The western part of the Bohemian Massif (Vogtland/West-Bohemia region at the Czech-German border) is characterized by relatively frequent intraplate earthquake swarms and by other manifestations of current geodynamic activity, such as mofettes, mineral and thermal springs. In this study we analyze variations of groundwater level in four hydrological wells in the region during the years 2005-2010. Monitoring during the previous time interval of 2000-2004 is also mentioned and used for comparison. Two of the wells are located in the epicentral region of Nový Kostel, and the other wells are more distant. The time interval includes the 2008 earthquake swarm when all the wells displayed a noticeable drop in the water level. This effect was observed up to epicentral distances of nearly 30 km, which exceeds the distances of hydrological changes observed during previous earthquake swarms. Moreover, it seems that a small rise in the water level preceded the intervals of increased seismic activity, which could represent a certain precursory phenomenon. On the other hand, the hydrological changes in the Nový Kostel area were relatively small, indicating that this epicentral area is not hydrologically linked with the seismically active fault at depth. Consequently, more suitable localities for hydrological monitoring should be sought in a broader vicinity of Nový Kostel., Renata Gaždová, Oldřich Novotný, Jiří Málek, Jan Valenta, Milan Brož and Petr Kolínský., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Guadua amplexifolia and Guadua angustifolia are the most promising timber substitutes amongst American bamboos due to their outstanding dimensions and structural properties. Despite the commercial potential of these species, there are few studies on the survival and adaptability of juveniles in plantations. The present study dealt with survival, growth, and ecophysiological response of juvenile clonal plants of these species, cultivated in abandoned pastures in Mérida, Venezuela. Survivorship, growth (height and culm diameter), and ecophysiological parameters were monitored the first year during wet and dry seasons. Survival rates were high in both species (95% in G. amplexifolia and 89% in G. angustifolia). Midday leaf water potentials decreased in both species during dry months (-1.28 to-2.72 MPa in G. amplexifolia and-1.67 to-2.37 MPa in G. angustifolia, respectively). Net photosynthetic rates measured during wet [16.57 ± 1.40 and 13.68 ± 2.40 μmol(CO2) m-2 s-1, respectively] and dry seasons [12.19 ± 2.82 and 8.12 ± 1.81 μmol(CO2) m-2 s-1, respectively], demonstrated that G. amplexifolia maintained consistently higher photosynthetic rates compared to G. angustifolia, which could explain the higher growth rates of the former. Similar trends were observed for stomatal conductance, transpiration, water-use efficiency, electron transport rate, and photochemical quenching of PSII. G. angustifolia maintained higher nonphotochemical quenching as well as a higher consumption of electrons per molecule of CO2 fixed, indicating a lower photosynthetic efficiency. The maximal photochemical efficiency of PSII (0.73-0.76) suggested that neither of these species suffered from photoinhibition, despite persistently high radiation and air temperatures at the study site., F. Ely, O. Araque, R. Jaimez., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Shoots of damaged Quercus dalechampii Ten. saplings were shorter and their growth lagged behind by more than one week compared to the control shoots. Photosynthetic activity in leaves of the damaged trees was significantly lowered. Yet the leaf dark respiration rate was higher in damaged saplings. Changes of both the growth and leaf photosynthetic activities may also be ušed as a sensitive diagnostic parameter in ascertaining the negative effects of abiotic and/or biotic factors of the environment.
