Impacts of environmental and canopy conditions on the nighttime sap flow of larch plantations in the Liupan Mountains,China

Nighttime sap flow(Q_(n))is an important physiological activity under which trees manage drought stress.An in-depth understanding of the characteristics of Q_(n)and its response to environmental and canopy conditions are of significance for arid area forest and water management.This study measured daily sap flow(Q_(s))of a Larix principis-rupprechtii plantation in the Liupan Mountains,northwest China during the 2017-2019 growing seasons,and separated Q_(s)into daytime sap flow(Qd)and Q_(n).Meteorological conditions(reference evapotranspiration,ETref),canopy structure(leaf area index,LAI),and soil moisture(relative soil water content,RSWC)were considered as the main biophysical factors affecting Q_(n).The structural equation model and upper boundary line method determined the effects of compound and single factors on Q_(n)The daily mean Q_(n)values during the growing seasons in 2017,2018,and 2019 were 0.024,0.026,and 0.030 mm d-1,accounting for 6.2,11.2,and 10.1%of Q_(s),respectively.Q_(n)at different canopy development phases(leaf expanding,LG;leaf expanded,LD;and defoliation,DF)over three years was LD>LG>DF.Q_(n)increased with increasing ETref,whereas the ratio of Q_(n)to Q_(s)decreased.Q_(n)did not show regular variation in the three-year growing seasons under different soil moisture conditions.ETrefand LAI mainly controlled Q_(n)by affecting Qd,whereas RSWC had no significant effect on Q_(n).Q_(n)had a positive and linear relationship with LAI and a quadratic relationship with ETref.Both explained 40%of variation in Q_(n)Meteorological and canopy conditions are important factors affecting Q_(n)on the semi-humid study site.The application of the Q_(n)model coupled with the impact of ETrefand LAI furthers understanding of the impacts of climate and forest structure change on Q_(n).

Characteristics of canopy interception and its simulation with a revised Gash model for a larch plantation in the Liupan Mountains, China

Canopy interception is a significant proportion of incident rainfall and evapotranspiration of forest ecosystems. Hence, identifying its magnitude is vital for studies of eco-hydrological processes and hydrological impact evaluation. In this study, throughfall, stemflow and interception were measured in a pure Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr.（larch） plantation in the Liupan Mountains of northwestern China during the growing season（May–October） of 2015, and simulated using a revised Gash model. During the study period, the total precipitation was 499.0 mm; corresponding total throughfall, stemflow and canopy interception were 410.3, 2.0 and 86.7 mm,accounting for 82.2, 0.4 and 17.4% of the total precipitation, respectively. With increasing rainfall, the canopy interception ratio of individual rainfall events decreased initially and then tended to stabilize. Within the study period, the simulated total canopy interception, throughfall and stemflow were 2.2 mm lower, 2.5 mm higher and 0.3 mm lower than their measured values, with a relative error of 2.5, 0.6 and 15.0%, respectively. As quantified by the model, canopy interception loss（79%） mainly consisted of interception caused by canopy adsorption, while the proportions of additional interception and trunk interception were small. The revised Gash model was highly sensitive to the parameter of canopy storage capacity,followed by the parameters of canopy density and mean rainfall intensity, but less sensitive to the parameters of mean evaporation rate, trunk storage capacity, and stemflow ratio. The revised Gash model satisfactorily simulated the total canopy interception of the larch plantation within the growing season but was less accurate for some individual rainfall events, indicating that some flaws exist in the model structure. Further measures to improve the model’s ability in simulating the interception of individual rainfall events were suggested.

Environmental and canopy conditions regulate the forest floor evapotranspiration of larch plantations

