The swamp type of the Asian water buffalo is assumed to have been domesticated by about 4000 years BP , following the introduction of rice cultivation. Previous localizations of the domestication site were based on mitochondrial DNA (mt DNA ) variation within China, accounting only for the maternal lineage. We carried out a comprehensive sampling of China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Nepal and Bangladesh and sequenced the...

Surface soils, which contain the largest pool of terrestrial organic carbon (C), may be able to sequester atmospheric C and thus mitigate climate change. However, this remains controversial, largely due to insufficient data and knowledge gaps in respect of organic C contents and stocks in soils and the main factors of their control. Up to now and despite numerous evaluations of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks worldwide, the s...