The Impact of Climatic Factors on the Development Stages of Maize Crop in the Transylvanian Plain

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The study emphasizes the significance of climatic conditions, particularly during the growing season, and the importance of considering the interaction of multiple parameters. However, this paper suffers from poor statistical methods in analyzing the results. Some comments might be useful for further improvement.

1. Line 35-40 could cite the recent climate change study below to support the statement. 

Liu, K., Harrison, M.T., Yan, H. et al. Silver lining to a climate crisis in multiple prospects for alleviating crop waterlogging under future climates. Nat Commun 14, 765 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36129-4

2. Line 41-42. Are you sure maize is less influenced by climate change? I just had a search on Google Scholar, there are 1,730,000 relevant papers published.

3.Line 58-88, please merge them into three paragraphs. 

4. Line 325-343, Please merge them into one paragraph.

5.

English needs to be improved by native speakers

Author Response

Answer for reviewer 1

The study emphasizes the significance of climatic conditions, particularly during the growing season, and the importance of considering the interaction of multiple parameters. However, this paper suffers from poor statistical methods in analyzing the results. Some comments might be useful for further improvement.

Answer: Dear reviewer, thank you very much for reviewing our paper and for the recommendations made. These were really useful and helped us to improve the paper. We have made all the recommended improvements, marked in the paper, and we present/explain below how we solved each request. Thank you!

Question: 1.Line 35-40 could cite the recent climate change study below to support the statement.

Liu, K., Harrison, M.T., Yan, H. et al. Silver lining to a climate crisis in multiple prospects for alleviating crop waterlogging under future climates. Nat Commun 14, 765 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36129-4.

Answer: Thank you for your recommendation. The paper supports our presentation on the influence of climate change and has been included in the references. See lines 36-39.

Question: 2. Line 41-42. Are you sure maize is less influenced by climate change? I just had a search on Google Scholar, there are 1,730,000 relevant papers published.

Answer: The phrase has been corrected. It was an error, thanks for reporting it. See lines 41-42.

Question: 3.Line 58-88, please merge them into three paragraphs.

Answer: You are right, they were grouped by: temperature, moisture and yields. See lines 58-88.

Question: 4.Line 325-343, Please merge them into one paragraph.

Answer: The correction was made. All corrections are marked in red.

Question: 5. English needs to be improved by native speakers.

Answer: The entire paper has been checked and all English grammar mistakes have been corrected. All corrections are marked in red.

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Authors,

I have read and revised your manuscript "The Impact of Climatic Factors on the Development Stages of Maize Crop in the Transylvanian Plain", which has undoubtedly significance for the agricultural scientific community, but it needs extensive revision before publication.

The results and the method part are closely connected, based on my previous expertise figures such as fig. 1-2-3. should be better placed in the method section.

Introduction part is well-written, more scientific sources should be added to the discussion part, because climate change and maize are two highly analysed topics, with more possibility to discuss your results in depth.

Method section needs more elaboration, types of analyses, equipment for measurements, soil parameters of the research center.

Statistical marks should appear on the figures and tables, if the data were analysed accordingly. Please revise them.

Conclusion part should also go deeper, these sentences are well-known, that climate is a determinant factor for crop production.

Kind regards

English language is fine, only minor grammatical mistakes and typos are present.

Author Response

Answer for reviewer 2

I have read and revised your manuscript "The Impact of Climatic Factors on the Development Stages of Maize Crop in the Transylvanian Plain", which has undoubtedly significance for the agricultural scientific community, but it needs extensive revision before publication.

Answer: Dear reviewer, thank you very much for reviewing our paper and for the recommendations made. These were really useful and helped us to improve the paper. We have made all the recommended improvements, marked in the paper, and we present/explain below how we solved each request. Thank you!

Question: The results and the method part are closely connected, based on my previous expertise figures such as fig. 1-2-3. should be better placed in the method section.

Answer: Yes, we agree with you, usually this information is included in the research methodology. This time we included them in the results because they are analyzed from the point of view of the influence on the development phases of the maize. If you consider it necessary, we can take the figures to the method but keep the discussion of the results.

Question: Introduction part is well-written, more scientific sources should be added to the discussion part, because climate change and maize are two highly analysed topics, with more possibility to discuss your results in depth.

Answer: The discussion part was developed, including based on the introduction of new references.

Question: Method section needs more elaboration, types of analyses, equipment for measurements, soil parameters of the research center.

Answer: The data about the soil and the methods used have been added. All corrections are marked in red.

Question: Statistical marks should appear on the figures and tables, if the data were analysed accordingly. Please revise them.

Answer: The correction was made. All corrections are marked in red.

Question: 5. Conclusion part should also go deeper, these sentences are well-known, that climate is a determinant factor for crop production.

Answer: The correction was made. All corrections are marked in red.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Happy to see my authors have addressed my concerns

English needs to be reviewed by native speakers.

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Authors,

I accept your revision and explanations about the issues concerning your manuscript.

Kind regards

English is fine, minor typos are still present, but they have no impact on understanding and reading the text.