An exotic plant successfully invaded as a passenger driven by light availability.

Invasive exotic plant species (IEPs) are widely distributed across the globe, but whether IEPs are drivers or passengers of habitat change in the invaded spaces remains unclear. Here, we carried out a vegetation and soil survey in 2018 and two independent field experiments ( removal in 2014 and 2015, and fertilization experiment since 2012) and found that the invasive annual was at a disadvantage in light competition compared with perennial native grasses, but the successful invasion of was due to the sufficient light resources provided by the reduced coverage of the native species. Conversely, nitrogen enrichment can effectively inhibit invasion by increasing the photocompetitive advantage of the native species.

Activity behavior of goitered gazelles in an arid environment.

The daily activity pattern in ruminants consists mainly of alternating foraging with bouts of resting, while other behaviors usually play a minor role in the daily activity budgets of ungulates most of the year. Interactions of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors force animals to adopt compromises to form optimal time proportions for foraging and resting to satisfy their daily energy demands. This paper considers the impact of ambient temperature, pasture conditions, body-size, and the effects of lactation and animal growth on the daily activities of goitered gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa).

Urban Land-Cover Changes in Major Cities in China from 1990 to 2015.

The accelerated urbanization process in China has led to land-cover changes, triggering a series of environmental issues as one of the major drivers of global change. We studied the land-cover changes in the built-up areas of 50 major cities in China from 1990 to 2015 with Landsat data combined with spectral unmixing methods and decision tree classification. The overall accuracy of urban land-cover type products with 30 m resolution was obtained as 84%, which includes impervious surfaces, bare soil, vegetation, and water bodies.

Phytotoxic, insecticidal, and antimicrobial activities of essential oil.

The chemical profile of essential oil (EO) and its phytotoxic, insecticidal, and antimicrobial activities were assessed. Monoterpenes (79.05%) and sesquiterpenes (10.

Identifying Seasonal and Diurnal Variations and the Most Frequently Impacted Zone of Aerosols in the Aral Sea Region.

With the desiccation of the Aral Sea, salt-alkali dust storms have increased in frequency and the surrounding environment has deteriorated. In order to increase our understanding of the characteristics and potential impact zone of atmospheric aerosols in the Aral Sea region, we evaluated seasonal and diurnal variation of aerosols and identified the zone most frequently impacted by aerosols from the Aral Sea region using CALIPSO data and the HYSPLIT model. The results showed that polluted dust and dust were the two most commonly observed aerosol subtypes in the Aral Sea region with the two accounting for over 75% of observed aerosols.

Effects of land clearing for agriculture on soil organic carbon stocks in drylands: A meta-analysis.

Agricultural activities have been expanding globally with the pressure to provide food security to the earth's growing population. These agricultural activities have profoundly impacted soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in global drylands. However, the effects of clearing natural ecosystems for cropland (CNEC) on SOC are uncertain.

Interannual and seasonal relationships between photosynthesis and summer soil moisture in the Ili River basin, Xinjiang, 2000-2018.

Soil moisture (SM) is essential for controlling terrestrial carbon uptake, as it directly provides moisture for photosynthesis, especially in arid and semiarid regions. We selected the arid and semiarid Ili River basin (IRB) of Xinjiang as the study area, and investigated the spatial and temporal characteristics and interrelationships with SM and photosynthesis from 2000 to 2018 using the ERA5 products and solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF). SM and photosynthesis showed a decreasing trend during the study period.

Self-Trained Deep Forest with Limited Samples for Urban Impervious Surface Area Extraction in Arid Area Using Multispectral and PolSAR Imageries.

Impervious surface area (ISA) has been recognized as a significant indicator for evaluating levels of urbanization and the quality of urban ecological environments. ISA extraction methods based on supervised classification usually rely on a large number of manually labeled samples, the production of which is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task. Furthermore, in arid areas, man-made objects are easily confused with bare land due to similar spectral responses.

Experimental Study on Performance Enhancement of a Photovoltaic Module Incorporated with CPU Heat Pipe-A 5E Analysis.

As is already known, solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is a widely accepted technology for power generation worldwide. However, it is scientifically proven that its power output decreases with an increase in the temperature of the PV module. Such an important issue is controlled by adopting a number of cooling mechanisms for the PV module.

Spatial evaluation of the ecological value importance of national park in Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon.

The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon (YTGC) region is one of China's vital gene banks of mountain biological species resources. It is also an experimental site for biologists worldwide to study how organisms differentiate in the exceptional environment of the plateau. Evaluating the importance of the ecological value and identifying extremely important regions to national parks to implement the strictest conservation is significant to protecting and preserving global biodiversity.

Goitered Gazelle Responded to Human Disturbance by Increasing Vigilance Rather than Changing the Group Size.

Nonlethal human disturbances have been confirmed to have a negative effect on wildlife in a variety of ways, including on behaviors. In many studies, the impact of human disturbances on gregarious species of wildlife is assessed through changes in their social organization and vigilance. In our study in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve, China, we wanted to estimate the impacts of differing levels of human disturbances on two different group types (mixed-sex and all-male) of goitered gazelle, , living in three functional zones (experimental, buffer, and core zones), which represent high, medium, and low human disturbance levels, respectively.

The Genetic Echo of the Tarim Mummies in Modern Central Asians.

