fiber quality. The results showed that as treated in the
34.0 ℃ hightemperature regime for 5 days at different DPA (days past anthesis), significant change in fiber quality was observed in the temperaturesensitive cultivar Sumian 15. The key time window for fiber length, fiber strength and Micronaire in response to the high temperature stress was from 0 to 18.3 DPA, 10.9 to 26.1 DPA, and 10.5 to 34.0 DPA, respectively. So, it could be concluded that the key time window of cotton fiber development in response to high temperature stress was around 11 to 18 DPA. After treated under high temperature stress at the key time window for 5 days, the content of sucrose decreased firstly then increased compared with that in the control, the content of callose increased and the content of cellulose decreased by 4.2% in maximum. The fiber length decreased (by 23.3% in maximum), fiber strength increased (by 4.3% in maximum), Micronaire decreased (by 10.5% in maximum), and the general fiber quality deteriorated. Similar changes and trends were also observed in the temperatureinsensitive cultivar Kemian 1 except that the variation degree was comparatively lower.

Effects of soil wetting pattern on the soil water-thermal environment and cotton root water consumption under mulched drip irrigation.

LI Dong-wei1,2, LI Ming-si1, LIU Dong1, LYU Mou-chao2, JIA Yan-hui2

2015, 26(8):  2437-2444. 

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To explore the effects of soil wetting pattern on soil waterthermal environment and water consumption of cotton root under mulched drip irrigation, a field experiment with three drip intensities (1.69, 3.46 and 6.33 L·h^-1), was carried out in Shihezi, Xinjiang Autonomous Region. The soil matric potential, soil temperature, cotton root distribution and water consumption were measured during the growing period of cotton. The results showed that the main factor influencing the soil temperature of cotton under plastic mulch was sunlight. There was no significant difference in the soil temperature and root water uptake under different treatments. The distribution of soil matrix suction in cotton root zone under plastic mulch was more homogeneous under ‘wide and shallow’ soil wetting pattern (W₆₃₃). Under the ‘wide and shallow’ soil wetting pattern, the average difference of cotton root water consumption between inner row and outer row was 0.67 mm·d^-1, which was favorable to the cotton growing trimly at both inner and outer rows; for the ‘narrow and deep’ soil wetting pattern (W₁₆₉), the same index was 0.88 mm·d^-1, which was unfavorable to cotton growing uniformly at both inner and outer rows. So, we should select the broadshallow type soil wetting pattern in the design of drip irrigation under mulch.

Assessment and early warning of land ecological security in rapidly urbanizing coastal area: A case study of Caofeidian new district, Hebei, China.

ZHANG Li, CHEN Ying, WANG Shu-tao, MEN Ming-xin, XU Hao

2015, 26(8):  2445-2454. 

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Assessment and early warning of land ecological security (LES) in rapidly urbanizing coastal area is an important issue to ensure sustainable land use and effective maintenance of land ecological security. In this study, an index system for the land ecological security of Caofeidian new district was established based on the Pressure-State-Response (P-S-R) model. Initial assessment units of 1 km×1 km created with the remote sensing data and GIS methods were spatially interpolated to a fine pixel size of 30 m×30 m, which were combined with the early warning method (using classification tree method) to evaluate the land ecological security of Caofeidian in 2005 and 2013. The early warning level was classed into four categories: security with degradation potential, sub-security with slow degradation, sub-security with rapid degradation, and insecurity. Result indicated that, from 2005 to 2013, the average LES of Caofeidian dropped from 0.55 to 0.52, indicating a degradation of land ecological security from medium security level to mediumlow security level. The areas at the levels of insecurity with rapid degradation were mainly located in the rapid urbanization areas, illustrating that rapid expansion of urban construction land was the key factor to the deterioration of the regional land ecological security. Industrial District, Shilihai town and Nanpu saltern, in which the lands at the levels of insecurity and sub-security with rapid degradation or slow degradation accounted for 58.3%, 98.9% and 81.2% of their respective districts, were at the stage of high early warning. Thus, land ecological security regulation for these districts should be strengthened in near future. The study could provide a reference for land use planning and ecological protection of Caofeidian new district.

Scenario analysis on sustainable development of SinoSingapore Tianjin Ecocity based on emergy and system dynamics.

LI Chun-fa, CAO Ying-ying, YANG Jian-chao, YANG Qi-qi

2015, 26(8):  2455-2465. 

