Search Results (37,440)

Microtopography plays a crucial role in regulating soil moisture in arid and semi-arid regions, thereby significantly influencing vegetation growth and distribution. The Loess Plateau, characterized by a deeply incised and fragmented landscape, necessitates an in-depth understanding of the microtopograph–soil moisture–vegetation relationship to guide effective vegetation restoration. This study, based on field investigations and laboratory analyses in the hilly-gully region of the Loess Plateau, employed one-way ANOVA, Duncan’s multiple range test, and structural equation modeling to examine the effects of microtopography on vegetation community characteristics. The results revealed that microtopography significantly affects vegetation diversity and stability. Vegetation diversity and stability were higher on shady slopes than on sunny slopes, with diversity indices increasing by approximately 38% in certain regions. Additionally, downslope positions exhibited greater vegetation diversity than upslopes, with richness indices increasing by approximately 33% and the M. Godron index decreasing by 8.49, indicating enhanced stability. However, the effects of gullies varied significantly across different regions. Soil moisture content was higher on shaded slopes than on sunny slopes and greater at downslope positions than at upslopes, reaching up to 12.89% in gullies. Slope position exerted a direct and significant positive effect on soil moisture, which, in turn, indirectly influenced vegetation diversity and stability. This study reveals the dominant regulatory role of slope position in soil moisture, vegetation diversity, and stability, providing new perspectives and evidence for developing vegetation restoration strategies on the Loess Plateau and promoting the sustainable growth of regional vegetation. Full article

As an important component of the global carbon cycle, the variation patterns and driving mechanisms of the productivity and carbon sink capacity of subtropical forest ecosystems urgently need in-depth research. In this study, taking the forest ecosystem in the Ganjiang River Basin as the research object, the Biome-BGC model was used to simulate the forest productivity at different time scales (annual, seasonal, and monthly) from 1970 to 2021, and its spatio-temporal distribution characteristics and responses to climate change were analyzed. The results showed that the interannual net primary productivity (NPP) of evergreen broad-leaved forests was 771.4 g C m⁻² year⁻¹, that of evergreen coniferous forests was 631.6 g C m⁻² year⁻¹, that of deciduous coniferous forests was 610.5 g C m⁻² year⁻¹, and that of shrub forests was 262.8 g C m⁻² year⁻¹. Evergreen broad-leaved forests have greater carbon sink potential under the background of climate change. The forest productivity in the Ganjiang River Basin generally showed an upward trend, but there were obvious differences in spatial distribution, characterized by being higher in the surrounding mountainous areas and lower in the central and northern plains. The methodological framework proposed in this study is beneficial for productivity evaluation and spatio-temporal analysis of carbon balance in subtropical forest ecosystems and provides a scientific reference for model simulation and the application of forest productivity at the regional scale. Full article

To investigate the light and temperature environmental parameters of photovoltaic greenhouses in tropical areas, this study adopted experimental measurement and simulation methods to test and simulate the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), relative temperature and humidity, and other environmental parameters inside and outside two types of serrated photovoltaic greenhouses in Langheng Village, Yangpu, Hainan. The study aimed to explore the distribution laws of PAR, light transmission rates, and relative humidity and temperature inside and outside double-slope and single-slope photovoltaic greenhouses. The ridges of both types of greenhouses run east to west, with photovoltaic panels arranged on the south-facing slopes, covering 57% of the area. The results show the following: (1) The trends of PAR inside and outside both types of photovoltaic greenhouses were consistent across all seasons, with the annual average values were 164.98 μmol/(m²·s) for double-slope and 127.59 μmol/(m²·s) for single-slope; (2) The annual average light transmission rates were 23.91% for double-slope and 19.17% for single-slope; (3) The average indoor temperatures in both types of greenhouses were higher than outside in all seasons, with a temperature difference ranging between 1 and 3 °C; (4) The indoor relative humidity in both types of greenhouses was higher than outside, with the difference reaching up to 6% during summer and autumn; (5) The annual light transmission rates for both types of greenhouses were simulated using Design Builder. The simulation results were generally consistent with the measured values, with the simulated values being higher overall than the measured ones by an average difference within 5%. In summary, the average light transmission rate of the double-slope photovoltaic greenhouse was 4.74% higher that of the single-slope photovoltaic greenhouse and the PAR was 37.39 μmol/(m²·s) higher than the single-slope. Additionally, the average temperature in the double-slope greenhouse was slightly higher and the relative humidity was slightly lower than that in the single-slope greenhouse. Both types of greenhouses could meet the light, temperature, and humidity requirements for cultivating leafy vegetables in tropical areas. Except for the temperature parameters in summer, the performance of the double-slope photovoltaic greenhouse was also better. The Design Builder simulation results showed little difference to the actual measurements and their trends were also consistent. The light transmission rate of photovoltaic greenhouses can be simulated by setting the overall light transmission coefficient of the light-transmitting roofing materials. Full article

