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The composition, life forms and the distribution of plants in Libya were studied. The results show that in Libya there are 2103 species that belong to 856 genera and 155 families. The distribution among Libyan seed plants was characterized by a high proportion of herbs (annual to perennial), unlike the low number of woody (tree and shrub) species; these have an important influence on the structure of floral composition. The geographic element of the flora was predominantly tropical and Mediterranean. The local plants belong to representative tropical desert flora. The presence and distribution characteristics of flora in Libya show that climate, environmental condition, ecological amplitude and adaptive capacity of the plants have a determinative influence on the floristic stock in the area studies.

Three-dimension temporal and spatial dynamics of the soil water characteristics during four irrigating cycles of months from April to July for the artificial vegetation in the center of Taklimakan Desert under saline water drip-irrigation had been analyzed by timely measuring the soil water content in horizontal and vertical distances 60 cm and 120 cm away from the irrigating drips, respectively. Periodic spatial and temporal variations of soil water content were observed. When the precipitation effect was not considered, there were no significant differences in the characteristics of soil water among the irrigation intervals in different months, while discrepancies were obvious in the temporal and spatial changes of soil moisture content under the conditions of rainfall and non-rainfall. When it referred to the temporal changes of soil water, it was a little higher in April but a bit lower in July, and the soil water content in June was the highest among four months because some remarkable events of precipitation happened in this month. However, as a whole, the content of soil moisture was reduced as months (from April to July) went on and it took a decreasing tendency along with days (1–15 d) following a power function. Meanwhile, the characteristics of soil water content displayed three changeable stages in an irrigation interval. When it referred to the spatial distributions of soil water, the average content of soil moisture was reduced along with the horizontal distance following a linear regression function, and varied with double peaks along with the vertical distance. In addition, the spatial distribution characteristics of the soil water were not influenced by the factors of precipitation and irrigating time but the physical properties of soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The profile distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) are important indicators for predicting and simulating the effects of human activities on soil fertility and quality. However, most studies have focused on these changes in surface soil or the top 100 cm of short-term cultivated farmlands in arid regions. In the present study, farmlands cultivated for 0, 10, 15, 30, 80 and 100 years in the Cele oasis, at the southern margin of the Tarim Basin, were selected to examine cultivation effects on the vertical distribution of SOC and TN to 200 cm, and to try to find a rational approach to increase the SOC and TN stocks in cultivated farmland. The results showed that although SOC concentration and stock increased significantly at 0–20 cm along the chronosequence, the total SOC stock of the 0–200 cm layer was 13.8% lower in 30-year farmlands and 88.3% higher in 100-year farmlands than that in natural soil due to the corresponding decrease in 30-year farmlands and significant increase in 100-year farmlands at 40–200 cm depth. Cultivation also significantly increased TN concentration and stock at 0–20 cm, but the obvious increase of TN stock at 0–200 cm was only found in 100-year farmlands due to the slight change of TN stock at 40–200 cm except for 100-year farmlands. C and N stocks in the 40–200 cm layer of the cultivated farmlands contributed respectively 67.6 and 61.9% of the total SOC and TN stocks of 0–200 cm, further confirming the importance of C and N cycling in the deep layer. The continuous applications of N fertilizers combined with organic manures and irrigation with silt-laden river water contributed greatly to the increase of SOC and TN stocks. These results suggest that the oasis farmland has great potential capacity to accumulate SOC and TN only if long-term cultivation (> 30 years) and the enhancement of organic materials are implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Taklimakan Desert Highway Shelterbelt is drip-irrigated with high saline groundwater (2. 58-29. 70 g·L-1), and shifting sand burial and water-salt stress are most common and serious problems in this region. So it is of great importance to study the effect of shifting sand burial on soil moisture evaporation, salt accumulation and their distribution for water saving, salinity restraint, and suitable utilization of local land and water resources. In this study, Micro-Lysimeters (MLS) were used to investigate dynamics of soil moisture and salt under different thicknesses of sand burial (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 cm), and field control experiments of drip-irrigation were also carried out to investigate soil moisture and salt distribution under different thicknesses of shifting sand burial (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 cm). The soil daily and cumulative evaporation decreased with the increase of sand burial thickness in MLS, cumulative evaporation decreased by 2. 