scholarly journals Environmental Drivers and Age Trends in Site Productivity for Oak in Southern Poland

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 209
Author(s):  
Luiza Tymińska-Czabańska ◽  
Jarosław Socha ◽  
Marek Maj ◽  
Dominika Cywicka ◽  
Xo Viet Hoang Duong
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Deposition ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Additive Model ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Site Productivity ◽  
Site Factors ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Si Model

Site productivity provides critical information for forest management practices and is a fundamental measure in forestry. It is determined using site index (SI) models, which are developed using two primary groups of methods, namely, phytocentric (plant-based) or geocentric (earth-based). Geocentric methods allow for direct site growth modelling, in which the SI is predicted using multiple environmental indicators. However, changes in non-static site factors—particularly nitrogen deposition and rising CO2 concentration—lead to an increase in site productivity, which may be visible as an age trend in the SI. In this study, we developed a geocentric SI model for oak. For the development of the SI model, we used data from 150 sample plots, representing a wide range of local topographic and site conditions. A generalized additive model was used to model site productivity. We found that the oak SI depended predominantly on physicochemical soil properties—mainly nitrogen, carbon, sand, and clay content. Additionally, the oak SI value was found to be slightly shaped by the topography, especially by altitude above sea level, and topographic position. We also detected a significant relationship between the SI and the age of oak stands, indicating the long-term increasing site productivity for oak, most likely caused by nitrogen deposition and changes in climatic conditions. The developed geocentric site productivity model for oak explained 77.2% of the SI variation.

scholarly journals Inoculant, nitrogen and phosphorus improves photosynthesis and water-use efficiency in soybean production

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
C. E. N. Savala ◽  
A. N. Wiredu ◽  
J. O. Okoth ◽  
S. Kyei-Boahen
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Use Efficiency

Abstract Soybean yield within the Southern Africa falls below its potential despite similar climatic conditions across some agroecologies, replicable agronomic management practices and introduced improved varieties. Understanding physiological processes and water-use efficiency (WUE) of soybean offer information on bridging this yield gap. A field study was conducted in 2017 and 2018 seasons in two agroecologies (Angonia and Ruace) in Mozambique to evaluate the effects of Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens strain USDA110 formerly known as Bradyrhizobium japonicum inoculant, nitrogen and phosphorus on nodulation, physiology and yield of non-promiscuous (Safari) and promiscuous (TGx 1740-2F) soybean varieties. Data on transpiration, photosynthesis, leaf area index, radiation interception and WUE from the beginning of flowering to maturity were collected. Transpiration rate varied considerably with interaction between locations, growth stages, varieties and treatments. At podding, phosphorus-treated soybean at Angonia transpired less (6.3 mmol/m2/s) than check plants (6.6 mmol/m2/s). Photosynthesis rate and WUE were distinct with variety, growth stages and inputs within agroecologies. For instance, in Angonia 2018 season, phosphorus fertilized TGx 1740-2F photosynthesized more at flowering (25.3 μmol/m2/s) while the lowest was phosphorus-treated Safari at podding with 17.2 μmol/m2/s. At the same site in 2017, inoculated soybean photosynthesized more at 22.8 μmol/m2/s leading to better WUE of 3.6 that corresponded to 2894 kg/ha yield. Overall, soybean WUE was higher when inoculated than N-treated, while P application yielded better. Results from this study will complement breeders’ effort in developing phosphorus efficient varieties suited for a wide range of changing climatical conditions.

Projections of climate change effects on pasture productivity, GHG exchanges and soil carbon stocks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Puche ◽  
Nicolas Viovy ◽  
Miko Kirschbaum ◽  
Abad Chabbi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Climate Feedback ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Pastoral Systems ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Climate Change Effects

<p>Agriculture is intimately affected by climate change (atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> concentration, temperature, precipitation and patterns of climate extremes), and there are major societal concerns about climate change effects on agriculture lands and hence food security in the 21st century. Despite those concerns, there is still only poor understanding of the possible impacts of climate change on the productivity and carbon dynamics of rain-fed pastoral systems in France, particularly their direction and magnitude over long time scales. The present study uses 3 scenarios (e.g. RCP 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5) of possible future climatic conditions and assesses their effects on productivity and SOC stocks of mowed and rotationally grazed grasslands. We used the CenW ecosystem model to simulate carbon, water, and nitrogen cycles in response to changes in environmental drivers and management practices. The simulations indicated that grassland productivity was increased through CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization and higher water use efficiencies but that SOC losses between 5% and 23% (if CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization is not accounted for in the simulations) are expected due to higher temperatures and biomass exports. Such losses may further affect climate feedback loop and jeopardize the agroecosystem sustainability. More extreme climate events were expected under more pessimistic climate change scenarios with very different outcomes if the CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization effect is accounted for or not. This study showed that under the current management practices implemented at the study site, soil C losses were expected over the 21st century under climate change conditions, highlighting the need to modify/adapt farming practices.</p>

