A suitable planting pattern and irrigation strategy are essential for optimizing winter wheat yield and water use efficiency (WUE). The study aimed to evaluate the impact of planting pattern and ...irrigation frequency on grain yield and WUE of winter wheat. During the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 winter wheat growing seasons in the North China Plain, the effects of planting patterns and irrigation frequencies were determined on tiller number, grain yield, and WUE. The two planting patterns tested were wide-precision and conventional-cultivation. Each planting pattern had three irrigation regimes: irrigation (120 mm) at the jointing stage; irrigation (60 mm) at both the jointing and heading stages; and irrigation (40 mm) at the jointing, heading, and milking stages. In our study, tiller number was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Additionally, the highest grain yields and WUE were observed when irrigation was applied at the jointing stage (120 mm) or at the jointing and heading stages (60 mm each) in the wide-precision planting pattern. These results could be attributed to higher tiller numbers as well as reduced water consumption due to reduced irrigation frequency. In both growing seasons, applying 60 mm of water at jointing and heading stages resulted in the highest grain yield among the treatments. Based on our results, for winter wheat production in semi-humid regions, we recommend a wide-precision planting pattern with irrigation (60 mm) at both the jointing and heading stages.
► We studied water use, radiation interception, and grain yield in wide-precision planting. ► Evapotranspiration from wide-precision planting was not different from that from conventional-cultivation ...planting. ► Wide-precision planting increased the PAR capture ratios at 40 and 60cm above the ground. ► Wide-precision planting resulted in high grain yield, which can be attributed to increased spike numbers.
To develop a water-saving planting pattern in the North China Plain, in the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons, 2 types of planting patterns (wide-precision planting and conventional-cultivation planting) and 3 different irrigation treatments (60.0-mm irrigation at both jointing and heading stages, 60.0-mm irrigation at only the jointing stage, and no irrigation at any time during the growing season) were conducted. These methods were used to study the effects of irrigation and wide-precision planting on water use, leaf area index (LAI), photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) capture ratio, dry matter accumulation, and grain yield of winter wheat. The results indicated that after 60.0mm irrigation at the jointing and heading stages of winter wheat, the soil water content and the LAI from the wide-precision planting were higher than those from the conventional-cultivation planting late in the growing seasons. The PAR capture ratios at 40 and 60cm above the ground in the wide-precision planting were higher than those in the conventional-cultivation planting. At the milking stage, the wide-precision planting with 60.0-mm irrigation at both the jointing and heading stages had significantly (LSD, P<0.05) high dry matter accumulation. Compared to the conventional-cultivation planting, the wide-precision planting with 60.0-mm irrigation at both jointing and heading stages had the highest grain yield, which can be attributed to increased spike numbers. The results indicate that the wide-precision planting with 60.0-mm irrigation at both the jointing and heading stages of winter wheat should be extended in the North China Plain.
Acid rain emerged as an important environmental problem in China in the late 1970s. The current situation and what to expect in the future, based largely on the results from a five-year ...Chinese-Norwegian cooperative project, is discussed.
The chloroplast genome sequences of Chinese Boraginaceae species, Onosma fuyunensis Y. He & Q.R. Liu, were reported in this study. We sequenced O. fuyunensis using the Illumina HiSeq X Ten platform. ...The total length of O. fuyunensis chloroplast genome is 150,612 bp, including a large single-copy region of length 82,853 bp, a small single-copy region of length 17,281 bp, and a pair of 25,239-bp inverted repeat regions. The chloroplast genome of O. fuyunensis has 133 genes, including 84 protein-coding, eight ribosomal RNA, and 37 transfer RNA genes. The overall GC content of the whole genome was 43.3%. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that O. fuyunensis is closely related to Borago officinalis and Plagiobothrys nothofulvus.
Ophiorrhiza reflexa , a new species from Guangxi, China, is described and illustrated in this study. It is morphologically similar to O. alatiflora due to the branched inflorescence, distylous ...flowers and the tubular-funnelform corolla with five longitudinal wings. The new species can be distinguished from O. alatiflora by its erect inflorescence, its smaller and equal-sized calyx lobes 0.5–0.7 mm long, its corolla tubes winged to the middle and the wings straight and its strongly reflexed corolla lobes at anthesis. Ophiorrhiza reflexa is assessed as least concern (LC) according to IUCN Categories and Criteria.
Choosing the proper fertilizer regime for a crop in a given location remains challenging to increase yield, profitability, environmental growth protection, and sustainability. However, the nutrient ...demand characteristics of cotton in the North China Plain are different at various growth stages. Therefore, we choose the local superior cotton variety (Lumian 532) with high yield as the material, in the present study, we assessed the cotton yield, biomass accumulation and distribution, nitrogen absorption and utilization efficiency, and other parameters by setting four nitrogen allocation ratios (3:5:2, 0:10:0, 3:7:0, and 0:7:3) when the nitrogen application rates were 0, 150, 220, and 300 kg hm−2. The results showed that when the nitrogen application rate was 300 kg hm−2, the growth index, biomass, nitrogen content, and yield of Lumian 532 were the highest, while the nitrogen partial productivity (12.2 and 12.8) was the lowest. When the nitrogen application rate was 220 kg hm−2 and the nitrogen allocation ratio was 3:5:2, the agronomic nitrogen use efficiency (3.2 and 3.5) and nitrogen physiological (24.8 and 25.0) was achieved. When the nitrogen application rate was 150 kg hm−2, the nitrogen partial productivity (20.6 and 20.9) was the highest. In conclusion, the biomass accumulation and distribution, nitrogen use efficiency, yield, and yield composition of Lumian 532 could be effectively regulated by appropriate nitrogen application rate and nitrogen allocation ratio. Therefore, to optimize the yield and improve the nitrogen use efficiency, the optimal nitrogen application rate of Lumian 532 was 220 kg hm−2, and the optimal nitrogen allocation ratio was 3:5:2 in the North China Plain. The results provided practical basis for nutrient demand, cotton yield and ecological protection in different growth stages of cotton in North China Plain.
