Guangwei Ding

Effects of Different Regeneration Scenarios and Fertilizer Treatments on Soil Microbial Ecology in Reclaimed Opencast Mining Areas on the Loess Plateau, China

The soil microbial community in reclaimed mining areas is fundamental to vegetative establishment. However, how this community responds to different regeneration scenarios and fertilizer treatments is poorly understood. This research evaluated plant and soil microbial communities from different regeneration scenarios and different fertilizer treatments. Regeneration scenarios significantly influenced soil bacterial, archaeal, and fungal rDNA abundance. The ratios of fungi to bacteria or archaea were increased with fertilizer application. The diversity of both plants and microbes was lowest in Lotus corniculatus grasslands. Regeneration scenario, fertilizer treatment, and their interaction influenced soil microbial richness, diversity and evenness indices. Labile carbon pool 2 was a significant factor affected plant and microbe communities in July, suggesting that plants and microbes may be competing for nutrients. The higher ratios of positive to negative association were found in soil bacteria and total microbe than in archaea and fungi. Stronger clustering of microbial communities from the same regeneration scenario indicated that the vegetative composition of regeneration site may have a greater influence on soil microbial communities than fertilizer treatment.

Integrating Remote Sensing and GIS for Prediction of Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum) Protein Contents in Linfen (Shanxi), China

In this study, relationships between normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and plant (winter wheat) nitrogen content (PNC) and between PNC and grain protein content (GPC) were investigated using multi-temporal moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data at the different stages of winter wheat in Linfen (Shanxi, P. R. China). The anticipating model for GPC of winter wheat was also established by the approach of NDVI at the different stages of winter wheat. The results showed that the spectrum models of PNC passed F test. The NDVI4.14 regression effect of PNC model of irrigated winter wheat was the best, and that in dry land was NDVI4.30. The PNC of irrigated and dry land winter wheat were significantly (P<0.01) and positively correlated to GPC. Both of protein spectral anticipating model of irrigated and dry land winter wheat passed a significance test (P<0.01). Multiple anticipating models (MAM) were established by NDVI from two periods of irrigated and dry land winter wheat and PNC to link GPC anticipating model. The coefficient of determination R2 (R) of MAM was greater than that of the other two single-factor models. The relative root mean square error (RRMSE) and relative error (RE) of MAM were lower than those of the other two single-factor models. Therefore, test effects of multiple proteins anticipating model were better than those of single-factor models. The application of multiple anticipating models for predication of protein content (PC) of irrigated and dry land winter wheat was more accurate and reliable. The regionalization analysis of GPC was performed using inverse distance weighted function of GIS, which is likely to provide the scientific basis for the reasonable winter wheat planting in Linfen city, China.

Effect of Transgenic Bt Cotton on Bioactivities and Nutrients in Rhizosphere Soil

The influence of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton (BtXincai1) and its corresponding nontransgenic isoline (Xincai1) on the microorganisms, enzyme activity, and nutrient content of rhizosphere soil was studied through experiments in potted plants. The calcareous drab soil samples were collected (0–15 cm deep) from an experimental field in Shanxi Agricultural University (China) in 2005. The pots were categorized in different groups with replicates for each variety (transgenic BtXincai1 and general Xincai1). The rhizosphere soil samples were collected at different growth periods (seedling, bud, flowering, peak boll, boll opening, and harvest). The Bt protein and other microbial properties in the soil samples were determined by using selected methods (material and methods session). The results demonstrated that the concentration of the Bt protein in the rhizosphere soil of BtXincai1 reached a peak at 56.14 ng g−1 during the flowering period. However, the Bt protein would not continuously accumulate in the soil. The rhizosphere soil of BtXincai1 was more suitable for the growth and proliferation of bacteria and fungi but it had no significant impact on the number of actinomycetes. BtXincai1 had some inhibitory effects on alkaline phosphatase activity in the rhizosphere soil, and it might promote dehydrogenase activity during the blooming period. However, it had no significant influence on protease, urease, or sucrase activities. Further, it had no significant impact on the contents of organic matter, total nitrogen, available nitrogen, or potassium in rhizosphere soil. It could significantly decrease the content of available phosphorus during the flowering period. Based on this study, the sensitive reactions of microorganisms and the activities of alkaline phosphatase and dehydrogenase might be considered as three potential indexes for assessing the risk posed by transgenic Bt cotton to soil ecology.

