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A short overview of the history of academic geography since the 19th century shows that there has never been a unity of physical and human geography in the past, at least in the form that is strived for today to justify the relevance of geography in coping with the present problems faced by humanity. But the fact that the limits of positivism start to be recognized in physical geography opens a way to collaboration for addressing the pressing problems affecting our planet today. The paper ends with some examples of how such a collaboration might look like and advocates greater attention to a political chorological approach, concentrating on the diversity of regions in the world, by taking both their internal and external relationships in terms of power structures into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geography, as a discipline, is keeping pace with the overall development of scientific systems. The 20th century division between physical and human geography dispelled the integrity and unity of geography, while the division of specialties and the deep development of research topics further eroded the discipline. In anticipation of the synthesis of complexity and earth system science, and new sciences in the 21st century, and against the background of globalization and sustainable development, nature and humanities should be reintegrated in university classrooms. The influence of dualism can disappear invisibly through the standardization of academic language, construction of discipline theories, and transformation of research paradigms. Furthermore, an integrated and systematic concept can execute the arduous and complex task of safeguarding the future of humanity and sustainable development of the earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 21st century has seen an exponential growth in the number of papers published by Chinese geographers, yet this surge in publication has not corresponded to a commensurate increase in societal impact. The voices of geographers, particularly those of the younger generation, have diminished when confronted with substantial scientific and societal challenges. A pivotal factor contributing to this phenomenon is the academic evaluation system, which places significant emphasis on the quantities of papers and projects. This system significantly impedes cohesive progress in the field of Chinese geography, leading geographers, especially the younger generation, to diverge from the fundamental principles of the discipline. Consequently, there is a gradual neglect of the "comprehensiveness" and "regionality" dimensions that geography traditionally employs to tackle significant issues. To augment the capacity of geography to confront crucial challenges and enhance its standing within both the disciplinary and societal realms, Chinese geography should embark on a trajectory of consolidated development. This includes crucial steps such as strengthening geography education, establishing a leading problem-oriented framework, outlining pathways for integrating physical and human geography, and utilizing initiatives such as the "Top Ten Research Progresses in Chinese Geographical Science" to guide synthesized geographic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environment is a common research subject of physical and human geography, serving as a bridge toward the integration of these two sub-disciplines within geography. In order to study the interaction between human and physical geographical processes and the complex earth landscape it generates, incorporating the concept of region and corresponding research methods can be a possible direction to simplify the complexity of the problem. I argue that the division and analysis of regions should be based on geographical processes, emphasizing the discovery of chain reactions within these processes. Although there is a degree of subjectivity in the division of region among geographers, a good regional delineation should uncover more important and objective facts, reveal deeper truths, and therefore gain higher recognition. The unity of physical and human geography is evident in the cognitions and actions that human societies take regarding the interactions between physical and human geographical processes, which the comprehensive study of geography should able to explore, analyze, organize, and interpret. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the article co-authored by Christian Kesteloot and Lorenzo Bagnoli, this paper proposes three bases for the integration of physical geography and human geography. First, the ontologies faced by the two academic groups need to be close; second, the two academic groups must embrace each other's methodology; and third, the organization of scientific research operation should be conducive to integration. In order to better demonstrate these three integration bases, this paper considers the case of color control in the central city of Beijing, and analyzes the difference research approaches of physical geographers and human geographers when they face this practical issue in the absence of these three bases, as well as trends in their divergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major natural and social problems have emerged since the onset of the Anthropocene because of which geography, as a typical interdisciplinary field, has faced unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Given its focus on the complex human-nature relationship, it is necessary to overcome the dualism bias between physical and human geography and prioritize the study of coupling human-nature relationship within the discipline. In the context of Chinese geography, the key and