Leaf Species Research Articles

Leaf Recognition Based on Joint Learning Multiloss of Multimodel Convolutional Neural Networks: A Testing for Vietnamese Herb.

A new modification of multi-CNN ensemble training is investigated by combining multiloss functions from state-of-the-art deep CNN architectures for leaf image recognition. We first apply the U-Net model to segment leaf images from the background to improve the performance of the recognition system. Then, we introduce a multimodel approach based on a combination of loss functions from the EfficientNet and MobileNet (called as multimodel CNN (MMCNN)) to generalize a multiloss function. The joint learning multiloss model designed for leaf recognition allows each network to perform its task and cooperate with the others simultaneously, where knowledge from various trained deep networks is shared. This cooperation-proposed multimodel is forced to deal with more complicated problems rather than a simple classification. Therefore, the network can learn much rich information and improve its generalization capability. Furthermore, a multiloss trade-off strategy between two deep learning models can reduce the effect of redundancy problems in ensemble classifiers. The performance of our approach is evaluated by our custom Vietnamese herbal leaf species dataset, and public datasets such as Flavia, Leafsnap, and Folio are used to build test cases. The results confirm that our approach enhances the leaf recognition performance and outperforms the current standard single networks while having less low computation cost.

Investigation of mechanisms involved in seed germination enhancement, enzymatic activity and seedling growth of rice (Oryza Sativa L.) using LPDBD (Ar+Air) plasma

The study investigates the effect of LPDBD (Low Pressure Dielectric Barrier Discharge) (Ar + Air) plasma on seed germination, seedling growth and antioxidant enzyme activity of rice. Rice seeds were treated with LPDBD (Ar + Air) plasma for 2min, 4min, 6min, 8min and 10min. Seed germination rate, seedling growth, total chlorophyll content, enzymatic activity, total soluble sugar and protein concentration were increased in plants grown from the LPDBD (Ar + Air) plasma treated seeds. It was observed that the sprouting of seeds and the growth of seedlings of rice depends on the feed gases used to generate plasma and plasma processing time. In the case of plantlets germinated from the plasma-treated seeds of rice, the H2O2 level was increased significantly both in leaves and roots for 6min, 8min and 10min treatment respectively. No significant change was observed in Nitric Oxide (NO) concentration in seed, leaf, or root of plants grown from LPDBD (Ar + Air) plasma-treated seeds. The amount of total soluble sugar and protein increased significantly in the case of 2min, 4min, 6min, 8min and 10min seed treatment. Although plants exhibited no significant increase in APX activities, but a significant increase of CAT and SOD activity in the leaf and root was found. This study reveals that LPDBD (Ar + Air) plasma is involved in the elevation of ROS species in leaf and root of rice plants which is tightly regulated by the upregulation of CAT activity that ultimately enhances the seed germination and growth of rice plantlets.

The collection of the representatives of <i>Commelinaceae</i> Mirb. in greenhouses of Peter the Great Botanical Garden and features of its exposition

Collections of greenhouse plants of the Peter the Great Botanical Garden of the BIN RAS are very diverse and include more than 12500 taxa. Over the long history of the collection, certain principles of acquisition were formed: geographical, systematic, phylogenetic, environmental and morphological. For greenhouse collections, the presence of rare and endangered species, medicinal, food and economically important plants is very important. In addition to the correct approach to the selection of plants, you must also carefully consider the competent demonstration of the taxa presented. Plants that visitors can see in the exposition greenhouses should have a habit more or less corresponding to how these species look in natural conditions. In the case of blooming, decorative leaf species or cultivars, try to find an exposure option in which their decorative qualities will be presented most fully. The object of our study was representatives of Commelinaceae family. Among these plants, in addition to the well-known to us Tradescantia L. and Callisia Loefl., there are a large number of species and cultivars that are highly decorative, and there are also representatives with medicinal and environment-improving properties. The analysis of exposure options for plants of this group is carried out. The most suitable ones were selected depending on the structural features of the shoot system, and the severity of the decorative qualities of these plants. Data are provided on the results of processing cuttings of Tradescantia zebrina Bosse. retardants. These drugs should prevent the stretching of the shoots, lead to a thickening of the stem, an increase in the size of the leaf plate, more active growth of the roots. This experiment was aimed at reducing the time spent on maintaining the decorativeness of a number of species and cultivars of Commelinaceae grown in pots.

