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The impact of climate change on species distribution is a hot issue in biogeography research. This study utilized the constructive species Stipa purpurea as the research object, which was widely distributed in alpine meadow of the Tibetan Plateau, investigated its distribution in the Tibetan Plateau through the field survey and herbarium search, and used MaxEnt model to simulate its historical, current and future distribution trends to analyze its distribution pattern in each historical period and explore the cause of species distribution changes. Research results showed that diversity of Stipa species in alpine grassland of the Tibetan Plateau was high, its main distribution area was the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau and areas along the Himalaya, and its distribution was strongly affected by precipitation of warmest quarter, precipitation of wettest quarter and annual precipitation. According to the distribution pattern of S. purpurea in the Last Glacial Maximum, and geographical and geological features of the Tibetan Plateau, this paper proposed that: North Tibet core area of South Qiangtang and Ali region of west Himalaya mountainous area were the core area of the potential distribution for S. purpurea, since these regions could provide more suitable habitats for S. purpurea than other regions and be the refugia where the current S. purpurea was migrated and differentiated from. The presence of refugia may contribute to the understanding of related issues of the alpine plants' origin and differentiation in the Tibetan Plateau.

The urban cooling island (UCI) effect is put forward in comparison with the urban heat island effect, and emphasizes on landscape planning for optimization of function and way of urban thermal environment. In this paper, we summarized current research of the UCI effects of waters, green space, and urban park from the perspective of patch area, landscape index, threshold value, landscape pattern and correlation analyses. Great controversy was found on which of the two factors patch area and shape index has a more significant impact, the quantification of UCI threshold is particularly lacking, and attention was paid too much on the UCI effect of landscape composition but little on that of landscape configuration. More attention should be paid on shape, width and location for water landscape, and on the type of green space, green area, configuration and management for green space landscape. The altitude of urban park and human activities could also influence UCI effect. In the future, the threshold determination should dominate the research of UCI effect, the reasons of controversy should be further explored, the study of time sequence should be strengthened, the UCI effects from landscape pattern and landscape configuration should be identified, and more attention should be paid to spatial scale and resolution for the precision and accuracy of the UCI results. Also, synthesizing the multidisciplinary research should be taken into consideration.

This paper took four kinds of common soil and water conservation plants of the study area, Caragana microphylla, Salix psammophila, Artemisia sphaerocephala and Hippophae rhamnides at ages of 4 as the research object. Thirteen indicators, i.e., single shrub to reduce wind velocity ration, shelterbelt reducing wind velocity ration, community reducing wind velocity ration, taproot tensile strength, representative root constitutive properties, representative root elasticity modulus, lateral root branch tensile strength, accumulative surface area, root-soil interface sheer strength, interface friction coefficient, accumulative root length, root-soil composite cohesive, root-soil composite equivalent friction angle, reflecting the characteristics of windbreak and roots, were chose to evaluate the differences of foliage-root coupling soil-reinforcement and anti-erosion among four kinds of plants by analytic hierarchy process (AHP) under the condition of spring gale and summer rainstorm, respectively. The results showed the anti-erosion index of foliage-root coupling was in the sequence of S. psammophila (0.841) > C. microphylla (0.454) > A. sphaerocephala (-0.466) > H. rhamnides (-0.829) in spring gale, and C. microphylla (0.841) > S. psammophila (0. 474) > A. sphaerocephala (-0.470) > H. rhamnides (-0.844) in summer rainstorm. S. psammophila could be regarded as one of the most important windbreak and anti-erosion species, while C. microphylla could be the most valuable soil and water conservation plant for the study area.

Based on the 1961-2010 ground surface data from 90 meteorological stations, this paper analyzed the spatiotemporal change characteristics of agricultural climate resources (e.g. sunshine hours, thermal resources and water) for the growth season of winter wheat and summer maize in Shandong Province. Results indicated that temperature indicators showed a significant rising tendency especially in the winter wheat growth season. Both evapotranspiration and sunshine hours declined obviously, especially for the evapotranspiration in the summer maize growth season, while there was no clear change evidence in rainfall and aridity. Regarding the spatial distribution characteristics, agro-climatic resources presented meridional or zonal increment or decrement in the winter wheat and summer maize growth seasons. In different areas, variation features of agro-climatic resources appeared with distinct differences. In the western Shandong area, temperature indicators showed a slight rising tendency while evapotranspiration and aridity declined significantly. Sunshine hours decreased most significantly in the middle and west southern areas. Precipitation increment was relatively obvious in the winter wheat growth season in the middle and east southern areas and in the summer maize growth season in the middle and southern areas. Thermal resource increases benefited the growth of winter wheat in every phase during the growth period. However, it brought high risks of plant diseases and hot disaster as well. The decrease of sunshine hours was adverse to crop photosynthesis in the growth period while evapotranspiration decrement profited the water retention of soil.

Agricultural policy in China's rural heartland is driving profound changes to traditional farming systems. A case study covering four decades mapped and recorded farming patterns and processes in Shizuitou Village, a rural village in northwest Shanxi. An integrated geospatial methodology from geography and anthropology was employed in the case study to record the changing dynamics of farming systems in Shizuitou Village to discover the long-term impacts of China's agricultural policies on village farming systems. Positive and negative impacts of agricultural policies on village farming systems were mapped, inventoried and evaluated using Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PGIS). The results revealed traditional polycultures are being gradually replaced by industrialized monocultures. The driving forces behind these farming changes come from a series of government agricultural policies aiming at modernization of farming systems in China. The goal of these policies was to spur rapid development of industrial agriculture under the guise of modernization but is leading to the decay of traditional farming systems in the village that maintained local food security with healthy land for hundreds of years. The paper concluded with a recommendation that in future, agricultural policy makers should strike a more reasonable balance between short-term agricultural profits and long-term farming sustainability based on the principles of ecological sustainable development under the context of global changes.

Controlling soil nutrient leaching in farmland ecosystems has been a hotspot in the research field of agricultural environment. Biochar has its unique physical and chemical properties, playing a significant role in enhancing soil carbon storage, improving soil quality and increasing crop yield. As a kind of new exogenous material, biochar has the potential in impacting soil nutrient cycling directly or indirectly, and has profound influences on soil nutrient leaching. This paper analyzed the intrinsic factors affecting how biochar affects soil nutrient leaching, such as the physical and chemical properties of biochar, and the interaction between biochar and soil organisms. Then the latest literatures regarding the external factors, including biochar application rates, soil types, depth of soil layer, fertilization conditions and temporal dynamics, through which biochar influences soil nutrient (especially nitrogen and phosphorus) leaching were reviewed. On that basis, four related action mechanisms were clarified, including direct adsorption of nutrients by biochar due to its micropore structure or surface charge, influencing nutrient leaching through increasing soil water- holding capacity, influencing nutrient cycling through the interaction with soil microbes, and preferential transport of absorbed nutrients by fine biochar particles. At last future research directions for better understanding the interactions between biochar and nutrient leaching in the soil were proposed.

