Small urban areas, due to their specificity (high anthroposphere, multiple forms of land use, variable drainage conditions), are often overlooked in studies on soil erosion and sediment transport that predominantly focus on a large scale. The sediment yield from such small urban areas may greatly vary depending, for example, on the state of the land development. Therefore, its proper estimation is

In order to explore the influence of vegetation on homogeneity of surface particle size distribution (PSD) and heterogeneity of soil structure, observations, theory, and multifractal results were synthesized to highlight the evolution of the soil particle composition in the Jilantai Salt Lake Protection System (Jilantai system) after long-term wind-sand activities and its soil structure characteristics

Soil communities are intricately linked to ecosystem functioning. Uncovering the responses of rare and abundant taxa to environmental change is vital for understanding methanotrophic community assembly and ecosystem function. It is unclear what the proportions of the different taxa are in riparian soil and how environmental change may impact these, and thereby affect the structure and assembly of different

Soil protease plays a fundamental role in soil nitrogen (N) transformations. Soil N and phosphorus (P) management significantly influence soil protease activity. However, the impacts of N and P combined modification on soil protease remain unclear. A better understanding of the activity and dynamic of soil protease could provide new insights into soil N cycling and available N supply. This study aimed

The deteriorating soil carbon, nutrients, and microbial habitat pose a serious threat to crop production. However, the effects of long-term cultivation with soil erosion on soil carbon, nitrogen, and bacterial communities remain poorly understood. Consequently, this study aims to explore the changes in these soil indicators in the last 110 years and their responses to soil erosion. Luvic Phaeozems

Climatic and anthropogenic disturbances play pivotal roles in shaping the dynamics of grassland. Quantifying their impacts on grassland variation is essential to ensure sustainable grassland management. In this study, we employed the Thornthwaite Memorial and Carnegie–Ames–Stanford-approach (CASA) models to investigate the spatiotemporal effects of these two variables on grassland variation in northern

Averaged over 4000 m in elevation, Tibetan Plateau (TP) functions as an important ecological security barrier in China. Alpine ecosystems present a trend of overall improvement under the influence of climate change and human activities, yet there are localized deteriorations. To improve the ecological function of the TP, large-scale ecological restoration projects (ERPs) have been carried out over

Ecological stoichiometry facilitates the understanding of biogeochemical cycles by studying the balance among multiple elements in ecosystems. However, the spatial patterns of soil stoichiometry and their responses to land use in desertified land are unclear. In this study, we selected 525 sample points to collect topsoil (0–20 cm) samples throughout China's Horqin Sandy Land and measured soil organic

The mining industry continues to have considerable adverse effects on ecosystems, which necessitates the development of robust and effective strategies for the remediation of abandoned mine sites. One such approach involves the integration of mineral-solubilizing microorganisms into existing external soil spray seeding technologies. These microorganisms have the capacity to reduce mineral particle

Northeast China is experiencing severe soil erosion, resulting in land degradation and nutrient loss. Among them, water erosion poses the greatest threat to food security. Combining various multi-source data, we applied the modified soil erosion equation (RUSLE) to evaluate the water erosion modulus in Northeast China (1985–2021). We used the threshold segmentation and residual analysis method to quantify

Permafrost regions are under particular pressure from climate change resulting in widespread landscape changes, which impact also freshwater chemistry. We investigated a snapshot of hydrochemistry in various freshwater environments in the lower Kolyma river basin (North-East Siberia, continuous permafrost zone) to explore the mobility of metals, metalloids and non-metals resulting from permafrost thaw

The carbon balance of the global ecosystems is significantly influenced by the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool in China's terrestrial ecosystems. Nevertheless, the current understanding of the main controlling factors of SOC in different ecosystems and their discrepancies is limited. The goal of this research was to better understand the human and environmental variables affecting SOC in China's terrestrial

In this study, we aimed to assess the impact of vegetation restoration measures on the soil microbial community in degraded land via assessing the structural changes and diversity of soil bacterial communities and their response to environmental variables in the rhizocompartments (i.e., intershrub bulk soil, rhizosphere soil, and roots) of two legumes (Hedysarum scoparium and Hedysarum mongolicum)

In a largely deforested landscape, thousands of small pockets of indigenous forest remain in Ethiopia's northern highlands. These “church forests” are maintained by Ethiopian Orthodox church communities, and they provide valuable reserves of indigenous species diversity and ecosystem services. However, there are important trade-offs between the different ecosystem services church forests provide: the

Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) are extensively employed in diverse fields and will inevitably be discharged into the soil to affect the soil microbial community. Numerous related studies have investigated the effects of exposure to CNMs on soil microbial communities, yet a consensus on their effects still needs to be discovered. This study conducted a global meta-analysis by synthesizing 474 pairs of