5% -13. 7% compared with control. And evaporative inhibiting efficiency increased with sand burial thickness, evaporative inhibiting efficiency of 1-5 cm sand burial was 16. 7% -79. 0%. Final soil moisture content beneath the interface of sand burial increased with sand burial thickness, and it increased by 2. 5% -13. 7% than control. The topsoil EC of shifting sand in MLS decreased by 1. 19-6. 00 mS·cm-1 with the increasing sand burial thickness, whereas soil salt content beneath the interface in MLS increased and amplitude of the topsoil salt content was higher than that of the subsoil. Under drip-irrigation with saline groundwater, average soil moisture beneath the interface of shifting sand burial increased by 0. 4% -2. 0% compare with control, and the highest value of EC was 7. 77 mS·cm-1 when the sand burial thickness was 10 cm. The trend of salt accumulation content at shifting sand surface increased firstly, and then decreased with the increasing sand burial thickness. Soil salt contents beneath the interface of shifting sand burial were much lower than that of shifting sand surface. 35 cm was the critical sand burial thickness for water-saving and salt restraint. In summary, sand burial had obvious inhibition effects on soil evaporation and salt accumulation, so maybe it could be used to save water and reduce salt accumulation in arid shifting desert areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pot experiment was conducted to study the influences of different NaCl concentrations (0, 50, 100, 200, 400 mmol·L-1) on the growth, leaf hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), malonaldehyde (MDA) content, superoxide dismutases (SOD), catalases (CAT), peroxidase (POD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) enzymes activity, water potential, soluble sugar and proline contents of Nitraria roborowskii. The results showed that the growth of N. roborowskii was not affected at lower NaCl concentrations (=50 mmol·L-1), while the SOD, POD, CAT and APX activities in leaves of N. roborowskii were increased. However, higher NaCl concentrations (>50 mmol·L-1) restrained the growth parameters of crown area, number of branches, dry mass of leaf, branch and lateral root, and remarkably reduced the SOD, POD and CAT activities, soluble sugar and proline contents in leaves of N. roborowskii. H2O2 and MDA contents in leaves were increased and water potential was reduced with increasing NaCl concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the methods of Biolog, fumigation extraction, and colorimetric titration, this paper determined the soil carbon sources metabolic intensities, microbial biomass, and enzyme activities in the Tarim Desert Highway shelter-forests with different plantation times, and analyzed the variation characteristics of soil microbial activities in these shelter forests. With the increasing planting years of the shelter forests, the soil microbial metabolic activities (AWCD) and microbial diversity indices enhanced obviously, but the AWCD values in different soil layers had no significant differences. The soil catalase activity among the forests had no significant difference, but the soil cellulase and sucrase activities varied significantly. The soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen increased with the increasing planting years of the shelter forests, having a significant difference among the forests, but the microbial biomass phosphorus had no significant difference. The AWCD values had significant correlations with soil available nutrient contents, but less correlations with soil bulk density and moisture content. It was suggested that under the present management patterns and climate conditions, the soil metabolic activities in the Tarim Desert Highway shelter forests would be improved continuously with the increasing planting years of the forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to understand the effects of thinning on the growth of Calligonum arborescens and the soil water-salt distribution in Tarim Desert Highway shelterbelt, a thinning experiment was conducted on an aged and declined C. arborescens woodland in a demonstration section of the shelter-belt, with the growth of C. arborescens and the soil water-salt distribution monitored. Thinning had no effects on the phenophase of C. arborescens, but after thinning, the growth of the current year plant height, crown width, ground diameter, and new branch length of reserved trees was larger than that of the control, and the increment was in the order of planting space 2 m×1 m > 1 m×1 m > the control, with significant differences among the treatments. The assimilation branch surface area in treatments 2 m×1 m and 1 m×1 m were 5. 97 m2 and 5. 22 m2 per plant, respectively, being significantly larger than the control (3. 