In this experiment， the effects of single application of organic fertilizer and mixed application of organic fertilizer on the restoration of degraded natural mowing land were evaluated from the perspective of vegetation-soil-microorganism. The natural mowing land in Altay Mountains was used as the object of study. Three fertilization measures， single application of organic fertilizer （M）， mixed application of organic fertilizer and biological fertilizer （M+NY）， mixed application of organic fertilizer and compound fertilizer （M+NPK）， were used to explore the responses of grassland vegetation-soil-microorganism to fertilization. The results showed that fertilization significantly increased grassland community height， biomass， soil organic matter content， available nitrogen， available phosphorus， available potassium content and electrical conductivity （ P<0.05）， and significantly reduced soil pH value （ P<0.05）. There were significant differences in the richness of 5 phyla in soil bacteria （ P<0.05）， and there were significant differences in the richness of 2 phyla in soil fungi （ P<0.05）. The grey system correlation degree showed that compound fertilizer + organic fertilizer had the best effect on promoting vegetation growth， improving soil nutrients and increasing the number of microorganisms， and had a rapid recovery effect on the vegetation-soil-microbial system of reseeding natural mowing land. The results of the experiment provide theoretical basis， data support and technical support for the production and restoration of organic fertilizer single application and organic fertilizer mixed with other fertilizers in reseeding natural mowing land.

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi （AMF） play an important role in maintaining the function of grassland ecosystems. Grazing is one of the main utilization modes of grasslands， which has a profound effect on the symbiotic relationship between plants and AMF. However， the regulatory effects of grazing on the Stipa breviflora-AMF symbiosis and its driving mechanisms remain unknown. This study， conducted in the S. breviflora grassland of Inner Mongolia， examined the effects of different grazing intensities—no grazing， light grazing （LG）， moderate grazing （MG）， and heavy grazing （HG）—on the AMF colonization rate in S. breviflora roots. The results revealed a significant decline in the AMF colonization rate with increasing grazing intensity. The colonization rates were 65.89%， 59.89%， 52.89% and 41.33% under different grazing intensities， respectively. Spore density and hyphal length density decreased with increasing grazing intensity. In addition， increased grazing intensity led to longer total root length and smaller root diameter in S. breviflora， along with higher soil density and pH but lower soil organic carbon and available phosphorus. However， soil moisture and nitrate nitrogen content peaked under light grazing. Soil nitrate nitrogen and available phosphorus were identified as the primary factors influencing the reduction in AMF colonization. In conclusion， grazing negatively affects AMF colonization in desert steppes by decreasing nitrogen and phosphorus nutrient effectiveness in the soil. This study provides empirical data and theoretical insights that support the development of sustainable grazing management strategies to maintain the health and resilience of desert steppe ecosystems.

With the increasing demand for healthy pet diets， pet forage as an important material for the healthy growth of herbivorous pets has attracted much attention. The vigorous development of the pet economy has promoted the rapid growth of the pet forage industry， but it still faces challenges such as insufficient varieties， singular production methods， unstable quality， small enterprise scale， and a non-standard market. Collectively， these factors limit the supply of pet forage and impact the industry’s intrinsic growth potential. Therefore， within the grassland agriculture system based on an all-encompassing approach to food， we should cultivate a new type of agricultural management entity that follows the ‘planting forage-making forage products-raising pets’ model to meet market demand， enrich the economic content of the grass industry， and enhance the added economic value of the traditional forage industry. By combing domestic forage industry policies， pet feed policies， and pet forage production demands， this paper discussed the market value， development characteristics， and trends of pet forage in China. It also proposed three types of contradictions and countermeasures that hinder the development of pet forage grass， providing practical guidance and a theoretical basis for the sustainable and healthy development of the pet forage industry. The growth of the pet forage industry plays a pivotal role in fostering rural revitalization， bolstering the development of rural collective economies， and enhancing the economic prosperity of farmers.

To investigate the effects of exogenous H ₂O ₂ on alfalfa（ Medicago sativa）seeds germination and AsA-GSH cycle in embryonic root mitochondria， this study took alfalfa seeds as materials to study the seed germination characteristics and seedling growth status under different concentration gradients （0%， 0.25%， 0.5%， 1% and 2%） of H ₂O ₂ treatments， and then extracted embryonic root mitochondria to determine the changes in AsA-GSH cycle antioxidant enzyme activities and antioxidant contents. The results showed that germination characteristics and seedling growth of alfalfa seeds were significantly （ P<0.05） inhibited under 2% H ₂O ₂ treatment. With the increase of treatment concentration， the malondialdehyde （MDA） content exhibited an increase trend， while the activity of glutathione reductase （GR） in the AsA-GSH cycle initially was increased， then decreased， and subsequently increased again. The activities of superoxide dismutase （SOD）， monodehydroascorbate reductase （MDHAR）， and dehydroascorbate reductase （DHAR） followed a pattern of increaed first and then decreasing， whereas the ascorbic acid （AsA） content increased and then decreased gradually. The levels of dehydroascorbic acid （DHA） and oxidized glutathione （GSSH） showed an increasing trend. It was indicated that exogenous H ₂O ₂ treatment affected the germination and growth process of alfalfa seeds， and the high concentration of H ₂O ₂ inhibited the germination and seedling growth of alfalfa seeds， and strengthened the operation of the antioxidant system to resist the stress caused by exogenous H ₂O ₂.

