Search

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Henan Province is the birthplace of Chinese civilization and one of the earliest human settlements, which means that the area has an important national cultural heritage. Traditional villages are an important facet of this cultural heritage, and studying their spatiotemporal characteristics in different periods has important theoretical and practical significance for the sustainable development and protection of cultural heritage in the region. This paper takes the traditional villages of the Yellow River basin in Henan Province that were formed before 1919 as the research object. Information on the ancient river was obtained through a literature search as well as via field research, and the important tributaries of the Yellow River in different periods were mapped using ArcGIS 10.0 software. The nearest neighbor index, kernel density estimation, standard deviation ellipse and other methods were adopted to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of the traditional villages. The factors that influenced the evolution of traditional villages were explored in depth by combining changes in the course of the river and water conservancy projects. The results show that the formation of traditional villages along the Yellow River in Henan Province has experienced a historical track of growth, contraction, growth and prosperity and stability. The traditional villages along the Yellow River in Henan Province generally show a clustered pattern, forming a dense concentration of traditional villages in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. The center of gravity shows a migration trend from southeast to northwest. In terms of influencing factors, the spatiotemporal evolution of the relationship between villages and their distance to water is closely related to climatic fluctuations, changes in channel, water conservancy projects and social and cultural factors. This paper deepens our understanding of the relationship between traditional village evolution and watersheds by improving the consistency between village spatial distribution and historical geography and provides a useful theoretical reference for the sustainable development of China's traditional villages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For mankind's survival and development, water, energy, and food (WEF) are essential material guarantees. In China, however, the spatial distribution of WEF is seriously unbalanced and mismatched. Here, a collaborative governance mechanism that aims at nexus security needs to be urgently established. In this paper, the Yellow River Basin in China with a representative WEF system, was selected as a case. Firstly, a comprehensive framework for WEF coupling coordination was constructed, and the relationship and mechanism between them were analyzed theoretically. Then, we investigated the spatiotemporal characteristics and driving mechanisms of the coupling coordination degree (CCD) with a composite evaluation method, coupling coordination degree model, spatial statistical analysis, and multiscale geographic weighted regression. Finally, policy implications were discussed to promote the coordinated development of the WEF system. The results showed that: 1) WEF subsystems showed a significant imbalance of spatial pattern and diversity in temporal changes; 2) the CCD for the WEF system varied little and remained at moderate coordination. Areas with moderate coordination have increased, while areas with superior coordination and mild disorder have decreased. In addition, the spatial clustering phenomenon of the CCD was significant and showed obvious characteristics of polarization; and 3) the action of each factor is self-differentiated and regionally variable. For different factors, GDP per capita was of particular importance, which contributed most to the regional development's coupling coordination. For different regions, GDP per capita, average yearly precipitation, population density, and urbanization rate exhibited differences in geographical gradients in an east-west direction. The conclusion can provide references for regional resource allocation and sustainable development by enhancing WEF system utilization efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firstly, based on the river health evaluation theory and starting from the integrity of the river system, the river health evaluation index system is selected. Secondly, the index systems of river health assessment including river morphology, hydrological and environmental characteristics, habitat elements and human activity characteristics are determined. Thirdly, set-pair (SPA) evaluation theory and extension were dealt with, a set-pair analysis-extension coupling model is constructed. Finally, taking Huangchuan Rive as an example, the ecological health evaluation on the river channel is carried out by using set-pair analysis-extension coupling model. The results of the comprehensive evaluation using the set-pair analysis-extension coupling method is obtained through calculation. It is proved by practice that the method of river health evaluation using the coupling model of set-pair analysis and extension theory could make full use of the data transformation and extension calculation, which shows the superiority in calculating correlation degree, and could reflect the determination and uncertainty of practical problems. It is possible to comprehensively consider all relevant factors. The paper provides a new idea for solving the relevant problems and obtains more accurate conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological anthropology in China has a history of more than 70 years, and can be divided into four stages. The first stage was in the 1950s, which began with China's identification of minzu and socio-historical surveys of ethnic minorities. This stage was characterized by refinement and application of the Economic-Cultural Type theory from Soviet ethnography. The second stage took place in the 1980s and 1990s, when China's ecological anthropology research focused on explaining the relationship between local group culture and the environment, and how this changed in the process of modernization. Studies in this phase mainly concentrated on China's southwestern and northwestern regions, and the theoretical trends of the "adaptation model" and "the cost of development" were formed, becoming central topics. The third stage was in the first decade of the twenty-first century, when Chinese ecological anthropologists focused on the natural and social consequences of changes in the ecological environment, and stressed the importance of exploring, protecting and transforming local ecological knowledge. Ecological anthropology research flourished in Hunan, Guizhou, and Guangxi as well as in the Daxing'anling and Xiaoxing'anling mountainous regions of Northeast China. The fourth stage was in the most recent decade, when ecological anthropologists expanded their research to cover disasters, biodiversity, local social vulnerability and promotion of ecological progress, and their research areas expanded to the southeastern coast, inland river basins and traditional farming areas in the Central Plains. This paper argues that the development of ecological anthropology in China has been driven by academic consciousness rooted in local field experience, accurate understanding of the research target and changes in social situations of the era, and in-depth dialogue with Western ecological anthropological theories. At present, China's economic and social development patterns and the relationship between local people and their ecological environments are undergoing profound changes. Therefore, China's ecological anthropology should respond and adapt to these new changes through solid ethnographic surveys, take root in local field experience, and draw on the wisdom of ecological civilization development in excellent traditional