Habitat Range of two Alpine Medicinal Plants in a Trans-Himalayan Dry Valley,Central Nepal

Understanding of the habitat range of threatened Himalayan medicinal plants which are declining in their abundance due to high anthropogenic disturbances is essential for developing conservation strategies and agrotechnologies for cultivation. In this communication, we have discussed the habitat range of two alpine medicinal plants, Aconitum naviculare （Bruehl） Stapf and Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora （Pennel） Hong in a trans-Himalayan dry valley of central Nepal, Manang district. They are the most prioritized medicinal plants of the study area in terms of ethnomedicinal uses. A. naviculare occurs on warm and dry south facing slopes between 4090-4650 m asl along with sclerophyllous and thorny alpine scrubs, while N. scrophulariiflora is exclusively found on cool and moist north facing slope between 4000 and 4400 m asl where adequate water is available from snow melt to create a suitable habitat for this wetland dependent species. The soil in rooting zone of the two plants differs significantly in organic carbon （OC）, organic matter （OM）, total nitrogen （N） and carbon to nitrogen （C/N） ratio. Due to cool and moist condition of N. scrophulariiflora habitat, accumulation of soil OC is higher, but soil N content is lower probably due to slow release from litter, higher leaching loss and greater retention in perennial live biomass of the plant. The C/N ratio of soil is more suitable in A. navuculare habitat than that of N scrophulariiflora for N supply. Warm and sunny site with N rich soil can be suitable for cultivation ofA. naviculare, while moist and cool site with organic soil for N. scrophulariiflora. The populations of both the plants are fragmented and small. Due to collection by human and trampling damage by livestock, the population of A. naviculare was found absent in open areas in five of the six sampling sites and it was confined only within the bushes of alpine scrubs. For N. serophulariiflora, high probability of complete receding of small glaeiers may be a new threat in future to its habitat. The information about habitat conditions, together with the information from other areas, ean be useful to identify potential habitats and plan for cultivation or domestication of the two medieinal plants.

Asymmetric relationships between El Nino/La Nina and floods/droughts in the following summer over Chongqing,China

This study presents a detailed analysis of the asymmetric relationships between the warm/cold phase of the El Ni?o–Southern Oscillation and the typical flood/drought years in summer over Chongqing.Furthermore,its underpinning mechanisms are also explored.The results show that:(1)El Ni?o and La Ni?a have an asymmetric influence on summer precipitation in the following year over Chongqing.Generally,the composite atmospheric circulation anomalies for El Ni?o years are consistent with the composite results for typical flood years in summer over Chongqing,which indicates a tight link between typical flood years in summer over Chongqing and El Ni?o events.However,the relationship between typical drought years in summer over Chongqing and La Ni?a events is not significant.(2)From winter to the following summer,the extent of positive SST anomalies in the equatorial eastern Pacific associated with typical flood years in summer over Chongqing shrinks,whereas in the tropical Indian Ocean,the extent slightly expands.This trend indicates that the impact of El Ni?o on typical flood years in summer over Chongqing is maintained through the‘relay effect’of SSTs in the tropical Indian Ocean,which is the result of a lagged response of positive SST anomalies in the tropical Indian Ocean to El Ni?o events in winter.

Role of Potassium Bearing Minerals in Desorption of Reserved Potassium in Some Soils of Northern Iraq

A laboratory study was conducted in order to explain successive extractions of reserved potassium by using concentrated HCI under reflux for 13 surface and sub-surface soil samples representing three chosen pedons of soil series （472 ECC Bashika, 463 EKC Rabeaa and 461 ECC Talafar） locations of Nineveh Province in Northern of Iraq. The aim is to investigate role of clay minerals on release of reserved potassium from soils. Results showed that dominated clay minerals were （smectite 〉 illite 〉 kaolinite 〉 chlorite） for both 472 ECC and 461 ECC soil series and were （illite 〉 smectite 〉 kaolinite 〉 chlorite） for 463 EKC soil series. Also results appeared that exchangeable K＋ released values were 2,483-4,575 mg/kg at 461 ECC and 463 EKC soil series, respectively; non-exchangeable phase ranged from 752-1,390 mg/kg at 461 ECC and 472 ECC soil series, respectively. Soil fertility was evaluated according to its K＋ mica release referring for high K＋ release content with range between 3,324-5,516 mg/kg at 461 ECC and 463 EKC soil series, but rate ofK~ released was very law according to parabolic diffusion me,del with range from 195-359 mg/kg at latter soil series respectively. Results reflect effect of clay minerals on potassium release as amount and rates in arid and semi-arid regions. It can be concluded the study soils have a high amount of potassium content with low rate release of it, in turn these soil need particular management.