Climate change will significantly affect agricultural production in China. The combination of the integral regression model and the latest climate projection may well assess the impact of future climate change on crop yield. In this paper, the correlation model of maize yield and meteorological factors was firstly established for different provinces in China by using the integral regression method, then the impact of climate change in the next 40 years on China's maize production was evaluated combined the latest climate prediction with the reason be ing analyzed. The results showed that if the current speeds of maize variety improvement and science and technology development were constant, maize yield in China would be mainly in an increasing trend of reduction with time in the next 40 years in a range generally within 5%. Under A2 climate change scenario, the region with the most reduction of maize yield would be the Northeast except during 2021-2030, and the reduction would be generally in the range of 2.3%-4.2%. Maize yield reduction would be also high in the Northwest, Southwest and middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River after 2031. Under B2 scenario, the reduction of 5.3% in the Northeast in 2031-2040 would be the greatest across all regions. Other regions with considerable maize yield reduction would be mainly in the Northwest and the Southwest. Reduction in maize yield in North China would be small, generally within 2%, under any scenarios, and that in South China would be almost unchanged. The reduction of maize yield in most regions would be greater under A2 scenario than under B2 scenario except for the period of 2021-2030. The effect of the ten day precipitation on maize yield in northern China would be almost positive. However, the effect of ten day average temperature on yield of maize in all regions would be generally negative. The main reason of maize yield reduction was temperature increase in most provinces but precipitation decrease in a few provinces. Assessments of the future change of maize yield in China based on the different methods were not consistent. Further evaluation needs to consider the change of maize variety and scientific and technological progress, and to enhance the reliability of evaluation models.

Plant functional traits are closely tied to the performance of plants in specific microenvironments, and reflect their ability to adapt to those microenvironments. In areas with complex topography, analyzing the responses of plant functional traits to microtopographical changes is crucial to understanding the adaptive strategies of plants in diverse environments. This paper analyzed fluctuations in soil nutrients as well as correlations between plant functional traits and changes in topography at the family and community levels in selected natural vegetation communities in the foreststeppe zone of the loess hilly and gully region in Loess Plateau of China. Significant differences in plant functional traits were primarily driven by the phylogenetic background or species composition of the community. Slope aspect exerted less impact while slope positions had no significant effect on plant traits at the community level. No significant changes in plant functional traits were observed with changes in topography at the community level. However, leaf nitrogen and root nitrogen contents of Leguminous and Compositae species differed significantly With slope positions. The root tissue density of Graminaceous species differed significantly with slope positions. Root density exhibited significant positive correlations with soil nutrient and carbon contents at the community level. Both leaf nitrogen and root nitrogen contents of Leguminous species were positively correlated with soil phosphorus content, while leaf nitrogen and root nitrogen contents of both Graminaceous and Compositae species were significantly positively related to soil nitrogen content. The results demonstrate the different responses of species of different families to changes in micro-topography and their distinctive adaptive strategies to the environment.

In recent years, some scholars from China have deeply discussed about the concept, connotation and calculating method of nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), and have raised questions and also put forward some improved methods for NUE calculation in cultivated lands. In this paper, we compared advantages and disadvantages of these improved NUE calculation methods by using the data from a 5-year positioning field experiment under a wheat-maize rotation system. The results indicated that it made mistakes when the traditional subtraction method was used to calculate NUE for wheat season and maize season separately, since the soil fertility level of experimental plots had differed significantly from each other after several seasons or years of different fertilization managements. Additionally, the calculated NUE increased markedly with the cropping season going, thus making it difficult to mirror the actual situation of N utilization in cultivated lands. For the wheat-maize rotation system, the cumulative NUE calculation method considered wheat season and maize season as a whole part, and skillfully avoided mistakes which could be caused by inhomogeneity of soil fertility levels between experimental plots. Moreover, the calculated NUE were comparably smaller, with smaller coefficient variations (CVs), in contrast with the traditional subtraction method. The NUE calculated by using the ratio method were bigger, with the smallest CVs, than that computed by using the cumulative calculation method. The soil N balance method took a thoughtful consideration about the budgets and losses of soil nutrients before and after crop growth, but obtained the largest values of NUE and CVs within these methods.

Methyl bromide is an important atmospheric trace gas, which plays significant roles in the global warming and atmospheric chemistry. The ocean plays important and complex roles in the global biogeochemical cycles of methyl bromide, not only the source of atmospheric methyl bromide, but also the sink. Therefore, developing the chemical research of the soluble methyl bromide in the ocean, will not only have a certain guiding significance to the atmospheric ozone layer protection, but also provide a theoretical basis for estimating methyl bromide's contribution to the global environmental change on global scale. This paper reviewed the research advances on methyl bromide in the ocean, from the aspects of the biogeochemical cycle of methyl bromide in the ocean, the analysis and determination method, the concentration distribution, the sea-to-air flux and its sources and sinks in the atmosphere. Some deficiencies in the current studies were put forward, and the directions of the future studies were prospected.

In this paper, daily reference evapotranspiration (ET0) was computed with the recommended FAO-56 Penman-Monteith equation for Anhui Province using data collected 60 weather stations during 1961 to 2010 and its temporal-spatial variations were characterized. The determining factors in ET0 trends were inquired into through partial derivative quantification analysis for the study region. Results showed that the mean annual ET0 was 878.58 mm x a(-1) over the whole region during the study period. ET0 was the highest in summer and the lowest in winter. The mean annual ET0 decreased from the north to the south and from low altitude regions to high altitude regions. Both sunshine duration and wind speed were the dominant factors contributing to the interannual change of ET0, with less contribution from air temperature or relative humidity. The annual ET0 showed a general decline at a rate of -1.61 mm x a(-1) owing to a more negative contribution of sunshine duration and wind speed than a positive contribution of air temperature and relative humidity. ET0 increased insignificantly in spring and decreased slightly in both autumn and winter. However, it decreased significantly at a rate of -1.37 mm x a(-1) in summer. The main impacting factor was wind speed in spring, autumn and winter, but it was sunshine duration in summer. Great differences in the determining factors of the mean annual ET0 existed from area to area in Anhui Province. The wind speed was the determining factor for 36.7% of the whole stations distributing in the southern part of the area north to the Huaihe River and the area along the Huaihe River, while the sunshine duration was the determining factor for the other regions.

Based on forest inventory data and field survey information, and by using GIS spatial analysis technique and landscape indices, this paper studied the spatial distribution of three categories of human activities (settlement, roads, and other sources of disturbances) and their impacts on landscape patterns in three sub-divided regions, i. e., the west, central and east regions of the Daqingshan Nature Reserve in Inner Mongolia. Results showed that the impacts of human activities were stronger in the east and west regions and weaker in the central region. Among the three subdivided regions, the landscape pattern in the west region was predominantly affected by other sources of disturbances, making the landscape patterns of coniferous forests, broadleaf forests and shrubs tended to be of aggregated distribution; the central region was mainly affected by roads, resulting in reduced landscape patch aggregation of broadleaf forests and shrubs; the east region was mostly affected by settlement, resulting in increased fragmentation of coniferous forests and broadleaf forests and apparent increases in landscape patch aggregation of shrubs and grasslands.