Investigating the interaction effect of nitrogen (N) management strategies and stay-green types of maize hybrids is essential for enhancing N use efficiency and developing N-efficient hybrids. A field experiment was conducted with five N management treatments (Control, Opt.N*70%, Opt.N, Opt.N*130%, and Con.N) and two stay-green types of maize hybrids (stay-green hybrids: DH605 and ZD958; moderate-green hybrids: XY335 and XY1266) to examine their interaction effects on maize yield, aboveground biomass, and N uptake and allocation. The highest grain yields for moderate stay-green and over stay-green maize hybrids were 12.8 Mg ha⁻¹ and 10.8 Mg ha⁻¹, respectively. Compared to over stay-green hybrids, moderate stay-green hybrids exhibited a significantly higher aboveground biomass and N uptake. Under an optimal N (Opt.N) treatment, moderate stay-green hybrids achieved a 15.8% higher grain yield than over stay-green hybrids. Under the Opt.N*130% treatment, moderate stay-green hybrids had the highest grain N concentration, averaging 13.1 g kg⁻¹. Nitrogen application enhanced N allocation to grains, resulting in a 3.1–7.7% increase in grain N content. Moderate stay-green hybrids with optimal N management exhibited a 1.9% higher grain N content compared to over stay-green hybrids, whereas their vegetative organs had a relatively lower N content except for the Opt.N*130% treatment. Selecting a suitable maize hybrid (e.g., moderate stay-green maturity hybrid, XY335) and optimizing N fertilizer management can enhance grain yield, grain N content, and enhance N absorption and utilization efficiency. Full article

Extreme rainfalls caused by climate change are a growing worldwide threat to the urban environment. Nature-based solutions (NBS) employ soil and vegetation to manage and treat stormwater while ensuring extensive ecosystem services. In the last decades, these solutions, such as Rain Gardens, Green Roofs, Vegetated Swales, and Constructed Wetlands, have been implemented worldwide under different names. This study is a systematic overview of reviews focusing on the last 10 years of sustainable stormwater management literature. First, a general bibliometric and topic analysis highlights trends and core themes addressed by the reviews. Then, the article delves into bioretention, analyzing water quantity and quality regulation as a function of design choices on media and vegetation. Including an internal water storage zone and using amendments such as biochar and water treatment residuals are relevant, sustainable features to target water pollution and hydrologic functioning. Vegetation, too, has a prominent role. Nevertheless, only the most recent reviews address the species’ selection, highlighting a significant research gap. Full article

