Wheat production will be impacted by increasing concentration of atmospheric CO 2

Copper (Cu) concentrations were measured in Australian vineyard soils to assess the extent and magnitude of Cu accumulation resulting from the use of Cu-based fungicides and to indicate the likely risks to long-term soil fertility. Soil samples were collected from 98 vineyards across 10 grape-growing regions of Australia and analyzed for total Cu concentrations. Ninety-six percent of vineyards surveyed had elevated Cu concentrations in soil compared to the background Cu concentrations in nearby soil in its native state. Concentrations of total B, Co, Cr, Pb, and Zn were similar to background concentrations and below reported toxicity guideline values. Cu concentrations in Australian vineyard soils were generally much lower (6-150 mg kg (-1)) than those reported in the soils of vineyards in parts of Europe (i.e., 130-1280 mg kg (-1)). Concentrations of total Cu were generally below those concentrations reported to cause lethal effects to soil invertebrates; however, Cu exceeded concentrations known to cause sublethal effects (i.e., inhibit growth, affect reproduction, induce avoidance behavior) to those (or related) invertebrates.

No abstract

The dynamics of a population of the greenlip abalone, Haliotis laevigata, was studied from 1978 to 1990 in Waterloo Bay, South Australia. During this period the fishery was closed from 1982 to 1986 and the size limit was increased in 1986. The spatial distribution of recruitment (measured as the abundance of the 2+ age class) was correlated during every year of study with a complex gradient comprising water movement, habitat complexity and predator density, and for six years of the study with depth. Recruitment in the six years from the closure was 2.7 times higher than that in the preceding seven years. stock assessment, fecundity, total mortality, size at sexual maturity, sex ratio. The intensity of aggregation of the adult (≥4 years) fraction of the population varied with density and habitat complexity. Under intense fishing, aggregations were fewer and smaller. This paper weights stock abundance according to a model relating intensity of aggregation with fertilization success and presents a stock-recruitment relation for the Waterloo Bay population. The curve is a classical Ricker type showing compensation at high stock sizes. This curve indicates that below adult densities of about 0.15 to 0.2 m-2 the population is increasingly vulnerable to recruitment failure and ultimately to collapse.

Newly developed candidate cultivars of cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.), phalaris (Phalaris aquatica L.) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb. = syn. L. arundinaceum (Schreb) Darbysh.) were evaluated over four years for persistence and productivity against current commercial cultivars in small plots at five locations selected for lower and less reliable rainfall and difficult soils (low pH and high Al) in south-eastern Australia known to be marginally too dry for these grass species. The five locations were -representing summer dominant rainfall, Inverell, in northern New South Wales (NSW); -representing uniform rainfall; Trungley Hall, (medium rainfall), and Beckom (lower rainfall) both in southern NSW; and; representing a winter dominant pattern -Eversley, (higher rainfall), and Bealiba, (lower rainfall), in central Victoria. The objective was to determine if the new candidate cultivars were more likely to persist and to be productive than current commercial cultivars. The study showed that most phalaris and cocksfoot treatments were highly productive in high rainfall years at one or both sites in southern NSW. However, all treatments had become much less productive by the end of the experimental period due to plant loss under hot, dry conditions in the final summer. At Bealiba in central Victoria, cocksfoot was the most productive species with several cocksfoot treatments of both subsp. hispanica and subsp. glomerata still present at the final harvest despite a hot and dry final summer-autumn. Tall fescue was the most productive species in the two higher rainfall environments (Inverell, Eversley) although most treatments of all species performed well at those sites. Continental tall fescues were more productive on average than Mediterranean tall fescues at the strongly acidic Eversley site. As a result of this work, two of the new cocksfoot candidates (Moroccan Fine and AVH48 Selection) and one of the tall fescue candidates (Summer Active 1) have been licensed for commercial development and release.2009/10 (1 harvest)

Cadmium (Cd) accumulation in tubers by commercial potato cultivars was assessed at 12 sites around Australia having differing soil and environmental conditions. At all but two sites there were significant differences in tuber Cd concentrations between cultivars. Some major commercial cultivars had tuber Cd concentrations only half that of others. Advanced breeding lines showed further potential to reduce Cd accumulation. Mean tuber Cd concentrations of the 14 most common cultivars, averaged across all sites, ranged from 30 to 50 8g kg-1 fresh weight (FW), below the maximum permitted concentration (MPC) of 50 8g kg-1 of Cd (FW). However, at some sites certain cultivars exceeded the MPC. A modified joint regression analysis of the data indicated that no cultivars have consistently low or consistently high tuber Cd concentrations across a range of environments. While differences between cultivars were significant, the range in Cd concentrations found between sites was generally greater than the range in Cd concentrations between cultivars at any one site. Thus soil and other site factors (e.g. irrigation water quality, climate, etc.) play a dominant role in controlling Cd accumulation by current commercial cultivars and there is a need to breed new cultivars resistant to Cd accumulation under a wide range of environments.

Improving fertiliser nitrogen (N) use efficiency is essential to increase productivity and avoid environmental damage. Using a 15 N mass balance approach, we investigated the effects of five N fertiliser management strategies to test the hypothesis that increasing uptake of applied N by wheat improves productivity and reduces loss of N in a semi-arid environment. Three experiments were conducted between 2012 and 2014. Treatments included urea application (50 kg N/ha) at sowing with and without nitrification inhibitor (3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate, DMPP) and surface broadcast with and without urease inhibitor (n-butyl thiophosphoric triamide, NBPT) at the end of tillering plus an unfertilised control. It was found that deferring fertiliser application until the end of tillering decreased losses of fertiliser N (35-52%) through increasing uptake by the crop and or recovery in the soil at harvest, while maintaining yield except when rainfall following application was low. In this case, deferring application reduced fertiliser uptake (-71%) and grain yield (-18%) and increased recovery of N in the soil (? 121%). Use of DMPP or NBPT reduced N loss where seasonal conditions were conducive to denitrification during winter (DMPP) and volatilisation or denitrification later in the season (NBPT). Their effect on grain yield was less significant; DMPP increased yield (? 3-31%) in all years and NBPT increased yield (? 7-11%) in 2 of 3 years compared to unamended urea. The majority of crop N uptake was supplied from soil reserves and as a result, crop recovery of applied N was not strongly related to grain yield response.

BACKGROUND: The inclusion of pulses in traditional wheat-based food products such as bread, cakes, and pasta is increasing as the food industry and consumers are recognizing the nutritional benefits due to high protein, antioxidant activity, and good sources of dietary fiber of pulses. In all crops, including cereals, oilseeds, and pulses, variability in chemical composition is known to exist due to genetic differences and environmental effects. This study reports the effect of genotype and environment on seed composition and the rheological properties of field-pea genotypes for both field-pea flour and isolated starch. RESULTS: Genotype had a significant effect on the chemical composition (protein, total starch, water-soluble carbohydrates, and phenolic compounds), the mean starch granule size, and rheological properties (peak viscosity, breakdown viscosity, final viscosity, peak time, and pasting temperature) of the field peas. The growing environment also had a significant effect on starch granule size, phytic acid, water-soluble carbohydrates, some phenolic compounds, and pasting characteristics of field peas. Genotype × environment (G × E) interactions were observed for protein, some phenolic compounds, and some pasting characteristics.CONCLUSION: Genotype and the growing environment had a significant effect on the chemical composition and rheological properties of the field pea. The variability in composition and quality traits could be exploited through plant breeding and optimized agronomic practices to increase production of field peas with the desired quality traits.