Impression management and legitimacy strategies: The BP case

2013 ◽  
pp. 35-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanna Michelon
Keyword(s):  
Impression Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
British Petroleum ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Management Techniques ◽  
Disclosure Tone ◽  
The Empirical Analysis ◽  
A Company ◽  
Texas City

The aim of this paper is to study if and how impression management varies during different phases of the legitimation process, in particular during the legitimacy building and legitimacy repairing phases (Suchman, 1995). We aim at understanding whether and how the disclosure tone adopted by a company in the two different moments is diverse and thus functional to the intrinsic objective of the each phase. The empirical analysis focuses on the case of British Petroleum Plc. We investigated the impression management practices undertaken by the company both during the preparation of the rebranding operation, i.e. a situation in which the company is trying to build legitimacy; and during the happenings of two legitimacy crises, like the explosion of the refinery in Texas City and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The evidence appears in line with the theoretical prediction of legitimacy theory. Results show that while the company tends to privilege image enhancement techniques during the legitimacy-building phase, it uses more obfuscation techniques when managing a legitimacy-repairing process. Moreover, the analysis suggests that the company makes more extensive use of impression management techniques in the disclosures addressed to shareholders, investors and other market operators than in the disclosures addressed to the wide range of other stakeholders.

scholarly journals Fitness of Herbicide-Resistant Weeds: Current Knowledge and Implications for Management

Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vila-Aiub
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Herbicide Resistance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Resistance Management ◽  
Fitness Cost ◽  
Plant Fitness ◽  
Resistance Mutations ◽  
Fitness Costs ◽  
Wide Range

Herbicide resistance is the ultimate evidence of the extraordinary capacity of weeds to evolve under stressful conditions. Despite the extraordinary plant fitness advantage endowed by herbicide resistance mutations in agroecosystems under herbicide selection, resistance mutations are predicted to exhibit an adaptation cost (i.e., fitness cost), relative to the susceptible wild-type, in herbicide untreated conditions. Fitness costs associated with herbicide resistance mutations are not universal and their expression depends on the particular mutation, genetic background, dominance of the fitness cost, and environmental conditions. The detrimental effects of herbicide resistance mutations on plant fitness may arise as a direct impact on fitness-related traits and/or coevolution with changes in other life history traits that ultimately may lead to fitness costs under particular ecological conditions. This brings the idea that a “lower adaptive value” of herbicide resistance mutations represents an opportunity for the design of resistance management practices that could minimize the evolution of herbicide resistance. It is evident that the challenge for weed management practices aiming to control, minimize, or even reverse the frequency of resistance mutations in the agricultural landscape is to “create” those agroecological conditions that could expose, exploit, and exacerbate those life history and/or fitness traits affecting the evolution of herbicide resistance mutations. Ideally, resistance management should implement a wide range of cultural practices leading to environmentally mediated fitness costs associated with herbicide resistance mutations.

scholarly journals Soil Nitrogen Dynamics in a Managed Temperate Grassland Under Changed Climatic Conditions

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 931
Author(s):  
Mona Giraud ◽  
Jannis Groh ◽  
Horst H. Gerke ◽  
Nicolas Brüggemann ◽  
Harry Vereecken ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Uptake ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Nitrogen Concentration ◽  
Nitrogen Dynamics ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Undisturbed Soil ◽  
Nitrogen Emissions ◽  
Growing Period ◽  
Grassland Type ◽  
Wide Range

