Search results

Abstract. Climate changes seriously affect people's daily life. Temperature and precipitation have been the focus of many studies dealing with regional climate changes in recent decades. In this study, the climatic trends in Xinjiang, northwest of China during 1961–2008 are analysed in detail on the basis of several parameters: annual and seasonal mean precipitation, and annual mean, minimum, and maximum temperatures. The results show a significant increasing trend of 7.40 mm decade−1 in the annual mean precipitation and a relatively minimal upward trend of 1.45 mm decade−1 in winter in Xinjiang. The annual mean temperature increases significantly in Xinjiang with an increasing trend of 0.30 °C decade−1. There is an increasing trend of 0.25 °C decade−1 in the annual maximum temperature and an increasing trend of 0.52 °C decade−1 in the annual minimum temperature.

Abstract. Extreme precipitation events are major causes of severe floods and droughts worldwide. Therefore, scientific understanding of changing properties of extreme precipitation events is of great scientific and practical merit in the development of human mitigation of natural hazards, such as floods and droughts. Wetness and dryness variations during 1961–2008 in Xinjiang, a region of northwest China characterised by an arid climate, are thoroughly investigated using two extreme precipitation indices. These are annual maximum consecutive dry days (CDD) and annual maximum consecutive wet days (CWD), based on a daily precipitation dataset extracted from 51 meteorological stations across Xinjiang. As a result, we present spatial distributions of mean annual CDD and mean annual CWD and their trends within the study period. The results indicate that: (1) CDD maximize in the Taklimakan and Turban basins of southeast Xinjiang, while minima are found in the Tianshan Mountains and the Ili river valley of northwest Xinjiang. On the contrary, the longest CWD are observed in northwest Xinjiang and the shortest in the southeast part of the region. (2) On an annual basis, CWD temporal variability shows statistically positive trends and a rate of increase of 0.1d/10a. CDD temporal variability shows statistically negative trends and a rate of decrease of 1.7d/10a. (3) Goodness-of-fit analysis for three candidate probability distribution functions, generalised Pareto distribution (GPD), generalised extreme value (GEV) and Gumbel, in terms of probability behaviours of CDD and CWD, indicates that the GEV can well depict changes of CDD and CWD. (4) The CDD and CWD better describe wet and dry conditions than precipitation in the Xinjiang. The results pave the way for scientific evaluation of dryness/wetness variability under the influence of changing climate over the Xinjiang region.

[EN] This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with taurine on production performance, serum biochemistry, immunoglobulin, antioxidant and hormones of Angora rabbits. A total of 160 8-month-old Angora rabbits with similar body weight were randomly assigned to one of four dietary groups, with 40 animals per group. The dietary groups consisted of the following different taurine supplementation levels: 0 (control), 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3% (air-dry basis). The 73-d feeding trial (from July 31 to October 11, 2016 in China) included a 7-d adjustment period and a 66-d experimental period. The results showed that taurine dietary supplementation had effects on feed consumption, hair follicle density and wool yield of the Angora rabbits (P 0.05), and adding 0.2% taurine could improve the wool yield. Compared with the control group, serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels in supplemented groups were decreased (P 0.05). Dietary supplementation with taurine could improve the activity of superoxide dismutase, enhance total antioxidant capacity and reduce the content of malondialdehyde in serum (P 0.05). Besides, the serum level of thyroid (T4) hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 in experimental groups was higher than that in the control group (P 0.05). In conclusion, taurine dietary supplementation could reduce the lipid metabolism, enhance the antioxidant capacity and hormone level of Angora rabbits, and adding 0.2% taurine could achieve the effect of increasing wool production. ; This study was partially funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31501927), Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (No. ZR2020MC163), the Thoroughbred Project from Shandong government (2017LZN008), and Shandong Province Modern Agricultural Technology System Innovation Team (SDAIT-21). ; Liu, GY.; Jiang, WX.; Sun, HT.; Gao, SX.; Yang, LP.; Liu, C.; Bai, LY. (2021). Effects of dietary supplementation with taurine on production performance of Angora rabbits. World Rabbit ...

Este artículo contiene 10 páginas, 3 tablas, 2 figuras. ; Policies aiming to preserve vegetated coastal ecosystems (VCE; tidal marshes, mangroves and seagrasses) to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions require national assessments of blue carbon resources. Here, we present organic carbon (C) storage in VCE across Australian climate regions and estimate potential annual CO2 emission benefits of VCE conservation and restoration. Australia contributes 5–11% of the C stored in VCE globally (70–185 Tg C in aboveground biomass, and 1,055–1,540 Tg C in the upper 1m of soils). Potential CO2 emissions from current VCE losses are estimated at 2.1–3.1 Tg CO2-e yr-1, increasing annual CO2 emissions from land use change in Australia by 12–21%. This assessment, the most comprehensive for any nation to-date, demonstrates the potential of conservation and restoration of VCE to underpin national policy development for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. ; This project was supported by the CSIRO Marine and Coastal Carbon Biogeochemical Cluster, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, the ECU Faculty Research Grant Scheme and Early Career Research Grant Schemes, UTS Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, NSW Southeast Local Land Services, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Parks Victoria, Victorian Coastal Catchment Management Authorities (GHCMA, CCMA, PPWCMA, WGCMA, EGCMA), University of Queensland Centennial Scholarship, Hodgkin Trust Scholarship, Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Northern Territory Government Innovation Grant, Australian Research Council (DE130101084, DE140101733, DE150100581, DE160100443, DE170101524, DP150103286, DP150102092, DP160100248, DP160100248, DP180101285, LE140100083, LE170100219, LP150100519, LP160100242 and LP110200975), the Generalitat de Catalunya (MERS 2014 SGR-1356), the ICTA 'Unit of Excellence' (MinECo, MDM2015-0552), Obra Social "LaCaixa", SUMILEN, CTM 2013-47728-R, Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and UKM-DIP-2017- 005. ; Peer reviewed