Tracking the presence, distribution and disappearance of biological soil crusts is important for ecosystem management of desert regions and provides highly valuable information on desertification and climate change studies in arid environments. Based on the analysis of the spectral features of biological soil crusts, we propose a new biological soil crust index (BSCI) for biological soil crusts...

The levels of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated in 27 upper layer (0-25 cm) soil samples collected from the Dagang Oilfield (China) in April 2013 to estimate their distribution, possible sources, and potential risks posed. The total concentrations of PAHs (∑PAHs) varied between 103.6 µg·kg(-1) and 5872 µg·kg(-1), with a mean concentration of 919.8 µg·kg(-1); increased...

In this work we present the DESERT tool that allows the automatic generation of distributed monitoring systems for enhancing security and dependability of a component-based application at architectural level. The DESERT language permits to specify both the components interfaces and interaction properties in term of correct components communications. DESERT uses these specifications to generate ...

BACKGROUND To convert deserts into arable, green landscapes is a global vision, and desert farming is a strong growing area of agriculture world-wide. However, its effect on diversity of soil microbial communities, which are responsible for important ecosystem services like plant health, is still not known. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We studied the impact of long-term agriculture on deser...

We use five years (2009 – 2013) of multiwavelength Raman lidar measurements at Gwangju, Korea (35.10° N, 126.53° E) for the identification of changes of optical properties of East Asian dust in dependence of its transport path over China. Profiles of backscatter and extinction coefficients, lidar ratios, and backscatter-related Ångström exponents (wavelength pair 355/532nm) were measured at Gwa...

BACKGROUND This ecological study examines the relationship between food desert prevalence and academic achievement at the school district level. DESIGN AND METHODS Sample included 232 suburban and urban school districts in New York State. Multiple open-source databases were merged to obtain: 4(th) grade science, English and math scores, school district demographic composition (NYS Report Card...

Desert pavement is a distinctive feature widespread across arid lands of the world. It plays a dynamic role in geomorphic, hydrologic, and ecologic processes. Where desert pavement predominates, infiltration is limited and rainfall is delivered as runoff to nearby bare ground areas where shrubs cluster. Desert pavement surfaces may appear monotonously flat and barren, but we have found, instead...

The search for novel stress tolerance determinants has led to increasing interest in plants native to extreme environments - so called "extremophytes." One successful strategy has been comparative studies between Arabidopsis thaliana and extremophyte Brassicaceae relatives such as the halophyte Eutrema salsugineum located in areas including cold, salty coastal regions of China. Here, we investi...

Diel hysteresis occurs often between soil CO2 efflux (R(S)) and temperature, yet, little is known if diel hysteresis occurs in the two components of R(S), i.e., autotrophic respiration (R(A)) and heterotrophic respiration (R(H)), and how diel hysteresis will respond to future rainfall change. We conducted a field experiment in a desert ecosystem in northern China simulating five different scena...

The ecosystem service concept is becoming more and more acknowledged in science and decision-making. Taking an economic valuation approach, we quantified the economic value change of ecosystem services for different land use types in the middle basin of Heihe River, Northwest China. Eight ecosystem services indicators were selected: raw materials production, crop production, gas regulation, hyd...