The salt secretion of leaves promotes the competitiveness of Reaumuria soongarica in a desert grassland.

Background: For better understanding the mechanism of Reaumuria soongarica community formation in a salt stressed grassland ecosystem, we designed a field experiment to test how leaves salt secretion changes the competitive relationship between species in this plant communities.

Results: Among the three species (R. soongarica, Stipa glareosa and Allium polyrhizum) of the salt stressed grassland ecosystem, the conductivity of R.

[Agricultural climate regionalization of dryland farming for potato in Yinshan based on GIS].

Based on the meteorology dataset of 34 stations over the Yinshan area through the recent 30 years (1982-2010), we investigated the key environmental variables influencing potato yield using the correlation and regression methods. Two environmental variables, including the mean temperature difference, precipitation during the growing season, were selected as the major indexes for determining the suitable area for planting potato. Using the GIS-based small grid calculation model, we interpolated these two major environmental variables and produced the climatic map for potato in Yinshan area.

[Effect of fertilization on soil respiration in the Stipa breviflora desert steppe of inner Mongolia].

In 2012, a field experiment with different fertilizer treatments was conducted in the Stipa breviflora desert steppe of Inner Mongolia. The LI-8100 was used to investigate daily and seasonal variations of soil respiration rate, and the relationships between soil respiration rate and environmental factors were analyzed. The results showed that: 1) In the rapidly growing stage (August), the respiration rate in 10 g N x m(-2) was significantly higher than in the other treatments.

[What is sustainability science?].

Sustainability is the theme of our time and also the grandest challenge to humanity. Since the 1970s, the term, sustainable development, has frequently appeared in the scientific literature, governmental documents, media promotions for public goods, and commercial advertisements. However, the science that provides the theoretical foundation and practical guidance for sustainable development--sustainability science--only began to emerge in the beginning of the 21st century.

[Establishment of a complete daily time series of precipitation and its change characteristics in forest region of eastern China during 1961-2010].

To accurately interpolate the missing precipitation data from meteorological observation stations within a region to obtain a complete precipitation series is of significance in improving the spatial and temporal resolution in analyzing the effects of climate change. By using spatial correlation and stepwise regression techniques, this paper interpolated the missing precipitation data for an individual day or less than 7 days in a month from the 853 meteorological stations in the forest region of Eastern China in 1961-2010, as a consequent establishment of the complete time series precipitation datasets of the observation stations in 1961-2010 established. Based on these, trend analysis approach was applied to analyze the variation characteristics of the annual precipitation, annual precipitation days, and extreme precipitation events in the region in 1961-2010.