Wind Erosion, Climate Change, and Shelterbelts

Wind erosion is a widespread phenomenon causing serious soil degradation. It is estimated that about 28% of the global land area suffers from this process. Global climate changes are expected to accelerate land degradation and significantly affect the intensity of wind erosion. Shelterbelts are linear multi-row planting strips of vegetation (trees or shrubs) established for numerous environmental purposes. Shelterbelts are a specific type of agroforestry system which could reduce soil degradation (soil erosion). Shelterbelts mitigate greenhouse gas through trees storing carbon (C) in their above- and below-ground biomass, wherefore they are highlighted as one of the potential ways to mitigate climate change. The purpose of this chapter is to present wind erosion as a land degradation problem, especially in line with climate changes and the present concept of vegetation establishment in the form of shelterbelts for long-term multi-functional provision of ecosystem services, in particular carbon sequestration.

Assessment of drought resistance in sorghum CMS lines based on various sterility sources

Background. Global climate changes have recently led to a more frequent occurrence of adverse factors and a decrease in the productivity of major crops. Sorghum is a highly drought-resistant crop that can tolerate long-term soil and air droughts with much lower harvest losses than wheat or barley. It is important to understand physiological mechanisms affecting drought tolerance when breeding efforts are aimed at improving the adaptability to abiotic conditions and productivity of sorghum hybrids.Materials and methods. Twenty sterile lines of grain sorghum with 8 types of CMS were studied in 2019 and 2020 in the arid conditions of Saratov Province. Indicators of the leaf water regime were assessed according to VIR’s guidelines. Statistical processing of the research results was performed using the AGROS 2.09 software.Results. The indicators of the leaf water regime that reflected differentiated responses of the CMS-line plants to the prevailing water and temperature stressors during the critical flowering period for sorghum were analyzed. Four CMS lines were identified according to the chosen set of indicators: they manifested 71.13–72.02% of total water content, 5.26–9.08% of water deficit, and 57.40–83.17% of water retention capacity on average for the two years of research. For the first time, the effect of CMS in sorghum on the manifestation of water regime indicators was registered. In isonuclear CMS lines, the greatest effect on drought resistance was shown by cytoplasm A3 versus A4 (with the Zheltozernoe 10 genome), cytoplasm A5 versus A1 (with the Karlik 4v genome), and M35-1A versus the analog on cytoplasm 9E (with the Pischevoe 614 genome).Conclusion. It is shown that genetically different types of sterility can be used in breeding practice to increase the resistance to abiotic stressors in components of F1 crosses and hybrids.

Soil microbial trait-based strategies drive metabolic efficiency along an altitude gradient

Trait-based approaches provide a candidate framework for linking soil microbial community to ecosystem processes, yet how the trade-offs in different microbial traits regulate the community-level metabolic efficiency remains unknown. Herein we assessed the roles of the microbial taxa with particular trait strategies in mediating soil microbial metabolic efficiency along an altitude gradient on the Tibetan Plateau. Results showed that soil microbial metabolic efficiency declined with increasing altitude, as indicated by the increasing metabolic quotient (microbial respiration per unit biomass, qCO2) and decreasing carbon use efficiency (CUE). Both qCO2 and CUE were predominantly predicted by microbial physiological and taxonomic attributes after considering key environmental factors including soil pH, substrate quantity and quality. Specifically, the reduced metabolic efficiency was associated with higher investment into nutrient (particularly for phosphorus) acquisitions via enzymes. Furthermore, we identified key microbial assemblies selected by harsh environments (low substrate quality and temperature) as important predictors of metabolic efficiency. These results suggest that particular microbial assemblies adapted to nutrient limited and cold habitats, but at the expense of lower metabolic efficient at higher altitude. Our findings provide a candidate mechanism underlying community-level metabolic efficiency, which has important implications for microbial-mediated processes such as carbon dynamics under global climate changes.

Glacial Landforms as Geodiversity Resources for Geotourism in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

The southern extreme location and the natural landscapes, highly modelled by glaciers during the Quaternary period, give Tierra del Fuego a unique opportunity to attract visitors worldwide. Its glacial landforms are geodiversity resources that are witness to global climate changes as natural processes. Therefore, this study aims to highlight different glacial landforms considering their geodidactic potential for educational information in terms of geographical study. Sixteen georesources connected by routes are analysed, using bibliographic research, fieldwork and a datasheet designed ad-hoc. Four of them were formed during middle Pleistocene glaciations and the other twelve during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), out of which two also represent the Holocene, which happens to be the youngest glaciation.

Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Plant Sciences Research

The current world needs to use modern technologies in plant science research due to increasing food requirements, and to cope up with global climate changes (1). Consequently, Artificial Intelligence (AI) based technologies are considered as the most recent and advanced research tools in every sector of science. Biological researches are also making progress surprisingly due to the assistance of AI affiliated tools directly or indirectly. Nowadays, plant physiology to genomic manipulation has witnessed, how it is easier and accurate than previous (2). Moreover, continuous monitoring of plants' growth, growing media, and relevant surroundings were time and labor-consuming in the past; even, the obtained results were erroneous somewhat. Data processing and analysis were based on individual performances of the participated researchers; surprisingly, the scenarios have been changed after the emergence of AI (3).

Study on the driven mechanism of hydrologic drought based on the lithology-combined structure of the Karst drainage basin in South China

Hydrologic drought, considered as a typical natural phenomenon in the background of global climate changes, is the continuation and development of meteorological and agricultural droughts, and is the ultimate and most thoroughly drought. The research area controlled by the 55 hydrological sections in South China is selected in this paper, and the intensity and frequency of hydrologic droughts are analyzed by the Standardized Runoff Index (SRI), and the driven mechanism of watershed lithologies to hydrologic droughts is discussed. The results show that (i) the hydrological drought of Karst drainage basins is shown the gradual aggravation from the west to east parts in South China, with the significant north–south stripe distributions at the SRI_3 and SRI_6; (ii) the occurring probability of hydrological droughts is the Limestone-type Karst Basin (II and III, 0.17) < Dolomite-type Karst Basin (I and IV, 0.22) < Non-Karst Basin (V, 0.25) in terms of combination types of basin lithologies, and (iii) the Karst Basin (I and III, 0.18) < Semi-Karst Basin (II and IV, 0.2) < Non-Karst Basin (V, 0.25) in terms of basin lithologies. Therefore, this proves that the most water-stored spaces are found in Karst Basins under the differential dissolution or erosion effects of soluble water, followed by in the Semi-Karst Basin, the least water-stored spaces in the Non-Karst Basin.

Massive methane fluxing from magma–sediment interaction in the end-Triassic Central Atlantic Magmatic Province

Exceptional magmatic events coincided with the largest mass extinctions throughout Earth’s history. Extensive degassing from organic-rich sediments intruded by magmas is a possible driver of the catastrophic environmental changes, which triggered the biotic crises. One of Earth’s largest magmatic events is represented by the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, which was synchronous with the end-Triassic mass extinction. Here, we show direct evidence for the presence in basaltic magmas of methane, generated or remobilized from the host sedimentary sequence during the emplacement of this Large Igneous Province. Abundant methane-rich fluid inclusions were entrapped within quartz at the end of magmatic crystallization in voluminous (about 1.0 × 106 km3) intrusions in Brazilian Amazonia, indicating a massive (about 7.2 × 103 Gt) fluxing of methane. These micrometre-sized imperfections in quartz crystals attest an extensive release of methane from magma–sediment interaction, which likely contributed to the global climate changes responsible for the end-Triassic mass extinction.

Mycorrhizal Symbiosis for Better Adaptation of Trees to Abiotic Stress Caused by Climate Change in Temperate and Boreal Forests

Global climate changes have serious consequences on natural ecosystems and cause diverse environmental abiotic stressors that negatively affect plant growth and development. Trees are dependent on their symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi, as the hyphal network significantly improves the uptake of water and essential mineral nutrients by colonized roots. A number of recent studies has enhanced our knowledge on the functions of mycorrhizal associations between fungi and plant roots. Moreover, a series of timely studies have investigated the impact and benefit of root symbioses on the adaptation of plants to climate change-associated stressors. Trees in temperate and boreal forests are increasingly exposed to adverse environmental conditions, thus affecting their durable growth. In this mini-review, we focus our attention on the role mycorrhizal symbioses play in attenuating abiotic stressors imposed on trees facing climatic changes, such as high temperatures, drought, salinity, and flooding.