the biggest difficulty of such coupling lies in the methodology used. To solve these major problems, the geographical community should encourage participation in diversified interdisciplinary research and promote the integration of data, technology, and society to bring about a new paradigm of governance science. This shift entails a gradual departure from the prevailing disciplinary evaluation orientation that tends to prioritize physical sciences over social sciences and humanities. Coupling physical and human geography and collaboration between geography and other disciplines are necessary to overcome the common global sustainable development issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The differentiation of physical geography and human geography is consistent with the differentiation of science, which is always in progress. Both have their advantages, and both have made contributions to scientific cognition and practical application. However, they also share common interests and means, which can give full play to their advantages and provide unique academic support for understanding and solving numerous social and environmental problems and challenges faced by contemporary human beings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

【Objective】Land use is comprehensively affected by natural conditions and socio-economic factors, and the study of time series changes in land use is conducive to providing a scientific basis for the rational use of urban land resources.【Method】Landsat satellite remote sensing images of six periods were selected at five-year intervals for land use classification from 1995 to 2020, and the land use structure, dynamics and land use transfer in Guangzhou were analyzed. The influence intensity and interaction mechanism of various factors on land use change in different periods were discussed by using geographic detectors. 【Result】（i） Under the scenario of long time series（1995-2020） urban land use change, geodetector model could analyze the factors of urban land use change in different periods and reveal its change rules.（ii） From 1995 to 2020, the construction land in Guangzhou showed a trend of ‘stable-slow increase-sharp increase’, while the cultivated land showed a trend of ‘slow decrease-stable-substantial decrease’, and the transferred area mainly came from cultivated land and forest land. The forest land and grassland showed a monotonous decreasing trend, mainly transferred out as construction land and forest land. The water area fluctuated up and down, mainly from cultivated land. Unused land was gradually reduced, mainly converted into construction land.（iii）In different periods from 1995 to 2020, the influence of driving factors of land use change in Guangzhou was different. Among them, the influence of socioeconomic factors on land use change was higher than that of physical geography.（iv） In different periods from 1995 to 2020, the q value of the interaction factor was higher than that of the single factor q value, which showed that the interaction between the factors was two-factor enhancement. 【Conclusion】The impacts of human activities on land use change are obviously different in spatial distribution. The overlapping of multiple factors will aggravate the conflict of land use. Reducing the impact of human activities on the environment is an important way to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important gathering place for scientific research stations in Antarctica, the Nearshore Area of the Ross Sea has essential research value. This study analyzes the characteristics of the available shoreline resources in the Ross Sea, based on the data of wind, wave, and sea ice, tourism resources, biological resources, and mineral resources. It is found that the available shoreline area is centered on Ross Island and Inexpressible Island. The area around Ross Island is a scientific research and tourism area, with an area of about 0.78×104 km², while the coastline near Inexpressible Island is a scientific research and resource exploration area, with an area of about 2.4×104 km². The middle area is a seasonally available area, with an area of about 4.3×104 km². The best time window for the utilization of coastline resources in the Ross Sea is from mid-January to mid-March every year. The results provide technical support for the establishment of observation stations in the Ross coastline area in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural settlements include the mainly populated areas for farm production and living. The shape of settlement boundaries is ever changing with the rapid development of the socio-economy in rural areas of China. The purpose of this study is to explore the spatial pattern evolution and driving factors of rural settlements in poverty mountain areas. Taking the Fang County of Hubei Province as a typical case, the geographic information systems (GIS), topographic gradient, and fractals were utilized to analyze the spatial variation in the boundaries of rural settlements from 2001 to 2018, with emphasis on the scale, form and spatial distribution. The regional topographic gradient included the elevation, slope, and topographic index. The fractal analysis was related to the aggregation and morphological dimension. Meanwhile, a geographical detector model was also established to investigate the driving mechanism. Some suggestions were made for the policy of linking the increase and decrease of urban and rural construction land (Link Policy), and targeted poverty alleviation relocation (TPAR), together with physical geography, socio-economy, and location conditions. The results showed that: (1) There was a significant change in the scale, density, and spatial distribution of rural