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Reducing pollutant emissions of transportation is an important strategy for addressing global climate change, high-speed rail (HSR) transport, an eco-friendly mode, neither emits dust, nor emits too much COX and NOX due to the eclectic traction drive. Instead of focusing on passenger transport as most literatures refer to HSR, this paper addresses the strategy of goods movement, and chooses Beijing-Shanghai (B-S) HSR in China as a case study to explore a new freight transport mode to alleviate the increasingly serious environmental pollution problem. After predicting the intercity parcel demand and distribution based on AR-GM and Gravity model, the paper evaluates the supply capacity between cities based on operating schedule. The result shows Origin-Destination Pairs (ODPs) such as Shanghai-Jinan, Shanghai-Beijing, Beijing-Langfang suit for Mixed-train Mode and others such as Beijing-Tianjin, Shanghai-Suzhou, Shanghai-Xuzhou suit for freight-train mode. It concludes that operating high-speed rail freights on a large-scale is feasible and environmentally friendly due to its advantages of energy saving, land saving, low carbon emission. Since alternatives of modes are determined by the time distances, the scale of cities, flow volumes of intercity parcels, Freight-train mode should be adopted between cities with high economic density and large transportation capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To quantitatively assess the response of vegetation dynamics to climate change and human activities in the UAYRMR (urban agglomeration of the Yangtze River middles reaches, UAYRMR), China, this paper analyzed the spatio-temporal change characteristics of vegetation and their relationship with climate change and human activities using trend analysis, partial correlation analysis and residual analysis based on SPOT/VEGETATION NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) datasets. The results showed that: (1) the annual average NDVI significantly increased at the rate of 0.002/a during 1998-2018. (2) The spatial distribution heterogeneity of vegetation NDVI was significant. The improved regions mainly distributed in Xiangyang, Western Yichang and Eastern Huanggang. The degraded regions mainly distributed in the Wuhan metropolitan area, Changsha and Nanchang. (3) The area ratio of vegetation NDVI positively and negatively correlated with temperature and precipitation was 41.09% and 58.91%, 20.18% and 79.82%, respectively. (4) The area of vegetation NDVI continuously increasing and decreasing due to human activities accounted for 50.87% and 6.75%, and the area of that remained unchanged accounted for 42.38%. The impact of human activities on vegetation NDVI was greater than that of temperature and precipitation, and the positive impact of human activities on vegetation growth was greater than the negative impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the increasingly severe climate crisis, it is of great significance to carry out research on carbon budget calculation and multi-scenario prediction under the "double carbon" target for realizing regional low-carbon and high-quality development. Taking the Yellow River Basin (YRB) of China as the research area, this paper firstly calculates the carbon budget of the YRB from 2000 to 2020 and analyzes its spatiotemporal change. Then, we simulated carbon emissions, carbon sequestration, and net carbon budget during 2030-2100 under the SSP1-5 scenario. Finally, the regulation strategies of carbon balance of the YRB were proposed from four aspects: strengthening ecological governance, improving land use mode, optimizing industrial structure and advocating low-carbon life. Our results showed: (1) The overall carbon sequestration and carbon emission show a trend of fluctuating increase during 2000 to 2020, but the increase rate of carbon emission is far greater than carbon storage. The net carbon emission during 2000-2020 is negative, which is manifested as a carbon sink area. (2) The order of carbon sequestration of the provinces in the YRB during 2030-2100 is the same under the SSP1-5 scenario, and the descending order is the following: Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Gansu, Shanxi, Henan, Ningxia, and Shandong. (3) The STIRPAT model can be used to predict the carbon emissions of the YRB in the future with high precision. (4) In terms of net carbon emissions, under the SSP1-5 scenario, the YRB will be a carbon sink area from 2030 to 2080, and a carbon source area from 2080 to 2100. (5) Different provinces have different paths to low-carbon development, Inner Mongolia and Qinghai maintain a good low-carbon development path under SSP1, SSP2 and SSP4 scenarios, Ningxia and Shandong maintain a good low-carbon development path under SSP1 and SSP2 scenarios, Shanxi maintains a good low-carbon development path under SSP1 and SSP3 scenarios, and Gansu, Shaanxi and Henan maintain a good low-carbon development path under the SSP3 scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact and feedback of climate--vegetation interaction on the potential habitat of plants is one of the focuses of terrestrial ecosystem and global climate change research. Based on 246 occurrence records of S. chamaejasme and 28 environmental variables (climate, topography and soil), we predicted and analyzed the suitable habitat distributions and shifts of S. chamaejasme under current and future (by 2050 and 2070) climate scenarios using the maximum entropy (Maxent) model. The Area Under the receiver operating characteristics Curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the model performance. The key environmental factors were screened by Jackknife tests. The results showed the following: 1) AUC values indicated better performance of MaxEnt modeling. 2) Altitude, annual precipitation, extreme moisture conditions (including precipitation of the wettest and the driest month) and mean temperature of the coldest quarter were the most predominant environmental factors influencing S. chamaejasme's habitat suitability. 3) In the current scenario, S. chamaejasme distributed in Qinghai--Tibet plateau, Loess Plateau, Inner Mongolia plateau and Yungui plateau (covering 44.16% of total land of China), especially in Sichuan (37.25%) and Gansu (34.65%) province. 