1 m2 per plant). The soil moisture content in 0-160 cm layer was significantly higher in treatments 2 m×1 m and 1 m×1 m than in the control, and increased obviously with thinning intensity. The soil salt content was in the order of control > planting space 1 m×1 m > 2 m×1 m, and the differences among the treatments were significant. It was suggested that the best reserved plant density after thinning was planting space 2 m×1 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to ensure the stability and sustainability of the Calligonum mongolicum shelter-belt along Tarim Desert Highway, the aged C. mongolicum was stumped to investigate its growth and soil moisture and salt distribution. After stumping twice, C. mongolicum grew rapidly in its height, crown width, maximum basal diameter, and sprout number. Three years after stumping, the average height of the sprouts exceeded the control (no stumping), and the crown width and maximum basal diameter was 92. 0% and 73. 0% of the control, respectively. The fresh mass of the branches and assimilating branches, their dry mass, and the total fresh mass and dry mass of the aboveground parts reached 80. 0%, 115. 0%, 80. 0%, 116. 0%, 93. 5%, and 88. 0% of the control, respectively. Four years after stumping, the aboveground biomass surpassed the control. Comparing with the control, stumping increased the soil moisture content significantly and decreased the soil salt concentration. It was suggested that, to stump the aged C. mongolicum repeatedly could increase the soil moisture content and decrease the soil salt concentration in root zone, and effectively promote the rejuvenation and renewing of C. mongolicum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the 2005-2007 experimental data in Cele oasis in the southern margin of Tarim Basin of Xinjiang, the soil quality of four typical types of farmland with different utilization intensity, i.e., farmland with high input, farmland with normal input, newly reclaimed farmland, and farmland in oasis' interior, was analyzed and assessed by using sustainable yield index, soil improvement index, and soil quality synthesis index. Among the farmlands, there were significant differences in the contents of soil organic matter, available nitrogen, and available phosphorus. Newly reclaimed farmland had the lowest level of soil quality, while the farmland in oasis' interior had relatively higher soil quality. This study could help the reasonable exploitation and utilization of farmlands in Cele oasis, and the protection of local farmland eco-environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using correlation analysis, this paper studied the relationships of soil microbial quantity and biomass with soil physical and chemical factors and enzyme activities in highway shelter-forests of Tarim Desert, aimed to approach the interactions between microbes and environmental factors in aeolian sandy soil of extremely arid area. The results showed that soil microbial quantity and biomass in the shelter-forests had an increasing trend with the decrease of soil bulk density and particle size (R-0.84) and the increase of soil moisture content and porosity (R0.85), with the correlation between soil microbial biomass and soil bulk density as the key. Soil microbial quantity and biomass were positively correlated with soil nutrient contents, mainly caused by the correlations of soil actinomycetes and microbial biomass C and P with soil available nutrients. Greater differences (R=0.51-0.91) were observed in the correlations of soil enzyme activities with soil microbial quantity and biomass, which was mainly determined by the correlations of soil invertase and phosphatase activities with soil actinomycetes and microbial biomass C. The increase of soil salt content was not favorable to the accumulation of soil microbial biomass (R-0.71), and there was a higher positive correlation (R0.63) between soil microbial amount and biomass. In practice, good soil condition should be established in the forestlands of arid area for the development of soil microbes and the promotion of soil matter cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimension temporal and spatial dynamics of the soil water characteristics during four irrigating cycles of months from April to July for the artificial vegetation in the center of Taklimakan Desert under saline water drip-irrigation had been analyzed by timely measuring the soil water content in horizontal and vertical distances 60 cm and 120 cm away from the irrigating drips, respectively. Periodic spatial and temporal variations of soil water content were observed. When the precipitation effect was not considered, there were no significant differences in the characteristics of soil water among the irrigation intervals in different months, while discrepancies were obvious in the temporal and spatial changes of soil moisture content under the conditions of rainfall and non-rainfall. When it referred to the temporal changes of soil water, it was a little higher in April but a bit lower in July, and the soil water content in June was the highest among four months because some remarkable events of precipitation happened in this month. However, as a whole, the content of soil moisture was reduced as months (from April to July) went on and it took a decreasing tendency along with days (1-15 d) following a power function. Meanwhile, the characteristics of soil water content displayed three changeable stages in an irrigation interval. When it referred to the spatial distributions of soil water, the average content of soil moisture was reduced along with the horizontal distance following a linear regression function, and varied with double peaks along with the vertical distance. In addition, the spatial distribution characteristics of the soil water were not influenced by the factors of precipitation and irrigating time but the physical properties of soil.

