Shoot Nutrient Content and Nutrient Resorption of Leymus chinensis in Various Legume Mixtures

The objective was to determine soil properties, and shoot nutrients and nutrient resorption of typical Eurasian steppe species Leymus chinensis in various legume mixtures (legume abundance was 0, 25, 50, and 75%). Mixtures with 25 or 50% legume significantly increased soil moisture and soil [N, P] availabilities. Increasing legume abundance enhanced stem and total biomass of green L. chinensis shoots, further enhanced the proportion of stem biomass by 14–24% in senesced L. chinensis shoots. Legume mixtures, especially 50% legume, enhanced green and senesced organs N concentrations and N pools of L. chinensis. Similarly, mixtures with 25 or 50% legume enhanced P concentration and pool of senesced L. chinensis shoots, whereas both were decreased by 75% legume. As legume abundance increased, contribution ratios of stem to total N and P pools of senesced chinensis shoots increased from 25 to 32 and 25 to 33%, respectively. Mixtures, especially 25 or 50% legume, decreased N and P resorption efficiency (NRE) of L. chinensis shoots, whereas 75% legume increased PRE of L. chinensis. Total resorbed nutrients may remain stable under varying soil conditions for L. chinensis, and resorption of nutrients was symmetric between leaf and stem. In conclusion, legume abundance affected nutrient uptake and return of grass in mixed grasslands, but high legume abundance meant no low N resorption and high litter N content of grass. Furthermore, with increasing legume abundance, stems had more important roles in driving plant production, nutrient utilization, and nutrient return of L. chinensis

Seasonal Variations in Voluntary Intake and Apparent Digestibility of Forages in Goats Grazing on Introduced Pasture

The nutrient composition of pasture, voluntary intake and digestibility of diet ingested by goats grazing on an introduced Leymus chinensis pasture were measured across spring (May), summer (July), autumn (October) and winter (March). In each season, 12 Inner Mongolian Cashmere goats (6 wethers and 6 does with an average live weight of 22.2±1.3 kg and 19.5±0.8 kg, respectively) were used to graze on a 2 hectares size paddock. Diet selection was observed and the plant parts selected by grazing goats and whole plant L. chinensis were sampled simultaneously. The alkane pair C32:C33 and C36 were used to estimate intake and digestibility, respectively. The results showed that the plant parts selected by goats had higher crude protein (CP) and lower acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) than the whole plant, especially in the autumn and winter. The voluntary intake of dry matter (DM), CP, ADF, NDF, and metabolizable energy (ME) by goats was highest in summer (p<0.05). The goats ingested more CP, ME, and less ADF in spring than in autumn (p<0.05). The intakes of DM, CP, and ME were lowest in winter (p<0.05). There were significant differences in nutrient intake between wethers and does in each season, except for the ADF and ME intake per metabolic weight (LW0.75). The nutrient digestibilities were higher in spring and summer, and decreased significantly during the autumn and winter (p<0.05). Goats, especially wethers, had a relative constant NDF digestibility across seasons, however, the apparent digestibility of CP in both wethers and does, decreased to negative values in winter. The grazing goats experienced relatively sufficient nutrients supply in spring and summer, and a severe deficiency of CP and ME in winter

Responses of Seed Germination, Seedling Growth, and Seed Yield Traits to Seed Pretreatment in Maize (Zea mays L.)

A series of seed priming experiments were conducted to test the effects of different pretreatment methods to seed germination, seedling growth, and seed yield traits inmaize (Zeamays L.). Results indicated that the seeds primed by gibberellins (GA), NaCl, and polyethylene glycol (PEG) reagents showed a higher imbibitions rate compared to those primed with water. The final germination percentage and germination rate varied with different reagents significantly (P &lt; 0.05). The recommended prime reagents were GA at 10 mg/L, NaCl at 50 mM, and PEG at 15% on account of germination experiment. 15% PEG priming reagent increased shoot and root biomass of maize seedling. The shoot biomass of seedlings after presoaking the seeds with NaCl reagent was significantly higher than the seedlings without priming treatment. No significant differences of plant height, leaf number, and hundred-grain weight were observed between control group and priming treatments. Presoaking with water, NaCl (50 mM), or PEG (15%) significantly increased the hundred-grain weight of maize. Therefore, seed pretreatment is proved to be an effective technique to improve the germination performance, seedling growth, and seed yield of maize. However, when compared with the two methods, if immediate sowing is possible, presoaking is recommended to harvest better benefits compared to priming method

PESFOR-W: Improving the design and environmental effectiveness of woodlands for water Payments for Ecosystem Services

ABSTRACT: The EU Water Framework Directive aims to ensure restoration of Europe?s water bodies to ?good ecological status? by 2027. Many Member States will struggle to meet this target, with around half of EU river catchments currently reporting below standard water quality. Diffuse pollution from agriculture represents a major pressure, affecting over 90% of river basins. Accumulating evidence shows that recent improvements to agricultural practices are benefiting water quality but in many cases will be insufficient to achieve WFD objectives. There is growing support for land use change to help bridge the gap, with a particular focus on targeted tree planting to intercept and reduce the delivery of diffuse pollutants to water. This form of integrated catchment management offers multiple benefits to society but a significant cost to landowners and managers. New economic instruments, in combination with spatial targeting, need to be developed to ensure cost effective solutions - including tree planting for water benefits - are realised. Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are flexible, incentive-based mechanisms that could play an important role in promoting land use change to deliver water quality targets. The PESFOR-W COST Action will consolidate learning from existing woodlands for water PES schemes in Europe and help standardize approaches to evaluating the environmental effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of woodland measures. It will also create a European network through which PES schemes can be facilitated, extended and improved, for example by incorporating other ecosystem services linking with aims of the wider forestscarbon policy nexus