4) With climate change, an increasing trend for the distribution (except in 2050_RCP2.6 and 2050_RCP8.5) had taken place in the area of all suitable classes comparing current and future scenarios overall, while the trends of variation are insignificant. At the same time, the centroid of highly suitable distribution regions shifted to northeast China, and the distribution regions moderately extended to the south. This paper may provide a deep insight for further research and practice management on S. chamaejasme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the impact of winter seasons climate change on crop yields in the South Central Region of Bulgaria. Twenty-two years long field observations show a progressive increase in air temperature and a decrease in snow cover in the winter seasons. The reduction of snow and the air temperature rise are supposed to lead to reduction of water availability in the spring for the winter crops and respectively to lowering their yield. By compiling observed climatic data and those obtained through a spatially distributed climatic model for the region area analysed is the relationship between these climatic parameters and the respective harvest of the winter crops for the last 5 winter seasons. The observed in the analysed period winter crops yield does not show distinctly the supposed dependence on the decrease of the snowfall amount and snow cover residence time. The yields of the last winter season 2019/2020 with the least snow cover and 2oC higher air temperature exceeded those of all other seasons. This effect is explained with the favourable combination of the high air temperature with the amount and monthly distribution of the precipitation in the season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global warming has triggered climate change, which has a certain impact on the redistribution of hydrology and water resources, and may even tilts the ecological balance. This paper sums up the trends of some climate and hydrological indices in several Chinese rivers, namely, temperature, precipitation and runoff, and examines how these indices vary with the time. Then, the wavelet analysis was introduced to disclose the hidden features of temperature, precipitation and runoff time series, revealing certain correlations between these series. As a result, the effect of temperature on precipitation was explored through correlation analysis, so was that of temperature and precipitation on runoff. Finally, the ecological water demands in the upstream, midstream and downstream of the target river were computed, and found to change in a similar way to temperature and precipitation. The research findings shed new light on the maintenance of hydrology and water resources in rivers and the handling of relevant problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the early Quaternary, external factors such as climate change have altered the surface of the earth. The climatic changes have led to increase or decrease of glacier in highlands of Iran. The Alvand Mountain with an altitude of 3500 m is one of Iran's highlands, which is located in Hamedan Provence. In order to the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) estimate during the last glacial maximum (LGM) in Alvand Mountain, this paper has used five methodological approaches such as Wright, slope- direction (SD), curvature coefficient (CC), the accumulation-area ratio (AAR), and terminus to head altitude ratio (THAR). After estimating ELA through the aforementioned methods, ELA in the northeast and southwest slopes were compared. According to the ELA estimates require the identification of Quaternary glacier circuses. The cirques in southwest slopes had an altitude between of 1700 to 2900 m and in northeast slopes had an altitude between of 2000 to 3400 m. The estimation of ELA of the whole study area turned out to be 2294 m. In the SD method, the average ELA in the northeast and the southwest slopes was 1960 and 2491 m, respectively. In the CC method, the ELA of the northeast and the southwest slopes was 2167 and 2099 m, respectively. The results of ELA analysis indicate that there are differences between the northeast and southwest slopes. According to Wright and CC methods, ELA in the northeast is higher than the southwest slopes, which is against the natural order of the environment. ELA estimated by AAR and SD methods in the northeast slopes is lower than in the southwest slopes. According to these two methods, there is about 500 m difference between the ELA of the northeast and southwest slopes. In this paper, in addition to the ELA, the water and ice equilibrium line altitude (WIELA) have been estimated. The field observation of the moraines revealed that WIELA during LGM was located at 1680 and 1776 m in the northeast and southwest slopes, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, very active studies have been undertaken on the response and stability of permafrost carbon pool and key biogeochemical processes in permafrost regions to climate warming. By observing the significant differences in microbial community structure in regions of seasonal frost and permafrost, it is evident that microbes play key roles in the conversion of permafrost carbon. This paper reviews research progress at the cutting edges on the conversion and decomposition of permafrost carbon to climate warming and subsequent changes in microbial activities over the past decade. Findings indicated that: (1) Freezethaw cycles of soils in the active layer in permafrost regions showed an increasing annual trend and the existing survival patterns of permafrost microbes may be altered by the increasing freeze-thaw frequency; and (2) Soil microbes are an essential part of the cold-regions ecosystem and they play vital roles in soil carbon and nitrogen cycling, the mineralization and decomposition of soil organic matter. Thus, climate warming and subsequent permafrost degradation affect the conversion and decomposition of permafrost carbon, resulting in changes in CO2 and CH4 emissions, soil environmental factors, and soil microbial community structures. The laws for governing permafrost carbon conversion and the self-regulation mechanisms of soil microbes are important for natural ecosystems and environments in cold regions, and affect the strengths of greenhouse gas sources and sinks in permafrost regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper used data on land use, normalized difference vegetation index, digital elevation model, temperature and precipitation, and urban distribution to analyse the impacts of climate change, urban expansion and the Grain for Green project implementation on land use and land cover change in the Loess Plateau between 1980 and 2015 based on a single factor and comprehensive factor analysis. The aim of this paper is to explore the spatial expression of human activities under the influence of urban expansion, climate change, and the implementation