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Pinus densiflora is a pine species native to the Korean peninsula, and seed orchards have supplied material needed for afforestation in South Korea. Climate variables affecting seed production have not been identified. The purpose of this study was to determine climate variables that influence annual seed production of two seed orchards using multiple linear regression (MLR), elastic net regression (ENR) and partial least square regression (PLSR) models. The PLSR model included 12 climatic variables from 2003 to 2020 and explained 74.3% of the total variation in seed production. It showed better predictive performance (R2 = 0.662) than the EN (0.516) and the MLR (0.366) models. Among the 12 climatic variables, July temperature two years prior to seed production and July precipitation after one year had the strongest influence on seed production. The time periods indicated by the two variables corresponded to pollen cone initiation and female gametophyte development. The results will be helpful for developing seed collection plans, selecting new orchard sites with favorable climatic conditions, and investigating the relationships between seed production and climatic factors in related pine species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the influence of climatic factors on vegetation dynamics and cumulative effects is critical for global sustainable development. However, the response of vegetation to climate and the underlying mechanisms in different climatic zones remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed the response of vegetation gross primary productivity (GPP) to climatic factors and the cumulative effects across various vegetation types and climatic zones, utilizing data on precipitation (Pr), temperature (Ta), and the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI). The results showed that: (1) GPP showed significant differences among the seven climatic zones, with the highest value observed in zone VII, reaching 1860.07 gC·m− 2, and the lowest in zone I, at 126.03 gC·m− 2. (2) GPP was significantly and positively correlated with temperature in climatic zones I, IV, V, and VI and with precipitation in climatic zones I, II, and IV. Additionally, a significant positive correlated was found between SPEI and GPP in climatic zones I, II, and IV. (3) Drought exerted a cumulative effect on GPP in 45.10% of the regions within China, with an average cumulative duration of 5 months. These effects persisted for 6–8 months in zones I, II, and VII, and for 2–4 months in zones III, IV and VI. Among different vegetation types, forests experienced longest cumulative effect time of 6 months, followed by grasslands (5 months), croplands (4 months), and shrublands (4 months). The cumulative time scale decreased with increasing annual SPEI. The varying responses and accumulation of GPP to drought among different vegetation types in various climatic zones underscore the complexity of vegetation-climate interactions the response and accumulation of GPP to drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study investigates the key factors contributing to the dengue outbreak in Oman. Methods: Data on climate (e.g., temperature, humidity, wind pace), population traits (e.g., populace density), and vector dynamics (e.g., mosquito density) within the Seeb district of Oman from 2022 to 2023 were gathered. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was performed to study which variables affect dengue outbreaks. Results: The results indicate that climatic factors significantly affect the dengue vector (β = -0.361, p < 0.001) but do not directly impact the dengue outbreak. Population characteristics, however, have a more substantial impact on dengue transmission, with a total effect (β = 0.231, p = 0.002) being relatively higher than that of the vector itself (total effect: β = 0.116, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Even with ongoing vector intervention efforts, the study underscores the need to include innovative public health interventions when considering environmental and demographic factors. More advantageous surveillance and focused interventions in excessive-threat regions are essential to mitigate the effect of dengue in Oman. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adequate access to nutritious food is essential for human health and well-being. However, attaining food security has become a grave concern due to increasing population and climate change vulnerabilities. Recently, several studies around the globe have indicated that climate change is likely to impact food security. Studies also show that some non-climatic factors are crucial in determining food security. The present study, therefore, investigates the nexus between food security and non-climatic and climatic factors in the context of India. This paper has considered both climatic factors (temperature, precipitation, and carbon emissions) and non-climatic factors (land and electricity used in the agriculture sector) as explanatory variables, whereas the crop production index is considered a proxy for food security. The "autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL)" model has been used to assess the variables' short- and long-run association by considering the time range from 1990 to 2020. The outcome of the estimation indicates that precipitation, carbon emissions, land, and electricity significantly impact food security in both the short and long run. However, the impact of temperature on food security is insignificantly negative in the short run and positive in the long run. This study thus suggests that the government should develop and implement comprehensive policies to promote sustainable agriculture practices to improve the country's food security level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant aboveground biomass reflects the resilience of ecosystem productivity to different environmental factors and plays an important role in biodiversity and ecosystem carbon cycles. Although many studies have investigated the relationship between aboveground biomass and species diversity, stand structural diversity is an important factor affecting ecosystem function. The mechanism of how climate and soil factors affect aboveground biomass through species diversity and structural diversity remains unclear. Here, combing data from 8 locations of Abies fargesii var. faxoniana primary forest, a structural equation model was used to study the effects of climate factors, soil factors, species diversity, and structural diversity on aboveground biomass. Our results demonstrated that climate factors affect aboveground biomass mainly through the indirect effect of species diversity. Species diversity indirectly affects aboveground biomass through its effects on structural diversity. Both direct effects of soil factors and indirect effects through structural diversity can significantly affect aboveground biomass. Therefore, maintaining higher diversity of stand structure and soil nutrients can improve aboveground biomass, and thus better improve ecosystem functions such as carbon storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought, as one of the main natural hazards faced by human beings, results in grassland degradation, crop yield reduction, forest activity weakening, and even forest mortality. Utilizing drought indices to identify drought is pivotal for improving ecological protection and hazard mitigation. The temperature vegetation drought index (TVDI) is a remotely sensed index that has been widely applied in monitoring drought and assessing its severity. In this study, the TVDI was utilized to investigate drought across different vegetation types from 2001 to 2020 in Jilin Province, China, and to demonstrate the applicability of the TVDI in this region. Our results showed that the drought degree of different vegetation types showed distinct differences. The forest area experienced lower incidences of drought, whereas the grassland and cropland areas exhibited higher incidences of drought. The variation trends of drought were different in Jilin Province from 2001 to 2020. The increasing trends of drought were mainly distributed in the grassland and cropland, while declining trends of drought were mainly distributed in the forest. The impacts of climatic factors on the TVDI differed among different vegetation types. Evapotranspiration (ET) was the main influencing factor for the TVDI in the forest area, and air temperature played a dominant role in the TVDI in the grassland and cropland areas. The cropland biomass was more susceptible to drought stress than that in grassland and forest areas. This study will serve as a valuable reference for assessing the applicability of approaches to identifying regional drought events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rubber plantations are an important component of tropical forest ecosystems and are emerging as crucial contributors to carbon sequestration in the tropics. However, ecosystem respiration (RECO), which constitutes an essential constraint on the carbon fixation capacity of rubber plantations, and its driving mechanisms remains unclear. Therefore, this study developed a data-driven semi-empirical model to simulate rubber plantations RECO utilising eddy covariance flux measurements and was upscaled to Hainan Island using remote sensing images and climatic data. Numerical simulations experiments analysed direct and indirect of climatic factors impacts on rubber plantations RECO. The results showed that the model accurately captured RECO trends and seasonality (R2 = 0.87, RMSE = 1.27 g C m−2 d−1); in the past 19 years, RECO showed a noticeable increase, particularly in the late rainy season and the seasonality of RECO has shown a delayed pattern. The RECO in the central region (52% area) exhibited multimodal enhancement while northern and southern regions (37% area) showed oscillations or decreases. Temporally, RECO is higher in the rainy season compared to the dry season, and spatially, RECO is higher in the southern region than in the northern region. Among the climatic factors, water conditions (rainfall and air humidity) have been emerged as dominant factors (5.38%) influencing RECO, surpassing temperature (3.96%) and radiation (3.81%). In addition, climatic factors make a positive overall contribution during the dry season but perform oppositely in the rainy season. This study offers theoretical and technical insights into high carbon sink management in rubber plantations and carbon sequestration in tropical forests ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation of the net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of agroecosystems may help to assess regional carbon cycles and ensure carbon neutrality. However, farmland NEE is influenced by climate change, phenological period, and crop management. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the time-lag effects of climate change on the phenology and NEE of winter wheat, as well as the influence of crop management. We found that the impact of climate change on the phenology of winter wheat exhibits a time lag of 1 to 2 months, with notable spatial and temporal heterogeneity. When accounting for time-lag effects, the correlation between climate change and both phenology and NEE significantly strengthens, with the lagged impact on NEE primarily mediated through changes in phenology. Specifically, climate change accelerates the green-up and heading dates but delays the maturity date, while crop management extends the phenological period. Our findings indicated that during the green-up stage, NEE is mainly influenced by temperature changes resulting from climate change. During the heading stage, it is predominantly affected by crop management, and during the maturity stage, it is impacted by both factors, with crop management having a more significant effect. Overall, the accelerated green-up stage and delayed heading and maturity stages contribute to enhanced carbon sequestration. This research provides new insights into carbon exchanges in agricultural ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2022, Mexico registered an increase in dengue cases compared to the previous year. On the other hand, the amount of precipitation reported annually was slightly less than the previous year. Similarly, the minimum-mean-maximum temperatures recorded annually were below the previous year. In the literature, it is possible to find studies focused on the spread of dengue only for some specific regions of Mexico. However, given the increase in the number of cases during 2022 in regions not considered by previously published works, this study covers cases reported in all states of the country. On the other hand, determining a relationship between the dynamics of dengue cases and climatic factors through a computational model can provide relevant information on the transmission of the virus. A multiple-learning computational approach was developed to simulate the number of the different risks of dengue cases according to the classification reported per epidemiological week by considering climatic factors in Mexico. For the development of the model, the data were obtained from the reports published in the Epidemiological Panorama of Dengue in Mexico and in the National Meteorological Service. The classification of non-severe dengue, dengue with warning signs, and severe dengue were modeled in parallel through an artificial neural network model. Five variables were considered to train the model: the monthly average of the minimum, mean, and maximum temperatures, the precipitation, and the number of the epidemiological week. The selection of variables in this work is focused on the spread of the different risks of dengue once the mosquito begins transmitting the virus. Therefore, temperature and precipitation were chosen as climatic factors due to the close relationship between the density of adult mosquitoes and the incidence of the disease. The Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm was applied to fit the coefficients during the learning process. In the results, the ANN model simulated the classification of the different risks of dengue with the following precisions (R2): 0.9684, 0.9721, and 0.8001 for non-severe dengue, with alarm signs and severe, respectively. Applying a correlation matrix and a sensitivity analysis of the ANN model coefficients, both the average minimum temperature and precipitation were relevant to predict the number of dengue cases. Finally, the information discovered in this work can support the decision-making of the Ministry of Health to avoid a syndemic between the increase in dengue cases and other seasonal diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is necessary to understand vegetation evolution and its sensitivity to the global climate, particularly with regard to ecosystems and environmental balance. 25 watersheds were selected in Algeria for this study. Here, the vegetation index (NDVI) and climatic variables (precipitation and temperature) were used to verify the temporal-spatial patterns and impact of the time difference from 1981 to 2021 by applying the correlation coefficient and time delay analysis. The NDVI showed a significant decline, especially in recent years, and spatial differences in NDVI in all areas of study were narrow (slope values from 0.0005 to 0.04), decrease in surface water area from year to year was observed in all regions. The vegetation index was negatively associated with low rainfall and high temperatures. The vegetation's reaction to temperature has been greater than that too rainfall. In general, a time lag in the vegetation response was found over a time period of at least 1 month. This study provided new insights into variations in vegetation change and the importance of vegetation recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantity of DNA in angiosperms exhibits variation attributed to many external influences, such as environmental factors, geographical features, or stress factors, which exert constant selection pressure on organisms. Since invasive species possess adaptive capabilities to acclimate to novel environmental conditions, ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) was chosen as a subject for investigating their influence on genome size variation. Slovakia has diverse climatic conditions, suitable for testing the hypothesis that air temperature and precipitation, the main limiting factors of ragweed occurrence, would also have an impact on its genome size. Our results using flow cytometry confirmed this hypothesis and also found a significant association with geographical features such as latitude, altitude, and longitude. We can conclude that plants growing in colder environments farther from oceanic influences exhibit smaller DNA amounts, while optimal growth conditions result in a greater variability in genome size, reflecting the diminished effect of selection pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature and precipitation significantly influence the cultivation of Soybean (Glycine max L.) across the globe. Therefore, the current investigation was planned to evaluate the impacts of these climate change indicators on the phenology and yield of this oilseed legume. For this purpose, the experiments were conducted during June-September of 2019 and 2020 in the rainfed and irrigated regions of Pakistan. Four soybean cultivars, Rawal‑1, Ajmeri, NARC‑2, and NARC-16, were planted on three sowing dates, viz. 15 June, 30 June, and 15 July. The impacts of water availability and climatic conditions were assessed by a relationship between planting dates and phenological and yield parameters. Results revealed that flowering, pod formation, and maturity days were more remarkable in plants cultivated on June 15, while late plantation took the least days to mature. Leaf area index (LAI) and total dry matter (TDM) accelerated 50–70 days after planting. The highest LAI and TDM were observed in the NARC-16 cultivar under all environments, but it performed exceptionally well under irrigated conditions. A similar response was observed in the yield of the early planted NARC-16 cultivar, whereas Rawal‑1 plants produced the least LAI, TDM, and yield regardless of sowing time and environment. The cultivar NARC-16 had a promising yield when sown during the 2nd–3rd week of June and performed equally better under rainfed and irrigated conditions. Therefore, this cultivar is recommended for cultivation for improved production of Soybean in the irrigated and rainfed regions of Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human brucellosis (HB) is a seasonal and climate-affected infectious disease that is posing an increasing threat to public health and economy. However, most of the research on the seasonal relationships and impact of climatic factors on HB did not consider the secular trend and spatiotemporal effect related to the disease. We herein utilized long-term surveillance data on HB from 2008 to 2020 using sinusoidal models to explore detrended relationships between climatic factors and HB. In addition, we assessed the impact of such climatic factors on HB using a spatial panel data model combined with the spatiotemporal effect. HB peaked around mid-May. HB was significantly correlated with climatic factors with 1–5-month lag when the respective correlations reached the maximum across the different lag periods. Each 0.1 °C increase in temperature led to 0.5% decrease in the 5-month lag incidence of HB. We also observed a positive spatiotemporal effect on the disease. Our study provides a detailed and in-depth overview of seasonal relationships and impact of climatic factors on HB. In addition, it proposes a novel approach for exploring the seasonal relationships and quantifying the impacts of climatic factors on various infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes a set of species of allergenic plants in the lowland biomes of Russia. Their species diversity was revealed, a statistical analysis of the relationships between the number of allergenic plant species in regional biomes and climatic indicators was carried out, and the corresponding maps were built and their analysis was given. It is shown that the distribution of the number of allergenic plant species in the spring reflects their clear predominance in broad-leaved forest and forest-steppe biomes, while in the summer allergenic plants predominate in forest-steppe and steppe biomes. The closest positive relationship has been established between the number of allergenic plant species that bloom in the summer and the average annual air temperature, as well as between all allergenic plant species and the average annual air temperature. However, the relationship between the number of allergenic plant species in the biome and the aridity index turned out to be low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue remains an important public health issue in South China. In this study, we aim to quantify the effect of climatic factors on dengue in nine cities of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in South China. Monthly dengue cases, climatic factors, socio-economic, geographical, and mosquito density data in nine cities of the PRD from 2008 to 2019 were collected. A generalized additive model (GAM) was applied to investigate the exposure–response relationship between climatic factors (temperature and precipitation) and dengue incidence in each city. A spatio-temporal conditional autoregressive model (ST-CAR) with a Bayesian framework was employed to estimate the effect of temperature and precipitation on dengue and to explore the temporal trend of the dengue risk by adjusting the socioeconomic and geographical factors. There was a positive non-linear