To investigate the impacts of grassland degradation on root traits of dominant species， we selected dominant species of temperate grasslands， Leymus chinensis， as object to evaluate its dynamics of root traits in four degradation level of grasslands： undegraded grassland （UD）， lightly degraded grassland （L）， moderately degraded grassland （M）， and highly degraded grassland （H）. The root traits included total root length （TRL）， root depth （RD）， root volume （RV）， root surface area （RSA）， specific root area （SRA）， root tissue density （RTD）， specific root length （SRL）， and root length density （RLD）. The results showed that TRL was significantly higher in highly degraded grassland （19.91 m） than in undegraded grassland （9.32 m）， while RSA （19.12 cm ²） and SRL （5.51 m·g ^-1） were significantly lower compared to undegraded grassland （RSA 56.12 cm ²， SRL 14.34 m·g ^-1）. SRAwas higher in lightly degraded grassland （42.82 cm ² ） than in other degraded grasslands. RTD increased with increasing degradation intensity， reaching its maximum in highly degraded grassland （1.14 g·cm ^-3）. These findings suggest that Leymus chinensis adapts to grassland degradation stress by altering root morphology.

This study focused on Medicago sativa L. ecosystems in Maqin County， Guinan County， and Guide County of Qinghai Province. Soil samples were collected from both alfalfa cultivation plots and adjacent control plots. Soil nutrient contents were determined using standard analytical methods， and soil fungal communities were characterized using second-generation amplicon sequencing.The results indicated that alfalfa cultivation in Maqin and Guinan increased soil nutrient levels and reduced fungal community diversity and evenness， although these changes were not statistically significant. The fungal communities were dominated by Ascomycota， ranging from 36.58% to 69.24%， and Basidiomycota， ranging from 8.02% to 33.41%. There were substantial differences in beta diversity among regions， and mean annual temperature was significantly correlated with the composition of soil fungal communities at the 0.05 level. Fungal interactions were primarily synergistic， and the fungal co-occurrence network maintained structural stability by enhancing robustness through the loss of keystone taxa. The assembly of fungal communities was mainly governed by stochastic processes， with the neutral model explaining most of the variation in microbial community structure.This study provides scientific evidence supporting the ecological rationality of incorporating Medicago sativa into alpine grassland ecosystems.

Wild soybean （ Glycine soja Sieb. et Zucc.）， an annual twining herb of the genus Glyine， is an important wild species of cultivated soybean. It has many pods， high protein content and strong resistance， and is an important gene resource for the genetic improvement of soybeans. In this study， wild soybean seeds were used as experimental materials. The effects of different treatment concentrations （1.0%， 2.0%） and time （1-10 h） of EMS on seed germination were investigated. The results showed that 98% concentrated sulfuric acid soaking for 5 min significantly improved theination characteristics of seeds. Seed germination and seedling growth were strongly inhibited by 2.0% EMS soaking treatment， so it was not suitable as a treatment condition The optimum conditions of EMS chemical mutagenesis for wild soybean seeds were 1.0% and 6 h. Under this condition， the mutation rate was 3.46%， and the mutation phenotype traits included early maturity， dwarfing， leaf shape， flower bud position and quantity， and more pods per plant. After the stability of the mutated materials was verified by multiple generations of planting， they could be used as new germplasm or gene research resources， and provided a material basis for the creation new germplasm.

To identify the salt tolerance of different varieties of alfalfa （ Medicago sativa L.） and screen varieties with different salt tolerance， 18 alfalfa varieties at home and abroad were used as test materials. Different concentrations （0.4%， 0.5%， 0.6%， 0.7% and 0.8%） NaCl salt solution were used to give a stress treatment to the seeds at germination stage. Indicators such as germination rate （GR）， germination potential （GP）， relative germination percentage （RGP）， relative germination rate （RGR）， vigor index （VI）， germination index （GI）， plumule length （PL） and radicle length （RL） were measured. The germination rate （GR）， relative germination percentage （RGP）， germination index （GI）， vigor index （VI）， plumule length （PL） and Radicle length （RL） were analyzed under the NaCl concentration gradient treatments， and the main character indexes of salt damage were analyzed. With the increase of NaCl stress concentration， germination rate， relative germination potential， germination index， vitality index， germ length and radicle all showed a decreasing trend. The results showed that the first principal component had the largest eigenvalue， which was 2.907， and its contribution rate was as high as 36.335%. The indexes with large eigenvectors were GR， GP， GI， VI and RL. By membership function method， weight coefficient and comprehensive evaluation D value analysis， it can be seen that‘GongnongNo.1’ and ‘Gannong No.3’ alfalfa have strong tolerance to salt damage， and can tolerate 0.6% NaCl stress， and 0.7% NaCl mass fraction can inhibit the germination of tested alfalfa seeds.