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Dynamic evaluation of sustainable development is one of the key fundamental parts of the success of SinoSingapore Tianjin Ecocity, which is the first ecocity in China constructed by international cooperation. Based on the analysis of nature and economy, function and structure, planning control indices and so on, we constructed a sustainable development evaluation index system and a system dynamics model of SinoSingapore Tianjin Ecocity to explore dynamic trends of its population, material and currency by comprehensive utilization of emergy analysis and system dynamics method. Five scenarios were set up and simulated, including inertial scenario, scientific and technological scenario, economic scenario, environmental scenario and harmonious development scenario. Then, the sustainability of the 5 scenarios was evaluated and compared. The results showed that in the economy and environment sustainable development scenario, there was a steady growth trend of GDP, accumulation of both emergy and currency, and relatively lower values in emergy waste ratio, emergy ratio of waste, and emergy loading ratio. Although both sustainable evaluation indices, such as ESI and UEI, were relatively low, the economy and environment sustainable development scenario was still the best development scenario which was more active than others.


 

An ecological compensation standard based on water environmental capacity of Kouhe River, Liaoning Province, China. 

HOU Chun-fang, CHENG Quan-guo, LI Ye

2015, 26(8):  2466-2472. 

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Kouhe River water pollution caused by industry, agriculture and life sewage, not only reduced the water use function, but also directly affected the quality of Qinghe River. Due to the lack of effective management of water resources, the irrational use and water environment pollution occurred in Kouhe River basin. In this paper, in order to maintain the sustainable development of Kouhe River basin, taking Xifeng County and Kaiyuan City as two control units, COD as pollution factor, the water environmental capacity of Kouhe River basin was calculated. Combined with water quality monitoring data, river environment functional zone, pollution census data and the recovery cost of COD, an ecological compensation standard was determined. When the guarantee rates were 50%, 75%, and the average flow of the driest month in recent 10 years, the corresponding compensation standards of Xifeng County to downstream Kaiyuan City were 390.9×10⁴, 448.6×10⁴ and 514×10⁴ yuan·a^-1, respectively. The river basin ecological compensation mechanism was put forward which should include ecological compensation fund raising, allocation and supervision.

Level indicators construction and temporal-spatial distribution features of agricultural flood in the southwest of China.

WU Li1, HUO Zhi-guo1,2, ZHANG Lei3, YU Cai-xia1, YANG Jian-ying1, ZHANG Gui-xiang1

2015, 26(8):  2473-2481. 

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Flood level indicators of southwest provinces were built in this study by using daily precipitation data of 341 weather stations in southwest agricultural areas from 1961 to 2010 combined with grey correlation analysis. In the process of building the indicators, we took single station flood indicators of Chongqing as the prototype. Through increasing and decreasing the precipitation threshold of Chongqing indicators by the amplitude of -50-+50 mm and the step size of 1 mm, each province got 101 groups of flood indicators. Based on the correlation between flood intensity calculated by all the indicators and crop flood real seriousness, coincidence between indicators and historical flood records and the comparability of different province indicators, we finally constructed agricultural flood level indicators of each province step by step. According to the flood indicators, we also analyzed temporalspatial distribution features of flood disaster in southwest agricultural areas. The results were as follows: the final indicators of Yunnan were the original indicators plus 16 mm, while it was plus 30 mm for Guizhou and plus 40 mm for SichuanChongqing. The correlation coefficients between flood index defined by indicators and affected ratio were 0.314 (P<0.05), 0.553 (P<0.01) and 0.305 (P<0.05), respectively. The coincidence was relatively high between indicators and historical flood records. The ages in which flood disaster appeared very serious were 1980s in Yunnan, 1990s in Guizhou and 1980s and 2000s in SichuanChongqing in the nearly 50 years. In the southwest and southeast of Yunnan, southwest of Guizhou and west and northeast of Sichuan Basin, the flood disaster was prevalent.

Assessing environmental and economical benefits of integrated sewage treatment systems.

LI Jin-rong1, ZHANG Xiao-hong1, ZHANG Hang-bin2, PAN Heng-yu1, LIU Qiang1

2015, 26(8):  2482-2492. 

