A novel and efficient approach for detecting wood texture orientation by computer was presented. Four Matlab functions were tried to describe the relative position and orientation of wood texture pixels, to detect texture shape and to create skeletal lines image of wood texture, and BWMORPH function was found the best one. Then by Radon transform, it generated a signature composed of 180 values, each value summing up the size of texture lines that are shaped along that angle, and a two dimensional curve plot was drawn to represent the texture orientation of wood. Furthermore, it analyzed texture orientations of forty species as well as their general statistic laws, classified by softwood, hardwood, radial section and tangential section, and the results showed that texture orientation laws described by Radon transform plot and their extracting datum were in accord with the impression of wood texture that people possessed in daily life, which confirmed the validity of this new approach and their appealing utilization potentials.

Phylogenetic relationships ofArundinaria and related genera (Pleioblastus, Pseudosasa, Oligostachyum, Bashania, Clavinodum, etc.) were assessed by analyzing the sequences of the nrDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and the cpDNAtrnL-F intergenic spacer (IGS). Comparison withtrnL-F IGS sequence, the ITS region provided the higher number of parsimony informative characters, and the interspecific variation of the ITS sequence was higher than that of thetrnL-FIGS sequence. The tree obtained by combining both sets of data showed that the species sampled inArundinaria and the related genera were monophyletic and divided into two clades. The relationships and positioning of all the taxa surveryed (includingA. oleosa, A. hsienchuensis, A. chino, A. amara, A. yixingensis, A. amabilis, A. fortunei, A. pygmaea, A. gramineus, A. fargesii, A. faberi, A. hupehense, Pseudosasa japonica cv. Tsutsumiana, P. japonica andBrachystachyum densiflorum) were also discussed. The results from the sequences were broadly consistent with morphological characters, appearing all these taxa sampled belong to the genus ofArundinaria. The topologies of the trees generated from individual data and the combined data were similar.

Water harvesting is one of main measures to solve water shortage resulting from less precipitation and erratically seasonal distribution in arid and semi-arid areas. Different types of anti-infiltration treatments including mechanical and chemical to micro-catchment and their runoff efficiencies had been reported. This paper, through 5 years experiment from 1992 to 1996, is aimed at studying the impacts of microcatchment water-harvesting system (MCWHS) with microphytic crust treatment on afforestation on semi-arid Loess Plateau. The results showed that after 3 years of crust inoculation, crust had covered majority of MCWHS and the function of water harvesting had also been demonstrated partially, there were significant difference in soil moisture of shallow soil layer in three typical spring stages between crust cover and control treatments (0.05 level), and about 0.9%–6.04% increase of monthly mean soil moisture within 1m soil layer in spring of late 3 years. The impact of severe spring drought can be alleviated effectively. In the meanwhile, as crust developed on the treated surface, there are significant differences (0.05 level) for tree height (H), diameter at breast height (DBH) and diameter at ground level (DGL) at the end of the study period (1996) with the increases by 22.38%, 17.34%, and 20.49% respectively compared with the control treatment. Microphytic crust, as one of biological infiltration-proof materials, may become the optimized option for revegetation in Chinese Great West Development Strategy due to its self-propagation, non-pollution to water qualities, long use duration and relatively cost effective. Further work should be focused on the selection of endemic crust species and their batch-culture in arid environment.

Four-year-oldPinus sylvestriformis were exposed for four growing seasons in open top chambers to ambient CO₂ concentration (approx. 350 μmol·mol⁻¹) and high CO₂ concentrations (500 and 700 μmol·mol⁻¹) at Research Station of Changbai Mountain Forest Ecosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences at Antu Town, Jilin Province, China (42°N, 128°E). Stomatal response to elevated CO₂ concentrations was examined by stomatal conductance (g _s), ratio of intercellular to ambient CO₂ concentration (c _i/c _a) and stomatal number. Reciprocal transfer experiments of stomatal conductance showed that stomatal conductance in high-[CO₂]-grown plants increased in comparison with ambient-[CO₂]-grown plants when measured at their respective growth CO₂ concentration and at the same measurement CO₂ concentration (except a reduction in 700 μmol·mol⁻¹ CO₂. grown plants compared with plants on unchambered field when measured at growth CO₂ concentration and 350 μmol·mol⁻¹CO₂). High-[CO₂]-grown plants exhibited lowerc _i/c _a ratios than ambient-[CO₂]-grown plants when measured at their respective growth CO₂ concentration. However,c _i/c _a ratios increased for plants grown in high CO₂ concentrations compared with control plants when measured at the same CO₂ concentration. There was no significant difference in stomatal number per unit long needle between elevated and ambient CO₂. However, elevated CO₂ concentrations reduced the total stomatal number of whole needle by the decline of stomatal line and changed the allocation pattern of stomata between upper and lower surface of needle.

