The deterioration of alpine grassland has great impact on ecosystem services in the alpine region of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. However, the effect of grassland degradation on ecosystem services and the consequence of grassland deterioration on economic loss still remains a mystery. So, in this study, we assessed four types of ecosystem services following the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment class...

The impact of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) on the different developmental stages of biofilms has been investigated using E. coli K12 as a model organism. Specifically, we investigated (i) the impact of SWNT concentration on cell growth and biofilm formation, (ii) toxic effects of SWNTs on mature biofilms, and (iii) formation of biofilm on SWNT-coated surfaces. The results show that at...

ÐBiosorption of Cd by biomass of the brown seaweeds Durvillaea, Laminaria, Ecklonia and Homosira presaturated with Ca, Mg or K was coupled with the release of these light ions. The feasibility of biomass pre-treatment to develop a better biosorbent was evaluated by its biosorption performance, the degree of its component leaching (measured by the weight loss and TOC) as well as by the number of...

Algal cultures can be very rapid and efficient means to generate biomass and regenerate the atmosphere for closed environmental life support systems. However, as in the case of most higher plants, a significant fraction of the biomass produced by most algae cannot be directly converted to a useful food product by standard food technology procedures. This waste biomass will serve as an energy ...

Alfalfa hay is a major crop supporting U.S ruminant livestock industry, particularly dairy. Several cellulosic feedstocks will be needed to meet current ethanol production goals. Alfalfa has considerable potential as a feedstock for production of ethanol and other industrial materials because of its high biomass production, perennial nature, ability to provide its own nitrogen fertilizer, and v...

Minimizing nitrogen (N) fertilization inputs during cultivation is essential for sustainable production of bioenergy and biofuels. The biomass crop willow (Salix spp.) is considered to have low N fertilizer requirements due to efficient recycling of nutrients during the perennial cycle. To investigate how successfully different willow genotypes assimilate and allocate N during growth, and remob...

We monitored pasture biomass on 20 permanent plots over 35 years to gauge the reliability of rainfall and NDVI as proxy measures of forage shortfalls in a savannah ecosystem. Both proxies are reliable indicators of pasture biomass at the onset of dry periods but fail to predict shortfalls in prolonged dry spells. In contrast, grazing pressure predicts pasture deficits with a high degree of accu...

Root decay after timber cutting can lead to slope failure. In situ measurements of soil with tree roots showed that soil strength increased linearly as root biomass increased. Forests clear-felled 3 years earlier contained about one-third of the root biomass of oldgrowth forests. Nearly all of the roots < 2 mm in diameter were gone from 7-year-old logged areas while about 30 percent of the < 17...

Algal cultures can be very rapid and efficient means to generate biomass and regenerate the atmosphere for closed environmental life support systems. However, as in the case of mast higher plants, a significant fraction of the biomass produced by most algae cannot be directly converted to a useful food product by standard food technology procedures. This waste biomass wl l l serve as an energy ...