The Qaidam Basin,a typical alpine arid inland basin on the northern Qinghai-Xizang Plateau,China,hosts wetland ecosystems that are strongly constrained by topography and extreme climate.These ecosystems exhibit pronou...The Qaidam Basin,a typical alpine arid inland basin on the northern Qinghai-Xizang Plateau,China,hosts wetland ecosystems that are strongly constrained by topography and extreme climate.These ecosystems exhibit pronounced spatiotemporal heterogeneity and fragmented distribution patterns,rendering them highly sensitive to environmental change.This study integrated Sentinel-2 remote sensing imagery with the SedInConnect model to delineate wetland patch distributions and calculate the Index of Connectivity(IC)values across the basin.Based on IC values,we stratified field sampling sites into high-,moderate-,and lowconnectivity gradient groups to analyze the relationships among plant community characteristics,vegetation spatial patterns,and wetland connectivity in the Qaidam Basin.Partial Least Squares Path Modeling(PLSPM)was further employed to quantify the driving mechanisms underlying wetland vegetation characteristics.The results revealed that wetland connectivity across the basin was generally low,with IC values up to 1.32 and displaying a west-to-east decreasing gradient.The west and northwest were characterized by relatively continuous high-connectivity wetland networks,while fragmented and low-connectivity wetlands predominated in the east and southeast.Connectivity regulated wetland vegetation patterns primarily by affecting patch size,fragmentation,and internal adjacency.High-connectivity areas had higher class area(CA),largest patch index(LPI),and area-weighted mean patch size(AREA_AM)than low-connectivity areas.Connectivity had the strongest effect on vegetation coverage,which declined sharply from 87.577%in highconnectivity areas to 12.152%in low-connectivity areas.Meanwhile,species diversity showed a moderately negative response to connectivity changes,whereas species evenness remained relatively unaffected.PLS-PM explained 78.300%and 67.500%of the variance in vegetation community and vegetation pattern,respectively.Climate played a dominant role in shaping vegetation characteristics,with significant negative effects on both vegetation community and pattern.Topography influenced vegetation indirectly through climate,and connectivity was influenced by both drivers and exerted positive effects on vegetation community and pattern.This study reveals the multi-pathway driving mechanisms underlying vegetation pattern formation in alpine wetlands,providing a theoretical foundation and decision-support framework for the scientific conservation and adaptive management of wetlands in the Qaidam Basin.展开更多
Urban forests are essential components of green infrastructure,however,rapid urbanization-induced changes in landscape patterns may affect their ecosystem services through complex ecological processes.A total of 184 s...Urban forests are essential components of green infrastructure,however,rapid urbanization-induced changes in landscape patterns may affect their ecosystem services through complex ecological processes.A total of 184 sample plots in the built-up areas of Nanchang,China,were used as research sites.Urbanization intensities were categorized by the rate of impervious surface area,and forest types were classified into landscape and relaxation forest,attached forest(AF),road forest(RF),and ecological public welfare forest.This study aimed to explore the spatial variations in vegetation characteristics and landscape pattern indices of different forest types under rapid urbanization.The results indicated that the largest patch index(LPI),aggregation index(AI),and percentage of landscape(PLAND)in RF and AF were lower than those in the other forest types(p<0.05).With increasing urbanization intensity,the mean perimeter-area ratio increased by 130.84%,whereas the PLAND,LPI,and AI decreased by 22−86%(p<0.05).Redundancy analysis and variation partitioning suggested that the interpretation rate of landscape pattern indices for variations in vegetation characteristics increased from low to heavy urbanization areas.Especially,the landscape shape index,patch connection index,PLAND,and mean patch size were significantly correlated with vegetation characteristics(e.g.,tree richness,herb coverage,and tree height).In the future,appropriate landscape layout superiority cases should be considered in different urbanization areas and forest types;for instance,increasing the patch connection index will beneficially improve the diversity of trees and herbs in heavy urbanization areas and the RF.This study serves as a reference for maximizing the ecosystem services of urban forests.展开更多
Through the field investigation and laboratory analysis,this paper describes the regular pattern of community succession on the deserted land of Shizishan copper tailings in Tongling City.There are 49 species of natur...Through the field investigation and laboratory analysis,this paper describes the regular pattern of community succession on the deserted land of Shizishan copper tailings in Tongling City.There are 49 species of natural colonized plants on the wasteland,which are subordinate to 15 families and 38 genera.The main families are Compositae(12 species),Gramineae(11 species),Leguminosae(8 species)and Hippochaete ramosissimum,which belong to Equisetaceae.The extreme soil infertility and excessively concentration of heavy metals(especially Cu and Cd)are the main limiting factors to plants colonization.The vegetation on the deserted land of copper tailings is distributed in spot piece and scattered mainly with fewer species of plant,with lower species diversity.Annual and biennial herbs and grasses are dominant components.Cynodon dactylon,Imperata cylindrica var.major,Lespedeza chinensis,Erigeron annuus and H.ramosissimum etc.have a higher summed dominance ratio.The natural formation of plant community on the deserted land of copper tailings usually goes through seeds spread,invasion,ecesis,aggregation and species competition.After several years of primary natural restoration,14 communities were formed.According to their community composition and structure level,the 14 communities are divided into three primary succession stages,namely monodominant,subdominant and codominant species communities.With the formation and succession of these communities,species were enriched and diversity increased,the margin of summed dominance ratio of species in each community decreased,and the composition or structure of community became complex.展开更多
Understanding spatial patterns of plant species diversity and the factors(e.g.,climate and human)that drive these patterns is essential for biodiversity conservation.We used data from 1700.1-ha forest plots in the She...Understanding spatial patterns of plant species diversity and the factors(e.g.,climate and human)that drive these patterns is essential for biodiversity conservation.We used data from 1700.1-ha forest plots in the Shettihalli tropical forest landscape of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot,India,to analyse tree community composition and the drivers of α-diversity(Shannon)andβ-diversity(LCBD).Compositional patterns were visualized using Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling(NMDS),and hybrid feature selection with structural equation modeling(SEM)was employed to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of environmental variables on diversity.NMDS identified four distinct forest types in the Shettihalli landscape:semi-evergreen,dry deciduous,moist deciduous,and plantation forests,each with distinct plant composition.Shannon diversity and ecological uniqueness was significantly higher in semi-evergreen forest than in deciduous forest plots.The SEMs explained about 79%and 39–45%of the variation in α-diversity andβ-diversity.Our analysis indicated that current diversity patterns result from multiple processes,with structure,disturbance,and edaphic parameters exerting the strongest direct and indirect effects onα-diversity.β-diversity,in contrast,was largely influenced by climate,topography,stand structure,and edaphic factors.Overall,our findings indicate that various factors(e.g.,climate,topography,and human disturbance)interact to shape tree diversity patterns in tropical forests.These findings will help develop unique conservation and management strategies for distinct forest types in tropical forest ecosystems.展开更多