The spatially explicit model of leaf litter can help to understand its dispersal process, which is very important to predict the distribution pattern of leaves on the surface of the earth. In this paper, the spatially explicit model of leaf litter was developed for 20 tree species using litter trap data from the mapped forest plot in an evergreen broad-leaved forest in Tiantong, Zhejiang Pro- vince, eastern China. Applicability of the model was analyzed. The model assumed an allometric equation between diameter at breast height (DBH) and leaf litter amount, and the leaf litter declined exponentially with the distance. Model parameters were estimated by the maximum likelihood method. Results showed that the predicted and measured leaf litter amounts were significantly correlated, but the prediction accuracies varied widely for the different tree species, averaging at 49.3% and ranging from 16.0% and 74.0%. Model qualities of tree species significantly correlated with the standard deviations of the leaf litter amount per trap, DBH of the tree species and the average leaf dry mass of tree species. There were several ways to improve the forecast precision of the model, such as installing the litterfall traps according to the distribution of the tree to cover the different classes of the DBH and distance apart from the parent trees, determining the optimal dispersal function of each tree species, and optimizing the existing dispersal function.

Satellite-based precipitation product plays a significant role in analyzing spatial pattern of precipitation. TRMM 3B42 (3B42), as one of important precipitation products, is a key forcing factor for ecological, climate and hydrological models with its sufficient spatial and temporal scales. At present, there is still limited knowledge of accuracy and error structure of new version 3B42 V7, especially the lack of evaluating its accuracy in regions of mid-high latitudes, which restricts its application in the field of ecology, climate and hydrology. Based on 3B42 V7 product and data obtained from 53 weather stations in the period of 1998-2012 over Inner Mongolia, the paper evaluated the accuracy of 3B42 and revealed the spatial distribution of accuracy evaluation indices and its influencing factors. The result of overall accuracy evaluation indicated that there was overestimation of the amount of precipitation by 3B42 at daily, monthly and annual timescales. Error of 3B42 increased with the increasing timescale, and mean error and mean absolute error of daily precipitation were just -0.06 and 0.88 mm, respectively. It showed good performance for detecting the occurrence of rain events with equitable threat score (ETS) of 0.23, but slightly overestimated the frequency of rainy events. Moreover, altitude and average annual precipitation had impacts on data accuracy. The absolute error of precipitation decreased and yet the ability of detecting rain events be- came weak with the increasing altitude, while the effect of average annual precipitation on data accuracy was opposite.

As one of the most important and wide distribution community type among terrestrial ecosystems, grassland ecosystem plays a critical role in the global carbon cycles and climate regulation. China has extremely rich grassland resources, which have a huge carbon sequestration potential and are an important part of the global carbon cycle. Drying and rewetting is a common natural phenomenon in soil, which might accelerate soil carbon mineralization process, increase soil respiration and exert profound influence on microbial activity and community structure. Under the background of the global change, the changes in rainfall capacity, strength and frequency would inevitably affect soil drying and wetting cycles, and thus change the microbial activity and community structure as well as soil respiration, and then exert important influence on global carbon budget. In this paper, related references in recent ten years were reviewed. The source of soil released, the trend of soil respiration over time and the relationship between soil respiration and microbial biomass, microbial activity and microbial community structure during the processes of dry-rewetting cycle were analyzed and summarized, in order to better understand the microbial response mechanism for drying and rewetting effecting on soil respiration in grassland ecosystem, and provide a certain theoretical basis for more accurate evaluation and prediction of future global carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems and climate change.

Pond wetlands have been widely used in the treatment of drainage water from paddy fields. However, wetland hydraulic performance and purification effects are affected by many factors, such as water depth, flow rate, aspect ratio and vegetation distribution, and the better understanding of these factors would be helpful to improve the quality of wetland design, operation and management. This paper analyzed the effect of three different water depths (20, 40 and 60 cm) on the hydraulic performance of pond wetland through the dye tracer experiments with Rhodamine WT. The hydraulic indices, i. e., effective volume ratio, nominal serial complete mixing tanks (N), hydraulic efficiency (λ), were selected for analysis through the hydraulic residence time distribution (RTD) curve. The results showed that the effective volume rate rose from 0.421 to 0.844 and the hydraulic efficiency from 0.281 to 0.604 when the water depth declined from 60 cm to 20 cm. This indicated that the wetland hydraulic performance improved as the water depth decreased. In addition, the hydraulic performance of the first half of the wetland was significantly better than that of the second half. The flow regime of the first half approached complete mixing because of the mixing index (N) approaching 1 and its effective volume rate was above 0.9 when the water depth was relatively low (20 and 40 cm). The normalized RTD curves demonstrated a good agreement between moment analysis parameters and hydraulic parameters, and a great consistency between the hydraulic parameters and moment index which was not affected by tail truncation error. The experimental study concluded that a lower water depth was favorable to improve the hydraulic performance of pond wetlands.

Recovery growth of Microcystis aeruginosa after sub-high temperature stress was investiga- ted in this paper. The treated groups under 35 °C were cultured for 3, 6, and 12 days before being transferred to normal conditions, and the algae under 25 °C all the time was set as the control. Cell density, chlorophyll a, carotenoid, malondialdehyde and antioxidant enzymes activities were measured. The results showed that the growth of M. aeruginosa was inhibited significantly under the sub-high temperature stress. The cell density and chlorophyll a content were 14.5% and 22.3% lower than the control respectively on the 12th day, but carotenoid synthesis was not inhibited obviously. The longer the stress was, the higher the malondialdehyde content and SOD, CAT activities became. After the relief of stress, algal cells got recovered with the decreasing malondialdehyde content and antioxidase activities. The 3-, 6- and 12-day stress treatments at 35 °C showed under-compensation, over-compensation and exact-compensation, respectively, indicating that the com- pensatory degree was decided by the time under stress. As the recovery time proceeded, the differ- ence between treated groups and the control reduced gradually. The growth parameters tended to be stable. Regression equations of cell density and chlorophyll a changing with the stress time and recovery time were revealed. The compensation effect of M. aeruginosa was similar to the process of algal bloom. According to this endogenous biological characteristic, this study provided a theoretical support for prediction system of algal bloom.

Taking Wugang forest farm in Xuefeng Mountain as the research object, using the airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data under leaf-on condition and field data of concomitant plots, this paper assessed the ability of using LiDAR technology to estimate aboveground biomass of the mid-subtropical forest. A semi-automated individual tree LiDAR cloud point segmentation was obtained by using condition random fields and optimization methods. Spatial structure, waveform characteristics and topography were calculated as LiDAR metrics from the segmented objects. Then statistical models between aboveground biomass from field data and these LiDAR metrics were built. The individual tree recognition rates were 93%, 86% and 60% for coniferous, broadleaf and mixed forests, respectively. The adjusted coefficients of determination (R(2)adj) and the root mean squared errors (RMSE) for the three types of forest were 0.83, 0.81 and 0.74, and 28.22, 29.79 and 32.31 t · hm(-2), respectively. The estimation capability of model based on canopy geometric volume, tree percentile height, slope and waveform characteristics was much better than that of traditional regression model based on tree height. Therefore, LiDAR metrics from individual tree could facilitate better performance in biomass estimation.

