The most apparent symptom of boron deficiency in higher plants is a cessation of growth. Deficiency causes a reduction in ascorbate concentration and the absorption of nutrient ions. Addition of ascorbate temporarily relieves deficiency symptoms. In boron sufficient plants the addition of ascorbate to media causes an increased uptake of nutrients. In an attempt to discover if ascorbate addition to deficient plants causes increased ion uptake, radish plants were grown hydroponically in four different strengths of boron solution. A colorimetric assay for phosphorus was performed both before and after supplementation. Results, however, were inconclusive.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-02-08Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:48:33Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 fernandes_am_me_botfca.pdf: 2098703 bytes, checksum: 759836994d5f93a856b439bc8f063c52 (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / A cultura da batata tem grande importância para o Brasil e para o Estado de São Paulo. Porém, apesar de sua importância, falta maiores informações sobre a fisiologia e nutrição mineral desta cultura, limitando a obtenção de elevadas produtividades, com alta qualidade e baixo custo de produção, já que as peculiaridades de cada cultivar podem fazer grande diferença no manejo. Além disso, as doses de fertilizantes normalmente utilizadas na cultura da batata são elevadas, o que gera grande impacto no custo de produção e riscos ambientais. Assim, para obtenção da máxima eficiência produtiva, faz-se necessário o conhecimento do desenvolvimento da planta e da absorção e acumulação de nutrientes nas diferentes fases de desenvolvimento. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o crescimento, acúmulo de nutrientes durante o ciclo, produtividade de tubérculos e exportação de nutrientes em cinco cultivares de batata. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos casualizados, em esquema de parcela subdividida, com quatro repetições. As parcelas foram constituídas pelas cultivares (Ágata, Asterix, Atlantic, Markies e Mondial) e as subparcelas por épocas de coletas de plantas, que foram realizadas a cada 7 dias após a emergência até a colheita final. Cada parcela foi constituída por 10 linhas de 10 m de comprimento. Todas as cultivares tiveram crescimento lento até o início da fase de enchimento de tubérculos. Desta época até o final do ciclo ocorreu o desenvolvimento dos tubérculos, com a máxima taxa de acúmulo de MS concentrando-se no início dessa fase. A cultivar Mondial foi mais tardia em acumular MS, apresentando as maiores taxas de crescimento na fase final do ciclo.As cultivares Ágata, Atlantic e Markies apresentam crescimento semelhante durante todo o ciclo, porém... / The potato crop has great economical importance for Brazil and São Paulo State. However, despite its importance, it lacks more information about physiology and mineral nutrition of this crop, limiting to obtain high yield, high quality and low production cost, since the peculiarities of each cultivar can make difference in management. Furthermore, the fertilizers rates commonly used in potato crop are high, which has a strong impact on production costs and environmental risks. To get the maximum production efficiency, it is necessary to understand the development of the plant, uptake and accumulation of nutrients in different stages of the plant development. The objective of this study was to evaluate growth, nutrient accumulation, tubers yield and the nutrient exportation in five potato cultivars. The experimental design was the completely randomized block in split-plot with four replications. The plots treatments consisted of potato cultivars (Ágata, Asterix, Atlantic, Markies and Mondial) and subplots were established by harvest time of plants, were carried out every 7 day after emergence to last harvest. Each plot consisted of 10 lines of 10 m in length. All cultivars showed slow growth until the beginning of the tubers bulking stage. Since this time until the end of the cycle, occurred the tubers development, with maximum dry matter accumulation rate focusing in this initial stage. Mondial cultivar took longer time to accumulate dry matter, presenting the highest growth rates in the final stage of the cycle. Ágata, Atlantic... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

