Interaction between climate and management on beta diversity components of vegetation in relation to soil properties in arid and semi-arid oak forests, Iran

This study aimed to investigate the interaction between regions with different climatic conditions(arid vs. semi-arid) and management(protected vs. unprotected) on the turnover and nestedness of vegetation in relation to physical, chemical and biological properties of soils in the Ilam Province of Iran. In each of the two regions, we sampled 8 sites(4 managed and 4 unmanaged sites) within each of which we established 4 circular plots(1000 m^2) that were used to investigate woody species, while two micro-plots(1 m×1 m) were established in each 1000-m^2 plot to analyze herbaceous species. In each sample unit, we also extracted three soil samples(0–20 cm depth) for measuring soil properties. The results indicated that the interaction between region and conservational management significantly affected the percent of canopy cover of Persian oak(Quercus brantii Linddl), soil respiration, substrate-induced respiration, as well as beta and gamma diversities and turnover of plant species. The percent of oak canopy cover was positively correlated with soil silt, electrical conductivity, available potassium, and alpha diversity, whereas it was negatively correlated with plant turnover. In addition, plant turnover was positively related to available phosphorus, while nestedness of species was positively related to organic carbon and total nitrogen. According to these results, we concluded that physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of limited ecological niche generally influenced plant diversity. Also, this study demonstrated the major contribution of the beta diversity on gamma diversity, especially in semi-arid region, because of the higher heterogeneity of vegetation in this area.

Field Evaluation of Non-aerated Sheep Manure and Water Jacinthe(Eichhornia crassipes)Composts Teas Effects on Tomato(Solanum lycopersicum L.)Health,Mycorrhization and Yield in Mali

This study was conducted in context to preserve tomato healthiness and to improve its yield in field.It aimed to assess some effects of non-aerated sheep manure and water jacinthe(Eichhornia crassipes)composts teas.It specifically consisted to evaluate two teas effects on tomato’s:(a)A.solani foliar disease,(b)yield and(c)mycorrhization intensity.The experiments were conducted according to completely randomized Fisher block with four repetitions.Three treatments were considered:plants receiving non-aerated sheep manure compost tea(TCFM),plants receiving non-aerated water jacinthe compost tea(TCJE),and control plants(T0)without compost tea application.The experiments were repeated twice.Teas application started at four-leaf stage of tomato plants.It was weekly and insured by manual foliar spraying and watering of the plants.To determine the preventive suppressive effects of compost teas,three days after its initial application,plants were artificially inoculated by foliar spraying with Alternaria solani sporal suspension.Data were analyzed with R software.Tukey Contrasts test at 5%threshold was used to compare means.Results showed that TCFM was the most suppressive on A.solani and also had enhanced tomato yield in field.Both teas did not have a meaningful effect on tomato mycorrhization intensity.These results showed that TCFM can serve as biopesticide and biofertilizer in tomato culture.

Optimization of Photo-Fenton Catalyst Preparation Based Bamboo Carbon Fiber by Response Surface Methodology

In this paper,the residue from bamboo factory has been used to design photo-Fenton catalyst,which has the advantages of low cost and magnetic recycling.The photo-Fenton catalytic performance of the biocarbon-based catalyst was excellent and its optimal preparation process was also explored by response surface methodology.First,bamboo-carbon fiber was selected as the photo-Fenton catalyst carrier.Subsequently,the surface of the car-bon fiber was modified,with which dopamine,nano-Fe_(3)O_(4) and nano-TiO_(2) were successively loaded by hydro-thermal method.After the single factor tests,four factors including dopamine concentration,ferric chloride mass,P25 titanium dioxide mass and liquid-solid ratio were selected as the characteristic values.The degradation efficiency of photo-Fenton catalyst to methylene blue(MB)solution was treated as the response value.After the analysis of the response surface optimization,it was shown that the significance sequence of the selected 4 factors in terms of the MB degradation efficiency was arranged as follows:dopamine concentration>liquid-solid ratio>P25 titanium dioxide quality>ferric chloride quality.The optimal process parameters of fiber-carbon catalyst were affirmed as follows:the 1.7 mg/mL concentration of dopamine,the 1.2 g mass of ferric chloride,the 0.2 g mass of P25 titanium dioxide and the liquid-solid ratio of 170 mL/g.The experiment-measured average MB degra-dation efficiency performed by the optimized catalyst was 99.3%,which was nearly similar to the model-predicted value of 98.9%.It showed that the prediction model and response surface model were accurate and reliable.The results from response surface optimization could provide a good reference to design bamboo-based Fenton-like catalyst with excellent catalytic performance.

Is there hybridization between 2 species of the same genus in sympatry?——The genetic relationships between Anoplophora glabripennis,Anoplophora chinensis,and putative hybrids

Anoplophora glabripennis(Asian longhorn beetle,ALB)and Anoplophora chinensis(Citrus longhorn beetle,CLB)are native forest pests in China;they have become important international quarantine pests.They are found using the same Salix aureopendula host tree of Cixi,Zhejiang province,China.On this host tree,we collected additional beetles that appeared to be morphologically intermediate between ALB and CLB.By using a stereoscope,we observed that there were several bumps on the base of the elytra,which was inconsistent with ALB,which typically has a smooth elytral base,but was more like CLB,which has numerous short tubercles on the elytral base.Given their sympatry and intermediate morphology,we hypothesized that these may represent ALB×CLB hybrids.We studied the genomic profiles for 46 samples(ALB,CLB,and putative hybrids)using genotyping-by-sequencing(GBS)providing a reduced representation of the entire genome.Employing principal component analyses on the 163 GBS-derived single nucleotide polymorphism data,we found putative hybrids tightly clustered with ALB,but genetically distinct from the CLB individuals.Therefore,our initial hybrid hypothesis was not supported by genomic data.Further,while mating experiments between adult ALB and CLB were successful in 4 separate years(2017,2018,2020,and 2021),and oviposition behavior was observed,no progeny was produced.Having employed population genomic analysis and biological hybridization experiments,we conclude that the putative hybrids represent newly discovered morphological variants within ALB.Our approach further confirmed the advantage of genome-wide information for Anoplophora species assignment in certain ambiguous classification cases.