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The morphological, physical, and mechanical properties of the nonwood plant fiber bundles of ramie, pineapple, sansevieria, kenaf, abaca, sisal, and coconut fiber bundles were investigated. All fibers except those of coconut fiber had noncircular cross-sectional shapes. The crosssectional area of the fiber bundles was evaluated by an improved method using scanning electron microscope images. The coefficient factor defined as the ratio of the cross-sectional area determined by diameter measurement, to the cross-sectional area determined by image analysis was between 0.92 and 0.96 for all fibers. This indicated that the area determined by diameter measurement was available. The densities of the fiber bundles decreased with increasing diameters. The diameters of each fiber species had small variation of around 3.4%-9.8% within a specimen. The tensile strength and Young’s modulus of ramie, pineapple, and sansevieria fiber bundles showed excellent values in comparison with the other fibers. The tensile strength and Young’s modulus showed a decreasing trend with increasing diameter of fiber bundles.

There has been a rapidly increasing recent interest in the effects of biological diversity on ecosystem properties, and while some studies have recently concluded that biodiversity improves ecosystem function, these views are based almost entirely on experiments in which species richness of live plants has been varied over all the species diversity treatments. However, most net ecosystem primary productivity eventually enters the decomposition subsystem as plant litter where it has important \"afterlife effects\". We conducted a field experiment in which litter from 32 plant species (i.e. eight species of each of four plant \"functional groups\" with contrasting litter quality) was collected and placed into litter-bags so that each litter-bag contained between one and eight species; the species which were included in the multiple (≥2) species litter-bags were randomly selected. This litter diversity gradient was created within each functional group and across some functional groups. We found large non-additive effects of mixing litter from different species on litter decomposition rates, litter nitrogen contents, rates of nitrogen release from litter and the active microbial biomass present on the litter. The patterns and directions of these non-additive effects were dependent upon both plant functional group and time of harvest, and these effects could be predicted in some instances by the initial litter nitrogen content and the degree of variability of nitrogen content of the component species in the litter-bag. There was no relationship between litter-bag species richness and any of the response variables that we considered, at least between two and eight species. Within plant functional groups our results provide some support for the species redundancy and idiosyncratic hypotheses about how biodiversity alters ecosystem function, but no support for the ecosystem rivet hypothesis or the view that species richness of plant litter is important for ecosystem function. We suggest that increased species diversity of plant litter is less important than that of live plants for determining ecosystem properties (and provide possible reasons for this) and conclude that perceived relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem function may be of diminished significance when the ecological importance of plant litter is fully appreciated.

This work reviews the historical and current pest risks and research concerning seed storage in the Czech Republic (CR). Stored seed pests (i.e. animals causing injuries to the germ and endosperm) represent a high risk of economic damage due to the high value of seeds coupled with long-term seed storage in small storage units (e.g., boxes, satchels). Rodents represent a significant risk to all types of seeds, especially seeds stored in piles or bags. Mites, psocids, and moths are the main pests of stored grass and vegetable seeds: mites can decrease seed germinability by 52% and psocids caused 9.7% seed weight loss in broken wheat kernels after 3 months of infestation under laboratory conditions. Although beetles (Sitophilus sp., Tribolium sp., Oryzaephilus sp.) and moths (Plodia sp.) are common pests of grain seeds (e.g., wheat, barley, maize), two serious seed pests, Sitotroga cereallela and S. zemays, are rare in the CR. Bruchus pisorum is a common pest of pea seeds, while other Bruchids are rare in the Czech legume seed stores. Currently, the control of seed pests is becoming difficult because the efficient pesticides (e.g., methylbromide, dichlorvos, drinking anticoagulant rodent baits) for seed protection have been lost without the development of adequate substitutes. New research on seed protection in the CR using biological control (mite predators Cheyletus sp.), low pressure, modified atmospheres, and hydrogen cyanide is overviewed.

