Temperate Zone

Ammonium nitrate fertilizer incorporates nitrogen in both of the forms taken up by crops ammonia and nitrate ion. Fertilizers (qv) containing only ammoniacal nitrogen are often less effective, as many important crops tend to take up nitrogen mainly in the nitrate form and the ammonium ions must be transformed into nitrate by soil organisms before the nitrogen is readily available. This transformation is slow in cool, temperate zone soils. Thus, ammonium nitrate is a preferred source of fertilizer nitrogen in some countries. 

Malaria affects an estimated 270 million people and causes 2—3 million deaths annually, approximately one million of which occur in children under the age of five. While primarily an affliction of the tropics and subtropics, it has occurred as far north as the Arctic Circle. The disease essentially has been eradicated in most temperate-zone countries, but some 1100 cases of malaria in U.S. citizens returning from abroad were reported to the Centers for Disease Control during 1990. Malaria is seen today in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. It is on the increase in Afghanistan, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. Escalation of the disease is because of the discontinued use of the insecticide DDT which effectively kills mosquito larvae, but has been found to be toxic to Hvestock and wildlife. Also, chloroquine (6), a reUable dmg for the prophylaxis and treatment of falcipamm malaria, is ineffective in many parts of the world because of the spread of dmg-resistant strains. 

Seasonal variations are associated not only directly with the elevation of the sun, but also with changes of surface currents depending on the prevailing winds. The annual variation is generally quite small in the tropics and greatest in the temperate zones, where it may amount to about 10° C. 

Dorr, H. and Miinnich, K. O. (1987). Annual variation in soil respiration in selected areas of the temperate zone, Tellus, Ser. B, 39,114-121. 

The effect of water scarcity on nutrient retention in WWTP-dominated streams has hardly been explicitly addressed in studies of WWTP impacts (but see [44, 65]). It is also worth noting that a large number of studies have been done in relatively temperate zones (Table 2), although they may not be exempt from water scarcity conditions. Trends observed from the compilation of results provide controversial insights on the potential directions of the influence of water scarcity. For instance. 

In order to explain the linkages between strategy and stress response reference will be made to Fig. lb which depicts the patterns of seasonal change in shoot biomass associated with the full spectrum of primary strategies (Fig. la). For simplicity, this diagram refers to the patterns observed in herbaceous plants in a temperate zone situation with a sharply defined growing season. However, the principles adduced can be applied to any life-form or biome. 

In certain plant habitats or niches, access to resources depends crucially upon rapid growth under conditions of climatic stress. Examples of this phenomenon are particularly obvious on shallow soils in continental climates where the growth window between winter cold and summer desiccation may be extremely short. In deciduous woodlands in the cool temperate zone an essentially similar niche arises in the period between snow melt and closure of the tree canopy. Both circumstances provide opportunities for high rates of photosynthesis and mineral nutrient capture in the late spring but depend upon rapid expansion of roots and shoots in the low-temperature conditions of the late winter and early spring. 

Clearly, aeolian processes were much more important at that time than at present. Large parts of the present temperate zone, from the cover sands of the Netherlands to the sand dunes in north-east Siberia are Ice Age (aeolian) sands. South and east of this cover sand belt lies a belt of loess deposits, extending from France, across Belgium, the southern Netherlands, Germany and large parts of Eastern Europe into the vast steppes of Russia, and further east to Siberia and China. A similar east-west loess belt exists in the USA and less extensive areas occur on the Southern Hemisphere, e.g. in the Argentinean pampas. 

Thorup-Kristensen, K, Magid, J and Jensen, L S (2003) Catch crops and green manures as biological tools in nitrogen management in temperate zones , Advances in Agronomy, 79, 227-302. 

Gut, D. and Weibel, F.P. (2005). Integrated and organic weed control in pome and stone fruit , in Tromp J., Webster A.D. and Wertheim S J. Fundamentals of Temperate Zone Tree Fruit Production, Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands, 372-377. 

Radon (Rn-222) daughter exposure at home is a potentially significant contributor to background lung cancer rates. In western countries, an increase in the number of energy-efficient homes threatens to increase the exposure of the occupants to radon and its decay products by reducing ventilation rates. This is also true in Japan, especially in winter. Japan is situated in the temperate zone, which results in a rather long hot and humid summer climate. Consequently,... 

Annual effective dose equivalent from nuclear weapons testing to humans in the north temperate zone... 

Table 32.7 Annual Effective Dose Equivalent from Nuclear Weapons Testing to Humans in the North Temperate Zone... 

South Korea is in the southern part of mountainous Korean peninsula between 126°E-130°E and 33°N-38°N. Geographically this is the northern temperate zone of the Eastern Hemisphere. The overall area of Republic of Korea (ROK) comprises 99,766 km2. 

Nutritional deficiency diseases are relatively rare in the temperate zone. The etiology of numerous other clinical conditions involve vitamin deficiencies, due to faults in absorption, transfer, or utilization. Because of the central position of the vitamins as sources of coenzymes, such functional deficiencies are important in malabsorption, where the picture is often complicated by multiple deficiencies, in anemias where the defect is in general highly specific, and in many other diseases where the deficiency is secondary to other pathologic events, but nevertheless of grave consequences. 

An estimated 15,000,000 acres of land throughout the world are devoted to growing sugar cane. Individual holdings may vary from fractional acreage to more than 100,000 acres. It is the principal crop in many tropical countries as well as in both temperate zones in certain favorable areas. 

Although the screwworm fly can overwinter only in very mild latitudes, it spreads into the temperate zones rapidly during summer. Occasional outbreaks occur far from the normal habitat, when cattle infested with young maggots are moved into such areas. 

The growth of woody biomass in one year s annual increment represents the quantity of material that can be harvested without affecting the productive capacity of the forest in subsequent years. The gross annual increment (GAI) is the yearly increase in woody biomass, whereas the net annual increment (NAI) is the GAI adjusted for natural losses such as fire, insect damage and so on. The NAI is often referred to as the allowable cut . In boreal and temperate zones, the removal of woody biomass is lower than the NAI, and thus these forests are presently acting as net sinks for carbon dioxide (Figure 1.6). If all of the NAI was harvested, then the forests would no longer act as sinks for CO2, but would be in balance with the atmosphere. 

The Amanita genus comprises about 50 or 60 species, with vaiying chemical constituents—a number of which are toxic (Schultes and Hofman 1980, 1992). Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) grows in widespread northern temperate zones of Eurasia and North America. In North... 

Bacteria-like microbes found in extreme environments ( extremophiles ) were sometimes presumed to belong exclusively to the specialized domain known as Archaea. However, it has transpired that the arrangement of microbes in ecological niches was not as simple as this - many Archaea have been found in temperate zones and in ecosystems similar to those occupied by bacteria, and some conventional microbes occupy extreme environments. 

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