Due to the different degrees of controls exerted by biological and geochemical processes, climate changes are suggested to uncouple biogeochemical C, N and P cycles, influencing biomass accumulation, decomposition and storage in terrestrial ecosystems. However, the possible extent of such disruption in grassland ecosystems remains unclear, especially in China's steppes which have undergone rapi...

Soil moisture is critical parameters in climatic and hydrological modeling and vegetation growth. Ground-based point measurement of soil moisture is liable but expensive and impractical for watershed measurement. Remote sensing measurement has provided thriving perspective for spatial and instantaneous measurement of soil moisture. Microwave measurement is effective and successful for surface s...

The annual cycles of soil moisture and NO2 have been analysed across the climate zones of West Africa using two satellite data sets (OMI on AURA and ASCAT on MetOp-A). Exploring the sources and sinks for NO2 it is clear that the densely populated urban cities including Lagos and Abuja had the highest mean NO2 concentrations (>1.8 × 10 15 molecules cm -2 ) indicative of the anthropogenic urban e...

BACKGROUND Shrubs play a key role in biogeochemical cycles, prevent soil and water erosion, provide forage for livestock, and are a source of food, wood and non-wood products. However, despite their ecological and societal importance, the influence of different environmental variables on shrub distributions remains unclear. We evaluated the influence of climate and soil characteristics, and whe...

Because the adoption of conservation tillage requires long-term evaluation, the effect of tillage and residue management on corn (Zea mays L.) grain and stover yields was studied for 13 seasons in east central Minnesota. Three primary tillage methods (no-till (NT), fall chisel plow (CH), fall moldboard plow (MB)) and two residue management schemes (residue removal versus residue returned) were ...

Management decisions both at the field and off-site have the potential to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Climate change threatens to increase the potential for soil erosion, reduce soil quality, lower agricultural productivity and negatively impact food security and global sustainability, making it one of the most severe challenges we will face in the 21st century. This...

South Africa has a wide range of soils and climates. Extensive studies, especially over the past 25 years, have been conducted into practices and systems which could conserve the soil, water, energy and other resources required for sustainable crop production under various of these soil and climate combinations. Some of the results obtained and ongoing or envisaged work is outlined. It is hypot...

This paper reviews the main methodologies and techniques that have been used to characterize gypsum in soils, especially in gypsiferous soils of semiarid and arid regions and range from the identification of gypsum in soil surveys in the field to the study of gypsum in the laboratory. Many methods of gypsum identification and determination have been developed, each one with its own limitations....