Taking Jinjing Town in Dongting Lake area as a case, this paper analyzed the evolution of rural landscape patterns by means of life cycle theory, simulated the evolution cycle curve, and calculated its evolution period, then combining CA-Markov model, a complete prediction model was built based on the rule of rural landscape change. The results showed that rural settlement and paddy landscapes of Jinjing Town would change most in 2020, with the rural settlement landscape increased to 1194.01 hm2 and paddy landscape greatly reduced to 3090.24 hm2. The quantitative and spatial prediction accuracies of the model were up to 99.3% and 96.4%, respectively, being more explicit than single CA-Markov model. The prediction model of rural landscape patterns change proposed in this paper would be helpful for rural landscape planning in future.

Based on the MODIS-NDVI remotely sensed imagery, this paper analyzed the spatial distribution of vegetation net primary production (NPP) calculated by CASA model in Yellow River watersheds from 2001 to 2010. Associated with the temperature and precipitation data in the same period, this article respectively analyzed the change trends of vegetation NPP in six ecosystems with different spatial and temporal scales, and the relationship between NPP and climate factors. The results indicated that in terms of spatial scale, the vegetation NPP gradually reduced from northwest to southeast, the average of annual NPP was 108.53 Tg C, and the spatial distribution of vegetation NPP was highly related with the land cover types. In terms of temporal scale, the vegetation NPP gradually increased from 2001 to 2010, but this change trend had large differences in these regions. On annual level, the vegetation NPP had no significant correlation with climate factors, but precipitation and temperature had considerable impacts on the vegetation NPP on monthly level. The correlations between NPP and climate factors were different in different ecosystems, so did the time lag effect of the climate factors. The air temperature response of the NPP variation was relatively sensitive in forest ecosystem and the precipitation response was significant in grassland and wetland ecosystems. Additionally, the precipitation response of the NPP variation in grassland ecosystem had time lag effect and so did the air temperature response in desert ecosystem.

Abstract: Based on the data from Chinese National Forest Inventory (CNFI) and Key Ecological Benefit Forest Monitoring plots (5075 in total) in Heilongjiang Province in 2010 and concurrent meteorological data coming from 59 meteorological stations located in Heilongjiang, Jilin and Inner Mongolia, this paper established a spatial error model (SEM) by GeoDA using carbon storage as dependent variable and several independent variables, including diameter of living trees (DBH), number of trees per hectare (TPH), elevation (Elev), slope (Slope), and product of precipitation and temperature (Rain_Temp). Global Moran's I was computed for describing overall spatial autocorrelations of model results at different spatial scales. Local Moran's I was calculated at the optimal bandwidth (25 km) to present spatial distribution residuals. Intra-block spatial variances were computed to explain spatial heterogeneity of residuals. Finally, a spatial distribution map of carbon storage in Heilongjiang was visualized based on predictions. The results showed that the distribution of forest carbon storage in Heilongjiang had spatial effect and was significantly influenced by stand, topographic and meteorological factors, especially average DBH. SEM could solve the spatial autocorrelation and heterogeneity well. There were significant spatial differences in distribution of forest carbon storage. The carbon storage was mainly distributed in Zhangguangcai Mountain, Xiao Xing'an Mountain and Da Xing'an Mountain where dense, forests existed, rarely distributed in Songnen Plains, while Wanda Mountain had moderate-level carbon storage.

As a land comprehensive utilization system, agroforestry system can absorb and fix CO2 effectively to increase carbon storage, and also reduces greenhouse effect convincingly while reaching the aim of harvest. The regulatory role in CO2 makes humans realize that agroforestry systems have significant superiority compared with single cropping systems, therefore, understanding the carbon sinks of different components in an agroforestry system and its influencing factors play an important role in studying global carbon cycle and accurate evaluation of carbon budget. This paper reviewed the concept and classification of agroforestry system, and then the carbon sequestration potentials of different components in agroforestry systems and influencing factors. It was concluded that the carbon sequestration rate of plants from different agroforestry systems in different regions are highly variable, ranging from 0.59 to 11.08 t C · hm(-2) · a(-1), and it is mainly influenced by climatic factors and the characteristics of agroforestry systems (species composition, tree density and stand age). The soil C sequestration of any agroforestry system is influenced by the amount and quality of biomass input provided by tree and nontree components of the system and the soil properties such as soil texture and soil structure. Overall the amount of carbon storage in any agroforestry system depends on the structure and function of its each component. The future studies should focus on the carbon sink functions of structurally optimized agroforestry systems, the temporal variation and spatial distribution pattern of carbon storage in agroforestry system and its carbon sequestration mechanism in a long time.

With the advent of the post-genomic era, metaproteomics is gradually emerging as a new tool that has been successfully applied in life sciences and pharmacology, and has become one of the most popular methods in many research fields. Although application of metaproteomics in studying wastewater biotreatment is still in its infancy, its strong potential that contributes to basic research has already been well noticed. This paper reviewed the recent research advances in using metaproteomics to biotreatment wastewater. It also reviewed and summarized the research strategies and application of metaproteomics, such as the identification of functional proteins or enzymes, understanding of the mechanisms of pollutant biodegradation, deduction of key metabolic pathways, and investigation of microbial ecosystems within different sludge of microbial habitats.

By using remote sensing and GIS technology, this paper collected land use information of 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010 and the relevant statistical data, and analyzed the characteristics of land use change and its driving forces in northwestern Shanxi Province, the typical ecological fragile area. The results showed that there were significant changes in land use patterns in the past 30 years. During 1980-1990, 1990-2000 and 2000-2010 periods, the area of farmland decreased continuously, while the areas of grassland and woodland experienced increase-decrease-increase and decrease-increase-decrease patterns of change, respectively. The areas of industrial and resident lands increased continuously, but the water body and unused land decreased. The farmland was mainly transformed to grassland and woodland, and the areas of industrial and resident lands increased from the farmland. The lost area of water body was transformed to grassland and farmland. The decrease of unused land was due to the implementation of ecological engineering and urban ex-panding. In general, the changes of land use types were significantly higher before 2000 than after 2000. The industrial and resident lands, unused land and grassland changed drastically. The relationships between land use types and driving forces indicated that population pressure and economic development led to the changes of industrial land and farmland; policy of forestry ecological engi- neering drove the changes of woodland and grassland; the drought-characterized climate was the major cause inducing the decrease of water area and hindering the restoration of forest.

