N, P and K budgets for crop rotations on nine organic farms in the UK

On organic farms, where the importation of materials to build/maintain soil fertility is restricted, it is important that a balance between inputs and outputs of nutrients is achieved to ensure both short-term productivity and long-term sustainability. This paper considers different approaches to nutrient budgeting on organic farms and evaluates the sources of bias in the measurements and/or estimates of the nutrient inputs and outputs. The paper collates 88 nutrient budgets compiled at the farm scale in 9 temperate countries. All the nitrogen (N) budgets showed an N surplus (average 83.2 kg N ha-1 year-1). The efficiency of N use, defined as outputs/inputs, was highest (0.9) and lowest (0.2) in arable and beef systems respectively. The phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) budgets showed both surpluses and deficits (average 3.6 kg P ha-1 year-1, 14.2 kg K ha-1 year-1) with horticultural systems showing large surpluses resulting from purchased manure. The estimation of N fixation and quantities of nutrients in purchased manures may introduce significant errors in nutrient budgets. Overall, the data illustrate the diversity of management systems in place on organic farms, and suggest that used together with soil analysis, nutrient budgets are a useful tool for improving the long-term sustainability of organic systems

Level spacing statistics of classically integrable systems -Investigation along the line of the Berry-Robnik approach-

By extending the approach of Berry and Robnik, the limiting level spacing distribution of a system consisting of infinitely many independent components is investigated. The limiting level spacing distribution is characterized by a single monotonically increasing function $\bar{\mu}(S)$ of the level spacing $S$. Three cases are distinguished: (i) Poissonian if $\bar{\mu}(+\infty)=0$, (ii) Poissonian for large $S$, but possibly not for small $S$ if $0<\bar{\mu}(+\infty)< 1$, and (iii) sub-Poissonian if $\bar{\mu}(+\infty)=1$. This implies that, even when energy-level distributions of individual components are statistically independent, non-Poissonian level spacing distributions are possible.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Decay of the Sinai Well in D dimensions

We study the decay law of the Sinai Well in $D$ dimensions and relate the behavior of the decay law to internal distributions that characterize the dynamics of the system. We show that the long time tail of the decay is algebraic ($1/t$), irrespective of the dimension $D$.Comment: 14 pages, Figures available under request. Revtex. Submitted to Phys. Rev. E.,e-mail: [email protected]

Large n limit of Gaussian random matrices with external source, Part III: Double scaling limit

We consider the double scaling limit in the random matrix ensemble with an external source \frac{1}{Z_n} e^{-n \Tr({1/2}M^2 -AM)} dM defined on $n\times n$ Hermitian matrices, where $A$ is a diagonal matrix with two eigenvalues $\pm a$ of equal multiplicities. The value $a=1$ is critical since the eigenvalues of $M$ accumulate as $n \to \infty$ on two intervals for $a > 1$ and on one interval for $0 < a < 1$. These two cases were treated in Parts I and II, where we showed that the local eigenvalue correlations have the universal limiting behavior known from unitary random matrix ensembles. For the critical case $a=1$ new limiting behavior occurs which is described in terms of Pearcey integrals, as shown by Br\'ezin and Hikami, and Tracy and Widom. We establish this result by applying the Deift/Zhou steepest descent method to a $3 \times 3$-matrix valued Riemann-Hilbert problem which involves the construction of a local parametrix out of Pearcey integrals. We resolve the main technical issue of matching the local Pearcey parametrix with a global outside parametrix by modifying an underlying Riemann surface.Comment: 36 pages, 9 figure

Avoiding lodging in irrigated spring wheat. II. Genetic variation of stem and root structural properties

Lodging-related traits were evaluated on the CIMMYT Core spring wheat Germplasm Panel (CIMCOG) in the Yaqui Valley of North-West Mexico during three seasons (2010–2013). Genetic variation was significant for all the lodging-related traits in the cross-year analysis, however, significant G × E interaction due to rank changes or changes in the absolute differences between cultivars were identified. The inconsistences on cultivar performances across seasons particularly reduced the heritability of key characters related to root lodging resistance (anchorage strength). Target characters related to stem lodging resistance (stem strength) showed good heritability values equal or above 0.70. Positive correlations between stem strength and stem diameter and between root plate spread and root strength were found. Selecting for greater stem diameter and wall width, greater root plate spread and shorter plant height could enable breeders to increase lodging resistance by increasing stem strength, root strength and decreasing plant leverage, respectively. Achieving a lodging-proof crop will depend on finding a wider root plate spread and implementing new management strategies. Genetic linkages between lodging traits will not constrain the combination of the key lodging-trait dimensions to achieve a lodging-proof ideotype. However, strong association between stem strength and stem wall width will increase the total biomass cost needed for lodging resistance

