[Effects of different irrigation patterns on the growth of maize root hair].

With split-root pot experiment and using optical and electrical microscopes, the growth of root hair of maize under different irrigation patterns, i. e. , irrigated on both halves of the pot (conventional irrigation, CI), on one half only (fixed partial root zone irrigation, FPRI), and on both halves alternatively (alternate partial root zone irrigation, APRI), was observed. The observation after 40 days of treatment showed that in non-irrigated root zone of FPRI, the length proportion of root covered by vestigial root hairs was 20.96%, being higher than that in other zones. In addition to some bletting spots, the root system in irrigated zone of FPRI turned yellow, root-branching deteriorated to some extent, and the root hair density on the section with thick root hairs was lower than that in non-irrigated zone. However, both the length proportion of root covered by vestigial root hairs (15.72%) and the deterioration of root hair were lower than those in non-irrigated zone. As for CI, the root appearance and root hair growth were similar to those of the FPRI irrigated zone. As for the early and late irrigated root zones of APRI, the root hair density on the section with thick root hairs was high. The length proportion of root covered by vestigial root hairs was 9.77% and 10.38% for these two root zones, respectively, being lower than that in any root zones of FPRI and CI. It was suggested that alternative partial root zone irrigation was more beneficial to the growth of root hair than fixed partial root zone irrigation and conventional irrigation.

[Stem sap flow of grape under different drip irrigation patterns and its relationships with environmental factors in arid oasis region of Shiyang River basin].

This paper studied the stem sap flow of grape in arid oasis region of Shiyang River basin under conventional drip irrigation (CDI), alternate drip irrigation (ADI), and fixed drip irrigation (FDI), and its relationships with meteorological conditions and soil moisture content. The results showed that the stem sap flow of grape had an obvious day-night rhythm synchronous with solar radiation, and was significantly higher under CDI than under ADI and FDI during new branch growth and flowering stages. Solar radiation and air temperature were the main meteorological factors affecting the hourly sap flow, and the daily stem sap flow had linear relationships with daily air temperature and wind speed. The correlation coefficients between the stem sap flow and the meteorological factors ranked in the order of CDI > ADI > FDI. There was a significant correlation between daily stem sap flow and reference crop evapotranspiration (ET0). Compared with CDI, ADI could save 50% of irrigation water while the stem sap flow only reduced by 6.56%, and an obvious compensation effect between stem sap flow and hydraulic conductivity was observed.

[Transpiration of Hedysarum scoparium in arid desert region of Shiyang River basin, Gansu Province].

By using heat pulse technique, an investigation on the transpiration of Hedysarum scoparium was conducted in the arid desert region of Shiyang River basin, Gansu Province. The results indicated that with increasing inserted depth of probe, the sap flow velocity in H. scoparium xylem had a trend from high to low. In the taproot with smaller diameter, the average sap flow velocity at different positions was faster, and the change range was bigger. Among the taproots with different diameters, there existed a larger difference in the magnitude of sap flux, but the change trend was similar, i. e., smaller at nighttime and larger at daytime, and showing a multi-peak curve. A linear correlation was observed between the diurnal sap flux and the reference crop evapotranspiration, and the transpiration mainly occurred during the period from June to September, occupying 79.04% of the total annual transpiration. The diurnal sap flux of H. scoparium at its later growth period had significant correlation with the moisture content in 0-50 cm sand layer, but no correlations with that in other sand layers. The effects of main meteorological factors on the sap flux of H. scoparium were in the sequence of air temperature > vapor pressure difference > wind speed.