Modeling and mapping of soil properties has been identified as key for effective land degradation management and mitigation. The ability to model and map soil properties at sufficient accuracy for a large agriculture area is demonstrated using Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) imagery. Soil samples were collected in the El-Tina Plain, Sinai, Egypt, concurren...

Intensively managed microalgal production facilities are capable of fixing several-fold more carbon dioxide per unit area than trees or crops. Although CO, is still released when fuels derived from algal biomass are burned, integration of microalgal farms for flue gas capture approximately doubles the amount of energy produced per unit of CO, released. Materials derived from microalgal biomass ...

Healthy soils provide the foundation for sustainable agriculture. However, soil health degradation has been a significant challenge agricultural sustainability and environmental quality in water-limited environments, such as arid semi-arid regions. Soils these regions is often characterized by low organic matter (SOM), poor fertility, overall productivity, thus limiting ability to build SOM. So...

Microbial communities in soils may change in accordance with distance, season, climate, soil texture and other environmental parameters. Microbial diversity patterns have been extensively surveyed in temperate regions, but few such studies attempted to address them with respect to spatial and temporal scales and their correlations to environmental factors, especially in arid ecosystems. In orde...

Lichen Endocarpon pusillum is a highly desiccation-tolerant and dominant species in biological soil crusts in arid and semi-arid regions. We report the draft genome sequence of a lichen-forming fungus, E. pusillum strain KoLRILF000583. The draft genome assembly has a size of 37,173,200 bp with a GC content of 49.71%, consisting of 40 scaffolds.

Coccidioidomycosis is caused by a dimorphic fungus species endemic to the arid and semi-arid regions of the Americas. The species have a terranean habitat producing a primary pulmonary infection by inhalation of arthroconidia. We describe a case of extrapulmonary coccidioidomycosis presenting with extensive lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, and florid cutaneous lesions. This case is intended to he...

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Surface water is the main source of fresh water supply in Ceará, lying in the semi-arid Northeast of Brazil.