association between the temperature and dengue incidence in the nine cities in south China, while the approximate linear negative relationship between precipitation and dengue incidence was found in most of the cities. The ST-CAR model analysis showed the risk of dengue transmission increased by 101.0% (RR: 2.010, 95% CI: 1.818 to 2.151) for 1 °C increase in monthly temperature at 2 months lag in the overall nine cities, while a 3.2% decrease (relative risk (RR): 0.968, 95% CI: 0.946 to 0.985) and a 2.1% decrease (RR: 0.979, 95% CI: 0.975 to 0.983) for 10 mm increase in monthly precipitation at present month and 3 months lag. The expected incidence of dengue has risen again since 2015, and the highest incidence was in Guangzhou City. Our study showed that climatic factors, including temperature and precipitation would drive the dengue transmission, and the dengue epidemic risk has been increasing. The findings may contribute to the climate-driven dengue prediction and dengue risk projection for future climate scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population dynamics of shrews (Soricidae) are not well known even though they form an important part of forest ecosystems and represent suitable bioindicators of ecosystem quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the population dynamics of shrews in mountain and upland forest clearings in four study areas within the Czech Republic and to reveal how climatic factors influenced fluctuations in their abundance for a decade (2007–2017). In total, we trapped 7,538 individuals of 18 small mammal species. From 760 individuals of seven shrew species, the common shrew (Sorex araneus) was significantly dominated in all study areas. We did not observe any significant, regular multi-annual cycles of the common shrew. However, a cross-correlation in density fluctuation of this species was detected in all mountain areas indicating the influence of environmental factors acting on a larger geographical scale. The autumn abundance of shrews was dependent on the subset of climatic variables, together explaining 56% of the variance in the linear regression model. Except for the length of the snow cover of ≥ 5 cm, all other significant variables were associated with North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Longer duration of snow cover during the winter before trapping, higher average NAO value during months before trapping, and NAO value in September influenced negatively the autumn abundance of shrews, contrary, higher value of NAO in May and October increased the abundance. Our results demonstrate the sensitivity of shrews to winters with a longer period of snow cover and to climatic oscillations associated with the NAO, whose effect is monthly dependent and probably indirectly influencing shrews through their prey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantify the relative effects of climate change and human activities on vegetation cover can help us understand the vegetation cover change and its drivers. Residual analysis, defined as the difference between potential normalized difference vegetation index (NDVIpot) and observed normalized difference vegetation index (NDVIact), was used to solve this problem. The estimation of NDVIpot is one of the important issues faced by ecologists. Due to the strictly protection of environment and ecosystems, the ecosystems in nature reserves are rarely disturbed by human activities. Therefore, establishing NDVIpot estimation model based on nature reserves can improve the estimation accuracy of NDVIpot. However, the estimation of NDVIpot based on nature reserves has not yet been reported. In this paper, the NDVIpot estimation model was established based on nature reserves, and residual analysis was used to quantify the impact of human activities on NDVIact. The results show that the NDVIact in Nanjing metropolitan area (NJMA) showed a significant upward trend from 2000 to 2019, and 74.20% of NJMA showed greening trends, while 24.47% showed browning trends. The temperature and precipitation were positively correlated with normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and the impact of the temperature on NDVI was greater than that of precipitation. The promotion of human activities on NDVI had become more and more significant. There was 51.88% of NJMA where the human activities had a positive promotion effect on NDVI, while there was 46.29% of the regional where the human activities had a negative inhibitory effect on NDVI. The population density (POP) and gross domestic product (GDP) were mainly positively correlated with NDVI, and the impact of the POP on NDVI was greater than that of GDP. The conversion of cropland to forests and the increase of the sown area of crops also caused the NDVI to increase, while the disorderly expansion of urban land caused the NDVI to decrease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is the most widely used factor in the growth status of vegetation, and improving the prediction of NDVI is crucial to the advancement of regional ecology. In this study, a novel NDVI forecasting model was developed by combining time series decomposition (TSD), convolutional neural networks (CNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM). Two forecasting models of climatic factors and four NDVI forecasting models were developed to validate the performance of the TSD-CNN-LSTM model and investigate the NDVI's response to climatic factors. Results indicate that the TSD-CNN-LSTM model has the best prediction performance across all series, with the RMSE, NSE and MAE of NDVI prediction being 0.0573, 0.9617 and 0.0447, respectively. Furthermore, the TP-N (Temperature & Precipitation-NDVI) model has a greater effect than the T-N (Temperature-NDVI) and P-N (Precipitation-NDVI) models, according to the climatic factors-based NDVI forecasting model. Based on the results of the correlation analysis, it can be concluded that changes in NDVI are driven by a combination of temperature and precipitation, with temperature playing the most significant role. The preceding findings serve as a helpful reference and guide for studying vegetation growth in response to climate changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents experimental results of the full-scale climatic tests of functional sealing materials of the VGL-M, VIKSINT U-20-99, and VITEF-1B brands used in the aviation industry in various regions of a tropical humid climate. The impact of tropical humid climate conditions in different regions, taking into account their characteristics, on the preservation of material properties was assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze the effects of climate parameters on the number of urolithiasis treatments in our hospital and understand the effects of climate parameters on the prevalence of urolithiasis in southern Taiwan. We also look at trends associated with urolithiasis and treatments. Retrospectively reviewed the records of extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL), ureteroscopy (URS), retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS), and percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL) performed in our hospital from January 2012 to December 2018. Climate data for were collected from Central Weather Bureau. The monthly meteorological data included average temperatures, humidity, rainfall, sunshine hours, atmospheric pressure, and wind speed. Monthly numbers of patients undergoing stone management was positively correlated to average temperature (r = 0.657), relative humidity (r = 0.234), monthly rainfall (r = 0.261) and monthly sunshine hours (r = 0.348), while it was negatively correlated to atmospheric pressure (r = − 0.522). The multivariate linear regression model demonstrated temperature (ß = 10.682, 95% CI 6.178–14.646, p < 0.001) and Relative humidity (ß = − 95% CI − 5.233- − 1.216, p = 0.002) to be independently related to numbers of stone treatment. The data also revealed a rising prevalence of urolithiasis with an associated increase in the number of interventions, with fewer ESWL (74.0–49.4%). Temperature and relative humidity are associated with monthly numbers of stone treatment. Ambient temperature is the most critical climate factor affecting the prevalence of symptomatic urolithiasis and intention of active stone removal in southern Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is significantly affecting the distribution of plants worldwide. Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal.) Iljinsk. (Juglandaceae), a rare deciduous tree, is a traditional nutraceutical tea owing to its health benefits and appealing flavor. In this study, climatic factors and soil physio-chemical factors were screened using MaxEnt modeling, and suitable habitat areas during three historical periods and under two climatic change scenarios were predicted based on 425 occurrence records. MaxEnt model performance was excellent, showing a high prediction ability, with an average area under curve value of 0.9786 ± 0.0025 and true skill statistic index of 0.9556. Eleven climatic factors, as well as four soil physio-chemical factors, were selected based on jackknife resampling. The habitat suitability simulation for three historical periods (last glacial maximum, mid-Holocene, and 1960–1990) showed that although the high-suitability area for C. paliurus decreased during the three periods, the combined intermediate- and high-suitability area increased. The analysis of the suitable habitat distributions under two global warming scenarios (RCP2.6 and RCP8.5) showed a decline in the suitable habitat area of C. paliurus in response to climatic warming. Our results provide basic references for the management of this species in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large stocks of carbon and nitrogen stored in permafrost regions can potentially feed back to global biogeochemical cycles under climate warming. To understand the response of microbial communities to environmental changes, this study investigated the spatial distribution of bacterial communities in the upper layers (0–10, 10–20, and 20–30 cm) of seasonally frozen soil on the Tibetan Plateau and their relationships with the environmental factors. A total of 135 soil samples were collected from the soils at depths of 0–10, 10–20, and 20–30 cm in the Lhasa River and Nyang River basins, and the diversity and composition of bacterial communities in them were identified by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Bacterial diversity changed significantly with soil depth in the Nyang River basin (p < 0.001), while no obvious change was found in the Lhasa River basin. The whole bacterial composition exhibited small variations across different soil layers (p > 0.05). The relative abundance of aerobic bacteria, Sphingomonas and Arthrobacter, decreased with soil depth, while that of the other aerobic, facultative anaerobic, and