Chinese culture, to become aware of new theories and carry out innovative development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to attempt to assess the effect of green finance in reducing carbon emissions in China, analyze the transformative role of policy impact in the development of green finance markets, and investigate the impact mechanisms of how green finance affects carbon dioxide emissions. Our time frame from 2007 to 2018 is selected for the empirical study by integrating the availability of data due to the scarcity of relevant statistics in the early days of green finance. Location of this study is in China where 30 provinces are included, excluding Tibet due to severe data shortage. As for methodology, we construct a green finance evaluation index system containing five indicators by entropy weight method, choose dynamic spatial Durbin model (DSDM) for empirical research, and perform mechanism analysis of restructuring industry and greening technology as intermediary channel. Our findings demonstrate that green finance in China does significantly reduce carbon emissions, and its spatial spillover effect and long-term effect are also verified. Furthermore, green finance tends to reduce CO2 emissions through restructuring industry and greening technology. Correspondingly, policy implications are recommended. First, improving green financial market and strengthening information disclosure of green financial market are crucial to facilitate green finance development. Local governments formulate carbon emission reduction strategies focusing on space by joint conference or coordination mechanism like river head system. Lastly, a mechanism should be developed to strengthen the transformation of industrial structure and to promote greening technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological base flow (EBF) is essential in maintaining the basic functions of river ecosystems, and its satisfaction evaluation and driving analysis are vital in water resource management. Most previous research has been focused on EBF target setting, and there has been a lack of analysis of river EBF satisfaction evaluation and the driving forces of noncompliance. Thus, we proposed new indicators to represent the deviation degree and analyzed the temporal and spatial characteristics of the EBF situation in China over a long time. Then, we improved the methods by incorporating some of the new indicators, which are more suitable for national EBF satisfaction evaluation. The main conclusions are as follows. 1) From 2009 to 2018, the EBF satisfaction status in China generally improved, but the overall situation was not optimistic. The Liaohe, Haihe, and Huaihe River Basins had the worst EBF satisfaction status. The poorest record of EBF protection appeared in the second quarter. The characteristics of noncompliance were expressed as the high concentration of noncompliant days in a year, high frequency of anthropogenic interruption, and significant damage depth. 2) National annual EBF compliance evaluation methods were improved by combining the new indicators with previous methods and recommended by comparing their suitability for different methods. 3) Chinese EBF noncompliant stations were identified. Seasonal water use conflict and high water withdrawal were the main driving forces of noncompliant stations. The results provide reference information for the management and protection of the EBF in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potentially avoidable hospitalizations are associated with high and rising costs, and they have been widely considered as important performance indicators of the healthcare system, particularly in primary care. This study explored the relationship between spatial access to primary care and potentially avoidable hospitalizations of the elderly based on data from Chishui City, China, from 2014 to 2017. The enhanced two-step floating catchment area method was used to measure spatial access to care, while the relationship was estimated by a two-level logistic regression model with random effects, controlling for individual and household characteristics. We found a significantly negative association between potentially avoidable hospitalizations and spatial access to primary care, showing that the improvement of spatial access to primary care for the elderly would significantly reduce their potentially avoidable hospitalizations. Our results emphasized that the strategies to promote qualified, adequate and appropriate spatial distribution of primary care would substantially improve the healthcare system performance in China, also providing implications for other developing countries facing similar challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the outcome serves to establish a measurement model to calculate the value of ecosystem services in Lhasa River Basin, China. Following on the principle of resource scarcity, a study paradigm is established according to the influence of natural and socio-economic location differences on the value of ecosystem services. Results show that the total value of ecosystem services in Lhasa River Basin is 104.503 billion yuan. The unit ecosystem service value of natural grassland in the lower reaches is 5.6 times and 1.07 times larger than that in the upper and middle reaches, respectively. The value of ecosystem services is clearly affected by the scarcity of ecosystem services and dependence of economic and social development on the ecosystem. The value of ecosystem services in the upper, middle, and lower reaches were 4.17%, 21.48%, and 74.35%, respectively. It is found that the value of ecosystem services in this particular region differs significantly in the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the basin. The scarcity of ecological resources has increased the value of ecosystem services, which is reflected in the highest value of ecosystem services in the middle of Lhasa River Valley and both sides of the river where population, economy, and ecological demand are relatively concentrated. According to the estimated results, this study proposes a variety of methods to improve the ecosystem service value and analysis of the ecological compensation mechanism, derived from the contribution made by ecological services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In summer 2020, precipitation in many parts of China reached its maximum in the past 60 years, and southern China suffered from severe flooding, which was mainly due to the strong westward subtropical high, the enhanced east Asian summer monsoon, the development of meridional circulation, and the active cold vortex in the middle and high latitudes. We tried to apply a statistical bias correction method to improve the prediction of summer precipitation at 160 stations in China in 2020. In summer 2020, the precipitation anomaly percentages were above 40% in the Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin. Using the bias correction method, the main rain belt of the corrected summer precipitation was located in the Yangtze River's middle reaches and the Yellow River Basin, which is in line with the observations, but it does not catch the trend of more summer precipitation in the Huaihe River Basin. In addition, the corrected predicted results can basically catch the trend of dryness in South and Southwest China. Relative to the original model output, the abnormal correlation coefficient (ACC) between the corrected predictions, and the observations increased from − 0.02 to 0.30, and the prediction score (PS) increased from 67.8 to 77.4 for summer rainfall in 2020. Moreover, the bias correction method showed stable and considerable improvement for the prediction of summer precipitation in China from 2014 to 2019. Overall, this study demonstrates that the bias correction method can effectively improve the accuracy of the summer precipitation predicted results in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]