Manner of Apical Meristem Destruction Affects Growth, Reproduction, and Survival of Sea Oxeye Daisy

Although herbivory may result in plant death, the mode and timing of damage may produce variable wounding responses in the attacked plant. In this study, effects of different types of apical meristem damage on growth and performance of sea oxeye daisy Borrichia frutescens (L.) DC were compared. Damage involved either clipping or galling of the apical meristem by the gall midge Asphondylia borrichiae Rossi and Strong. Apical dominance was relatively weak before flowering and stronger in short ramets that were shaded by taller neighbors later in the season. Clipped ramets delayed sprouting new stems, and galled ramets sprouted new stems quickly compared to intact ramets, but final stem counts were similar across treatments. Clipping significantly delayed flowering, reduced seed head ripening time, and resulted in fewer seed heads and seeds. Galling did not significantly impact reproduction compared to intact ramets. Nitrogen supplementation significantly increased stem count and seed count and lengthened seed ripening time. Borrichia frutescens responds differently to clipping versus galling by A. borrichiae and better tolerates galling in terms of nonreproductive performance and survival. Galling from A. borrichiae likely prevents Borrichia frutescens from flowering, which suggests resource regulation of meristems by the midge

Multi-objective optimization of building-integrated microalgae photobioreactors for energy and daylighting performance

As a state-of-the-art green façade technology, building-integrated microalgae bioreactor has the potential to reduce buildings’ carbon footprint and energy consumption. The present study aims to address the knowledge gap in the energy and daylighting performance of algae photobioreactor façade. The paper first studies the effects of algae windows on building energy saving through simulation analysis of an office building in Mashhad, Iran, with a cold semi-arid climate. It also presents a multi-objective optimization framework for the optimization of the energy and daylighting performance of algae windows integrated with an office building facade. Two optimization metrics include maximum Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI) (%), and minimum Energy Use Intensity (EUI) (kWh/m 2/yr), representing optimal daylighting and energy performance metrics, respectively. The results demonstrate that a microalgae window significantly reduces building energy consumption comparing with single-glazed, double-glazed, and water windows. The extent of energy savings varies with window size, algae density, and façade orientation. The proposed optimization framework helps increase the average values of energy performance metrics by 21.37%, 33.25%, 36.22%, 39.67%, and daylighting metrics by 4.60%, 14.43%, 13.34%,14.33%, in the north, south, east, and west, respectively and sequentially. Sensitivity analysis demonstrates that window size has the highest effect on two studied performance metrics for all orientations, while algae density has minimal effect on energy consumption and no considerable effect on daylighting performance. Building energy performance simulation is validated by ASHRAE140-2017. Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Design of Construtio