Light-fraction (LF) material, comprised largely of incompletely decomposed organic residues, may provide a sensitive indicator of the effects of cropping practices on soil organic matter. The objective of our study was to determine the influence of agronomic variables on soil LF content, and to evaluate the LF as a measure of labile organic matter. Soils from three long-term crop rotation studies in Saskatchewan, Canada, were analyzed for LF content and composition. The experiments, established at Indian Head (Udic Boroll), Melfort (Udic Boroll), and Scott (Typic Boroll), included wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) based rotations varying in fertilizer application, frequency of summer fallow, and cropping sequence. The LF of the surface soil (0-7.5 cm) accounted for 2.0 to 5.4%, 3.3 to 7.1%, and 7.1 to 17.5% of the organic C at Indian Head, Melfort, and Scott, respectively. Within each site, the LF content was generally highest in treatments with continuous cropping or perennial forages and lowest in those with a high frequency of summer fallow. Fertilizer application generally favored LF accumulation. Differences in LF content among sites and treatments were attributed to variable residue inputs and rates of substrate decomposition. The respiration rate and microbial N content of soils was strongly correlated with the LF content, suggesting that the LF is a useful indicator of labile organic matter. Nitrogen mineralization was also correlated with LF content, though the relationship was less consistent, presumably because the high C/N ratio of the LF induced temporary N immobilization. The LF content is a sensitive indicator of the effects of cropping on soil organic matter content and composition but, because of its transient nature, probably reflects primarily short-term effects. T HE ORGANIC MATTER CONTENT of a Soil IS profoundly influenced by the cropping system imposed on it. Numerous studies have demonstrated

Response of three Brassica species to high temperature stress during reproductive growth. Can. J. Plant Sci. 80: 693-701. The effect of short periods of high temperature stress on the reproductive development and yield of three Brassica species were studied in a growth chamber experiment conducted for 2 yr. Two genotypes from Brassica juncea L. and one each from B. napus L. and B. rapa L. were grown under day/night temperatures of 20/15°C till early flowering or early pod development, subjected to high temperature stress of 28/15°C or 35/15°C for 7 d and then allowed to recover at 20/15°C. Species differed in optimum temperatures, with B. juncea and B. rapa having higher optimum temperature than B. napus. Dry matter was unaffected by moderate temperature stress, while it was reduced by high temperature stress. The 35/15°C treatment was injurious to reproductive organs at different developmental stages of all three species. High temperatures at flowering affected yield formation more than high temperature at pod development. On the main stem, mean seed yield reduction due to heat stress was 89%, but partial compensation by pods on the branches reduced mean per-plant seed yield decrease to 52%. Reduction in fertile pods (not total pod number), thousand seed weight and seeds per pod were responsible for the reduced seed yield. Brassica rapa was more sensitive to heat stress than B. napus and B. juncea. Although observation did not indicate the exact developmental phase when the reproductive organs were susceptible to heat stress, pods that passed a critical threshold developmental phase tolerated heat stress, which explained the smaller effect of high temperature stress at pod development. A direct temperature effect on reproductive organs appeared to be responsible for the reduction in yield. All genotypes began to recover from the stress by continuing flowering after returning to 20/15°C. Brassica napus was least able to recover from severe stress at flowering, as evidenced by the formation of many abnormal pods during recovery. Per-plant yield response of canola-quality B. juncea line J90-4316 was similar to oriental mustard Cutlass. Thus, heat stress effect depends on the growth stage of canola and mustard and Brassica species differ in heat stress response. napus. La production de matière sèche ne souffrait pas d'un stress thermique modéré (28°C), mais elle était réduite en présence d'un stress élevé (35°C). Chez les 3 espèces, le régime 35°/15°C avait des effets néfastes sur les organes de reproduction à divers stades de leur formation. Des hautes températures à la floraison nuisaient davantage au rendement que quand elles survenaient lors de la formation des siliques. Sur la tige principale, la diminution moyenne de rendement grainier résultant d'un stress thermique était de 89 %, mais pour l'ensemble de la plante, elle n'était que de 52 %, grâce à une compensation partielle opérée par les ramifications. Le manque à produire résultait de la diminution du nombre de siliques fertiles (pas du nombre total de si...

