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A Proposal on the Restoration of Nostoc flagelliforme for Sustainable Improvement in the Ecology of Arid Steppes in China
- Source :
- Environments, Vol 3, Iss 2, p 14 (2016)
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- MDPI AG, 2016.
-
Abstract
- Nostoc flagelliforme, a filamentous nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium, is widely distributed in arid steppes of the west and northwestern parts of China. However, as a food delicacy this species has been overexploited from 1970 to 2000. Moreover, overgrazing, land reclamation and the removal of medicinal herbs have caused severely reduced vegetation coverage there. In this communication, a badly damaged but slowly rehabilitating N. flagelliforme-inhibiting steppe is described, and the rehabilitation of desertified steppes by the renewed growth of N. flagelliforme is proposed. The restoration of this dominant nitrogen supplier would be an ecologically sustainable solution for supplementing current measures already taken in the desertified regions. In addition, a goal of 50%–60% vegetation coverage is proposed by the N. flagelliforme restoration.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Nostoc
Steppe
ecological improvement
Ecology (disciplines)
Nostoc flagelliforme
010501 environmental sciences
01 natural sciences
lcsh:TD1-1066
Land reclamation
Overgrazing
lcsh:Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
China
arid steppe
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
General Environmental Science
geography
terrestrial cyanobacteria
geography.geographical_feature_category
biology
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Ecology
010604 marine biology & hydrobiology
Vegetation
biology.organism_classification
Arid
carbon-nitrogen cycle
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20763298
- Volume :
- 3
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Environments
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....97fb3482b9a533b5f1fd4d89b9adf932