Monoculture and mixed sowing are common ways to rehabilitate degraded grasslands in alpine meadows， but the effects of both on fungal community characteristics have not been fully clarified， and this study aimed to clarify the response and driving factors of soil fungal communities to monoculture and mixed sowing. this study took the extremely degraded grassland as a control， and took monoculture and mixed sowing grasslands established in the extremely degraded grasslands for 5 years as the objects to study the changes in the soil fungal community characteristics and soil physicochemical properties. The results showed that compared with the extremely degraded grassland， both monoculture and mixed sowing significantly changed theα-diversity indexes （ P<0.05）， and there was significant difference in the β-diversity between them and the extremely degraded grassland （ P<0.05）. Compared to extremely degraded grassland， monoculture significantly reduced （ P<0.05） the abundance of Ascomycota and increased （ P<0.05） the abundance of Mortierellomycota. Mixed sowing showed higher ecological network complexity and stability. Mixed sowing was more effective for soil nutrient restoration， and total nitrogen was the most important factor influencing fungi community structure and functional type. In summary， some of theα-diversity indicators and ecological network stability were higher in the mixed sowing treatment， and the soil nutrient restoration effect was better. Hence， the mixed sowing method should be applied more in the future black soil beach-type extreme degraded grassland management.

In order to clarify the gene function and mechanism of SnRK2 protein kinases in Psammochloa villosa， we identified the family member of SnRK2 at the genomic level adopting the bioinformatics method， and analyzed their expression patterns under drought stress using real-time quantitative PCR. The results showed that a total of ten gene family members of SnRK2 were identified in the genome of P<. villosa， which were named as PvSnRK2.1- PvSnRK2.10， and separately distributed on ten chromosomes. The number of amino acid residues of PvSnRK2 proteins ranged from 341 to 496， with molecular masses between 38 636.17 from 56 572.38 kD， and the isoelectric points were from 4.71 to 8.81， all of which were hydrophilic proteins. The PvSnRK2 gene family could be divided into three subfamilies， whose exon number was mainly eight. Three PvSnRK2 genes had the collinearity relationships within species. The promoters of PvSnRK2 gene family members contained various hormone-related and abiotic stress responsive elements. PvSnRK2 proteins might have interaction relationships with bZIP， PP2C and ABF proteins. Besides， there were differences in expression characteristics during different tissues of these PvSnRK2 genes. This study provided a theoretical basis for screening more drought-resistant key genes from P<. villosa in the future.

Fencing， as an important restoration measure for degraded grasslands， alters the characteristics of plant nutrient utilization. However， there is currently a lack of in-depth understanding of how plant nutrient use efficiency changes with the duration of fencing and which factors regulate it. The aboveground nitrogen （N） and phosphorus （P） contents of four plant species in the Inner Mongolian desert steppe under different fencing durations （control， 8 years of fencing， and 20 years of fencing） were measured. Combined with the study of soil physical and chemical properties， we found that fencing measures and interactions between species had significant effects on the utilization efficiency of plant P. Fencing significantly reduced the aboveground N and P contents of four plant species， with Artemisia frigida showing the highest N and P contents， and significantly increased the N and P use efficiencies of the four plant species， and Stipa breviflora had the highest N and P use efficiencies. Fencing significantly improved the aboveground N pool and P pool of the community， decreased soil temperature， soil pH， and soil bulk density， increased soil water content， soil available nitrogen （AN） content， soil total nitrogen， total phosphorus， and soil available phosphorus （AP） contents. The results from the structural equation model showed that fencing indirectly increased the contents of AN and AP by directly reducing soil temperature and increasing soil water content， and thus improved the N and P use efficiency of the four plant species. This study deepens the understanding of the nutrient cycling in the fenced desert steppe ecosystems and provides a theoretical basis for the scientific management of degraded desert steppes.

WRKY proteins are one of the largest families of transcription factors （TFs） found in plants. Members of this family play important bidirectional regulatory roles in plant growth and development， biomass formation， secondary metabolite synthesis， and response to biotic or abiotic stresses. This paper provided a comprehensive review of the structural features and classification of WRKY TFs in plants， as well as their biological functions in plant growth and development， secondary metabolite synthesis， and biotic and abiotic stresses unearthed in the last five years， and also provided an outlook on the subsequent related studies of WRKY family members， aiming to provide technical references for further excavation of plant WRKY family members and their biological function studies.