The Taklimakan Desert Highway Shelterbelt is drip-irrigated with high saline groundwater (2.58-29.70 g x L(-1)), and shifting sand burial and water-salt stress are most common and serious problems in this region. So it is of great importance to study the effect of shifting sand burial on soil moisture evaporation, salt accumulation and their distribution for water saving, salinity restraint, and suitable utilization of local land and water resources. In this study, Micro-Lysimeters (MLS) were used to investigate dynamics of soil moisture and salt under different thicknesses of sand burial (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 cm), and field control experiments of drip-irrigation were also carried out to investigate soil moisture and salt distribution under different thicknesses of shifting sand burial (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 cm). The soil daily and cumulative evaporation decreased with the increase of sand burial thickness in MLS, cumulative evaporation decreased by 2.5%-13.7% compared with control. And evaporative inhibiting efficiency increased with sand burial thickness, evaporative inhibiting efficiency of 1-5 cm sand burial was 16.7%-79.0%. Final soil moisture content beneath the interface of sand burial increased with sand burial thickness, and it increased by 2.5%-13.7% than control. The topsoil EC of shifting sand in MLS decreased by 1.19-6.00 mS x cm(-1) with the increasing sand burial thickness, whereas soil salt content beneath the interface in MLS increased and amplitude of the topsoil salt content was higher than that of the subsoil. Under drip-irrigation with saline groundwater, average soil moisture beneath the interface of shifting sand burial increased by 0.4% -2.0% compare with control, and the highest value of EC was 7.77 mS x cm(-1) when the sand burial thickness was 10 cm. The trend of salt accumulation content at shifting sand surface increased firstly, and then decreased with the increasing sand burial thickness. Soil salt contents beneath the interface of shifting sand burial were much lower than that of shifting sand surface. 35 cm was the critical sand burial thickness for water-saving and salt restraint. In summary, sand burial had obvious inhibition effects on soil evaporation and salt accumulation, so maybe it could be used to save water and reduce salt accumulation in arid shifting desert areas.

A pot experiment was conducted to study the influences of different NaCl concentrations (0, 50, 100, 200, 400 mmol x L(-1)) on the growth, leaf hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), malonaldehyde (MDA) content, superoxide dismutases (SOD), catalases (CAT), peroxidase (POD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) enzymes activity, water potential, soluble sugar and proline contents of Nitraria roborowskii. The results showed that the growth of N. roborowskii was not affected at lower NaCl concentrations (< or = 50 mmol L(-1)), while the SOD, POD, CAT and APX activities in leaves of N. roborowskii were increased. However, higher NaCl concentrations (> 50 mmol x L(-1)) restrained the growth parameters of crown area, number of branches, dry mass of leaf, branch and lateral root, and remarkably reduced the SOD, POD and CAT activities, soluble sugar and proline contents in leaves of N. roborowskii. H2O2 and MDA contents in leaves were increased and water potential was reduced with increasing NaCl concentrations.