The construction and operation of dams or weirs has been demonstrated to induce alterations in riparian vegetation, a critical factor in evaluating and sustaining ecosystem health and resilience. A notable instance of this phenomenon is evidenced by the implementation of multifunctional large weirs along the major rivers of South Korea from 2008 to 2012. This study examined the successional changes in riparian vegetation caused by weir construction and operation using multi-year data from a combination of remote sensing, based on the spectra of satellite images, and field surveys on vegetation and geomorphology in the Geumgang River. The exposure duration of the sandbars and the colonization time of riparian vegetation were estimated using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the normalized difference water index (NDWI) from multispectral satellite imagery. The study found that the duration of exposure and the vegetation successional ages varied according to the construction and operation of the weirs. The Geumgang River vegetation was classified into ten plant communities using the optimal partitioning and optimal silhouette algorithms. The in situ changes in the vegetation were traced, and the successional ages of the classified vegetations were determined. Based on these findings, three successional pathways could be proposed: The first pathway is characterized by a transition from pioneer herbaceous plants and then tall perennial grasses to willow trees on the exposed sandbar. The second pathway involves direct colonization by willow shrubs starting on the sandbar. The third pathway is marked by hydric succession, starting from aquatic vegetation in stagnant waters and lasting to willow trees. The observed vegetation succession was found to be contingent on the initial hydrogeomorphic characteristics of the environment, as well as the introduction of willow trees within the sandbar that was exposed by the operation of the weir. These findings emphasize the need for adaptive river management that integrates ecological and geomorphological processes. Controlled weir operations should mimic natural flow to support habitat diversity and vegetation succession, while targeted sediment management maintains sandbars. Long-term monitoring using field surveys and remote sensing is crucial for refining restoration efforts. A holistic approach considering hydrology, sediment dynamics, and vegetation succession is essential for sustainable river restoration. Full article

Grafting is widely used as an effective strategy to enhance tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses and improve fruit quality in horticultural crops. However, the molecular mechanisms of transcription and the regulatory functions in response to drought stress of mobile mRNAs remain poorly understood. In this study, we developed a grafting system based on the “one grafted plant—three samples” approach using the cultivated tomato/Solanum pennellii (Heinz 1706/LA 0716) heterografting system. A bioinformatics pipeline was developed based on RNA-seq to identify mobile mRNAs in the heterografting systems. A total of 61 upwardly and 990 downwardly mobile mRNAs were identified. Furthermore, we found that the mobility of mRNAs was not correlated with their abundance. The functional annotation and enrichment analysis indicated that mobile mRNAs were mainly involved in RNA binding, photosynthesis, photosystem, response to heat, and translation processes, and ultimately increased the drought tolerance of grafted plants. In addition, we also analyzed the RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) of downwardly mobile mRNAs and found that RBPs were conserved among species. Further, mobile mRNAs may be degraded during transportation. This study provides a pipeline for detecting mobile mRNAs in plant heterografting systems and offers new insights into future studies on long-distance mRNAs transport and regulatory mechanisms involved in drought stress responses. Full article

Terrestrial small mammal species typically assemble according to plant communities, but multiple factors, including large-scale geographic patterns, influence their assemblage structure. Despite their ecological significance, small mammals are often underrepresented in biodiversity assessments, and many Polish national parks lack comprehensive surveys. This is also the case for Wolin National Park (WNP), Poland’s only national park on a coastal marine island, which is known for its unique bat fauna. Here, we surveyed small mammals in WNP using live and pitfall trapping, identifying only nine species—the lowest richness among the five regional national parks (which host 11–13 species based on trapping data alone). Rarefaction analysis indicated a very low probability of detecting additional species with further sampling. This unexpectedly low richness is likely linked to insular isolation and the park’s location at the edge of the regional distributions of three species. Cluster analysis revealed a key pattern in WNP’s small mammal assemblages: a division between two distinct landscape units—moraine hills and the alluvial delta—where Apodemus flavicollis and Apodemus agrarius were the predominant species, respectively. This division had a greater influence on assemblage clustering than local vegetation. Full article