Multispectral remote sensing indices have been widely used to estimate grassland fractional vegetation cover （FVC） on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. However， evaluating the accuracy of different remote sensing models is challenging due to the lack of ground verification of pixel matching corresponding to the remote sensing pixels. In this study， based on Sentinel-2 multispectral data and near-ground RGB imagery captured by an unmanned aerial vehicle （UAV）， a pixel dichotomy model （PD model） and a random forest model （RF model） were developed to estimate the FVC of Maqin County in the Yellow River source region in 2023. This study compared the inversion accuracy and spatial discrepancies in FVC predictions between the two models. The results showed that the goodness of fitting degree for the PD model and RF model were 0.68 and 0.78， respectively， with the RF model overall providing higher accuracy in FVC estimation. Both models displayed similar spatial patterns in FVC distribution across Maqin County， with higher values in the eastern and southern regions， and lower values in the northern and western regions. Notably， substantial differences were found in environmentally extreme regions， especially in areas with elevations exceeding 4800 m or FVC values below 0.2， where the RF model tended to predict higher values than the PD model. This study provides a methodological support for alpine grassland ecological restoration projects and regional fine-scale assessments.

To scientifically evaluate the restoration potential of degraded desert grasslands and identify key influencing factors， this study utilized data from 28 sample plots in the temperate desert， temperate steppe desert， and temperate desert steppe zones of the Altay region， collecteding between 2020 and 2022. A comprehensive evaluation model for natural restoration potential was developed using hierarchical analysis and grey correlation evaluation， and incorporating 15 indicators across four sub-indices. Spatial distribution patterns were analyzed using a sliding window technique. The results revealed that： （1） The basic， current， future， and comprehensive natural restoration potentials of the temperate desert steppe were lower than those of the temperate steppe desert and temperate desert. （2） The restoration potential levels of the three grassland types primarily ranged from II to V （moderate to strong potential）， with no occurrence of level I （weak potential）. （3） The areas with level III （moderate potential） accounted for 68%， 75%， 50%， and 71% of the total desert grassland area for basic， current， future， and comprehensive natural restoration potentials， respectively. （4） The basic restoration potential had the strongest influence on the comprehensive restoration potential. These findings indicated that the natural restoration potential of desert grasslands in the Altay region iwas generally at a moderate level. Ecological restoration efforts should prioritize the basic restoration potential while integrating current and future potentials to formulate scientifically sound restoration strategies and technological frameworks. This study provides a theoretical foundation for the ecological restoration of degraded desert grasslands in the region.

To clarify the changes of vegetation and soil characteristics of alpine meadows during the restoration and succession processes of degraded patches， this study focused on bare patches， short-term restored vegetation patches， long-term restored vegetation patches， and healthy alpine meadows in the Yellow River source region. The vegetation and soil characteristics， as well as their correlations， were analyzed across different stages of recovery succession in degraded patches. The results showed that recovery succession significantly increased vegetation carbon， nitrogen， and phosphorus content， as well as vegetation biomass and species diversity （ P<0.05）. This process also significantly altered soil water content， soil temperature， total phosphorus， nitrate nitrogen， available phosphorus， pH and microbial biomass （ P<0.05）. Redundancy analysis revealed that nitrate nitrogen， soil water content， and available phosphorus were the key soil factors influencing vegetation carbon， nitrogen， phosphorus content， and species diversity， while soil microbial biomass， nitrate nitrogen， pH， soil water content， and organic carbon were the primary soil factors affecting vegetation biomass （ P<0.05）. These findings highlight the importance of rapid and sustainable recovery of patchily degraded alpine meadows， and the research results could provide scientific basis for ecological restoration of degraded alpine meadows.

The grassland in Gansu province is a key area for studying carbon budget in China， and its net ecosystem productivity （NEP） is the core for measuring the carbon source/sink function in this region. However， the complex terrain and climatic conditions lead to a large uncertainty in the estimation of NEP in this region. This study， simulated the spatio-temporal patterns of grassland NEP in Gansu from 1980 to 2022 using the Integrated Biosphere Simulator （IBIS） model and validated the results with observational data. The IBIS model performed well in simulating grassland NEP （ R ²=0.70， P<0.0001）. From 1980 to 2022， the annual mean NEP was 194.5 g·m ^{- 2} ·a ^-1 C， with a slight increasing trend. The spatial pattern of the annual average NEP generally showed a trend of being higher in the southeast and lower in the northwest， with a gradual decrease from southeast to northwest. Most of the southern grassland is a carbon sink area， while some arid grasslands in the north are carbon source areas， with their NEP distribution patterns mainly dominated by rainfall. These findings enhance the understanding of grassland carbon sequestration in Gansu and support regional “carbon neutrality” goal.

