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In cold regions, the occurrence of frozen ground has a fundamental control over the character of the water cycle. To investigate the impact of changing ground temperature conditions on hydrological processes in the context of climate change, a distributed hydrological model with an explicit frozen ground module was applied to an alpine watershed in the upstream area of the Hei'he River in the Qilian Mountains, northwest China. After evaluating the base model, we considered scenarios of frost-free ground and climate change. Results showed that the base model with a frozen ground module successfully captured the water balance and thermal regimes in the basin. When the frozen ground module was turned off, the simulated groundwater recharge and base flow increased by a factor of two to three because surface runoff caused by exceeding infiltration capacities at high elevations, which occurred in the base model, was eliminated. Consequently, the river hydrograph became smoother and flatter, with summer flood peaks delayed and reduced in volume. The annual mean depth where subsurface runoff was generated, was about 2.4m compared to 1.1m in the base model. For a warming climate, a combination of increasing evapotranspiration and reducing permafrost area results in smoother and flatter hydrographs, and a reduction in total river discharge. Although our analysis using numerical models has its limitations, it still provides new quantitative understanding of the influences of frozen ground and climate change on hydrological processes in an alpine watershed.

The aim of this field study was to investigate the role of mussels on near-bed layer characteristics at different hydrodynamic regimes in a micro-tidal system. At Logstor Broad, the Limfjorden, Denmark, we deployed 'siphon mimics' to sample chlorophyll a (chl a), particulate organic carbon (POC) and inorganic nutrients at different distances above the bottom. This was done without disturbing water column gradients and in a manner similar to mussel incurrent flow. Mimics were deployed at 2 sites: a site with a relatively dense mussel bed and a nearby sandy site without mussels. During the 2 wk field campaign, physical conditions in the fjord varied from extremely calm weather with low waves to quite windy with high waves. Results showed that under all conditions, the vertical concentration profiles of chl a were significantly depleted towards the mussel bed due to mussel filtration, whereas the degree of chl a depletion was correlated to wave height. Nutrient profiles consistently showed increasing concentration profiles towards the bed, identifying the mussel bed and the sediment as a source of nutrients with the highest gradients during the period with high waves. In conclusion, the near-bed concentrations of seston and nutrients in this study were temporally variable and closely linked to the physical structure of the water column.

Soil management offers various options to alleviate the effects of Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) in bananas. Nevertheless, it receives little attention as a strategy in Fusarium wilt management. Literature provides ample evidence linking soil conditions such as soil texture and fertility to the spread and severity of plant diseases. However, the inconsistency of results between case studies limits the attention of soil management in crop disease management. The present study aimed at unravelling the role of soil abiotic factors on nutrient concentrations in plant tissue, biomass production and the incidence of Fusarium wilt (Foc race 1) in bananas (‘Gros Michel’, AAA) under field conditions. A large field trial was established in which the effects of soil pH and nutrients (N, Ca, Mg and Mn) were studied. Around 30% of the plants showed symptoms of Fusarium wilt at flowering in the first season. However, Fusarium wilt incidence did not vary between treatments. Soil pH showed significant interactions with soil N and Mn concentrations resulting in a lower bunch weight and increased micronutrient concentrations in the pseudostem. With a higher pH, bunch weight increased, although higher Mn concentrations suppressed this positive effect. Interactions between a high soil pH and Ca and Mg resulted in a higher bunch weight and lower micronutrient concentrations in the pseudostem. The results can be used to develop soil management strategies for improving banana productivity in infected plantations.

The pig industry needs strategies to solve problems such as poor rearing environment, diseases, odours, and high energy loads. In this study, an air recirculated ventilation system (ARVS) was developed with optimally designed modules and an operating algorithm. Validation experiments conducted in winter and reported here but experiments carried out during the summer and during changes in season and reported in Kim et al. (2023). Environmental data (air temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and ventilation rate) were automatically collected during winter and livestock disease and stress of piglets were evaluated by sampling. In winter the ARVS reused internal heat energy to satisfy the pig thermal demand. Each module of ARVS modules was designed and integrated based on the previous researches. Environmental factors were monitored in real time, and then ARVS was automatically controlled using developed algorithm. The ventilation rate of the ARVS was about 3 times more than that of the conventional ventilation system (CVS). Air temperature, relative humidity, and ammonia gas inside the ARVS piglet room were optimally maintained. Also, by reusing about 73% of internal energy, it was possible to reduce heating costs. The average concentrations of ammonia and odour measured at the outlet were 2.1 ppm and 251 OU. Piglets of the ARVS weighed 1.6 kg more than those of the CVS. The disease detection rate was <1% with beneficial bacteria increased and harmful bacteria decreased.