Local R-Symmetry Co-Occurrence: Characterising Leaf Image Patterns for Identifying Cultivars.

Leaf image recognition techniques have been actively researched for plant species identification. However it remains unclear whether analysing leaf patterns can provide sufficient information for further differentiating cultivars. This paper reports our attempt on cultivar recognition from leaves as a general very fine-grained pattern recognition problem, which is not only a challenging research problem but also important for cultivar evaluation, selection and production in agriculture. We propose a novel local R-symmetry co-occurrence method for characterising discriminative local symmetry patterns to distinguish subtle differences among cultivars. Through scalable and moving R-relation radius pairs, we generate a set of radius symmetry co-occurrence matrices (RsCoM)and their measures for describing the local symmetry properties of interior regions. By varying the size of the radius pair, the RsCoM measures local R-symmetry co-occurrence from global/coarse to fine scales. A new two-phase strategy of analysing the distribution of local RsCoM measures is designed to match the multiple scale appearance symmetry pattern distributions of similar cultivar leaf images. We constructed three leaf image databases, SoyCultivar, CottCultivar, and PeanCultivar, for an extensive experimental evaluation on recognition across soybean, cotton and peanut cultivars. Encouraging experimental results of the proposed method in comparison with the state-of-the-art leaf species recognition methods demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for cultivar identification, which may advance the research in leaf recognition from species to cultivar.

Simulation of Sentinel-2 Bottom of Atmosphere Reflectance Using Shadow Parameters on a Deciduous Forest in Thailand

The shadow fraction of the canopy is an important factor in Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) and in estimating physical quantities, such as tree height and biomass. Shadows are used as a shielding ratio for direct solar irradiance, but, at shorter wavelengths, the amount of diffuse solar irradiance is greater, so the shielding ratio cannot be ignored. The shielding ratio of direct and diffuse solar irradiance is called Cast Shadow (CS) and Self Cast Shadow (SCS), respectively; however, it has been pointed out that the effect of these shadows is greater at higher resolutions, such as Sentinel-2. In addition, the Bottom Of Atmosphere (BOA) reflectance is greatly affected by shadows, because it is corrected for atmospheric effects. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the spatial variability of CS and SCS and simulate the Sentinel-2BOA reflectance with these shadows. The target forest was a greenness season of a deciduous broadleaf forest in Thailand. First, we obtained a point cloud of the forest by Structure from Motion while using the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Next, we created a voxel model with CS and SCS as attributes. CS was calculated as the percentage of area where the plane that is assumed per voxel is shielded from direct solar irradiance by other voxels. SCS was calculated as the percentage of area where the hemispheric radiant environment is shielded by other voxels. Subsequently, using solar irradiance and leaf spectral reflectance data, the reflectance of each band of Sentinel-2 was simulated. Nine leaves were used to investigate the effect of leaf species on the simulation. The reflectance acquired by Sentinel-2 is not at the leaf level; however, we used this spectral reflectance data because the reflectance was simulated at the same spatial resolution as the voxel size. Voxel sizes of 20 cm, 50 cm, 100 cm, and 200 cm were used. Our result showed that (1) the spatial variability of SCS was smaller than that of CS when the sun position is fixed and the view zenith angle is changed. SCS was mostly 0.12 at different zenith angles, while the CS had a maximum value of 0.45 and a minimum value of 0.15. (2) The accuracy of the simulations was evaluated using the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). The best RMSE is 0.020 ± 0.015 and the worst one is 0.084 ± 0.044. It was found that the error is larger in short wavelength infrared bands. (3) In this forest, the relative reflectance changed only about 1.2 times as much, as the voxel size was increased from 20 cm to 200 cm. In this study, we have simulated a single Sentinel-2 image. In the future, we will simulate multi-temporal images in order to investigate the effects of phenology and shadow changes on the reflectance that was observed by optical sensors.