Grasslands are one of the most common biomes in the world with a wide range of ecosystem services. Nevertheless, quantitative data on the change in nitrogen dynamics in extensively managed temperate grasslands caused by a shift from energy- to water-limited climatic conditions have not yet been reported. In this study, we experimentally studied this shift by translocating undisturbed soil monoliths from an energy-limited site (Rollesbroich) to a water-limited site (Selhausen). The soil monoliths were contained in weighable lysimeters and monitored for their water and nitrogen balance in the period between 2012 and 2018. At the water-limited site (Selhausen), annual plant nitrogen uptake decreased due to water stress compared to the energy-limited site (Rollesbroich), while nitrogen uptake was higher at the beginning of the growing period. Possibly because of this lower plant uptake, the lysimeters at the water-limited site showed an increased inorganic nitrogen concentration in the soil solution, indicating a higher net mineralization rate. The N2O gas emissions and nitrogen leaching remained low at both sites. Our findings suggest that in the short term, fertilizer should consequently be applied early in the growing period to increase nitrogen uptake and decrease nitrogen losses. Moreover, a shift from energy-limited to water-limited conditions will have a limited effect on gaseous nitrogen emissions and nitrate concentrations in the groundwater in the grassland type of this study because higher nitrogen concentrations are (over-) compensated by lower leaching rates.

scholarly journals Potential Use of Organic- and Hard-Rock Mine Wastes on Aided Phytostabilization of Large-Scale Mine Tailings under Semiarid Mediterranean Climatic Conditions: Short-Term Field Study

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Santibañez ◽  
Luz María de la Fuente ◽  
Elena Bustamante ◽  
Sergio Silva ◽  
Pedro León-Lobos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mine Tailings ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Hard Rock ◽  
Mine Waste ◽  
Organic Amendments ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Goat Manure ◽  
Site Rehabilitation

The study evaluated the efficacy of organic- and hard-rock mine waste type materials on aided phytostabilization of Cu mine tailings under semiarid Mediterranean conditions in order to promote integrated waste management practices at local levels and to rehabilitate large-scale (from 300 to 3,000 ha) postoperative tailings storage facilities (TSFs). A field trial with 13 treatments was established on a TSF to test the efficacy of six waste-type locally available amendments (grape and olive residues, biosolids, goat manure, sediments from irrigation canals, and rubble from Cu-oxide lixiviation piles) during early phases of site rehabilitation. Results showed that, even though an interesting range of waste-type materials were tested, biosolids (100 t ha-1dry weight, d.w.) and grape residues (200 t ha-1d.w.), either alone or mixed, were the most suitable organic amendments when incorporated into tailings to a depth of 20 cm. Incorporation of both rubble from Cu-oxide lixiviation piles and goat manure into upper tailings also had effective results. All these treatments improved chemical and microbiological properties of tailings and lead to a significant increase in plant yield after three years from trial establishment. Longer-term evaluations are, however required to evaluate self sustainability of created systems without further incorporation of amendments.

scholarly journals A Cross-sectional Survey of the North American Skull Base Society: Current Practice Patterns of Vestibular Schwannoma Evaluation and Management in North America

2017 ◽  
Vol 79 (03) ◽  
pp. 289-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Van Gompel ◽  
R. Wiet ◽  
Nicole Tombers ◽  
Anand Devaiah ◽  
Devyani Lal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Skull Base ◽  
Vestibular Schwannoma ◽  
North American ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Current Practice ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Wide Range

Background Very few studies have examined vestibular schwannoma (VS) management trends across centers and between providers. The objective of this study is to examine current practice trends, variance in treatment philosophies, and nuanced or controversial aspects of VS care across North America. Methods This is a cross-sectional survey of North American Skull Base Society (NASBS) members who report regular involvement in VS care. Results A total of 57 completed surveys were returned. Most respondents claimed to have over 20 years of experience and the majority reported working in an academic practice with an affiliated otolaryngology and/or neurosurgery residency program. Sixty-three percent of respondents claimed to evaluate VS patients in clinic with both an otolaryngologist and neurosurgeon involved. Eighty-six percent of respondents claimed to operate on VS with both an otolaryngologist and neurosurgeon involved, while only 18% of neurosurgeons and 9% of otolaryngologists performed surgery alone. There was a wide range in the number of cases evaluated at each center annually. Similarly, there was wide variation in the number of patients treated with microsurgery and radiation at each center. Additional details regarding management preferences for microsurgery, stereotactic radiosurgery, stereotactic radiotherapy, and conservative observation are presented. Conclusion VS management practices vary between providers and centers. Overall, most centers employ a multidisciplinary approach to management with collaboration between otolaryngology and neurosurgery. Overall, survey responses concur with previous studies suggesting a shift toward conservatism in management.

