Timing is everything: the genetics of flowering time in Cannabis sativa

Cannabis sativa is well known for its production of psychoactive chemicals and medicinal products, but it also has huge potential to be a multipurpose crop. Cultivated for biofuel, building materials and textiles, Cannabis has a high carbon sequestration rate and is bound to be a key player in future sustainable agriculture. The distinct applications of Cannabis are directly or indirectly connected to flowering and require different flowering time phenotypes. As an annual short-day plant, Cannabis usually flowers in autumn when days get shorter after an initial vegetative growth period. However, differences in latitude, temperature and other environmental factors require the development of new Cannabis cultivars adapted to local climatic conditions. As such, a comprehensive understanding of the physiological and genetic basis of flowering time is crucial to integrating Cannabis into modern agriculture, benefiting global sustainability efforts.

Carbon Accumulation Potential from Natural Forest Regrowth of Godech Municipality, Western Bulgaria

The present research deals with carbon sequestration, as an important process for mitigating the effects of climate change. The investigation focuses on a 30-year period and it covers only aboveground biomass that builds up from natural forest regrowth, excluding any plantation techniques. Potential carbon sequestration rate from natural forest regrowth in Godech Municipality was measured in Mg C ha−1 yr−1 and the resolution of the map was 1x1 km. The results of the study display that carbon accumulation values in the researched area were consistent with those that were expected in the largest parts of Bulgaria. The biggest share of Godech Municipality falls within the range of 0.82 – 0.96 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 with restricted areas around the villages of Barlya, Smolcha, Gubesh, Murgash and Varbnitsa that may accumulate between 0.96 – 1.11 Mg C ha−1 yr−1. In conclusion, carbon accumulation only from natural forest regrowth provides representative information, however it would have been better if different plantation techniques were regarded as well. The successful results of the investigation should encourage other studies of this type in the neighbouring municipalities.

A comparative dynamic study of seawater pretreatment using experimental and pilot bubble tower

In the previous study, greenhouse gas CO2 is successfully used as the precipitator to realize its carbonation by calcium ions in seawater with the help of magnesium oxide. In this study, the reaction process is firstly analysed by proposed reaction mechanism, and then the dynamic simulation of the gas-liquid-solid system was carried out via Kinetic Monte Carlo simulation. Based on the reaction mechanism, the continuous experimental study was realized in a bubble column. The effects of air flow rate, carbon dioxide flow rate, temperature on the effectiveness evaluation indexes of decalcification efficiency, total mass transfer coefficient and carbon sequestration rate were studied. Finally, a bonnet tower with a diameter of 1 meter and a height of 8 meters was built to carry out the pilot test. In the laboratory experiments, the calcium removal rate reached 94%, the carbon sequestration rate reached 63.6%, and pure micron calcium carbonate products were obtained. The decalcification rate reached 95% in the pilot test, that is consistent with the results of the laboratory experiment.

Response of Conservation Agriculture on System Productivity and Carbon Sequestration in Rice-Based Cropping Systems

Low crop yields due to constant monocropping systems and deteriorating soil health in a smallholder farmers’ field of Indo-Gangetic plains of India have led to a quest for sustainable production practices with greater resource use efficiencies. The aim of the study was to elucidate the short term effects of conservation agricultural systems on productivity, soil health and carbon sequestration rate of soils in three different diversified cropping systems. The treatments consisted of two different tillage systems (conventional and reduced tillage), two mulch levels (no and straw mulch) and two levels of fertility (100 and 75% RDF) were compared in three rice-based cropping systems (rice-wheat; rice-vegetable pea-greengram; and rice-potato-maize sequences) for two years on an experimental field (clay loam) located at Norman E Borlaug Crop Research Center, Pantnagar, India. The resource conservation technologies (RCT) i.e. reduced tillage, mulch, and 100% RDF had recorded 2.5 and 3.0% higher system productivity and relative production efficiency in rice-vegetablepea-greengram and rice-potato-maize sequences, respectively in two consecutive years. Conservation tillage had sequestered three times higher carbon than conventional tillage while mulching acted four times higher than non-mulched condition in agricultural soils. Even though cropping system not significant significantly influenced on carbon sequestration, rice-vegetablepea-greengram sequence had recorded higher carbon sequestration rate and higher soil organic carbon stock noted in surface plough sole layer than any other cropping systems. Therefore, our results suggested that Indo-Gangetic farmers should consider adopting resource conservation practices together in indogangetic area because of benefits to soil health, carbon sequestration and system productivity.

ASSESSMENT OF CARBON STORAGE AND SEQUESTRATION BY USING I- TREE PROGRAM FOR ATRUSH FOREST/NORTH OF IRAQ

This study was aimed to assess the data collected from the Iraqi North forests of Atrush, for reporting the urban forests and their status in many locations with different scales and ranges. This process was carried out by using up-to-date technology. Such technology included the economic scopes of the evaluation ecosystem, by i-Tree Eco evaluation, and the US Forest Service which helps out in such a program. The evaluation included the total carbon storage of 41 species of trees, and it was found that 27.78 t of those trees in which the value of $ 4743608.35 had an amount of gross carbon sequestration rate of 0.63 t /year and a value of $107.576.431.These results indicated that carbon storage within those trees of different species investigated by the program was not the same and the Oriental plane trees are different and distinguish from other trees in term of their storage of carbon amount and only seven trees had the storage of 20.51 t of carbon with carbon sequestration of 0.32 t. Other species in the sample had less amount of carbon sequestration.

Effect of restoration on saltmarsh carbon accumulation in Eastern England

Wetland soils are globally important carbon stores, and natural wetlands provide a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) through ongoing carbon accumulation. Recognition of coastal wetlands as a significant contributor to carbon storage (blue carbon) has generated interest into the climate change mitigation benefits of restoring or recreating saltmarsh habitat. However, the length of time a re-created marsh will take to become functionally equivalent to a natural (reference) system, or indeed, whether reference conditions are attainable, is largely unknown. Here, we describe a combined field chronosequence and modelling study of saltmarsh carbon accumulation and provide empirically based predictions of changes in the carbon sequestration rate over time following saltmarsh restoration. Carbon accumulation was initially rapid (average 1.04 t C ha −1 yr −1 during the first 20 years), slowing to a steady rate of around 0.65 t C ha −1 yr −1 thereafter. The resulting increase in C stock gave an estimated total C accumulation of 74 t C ha −1 in the century following restoration. This is approximately the same as our observations of natural marsh C content (69 t C ha −1 ), suggesting that it takes approximately 100 years for restored saltmarsh to obtain the same carbon stock as natural sites.