Impact of Water Content and Temperature on the Degradation of Cry1Ac Protein in Leaves and Buds of Bt Cotton in the Soil

Determining the influence of soil environmental factors on degradation of Cry1Ac protein from Bt cotton residues is vital for assessing the ecological risks of this commercialized transgenic crop. In this study, the degradation of Cry1Ac protein in leaves and in buds of Bt cotton in soil was evaluated under different soil water content and temperature settings in the laboratory. An exponential model and a shift-log model were used to fit the degradation dynamics of Cry1Ac protein and estimate the DT50 and DT90 values. The results showed that Cry1Ac protein in the leaves and buds underwent rapid degradation in the early stage (before day 48), followed by a slow decline in the later stage under different soil water content and temperature. Cry1Ac protein degraded the most rapidly in the early stage at 35°C with 70% soil water holding capacity. The DT50 values were 12.29 d and 10.17 d and the DT90 values were 41.06 d and 33.96 d in the leaves and buds, respectively. Our findings indicated that the soil temperature was a major factor influencing the degradation of Cry1Ac protein from Bt cotton residues. Additionally, the relative higher temperature (25°C and 35°C) was found to be more conducive to degradation of Cry1Ac protein in the soil and the greater water content (100%WHC) retarded the process. These findings suggested that under appropriate soil temperature and water content, Cry1Ac protein from Bt cotton residues will not persist and accumulate in soil.

Response of Soil Microbial Biomass and Enzyme Activity to Soil Fertilization in an Eroded Farmland of Chinese Mollisols

The aims of this study were to examine interrelationships between microbial biomass and enzyme activities of soil quality and to determine their suitability for differentiating areas. The study included five simulated erosion soil depths (0, 5, 10, 20, and 30 cm), which had received contrasting fertilizer treatments over a 5-year period in an eroded black soil of northeastern China. Our results indicated that soil microbial carbon, nitrogen, urease, phosphatase, and invertase activities declined as the erosion depth increased. On the five erosion depths, soil microbial carbon, phosphatase, and invertase variation ranged as follows: 35.4–53.3, 39.8–45.2, and 55.9–67.1%, respectively. In the fertilizer + manure treatment, soil microbial carbon, nitrogen, urease, phosphatase, and invertase activities were significantly greater (P < 0.05) than those of fertilizer treatment in all five different erosion depths. Overall, this study may be considered as the foundation for soil quality evaluation and fertility restoration in northeastern China and similar regions.

Labile organic matter content and distribution as affected by six-year soil amendments to eroded Chinese mollisols

Labile organic carbon (LOC) is a fraction of soil organic carbon (SOC) with rapid turnover time and is affected by soil fertilization. This investigation characterized the SOC content, LOC content and LOC distribution in the treatment plots of surface soil erosion at five levels (0-, 5-, 10-, 20- and 30-cm erosion). The soil had received contrasting fertilizer treatments (i.e., chemical fertilizer or chemical fertilizer + manure) for 6 years. This study demonstrated that both SOC and various LOC fractions contents were higher in the plots with fertilizer + manure than in those with fertilizer alone under the same erosion conditions. The SOC and LOC contents decreased as the erosion depth increased. Light fraction organic carbon, particulate organic carbon, easily oxidizable organic carbon (KMnO4-oxydizable organic carbon), and microbial biomass carbon were 27%–57%, 37%–47%, 20%–25%, and 29%–33% higher respectively in the fertilizer + manure plots, than in the fertilizer alone plots. Positive correlations (p < 0.05) between SOC content and different fractions contents were observed in all plots except the correlation between total SOC content and water-soluble organic carbon content in the different fertilization treatments. Obviously, fertilizer + manure treatments would be conducive to the accumulation of LOC and SOC in the Black soil of Northeast China.