(2778) Proposal to conserve the name Zamites (fossil Cycadophyta: Bennettitales) with a conserved type

(2778) Proposal to conserve the name <i>Zamites</i> (fossil <i>Cycadophyta</i>: <i>Bennettitales</i>) with a conserved type

A revised classification of leaf variegation types

Variegated leaf plants are a group of plants with stable patterns of differently colored leaf areas. The variously colored patches on the surface of the leaves have important biological functions in plant reproduction and adaptation to the environment. Apart from that, these plants have attracted interest as valuable ornamental plants. In this study, 1710 species with variegated leaves belonging to 78 families were investigated based on field-collected samples and previous literature, including transverse sections of 117 species. The macroscopic patterns of variegated leaves are highly diverse and can be distinguished as fishbone-shaped, blotched, V-shaped, spotted, striped, reticulate, and pinnate, with varying levels of diversity across different families and genera. We classified variegated leaves into five types according to the location, shape, color, and cross-sectional structure of the differently colored leaf areas. These are: I, chlorophyll type; II, air space type; III, epidermis type; IV, pigment type; and V, appendages type. Type II is the most common type, which is found in approximately 56% of all variegated leaf species, whereas type V is newly defined to accommodate the variegated leaves with colored, unequally distributed, multicellular outgrowths on the epidermis. Relationships between the diverse macroscopic patterns and the five structural types are discussed.

Silencing of PhLA, a CIN-TCP gene, causes defected petal conical epidermal cell formation and results in reflexed corolla lobes in petunia

BackgroundTCP-domain proteins, plant specific transcription factors, play important roles in various developmental processes. CIN-TCPs control leaf curvature in simple leaf species while regulate leaf complexity in compound leaf species. However, the knowledge was largely based on findings in few model species. To extend our knowledge on this group of proteins in Solanaceae species, we identified a CIN-TCP gene from petunia, and studied its functions using virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS).ResultsConsistently, silencing of CIN-TCPs increases complexity of tomato leaves, and enhances leaf curvature in Nicotiana benthamiana. However, in petunia (Petunia hybrida), silencing of petunia LA, a CIN-TCP, through VIGS did not obviously affect leaf shape. The silencing, however, enhanced petal curvature. The event was associated with petal expansion at the distal portion where epidermal cell size along the midribs was also increased. The enlarged epidermal cells became flattened. Although shapes of PhLA-silenced flowers largely resemble phmyb1 mutant phenotype, PhMYB1 expression was not affected when PhLA was specifically silenced. Therefore, both PhLA and PhMYB1 are required to regulate flower morphology. In corolla, PhLA and miR319 deferentially express in different regions with strong expressions in limb and tube region respectively.ConclusionsIn conclusion, unlike LA-like genes in tomato and N. benthamiana, PhLA plays a more defined role in flower morphogenesis, including petal curvature and epidermal cell differentiation.

Meiofauna promotes litter decomposition in stream ecosystems depending on leaf species.

Litter decomposition, a fundamental process of nutrient cycling and energy flow in freshwater ecosystems, is driven by a diverse array of decomposers. As an important component of the heterotrophic food web, meiofauna can provide a trophic link between leaf‐associated microbes (i.e., bacteria and fungi)/plant detritus and macroinvertebrates, though their contribution to litter decomposition is not well understood. To investigate the role of different decomposer communities in litter decomposition, especially meiofauna, we compared the litter decomposition of three leaf species with different lignin to nitrogen ratios in litter bags with different mesh sizes (0.05, 0.25, and 2 mm) in a forested stream, in China for 78 days. The meiofauna significantly enhanced the decomposition of leaves of high‐and medium‐ quality, while decreasing (negative effect) or increasing (positive effect) the fungal biomass and diversity. Macrofauna and meiofauna together contributed to the decomposition of low‐quality leaf species. The presence of meiofauna and macrofauna triggered different aspects of the microbial community, with their effects on litter decomposition varying as a function of leaf quality. This study reveals that the meiofauna increased the trophic complexity and modulated their interactions with microbes, highlighting the important yet underestimated role of meiofauna in detritus‐based ecosystems.

Effects of microbial conditioning and temperature on the leaf-litter shredding activity of Phylloicus sp.

Few studies try to explain the effects in tropical lotic ecosystems of an increase in water temperature on the shredding activity of invertebrate shredders, particularly in association with the quality of the leaf litter and the degree of litter conditioning. Therefore, the aims of this study were as follows: i) to better understand how this key invertebrate shredder group affects the decomposition of different species of leaf litter under gradual increases in temperature and microbial conditioning; and ii) to verify the possible consequences on leaf mass loss (LML). Three species of leaf litter were used in two experiments. In experiment I, the litters of three species (Protium spruceanum, Richeria grandis and Inga laurina) at three conditioning levels (1, 7, 14 days) were tested under five different temperatures (20, 22, 24, 26 and 28°C). In experiment II, the leaf litters of three species were used, without conditioning, under four temperatures (20, 22, 26 and 27°C). The shredding performed by Phylloicus sp. was largely dependent on the lignin and cellulose concentrations in each leaf species, independent of conditioning. The presence or absence of conditioning may cause the shredders to use different energy compensation strategies in response to the temperature increases.

