Search Results (5,319)

Drought mitigation by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is commonly assessed using individual physiological traits, although plant responses to water deficit are intrinsically multivariate. We developed a Multitrait Physiological Drought Mitigation Index (PDMI) to summarize PGPR-specific physiological responses in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) while separating drought-specific effects from general performance under optimal moisture. The balanced two-season experiment comprised 240 plant-level observations and 10 complete matched replication sets per season. The primary PGPR analysis excluded the non-bacterial magnesium-sulfate comparator (CMg) and included four PGPR strains, the uninoculated control, 200 plant-level observations, and 80 replication-level difference-in-differences (DiD) profiles. Nine nonredundant physiological traits were direction-aligned and standardized using the 2021 development season and aggregated with equal weights; all parameters were then applied unchanged to the 2022 holdout season. Block-adjusted MANOVA confirmed a joint inoculation variant × moisture interaction (Pillai’s trace = 0.533, F(36,664) = 2.835, p < 0.001). Block-restricted PERMANOVA detected a small multivariate strain effect (pseudo-F = 0.995, R² = 0.0378, p = 0.0289), whereas PERMDISP was nonsignificant (p = 0.273). In 2021, DLGB 2 obtained the highest PDMI (0.160) and had a 66.3% bootstrap probability of rank 1 and an 88.3% probability of inclusion in the top two. In the 2022 holdout, AJ 1.2 ranked first; cross-season rank agreement was positive but uncertain (Spearman’s ρ = 0.60, p = 0.40). The best individual trait, water-use efficiency, showed greater within-season rank stability than PDMI (P(rank 1) = 0.998), demonstrating that the composite did not universally outperform single measurements. PDMI was not significantly associated with holdout yield mitigation (R² = 0.0458; block-clustered p = 0.127; within-block permutation p = 0.341). PDMI should, therefore, be interpreted as a transparent integrative descriptor of coordinated physiological response rather than a definitive classifier, a universally superior screening metric, or a standalone yield predictor. Full article

Early-season winter wheat mapping is crucial for agricultural management and food security, but reliable identification remains challenging under weak spectral conditions during early growth stages. To address this challenge, this study developed a CNN–LSTM with a lag-aware gated fusion model (CL-LGFM) for winter wheat mapping in the Chaohu Basin, China, using a reconstructed 5-day Sentinel-2 NDVI time series and precipitation data from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. The model employs a dual-branch architecture to jointly learn vegetation and precipitation features and introduces a lag-aware dynamic gated fusion module to capture the delayed response of vegetation to precipitation and enhance multi-source feature fusion. The results show that the proposed method achieved reliable early-season winter wheat mapping (OA ≥ 0.90, Kappa ≥ 0.80) on 26 January, at least 10 days earlier than traditional methods, including SVM, RF, DTW, and TCN, using the same reconstructed 5-day NDVI time series. Optimal performance uses a 7 × 7 patch size and 30-day precipitation window. Full article

Coastal dune fields provide important ecological and geomorphic functions, while their evolution is strongly influenced by groundwater-controlled surface moisture. However, the effects of seasonal groundwater-level fluctuations and moisture-affected sand on long-term dune development remain insufficiently represented in numerical models. In this paper, a time-varying groundwater-level field and moisture-dependent entrainment thresholds are incorporated into a real-space cellular automaton model to investigate the coupled evolution of coastal dunes and interdune lakes. The results show that rising groundwater levels reduce the wind-erodible surface area, inundate interdune depressions, and delay the growth of peak dune height. Periodic water-level fluctuations also produce a sediment storage–release cycle, in which sand is temporarily stored on inundated interdune surfaces during high-water stages and is progressively remobilized during subsequent low-water stages, while newly exposed moisture-affected sand remains subject to an elevated entrainment threshold. In addition, increasing the critical threshold shear stress within the groundwater-controlled moisture-affected layer suppresses dune development and reduces final peak dune height by approximately 8–17%. Comparison with the observed wet-season water-pond area further shows that incorporating the moisture-affected layer brings the simulated relative water-pond area closer to the observed value in the Lençóis Maranhenses dune field. Overall, the results demonstrate that groundwater regulates dune evolution through both direct inundation and an enhanced entrainment resistance of moisture-affected sand above the water table. Full article