The diversity of Central Asians has been shaped by multiple migrations and cultural diffusion. Although ancient DNA studies have revealed the demographic changes of the Central Asian since the Bronze Age, the contribution of the ancient populations to the modern Central Asian remains opaque. Herein, we performed high-coverage sequencing of 131 whole genomes of Indo-European-speaking Tajik and Turkic-speaking Kyrgyz populations to explore their genomic diversity and admixture history.

Occurrence, sources and spatial distribution of n-alkanes in surface soils from the Amu Darya Delta, Uzbekistan, arid Central Asia.

Central Asia (CA) has attracted global attention because of either water scarcity or ecosystem degradation. The Amu Darya Delta (ADD), one of the most important oases in CA, is endowed with valuable wetlands and biological resources that provide good ecosystem services to inhabitants. However, the region has experienced climate warming and large-scale anthropogenic changes since the last century.

Impacts of climate change and evapotranspiration on shrinkage of Aral Sea.

The massive desiccation of the Aral Sea, the fourth largest lake in the world, has led to severe ecological problems, expansion of cropland was thought to be the main factor driving that shrinkage. But this study performed a long-term land cover and use change assessment for Aral Sea Basin (ASB) to show that the cropland has stopped expanding in 2000, of which the cropland in the ASB plain area has decreased significantly (-140 km/year) from 2001 to 2019. By contrast, this study finds the hydrological cycle in the ASB has intensified through a spatial and temporal scale approach based on Earth observation.

Seed Germination Ecology of Semiparasitic Weed in Alpine Grasslands.

The semiparasitic weed Maxim. has rapidly spread in the alpine grasslands of northern China over the past twenty years and has caused serious ecological problems. In order to effectively halt the spread of this weed, a thorough understanding of the dormancy type and the seed-germination ecology of is required.

Changes in the Soil Fungal Community Mediated by a Allelochemical.

Plants can release phytotoxic allelochemicals into the environment, not only to suppress other plants' growth, but also alter community structure of soil microbiota, however, the mechanism are often complicated. We designed a consecutive cultivation procedure to evaluate the allelopathic effect of harmaline, the major active allelochemical produced by the desert plant , on soil microorganisms. Harmaline was added to the soil at 20 μg/g, and after five generations of cultivation, the Chao1, Pielou, Shannon and Simpon indexes changed significantly.

Malice at the Gates of Eden: current and future distribution of threatening wild and domestic apples.

The apple buprestid, Matsumura, that was widespread in north-eastern China, was accidently introduced to the wild apple forest ecosystem in mountainous areas of Xinjiang, China. This invasive beetle feeds on domesticated apples and many species of and presents a serious threat to ancestral apple germplasm sources and apple production worldwide. Estimating the potential area at risk of colonization by is crucial for instigating appropriate preventative management strategies, especially under global warming.

Holocene fire records and their drivers in the westerlies-dominated Central Asia.

Fire plays an important role in carbon emissions and climate changes in the Earth system and global/regional fires in the past have been detected. However, palaeofire history and their potential drivers are poorly understood in Central Asia. We in this study synthesized existing sedimentary charcoal records to reconstruct Holocene fire history in Central Asia and then assessed the relative importance of two potential controls (climatic and anthropogenic factors) on its trends.

Organic aerosol compositions and source estimation by molecular tracers in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

To elucidate the molecular composition and sources of organic aerosols in Central Asia, carbonaceous compounds, major ions, and 15 organic molecular tracers of total suspended particulates (TSP) were analyzed from September 2018 to August 2019 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Extremely high TSP concentrations (annual mean ± std: 211 ± 131 μg m) were observed, particularly during summer (seasonal mean ± std: 333 ± 183 μg m). Organic carbon (OC: 11.

Analysis of the Water Demand-Supply Gap and Scarcity Index in Lower Amu Darya River Basin, Central Asia.

Lower reaches of the Amu Darya River Basin (LADB) is one of the typical regions which is facing the problem of water shortage in Central Asia. During the past decades, water resources demand far exceeds that supplied by the mainstream of the Amu Darya River, and has resulted in a continuous decrease in the amount of water flowing into the Aral Sea. Clarifying the dynamic relationship between the water supply and demand is important for the optimal allocation and sustainable management of regional water resources.

Carbon variation of dry grasslands in Central Asia in response to climate controls and grazing appropriation.

Quantification of grassland carbon (C) variations is necessary for understanding how grazing and climate change interact to regulate carbon capture and release. Central Asia (CA) has the largest temperate grassland belt in the world and unique temperate dryland ecosystems, which experienced severe climate change and grazing-induced disturbances. However, the impact of grazing on C dynamics is highly uncertain owing to climate variations.

Spatiotemporal changes, trade-offs, and synergistic relationships in ecosystem services provided by the Aral Sea Basin.

Intense human activities in the Aral Sea Basin have changed its natural distribution of land use. Although they provide certain economic benefits, these anthropogenic influences have led to the rapid shrinkage of the Aral Sea, severely affecting the region's ecosystem. However, the spatiotemporal variability of the Aral Sea Basin's Ecosystem Service Values (ESVs) is not well understood.

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.

Comparison of Mathematical Methods for Compensating a Current Signal under Current Transformers Saturation Conditions.

Current measurements from electromagnetic current transformers are essential for the construction of secondary circuit systems, including for protection systems. Magnetic core of these transformers are at risk of saturation, as a result of which maloperation of protection algorithms can possibly occur. The paper considers methods for recovering a current signal in the saturation mode of current transformers.