Source-sink modifications affect leaf senescence and grain mass in wheat as revealed by proteomic analysis

BackgroundThe grain yield of cereals is determined by the synergistic interaction between source activity and sink capacity. However, source-sink interactions are far from being fully understood. Therefore, a field experiment was performed in wheat to investigate the responses of flag leaves and grains to sink/source manipulations.ResultsHalf-degraining delayed but partial defoliation enhanced leaf senescence. Sink/source manipulations influenced the content of reactive oxygen species in the flag leaf and the concentration of phytohormones, including cytokinins, indoleacetic 3-acid and jasmonic acid, in the flag leaves (LDef) and grains (GDef) in defoliated plants and flag leaves (LDG) and grain (GDG) in de-grained plants. Isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ)-based quantitative proteomic analysis indicated that at 16 days after manipulation, a total of 97 and 59 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) from various functional categories were observed in the LDG and LDef groups, respectively, compared with the control, and 115 and 121 DEPs were observed in the GDG and GDef groups, respectively. The gene ontology annotation terms of the DEPs mainly included carbon fixation, hydrogen peroxide catabolic process, chloroplast and cytoplasm, oxidoreductase activity and glutamate synthase activity in the flag leaves of manipulated plants and organonitrogen compound metabolic process, cytoplasm, vacuolar membrane, CoA carboxylase activity, starch synthase activity and nutrient reservoir activity in the grains of manipulated plants. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that photosynthesis, carbon, nitrogen and pyruvate metabolism and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis were the processes most affected by sink/source manipulations. Sink/source manipulations affected the activities of amylase and proteinases and, ultimately, changed the mass per grain.ConclusionsManipulations to change the sink/source ratio affect hormone levels; hydrolytic enzyme activities; metabolism of carbon, nitrogen and other main compounds; stress resistance; and leaf senescence and thus influence grain mass.

Bird assembly in restinga reforested areas

Fragmentation is one of environmental degradation and reduction of biodiversity causes, including in bird communities, mainly in Atlantic Forest areas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences in richness and functional groups structure in the ornitofauna from a Restinga forest fragment and four areas with different ages of reforestation. We selected five forest fragments in a Restinga area in the state of Paraiba. A native fragment (Control Area-AC) and four fragments that have undergone a mining process and present different ages of reforestation (1989, 1997, 2001 and 2003). The avifauna samples occurred in four expeditions between November 2006 and April 2008 and counted with a total effort of 2700 net.m2 per expedition. Statistical tests verified richness differences between studied areas, as well as the composition of their functional groups. In general, 90 bird species were recorded, and the highest reforestation age area presented the highest richness (n = 51 spp.). The species richness comparisons indicated that the difference in the richness between AC and reforested areas is not statistically significant. The similarity analysis indicates that reforested areas share a large amount of species and AC has a great differentiation in composition. This differentiation is explained by the significant presence of frugivorous, nectarivorous, leaf and understory-insectivorous species. Changes in species richness and composition in degraded areas are expected and reforested areas usually have a smaller number of forest-dependent species due to the deficiency of available resources. The recovery of areas by reforestation are important conservation strategies, however there is need for management measures that promote the enrichment of these areas and the availability of resources for species dependent on environments Forest.

Freshwater crabs (Decapoda: Pseudothelphusidae) increase rates of leaf breakdown in a neotropical headwater stream