To understand the genetic diversity among different groups and the relationship of population variation， and to provide a genetic background basis for the innovation of oat （ Avena sativa L.） germplasm， this study used 98 oat germplasm resources from different geographical origins as materials and utilized the specific length amplified fragment sequencing （SLAF-Seq） technology to screen single nucleotide polymorphism （SNP） molecular markers in the whole genome. The results showed that based on 1470.85 Mb of high-quality sequencing data， a total of 626 992 SLAF tags （average sequencing depth of 10.81x） were detected， and 516 005 polymorphic loci were developed， with 8 109 634 high-quality population SNPs screened out， and the overall heterozygosity rate was 2.82%. SNP markers were non-randomly distributed on 27 chromosomes， with significant enrichment regions on chromosomes 4 and 5. Population structure analysis showed that the genetic diversity level of the oat population in this study was relatively high， and the degree of genetic differentiation among populations was large. Except for S ₉ （‘Zhangyou 15’） having a medium to high level of kinship with S ₈ （‘Baiyan 2’）， S ₁₇ （‘Baiyan 20’）， and S ₂₃ （‘Guyan 1’）， and S ₇₀ （‘Qinghai 444’） having a medium to high level of kinship with S ₈₃ （201430-8-1）， S ₆₉ （‘Sicao 10’）， and S ₈₂ （201406-12）， the genetic relationship among the other germplasm resources was relatively distant.

Dihydroflavonol 4-reductase （DFR） is a key enzyme in the anthocyanin synthesis pathway， and its expression is closely related to anthocyanin accumulation and flower colors. To explore the relationship between the DFR gene and flower colors in Allium wallichii， the purple and white flowers were used as materials， and DFR was cloned by RT-PCR and its expression pattern was analyzed. Four DFR allelic genes， called AwDFRs， were cloned， including two alleles AwDFR- P1 and AwDFR- P2 in the purple flowers， and two alleles AwDFR- W1 and AwDFR- W2 in the white flowers. Open reading frames （ORF） of all AwDFRs were 1155 bp， encoding 384 amino acids. Sequence alignment analysis revealed that the AwDFRs protein contained exactly the same NADPH conserved domains and substrate-specific binding domains. Phylogenetic tree analysis indicated that the AwDFRs were most closely related to onion DFR. The qRT-PCR results showed that expression of AwDFRs in petals was significantly higher than that in other tissues， and their expression increased with petal development and coloration in the pink， purple and deep purple flowers； However， AwDFRs were almost not expressed during the flower development stage in white flowers. The above results suggested that the different flower colors might be related to the differential expression of AwDFRs in A. wallichii. AwDFRs might play an important role in the anthocyanin synthesis and accumulation in A. wallichii.

To clarify the effects of simulated warming on soil carbon and nitrogen components in the altitude gradients （2700-4100 m） of Qilian Mountains， soil samples from non-warmed and warmed treatments across different soil layers were collected to analyze carbon-nitrogen components and available nutrient content. The results showed that：（1） Organic carbon （OC） content ranged from 20.95 to 82.55 g·kg ^-1， with significantly higher values in coniferous forests and alpine shrublands compared to meadow steppe and alpine meadows （ P<0.05）， and the latter two were notably higher than scree slopes （ P<0.05）. Warming reduced surface-layer （0-10 cm） OC to 14.64-69.13 g·kg ^-1 （ P<0.05）.（2） Total nitrogen （TN） content was 2.3-9.67 g·kg ^-1， significantly lower in scree slopes than other elevations （ P<0.05）， with no warming-induced variation.（3） Phytolith content （3.8-15.25 g·kg ^-1） peaked in coniferous forests （ P<0.05）， showing no significant change after warming （3.36-15.42 g·kg ^-1）.（4） Phytolith-occluded carbon （PhytOC） ranged from 0.03 to 0.19 g·kg ^-1， with no warming-induced difference （0.04-0.17 g·kg ^-1）.（5） Warming significantly reduced available nutrients （excluding scree slopes）， decreasing surface ammonium nitrogen by 20% and nitrate nitrogen by 10.9%.These findings demonstrated that altitude gradients dominated the spatial distribution of carbon-nitrogen components. Simulated warming altered carbon cycling by reducing OC and available nutrients but had no significant impact on TN， phytoliths， or PhytOC， highlighting the critical role of phytolith-stabilized carbon in maintaining soil carbon stability.