To probe the processes and mechanisms of soil organic carbon (SOC) changes during forest recovery, a 150-yearchronosequence study on SOC was conducted for various vegetation succession stages at the Ziwuling area, in ...To probe the processes and mechanisms of soil organic carbon (SOC) changes during forest recovery, a 150-yearchronosequence study on SOC was conducted for various vegetation succession stages at the Ziwuling area, in the centralpart of the Loess Plateau, China. Results showed that during the 150 years of local vegetation rehabilitation SOC increasedsignificantly (P < 0.05) over time in the initial period of 55-59 years, but slightly decreased afterwards. Average SOCdensities for the 0-100 cm layer of farmland, grassland, shrubland and forest were 4.46, 5.05, 9.95, and 7.49 kg C m-3,respectively. The decrease in SOC from 60 to 150 years of abandonment implied that the soil carbon pool was a sink forCO2 before the shrubland stage and became a source in the later period. This change resulted from the spatially variedcomposition and structure of the vegetation. Vegetation recovery had a maximum effect on the surface (0-20 cm) SOCpool. It. was concluded that vegetation recovery on the Loess Plateau could result in significantly increased sequestrationof atmospheric CO2 in soil and vegetation, which was ecologically important for mitigating the increase of atmosphericconcentration of CO2 and for ameliorating the local eco-environment.展开更多
Evapotranspiration （ET） is the sum of soil or water body evaporation and plant transpiration from the earth surface and ocean to the atmosphere, and thus plays a significant role in regulating carbon and water resou...Evapotranspiration （ET） is the sum of soil or water body evaporation and plant transpiration from the earth surface and ocean to the atmosphere, and thus plays a significant role in regulating carbon and water resource cycles. The time-series data set from the remote sensing MOLDS product （MOD16） was used to study the spatial-temporal evolution of vegetation evapotranspiration in salinized areas during 2000-2014 by analyzing the variability, spatial patterns and Mann-Kendall （MK） nonparametric trends for the time series. The results indicate that inter-annual and intra-annual variations of ET across various vegetated areas show seasonal changes, with the abnormal months identified. The Cultivated land displays a greater degree of spatial heterogeneity and the spatial pattern of ET in the area covered by broadleaved deciduous forests corresponds to a higher ET rate and increased water consumption. Awidespread decline of ET is observed only in cultivated areas. However, agricultural cultivation doesn＇t worsen water shortage and soil salinization problems in the region, and water shortage problems are worsening for other vegetated areas. This research provides a basis of reference for the reasonable allocation of water resources and restructuring of vegetation patterns in salinized areas.展开更多
Analysis of spatial-temporal variations of desert vegetation under the background of climate changes can provide references for ecological restoration in arid and semi-arid areas. In this study, we used the Global Inv...Analysis of spatial-temporal variations of desert vegetation under the background of climate changes can provide references for ecological restoration in arid and semi-arid areas. In this study, we used the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies （GIMMS） NDVI data from 1982 to 2006 and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer （MODIS） NDVI data from 2000 to 2013 to reveal the dynamics of desert vegetation in Hexi region of Northwest China over the past three decades. We also used the annual temperature and precipitation data acquired from the Chinese meteorological stations to analyze the response of desert vegetation to climatic variations. The average value of NDVImax （the maximum NDVI during the growing season） for desert vegetation in Hexi region increased at the rate of 0.65x10-3/a （P〈0.05） from 1982 to 2013, and the significant increases of NDVImax mainly appeared in the typical desert vegetation areas. Vegetation was significantly improved in the lower reaches of Shule and Shiyang river basins, and the weighted mean center of desert vegetation mainly shifted toward the lower reaches of the two basins. Almost 95.32% of the total desert vegetation area showed positive correlation between NDVImax and annual precipitation, indicating that precipitation is the key factor for desert vegetation growth in the entire study area. Moreover, the areas with non-significant positive correlation between NDVImax and annual precipitation mainly located in the lower reaches of Shiyang and Shule river basins, this may be due to human activities. Only 7.64% of the desert vegetation showed significant positive correlation between NDVImax and annual precipitation in the Shule River Basin （an extremely arid area）, indicating that precipitation is not the most important factor for vegetation growth in this basin, and further studies are needed to investigate the mechanism for this phenomenon.展开更多
Migration plays an increasing role in China＇s economy since mobility rose and economic restructuring has proceeded during the last three decades. Given the background of most studies focusing on migration in a partic...Migration plays an increasing role in China＇s economy since mobility rose and economic restructuring has proceeded during the last three decades. Given the background of most studies focusing on migration in a particular period, there is a critical need to analyze the spatial-temporal patterns of migration. Using bicomponent trend mapping technique and interprovincial migration data during the periods 1985-1990, 1990-1995, 1995-2000, 2000- 2005, and 2005-2010 we analyze net-, in-, out-migration intensity, and their changes over time in this study. Strong spatial variations in migration intensity were found in China＇s interprovincial migration, and substantial increase in migration intensity was also detected in eastern China during 1985-2010. Eight key destinations are mostly located within the three rapidly growing economic zones of eastern China （Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitan Region）, and they are classified into three types： mature, emerging, and fluctuant origins, while most key origins are relatively undeveloped central and western provinces, which are exactly in accordance with China＇s economic development patterns. The results of bicomponent trend mapping indicate that, in a sense, the migration in the south was more active than the north over the last three decades. The result shows the new changing features of spatial-temporal patterns of China＇s interprovincial migration that Fan and Chen did not find out in their research. A series of social-economic changes including rural transformation, balanced regional development, and labor market changes should be paid more attention to explore China＇s future interprovincial migration.展开更多
Anxi County is located in the northwestern part of the Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province and has the sole national level nature reserve of extremely arid desert in China. Phytosociological methods (Braun Blanquet, 196...Anxi County is located in the northwestern part of the Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province and has the sole national level nature reserve of extremely arid desert in China. Phytosociological methods (Braun Blanquet, 1964) are used to classify plant community types in this area. Eleven are distinguished, including six of deserts, four of oases and one transitional type between deserts and oases. Direct gradient analysis(DCA) is employed to correlate the distribution of plant communities to physiogeographic conditions. This study makes clear that water is the most important ecological factor for the distribution of plant species and communities in this area. The effects of water have been demonstrated in different ways. A vegetation gradient from lower altitude to higher altitude in the southern part of the reserve is driven by a precipitation gradient. The effects of the depth of ground water table contribute to the differentiation of vegetation from desert to oasis in the flat area. In a finer scale, the washed gullies have obviously higher species richness and also higher vegetation cover than the surround gobi surfaces, possibly caused by the effects of floods. The vegetation patterns demonstrate that the area of Anxi County is a complete landscape unit. The range of the current nature reserve is not large enough for the purpose of conserving the unique biodiversity in this area.展开更多
Guizhou Province is an important karst area in the world and a fragile ecological area in China. Ecological risk assessment is very necessary to be conducted in this region. This study investigates different character...Guizhou Province is an important karst area in the world and a fragile ecological area in China. Ecological risk assessment is very necessary to be conducted in this region. This study investigates different characteristics of the spatial-temporal changes of vegetation cover in Guizhou Province of Southern China using the data set of SPOT VEGETATION(1999–2015) at spatial resolution of 1-km and temporal resolution of 10-day. The coefficient of variation, the Theil-Sen median trend analysis, and the Mann-Kendall test are used to investigate the spatial-temporal change of vegetation cover and its future trend. Results show that: 1) the spatial distribution pattern of vegetation cover in Guizhou Plateau is high in the east whereas low in the west. The average annual normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) from west to east is higher than that from south to north. 2) Average annual NDVI improved obviously in the past 17 years. The growth rate of average annual NDVI is 0.028/10 yr, which is slower than that of vegetation in the country(0.048/10 yr) from 1998 to 2007. Average annual NDVI in karst area is lower than that in non-karst area. However, the growing rate of average annual NDVI in karst area(0.030/10 yr) is faster than that in non-karst area(0.023/10 yr), indicating that vegetation coverage increases more rapidly in karst area. 3) Vegetation coverage in the study area is stable overall, but fluctuates in the local scales. 4) Vegetation coverage presents a continuous increasing trend. The Hurst exponent of NDVI in different vegetation types has an obvious threshold in various elevations. 5) The proportion of vegetation cover with sustainable increase is higher than that of vegetation cover with sustainable decrease. The improvement in vegetation cover may expand to most parts of the study area.展开更多
