northern khorasan province is located in north-east iran. according to demarton coefficient, it is a semiarid region. arid and semi-arid or subhumid zones are characterized by temperature variations, low and erratic rainfall, periodic droughts and different associations of vegetative cover and soils. this article looks at current dry lands and general guidelines for finding the best area for dr...

BACKGROUND At least 511 species of birds occur in the semiarid region of northeastern Brazil and many of them interact with human populations in a number of different ways, including their use in zootherapeutics and their links with local beliefs. OBJECTIVE The present work examined these types of birds/human interactions (use in zootherapeutics and their links with local beliefs) in the semi...

Understanding the genetic basis of water use efficiency (WUE) and its roles in plant adaptation to a drought environment is essential for the production of second-generation energy crops in water-deficit marginal land. In this study, RNA-Seq and WUE measurements were performed for 78 individuals of Miscanthus lutarioriparius grown in two common gardens, one located in warm and wet Central China...

Green roofs have many benefits, but in countries with semiarid climates the amount of water needed for irrigation is a limiting factor for their maintenance. The use of drought-tolerant plants such as Sedum species, reduces the water requirements in the dry season, but, even so, in semiarid environments these can reach up to 60 L m-2 per day. Continuous substrate/soil water content monitoring w...

East Asia is a major dust source in the world. Mineral dusts in the atmosphere and their interactions with clouds and precipitation have great impacts on regional climate in Asia, where there are large arid and semiarid regions. In this review paper, we summarize the typical transport paths of East Asian dust, which affect regional and global climates, and discuss numerous effects of dust aeros...

N2-fixing, drought tolerant and multipurpose Acacia and Prosopis species are appropriate trees for reforestation of degraded areas in arid and semiarid regions of the tropics and subtropics. Acacia and Prosopis trees form N2-fixing nodules with a wide range of rhizobia, for example African acacias mainly with Sinorhizobium sp. and Mesorhizobium sp., and Australian acacias with Bradyrhizobium sp...

This research was carried out in order to quantify throughfall (TF) and interception loss (I) and to compare the chemical composition of TF, i.e. lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) as well as electrical conductivity (EC) and pH beneath Pinus eldarica and Cupressus arizonica plantations and the open field rainfall. The research was accomplished in the Chitgar Forest Park, a semi-arid polluted urban area...

1. Previous studies in humid forests have shown that the 13 C and 15 N isotopic composition differs between ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and saprotrophic (SAP) fungi, and that this ECM–SAP ‘divide’ may provide a useful tool for evaluating fungal trophic status. 2. We evaluated whether this method could delineate the trophic status of fungi in two semiarid, temperate forests of the south-western USA. T...

Both water and nitrogen (N) availability have significant effects on ecosystem CO2 exchange (ECE), which includes net ecosystem productivity (NEP), ecosystem respiration (ER) and gross ecosystem photosynthesis (GEP). How water and N availability influence ECE in arid and semiarid grasslands is still uncertain. A manipulative experiment with additions of rainfall, snow and N was conducted to tes...