In order to determine the effects of no-tillage reseeding on the vegetation and soil bacterial community characteristics of alpine meadows， the species composition， community structure and regulatory factors of soil bacteria in the grassland were studied in the alpine meadow ecological experimental station of Qilian Mountains， with the moderately degraded alpine meadows as the control and the grass field of Poa pratensis ‘Qinghai’ with no-tillage reseeding. The results showed that the vegetation biomass and species richness and the important value of Gramineae increased significantly after no-tillage reseeding. Besides， soil water content， organic carbon， total nitrogen， nitrate nitrogen and available phosphorus contents increased significantly. The content of ammonium nitrogen decreased significantly. The species composition and diversity of soil bacterial community did not change significantly. However， no-tillage reseeding changed the original soil microflora structure， and the abundance of Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi decreased significantly at the phylum level. At the family level， the abundance of WD2101 soil group and Blastocatellaceae increased significantly. Vegetation biomass， soil pH， organic carbon and available nutrients were the main regulatory factors that induced changes in soil bacterial community structure. In summary， no-tillage reseeding had the ability to restore grassland vegetation， and improve soil fertility and soil microenvironment in a short period.

Improvement measures are essential for promoting the ecosystem restoration of degraded grasslands. In order to assess the effectiveness of composite improvement measures on the degraded meadow grasslands in Hulun Buir， this study evaluated four treatments： root cutting+organic fertilizer+microbial agent （YQJ）， root cutting+organic fertilizer （YQ）， root cutting+foliar fertilizer （YY）， and a control group （CK）. The results demonstrated that compared to the control， all three improvement measures enhanced plant community height， coverage， and biomass. Among these， the root cutting+foliar fertilizer treatment exhibited the most significant effect （ P<0.05）， resulting in a 70% increase in aboveground biomass relative to the control. Notably， fertilization treatments resulted in a reduction of plant community diversity. The composite improvement measures positively influenced soil conditions in the degraded grasslands： the root cutting+foliar fertilizer treatment significantly elevated the levels of total phosphorus， total potassium， available phosphorus， and available potassium in the soil， whereas root cutting+organic fertilizer+microbial agent treatment markedly enhanced soil ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen content （ P<0.05）. These findings indicated that the improvement measures had positively impacted the soil conditions of the degraded grasslands， leading to a notable increase in grassland productivity， with the root cutting+foliar fertilizer treatment demonstrating superior improvement effects.

Alfalfa （ Medicago sativa L.） demonstrates significant potential for improving saline soil， however， the effects of alfalfa growth on vertical movement of soil water and salt ion remain poorly understood. This study employed soil column pot experiments to simulate in situ saline soil conditions， comparing two treatments： alfalfa cultivation （MT） versus bare soil （CK）. We systematically investigated treatment effects on vertical dynamics of soil water， electrical conductivity （EC）， major salt ions， and underground biomass across different soil layers. The results showed that the soil water content across the five layers， including 0-10 cm， 10-20 cm， 20-30 cm， 30-40 cm and 40~50 cm， was significantly lower in the MT treatment than that of the CK treatment. The MT treatment showed an average 66% decrease in soil water content relative to CK. Both treatments demonstrated depth-dependent increases of EC values. In the 30-40 cm soil layer， the MT treatment showed significantly higher EC （1.79 mS·cm ^-1） compared to CK （0.80 mS·cm ^-1）， representing a 0.99 mS·cm ^-1 increase （ P<0.05）. Among the eight major salt ions， six ions （Ca ²⁺， K ⁺， Mg ²⁺， Na ⁺， SO ₄ ^2-， and Cl ^-） exhibited significantly higher concentrations （ P<0.05） in the MT treatment compared to CK. Notably， Na ⁺ and Cl ^- demonstrated greater mobility than the other ions， with their soil content showing a significant negative correlation （ P<0.05） with alfalfa underground biomass. Alfalfa growth altered the vertical water and salt migration in saline soil， promoting downward migration of salt ions. These findings provide evidence for improving saline soil through alfalfa’s cultivation.

In this study， the soil bacterial community composition and diversity characteristics across different-sized Caragana tibetica shrub mounds [large shrub（LS）， medium shrub（MS）， small shrub（SS）] and non-shrub Control Check （CK） in a desert steppe of Damao Banner were investigated. Combining 16SrRNA high-throughput sequencing with soil physicochemical analysis， the soil bacterial community structure and diversity of different specifications （large， medium and small） shrublands and the control plots （CK） without shrubland growth， as well as their relationship with the physical and chemical properties of the soil were explored. The results showed that significant differences （ P<0.05） in soild-protease， moisture content， and TN were observed between shrub rhizosphere soils and CK. Actinobacteria， Chloroflexota， and Proteobacteria dominated across all samples， with Nakamurella and Baekduia being predominant genera. OTU （Operational taxonomic unit） numbers were ranked as SS>LS>CK>MS， while significant inter-group variations （ P<0.05） emerged in alpha diversity indices （Observed-species， Chao1， and ACE）. Beta diversity analysis showed a stress value of 0.0679 confirming cluster reliability. Soil pH， TP， and AN significant correlations （ P<0.05） with Chloroflexota abundance， and RDA （Redundancy analysis） identified soild-protease， TN， and soild-urease as key drivers of bacterial community composition. These findings collectively reveal distinct soil bacterial community structures between shrub mounds and CK， highlighting the critical the regulatory role of soil environmental factors in shaping microbial communities.

