One of the major issues examined in the quantitative ecology is the spatial distribution pattern of plant species. Knowledge of the spatial distribution patterns is essential to measure the level of uniformity in the surrounding environment, plant reproduction, and distribution of the seedlings, plant behavioral patterns, coexistence, allelopathic relations, and competition. Therefore, the aim ...

The aim of this paper is to evaluate seed bank density and composition along a semi-arid gypsum gradient in Central Spain. Seed bank density was relatively high (16,214 seed/m) with a very clumped spatial distribution. Landform and microslope were the best predictors for seed density, indicating that density can be at least partly interpreted as a result of the physical processes regulating sec...

In arid and semi-arid grassland, many models hypothesize that desertification leads to the replacement of grassland by shrubland vegetation; however, the theoretical interpretations are open to debate. Therefore, a field study was conducted in the Guinan desertified grassland of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, North-west China, to test the hypotheses on a regional scale. We used four field sites to ...

A lack of well preserved paleoclimate indicators coupled with the abundance of gypsic soils in arid and semi-arid regions has stimulated research on using dO and dD isotopic analysis of the hydration water of gypsum to interpret paleoclimate. This study stresses the importance of establishing a pedogenic origin for gypsum crystals prior to isotopic analysis and evaluates the dominant processes ...

In semiarid or arid conditions, the change of root-zone soil moisture can be almost instantaneously reflected by vegetation through biophysical process. This study investigated feasibility of mapping root-zone soil moisture using MODIS-derived NDVI via statistic approach at three sites (New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas) selected from the Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN). These three sites rep...

Plant phenology is recognized as important for ecological dynamics. There has been a recent advent of phenology and camera networks worldwide. The established PhenoCam Network has sites in the United States, including the western states. However, there is a paucity of published research from semi-arid regions. In this study, we demonstrate the utility of camera-based repeat digital imagery and ...

Biogas, a clean renewable energy, is attracting a growing concern of researchers and professionals in many fields. Based on the natural and climatic conditions in semi-arid regions of northwestern China, the present study introduces a specifically-designed family-size biogas plant with a digester of 10 m with manure and urine of animals and humanity as raw materials. The biogas plant is applica...

Many investigations across natural and artificial plant diversity gradients have reported that both soil physicochemical factors and plant community composition affect soil microbial communities. To test the effect of plant diversity loss on soil bacterial communities, we conducted a five-year plant functional group removal experiment in a steppe ecosystem in Inner Mongolia (China). We found th...