Shrub encroachment in arid and semiarid rangelands, a worldwide phenomenon, results in a heterogeneous landscape characterized by a mosaic of nutrient-depleted barren soil bordered by nutrient-enriched shrubby areas known as ‘‘fertile islands.’’ Even though shrub encroachment is considered as a major contributor to rangeland degradation, little is known about mechanisms favoring the reversibili...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The timing of flowering and summer dormancy induction plays a central role in the adaptation of Mediterranean geophytes to changes in the length of the growth season along rainfall gradients. Our aim was to analyse the role of the variation in the responses of flowering and summer dormancy to vernalization, daylength and growth temperature for the adaptation of Poa bulbosa, ...

the objective of this research was to investigate the effects of deficit irrigation on physiological and agronomic terms of eggplant to maximize the water use efficiency (wue) without affecting the final yield and fruit quality parameters under arid environment. therefore, two field experiments were conducted at two different sites: ghor al-safi, jordan valley and sail al-karak, karak valley, ka...

The extent to which leaf water D-enrichment (transpiration) and soil water D-enrichment (evaporation) affect the D/H ratio of plant leaf waxes remains a contentious issue, with important implications for paleohydrologic reconstructions. In this study we measure dD values of precipitation (dDp), groundwater (dDgw), plant xylem water (dDxw) and leaf water (dDlw) to understand their impact on the ...

In a 3-year experiment (2002-2004), five N rates (0, 60, 120, 180, 240 kg N ha-1) were applied to sugar beets arranged in a Randomized Complete Block design with six replications. Experimentation took place under the semi-arid, irrigated conditions of central Greece. The aim of this work was to study the late season response of sugar beet crop to N fertilization as assessed by non-destructive m...

1. Summer drought stress is considered the primary constraint to plant performance in Mediterranean ecosystems. However, little is known about the implications of summer stress for plant reproduction under real field conditions and, particularly, for the regulatory mechanisms of maternal investment in reproduction. 2. The relationship between plant physiological status at different reproductive...

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of soil application of humic acid on growth and physiological indices of pistachio seedlings ("Badami Zarand" rootstock) under drought stress. This experiment was arranged as a completely randomized design with three replications in greenhouse conditions. The experimental treatments consisted of humic acid (0, 30 and 60 gr in 4 kg-1 s...