In this study, we questioned whether ground-level ozone (O3) induces hormesis in Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi) and its hybrid F1 (L. gmelinii var. japonica × L. kaempferi). In order to answer the question, we exposed seedlings of both taxa to four O3 treatments [ranging from ≈10 to 60 nmol(O3) mol-1] in open-top chambers for two consecutive growing seasons. We found a hormetic response in maximum photosynthetic rate (PNmax) at 1700 μmol(CO2) mol-1 and maximum rates of carboxylation (Vcmax) and electron transport (Jmax) in both larches. Stimulation of PNmax, Vcmax, and Jmax did not lead to suppressed plant productivity in Japanese larch, which followed a stress-tolerant strategy, but it did lead to suppressed plant productivity in hybrid larch which followed a competitive strategy. These findings are the first to suggest that stimulation of physiological functions by low O3 exposures may have negative consequences for larch reproduction., T. Sugai, D.-G. Kam, E. Agathokleous, M. Watanabe, K. Kita, T. Koike., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Seedlings from four provenances of Jatropha curcas were subjected to 80, 50, and 30% of soil field capacity in potted experiments in order to study their responses to water availability. Our results showed that with the decline of soil water availability, plant growth, biomass accumulation, net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance (gs), and transpiration rate (E) decreased, whereas leaf carbon isotope composition (δ13C), leaf pigment contents, and stomatal limitation value increased, while maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry was not affected. Our findings proved that stomatal limitation to photosynthesis dominated in J. curcas under low water availability. The increase of δ13C should be attributed to the decrease in gs and E under the lowest water supply. J. curcas could adapt to low water availability by adjusting its plant size, stomata closure, reduction of E, increasing δ13C, and leaf pigment contents. Moreover, effects of provenance and the interaction with the watering regime were detected in growth and many physiological parameters. The provenance from xeric habitats showed stronger plasticity in the plant size than that from other provenances under drought. The variations may be used as criteria for variety/provenance selection and improvement of J. curcas performance., C. Y. Yin, X. Y. Pang, A. D. Peuke, X. Wang, K. Chen, R. G. Gong., and Seznam literatury
Intercropping, a traditional and worldwide cropping practice, has been considered as a paradigm of sustainable agriculture based on complementary mechanisms among different crop species. Soybean (Glycine max) is widely relay intercropped about 60 days before maize (Zea mays) harvest in Southwest China. However, shade caused by tall maize plants may be a limiting factor for soybean growth at a seedling stage. In field research, we studied the ecophysiological responses of two widely cultivated soybean varieties [Gongqiudou494-1 (GQD) and Gongxuan 1 (GX)] to maize shading in a relay intercropping system (RI) compared with monocropped soybean plants (M). Our results showed that soybean seedlings intercropped with maize exhibited significantly downregulated net photosynthetic rate (PN) (-38.3%), transpiration rate (-42.7%), and stomatal conductance (-55.4%) due to low available light. The insignificant changes in intercellular CO2 concentration and the maximum efficiency of PSII photochemistry suggested that the maize shading-induced depressions in PN were probably caused by the deficiency of energy for carbon assimilation. The significantly increased total chlorophyll (Chl) content (+27.4%) and Chl b content (+52.2%), with lowered Chl a/b ratios (-20.5%) indicated soybean plants adjusted their light-harvesting efficiency under maize shading condition. Biomass and leaf area index (LAI) of seedlings under RI decreased significantly (-78.7 and -71%, respectively) in comparison with M. Correlation analysis indicated the relative reduction in biomass accumulation was caused by the decline in LAI rather than PN, it affected negatively the final yields of soybean (32.8%). Cultivar-specific responses to maize shading were observed in respects of LAI, biomass, and grain yield. It indicated that GX might be a better cultivar for relay intercropping with maize in Southwest China., B. Y. Su, Y. X. Song, C. Song, L. Cui, T. W. Yong, W. Y. Yang., and Obsahuje bibliografii
A fíeld experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of Cu and Pb on photosynthesis and growth characteristics of oats. The plants grown on the site with elevated levels of Cu-Pb were reduced in height and biomass, compared to control plants, and appeared chlorotic while the accumulations of both Cu and Pb in the above-ground parts were in the range considered to be phytotoxic. Cu and Pb led to a pronounced reduction (47 %) of chlorophyll (Chl) (a + b) content, accompanied by proportional changes in ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBPCO) activity. Hence Cu and Pb effects did not result in the destruction of the photosynthetic apparatus but in its coordinated reduction. Growth at the heavy metal contaminated site resulted in a decreased (7 %) quantum yield of photochemistry in photosystem 2 (PS2), as given by the ratio Fy/Fn, measured in dark adapted leaves in the field. The half-rise time (ti/2) from the initial (Fq) to maximal (F^) Chl fluorescence was increased, suggesting that the amount of active pigments associated with the photochemical apparatus decreased and that the functional Chl antennae size of the photosynthetic apparatus was smaller compared to the control plants. Although Cu and Pb affected the photosynthetic apparatus in multiple ways, the prevailing effect was that on RuBPCO activity, which in tum must háve limited the overall photosynthetic activity.