Search results for "FOREST"
showing 10 items of 3780 documents
Landscape-scale simulation experiments test Romanian and Swiss management guidelines for mountain pasture-woodland habitat diversity
2016
Distinct guidelines have been proposed in Romania and Switzerland for the management of pasture woodlands that either focused on the regulation of grazing pressure (Romanian production perspective) or overall tree cover (Swiss conservation perspective). However, the landscape structural diversity and the cover of forest-grassland ecotones, which are both crucial for nature conservation value, were not explicitly considered. We aimed to compare the country-specific management guidelines regarding their efficiency for the conservation of the structurally diverse forest-grassland mosaics in the light of recent land-use and climate change. In strategic simulation experiments using the process-b…
Plant functional trait response to environmental drivers across European temperate forest understorey communities
2020
Functional traits respond to environmental drivers, hence evaluating trait-environment relationships across spatial environmental gradients can help to understand how multiple drivers influence plant communities. Global-change drivers such as changes in atmospheric nitrogen deposition occur worldwide, but affect community trait distributions at the local scale, where resources (e.g. light availability) and conditions (e.g. soil pH) also influence plant communities. We investigate how multiple environmental drivers affect community trait responses related to resource acquisition (plant height, specific leaf area (SLA), woodiness, and mycorrhizal status) and regeneration (seed mass, lateral s…
Nardostachys jatamansi (D.Don) DC.: An invaluable and constantly dwindling resource of the Himalayas
2020
International audience; The use of medicinal plant species for different therapeutic effects is well recognized around the globe. Nardostachys jatamansi (D.Don) DC. (Family: Caprifoliaceae Juss.), commonly known as Indian spikenard is a critically endangered medicinal plant which grows at high altitudes in the alpine and sub-alpine regions of the Himalayas. Its medicinal use is well-recognized in the Bhutanese, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Nepalese and Tibetan medicine. Moreover, its medicinal properties are well established in traditional medicines including Ayurveda, Ben-Cao- Shi-Yi, Homer's Iliad, the Old Testament, as in conventional systems. The increasing national and international dema…
Vegetation of feather grass steppes in the western Pamir Alai Mountains (Tajikistan, Middle Asia)
2016
Aims: To propose the first syntaxonomical scheme for the graminoid steppe vegetation of the montane and alpine zones in the Pamir-Alai Mts. in Tajikistan with some remarks on its environmental gradients. Location: Tajikistan. Methods: A total of 155 relevés were sampled in 2015 using the seven-degree cover-abundance scale of Braun-Blanquet and subsequently 148 of these relevés were selected and classified by the modified TWINSPAN method using the four step interval scale with cutoff levels of 0%, 5%, 10% and 25% and total inertia as a measure of cluster heterogeneity. Diagnostic species were identified using the phi coefficient as a fidelity measure. The detrended correspondance analysis wa…
Effect of Gibberellic Acid on Growth, Yield, and Quality of Leaf Lettuce and Rocket Grown in a Floating System
2019
Gibberellins (GAs) are growth hormones strongly involved in a wide variety of physiological activities. Currently, gibberellins are commercially used to enhance phenotypic characteristics, earliness, and productivity of many vegetable and ornamental crops. In this work, the efficacy of supplementation of low levels of gibberellic acid (0, 10&minus
Drought tolerance of three olive cultivars alternatively selected for rain fed or intensive cultivation
2016
Abstract Physiological drought response was evaluated for two olive cultivars commonly grown under rain fed conditions (‘Souri’ and ‘Picual’) and another selected for intensive, irrigated cultivation (‘Barnea’). ‘Souri’ is a traditional local Israeli cultivar, ‘Picual’ originated in Spain and ‘Barnea’ is a modern Israeli cultivar. Trees in pots were alternatively provided well irrigated conditions (100% FC, field capacity) or allowed to dry, first to 33% FC and then to 10% FC. Under conditions of greatest water availability, the ‘Barnea’ cultivar had the highest stomatal conductance and net photosynthesis, significantly higher than that found in ‘Souri’. Stomatal conductance and leaf water …
Fruit and Leaf Sensing for Continuous Detection of Nectarine Water Status
2019
Continuous assessment of plant water status indicators provides the most precise information for irrigation management and automation, as plants represent an interface between soil and atmosphere. This study investigated the relationship of plant water status to continuous fruit diameter (FD) and inverse leaf turgor pressure rates (pp) in nectarine trees [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] throughout fruit development. The influence of deficit irrigation treatments on stem (Ψstem) and leaf water potential, leaf relative water content, leaf stomatal conductance, and fruit growth was studied across the stages of double-sigmoidal fruit development in ‘September Bright’ nectarines. Fruit relative grow…
Growth and water relations of field-grown ‘Valencia’ orange trees under long-term partial rootzone drying
2017
Climate, soil water potential (SWP), leaf relative water content (RWC), stem water potential (WPstem), stomatal conductance (g s), trunk, shoot and fruit growth of ‘Valencia’ orange trees were monitored during five consecutive seasons (2007–2012) to study water status and growth responses to irrigation placement or volume. 48 adult trees were exposed to conventional irrigation (CI, 100% of crop evapotranspiration on both sides of the rootzone), partial rootzone drying (PRD, 50% of CI water only on one alternated side of the rootzone) and continuous deficit irrigation (DI, 50% of CI water on both sides of the rootzone). Reducing irrigation volumes by 55% (DI) over CI increased leaf water def…
Gas Exchanges and Stem Water Potential Define Stress Thresholds for Efficient Irrigation Management in Olive (Olea europea L.)
2018
With climate change and decreased water supplies, interest in irrigation scheduling based on plant water status is increasing. Stem water potential (ΨSWP) thresholds for irrigation scheduling in olive have been proposed, however, a physiologically-based evaluation of their reliability is needed. A large dataset collected at variable environmental conditions, growing systems, and genotypes was used to characterize the relation between ΨSWP and gas exchanges for olive. Based on the effect of drought stress on the ecophysiological parameters monitored, we described three levels of stress: no stress (ΨSWP above about −2 MPa), where the high variability of stomatal conductance (gs) suggests a ti…
Water relations and carbohydrate partitioning of four greenhouse-grown olive genotypes under long-term drought
2016
The four olive genotypes exhibited different responses to drought involving leaf drop and g s reductions (broad-leaved genotypes, good leaf hydration); or growth reductions (narrow-leaved genotypes, dehydration tolerance). There was minor effect on carbohydrate levels. Olive plants of broad-leaved ‘Minuta’ (MN) and ‘Nocellara del Belice’ (NB) and narrow-leaved ‘Passulunara’ (PA) and ‘Biancolilla Siracusana’ (BS) were studied to evaluate their responses to drought. In a greenhouse, 2-year-old rooted cuttings were irrigated to field capacity (WW) or with 20% of WW evapotranspiration (DS) for over 3 months. Subsequently, all pots were rewatered to field capacity for 20 days. Gravimetric soil w…