Demand for food security and the current global warming situation make high and strict demands on the North China Plain for both food production and the inhibition of agricultural carbon emissions. ...To explore the most effective way to decrease soil CO2 emissions and maintain high grain yield, studies were conducted during the 2012 and 2013 summer maize growing seasons to assess the effects of wheat straw mulching on the soil CO2 emissions and grain yield of summer maize by adding 0 and 0.6 kg m−2 to fields with plant densities of 100 000, 75 000, and 55 000 plants ha−1. The study indicated that straw mulching had some positive effects on summer maize grain yield by improving the 1000-kernel weight. Meanwhile, straw mulching effectively controlled the soil respiration rate and cumulative CO2 emission flux, particularly in fields planted at a density of 75 000 plants ha−1, which achieved maximum grain yield and minimum carbon emission per unit yield. In addition, soil microbial biomass and microbial activity were significantly higher in mulching treatments than in nonmulching treatments. Consequently, summer maize with straw mulching at 75 000 plants ha−1 is an environmentally friendly option in the North China Plain.
The ability of fragile ecosystems of alpine regions to adapt and thrive under warming and nitrogen deposition is a pressing conservation concern. The lack of information on how these ecosystems ...respond to the combined impacts of elevated levels of nitrogen and a warming climate limits the sustainable management approaches of alpine grasslands. In this study, we experimented using a completely random blocked design to examine the effects of warming and nitrogen deposition on the aboveground biomass and diversity of alpine grassland plant communities. The experiment was carried out from 2015 to 2018 in four vegetation types, e.g., alpine desert, alpine desert steppe, alpine marsh, and alpine salinised meadow, in the Aerjin Mountain Nature Reserve (AMNR) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). We found that W (warming) and WN (warming plus N deposition) treatment significantly increased the aboveground biomass of all the vegetation types (
< 0.05) in 2018. However, W and WN treatment only significantly increased the Shannon diversity of salinised meadows in 2018 and had no significant effect on the Shannon diversity of other vegetation types. Such results suggested that long-term nitrogen deposition and warming can consistently stimulate biomass accumulation of the alpine plant communities. Compared with other vegetation types, the diversity of alpine salinised meadows are generally more susceptible to long-term warming and warming combined with N deposition. Warming accounts many of such variabilities, while short-term N deposition alone may not significantly have an evident effect on the productivity and diversity of alpine grasslands. Our findings suggested that the effects of short-term (≤4 years) N deposition on alpine vegetation productivity and diversity were minimal, while long-term warming (>4 years) will be much more favourable for alpine vegetation.
To develop water-saving agriculture in Shandong province, North China, a series of field experiments are conducted with two sowing patterns (wide and precise sowing pattern and ...conventional-cultivation pattern) and two corn stalks mulching modes (0 and 0.6 kg/m(2)) to study dynamic change in wheat plants, water consumption and water use efficiency (WUE) in various growth stages as well as grain yield. The results show that corn mulch can significantly reduce water consumption but both number of spikes and 1 000-grain mass decrease significantly, causing a substantially reduced wheat yield. Under corn stalks mulch conditions, the wide and precise sowing pattern not only can compensate the grain yield loss by increasing number of spikes significantly, but also can lower the water consumption greatly compared with the conventional-cultivation pattern. Therefore, WUE is much higher in wide and precise sowing pattern than in conventional-cultivation pattern. The study indicates that the wide and precise sowing pat
•Spike numbers in wide-precision planting pattern were significantly enhanced.•Grain yield in wide-precision planting pattern was improved.•Evapotranspiration in both planting patterns was not ...statistically different.•WUE in wide-precision planting pattern was significantly increased.
Water resources in North China Plain are limited; however, the Plain is the most important winter wheat production area in China and winter wheat should be irrigated to get high grain yield. To better understand the potential for improving grain yield and water use efficiency (WUE), treatment effects of planting patterns and deficit irrigation were quantified on tillers number, grain yield, evapotranspiration, and WUE during the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons. The two planting patterns were wide-precision planting pattern (sowing width was 6–8cm) and conventional-cultivation planting pattern (sowing width was 3–5cm). Each planting pattern had three irrigation regimes, i.e., no irrigation, irrigated 60.0mm only at jointing stage, and irrigated 60.0mm each at jointing and heading stages. Results indicated that whether irrigated or not, tillers number was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern; accounting for spike numbers in wide-precision planting pattern being significantly higher than in conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Grain yield was increased when irrigation amount increased, and was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Significant interaction between planting patterns and deficit irrigation regimes occurred in both 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 grain yields. Under the same deficit irrigation regime, there were not significant differences in the evapotranspiration between the two planting patterns. In the both growing seasons, irrespective of irrigation treatment, WUE was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Results support the application of wide-precision planting pattern in combination with deficit irrigation for maximizing winter wheat production in North China Plain.
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