Territory choice during the breeding tenure of male sedge warblers

A territorial male can shift the location of its territory from year to year in order to increase its quality. The male can base its decision on environmental cues or else on its breeding experiences (when territory shift is caused by breeding failure in previous seasons). We tested these possible mechanisms of territory choice in the sedge warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus), a territorial migrating passerine that occupies wetlands. This species bases its territory choices on an environmental cue: tall wetland vegetation cover. We found that the magnitude of territory quality improvement between seasons (measured as the area of tall wetland vegetation) increased throughout the early stages of a male's breeding career as a result of territory shifts dependent on the earliness of arrival. The distance the territory was shifted between seasons depended negatively on the previous year's territory quality and, less clearly, on the previous year's mating success. On the other hand, previous mating or nesting success had no influence on territory quality improvement between seasons as measured in terms of vegetation. The results imply that tall wetland vegetation is a long-term, effective environmental cue and that a preference for territories in which this type of landcover prevails has evolved into a rigid behavioral mechanism, supplemented by short-term individual experiences of breeding failure

Effect of Rhizobium inoculation of seeds and foliar fertilization on productivity of Pisum sativum L.

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is the second most important grain legume crop in the world which has a wide array of uses for human food and fodder. One of the major factors that determines the use of field pea is the yield potential of cultivars. Presently, pre-sowing inoculation of pea seeds and foliar application of microelement fertilizers are prospective solutions and may be reasonable agrotechnical options. This research was undertaken because of the potentially high productivity of the 'afila' morphotype in good wheat complex soils. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of vaccination with Rhizobium and foliar micronutrient fertilization on yield of the afila pea variety. The research was based on a two-year (2009–2010) controlled field experiment, conducted in four replicates and carried out on the experimental field of the Bayer company located in Modzurów, Silesian region. experimental field soil was Umbrisol – slightly degraded chernozem, formed from loess. Nitragina inoculant, as a source of symbiotic bacteria, was applied before sowing seeds. Green area index (GAI) of the canopy, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were determined at characteristic growth stages. The presented results of this study on symbiotic nitrogen fixation by leguminous plants show that the combined application of Nitragina and Photrel was the best combination for productivity. Remote measurements of the pea canopy indexes indicated the formation of the optimum leaf area which effectively used photosynthetically active radiation. The use of Nitragina as a donor of effective Rhizobium for pea plants resulted in slightly higher GAI values and the optimization of PAR and NDVI. It is not recommended to use foliar fertilizers or Nitragina separately due to the slowing of pea productivity

Impact of inoculant and foliar fertilization on root system parameters of pea (Pisum sativum l.)

In recent years, sustainable crop development has played a key role in current strategies to improve roots activity, which increase nutrients uptake in pulse crop. Our study presents the relationship between root system morphology, inoculant application with and without foliar fertilization and nitrogen accumulation in soil and plants. Two inoculants: Nitragina and IUNG, foliar fertilizer (Photrel), as well as two pea cultivars were studied in three years (2009–2011) period. The research has shown that bacterial inoculants have signifiant inflence on the selected parameters of pea root systems. Gel inoculant signifiantly increased mean root diameter (0.44 mm), compared to control (0.33 mm), whereas combination of Nitragina inoculant with micronutrient fertilization signifiantly increased root length density (1.05 cm·cm-3), compared to control (0.85 cm·cm-3). Additionally, the bacterial inoculant IUNG has signifiantly decreased the root length density in roots classes between 0.2–0.5 mm in the most humid year. The impact of inoculants on roots parameters was strongly related to weather conditions. In a dry year, a signifiant decrease of mean root diameter, specifi root length and increase of root dry mass were observed. Nitrogen accumulation in seeds signifiantly increased after gel inoculant application. A higher N content was proven in the fodder cultivar, but the edible cultivar was observed to accumulate more N in the seeds, which caused a Nitrogen Harvest index for this plant (80.0%)

The effect of water shortage on pea (Pisum sativum L.) productivity in relation to the pod position on the stem

