A simple model for quantifying change in soil organic C as influenced by tillage and crop rotations on the Canadian prairies

Non-Peer ReviewedSimulation models are required for quantifying the impact of crop rotations and tillage on soil organic C dynamics, and for aggregating C sequestration over a relatively large area. However, most current models of soil organic C have been built based on kinetically defined discrete pools with different turnover times. Those pools of soil organic C only exist conceptually. They have not been determined experimentally, thus validation of kinetic models describing soil organic C turnover is usually difficult or not independent from actual measurements. Thus, there is a need to develop a simulation model that can be easily validated and used for estimating future projection of C sequestration under specified management practices. A simple model has been developed to quantify the impact of crop rotations and tillage on soil organic C and validated using long-term field experiments conducted on the Canadian prairies. This simple model required a few input parameters and accurately predicted the change of soil organic C with a relative error of 5% or better. Crop rotation in cereal-dominant cropping systems, affected the amount of soil organic C due to differences in the amount of crop residue inputs. Clay content of soil played a vital role in determining the soil organic C sequestered under conservation tillage compared to tilled systems. This study also showed that the rate constant of soil organic C turnover was about the same for all systems in the drier region of the Canadian prairies, regardless of soil texture and the cropping system

Understorey plant community and light availability in conifer plantations and natural hardwood forests in Taiwan

Questions: What are the effects of replacing mixed species natural forests with Cryptomeria japonica plantations on understorey plant functional and species diversity? What is the role of the understorey light environment in determining understorey diversity and community in the two types of forest? Location: Subtropical northeast Taiwan. Methods: We examined light environments using hemispherical photography, and diversity and composition of understorey plants of a 35‐yr C. japonica plantation and an adjacent natural hardwood forest. Results: Understorey plant species richness was similar in the two forests, but the communities were different; only 18 of the 91 recorded understorey plant species occurred in both forests. Relative abundance of plants among different functional groups differed between the two forests. Relative numbers of shade‐tolerant and shade‐intolerant seedling individuals were also different between the two forest types with only one shade‐intolerant seedling in the plantation compared to 23 seedlings belonging to two species in the natural forest. In the natural forest 11 species of tree seedling were found, while in the plantation only five were found, and the seedling density was only one third of that in the natural forest. Across plots in both forests, understorey plant richness and diversity were negatively correlated with direct sunlight but not indirect sunlight, possibly because direct light plays a more important role in understorey plant growth. Conclusions: We report lower species and functional diversity and higher light availability in a natural hardwood forest than an adjacent 30‐yr C. japonica plantation, possibly due to the increased dominance of shade‐intolerant species associated with higher light availability. To maintain plant diversity, management efforts must be made to prevent localized losses of shade‐adapted understorey plants

Elastic scattering and breakup of 17^F at 10 MeV/nucleon

Angular distributions of fluorine and oxygen produced from 170 MeV 17^F incident on 208^Pb were measured. The elastic scattering data are in good agreement with optical model calculations using a double-folding potential and parameters similar to those obtained from 16^O+208^Pb. A large yield of oxygen was observed near \theta_lab=36 deg. It is reproduced fairly well by a calculation of the (17^F,16^O) breakup, which is dominated by one-proton stripping reactions. The discrepancy between our previous coincidence measurement and theoretical predictions was resolved by including core absorption in the present calculation.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Breakup of 17^{17}F on 208^{208}Pb near the Coulomb barrier

Angular distributions of oxygen produced in the breakup of $^{17}$F incident on a $^{208}$Pb target have been measured around the grazing angle at beam energies of 98 and 120 MeV. The data are dominated by the proton stripping mechanism and are well reproduced by dynamical calculations. The measured breakup cross section is approximately a factor of 3 less than that of fusion at 98 MeV. The influence of breakup on fusion is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

BESII Detector Simulation

A Monte Carlo program based on Geant3 has been developed for BESII detector simulation. The organization of the program is outlined, and the digitization procedure for simulating the response of various sub-detectors is described. Comparisons with data show that the performance of the program is generally satisfactory.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, uses elsart.cls, to be submitted to NIM

Search for the Rare Decays J/Psi --> Ds- e+ nu_e, J/Psi --> D- e+ nu_e, and J/Psi --> D0bar e+ e-

We report on a search for the decays J/Psi --> Ds- e+ nu_e + c.c., J/Psi --> D- e+ nu_e + c.c., and J/Psi --> D0bar e+ e- + c.c. in a sample of 5.8 * 10^7 J/Psi events collected with the BESII detector at the BEPC. No excess of signal above background is observed, and 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions are set: B(J/Psi --> Ds- e+ nu_e + c.c.)<4.8*10^-5, B(J/Psi --> D- e+ nu_e + c.c.) D0bar e+ e- + c.c.)<1.1*10^-5Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Study of J/psi decays to Lambda Lambdabar and Sigma0 Sigma0bar

The branching ratios and Angular distributions for J/psi decays to Lambda Lambdabar and Sigma0 Sigma0bar are measured using BESII 58 million J/psi.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Measurements of J/psi Decays into 2(pi+pi-)eta and 3(pi+pi-)eta

Based on a sample of 5.8X 10^7 J/psi events taken with the BESII detector, the branching fractions of J/psi--> 2(pi+pi-)eta and J/psi-->3(pi+pi-)eta are measured for the first time to be (2.26+-0.08+-0.27)X10^{-3} and (7.24+-0.96+-1.11)X10^{-4}, respectively.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Measurement of branching fractions for the inclusive Cabibbo-favored ~K*0(892) and Cabibbo-suppressed K*0(892) decays of neutral and charged D mesons

The branching fractions for the inclusive Cabibbo-favored ~K*0 and Cabibbo-suppressed K*0 decays of D mesons are measured based on a data sample of 33 pb-1 collected at and around the center-of-mass energy of 3.773 GeV with the BES-II detector at the BEPC collider. The branching fractions for the decays D+(0) -> ~K*0(892)X and D0 -> K*0(892)X are determined to be BF(D0 -> \~K*0X) = (8.7 +/- 4.0 +/- 1.2)%, BF(D+ -> ~K*0X) = (23.2 +/- 4.5 +/- 3.0)% and BF(D0 -> K*0X) = (2.8 +/- 1.2 +/- 0.4)%. An upper limit on the branching fraction at 90% C.L. for the decay D+ -> K*0(892)X is set to be BF(D+ -> K*0X) < 6.6%

Study of J/ψ→ωK+K−J/\psi \to \omega K^+K^-

New data are presented on $J/\psi \to \omega K^+K^-$ from a sample of 58M $J/\psi$ events in the upgraded BES II detector at the BEPC. There is a conspicuous signal for $f_0(1710) \to K^+K^-$ and a peak at higher mass which may be fitted with $f_2(2150) \to K\bar K$. From a combined analysis with $\omega \pi ^+ \pi ^-$ data, the branching ratio $BR(f_0(1710)\to\pi\pi)/BR(f_0(1710) \to K\bar K)$ is $< 0.11$ at the 95% confidence level.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to Phys. Lett.