Effects of rumen microorganisms on the decomposition of recycled straw residue

Recently,returning straw to the fields has been proved as a direct and effective method to tackle soil nutrient loss and agricultural pollution.Meanwhile,the slow decomposition of straw may harm the growth of the next crop.This study aimed to determine the effects of rumen microorganisms(RMs)on straw decomposition,bacterial microbial community structure,soil properties,and soil enzyme activity.The results showed that RMs significantly enhanced the degradation rate of straw in the soil,reaching 39.52%,which was 41.37%higher than that of the control on the 30th day after straw return.After 30 d,straw degradation showed a significant slower trend in both the control and the experimental groups.According to the soil physicochemical parameters,the application of rumen fluid expedited soil matter transformation and nutrient buildup,and increased the urease,sucrase,and cellulase activity by 10%‒20%.The qualitative analysis of straw showed that the hydroxyl functional group structure of cellulose in straw was greatly damaged after the application of rumen fluid.The analysis of soil microbial community structure revealed that the addition of rumen fluid led to the proliferation of Actinobacteria with strong cellulose degradation ability,which was the main reason for the accelerated straw decomposition.Our study highlights that returning rice straw to the fields with rumen fluid inoculation can be used as an effective measure to enhance the biological value of recycled rice straw,proposing a viable solution to the problem of sluggish straw decomposition.

Energy rebound effect in China's manufacturing sector:Fresh evidence fromfirm-level data

The rebound effect refers to the phenomenon that individuals tend to consume more energy in the face of energy efficiency improvement,which reduces the expected energy-saving effect.Previous empirical studies on the rebound effect of regions and sectors do not provide microscopic evidence.To fill this gap,we use China's firmlevel data to estimate the rebound effect in China's manufacturing subsectors,providing a detailed picture of China's rebound effect across different sectors and different regions in 2001-2008.Results show that a partial rebound effect robustly appears in all industries,and the disparity between sectors is quite broad,ranging from 43.2%to 96.8%.As for the dynamic rebound effect of subsectors,most subsectors present an upward trend,whereas few subsectors show a clear downward trend.As a whole,the declined trend of the rebound effect is driven by the descent of minority sectors with high energy consumption and high energy-saving potential.In addition,we find that the disparity of the rebound effect across sectors is more significant than that across regions.