Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2011
Authors
Miguel D. Mahecha Markus Reichstein Nuño Carvalhais Gitta Lasslop Holger Lange Sonia I. Seneviratne Rodrigo Vargas Christof Ammann M. Altaf Arain Alessandro Cescatti Ivan A. Janssens Mirco Migliavacca Leonardo Montagnani Andrew D. RichardsonAbstract
We estimated the sensitivity of terrestrial ecosystem respiration to air temperature across 60 FLUXNET sites by minimizing the effect of seasonally confounding factors. Graf et al. now offer a theoretical perspective for an extension of our methodology. However, their critique does not change our main findings and, given the currently available observational techniques, may even impede a comparison across ecosystems.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
2010
Abstract
The effects of genetically modified (GM) maize (Zea mays L.) expressing the Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner Cry1Fa2 protein (Bt) and phosphinothricin or glyphosate herbicide tolerance on soil chemistry (organic matter, N, P, K and pH), compared with non-GM controls, were assessed in field and pot experiments. In the field experiment, NH4+ was significantly higher in soil under the crop modified for herbicide tolerance compared to the control (mean values of 11 and 9.6 mg N/kg respectively) while P was significantly higher in soil under the control compared to under the GM crop (mean values of 6.9 and 6.4 dg P/kg, respectively). No significant differences were found as a result of growing Bt/herbicide tolerant maize. In the pot experiment, using soils from three sites (Gongzhuling, Dehui and Huadian), significant effects of using Bt maize instead of conventional maize were found for all three soils. In the Gongzhuling soil, P was significantly higher in soil under the control compared to under the GM crop (mean values of 4.8 and 4.0 dg P/kg, respectively). For the Dehui soil, the pH was significantly higher in soil under the control compared to under the GM crop (mean values for {H+} of 1.1 and 2.4 μM for the control and the GM crop respectively). In the Huadian soil, organic matter and total N were both higher in soil under the GM crop than under the control. For organic matter, the mean values were 3.0 and 2.9% for the GM crop and the control, respectively, while for total nitrogen the mean values were 2.02 and 1.96‰ for the GM crop and the control respectively. Our results indicate that growing GM crops instead of conventional crops may alter soil chemistry, but not greatly, and that effects will vary with both the specific genetic modification and the soil.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
The aliphatic biopolyesters cutins and suberins have been suggested to significantly contribute to the stable pool of soil organic matter (SOM), and to be tracers for the above- or belowground origin of plant material. Contrary to other plant-derived aliphatic molecules found in the lipid fraction of soils, the stable isotope derived estimates of turnover of cutins and suberins have never been studied in soils. The aim of this study was to analyse the dynamics of shoot- and root-derived biomarkers in soils using a wheat and maize (C3/C4) chronosequence, where changes in the natural 13C abundance can be used to evaluate the incorporation of new carbon into SOM at the molecular level. The relative distribution of aliphatic monomers in wheat and maize roots and shoots suggested that a,u-alkanedioic acids can be considered as root-specific markers and mid-chain hydroxy acids as shoot-specific markers. The contrasting distribution of the plant-specific monomers in plants and soils might be explained by different chemical mechanisms leading to selective degradation or stabilization of some biomarkers. The changes of the 13C isotopic signatures of these markers with years of maize cropping after wheat evidenced their contrasted behaviour in soil. After 12 years of maize cropping, shoot markers present in soil samples probably originated from old C3 vegetation suggesting that new maize cutin added to soils was mostly degraded within a year. The reasons for long-term stabilization of shoot biomarkers remain unclear. By contrast, maize root markers were highly incorporated into SOM during the first six years of maize crop, which suggested a selective preservation of root biomass when compared to shoots, possibly due to physical protection.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Martin Lorenz Nicholas Clarke Elena Paoletti Andrzej Bytnerowicz Nancy Grulke Natalia Lukina Hiroyuki Sase Jeroen StaelensAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Aldo Marchetto Rosario Mosello Gabriele A. Tartari Kirsti Derome Nils König Nicholas Clarke Anna KowalskaAbstract
A second Working Ring Test (WRT) was organised within the framework of the EU/Life+ FutMon Project (`Further Development and Implementation of an EU-level Forest Monitoring System`, LIFE07 ENV/D/000218), to evaluate the overall performance of the laboratories responsible for analysing atmospheric deposition and soil solution samples in European forests, and to verify improvements in the analytical quality resulting from the QA/QC work carried out in the laboratories which participated in previous WRTs organized in the framework of the UN/ECE ICP Forests Monitoring Programme. The WRT was carried out in accordance with International ISO and ILAG guide proficiency test both for sample preparation and numerical elaboration of the results. Five natural atmospheric deposition and soil solution samples and 3 synthetic solutions were distributed to 42 laboratories for analysis using their routine methods for the following variables: pH, conductivity, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, ammonium, sulphate, nitrate, chloride, total alkalinity, total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Two tolerable limits were defined for each variable on the basis of the measured value, the results of previous WRTs, a comparison with the Data Quality Objectives of other international networks, and the importance of the variable in deposition and soil solution monitoring. In the ring test 12% of the results from all the laboratories did not fall within the tolerable limits. This enabled us to identify those variables and laboratories for which improvements in analytical performance are required. The results of the exercise clearly show that the use of data check procedures, as described in the ICP Forests manual for sampling and analysis of atmospheric deposition, makes it possible to detect the presence of inaccurate or outlying results, and would therefore greatly improve the overall performance of the laboratories. A discussion of the improvement of the results in this WRT compared to the previous WRTs is also included, showing a relevant improvent for several variables and underlining the importance of participating to these exercises for the overall analytical quality of the monitoring network.
Authors
Miroslav Matucha Nicholas Clarke Zora Lachmanová Sandor T. Forczek Květoslava Fuksová Milan GryndlerAbstract
Chlorine - one of the most widespread elements on the Earth - is present in the environment as chloride ion or bound to organic substances. The main source of chloride ions is the oceans while organically bound chlorine (OCl) comes from various sources, including anthropogenic ones. Chlorinated organic compounds were long considered to be only industrial products; nevertheless, organochlorines occur plentifully in natural ecosystems. However, recent investigations in temperate and boreal forest ecosystems have shown them to be products of biodegradation of soil organic matter under participation of chlorine. It is important to understand both the inorganic and organic biogeochemical cycling of chlorine in order to understand processes in the forest ecosystem and dangers as a result of human activities, i.e. emission and deposition of anthropogenic chlorinated compounds as well as those from natural processes. The minireview presented below provides a survey of contemporary knowledge of the state of the art and a basis for investigations of formation and degradation of organochlorines and monitoring of chloride and organochlorines in forest ecosystems, which has not been carried out in the Czech Republic yet.