settlements in Fang County from 2001 to 2018. The spatial expansion dominated the rural settlements, where the plaque density decreased, while the average plaque size increased. The distribution index of rural settlements gradually decreased with the increase of topographic gradient grades. The largest change occurred between 2013 and 2018, indicating that rural settlements tended to be concentrated in the low-gradient areas with superior topographic conditions. (2) There was a quite strong fractal feature in both spatial structure and morphology of rural settlements, showing a decrease in the spatial dimension and an enhanced characteristic of the aggregation. The morphological dimension decreased, indicating that the shape of aggregation plaque was more regular, and thereby the spatial form was tending to be simple. In addition, the stability index increased, indicating an orderly developing trend of rural settlements. (3) The fundamental factor was natural geography, and the important factors were the socio-economy and location conditions for the pattern change of rural settlements in mountainous areas. The Link Policy and TPAR further promoted the rural settlements from the small-scale decentralized regions to the concentrated valley and plain with better terrain and location. There was a significant impact of Link Policy and TPAR (quantified as policy factors) on the spatial pattern evolution of rural settlements after 2013. The finding can provide practical support for the optimization of rural settlements and revitalization in mountainous areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-purpose land use has been a new concept to explore the sustainable development of diversification and multifunction in rural areas. It is necessary to make tradeoff decisions on agricultural production and biodiversity conservation in the rural modernization. The change of rural settlements can also provide a sound support to the multifunctional rural land management. Multifunctional transition and transformation of settlements pattern have become the inevitable requirements of regional development, particularly on their internal correlation and interaction. Most previous studies individually focused on the rural multifunction and settlements, but a systematic investigation on the general law and internal mechanism is still relatively lacking. In this study, the current state was summarized for the multifunctional transition and transformation of rural settlements from the time scale, and clarified their interaction mechanism, according to rural multifunction theory. The results show that: 1) The multifunctional transition in rural areas can be the process of continuous differentiation, and re-integration of rural production, life, and ecology functions. Driven by urbanization, industrialization, and marketization in modern agriculture, the multifunctional transition in rural China has experienced four stages, including low level of weak function, function differentiation and development, function conflict, and high-level multifunctional collaborative development; 2) The transformation of rural settlements showed an excellent development process from disorder to order. Driven by internal and external factors, such as physical geography, social needs, policies, and institutions, the rural settlement presented five patterns, namely, the shrinkage of overall scale, the aggregation and contraction of settlement layout, the hierarchy and networking of rural settlements system, the protection and utilization of rural settlements culture, and the diversification and functional mix of rural settlements landscape; 3) A two-way coupling effect can be found between the multifunctional transition and the transformation of rural settlements, jointly impelling the development of rural regional system. The transformation of rural settlements can provide a necessary support for rural function implantation, adjustment, and improvement, further to promote the multifunctional transition in rural areas. The multifunctional transition can facilitate the transformation of rural settlements by driving the main body intervention; 4) A recommendation can be that the optimization direction of rural settlements can be fully suitable for the development trend and stage characteristics of multifunctional rural transformation. A “smart contraction” of rural settlement has become urgent to optimize the internal spatial structure of rural settlements, in order to improve the rural settlements system and service facilities, while strengthen the protection and inheritance of native culture. A new way can be explored to remold a native landscape by integrating modernization and localization, further to establish a planning system of the rural settlement, for the multifunctional and high-level sustainable development of rural areas; 5) Against the background of rural revitalization strategy, it can be the key direction of future research to explore the optimization path and development mode of rural settlements under the function synergy guidance, based on the multifunctional value of rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-purpose land use has been a new concept to explore the sustainable development of diversification and multifunction in rural areas. It is necessary to make tradeoff decisions on agricultural production and biodiversity conservation in the rural modernization. The change of rural settlements can also provide a sound support to the multifunctional rural land management. Multifunctional transition and transformation of settlements pattern have become the inevitable requirements of regional development, particularly on their internal correlation and interaction. Most previous studies