anaerobic bacteria did not exhibit this trend. Soil pH was the key driving edaphic factor of the whole bacterial composition in all three depth layers, while vegetation also had an important influence on bacterial composition. Arthrobacter, Bradyrhizobium, and Bacillus had obvious correlations with soil nutrients or vegetation, while the other species were not significantly correlated with any environmental factors. Structural equation modeling revealed that vegetation and mean annual temperature had a key direct impact on the bacterial diversity and composition, respectively. Climate also indirectly affected bacterial communities, mainly through shaping soil pH and vegetation. These results indicate that the soil depth has a different impact on the bacterial α-diversity, whole bacterial composition, and specific taxa in the 0–30-cm surface layers of seasonally frozen soil, which were mainly determined by various environmental factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Little is known about the effects of ambient atmospheric pressure (AP) on intraocular pressure (IOP) under ordinary conditions. This study aimed to investigate the effects of AP on Goldmann applanation tonometer-measured IOP (GAT-IOP) in normal eyes under everyday atmospheric conditions adjusting for effects of possible confounding factors including other climatic factors.Data obtained from 2,431 normal healthy eyes of 2,431 subjects (mean age: 56.9 years) who participated in this population-based glaucoma survey in Japan were analyzed via multivariable linear regression analysis, where the GAT-IOP was the response variable; explanatory variables were the ocular and systemic factors and calendar factors reportedly correlated with GAT-IOP as well as AP, relative humidity, temperature, wind speed, and weather. The Bonferroni correction was adopted to obtain P values.Only AP of the outside air when each subject was examined was positively correlated with GAT-IOP (regression coefficient (RC) = 0.0460; P = 0.0051). Central corneal thickness, body mass index, and systolic blood pressure were positively correlated (RC = 0.0133, 0.0754, 0.0131; P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001, P = 0.0016, respectively), and corneal curvature radius and age were negatively correlated (RC=-0.7017, -0.0225; P = 0.0144, P = 0.0111, respectively) with GAT-IOP. The seasonal effect on GAT-IOP was also significant (P < 0.0001), and in reference to winter, summer was correlated with lower GAT-IOP and spring was correlated with higher GAT-IOP (RC=-0.5133, 0.4590; P = 0.0087, P = 0.0001, respectively).AP was found to have a significantly positive correlation with GAT-IOP in normal healthy eyes under ordinary conditions, though the actual impact of AP on IOP in normal individuals under ordinary conditions would be minimal.Methods: Little is known about the effects of ambient atmospheric pressure (AP) on intraocular pressure (IOP) under ordinary conditions. This study aimed to investigate the effects of AP on Goldmann applanation tonometer-measured IOP (GAT-IOP) in normal eyes under everyday atmospheric conditions adjusting for effects of possible confounding factors including other climatic factors.Data obtained from 2,431 normal healthy eyes of 2,431 subjects (mean age: 56.9 years) who participated in this population-based glaucoma survey in Japan were analyzed via multivariable linear regression analysis, where the GAT-IOP was the response variable; explanatory variables were the ocular and systemic factors and calendar factors reportedly correlated with GAT-IOP as well as AP, relative humidity, temperature, wind speed, and weather. The Bonferroni correction was adopted to obtain P values.Only AP of the outside air when each subject was examined was positively correlated with GAT-IOP (regression coefficient (RC) = 0.0460; P = 0.0051). Central corneal thickness, body mass index, and systolic blood pressure were positively correlated (RC = 0.0133, 0.0754, 0.0131; P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001, P = 0.0016, respectively), and corneal curvature radius and age were negatively correlated (RC=-0.7017, -0.0225; P = 0.0144, P = 0.0111, respectively) with GAT-IOP. The seasonal effect on GAT-IOP was also significant (P < 0.0001), and in reference to winter, summer was correlated with lower GAT-IOP and spring was correlated with higher GAT-IOP (RC=-0.5133, 0.4590; P = 0.0087, P = 0.0001, respectively).AP was found to have a significantly positive correlation with GAT-IOP in normal healthy eyes under ordinary conditions, though the actual impact of AP on IOP in normal individuals under ordinary conditions would be minimal.Results: Little is known about the effects of ambient atmospheric pressure (AP) on intraocular pressure (IOP) under ordinary conditions. This study aimed to investigate the effects of AP on Goldmann applanation tonometer-measured IOP (GAT-IOP) in normal eyes under everyday atmospheric conditions adjusting for effects of possible confounding factors including other climatic factors.Data obtained from 2,431 normal healthy eyes of 2,431 subjects (mean age: 56.9 years) who participated in this population-based glaucoma survey in Japan were analyzed via multivariable linear regression analysis, where the GAT-IOP was the response variable; explanatory variables were the ocular and systemic factors and calendar factors reportedly correlated with GAT-IOP as well as AP, relative humidity, temperature, wind speed, and weather. The Bonferroni correction was adopted to obtain P values.Only AP of the outside air when each subject was examined was positively correlated with GAT-IOP (regression coefficient (RC) = 0.0460; P = 0.0051). Central corneal thickness, body mass index, and systolic blood pressure were positively correlated (RC = 0.0133, 0.0754, 0.0131; P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001, P = 0.0016, respectively), and corneal curvature radius and age were negatively correlated (RC=-0.7017, -0.0225; P = 0.0144, P = 0.0111, respectively) with GAT-IOP. The seasonal effect on GAT-IOP was also significant (P < 0.0001), and in reference to winter, summer was correlated with lower GAT-IOP and spring was correlated with higher GAT-IOP (RC=-0.5133, 0.4590; P = 0.0087, P = 0.0001, respectively).AP was found to have a significantly positive correlation with GAT-IOP in normal healthy eyes under ordinary conditions, though the actual impact of AP on IOP in normal individuals under ordinary conditions would be minimal.Conclusions: Little is known about the effects of ambient atmospheric pressure (AP) on intraocular pressure (IOP) under ordinary conditions. This study aimed to investigate the effects of AP on Goldmann applanation tonometer-measured IOP (GAT-IOP) in normal eyes under everyday atmospheric conditions adjusting for effects of possible confounding factors including other climatic factors.Data obtained from 2,431 normal healthy eyes of 2,431 subjects (mean age: 56.9 years) who participated in this population-based glaucoma survey in Japan were analyzed via multivariable linear regression analysis, where the GAT-IOP was the response variable; explanatory variables were the ocular and systemic factors and calendar factors reportedly correlated with GAT-IOP as well as AP, relative humidity, temperature, wind speed, and weather. The Bonferroni correction was adopted to obtain P values.Only AP of the outside air when each subject was examined was positively correlated with GAT-IOP (regression coefficient (RC) = 0.0460; P = 0.0051). Central corneal thickness, body mass index, and systolic blood pressure were positively correlated (RC = 0.0133, 0.0754, 0.0131; P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001, P = 0.0016, respectively), and corneal curvature radius and age were negatively correlated (RC=-0.7017, -0.0225; P = 0.0144, P = 0.0111, respectively) with GAT-IOP. The seasonal effect on GAT-IOP was also significant (P < 0.0001), and in reference to winter, summer was correlated with lower GAT-IOP and spring was correlated with higher GAT-IOP (RC=-0.5133, 0.4590; P = 0.0087, P = 0.0001, respectively).AP was found to have a significantly positive correlation with GAT-IOP in normal healthy eyes under ordinary conditions, though the actual impact of AP on IOP in normal individuals under ordinary conditions would be minimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding phenological responses of tropical forest plant communities is crucial for identifying climate-induced changes in ecosystem dynamics. Monitoring phenology across diverse species in natural habitats provides cost-effective insights for conserving both species and forests. We studied tree phenology in a lowland evergreen dipterocarp forest in the Western Ghats, India. About 719 tree individuals representing 95 species were monitored for their vegetative and reproductive phenology from April 2021 to September 2023. Circular statistics detected seasonality in phenological events and Generalized Linear Mixed Modelling (GLMM) identified influence of climate variables on the phenological responses of the tree community. We also assessed how the activity and intensity of phenophases vary over the study period. Our results showed that leaf flushing and flowering peaked during the dry season, with mass flowering observed in two dominant dipterocarps. Fruit production peaked before the monsoon. We also observed diversity in vegetative and reproductive phenodynamics across species groups (forest strata, sexual system, and seed size). Leaf flushing was positively correlated with maximum relative humidity and negatively correlated with maximum temperature and the number of rainy days. Flowering had negative correlations with maximum relative humidity, rainfall days, and maximum temperature but showed a positive correlation with minimum temperature. Fruiting was positively correlated with maximum temperature and negatively correlated with rainy days. This detailed phenological information provides critical knowledge on resource availability and insights into how climate and seasonal changes affect plant growth cycles thereby aiding reforestation and biodiversity conservation strategies in vulnerable forest areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The alpha-amylase isozymes in barley are controlled by the Amy 1 and Amy 2 loci located on chromosomes 6 and 1 (=6H and 7H), respectively. An analysis of spring barley varieties cultivated in the territory of the former Soviet Union until 1993 showed the distribution of 11 alleles at the Amy 1 locus and four alleles for another factor among these varieties—Amy 2. Their occurrence was not accidental. The most prevalent alleles were Amy 1.1 and Amy 2.1. The combination of these alleles in varieties was 44.6 ± 2.9%. The next most common were combinations of Amy 1.5 with Amy 2.1 at 10.9 ± 2.2% and Amy 1.4 with Amy 2.1 at 10.4 ± 2.1%. The allele distribution of the Amy 1 and Amy 