The analysis of vegetation-environment relationships has always been a study hotspot in ecology. A number of biotic, hydrologic and edaphic factors have great influence on the distribution of macrophytes within salt m...The analysis of vegetation-environment relationships has always been a study hotspot in ecology. A number of biotic, hydrologic and edaphic factors have great influence on the distribution of macrophytes within salt marsh.Since the exotic species Spartina alterniflora（S. alterniflora） was introduced in 1995, a rapid expansion has occurred at Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve（CDNR） in the Changjiang（Yangtze） River Estuary, China.Several important vegetation-environment factors including soil elevation, tidal channels density（TCD）,vegetation classification and fractional vegetation cover（FVC） were extracted by remote sensing method combined with field measurement. To ignore the details in interaction between biological and physical process,the relationship between them was discussed at a large scale of the whole saltmarsh. The results showed that Scirpus mariqueter（S. mariqueter） can endure the greatest elevation variance with 0.33 m throughout the marsh in CDNR. But it is dominant in the area less than 2.5 m with the occurrence frequency reaching 98%. S. alterniflora has usually been found on the most elevated soils higher than 3.5 m but has a narrow spatial distribution. The rapid decrease of S. mariqueter can be explained by stronger competitive capacity of S. alterniflora on the high tidal flat. FVC increases with elevation which shows significant correlation with elevation（r=0.30, p〈0.001）. But the frequency distribution of FVC indicates that vegetation is not well developed on both elevated banks near tidal channels from the whole scale mainly due to tidal channel lateral swing and human activities. The significant negative correlation（r=–0.20, p〈0.001） was found between FVC and TCD, which shows vegetation is restricted to grow in higher TCD area corresponding to lower elevation mainly occupied by S. mariqueter communities. The maximum occurrence frequency of this species reaches to 97% at the salt marsh with TCD more than 8 m/m2.展开更多
Dykes are a special kind of intrusive rocks which were formed by deep magma intruded into the existing brittle fractures in the crust.Dykes swarms in different tectonic environments are very significant to re-construc...Dykes are a special kind of intrusive rocks which were formed by deep magma intruded into the existing brittle fractures in the crust.Dykes swarms in different tectonic environments are very significant to re-construct the展开更多
Negative air ions are natural components of the air we breathe Forests are the main continuous natural source of negative air ions （NAI）. The spatio-temporal patterns of negative air ions were explored in Shanghai, ...Negative air ions are natural components of the air we breathe Forests are the main continuous natural source of negative air ions （NAI）. The spatio-temporal patterns of negative air ions were explored in Shanghai, based on monthly monitoring in 15 parks from March 2009 to February 2010. In each park, sampling sites were selected in forests and open spaces. The annual variation in negative air ion concentrations （NAIC） showed peak values from June to October and minimum values from December to January. NAIC were highest in summer and autumn, intermediate in spring, and lowest in winter. During spring and summer, NAIC in open spaces were significantly higher in rural areas than those in suburban areas. However, there were no significant differences in NAIC at forest sites among seasons. For open spaces, total suspended particles （TSP） were the dominant determining factor of NAIC in sum- mer, and air temperature and air humidity were the dominant determining factors of NAIC in spring, which were tightly correlated with Shanghai＇s ongoing urbanization and its impacts on the environment. R is suggested that urbanization could induce variation in NAIC along the urban-rural gradient, but that may not change the temporal variation pattern. Fur- thermore, the effects of urbanization on NAIC were limited in non-vegetated or less-vegetated sites, such as open spaces, but not in well-vegetated areas, such as urban forests. Therefore, we suggest that urban greening, especially urban forest, has significant resistance to theeffect of urbanization on NAIC.展开更多
China is a disaster prone country, and a comprehensive understanding of change of disasters is very important for China＇s agricultural development. In this study, statistical tech niques and geographic information sy...China is a disaster prone country, and a comprehensive understanding of change of disasters is very important for China＇s agricultural development. In this study, statistical tech niques and geographic information system tools are employed to quantify the main agricul ture disasters changes and effects on grain production in China during the period of 1990-2011. The results show that China＇s grain production was severely affected by disas ters including drought, flood, hail, frost and typhoon. The annual area covered by these dis asters reached up to 48.7x106 ha during the study period, which accounted for 44.8% of the total sown area, and about 55.1% of the per unit area grain yield change was caused by disasters. In addition, all of the disasters showed high variability, different changing trends, and spatial distribution. Drought, flood, and hail showed significantly decreasing trends, while frost and typhoon showed increasing trends. Drought and flood showed gradual changes and were distributed across the country, and disasters became more diversified from north to south. Drought was the dominated disaster type in northern China, while flood was the most important disaster type in the southern part. Hail was mainly observed in central and northern China, and frost was mainly distributed in southern China. Typhoon was greatly limited to the southeast coast. Furthermore, the resilience of grain production of each province was quite different, especially in several major grain producing areas, such as Shandong, Liaoning, Jilin and Jiangsu, where grain production was seriously affected by disasters. One reason for the difference of resilience of grain production was that grain production was marginalized in developed provinces when the economy underwent rapid development. For China＇s agricul tural development and grain security, we suggest that governments should place more em phasis on grain production, and invest more money in disaster prevention and mitigation, especially in the major grain producing provinces.展开更多
Urbanization is a comprehensive and complex socioeconomic phenomenon that plays an influential role in promoting global socioeconomic development.The Loess Plateau region is an important part of the China’s ecologica...Urbanization is a comprehensive and complex socioeconomic phenomenon that plays an influential role in promoting global socioeconomic development.The Loess Plateau region is an important part of the China’s ecological security pattern,and occupies an important position in the implementation of China’s new-type urbanization strategy and the realization of the urban dream.The characteristics of the staged changes and regional differentiation of urbanization in the area from 1990 to 2018 were studied with focus on regions and subregions by selecting 341 county-level administrative units on the Chinese Loess Plateau as the research area,and employing partition analysis and geographic detector methods.This revealed the formation mechanism of the spatial differentiation pattern of urbanization on the Loess Plateau.We found that the urbanization of the Loess Plateau,previously in a slow growth phase,entered the accelerated development phase,presenting a macro pattern of high rates of urbanization in central and eastern areas and low rates in western areas.The formation of the regional differentiation patterns of urbanization on the Loess Plateau were the combined results of natural geographical and socioeconomic factors.Among these factors,the interaction of any two factors had a stronger impact on regional urbanization patterns than a single factor,which was specifically manifested as nonlinear or bi-factor enhancement effects.The findings of this paper may provide a theoretical reference and scientific basis for the scientific promotion of healthy urbanization on the Chinese Loess Plateau and the ecologically fragile areas of developing countries around the world.展开更多
