Soil salinization is a major obstacle to the optimal utilization of land resources. Salt鄄affected soils are widely distributed throughout the world. The present extent of salt鄄affected soils substantially restricts plant growth in these areas. It has been demonstrated that leaching with water, chemical amendment, surface mulching with straw and phytoremediation are the most often used approaches to ameliorate saline soils. Engineering measures are also an effective solution to control salt movement in the saline soil. Establishing salt鄄isolation interlayers beneath the surface of saline soil is one of the most widely used engineering measures. Even though there are many studies dealing with salt鄄isolation interlayers establishment, very little is known about their effects on saline soil. Here, we used three salt鄄isolation materials to restrict the water and http: / / www.ecologica.cn salt movements in saline soil: zeolite, ceramsite and river sand. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of salt鄄 isolation interlayers application on soil water and salt movements in saline soil and on the photosynthetic characteristics of Robinia pseudoacacia in the coastal regions of Tianjin city. We also anticipate that the outcome of the study could form part of the basis for selection of salt鄄isolation materials in improving coastal saline soil with consideration of their costs. The

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The Yangtze River and Yellow River source regions are part of the highest and largest distribution area of wetlands in the world and play a key role in sustaining the ecosystem balance in this region. Current global changes, such as climate change and human activity, are significantly affecting the landscape pattern of these wetlands. These changes have had a major effect on the water cycle and ecosystem balance in this region and have attracted widespread attention. In order to clarify the characteristics of these changes, this research examines the temporal and spatial variation of the distributive patterns of the alpine wetlands in the Yangtze River and Yellow River source regions. The analysis was conducted by using

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There was a total of 273 697. 54 hm 2 of aeolian sandy lands in the Yarlung Zangbo River basin of Tibet in 2008. The fast development of aeolian sand lands has caused immense damages to its social and economic development, it is urgent to choose appropriate plant species for vegetation restoration of the moving sand dunes in the basin. Thus, we carried out a continuous trial of the field artificial seeding on sand dunes in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River basin, the main testing plant species included the northern China忆 s psammophyte species and the Tibet忆 s native species. The germination, emergence, growth processes and reproduction of the testing plant species were observed from 2008 to 2011, based on these, the best suitable species on sand dunes in the alpine valley were determined, which could be used to guide the ongoing vegetation recovery and reconstruction on aeolian sandy land in the studied area. The results showed that the plant height and plant size growth of northern China忆s psammophyte species were larger than that of native psammophyte species in the field artificial seeding trial, and the species such as Artemisia sphaerocephala, Hedysarum scoparium, Calligonum mongolicum, H. fruticosum var. mongolicum and Sophora moorcroftiana all exhibited good adaptability to