To investigate the adaptability of wild Urtica cannabina L. from Xinjiang under drought stress， in this study， two drought levels of low （TL） and high （TH） drought were set up to simulate stress treatments. Samples were collected at 0， 1， 4 and 8 days post-treatment for the determination of physiological indicators and key photosynthetic parameters. The results indicated that with the deepening of drought and the prolongation of time， the relative water content of leaves decreased with the decrease of soil water content （ P<0.05）. The contents of soluble protein and soluble sugar， along with cytoprotective enzyme activities were tehe the highest on the 8 ^th day of TL treatment， and the 4 ^th day of TH treatment （ P<0.05）， but subsequently decreased on the 8 ^th day of TH treatment. Drought stress significantly reduced leaf chlorophyll content， net photosynthetic rate， stomatal conductance， and transpiration rate （ P<0.05）. Among them， the content of chlorophyll a showed a more pronounced chang. With the increase of drought stress， both chlorophyll （a/b） ratio and leaf water use efficiency initially increased and then decreased， while intercellular CO ₂ concentration initially decreased and then increased. Strong correlations were observed among the drought resistance coefficients of various physiological and photosynthetic parameters， with the maximum correlation coefficient reaching 0.999. This study， by analyzing the trends in physiological and photosynthetic parameters of U. cannabina under drought stress and identifying key drought resistance indicators， provides a theoretical basis for enhancing its drought tolerance.

As a key region in the construction of the ecological barrier of the Loess Plateau and the high-quality development strategy of the Yellow River Basin， the study of the evolution of vegetation cover （Fraction vegetation coverage （FVC）） in the Weihe River Basin is of great significance to optimize the regional ecological security pattern. Based on the MODIS NDVI data from 2000 to 2023， a multi-scale analytical framework was constructed by combining the improved image element dichotomous model and geo-temporal analysis methods to systematically explore the spatial and temporal evolution of FVC and its driving mechanism. The results showed that： FVC in the watershed increased by 0.0766% annually， but there was obvious spatial heterogeneity， and the degraded areas were scattered in the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomerations. The vegetation stability was high in alpine forested areas such as Qinba mountainous areas， whereas it fluctuated more in alluvial plains and loess hilly areas （17.3% of the total area）. 51.8% of the area showed an inverse persistent growth， indicating that its ecological restoration was facing a bottleneck of elasticity. The surface temperature （ q=0.392） and average annual precipitation （ q=0.354） were the dominant drivers， and the interaction between surface temperature and population density had the strongest effect on FVC （ q=0.570）. The “pattern-process-mechanism” paradigm constructed in this study provides a scientific basis for differentiated management of ecological restoration.

To evaluate the variances in salt tolerance of Karelinia caspia germplasm resources， twenty-two germplasms of K. caspia were treated with different concentrations of salt （0， 200， 300， 400， 500 mmol·L ^-1 NaCl）. Sixteen indicators were measured. Principal component analysis， membership function analysis， cluster analysis， and stepwise regression method were used to comprehensively evaluate the salt tolerance of K. caspia. Results showed that there were significant differences in each indicator of K. caspia under different salt treatments， indicating the necessary to construct a comprehensive evaluation system combining multi-gradient salt stress and multiple indicators. Based on the salt tolerance comprehensive evaluation index （D-value） derived from PCA and membership function analysis， the germplasms were classified into four distinct categories： strongly salt-tolerant， moderately salt-tolerant， weakly salt-tolerant， and salt-sensitive types. Regression analysis identified six key indicators for salt tolerance evaluation： plant height， chlorophyll a/b ratio， antioxidant enzyme activity， maximum photochemical efficiency， soluble sugar content， and proline content. This study provided a theoretical foundation for the innovative utilizationn of salt-tolerant K. caspia germplasms and the discovery of salt-resistant genes. It also offerd scientific support for species selection in vegetation restoration projects across salinized regions.