Background:Integrated forest-water management focusing on forest-water coordination is an important way to alleviate water use conflicts among forests and other sectors in vast dryland regions.Forest floor evapotranspiration(FE),which is an important component of forest evapotranspiration,accounts for a large proportion of the water consumed in arid forests.Elucidating how environmental and canopy conditions impact FE has important significance for guiding integrated forest-water management in a changing environment.Methods:The microlysimeter(ML)-measured evapotranspiration(FE_(ML)),reference evapotranspiration(ET_(o)),volumetric soil moisture(VSM),and canopy leaf area index(LAI)were monitored in a Larix principis-rupprechtii plantation located in the semi-humid Liupan Mountains of Northwest China in 2019(June–September)and 2021(May–September).The response functions of the FE coefficient(the ratio of daily FEML to ET_(o))to the individual factors of VSM and LAI were determined using upper boundary lines of scatter diagrams of measured data.The framework of the daily FE(FE_(ML))model was established by multiplying the response functions to individual factors and then calibrated and validated using measured data to assess the FE response to environmental and canopy conditions.Results:(1)The FE coefficient increased first rapidly and then slowly with rising VSM but decreased slowly with rising LAI.(2)The simple daily FE(FE_(ML))model developed by coupling the impacts of ET_(o),LAI,and VSM in this study performed well for predicting FE.(3)The impacts of ET_(o),LAI,and VSM were quantified using the FE(FE_(ML))model,e.g.,at a given VSM,the impact of ETo on FE increased obviously with decreasing LAI;at a given ET_(o),the impact of LAI on FE increased with rising VSM.(4)In the two study years,when directly using the microlysimeter measurement,the real FE on the forest floor was overestimated when the VSM in microlysimeters was above 0.215 but underestimated below 0.215 due to the difference in VSM from the forest floor.Thus,the VSM on the forest floor should be input into the FE model for estimating the real FE on the forest floor.Conclusions:The daily FE of larch plantation is controlled by three main factors of environmental(ET_(o) and VSM)and canopy conditions(LAI).The variation in daily FE on the forest floor can be well estimated using the simple FE model coupling the effects of the three main factors and by inputting the VSM on the forest floor into the model to avoid the errors when directly using the microlysimeter measurement with different VSMs from the forest floor.The developed FE model and suggested prediction approach are helpful to estimate the FE response to changing conditions,and to guide forest management practices when saving water by thinning is required.

Low anti-mullerian hormone decreased clinical pregnancy and increased risk of poor ovarian response in women over 35 years of age

To the Editor:Infertility affects 15%to 20%of couples worldwide,and assisted reproductive technology(ART)is the most effective treatment strategy.In addition to female age,many other factors,such as antral follicle count(AFC),basal follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH)level,and anti-Mullerian hormone(AMH)level,collectively known as biomarkers for ovarian reserve tests(ORTs),are widely used to predict ovarian responses and assisted-pregnancy outcomes.[1]Among them,AMH and FSH levels were discordant in 20%to 43%of women undergoing ART treatment,and AMH was proven to be superior in predicting live birth rate(LBR).[2]

Effects of morphology and concentration of CuS nanoparticles on alignment and electro-optic properties of nematic liquid crystal

Nanoparticles （NPs） with flower-like and frame morphologies were synthesized from CuS, a remarkable transition-metal sulfide. We introduced two kinds of CuS NPs into a nematic liquid crystal （LC） 4-cyano-4＇-n-pentylbiphenyl （5CB） and investigated the morphology- and concentration-dependent alignment and electro-optic （E-O） effects of CuS NPs on 5CB. A trace amount of flower-like CuS NPs induced a uniform homeotropic orientation of LC molecules; this is attributable to the obtained desirable compact nanosheet structure. Moreover, both flower-like and frame CuS NPs induced a remarkable improvement in the E-O properties of 5CB, and the flower-like CuS/5CB system exhibited a better performance. The doped CuS NPs in the LC host suppressed the shielding effect and strengthened the electric field, resulting in outstanding E-O properties. At a doping concentration of 0.05 wt.%, CuS NPs were well-dispersed and achieved the optimum E-O performance. This study provides a novel method for inducing a uniform orientation and enhanced E-O properties of LC molecules by doping with extraordinary CuS NPs, leading to potential applications in establishing flexible LC displays.