Fire regime shift linked to increased forest density in a piñon–juniper savanna landscape

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellis Q. Margolis
Keyword(s):  
Regime Shift ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Tree Density ◽  
High Severity ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
In Fire

Piñon–juniper (PJ) fire regimes are generally characterised as infrequent high-severity. However, PJ ecosystems vary across a large geographic and bio-climatic range and little is known about one of the principal PJ functional types, PJ savannas. It is logical that (1) grass in PJ savannas could support frequent, low-severity fire and (2) exclusion of frequent fire could explain increased tree density in PJ savannas. To assess these hypotheses I used dendroecological methods to reconstruct fire history and forest structure in a PJ-dominated savanna. Evidence of high-severity fire was not observed. From 112 fire-scarred trees I reconstructed 87 fire years (1547–1899). Mean fire interval was 7.8 years for fires recorded at ≥2 sites. Tree establishment was negatively correlated with fire frequency (r=–0.74) and peak PJ establishment was synchronous with dry (unfavourable) conditions and a regime shift (decline) in fire frequency in the late 1800s. The collapse of the grass-fuelled, frequent, surface fire regime in this PJ savanna was likely the primary driver of current high tree density (mean=881treesha–1) that is >600% of the historical estimate. Variability in bio-climatic conditions likely drive variability in fire regimes across the wide range of PJ ecosystems.

scholarly journals A reliable rainfall–runoff model for flood forecasting: review and application to a semi-urbanized watershed at high flood risk in Italy

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 726-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Masseroni ◽  
Alessio Cislaghi ◽  
Stefania Camici ◽  
Christian Massari ◽  
Luca Brocca
Keyword(s):  
Flood Risk ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Rainfall Runoff ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Median Volume ◽  
Flood Estimation ◽  
High Flood ◽  
Rainfall Runoff Model ◽  
Flooding Events

Many rainfall–runoff (RR) models are available in the scientific literature. Selecting the best structure and parameterization for a model is not straightforward and depends on a broad number of factors, including climatic conditions, catchment characteristics, temporal/spatial resolution and model objectives. In this study, the RR model ‘Modello Idrologico Semi-Distribuito in continuo’ (MISDc), mainly developed for flood simulation in Mediterranean basins, was tested on the Seveso basin, which is stressed several times a year by flooding events mainly caused by excessive urbanization. The work summarizes a compendium of the MISDc applications over a wide range of catchments in European countries and then it analyses the performances over the Seveso basin. The results show a good fit behaviour during both the calibration and the validation periods with a Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient index larger than 0.9. Moreover, the median volume and peak discharge errors calculated on several flood events were less than 25%. In conclusion, we can be assured that the reliability and computational speed could make the MISDc model suitable for flood estimation in many catchments of different geographical contexts and land use characteristics. Moreover, MISDc will also be useful for future support of real-time decision-making for flood risk management in the Seveso basin.

scholarly journals Applying Nitrogen Site-Specifically Using Soil Electrical Conductivity Maps and Precision Agriculture Technology

2001 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 767-776 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.D. Lund ◽  
M.C. Wolcott ◽  
G.P. Hanson
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Soil Texture ◽  
Precision Agriculture ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
N Availability ◽  
Soil Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Variable Yield ◽  
Wide Range

Soil texture varies significantly within many agricultural fields. The physical properties of soil, such as soil texture, have a direct effect on water holding capacity, cation exchange capacity, crop yield, production capability, and nitrogen (N) loss variations within a field. In short, mobile nutrients are used, lost, and stored differently as soil textures vary. A uniform application of N to varying soils results in a wide range of N availability to the crop. N applied in excess of crop usage results in a waste of the grower’s input expense, a potential negative effect on the environment, and in some crops a reduction of crop quality, yield, and harvestability. Inadequate N levels represent a lost opportunity for crop yield and profit. The global positioning system (GPS)-referenced mapping of bulk soil electrical conductivity (EC) has been shown to serve as an effective proxy for soil texture and other soil properties. Soils with a high clay content conduct more electricity than coarser textured soils, which results in higher EC values. This paper will describe the EC mapping process and provide case studies of site-specific N applications based on EC maps. Results of these case studies suggest that N can be managed site-specifically using a variety of management practices, including soil sampling, variable yield goals, and cropping history.

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