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Sewage treatment, treated water treatment and sludge treatment are three basic units of an integrated sewage treatment system. This work assessed the influence of reusing or discharge of treated water and sludge landfill or compost on the sustainability of an integrated sewage treatment system using emergy analysis and newly proposed emergy indicators. This system’s value included its environmental benefits and the products. Environmental benefits were the differences of the environmental service values before and after sewage treatment. Due to unavailability of data of the exchanged substance and energy in the internal system, products’ values were attained by newly proposed substitution values. The results showed that the combination of sewage treatment, treated water reuse and sludge landfill had the strongest competitiveness, while the combination of sewage treatment, treated water reuse and earthworm compost was the most sustainable. Moreover, treated water reuse and earthworm compost were helpful for improving the sustainability of the integrated sewage treatment system. The quality of treated water and local conditions should be also considered when implementing the treated water reuse or discharge. The resources efficiency of earthworm compost unit needed to be further improved. Improved emergy indices were more suitable for integrated sewage treatment systems.

Scale effect of Li-Xiang Railway construction impact on landscape pattern and its ecological risk.

WANG De-zhi1, QIU Peng-hua2, FANG Yuan-min1

2015, 26(8):  2493-2503. 

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As a large corridor project, plateau railway has multiple points and passes various sensitive environments along the railway. The determination of the scope of impact on ecological environment from railway construction is often controversial in ecological impact assessment work. Taking the TangbuJiantang section of LiXiang Railway as study object, and using present land use map (1:10000) in 2012 and DEM as data sources, corridor cutting degree index (CCI) and cumulative effect index of corridor (CCEI) were established by topology, buffer zone and landscape metrics methods. Besides, the ecological risk index used for railway construction was improved. By quantitative analysis of characteristics of the spatiotemporal change of landscape pattern and its evolution style at different spatial scales before and after railway construction, the most appropriate evaluation scale of the railway was obtained. Then the characteristics of the spatiotemporal variation of ecological risk within this scale before and after railway construction were analyzed. The results indicated that the cutting model and degree of railway corridor to various landscape types could be effectively reflected by CCI, and the exposure and harm relations between risk sources and risk receptors of railway can be measured by CCEI. After the railway construction, the railway corridor would cause a great deal of middle cutting effect on the landscape along the railroad, which would influence wood land and grassland landscape most greatly, while would cause less effect of edge cutting and internal cutting. Landscape indices within the 600 m buffer zone demonstrated the most obvious scale effect, therefore, the 600 m zone of the railway was set as the most suitable range of ecological impact assessment. Before railway construction, the low ecological risk level covered the biggest part of the 600 m assessment zone. However, after the railway construction, the ecological risk increased significantly, and the most part of the study area was at the moderate ecological risk level. The ecological risk presented ringshaped and multikernel patterns, and was lower in the southern part than in the northern part of the study area.

Identification of ecological corridors for Tibetan antelope and assessment of their human disturbances in the alpine desert of QinghaiTibet Plateau.

ZHUGE Hai-jin, LIN Dan-qi, LI Xiao-wen

2015, 26(8):  2504-2510. 

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The alpine desert of QinghaiTibet Plateau (QTP) provides the largest habitats for those endangered ungulates (e.g.， Tibetan antelope, Tibetan Kiang and wild yak) on the earth. However, human disturbance especially infrastructure constructions (e.g.， railway & highway) has increasingly fragmented the habitats of those endangered ungulates by disturbing and interrupting their ecological corridors for their seasonal migration. Aiming at identifying the potential ecological corridors for Tibetan antelope, a GISbased modelLinkage Mapper was used to model and detect the potential ecological corridors of Tibetan antelope based on the principle of least cost path. Three categories of ecological corridors， i.e., closed (inside reserves), linking (linking the reserves) and open (starting from reserve but ending outside) corridors were distinguished by their spatial interactions with existing major national nature reserves (i.e., Altun, Kekexili and Qiangtang NNRs) in the alpine desert of QTP, and their spatial patterns, conservation status associated with human disturbance were also examined. Although our research indicated a general ecological integration of both habitats and ecological corridors in the alpine desert ecosystem, increasing human disturbance should not be ignored, which particularly partially undermined the functioning of those ecological corridors linking the nature reserves. Considering disadvantages of prevailing separate administrative structure of nature reserve on the effective conservation of ecological corridors for those endangered ungulates, a coordinative conservation network among these major national nature reserves should be established to ensure the unified transboundary conservation efforts and to enhance its overall conservation efficacy by sharing information, knowledge and optimizing conservation resources.