Wild fires frequently influence fragile karst forest ecosystems in southwestern China. We evaluated the potential of Gaofen Wide Field of View (WFV) imagery for assessing the fire severity of karst forest fires. Comparison with Sentinel Multispectral Imager (MSI) imagery was conducted using 19 spectral indices. The highest correlation for Sentinel-2 MSI is 0.634, while for Gaofen-1 WFV it is 0.583. This is not a significant difference. The burned area index, differenced burned area index, and relative differenced modified soil adjusted vegetation index were the highest performing indices for the Gaofen-1 WFV, while the normalized burn ratio plus, differenced normalized differential vegetation index, and relative differenced normalized differential vegetation index were the best for the Sentinel MSI. The total accuracy evaluation of the fire severity assessment for Gaofen-1 WFV ranged from 40 to 44% and that for Sentinel MSI ranged from 40 to 48%. The difference in accuracy between the two satellites was less than 10%. The RMSE values for all six models were close to 0.6, ranging from 0.58 to 0.67. The fire severity maps derived from both imagery sources exhibited overall similar spatial patterns, but the Sentinel-2 MSI maps are obviously finer. These maps matched well with the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images, particularly at high and unburned severity levels. The results of this study revealed that the performance of the Gaofen WFV imagery was close to that of Sentinel MSI imagery which makes it an effective data source for fire severity assessment in this region. Full article

Rainfall-induced weakening of the root–loess interface’s shear strength is a key factor in slope instability, yet research on its shear characteristics remains limited. This study classifies Robinia pseudoacacia roots into three types (0–2 mm, 2–5 mm, and 5–10 mm) based on field surveys and 3D laser scanning. Large-scale, direct shear tests and three-dimensional failure surface reconstruction were conducted using a self-developed apparatus to examine the effects of water content (5%, 12%, and 19%), root type, and root content ratio (2.11%, 1.17%, and 0.23%) on shear strength and failure morphology. Results indicate that increasing water content reduces shear resistance, while root type and content ratio enhance cohesion. Shear resistance follows an order: Type II > Type III > Type I, influenced by root curvature, and increases with root content. A novel correlation is identified between shear strength and the fractal dimension of the failure surface. This study proposes a self-locking and interlocking mechanism based on micromechanical force chains between roots and soil particles, offering new insights into root–loess interface mechanics and a theoretical basis for evaluating vegetative root reinforcement under rainfall conditions. Full article

MycelialNet is a novel deep neural network (DNN) architecture inspired by natural mycelial networks. Mycelia, the vegetative part of fungi, form extensive underground networks that, in a very efficient way, connect biological entities, transport nutrients and signals, and dynamically adapt to environmental conditions. Drawing inspiration from these properties, MycelialNet integrates dynamic connectivity, self-optimization, and resilience into its artificial structure. This paper explores how mycelial-inspired neural networks can enhance big data analysis, particularly in mineralogy, petrology, and other Earth disciplines, where exploration and exploitation must be efficiently balanced during the process of data mining. We validate our approach by applying MycelialNet to synthetic data first, and then to a large petrological database of volcanic rock samples, demonstrating its superior feature extraction, clustering, and classification capabilities with respect to other conventional machine learning methods. Full article

There are a multitude of raspberry and blackberry varieties, and each of them develops differently depending on environmental factors and cultivation technology, so much research is needed to see which variety has the best yield in a desired area. This paper studied the growth under natural soil and specific climate conditions in the Bucharest–Ilfov region of Romania of a raspberry plantation and a blackberry plantation, both in their first year of vegetation. The studied interval, the period of June to October 2024, was established from the beginning of the ripening of the first fruits to the late ripening of the fruits. The study analyzed the correlations between the vegetative and productive parameters of the raspberry variety “Delniwa” and the blackberry variety “Thornfree” on productivity per plant. During the study period, good shoot formation was observed, with an average height of 1400 mm for raspberries and 3474 mm for blackberries (r = 0.99 to raspberries and r = 0.98 to blackberries); a good development of the average stem diameter of 8.54 mm for raspberries and 12.78 mm for blackberries (r = 0.96 la zmeur si r = 0.89 la mur), of the number of ripe fruits harvested (r = 0.68 to raspberries and r = 0.58 to blackberries), all of which are correlated with increased productivity of 820 g/plant for raspberries and 2050 g/plant for blackberries. The experimental data were statistically analyzed using linearized, polynomial and hyperbolic models to identify the relationships between the studied variables and to highlight growth variations and fruit production in raspberries and blackberries throughout the season. In the first year of vegetation, both crops recorded constant growth but with different rhythms: raspberries showed constant fruit production, with a peak in June–July and a slight resumption in September, while blackberries had high production at the beginning of summer, followed by a significant decrease in August. The results obtained support farmers who grow raspberries and blackberries under similar natural pedo-climatic conditions, contributing to crop planning and production optimization. Full article

