Uses and traditional knowledge of Dendropogonella rufescens (Bryophyta: Cryphaeaceae) in a Zapotec community of southeastern Mexico

Background: Uses and traditional knowledge (TK) are essential for the protection and management of natural resources. There are extensive records of traditional uses involving mainly vascular plants, while for mosses are scarce. This study documents the TK and uses of Dendropogonella rufescens in San Juan Luvina, Oaxaca, Mexico. Questions: For what purpose and how D. rufescens is used in San Juan Luvina? Can TK provide ecological information for this species? How is TK maintained among the members of the community? Studied species: Dendropogonella rufescens (Schimp.) Britt. (Bryophyta). Study site and dates: San Juan Luvina, Oaxaca, Mexico. March 2020. Methods: We conducted interviews with inhabitants from three age categories (15-41, 42-68, and 69-95 years). Interviews included questions about the length of time the community has used the plant, harvesting practices, traditional use per se, and plant recycling after traditional use. Results: Results include historical information about the use of the plant and TK grouped in seven categories (ceremonial, construction, craft, environmental, fuel, medicinal, and ornamental). These results include new reports of TK of bryophytes in Mexico. Conclusions: For the uses and TK reported, D. rufescens is essential for the cultural identity of the community of San Juan Luvina. D. rufescens TK could use to develop conservation strategies for bryophytes. As our findings suggest, TK and uses of bryophytes should be recorded because they are likely to disappear.

Plants from the Turda Area Included in the ‘Alexandru Beldie’ Herbarium

The paper aims to present the plants collected from the former county of Turda and their characteristics, that are found in one of the most important herbariums in Romania - the ‘Alexandru Beldie’ herbarium of the ‘Marin Drăcea’ National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry. The article presents the studied material, the number of vouchers with species harvested from this region, as well as some characteristics of this large collection of plants, such as the period when the collection was constituted and the periods of plant harvesting. For the studied herbarium, the genera were systematized, as the most representative genera were highlighted. Not only the most important species collected from the Turda County are indicated but, at the same time, the specialists who left their mark on the grassland representation in this area were also mentioned.

Innovative aerodynamic grain separation system for plant harvesting in sloped areas: problems, research and optimization of parameters

This article presents the main problems associated with cereal harvesting in sloping areas. The presented innovative aerodynamic system supporting the separating unit of combine harvester can be one of the ways to counteract the negative effects of harvesting machines work on slopes. The Monte Carlo numerical method, presented in this article, was applied in the optimization of an aerodynamic sieve separation process on an inclined terrain. The given variables are the transverse slope of separator α (of the sieve), longitudinal slope β and the output of the main and side fans. The Monte Carlo method makes it possible to determine an optimized set of parameters (α = 10°, β = 2.8°, δ = 9°), the output of the main fan (0.67 m3 s−1) and the output of the side fan (1.86 m3 s−1), allowing to obtain the best indicator values of 2.1% grain loss and 97.5% grain purity.

The Evolution of Plant Harvesting at The Dawn of Agriculture: Perspectives from Sickle Gloss Texture Analyses

Archaeobotanical and genetic analysis of modern plant materials are drawing a complex scenario for the origins of cereal agriculture in the Levant. This paper presents an improved method for the study of early farming harvesting systems based on the texture analysis of gloss observed on sickle blades. We identify different harvesting activities (unripe/semi-ripe/ripe cereal reaping and reed and grass cutting) and evaluate their evolution during the time when plant cultivation activities started and domesticated crops appeared in the Levant (12,800 to 7000 cal BC). The state of maturity of cereals when harvested shifted through time from unripe, to semi-ripe and finally to ripe. Most of these changes in harvesting techniques are explained by the modification of crops during the transition to agriculture. The shift of plant harvesting strategies was neither chronologically linear nor geographically homogeneous. Fully mature cereal harvesting starts to be dominant around 8500 cal BC in Southern Levant and one millennium later in Northern Levant, which fits with the appearance of domestic varieties in the archaeobotanical record. The evolution of plant harvesting better fits with the gradualist model of explanation of cereal agriculture than with the punctuated one.