Canopy 3D architecture is a critical determinant of light interception, photosynthetic efficiency, and final yield in cotton, yet its rapid and accurate characterisation remains challenging in field conditions. To achieve efficient, non-destructive, and quantitative monitoring of the canopy structure of field-grown cotton, this study proposes a 3D structure-based technology stack for high-efficiency, low-cost, and high-precision phenotyping extraction. This stack directly addresses the technical bottlenecks of traditional 3D data acquisition, namely high cost, long processing time, and low operational efficiency, which have hindered large-scale application. We developed a pipeline that integrates a fast reconstruction algorithm with a scale-recovery mechanism using ground control points (GCPs), enabling the generation of true-scale 3D point clouds from UAV aerial images in a cost- and time-effective manner. Using only 141 UAV images and with a reconstruction time of approximately 20 min, we efficiently reconstructed high-quality, scale-accurate point clouds of two 5.5 m × 5.5 m cotton plots, significantly outperforming SfM-MVS and Instant-NGP in terms of both reconstruction efficiency and point cloud completeness. This method, whose current validation is confined to a single season, one growth stage, and two experimental plots, not only achieves a breakthrough by using fewer input images with high efficiency, but also ensures point cloud accuracy and completeness, showing strong potential for rapid field monitoring and real-time management. Based on the high-quality reconstructed point clouds, we further quantitatively evaluated canopy characteristics at harvest, analyzing the coefficient of variation of canopy height, porosity distribution, and canopy volume fraction. The core shortcomings and optimization strategies for the existing canopy structure were identified, providing scientific data support and practical technical references for precision cultivation management and mechanization-compatible planting in cotton. Full article

Seasonal variation in SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility is difficult to estimate directly from year-round epidemic data because interventions, behavior, reporting, immunity, and viral evolution change concurrently. We therefore asked whether cross-country differences observed during the initial exponential-growth phase could be used to infer country-specific seasonal modulation. Early-pandemic basic reproduction numbers (R₀) from 118 countries were linked to 96 harmonized environmental and population-level predictors. Among nine candidate algorithms evaluated across 100 repeated train–test splits, ridge regression using the combined predictor set provided the best balance of predictive accuracy, generalization, and temporal stability. The selected model was then driven by daily climatological covariates to reconstruct annual baseline R₀(t) profiles. Predicted transmissibility generally peaked during winter in the Northern Hemisphere and approximately six months later in the Southern Hemisphere, whereas equatorial countries showed weaker or multimodal patterns. Seasonal forcing amplitude increased strongly with absolute latitude (r = 0.85; mean 0.064 across 77 temperate countries), and predicted R₀ peaks aligned more closely with minimum ultraviolet radiation than with minimum temperature. These ecological associations do not establish causality, but they provide country-specific seasonal-forcing parameters for epidemic models and a baseline environmental context for comparing early-pandemic trajectories. Full article

Although climate warming affects photosynthetic carbon sequestration in coastal wetland plants, the seasonality of this effect has not been assessed. We investigated the growth traits and photosynthetic properties of Phragmites australis by using open-top chambers (OTCs) to conduct a warming experiment in the coastal wetlands of the Yellow River Delta during a single growing season. The OTCs significantly elevated temperatures by ~1 °C across the growing season, and the effects of warming on stem diameter, net photosynthetic rate (P_n), and water use efficiency (WUE) were characterized by a significant month × warming interaction. Early-season carboxylation efficiency (φ) increased by 71%, but a significant late-season decline of P_n by 49% accompanied by a rise of intercellular CO₂ concentrations (C_i) and decline of stomatal limitation (L_s) led to a seasonal shift from stomatal to non-stomatal (biochemical) limitation of growth. A consistent increase in plant height and C_i across all months and concomitant decrease in L_s indicated that the additive effects of warming were independent of phenological stage. The results revealed that the phenological mediation of warming responses is trait specific. Carbon cycle models should therefore adopt trait-specific parameterizations to accurately project the impact of the wetland carbon sink under future warming. Full article

