Geochemical fingerprints for tracing sediments in the sub-catchment Durazno del Medio, Argentina

<p>Soil erosion is one of the most serious environmental problems caused by land-use changes in semi-arid regions of central Argentina. Hence, to understand the erosive dynamics in these regions becomes fundamental. </p><p>Sub-catchment Durazno del Medio (6.56 km<sup>2</sup>) is located 21 km northeast of San Luis City (S 33º 08’ 16” – W 66º 09’ 18”; S 33º 11’ 44” – W 66º 08’ 06”), in the central region of Argentina. The average annual temperature is 17 ºC. Annual rainfall ranges from 600 to 800 mm, with a tendency to increase in the last years. Rainfall varies seasonally, with a dry season from May to October and a rainy season from November to April. This agricultural catchment has been researched to identify critical hot spots of land degradation by applying sediment source fingerprinting techniques. </p><p>In the studied area, exotic tree plantations in protected areas (in a state of youth development), native woodland, roads (dirt and paved), agricultural fields, and channel banks were identified as sources of sediments. Most of the sources were found on quaternary deposits (loessoid deposits), except native forests and some roads, which were found in gneiss and migmatites. The sub-catchment has a drainage network formed by two water courses that converge into the main one. Channel sediments (mixtures) were collected at the end of the main channel.</p><p>The energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analytical technique and the MixSIAR unmixing model were implemented to estimate the contribution of sediment sources in mixtures. The sources and mixtures (tablets) were analyzed in triplicate using a Si-Li detector SDD (resolution 145 keV, Kalpha Mn) with a X ray tube of 50 W and 50 kV. The tracers were analyzed using a fundamental parameters method. Since the selection of correct fingerprints has been proven to be an essential stage in the analysis, before unmixing the natural sediment samples, two artificial mixtures were made using known quantities of soil collected in the identified sources to test the precision and robustness of the tracers selection procedure. These analyses showed that the use of most of the tracers (25 elements) increases the exactitude of calculated proportions. The first mixture was made using two sources, exotic tree plantation in protected areas (35.6 %) and agricultural fields (64.4 %). The second mixture was created using different proportions of 4 different sources including native woodland (30 %), exotic tree plantation in protected areas (20 %), agricultural fields (5 %) and channel banks (45 %). A low mean absolute error (MAE) of 2 % and 4 %, respectively, was obtained when reconstructing the 2 artificial mixtures. This outcome indicates that the selection process was effective.</p><p>Once the tracers were properly selected, the natural sediment samples were analyzed. Hence, for the catchment mixture, the main sources of sediments were exotic tree plantation in protected areas (96.7 %) and roads (1.8 %). The application of the fingerprint technique highlighted that forests are one of the largest contributors of sediment, followed by dirt roads.</p>

Mating strategies dictate the importance of insect visits to native plants in urban fragments

Plant species conservation relies on their reproductive success and likelihood of population persistence. Knowledge of plant mating systems, particularly the relationship between plants and their pollinators, is fundamental to inform conservation efforts. This knowledge could be critical for prioritising efforts in human-dominated fragmented landscapes such as the world’s biodiversity hotspots, where reproductive success can be compromised due to habitat loss, limited access to pollinators or other factors. Yet, fundamental data on plant mating systems are lacking for many Australian plants. Here we determined the mating systems of native plant species growing in native woodland fragments within Perth’s urban landscape in south-western Australia. We manipulated insect access to flowers and pollen transfer on five locally common native species, then observed floral visitors and examined reproductive success. Hemiandra pungens and Patersonia occidentalis had mixed mating systems with some ability to self-pollinate, whereas Dianella revoluta and Jacksonia sericea were reliant on insects for outcross pollination. The fruits and seeds produced by Tricoryne elatior were too low to draw conclusions about its mating system. The introduced honey bee (Apis mellifera) was the sole visitor to the mixed mating species, whereas native bees visited D. revoluta and J. sericea (one bee species each). Overall, our data suggest that D. revoluta and J. sericea are more vulnerable to fragmentation than H. pungens and P. occidentalis. Although insects contributed significantly to the reproductive output of the two former plant species, our observations suggested low frequency and richness of insect visitors to these urban fragments. More research is required to determine the generality of our findings. A comparative study in larger native woodland fragments would help estimate the effect of fragmentation on insect pollinators and consequences for the insect-reliant plant species.

INFLUENCE OF TIME MANAGEMENT IN MODELING OF CURVE RESISTANCE TO THE PENETRATION OF A LATOSOL UNDER DIFFERENT USES AND MANAGEMENT OF PASTURES AND NATIVE WOODLAND

ABSTRACT The soil resistance to penetration study helps in understanding the state of soil compaction, indicating how best to manage it. The present study aimed to verify the influence of time management in modeling curves of resistance to penetration in Oxisol under different uses and management of pastures and woodland in field conditions, using the stepwise procedure. The study was conducted in the Cerrado region. Five (5) systems of uses and management of pastures and native woodland were evaluated: ILPF: crop-livestock-forest integration; ILP: crop-livestock integration; P: Area in the extensive grazing system; MN: native woodland; PIQ: rotated picket. The experiments were assessed for the years 2012/13 and 2013/14. To obtain the models, an analysis with four independent variables was performed: Gravimetric moisture (X1), bulk density (X2), total porosity (X3) and organic matter (X4) and the dependent variable, soil resistance to penetration (Y). The multiple regression analysis by STEPWISE with F of 0.15 was used. The equation that best estimated the resistance to penetration was RP = 14.68 to 0.26 for Native Woodland in layers from 0.20 - 0.40 m with R2 indices of 0.97 in year 1. For year 2, the equation that estimated the resistance to penetration was obtained in the PIQ treatment, PR = - 15.94 - 0.29 PT + 15.87 DS + 0.05 MO. with R2 of 0.94.