By the methods of Biolog, fumigation extraction, and colorimetric titration, this paper determined the soil carbon sources metabolic intensities, microbial biomass, and enzyme activities in the Tarim Desert Highway shelter-forests with different plantation times, and analyzed the variation characteristics of soil microbial activities in these shelter forests. With the increasing planting years of the shelter forests, the soil microbial metabolic activities (AWCD) and microbial diversity indices enhanced obviously, but the AWCD values in different soil layers had no significant differences. The soil catalase activity among the forests had no significant difference, but the soil cellulase and sucrase activities varied significantly. The soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen increased with the increasing planting years of the shelter forests, having a significant difference among the forests, but the microbial biomass phosphorus had no significant difference. The AWCD values had significant correlations with soil available nutrient contents, but less correlations with soil bulk density and moisture content. It was suggested that under the present management patterns and climate conditions, the soil metabolic activities in the Tarim Desert Highway shelter forests would be improved continuously with the increasing planting years of the forests.

In order to understand the effects of thinning on the growth of Calligonum arborescens and the soil water-salt distribution in Tarim Desert Highway shelterbelt, a thinning experiment was conducted on an aged and declined C. arborescens woodland in a demonstration section of the shelterbelt, with the growth of C. arborescens and the soil water-salt distribution monitored. Thinning had no effects on the phenophase of C. arborescens, but after thinning, the growth of the current year plant height, crown width, ground diameter, and new branch length of reserved trees was larger than that of the control, and the increment was in the order of planting space 2 mx 1 m > 1 m x 1 m > the control, with significant differences among the treatments. The assimilation branch surface area in treatments 2 mx 1 m and 1 m x 1 m were 5.97 m2 and 5.22 m2 per plant, respectively, being significantly larger than the control (3.1 m2 per plant). The soil moisture content in 0-160 cm layer was significantly higher in treatments 2 m x 1 m and 1 mx 1 m than in the control, and increased obviously with thinning intensity. The soil salt content was in the order of control > planting space 1 m x 1 m > 2 m x 1 m, and the differences among the treatments were significant. It was suggested that the best reserved plant density after thinning was planting space 2 m x 1 m.

In order to ensure the stability and sustainability of the Calligonum mongolicum shelterbelt along Tarim Desert Highway, the aged C. mongolicum was stumped to investigate its growth and soil moisture and salt distribution. After stumping twice, C. mongolicum grew rapidly in its height, crown width, maximum basal diameter, and sprout number. Three years after stumping, the average height of the sprouts exceeded the control (no stumping), and the crown width and maximum basal diameter was 92.0% and 73.0% of the control, respectively. The fresh mass of the branches and assimilating branches, their dry mass, and the total fresh mass and dry mass of the aboveground parts reached 80.0%, 115.0%, 80.0%, 116.0%, 93.5%, and 88.0% of the control, respectively. Four years after stumping, the aboveground biomass surpassed the control. Comparing with the control, stumping increased the soil moisture content significantly and decreased the soil salt concentration. It was suggested that, to stump the aged C. mongolicum repeatedly could increase the soil moisture content and decrease the soil salt concentration in root zone, and effectively promote the rejuvenation and renewing of C. mongolicum.

The aggravation process of oasisization leads to changes of land use type in oasis rim. In order to discuss the effects of different land use types on soil properties and soil quality, the four land use types located Cele oasis rim in south margin of Tarim Basin, which are the cotton field, orchard, and Caligonum mongolicum Turcz land use type reclaimed by people and nature state land use type covered by Alhagi sparsifolia SHAP, were selected as study object. The relative soil quality index (RI) and the soil quality synthesis index (SQI) were used to analyse the changes of soil quality between four land use types within 0-20 cm, 2040 cm, 40-60 cm soil depth, respectively. Meantime, the fractal theory was used to analyse the particle-size distribution (PSD) property of top soil under different land use types. The results indicated that there was a significant difference in the soil organic matter and total nitrogen in same soil depth between four land use types; the order ranked according to RI was same to the order ranked according to SQI in each soil depth between four land use types. The cotton field and orchard have an obviously positive effect on soil quality of the top soil, however, the soil quality of Alhagi sparsifolia SHAP land use type was gradually increasing along with the increasing soil depth. The soil properties and soil quality of Caligonum mongolicum Turcz land use type were at the lowest level according to the comparison results among all land use types, and the calculation results of PSD fractal dimension also indicated the Caligonum mongolicum Turcz land use type had the worst ability on maintaining soil fine fractions.