Desert shrubs, a dominant component of desert ecosystems, need to maintain sufficient levels of nutrients in their different organs to ensure operation of various physiological functions for the purpose of survival and reproduction. In the present study, we analyzed 10 elements in leaves, stems, and roots of 24 dominant shrub species from 52 sites across a temperate desert ecosystem in northwes...

Deserts are critical environments because they cover 41% of the world’s land surface and are home to 2 billion residents. As highly dynamic biomes desert expansion and contraction is influenced by climate and anthropogenic factors with variability being a key part of the desertification debate across dryland regions. Evaluating a major world desert, the Gobi in East Asia, with high resolution s...

Both of the uplift of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and the development of East Asian monsoon system (EAMS) could have comprehensively impacted the formation and evolution of Arid Central Asia (ACA). To understand how desert plants endemic to ACA responded to these two factors, we profiled the historical population dynamics and distribution range shift of a constructive desert shrub Reaumuria soo...

The resurrection plant Reaumuria soongorica is widespread across Asia, southern Europe, and North Africa and is considered to be a constructive keystone species in desert ecosystems, but the impacts of climate change on this species in desert ecosystems are unclear. Here, the morphological responses of R. soongorica to changes in rainfall quantity (30% reduction and 30% increase in rainfall qua...

We present lithology and fossil pollen data from a 384 cm sediment section from Qingtu paleolake in arid northwest China and discuss their environmental interpretations. The chronology was controlled by four accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates on peat and bulk lake sediments. Lithology changes suggest a general sequence of local environment shifts from a non-lake environment b...

Climate change may significantly affect the hydrological cycle and water resource management, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. In this paper, output from the Providing Regional Climates for Impacts Studies (PRECIS) regional climate model were used in conjunction with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to analyse the effects of climate change on streamflow of the Xiying and Zamu ...

We examined the effect of climate on aboveground biomass allocation of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) by measuring trees in disjunct forest stands growing on the same substrate at high-elevation montane sites and low-elevation desert sites. Climatic differences between the sites were comparable to the difference between present and future climates of interior North America that is expected to...

Many short-lived desert organisms remain in diapause during drought. Theoretically, the cues desert species use to continue diapause through drought should differ depending on the availability of critical resources, but the unpredictability and infrequent occurrence of climate extremes and reduced insect activity during such events make empirical tests of this prediction difficult. An intensive...

Remnants of cities and farmlands in China's hyperarid Tarim Basin indicate that environmental conditions were significantly wetter two millennia ago in a region which is barren desert today. Historical documents and age data of organic remains show that the Loulan Kingdom flourished during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) but was abandoned between its end and 645 CE. Previous archaeological, ge...

The mid-latitudes of East Asia are characterized by the interaction between the Asian summer monsoon and the westerly winds. Understanding long-term climate change in the marginal regions of the Asian monsoon is critical for understanding the millennial-scale interactions between the Asian monsoon and the westerly winds. Abrupt climate events are always associated with changes in large-scale ci...