The plant ionome revisited by the nutrient balance concept.

Tissue analysis is commonly used in ecology and agronomy to portray plant nutrient signatures. Nutrient concentration data, or ionomes, belongs to the compositional data class, i.e., multivariate data that are proportions of some whole, hence carrying important numerical properties. Statistics computed across raw or ordinary log-transformed nutrient data are intrinsically biased, hence possibly leading to wrong inferences. Our objective was to present a sound and robust approach based on a novel nutrient balance concept to classify plant ionomes. We analyzed leaf N, P, K, Ca, and Mg of two wild and six domesticated fruit species from Canada, Brazil, and New Zealand sampled during reproductive stages. Nutrient concentrations were (1) analyzed without transformation, (2) ordinary log-transformed as commonly but incorrectly applied in practice, (3) additive log-ratio (alr) transformed as surrogate to stoichiometric rules, and (4) converted to isometric log-ratios (ilr) arranged as sound nutrient balance variables. Raw concentration and ordinary log transformation both led to biased multivariate analysis due to redundancy between interacting nutrients. The alr- and ilr-transformed data provided unbiased discriminant analyses of plant ionomes, where wild and domesticated species formed distinct groups and the ionomes of species and cultivars were differentiated without numerical bias. The ilr nutrient balance concept is preferable to alr, because the ilr technique projects the most important interactions between nutrients into a convenient Euclidean space. This novel numerical approach allows rectifying historical biases and supervising phenotypic plasticity in plant nutrition studies.

Viabilidade econômica do uso do calcário na implantação de pomar de goiabeiras / Economical viability of the use of limestone for the establishment of guava orchard

Com o objetivo de estudar a relação entre doses de calcário e produção de goiabas, um ensaio de campo foi conduzido em solo Latossolo Vermelho distrófico, no município de Bebedouro-SP, no período de 1999 a 2006. O delineamento experimental adotado foi em blocos casualizados com cinco tratamentos e quatro repetições. O calcário foi aplicado uma única vez em 1999, nas doses de: zero; 1,85; 3,71; 5,56 e 7,41 t ha-1. A produção das goiabeiras aumentou em resposta à aplicação do corretivo de acidez. As produções acumuladas de frutos, nos anos sucessivos 2003, 2004, 2005 e 2006 estiveram associadas às doses mais econômicas de calcário de 1,6; 4,4; 7,2 e 7,2 t ha-1, respectivamente.

With the objective of studying the relationship between limestone doses and guava production, a field experiment was conducted on Oxisol soil in the town of Bebedouro-SP, from 1999 to 2006. The experimental design was randomized blocks with four replications. The limestone was used only once in 1999, at doses from zero, 1.85; 3.71; 5.56 and 7.41 t ha-1. The guava production increased in response to the application of the acidity corrective. The accumulated production of fruits in successive years 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 were associated with economical doses of limestone of 1.6; 4.4; 7.2 and 7.2 t ha-1 respectively.

Doses, fontes e épocas de aplicação de nitrogênio em cultivares de arroz / Doses, sources and periods of nitrogen application in rice cultivars

As exigências das culturas pelo nitrogênio são diferenciadas, tanto no que se refere às quantidades, quanto à época de aplicação, sendo que este nutriente pode ser perdido por lixiviação, volatilização e erosão. Conduziu-se este trabalho, com o objetivo de avaliar a resposta das cultivares de arroz BRSMG Curinga e IAC 202 à aplicação de doses, fontes e épocas de aplicação de nitrogênio. Os tratamentos constituíram-se de cinco doses de nitrogênio (0, 50, 100, 150 e 200 kg de N ha-1), sob a forma de três fontes nitrogenadas (sulfonitrato de amônio com inibidor de nitrificação, sulfato de amônio e uréia), em duas épocas de aplicação (semeadura ou perfilhamento), cultivado com irrigação suplementar. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos ao acaso em esquema fatorial 5x3x2x2, com quatro repetições. A cultivar de arroz BRSMG Curinga apresentou a maior produtividade. As doses de N aumentaram o teor de N foliar, a altura de plantas, o número de panículas m-2, o número e a massa de espiguetas granadas panícula-1 e a produtividade de grãos, mas não influenciou a massa de 100 grãos. As fontes nitrogenadas e as épocas de aplicação tiveram efeito semelhante para todas as avaliações. A maior produtividade foi alcançada com a dose de 122 kg de N ha-1, independente da fonte utilizada.

Nitrogen is a nutrient that can be lost through leaching, volatilization and erosion. Crops require nitrogen in different doses and application times. The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of BRSMG Curinga and IAC 202 rice to application of five doses of nitrogen (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 kg of N ha-1) using three nitrogen sources (ammonium sulfonitrate with nitrification inhibitor, ammonium sulfate and urea), at two times of application (at sowing or at tillering stage), with sprinkler irrigation. A randomized block design was used in a 5x3x2x2 factorial scheme, with four repetitions. The Curinga rice showed the highest grain yield. The doses of N increased the foliar N content, the height of plants, the number of panicles m-2, the number of full grains panicle-1, the mass of full grains per panicle and the grain yield, but did not influence the mass of 100 grains. The time of application and the nitrogen sources had a similar effect in all evaluations. The highest grain yield was reached with a dose of 122 kg of N ha-1, regardless of the source.