The accessibility of urban park green space is an important indicator to reflect how much the natural service supplied by parks could be enjoyed by citizens conveniently and fairly. This paper took Shenyang Tiexi District as an example to evaluate the accessibility of urban park green space based on QuickBird imagery and GIS software, with four modes of transportation, walking, non-motor vehicle, motor vehicle and public transport being considered. The research compared and analyzed the distribution of the accessible area and the accessible people of park green space. The result demonstrated that park green space in Shenyang Tiexi District was not enough and the distribution was not even. To be precise, the accessibility in southwest part and central part was relatively good, that in marginal sites was worse, and that in east part and north part was the worst. Furthermore, the accessibility based on different modes of transportation varied a lot. The accessibility of motor vehicle was the best, followed by non-motor vehicle and public transport, and walking was the worst. Most of the regions could be reached within 30 minutes by walking, 15 minutes by non-motor vehicle and public transport, and 10 minutes by motor vehicle. This paper had a realistic significance in terms of further, systematic research on the green space spatial pattern optimization.

Nitric oxide (NO), as a biologically active molecule, widely involved in the biotic and abiotic stresses. By using solution culture, this paper reported the dynamic changes in enzyme activity and metabolites related to GSH-PCs synthesis way mediated by exogenous NO in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). The results showed that exogenous NO could affect the metabolic pathway of GSH-PCs in tomato seedlings under copper stress. Compared with CK, the activity of γ-ECS and GS was significantly activated, consequently resulting in a sharp rise in GSH and PCs contents in tomato root. Moreover, γ-ECS and GS activity, GSH and PCs contents constantly rise with the extension of processing time under copper stress. Adding exogenous SNP could further improve γ-ECS and GS activity in tomato, and promote the production of GSH and PCs, which contributed to enhancing the ability of removing superoxide and chelating excess Cu2+ to reduce its biological toxicity. To a certain extent, GSH-PCs metabolic changes in leaf lagged behind that in roots. Exogenous BSO could significantly inhibit γ-ECS activity, and applying SNP could significantly reverse the inhibition on GSH and PCs synthesis by BSO. BSO had little effects on PCs content in leaf. Under copper stress, exogenous NO may initiate a signal mechanism and reduce the biotoxicity and oxidative damage caused by excessive Cu2+ by activating or enhancing the enzymatic and non-enzymatic systems in the GSH-PCs synthesis path.

As one of the key indicators of the urbanization and the sustainable development of cities, urban human settlement quality has been a hot issue. In this paper, an evaluation system containing indicators related to four aspects (ecological, social, humanities and economic environments) was established to assess the urban human settlement quality in five main cities in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Northwest China. After calculating each indicator' s weight in the evaluation system through AHP and the entropy method, the quality of urban human settlement was analyzed. Results showed that Yinchuan had a score of 0. 85 for the quality of human settlement, Shizuishan 0.62, Wuzhong 0.43, Zhongwei 0.33, and Guyuan 0.32, respectively. Shizuishan got the highest score in the eco-environment aspect, and Yinchuan had the highest scores for social, humanities and economic environments. Zhongwei and Guyuan had relatively low scores in all the four urban human settlement aspects. Coordination analysis showed that internal coordination was moderate for Yinchuan (0.79) and Shizuishan (0.72), and relatively good for the other cities. However, coordination was relatively poor among the five cities, especially in social environment (0.48). These results suggested that an unsatisfied situation existed in terms of the urban human settlement quality in Ningxia, and that corresponding measures should be taken to accelerate the development of vulnerable indicators, so as to coordinate all the urban human settlement aspects within and among cities.

Graphene is one of the most popular research topics in carbon nanomaterials. Because of its special physical and chemical properties, graphene will have wide applications. As the production and application amount is increasing, graphene will be inevitably released to the environment, resulting in risks of ecological environment and human health. It is of very vital significance for evaluating environmental risks of graphene scientifically and objectively to understand its environmental behavior and fate and explore its effect on the environmental behaviors of pollutants. This paper reviewed the environmental behavior of graphene, such as colloid properties and its stability in the aqueous environment and its transport through porous media. Additionally, the paper reviewed the effect of graphene on the transport and fate of pollutants. The interactions between graphene and heavy metals or organic compounds were especially discussed. Important topics should be explored including sorption mechanisms, interactions between graphene and soil components, influence of graphene on the transport and bioavailability of pollutants in environment, as well as approaches to quantifying graphene. The review might identify potential new ideas for further research in applications of graphene.

This paper extracted and verified the snow cover extent in Heilongjiang Basin from 2003 to 2012 based on MODIS Aqua and Terra data, and the seasonal and interannual variations of snow cover extent were analyzed. The result showed that the double-star composite data reduced the effects of clouds and the overall accuracy was more than 91%, which could meet the research requirements. There existed significant seasonal variation of snow cover extent. The snow cover area was almost zero in July and August while in January it expanded to the maximum, which accounted for more than 80% of the basin. According to the analysis on the interannual variability of snow cover, the maximum winter snow cover areas in 2003-2004 and 2009-2010 (>180 x 10(4) km2) were higher than that of 2011 (150 x 10(4) km2). Meanwhile, there were certain correlations between the interannual fluctuations of snow cover and the changes of average annual temperature and precipitation. The year with the low snow cover was corresponding to less annual rainfall and higher average temperature, and vice versa. The spring snow cover showed a decreasing trend from 2003 to 2012, which was closely linked with decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature.

Soil eco-toxicology provides a theoretical basis for ecological risk assessment of contaminated soils and soil pollution control. Research on eco-toxicological effects and molecular mechanisms of toxic substances in soil environment is the central content of the soil eco-toxicology. Eco-toxicological diagnosis not only gathers all the information of soil pollution, but also provides the overall toxic effects of soil. Therefore, research on the eco-toxicological diagnosis of soil pollution has important theoretical and practical significance. Based on the research of eco-toxicological diagnosis of soil pollution, this paper introduced some common toxicological methods and indicators, with the advantages and disadvantages of various methods discussed. However, conventional biomarkers can only indicate the class of stress, but fail to explain the molecular mechanism of damage or response happened. Biomarkers and molecular diagnostic techniques, which are used to evaluate toxicity of contaminated soil, can explore deeply detoxification mechanisms of organisms under exogenous stress. In this paper, these biomarkers and techniques were introduced systematically, and the future research trends were prospected.

Making clear the effects of biochar addition on soil water infiltration process can provide the scientific basis for the evaluation of the influence of biochar application on soil hydrology in semi-arid region. In this paper, through the soil column simulation method in laboratory, the effects of biochar of three sizes (1-2 mm, 0.25-1 mm and ≤ 0.25 mm) at 4 doses (10, 50, 100 and 150 g x kg(-1)) on the cumulative infiltration, the permeability and the stable infiltration rate of two different soils (anthrosol and aeolian sandy soil) were studied. The results showed that the infiltration capacity of the anthrosol was obviously increased compared to the control, however, the one in the aeolian sandy soil was decreased due to the biochar addition. At 100 minutes after infiltration starting, the averaged cumulative infiltration was increased by 25.1% in the anthrosol with comparison to the control. Contrarily, the averaged cumulative infiltration was decreased by 11.1% in the aeolian sandy soil at 15 minutes after infiltration starting. When the dose was the same, biochar with different particle sizes improved the infiltration for the anthrosol, but for the different dose treatments, the particle size of biochar which showed the greatest improvement was different. As for the aeolian sandy soil, the infiltration increased at the dose of 10 g x kg(-1) after the addition of biochar with different particle sizes, while decreased at the higher dose of 50, 100 and 150 g x kg(-1). The cumulative infiltration of the aeolian sandy soil was decreased with the increase in addition amount of biochar with the same particle size, while it was not so for the anthrosol. The determination coefficient fitted by the Philip infiltration model ranged from 0.965 to 0.999, suggesting this model was suitable for the simulation of soil water infiltration process after biochar application. Statistical analysis of main effects showed that the biochar particle size, the biochar addition amount, and the interactive effect had statistically significant effect on the soil permeability and stable infiltration rate in the two soils. In conclusion, the biochar had different effects on the soils with different textures, moreover, there was a positive correlation relationship between the impact and the addition amount.