The long-term effects of low and high NH4+/ NO3- uptake ratios in a system with rigorous control of pH and nitrogen concentration are poorly understood. In two replicate studies, two cultivars of wheat (Triticum aestivum) were grown to maturity with three NH4+/ NO3- ratios in hydroponic solution: 0/100, 25/75, and 85/15%. Nitrogen was controlled at ample levels throughout the 70-d life cycle and pH was controlled at 5.8 ± 0.2. An equimolar ratio of NH4+ to Cl- was used to facilitate charge balance. Nitrogen consumption and transpiration were measured daily. Flag leaves were analyzed at 10-d intervals for total nitrogen, NO3--N, and essential elements. Essential nutrient elements in the biomass and seeds were measured at harvest. Yield components , nitrogen recovery, and nitrogen assimilation were calculated. There was no difference between the NO3- only (0/100) and the low NH4+ (25/75) treatments . The high NH4+ treatment (85/15) did not reduce vegetative biomass, but decreased seed yield and harvest index by 20%. The decrease was associated with a 23% reduction in seed number head-1. The high NH4+ treatment increased percent root mass by 50% and percent sterile heads by 800%, but increased assimilated N in the seeds by 30% and in the biomass by 130%. Supplemental additions of K were effective in preventing the reduction of K concentration in the wheat tissues typically caused by high NH4+, but the high NH4+ treatment decreased the concentrations of Ca, Mn, and Zn, and increased the concentrations of S, P, Fe, and B in the wheat tissue . The uptake of Mg and Cu was similar among all three treatments. Chloride concentrations in the flag leaves increased from 0.8% in the NO3- only treatment to 2.0% in the two NH4+ treatments. This research indicates that hydroponic wheat can be grown to maturity with high levels of NH4+ with a small reduction in grain yield.

Seagrass communities are composed of numerous organisms that depend on water-column nutrients for metabolic processes. The rate at which these organisms remove a nutrient from the water column can be controlled by physical factors such as hydrodynamic regime or by biological factors such as speed of enzyme reactions. The impact of hydrodynamic regime on rates of nutrient uptake for seagrass (Thalassia testudinum) communities and for organisms that comprise the community (seagrass, epiphytes, phytoplankton, and microphytobenthos) was quantified in a series of field flume experiments employing the use of 15N-labeled ammonium and nitrate. Rates of ammonium uptake for the entire community and for seagrass leaves and epiphytes were significantly dependent on bulk velocity, bottom shear stress, and the rate of turbulent energy dissipation. Relationships between uptake rates and these parameters were consistent with mass-transfer theory and suggest that the effect of water flow on ammonium uptake is the same for the benthos as a whole and for the organisms that form the canopy. In addition, epiphytes on the surface of T. testudinum leaves were shown to depress leaf uptake by an amount proportional to the area of the leaf covered by epiphytes. Water flow influenced rates of nitrate uptake for the community and the epiphytes; however, uptake rates were depressed relative to those for ammonium suggesting that uptake of nitrate was also affected by biological factors such as enzyme activity. Epiphytes reduced uptake of nitrate by the leaves; however, the amount of reduction was not proportional to the extent of epiphyte cover, which provided further evidence that nitrate uptake by T. testudinum leaves was biologically limited. As an additional component of the research, hydrodynamic regime of a mixed seagrass and coral community in Florida Bay was characterized using an acoustic Doppler velocimeter. Hydrodynamic parameters estimated from velocity data were used in mass-transfer equations to predict nutrient uptake by the benthos over a range of water velocity. Measured rates of uptake from field flume experiments conducted in the same community confirmed that hydrodynamic data could be used to accurately predict nutrient transport to the benthos under natural flow conditions.