Hyperspectral estimation of soil organic matter based on different spectral preprocessing techniques

ABSTRACT In this study, the potentiality of visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy to estimate soil organic matter was assessed. Six preprocessing methods were implemented to process the original spectra. The partial least-squares regression approach was also applied to construct predictive models and evaluate the optimal spectral preprocessing method. The significant wavelengths of soil organic matter were determined by using the correlation analysis and the partial least-squares regression analysis. The results were: (i) visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy was proved to be an ideal approach in the soil organic matter estimation; (ii) different preprocessed spectra could improve their correlation with soil organic matter; the combination of first-order derivative and Savitzky–Golay smoothing method outperformed other preprocessing methods; (iii) the soil organic matter predictive models based on spectra processed by derivatives and Savitzky–Golay smoothing together presented a satisfactory accuracy, yielding the determination coefficient and root mean square error values of 0.986 and 0.077, respectively, for first-order derivative; and 0.973 and 0.105, respectively, for second-order derivative. The combination of first-order derivative and Savitzky–Golay smoothing was ultimately recommended the preferable preprocessing method; and (iv) the wavelengths of 417, 1853, 1000, and 2412 nm were determined as the significant wavelengths associated with soil organic matter. The study will provide a reference for the site specific management of agricultural inputs by using the visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy technology.

Extraction of Sensitive Bands for Monitoring the Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum) Growth Status and Yields Based on the Spectral Reflectance.

To extract the sensitive bands for estimating the winter wheat growth status and yields, field experiments were conducted. The crop variables including aboveground biomass (AGB), soil and plant analyzer development (SPAD) value, yield, and canopy spectra were determined. Statistical methods of correlation analysis, partial least squares (PLS), and stepwise multiple linear regression (SMLR) were used to extract sensitive bands and estimate the crop variables with calibration set. The predictive model based on the selected bands was tested with validation set. The results showed that the crop variables were significantly correlated with spectral reflectance. The major spectral regions were selected with the B-coefficient and variable importance on projection (VIP) parameter derived from the PLS analysis. The calibrated SMLR model based on the selected wavelengths demonstrated an excellent performance as the R2, TC, and RMSE were 0.634, 0.055, and 843.392 for yield; 0.671, 0.017, and 1.798 for SPAD; and 0.760, 0.081, and 1.164 for AGB. These models also performed accurately and robustly by using the field validation data set. It indicated that these wavelengths retained in models were important. The determined wavelengths for yield, SPAD, and AGB were 350, 410, 730, 1015, 1185 and 1245 nm; 355, 400, 515, 705, 935, 1090, and 1365 nm; and 470, 570, 895, 1170, 1285, and 1355 nm, respectively. This study illustrated that it was feasible to predict the crop variables by using the multivariate method. The step-by-step procedure to select the significant bands and optimize the prediction model of crop variables may serve as a valuable approach. The findings of this study may provide a theoretical and practical reference for rapidly and accurately monitoring the crop growth status and predicting the yield of winter wheat.

Impact of spectral saturation on leaf area index and aboveground biomass estimation of winter wheat

ABSTRACT The saturation problem associated with the use of normalized difference vegetation index for crop variable estimation is well known. However, its physical mechanism is not systemically explored. The wavebands computing the vegetation indices also suffered saturation when the leaf area index and aboveground biomass reached to 2.5 and 1 kg m−2, respectively. We thought that the saturation might be not only referred to normalized difference vegetation index, but also to certain wavebands. Furthermore, the performances of seven different vegetation indices were assessed on overcoming the saturation. The findings will improve our understanding of the spectral saturation.

Evaluating winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) nitrogen status using canopy spectrum reflectance and multiple statistical analysis

ABSTRACT Reasonable adoption of nitrogen fertilizers is significant in increasing wheat production, improving wheat quality, and environmental protection. This research applies the multiple statistical analysis technique to extract sensitive spectral bands and establish a spectrum monitoring model in determining accumulation nitrogen deficit. The major bands of the spectrum monitoring model in different nitrogen models are 440 and 610 nm. The higher value of the coefficient of the determination in estimating the model indicates lower root mean squared error and relative error. Therefore, appropriate nitrogen fertilization can be achieved by observing the winter wheat spectrum before the flowering stage.