Terrestrial Earthworms Of China

Terrestrial Earthworms (Oligochaeta: Opisthopora) of China summarizes the results of the classification of terrestrial earthworms in China and provides detailed and authoritative information. The content is classified according to the classification system of Sims and Easton. Each earthworm is described in detail from existing data sources and includes descriptions of external morphological characteristics, internal morphological characteristics, body color and distribution. This book is a useful resource for researchers and practitioners in the field of systematics, phylogeny, biodiversity, soil invertebrate zoology and ecology. Covers over 370 species of earthworms Describes the source of each kind of earthworm, their main classification features, and distribution Discusses the differences between similar earthworms Includes accompanying figures on the typical characteristics of each earthworm

Ten new species of semi-aquatic earthworm genus Glyphidrilus Horst, 1889 are described from several river systems in Thailand. The earthworms were all found at a depth of 5?15 cm from the surface in wet top soil and usually near casts. The worms excrete casts on the soil surface by locating the tails up to the soil surface while the heads go down to deeper soils. They have the peculiar expanded epidermis at about clitellum position called ?wings? which function is still unknown. They produce long cocoons wich locate vertically in the soil in the same places as the worms. One cocoon produces 7-10 juveniles. All the ten new described species appear to be highly endemic to particular watershed with very little range overlap between them, and most are confined to a small region. The lowland paddy systems in Thailand have been colonized by some species of Glyphidrilus, where they occur in the rice paddy throughout the propagation period (wet season) from planting of the seedlings to post harvest (dry season). The worms did well in areas of organic farming and so are likely to be sensitive to modern agrochemical contamination of the environment.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of grassland ecosystems based on publications by Chinese scholars. It offers an up-to-date review of the recent advances in grassland research in China, discusses the climatic and physical conditions governing the grasslands, describes their types and distribution, and introduces a new classification scheme for grassland ecosystems. Further, it details the plant, animal, and microbial compositions of each grassland ecosystem type, examining the above and below ground relationships between phytomass, vegetation succession, and past/current management practices with a particular focus on the steppes in China. It also includes references that are only available in the Chinese language. This scientifically rigorous book offers insights into knowledge gaps for the scientific community and identifies pressing issues facing practitioners of grassland ecology and management. It can be used as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate students in ecology, environmental science, natural resource management, agriculture, and other relevant fields, and is also a valuable reference resource for researchers studying drylands in China or around the globe.

The Congress "Arsenic in the Environment" offers an international, multi- and interdisciplinary discussion platform for research and innovation aimed towards a holistic solution to the problem posed by the environmental toxin arsenic, with significant societal impact. The Congress has focused on cutting edge and breakthrough research in physical, chemical, toxicological, medical, agricultural and other specific issues on arsenic across a broader environmental realm. The Biennial Congress "Arsenic in the Environment" was first organized in Mexico City (As2006) followed by As2008 in Valencia (Spain), As2010 in Tainan (Chinese Taiwan), As2012 in Cairns (Australia), As2014 in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and As2016 in Stockholm (Sweden). The 7th International Congress As2018 was held July 1-6, 2018, in Beijing, P. R. China and was entitled Environmental Arsenic in a Changing World. The Congress addressed the broader context of arsenic research aligned on the following themes: Theme 1: Arsenic Behaviour in Changing Environmental Media Theme 2: Arsenic in a Changing Agricultural Ecosystem Theme 3: Health Impacts of Environmental Arsenic Theme 4: Technologies for Arsenic Immobilization and Clean Water Blueprints Theme 5: Sustainable Mitigation and Management Arsenic in drinking water (mainly groundwater) has emerged as an issue of global health concern. During last decade, the presence of arsenic in rice, possibly also other food of plant origins, has attained increasing attention. This is particularly true in the Asian countries, where the use of high arsenic groundwater as source of irrigation water and drinking water has been flagged as severe health concern. This has been accentuated by elevating arsenic concentrations in deep groundwater recharged from shallow high arsenic groundwater, which may have further detrimental effects on public health. Notably, China has been in the forefront of research on arsenic biogeochemical cycling, health effects of arsenic, technologies for arsenic removal, and sustainable mitigation measures. The Congress has attracted professionals involved in different segments of interdisciplinary research on arsenic in an open forum, and strengthened relations between academia, research institutions, government and non-governmental agencies, industries, and civil society organizations to share an optimal ambience for exchange of knowledge.

Southern Africa is certainly not a naturally bounded area so that there are several possibilities for delineating it and concepts about its extent. Wellington* discussed the various possibilities for delineation and suggested that one line stands out more clearly and definitely as a physical boundary than any other, namely the South Equatorial Divide, the watershed between the ZaIre, Cuanza and Rufiji Rivers on the one hand and the Z ambezi, Cunene and Rovuma Rivers on the other. This South Equatorial Divide is indeed a major line of separation for some organisms and is also applicable in a certain geographical sense, though it does not possess the slightest significance for many other groups of organisms, ecosystems or geographical and physical features of Africa. The placing of the northern boundary of southern Africa differs in fact strongly per scientific dis cipline and is also influenced by practical considerations regarding the possibilities of scientific work as subordinate to certain political realities and historically grown traditions. This is illustrated, for example, in such works as the Flora of Southern Africa, where the northern boundary of the area is conceived as the northern and eastern political boundaries of South West Africa, South Africa and Swaziland. Botswana, traditionally included in the area covered by the Flora Zambesiaca, thus forms a large wedge in 'Southern Africa'.