Conventional irrigation practices, characterized by excessive water application, have diminished water use efficiency (WUE) and intensified agricultural water consumption. Optimizing irrigation schedules and moderately reducing water input are therefore essential for enhancing WUE while safeguarding stable yields. Micro-sprinkler irrigation, which integrates the benefits of both drip and sprinkler systems, represents a promising technology with substantial water-saving potential. However, its effects on root development and crop yield remain inadequately investigated. Here, we established three micro-sprinkler irrigation regimes—MS20 (20 mm), MS30 (30 mm), and MS40 (40 mm)—alongside flood irrigation (FI) and rainfed (RF) controls, to systematically assess their impacts on soil water content, root growth traits, dry matter accumulation, yield, and WUE. Compared with FI, MS treatments decreased profile soil water content at jointing but increased it in specific layers during grain filling, albeit to varying extents. MS treatments enhanced total root length density (TRLD) and total root dry weight density (TRDD) relative to FI, with MS20 significantly increasing both parameters in the 20–100 cm soil layer. Moreover, MS20 increased pre-flowering dry matter translocation (PDMT) by 9.69% on average and post-flowering dry matter accumulation (PFDMA) by 15.04% during the 2022–2023 season. Yield and WUE under MS treatments exceeded those under FI by 3.46–6.53% and 4.42–21.21%, respectively. Among the MS treatments, MS20 achieved the highest average WUE. No significant yield or WUE differences were observed between MS20 and MS30, with MS30 producing the numerically maximum average yield. MS40 did not significantly affect yield in 2021–2022; however, it substantially reduced both yield and WUE relative to MS20 and MS30 in 2022–2023. A comprehensive TOPSIS analysis identified the combination of micro-sprinkler irrigation with total seasonal irrigation amounts of 80 mm or 120 mm as the optimal strategy for winter wheat production in the eastern Henan region of the North China Plain (NCP). Full article

Pseudotolithus elongatus is one of the most commercially important species supporting artisanal fisheries in Guinea-Bissau; however, its population biology and reproductive characteristics remain poorly understood, particularly in estuarine ecosystems. This study provides the first integrated biological characterisation of P. elongatus in the Cacine River Estuary, Guinea-Bissau, based on 1776 specimens collected through three independent sampling programmes. Length at first sexual maturity (L₅₀) was estimated using binomial generalised linear models (GLMs); length–weight relationships were assessed by ordinary least squares regression and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA); sexual size dimorphism was evaluated using a battery of parametric and non-parametric tests (ANOVA, Welch’s t-test, Kruskal–Wallis, Kolmogorov–Smirnov); and sex ratio was tested using chi-square goodness-of-fit tests with Yates’ continuity correction. Females attained sexual maturity at a significantly smaller size than males (L₅₀ = 224.9 mm vs. 306.8 mm), and both sexes exhibited positive allometric growth. Females attained larger body sizes and predominated in the largest length classes, confirming pronounced sexual size dimorphism. Reproductive activity occurred throughout the year, with a distinct spawning peak during the dry season (February–April), and the overall sex ratio remained close to parity despite significant variation among length classes and months. These findings provide a biological baseline to support evidence-informed fishery management of P. elongatus in Guinea-Bissau and highlight the need for long-term, standardised monitoring in the Cacine River Estuary. Full article

