Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple
functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and the buildup of nutrient pools  (multifunctionality). However, the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality has never been assessed globally in natural ecosystems. We report here on a global empirical study relating plant species richness and abiotic factors to multifunctionality in drylands, which collectively cover 41% of Earth’s land surface and support over 38% of the human population. Multifunctionality was positively and significantly related to species richness. The best-fitting models accounted for over 55% of the variation in multifunctionality and always included species richness as a predictor variable. Our results suggest that the preservation of plant biodiversity is crucial to buffer negative effects of climate change and desertification in drylands.

Scenarios of changes in biodiversity for the year 2100 can now be developed based on scenarios of changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide, climate, vegetation, and land use and the known sensitivity of biodiversity to these changes. This study identiÞed a ranking of the importance of drivers of change, a ranking of the biomes with respect to expected changes, and the major sources of uncertainties. For terrestrial ecosystems, land-use change probably will have the largest effect, followed by climate change, nitrogen deposition, biotic exchange, and elevated carbon dioxide concentration. For freshwater ecosystems, biotic exchange is much more important. Mediterranean climate and grassland ecosystems likely will experience the greatest proportional change in biodiversity because of the substantial inßuence of all drivers of biodiversity change. Northern temperate ecosystems are estimated to experience the least biodiversity change because major land-use change has already occurred. Plausible changes in biodiversity in other biomes depend on interactions among the causes of biodiversity change. These interactions represent one of the largest uncertainties in projections of future biodiversity change.

Current and expected changes in biodiversity have motivated major experiments, which reported a positive relationship between plant species diversity and primary production. As a first step in addressing this relationship, these manipulative experiments controlled as many potential confounding covariables as possible and assembled artificial ecosystems for the purpose of the experiments. As a new step in this endeavor, we asked how plant species richness relates to productivity in a natural ecosystem. Here, we report on an experiment conducted in a natural ecosystem in the Patagonian steppe, in which we assessed the biodiversity effect on primary production. Using a plant species diversity gradient generated by removing species while maintaining constant biomass, we found that aboveground net primary production increased with the number of plant species. We also found that the biodiversity effect was larger in natural than in artificial ecosystems. This result supports previous findings and also suggests that the effect of biodiversity in natural ecosystems may be much larger than currently thought.

Dryland biodiversity is of tremendous global importance, being central to the well-being and development of millions of people in developing countries. In June 2012, at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (or“Rio+20”), global leaders from governments and civil society reaffirmed the intrinsic value of biological diversity and recognised the severity of global biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystems. Although drylands were implicitly recognised, there continues to be inadequate attention to this major biome that covers such a vast part of our world’s terrestrial surface. Yet, as this book conveys, conservation and sustainable management of drylands biodiversity offers a viable pathway to deliver international conservation and development targets. This book is a global resource aimed to aide dryland management as it is the first comprehensive analysis of dryland biodiversity that is of global importance and significance.

urbanisation  in Europe

urbanisation  in jordan

1st Arab Region Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction

‘Place’ is a contested concept in conservation and restoration. In this chapter we will focus on invasion biology to examine some of the topics related to this controversial concept. 

Three  in  vitro  experiments  were  conducted  to  study  the  effect  of  different  concentrations  of  carbon source, salinity  and gelling agent on number of new shoots, shoot length, fresh weight,  and dry weight of fig (Ficus carica  L.) to develop an efficient  in vitro  propagation method.

The floristic composition of the established vegetation and the soil seed bank in seven herbaceous communities under different traditional management regimes were compared in the Valdeón valley (Picos de Europa, Spain), a valley chosen for study because of its high diversity and non-dominance of any single species which have become increasingly rare in Western Europe as a result of changes in agriculture practices.

A diploid model is introduced and analyzed in which intraspecific competition 
is incorporated within the context of density-regulated  selection. It is assumed 
that each genotype has a unique carrying capacity corresponding to the equilib-' 
rium  population size when only that type is present.

An assessment of grassland restoration success using species diversity components

The influence of tillage treatments on water infiltration into soil profile

Assessing the effects of native plants on the pollination of an exotic herb, the blueweed
Echium vulgare (Boraginaceae)

RESTORATION OF HEAVY METALS POLLUTED SOILS  CASE STUDY - CAMELINA - 
Delia DIMITRIU

Accounting for single and aggregated forest incomes: Application to public cork oak forests in Jerez (Spain) and Iteimia (Tunisia)

Papaya Tree at the Border: Challenges of Risk Management in a Developing Country

A critical review on the bio-removal of hazardous heavy metals from contaminated soils: Issues, progress, eco-environmental concerns and opportunities

Mapping Leaf Area Index in subtropical upland ecosystems using RapidEye imagery and the randomForest algorithm

Soil carbon pools in different pasture systems

The role of ecological infrastructure on beneficial arthropods in vineyards

Differences in topsoil properties of a sandy loam soil under different tillage treatments

Land Degradation in Jordan –Review of knowledge resources

Evaluation of Solar Electric Power Technologies in Jordan 

Study of Black Carbon Levels in City Centers and Industrial Centers in Jordan 

Time Series Analysis of Air Pollution in Al-Hashimeya Town Zarqa, Jordan 

MODERN AGRICULTURE, PESTICIDES AND HUMAN HEALTH : A CASE OF
AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS IN WESTERN MAHARASHTRA

