Decomposition of leaf litter is a key component of biogeochemical cycles but the mechanisms driving it in arid and semiarid ecosystems (drylands) remain unresolved. Here, we review recent findings that demonstrate dual roles of solar radiation (ultraviolet and photosynthetically active radiation) and soil–litter mixing as drivers of decomposition in drylands. We focus on the known and potential...

Photosynthesis is fundamentally driven by photon flux rather than energy flux, but not all absorbed photons yield equal amounts of photosynthesis. Thus, two measures of photosynthetically active radiation have emerged: photosynthetic photon flux (PPF), which values all photons from 400 to 700 nm equally, and yield photon flux (YPF), which weights photons in the range from 360 to 760 nm accord...

Colonies of Stylophora pistillata maintained for four years in indoor aquaria in the near absence of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) contained only small amounts (,5 nmol mg21 protein) of 10 identified mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs, which act as UV sunscreens), the largest number reported in any organism. The concentrations of most MAAs increased linearly or exponentially when colonies were ex...

GSRad (global solar radiation) is a software component containing models to estimate extra-terrestrial and ground-level solar radiation (global and photosynthetically active; direct, diffuse, and reflected components) from alternative methods. Radiation data are estimated as either 1-h or 24-h values. Moreover, GSRad provides methods to compute clear sky transmissivity, slope and aspect angles ...

Olive tree cultivation is currently a dominant agriculture activity in the Mediterranean basin, where increasing impact of climate change coupled with inefficient management olive groves negatively affecting oil production and quality some marginal areas. In this context, satellite imagery may help to monitor crop growth under different environmental conditions, thus providing useful informatio...

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