Experimental research of the module for gathering plant of chicory roots

Reduction of energy consumption, which creates hygienic root crops, is achieved with the use of expanded boxes of new technologies and improved pick-up modules, which is an urgent scientific task. Tests of the energy-saving method of growing plants are given and what is more, the scheme of experimental installations (put into operation of the plant harvesting module) and the methods of experimental field factors used in roots have been provided. Analytical and empirical dependencies are obtained, which characterize the change of the second feed and the specific mass of the cut and chopped knife of the rotary saw cutter, depending on the velocity of the module, the yield capacity and the density of chicory root crops plantation. The specific mass of the plant harvested from 3 rows of root crops are, respectively, in the range from 17 to 36 (kg/s) and from 19 to 27 (kg/m2). The results of the experimental studies were processed using Statistics 10, the confidence level P = 0.95, the Fisher F-criterion F = 100.8> Frit and the t-alpha criterion t = 2.05. Based on the graphical constructions it was established that the discrepancy between theoretical and experimental values of the second feed and the specific gravity of the ridge ranges from 10 to 15 (%).

Nitrogen removal from summer to winter in a field pilot-scale multistage constructed wetland-pond system

Background Single-stage constructed wetlands (CWs) has a single ecological service function and is greatly affected by temperature, which are general in removal of total nitrogen. Multistage hybrid CWs were proven to capable of enhancing removal of nitrogen. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the variation in nitrogen removal in the combined CWs-pond process from summer to winter and the contribution of plant harvesting and the functions of bacteria to nitrogen removal. Methods A pilot-scale multistage constructed wetland-pond system (MCWP) with the process of "the pre-ecological oxidation pond + the two-level horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSCW) + the surface flow constructed wetland (SFCW) and the submerged plant pond (SPP)" was used to treat actual polluted river water in the field. During the 124 days of operation, the nitrogen concentrations in the units influent and effluent of the system were measured every two days, and the plant height in HSCWs and SFCW was measured once per month. When the system operated stably to the 72nd day, the substrates in the CWs were sampled to analyze the bacterial community structure and composition. Results The concentration of total nitrogen (TN) in the MCWP gradually decreased from 3.46 mg/L to 2.04 mg/L, and the average removal efficiency of TN was approximately 40.74%. The SPP performed the best among all units, and the TN removal efficiency was as high as 16.08%. The TN removal efficiency was significantly positively affected by the daily highest temperature. A formula between the total TN removal efficiency and the highest temperature was obtained by nonlinear fitting. The TN removal load rate in the HSCWs was 2.7–3.7 times that of the SFCW. Furthermore, the TN transformed by Iris pseudacorus L. accounted for 54.53% in the SFCW. Conclusion We found that the significant positive correlation between the daily highest temperature and the total TN removal rate a field MCWP system. The SFCW, as an advanced treatment unit, increased the proportion of nitrogen removed by plant harvesting. The bacteria completed the nitrogen cycle in the SFCW, which had high-density planting, through a variety of nitrogen removal pathways.

Social Economy and Digital Mapping of Subak Sembung Ecotourism

The social, cultural, economic, and environmental potentials in Subak Sembung are not well-developed, such that these potentials have not been adequately explored by the local community. This study aimed to describe the synergy between subak and the ecotourism in supporting the sustainable national food stability program. Subak Sembung selected as the study location because its location in the middle of Denpasar City and already developed as ecotourism sites. There were 66 participants involved in this study. Formal surveys, rapid appraisal, and map-making through satellite imaging from the Google Earth Pro (GE) application were used to collect the data. Result revealed that the social economy social activities conducted by the farmer were: (1) seed-producing tools, fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural tools, (2) land-tillage, nurseries, cultivating, preserving the plant, harvesting, (3) marketing, and (4) the correlation between farmers, subak and ecotourism; worth to be developed as a tourist attraction site.