Growth and nutrient dynamics of transplanted Quercus variabilis seedlings as influenced by pre-hardening and fall fertilization

Stored nutrient reserves are closely correlated with survival and growth of transplanted seedlings. Previous studies have proven that combining pre-hardening fertilization (PF) with fall fertilization (FF) built seedling nutrient reserves more effectively; however, their effect on transplanting performance is poorly documented. We investigated the independent and interacting effects of 2 levels of PF and 4 levels of FF on seedling growth, nutrient acquisition and accumulation during different growth phases 1 year after transplanting of Blume in a nursery. High PF benefited nutrient reserves and subsequent transplanted seedling growth and tissue nutrient storage at the end of the rapid growth and hardening phases. Fall fertilization with 36 mg N increased stem dry mass and tissue nutrient content at the end of the hardening phase. At the conclusion of establishment, PF and FF showed a significant interaction for N and K uptake from soil. At the end of the rapid growth and hardening phases, high PF consistently increased nutrient uptake. Enhanced N and K uptake occurred following application of 36 mg N of FF at the end of the hardening phase. Distinct roles for PF and FF on 3 phases of transplanted seedlings demonstrated the necessity to evaluate fertilization in terms of nutrient reserves and subsequent transplanting performance in consecutive phases. Combining 100 mg N seedling during pre-hardening with 36 mg N seedling during fall yielded ideal transplanting performance for seedlings.Quercus variabilis â1â1Quercus variabili

A Framework of Ethics Guidelines on Public Data from a Whole Life Cycle Perspective

[Purpose/Significance] As a basic national strategic resource, public data plays an important role in promoting high-quality economic development, enhancing social governance, and improving government service levels. The construction of an ethics framework helps participants in public data circulation such as public data producers, managers, users, and supervisors to establish an awareness of data security and ethics and regulate their behavior before public data circulation, avoiding public data ethics issues such as privacy breaches, excessive data collection, data abuse, and digital gap. [Method/Process] Based on previous studies and existing public data policies, this study summarizes the definition of public data according to legal logic and the principle of maximization and describes the differences between public data and government data in terms of data subject, data openness, and data profitability as its characteristics. Then, combined with the typical data life cycle model, the cyclic hierarchy model of the public data life cycle was constructed. In addition, by comparing the principles of public data ethics and the principles of digital technology ethics, the focus of the principles of public data ethics was analyzed, and the principles of public data ethics were summarized from the perspectives of respect, security, and equality. Finally, taking the principles of public data ethics as the criterion and the six general stages and 17 sub-stages of the public data lifecycle model as the first and second-level indicators, the ethical risks of public data at each stage were analyzed. By referring to the research at all stages of the public data lifecycle, academic achievements of domestic and international data ethics principles, provincial public data regulations, and ethical rules were listed for participants to manage their behaviors given these risks at each stage and to build a framework of public data ethics. [Results/Conclusions] This framework helps public data participants to regulate their actions, and implement prior ethical responsibilities to anticipate, avoid, and mitigate public data ethical risks before they occur throughout the life cycle. The shortcoming of this framework is that its applicability and practicability need to be tested, which is also the direction of our next research work, so as to make the framework more accurate and practical and put it into use. Additionally, it can provide references and opportunities for scholars involved in public management and services on public data ethics to stimulate the value of public data elements, promote the digitization process of public management and services, and help achieve social equity, solve disputes, and gain sustainable development

Penalized spline estimation for functional coefficient regression models

The functional coefficient regression models assume that the regression coefficients vary with some "threshold" variable, providing appreciable flexibility in capturing the underlying dynamics in data and avoiding the so-called "curse of dimensionality" in multivariate nonparametric estimation. We first investigate the estimation, inference, and forecasting for the functional coefficient regression models with dependent observations via penalized splines. The P-spline approach, as a direct ridge regression shrinkage type global smoothing method, is computationally efficient and stable. With established fixed-knot asymptotics, inference is readily available. Exact inference can be obtained for fixed smoothing parameter [lambda], which is most appealing for finite samples. Our penalized spline approach gives an explicit model expression, which also enables multi-step-ahead forecasting via simulations. Furthermore, we examine different methods of choosing the important smoothing parameter [lambda]: modified multi-fold cross-validation (MCV), generalized cross-validation (GCV), and an extension of empirical bias bandwidth selection (EBBS) to P-splines. In addition, we implement smoothing parameter selection using mixed model framework through restricted maximum likelihood (REML) for P-spline functional coefficient regression models with independent observations. The P-spline approach also easily allows different smoothness for different functional coefficients, which is enabled by assigning different penalty [lambda] accordingly. We demonstrate the proposed approach by both simulation examples and a real data application.

