Structural measurements are indicators of animal performance,productivity and carcass characteristics.This study was conducted with the objectives of assessing structural measurements,developing body weight prediction...Structural measurements are indicators of animal performance,productivity and carcass characteristics.This study was conducted with the objectives of assessing structural measurements,developing body weight prediction and structural indices for cows of Arsi breed.The cows were purchased from highland and lowland agro-ecologies of Arsi and East Shoa zones of Oromia regional state,Ethiopia and kept in Adami Tulu Agricultural Research Center(ATARC)for the breed development purpose.Totally 222 cows were included in the structural traits measurement.Thirty four young heifers were also considered in the study.Twenty two structural traits were considered during observational survey.The structural index was calculated from the phenotypically correlated linear measurements.Structural traits were analyzed by T-test of SPSS version twenty four.The observed average values of height at wither,chest depth,heart girth,body length,pelvic width,cannon bone circumferences of the cows were 107,55.62,141.06,117.82,31.41 and 13.58cm,respectively.Heart girth(0.82),flank girth(0.73),hook circumferences(0.67),chest depth(0.65)and height at rump(0.64)were highly correlated(P<0.01)to body weight of the cows.Regression analysis indicated that hearth girth had the highest coefficient of determination for body weight of the cows and heifers.Accordingly,the simple linear equations were developed to predict the body weight of cows and heifers.Body weight of Arsi cow(y)=-221.005+3.1(heart girth)and Body weight of Arsi heifer(y)=-188.452+2.75(heart girth).Based on this,the measuring chart tape can be developed to estimate the body weight of Arsi cows and heifers at field condition where there is no access to weighing scales.展开更多
Leaf economics spectrum(LES)describes the fundamental trade-offs between leaf structural,chemical,and physiological investments.Generally,structurally robust thick leaves with high leaf dry mass per unit area(LMA)exhi...Leaf economics spectrum(LES)describes the fundamental trade-offs between leaf structural,chemical,and physiological investments.Generally,structurally robust thick leaves with high leaf dry mass per unit area(LMA)exhibit lower photosynthetic capacity per dry mass(Amass).Paradoxically,“soft and thinleaved”mosses and spikemosses have very low Amass,but due to minute-size foliage elements,their LMA and its components,leaf thickness(LT)and density(LD),have not been systematically estimated.Here,we characterized LES and associated traits in cryptogams in unprecedented details,covering five evolutionarily different lineages.We found that mosses and spikemosses had the lowest LMA and LT values ever measured for terrestrial plants.Across a broad range of species from different lineages,Amass and LD were negatively correlated.In contrast,Amass was only related to LMA when LMA was greater than 14 g cm^(-2).In fact,low Amass reflected high LD and cell wall thickness in the studied cryptogams.We conclude that evolutionarily old plant lineages attained poorly differentiated,ultrathin mesophyll by increasing LD.Across plant lineages,LD,not LMA,is the trait that represents the trade-off between leaf robustness and physiology in the LES.展开更多
Despite the essential role of micronutrients in plant metabolic processes and carbon cycle,the mechanisms by which micronutrients regulate plant community traits remain poorly understood.Here,we used a long-term exper...Despite the essential role of micronutrients in plant metabolic processes and carbon cycle,the mechanisms by which micronutrients regulate plant community traits remain poorly understood.Here,we used a long-term experiment to explore the potential mechanisms of plant community micronutrients and traits along a precipitation gradient.Our results showed that plants shifted toward lateral growth and asexual reproduction over time.From 1985 to 2022,the plant community Fe content increased by 18.8%in the north but declined by 25.2%in the south of the typical steppe.Furthermore,plant community growth and reproduction were sensitive to both micronutrient contents and uptake efficiencies in the north of the typical steppe.While plant community Mn and Zn contents enhanced growth longitudinally,Zn and Fe uptake efficiencies hindered sexual reproduction.Furthermore,soil moisture and GDP per capita were the key drivers of micronutrient variation in the north and south of the typical steppe,respectively.Precipitation fluctuations primarily regulated community traits across all sites.In the arid site,micronutrient-driven shifts in reproduction stabilized the soil carbon stock by balancing biomass allocation.These findings can help us to better understand the coupling of plant micronutrients,traits,and soil carbon stocks,thereby providing the basis for a scientific grassland conservation strategy under global change scenarios.展开更多