Despite growing attention to the role of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in forest nutrient cycling, their monthly concentration dynamics in forest ecosystems, especially in subtropical forests only were little known. The goal of this study is to measure the concentrations and monthly dynamics of DOC and DON in precipitation, throughfall and stemflow for two plantations ofSchima superba (SS) and Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata, CF) in Jianou, Fujian, China. Samples of precipitation, throughfall and stemflow were collected on a rain event base from January 2002 to December 2002. Upon collection, all water samples were analyzed for DOC, NO₃ ⁻−N, NH₄ ⁺−N and total dissolved N (TDN). DON was calculated by subtracting NO₃ ⁻−N and NH₄ ⁺−N from TDN. The results showed that the precipitation had a mean DOC concentration of 1.7 mg·L⁻¹ and DON concentration of 0.13 mg·L⁻¹. The mean DOC and DON concentrations in throughfall were 11.2 and 0.24 mg·L⁻¹ in the SS and 10.3 and 0.19 mg·L⁻¹ in the CF respectively. Stemflow DOC and DON concentrations in the CF (19.1 and 0.66 mg·L⁻¹ respectively) were significantly higher than those in the SS (17.6 and 0.48 mg·L⁻¹ respectively). No clear monthly variation in precipitation DOC concentration was found in our study, while DON concentration in precipitation tended to be higher in summer or autumn. The monthly variations of DON concentrations were very similar in throughfall and stemflow at both forests, showing an increase at the beginning of the rainy season in March. In contrast, monthly changes of the DOC concentrations in throughfall of the SS and CF were different to those in stemflow. Throughfall DOC concentrations were higher from February to April, while relatively higher DOC concentrations in stemflow were found during September–November period.

Active soil organic matter (ASOM) has a main effect on biochemical cycles of soil nutrient elements such as N, P and S, and the quality and quantity of ASOM reflect soil primary productivity. The changes of ASOM fractions and soil nutrients in the first rotation site and the second rotation site of Chinese fir plantation and the native broad-leaved forest were investigated and analyzed by soil sampling at the Huitong Experimental Station of Forestry Ecology (at latitude 26°48′N and longitude 109°30′E under a subtropical climate conditions), Chinese Academy of Sciences in March, 2004. The results showed that values of ASOM fractions for the Chinese fir plantations were lower than those for the broad-leaved forest. The contents of easily oxidisable carbon (EOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) for the first rotation of Chinese fir plantation were 35.9%, 13.7%, 87.8% and 50.9% higher than those for the second rotation of Chinese fir plantation, and were 15.8%, 47.3%, 38.1% and 30.2% separately lower than those for the broad-leaved forest. For the three investigated forest sites, the contents of MBC and WSOC had a larger decrease, followed by WSC, and the change of EOC was least. Moreover, soil physico-chemistry properties such as soil nutrients in Chinese fir plantation were lower than those in broad-leaved forest. It suggested that soil fertility declined after Chinese fir plantation replaced native broad-leaved forest through continuous artificial plantation.

Natural regeneration of tree species is important to the sustainability of native forest ecosystems in the temperate zone of northeast China. This study compared the densities and heights of seedlings and the diversities of shrubs and herbs on three sites of logging operations: log-skidding trails (LST), logging gaps (LG) and log landing sites (LLS). Sites undisturbed by logging gaps operations were sampled as control. The species, counts and height of tree seedlings and the species, counts, height and percentage coverage of shrubs and herbs were recorded in the field. The highest density and greatest height of regeneration trees were observed at LG and LST. The effects of LST on the densities of broadleaved trees were greater than those of coniferous trees. The difference in seedling density between LLS and control was significant (p=0.05). There was no significant difference in average seedling height for all the tree species between the disturbed sites and control. There were more shrub and herb species at the disturbed sites than at control. The diversity of understory plants at LG was the highest among all the sites. LST and LLS were different in shrub diversity, so were LLS and control. Both LG and LLS were different from control in herb diversity. Active measures need to be taken on the operation sites to protect the coniferous trees and the diversities of understory plants for sustaining the structure and composition of the broadleaved-Korean pine mixed forest on Changbai Mountain of China. Since different operation sites have different effects on different tree species, site-dependent actions must be taken to assure the regeneration of ecologically important tree species.