Early-life calf mortality is a significant barrier to herd growth and overall productivity in yak husbandry. This retrospective study investigated the survival pattern and potential risk factors linked to yak calf mortality during the first 90 days of life. Analysis was performed on existing farm records from 428 yak calves born between 2013 and 2025 at a semi-intensive yak farm. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to estimate survival probability, and the log-rank test was used to compare survival probabilities; additionally, a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was employed to identify independent risk factors. Overall, 70 (16.4%) calves died within the first 90 days after birth. The Kaplan–Meier analysis indicated significantly lower survival probability among low-birth-weight calves (≤12 kg; p = 0.0005) and calves born to primiparous dams (p = 0.0003). In contrast, survival did not differ according to calf sex (p = 0.620) and birth season (p = 0.658). In the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model, low birth weight (HR = 2.27, 95% CI: 1.24–4.16; p = 0.008) and primiparous dams (HR = 2.08, 95% CI: 1.28–3.38; p = 0.003) were independently associated with higher mortality risk. As a result, calf sex and birth season were not significant predictors. Diarrhea and respiratory disease were the predominant causes of calf deaths. The current study’s results indicate that maternal and neonatal factors are the major determinants of early-life calf survival. This highlights the need for special care with optimum nutrition and regular monitoring of primiparous dams and low-birth-weight calves in order to lower pre-weaning mortality and improve overall herd productivity. Full article

In Guangxi, China, winter ratoon tissues of perennial rice provide overwintering habitats for the migratory crop pest Mythimna separata (Walker, 1865) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). To understand the overwintering potential and fitness of this pest in perennial rice cropping systems, we evaluated the life history, population parameters, and flight performance of M. separata cohorts initiated in November, December, January, and February using group rearing and age-stage, two-sex life tables. The November cohort showed the highest intrinsic rate of increase (r_m = 0.1009 d⁻¹), while the February cohort exhibited the greatest fecundity (752.88 eggs/female) and flight capacity (7.61 h of flight during the 12 h flight period). In contrast, prolonged exposure to deep-winter cold severely suppressed survival, reproduction, population growth, and adult flight performance. These findings demonstrate that overwintering success depends strongly on the timing of cold exposure: gradual autumn cooling and late-winter warming can support population persistence, whereas sustained deep-winter cold is associated with reduced fitness. Perennial rice ratoon tissues may therefore facilitate pest carry-over between cropping cycles, and the overlap between spring ratoon regrowth and reproduction of late-winter cohorts may increase the risk of early-season outbreaks. Monitoring overwintering cohort dynamics together with ratoon phenology could improve early warning and support timely management of M. separata in perennial rice systems. Full article

This study proposes a multi-sensor time-series framework for estimating sugarcane planting Days After Planting (DAP) using Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and Sentinel-2 optical imagery in Phu Khiao District, Chaiyaphum Province, Thailand. The framework integrates vegetation indices, SAR backscatter, Dynamic Time Warping Barycenter Averaging (DBA), Derivative Dynamic Time Warping (DDTW), and stage-specific Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) calibration to estimate planting DAP and crop age. Sugarcane fields were first identified using a Random Forest classifier trained on combined multispectral and SAR features, achieving an Overall Accuracy of 88.5% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.82 for the optimal feature configuration. Multi-temporal vegetation index and SAR backscatter time series were then smoothed using Locally Weighted Scatterplot Smoothing (LOWESS) and aligned with phenological reference prototypes generated by DBA using DDTW. Stage-specific OLS models were subsequently applied to reduce systematic prediction bias. The calibrated framework achieved a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.9970 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 5.21 days, representing a substantial improvement over the uncalibrated DDTW estimates (R² = 0.9953, RMSE = 7.00 days). DDTW alignment produced the highest accuracy during the grand growth stage (Stage 2), with normalized RMSE (NRMSE) ranging from 0.064 to 0.091 across individual features. Independent validation using 140 sugarcane plots from the 2024/2025 cropping season demonstrated the plausibility of the proposed framework, correctly identifying Stage 3 (sugar accumulation) growth for 98.6% of the plots and estimating a mean planting DAP of 267.06 ± 9.55 days. These findings demonstrate that the proposed framework provides an accurate and operational approach for estimating sugarcane planting dates from satellite time-series data, supporting crop age monitoring and harvest planning in tropical agricultural regions where field-based planting records are unavailable or incomplete. Full article