The effects of subsurface drip irrigation scheduling on microbial activity and functional diversity in rhizosphere of cucumber in solar greenhouse were studied in this paper. The results showed that the soil microbial biomass C and N, basal respiration, metabolic quotient and values of AWCD, Shannon and McIntosh indexes were increased at first and then decreased with the increase of irrigation water amount. The values of microbial C and N, basal respiration and metabolic quotient in I2 treatments were significantly higher than those in I1 treatments at the 0.8E(p) irrigation level. The numbers of bacteria, actinomyces and nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and the activities of urease, phosphatase, sucrase, catalase and polyhenoloxidase were significantly higher in the 0.8E(p) treatment than in the other treatments. The numbers of bacteria and nitrogen-fixing bacteria, the activities of urease, phosphatase and sucrase in I2 treatments were significantly higher than in I1 treatment, the actinomyces number and activities of catalase and polyhenoloxidase had no significant difference between I1 and I2 treatments, however, the fungi number in I2 treatments were significantly lower than in I2 treaments at the 0.8E(p) irrigation level. The microbial activity and functional diversity in rhizosphere of cucumber were strengthened in the I20.8E(p) treatment, meanwhile, the soil microflora was improved and the soil enzymes activities were enhanced, therefore, the cucumber growth was promoted as well.

In this paper, monthly variation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentrations as well as humification and aromaticity indices in throughfall and stemflow from secondary broadleaved Castanopsis carlesii (BF) forest and Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation (CP) were measured. The DOC concentrations in throughfall were significantly higher with greater variation in BF than in CP. The concentrations of DOC in throughfall were averagely 7.2 and 3.2 times of those in rainfall in BF and CP forests, respectively. The DOC concentrations of stemflow in CP were averagely 2.5 times as much as those in BF, and the DOC concentrations in stemflow tended to be greater in dry season than in rain season for the two forests. A significantly negative relationship was' found between the DOC concentrations in stemflow and the amounts of stemflow for both BF and CP. Moreover, the humification and aromaticity indices of DOM in throughfall in BF was significantly greater than in CP. In contrast, the humification and aromaticity indices of DOM from stemflow of CP were significantly greater than those of BF. This result indicated that the structure of DOM from throughfall was more complex in BF than in CP, and the structure of DOM from stemflow was vice versa. These results indicated that DOM in stemflow and throughfall showed significant variations in quantity and quality between BF and CP and may greatly impact the accumulation of soil organic carbon.

Based on the 7th forestry inventory data of Shandong Province, this paper estimated the carbon storage and carbon density of forest stands, and analyzed their distribution characteristics according to dominant tree species, age groups and forest category using the volume-derived biomass method and average-biomass method. In 2007, the total carbon storage of the forest stands was 25. 27 Tg, of which the coniferous forests, mixed conifer broad-leaved forests, and broad-leaved forests accounted for 8.6%, 2.0% and 89.4%, respectively. The carbon storage of forest age groups followed the sequence of young forests > middle-aged forests > mature forests > near-mature forests > over-mature forests. The carbon storage of young forests and middle-aged forests accounted for 69.3% of the total carbon storage. Timber forest, non-timber product forest and protection forests accounted for 37.1%, 36.3% and 24.8% of the total carbon storage, respectively. The average carbon density of forest stands in Shandong Province was 10.59 t x hm(-2), which was lower than the national average level. This phenomenon was attributed to the imperfect structure of forest types and age groups, i. e., the notably higher percentage of timber forests and non-timber product forest and the excessively higher percentage of young forests and middle-aged forest than mature forests.

This paper investigated the influence of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on GABA metabolism and amino acid content under hypoxia stress by accurately controlling the level of dissolved oxygen in hydroponics, using the roots of melon 'Xiyu 1' seedlings as the test material. The results showed that compared with the control, the growth of roots was inhibited seriously under hypoxia stress. Meanwhile, the hypoxia-treated roots had significantly higher activities of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD), glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), glutamate synthase (GOGAT), glutamine synthetase (GS), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) as well as the contents of GABA, pyruvic acid, alanine (Ala) and aspartic acid (Asp). But the contents of glutamic acid (Glu) and alpha-keto glutaric acid in roots under hypoxia stress was obviously lower than those of the control. Exogenous treatment with GABA alleviated the inhibition effect of hypoxia stress on root growth, which was accompanied by an increase in the contents of endogenous GABA, Glu, alpha-keto glutaric acid and Asp. Furthermore, under hypoxia stress, the activities of GAD, GDH, GOGAT, GS, ALT, AST as well as the contents of pyruvic acid and Ala significantly decreased in roots treated with GABA. However, adding GABA and viny-gamma-aminobutyric acid (VGB) reduced the alleviation effect of GABA on melon seedlings under hypoxia stress. The results suggested that absorption of GABA by roots could alleviate the injury of hypoxia stress to melon seedlings. This meant that GABA treatment allows the normal physiological metabolism under hypoxia by inhibiting the GAD activity through feedback and maintaining higher Glu content as well as the bal- ance of carbon and nitrogen.

LED lighting has several unique advantages over traditional lighting, including the ability to control spectral composition, the ability to produce very high light levels with low radiant heat output when cooled properly, and the ability to maintain useful light output for years without replacement. LED light sources have the capability of controlling true spectral composition, allowing wavelengths to match plant photoreceptors to provide more optimal production to regulate plant morphology and nutritional quality. In this paper, the effects of different light qualities on the growth, photosynthetic response and nutritional quality of savoy were studied. With 'Juhua-Xiaobaye' savoy as the test plant, full red light, full blue light, red/blue (3/1) light, red/blue (7/1) light and white/red/blue (3/2/1) light generated by light-emitting diodes were applied with white light generated by fluorescent lamps as control. The results showed that red light could increase biomass and stem diameter, but blue light showed the opposite effect. The chlorophyll (a+b) content was the highest in the red/blue (7/1) light treatment, and chlorophyll (a+b) content was correlated with the red/blue ratio positively. Blue light decreased chlorophyll (a + b) content of savoy, and increased chlorophyll a/b. The photosynthetic rate (Pn) and transpiration rate under red light were the highest, and increased by 43.8% and 55.1% compared with the control. Intercellular CO2 concentration and conductance were the highest under blue light. The fluorescence parameters of the plant were significantly affected by light quality. Values of the maximal photochemical efficiency of PS II (Fv/Fm), Fv/Fo and Phi(PS II) were the highest under white light. Soluble sugar, soluble protein and vitamin C contents were the highest under red, blue and white light, respectively. Comprehensive analysis indicated that red/blue (7/1) light was the best light combination to increase leaf chlorophyll (a+b) content and net photosynthetic rate, as well as plant growth and nutritional quality.

