• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.244-247
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• 2012

To remediate lead (Pb)-contaminated soils, it is proposed that microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) would provide the best alternative to other remediation technologies. In this study, Pb bioremediation in soils was investigated using the calcite-precipitating bacterium Kocuria flava. Results indicate that the Pb is primarily associated with the carbonate fraction in bioremediated soil samples. The bioavailability of Pb in contaminated soil was reduced so that the potential stress of Pb was alleviated. This research provides insight into the geochemistry occurring in the MICP-based Pb-remediated soils, which will help in remediation decisions.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.177-186
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• 2023

Background: Inner Mongolia, desertification is happening due to climate change and land use alterations. In order to evaluate desert restoration effectiveness, this study compares number of species and species diversity in restored (with planted trees), unrestored area, and the reference ecosystem (Ref-E, typical steppe and woody steppe). Results: The Ref-E had the most plant species (64 taxa), while the unrestored area had the fewest (5 taxa). Among restored areas (restored in 2012, 2008, 2005), older restoration sites had more species (18-42). Similarly, species richness (3.93-0.41) and diversity (1.99-0.40) were highest in the Ref-E and lowest in unrestored areas, with older restored sites having higher values. Conclusions: More plant species and diversity in older restoration areas suggest progress toward ecosystem stabilization, approaching the Ref-E. Therefore, tree planting in Inner Mongolia's Hulunbuir semi-arid desert is a successful restoration effort.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.79-86
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• 2004

An extensive study of the vegetation characteristics of the Hamersley Ranges, a mountainous desert area of north-west Australia, facilitated the comparison of plant species diversity measures with mountainous deserts of other parts of the world. Alpha diversity was defined as the number of species co-existing at local scales and was found to average 18 species per 0.1 ha for the Hamersley Ranges. This was found to be similar to seven other mountainous deserts in North and South America, and southern Africa. Variation in alpha diversity between these deserts was found to considerably lower than within deserts, suggesting that local processes control species richness at local scales. Beta diversity, defined here as turnover in species composition at various spatial scales, can be measured in many ways. For the Hamersley Ranges, Wilson's β ranged from 1.2 to 1.6 for five sites along a topographic gradient, whereas Whittaker's β between different plant communities was found to average 0.93. Comparable data was not found for other desert areas, but comparisons to non-desert areas suggest beta diversity within landscapes is relatively high and is likely to reflect the considerable landform heterogeneity of the Hamersley Ranges. 55∼70% of species were shared between different landscapes of the Hamersley Ranges; comparisons to other regions suggest beta diversity at this scale is relatively low. Gamma diversity, the number of species over large spatial extents, was successfully compared using regression analysis of the log-log species - area relationship. This revealed that the northern Sonoran desert has significantly less species than the Nama (inland) Karoo and Hamersley Ranges over medium spatial extents, but species numbers were similar at a regional scale. Several constraints to the valid comparison of species diversity were identified, including lack of standardisation of sampling techniques, the wide range of measures employed, general lack of published data, and the influence of the various components of spatial scale on most diversity measures. Recommendations on how to improve future comparative work are provided.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.207-212
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• 2012

The effects of sheep urine and dung patches on methane ($CH_4$) and carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) fluxes were investigated during the summer-autumn in 2010, to evaluate their contribution to climate change in a desert grassland in Inner Mongolia, China. Results indicate that the cumulative $CH_4$ emissions for dung patches, urine patches and control plots were -0.076, -0.084, and -0.114 g/$m^2$ and these were net $CH_4$ sinks during the measured period. The level of $CH_4$ intake from urine and dung plots decreased 25.7%, and 33.3%, respectively, compared with a control plot. $CO_2$ fluxes differed (p<0.01) in urine plots, with an average of 569.20 mg/$m^2$/h compared with control plots (357.62 mg/$m^2$/h) across all sampling days. Dung patches have cumulative $CO_2$ emissions that were 15.9% higher compared with the control during the 55-d period. Overall, sheep excrement weakened $CH_4$ intake and increased $CO_2$ emissions.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.30-42
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• 2018

Background: The southern and eastern parts of the Gobi Desert area are a unique dry ecosystem with a diverse regional desert, semi-desert, and mountain dry steppe flora. This area habitat is located at the overlap of different floristic regions; on its northeast side, Central Asian desert flora is dominating, and on the eastern side, East Asian flora is observed. The comprehensive survey was carried out to find the floral diversity of the medicinal plants on the region. Methods: All recorded species in this study were based on the collected voucher specimens between June and August in the year 2017. Results: We recorded 23 families, 57 genera, and 78 species of vascular plants. The families Asteraceae (15 species), Fabaceae (10 species), and Amaranthaceae (10 species) were represented most in the study area, while Caragana (5 species), Salsola (4 species), and Arnebia (3 species) were the most common genera found. Conclusion: Conservation status for remarkable species was also reviewed based on the literature. Around the study area, 24 species as "sub-endemic," 10 species as "very rare," 4 species as "rare," 1 species as "alien," 13 species as "relict," 10 species as "Red Book," 2 species as "endangered (EN)," 3 species as "vulnerable (VU)," 3 species as "near threatened (NT)," and 2 species as "least concern (LC)" plants are growing.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.187-193
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• 2010