2 loci in varieties zoned in 25 provinces of the Soviet Union, differing in climatic characteristics, was studied. It was found that the Amy 1.1 and Amy 1.3 alleles showed a positive relationship with hot temperatures, but negative with moisture. In contrast, the Amy 1.4, and Amy 1.6 alleles showed a negative response to heat, but positive to moisture availability. An analysis of the distribution reaction of alleles of another locus Amy 2 showed that the Amy 2.2 allele is associated with arid environmental conditions. Allele Amy 2.1, on the contrary, is confined to regions with good moisture supply and without extreme high temperatures. Continentality of climate did not play a significant role in the distribution of alleles of these loci. As a result, in the direction from north to south, the occurrence of the Amy 1.1 allele increased. Thus, in the northern latitudes of the European part, it was 27–31%, while in the southern steppe regions, the frequency of the Amy 1.1 allele increased to 78–85%. No such clear dynamics was traced in the direction from west to east. A similar pattern was found in the occurrence of the Amy 1.2 allele. With regard to the distribution of the Amy 2.1 allele in the direction from north to south, a tendency toward a decrease in the occurrence of this hereditary factor was observed. On the contrary, the frequency of another allele, Amy 2.2, in this direction among the zoned varieties of spring barley increased from 7–12 to 15–38%. Characteristically, the Amy 1.1 allele causes resistance to high temperature values and a lack of moisture, while the Amy 2.1 allele contributes to a positive response to good moisture availability in the absence of extreme high temperatures. The combination of these genetic factors determines its greatest distribution over the territory of spring barley cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physiological characteristics of trees change with age, suggesting that growth-related climate signals vary over time. This study aimed to clarify the impacts of different diameter classes on the chronological characteristics of Pinus massoniana Lamb. and its response to climatic factors. Chronologies of Pinus massoniana were established in small diameter (14.1 cm), middle diameter (27.3 cm), and large diameter (34.6 cm) trees according to dendrochronology. The results show that: (1) radial growth of different diameter classes had varied characteristics and climate sensitivities; (2) radial growth of small diameter trees was affected by climatic factors of the previous and the current year, while large diameter trees were mainly affected by climatic factors of the current year; and (3) precipitation and temperature were key factors that restricted the radial growth of small and large diameter trees, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The factors of distribution of bur-reeds widely represented in the region—Sparganium hyperboreum and S. emersum—were determined in Northeast Asia (NEA), a large biogeographic region. The species S. hyperboreum is the most widespread in the region, penetrates high into the mountains and far into the Arctic, and occupies the widest range of habitats. The morphologically variable S. emersum is less common and is represented by two forms: broad-leaved S. emersum s. str. and narrow-leaved S. emersum "rothertii." The form S. emersum s. str. is the rarest and grows mainly in the west of the region, mainly in Yakutia, while S. emersum "rothertii" occurs in the eastern part, in the Far East. Both forms are allocated to lowlands, plains, and river valleys. The form S. emersum s. str. and S. hyperboreum are most distant from each other in gradients of bioclimatic characteristics. The form S. emersum "rothertii" occupies an intermediate position in the region, shifting to S. hyperboreum by many climatic parameters. The probability of finds increases to the northeast and with altitude for S. hyperboreum, to the east for S. emersum "rothertii," and to the west for S. emersum. The form S. emersum s. str. requires more heat and a drier climate than the other species. Bioclimatic factors—mean diurnal range of temperature, annual temperature range, mean temperature of the driest quarter, annual precipitation, precipitation seasonality, and precipitation of the wettest and the driest quarter—are predictors of the distribution of bur-reeds in the region. The entire NEA is suitable for the growth of S. hyperboreum and S. emersum according to geospatial and bioclimatic parameters. Their absence in any part is related to a combination of environmental or historical factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea ice has important effect on the marine ecosystem and people living in the surrounding regions in winter. However, the understanding on changes of sea ice in the Bohai and northern Huanghai Sea (BNHS), China is still limited. Based on the images from Visible and InfraRed Radiometer (VIRR) onboard Chinese second generation polar-orbit meteorological series satellites FY-3A/B/C, the sea ice areas in the BNHS were extracted from December 2008 to March 2019, the spatio-temporal distribution characteristics of sea ice and the relationship between sea ice area and climatic factors were analyzed, then a preliminary sea ice forecast model based on the climatic factors was developed. The results showed that sea ice area in the BNHS in each December was relatively small and rather high sea ice occurrence probability appeared in the offshore areas in Liaodong Bay and northern Huanghai Sea. The sea ice area in January or February each year was the largest, and sea ice occurred in most of areas in Liaodong Bay and northern Huanghai Sea with rather high probability and in some areas in Bohai Bay and Laizhou Bay with relatively high probability. However, the sea ice area in each March was the smallest, and sea ice was even melted completely occasionally, hence with relatively low occurrence probability in Liaodong Bay. As for the inter-annual variability of sea ice in the BNHS during the research period, the sea ice area was largest in winter 2010/11 and smallest in winter 2014/15, and annual sea ice area presented a decreasing trend. The atmospheric temperature, western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH), Asia polar vortex (APV), Asian monsoon circulation (AMC) and Eurasian monsoon circulation (EMC) were very important climatic factors for sea ice formation and they had significant correlations with sea ice area. Therefore, a preliminary sea ice forecast model was constructed by using eight climatic factors including western Pacific subtropical high area index (WPSHAI), western Pacific subtropical high intensity index (WPSHII), western Pacific subtropical high northern boundary position index (WPSHNBPI), Asia polar vortex area index (APVAI), Asian zonal circulation index (AZCI), Asian meridional circulation index (AMCI), Eurasian zonal circulation index (EZCI) and mean minimum atmospheric temperature (MMAT). The model was confirmed to have a robust forecast effect by using F-test and validated sample data. The results are useful for monitoring sea ice with remote sensed data and forecasting sea ice conditions by climatic indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents recent data on the demographic structure and population size of C. calceolus in European Russia. The assessment of the species distribution and population size is based on the global classification of terrestrial ecoregions. The long-term dynamics of the number and age structure (150 populations) of C. calceolus were revealed for the 20-year research period, 1997–2020. It has been reliably determined that the number of reproductive plants is positively related to temperature indicators, while the number of pre-reproductive individuals depends on humidity factors and negatively on temperature. Three types of basic age spectra were identified: (1) centered 3:10:47:40 (juvenile (j): immature (im): virginal (v): reproductive (g)), the most common in the European part of the Russian Federation (RF); (2) bimodal 15:26:33:26 (j:im:v:g), mainly found in the western regions; (3) right-hand 0:3:13:82:2 (j:im:v:g:s), which steadily appears in the continental climate of eastern regions of European Russia. The current baseline spectra of C. calceolus populations differ from the baseline spectrum of the species given in the 20th century. The base spectra significantly depends on ecological-phytocoenotic plant community structure and abiotic features of habitats, it shown using the ecological indicator values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose : Soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics strongly affect the terrestrial carbon balance, and stable isotopic measurements provide detailed information about SOC cycling. However, the response of δ13C and SOC to climatic factors is still not well known in high alpine regions. Methods: In this study, soil δ13C and SOC in vertical soil profiles were analysed at alpine grassland sites along four precipitation gradients (350–400, 450–500, 550–600, and 650–700 mm) on the eastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. The β value is defined by the slope of the linear regression relating soil δ13C to the logarithm of SOC, and the higher β values represent slower SOC turnover. Results: The SOC concentration tended to decline with increasing soil depth from 0 to 40 cm, while δ13C was enriched in alpine grassland on the eastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. The δ13C values in the 650–700-mm class were relatively depleted compared with other precipitation classes. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that altitude was the most important factor—explaining 20.9% of the variation in 13C in surface soil (0–10 cm), followed by mean annual air temperature (MAT) (17.1%) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) (16.9%). MAT and altitude were the main factors controlling δ13C and β values. MAP did not significantly affect SOC distribution, but lower δ13C and β values occurred with higher precipitation. Correlations between SOC content and MAT increased significantly after removing relationships with MAP. Conclusions: The results indicate that faster SOC decomposition may not necessarily lead to SOC losses on the eastern Tibetan Plateau given current conditions. Future research should consider the effects of interactions between warmer and wetter conditions (predicted under climate change) on SOC content and turnover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silage maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important forages in the world, and its yield and quality properties are critical parameters for livestock production and assessment of forage values. However, relationships between its yield and quality properties and the controlling factors are not well documented. In this study, we collected 5,663 observations from 196 publications across the country to identify the relationships between yield and quality properties of silage maize and to assess the impact of management practices and climatic factors on its yield and quality in China. The average dry matter yield of silage maize was (19.98±6.93) Mg ha−1, and the average value of crude protein, ether extract, crude ash, crude fiber, acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber, nitrogen-free extract, and relative feed value was 7.86%±1.71%, 2.53%±1.01%, 5.05%±1.66%, 23.97%±6.34%, 27.62%±7.12%, 51.60%±9.85%, 59.68%±7.72%, and 131.17±31.49, respectively. In general, its nutritive value decreased as its yield increased. Increasing planting density could increase the yield but inhibit the nutritive values, while increasing fertilization could benefit the nutritive values. Geographically, the yield increased and the nutritive value decreased from warm (south) to cold (north) regions. The length of growth duration was a major controlling factor for the patterns of these properties. Our findings provide insights for police-makers to make strategy for achieving high yield and good quality of silage maize and help local people to implement better management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Providing safe water and climate action are among the most challenging tasks for the entire world among seventeen sustainable development goals. However, climate change of the planet has become disastrous for the living world as it has many direct and indirect harmful impacts, including water crisis, frequent occurrences of disasters, polar glaciers disappearance, rise in seawater levels, extreme weather events, habitat loss, low agricultural yields, health problems etc. In the current study, the impacts of climate change on water resources (surface water, groundwater) have been discussed briefly. The present study also links climate change with various attributes like productivity, pH balance, oxygenation and the circulation pattern of the marine ecosystem. Diverse climatic-driven phenomena like extreme weather conditions (drought and flood), sea-level rise, melting of ice, loss of productivity and change in nutrient loading in surface water ecosystems, contamination in groundwater and saltwater intrusion in the freshwater aquifer are described in the present study. Further, the climate-induced factors like temperature and precipitation patterns which affect the water quality have been illustrated as these factors have control over the life support systems of the planet. Conservation and management measures of water resources in changing climatic scenarios are also considered in the current study. Moreover, a link between sustainable development goals and climate change has also been part of this study. The authors believe this paper will show a few ways for extensive future research in water resource management and assist the scholars in achieving sustainable development goals in the changing climatic scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aedes aegypti is the main vector of dengue in the Americas and is also a transmitter of urban yellow fever arboviruses, Zika, and Chikungunya, all of which have substantial economic impacts on the affected countries. Through mathematical models, the influence of climatic factors on the oviposition of Ae. aegypti was determined. The data were collected in the city of Apucarana, Paraná State, using oviposition traps. Daily data were submitted to a negative binomial regression model (p < 0.05). The analyses were performed using the R statistical program to determine the climatic factors that most influenced oviposition. A Poisson regression showed that the variables temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, and precipitation significantly increased the number of eggs. However, using the semi-normal probability graph with a simulation envelope, it was determined that the Poisson regression model was not adequate to explain the relationships between the variables. Thus, a negative binomial regression model was used, which overcame the problem of overdispersion, and showed that only temperature affected the increase in the number of eggs, where an increase of 1 °C was expected to result in a 54.03% increase in the number of Ae. aegypti eggs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Norway spruce needle trait variation in natural populations along elevational gradient (980–1860 m a.s.l.) was driven more by environmental than genetic factors. Humid habitats conditioned higher mean values of morpho-anatomical needle traits in relation to dry habitats. Geographical and climatic characteristics (elevation, mean annual temperature, summer heat: moisture index, evaporation, climatic moisture deficit, growing degree-days, heating degree-days, de Martonne's aridity index) drive variations in the morphological and anatomical traits of the Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst) needle (needle length, needle thickness, needle width, epidermis thickness with cuticle, hypodermis height, central bundle diameter, resin duct diameter, and the number of resin ducts). We studied the pattern of variation in these needle characteristics in 15 Balkan Mountains (BM) and Dinaric Alps (DA) natural populations (altitudes ranging from 1100 to 1860 and from 980 to 1530 m a.s.l., respectively). The needle traits showed significant differentiation between mountain regions, between populations and within populations. The largest contribution of genetic component in phenotypic variation had the needle length, both components had the same share in the needle width, whereas the environmental component of variability had the largest share in the other needle traits. The principal component analysis revealed that anatomical needle traits and the climatic conditions contributed to differences between populations from different mountain regions. An agglomerative hierarchical clustering analysis revealed three dendogram clusters: three BM populations made one cluster, DA populations made the second, whereas seven populations close to the BM populations and five close to the DA populations made the third cluster. Patterns of morpho-anatomical phenotypic variability point to selective mechanisms and adjustments, enable to define the boundaries of climate niches, and may provide a starting point for conservation program according to climate change projections in the Balkan region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of climate variation and land use/cover change (LUCC), terrestrial ecosystem has substantially changed over the past few decades, which can be reflected by the variations in net primary productivity (NPP). The Tumen River Basin (TTRB), the center of Northeast Asia, was selected as the study site. On the basis of long-term series of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data sets accompanied with a developed product of meteorological data, the optimized Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach (CASA) model and other common statistical methods as well as the approach of transition matrix were utilized to reveal the spatio-temporal changes of NPP and the effects of climate variation and LUCC on NPP from 1982 to 2012 in TTRB. The results indicated that throughout the past 31 years NPP exhibited a general upward trend on both spatial and temporal levels whereas the spatial downward trend accounting for 38% of the area and obvious fluctuations in the temporal trend plot of NPP variability collectively connoted the partial degradation of ecosystem in TTRB. The correlation analysis between NPP and climatic factors at spatial and temporal scales revealed that temperature affected local NPP greater than precipitation. The quantitative evaluation for the impact of LUCC on NPP underscored that national ecological policies were largely effective in the restoration of ecosystem. The more prominent role of climate variation on NPP than LUCC indicated that the new ecological strategy should pay more attention to the relations between NPP and climatic variables. Simultaneously, assistant measures should be added to form a holistic management scheme for the ecosystem in TTRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organoplastics are multifunctional materials for a wide range of applications. However, their dielectric characteristics are rarely noted: organoplastics are dielectrics, which exhibit a high dielectric strength, specific volume resistance, and a low dielectric loss factor. The level of preservation of the electrophysical characteristics of organoplastics is as good as that of glass–fiber-reinforced plastics under the action of climatic factors; organoplastics exhibit high stability of characteristics after long-duration humidification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Longevity research is a hot topic in the health field. Considerable research focuses on longevity phenomenon in Bama Yao Autonomous County, which has a typical karst landform and is located in Southwest China. This study aims to illustrate the spatial feature of longevity indicators in other Yao areas, to analyze the correlation between climatic factors and longevity indicators, and to provide new clues and targets for further longevity studies. We collect and integrate population, climate, and terrain data into a spatial database. The main analysis methods include spatial autocorrelation, high/low clustering, and multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR). Two longevity clusters are identified in Guijiang River Basin (longevity index (LI%): 2.49 ± 0.63) and Liujiang River Basin (LI%: 2.13 ± 0.60). The spatial distribution of longevity indicators is autocorrelative (Moran's I = 0.652, p < 0.001) and clustered significantly (Z score = 4.268, p < 0.001). MGWR shows that the atmospheric pressure significantly affects the spatial distribution of LI% (estimate value (EV) = − 0.566, p = 0.012), centenarity index (CI%) (EV = − 0.425, p = 0.007), UC (EV = − 0.502, p = 0.006), and CH (EV = − 0.497, p = 0.007). Rainfall significantly affects the spatial distribution of LI% (EV = 0.300, p = 0.003) and CI% (EV = − 0.191, p = 0.016). The spatial distribution of the main longevity indicators shows significant heterogeneity and autocorrelation, and they cluster in the Guijiang River and Liujiang River basins. Atmospheric pressure and rainfall may contribute to the longevity phenomenon through complex mechanisms. The longevity phenomenon in the Yao nationality in Guijiang River Basin requires further study to improve our understanding of the health effect of meteorological, environmental, and social conditions on longevity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of internet-based query data offers a novel approach to improve disease surveillance and provides timely disease information. This paper systematically reviewed the literature on