By using the dendrochronology research methods, this paper developed the 1915-2011 tree ring-width standard chronology of the Huangshan pine (Pinus taiwanesis) at the north slope of western Dabie Mountains in the junction of Hubei, Henan and Anhui provinces. High mean sensitivity (MS) indicated that there was conspicuous high-frequency climate signals and high first-order autocorrelation (AC) showed there were significant lag-effects of tree previous growth. The higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and expressed population signal (EPS) indicated that the trees had high levels of common climate signals. Correlations between the tree ring-width standard chronology and climatic factors (1959-2011) revealed the significant influences of temperature, precipitation and relative humidity on the tree width growth of Huangshan pine by the end of growing season (September and October). Significant positive correlations were found between the tree-ring indices and the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) of current September and October. In conclusion, the combination of water and heat of September and October is the major effect factor for the growth of Huangshan pine in western Dabie Mountains.

Pinus koraiensis in broad-leaved Korean pine forests of Changbai Mountain at different successional stages (secondary poplar-birch forest, secondary coniferous and broad-leaved forest and the primitive Korean pine forest) were selected in this paper as the research objects. In this research, the annual growth of net primary productivity (NPP) (1921-2006) of P. koraiensis was obtained by combining the tree-ring chronology and relative growth formulae, the correlation between NPP of P. koraiensis and climatic factors was developed, and the annual growth of NPP of P. koraiensis at different successional stages in relation to climatic variation within different climate periods were analyzed. The results showed that, in the research period, the correlations between climatic factors and NPP of P. koraiensis at different successional stages were different. With increasing the temperature, the correlations between NPP of P. koraiensis in the secondary poplar-birch forest and the minimum temperatures of previous and current growing seasons changed from being significantly negative to being significantly positive. The positive correlation between NPP of P. koraiensis in the secondary coniferous and broad-leaved forest and the minimum temperature in current spring changed into significantly positive correlation between NPP of P. koraiensis and the temperatures in previous and current growing seasons. The climatic factors had a stronger hysteresis effect on NPP of P. koraiensis in the secondary coniferous and broad-leaved forest, but NPP of P. koraiensis in the primitive Korean pine forest had weaker correlation with temperature but stronger positive correlation with the precipitation of previous growing season. The increases of minimum and mean temperatures were obvious, but no significant variations of the maximum temperature and precipitation were observed at our site. The climatic variation facilitated the increase of the NPP of P. koraiensis in the secondary poplar-birch forest at the initial successional stage and in secondary coniferous and broad-leaved forest at the intermediate successional stage, and this effect was especially obvious for the secondary coniferous and broad-leaved forest, but very small for the primitive Korean pine forest which was at the climax phase.

The biogeochemical cycle of sulfur can directly affect the speciation transformation of heavy metals in soils and their accumulation in plants. The toxicity of heavy metals in plants can be alleviated by their complexation with sulfur compounds like phytochelatins or metallothiones, consisting of the major mechanisms of phytodetoxification. Sulfur deficiency is becoming one of the limiting factors that influence Chinese agricultural production. Although the applications of sulfur fertilizer in soil have received much attention in recent years, the interaction mechanism of heavy metal with sulfur metabolism has not been studied extensively. In this paper, we reviewed current research advance on the impact of sulfur on the speciation transformation of soil heavy metals and their accumulation in plants, discussed the effect of sulfur on the detoxification mechanism of heavy metal in plants and provided further research prospective in this field.

Canadian fire weather index system (FWI) is the most widely used fire weather index system in the world. Its fuel moisture prediction is also a very important research method. In this paper, litter moisture contents of typical forest types in Tahe Forestry Bureau of Northeast China were successively observed and the relationships between FWI codes (fine fuel moisture code FFMC, duff moisture code DMC and drought code DC) and fuel moisture were analyzed. Results showed that the mean absolute error and the mean relative error of models.established using FWI moisture code FFMC was 14.9% and 70.7%, respectively, being lower than those of meteorological elements regression model, which indicated that FWI codes had some advantage in predicting litter moisture contents and could be used to predict fuel moisture contents. But the advantage was limited, and further calibration was still needed, especially in modification of FWI codes after rainfall.

Respiratory quotient (RQ) is one of the basic indices in physiology and energy metabolism of animals. When RQ is calculated, the amount of released CO2 is typically used directly. But for calcifying marine organisms, calcification which can affect dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) content in the water may cause methodological error to some extent, if it is ignored. In this paper, RQ and O/N of cultured oyster Crassostrea gigas and 3 marine fouling animal species (Mytilus edulis, Ciona intestinalis, Styela clava) were measured in the respiratory chamber to discuss the effect of calcification in RQ determination. The results demonstrated that calcification rates of C. gigas and M. edulis were (56.37 +/- 14.85) and (17.95 +/- 7.21) micromol x g(-1) x h(-1), respectively. (3.72 +/- 0.80) and (1.48 +/- 0.14) mg x L(-1) DIC in the water were correspondingly decreased, which occupied about (60.9 +/- 7.6)% and (39.9 +/- 5.7)% of respired CO2, respectively. RQ values of 4 animals were C. gigas 1.38 +0.19, M. edulis 1.18 +/- 0.11, C. intestinalis 1.11 +/- 0.05 and S. clava 1.32 +/- 0.19, which agreed with the O/N values except C. intestinalis. Meanwhile, the uncorrected RQ values of C. gigas and M. edulis were 0.56 +/- 0.19 and 0.70 +/- 0.04, respectively, which were contrary to the O/N values. Therefore, it was obviously that calcification could result in a significant influence on the respiratory quotient by affecting water DIC concentration and should be accurately calculated in RQ measurement.

As one type of the persistent organic pollutants, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are tremendously harmful to organisms. These compounds are easily absorbed onto soil particles and able to accumulate in soil after they are released into the environment. Bioremediation technology of PCBs-contaminated soils has become a research hotspot in recent years, and immobilized microorganism technique has high developing and applying value because of its unique advantages in environmental remediation. This paper reviewed the chief remediation technology of PCBs-contaminated soils and then analyzed the characteristics of immobilized microorganism technique and its research progress in remediation of organic polluted soil. Finally, the feasibility and problems of this technique in remediation of PCBs-contaminated soil were also discussed.