The upper valley of Min River (102°59′–104°14′E, 31°26′–33°16′N), which is consisted of the counties Wenchuan, Maoxian, Lixian, Heishui, and Songpan, refers to the part up to Dujiangyan City, and locates on the transition zone from the Tibetan Plateau to the Sichuan Basin. It is one of the most important forest areas in China, especially in Sichuan Province. Over past two decades, the landscape changed remarkably in the region. The 3S techniques (Remote Sensing (RS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Position System (GPS)) were used to classify the images and analyze the landscape change. The remotely sensed data of Landsat TM 1986 and Landsat ETM+2000 were used to analyze the landscape change of the region. The landscape were classified into 10 types of cropland, forest, shrub land, economic forest, grassland, build up land, river, lake, swamp, and unused land. The results showed that: 1) the woodland and grassland were dominating landscape types in the upper valley of Min River, which is more than 91% of the study area; 2) the alteration of the landscape was mainly happened among forest, shrub land, grassland, economic forest, cropland, and build up land, where forest decreased from 51.17% to 47.56%; 3) the landscape fragmentation in the upper valley of Min River was aggravated from 1986 to 2000.

Mao'ershan region is a representative natural secondary forested region in the eastern mountainous region, northeast of China. Under the support of ARC/INFO and GIS technology, the landscape shape and fragment indices of Mao'ershan experimental plantation were studied by combining the forest type map (1∶10000), which was drawn from the aerial photographs (1999), field investigation (1999) and soil utilized map (1∶10000). The results showed that the shape index and shape fragment index of natural landscape were higher than those of artificial landscapes and landscape patch fragment index depended on the number of patches. The natural forest had complex shape, suffering little jamming, and its shape index was higher than that of artificial forest. The manual controlled landscape (e.g. nursery, cropland and cutting blank) had regular shape, and its shape index was smaller. The fragment index of patches in natural forest was higher than that of artificial forest. The soft broad-leaved had the highest fragment index of patch amount.

The vertical distribution of the dominant genera of plant nematodes at the depth of 0–150 cm of an aquic brown soil were studied for four land use patterns, i.e., paddy field, maize field, fallow field and woodland in the Shenyang Experimental Station of Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in November of 2003. The results showed that the numbers of some dominant genera under different land uses decreased with the increase of soil depth.Helicotylenchus was most dominant genus under each land use type. Genera ofFilenchus, Psilenchus andTylenchus in paddy field occurred at the depth of 0–20 cm; whileParatylenchus in fallow field and woodland, as well asPratylenchus in maize field presented in the deeper soil layers (0–80 cm). Significant correlations between the numbers of dominant genera of plant nematodes and soil chemical properties were found in this study. The number ofHelicotylenchus under different land uses was positively correlated with C/N ratio, total C, total N, total P, alkai-N, and Olsen-P. The numbers ofFilenchus andParatylenchus in paddy field,Pratylenchus in maize field andParatylenchus in fallow field were negatively correlated with soil pH, and positively correlated with total C, total N and alkai-N. This study results showed that it is essential to sample at a certain depth according to the vertical distribution information of different genera of plant nematodes in adequately assessing the population size of plant nematodes.

The values of non-marketable forest products have largely been ignored, which made the conservation of the natural resources increasingly more economically difficult. Based on the previous studies, compensation subsidy for the values of non-marketable forest products was computed with a method of compensation coefficient that combines the Engel Coefficient and Logistic Curve. The method was applied in Changbai Mountain area. The total value of the compensation subsidy in 1999 was supposed to 637.93 Yuan·hm⁻², of which 70% would be paid directly to the local stakeholders and is much higher than the compensation subsidy previously computed (75Yuan·hm⁻²·year⁻¹). It is currently impossible for the central government to bear all the costs and investment of natural forest protection. A practical solution is that the local government should invest in forest and put the compensation subsidy into the current revenue.

The history, current situation, and development trend of GIS (Geographic Information System) applied in the forest resources management were discussed in this paper. On the basis of geographic spatial characteristics of forest resources data, a component geographic information system (ComGIS) was developed for forest resources management. The system embeds a GIS ActiveX control MapObjects (Inc. ESRI) on Visual C++ platform. System design, data organization and achieving way were studied and expatiated by taking Xigangzi Forestry Centre as study object. The system has many useful functions„ such as adding and display of various map layers, zoom of map by wheeling mouse, attribute and spatial data querying, map auto roaming, features rendering based on the spatial trait of data, label controlling through attribute data band with vector graph, as well as output of ‘Column chart’ for showing the result of statistics. At the same time, parts of source codes are attached.

