Potentielle Wirkung von Unkräutern auf die P-Mobilisierung unter Mais

Die Rhizosphäre ist ein Hot Spot pflanzlicher und mikrobieller Aktivität zur Nährstoffmobilisierung und die Effizienz der Nutzung von Phosphor (P) unterscheidet sich pflanzen- artenspezifisch. Während die P-Mobilisierung in der Rhizosphäre verschiedener Kulturpflanzen intensiv untersucht wurde, ist die Bedeutung der Unkräuter auf die P-Verfügbarkeit für die vergesellschafteten Kulturpflanzen in Balance von Nährstoffkonkurrenz und Mobilisierungsleistung wenig bekannt. In der vorliegenden Untersuchung wird geprüft, ob eine zeitweise Toleranz von Unkräutern im Bestand die P-Verfügbarkeit für die Nutzpflanze Mais (Zea mays) durch die Mobilisierungsaktivität der Unkrautarten verbessern kann. Zu diesem Zweck wurden in zwei Versuchsjahren (2015 und 2016) Gefäßversuche unter Halbfreilandbedingungen mit einem P-defizienten Boden etabliert. Mais als mykorrhizierte Testpflanze wurde alleine und in Kombination mit sechs verschiedenen sowohl mykorrhizierten als auch nicht mykorrhizierten Unkrautarten kultiviert (Chenopodium album, Echinochloa crus-galli, Tripleurospermum perforatum, Polygonum convolvulus, Solanum nigrum, Viola arvensis). Um einen möglichen unkrautartspezifischen Einfluss auf die P-Mobilisierung unter Mais zu erfassen, wurden Boden- (u.a. Phosphatasen-Aktivitäten, mikrobieller Biomasse-P, pflanzenverfügbarer P) und Pflanzenparameter (Ertrag, Nährstoffgehalte und Mykorrhizierungsgrad der Feinwurzeln) untersucht. Die Ergebnisse belegen signifikante pflanzenkombinationsspezifische Unterschiede in der P-Mobilisierung und P-Aufnahme

Arable Weeds and Management in Europe

“Arable Weeds and Management in Europe” is a collection of weed vegetation records from arable fields in Europe, initiated within the Working Group Weeds and Biodiversity of the European Weed Research Society (EWRS). Vegetation-plot data from this scientific community was not previously contributed to databases. We aim to prove the usefulness of collection for large scale studies through some first analyses. We hope to assure other weed scientists who have signalled willingness to share data, and plan to construct a full data base, making the data available for easy sharing. Presently, the collection has over 60,000 records, taken between 1996 and 2015. Many more studies for potential inclusion exist. Data originate mostly from studies exploring the effect of agricultural management on weed vegetation. The database is accompanied with extensive meta-data on crop and weed management on the surveyed fields. The criteria for inclusion were a minimum amount of information on the cultivated crop, and a georeference. Most fields were surveyed repeatedly, i.e. transects, multiple random plots, or repeated visits. All surveys aimed to record the complete vegetation on the plots. Sometimes, taxa were identified only to genus level, due to survey dates very early in the vegetation period. Plant taxonomy is standardized to the Euro+Med PlantBase

The utility of the “Arable Weeds and Management in Europe” database: Challenges and opportunities of combining weed survey data at a European scale

Over the last 30 years many studies have surveyed weed vegetation on arable land. The “Arable Weeds and Management in Europe” (AWME) database is a collection of 36 of these surveys and the associated management data. Here we review the challenges associated with combining disparate datasets and explore some of the opportunities for future research that present themselves thanks to the advent of the AWME database. We present three case studies repeating previously published national scale analyses with data from a larger spatial extent. We demonstrate that i) the standardisation of abundance data to a common measure, prior to the analysis of the combined dataset, has little impact on the outcome of the analyses, ii) the increased length of environmental or management gradients allows for greater confidence in conclusions, iii) the main conclusions of analyses done at different spatial extents remain consistent. These case studies demonstrate the utility of a Europe-wide weed survey database, for clarifying or extending results obtained from studies at smaller scales. This Europe-wide data collection offers many more opportunities for analysis that could not be addressed in smaller datasets; including questions about the effects of climate change, macro-ecological and biogeographical issues related to weed diversity as well as the dominance or rarity of specific weeds in Europe

Agri-Environmental Policy Measures in Israel: The Potential of Using Market-Oriented Instruments