Environment and Changing Agricultural Practices: Evidence from Orissa, India 

MULTI-CRITERIA EVALUATION OF QUALITY OF EXISTING URBAN PARKS IN 
DHAKA CITY - TOWARDS ACHIEVING LIVABLE CITY

Effect Of Organic Manures On Yield And Economic Analysis Of Tomato Varieties

Illustrated Guide to Soil Taxonomy

Keys to Soil Taxonomy: 2010

Keys to Soil Taxonomy: 2010

ABANDONED VILLAGES AND RELATED GEOGRAPHIC AND LANDSCAPE CONTEXT: 
GUIDELINES TO NATURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND MULTIFUNCTIONAL VALORIZATION

Influence of Tillage Practices and Crop Type on Soil CO2 Emissions

Ecological indicators of grazing effects in cork oak woodlands:an integrated approach

STUDY  OF  WATER  INFILTRATION  IN  THE  SOIL  UNDER  DIFFERENT  TILLAGE SYSTEMS. 

The Beginning of Organic Fish Farming in Italy 

The impact of cultivation techniques on bioactive compounds in the aerial parts o Echinacea purpurea

Contributions of agroforestry to ecosystem services in the miombo eco-region of eastern and southern  Africa

Abandonment of agricultural land: an overview of drivers and consequences

Drought Assessment and Impacts

Carob productivity as affected by inorganic nitrogen fertilization 

Methodological  Issues  for  Estimating  the  Total  Value  of  the Rehabilitation of Mining Fields: the Case of S. Domingos

Assessing desertification

Rejuvenation influences indirect organogenesis from leaf explants of Pomegranate (Punica
granatum L.) ‘Kandhari Kabuli’

Inheritance of floral colour and type in four new inbred lines of ornamental sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

Effects of high salinity and the exogenous application of an osmolyte on growth, photosynthesis, and mineral composition in two ornamental shrubs

Cost-effective tissue culture media for large-scale propagation of three commercial banana (Musa spp.) varieties

Characterisation of cultivated breeding lines of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) and related wild
Solanum species from India

Drought Preparedness and Mitigation

Ecosystems and human well-being : desertification synthesis : a report of the millennium ecosystem 
assessment

Reforestation techniques in the Mediterranean : woody plant propagation and establishment

Mapping and identification of hotspot areas for biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in cork oak woodlands of southern Portugal

Detecting and Quantifying Desertification in the Upper East Region of Ghana using Multi-spatial and Multi-Temporal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

COMBATING DESERTIFICATION IN MEDITERRANEAN EUROPE 
LINKING SCIENCE WITH STAKEHOLDERS

Ripper Planting? what is Ripper planting? when to use ripper planting?

Soil-water infiltration under crops, pasture, and established riparian
buffer in Midwestern USA

Reduced Tillage Effects on Irrigation Management in Cotton

MODERN AGRICULTURE, PESTICIDES AND HUMAN HEALTH :

A CASE OF AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS IN WESTERN MAHARASHTRA

Environment and Changing Agricultural Practices: Evidence from Orissa, India 

THE IMPACT OF DIFFERENT TILLAGE TREATMENTS ON HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY OF LOAMY SOIL

Influence of Soil Tillage on Soil Compaction

Drought, Vulnerability and Risk Reduction: the UNCCD Context

An Appraisal of Conservation Tillage on the Soil Properties and C Sequestration

Tillage Effects on Soil Hydraulic Characteristics

Effect of minimum tillage and mulching on maize (Zea maysL.) yield and water content of clayey and sandy soils 

Response of plant functional attributes to extensive agriculture practices. Two case studies from Alentejo, South Portugal

HYDRAULIC CODUCTIVITY AT AD EAR SATURATIO OF AORTHIC LUVISOL AFTER 15 YEARS OF DIFFERET SOIL MAAGEMET PRACTICES

Evaluation of vineyard growth under four irrigation regimes using vegetation and soil on-the-go sensors

Water and Agriculture: Facing Water Scarcity and Environmental Challenges

Special issue on Date Palm Current Research

The influence of tillage treatments on water infiltration into soil profile

Soil Contamination by Trace Metals Geochemical Behaviour as an Element of Risk Assessment 

critical value of trace elements 

Lead isotope ratios as a tracer for lead contamination sources: A lake Andong case study 

STIMULATION OF ROOT DEVELOPMENT WITH CYCLODEXTRINS ON JOJOBA SHOOTS IN VITRO

Effects of different salt sources and concentrations on germination and seedling growth of some pumpkin seeds varieties used as rootstock 

SALINITY EFFECTS ON SEED GERMINATION AND SEEDLING GROWTH OF BREAD WHEAT CULTIVARS

Effect of Salt and Osmotic Stresses on the Germination of Pepper Seeds of Different Maturation Stages 

SALINITY EFFECTS ON SEED GERMINATION AND SEEDLING GROWTH OF BREAD WHEAT CULTIVARS

High-affinity sodium uptake in land plants