Axillary buds from 3-yr.-old seedlings ofCamptotheca acuminata in the greenhouse were cultured on the different basal media with different concentrations of growth regulators for shoot regeneration for studying the effects of different basal media, different concentrations of growth regulators (BA or TDZ), sucrose, agar and pH value on shoot regeneration from axillary bud. The results showed that B5 and WPM media were the optimal basal media and the optimal phyotohormone was BA of 1.0 mg/L or TDZ of 0.1 mg/L; The concentrations of sucrose of 30g/L and agar of 6g/L were most suitable for the shoot regeneration; pH value from 5.8 to 6.6 were broadly effective, but the best at pH 5.8.

The changes of vegetation compositions, plant species diversity, species important value and succession of plant community were studied on waste dumps in Haizhou opencast coalmine which is located in the west of Liaoning Province, China (41°41′–42°56′ N, 121°1′–122°56′E). Four kinds of terraces with different ages (5, 10, 20 and 40 years) were selected for investigation of plants. Total of 63 species of natural colonized plants were recorded on the waste dump and they belong to 23 families. The main families were Composiatae (15 species), Fabaceae (11 species) and Leguminosae (8 species), which accounted for 54.0% of total species and play an important role in natural vegetation recovery in waste dump area. The dominant species on 5-, 10-, 20-, 40-year-old terraces wereTribulus terrestris+Echinochloa hispidula+Salsola collina, Echinochloa hispidula+Artemisia sieversiana+Artemisia scoparia, Echinochloa hispidula+Clinelymus dahuricus+Artemisia scoparia+Artemisia sieversiana+Melilotus officinalis, Clinelymus dahuricus+Phragmites communis+ Echinochloa hispidula+Setaria viridis, respectively. According to the important value of species calculated. It is determined thatTribulus terrestris can act as pioneer species on waste dump andClinelymus dahuricus, Phragmites communis andEchinochloah hispidula are important dominant species in vegetation restoration in Haizhou opencast coalmine. The study results can provide scientific basis for selecting and disposing appropriately plant species and rehabilitating vegetation on waste dumps of coalmine.

Six commonly used restriction endonucleases (REs) (Acc I, Ban II, EcoR I, Hind III, Sac I, Sca I) were tested for their ability to directly digest DNA completely in the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) buffers. The results showed that: with the requirement for additional magnesium supplemented as activator, REs, except EcoR I appeared star activity, completely digested unmethylated lambda DNA after overnight incubation in PCR buffer and functioned as equally well as in recommended Restriction Enzyme Buffer provided with each enzyme; all REs tested completely digested PCR products in PCR buffer, it implied digestion of PCR products may often be performed directly in the PCR tube without the requirement for any precipitation or purification steps; and the concentration of MgCl₂ from 2.5 mmol·L⁻¹ to 10 mmol·L⁻¹ did not significantly affect activity of REs in PCR buffer. This simplified method for RE digestion of PCR products could have applications in restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and single-stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of large PCR products. However, usage of this procedure for cloning applications needs further data.

In production industry ofAuricularia auricular, the varieties quality is most important impact factor on output. For evaluating the early quality of the edible fungus, 9 varieties ofAuricularia auricular (Au9, CF09, CF05, 29, 916, chang10, chang7, Au.Japanese and 8808) were cultured on the medium consists of potato dextrose agar (PDA) and sawdust to test their mycelium growth rate, endurance to high temperature, resistance to mildew, assimilation of nutriment, and resistance to drought. The result showed that the mycelium of Chang 10, CF09, 29 and Au.Japanese varieties had the eminent characteristics such as short lifespan, stronger assimilation of nutriment, and endurance to high temperature and steady growth. These four varieties are determined as superiority varieties ofAuricularia auricular in accordance with the research results.