It is one of the important strategies during the poverty alleviation to maintain a basic balance between the eco-environment and economic development in poor areas. Taking the whole 20 counties in Lüliang national contiguous special poverty-stricken areas and the surrounding 36 counties as multi-type and multi-scale typical study areas, the relationship between eco-environment quality and poverty in the poverty-stricken areas was explored in this paper. Firstly, the region's ecological poverty index system was systematically built, and by integrated use of the subjective and objective weighting method, the ecological environment quality was evaluated in the perspective of natural environment. Then, the coupling coordination degree was calculated by coupling the ecological environment quality index and the average disposable income. Finally, the spatial variation was analyzed in detail respectively at provincial, city and county scales. Results showed that as a whole, the spatial autocorrelation coefficient of coupling coordination degree was relatively higher in the study area, and the coupling coordination degree in the eastern part was higher than that in the western part; the whole coupling coordination degree in Shanxi Province was slightly higher than in Shaanxi Province; the national poverty counties presented a state of recession, and their coordinated development degrees were far lower than that of non-national poverty counties.

This paper retrieved the fractional vegetation cover of alpine grassland in the source region of the Shule River Basin based on Chinese environmental satellite (HJ-1A/1B) images and field data, and analyzed the response of the vegetation cover to topographic factors and types of frozen ground. The results showed that the vegetation coverage of this region was low with large spatial heterogeneity and high degree of dispersion. The landscape consisted mainly of non-vegetation surface types, eg. ice, snow, the bare rock gravel land and bare land. Slopes and aspects were the main limiting factors of vegetation distribution. The average vegetation coverage decreased with the increase of slope. The average vegetation coverage was the lowest on the sunny slope, and the highest on the shady slope. There were significant differences of vegetation coverage among different types of frozen ground. The distribution of vegetation coverage presented a reversed "U" curve trend by extremely stable permafrost, stable permafrost, sub-stable permafrost, transition permafrost, unstable permafrost and seasonal frost, and the average vegetation coverage was the highest in the sub-stable permafrost.

Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important parameter of agriculture, meteorology and hydrology research, and also an important part of the global hydrological cycle. This paper applied the improved DHSVM distributed hydrological model to estimate daily ET of Tahe area in 2007 using leaf area index and other surface data extracted TM remote sensing data, and slope, aspect and other topographic indices obtained by using the digital elevation model. The relationship between daily ET and daily watershed outlet flow was built by the BP neural network, and a water balance equation was established for the studied watershed, together to test the accuracy of the estimation. The results showed that the model could be applied in the study area. The annual total ET of Tahe watershed was 234.01 mm. ET had a significant seasonal variation. The ET had the highest value in summer and the average daily ET value was 1.56 mm. The average daily ET in autumn and spring were 0.30, 0.29 mm, respectively, and winter had the lowest ET value. Land cover type had a great effect on ET value, and the broadleaf forest had a higher ET ability than the mixed forest, followed by the needle leaf forest.

Surface soil water-physical properties play a decisive role in the dynamics of deep soil water. Knowledge of their spatial variation is helpful in understanding the processes of rainfall infiltration and runoff generation, which will contribute to the reasonable utilization of soil water resources in mountainous areas. Based on a grid sampling scheme (10 m x 10 m) and geostatistical methods, this paper aimed to study the spatial variability of surface (0-10 cm) soil water content, soil bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity on a typical shrub slope (90 m x 120 m, projected length) in Karst area of northwest Guangxi, southwest China. The results showed that the surface soil water content, bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity had different spatial dependence and spatial structure. Sample variogram of the soil water content was fitted well by Gaussian models with the nugget effect, while soil bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity were fitted well by exponential models with the nugget effect. Variability of soil water content showed strong spatial dependence, while the soil bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity showed moderate spatial dependence. The spatial ranges of the soil water content and saturated hydraulic conductivity were small, while that of the soil bulk density was much bigger. In general, the soil water content increased with the increase of altitude while it was opposite for the soil bulk densi- ty. However, the soil saturated hydraulic conductivity had a random distribution of large amounts of small patches, showing high spatial heterogeneity. Soil water content negatively (P < 0.01) correlated with the bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity, while there was no significant correlation between the soil bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is one of three major greenhouse gases and the dominant ozone-depleting substance. Landfilling is the major approach for the treatment and disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW), while MSW landfills can be an important anthropogenic source for N2O emissions. Measurements at lab-scale and full-scale landfills have demonstrated that N2O can be emitted in substantial amounts in MSW landfills; however, a large variation in reported emission values exists. Currently, the mechanisms of N2O production and emission in landfills and its contribution to global warming are still lack of sufficient studies. Meanwhile, obtaining reliable N2O fluxes data in landfills remains a question with existing in-situ measurement techniques. This paper summarized relevant literature data on this issue and analyzed the potential production and emission mechanisms of N2O in traditional anaerobic sanitary landfill by dividing it into the MSW buried and the cover soil. The corresponding mechanisms in nitrogen removal bioreactor landfills were analyzed. Finally, the applicability of existing in-situ approaches measuring N2O fluxes in landfills, such as chamber and micrometeorological methods, was discussed and areas in which further research concerning N2O emissions in landfills was urgently required were proposed as well.

Based on RS-derived maps and socio-economic statistics, this paper analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamic pattern and driving mechanism of built-up area expansion in Su-Xi-Chang region from 1990 to 2010. 3S-based spatial analysis techniques were used, landscape expansion indices were calculated, and multiple stepwise regression models were also used. In the past 20 years, the built-up area had experienced rapid-moderate-accelerating expansion stages, which was strongly affected by the national development strategies and policies regarding land use. During the study period, the built-up area had increased by 2218.9 km2 mainly due to the encroaching from paddy field, dryland and artificial ponds. From 1990-1995, the pattern of built-up area expansion was dominated by the infilling and edge-expansion type; from 1995-2000, the outlying-type had overplayed infilling and edge-expansion types due to policy restrictions on the latter; after 2000, the outlying-type growth had decreased by a large extent, whereas the infilling mode had increased dramatically, which resulted in the spatially compact pattern of the newly built-up area. The increase of urban population and the boom of regional economy were the major driving forces of built-up area expansion. The study implied that improvements were urgently needed in land management system and high-efficiency use of cropland. Promoting the compact development of built-up area was also crucial for striving toward regional sustainability.

Plant viruses transmitted by arthropods, as an important biotic factor, may not only directly affect the yield and quality of host plants, and development, physiological characteristics and ecological performances of their vector arthropods, but also directly or indirectly affect the non-vector herbivorous arthropods and their natural enemies in the same ecosystem, thereby causing influences to the whole agro-ecosystem. This paper reviewed the progress on the effects of plant viruses on herbivorous arthropods, including vector and non-vector, and their natural enemies, and on their ecological mechanisms to provide a reference for optimizing the management of vector and non-vector arthropod populations and sustainable control of plant viruses in agro-ecosystem.

Iron, as one of the essential mineral elements for algae growth, plays an extremely important role in the physiological processes such as plant photosynthesis, respiration, nitrogen fixation, protein and nucleic acid synthesis. In view of the fact that iron in different forms could be absorbed and utilized by algae, the existing forms and circulation approaches in the aquatic environment, the absorption mechanism by algae, and the effects on algae growth and microcystin synthesis were reviewed in this paper. The relevant microcystin synthesis genes and their expression under iron restricted conditions were summarized, and the research directions for harmful algal blooms regulation and control by ferritin genes were suggested. It was hoped to provide the reference for eutrophication remediation technology.