Climate change and increasing demand for local protein resources offer a significant reason to introduce soybean (Glycine max (L.)) in Lithuania, which is beyond soybean’s typical distribution area in Europe. This study was carried out to examine the effect of microbial biostimulant inoculation in combination with chemical micronutrients on soybean under the edaphic condition of Lithuania. A three-year field trial (2023–2025) tested five treatments, including uninoculated control, Arthrobacter pascens (AP), Bradyrhizobium japonicum (BJ), BJ + AP, and BJ + AP combined with micronutrients (BJ + AP + MN) on soybean biomass, nodulation, growth, quality, yield, and yield components. BJ alone promoted most of the crop traits because the northern soil lacks biological nitrogen fixation rhizobia. It established nodulation, increased SPAD value, shoot biomass (81%), plant height (19.16%), root biomass (40.1%), protein (6.9%), pods per plant, and grain yield (33.2%) over the uninoculated control. Moreover, AP also elevated biomass and yield components significantly without nodule formation. The effects of combined biostimulant treatments in many cases were not significantly different from the single treatment of BJ. All the treatments exhibited stable performance in growing seasons, although with year-to-year climatic variation. The year 2025 gave the highest biomass and yield because of the good precipitation and temperature over that year. The most positive response of soybean grain yield was observed with inoculation of BJ + AP, which increased grain yield by 35.65% over the untreated control. This study highlights the potential of the novel epiphyte Arthrobacter pascens 13LEP5 as a highly efficient, nodule-independent biofertilizer that can match or exceed the performance of traditional inoculants in soybean production. This study suggests identifying rhizobial inoculation as a strong climate-smart strategy for the launch of a productive, low-input, organic soybean system as an expansion poleward cultivation under the edaphic condition of Lithuania. Full article

Severe decline and death of young table grapevines (1 to 2 years old) have been observed recurrently in commercial vineyards in Peru since 2022. Affected plants developed rapid shoot wilting associated with extensive necrotic lesions at the rootstock collar below the graft union, leading to plant death within days of symptom onset. A Cylindrocarpon-like fungus was consistently isolated from symptomatic collar tissues. Morphological characterization, cardinal temperature assays, and phylogenetic analyses based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and histone H3 (his3) gene identified the pathogen as a member of the genus Pleiocarpon. Bayesian inference of concatenated sequences resolved the Peruvian isolates as a lineage sister to P. strelitziae (posterior probability = 1.00). Greenhouse pathogenicity tests with two representative isolates on cv. Red Globe grafted onto Salt Creek rootstock reproduced collar lesions and shoot wilting, fulfilling Koch’s postulates. Optimal mycelial growth was estimated at 28.7–29.3 °C, with maximum colony growth recorded at 30 °C, consistent with the warm conditions that prevail during vineyard establishment in coastal Peru. Designated here as collar rot, the syndrome represents an atypically severe form of black foot disease, characterized by extensive belowground collar necrosis and rapid vine collapse soon after planting. Its recurrence across regions and seasons, together with the near-exclusive deployment of a single rootstock (Salt Creek), indicates that Pleiocarpon-associated collar rot is an emerging threat to young table grape plantings in Peru, underscoring the need for early diagnosis, pathogen-free nursery material, and preventive management during vineyard establishment. Full article