Abstract Freshwater crabs are the largest macroconsumers in many neotropical headwater streams, but few studies have examined their roles in ecosystem processes such as leaf litter breakdown. As omnivorous macroconsumers, freshwater crabs affect multiple trophic levels. They may directly increase leaf breakdown through fragmentation and consumption or indirectly decrease breakdown by consuming other macroinvertebrates, including shredders and detritivores. In a headwater stream in Monteverde, Costa Rica, we conducted an in‐stream experiment with 40 enclosures to quantify the effects of pseudothelphusid crabs on both leaf breakdown and macroinvertebrate colonisation of leaves. Half of the enclosures were randomly selected to contain two crabs (mean carapace width = 30 mm) and half were controls without crabs. We sampled mixed leaf packs from the enclosures on days 11, 19, 28, 34, and 42. We found the leaves of one species (Koanophyllon pittieri) almost completely decomposed by day 28 in both treatments (crab versus no crab). The other two leaf species (Meliosma idiopoda, Quercus brenesii) composed the remaining leaf mass at the end of the experiment. At 42 days, enclosures with crabs had faster rates of leaf breakdown than those without crabs (with crabs: k = −0.020; without crabs: k = −0.016; p = 0.034). This suggests that the magnitude of direct leaf breakdown by crabs, due to fragmentation, consumption, or manipulation of leaves, was greater than any indirect effects on leaf breakdown via crab consumption of other leaf‐consuming species. Macroinvertebrate composition based on taxa abundances or biomasses did not significantly differ between treatments (ANOSIM; p = 0.73 and p = 0.65, respectively). Shredder and detritivore abundances and biomasses increased significantly through time (ANOVA; p ≤ 0.001), but there was no evidence of an effect of crab presence (p &gt; 0.2), nor were there significant interactions between crab presence and time (p &gt; 0.3). This is one of the first studies to quantify the effects of pseudothelphusid freshwater crabs on leaf breakdown rates. Our results suggest that these crabs can play a significant role in detrital processing in neotropical headwater streams. This study has also demonstrated that short‐term enclosure experiments are useful in measuring in‐stream effects of crab activity on leaf breakdown.

Specific leaf area is a potential indicator of tree species sensitive to future climate change in the mixed Subtropical Forests of southern Brazil

• Functional traits influence plants performance. • We tested whether functional traits could predict the impact of climate change. • Specific leaf area was an indicator of species sensitivity to climate change. • Araucaria angustifolia is highly sensitive to climatic change. Global warming represents one of the most important threats to biodiversity. Because the functional traits of plants influence the performance of individuals under different environmental conditions, we aimed to describe the functional traits of the most frequent tree species found in the Brazilian Mixed Subtropical Forest. We also aimed to test whether functional traits could be used to predict the impact of climate change on the future distribution of tree species. For selected species, certain functional traits were described, namely, wood density, leaf size, specific leaf area, leaf renovation regime, dispersal syndrome, maximum potential height, fruit type, presence of seed dormancy, and the desiccation tolerance of seeds. The geographical distributions of the selected species were modeled using the Maximum Entropy algorithm (MaxEnt) as a function of climatic variation. To predict the impact of climatic changes by 2070 relative to current climate, the best and worst scenarios in relation to the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) were used. While the best scenario assumes a strong reduction in GHG anthropogenic emissions, turning negative by 2070, the worst scenario assumes a continuous increase in GHG anthropogenic emissions over time. The functional traits were ordinated by Principal Components Analysis to identify the ecological strategies of each species. The relationship between functional traits and changes to the area of climatic suitability of each species was evaluated using regression trees. Functional traits predicted changes to suitable climatic areas in the worst-case scenario only. The suitable climatic area of more leathery leaf species was predicted to decline by 41.0% on average, whereas that of more membranous leaf species was predicted to decline by 14.0%. In particular, Araucaria angustifolia , which is considered the most representative species of the Mixed Subtropical Forest of Brazil, had the highest sensitivity to climate change. Consequently, our results suggest that this important forest formation will be strongly impacted by climate and will be under severe risk in the future.

Contribution of macroinvertebrate shredders and aquatic hyphomycetes to litter decomposition in remote insular streams

Shredders play a crucial role in litter decomposition in streams. However, in oceanic islands, many streams have low shredder density and richness, and microbes seem to be the main litter decomposers. Here, we evaluate the effects of shredders and aquatic hyphomycetes on litter decomposition in insular streams. Three leaf species differing in physical and chemical characteristics, Alnus glutinosa, Clethra arborea, and Cryptomeria japonica, were enclosed in bags of coarse and fine mesh to allow and avoid macroinvertebrate access to the litter, respectively, and incubated in six streams along a gradient of Limnephilus atlanticus (Trichoptera) density in Sao Miguel Island. In streams with higher L. atlanticus density, leaf mass loss was higher in coarse than fine mesh bags. However, no difference in litter mass loss was found between bag types in streams with no L. atlanticus, despite the presence of other shredder taxa. These results suggest that when L. atlanticus are present at relatively high densities, they significantly contribute to litter decomposition, while litter decomposition is mainly driven by microbes when L. atlanticus density is low, or they are absent. Moreover, litter decomposition depends on litter quality, with leaves with high nutrient concentration and low concentration of secondary compounds being preferred by shredders.

