The Mu Us Sandy Land (MUSL) has undergone climate changes and shifts in human activities driven by a series of ecological restoration projects in recent decades. We analyze the spatiotemporal dynamics of vegetation in this region using the satellite-retrieved normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging and Spectroradiometer (MODIS) datasets during the past 33 years. The results show that (1) the vegetation in 53.46% of the MUSL exhibited an upward trend, and 34.45% of the area displayed a large increase, mainly in the eastern part of the MUSL region, including most of Shenmu County, Yuyang District, Hengshan County, and Jingbian County. (2) By the end of 2014, the rapid increase in vegetation encompassed 16.85% of the total area of the study region due to the construction of ecological engineering projects. (3) Based on the residual regression method, the area of positive effects accounted for 55.07% of the total area, and the vegetation in the study area was positively affected by human activities. Our study suggests that these multiple ecological restoration programs contributed to the accelerated greening trend in the MUSL region and highlights the importance of human intervention in regional vegetation growth under climate change conditions.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10661-018-6931-9 | DOI Listing |
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December 2024
Gansu Provincial Ecological Environment Engineering Assessment Center, Lanzhou, 730000, People's Republic of China.
In this study, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and dextran (Dex) were chemically modified to obtain amino-functionalized PEG (PEG-(NH)) and oxidized dextran (ODex). They were subsequently reacted via -NH and -CHO groups to synthesize a macromolecular Schiff base particle. The structures, morphologies, and thermal properties of the macromolecular Schiff base particle were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetry analysis (TGA).
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December 2024
Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, People's Republic of China.
Diquat (DQ) is a non-selective, fast-acting herbicide that is extensively used in aquatic systems. DQ has been registered as the substitute for paraquat due to its lower toxicity. However, the widespread presence of DQ in aquatic systems can pose an ecological burden on aquatic organisms.
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December 2024
Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Viale Mattioli 25, Turin, 10125, Turin, Italy.
Enhancing crops productivity to ensure food security is one of the major challenges encountering agriculture today. A promising solution is the use of biostimulants, which encompass molecules that enhance plant fitness, growth, and productivity. The regulatory metabolite zaxinone and its mimics (MiZax3 and MiZax5) showed promising results in improving the growth and yield of several crops.
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December 2024
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA.
The Salton Sea (SS), California's largest inland lake at 816 square kilometers, formed in 1905 from a levee breach in an area historically characterized by natural wet-dry cycles as Lake Cahuilla. Despite more than a century of untreated agricultural drainage inputs, there has not been a systematic assessment of nutrient loading, cycling, and associated ecological impacts at this iconic waterbody. The lake is now experiencing unprecedented degradation, particularly following the 2003 Quantification Settlement Agreement-the largest agricultural-to-urban water transfer in the United States.
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December 2024
College of Economics and Management, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, Fujian, China.
Resources and land carrying capacity are vital to the survival and development of human society and form the foundation for ensuring food security. However, evaluating land carrying capacity solely based on grain production is overly simplistic. A comprehensive assessment from the perspective of dietary nutrition is needed to more accurately reflect the actual carrying capacity of land.
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