Growth–climate response and drought reconstruction from tree-ring of Mongolian pine in Hulunbuir,Northeast China

Aims Drought affected by atmosphere–ocean cycle is a dominant factor influencing tree radial growth of sandy Mongolian pine(Pinus sylvestris var.mongolica)and regional vegetation dynamics in Hulunbuir,China.However,historical droughts and its correlations with tree radial growth and atmosphere–ocean cycle in this area have been little tested.Methods We developed tree-ring chronologies of Mongolian pine from Hulunbuir,Inner Mongolia,China and analyzed the correlations between tree-ring width index,the normalized difference vegetation index and Palmer drought severity index(PDSI),then developed a linear model to reconstruct the drought variability from 1829 to 2009.Long-term trends and its linkages with atmosphere–ocean cycle were performed by the power spectral,wavelet and teleconnection analysis.Important Findings The local moisture variations affected largely the regional vegetation dynamics and tree-ring growth of Mongolia pine in the forest–grassland transition.Using tree-ring width chronology of Mongolian pine,the reconstruction explains 49.2%of PDSI variance during their common data period(1951–2005).The reconstruction gives a broad-scale regional representation of PDSI in the Hulunbuir area,with drought occurrences in the 1850s,1900s,1920s,mid-1930s and at the turn of the 21st century.Comparisons with other treering drought reconstructions and historical records reveal some common drought periods and drying trends in recent decades at the northern margin zones of the East Asian summer monsoon(EASM).The drying trends in these zones occurred earlier than weakening of the EASM.A REDFIT spectral analysis shows significant peaks at 7.2,3.9,2.7–2.8,2.4 and 2.2 years with a 0.05 significance level,and 36.9,18.1 and 5.0 years with 0.1 significance level.Wavelet analysis also shows similar cycles.Drought variations in the study area significantly correlated with sea surface temperatures in the western tropical Pacific Ocean and middle and northern Indian Ocean,and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and North Atlantic Oscillation.This suggests a possible linkage with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation,the EASM and the Westerlies.

Facet-dependent electro-optical properties of cholesteric liquid crystals doped with Cu2O nanocrystals

Excellent electro-optical （E-O） performances are essential for high-quality reflective cholesteric liquid crystal （LC） displays, but are often limited by the high driving voltages required by these displays. Dispersing functional nanomaterials into the LCs has emerged as a promising approach to achieve outstanding E-O properties. In this work, we report the facet-controlled E-O properties of a chiral nematic LC （N＊LC） doped with cubic, octahedral, and rhornbic dodecahedral Cu20. The outstanding E-O properties of the doped systems are related to the interaction between the liquid crystals and Cu20 dopants with different exposed crystal planes. Doping with octahedral and rhombic dodecahedral Cu20 reduces the stability of the planar state, as a result of both the surface abundance of active Cu atoms that interact with the polarized LC molecules, and the large amounts of vertexes and edges on the crystal surfaces, which accelerate the transition from the planar to the focal conic state under an applied electric field. Rhombic Cu20 is the most effective dopant for improving the E-O properties of the present LCs, resulting in a 65.31% reduction of the threshold voltage. The facet and morphology effects highlighted in this work provide a new pathway to develop excellent energy-saving meso-materials with exposed high-reactivity facets, improving their potential applications in electro-optical technologies and information displays.

A method for modelling greenhouse temperature using gradient boost decision tree

y consumption efficiency and to increase the crop yield.With the increase of agri-cultural data generated by the Internet of Things(IoT),more feasible models are necessary to get full usage of such information.In this research,a Gradient Boost Decision Tree(GBDT)model based on the newly-developed Light Gradient Boosting Machine algorithm(LightGBM or LGBM)was proposed to model the internal temperature of a greenhouse.Fea-tures including climate variables,control variables and additional temporal information collected within five years were used to construct a suitable dataset to train and validate the LGBM model.An adaptive cross-validation method was developed as a novelty to improve the LGBM model performance and self-adaptive ability.For comparison of the pre-dictive accuracy,a Back-Propagation(BP)Neural Network model and a Recurrent Neural Network(RNN)model were built under the same process.Another two GBDT algorithms,Extreme Gradient Boosting(Xgboost)and Stochastic Gradient Boosting(SGB),were also introduced to compare the predictive accuracy with LGBM model.Results suggest that the LGBM has best fitting ability for the temperature curves with RMSE value at 0.645℃,as well as the fastest training speed among all algorithms with 60 times faster than the other two neural network algorithms.The LGBM has strongly potential application pro-spect on both greenhouse environment prediction and real-time predictive control.