Pulse crops discussed in this review include soybean (Glycine max L.), dry pea (Pisum sativum L.), lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.), dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Basic maturity requirements, yield relationships with rainfall and temperature, relative yield comparisons, water relationships, water use efficiency (WUE), crop management, tillage systems, and the rotational impact of these crops on productivity were considered. With the exception of soybean, maturity requirements for pulse crops are met in most locations within the northern Great Plains. Yield was more closely related to growing season precipitation than maximum temperature for all pulse crops except dry bean and lentil. The inability to effectively relate weather parameters to dry pea and lentil yield may indicate broad adaptation of these two pulse crops within the northern Great Plains. Correlation analyses showed the productivity of chickpea, dry pea, and lentil to be most closely associated with each other and for dry bean productivity to be most closely associated with that of soybean, effectively grouping pulse crops into their respective cool‐ and warm‐season classifications. Dry pea and chickpea had high WUE values, similar to spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Examination of plant water relations of these crops revealed an ability for chickpea and dry pea to grow at lower relative water contents than spring wheat. Increased wheat grain yield and/or protein following pulse crops under widely different N‐limiting growth conditions indicated a consistent N benefit provided by pulse crops to wheat. Four general research needs were identified. First, comparative adaptation among pulse crops remains poorly understood. Second, best management practices and key production risks remain incompletely characterized. Thirdly, the knowledge of rotational effects of pulse crops in the northern Great Plains remains imprecise and inadequate. Fourth, genetic improvement for early maturity, increased yield, improved harvestability, and disease resistance requires attention. Pulse crops are poised to play a much greater role in diversifying cropping systems in the northern Great Plains but require that these key research areas be addressed so that their production potential can be realized.

Annual crop production in the Canadian prairies is undergoing significant change. Traditional monoculture cereal cropping systems, which rely on frequent summer‐fallowing and use of mechanical tillage, are being replaced by extended and diversified crop rotations together with the use of conservation tillage (minimum and zero‐tillage) practices. This paper reviews the findings of western Canadian empirical studies that have examined the economic forces behind these land use and soil tillage changes. The evidence suggests that including oilseed and pulse crops in the rotation with cereal grains contributes to higher and more stable net farm income in most soil–climatic regions, despite a requirement for increased expenditures on purchased inputs. In the very dry Brown soil zone and drier regions of the Dark Brown soil zone where the production risk with stubble cropping is high, the elimination of summer fallow from the cropping system may not be economically feasible under present and near‐future economic conditions. The use of conservation tillage practices in the management of mixed cropping systems is highly profitable in the more moist Black and Gray soil zones (compared with conventional mechanical tillage methods) because of significant yield advantages and substantial resource savings that can be obtained by substituting herbicides for the large amount of tillage that is normally used. However, in the Brown soil zone and parts of the Dark Brown soil zone, the short‐term economic benefits of using conservation tillage practices are more marginal and often less profitable than comparable conventional tillage practices.

oilseed crop produced in the USA, canola is the dominant oil crop in Canada. The cool climatic conditions Oilseed crops are grown throughout the semiarid region of the characteristic of the Canadian prairies provide an ideal northern Great Plains of North America for use as vegetable and industrial oils, spices, and birdfeed. In a region dominated by winter environment for Brassica spp. oilseeds and flax (Table and spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. emend. Thell.), the accep-2) while the climate found in the USA is better suited tance and production of another crop requires that it both has an to the warm season crops like soybean and sunflower. agronomic benefit to the cropping system and improve the farmers' In the northern Great Plains, soybean is a relatively economic position. In this review, we compare the adaptation and new crop finding a place in semiarid cropping systems rotational effects of oilseed crops in the northern Great Plains. Canola with the development of early maturing, low heat-unit (Brassica sp.), mustard (B. juncea and Sinapis alba L.), and flax cultivars (Miller et al., 2002). As a result, the vast major-(Linum usitatissimum L.) are well adapted to cool, short-season conity of soybean production in both the USA and Canada ditions found on the Canadian prairies and northern Great Plains occurs in wetter regions east of the Great Plains. Howborder states of the USA. Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) are better adapted to the longer ever, for the other oilseed crops listed in Table 1, the growing season and warmer temperatures found in the northern and majority of production occurs within the northern Great central Great Plains states. Examples are presented of how agronomic Plains. practices have been used to manipulate a crop's fit into a local environ-Diversification within cereal-based cropping systems ment, as demonstrated with the early spring and dormant seeding can be critical to breaking pest infestations that are management of canola, and of the role of no-till seeding systems in common with monoculture (Bailey et al., 1992, 2000; allowing the establishment of small-seeded oilseed crops in semiarid Elliot and Lynch, 1995; Holtzer et al., 1996; Krupinsky regions. Continued evaluation of oilseed crops in rotation with cereals et al., 2002). Results of crop rotation studies in the Great will further expand our understanding of how they can be used to Plains revealed that where oilseeds are adapted, their strengthen the biological, economic, and environmental role of the region's cropping systems. Specific research needs for each oilseed