Carbon flux dynamics and influencing factors in a semi-arid dune ecosystem of northern China.

The dune ecosystem plays a significant role in the global carbon cycle. The Horqin Sandy Land is a typical semi-arid fragile ecosystem in northern China. Understanding the magnitudes and dynamics of carbon dioxide fluxes within this region is essential for understanding the carbon balance.

Rain use efficiency gradients across Australian ecosystems.

Rain use efficiency (RUE) quantifies the ecosystem's capacity to use precipitation water to assimilate atmospheric CO. The spatial distribution of RUE and its drivers across the Australian continent is largely unknown. This knowledge gap limits our understanding of the possible contribution of Australian ecosystems to global carbon assimilation.

Assessing long-term trends in vegetation cover change in the Xilin River Basin: Potential for monitoring grassland degradation and restoration.

Under the influence of climate change and human activities, the problem of grassland degradation is becoming increasingly severe. Detection of changes in vegetation cover is crucial for a better understanding of the interaction between humans and ecosystems. This study maps changes in vegetation cover using the Google Earth Engine (GEE).

Juncus sarophorus, a native Australian species, tolerates and accumulates PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS in a glasshouse experiment.

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been identified as emerging contaminants of public health concern. With PFAS now detected globally in a wide range of environments, there is an urgent need for effective remedial treatment solutions at the field scale. Phytoremediation presents a potential remediation strategy for PFAS that would allow efficient and cost-effective remediation at large scales.

Photosynthetic capacity of senescent leaves for a subtropical broadleaf deciduous tree species Liquidambar formosana Hance.

Photosynthetic capacity and leaf life span generally determine how much carbon a plant assimilates during the growing season. Leaves of deciduous tree species start senescence in late season, but whether the senescent leaves still retain capacity of carbon assimilation remains a question. In this study, we investigated leaf phenology and photosynthesis of a subtropical broadleaf deciduous tree species Liquidambar formosana Hance in the central southern continental China.

Contrasting responses of water use efficiency to drought across global terrestrial ecosystems.

Drought is an intermittent disturbance of the water cycle that profoundly affects the terrestrial carbon cycle. However, the response of the coupled water and carbon cycles to drought and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here we provide the first global synthesis of the drought effect on ecosystem water use efficiency (WUE = gross primary production (GPP)/evapotranspiration (ET)).

Changes in autumn vegetation dormancy onset date and the climate controls across temperate ecosystems in China from 1982 to 2010.

Vegetation phenology is a sensitive indicator of the dynamic response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change. In this study, the spatiotemporal pattern of vegetation dormancy onset date (DOD) and its climate controls over temperate China were examined by analysing the satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index and concurrent climate data from 1982 to 2010. Results show that preseason (May through October) air temperature is the primary climatic control of the DOD spatial pattern across temperate China, whereas preseason cumulative precipitation is dominantly associated with the DOD spatial pattern in relatively cold regions.

Variation in performance of surfactant loading and resulting nitrate removal among four selected natural zeolites.

Surfactant modified zeolites (SMZs) have the capacity to target various types of water contaminants at relatively low cost and thus are being increasingly considered for use in improving water quality. It is important to know the surfactant loading performance of a zeolite before it is put into application. In this work we compare the loading capacity of a surfactant, hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMA-Br), onto four natural zeolites obtained from specific locations in the USA, Croatia, China, and Australia.

The effect of critical pH on virus fate and transport in saturated porous medium.

Several viral transport experiments were conducted in a model aquifer 1 m long, using bacteriophages MS2 and phiX174 at various pH (4.6 to 8.3) conditions, to increase our understanding of virus behavior in ground water.