This paper examines the possibilities of developing agri-environmental policy measures in Israel, focusing on market-oriented instruments. A conceptual framework for developing agri-environmental policy measures is presented, first in very broad lines (mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures) and subsequently focusing on economic instruments, and specifically, on market-oriented ones. Two criteria of choice between the measures are suggested: their contribution to improving the effectiveness of the policy; and the feasibility of their implementation. This is the framework used for analyzing agri-environmental measures in Israel. Israel currently implements a mix of mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures to promote the agri-environment. The use of additional economic instruments may improve the effectiveness of the policy. When comparing the effectiveness of various economic measures, we found that the feasibility of implementation of market-oriented instruments is greater, due to the Israeli public’s preference for strengthening market orientation in the agricultural sector. Four market-oriented instruments were practiced in a pilot project conducted in an Israeli rural area. We found that in this case study, the institutional feasibility and acceptance by stakeholders were the major parameters influencing the implementation of the market-oriented instruments, whereas the instruments’ contribution to enhancing the ecological or economic effectiveness were hardly considered by the stakeholders as arguments in favor of their use

Mass drug administration non-recipients

BACKGROUND: Repeated mass drug administration (MDA) with preventive chemotherapies is the mainstay of morbidity control for schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths, yet the World Health Organization recently reported that less than one-third of individuals who required preventive chemotherapies received treatment. METHODS: Coverage of community-directed treatment with praziquantel (PZQ) and albendazole (ALB) was analyzed in 17 villages of Mayuge District, Uganda. National drug registers, household questionnaires, and parasitological surveys were collected to track 935 individuals before and after MDA. Multilevel logistic regressions, including household and village effects, were specified with a comprehensive set of socioeconomic and parasitological variables. The factors predicting who did not receive PZQ and ALB from community medicine distributors were identified. RESULTS: Drug receipt was correlated among members within a household, and nonrecipients of PZQ or ALB were profiled by household-level socioeconomic factors. Individuals were less likely to receive either PZQ or ALB if they had a Muslim household head or low home quality, belonged to the minority tribe, or had settled for more years in their village. Untreated individuals were also more likely to belong to households that did not purify drinking water, had no home latrine, and had no members who were part of the village government. CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrate how to locate and target individuals who are not treated in MDA. Infection risk factors were not informative. In particular, age, gender, and occupation were unable to identify non-recipients, although World Health Organization guidelines rely on these factors. Individuals of low socioeconomic status, minority religions, and minority tribes can be targeted to expand MDA coverage.This work was supported by the Vice Chancellor’s Fund of the University of Cambridge, the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, the Wellcome Trust (Programme grant 083931/Z/07/Z to D.W.D), and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (N.W.O. grant 452-04-333 to E.B.).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Oxford University Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cid/civ82

Team-up crop diversification and weed management: PRODIVA

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Problematic weed species in spring sown cereals around the Baltic Sea - an expert database

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Energiebilanzen im Ackerbau - Betrachtung ihrer Moeglichkeiten und Grenzen am Beispiel des Goettinger INTEX-Projektes Abschlussbericht

The establishment of energy balances in agriculture requires detailed knowledge of the interdependences between material and energy flows in agricultural production. Energetic analyses of agricultural production systems, production processes and farms can be carried out at different levels and for different purposes, e.g. for a comparative analysis of production options or agricultural enterprises and also for achieving higher production efficiencies.Angesichts knapper werdender fossiler Energieressourcen und steigender Energiepreise erlangt die Diskussion um (Fossil)-Energie-Einsparpotentiale neue Aktualitaet. Dies betrifft auch die Landwirtschaft. Die Erfassung von Energieeinsatz und Energieertrag landwirtschaftlicher Produktionsverfahren kann ebenfalls in diesem Kontext gesehen werden, wenngleich die Motivation zur Erstellung von Energiebilanzen zwei sehr unterschiedliche Hintergruende hat: -Energie effizient einzusetzen, mit dem Ziel der Minimierung des Energiebedarfes je Flaechen- bzw. Produkteinheit und - bei der Inanspruchnahme der zur Auswahl stehenden Energiequellen oekologische Aspekte wie die mit der Energienutzung verbundenen Emissionen, die Flaecheninanspruchnahme und die Knappheit insbesondere fossiler Energieressourcen zu beruecksichtigen. Die Erstellung von Energiebilanzen setzt ein umfassendes Verstaendnis der Zusammenhaenge von Stoff-und Energiestroemen im landwirtschaftlichen Produktionsablauf voraus. Energetische Auswertungen von Agrar-Produktionssystemen, -verfahren oder von landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben koennen auf unterschiedlicher Ebene und zu unterschiedlichem Zweck durchgefuehrt werden. Diverse Erfolgsgroessen ermoeglichen einen energetischen Vergleich beispielsweise zwischen verschiedenen Bewirtschaftsungsoptionen oder Betrieben und koennen bei zweckdienlicher Gestaltung der Betrachtungskriterien auch zur Effizienzverbesserung der Produktion eingesetzt werden. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: F01B1391 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDeutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, Osnabrueck (Germany)DEGerman