Elevation, Slope Aspect and Integrated Nutrient Management Effects on Crop Productivity and Soil Quality in North-west Himalayas, India

On farm bio-resource recycling has been given greater emphasis with the introduction of conservation agriculture specifically withclimate change scenarios in the mid-hills of the north-west Himalaya region（NWHR）. Under this changing scenario, elevation, slope aspect and integrated nutrient management（INM） may affect significantly soil quality and crop productivity. A study was conducted during 2009-2010 to 2010-2011 at the Ashti watershed of NWHR in a rainfed condition to examine the influence of elevation, slope aspect and integrated nutrient management（INM） on soil resource and crop productivity. Two years of farm demonstration trials indicated that crop productivity and soil quality is significantly affected by elevation, slope aspect and INM. Results showed that wheat equivalent yield（WEY） of improved technology increased crop productivity by -20%-37% compared to the conventional system. Intercropping of maize with cowpea and soybean enhanced yield by another 8%-17%. North aspect and higher elevation increased crop productivity by 15%-25% compared to south aspect and low elevation（except paddy）. Intercropping of maize with cowpea and soybean enhanced yield by another 8%-15%. Irrespective of slope, elevation and cropping system, the WEY increased by -30% in this region due to INMtechnology. The influence of elevation, slope aspect and INM significantly affected soil resources（SQI） and soil carbon change（SCC）. SCC is significantly correlated with SQI for conventional（R2 = 0.65＊）, INM technology（R2 = 0.81＊） and for both technologies（R2 = 0.73＊）. It is recommended that at higher elevation.（except for paddy soils） with a north facing slope, INM is recommended for higher crop productivity; conservation of soil resources is recommended for the mid hills of NWHR; and single values of SCC are appropriate as a SQI for this region.

GROWTH,PRODUCTIVITY AND NUTRIENT ANALYSIS OF CUPRESSUS GIGANTCA

Cupressus gigantca is naturally distrib-uted in the lower-middle reaches of theYaluzangbu River.It’s maximum age canreach up to 1,000 years,diameter at breastheigh (DBH) 400cm and height 45m.The

Effect of Stem Density on Leaf Nutrient Dynamics and Nutrient Use Efficiency of Dwarf Bamboo

The monthly dynamics of nitrogen （N） and phosphorus （P） concentrations and stocks in leaves, resorption efficiency, and resorption proficiency as well as leaf-level use efficiency, nutrient productivity, and mean residence time were studied to understand the effect of stem density of dwarf bamboo （Fargesia denudata Yi） on leaf-level N and P use efficiency in three dwarf bamboo stands with different stem densities under bamboo-fir （Picea puvpurea Mast.） forest over one growing period in the Wanglang National Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China. Dwarf bamboo density had little effect on the dynamics pattern of both N and P concentrations, stocks, resorption efficiency, and resorption proficiency, but strongly affected their absolute values and leaf-level use efficiency. Higher density stands stored more nutrients but had lower concentrations. There was a clear difference in the resorption of limiting nutrient （N） and non-limiting nutrient （P） among the stands. Phosphorus resorption efficiency, N resorption proficiency, and P resorption proficiency increased with increase of stem density, but no significant variation of N resorption efficiency was found among the stands. Moreover, the higher density stands used both N and P more efficiently with higher N productivity and higher P mean residence time, respectively. Higher P productivity was found in the lower density stands, but there was no clear variation in the N mean residence time among stands. These suggested that the higher density stands may have more efficient strategies for utilizing nutrients, especially those which are limiting .

Litterfall production and nutrient return in different-aged Chinese fir(Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantations in South China

The amounts of litter produced and nutrients returned play a fundamental role in the productivity and biogeochemical and nutrient cycling of forest ecosystems.We monitored annual litterfall production, nutrient return,and monthly dynamics over a one-year period in Chinese fir plantations aged 10, 22, and 34 years. Our objective was to quantify litterfall and nutrient return over a complete harvest rotation of Chinese fir. Annual litterfall production increased with stand age and was recorded as（3,294.6 ± 360.4）,（3,733.9 ± 211.2）, and（4,876.1 ± 212.8） kg ha-1a-1in stands aged 10, 22 and 34 years, respectively. Total litter production was significantly greater in the stand aged34 years than in the stand aged 10 years（p ／ 0.05）. With the exception of miscellaneous components, needle litterfall constituted the highest proportion（27.5–43.6 %）, followed by branches/twigs（9.5–16.6 %）. In all three plantations,annual total nutrient return to soil was in the order of C（1,119.95–2,709.05 kg ha-1a-1） [ N（39.32–62.04 kg ha-1a-1） [ K（15.95–22.44 kg ha-1a-1） [ P（1.30–1.63 kg ha-1a-1）. C, N, K and P input to soil was significantly lower in the 10-year-old stand in comparison to the 22- and34-year-old stands（p ／ 0.05）. Litterfall production and nutrient return（C, N and K） followed similar patterns, and C and N input to soil was significantly related to litterfall production（needle, branch and total litterfall）. C, N, P and K input to soil and total litterfall production were mainly driven by needle litterfall.

A comparative study on the alternating mesophilic and thermophilic two-stage anaerobic digestion of food waste

An alternating mesophilic and thermophilic two stage anaerobic digestion （AD） process was conducted. The temperature of the acidogenic （A） and methanogenic （M） reactors was controlled as follows： System 1 （S1） mesophilic A-mesophilic M; （S2） mesophilic A-thermophilic M; and （S3） thermophilic A-mesophilic M. Initially, the AD reactor was acclimatized and inoculated with digester sludge. Food waste was added with the soluble chemical oxygen demand （SCOD） concentrations of 41.4-47.0 g/L and volatile fatty acids of 2.0-3.2 g/L. Based on the results, the highest total chemical oxygen demand removal （86.6%） was recorded in S2 while S3 exhibited the highest SCOD removal （96.6%）. Comparing S1 with S2, total solids removal increased by 0.5%;S3 on the other hand decreased by 0.1% as compared to S1. However, volatile solids （VS） removal in S1, S2, and S3 was 78.5%, 81.7%, and 79.2%, respectively. S2 also exhibited the highest CH4 content, yield, and production rate of 70.7%, 0.44 L CH4/g VSadded, and 1.23 L CH4/（L.day）, respectively. Bacterial community structure revealed that the richness, diversity, evenness, and dominance of S2 were high except for the archaeal community. The terminal restriction fragments dendrogram also revealed that the microbial community of the acidogenic and methanogenic reactors in S2 was distinct. Therefore, S2 was the best among the systems for the operation of two-stage AD of food waste in terms of CH4 production, nutrient removal, and microbial community structure.