Seed germination is a biological process that is affected by a variety of genetic and environmental factors. The cardinal temperature and thermal time are required for germination. The principal objective of this study was to identify and characterize variations in the base, optimum, and maximum germination temperatures of Haloxylon aphyllum L. from two seed sources, in order to establish models for use in predicting seeding dates. Mature H. aphyllum seeds were germinated at temperatures between 5 and $35^{\circ}C$. The germination behavior of H. aphyllum seeds to different temperature regimens in light was evaluated over a temperature range of $5-35^{\circ}C$ at intervals of $5^{\circ}C$. The rate of germination increased between base and optimum thermal conditions, and decreased between optimum and maximum thermal conditions; the germination rate varied in a linear fashion at both sub-optimal and supra-optimal temperatures. The linear regression fit the range of germination rates at $5^{\circ}C$ to $25^{\circ}C$ and $25^{\circ}C$ to $30^{\circ}C$, and thus the base temperature, optimum temperature, and maximum temperature for the germination of H. aphyllum were measured to be $0.6^{\circ}C$, $25.69^{\circ}C$, $37.90^{\circ}C$, and $1.76^{\circ}C$, $21.56^{\circ}C$, $37.90^{\circ}C$ for Qom and the Fars dune desert respectively.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.73-78
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• 2012

$Calotropis$ $procera$ L. is a perennial shrub distributed in saline areas of deserts of South Asia. Salt stress is a very challenging subject in arid and semi-arid areas. Germination stage is very sensitive and many plants do not germinate in saline soil. The objective of this study was identifying the salinity effect on seed germination of $Calotropis$ $procera$ L. The experimental design was a complete randomized block design with NaCl and $CaCl_2$ at five levels of isobar concentrations: 0.0, -0.01, -0.05, -0.1, and -0.15 MPa. Osmotic potential had significant effects ($P$ < 0.01) on germination percentage, germination rate, shoot length, root length, and seedling dry weight. All seedling characteristics decreased with decrease in osmotic potential. Shoot length and root length decreased more than the seedling characteristics. Germination was completely inhibited in -0.1 Mpa. Priming with NaCl and $CaCl_2$ (-0.1 MPa) for four days had significant effects ($P$ < 0.01) on the germination percentages. Priming improved the seedling characteristics in all samples, especially in -0.05 Mpa, but a decrease with decrease in osmotic potential.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.58-67
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• 2020

Terrestrial ecosystems influence climate change via their climate regulation function, which is manifested within the carbon, water, and energy circulation between the atmosphere and surface. However, it has been challenging to quantify the climate regulation of terrestrial ecosystems and identify its regional distribution, which provides useful information for establishing regional climate-mitigation plans as well as facilitates better understanding of the interactions between the climate and land processes. In this study, a land surface model (LSM) that represents the land-atmosphere interactions and plant phenological variations was introduced to assess the contributions of terrestrial ecosystems to atmospheric warming or cooling effects over East Asia over the last half century. Three main climate-regulating components were simulated: net radiation flux, carbon exchange, and moisture flux at the surface. Then, the contribution of each component to the atmospheric warming or cooling (negative or positive feedback to the atmosphere, respectively) was investigated. The results showed that the terrestrial ecosystem over the Siberian region has shown a relatively large increase in positive feedback due to the enhancement of biogeochemical processes, indicating an offset effect to delay global warming. Meanwhile, the Gobi Desert shows different regional variations: increase in positive feedback in its southern part but increase in negative one in its eastern part, which implies the eastward movements of desert areas. As such, even though the LSM has limitations, this model approach to quantify the climate regulation is useful to extract the relevant characteristics in its spatio-temporal variations.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.103-110
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• 2018

Backgrounds: In arid grasslands, wells are subject to heavy trampling and grazing pressure, which can increase vulnerability to local land degradation. To investigate trampling and grazing, we surveyed plant communities at three well sites in the desert steppe of Mongolia, using 1600-m line transects from the wells. The sites (Bshrub, Sshrub, and shrubL) differed by concomitant shrub type (big shrub, small shrub, and shrub-limited) and livestock pressure (light, medium, and heavy). A plant classification scheme based on edibility and morphology (rosette or creeping type) was used to separate grazing and trampling effects on plant communities. Results: Edible plants were dominant at all sites but a fraction of grazing- and trampling-tolerant plants increased in the order Bshrub, Sshrub, and shrubL, following livestock pressure. Clear transition zones from inedible to edible plant groups were recognized but at different locations and ranges among the sites. Trampling-tolerant plants explained 90% of inedible plants at Sshrub with camels and horses, but grazing-tolerant plants prevailed (60%) at shrubL with the largest livestock number. Plant coverage increased significantly along the transects at Bshrub and Sshrub but showed no meaningful change at shrubL. Herbaceous plant biomass showed significant positive and negative trends at Bshrub and shrubL, respectively. Conclusions: Both grazing and trampling can produce larger fractions of inedible plants; in this, camel and horses can have considerable effects on desert-steppe plant communities through trampling.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.311-318
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• 1994

We examined spatial and temporal patterns of root decomposition for three and half years, from October 1986 to April 1990, in semi-arid Chihuahuan Desert. Decomposition of roots occurred in a two-phased pattern: an early period of rapid mass loss followed by a period of slower loss. The rate of root decomposition had a high negative correlation with the initial lignin concentration in roots (r=-0.84, p<0.05). Annual mass loss rate of Baileya multiradiata, a herbaceous annual, was the highest with the value of 0.60, while that of Panicum obtusum. a perennial grass which was restricted to playa, was the lowest with 0.13. The mass loss rate of roots in the playa was the lowest among the vegetation zones along the transect. After 42 months elapsed, fluffgrass roots in playa lost 40% of the initial mass, while in other sites it lost on average 55% of the initial mass. In all roots except for desert marigold, there was an initial release of nitrogen early in decomposition followed by net nitrogen immobilization. Nitrogen concentration of the desert marigold roots showed linear increase from the beginning. Lignin concentration of perennial grass roots were higher than those of herbaceous annual and woody perennial root.