The altitudinal pattern of vegetation is usually identified by field surveys,however,these can only provide discrete data on a local mountain.Few studies identifying and analyzing the altitudinal vegetation pattern on...The altitudinal pattern of vegetation is usually identified by field surveys,however,these can only provide discrete data on a local mountain.Few studies identifying and analyzing the altitudinal vegetation pattern on a regional scale are available.This study selected central Inner Mongolia as the study area,presented a method for extracting vegetation patterns in altitudinal and horizontal directions.The data included a vegetation map at a 1∶1 000 000 scale and a digital elevation model at a 1∶250 000 scale.The three-dimensional vegetation pattern indicated the distribution probability for each vegetation type and the transition zones between different vegetation landscapes.From low to high elevations,there were five vegetation types in the southern mountain flanks,including the montane steppe,broad-leaved forest,coniferous mixed forest,montane dwarf-scrub and sub-alpine shrub-meadow.Correspondingly,only four vegetation types were found in the northern flanks,except for the montane steppe.This study could provide a general model for understanding the complexity and diversity of mountain environment and landscape.展开更多
The influence of anthropogenic activities,especially artificial dykes,on the coastal wetland landscape is now considered as a serious problem to the coastal ecosystem.It is important and necessary to analyze changes o...The influence of anthropogenic activities,especially artificial dykes,on the coastal wetland landscape is now considered as a serious problem to the coastal ecosystem.It is important and necessary to analyze changes of coastal landscape pattern under the influence of artificial dykes for the protection and management of coastal wetland.Our study aimed to reveal the quantitative characteristics of the coastal wetland landscape and its spatial-temporal dynamics under the influence of artificial dykes in the Yellow River delta(YRD).It was analyzed by the methods of the statistical analysis of landscape structure,five selected landscape indices and the changes of spatial centroids of three typical wetland types,including reed marshes,tidal fiats and aquaculture-salt fields.The results showed that:(1)Reduction of wetland area,especially the degradation of natural wetlands,had been the principal problem since the dykes were constructed in the YRD.The dykes created conditions for the development of artificial wetlands.However,the new born artificial wetlands were still less than the vanished natural wetlands.(2)Compared with the open area,the building of artificial dykes significantly speeded up the changes of landscape patterns and the aggravation of the landscape fragmentation in the closed area.(3)The changes of area-weighted centroids of three typical wetland landscapes were greatly affected by dykes,and the movement of the centroid of the aquaculture-salt field was very sensitive to the dykes constructed in the corresponding period.展开更多
Current vegetation patterns, biodiversity and adaptation of plants were studied during 1998-2001 in glacial landscape of Chaurabari situated above Kedarnath （30° 44＇ N- 79° 07＇ E; 3,000- 6,000 m） in Cent...Current vegetation patterns, biodiversity and adaptation of plants were studied during 1998-2001 in glacial landscape of Chaurabari situated above Kedarnath （30° 44＇ N- 79° 07＇ E; 3,000- 6,000 m） in Central Himalaya. Landscape was identified into different zones on account of the vegetation status, glacial features, geomorphology and altitudes. Cold environment with heavy snowfall, frost hailstorm and dense frost characterizes the study area Predominance of the soda rich feldspars indicates soda enrichment; orthoclase, microcline weathering and alternation would have contributed potash to the soil. The increasing severity of the environment as we ascend from timberline to snowline leads to progressive decline in the abundance and diversity of the plant species. The diversity of the higher plants decrease, while the diversity of microflora increase from alpine zone to snowline zone. Highly opulent and diverse flora with beautiful, delicate herbs occupy the alpine zone, but some specialized groups of the plants, particularly high energetic and cold resistant species reside in glacial environment. Asteraceae, Rananculaceae, Primulaceae, Rosaceae, Apiaceae and Ericaceae are the pioneer angiospermic families, while Anaphalis triplinervis, A. royleana, Androsacce sarmentosa, Cotoneaster rotundifolius,Lonicera myrtillus, Cassiope fastigiata, Gaultheria trichophylla and Erigeron multiradiatus are the pioneer species, which have invaded in glacial environment. Through its nature, alpine glacial ecotone can be seen easily due to environmental and edaphic differences.展开更多
Treelines are ecologically unique,fragile,and rich in natural resources.They harbour high species diversity and at the same time are under threat due to anthropogenic activities.Recognizing this,the present study has ...Treelines are ecologically unique,fragile,and rich in natural resources.They harbour high species diversity and at the same time are under threat due to anthropogenic activities.Recognizing this,the present study has been framed to document the patterns of species richness and diversity in the state of Himachal Pradesh,western Himalaya.A total of six treeline sites(three disturbed and three undisturbed)were identified for vegetation sampling.Trees,shrubs,and herbs were sampled at each site using nested plots of 10 m^(2),5 m^(2),and 1 m^(2),respectively.The study exhibits the rich diversity of treeline communities,the patterns of which varied between treeline sites.Altogether,221 species of vascular plants belonging to 47 families and 140 genera were recorded from the area.Amongst families,Asteraceae was the dominant family followed by Apiaceae and Ranunculaceae.The study also revealed the presence of threatened species like Aconitum heterophyllum,Angelica glauca,Bergenia stracheyi,Dactylorhiza hatagirea,Picrorhiza kurroa,and Trillium govanianum etc.at treeline.Moreover,species composition revealed high densities of Betula utilis followed by the under canopy of Rhododendron campanulatum and R.anthopogon at treeline sites.Overall,species richness of herbs,shrubs,and trees were higher at undisturbed site as compared to disturbed one.The diversity indices of herbs and shrubs varied significantly between treeline sites while that of trees was non-significant.At the same time,soil properties showed distinct patterns wherein pH and available nitrogen significantly varied between treeline sites.Present study provides detailed insights into the floristic and ecological aspects of treeline communities from the unexplored ecoregion of western Himalaya.The treelines in the area are anthropogenically depressed and continued land-use activities might result in habitat fragmentation and displacement of plant communities in the near future.展开更多
The Monte Desert is characterized by a great diversity of landforms created with fluvial,alluvial which the vegetation patterns are related to.The present work has the following objectives:(1) determine whether topogr...The Monte Desert is characterized by a great diversity of landforms created with fluvial,alluvial which the vegetation patterns are related to.The present work has the following objectives:(1) determine whether topographical attributes,surface characteristics,soil properties and vegetation patterns vary between alluvial landforms,and(2) define whether morphometric,soil and surface properties influence vegetation patterns along alluvial landscape.Morphometric data were obtained by processing a 5 m digital elevation model.The coverage of rock fragments,fine sediments and mulch was quantified.Observations and descriptions of the soil profiles were restricted to the uppermost 50 cm.Vegetation properties were calculated using a Point Quadrat Method.The relationship between variables was evaluated through multivariate statistical analysis.The main results show the presence of 45 plant species distributed in 19 families,where shrubs are dominant.The wind effect,topographic wetness and dissection of the landscape are limiting factors of diversity.The coverage of superficial rock fragments influence vegetation coverage through the distribution and availability of rainwater.Furthermore,the different soil textures reveal that the silt content favors an increase in vegetation coverage.The presence of V horizon could condition the installation and development of vegetation in the early stages of growth.展开更多
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42230720)the 2023 Annual Qinghai Province"Kunlun Talents-High-end Innovation and Entrepreneurship Talent"Program Project.