Mangrove leaf species-specific isotopic signatures along a salinity and phosphorus soil fertility gradients in a subtropical estuary

Mangrove ecotypes are distinct monospecific or mix-species assemblages and used as classification criteria to evaluate coastal biogeochemical cycles at the local, regional, and global scales. However, it is not clear how plant nitrogen and carbon content, including bulk δ13C and δ15N and n-alkane δ13C values, vary across species and within species when plants are exposed to the interaction between nutrient (nitrogen-N, phosphorus-P) availability and stressors (i.e., salinity). Here we present significant differences in green leaves wax n-alkane δ13C (δ13Cn-alkane) values and brown-senescent leaves C:N atomic ratios and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations of three mangrove species (Rhizophora mangle, Laguncularia racemosa, and Avicennia germinans) that reflect ecophysiological adaptations to nutrient availability and salinity along the Shark River estuary (SRE), South Florida, USA. Linear models between leaf wax δ13Cn-alkane values and species location along TP fertility and salinity gradients showed distinct differences, particularly between the species A. germinans and R. mangle. Our analyses showed that leaf wax δ13Cn-alkane properly represented major differences in ecophysiological responses by each mangrove species. We also found that both R. mangle and L. racemosa showed different isotopic footprints among the SRE upper, middle and lower estuarine salinity regions. Further, the green leaves bulk δ13C values in R. mangle (−32.3‰ to −27.6‰) were positively correlated with distance from the mouth of the estuary. In contrast, L. racemosa showed a negative relationship with distance and a narrower bulk δ13C range (−29.8‰ to −28.1‰) in comparison to the other two species. A. germinans, a species found only in the brackish (salinity: 18.8 ± 1.2) and saline (30.3 ± 0.53) estuarine regions, also showed a positive bulk δ13C relationship with distance. Because of the well-defined species-specific leaf wax n-alkane δ13C values along both water column/soil pore water salinity and TP gradients, we propose these values as a potential salinity proxy for paleoclimate reconstruction.

A small supply of high quality detritus stimulates the consumption of low quality materials, but creates subtle effects on the performance of the consumer

Riparian forests produce leaf litter of very different quality and originate packs of litter mixtures of very heterogeneous characteristics in adjacent freshwater ecosystems. Decomposition rates of these litter mixtures often show a non-additive response, with high quality leaf litter stimulating decomposition of poor resources. However, little is known about the performance of consumers facing a diet based on a litter mixture. In this study, we assess in a microcosm experiment how a small availability of a high quality resource affects the consumption and performance of the amphipod Echinogammarus berilloni. Resources of varying quality (Corylus avellana, Fraxinus excelsior, Quercus robur and Fagus sylvatica) were offered individually and supplemented (20% of the total mass) by nitrogen-rich Alnus glutinosa leaf litter. Consumption of leaf species significantly differed when offered separately, with Alnus being the most and Quercus being the least consumed. Addition of Alnus showed only a positive net effect on the consumption when in combination with low quality resources (Quercus and Fagus). For these combinations we observed a positive complementarity effect and a negatives selection effect, i.e. the consumption of both materials was increased, but more of the low quality resource. With the offered Alnus amount, a slight increase in growth was observed but lipid content and RNA:body mass were reduced. The observed reduction in body condition was related to the quality of the predominant leaf, high quality resources (Corylus and Fraxinus) showing the largest reductions. Our study shows that a small availability of a high quality resource can stimulate the consumption of low quality organic matter, with small effects on the consumer.

Gas exchange characteristics and their influencing factors for halophytic plant communities on west coast of Bohai Sea.