To understand the epidemiological characteristics and patterns of mushroom poisoning in Zhejiang Province from 2012 to 2023, and to overcome the limitations of previous descriptive studies in precise early warning and spatial identification, this study explored the feasibility of identifying spatial distribution characteristics and high-risk spatiotemporal clusters. First, descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on 2276 cases from the Foodborne Disease Case Surveillance System and 408 outbreaks from the Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System reported over the 12-year period to clarify the basic characteristics and trends of poisoning. Subsequently, spatial autocorrelation analysis (Moran’s I) was employed to reveal spatial dependence and clustering patterns. Finally, spatiotemporal scan statistics (SatScan) were used to precisely identify high-risk spatiotemporal clusters, systematically analyzing the spatiotemporal distribution and clustering patterns of mushroom poisoning cases. The results showed a distinct summer–autumn seasonal peak (June–October), attributed to the subtropical monsoon climate with high temperatures and abundant rainfall, which is conducive to mushroom growth. Farmers were the most affected population (47.93%), and homes were the primary poisoning locations (71.7%), reflecting widespread foraging habits and insufficient risk awareness in rural areas. Chlorophyllum molybdites (36.27%) and Russula japonica (10.05%) were the dominant poisoning mushroom species, with gastrointestinal symptoms being the predominant clinical manifestation (84.07%). Spatial analysis revealed significant spatiotemporal clustering of mushroom poisoning in Zhejiang Province. The global Moran’s I index showed significant positive autocorrelation in some years (p < 0.05), with local hotspots mainly distributed in western Zhejiang counties. This pattern is driven by a dual model of environmental suitability and behavioral risk, resulting from the high forest coverage and humid climate of the western Zhejiang mountainous areas providing suitable habitats, combined with long-standing foraging habits among local residents. Retrospective spatiotemporal scanning identified high-risk clusters for each year from 2018 to 2023, with the Lishui area in 2023 being the most significant cluster (Relative Risk (RR) = 15.44, Log-Likelihood Ratio (LLR) = 114.49). The results confirm that mushroom poisoning in Zhejiang Province exhibits a stable and identifiable spatiotemporal clustering pattern, providing a quantitative basis for precise health education and targeted prevention and control in high-risk counties of western Zhejiang during June–October, thereby shifting the approach from passive reporting to targeted intervention. Full article

This research was conducted at Bursa Uludag University, Faculty of Agriculture, during the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 growing seasons to determine the effect of nitrogen applied at different times and doses on grain yield and quality in a bread wheat variety. The experiment was carried out using a split-plot design in randomized blocks with three replications. Fertilizer treatment times were assigned to the main plots (T1; T2; T3; T4; T5; T6; T7), and fertilizer doses were assigned to the subplots (N1: control, N2: 80 kg N, N3: 160 kg N, N4: 240 kg N ha⁻¹). The characteristics examined included basic physiological indicators (SPAD meter values and flag leaf area), growth and vegetative characteristics (plant height and spike length), yield components (number of spikelets per spike, number of grains per spike, grain weight per spike), quality criteria (thousand-grain weight, hectoliter weight, and protein ratio), and grain yield characteristics. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed statistically significant differences (p < 0.01) among treatment times, nitrogen doses, and their interactions for most of the characteristics examined in both seasons. The high nitrogen treatment (240 kg N ha⁻¹) significantly increased physiological and agronomic parameters, including chlorophyll content (SPAD), flag leaf area, plant height, spike length, and the number of spikelets per spike. Average grain yield ranged from 3539 to 8039 kg ha⁻¹ in the first year and 1167–4329 kg ha⁻¹ in the second year, with the highest values recorded at the 240 kg N ha⁻¹ treatment. Similarly, the protein ratio varied between 9.4 and 13.6% in 2022–2023 and 8.5–12.7% in 2023–2024, reaching its highest level at the 240 kg N ha⁻¹ dose. In both growing seasons, the highest grain yield (8039 kg ha⁻¹ and 4329 kg ha⁻¹) and high protein ratio (13.6% and 12.4%) were obtained in plots where the 240 kg N ha⁻¹ nitrogen dose was applied in three equal splits (1/3 at sowing, 1/3 at tillering, and 1/3 at heading; T7). Principal component analysis (PCA) successfully explained 73.6% of the total variation in the first season (PC1: 61.4%, PC2: 12.2%) and 77.1% in the second season (PC1: 67.2%, PC2: 9.9%), confirming that splitting nitrogen into three parts simultaneously optimizes both yield components and grain quality. Consequently, to maximize bread wheat yield and quality, a total treatment of 240 kg N ha⁻¹ split equally into sowing, tillering, and heading stages is recommended instead of traditional two-split treatments. Full article