Transitory Microbial Habitat in the Hyperarid Atacama Desert

Traces of life are nearly ubiquitous on Earth. However, a central unresolved question is whether these traces always indicate an active microbial community or whether, in extreme environments, such as hyperarid deserts, they instead reflect just dormant or dead cells. Although microbial biomass and diversity decrease with increasing aridity in the Atacama Desert, we provide multiple lines of evidence for the presence of an at times metabolically active, microbial community in one of the driest places on Earth. We base this observation on four major lines of evidence: a physico-chemical characterization of the soil habitability after an exceptional rain event, identified biomolecules indicative of potentially active cells [e.g., presence of ATP, phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs), metabolites, and enzymatic activity], measurements of in situ replication rates of genomes of uncultivated bacteria reconstructed from selected samples, and microbial community patterns specific to soil parameters and depths. We infer that the microbial populations have undergone selection and adaptation in response to their specific soil microenvironment and in particular to the degree of aridity. Collectively, our results highlight that even the hyperarid Atacama Desert can provide a habitable environment for microorganisms that allows them to become metabolically active following an episodic increase in moisture and that once it decreases, so does the activity of the microbiota. These results have implications for the prospect of life on other planets such as Mars, which has transitioned from an earlier wetter environment to today's extreme hyperaridity. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

Flexible Substitution Patterns in Models of Mode and Time of Day Choice: New evidence from the UK and the Netherlands

Modelling the temporal response of travellers to transport policy interventions has rapidly emerged as a major issue in many practical transport planning studies and is recognised to hold particular challenges. The importance of congestion and its variation over the day, together with the emergence of time-dependent road user charging as a policy tool, emphasise the need to understand whether and how travellers will change the timing of their journeys. For practical planning studies, analysts face a major issue of relating temporal changes to other behavioural changes that are likely to result from policy or exogenous changes. In particular, the relative sensitivity of time and mode switching has been difficult to resolve. This paper describes a study undertaken to determine the relative sensitivity of mode and time of day choice to changes in travel times and costs and to investigate whether evidence exists of varying magnitudes of unobservable influences in time of day switching. The study draws on data from three related stated preference studies undertaken over the past decade in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands and uses error components logit models to investigate the patterns of substitution between mode and time of day alternatives. It is concluded that the magnitude of unobserved influences on time switching depends significantly on the magnitudes of the time switches considered. With time periods of the magnitude generally represented in practical modelling, i.e. peak periods of 2-3 hours, time switching is generally more sensitive in this data than mode switching. However, the context of the modelling and the extent to which relevant variables can be measured will strongly influence these results

The effect of supplementing maize stover with cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) haulms on the intake and growth performance of Ethiopian sheep

This study compared the effect of supplementing maize stover (MS) with cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) haulms or commercial concentrate (CC) on feed intake, nutrient digestibility, live weight gain and carcass yield of male Ethiopian Highland sheep. Two cowpea genotypes, 12688 (forage) and IT96D-774 (dual-purpose), were used. A randomised block design was applied with groups of eight sheep, blocked by weight, allocated to one of six treatments; MS ad libitum either unsupplemented or supplemented daily with 150 or 300g dry matter (DM) of either cowpea or CC. MS contained more neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and lignin than either cowpeas or CC Crude protein (CP) content of the forage-type cowpeas was higher than either dual-purpose or CC, while MS had the lowest CP content Relative to the negative control group, cowpea at either level significantly (P 0.01) in MS intake were identified between cowpeas at either level or CC and, although intake level of CC increased, it did not differ significantly from the negative control group. Supplementation significantly (P < 0.01) improved average daily gain, with the negative control group losing weight over the experimental period, and increased final live weight, carcass cold weight and dressing percentage. Supplementation significantly improved the apparent digestibility of DM, organic matter and NDF, with no significant difference found between cowpeas at either level. N retention was negative for sheep offered only MS, but positive with all supplements, with cowpeas improving N retention to a greater extent than CC. Interestingly, N retention/N intake was higher with cowpeas offered at the lower level suggesting an improvement in utilisation efficiency. The results indicate that the supplementation of MS with cowpea enhanced ruminant production through improvements in digestibility and intake. Further, as production improvements associated with the two levels of supplementation did not differ significantly, it is suggested that where limited quantities of cowpea are available, it may be of greater nutritional benefit to offer smaller quantities over an increased number of animal days

Doses reduzidas de herbicidas de pós-emergência para controle de papua em soja Reduced rates of post-emergence herbicides for alexandergrass control in soybean

Em 1992/93 foram conduzidos dois experimentos a campo em Eldorado do Sul, RS, objetivando avaliar os herbicidas haloxyfop e sethoxydim no controle de papuã (Brachiaria plantaginea) em doses mais reduzidas que as usuais. Haloxyfop foi testado nas doses de 120, 90, 60, 30 e 30 + 30 g/ha. Sethoxydim foi avaliado nas doses de 184, 138, 92, 46 e 46 + 46 g/ha. Os herbicidas foram aspergidos 7 e 14 dias após semeadura da soja nos experimentos 1 e 2 quando as plantas de papuã encontravam-se com 1 a 2 folhas e com 3 a 4 folhas, respectivamente. As doses plenas foram aspergidas 2 semanas mais tarde que as doses reduzidas. Foi possível obter nível aceitável de controle de papuã em alguns tratamentos, em função do produto, da época e do método de aplicação. Aplicações seqüenciais de doses reduzidas de haloxyfop (30 + 30 g/ha) alcançaram controle de 72 e 95%, médias dos experimentos 1 e 2, respectivamente. No experimento 1, níveis de produtivídade de soja equivalentes ao do tratamento capinado só foram obtidos com doses plenas de haloxyfop e sethoxydim. No experimento 2, produtividades equivalentes à do capinado foram alcançadas nas doses plenas dos dois herbicidas e ainda com haloxyfop a 90 g/ha e a 30 + 30 g/ha. A pesquisa evidencia a necessidade do papuã ser totalmente eliminado para ser atingido rendimento máximo de soja.<br>Two trials were conducted under field conditions during the 1992/93 growing season in Eldorado do Sul, RS, Brazil, in order to evaluate haloxyfop and sethoxydim herbicides for Alexandergrass (Brachiaria plantaginea) control using rates lower than the usual. Haloxyfop rates tested were 120, 90, 60, 30, and 30 + 30 g/ha. Sethoxydim was evaluated under rates of 184, 138, 92, 46, and 46 + 46 g/ha. Herbicides were sprayed 7 and 14 days after soybean seeding date for experiments 1 and 2, when Alexandergrass plants presented 1 to 2 and 3 to 4 leaves, respectively. Herbicide full rates were applied 2 weeks after the reduced ones. It was possible to attain acceptable level of Alexandergrass control only with a few treatments, these being a function of the compound used, and also of time and method of application. Sequencial applications of reduced rates of haloxyfop (30 + 30 g/ha) achieved control levels of 72 and 95%, as averages for experiments 1 and 2, respectively. For experiment 1, soybean yield levels equivalent to hand hoeing were attained only by the full rates of haloxyfop and sethoxydim. In experiment 2, yields equivalent to the hoeing treatment were achíeved by full rates of both products and also by haloxyfop at 90 g/ha and sequencial applications of 30 + 30 g/ha. The research also attest the necessity of complete elimination of Alexandergrass infestation in order to get maximum soybean yield