Leaf-vegetable sweet potatoes incurred significant losses during storage, which resulted in a shortened shelf life and reduced commercial value. This study investigated the effects of tea polyphenols (TPs) fumigation and microporous packaging (MP) during 10 days at 10 °C and 90–95% RH. The results indicated that the preservation effects followed the order TP + MP > MP > TP > CK, with the TP + MP treatment effectively controlling the degradation rate of chlorophyll and delaying leaf yellowing. In addition, TP + MP treatment increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes, especially catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and also enhanced non-enzymatic systems (flavonoids, total phenolics, and ascorbic acid). Pearson’s correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between the decline in postharvest quality of leaf-vegetable sweet potatoes and the increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. This study provided a robust theoretical and technical foundation for the development of effective postharvest preservation strategies for leaf-vegetable sweet potatoes. Full article

Land cover dynamics play a critical role in understanding environmental changes, but accurately modeling these dynamics remains a challenge due to the complex interactions between temporal and spatial factors. In this study, we propose a novel temporal–spatial partial differential equation (TS-PDE) modeling method combining sparse regression to uncover the governing equations behind long-term satellite image time series. By integrating temporal and spatial differential terms, the TS-PDE framework captures the intricate interactivity of these factors, overcoming the limitations of traditional pixel-wise prediction methods. Our approach leverages $1\times 1$ convolutional kernels within a convolutional neural network (CNN) solver to approximate derivatives, enabling the discovery of interpretable equations that generalize across temporal–spatial domains. Using MODIS and Planet satellite data, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the TS-PDE method in predicting the value of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and interpreting the physical significance of the derived equations. The numerical results show that the model achieves good performance, with mean structural similarity index (SSIM) values exceeding 0.82, mean peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) values ranging from 28.5 to 32.8, and mean mean squared error (MSE) values approximating $9\times {10}^{-4}$ for low-resolution MODIS images. For high-resolution Planet images, this study emphasizes the efficacy of TS-PDE in terms of PSNR, SSIM, and MSE metrics, with all datasets exhibiting an average SSIM value of over 0.81, an average PSNR maximum of 30.9, and an average MSE of less than 0.0042. The experimental findings demonstrate the capability of TS-PDE in deriving governing equations and providing effective predictions for the regional-scale dynamics of these time series images. The findings of this study provide potential insights into the mathematical modeling of land cover dynamics. Full article

Ribbon waterfront parks in hot summer and cold winter regions play a crucial role in microclimate regulation and thermal comfort enhancement due to the combined effects of water bodies and vegetation. This study focuses on ribbon waterfront parks in Hefei. This study investigates the influence of park environmental factors (e.g., plant community characteristics, spatial configuration of water bodies, and plaza layouts) on the summer thermal environment through field measurements and ENVI-met numerical simulations. Based on field studies and a literature review, five environmental factors were selected as test variables: water body direction (S), tree planting density and arrangement (A), square distribution form (B), square location (C), and pavement material (D). Using orthogonal testing, 64 different environmental scenarios under four distinct water body orientations were designed and simulated using ENVI-met (Version 5.6.1), followed by a quantitative analysis of the simulation results. The findings reveal that the interaction between water body orientation and prevailing wind direction significantly influences the cooling efficiency in both the upwind and downwind regions. In addition, through orthogonal testing, Range Analysis (RA), and analysis of variance (ANOVA), the order of magnitude of the effect of each experimental factor on the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) can be derived: density and form of tree planting (A) > pavement material (D) > location of the square in the park (C) > forms of distribution of squares in the park (B). Finally, this study suggests various environmental factor-setting schemes for ribbon waterfront parks that are tailored to distinct microclimatic requirements. It also provides design recommendations to improve thermal comfort in parks based on the orientation of different water bodies. Furthermore, it offers specific references and foundations for planning, designing, optimising, and renovating waterfront parks of similar scales. Full article