文摘The Qaidam Basin,a typical alpine arid inland basin on the northern Qinghai-Xizang Plateau,China,hosts wetland ecosystems that are strongly constrained by topography and extreme climate.These ecosystems exhibit pronounced spatiotemporal heterogeneity and fragmented distribution patterns,rendering them highly sensitive to environmental change.This study integrated Sentinel-2 remote sensing imagery with the SedInConnect model to delineate wetland patch distributions and calculate the Index of Connectivity(IC)values across the basin.Based on IC values,we stratified field sampling sites into high-,moderate-,and lowconnectivity gradient groups to analyze the relationships among plant community characteristics,vegetation spatial patterns,and wetland connectivity in the Qaidam Basin.Partial Least Squares Path Modeling(PLSPM)was further employed to quantify the driving mechanisms underlying wetland vegetation characteristics.The results revealed that wetland connectivity across the basin was generally low,with IC values up to 1.32 and displaying a west-to-east decreasing gradient.The west and northwest were characterized by relatively continuous high-connectivity wetland networks,while fragmented and low-connectivity wetlands predominated in the east and southeast.Connectivity regulated wetland vegetation patterns primarily by affecting patch size,fragmentation,and internal adjacency.High-connectivity areas had higher class area(CA),largest patch index(LPI),and area-weighted mean patch size(AREA_AM)than low-connectivity areas.Connectivity had the strongest effect on vegetation coverage,which declined sharply from 87.577%in highconnectivity areas to 12.152%in low-connectivity areas.Meanwhile,species diversity showed a moderately negative response to connectivity changes,whereas species evenness remained relatively unaffected.PLS-PM explained 78.300%and 67.500%of the variance in vegetation community and vegetation pattern,respectively.Climate played a dominant role in shaping vegetation characteristics,with significant negative effects on both vegetation community and pattern.Topography influenced vegetation indirectly through climate,and connectivity was influenced by both drivers and exerted positive effects on vegetation community and pattern.This study reveals the multi-pathway driving mechanisms underlying vegetation pattern formation in alpine wetlands,providing a theoretical foundation and decision-support framework for the scientific conservation and adaptive management of wetlands in the Qaidam Basin.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32460380,42007042)State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture(SKLSSKF2023-06)+2 种基金Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province(20242BAB25389)National Undergraduate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program(202410410029X)Jiangxi Province Graduate Student Innovation Special Fund Project(YC2024-S330).
文摘Urban forests are essential components of green infrastructure,however,rapid urbanization-induced changes in landscape patterns may affect their ecosystem services through complex ecological processes.A total of 184 sample plots in the built-up areas of Nanchang,China,were used as research sites.Urbanization intensities were categorized by the rate of impervious surface area,and forest types were classified into landscape and relaxation forest,attached forest(AF),road forest(RF),and ecological public welfare forest.This study aimed to explore the spatial variations in vegetation characteristics and landscape pattern indices of different forest types under rapid urbanization.The results indicated that the largest patch index(LPI),aggregation index(AI),and percentage of landscape(PLAND)in RF and AF were lower than those in the other forest types(p<0.05).With increasing urbanization intensity,the mean perimeter-area ratio increased by 130.84%,whereas the PLAND,LPI,and AI decreased by 22−86%(p<0.05).Redundancy analysis and variation partitioning suggested that the interpretation rate of landscape pattern indices for variations in vegetation characteristics increased from low to heavy urbanization areas.Especially,the landscape shape index,patch connection index,PLAND,and mean patch size were significantly correlated with vegetation characteristics(e.g.,tree richness,herb coverage,and tree height).In the future,appropriate landscape layout superiority cases should be considered in different urbanization areas and forest types;for instance,increasing the patch connection index will beneficially improve the diversity of trees and herbs in heavy urbanization areas and the RF.This study serves as a reference for maximizing the ecosystem services of urban forests.
文摘Through the field investigation and laboratory analysis,this paper describes the regular pattern of community succession on the deserted land of Shizishan copper tailings in Tongling City.There are 49 species of natural colonized plants on the wasteland,which are subordinate to 15 families and 38 genera.The main families are Compositae(12 species),Gramineae(11 species),Leguminosae(8 species)and Hippochaete ramosissimum,which belong to Equisetaceae.The extreme soil infertility and excessively concentration of heavy metals(especially Cu and Cd)are the main limiting factors to plants colonization.The vegetation on the deserted land of copper tailings is distributed in spot piece and scattered mainly with fewer species of plant,with lower species diversity.Annual and biennial herbs and grasses are dominant components.Cynodon dactylon,Imperata cylindrica var.major,Lespedeza chinensis,Erigeron annuus and H.ramosissimum etc.have a higher summed dominance ratio.The natural formation of plant community on the deserted land of copper tailings usually goes through seeds spread,invasion,ecesis,aggregation and species competition.After several years of primary natural restoration,14 communities were formed.According to their community composition and structure level,the 14 communities are divided into three primary succession stages,namely monodominant,subdominant and codominant species communities.With the formation and succession of these communities,species were enriched and diversity increased,the margin of summed dominance ratio of species in each community decreased,and the composition or structure of community became complex.
基金supported by the Department of Biotechnology,Ministry of Science and Technology,Govt.India,under grant No.BT/Coord.Ⅱ/10/02/2016/22.03.2018the Indian Council of Social Science Research,New Delhi,India,for providing a short-term doctoral fellowship(RFD/Short-Term/2022-23/ENV/ST/66)。
文摘Understanding spatial patterns of plant species diversity and the factors(e.g.,climate and human)that drive these patterns is essential for biodiversity conservation.We used data from 1700.1-ha forest plots in the Shettihalli tropical forest landscape of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot,India,to analyse tree community composition and the drivers of α-diversity(Shannon)andβ-diversity(LCBD).Compositional patterns were visualized using Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling(NMDS),and hybrid feature selection with structural equation modeling(SEM)was employed to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of environmental variables on diversity.NMDS identified four distinct forest types in the Shettihalli landscape:semi-evergreen,dry deciduous,moist deciduous,and plantation forests,each with distinct plant composition.Shannon diversity and ecological uniqueness was significantly higher in semi-evergreen forest than in deciduous forest plots.The SEMs explained about 79%and 39–45%of the variation in α-diversity andβ-diversity.Our analysis indicated that current diversity patterns result from multiple processes,with structure,disturbance,and edaphic parameters exerting the strongest direct and indirect effects onα-diversity.β-diversity,in contrast,was largely influenced by climate,topography,stand structure,and edaphic factors.Overall,our findings indicate that various factors(e.g.,climate,topography,and human disturbance)interact to shape tree diversity patterns in tropical forests.These findings will help develop unique conservation and management strategies for distinct forest types in tropical forest ecosystems.