Identifying and prioritising services in European terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems

Ecosystems are multifunctional and provide humanity with a broad array of vital services. Effective management of services requires an improved evidence base, identifying the role of ecosystems in delivering multiple services, which can assist policy-makers in maintaining them. Here, information from the literature and scientific experts was used to systematically document the importance of services and identify trends in their use and status over time for the main terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems in Europe. The results from this review show that intensively managed ecosystems contribute mostly to vital provisioning services (e.g. agro-ecosystems provide food via crops and livestock, and forests provide wood), while semi-natural ecosystems (e.g. grasslands and mountains) are key contributors of genetic resources and cultural services (e.g. aesthetic values and sense of place). The most recent European trends in human use of services show increases in demand for crops from agro-ecosystems, timber from forests, water flow regulation from rivers, wetlands and mountains, and recreation and ecotourism in most ecosystems, but decreases in livestock production, freshwater capture fisheries, wild foods and virtually all services associated with ecosystems which have considerably decreased in area (e.g. semi-natural grasslands). The condition of the majority of services show either a degraded or mixed status across Europe with the exception of recent enhancements in timber production in forests and mountains, freshwater provision, water/erosion/natural hazard regulation and recreation/ecotourism in mountains, and climate regulation in forests. Key gaps in knowledge were evident for certain services across all ecosystems, including the provision of biochemicals and natural medicines, genetic resources and the regulating services of seed dispersal, pest/disease regulation and invasion resistance

Avoiding lodging in irrigated spring wheat. I. Stem and root structural requirements

A model of the lodging process has been successfully adapted for use on spring wheat grown in North-West Mexico (NWM). The lodging model was used to estimate the lodging-associated traits required to enable spring wheat grown in NWM with a typical yield of 6 t ha−1 and plant height of 0.7 m to achieve a lodging return period of 25 years. Target traits included a root plate spread of 51 mm and stem strength of the bottom internode of 268 N mm. These target traits increased to 54.5 mm and 325 N mm, respectively, for a crop yielding 10 t ha−1. Analysis of multiple genotypes across three growing seasons enabled relationships between both stem strength and root plate spread with structural dry matter to be quantified. A NWM lodging resistant ideotype yielding 6 t ha−1 would require 3.93 t ha−1 of structural stem biomass and 1.10 t ha−1 of root biomass in the top 10 cm of soil, which would result in a harvest index (HI) of 0.46 after accounting for chaff and leaf biomass. A crop yielding 10 t ha−1 would achieve a HI of 0.54 for 0.7 m tall plants or 0.41 for more typical 1.0 m tall plants. This study indicates that for plant breeders to achieve both high yields and lodging-proofness they must either breed for greater total biomass or develop high yielding germplasm from shorter crops

Measuring geometric phases of scattering states in nanoscale electronic devices

We show how a new quantum property, a geometric phase, associated with scattering states can be exhibited in nanoscale electronic devices. We propose an experiment to use interference to directly measure the effect of the new geometric phase. The setup involves a double path interferometer, adapted from that used to measure the phase evolution of electrons as they traverse a quantum dot (QD). Gate voltages on the QD could be varied cyclically and adiabatically, in a manner similar to that used to observe quantum adiabatic charge pumping. The interference due to the geometric phase results in oscillations in the current collected in the drain when a small bias across the device is applied. We illustrate the effect with examples of geometric phases resulting from both Abelian and non-Abelian gauge potentials.Comment: Six pages two figure

Quantum Computing of Quantum Chaos in the Kicked Rotator Model

We investigate a quantum algorithm which simulates efficiently the quantum kicked rotator model, a system which displays rich physical properties, and enables to study problems of quantum chaos, atomic physics and localization of electrons in solids. The effects of errors in gate operations are tested on this algorithm in numerical simulations with up to 20 qubits. In this way various physical quantities are investigated. Some of them, such as second moment of probability distribution and tunneling transitions through invariant curves are shown to be particularly sensitive to errors. However, investigations of the fidelity and Wigner and Husimi distributions show that these physical quantities are robust in presence of imperfections. This implies that the algorithm can simulate the dynamics of quantum chaos in presence of a moderate amount of noise.Comment: research at Quantware MIPS Center http://www.quantware.ups-tlse.fr, revtex 11 pages, 13 figs, 2 figs and discussion adde