Water–salt stress and nutrient limitation may affect leaf economic spectrum of halophytes and confuse our understanding on plant physiological principles in a changing world. In this study, three halophytic plant communities of Phragmites australis, Suaeda salsa, and Tamarix chinensis, were selected in two sites (sites 1 and 2) on the west coast of Bohai Sea. The net photosynthetic rate (Pn), transpiration rate (Tr), stomatal conductance (Gs), leaf vapor pressure deficit (VPDleaf) and their influencing factors were studied to test the possible carbon assimilation strategies of the halophytes. P. australis had higher Pn, Tr, and Gs than S. salsa and T. chinensis in both sites. Similar trends were found for leaf P and photosynthetic N and P efficiency (PNUE and PPUE, respectively) in one or both sites. By contrast, the leaf dry mass per area (LMA) increased in the order of P. australis < S. salsa < T. chinensis in both sites. For identical species in different sites, Pn, leaf P, and PNUE were lower but Tr, VPDleaf, leaf N, leaf N:P, and PPUE were higher in site 1 than in site 2 for one or more halophytes. Although soil physicochemical properties in different sites explained several variations among the halophytes, two-way ANOVA indicated that the species can explain most of the leaf traits compared with the site. LMA also had significant nonlinear relationships with Pn, Tr, Gs, and VPDleaf. PNUE and PPUE showed positive correlation with Pn in both sites, but they decreased in the power-law function with increasing LMA. Overall, the redundancy analysis showed that the gas exchange capacity of the halophytic plant communities was significantly affected by PPUE (60.0% of explanation), PNUE (57.1%), LMA (35.0%), leaf P (22.0%), and soil N (15.8%).

Species test of Mulberry plants on agroforestry land for silk yarn quality improvement in Bali

Mulberry plants are tested on agroforestry land because of its well adaptation. The agroforestry model is a combination of sengon (Falcataria moluccana) and mulberry (Morus sp.) plants. The selected mulberry plants consisted of three species, namely M. alba, M. cathayana and M. nigra. The study objective was to determine the best mulberry species leaves as silkworm feed to produce quality cocoons on agroforestry area in Bali. The test was carried out in a complete randomized design (CRD) with the species treatment of M. alba, M. cathayana and M. nigra. It consists of three replications each. Each replication consists of 100 silkworms. The variables observed in this study were cocoon quality and thread/fibber including the percentage of larvae which become a cocoon, the percentage of normal cocoon, cocoon weight, cocoon skin weight, ratio of cocoon skin and fiber length. The results showed that the maintenance rendement (%) was M. alba (70%), M. cathayana (62,0) and M. nigra (60,5), weight of cocoon (g), was M. alba (1,47), M. cathayana (1.53) and M. nigra (1.41), Weight of filaments (mg) namely M. alba (30,12), M. cathayana (25,35) and M. nigra (26,25 ), and the rolling strength of silk thread, namely M. alba (97.45), M. cathayana (74.11) and M. nigra (69.27). M. alba, M. nigra and M. cathayana mulberry leaf species grown from agroforestry patterns can be used to feed silkworms. The mulberry cropping pattern type both monoculture and agroforestry did not show a significant difference in the silkworm cocoons quality and quantity. The highest maintenance rendement is silkworm fed by M. alba, second is M. cathayana and third M. nigra. M. nigra and M. cathayana compared to M. alba did not show significant differences in cocoon weight, cocoon skin weight, percentage of filaments and rolling strength of silkyarn.

Light and warming drive forest understorey community development in different environments.

Plant community composition and functional traits respond to chronic drivers such as climate change and nitrogen (N) deposition. In contrast, pulse disturbances from ecosystem management can additionally change resources and conditions. Community responses to combined environmental changes may further depend on land-use legacies. Disentangling the relative importance of these global change drivers is necessary to improve predictions of future plant communities. We performed a multifactor global change experiment to disentangle drivers of herbaceous plant community trajectories in a temperate deciduous forest. Communities of five species, assembled from a pool of 15 forest herb species with varying ecological strategies, were grown in 384 mesocosms on soils from ancient forest (forested at least since 1850) and postagricultural forest (forested since 1950) collected across Europe. Mesocosms were exposed to two-level full-factorial treatments of warming, light addition (representing changing forest management) and N enrichment. We measured plant height, specific leaf area (SLA) and species cover over the course of three growing seasons. Increasing light availability followed by warming reordered the species towards a taller herb community, with limited effects of N enrichment or the forest land-use history. Two-way interactions between treatments and incorporating intraspecific trait variation (ITV) did not yield additional inference on community height change. Contrastingly, community SLA differed when considering ITV along with species reordering, which highlights ITV's importance for understanding leaf morphology responses to nutrient enrichment in dark conditions. Contrary to our expectations, we found limited evidence of land-use legacies affecting community responses to environmental changes, perhaps because dispersal limitation was removed in the experimental design. These findings can improve predictions of community functional trait responses to global changes by acknowledging ITV, and subtle changes in light availability. Adaptive forest management to impending global change could benefit the restoration and conservation of understorey plant communities by reducing the light availability.