Essential oils of Satureja khuzistanica Jamzad, Ocimum basilicum L., Myrtus communis L., Thymus daenensis Celak, Mentha spicata L., and Eugenia caryophyllus (Sprengel) were evaluated for nutritional indices and mortality of the 4th instar larvae and adults of Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say). Relative growth rate, relative consumption rate, efficiency of conversion of ingested food and feeding deterrent index were measured. Results showed that the most efficient essential oil on the 4th instar larvae and adults was S. khuzistanica (LC50 = 23.36 and 167.96 ppm, respectively). Even if all essential oils were effective on feeding deterrence of both stages of L. decemlineata, the essential oil of S. khuzistanica was the most effective. So, these essential oils can be used as potential control agents against both stages of L. decemlineata.

Photosystem II (PS II) efficiency, nonphotochemical fluorescence quenching, and xanthophyll cycle composition were determined in situ in the natural environment at midday in (i) a range of differently angled sun leaves of Euonymus kiautschovicus Loesener and (ii) in sun leaves of a wide range of different plant species, including trees, shrubs, and herbs. Very different degrees of light stress were experienced by these leaves (i) in response to different levels of incident photon flux densities at similar photosynthetic capacities among Euonymus leaves and (ii) as a result of very different photosynthetic capacities among species at similar incident photon flux densities (that were equivalent to full sunlight). For Euonymus as well as the interspecific comparison all data fell on one single, close relationship for changes in intrinsic PSII efficiency, nonphotochemical fluorescence quenching, or the levels of zeaxanthin + antheraxanthin in leaves, respectively, as a function of the actual level of light stress. Thus, the same conversion state of the xanthophyll cycle and the same level of energy dissipation were observed for a given degree of light stress independent of species or conditions causing the light stress. Since all increases in thermal energy dissipation were associated with increases in the levels of zeaxanthin + antheraxanthin in these leaves, there was thus no indication of any form of xanthophyll cycle-independent energy dissipation in any of the twenty-four species or varieties of plants examined in their natural environment. It is also concluded that transient diurnal changes in intrinsic PSII efficiency in nature are caused by changes in the efficiency with which excitation energy is delivered from the antennae to PSII centers, and are thus likely to be purely photoprotective. Consequently, the possibility of quantifying the allocation of absorbed light into PSII photochemistry versus energy dissipation in the antennae from changes in intrinsic PSII efficiency is explored.

The effect of dietary medicinal herbs on lipid metabolism and stress recovery was investigated in red sea bream Pagrus major. Fish (mean body weight 24.0+-0.2 g) were fed on test fish meal diets supplemented with either Massa Medicata (Mm), Crataegi Fructus (Cf), Artemisia capillaries (Ac), or Cnidium officinale (Co), or with a mixture of the four herbs (HM) for 12 weeks. A control group was fed a diet without herbs in the same manner. A high survival rate was observed in the herbal diet groups. The final mean body weight, feed efficiency, protein efficiency ratio, and apparent protein and lipid retention in the Ac, Co, and HM groups were higher than those in the control and Mm groups. Final carcass, hepatic lipid and triglyceride contents, and plasma triglyceride and nonesterified fatty acid levels were lower in the Ac, Co, and HM groups compared to those of control and Mm groups. However, final hepatic phospholipid, plasma phospholipid, and high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were higher in the Ac, Co, and HM diets groups than in the control and Mm groups. The Cf, Co, Ac, and HM groups showed faster recovery time in the 2-phenoxyethanol anesthesia test and a higher recovery rate in the 10-min air exposure test than those of the control and Mm groups. Moreover, the Cf, Ac, Co, and HM diet groups had a significantly lower plasma cortisol level than the control and Mm diet group, but the glucose level in the herbal diet groups was higher than that in the control group after a 1-h air exposure. These results indicate that the addition of medicinal herbs to the fish diet improved lipid utilization and stress recovery in red sea bream.