In this study, we compare the relative importance of climate change to technological, management, price and policy changes on European arable farming systems. This required linking four models: the SIMPLACE crop growth modelling framework to calculate future yields under climate change for arable crops; the CAPRI model to estimate impacts on global agricultural markets, specifically product prices; the bio-economic farm model FSSIM to calculate the future changes in cropping patterns and farm net income at the farm and regional level; and the environmental model INTEGRATOR to calculate nitrogen (N) uptake and losses to air and water. First, the four linked models were applied to analyse the effect of climate change only or a most likely baseline (i.e. B1) scenario for 2050 as well as for two alternative scenarios with, respectively, strong (i.e. A1-b1) and weak economic growth (B2) for five regions/countries across Europe (i.e. Denmark, Flevoland, Midi Pyrenées, Zachodniopomorski and Andalucia). These analyses were repeated but assuming in addition to climate change impacts, also the effects of changes in technology and management on crop yields, the effects of changes in prices and policies in 2050, and the effects of all factors together. The outcomes show that the effects of climate change to 2050 result in higher farm net incomes in the Northern and Northern-Central EU regions, in practically unchanged farm net incomes in the Central and Central-Southern EU regions, and in much lower farm net incomes in Southern EU regions compared to those in the base year. Climate change in combination with improved technology and farm management and/or with price changes towards 2050 results in a higher to much higher farm net incomes. Increases in farm net income for the B1 and A1-b1 scenarios are moderately stronger than those for the B2 scenario, due to the smaller increases in product prices and/or yields for the B2 scenario. Farm labour demand slightly to moderately increases towards 2050 as related to changes in cropping patterns. Changes in N2O emissions and N leaching compared to the base year are mainly caused by changes in total N inputs from the applied fertilizers and animal manure, which in turn are influenced by changes in crop yields and cropping patterns, whereas NH3 emissions are mainly determined by assumed improvements in manure application techniques. N emissions and N leaching strongly increase in Denmark and Zachodniopomorski, slightly decrease to moderately increase in Flevoland and Midi-Pyrenées, and strongly decrease in Andalucia, except for NH3 emissions which zero to moderately decrease in Flevoland and Denmark.

Alcohol is often consumed to reduce tension and improve mood when exposed to stressful situations. Previous studies showed that moderate alcohol consumption may reduce stress when alcohol is consumed prior to a stressor, but data on the effect of alcohol consumption after a mental stressor is limited. Therefore, our objective was to study whether moderate alcohol consumption immediately after a mental stressor attenuates the stress response. Twenty-four healthy men (age 21-40 y, BMI 18-27 kg/m2) participated in a placebo-controlled trial. They randomly consumed 2 cans (660 mL, ∼26 g alcohol) of beer or alcohol-free beer immediately after a mental stressor (Stroop task and Trier Social Stress Test). Physiological and immunological stress response was measured by monitoring heart rate and repeated measures of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis), white blood cells and a set of cytokines. After a mental stressor, cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) concentrations were 100% and 176% more reduced at 60 min (P = 0.012 and P = 0.001, respectively) and 92% and 60% more reduced at 90 min (P < 0.001 and P = 0.056, respectively) after beer consumption as compared to alcohol-free beer consumption. Heart rate and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) were not influenced by alcohol consumption. Plasma IL-8 concentrations remained lower during the stress recovery period after beer consumption than after alcohol-free beer consumption (P < 0.001). In conclusion, consumption of a moderate dose of alcohol after a mental stressor may facilitate recovery of the endocrine stress response as reflected by decreasing plasma ACTH and cortisol.

Forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle as a carbon sink. Deforestation and degradation of forests lead to carbon emissions, which should be prevented or minimized by protecting forests. Radar remote sensing has proven to be particularly useful to monitor forests especially in the tropics due to weather and daytime independence. Radar data from the TanDEM-X mission provide a potential opportunity to monitor large areas of tropical forests due to the multi-temporal global coverage and the high resolution. Tropical peat swamp forests are difficult to access and thus high effort to conduct field measurements is necessary. Therefore, aboveground biomass was estimated from a limited amount of in-situ measurements of relatively undisturbed peat swamp forest and a LiDAR based canopy height model to achieve a representative amount of biomass estimates for radar analysis. The LiDAR and field measurements resulted in an identical estimate of mean biomass and thus provided a reliable source to correlate with SAR (synthetic aperture radar) features from the TanDEM-X mission and ultimately up-scale the found relation to the entire study site. The relationship of interferometric coherence of the bistatic TanDEM-X data showed a moderate to high correlation with the biomass (R2=0.5) and RMSE of 53t/ha corresponding to a biomass range from 183 to 495t/ha. Thus, it could be used to indicate forest degradation areas, which are characterized by larger opening of the canopy cover and thus lower biomass. The results indicate that interferometric coherence is useful for quantification of aboveground biomass in tropical peat swamp forest. TanDEM-X coherence can at minimum serve as a stratification to assess spatial distribution of qualitative biomass classes in the context of REDD+ monitoring, reporting, and verification schemes and for the identification of forest degradation areas.