Aims Government policy in Ireland is to increase the national forest cover from the current 10%to 18%of the total land area by 2020.This represents a major land use change that is expected to impact on the national ca...Aims Government policy in Ireland is to increase the national forest cover from the current 10%to 18%of the total land area by 2020.This represents a major land use change that is expected to impact on the national carbon(C)stocks.While the C stocks of ecosystem bio-mass and soils of Irish grasslands and coniferous forests have been quantified,little work has been done to assess the impact of broad-leaf afforestation on C stocks.Methods In this study,we sampled a chronosequence of ash(Fraxinus excel-sior)forests aged 12,20,27,40 and 47 years on brown earth soils.A grassland site,representative of the pre-afforestation land use,was sampled as a control.Important Findings Our results show that there was a significant decline(P<0.05)in the carbon density of the soil(0-30 cm)following afforestation from the grassland(90.2 Mg C ha^(−1))to the 27-year-old forest(66.7 Mg C ha^(−1)).Subsequently,the forest soils switched from being a C source to a C sink and began to sequester C to 71.3 Mg C ha^(−1) at the 47-year-old forest.We found the amount of C stored in the above-and belowground biomass increased with age of the forest stands and offset the amount of C lost from the soil.The amount of C stored in the above-and belowground biomass increased on average by 1.83 Mg C ha^(−1) year^(−1).The increased storage of C in the biomass led to an increase in the total ecosystem C,from 90.2 Mg C ha^(−1) at the grassland site to 162.6 Mg C ha^(−1) at the 47-year-old forest.On a national scale,projected rates of ash afforestation to the year 2020 may cause a loss of 290752 Mg C from the soil compared to 2525936 Mg C sequestered into the tree biomass.The effects of harvesting and reforestation may further modify the development of ecosystem C stocks over an entire ash rotation.展开更多
Elimination of hazardous chemicals in the process of synthesis,which guarantees the safety of the nanoparticles(NPs)for therapeutic utilization,could be obtained by using the phyto-synthesis method.The present project...Elimination of hazardous chemicals in the process of synthesis,which guarantees the safety of the nanoparticles(NPs)for therapeutic utilization,could be obtained by using the phyto-synthesis method.The present project is a multidimensional survey that aimed to optimize the phyto-synthesis conditions of copper nanoparticles(Cu NPs)using the microwave and ultrasound-assisted methods and facilitate approaching the dilemma of choosing between these two methods by characterizing the final products of each method.Based on the transmission electron microscopy(TEM),the obtained NPs were sub 10 nm in both methods.The optimized NPs were achieved in 5 min using 6 mL of phytoextract at 95℃ in a microwave oven,and amplitude 100%and cycle 0.8 in an ultrasonic processor.In addition to the antibacterial property and molecular wound healing stimulation of Cu NPs,these amorphous nanoscale particles could provide desirable absorption and distribution over the wounds to be suggested as an effective transdermal drug delivery system.The ultrasound-assisted method was the most appropriate way to obtain an amorphous mixture of Cu NPs with a majority of copper oxide while the microwave-assisted method was more suitable for synthesis procedures using plant extracts with heat-sensitive and volatile components.展开更多
基金Irish Council for Forest Research and Development(COFORD),Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Food(DAAF)Science,Technology,Research and Innovation for the Environment(STRIVE)programme 2007-2013(2008-CCRP-1.1A),Irish Environmental Protection Agency(EPA).
文摘Aims Government policy in Ireland is to increase the national forest cover from the current 10%to 18%of the total land area by 2020.This represents a major land use change that is expected to impact on the national carbon(C)stocks.While the C stocks of ecosystem bio-mass and soils of Irish grasslands and coniferous forests have been quantified,little work has been done to assess the impact of broad-leaf afforestation on C stocks.Methods In this study,we sampled a chronosequence of ash(Fraxinus excel-sior)forests aged 12,20,27,40 and 47 years on brown earth soils.A grassland site,representative of the pre-afforestation land use,was sampled as a control.Important Findings Our results show that there was a significant decline(P<0.05)in the carbon density of the soil(0-30 cm)following afforestation from the grassland(90.2 Mg C ha^(−1))to the 27-year-old forest(66.7 Mg C ha^(−1)).Subsequently,the forest soils switched from being a C source to a C sink and began to sequester C to 71.3 Mg C ha^(−1) at the 47-year-old forest.We found the amount of C stored in the above-and belowground biomass increased with age of the forest stands and offset the amount of C lost from the soil.The amount of C stored in the above-and belowground biomass increased on average by 1.83 Mg C ha^(−1) year^(−1).The increased storage of C in the biomass led to an increase in the total ecosystem C,from 90.2 Mg C ha^(−1) at the grassland site to 162.6 Mg C ha^(−1) at the 47-year-old forest.On a national scale,projected rates of ash afforestation to the year 2020 may cause a loss of 290752 Mg C from the soil compared to 2525936 Mg C sequestered into the tree biomass.The effects of harvesting and reforestation may further modify the development of ecosystem C stocks over an entire ash rotation.
文摘Elimination of hazardous chemicals in the process of synthesis,which guarantees the safety of the nanoparticles(NPs)for therapeutic utilization,could be obtained by using the phyto-synthesis method.The present project is a multidimensional survey that aimed to optimize the phyto-synthesis conditions of copper nanoparticles(Cu NPs)using the microwave and ultrasound-assisted methods and facilitate approaching the dilemma of choosing between these two methods by characterizing the final products of each method.Based on the transmission electron microscopy(TEM),the obtained NPs were sub 10 nm in both methods.The optimized NPs were achieved in 5 min using 6 mL of phytoextract at 95℃ in a microwave oven,and amplitude 100%and cycle 0.8 in an ultrasonic processor.In addition to the antibacterial property and molecular wound healing stimulation of Cu NPs,these amorphous nanoscale particles could provide desirable absorption and distribution over the wounds to be suggested as an effective transdermal drug delivery system.The ultrasound-assisted method was the most appropriate way to obtain an amorphous mixture of Cu NPs with a majority of copper oxide while the microwave-assisted method was more suitable for synthesis procedures using plant extracts with heat-sensitive and volatile components.
