Plant litter decomposition in a semi-arid ecosystem controlled by photodegradation
Article Abstract:
The influence of solar radiation, soil biotic activity, and soil resource availability on plant litter decomposition in a semi-arid Patagonian steppe ecosystem is examined, and it is observed that only intercepted solar radiation has a significant effect on the decomposition of organic matter. It is concluded that photodegradation is a dominating influence on the above-ground litter decomposition in a semi-arid ecosystem, with substantial carbon from plants being lost directly to the atmosphere by photochemical mineralization.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 2006
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The decay of organic aerosols
Article Abstract:
A mechanism is proposed for the OH(super .)-induced oxidative degradation of organic aerosols. The study concluded that oxidative degradation and removal by precipitation occur at comparable rates, and that OH(super .)-induced oxidation is a significant mechanism that can eliminate organic aerosols from the atmosphere.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 2005
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Detoxification of vinyl chloride to ethene coupled to growth of an anaerobic bacterium
Article Abstract:
Research shows that anaerobic Dehalococcoides ethenogenes strains use dichloroethenes and vinyl chloride in their energy metabolism to produce biomass, ethene and inorganic chloride, indicating that D. ethenogenes can be employed to decontaminate subsurface environments and to restore drinking-water reservoirs.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 2003
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- Abstracts: Constraints on egg discrimination and cuckoo-host co-evolution. Differences in the nestling begging calls of hosts and host-races of the common cuckoo, Cuculus canorus
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