Seedling biomass and element content of Pinus sylvestris and Pinus nigra grown in sandy substrates with lignite

Copyright © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Reclaimed mine soils in the Lusatian mining district (Eastern Germany) are often comprised of sandy materials containing high amounts of lignite. Lignite can absorb nutrients and water, but its high pyrite and Al content may restrict access of roots to these pools. We assessed the influence of lignite on growth, seedling shoot and root element content and root lengths of Pinus sylvestris L. and Pinus nigra Arn. in lignite-containing and lignite-free substrates. Rhizotrons were filled with mining substrate in which lignite was finely dispersed (L-substrate), a model substrate with alternating layers of quartz sand and lignite (SL-substrate), and a sandy substrate from a natural forest without lignite (S-substrate). After 11 months, shoot dry mass of P. sylvestris significantly decreased in the following order: S-substrate > SL-substrate > L-substrate, whereas root dry mass was similar in all substrates. P. sylvestris in S-substrate was characterized by high shoot and root contents of N and P, whereas plants grown on L-substrate had high shoot and root contents of Ca and a high root content of Al. In L-substrate, shoot dry mass of P. nigra was significantly greater than that of P. sylvestris and the Ca content in the roots of P. nigra was twice as high than in P. sylvestris roots (P ≤ 0.1). The high Ca content in the roots may explain the better growth of P. nigra in these mining substrates which are often characterized by high Al content. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.K. Baumann, A. Rumpelt, B.U. Schneider, P. Marschner and R.F. Hüttlhttp://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/503332/description#descriptio

Cool Farm Tool Water: A global on-line tool to assess water use in crop production

The agricultural sector accounts for 70% of all water consumption and poses great pressure on ground water resources. Therefore, evaluating agricultural water consumption is highly important as it allows supply chain actors to identify practices which are associated with unsustainable water use, which risk depleting current water resources and impacting future production. However, these assessments are often not feasible for crop producers as data, models and experiments are required in order to conduct them. This work introduces a new on-line agricultural water use assessment tool that provides the water footprint and irrigation requirements at field scale based on an enhanced FAO56 approach combined with a global climate, crop and soil databases. This has been included in the Cool Farm Tool \u2013 an online tool which already provides metrics for greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity impacts and therefore allows for a more holistic assessment of environmental sustainability in farming and agricultural supply chains. The model is tested against field scale and state level water footprint data providing good results. The tool provides a practical, reliable way to assess agricultural water use, and offers a means to engage growers and stakeholders in identifying efficient water management practices

Stent-graft Treatment of Carotid Pseudoaneurysms: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Over the past decades the treatment technique for carotid aneurysms has changed. Endovascular methods have become more widespread and offer an alternative to surgery, which is often difficult in this region. Stent-graft treatment is a less invasive approach to exclude the aneurysm while maintaining patency of the carotid artery. We report two cases of internal carotid artery pseudoaneurysm which were treated using Wallgraft®. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved