Fat sand rats Psammomys obesus feed exclusively on plants of the family Chenopodiaceae, which contain high concentrations of chloride salts (NaCl, KCl) and oxalate salts. Ingestion of large quantities of oxalate is challenging for mammals because oxalate chelates Ca(2+) cations, reducing Ca(2+) availability. Oxalate is a metabolic end-point in mammalian metabolism, however it can be broken-down...

Native saltbush, Atriplex polycarpa, shrub populations are widely diminished and fragmented in the southern San Joaquin Desert of California due to habitat conversion invasion by exotic annual grasses mostly Mediterranean origin. The role these play saltbush population demography is not well understood. We hypothesized that seedling recruitment growth limited competitive interactions with grass...

We are investigating the biotransfer of accumulated Se by the plant in several phytoremediation systems. In study I, we evaluated the biotransfer of Se from Indian mustard, a Brassica species, to the insect-cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni); mortality, deterrence, and biomagnification of Se were examined. We determined that feeding behavior of food chain consumers was affected not only by the pl...

High temperatures and water scarcity are among the main obstacles to producing fodder in arid regions. Saltbush shrubs used for livestock many regions, especially saline conditions, due their high salt tolerance. The produced forage materials under these conditions often low quantity quality. This article presents field studies that were conducted two growing seasons evaluate yield quality of r...

re-vegetation of bare soil is believed to increase, or at least maintain the organic matter levels of soil. the aim of this study was to investigate the soil characteristics changes, nutrient pool sizes and their availability under mid canopy, and canopy gap positions of saltbush in an area re-vegetated with atriplex lentiformis. some of the physical and chemical soil characteristics (the parti...