The Effect of Neonicotinoid Insecticide and Fungicide on Sugar Responsiveness and Orientation Behavior of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) in Semi-Field Conditions

Neonicotinoid insecticides are in widespread use around the world, cause pollinator decline. We used semi-field conditions to determine the effect of sublethal insecticide, thiamethoxam, exposure on orientation behavior and sugar responsiveness. Bees could not reject the non-treated flower or the insecticide or insecticide/fungicide treated flower. After bees consumed the insecticide or insecticide/fungicide treated nectar, they could not discriminate between a flower odor or blank control in a Y-maze when making a first choice. We also found that treated bees wander back and forth in both arms to make a final decision about food location, and used longer duration in the Y maze than the control group. Sugar responsiveness was also reduced after bees were fed with insecticide or insecticide/fungicide treated food, one week was needed for them to display the same level of responsiveness as the control group. The thiamethoxam or thiamethoxam/carbendazol treated crop field does not act as an olfactory repellent to the bee, but it does affect its post-consumption behavior

Apilactobacillus kunkeei Alleviated Toxicity of Acetamiprid in Honeybee

Nowadays, colony collapse disorder extensively affects honeybees. Insecticides, including acetamiprid, are considered as critical factors. As prevalent probiotics, we speculated that supplementation with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) could alleviate acetamiprid-induced health injuries in honeybees. Apilactobacillus kunkeei was isolated from beebread; it significantly increased the survival of honeybees under acetamiprid exportation (from 84% to 92%). Based on 16S rRNA pyrosequencing, information on the intestinal bacteria of honeybees was acquired. The results showed that supplementation with A. kunkeei significantly increased survival and decreased pollen consumption by honeybees under acetamiprid exportation. Under acetamiprid exportation, some opportunistic and pathogenic bacteria invaded the intestinal regions. Subsequently, the community richness and diversity of symbiotic microbiota were decreased. The community structure of intestinal bacteria was changed and differentiated. However, with the supplementation of A. kunkeei, the community richness and community diversity of symbiotic microbiota showed an upward trend, and the community structure was stabilized. Our results showed that A. kunkeei alleviated acetamiprid-induced symbiotic microbiota dysregulation and mortality in honeybees. This demonstrates the importance of symbiotic microbiota in honeybees and supports the application of Apilactobacillus kunkeei as probiotics in beekeeping

Temperature response of soil respiration in a Chinese pine plantation: hysteresis and seasonal vs. diel Q10.

Although the temperature response of soil respiration (Rs ) has been studied extensively, several issues remain unresolved, including hysteresis in the Rs -temperature relationship and differences in the long- vs. short-term Rs sensitivity to temperature. Progress on these issues will contribute to reduced uncertainties in carbon cycle modeling. We monitored soil CO2 efflux with an automated chamber system in a Pinus tabulaeformis plantation near Beijing throughout 2011. Soil temperature at 10-cm depth (Ts ) exerted a strong control over Rs , with the annual temperature sensitivity (Q10) and basal rate at 10°C (Rs10) being 2.76 and 1.40 µmol m(-2) s(-1), respectively. Both Rs and short-term (i.e., daily) estimates of Rs10 showed pronounced seasonal hysteresis with respect to Ts , with the efflux in the second half of the year being larger than that early in the season for a given temperature. The hysteresis may be associated with the confounding effects of microbial population dynamics and/or litter input. As a result, all of the applied regression models failed to yield unbiased estimates of Rs over the entire annual cycle. Lags between Rs and Ts were observed at the diel scale in the early and late growing season, but not in summer. The seasonality in these lags may be due to the use of a single Ts measurement depth, which failed to represent seasonal changes in the depth of CO2 production. Daily estimates of Q10 averaged 2.04, smaller than the value obtained from the seasonal relationship. In addition, daily Q10 decreased with increasing Ts , which may contribute feedback to the climate system under global warming scenarios. The use of a fixed, universal Q10 is considered adequate when modeling annual carbon budgets across large spatial extents. In contrast, a seasonally-varying, environmentally-controlled Q10 should be used when short-term accuracy is required

Extreme rainfall impacts on soil CO2 efflux in an urban forest ecosystem in Beijing, China

Extreme rainfall events are infrequent disturbances that affect urban environments and soil respiration (Rs). Using data measured in an urban forest ecosystem in Beijing, China, we examined the link between gross primary production (GPP) and soil respiration on a diurnal scale during an extreme rainfall event (i.e., the ‘21 July 2012 event’), and examined diel and seasonal environmental controls on Rs. Over the seasonal cycle, Rs increased exponentially with soil temperature (Ts). In addition, Rs was hyperbolically related to soil volumetric water content (VWC), increasing with VWC below a threshold of 0.17 m3 m-3, and then decreasing with further increases in VWC. Following the extreme rainfall event (177 mm), Rs showed an abrupt decrease and then maintained a low value of ~0.3 μmol m-2 s-1 for about 8 h as soil VWC reached the field capacity (0.34 m3 m-3). Rs became decoupled from Ts and increased very slowly, while GPP showed a greater increase. A bivariate Q10-hyperbolical model, which incorporates both Ts and VWC effects, better fit Rs than the Q10 model in summer, but not for whole year.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author