The literature contains few studies on the effect of temporary soil drought on the development and productivity of pea (Pisum sativum L.) pods in relation to their position in the fruiting part of the stem. The aim of this study was to evaluate pod productivity of various pea cultivars in relation to varied weather conditions. Differences in precipitation during two growing seasons resulted in a decrease in yield of 0.62 t ha−1 in a dry year in comparison to a year with better water availability. Pisum sativum ‘Tarchalska’ proved to be the most stable in terms of the number of pods produced, whilst ‘Prophet’ was the least. Weather conditions and cultivars were the determinants of pod production. Pea pods were distinguished by their position on the productive node. Larger and more productive pods were found on the lowest four productive nodes (which had a longer period of nutrient accumulation) resulting in higher seed mass. Productivity increased in the year with favorable weather conditions, as more of the upper nodes were reproductive. The first four nodes produced 45–91% of the yield. The number of seeds in the first three nodes was significantly cultivar-dependent, whereas the number of seeds in pods at all nodes was determined by weather conditions. Significantly more seeds were formed from each node in the wetter year. Pisum sativum ‘Audit’ was not sensitive to weather conditions, producing the same yield in the both years of the study

Metody i narzędzia weryfikacji rzetelności danych liczbowych

Praca recenzowana / Peer-reviewed paperW pracy przedstawiono problematykę rozkładu cyfr znaczących w dużych zbiorach danych liczbowych pochodzących z pomiaru. Empiryczne rozkłady cyfr znaczących opisane są funkcjami matematycznymi ze ściśle sprecyzowanymi parametrami. Odstępstwo rozkładów empirycznych od rozkładów teoretycznych może oznaczać, że analizowany zbiór danych liczbowych zawiera niewiarygodne informacje. Szczegółowa analiza rozbieżności pozwala ponadto wskazać, które dane są najmniej wiarygodne. Narzędzia analizy rozkładów cyfr znaczących są użyteczne w każdych badaniach empirycznych, gdyż rzetelność danych źródłowych ma fundamentalne znaczenie dla poprawności wniosków wynikających z przeprowadzanych analiz. Prezentowana praca zawiera charakterystykę metod i procedur weryfikacji danych podaną w przystępny sposób i zilustrowaną praktycznymi przykładami. W rozdziale pierwszym przedstawiono genezę i historię odkryć naukowych związanych z szeroko rozumianymi prawami liczbowymi, m.in. regułę Pareto, ciągi Fibonacciego i Lukasa, prawa Estoupa, Zipfa, Heapsa oraz prawa Newcomba-Benforda. Szczegółowe omówienie rozkładów cyfr znaczących, testów i mierników służących do oceny stopnia zbieżności rozkładów empirycznych z rozkładami teoretycznymi przytoczone jest w rozdziale drugim. Zamieszczono tu również uzasadnienie teoretyczne praw rządzących rozkładami pierwszych, drugich i kolejnych cyfr znaczących a także rozkładów uogólnionych i alternatywnych. Rozdział trzeci ma charakter narzędziowy i zawiera opis dostępnych w Internecie, darmowych aplikacji komputerowych wykorzystywanych w procedurach analitycznych związanych z prawami Benforda rozkładu cyfr znaczących. Są to m.in. programy: EZ-R Stats for Excel, Web Computer Assisted Audit Tool (Web CAAT), Digital Analysis Tests and Statistics (DATAS), Benford’s Law Utility, W kolejnym, czwartym rozdziale przedstawiono autorskie narzędzie analizy danych wykorzystujące makroinstrukcje arkusza kalkulacyjnego do realizacji ciągu obliczeń zgodnie z omówionymi wcześniej procedurami. Aplikacja ta udostępniona jest na stronie www.benford.pl i pozwala przeprowadzać złożone obliczenia w sposób maksymalnie zautomatyzowany. Ostatni, piąty rozdział zawiera przykład pełnej analizy zbioru danych dotyczących blisko 6 tys. faktur zakupowych apteki X. Analizę przeprowadzono przy pomocy narzędzia omówionego w rozdziale czwartym wykorzystując rozkład pierwszej (F1), drugiej (D2), trzeciej (D3), dwóch pierwszych (F2), trzech pierwszych (F3) oraz ostatniej (L1) cyfry znaczącej. Reasumując, praca stanowi użyteczne narzędzie praktyczne w zakresie infometrii, zajmującej się oceną i poprawą jakości informacji. Narzędzia wypracowane w ramach tej dyscypliny stosowane są w różnych obszarach dziedzinowych takich jak: naukometria, bibliometria, infobrokering, webometria itd. Metody omówione w pracy mogą też być wykorzystane w e-learningu, zwłaszcza w procedurach weryfikujących poprawność sprawdzianów wiedzy czy też do oceny wiarygodności opinii studentów pozyskiwanych w trakcie ewaluacji kursów e-learningowych. W dalszych badaniach przewiduje się wdrożenie procedur omówionych w niniejszej monografii do szeroko rozumianej polityki podnoszenia jakości kształcenia w formie e-learningowej.Badania dofinansowano ze środków przeznaczonych na działalność statutową Wydziału Zarządzania i Komunikacji Społecznej (nr projektu WZiKS/DS/9/2016

