Shrub encroachment in arid and semiarid rangelands, a worldwide phenomenon, results in a heterogeneous landscape characterized by a mosaic of nutrient-depleted barren soil bordered by nutrient-enriched shrubby areas known as ‘‘fertile islands.’’ Even though shrub encroachment is considered as a major contributor to rangeland degradation, little is known about mechanisms favoring the reversibili...

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of shrub encroachment on soil organic carbon (SOC) content at broad scales and its controls. We conducted a meta-analysis using paired control data of shrub-encroached grassland (SEG) vs. non-SEG collected from 142 studies worldwide. SOC contents (0-50 cm) were altered by shrub encroachment, with changes ranging from -50% to + 300%, with an effect size of...

Two common theses in contemporary epistemology are that 'knowl-edge excludes luck' and that knowledge depends on 'purely epistemic' factors. In this essay, I shall argue as follows: given some plausible assumptions, 'anti-luck epistemology,' which is committed to the fi rst thesis, implies the falsity of the second thesis. That is, I will argue that anti-luck epistemology leads to what has been...

Background: The mammalian reproductive tract is the only organ system in the body where entire tissue layers and structures are in physiologically dynamic and cyclic changes. Angiogenesis is well known to be critical to assure blood supply for tissue growth and remodeling. Ovarian-produced steroids control reproductive tract remodeling, and cyclic rhythmicity of the hypothalamic-ovarian axis. R...

Abstract I defend the thesis that friendship can constitutively require epistemic irrationality against a recent, forceful challenge, raised by proponents of moral and pragmatic encroachment. Defenders “encroachment strategy” argue exemplary friends who are especially slow to believe their have acted wrongly simply sensitive high prudential or costs falsely believing in friends’ guilt. Drawing ...

UNLABELLED Forest encroachment into savanna is occurring at an unprecedented rate across tropical Africa, leading to a loss of valuable savanna habitat. One of the first stages of forest encroachment is the establishment of tree seedlings at the forest-savanna transition. This study examines the demographic bottleneck in the seedlings of five species of tropical forest pioneer trees in a forest...

Woody plant encroachment into grasslands and savannas is a globally extensive land-cover change that alters biogeochemical processes and frequently results in soil organic carbon (SOC) accrual. We used soil physical fractionation, soil respiration kinetics, and the isotopic composition of soil respiration to investigate microbial degradation of accrued SOC in sandy loam soils along a chronosequ...

Shrub encroachment is a worldwide phenomenon with implications for desertification and global change. We evaluated its effects on the activities of urease, phosphatase and b-glucosidase in Mediterranean semiarid grasslands dominated by Stipa tenacissima by sampling 12 sites with and without resprouting shrubs along a climatic gradient. The presence of shrubs affected the evaluated enzymes at di...

The practicalities of a modern land administration system require some means of boundary adjustment (or repair). Of the possible mechanisms it is concluded that an alternative to adverse possession, statutory encroachment, is preferable to part parcel adverse possession.