Success of hybrid poplar plantations will rely on the efficient management of nutrients and weeds. Relatively little is known about the root uptake characteristics of hybrid poplar and weeds, their belowground interactions and particularly, the quantitative understanding of nutrient uptake using mechanistic models under weed-competing conditions. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of dandelion and quackgrass on the growth of hybrid poplar, to establish their root uptake characteristics and to quantify their nutrient uptake using the soil supply and nutrient demand (SSAND) model. In a pot study, hybrid poplar stem height, root collar diameter, shoot and root biomass, root length, and N, P and K uptake significantly decreased in the presence of dandelion and quackgrass weeds. Similar weed competition effects on growth of hybrid poplar were also observed in the field at the Pasture and Alfalfa sites where hybrid poplar was grown with and without weeds for 50, 79 and 100 days. In a hydroponic experiment, Imax values for NH4-N, NO3-N, P and K varied significantly among hybrid poplar seedlings and dandelion and quackgrass weed species and was greatest for dandelion followed by hybrid poplar and then quackgrass. The Km values were lowest for quackgrass compared to the other plant species for all of the nutrients. Simulation results from the SSAND model for the pot study showed that N uptake was underpredicted in hybrid poplar by 58 to 73%, depending upon soil type and weed treatment. Incorporation of N mineralization as a model input improve the hybrid poplar N uptake predictions by 24 and 67% in the Pasture and Alfalfa soil, respectively, when grown without weeds. SSAND model underestimated P uptake by 84-89% and overestimated K uptake by 28 to 59% for hybrid poplar depending upon the soil type and weed treatment. In the field, N uptake by hybrid poplar was in close agreement to measured N uptake in the control treatment. N uptake was greatly underestimated for both hybrid poplar and weeds in the weed treatment. Including changing water content greatly improves the N uptake by hybrid poplar and weeds in weed treatments. Results from this study suggest weed control is an essential practice to establish successful hybrid poplar plantations. Also, SSAND model can be an effective tool for predicting the nutrient uptake under two plant species competing environment if all the processes of nutrient supply are adequately described in the model.

Success of hybrid poplar plantations will rely on the efficient management of nutrients and weeds. Relatively little is known about the root uptake characteristics of hybrid poplar and weeds, their belowground interactions and particularly, the quantitative understanding of nutrient uptake using mechanistic models under weed-competing conditions. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of dandelion and quackgrass on the growth of hybrid poplar, to establish their root uptake characteristics and to quantify their nutrient uptake using the soil supply and nutrient demand (SSAND) model. In a pot study, hybrid poplar stem height, root collar diameter, shoot and root biomass, root length, and N, P and K uptake significantly decreased in the presence of dandelion and quackgrass weeds. Similar weed competition effects on growth of hybrid poplar were also observed in the field at the Pasture and Alfalfa sites where hybrid poplar was grown with and without weeds for 50, 79 and 100 days. In a hydroponic experiment, Imax values for NH4-N, NO3-N, P and K varied significantly among hybrid poplar seedlings and dandelion and quackgrass weed species and was greatest for dandelion followed by hybrid poplar and then quackgrass. The Km values were lowest for quackgrass compared to the other plant species for all of the nutrients. Simulation results from the SSAND model for the pot study showed that N uptake was underpredicted in hybrid poplar by 58 to 73%, depending upon soil type and weed treatment. Incorporation of N mineralization as a model input improve the hybrid poplar N uptake predictions by 24 and 67% in the Pasture and Alfalfa soil, respectively, when grown without weeds. SSAND model underestimated P uptake by 84-89% and overestimated K uptake by 28 to 59% for hybrid poplar depending upon the soil type and weed treatment. In the field, N uptake by hybrid poplar was in close agreement to measured N uptake in the control treatment. N uptake was greatly underestimated for both hybrid poplar and weeds in the weed treatment. Including changing water content greatly improves the N uptake by hybrid poplar and weeds in weed treatments. Results from this study suggest weed control is an essential practice to establish successful hybrid poplar plantations. Also, SSAND model can be an effective tool for predicting the nutrient uptake under two plant species competing environment if all the processes of nutrient supply are adequately described in the model.

This study was conducted in Esquimalt lagoon, located southwest of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Physical characteristics of the water column, e.g. circulation and stratification, changed seasonally resulting from variations in tides, temperature, precipitation and wind. Chemical characteristics, e.g. oxygen and dissolved nutrient concentrations, also differed temporally relative to those in the lagoon’s ocean source water (Juan de Fuca Strait) because of variations in local photosynthesis and nutrient use by phytoplankton. Diatom blooms occurred in the spring, and blooms of photosynthetic flagellates (Heterosigma akashiwo (2009) and Akashiwo sanguinea (2009 and 2010)) occurred in the late summer and early fall when nitrate, ammonium, and urea were depleted. Proliferation of these flagellates led to the development of harmful algal blooms (HABs) associated with oxygen depletion in the lagoon bottom waters. Increased oxygen demand from bacterial degradation of algal biomass and exudates was the likely cause for bottom water hypoxia under reduced tidal exchange. / Graduate

Diss. (sammanfattning). Umeå : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2003. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, 2004. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.