Eupolyphaga frass and its extracts protected tomato from Meloidogyne incognita infestation.

WANG Xiao-yun1, WANG Xiu-feng1,2,3, WEI Min1,2, SHI Qing-hua1,2, YANG Feng-juan1,2

2015, 26(8):  2511-2517. 

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The control effects of Eupolyphaga (Eupolyphaga sinensis Walker) frass and its extracts on Meloidogyne incognita were studied through laboratory assays and pot experiments, and the organic volatile compounds and oligochitosan contents in the frass were analyzed. The results indicated that the nematode immobility and mortality was significantly increased with increasing the extract concentration and treatment time. Compared with the control, egg hatching was significantly inhibited when the extract concentration was beyond 20%. Pot experiment indicated that root galling of tomato seedlings was reduced and the relative control effect was significantly improved with the increasing frass application. Meanwhile, plant height, stem diameter and leaf number of tomato increased with the increasing dosage of eupolyphaga frass. The ingredients analysis showed that the content of oligochitosan was about 4.35% and there were 9 categories and 110 kinds of volatile compounds in the frass.

Catch composition of monofilament gillnet netting with different mesh sizes in Qingcaosha Reservoir, Shanghai, China.

LI Ya-lei1, WU Hao1,2, LIU Qi-gen1, CHEN Li-qiao3, HU Zhong-jun1

2015, 26(8):  2518-2524. 

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During 2010 to 2012, fish diversity in Qingcaosha Reservoir was studied based on gillnets (multimesh monofilament gillnets and singlemesh trammel gillnets), electric fishing, bottom trawl and cage. The investigation collected a total of 34 fish species, belonging to 8 orders, 12 families. Cypriniformes contained the largest number of species (19 species) in the collection, followed by Perciformes (6 species). Multimesh monofilament gillnets sampled 19 fish species, of which Coilia nasus was the dominant species. Hierarchical cluster analysis indicated that mesh size of monofilament gillnets had significant influence on the composition of catches: C. nasus and Hemiculter bleekeri were the dominant species of catches of gillnet netting with mesh size of 2 cm, while C. nasus was the dominant species of catches of the nettings with mesh sizes larger than 2 cm. Species numbers and the catch per unit of effort (CPUE) had a decreasing tendency with the increasing  mesh size. Mesh size also had significant effects on the total length distribution of the dominant species C. nasus, which increased with the increasing  mesh size. The results suggested that a combination of several gears was required to reliably estimate fish diversity of standing waters.

Long-term pattern of diatom community structure changes in response to multiple environmental stressors at Datun Lake, Southeast Yunnan, China.

TAO Jian-shuang, CHEN Guang-jie, CHEN Xiao-lin, LIU Yuan-yuan, LU Hui-bin, HU Kui

2015, 26(8):  2525-2533. 

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Subtropical plateau lakes in Southeast Yunnan are known to have experienced multiple environmental stressors (lake pollution, eutrophication, land reclamation and droughts) during the past decades. Here, we applied multiproxy analyses (i.e.， diatom, grain size, C and N isotopic and chronology) of lake sediments, aiming to track the history of lake environment change and the characteristics of diatom community responses in Datun Lake for the past century. The results proved that the sedimentary diatom community records showed significant changes with the replacement of Fragilaria construens by Achnanthes minutissima. Combining with multipleproxy records (i.e.， isotopic data) and modern monitoring records, the ordination analyses and variation partitioning further suggested that industrial pollution and eutrophication were the major driving factors that led to the longterm shift of diatom community. In addition, the grain size results and meteorological data revealed that the reductions in hydrodynamic and water exchange intensity associated with damming and the occurrence of extreme droughts, thus led to the corresponding diatom community change.

Community characteristics of crustacean zooplankton and its relationship with environmental factors in Suzhou Industrial Park, Jiangsu Province, China.

YU Ting-ting1, ZHU Ya1, XU Long2, ZHAO Lei3, QIAN Wen-jie2, CHANG Qing1, WANG Guo-xiang4, CHEN Jian-qin5

2015, 26(8):  2534-2542. 