In many parts of the world, former agricultural sites have been abandoned particularly when productivity is marginal or policies are implemented to develop ecosystem recovery. Understanding the recovery trajectory of soil, plants, and microbes is critical for developing restoration plans and the most effective policies. Here, we evaluated the changes in soil properties, plants, and the bacterial community

Soil phosphorus (P) is a vital nutrient that controls wetland productivity and ecological functions. However, the effects of soil P forms on P availability during wetland degradation are relatively unknown. We selected differently degraded marshes, including non-degraded marsh (NDM), lightly degraded marsh (LDM), moderately degraded marsh (MDM), and heavily degraded marsh (HDM), to research the changes

The paper describes the transformation of the coastal landscape near former Davislaguna Lake, SE Spitsbergen. It is a comparative study which outlines the changing state of the area based on old maps, other archival materials, remote sensing data from the years 1900 to 2021, and our own fieldwork performed since 2005. The indirect cause of this transformation is identified herein as climate warming

Understanding the interactions between land use and desertification in arid regions is crucial for both improving human well-being and achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. However, there has been limited research on the effect of spatial scale on this relationship, especially within different land utilization function orientations. We used a revised coupling relationship index

Biodiversity loss by grazing pressure has threatened multiple ecosystem functions simultaneously (ecosystem multifunctionality, EMF) in grasslands. Therefore, detecting the relation between EMF and biodiversity under human intervention would provide guidance on the optimization of sustainable grassland management. However, little is known about how grazing effects grassland EMF by mediating biodiversity

Land degradation has emerged as one of the pivotal concerns for Indian agriculture in the 21st century. With rapid modernization and intensification of agricultural operations, land degradation has also increased simultaneously. This study estimates the losses accruing to agriculture from land degradation. On an average, land degradation results in losses in agriculture productivity amounting to INR

Knowledge of plant species distribution and abundance at different landscape scales and management-induced degradation is essential for the conservation, planning, and enhancement of the biodiversity of rangelands. In this study, additive partitioning of species diversity based on contribution diversity was used to analyze the interaction of landscape scale and grazing intensity factor to better understand

Soils derived from loess are fertile but susceptible to accelerated degradation in response to agricultural practices. The objective of our study was to evaluate the long-term effects of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) integrated with contrasting organic amendments (29 years) to rejuvenate degraded loess via total soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. The replicated study was conducted in concrete

The exploitation of nontimber forest products has been proposed as a sustainable way to exploit tropical forests, but such an opportunity remains to be examined case-by-case. We examine the impact of the intensification of the açaí palm (Euterpe oleracea) management for fruit production via increments in palm clumps/stems density on the woody plant assemblages (adult and regenerating) in an estuarine

Ephemeral gully erosion is a significant form of soil erosion that visibly impacts soil productivity and restricts land use. While watersheds are fundamental for controlling soil erosion, past studies have focused on individual ephemeral gully or slope types, which do not fully represent changes in ephemeral gullies at the watershed scale. This research used remote sensing images (0.5 m resolution)

Proglacial areas are dynamic landscapes and important indicators of geomorphic changes related to climate warming. Systematic and repeat surveys of landforms presently evolving on glacier forelands facilitate the quantification of rates of change and an improved understanding of the processes generating those changes. We report short-term (2014–2022) transformations of the proglacial landscape in front

Agricultural practices of nitrogen and irrigation overuse bring lots of environmental problems, such as greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions, soil, and water pollution. With the fast expansion of saline and alkaline agricultural soils in the Tarim River Basin, field practice must be very cautious facing water limitations and global warming. The GHGs were measured 1–2 times weekly and water and fertilizer

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are typical contaminants in soil, and the high-molecular-weight (HMW) PAHs are especially recalcitrant to remove. Microbial degradation as a promising approach has been used in PAH-polluted soil remediation; however, the removal of HMW PAHs still needs to be further explored. In order to isolate more HMW-PAH-degrading strains and improve the removal of HMW PAHs

Present slope engineering measures are insufficient to intercept and infiltrate extreme rainstorm runoff in the Loess Plateau of China. The infiltration hole that has specific depth and volume can be used as a supplemental to slope engineering measures to rapidly reduce rainstorm runoff and store them into deep soil layers. In this study, the performance of infiltration holes (60, 80, and 100 cm in

Land degradation reduces productivity and biodiversity, and requires restoration of both soil condition and vegetation to re-establish ecosystem services. Organic amendments can improve soil biological and chemical properties, thereby enhancing revegetation success in severely degraded soil. This study investigated the use of compost and biochar to support revegetation and soil restoration. Soil was