A Novel Dynamic Stretching Solution to Eliminate Saturation Effect in NDVI and Its Application in Drought Monitoring

The normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) is one of the key input variables for developing drought indices.However,the NDVI quickly saturates in high vegetation surfaces,and thus,the generalization of a drought index over different ecosystems becomes a challenge.This paper presents a novel,dynamic stretching algorithm to overcome the saturation effect in NDVI.A scaling transformation function to eliminate saturation effects when the vegetation fraction(VF) is large is proposed.Dynamic range adjustment is conducted using three coefficients,namely,the normalization factor(a),the stretching range controlling factor(m),and the stretching size controlling factor(e).The results show that the stretched NDVI(S-NDVI) is more sensitive to vegetation fraction than NDVI when the VF is large,ranging from 0.75 to 1.00.Moreover,the saturation effect in NDVI is effectively removed by using the S-NDVI.Further analysis suggests that there is a good linear correlation between the S-NDVI and the leaf area index(LAI).At the same time,the proposed S-NDVI significantly reduces or even eliminates the saturation effect over high biomass.A comparative analysis is performed between drought indices derived from NDVI and S-NDVI,respectively.In the experiment,reflectance data from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer(MODIS) products and in-situ observation data from the meteorological sites at a regional scale are used.In this study,the coefficient of determination(R2) of the stretched drought index(S-DI) is above 0.5,indicating the reliability of the proposed algorithm with surface soil moisture content.Thus,the S-DI is suggested to be used as a drought index in extended regions,thus regional heterogeneity should be taken into account when applying stretching method.

Techniques to Reduce the Energy Consumption in Building in Hot Arid Rejoin （Iraq）

The Iraqi climate is extremely hot and arid zone covers a belt between latitude （29°N to 36°N）. The energy required for air conditioning of Iraqi buildings is about 60% of the entire energy consumption in buildings. This research deals with the possibility of using different technics for the reducing energy consumption in buildings by blocking or eliminates the effect of direct solar radiation in summer season. This study deals with different local insulation materials which were added to the south face of walls surface of Iraqi buildings, as well as built water spray system upon the exterior roof surface to minimize the effect of incident solar radiation upon the roofs and wall surfaces. The results showed that thermal conductivity of local insulation materials （papyrus） are very low, also the results showed that when using water spray roof system, gives good indication to use this method in hot arid rejoins.

旅大市的物资统计在工业“抗旱”运动中发挥了巨大作用

旅大市开展了一个工业“抗旱”运动,发动群众千方百计挖掘钢铁材料,解决在生产跃进形势下出现的原材料供应不足的困难.在这次中心运动中,我们统计部门不是站在运动之外,而是积级主动地投入运动的洪流中去,把统计任务统盘担当起来,为具有重大政治经济意义的工业“抗旱”运动服务.

Association Between Himalayan Marmot Density and Climatic Factor

Objective:This study aims to explore the association between the density of Himalayan marmot (Marmota himalayana) and climatic factors such as temperature, precipitation, humidity, vapour pressure, sunshine percentage, wind velocity, which are closely associated with global climate change, and to provide a reference for plague prevention and control. Methods: We conducted a regression analysis to find the possible climate factors associated with the density of Himalaya marmot, and analyzed the response characters of Himalayan marmot to climate change.Results: Dailyprecipitation days(>=0.1 mm) and sunshine percentage were significantly associated with thedensityofHimalayan marmot(p<0.01). Conclusion: Climate change was associated with the risk of plague. This phenomenon is valuable for Himalayan marmot and plague prevention. More studies are needed to understand the impact of climate change on Himalayan marmot and plague.

Divergence of tree-ring-based drought reconstruction between the individual sampling site and the Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas: an example from Guancen Mountain

To evaluate the applicability of the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index （SPEI） and the self-calibrated Palmer Drought Severity Index （scPDSI） to paleoclimate reconstructions in the east Asian summer monsoon region, we used a 194-year tree-ring width chronology from Guancen Mountain, Shanxi Province, China, to investigate its correlation with SPEI and scPDSI, respectively. The results indicated scPDSI as a robust drought index that could be reconstructed from tree-ring width on Guancen Mountain other hydroclimate-related Significant correlations with series illustrated that our reconstruction captured common variations of hydroclimate in the surrounding areas. Additionally, our reconstruction showed significant correlation with nearby grid points of the Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas （MADA）. However, while unprecedented drying trend existed during the past several decades in MADA, it was not represented in our reconstruction or in instrumental scPDSI/Dai-PDSI. This may imply that MADA overestimated drought severity during the past several decades in our study area; this overestimation was probably caused by an insufficient spatiotemporal distribution of the tree-ring network used by MADA. Therefore, more drought reconstructions based on individual sampling sites in eastern Asia are necessary to gain a thorough understanding of the Asian Monsoon climate variability.