1 Department of Biochemistry, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan. 2 Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan. 3 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan. 4 Pakistan Museum of Natural History, Islamabad, Pakistan. 5 Pakistan Science Foundation, Isla...

The arid and semi-arid regions comprise more than forty present of the Earth’s land surface on which a large number people situated largely engaged in agriculture to meet their basic needs.

Cactaceae represents one of the most species-rich families of succulent plants native to arid and semi-arid ecosystems, yet the associations Cacti establish with microorganisms and the rules governing microbial community assembly remain poorly understood. We analyzed the composition, diversity, and factors influencing above- and below-ground bacterial, archaeal, and fungal communities associate...

Natural scrublands in semi-arid deserts are increasingly being converted into fields. This results in losses of characteristic flora and fauna, and may also affect microbial diversity. In the present study, the long-term effect (50 years) of such a transition on soil bacterial communities was explored at two sites typical of semi-arid deserts. Comparisons were made between soil samples from alf...

Information on carbon stock and flux resulting from land-use changes in subtropical, semi-arid ecosystems are important to understand global carbon flux, yet little data is available. In the Tamaulipan thornscrub forests of northeastern Mexico, biomass components of standing vegetation were estimated from 56 quadrats (200 m2 each). Regional land-use changes and present forest cover, as well as ...

Extensive livestock grazing even in unsuitable land has increasingly grown in most parts of semi-arid rangeland. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to identify suitable land for livestock grazing for optimum utilization while causing minimum impact to the environment. This paper adapted the schematic model based on the concepts presented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of suitabi...

18 Many dryland areas are being converted into intensively managed irrigation crops, what 19 can disrupt the hydrological regime, degrade soil and water quality, enhance siltation, 20 erosion and bank instability, and affect biological communities. Still, the impacts of 21 irrigation schemes on the functioning of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are poorly 22 understood. Here we assess the ef...