Fine roots are an important component of forest soil as they play a key role in fundamental processes like plant nutrition and water supply. As with all the features of forest soil, the compaction related to the forest operations and, in particular, to the wood extraction via ground-based technologies could lead to a significant impact on the presence of fine roots in the soil affected by the passage

Autumn phenology plays a critical role in regulating growing season length and matter and energy exchanges in terrestrial ecosystems. The climate-driven mechanism of the grassland autumn phenology process and its spatial distribution patterns at the hemispheric scale are, however, still poorly understood. In this study, we employed 17 existing and modified models to simulate the satellite-derived end-of-season

Vegetation blanket restoration of mine soils provides a diverse environment for soil microbes, but the effects of vegetation blanket cover on soil physicochemical properties, microbial structure, and diversity are not well understood, particularly in arid areas. In this study, high-throughput sequencing was used to examine the microbial community at Dafeng Mine, the Helan Mountains, Ningxia, China

Soil organic carbon (SOC) in grasslands not only plays an important role in carbon cycle but also largely affects soil function and thus determines grasslands' productivity. However, the influence mechanism of different factors on SOC storage in grasslands of northern China remains unclear. Based on an extensive field investigation and multiple statistical approaches, we mapped SOC of the grassland

Construction land expansion greatly affects the supply and interaction of distinct land use functions, particularly in rapidly urbanizing areas. However, existing research rarely focuses on the urban–rural gradient role of different construction land expansion processes in affecting the interactions between land use functions, which limits the refined high-quality development of territorial space.

Dryland area accounts for approximately 40% of worldwide land area, which plays a significant role in regulating the carbon sequestration capacity of land. Vegetation restoration in drylands adopted to prevent land degradation, and may also serve as a carbon sink in the earlier stage. However, the persistence of the carbon sink for the revegetated ecosystem in drylands is still unknown. Can the well-established

Small glaciers are one of the best indicators of climatic variations and their short-term effects. Located in the Spanish Pyrenees, the Maladeta is one of these glaciers. Its systematic observation began in the 1980s, being one of the few Pyrenean glaciers with a tongue-shaped front. This study presents the evolution of the Maladeta glacial tongue over a decade (2010–2020) through multiple geomatic

Plants and soil bacteria exert a vital function in mediating soil ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF). Nevertheless, plant and soil bacteria interaction during forest secondary succession is poorly understood, and their roles in soil EMF remain largely unexplored. The dynamics of soil physicochemical properties and bacterial diversity was studied in southwest China during forest succession from coniferous

The capacity of soils to store organic carbon (SOC) is vital for agricultural productivity. Soil microorganisms exert a critical role in carbon (C) flow and potentially influence C balance through the decomposition of plant and microbial dead biomass. However, the connection between the microbial degradation potential of plant-derived and microbial-derived C and soil organic carbon sequestration (SOCSR)

Urban greenspace systems are key components of urban ecosystems. However, a quantitative index for the recovery ability of urban green space and a corresponding effective restoration model is lacking. We selected the key indicators that characterize the damage degree and recovery ability of green space ecosystems, constructed an evaluation index system of green space damage, and established a recovery

In the Loess Plateau, gaining insights into the water storage and soil retention functions of diverse vegetation types, especially, in the semi-arid watersheds is crucial for identifying the key factors necessary to ensure sustainable development and achieve land degradation neutrality. In this study, five different land use types such as forest, shrub, artificial grass, and natural grasslands were

Fertilizer application strategies can impact soil health, mainly soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) sequestration, which are essential in mitigating climate change. Many studies have been conducted on the influence of fertilizer use on SOC and TN storage. Results can, however, be variable in different sites because of various management practices and environmental conditions; therefore

The deterioration of the soil water–air environment due to salinization can reduce soil bacterial activity and cause crop yield reduction. Micronanobubble oxygenated drip irrigation can significantly improve the nonsaline soil water–air environment and enhance bacterial activity, but its effect on salinized soil bacteria is unknown. In this study, we used a tomato cultivation experiment in mildly saline

Biochar application has been proven to be a viable technique in mitigating soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improving crop yield; however, the global patterns and responses of soil GHG fluxes, global warming potential (GWP), crop yield, and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) to biochar application, as well as the key drivers of biochar-induced changes, are not fully synthesized. Hence, we conducted

Investigating the cost-effective and low-carbon pathways for grassland ecological restoration projects is vital to achieving carbon neutrality and Sustainable Development Goals. To fill the gap of incorporating ecological and socioeconomic systems of ecological restoration projects, this study established a cost-benefit evaluation framework that integrated the carbon footprint based on life cycle assessment

