Methane emission from soil under long-term no-till cropping systems

Methane (CH4) emission from agricultural soils increases dramatically as a result of deleterious effect of soil disturbance and nitrogen fertilization on methanotrophic organisms; however, few studies have attempted to evaluate the potential of long-term conservation management systems to mitigate CH4 emissions in tropical and subtropical soils. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term effect (>19 years) of no-till grass- and legume-based cropping systems on annual soil CH4 fluxes in a formerly degraded Acrisol in Southern Brazil. Air sampling was carried out using static chambers and CH4 analysis by gas chromatography. Analysis of historical data set of the experiment evidenced a remarkable effect of high C- and N-input cropping systems on the improvement of biological, chemical, and physical characteristics of this no-tilled soil. Soil CH4 fluxes, which represent a net balance between consumption (-) and production (+) of CH4 in soil, varied from -40 +/- 2 to +62 +/- 78 mu g C m(-2) h(-1). Mean weighted contents of ammonium (NH4+-N) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in soil had a positive relationship with accumulated soil CH4 fluxes in the post-management period (r(2) = 0.95, p = 0.05), suggesting an additive effect of these nutrients in suppressing CH4 oxidation and stimulating methanogenesis, respectively, in legume-based cropping systems with high biomass input. Annual CH4 fluxes ranged from -50 +/- 610 to +994 +/- 105 g C ha(-1), which were inversely related to annual biomass-C input (r(2) = 0.99, p = 0.003), with the exception of the cropping system containing pigeon pea, a summer legume that had the highest biologically fixed N input (>300 kg ha(-1) yr(-1)). Our results evidenced a small effect of conservation management systems on decreasing CH4 emissions from soil, despite their significant effect restoring soil quality. We hypothesized that soil CH4 uptake strength has been off-set by an injurious effect of biologically fixed N in legume-based cropping systems on soil methanotrophic microbiota, and by the methanogenesis increase as a result of the O-2 depletion in niches of high biological activity in the surface layer of the no-tillage soil. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PRODUÇÃO DE BIOMASSA E COMPOSIÇÃO QUÍMICA DE ADUBOS VERDES CULTIVADOS NO VALE DO RIBEIRA

A contribuição da adubação verde com leguminosas para melhoria do solo e produção agrícola depende em primeiro lugar da produção de biomassa e da sua composição química, que variam em função da espécie, região e estação de cultivo. Objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar a composição química da biomassa produzida por adubos verdes no Vale do Ribeira, São Paulo, Brasil. Para tal, foi conduzido um experimento em Pariquera-Açu-SP, no ano agrícola 2006/2007, em blocos casualizados, com quatro tratamentos (três adubos verdes e vegetação espontânea) e cinco repetições. Aos 30, 60, 90 e 120 dias após a semeadura, foram coletadas amostras em 1 m² da parte aérea das plantas e determinada a matéria fresca e seca, bem como a composição da biomassa. Crotalária, guandu e mucuna produziram, em ordem decrescente, as maiores quantidades de biomassa e foram mais eficientes do que a vegetação espontânea. A biomassa produzida pelos adubos verdes apresentou qualidade superior à produzida pela vegetação espontânea. Crotalária e guandu apresentam maior proporção de matéria seca acumulada no caule que possui baixo teor de N, alta relação C/N e L/N, variáveis que tornam a decomposição dos resíduos mais lenta. A análise particionada da matéria seca permite indicação mais precisa da composição química dos resíduos e a previsão da disponibilidade dos nutrientes no solo.

NEW RECORD OF CALYPTRAEID HOSTS FOR THE PEA CRAB CALYPTRAEOTHERES GARTHI (FENUCCI, 1975) (DECAPODA, PINNOTHERIDAE) IN ARGENTINA

Calyptraeotheres garthi (Fenucci, 1975) is one of nine species of Pinnotheridae occurring in Argentina and the only species of that genus located in this region. This species can be found from the San Maths Gulf, Argentina to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil where it lives in symbiotic association with limpets of the family Calyptraeidae. Currently, two species of limpets have been reported as hosts of this species: Crepidula protea (d'Orbigny, 1841) and Crepidula argentina Simone, Pastorino & Penchaszadeh, 2000. We report here four more species of limpets serving as hosts of C. garthi, namely Bostrycapulus odites Collin, 2005, Crepidula cachimilla Cledon, Simone & Penchaszadeh, 2004, Crepidula plana Say, 1822 and Trochita pileus (Lamarck, 1822). Thus, this pinnotherid appears to be, as others members of the family, a generalist symbiotic species since it dwells on almost all the potential limpet species reported for Argentina. However, there are notable differences in prevalence of C. garthi on each host, which suggest that the symbiont might prefer species of Crepidula over the others genera (Trochita and Bostrycapulus). Additionally, there exists an apparent relationship between host size and prevalence (e.g., Crepidula cachimilla, the limpet with the highest prevalence, is clearly larger than the others hosts). Perhaps it is premature to conclude that the size of the host might be of benefit for the symbiont, but it is a hypothesis worthy of being explored.

Inheritance of resistance to powdery mildew in pea and pathogenesis-related aspects

The inheritance of resistance to powdery mildew in the pea cultivar MK-10 and some histological aspects of infection were assessed. For the inheritance study, F1, F2, backcrosses and F3 generations of MK-10 crossed with two susceptible populations were evaluated. Histological evaluations included percentage of germinated conidia, percentage of conidia that formed appresoria, percentage of conidia that established colonies, and number of haustoria per colony. Segregation ratios obtained in the resistance inheritance study were compared by Chi-square (ײ) test and the histological data were analyzed by Tukey's test at 5% probability. It was concluded that resistance of MK-10 to powdery mildew is due to a pair of recessive alleles since it is expressed in the pre-penetration stage and completed by post-penetration localized cellular death, characteristic of the presence of the pair of recessive alleles er1er1.