Running performance depends on a mechanical interaction between the feet of an animal and the substrate. This interaction may differ between two species of sand lizard from the Mojave Desert that have different locomotor morphologies and habitat distributions. Uma scorparia possesses toe fringes and inhabits dunes, whereas the closely related Callisaurus draconoides lacks fringes and is found o...

Desert wetlands play a significant role in flood regulation, water purification, biodiversity maintenance, and regional ecological environment improvement. Vegetation is key factor affecting wetland function it important to study the features of plant community driving forces succession. The Ningxia Habahu National Nature Reserve, typical desert ecosystem, was selected communities including den...

smirnovia iranica (sabeti) synonym: smirnovia turkestana (bunge) is a deciduous perennial bushy species of the fabaceae (papilionaceae) family. the species grow on sand dunes of desert areas, having a deep vertical root and very long horizontal or lateral roots. they have an important role in natural vegetation of desert and sand dune stabilization. limited growing areas, grazing due to good pa...

BACKGROUND Relict populations of Crocodylus niloticus persist in Chad, Egypt and Mauritania. Although crocodiles were widespread throughout the Sahara until the early 20(th) century, increased aridity combined with human persecution led to local extinction. Knowledge on distribution, occupied habitats, population size and prey availability is scarce in most populations. This study evaluates the...

Traditional conservation practices have primarily relied on maintaining biodiversity by preserving species and habitats in place. Many regions are experiencing unprecedented environmental conditions, shifts distribution habitats, high turnover composition, resulting ecological transformation. Natural resource managers lacked tools for identifying selecting strategies to manage ecosystem A recen...

Job challenges the theological milieu of retributive justice prevalent in NearEastern society by daring to ask the veritable question: can people deserve? This article examines the theories of desert, agency, and righteousness embedded within the Job manuscript. Bracketing the question of theodicy, this study utilizes contemporary philosophical, theological and exegetical considerations to exam...

The extent to which the latitudinal gradient in species richness may be paralleled by a similar gradient of increasing functional or phylogenetic diversity is a matter of controversy. We evaluated whether taxonomic richness (TR) is informative in terms of ecological diversity (ED, an approximation to functional diversity) and phylogenetic diversity (AvPD) using data on 531 mammal species repres...

Recent expansions by Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus) into nonforested habitats across the Intermountain West have required managers to reconsider the traditional paradigms of forage and cover as they relate to managing elk and their habitats. We examined seasonal habitat selection patterns of a hunted elk population in a nonforested high-desert region of southwestern Wyoming, USA. We used 3...

Ammodendron persicum (Bunge & Boiss.)is a desert shrub specie which grows on some sand dunes and sandy areas of South Khorasan and Sistan-va-Baluchestan provinces in east of Iran. Low distribution and narrow ecological range have put this species under threat. In order to evaluate the possibility of long-term preservation of A. persicum seeds in cryogenic conditions (-196°C), the seeds of speci...