Above-ground perennial phytomass of Andalusian alfa grass steppes (7755·6 ± 1482 kg of dry matter ha (95% C.I.)) is clearly higher than phytomass density measured today in most alfa grass communities of the Maghreb because of low or inexistant present-day human-induced alterations and relatively favourable annual precipitation (370 mm) existing in these Spanish steppes. Total carbon storage mea...

Water is an important resource for plant life. Since climate scenarios for Switzerland predict an average reduction of 20% in summer precipitation until 2070, understanding ecosystem responses to water shortage, e.g. in terms of plant productivity, is of major concern. Thus, we tested the effects of simulated summer drought on three managed grasslands along an altitudinal gradient in Switzerlan...

The loess hilly-gully region is a focus region of the "Grain for Green" program in China. Drought is the main problem in the study region. Precipitation and temperature are two indicators that directly characterize climatic drought. A thorough analysis of the precipitation, temperature and drought characteristics of the loess hilly-gully region can clarify the current water and heat conditions ...

Land-use degradation and climate change are well-known drivers of biodiversity loss, but little information is available about their potential interaction. Here, we focus on the effects of land-use and precipitation on ant diversity in cacao agroforestry. In Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, we selected 16 cacao agroforestry plots with a shaded vs. unshaded plot in each of eight villages differing i...

tree-ring cellulose was examined in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl.) trees in the western USA to study seasonal patterns of precipitation inputs. Two sites (California and Oregon) had minimal summer rainfall inputs, whereas a third site (Arizona) received as much as 70% of its annual precipitation during the summer months (North American monsoon). For the Arizona site, both the δO and δC...

temperature and precipitation are among important atmospheric parameters for watershed planning. assessment of temperature and precipitation trends is very important for future watershed planning. in this paper, trends of atmospheric parameters such as seasonal and annual temperature and precipitation were examined for the synoptic stations of bandar anzali, rasht, ramsar, babolsar and gorgan. ...

Understanding the distribution pattern and maintenance mechanism of species diversity along environmental gradients is essential for developing biodiversity conservation strategies under environmental change. We have surveyed the species diversity at 192 vegetation sites across different steppe zones in Inner Mongolia, China. We analysed the total species diversity (γ diversity) and its composi...

Large-scale irrigation can alter the regional water cycle process, which changes structure and spatiotemporal distribution of local downwind precipitation, impacting soil erosion in both irrigated areas surrounding regions. However, effects large-scale on vulnerable have not been investigated. The study used high-resolution climate model (RegCM4) revised universal loss equation (RUSLE) to exami...

felled, or girdle-poisoned) and compared measured mass loss with decay class designations. Study Site The study was installed at the US Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (Kilgo and Blake 2005), a National Environmental Research Park, located in Aiken, Barnwell, and Allendale counties in the South Carolina upper Coastal Plain (33°25 N, 81°50 W). The climate is warm temperate to subtropi...

The ecohydrologic effects of urbanization that is dominated by forests clearing are not well understood in the southeastern United States. We utilized long-term monitoring data to quantify the annual water balance, stormflow characteristics, and seasonal flow patterns of an urbanized watershed (UR) (0Ð70 km2) and compared it to a fully forested watershed (FOR) (2Ð95 km2) in central North Caroli...