In Northwest China, aridification and desert expansion play significant roles in promoting desert plant diversification and speciation. However, to date, little is known about the effects of the desert barrier on the population structure of montane, non-desert species in the area. In this study, we sequenced chloroplast DNA regions (trnL-trnF and trnS-trnG) and a nuclear gene (rpb2) to investig...

Billions of tons of desert dust move through the atmosphere each year. The primary source regions, which include the Sahara and Sahel regions of North Africa and the Gobi and Takla Makan regions of Asia, are capable of dispersing significant quantities of desert dust across the traditionally viewed oceanic barriers. While a considerable amount of research by scientists has addressed atmospheric...

We present an assessment of the systematic status of populations currently assigned to Eremiascincusfasciolatus across Australia using morphological data. Our analyses show that these populations actually comprise four species: a large and robust, narrow-banded taxon from eastern Queensland and three slender, desert-dwelling taxa from the western, northern, and south-eastern Australian arid zon...

This study identified the relationship between the layer-integrated attenuated backscatter coefficient and layer-integrated depolarization ratio of dust plumes and compared it with that of cloud, using CALIPSO LIDAR measurements. The histogram distribution of the integrated color ratio for dust and cloud was also examined. On the basis of the layer-integrated attenuated backscatter coefficient ...

The present study investigates the frequency and intensity of mineral dust emissions over the deserts of eastern Asia from 1996 to 2001. Mineral dust emissions are simulated using a physical dust emission scheme over a region extending from 35.5°N to 47°N and from 73°E to 125°E. The input parameters required by the dust emission model are (1) surface features data including aerodynamic roughnes...

The Taklimakan Desert is located in the foreland basin of the Tibetan Plateau. We report here the results of stratigraphic investigations of a 1626-meter-thick sequence with interbedded wind-blown silt from the southern marginal Taklimakan Desert. Because the studied section is located downwind of the desert, the eolian silt accumulation is closely linked to desert formation. Our new evidence i...

A risk assessment of vegetation zone responses to climate change was conducted using the classical Holdridge life zone model on the Loess Plateau of Northwest China. The results show that there are currently ten vegetation zones occurring on the Loess Plateau (1950–2000), including alvar desert, alpine wet tundra, alpine rain tundra, boreal moist forest, boreal wet forest, cool temperate desert...

Our previous analysis of phytolith content of coprolites showed that calcium oxalate phytoliths from desert food plants caused dental microwear among prehistoric Texas hunter-gatherers. We demonstrated that phytoliths from desert succulents were ubiquitous and abundant in hunter-gatherer coprolites. We found that calcium oxalate phytoliths were harder than human dental enamel. We concluded that...

The vertical structure of dust properties in desert sources is crucial for evaluating their long-range transportation and radiative forcing. To investigate profiles optical the Taklimakan Desert, we conducted ground-based polarization Raman lidar measurements Tazhong (83.39°E, 38.58°N, 1103 m above sea level), located at center Desert summer 2019. system developed by Lanzhou University continuo...

[1] Changes in desert area due to humans have important implications from a local, regional to global level. Here I focus on the latter in order to better understand estimated changes in desert dust aerosols and the associated iron deposition into oceans. Using 17 model simulations from the World Climate Research Programme’s Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3 multi-model dataset and ...