Differences in physical and structural characteristics of seeds may indicate variability within and between plant populations.In the present study,we performed a close characterization of dimension,shape,and tegument ...Differences in physical and structural characteristics of seeds may indicate variability within and between plant populations.In the present study,we performed a close characterization of dimension,shape,and tegument delayed chlorophyll fluorescence in seeds obtained from three species of the genus Annona(Annonaceae),i.e.,Annona coriacea,A.montana,A.squamosa.Results showed that studied seeds may be sorted as scalene ellipsoids expressing low values for the seed sphericity.The morphological estimates suggested differences in seed shape for all species.A high correlation was observed between surface area and volume(r^2>99%)for all the three species suggesting that in addition to structural shape.In addition,we also observed very high positive correlations(Rho=1.000,p<0.001)between surface area and arithmetic mean diameterof the seeds for all species.The first principal component(PCA1)of elliptical Fourier descriptors explained most of the variations in morphological structure of the seeds in the three species.Additionally,a less intense tegument delayed chlorophyll fluorescence was observed for A.montana while the highest intensity was recorded for A.squamosa,revealing the potential use of fluorescence spectroscopy in discrimination at the species level by analyzing the frequency domain by means of Fourier Transform spectra as well as the relationship time-frequency of chlorophyll fluorescence.展开更多
文摘Structural measurements are indicators of animal performance,productivity and carcass characteristics.This study was conducted with the objectives of assessing structural measurements,developing body weight prediction and structural indices for cows of Arsi breed.The cows were purchased from highland and lowland agro-ecologies of Arsi and East Shoa zones of Oromia regional state,Ethiopia and kept in Adami Tulu Agricultural Research Center(ATARC)for the breed development purpose.Totally 222 cows were included in the structural traits measurement.Thirty four young heifers were also considered in the study.Twenty two structural traits were considered during observational survey.The structural index was calculated from the phenotypically correlated linear measurements.Structural traits were analyzed by T-test of SPSS version twenty four.The observed average values of height at wither,chest depth,heart girth,body length,pelvic width,cannon bone circumferences of the cows were 107,55.62,141.06,117.82,31.41 and 13.58cm,respectively.Heart girth(0.82),flank girth(0.73),hook circumferences(0.67),chest depth(0.65)and height at rump(0.64)were highly correlated(P<0.01)to body weight of the cows.Regression analysis indicated that hearth girth had the highest coefficient of determination for body weight of the cows and heifers.Accordingly,the simple linear equations were developed to predict the body weight of cows and heifers.Body weight of Arsi cow(y)=-221.005+3.1(heart girth)and Body weight of Arsi heifer(y)=-188.452+2.75(heart girth).Based on this,the measuring chart tape can be developed to estimate the body weight of Arsi cows and heifers at field condition where there is no access to weighing scales.
基金funded by the EU Regional Development Fund within the framework of the Centre of Excellence EcolChange(2014-2020.4.01.15-0002),the European Commission through the European Research Council(advanced grant 322603,SIPVOL+),the Estonian Research Council(personal grant PSG884)base funding nr 190200,the National Natural Science foundation of China(31711530648)+2 种基金the Personnel Startup Project of the Scientific Research and Development Foundation of Zhejiang A&F University(2021FR041)the study was partly purchased from funding by the EU Regional Development Fund(AnaEE Estonia,2014-2020.4.01.20-0285,and the project“Plant Biology Infrastructure-TAIM”,2014-2020.4.01.20-0282)the Estonian Research Council(“Plant Biology Infrastructure-TAIM”,TT5).