infectious disease predictions using internet-based query data and climate factors, discussed the current research progress and challenges, and provided some recommendations for future studies. We searched the relevant articles in the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases between January 2000 and December 2019. We initially included studies that used internet-based query data to predict infectious disease epidemics, then we further filtered and appraised the studies that used both internet-based query data and climate factors. In total, 129 relevant papers were included in the review. The results showed that most studies used a simple descriptive approach (n=80; 62%) to detect epidemics of influenza (including influenza-like illness (ILI)) (n=88; 68%) and dengue (n=9; 7%). Most studies (n=61; 47%) purely used internet search metrics to predict the epidemics of infectious diseases, while only 3 out of the 129 papers included both climate variables and internet-based query data. Our research shows that including internet-based query data and climate variables could better predict climate-sensitive infectious disease epidemics; however, this method has not been widely used to date. Moreover, previous studies did not sufficiently consider the spatiotemporal uncertainty of infectious diseases. Our review suggests that further research should use both internet-based query and climate data to develop predictive models for climate-sensitive infectious diseases based on spatiotemporal models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contribution of Douglas-fir (Df) to European forests is likely to increase as the species is a potential adaptation option to climate change. In this study, we investigated growth and survival of Df seed sources to fill a knowledge gap regarding recommendations for the future use of Df provenances in Poland. Our experimental test site represents the most continental climate among all Df trials installed in the IUFRO 1966–67 test series in Europe. At this unique single site, we evaluated the performance of 46 Df provenances from North America, and nine local landraces of unknown origin. Repeated measurements of tree diameter, height, and volume were analysed, to age 48, representing integrated responses to geographic and climatic conditions. Significant variation in survival and productivity-related traits were found, with the interior Df provenances performing best, in contrast to previous European reports. The higher survivability and volume of the interior provenances resulted from their superior frost resistance. The low precipitation seasonality at the location of seed origin provided an additional advantage to the trees at the test site. Geographic and climatic factors of seed origin explained most of the variation in productivity (77 and 64%, respectively). The tested landraces exhibited diverse performance, implying that naturalized local seed sources in Poland need improvement and perhaps enrichment with new genetic material from North America, while considering geography and climate. Assisted migration programs should consider the limitations imposed by both frost and drought events in guiding future Df selections for continental climates. Further field testing, early greenhouse screening and DNA testing are also recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between plant species and climatic factors has always been a fundamental issue in plant ecology, and the use of multivariate statistical methods can be effective in revealing the relationship between climatic factors and plant species distribution. Therefore, in this study, climatic factors affecting the distribution of Artemisia sieberi and Artemisia aucheri, widely distributed in Iran, were investigated. For this purpose, 117 climatic factors were used, and to reduce the number of factors and determine the most important effective ones, a factor analysis was used by principal component analysis. The results showed that six factors including heating temperature, spring and summer precipitation, wind, autumn–winter precipitation, and dusty and cloudiness days explained 37.32%, 22.54%, 7.18%, 6.6%, 4.22%, and 4.15% of data variation, respectively. Together these seven factors account for 82% of data variation. The autumn–winter precipitation and heating temperature had the greatest impact on the presence of Artemisia sieberi and Artemisia aucheri, respectively, so that the autumn–winter precipitation was negative in areas where Ar.sieberi is observed. The heating temperature factor is negative in areas where Ar.aucheri is present, while it is positive in areas lacking Ar.aucheri. The study of the effect of environmental factors on Artemisia species distribution is very important in the planning and management of natural resources, and Artemisia is one of the most important plants in the country's rangelands; therefore, the results of this research can be used for practical planning, management, and reclamation of these rangelands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The architecture of rice plant represents important and complex agronomic traits, such as panicles morphology, which directly influence the microclimate of rice population and consequently grain yield. To enhance yield, modification of plant architecture to create new hybrid cultivars is considered a sustainable approach. The current study includes an investigation of yield and microclimate response index under low to high plant density of two indica hybrid rice R498 (curved panicles) and R499 (erect panicles), from 2017 to 2018. The split-plot design included planting densities of 11.9–36.2 plant/m2. The results showed that compared with R498, R499 produced a higher grain yield of 8.02–8.83 t/ha at a higher planting density of 26.5–36.2 plant/m2. The response index of light intensity and relative humidity to the planting density of R499 was higher than that of R498 at the lower position of the rice population. However, the response index of temperature to the planting density of R499 was higher at the upper position (0.2–1.4%) than at the lower position. Compared with R498, R499 at a high planting density developed lower relative humidity (78–88%) and higher light intensity (9900–15,916 lx) at the lower position of the rice population. Our finding suggests that erect panicles are highly related to grain yield microclimatic contributors under a highly dense rice population, such as light intensity utilization, humidity, and temperature. The application of erect panicle rice type provides a potential strategy for yield improvement by increasing microclimatic conditions in rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop cultivar performance is a result of combined effects of genotype, environment and genotype × environment (G × E) interaction. To effectively generate reliable estimates of crop yield the magnitude and patterns of G × E in regional yield trials should be specified. This research aimed to (1) investigate existing possible mega-environments (ME) and suitability of test locations for winter wheat zoning, and (2) determine the role of climatic factors in clustering patterns of G × E. Winter wheat yield data from a three-year nationwide yield trial consisting of 24 genotypes grown in 24 test environments supplemented with 37 climatic factors were subjected to empirical and analytical analyses. Standard deviation-scaled genotype main effect and G × E interaction (SD-GGE) biplot methodology, factorial regression and partial least square regression were applied to both analyses. The combined ANOVA showed that the environmental effect was the main source of variation (83%), and the magnitude of G × E interaction was sixfold greater than genotype alone. The SD-GGE biplot confirmed non-repeatable patterns for grouping of test locations across years, indicating significant (P < 0.01) rank-change location-by-year interactions and existence of strong "crossover" G × E interactions. This led to the conclusion that the winter wheat growing region in Iran consists of a single but complex ME for grain yield, suggesting that high-yielding-and stable winter wheat genotypes should be developed for the entire region rather than genotypes adapted to specific agro-ecological regions. Precipitation (monthly and total) and temperature (minimum, maximum and average) accounted for 25.4% and 56.8% of total G × E. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the performance of multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) and extremely randomized trees (ERT) models for predicting the internal and external dust events frequencies (DEF) across the northeastern and southwestern regions of the Gavkhouni International Wetland. These models were also evaluated to model the internal DEF (IDEF) across the northwestern, southeastern, northern, and western regions around the wetland. Furthermore, the main factors controlling DEF and IDEF were identified based on the importance value (IV) of predictors in the best model. The results showed that the ERT model increased the prediction accuracies by an average of 40%, compared to the MARS model. According to the IV obtained from the ERT model, aerosol optical depth (IV = 0.28), wetland discharge (IV = 0.25), near-surface wind speed (IV = 0.08), and erosive winds frequency (IV = 0.07) were identified as the most important factors controlling DEF across the northeastern and southwestern regions of the wetland. However, the erosive wind speed was detected as the major factor affecting the IDEF in the northern (IV = 0.16), western (IV = 0.18), and southeastern (IV = 0.65) regions of study wetland. It was also found that vapor pressure with IV of 0.32 had the greatest effect on IDEF variations across the northwestern region of the wetland. Overall, the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the ERT model in modeling the factors affecting DEF and IDEF, and the results may be used to mitigate dust events hazards around the Gavkhouni Wetland, in central Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new coronavirus (CoV), called novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), belongs to the Coronaviridae family which was originated from the sea market in Wuhan city in China, at the end of the year 2019. COVID-19 and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are belonging to the same family (Coronaviridae). The current outbreak of COVID-19 creates public concern and threats all over the world and now it spreads out to more than 250 countries and territories. The researchers and scientists from all over the world are trying to find out the therapeutic strategies to abate the morbidity and mortality rate of the COVID-19 pandemic. The replication, spreading, and severity of SARS-CoV2 depend on environmental settings. Noteworthy, meteorological parameters are considered as crucial factors that affect respiratory infectious disorders, although