Biological and production responses of intercropped plants of pea, spring wheat, and linseed

Given the growing interest in ecological intensification directed towards sustainable crop production, a study was conducted to assess the biological and production response of pea intercropped with spring wheat or linseed under various growing conditions. The experiment was conducted in 2009–2011 on a Haplic Phaeozem soil in the western part of Poland. Intercropping of pea significantly reduced the green area index and the normalized difference vegetation index values, but growing pea with linseed caused a significant increase in the number of nodes with pods, pods per stem, and seeds per stem. Intercropping with wheat increased the seed number per pod. Seed inoculation with Nitragina significantly increased the number of pea pods and seeds per stem. Wheat intercropped with pea, with inoculation and foliar fertilization, attained significantly lower straw weight and spike length. Intercropping of linseed significantly reduced the features of the yield structure. Bacterial inoculation increased the production potential of pea at the expense of the supporting plants

Vertical distribution of the root system of linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) and legumes in pure and mixed sowing

Root competition for below-ground resources between edible plants may provide for long-term sustainability of agriculture systems. Intercropping can be more productive than a pure crop due to taking advantage of the morphological differences between species. In pure cropping, all biophysical interactions between plants occur through soil conditions. In intercropping, competition for water and nutrients is of major importance, but if the roots of one species occupy the zone just underneath the roots of the other crop, they can better use the resources of the root zone of the crop. The root system demonstrates a high degree of plasticity in its development in response to local heterogeneity of the soil profile and plant density. This study aimed at determining: (i) the morphological characteristics of the root systems of linseed, pea and vetch depending on the method of sowing; (ii) the root distribution in various soil types and at different soil profile depths (0–15 cm, 15–30 cm). Two three-year field experiments were conducted on two soil types in south Poland: soil A – Luvic Phaeozem (s1) and soil B – Eutric Cambisol (s2). These results show that linseed was more aggressive toward both legumes in mixture, but it produced lower yield compared to pure cropping. The environmental stress of plants in mixtures increased the relative weight of roots, which resulted in decreasing the root-shoot ratio (RSR)

The size and shape of parasitic larvae of naiads (Unionidae) are not dependent on female size.

The naiads, large freshwater mussels (Unionida), have very long life spans, are large-bodied, and produce thousands to millions of larvae (glochidia) which typically must attach to host fish tissues to metamorphose into a juvenile mussel. Glochidia develop within a female's marsupial gill demibranch, thus their number is restricted by female size. However, larger mussels acquire more energy, which could be invested in either larger-sized glochidia, in a more glochidia, or a combination of both. The high level of host specialization seen in many naiads may constrain glochidial size and shape around a narrow optimum, while naiads that use a wide range of host fishes may be predicted to possess greater plasticity in glochidial morphology. In this paper, we investigated the relationship between maternal body size and progeny body size and shape, aided by modern digital microscopy. We analyzed the between- and within- species variation of glochidia size and shape relative to female size in four widespread species of European naiads: Anodonta anatina, Anodonta cygnea, Unio crassus and Unio tumidus. Whereas the total reproductive output is collinear with female body size, substantial differences between species in glochidia size were found within genus Anodonta, but not genus Unio where glochidial size is remarkably consistent. The glochidial shape, however, differed within both Unio and Anodonta. We interpret this constant within-species glochidial size in Unio as reflecting a constraint imposed by the likelihood of successful transmission onto and off from a narrow range of hosts, whereas their shape seems to be less constrained. The Anodonta species, inhabiting a wide spectrum of habitats and using more than twice the number of fish hosts than Unio spp., have larger glochidia with greater variation in size and shape. Our results suggest that measures of glochidial variability may also serve as an indicator of host specificity in other naiads