The stability of olive and sunflower oils for domestic uses after frying cow steak or only heating were evaluated in the presence or absence of the carvacrol-rich essential oil of Thymbra capitata. The treatments consisted of sunflower and olive oils either enriched with 200 mg/l of T. capitata oil or without it, heating at 180 deg C for 20 min, or frying 100 g cow steak at the same temperature and for the same period of time. In all assays, acid, peroxide, and p-anisidine values were followed over time. The fatty acid profile was estimated before heating or frying as well as at the end of the experiment. The results showed that the type of fat as well as the type of treatment (frying or heating) was determinant for the acid, peroxide, and p-anisidine values found. The presence of the essential oil also demonstrated to affect those values depending on the type of the oil as well as on the type of the treatment (frying or heating). In contrast, the fatty acid profile did not change greatly.

Effects of floral herbivory (grazing flowers) by slugs on production and quality of seeds of herbaceous plants have been rarely quantified. We studied consequences of grazing by an invasive slug Arion lusitanicus (Mabille) for inflorescences of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale Weber ex Wiggers). In May 2008, a grassy site in Prague-Ruzyne (Czech Republic) was densely populated by dandelion inflorescences. Of the 40% of the flowers grazed by the slug, 70% died before seed dispersal and seed was eaten from 10% of the closed mature inflorescences. Viability of seeds from inflorescences that survived slug grazing was not affected. In addition to seedling predation, grazing of flowers may be an important source of dandelion mortality at sites where this slug is abundant.

El presente trabajo es parte de la información obtenida entre 2016 y 2019 en las excavaciones del dolmen de corredor de la Cobertoria: especialmente, en la última de las fases constructivas del megalito, datada por radiocarbono a mediados del cuarto milenio antes de Cristo. La clara ventaja de la arquitectura del corredor es que conformó una cápsula que captó información medioambiental del entorno; todo ello a pesar de su apertura a buen seguro esporádica durante las acciones funerarias. Un cribado inicial de muestras de los sedimentos por parte de los botánicos permitió recuperar allí polen prehistórico, que fue contextualizado arqueológicamente a partir de una secuencia bien aquilatada en sus principales fases. Gracias a ello sabemos de la existencia no solo de posibles cultivos en el entorno, como gramíneas o leguminosas, sino también de hongos que afectaron a distintos cereales. El polen también permitió identificar una serie de árboles que acabaron recalando en el acceso dolménico, junto a especies habituales en la recuperación de suelos tras incendios, como los helechos. Por último, también aparecieron arbustos habitualmente empleados como combustible en la lucha de las comunidades prehistóricas contra el bosque.

The carbon supply status in species-rich mediterranean plant communities growing in a bowl-shaped 1-ha \"CO2 spring\" area was investigated near Sienna, Italy. A geothermic \"lime-kiln\" has provided these communities, for as long as historical records are available, with pure CO2 that mixes with ambient air at canopy level to daytime means of 500-1000 ppm CO2. Immediately outside the spring area similar plant communities are growing on similar substrate, and in the same climate, but under ca. 355 ppm CO2. No evidence was found that plants in the CO2 spring area grow faster, flower earlier or become larger. However, very large differences in tissue quality among the 40 species studied inside and outside the spring area were found. Depending on weather conditions, the mean concentration of total non-structural carbohydrates (TNC, sugars and starch) in leaves of herbaceous plants was 38-47% higher in the spring area. Fast growing ruderals growing on garden soil inside and outside the spring area show the same response. Among trees, leaves of the deciduous Quercus pubscens contain twice as much TNC inside as outside the vent area, whereas evergreen Q. ilex leaves show no significant difference. TNC levels in branch wood paralleled leaf values. TNC in shade leaves was also higher. Elevated CO2 had no effect on the sugar fraction, therefore differences in TNC are due to starch accumulation. Leaf nitrogen concentration decreases under elevated CO2. These observations suggest that the commonly reported TNC accumulation and N depletion in leaves growing under elevated CO2 are not restricted to the artificial conditions of short-term CO2 enrichment experiments but persist over very long periods. Such an alteration of tissue composition can be expected to occur in other plant communities also if atmospheric CO2 levels continue to rise.