This study analyses and interprets the effects of historical and contemporary land use and cover changes (LULC) on soil erosion in the Serra de Mértola region, Portugal, by using the 58 years of measurements in 8 × 22 m erosion plots at the Vale Formoso Erosion Centre and employing methodologies including field observations, aerial image analysis and Landsat NDVI trend assessment. Land cover and management

“Eastern Economic Corridor” is a development plan under the Thailand 4.0 scheme to revitalize the economy. However, it has influenced the environment through numerous infrastructural and industrial projects. The ecological environment is the most fragile component since it is susceptible to land use, land cover changes (LULCC) and rapid development. Meanwhile, there is currently a lack of comprehensive

The Natura 2000 Network, as the European Union's ecological network, aims to ensure the long-term conservation of Europe's most threatened species and habitats, helping to stop the loss of biodiversity. Based on this assumption, the changes in land cover in the Special Area of Conservation (SAC) of Monchique between 1995 and 2018 are analysed and related to identify favourable and unfavourable policies

Leymus chinensis is a dominant grass widely distributed in Central Asia, in both saline−alkaline and non-saline−alkaline grasslands. However, the mechanisms underlying its saline−alkaline tolerance have not been explored from the perspective of rhizosphere microbial communities. We investigated L. chinensis rhizosphere microbial communities in both saline–alkaline and non-saline–alkaline grasslands

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) is an important ecological security barrier in northern China, where vegetation has undergone rapid changes under the high-intensity anthropological activities and ongoing climate change in recent decades. This study focused on the spatiotemporal evolution of fractional vegetation cover (FVC) and the driving factors during the growing season in different sub-basins of the

Chott El Beida, North of Algeria (Setif, 585 km2), is an endorheic zone located in a semi-arid climate. It is among the first chotts listed under the Ramsar Convention on the Wetlands of International Importance. Numerous studies on wetlands in the Setif region have focused on hydrogeology, avifauna, and vegetation. However, only one study has been devoted to soil studies. This study focused on the

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) symbiosis plays essential roles in shaping rhizosphere soil available phosphorus (P) and organic P mobilization. However, current methods for assessing soil P often do not fully consider the potential role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in supplying biologically-based phosphorus (BBP) to Eucalyptus. This study aims to investigate the effects of AMF on the soil

The alpine grassland ecosystem is a critical part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), mainly including alpine meadows and alpine steppes. However, the influence factors of alpine grassland biodiversity are not clear for different alpine grassland types. In this study, pathway analysis was applied to explore the influences of soil, topography, climate, and human factors on alpine grassland biodiversity

Soil enzyme activity and its stoichiometry are excellent representatives of soil microorganisms' response to changing conditions, and act as a good indicator of microbial energy and nutrient demands. However, how soil enzyme activity and microbial nutrient limitation will be modified by grassland degradation is not well understood, especially in the saline-alkaline meadow. Here, we presented how soil

Soil attributes, climate, and time since reclamation have important implications for oil and gas reclamation success on drylands. It is uncertain if reclaimed well pads, on highly degraded drylands, can successfully regain ecological function or meet indicator benchmarks for reclamation. Here, our goals were to assess patterns in reclamation outcomes relative to (1) soil attributes, climate, and time

Leaf functional traits strongly influence plant growth, reproduction, and survival, which are also associated with ecosystem functions. Understory plants are important components of plantation biodiversity. How plantation type affects the performance of different understory shrubs is still poorly understood. In the present study, to address suitable shrub species for the understory management of mature

Coastal land reclamation has been practiced widely to accommodate rapid urbanization. But the exploitation of coastal wetlands also imposes ecological risks and jeopardizes ecological security in many countries. The overall effects of coastal land reclamation must therefore be assessed. We developed a conceptual framework to evaluate the ecological effects of coastal land reclamation on cropland protection

Rocky desertification is a land degradation process. The bare rock rate (BRR) is an important index. Satellite-based methods for BRR estimation can generate BRR datasets, but the spatial resolution and accuracy are low. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data can be used for BRR extraction with much higher resolution and higher accuracy, but the data are laborious and costly to collect. This study proposed

Agrarian expansion and intensification in the tropical agricultural-forest frontiers (TAFF) are continuously encroaching on forests, yet the magnitudes and processes of agricultural-forest advances and retreats remain lacking investigation systematically and quantitatively. With over three-decade (1987–2018) of land-cover products, here, we revealed the spatiotemporal dynamic processes of agricultural

Anthropogenic activities, species invasions, and ecological factors are driving rapid changes in rangeland ecosystems. For ensuring the richness and sustainability of plant species habitats, there is a pressing need for a reliable prediction model that can accurately forecast and map species distribution under varying ecological conditions. We aimed to compare the performance of three widely used machine