The morphological traits, color traits, and chemical components of new tea shoots and leaves varied depending on radiation intensity, shoot growth, and cropping season. These findings are useful for covering cultivation with high quality and high productivity in tea gardens. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

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A laboratory study was conducted to study the effects of liming and different biochar amendments on N2O and CO2 emissions from acidic tea field soil. The first experiment was done with three different rates of N treatment; N 300 (300 kg N ha-1), N 600 (600 kg N ha-1) and N 900 (900 kg N ha-1) and four different rates of bamboo biochar amendment; 0%, 0.5%, 1% and 2% biochar. The second experiment was done with three different biochars at a rate of 2% (rice husk, sawdust, and bamboo) and a control and lime treatment (dolomite) and control at two moisture levels (50% and 90% water filled pore space (WFPS)). The results showed that dolomite and biochar amendment significantly increased soil pH. However, only biochar amendment showed a significant increase in total carbon (C), C/N (the ratio of total carbon and total nitrogen), and C/IN ratio (the ratio of total carbon and inorganic nitrogen) at the end of incubation. Reduction in soil NO3--N concentration was observed under different biochar amendments. Bamboo biochar with the rates of 0.5, 1 and 2% reduced cumulative N2O emission by 38%, 48% and 61%, respectively, compare to the control soil in experiment 1. Dolomite and biochar, either alone or combined significantly reduced cumulative N2O emission by 4.6% to 32.7% in experiment 2. Reduction in N2O production under biochar amendment was due to increases in soil pH and decreases in the magnitude of mineral-N in soil. Although, both dolomite and biochar increased cumulative CO2 emission, only biochar amendment had a significant effect. The present study suggests that application of dolomite and biochar to acidic tea field soil can mitigate N2O emissions.

A typhoon event catastrophically destroyed a 45-year-old Japanese larch plantation in southern Hokkaido, northern Japan in September 2004, and about 90% of trees were blown down. Vegetation was measured to investigate its regeneration process and CO2 flux, or net ecosystem production (NEP), was measured in 2006–2008 using an automated chamber system to investigate the effects of typhoon disturbance on the ecosystem carbon balance. Annual maximum aboveground biomass (AGB) increased from 2.7 Mg ha−1 in 2006 to 4.0 Mg ha−1 in 2007, whereas no change occurred in annual maximum leaf area index (LAI), which was 3.7 m2 m−2 in 2006 and 3.9 m2 m−2 in 2007. Red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) had become dominant within 2 years after the typhoon disturbance, and came to account for about 60% and 50% of AGB and LAI, respectively. In comparison with CO2 fluxes measured by the eddy covariance technique in 2001–2003, for 4.5 months during the growing season, the sum of gross primary production (GPP) decreased on average by 739 gC m−2 (64%) after the disturbance, whereas ecosystem respiration (RE) decreased by 501 gC m−2 (51%). As a result, NEP decreased from 159 ± 57 gC m−2 to −80 ± 30 gC m−2, which shows that the ecosystem shifted from a carbon sink to a source. Seasonal variation in RE was strongly correlated to soil temperature. The interannual variation in the seasonal trend of RE was small. Light-saturated GPP (Pmax) decreased from 30–45 μmol m−2 s−1 to 8–12 μmol m−2 s−1 during the summer season through the disturbance because of large reduction in LAI

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We evaluated the temporal effects of directly covered shading on the growth of new tea shoots and the contents of their chemical components. Tea shoots were grown under various black shading nets during the first flush season. The shade treatments showed a remarkable effect on the growth of new shoots, as well as on the contents of their chemical components. With higher shading conditions, the growth of new shoots was less than that with lower shading conditions. The epigallocatechin (EGC) content of new shoots was lower with higher shading conditions than with lower shading conditions, and the difference in contents with each shading treatment increased over time. The theogallin content was higher in new shoots with 75% and 90% shading than in those with no shade, and the theogallin content of new shoots decreased during shoot maturation under all shading conditions. The content of each amino acid changed differently under different shading conditions. With 75% and 90% shading for 20 days, the theanine (Thea) content of new shoots was found to be higher than that with no shade.