基金the National Key Basic Research Support Foundation of China (No. 2002CB111502), the NationalNatural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 40371074 and 40025106) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(No. 2003033023).
文摘To probe the processes and mechanisms of soil organic carbon (SOC) changes during forest recovery, a 150-yearchronosequence study on SOC was conducted for various vegetation succession stages at the Ziwuling area, in the centralpart of the Loess Plateau, China. Results showed that during the 150 years of local vegetation rehabilitation SOC increasedsignificantly (P < 0.05) over time in the initial period of 55-59 years, but slightly decreased afterwards. Average SOCdensities for the 0-100 cm layer of farmland, grassland, shrubland and forest were 4.46, 5.05, 9.95, and 7.49 kg C m-3,respectively. The decrease in SOC from 60 to 150 years of abandonment implied that the soil carbon pool was a sink forCO2 before the shrubland stage and became a source in the later period. This change resulted from the spatially variedcomposition and structure of the vegetation. Vegetation recovery had a maximum effect on the surface (0-20 cm) SOCpool. It. was concluded that vegetation recovery on the Loess Plateau could result in significantly increased sequestrationof atmospheric CO2 in soil and vegetation, which was ecologically important for mitigating the increase of atmosphericconcentration of CO2 and for ameliorating the local eco-environment.
基金financial support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2017YFC1502404)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41601562 and 41761014)+1 种基金the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research Team Construction and Talent Development Project(JZ0145B752017)the Research Project for Young Teachers of Fujian Province,China(JAT160085)
文摘Evapotranspiration （ET） is the sum of soil or water body evaporation and plant transpiration from the earth surface and ocean to the atmosphere, and thus plays a significant role in regulating carbon and water resource cycles. The time-series data set from the remote sensing MOLDS product （MOD16） was used to study the spatial-temporal evolution of vegetation evapotranspiration in salinized areas during 2000-2014 by analyzing the variability, spatial patterns and Mann-Kendall （MK） nonparametric trends for the time series. The results indicate that inter-annual and intra-annual variations of ET across various vegetated areas show seasonal changes, with the abnormal months identified. The Cultivated land displays a greater degree of spatial heterogeneity and the spatial pattern of ET in the area covered by broadleaved deciduous forests corresponds to a higher ET rate and increased water consumption. Awidespread decline of ET is observed only in cultivated areas. However, agricultural cultivation doesn＇t worsen water shortage and soil salinization problems in the region, and water shortage problems are worsening for other vegetated areas. This research provides a basis of reference for the reasonable allocation of water resources and restructuring of vegetation patterns in salinized areas.
基金supported by the Opening Foundation of the State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Desertification and Aeolian Sand Disaster Combating,Gansu Desert Control Research Institute (GSDC201503)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41271024,31260129,31360204)+1 种基金the Program for Innovative Research Group of Gansu Province,China (1506RJIA155)Lanzhou University for providing Arc GIS technical support in the data processing
文摘Analysis of spatial-temporal variations of desert vegetation under the background of climate changes can provide references for ecological restoration in arid and semi-arid areas. In this study, we used the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies （GIMMS） NDVI data from 1982 to 2006 and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer （MODIS） NDVI data from 2000 to 2013 to reveal the dynamics of desert vegetation in Hexi region of Northwest China over the past three decades. We also used the annual temperature and precipitation data acquired from the Chinese meteorological stations to analyze the response of desert vegetation to climatic variations. The average value of NDVImax （the maximum NDVI during the growing season） for desert vegetation in Hexi region increased at the rate of 0.65x10-3/a （P〈0.05） from 1982 to 2013, and the significant increases of NDVImax mainly appeared in the typical desert vegetation areas. Vegetation was significantly improved in the lower reaches of Shule and Shiyang river basins, and the weighted mean center of desert vegetation mainly shifted toward the lower reaches of the two basins. Almost 95.32% of the total desert vegetation area showed positive correlation between NDVImax and annual precipitation, indicating that precipitation is the key factor for desert vegetation growth in the entire study area. Moreover, the areas with non-significant positive correlation between NDVImax and annual precipitation mainly located in the lower reaches of Shiyang and Shule river basins, this may be due to human activities. Only 7.64% of the desert vegetation showed significant positive correlation between NDVImax and annual precipitation in the Shule River Basin （an extremely arid area）, indicating that precipitation is not the most important factor for vegetation growth in this basin, and further studies are needed to investigate the mechanism for this phenomenon.
基金National Basic Research Program of China （973 Program）, No.2012CB95570001 Key Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.KZZD-EW-06-04+1 种基金 National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41301121 National Key Technologies R＆D Program of China, No.2012BAJ15B02
文摘Migration plays an increasing role in China＇s economy since mobility rose and economic restructuring has proceeded during the last three decades. Given the background of most studies focusing on migration in a particular period, there is a critical need to analyze the spatial-temporal patterns of migration. Using bicomponent trend mapping technique and interprovincial migration data during the periods 1985-1990, 1990-1995, 1995-2000, 2000- 2005, and 2005-2010 we analyze net-, in-, out-migration intensity, and their changes over time in this study. Strong spatial variations in migration intensity were found in China＇s interprovincial migration, and substantial increase in migration intensity was also detected in eastern China during 1985-2010. Eight key destinations are mostly located within the three rapidly growing economic zones of eastern China （Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitan Region）, and they are classified into three types： mature, emerging, and fluctuant origins, while most key origins are relatively undeveloped central and western provinces, which are exactly in accordance with China＇s economic development patterns. The results of bicomponent trend mapping indicate that, in a sense, the migration in the south was more active than the north over the last three decades. The result shows the new changing features of spatial-temporal patterns of China＇s interprovincial migration that Fan and Chen did not find out in their research. A series of social-economic changes including rural transformation, balanced regional development, and labor market changes should be paid more attention to explore China＇s future interprovincial migration.
文摘Anxi County is located in the northwestern part of the Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province and has the sole national level nature reserve of extremely arid desert in China. Phytosociological methods (Braun Blanquet, 1964) are used to classify plant community types in this area. Eleven are distinguished, including six of deserts, four of oases and one transitional type between deserts and oases. Direct gradient analysis(DCA) is employed to correlate the distribution of plant communities to physiogeographic conditions. This study makes clear that water is the most important ecological factor for the distribution of plant species and communities in this area. The effects of water have been demonstrated in different ways. A vegetation gradient from lower altitude to higher altitude in the southern part of the reserve is driven by a precipitation gradient. The effects of the depth of ground water table contribute to the differentiation of vegetation from desert to oasis in the flat area. In a finer scale, the washed gullies have obviously higher species richness and also higher vegetation cover than the surround gobi surfaces, possibly caused by the effects of floods. The vegetation patterns demonstrate that the area of Anxi County is a complete landscape unit. The range of the current nature reserve is not large enough for the purpose of conserving the unique biodiversity in this area.
