Showing papers in "Journal of Arid Environments in 2000"

TL;DR: In this article, problems and measures for the comprehensive control of soil and water loss in the Loess Plateau are proposed and a guide for the reconstruction of ecological and economic development in the region is provided.

TL;DR: Water potential and osmotic potential of plants became more negative with an increase in salinity and Gibberellic acid and kinetin alleviated some of the inhibitory effects of salinity on shoot growth of S. fruticosa while root growth was promoted by Kinetin.

TL;DR: The areas where there is scarce information available are highlighted, and, therefore, are important areas in which to continue research in order to generate data for immediate and future conservation efforts.

TL;DR: In this paper, different shrub species in fallow sites following a gradient from 350-650 mm precipitation were examined and two different areas were distinguished: an area under the canopy of the shrubs and an area in the nearby open land.

TL;DR: In this article, satellite images acquired by NOAA/AVHRR over a time period of 2 years were analyzed to assess the use of satellite data to monitor the vegetation cover in two types of semi-arid environments located in the Negev Desert of Israel.

TL;DR: The cladodes of the plant are a good source of fibre, an important element for the human diet and of considerable potential for medical use, and several research studies involving the production of juices, marmalades, gels, liquid sweeteners, dehydrated foods and other products are discussed.

TL;DR: In this article, the percentage of nitrogen derived from nitrogen fixation (%Ndfa) and soil development as a function of tree size on seven Texas sites were examined. And the tree basal diameters ranged from 3·2 cm to 76·4 cm.

TL;DR: In this article, a field study was conducted to determine the effect of a combination of ridge and furrow method of in-situ rainwater harvesting with gravel mulch on corn production, soil moisture storage, and water-use efficiency in the dry semi-arid region of China.

TL;DR: In this paper, Salicornia rubra seeds were collected from Goshen, Utah and germinated at five temperature regimes and six salinities to determine optimal conditions for germination and recovery from saline conditions.

TL;DR: The terms playa, playa lake and sabkha are often used inconsistently because the criteria for recognition are not clearly established and because current definitions are inadequate as discussed by the authors, which is why it is difficult to distinguish between coastal and continental playa lakes.

TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors combined a geographic information system (GIS) and statistical analysis to examine the spatial patterns of an agricultural landscape in the semi-arid hill area of the Loess Plateau of China.

TL;DR: In this article, three-week old soybean (Glycine max) plants were subjected to a factorial combination of four regimes of soil matric water potential (ψm=−0·03, −0·5, −1·0 and − 1·5 MPa).

TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of overgrazing by goats on leaf cover and soil bulk density in the Tamaulipan thornscrub (matorral) of north-eastern Mexico were assessed.

TL;DR: This paper investigated vegetation changes superimposed by grazing and their effect on small mammals in the Karoo (South Africa) on grazed farmland and an adjacent, 10-year livestock enclosure.

TL;DR: The Northeast China Transect (NECT) as mentioned in this paper is one of the mid-latitude IGBP terrestrial transects, which runs in parallel to 43°30′N and ranges from 42° to 46°N and from 106° to 134°E.

TL;DR: Neither overall ant abundance and richness, nor the abundances of most of the common species and functional groups responded significantly to grazing in this local scale experiment, which rendered ants of limited use as early warning indicators of unsustainable management.

TL;DR: In this paper, an investigation was conducted on an area covered by a dense stand of Hardwickia mopane (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae), where seven plots were subjected to different intensities of tree thinning, ranging from a totally cleared plot (0%) to plots thinned to the equivalent of 10, 20, 35, 50, and 75% of the leaf biomass of a control plot (100%) with a tree density of 2711 plants ha−1.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors quantify the spatial variation of infiltration rates in the soils surrounding some Australian dryland shrubs of the genus Maireana and show that the rate of infiltration decreases with increasing distance from the stem, and shows no abrupt change at the position of the overhead canopy margin.

TL;DR: In this paper, a set of predictions based on the inference that cottonwood decline was an indirect result of lowered water-table levels following flood-related channel incision was tested.

TL;DR: Ziziphus mauritiana showed tremendous dependency on mycorrhizae under water stress conditions and the symbiosis resulted in increased accumulation of aminoacids, protein, chlorophyll and sugar contents as compared with non-myCorrhizal plants.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the presence of mesquite fields in arcuate fields extending 1.5 km downwind of source areas that are commonly prominent topographic depressions.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined soil and vegetation dynamics along roads abandoned for 5, 10, 21, 31, 55 and 88 years in southern Nevada in an attempt to elucidate factors controlling desert succession.

TL;DR: Field and experimental evidence is shown that introduced herbivores and soil degradation strongly influence the distribution of introduced herbs in the Chilean matorral and several factors that might explain why alien herbs are more successful in the Chile matorrals than in the Californian chaparral are discussed.

TL;DR: Growth, photosynthesis and water use efficiency of two Sahel dominant C4grasses, Schoenefeldia gracilis Kunth and Dactyloctenium aegyptium, were studied under well-watered and drought conditions and correlation between long-term water-use efficiency and several physiological, structural and growth characteristics shows that D. aeEgyptium was positively correlated with relative growth rates.

TL;DR: It is concluded that plant species growth and form greatly influences nabkha morphology, microclimate and habitat ecology.

TL;DR: In this article, the effect of climate change on maize production in the semi-humid and semi-arid, agro-climatic zones III-IV of Kenya was evaluated using two General Circulation Models (GCMs): the Canadian Climate Center Model (CCCM) and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), as well as the CERES-Maize model.

TL;DR: It is suggested that dispersal of seeds by crows is important for range extension and establishment of new Opuntia populations.

TL;DR: In this paper, the vegetation response to variation in rainfall totals along a climatic transect extending from a Mediterranean region to an extreme arid region was studied and a curvilinear relationship was suggested between annual rainfall, species richness, species diversity and dominance.

TL;DR: Germination of seed recovered monthly from above- and below-ground components of an artificial seed bank showed that seeds can survive at least 18 months in and on the soil, and as much as 2% of the annual seed crop might escape post-dispersal predation even when unprotected.

TL;DR: In this paper, the mean temperature time-series over the period 1941-1996 for 13 stations across Sudan are examined on seasonal and annual bases to explore any possible trends in recent decades.