Variability in seasonal soil moisture (SM) and temperature (T) can alter ecosystem/atmosphere exchange of the trace gases carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4). This study reports the impact of year-round SM status on trace gas fluxes in three semiarid vegetation zones, mesquite (30 g organic C kg soil), open/ forb (6 g organic C kg soil), and sacaton (18 g organic C kg s...

N2-fixing, drought tolerant and multipurpose Acacia and Prosopis species are appropriate trees for reforestation of degraded areas in arid and semiarid regions of the tropics and subtropics. Acacia and Prosopis trees form N2-fixing nodules with a wide range of rhizobia, for example African acacias mainly with Sinorhizobium sp. and Mesorhizobium sp., and Australian acacias with Bradyrhizobium sp...

OBJECTIVE Unreclaimed mine tailings sites are a worldwide problem, with thousands of unvegetated, exposed tailings piles presenting a source of contamination for nearby communities. Tailings disposal sites in arid and semiarid environments are especially subject to eolian dispersion and water erosion. Phytostabilization, the use of plants for in situ stabilization of tailings and metal contamin...

The ongoing changes in vegetation spring phenology in temperate/cold regions are widely attributed to temperature. However, in arid/semiarid ecosystems, the correlation between spring temperature and phenology is much less clear. We test the hypothesis that precipitation plays an important role in the temperature dependency of phenology in arid/semiarid regions. We therefore investigated the in...

Recent regional climate-change models indicated significant changes in the temporal and spatial distribution of rainfall in the Mediterranean-Basin region. Understanding the consequences of rainfall alterations for soil respiration and carbon processing in these regions is essential, considering their crucial functions for soil fertility and ecosystem functioning. Our aim was to evaluate the ef...

Drought and salt stress, together with low temperature, are major problems for agriculture because these adverse environmental factors prevent plants from realizing their full genetic potential. Salt stress afflicts agriculture in many parts of the world, particularly irrigated lands [4]. Compared to salt stress, the problem of drought is even more pervasive and economically damaging [1; 3]. Te...

The large-scale reuse of untreated domestic sewage for irrigation is commonplace in many arid and semiarid zones of Latin America, as a result of increasing population pressures, water shortages, and protein shortfalls. Twenty per cent of the land is arid or semiarid, having only 5% of the water resources of the Region; but this land supports 60% of the population (367 million people in 1983-I)...

in this study argillic horizons in calcareous soils of a semiarid region, with xeric and mesic soil moisture and temperature regimes, in the west of urmia lake were studied. thus, a toposequence in different physiographic positions including piedmont plains, plateau, hills and mountains was investigated. in each land type, three soil profiles were dug and described and their morphological prope...