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The monthly sampling data from June 2012 to May 2013 were used to study the composition and structure of the crustacean zooplankton community in the lakes and rivers of Suzhou Industrial Park. The variations in density and biomass of the crustacean zooplankton and their relationship with the environment factors were investigated. The results showed that a total of 42 species of crustacean zooplankton were found, including 24 species of cladocerans which belonged to 6 families and 12 genera, and 18 copepods which belonged to 7 families and 13 genera. The dominant species were Diaphanosoma brachyurum, Bosmina longirostris, Sinocalanus dorrii and Cyclops vicinus in all seasons of the year  both in the rivers and the lakes. The density and biomass of the crustacean zooplankton in summer and autumn were higher than that in winter and spring, and there were two peaks in summer and autumn respectively  both in the lakes and the rivers. The average density and biomass of cladocerans in the rivers were significantly higher than that in the lakes. There was no significant difference in the average density of Copepods between the rivers and the lakes, but the biomass in the rivers was higher than that in the lakes significantly. There were significant differences in dissolved oxygen, pH, Secchi depth, total dissolved solids, salinity, total phosphorus, total nitrogen and ammonium nitrogen between the lakes and the rivers. Redundancy analysis showed that the distribution of most of crustacean zooplankton was positively correlated with water temperature, the salinity, COD_Mn and total phosphorus concentrations and only the distribution of the species belonging to genus Daphnia and Scapholeberis was positively correlated with O₂ concentration, pH, and Secchi depth in both the rivers and the lakes in Suzhou Industrial Park.

Effects of environmental factors on β diversity of zooplankton community in thermal discharge seawaters near Guohua Power Plant in Xiangshan Bay, Zhejiang, China.

ZHU Yi-feng1,2, DAI Mei-xia1, ZHOU Xiao-hong1, LIN Xia1,2, MAO Shuo-qian1, YAN Xiao-jun1,2

2015, 26(8):  2543-2552. 

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Zooplankton samples were seasonally collected at 10 stations in thermal discharge seawaters near Guohua Power Plant in Xiangshan Bay. The abundance data from these samples were pooled and further combined with field environmental factors, then generalised dissimilarity modelling (GDM) was used to explore the effects of environmental factors on β diversity of zooplankton community. The results showed that altogether 95 species of zooplankton belonging to 14 taxa were found. In these taxa, small zooplankton with 62.6% of abundance was the main taxa, while copepods dominated in adult groups, which abundance accounted for 35.3%. According to Whittaker’s definition and additive partition, α diversity accounted for 36.3% and β diversity 63.7%. Environmental factors explained 43.8% of β diversity, and geographical distance between sampling sites had no effect on β diversity. However, there were still 19.9% of β diversity remained to be explained. After GDM fitting, there were nine environmental variables affecting zooplankton β diversity and explaining 68.8% of β diversity. The variables contributing to β diversity from high to low were seasonal water temperature, dissolved oxygen, seawater temperature increment, conductivity, suspended particulate matter, salinity, transparency, water depth and redox potential, respectively. Seasonal water temperatur, dissolved oxygen and seawater temperature increment were the most important factors for driving β diversity changes, and accounted for 23.9%, 13.7% and 9.7% of absolute contribution to the interpretable portion of the β diversity, respectively. When seasonal water temperature, dissolved oxygen and seawater temperature increment were below   25 ℃, greater than  5 mg·L^-1 and over  1 ℃, respectively, ^β diversity rapidly increased with the increasing variable gradients. Furthermore, other predictors had little effect on ^β diversity.

Construction and evaluation of an engineered bacterial strain for producing lipopeptide under anoxic conditions.

LIANG Xiao-long1,2, ZHAO Feng3, SHI Rong-jiu1, BAN Yun-he4, ZHOU Ji-dong1,2, HAN Si-qin1, ZHANG Ying1

2015, 26(8):  2553-2560. 

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Biosurfactantfacilitated oil recovery is one of the most important aspects of microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). However, the biosurfactant production by biosurfactantproducing microorganisms, most of which are aerobes, is severely suppressed due to the insitu anoxic conditions within oil reservoirs. In this research, we successfully engineered a strain JD-3, which could grow rapidly and produce lipopeptide under anoxic conditions, by protoplast confusion using a Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain BQ-2 which produces biosurfactant aerobically, and a facultative anaerobic Pseudomonas stutzeri strain DQ-1 as parent strains. The alignment of 16S rDNA sequence (99% similarity) and comparisons of cell colony morphology showed that fusant JD-3 was closer to the parental strain B. amyloliquefaciens BQ-2. The surface tension of culture broth of fusant JD-3, after 36hour cultivation under anaerobic conditions, decreased from initially 63.0  to 32.5 mN·m^-1. The results of thin layer chromatography and infrared spectrum analysis demonstrated that the biosurfactant produced by JD-3 was lipopeptide. The surfaceactive lipopeptide had a low critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 90 mg·L^-1 and presented a good ability to emulsify various hydrocarbons such as crude oil, liquid paraffin, and kerosene. Strain JD-3 could utilize peptone as nitrogen source and sucrose, glucose, glycerin or other common organics as carbon sources for anaerobic lipopeptide synthesis. The subculture of fusant JD-3 showed a stable lipopeptideproducing ability even after ten serial passages. All these results indicated that fusant JD-3 holds a great potential to microbially enhance oil recovery under anoxic conditions.