文摘Leaf economics spectrum(LES)describes the fundamental trade-offs between leaf structural,chemical,and physiological investments.Generally,structurally robust thick leaves with high leaf dry mass per unit area(LMA)exhibit lower photosynthetic capacity per dry mass(Amass).Paradoxically,“soft and thinleaved”mosses and spikemosses have very low Amass,but due to minute-size foliage elements,their LMA and its components,leaf thickness(LT)and density(LD),have not been systematically estimated.Here,we characterized LES and associated traits in cryptogams in unprecedented details,covering five evolutionarily different lineages.We found that mosses and spikemosses had the lowest LMA and LT values ever measured for terrestrial plants.Across a broad range of species from different lineages,Amass and LD were negatively correlated.In contrast,Amass was only related to LMA when LMA was greater than 14 g cm^(-2).In fact,low Amass reflected high LD and cell wall thickness in the studied cryptogams.We conclude that evolutionarily old plant lineages attained poorly differentiated,ultrathin mesophyll by increasing LD.Across plant lineages,LD,not LMA,is the trait that represents the trade-off between leaf robustness and physiology in the LES.
基金funded by the Program of National Science and Technology Assistance,China(KY202002011)the Innovative Research Team of Ministry of Education,China(IRT_17R50)+1 种基金the Key Research and Development Program of Forestry and Grassland Administration of Ningxia Autonomous Region,China(20NXLCZD01)the Technological Support for Grassland Ecological Management and Lanzhou City’s Scientific Research Funding Subsidy to Lanzhou University,China。
文摘Despite the essential role of micronutrients in plant metabolic processes and carbon cycle,the mechanisms by which micronutrients regulate plant community traits remain poorly understood.Here,we used a long-term experiment to explore the potential mechanisms of plant community micronutrients and traits along a precipitation gradient.Our results showed that plants shifted toward lateral growth and asexual reproduction over time.From 1985 to 2022,the plant community Fe content increased by 18.8%in the north but declined by 25.2%in the south of the typical steppe.Furthermore,plant community growth and reproduction were sensitive to both micronutrient contents and uptake efficiencies in the north of the typical steppe.While plant community Mn and Zn contents enhanced growth longitudinally,Zn and Fe uptake efficiencies hindered sexual reproduction.Furthermore,soil moisture and GDP per capita were the key drivers of micronutrient variation in the north and south of the typical steppe,respectively.Precipitation fluctuations primarily regulated community traits across all sites.In the arid site,micronutrient-driven shifts in reproduction stabilized the soil carbon stock by balancing biomass allocation.These findings can help us to better understand the coupling of plant micronutrients,traits,and soil carbon stocks,thereby providing the basis for a scientific grassland conservation strategy under global change scenarios.
文摘Differences in physical and structural characteristics of seeds may indicate variability within and between plant populations.In the present study,we performed a close characterization of dimension,shape,and tegument delayed chlorophyll fluorescence in seeds obtained from three species of the genus Annona(Annonaceae),i.e.,Annona coriacea,A.montana,A.squamosa.Results showed that studied seeds may be sorted as scalene ellipsoids expressing low values for the seed sphericity.The morphological estimates suggested differences in seed shape for all species.A high correlation was observed between surface area and volume(r^2>99%)for all the three species suggesting that in addition to structural shape.In addition,we also observed very high positive correlations(Rho=1.000,p<0.001)between surface area and arithmetic mean diameterof the seeds for all species.The first principal component(PCA1)of elliptical Fourier descriptors explained most of the variations in morphological structure of the seeds in the three species.Additionally,a less intense tegument delayed chlorophyll fluorescence was observed for A.montana while the highest intensity was recorded for A.squamosa,revealing the potential use of fluorescence spectroscopy in discrimination at the species level by analyzing the frequency domain by means of Fourier Transform spectra as well as the relationship time-frequency of chlorophyll fluorescence.
