In resource-poor environments, adjustment in plant biomass allocation implies a complex interplay between environmental signals and plant development rather than a delay in plant development alone. To understand how environmental factors influence biomass allocation or the developing phenotype, it is necessary to distinguish the biomass allocations resulting from environmental gradients or onto...

This study was conducted to investigate surface characteristics of sand particles. Surface topography of sand particles was determined in 3-D using a commercially available optical profiler. Measurements were made on areas that had side dimensions on the order of 0.1 mm at a lateral resolution of 0.3 Ilm and height resolution of less than 6 nm. The 3-D representation of a surface obtained using...

[1] Dust production models (DPM) used to estimate vertical fluxes of mineral dust aerosols over arid regions need accurate data on soil and surface properties. The Laboratoire Inter-Universitaire des Systemes Atmospheriques (LISA) data set was developed for Northern Africa, the Middle East, and East Asia. This regional data set was built through dedicated field campaigns and include, among othe...

Rhizosphere priming is crucial for regulating soil carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cycles. An appreciable number of studies have been conducted to quantify the rhizosphere priming effect (RPE), and have shown that the RPE is sensitive to changes of plant and soil conditions. These diverse results across individual studies offer us an opportunity to explore for potential general patterns and ...

the purpose of the present research was to study the properties of natural habitats and growth status of the genus tamarix in miankangi, sistan province, south-eastern iran. selective sampling was used to examine the natural stands structure. then, the one ha-rectangular sample plots were stablished in the stands and surrounding bare lands as control plots. quantitative variables of stands viz....

Understanding the fates of soil hydrological processes and nitrogen (N) is essential for optimizing the water and N in a dryland crop system with the goal of obtaining a maximum yield. Few investigations have addressed the dynamics of dryland N and its association with the soil hydrological process in a freeze-thawing agricultural area. With the daily monitoring of soil water content and acquis...

Substrate type is a key-factor in nest-site selection and nest architecture of burrowing birds. However, little is known about which factors drive nest-site selection for these species, especially in the tropics. We studied the influence of soil attributes on nest-site selection by the campo miner Geositta poeciloptera, an open grassland bird that builds its nests within soil cavities. For all ...