基金Under the auspices of National Key Research Program of China(No.2016YFC0502300,2016YFC0502102,2014BAB03B00)National Key Research and Development Program(No.2014BAB03B02)+3 种基金Agricultural Science and Technology Key Project of Guizhou Province of China(No.2014-3039)Science and Technology Plan Projects of Guiyang Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology of China(No.2012-205)Science and Technology Plan of Guizhou Province of China(No.2012-6015)Guangxi Natural Science Foundation of China(No.2014GXNSFBA118221)
文摘Guizhou Province is an important karst area in the world and a fragile ecological area in China. Ecological risk assessment is very necessary to be conducted in this region. This study investigates different characteristics of the spatial-temporal changes of vegetation cover in Guizhou Province of Southern China using the data set of SPOT VEGETATION(1999–2015) at spatial resolution of 1-km and temporal resolution of 10-day. The coefficient of variation, the Theil-Sen median trend analysis, and the Mann-Kendall test are used to investigate the spatial-temporal change of vegetation cover and its future trend. Results show that: 1) the spatial distribution pattern of vegetation cover in Guizhou Plateau is high in the east whereas low in the west. The average annual normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) from west to east is higher than that from south to north. 2) Average annual NDVI improved obviously in the past 17 years. The growth rate of average annual NDVI is 0.028/10 yr, which is slower than that of vegetation in the country(0.048/10 yr) from 1998 to 2007. Average annual NDVI in karst area is lower than that in non-karst area. However, the growing rate of average annual NDVI in karst area(0.030/10 yr) is faster than that in non-karst area(0.023/10 yr), indicating that vegetation coverage increases more rapidly in karst area. 3) Vegetation coverage in the study area is stable overall, but fluctuates in the local scales. 4) Vegetation coverage presents a continuous increasing trend. The Hurst exponent of NDVI in different vegetation types has an obvious threshold in various elevations. 5) The proportion of vegetation cover with sustainable increase is higher than that of vegetation cover with sustainable decrease. The improvement in vegetation cover may expand to most parts of the study area.
基金Program Strategic Scientific Alliances between China and the Netherlands under contract No.2008DFB90240Open Research Fund Program for State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research under contract No.SKLEC201207Open Research Fund Program for Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology Environment and Disaster Prevention under contract No.2012011
文摘The analysis of vegetation-environment relationships has always been a study hotspot in ecology. A number of biotic, hydrologic and edaphic factors have great influence on the distribution of macrophytes within salt marsh.Since the exotic species Spartina alterniflora（S. alterniflora） was introduced in 1995, a rapid expansion has occurred at Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve（CDNR） in the Changjiang（Yangtze） River Estuary, China.Several important vegetation-environment factors including soil elevation, tidal channels density（TCD）,vegetation classification and fractional vegetation cover（FVC） were extracted by remote sensing method combined with field measurement. To ignore the details in interaction between biological and physical process,the relationship between them was discussed at a large scale of the whole saltmarsh. The results showed that Scirpus mariqueter（S. mariqueter） can endure the greatest elevation variance with 0.33 m throughout the marsh in CDNR. But it is dominant in the area less than 2.5 m with the occurrence frequency reaching 98%. S. alterniflora has usually been found on the most elevated soils higher than 3.5 m but has a narrow spatial distribution. The rapid decrease of S. mariqueter can be explained by stronger competitive capacity of S. alterniflora on the high tidal flat. FVC increases with elevation which shows significant correlation with elevation（r=0.30, p〈0.001）. But the frequency distribution of FVC indicates that vegetation is not well developed on both elevated banks near tidal channels from the whole scale mainly due to tidal channel lateral swing and human activities. The significant negative correlation（r=–0.20, p〈0.001） was found between FVC and TCD, which shows vegetation is restricted to grow in higher TCD area corresponding to lower elevation mainly occupied by S. mariqueter communities. The maximum occurrence frequency of this species reaches to 97% at the salt marsh with TCD more than 8 m/m2.
基金co-supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project number 41502201)"Western Light" project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XBBS201301)
文摘Dykes are a special kind of intrusive rocks which were formed by deep magma intruded into the existing brittle fractures in the crust.Dykes swarms in different tectonic environments are very significant to re-construct the
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.40971041)
文摘Negative air ions are natural components of the air we breathe Forests are the main continuous natural source of negative air ions （NAI）. The spatio-temporal patterns of negative air ions were explored in Shanghai, based on monthly monitoring in 15 parks from March 2009 to February 2010. In each park, sampling sites were selected in forests and open spaces. The annual variation in negative air ion concentrations （NAIC） showed peak values from June to October and minimum values from December to January. NAIC were highest in summer and autumn, intermediate in spring, and lowest in winter. During spring and summer, NAIC in open spaces were significantly higher in rural areas than those in suburban areas. However, there were no significant differences in NAIC at forest sites among seasons. For open spaces, total suspended particles （TSP） were the dominant determining factor of NAIC in sum- mer, and air temperature and air humidity were the dominant determining factors of NAIC in spring, which were tightly correlated with Shanghai＇s ongoing urbanization and its impacts on the environment. R is suggested that urbanization could induce variation in NAIC along the urban-rural gradient, but that may not change the temporal variation pattern. Fur- thermore, the effects of urbanization on NAIC were limited in non-vegetated or less-vegetated sites, such as open spaces, but not in well-vegetated areas, such as urban forests. Therefore, we suggest that urban greening, especially urban forest, has significant resistance to theeffect of urbanization on NAIC.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41340016 Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Prov ince, China, No.BK2012731
文摘China is a disaster prone country, and a comprehensive understanding of change of disasters is very important for China＇s agricultural development. In this study, statistical tech niques and geographic information system tools are employed to quantify the main agricul ture disasters changes and effects on grain production in China during the period of 1990-2011. The results show that China＇s grain production was severely affected by disas ters including drought, flood, hail, frost and typhoon. The annual area covered by these dis asters reached up to 48.7x106 ha during the study period, which accounted for 44.8% of the total sown area, and about 55.1% of the per unit area grain yield change was caused by disasters. In addition, all of the disasters showed high variability, different changing trends, and spatial distribution. Drought, flood, and hail showed significantly decreasing trends, while frost and typhoon showed increasing trends. Drought and flood showed gradual changes and were distributed across the country, and disasters became more diversified from north to south. Drought was the dominated disaster type in northern China, while flood was the most important disaster type in the southern part. Hail was mainly observed in central and northern China, and frost was mainly distributed in southern China. Typhoon was greatly limited to the southeast coast. Furthermore, the resilience of grain production of each province was quite different, especially in several major grain producing areas, such as Shandong, Liaoning, Jilin and Jiangsu, where grain production was seriously affected by disasters. One reason for the difference of resilience of grain production was that grain production was marginalized in developed provinces when the economy underwent rapid development. For China＇s agricul tural development and grain security, we suggest that governments should place more em phasis on grain production, and invest more money in disaster prevention and mitigation, especially in the major grain producing provinces.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Grant No.2018YFD1100101)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.42001251)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(Grant No.GK202103139)。
文摘Urbanization is a comprehensive and complex socioeconomic phenomenon that plays an influential role in promoting global socioeconomic development.The Loess Plateau region is an important part of the China’s ecological security pattern,and occupies an important position in the implementation of China’s new-type urbanization strategy and the realization of the urban dream.The characteristics of the staged changes and regional differentiation of urbanization in the area from 1990 to 2018 were studied with focus on regions and subregions by selecting 341 county-level administrative units on the Chinese Loess Plateau as the research area,and employing partition analysis and geographic detector methods.This revealed the formation mechanism of the spatial differentiation pattern of urbanization on the Loess Plateau.We found that the urbanization of the Loess Plateau,previously in a slow growth phase,entered the accelerated development phase,presenting a macro pattern of high rates of urbanization in central and eastern areas and low rates in western areas.The formation of the regional differentiation patterns of urbanization on the Loess Plateau were the combined results of natural geographical and socioeconomic factors.Among these factors,the interaction of any two factors had a stronger impact on regional urbanization patterns than a single factor,which was specifically manifested as nonlinear or bi-factor enhancement effects.The findings of this paper may provide a theoretical reference and scientific basis for the scientific promotion of healthy urbanization on the Chinese Loess Plateau and the ecologically fragile areas of developing countries around the world.
