The world’s arid lands are some of the most beautiful landscapes on Earth, and their paucity of vegetation often makes it possible to see landforms and structures with great clarity (Figure 1.1). In addition, they have many characteristics both in terms of landforms and geomorphological processes that render them different from other major environments (see, for example, Laity, 2008; Parsons an...

the purpose of this study was to evaluate the species-environment relationships in arid and semi-arid rangelandsof nodushan, yazd. the plant species cover and the environmental variables were measured at 9 sites. soil sampleswere taken for measurement of 12 attributes in 0-10 cm and 10-80 cm layers. vegetation was classified using twowayindicator species analysis (twinspan). data was analyzed u...

metric (mapping evapotranspiration at high resolution with internalized calibration) is known as an appropriate surface energy balance model for the estimation of the spatial distribution of evapotranspiration (et) in semi-arid regions. based on lysimeter measurements, metric has shown et estimates of 10% on a sub-field scale on a daily basis. there is a need to identify how the model is sensit...

this study was conducted to determine the prevalence and effect of parasitic infection on erythrocyte indices in trade camels slaughtered in maiduguri, nigeria. two hundred adult one humped camels comprised of 87 (43.5 %) males and 113 (56.5 %) females were examined for helminths and hemoparasites at their slaughter time according to the standard procedures. an overall prevalence of 79 % for si...

Understanding landscape conversion is vital for assessing the impacts of ecological and anthropogenic disturbances at regional and global scales. Since rangelands cover nearly half of the global land surface, and because a large part of rangelands is located in semi-arid ecosystems, they serve as critical land cover types for determining regional biodiversity, global biogeochemical cycles, and ...

Knowledge about the long-term influences of climate change on the amount of potential carbon (C) sequestration in forest ecosystems, including age-related dynamics, remains unclear. This study used two similar age-sequences of black locust forests (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) in the semi-arid and semi-humid zones of China's Loess Plateau to assess the variation in C stocks and age-related dynamics...

Small−holder farming in semi−arid areas is being forced to change to compensate for the needs of more people living under conditions of increasingly variable rainfall. As more land is used for agriculture, rangeland areas are reduced, so limiting the availability of animal fodder. The length of fallow periods where soil fertility may be restored is also reduced. This has forced herders and farm...

salinity tolerance is one of the most important affecting factors on agricultural production in arid and semi-arid areas. in order to study the effects of saline and fresh water irrigation with application of organic and npk fertilizers on cumin, a split plot experiment based on randomized complete block design was carried out with three replications during 2011 and 2012, at the research farm o...