Let k ≥ 3 be a fixed integer and let Zk(G) be the number of k-colourings of the graph G. For certain values of the average degree, the random variable Zk(G(n,m)) is known to be concentrated in the sense that 1 n (lnZk(G(n,m)) − lnE[Zk(G(n,m))]) converges to 0 in probability [Achlioptas and Coja-Oghlan: Proc. FOCS 2008]. In the present paper we prove a significantly stronger concentration result...

Deforestation leads to the deterioration of soil fertility which occurs rapidly under tropical climates. Forest rehabilitation is one of the approaches to restore soil fertility and increase the productivity of degraded areas. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare soil biological properties under enrichment planting and secondary forests at Tapah Hill Forest Reserve, Perak aft...

Edamame soybeans are a speciality food item for fresh and processed markets and they are harvested at a physiologically immature (R6) stage. Bean leaf beetle, Cerotoma trifurcata, is a sporadic pest of soybean in Nebraska, however, its pest status and abundance has increased in the recent years due to an increase in soybean acreage. This was a field experiment aimed at determining the populatio...

The use of water resources should be restricted until a suitable irrigation and planting system is developed in the North China Plain. This study was aimed to study the effects of planting pattern and irrigation on the farmland microclimate, and indentify possible ways to improve the yield of winter wheat. The field experiments in a randomized complete block design with four replicates were con...

A study was conducted in the Shandong province in North China to investigate the effects of different planting patterns on water potential characteristics of soil-plant-atmosphere continuum (SPAC) and yield of summer maize. Three planting patterns were applied, i.e. bed planting (BE), furrow planting (FU) and flat planting (FL). The results showed that although soil moisture content in 0–20 cm ...

Film mulch has gradually been popularized to increase water availability to crops for improving and stabilizing agricultural production in the semiarid areas of Northwest China. To find more sustainable and economic film mulch methods for alleviating drought stress in semiarid region, it is necessary to test optimum planting methods in same cultivation conditions. A field experiment was conduct...

We studied the relative importance of residence time, propagule pressure, and species traits in three stages of invasion of alien woody plants cultivated for about 150 years in the Czech Republic, Central Europe. The probability of escape from cultivation, naturalization, and invasion was assessed using classification trees. We compared 109 escaped-not-escaped congeneric pairs, 44 naturalized-n...

pre-planting exposure stress on two-year-old, bare-root Corsican pine (Pinus nigra Arnold. ssp. laricio var. Corsicana) seedlings. Seedlings were lifted from a nursery and exposed to ambient conditions for periods of up to 192 h before being planted in minirhizotrons. Exposure decreased seedling water potential, CO2 assimilation rate, leaf conductance and new root elongation, and increased mort...