基金Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.41001111,41030528)
文摘The altitudinal pattern of vegetation is usually identified by field surveys,however,these can only provide discrete data on a local mountain.Few studies identifying and analyzing the altitudinal vegetation pattern on a regional scale are available.This study selected central Inner Mongolia as the study area,presented a method for extracting vegetation patterns in altitudinal and horizontal directions.The data included a vegetation map at a 1∶1 000 000 scale and a digital elevation model at a 1∶250 000 scale.The three-dimensional vegetation pattern indicated the distribution probability for each vegetation type and the transition zones between different vegetation landscapes.From low to high elevations,there were five vegetation types in the southern mountain flanks,including the montane steppe,broad-leaved forest,coniferous mixed forest,montane dwarf-scrub and sub-alpine shrub-meadow.Correspondingly,only four vegetation types were found in the northern flanks,except for the montane steppe.This study could provide a general model for understanding the complexity and diversity of mountain environment and landscape.
基金supported by the Open Fund for Field Stations of Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research,CAS and the Ocean Public Welfare Scientific Research Project(Grant No.201105020)
文摘The influence of anthropogenic activities,especially artificial dykes,on the coastal wetland landscape is now considered as a serious problem to the coastal ecosystem.It is important and necessary to analyze changes of coastal landscape pattern under the influence of artificial dykes for the protection and management of coastal wetland.Our study aimed to reveal the quantitative characteristics of the coastal wetland landscape and its spatial-temporal dynamics under the influence of artificial dykes in the Yellow River delta(YRD).It was analyzed by the methods of the statistical analysis of landscape structure,five selected landscape indices and the changes of spatial centroids of three typical wetland types,including reed marshes,tidal fiats and aquaculture-salt fields.The results showed that:(1)Reduction of wetland area,especially the degradation of natural wetlands,had been the principal problem since the dykes were constructed in the YRD.The dykes created conditions for the development of artificial wetlands.However,the new born artificial wetlands were still less than the vanished natural wetlands.(2)Compared with the open area,the building of artificial dykes significantly speeded up the changes of landscape patterns and the aggravation of the landscape fragmentation in the closed area.(3)The changes of area-weighted centroids of three typical wetland landscapes were greatly affected by dykes,and the movement of the centroid of the aquaculture-salt field was very sensitive to the dykes constructed in the corresponding period.
文摘Current vegetation patterns, biodiversity and adaptation of plants were studied during 1998-2001 in glacial landscape of Chaurabari situated above Kedarnath （30° 44＇ N- 79° 07＇ E; 3,000- 6,000 m） in Central Himalaya. Landscape was identified into different zones on account of the vegetation status, glacial features, geomorphology and altitudes. Cold environment with heavy snowfall, frost hailstorm and dense frost characterizes the study area Predominance of the soda rich feldspars indicates soda enrichment; orthoclase, microcline weathering and alternation would have contributed potash to the soil. The increasing severity of the environment as we ascend from timberline to snowline leads to progressive decline in the abundance and diversity of the plant species. The diversity of the higher plants decrease, while the diversity of microflora increase from alpine zone to snowline zone. Highly opulent and diverse flora with beautiful, delicate herbs occupy the alpine zone, but some specialized groups of the plants, particularly high energetic and cold resistant species reside in glacial environment. Asteraceae, Rananculaceae, Primulaceae, Rosaceae, Apiaceae and Ericaceae are the pioneer angiospermic families, while Anaphalis triplinervis, A. royleana, Androsacce sarmentosa, Cotoneaster rotundifolius,Lonicera myrtillus, Cassiope fastigiata, Gaultheria trichophylla and Erigeron multiradiatus are the pioneer species, which have invaded in glacial environment. Through its nature, alpine glacial ecotone can be seen easily due to environmental and edaphic differences.
基金the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change and GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment for providing financial assistance through the National Mission on Himalayan Studies (GAP-0199)
文摘Treelines are ecologically unique,fragile,and rich in natural resources.They harbour high species diversity and at the same time are under threat due to anthropogenic activities.Recognizing this,the present study has been framed to document the patterns of species richness and diversity in the state of Himachal Pradesh,western Himalaya.A total of six treeline sites(three disturbed and three undisturbed)were identified for vegetation sampling.Trees,shrubs,and herbs were sampled at each site using nested plots of 10 m^(2),5 m^(2),and 1 m^(2),respectively.The study exhibits the rich diversity of treeline communities,the patterns of which varied between treeline sites.Altogether,221 species of vascular plants belonging to 47 families and 140 genera were recorded from the area.Amongst families,Asteraceae was the dominant family followed by Apiaceae and Ranunculaceae.The study also revealed the presence of threatened species like Aconitum heterophyllum,Angelica glauca,Bergenia stracheyi,Dactylorhiza hatagirea,Picrorhiza kurroa,and Trillium govanianum etc.at treeline.Moreover,species composition revealed high densities of Betula utilis followed by the under canopy of Rhododendron campanulatum and R.anthopogon at treeline sites.Overall,species richness of herbs,shrubs,and trees were higher at undisturbed site as compared to disturbed one.The diversity indices of herbs and shrubs varied significantly between treeline sites while that of trees was non-significant.At the same time,soil properties showed distinct patterns wherein pH and available nitrogen significantly varied between treeline sites.Present study provides detailed insights into the floristic and ecological aspects of treeline communities from the unexplored ecoregion of western Himalaya.The treelines in the area are anthropogenically depressed and continued land-use activities might result in habitat fragmentation and displacement of plant communities in the near future.
文摘The Monte Desert is characterized by a great diversity of landforms created with fluvial,alluvial which the vegetation patterns are related to.The present work has the following objectives:(1) determine whether topographical attributes,surface characteristics,soil properties and vegetation patterns vary between alluvial landforms,and(2) define whether morphometric,soil and surface properties influence vegetation patterns along alluvial landscape.Morphometric data were obtained by processing a 5 m digital elevation model.The coverage of rock fragments,fine sediments and mulch was quantified.Observations and descriptions of the soil profiles were restricted to the uppermost 50 cm.Vegetation properties were calculated using a Point Quadrat Method.The relationship between variables was evaluated through multivariate statistical analysis.The main results show the presence of 45 plant species distributed in 19 families,where shrubs are dominant.The wind effect,topographic wetness and dissection of the landscape are limiting factors of diversity.The coverage of superficial rock fragments influence vegetation coverage through the distribution and availability of rainwater.Furthermore,the different soil textures reveal that the silt content favors an increase in vegetation coverage.The presence of V horizon could condition the installation and development of vegetation in the early stages of growth.