the controversial effect of the meteorological parameter is exposed against COVID-19. Besides, COVID-19 accelerates the pathogenesis of the neurological disorders. However, the pathogenic mechanisms between COVID-19 and neurological disorders are still unclear. Hence, this review is focused on the genomics and ecology of SARS-CoV2 and elucidated the effects of climatic factors on the progression of COVID-19. This review also critically finds out the vulnerability between COVID-19 and neurological disorders based on the latest research data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) as a vector-borne disease, is an endemic in the northwest and south of Iran and sporadic in other areas in the country. This study was performed to investigate the Granger causality analysis of the impacts of climatic factors on VL in northwestern Iran throughout the period from 1995 to 2019. In a longitudinal study, the epidemiological data of patients suffering from VL were collected from the health centers and hospitals in Meshkinshahr County, Ardabil province, between 1995 and 2019. Moreover, the environmental and climatic data of each location, such as temperature, humidity, rainfall, the number of frost and warm days in the year, were obtained from the meteorological center of the county and put into the Excel software. The incidence rate of VL was modeled by time series analysis and to compare its relationship with other time series covariates, the Granger causality analysis was used. The results of Granger causality analysis showed that some climatic variables including daily mean temperature, absolute minimum temperature, maximum and minimum temperature and maximum humidity were the main factors affecting the prevalence of VL in northwestern Iran. The findings greatly demonstrated that the potential of Granger causality in epidemiologic status of VL in northwestern Iran. Moreover, the results suggest that in addition to patient-related and biological factors, environmental and climatic factors such as temperature and humidity also play a major role in completing the transmittance cycle of VL in an endemic focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetlands are one of the most important aquatic ecosystems that are vulnerable to various factors, including human activity or natural events such as drought. Remote sensing technology is an effective technique for managing and monitoring changes in these ecosystems caused by natural events and human activities. The present study evaluated the effects of changes at Bakhtegan Lake on six climatic parameters in its surrounding environments. Landsat satellite imagery was used to monitor changes in the Bakhtegan Lake surface during times of maximum extent in the period from 2000 to 2015. Support vector machine (SVM) classification was applied to extract the characteristics of the lake surface. Then, the distance of 80 km from the lakeshore was identified as the environment of its influence on the surrounding land, which was divided into three buffers from 0 to 25, 26–55 and 56–80 km. The results showed that a higher accuracy than the index for extracting lake area was achieved using the SVM classification method. Additionally, the climate parameters of mean annual precipitation, relative humidity, and percentage of cloud cover significantly influenced (0.001) lake surface changes in buffer one, indicating the highest impact among all climatic parameters. In buffer two, the significance level of the precipitation parameter decreased to about 0.05, and the annual mean minimum temperature was significantly lower (0.05); however, the mean annual minimum and maximum temperatures were not significant [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Land cover change (LCC) from natural forest (NF) to plantations (PF) has occurred worldwide over the past several decades. However, the different LCC effects on soil aggregate C and N turnover in various climatic zones remain uncertain. Methods: Soil samples were taken from both NF and PF at five sites along an approximately 4200 km north-south transect in eastern China. We measured soil aggregate C and N concentrations, and δ13C and δ15N. Results: The soil aggregate distribution is similar between NF and PF, except that the mass proportion of microaggregate is lower in NF. The impacts of LCC on soil C and N concentrations, and δ13C and δ15N vary among five climate zones. The changes in soil aggregate C and N concentrations and δ15N induced by LCC show nonlinear relationships with climatic factors (i.e., MAT and MAP), and there is a linear relationship between soil aggregate Δδ13C (calculated by subtracting PF from NF) and MAT and MAP. The soil aggregate C and N concentrations, and δ13C and δ15N show clear trends along the climatic transect. In addition, the impacts of LCC are more obvious in topsoil than in subsoil. Conclusion: Our findings highlight that the impacts of LCC on soil C and N concentrations are related to climatic factors. Specifically, that the increased decomposition of soil C in PF than NF can be compensated by higher C inputs with increasing MAT and MAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The response of climate change to the existing biotic stresses in legumes especially fungal diseases is a key global concern. The legumes are attacked by several yield-limiting fungal diseases, and dry root rot (DRR) or charcoal rot (CR) caused by Macrophomina phaseolina is an important disease in legumes. There have been noteworthy scientific reports on the issue of how climate change is expected to be accountable for the survival and spread of M. phaseolina in legumes and other crops. In particular, microsclerotia, which are the source of primary inoculum, play an important role in the life cycle of M. phaseolina, help in survival and spread as well as disease initiation and development. Adaptation strategies through crop management (rotating field and cropping practices, use of chemicals and bio-fungicides) and development of resistant varieties through breeding could be developed, evaluated and pooled to partially cope with the impact of M. phaseolina in legumes. The adaptation strategies can support to alleviate some of the climate change impacts in disease spread in legumes; however, eventually, there is a boundary as to how far leguminous crops can adapt to the changing climate and can combat with the DRR/CR, which is essential for durable food security. Understanding the current status of spread of M. phaseolina in legumes due to climate change and limitations of the existing mitigation strategies is important, and there are many breaks for the future study. This review discusses the current status of significance of M. phaseolina in legumes, impact of climatic factors on its life cycle, survival and spread in different leguminous crops, adaptation strategies and impact of climate change on it as well as highlights important knowledge gaps for potential future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the joint effects of ecosystem fragility, anthropogenic disturbance and climate change, alpine grasslands (alpine meadow, alpine steppe and alpine desert) have experienced serious degradation during the past several decades. Grasslands degradation has severely affected the delivery of ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) and services, and then threatens the livelihood of local herdsmen and ecological security of China. However, we still lack comprehensive insights about the effects of degradation and climatic factors on EMF of alpine grasslands, especially for alpine desert ecosystem. Therefore, we applied a large-scale field investigation to answer this question. Our results suggested grassland degradation significantly decreased the belowground ecosystem multifunctionality (BEMF) and EMF of alpine grasslands and aboveground ecosystem multifunctionality (AEMF) of alpine meadow, while did not reduce the AEMF of alpine steppe and desert. Except for the insignificant difference between degraded steppe and degraded desert in AEMF, the alpine meadow showed the highest AEMF, BEMF and EMF, alpine steppe ranked the second and alpine desert was the lowest. AEMF, BEMF and EMF of health alpine grasslands were strongly affected by mean annual precipitation (MAP) (19%–51%) and mean annual temperature (MAT) (9%–36%), while those of degraded meadow and degraded desert were not impacted by precipitation and temperature. AEMF and BEMF showed a synergistic relationship in healthy alpine grasslands (12%–28%), but not in degraded grasslands. Our findings emphasized the urgency of implementing the feasible ecological restoration project to mitigate the negative influences of grassland degradation on EMF of alpine ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demographic structure of 39 coenopopulations of Tulipa suaveolens Roth in the Lower Volga region was studied. It has been shown that they occupy an area from 0.01 to 20 000 ha or more. Small-area populations grow mainly closer to the northern border of the species range. The density of all individuals (1.6–240.7 PCs/m2) and the number of generative plants (0.1–58.2 PCs/m2) at the interpopulation level varied over a wide range, changing significantly over the years mainly in the populations exposed to recreational load or grazing. The percentage of generative individuals ranged from 2 to 96%. In the years 2013–2016 there was a significant negative correlation between the geographical latitude corresponding to the place of growth of a coenopopulation and the proportion of plants of the generative state therein. On the contrary, in the years 2017–2018 in the southern and western parts surveyed of the habitat the plants of the pregenerative period prevailed, while the share of flowering plants significantly decreased. The observed dynamics correlates well with the weather conditions of the growing season of tulips. In the period 2013–2016, in the southern part of the territory studied, arid conditions were formed just in the spring and seedlings fell out at an early stage of their development. The spring periods of 2017 and 2018 were wetter, and seedlings successfully passed through the early stages of ontogenesis. Thus, cyclical fluctuations of weather conditions significantly affect the demographic structure of the T. suaveolens coenopopulations. Accordingly, the contribution of different years to the renewal of populations is different. The populations in the southern regions maintain a high number of individuals and occupy larger areas mainly due to their long life. Rare seasons with favorable weather conditions provide outbreaks of juvenile plants. In the northern regions of the territory studied, more favorable conditions for the development of sprouts of this species are formed, and fluctuations in the demographic structure of coenopopulations are less pronounced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]