Quantitative Analysis of Sulfur Dioxide Emissions in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 1997 to 2017, China.

Economic development is responsible for excessive sulfur dioxide (SO) emissions, environmental pressure increases, and human and environmental risks. This study used spatial autocorrelation, the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), and the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index model to study the spatiotemporal variation characteristics and influencing factors of SO emissions in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) from 1997 to 2017. Our results show that the total SO emissions in the YREB rose from 513.

Quantification of industrial wastewater discharge from the major cities in Sichuan province, China.

In this study, we used spatial autocorrelation, Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), and Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index model to study the spatial characteristics and driving factors of industrial wastewater discharge in Sichuan province (2003-2018). We showed that the amount of industrial wastewater discharge in Sichuan province for the period was reduced from 116,580 to 42,064.96 million tons as observed from the Moran index ranging from -0.

Effect of Short-Term Low-Nitrogen Addition on Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus of Vegetation-Soil in Alpine Meadow.

As one of the nitrogen (N) limitation ecosystems, alpine meadows have significant effects on their structure and function. However, research on the response and linkage of vegetation-soil to short-term low-level N deposition with rhizosphere processes is scant. We conducted a four level N addition (0, 20, 40, and 80 kg N ha y) field experiment in an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) from July 2014 to August 2016.

Bacterial Diversity in the Rhizosphere of Anabasis aphylla in the Gurbantunggut Desert, China.

Bacteria are the most abundant soil microbes and are sensitive to environmental change, especially soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics. The bacterial diversity of rhizosphere and bulk soils associated with desert plants is not well understood. In this study, we measured the properties of rhizosphere and bulk soils at different depths (0-20, 20-40, 40-60, and 60-80 cm), the diversity of bacterial communities (16S rDNA amplicon sequencing), and their relationships with Anabasis aphylla in the southern margin of the Gurbantunggut Desert, Junggar Basin, China.

Retraction Note to: The role of seed appendage in improving the adaptation of a species in definite seasons: a case study of Atriplex centralasiatica.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

The role of seed appendage in improving the adaptation of a species in definite seasons: a case study of Atriplex centralasiatica.

Background: As a common accompanying dispersal structure, specialized seed appendages play a critical role in the successful germination and dispersal of many plants, and are regarded as an adaptation character for plants survival in diverse environments. However, little is known about how the appendages modulate the linkage between germination and environmental factors. Here, we tested the responses of germination to seasonal environmental signals (temperature and humidity) via seed appendages using Atriplex centralasiatica, which is widely distributed in salt marshlands with dry-cold winter in northern China.

Soil properties and species composition under different grazing intensity in an alpine meadow on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, China.

As the main form of land use and human disturbance of grassland, livestock grazing has great influences on the soil resources and plant communities. This study observed the variation of soil properties and community characteristics of four treatments of different grazing intensity (no grazing, UG; light grazing, LG; moderate grazing, MG; and heavy grazing, HG) in an alpine meadow of Sichuan Province on the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The results showed that grazing increased the pH, soil bulk density (BD), and contents of total carbon (TC) and total nitrogen (TN), and the BD increased while the others decreased with the grazing intensity.