individually focused on the rural multifunction and settlements, but a systematic investigation on the general law and internal mechanism is still relatively lacking. In this study, the current state was summarized for the multifunctional transition and transformation of rural settlements from the time scale, and clarified their interaction mechanism, according to rural multifunction theory. The results show that: 1) The multifunctional transition in rural areas can be the process of continuous differentiation, and re-integration of rural production, life, and ecology functions. Driven by urbanization, industrialization, and marketization in modern agriculture, the multifunctional transition in rural China has experienced four stages, including low level of weak function, function differentiation and development, function conflict, and high-level multifunctional collaborative development; 2) The transformation of rural settlements showed an excellent development process from disorder to order. Driven by internal and external factors, such as physical geography, social needs, policies, and institutions, the rural settlement presented five patterns, namely, the shrinkage of overall scale, the aggregation and contraction of settlement layout, the hierarchy and networking of rural settlements system, the protection and utilization of rural settlements culture, and the diversification and functional mix of rural settlements landscape; 3) A two-way coupling effect can be found between the multifunctional transition and the transformation of rural settlements, jointly impelling the development of rural regional system. The transformation of rural settlements can provide a necessary support for rural function implantation, adjustment, and improvement, further to promote the multifunctional transition in rural areas. The multifunctional transition can facilitate the transformation of rural settlements by driving the main body intervention; 4) A recommendation can be that the optimization direction of rural settlements can be fully suitable for the development trend and stage characteristics of multifunctional rural transformation. A “smart contraction” of rural settlement has become urgent to optimize the internal spatial structure of rural settlements, in order to improve the rural settlements system and service facilities, while strengthen the protection and inheritance of native culture. A new way can be explored to remold a native landscape by integrating modernization and localization, further to establish a planning system of the rural settlement, for the multifunctional and high-level sustainable development of rural areas; 5) Against the background of rural revitalization strategy, it can be the key direction of future research to explore the optimization path and development mode of rural settlements under the function synergy guidance, based on the multifunctional value of rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WEN Huan-ran, a famous geographer in the 20th century, pioneered biogeography of different historical periods. His contribution to plant geography focused on four aspects: (1) The publication of his works was earlier than the formation of historical geography in China. (2) His research was conducted on community and subject classification system, especially on the bamboo forests of northern China, as well as the distribution and change of forests at national and provincial scales. (3) His research methods are concerned with both natural sciences and humanities, such as in- depth field visits, investigations, revision of errors, supplement of omissions in the literature, and discussion on the influencing factors and recommendations. (4) After overcoming difficulties, he carried out studies in the entire context and opened new far- sighted perspectives for further studies. His contribution to animal geography of historical periods included the following. (1) He published the earliest works in this field. (2) He was mainly involved in the study of many rare species in the reptilia, aves and mammalia. (3) The results can be used as surrogate indicators for eco-environmental change, reference for ancient vertebrates and modern animals and related disciplines, evidence of forest and bamboo forest distribution. It was mainly Wen's long- lasting achievements in historical geography that made his studies so valuable and unique, and aroused attention from foreign scholars. All this must be considered a highlight that can stand the test of time, and should have received more international appreciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field practice of physical geography is one of the main courses in geography department of universities. Traditional field practice aims at cementing and testing theoretical knowledge, and practical trainings are mostly carried out as the pattern of different courses in different terms. The practice focuses on the knowledge of every branch course, and often overlooks the comprehensive nature of physical geographical science, fails to train students ' innovation thought and the ability of integrated analysis. Proceeding from training innovative talents as well as the comprehensiveness and application of geographical science, this study takes the field practice of physical geography of Central China Normal University as an example, and combines with the practice of ourselves, to evaluate the practices of traditional individual phase and individual course, and to analyze the content, method, efficiency of the comprehensive practice of physical geography. And we also discuss the development trend of practice of physical geography of geographical science major in normal university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]