Shrub Encroachment: A Catalyst for Enhanced Soil Nutrients Storage in the Altai Mountains.

Shrub encroachment in grasslands has a major impact on soil carbon storage (SOC) and soil total nitrogen (STN), which affects nutrient cycling and ecosystem processes. We explored the effects of shrub encroachment on SOC and STN in five grassland types in the Altai Mountains: mountain meadows, temperate meadow steppe, temperate steppe, temperate steppe desert, and temperate desert steppe. Shrub encroachment considerably improved SOC and STN, with the greatest increases occurring in locations with high encroachment.

Effect of Nutrient Addition on the Productivity and Species Richness of Grassland Along With an Elevational Gradient in Tajikistan.

Grasslands provide key resource for the millions of people who are dependent on livestock in Tajikistan. Productivity and species richness (SR) are important characteristics of grassland ecosystems and are greatly affected by nutrient inputs. The effect that climate change might have on these characteristics remains unclear.

[Three-dimension temporal and spatial dynamics of soil water for the artificial vegetation in the center of Taklimakan desert under saline water drip-irrigation].

Three-dimension temporal and spatial dynamics of the soil water characteristics during four irrigating cycles of months from April to July for the artificial vegetation in the center of Taklimakan Desert under saline water drip-irrigation had been analyzed by timely measuring the soil water content in horizontal and vertical distances 60 cm and 120 cm away from the irrigating drips, respectively. Periodic spatial and temporal variations of soil water content were observed. When the precipitation effect was not considered, there were no significant differences in the characteristics of soil water among the irrigation intervals in different months, while discrepancies were obvious in the temporal and spatial changes of soil moisture content under the conditions of rainfall and non-rainfall.