Exploring the impact of climate change on the potential and future distribution patterns of Cypripedium tibeticum and C. flavum is of great significance for formulating their conservation strategies. In this study， we used the MaxEnt model， along with distribution data and relevant climatic and environmental variables， to assess their potential habitat under current climatic conditions and four future climate scenarios. The results indicated that the MaxEnt model demonstrated strong predictive performance for both species， with AUC values exceeding 0.9. The distribution of C. tibeticum was primarily influenced by annual precipitation， elevation， and temperature seasonality， whereas C. flavum was mainly affected by elevation， annual precipitation， and the mean temperature of the coldest quarter. The current suitable habitat area for C. tibeticum （17.95×10 ⁵ km ² ） was larger than that for C. flavum （13.56×10 ⁵ km ² ）， with their highly suitable areas partially overlapping in southwestern and northwestern China. Under future climate scenarios， the suitable habitat for C. tibeticum was projected to slightly decline， whereas that of C. flavum was expected to expand. Additionally， the distribution centers of both species were predicted to shift toward higher elevations and the southwest. These findings provided valuable insights for the conservation and sustainable management of C. tibeticum and C. flavum.

Root rot is a major disease affecting alfalfa production in China， known as the “cancer” of alfalfa （ Medicago sativa L.） due to its wide prevalence and difficult prevention and control. To identify the pathogens causing alfalfa root rot in the Hohhot region of Inner Mongolia， diseased tissues were collected through field sampling and isolated using conventional tissue isolation methods. Pathogens were purified and identified based on morphological characteristics combined with ITS and EF1- α gene sequence analysis， with pathogenicity confirmed through inoculation tests. The results revealed five Fusarium species： F. solani， F. oxysporum， F. redolens， F. nygamai， and F. falciforme. Pathogenicity analysis demonstrated that all five species could induce alfalfa root rot. Among them F. solani and F. oxysporum exhibited stronger pathogenicity. These two species were identified as the primary pathogens responsible for the severe occurrence of alfalfa root rot in the investigated areas of Hohhot.

To investigate the comprehensive characteristics of the chloroplast genome of Sesuvium portulacastrum （L.）L.， a mangrove companion plant， the chloroplast DNA of S. portulacastrum was sequenced and analyzed using high-throughput sequencing technology. The results showed that the total length of the chloroplast genome was 155 932 bp， with a GC content of 36.50%. 133 coding genes were annotated， including 75 protein-coding genes encoded by 22 945 codons， predominantly terminating in A/U. This genome exhibits a typical tetrad structure and demonstrates a high degree of conservation with S. sesuvioides， sharing 129 genes in virtually identical sequences. Additionally， 75 SSR sites were detected， with a predominant 77.33% located in the large single copy region （LSC）. Notably， single nucleotide repeats accounted for 92.00%. Based on 48 common protein-coding genes of 10 species including S. portulacastrum were constructed a phylogenetic tree using the Maximum Likelihood （ML） method. Phylogenetic analysis further underscores the close genetic proximith between S. portulacastrum and S. sesuvioides. Furthermore， the psbB gene in S. portulacastrum possesses an open reading frame of 1527 bp. When it was overexpressed in Arabidopsis thaliana （L.） Heynh.， this gene leads to a substantial increase in chlorophyll content. This study not only deepens our understanding of the chloroplast genome of S. portulacastrum but also provides invaluable insights for molecular-assisted breeding of S. portulacastrum.

Studying ecosystem services and their trade-offs synergies is of great significance for regional sustainable development and ecological security. In this study， the Ningxia grassland ecosystem was selected as the research object. The Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs （InVEST） and Revised Wind Erosion Equation （RWEQ） models were used to quantitatively evaluate the four ecosystem services of different types of grasslands， including water yield （WY）， carbon storage （CS）， soil conservation （SC）， and sand retention （SR）. The temporal and spatial patterns of trade-offs and synergies of grassland ecosystem services were discussed using Pearson’s correlation and bivariate spatial autocorrelation. The results showed that： compared to 2000， the area change rates of semi-desert grassland， typical grassland， subhumid grassland， and meadow grassland in 2020 were -27.00%， 46.96%， 28.98%， and 234.12%， respectively. In 2020， the WY， CS， SC and SR of grassland ecosystem were 4.126×10 ⁸， 1.783×10 ⁸， 3.824×10 ⁸ and 0.135×10 ⁸ tons， respectively， with rates of 63.08%， 7.54%， 46.29%， and -77.98%， respectively， compared to 2000. The spatial patterns of WY， CS， and SC of grasslands all showed a characteristic of being higher in the south and lower in the north， and they exhibited a trend of expanding eastward from 2000 to 2020. The high-value areas of SR were mainly distributed in the central and eastern parts of Ningxia from 2000 to 2010， whereas the spatial heterogeneity of SR decreased from 2010 to 2020. From 2000 to 2020， synergistic relationships were observed between WY-CS， WY-SC， and CS-SC， and the correlations gradually increased. With the restoration of vegetation and improvement of its structural functions， the relationships between WY-SR， CS-SR， and SC-SR changed from trade-offs in 2000 and 2010 to synergies in 2020. The results of this study can provide a scientific basis for the protection and sustainable management of grassland ecosystems in Ningxia as well as the formulation of related policies.