Bioevolution is still a main puzzle and attracts many scientists to research on it. Here I present that organisms have two important properties, definite structure and self-reproduction. Based on the number and connection of the structural units, organisms can be divided into three groups, unicellular, particellular and polycellular organisms. It can be called polycellular evolution that organisms evolve from unicellular, particellular to polycellular. Also it can be called diploid evolution that organisms evolve from haplobes to diplobes, two groups based on the reproductive differences. Some concepts like spore, zygote and embryos are redefined in the paper. Moreover, I present that embryos are the most important boundary of bioevolution and organisms can be divided into two evolutionary phases, the lower and the higher. The lower organisms, Kindgom Microbia (kingd. nov.), are inembryonate, which include Acytophyla (phyl. nov.), bacteria, protozoa, fungi and inembryonate algae. The higher organisms are embryonate and have two branches, Kingdom Plantae and Kingdom Animalia. Plantae are sessile and, autotrophic or sporogenic, which include higher plants and Nudembryophyta (phyl. nov.). Animalia are heterotrophic and, motile or gametogenic, which include all multicellular animals. The new system, which reflects the two important phases of bioevolution and two branches of higher organisms, can really correct the problem of different kingdoms in different researches or by different researchers.

Cellulose is one of many important polymers in plants. Cellulose is made of repeat units of the monomer glucose. Cellulose is a major industrial biopolymer in the forest products, textile, and chemical industries. It also forms a large portion of the biomass useful in the generation of energy. Moreover, cellulose-based biomass is a renewable energy source that can be used for the generation of ethanol as a fuel. Cellulose is synthesized by a variety of living organisms such as plants and algae. It is the major component of plant cell walls with secondary cell walls having a much higher content of cellulose. The relationship between cellulose and lignin biosynthesis is complicated, but it is confirmed that inhibition of lignin biosynthesis in transgenic trees will increase cellulose biosynthesis and plant growth. Cellulose accumulation may be increased by down-regulating 4-coumarate:coenzyme A ligase (4CL, EC 6.2.1.12) as shown in transgenic aspen. There is no similar reports on down-regulating 4CL in transgenic conifers. Based on our establishedAgrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation system in loblolly pine, we are able to produce antisense 4-CL transgenic loblolly pine which is predicted to have increasing cellulose accumulation. The overall objective of this project is to genetically engineer forest tree species such as loblolly pine with reduced amount of lignin and increased cellulose content. The research strategy includes: (1) isolate the 4-coumarate:coenzyme A ligase gene from loblolly pine seedlings by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RACE-PCR) techniques from the cDNA library; (2) construct binary expression vectors with antisense 4CL coding sequences and introduce antisense constructs of the 4-coumarate:coenzyme A ligase gene cloned from loblolly pine into the loblolly pine to down regulate the 4-coumarate:coenzyme A ligase gene expression; (3) study the effect of the antisense transgene expression on lignin content, cellulose accumulation, and loblolly pine biomass; and (4) select fast growth and high cellulose accumulation transgenic loblolly pine lines for future commercial application.

Satellite remote sensing has become a primary data source for fire danger rating prediction, fuel and fire mapping, fire monitoring, and fire ecology research. This paper summarizes the research achievements in these research fields, and discusses the future trend in the use of satellite remote-sensing techniques in wildfire management. Fuel-type maps from remote-sensing data can now be produced at spatial and temporal scales quite adequate for operational fire management applications. US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellites are being used for fire detection worldwide due to their high temporal resolution and ability to detect fires in remote regions. Results can be quickly presented on many Websites providing a valuable service readily available to fire agency. As cost-effective tools, satellite remote-sensing techniques play an important role in fire mapping. Improved remote-sensing techniques have the potential to date older fire scars and provide estimates of burn severity. Satellite remote sensing is well suited to assessing the extent of biomass burning, a prerequisite for estimating emissions at regional and global scales, which are needed for better understanding the effects of fire on climate change. The types of satellites used in fire research are also discussed in the paper. Suggestions on what remote-sensing efforts should be completed in China to modernize fire management technology in this country are given.

Sturgeon, as a kind of rare large-scale economic fish, has high scientific research and commercial value. But virosis was a significant cause of mortality among farm-raised juvenile sturgeon, which brought tremendous loss in the last decades. In this paper, we reviewed the studies on four sturgeon viruses: white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) iridovirus (WSIV), white sturgeon herpesvirus-1,2 (WSHV-1,2) and shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus Scaphirhynchus) iridovirus (SSIV). The content of this review were mainly focused on clinic symptom of infected fish, diagnostic method, virus isolation, prophylactic and remedy. Based on a detailed conclusion and analysis, it is reasonable that molecular biology techniques might be a potential method for sturgeon virosis diagnosis.