The authors reconstructed May–September precipitation over the Asian continent (58–558N, 608–1358E) back to AD 1470 on the basis of tree-ring data, historical documentary records, ice core records, and the few long-term instrumental data series available in the region. They employed the method of Regularized Expectation Maximization (RegEM) and applied it to 44 subregions within the continent. ...

Shallow-rooted grasses and deep-rooted shrubs dominate arid ecosystems where nitrogen is concentrated in the upper layers of the soil and water is distributed throughout. Analysis of mineral nitrogen and absorption patterns using a tracer indicated that shrubs in Patagonia absorbed nutrients from the lower, relatively nutrient-poor layers of the soil. Are they, consequently, at a competitive di...

Cereal grains, such as corn, wheat, rice, and sorghum, are grown and processed into a wide variety of ingredients for animal and human food uses. The focus of this chapter will be on corn and wheat, but other cereals have significance in global processing and human nutrition. For example, rice is grown throughout Asia and the Pacific Rim and is primarily consumed with the endosperm intact. Rice...

Previous studies have shown that there is a circadian rhythm of photosensitivity in different rodent species of the Sahel (Burkina Faso) and that, despite the low amplitude of seasonal variations in daylength, the photoperiod may control reproductive function. The present investigation of Arvicanthis niloticus provides additional support for this hypothesis. Populations of Arvicanthis niloticus...

Mongolia is situated in an arid/semi-arid zone in Northeast Asia. The southern part of the territory has a desert type climate. The thermal effect of the Tibetan Plateau is the principle reason for the desert climate, remotely suppressing convective systems in the arid region (Sato and Kimura, 2005a). On the other hand, Taiga forest covers the northern part of Mongolia, extending to Siberia in ...

More accurate forecasting of monthly rainfall is significantly important in drought forecasting in agriculture, irrigation schedule, water resources management, and crop pattern design. In this paper, ability of time series models in forecasting the rainfall according to the climate conditions is estimated. For this purpose, rainfall data of four different climates in Iran was selected. Using t...

1. Pinus ponderosa occurs in a range of contrasting environments in the western USA. Xeric populations typically have lower leaf : sapwood area ratio ( A L / A S ) and higher whole-tree leaf specific hydraulic conductance ( K L ) than mesic populations. These climatedriven shifts in hydraulic architecture are considered adaptive because they maintain minimum leaf water potential above levels th...

Genetic variation for potentially adaptive traits of the key restoration species Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda J. Presl) was assessed over the intermountain western United States in relation to source population climate. Common gardens were established at two intermountain west sites with progeny from two maternal parents from each of 130 wild populations. Data were collected over 2 years at ...

Energy use in the built environment is globally recognized as a key issue for sustainable urban development. In temperate-cold arid regions with a generous solar resource, such as those of western Argentina, adequate design and technology can substantially reduce the energy demand for space and water heating in urban buildings. The solar potential of low-density residential urban areas in the c...

The impact of regional climate change on net primary productivity (NPP) is an important aspect in the study of ecosystems' response to global climate change. China's ecosystems are very sensitive to climate change owing to the influence of the East Asian monsoon. The Lund-Potsdam-Jena Dynamic Global Vegetation Model for China (LPJ-CN), a global dynamical vegetation model developed for China's t...