Based on these experiments, a 0.5 cm sowing depth resulted in the highest seedling emergence and it is concluded that this is the optimal sowing depth for seedling emergence of all six species.

Global learning is a student-centered activity in which learners of different cultures use technology to improve their global perspectives while remaining in their home countries. This article examines the use of global learning with gifted students to develop the knowledge. attitudes, and skills necessary for world citizenship. We describe a pedagogical approach that is based on a set of conditions for global learning, associated learner attributes, and processes developed in global learning leading to acquisition of world citizen characteristics. Six processes and nine attributes are identified as essential for global learning. Two examples are presented of how this approach can be used to integrate global learning into the curriculumone at a university level and another in a middle-school setting.Ours is a world of 24-hour news cycles, global markets. and high-speed Internet. We need to look no further than our morning paper to see that our future, and the future of our cbildren. is inextricably linked to the complex challenges of the global community. And for our children to be prepared to take their place in that world and rise to those challenges, they must first understand it. {Paige, 2002) Globalization in its broadest sense provides all peoples of the world with major challenges-chiefly related to trade, technology, and the environment-and poses significant i triplications for how best to prepare future world citizens to meet these challenges (

Springer's innovative Landscape Series is committed to publishing high quality manuscripts that approach the concept of landscape from a broad range of perspectives. Encouraging contributions that are scientifically-grounded and solutions-oriented, the series attracts outstanding research from the natural and social sciences, and from the humanities and the arts. It also provides a leading forum for publications from interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary teams. The Landscape Series particularly welcomes contributions around several globally significant areas for landscape research: Ecosystem processes linked to landscapes and regions Regional ecology (including bioregional theory & application) Coupled human-environment systems / interactions (CHES) Ecosystem services Global change science and adaptation strategies Volumes in the series can be authored or edited works, cohesively connected around these topics and tied to global initiatives. Ultimately, the Series aims to facilitate the application of landscape research to practice in a changing world, and to advance the contributions of landscape theory and research to the broader scholarly community.

Assessing oil pollution using traditional field-based methods over large areas is difficult and expensive. Remote sensing technologies with good spatial and temporal coverage might provide an alternative for monitoring oil pollution by recording the spectral signals of plants growing in polluted soils. Total petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations of soils and the hyperspectral canopy reflectance were measured in wetlands dominated by reeds (Phragmites australis) around oil wells that have been producing oil for approximately 10 years in the Yellow River Delta, eastern China to evaluate the potential of vegetation indices and red edge parameters to estimate soil oil pollution. The detrimental effect of oil pollution on reed communities was confirmed by the evidence that the aboveground biomass decreased from 1076.5 g m−2 to 5.3 g m−2 with increasing total petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations ranging from 9.45 mg kg−1 to 652 mg kg−1. The modified chlorophyll absorption ratio index (MCARI) best estimated soil TPH concentration among 20 vegetation indices. The linear model involving MCARI had the highest coefficient of determination (R 2 = 0.73) and accuracy of prediction (RMSE = 104.2 mg kg−1). For other vegetation indices and red edge parameters, the R2 and RMSE values ranged from 0.64 to 0.71 and from 120.2 mg kg−1 to 106.8 mg kg−1 respectively. The traditional broadband normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), one of the broadband multispectral vegetation indices (BMVIs), produced a prediction (R 2 = 0.70 and RMSE = 110.1 mg kg−1) similar to that of MCARI. These results corroborated the potential of remote sensing for assessing soil oil pollution in large areas. Traditional BMVIs are still of great value in monitoring soil oil pollution when hyperspectral data are unavailable.

Artemisia ordosica Krasch. (Asteraceae) is the dominant psammophytic shrub species on the Ordos Plateau of northern China and is used for revegetation of semi-arid areas. Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of light intensity, constant temperature, alternating temperatures, and water potential on germination to determine why air-dispersed achenes fail to germinate well in the field. Achenes germinated within a wide alternating temperature window, except under the 5:15 °C (night:day) temperature regime in darkness. Final percent germination (FPG) was higher in darkness than in light at alternating temperature regimes, except under the 20:30 °C (night:day) temperature regime. Achenes subjected to a range of constant temperatures in the dark had high FPG over 76.8% except at 30 °C (8%). Photosynthetic photon flux densities (PPFD) of 100 and 400 µmol·m–2·s–1 significantly lowered FPG under a 10:20 °C (night:day) regime, while at 0–25 µmol·m–2·s–1 PPFD, the FPG was over 92%. Few achenes germinated at –1.4 MPa. The most suitable temperature for germination of achenes placed under water stress was 20 °C. The best timing for air dispersal is mid-May, so seeds would become covered with sand at a time when temperature and soil moisture conditions were optimal for germination.Key words: air dispersal, Artemisia ordosica, hydrothermal time, psammophytes, semi-arid regions, temperature.