Heat-responsive mechanisms in plants revealed by proteomic analysis: A review.

LIU Jun-ming1, ZHAO Qi1, YIN Ze-peng1, XU Chen-xi2, WANG Quan-hua2, DAI Shao-jun1

2015, 26(8):  2561-2570. 

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Heat stress is a major abiotic stress that limits plant growth and productivity. In recent years, proteomic investigations provide more information for understanding the sophisticated heatresponsive molecular mechanism in plants at systematic biological level. The heatresponsive proteomic patterns in several plants, i.e., model plants (Arabidopsis thaliana), staple food crops (soybean, rice and wheat), heattolerant plants (Agrostis stolonifera, Portulaca oleracea, and Carissa spinarum), grapevine, Populus euphratica, Medicago sativa, and Pinellia ternate, were reported. A total of 838 heatresponsive proteins have been identified in these studies. Among them, 534 proteins were induced and the expression of 304 proteins was reduced in plants under heat stress. In this paper, the diverse protein patterns in plants under various heat stress conditions (30-45 ℃ for 0-10 d) were analyzed integratively. This provided new evidences and clues for further interpreting the signaling and metabolic pathways, e.g., signaling, stress and defense, carbohydrate and energy metabolism, photosynthesis, transcription, protein synthesis and fate, membrane and transport, in heatresponsive networks, and laid a foundation for a holistic understanding of the molecular regulatory mechanism in plants in response to heat stress.

Discussion on agricultural product quality and safety problem from ecological view.

XIAO Ming1, DONG Nan2, LYU Xin3

2015, 26(8):  2571-2580. 

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There are many different perspectives about the sustainable agriculture, which had been proposed since the last three decades in the world. While China’s ecologists and agronomists proposed a similar concept named ‘ecological agriculture’. Although ecological agriculture in China has achieved substantial progress, including theory, models and supporting technologies nearly several decades of practice and development, its application guidance still is not yet clear. The organic agriculture model proposed by European Union is popular, but it is limited in the beneficiary groups and the social and ecological responsibility. In this context, the article based on an ecological point of view, analyzed the shortcomings of ecological imbalance caused by a single mode of agricultural production and the negative impact on the quality of agricultural products, and discussed the core values of ecological agriculture. On this basis, we put forward the concept of sustainable security of agricultural products. Based on this concept, an agricultural platform was established under the healthy ecosysphere environment, and from this agricultural platform, agricultural products could be safely and sustainably obtained. Around the central value of the concept, we designed the agricultural sustainable and security production model. Finally, we compared the responsibility, benefiting groups, agronomic practices selection and other aspects of sustainable agriculture with organic agriculture, and proved the advancement of sustainable agricultural model in agricultural production quality and safety.

A review of green roof performance towards management of roof runoff.

CHEN Xiao-ping, HUANG Pei, ZHOU Zhi-xiang, GAO Chi

2015, 26(8):  2581-2590. 

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Green roof has a significant influence on reducing runoff volume, delaying runoffyielding time, reducing the peak flow and improving runoff quality. This paper addressed the related research around the world and concluded from several aspects, i.e., the definition of green roof of different types, the mechanism how green roof manages runoff quantity and quality, the ability how green roof controls roof runoff, and the influence factors of green roof toward runoff quantity and quality. Afterwards, there was a need for more future work on research of green roof toward roof runoff, i.e., vegetation selection of green roof, efficient construction model selection of green roof, the regulating characteristics of green roof on roof runoff, the value assessment of green roof on roof runoff, analysis of sourcesink function of green roof on the water pollutants of roof runoff and the research on the mitigation measures of roof runoff pollution. This paper provided a guideline to develop green roofs aiming to regulating roof runoff.