of the Grain for Green project. The results indicated that climate change dominated among the influencing factors of land use and land cover change in the Loess Plateau, accounting for 93.65% of the total, with a surface-like distribution. It was followed by urban expansion, accounting for 5.46% of the total, with a point-like distribution. The impact of the Grain for Green project implementation accounted for 0.64%, with a patchy distribution. However, due to the low resolution, the quantitative assessment results regarding the role of the Grain for Green project implementation was lower, while for climate change and urban expansion, results were higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in vegetation growth are important indicators of health of terrestrial ecosystems. Located in China's semi-arid and semi-humid transitional zone, the Fenhe River Basin is the second largest tributary of the Yellow River, which is vital for soil and water conservation in the Loess Plateau. In this study, based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and meteorological data during 1982-2015, we evaluated the spatial-temporal distribution and changes in the vegetation greenness and meteorological variables in the Fenhe River Basin before and after the Grain for Green Program (GGP), in order to reveal the driving factors of changes in vegetation growth, and then quantify their relative contributions. The results show that since the GGP being implemented in 1999, the vegetation coverage in the Fenhe River Basin has significantly improved. Climate change and human activities are two important factors affecting the vegetation greenness detected from NDVI and the combined effects of the two factors play a leading role in NDVI change. After the implementation of GGP, the influence of climate on NDVI change has weakened, and the area proportion of human activities improving vegetation growth has raised significantly. This study is valuable for providing knowledge about the dynamic changes of vegetation in the Fenhe River Basin under the influence of climate change and human activities, and provides decision support information for vegetation restoration and sustainable development in the Fenhe River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and variability have been one of the challenges to socioeconomic and environmental sustainability in the twenty-first century. Meteorological analyses of historical drought occurrences are common in East Africa, but studies devoted to its effect on land use change are yet limited. This paper aimed to assess the long-term rainfall and temperature variability and its effects on farmers’ land use change in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia over the past 30-36 years using a combination of meteorological and socioeconomic data. Results show that the overall coefficient of variation for rainfall was more than 35% for rainy seasons. Out of the 36 years, total rainfall of the rainy season showed negative anomalies for about half of these years. Summer season rainfall started after the average time of onset for about 42% of the database years, and it ceased ahead of the average time of the stop for about 56% of these years. As a result of such rainfall shortage and variability, about 82% of the drought-vulnerable farmers had already changed their land use from pastoralist/agropastoralist to mixed farming while 10% have a wish to shift to other land use options in the future. Hence, future policies need to consider strategies that strengthen the adaptation capacity of farmers to climate change in East Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paramo is a high mountain ecosystem with cold and humid climate, it has high amount of sunlight and cloudiness, furthermore, organic matter has low decomposition rates, hence, leaf litter degradation gets 40% per year as maximum. In the last 70 years, the air temperature near the surface of the Tropical Andes has increased significantly up to 0.34 °C/decade. In the same region, it is estimated that in this century the average temperature will vary from <+ 1.60 °C to >+ 2.61 °C, which exceeds the threshold of natural climatic variability. On the other hand, although precipitation along the Andes has not shown an increase or diminish pattern between 1955 and 1994, it is projected that by the year 2100, it will decrease in the outer tropics and will increase in the interior tropics. In this paper, we discuss how the decomposition of organic matter in paramo areas is influenced by climate change and analyze how current trends of variation in temperature are projected to affect ecosystem processes. Previous studies have determined that the increase of the atmospheric temperature (as long as the humidity remains stable or increases), generates higher decomposition rates, so that an increase of 1 °C in the atmospheric temperature would also mean an increase in the rate of decomposition of up to 10%. These changes would cause the release of the carbon accumulated in the soil to the atmosphere as CO2, which would be a determining factor for climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water resources are facing nowadays with two main problems: climate change and land cover variation. Their influences on environment and water resources have been evidenced worldwide. In this work, we have applied a complex methodology based on Geographical Information System (GIS) to combine the spatial information of several parameters that allow to obtain the groundwater vulnerability under climate and land cover modifications. The spatial analysis performed in this paper includes the aquifers, water availability, load pollution index, and infiltration map raster grids data of Carpathian Mountains area, from Central Europe. The analysis presented in this study follow three periods, which include 30 years climate data models of 1961-1990 (1990s), 2011-2040 (2020s), and 2041-2070 (2050s). Land cover projections forecast future changes in artificial areas, agriculture areas, and forest areas for 2020s and 2050s. For both periods (2020s and 2050s), the very low vulnerability class area is reduced while the high class appears on a large area. The worst scenario is forecasted for 2050s (high vulnerability class increase up to 2.41% of the whole study area) and is mainly due to agriculture. These findings evidence the negative impact of land cover and climate changes on the groundwater resources in the Carpathians Mountains area. The original maps carried out in this work together with the concise methodology integrated in GIS may be a useful tool for the water resources management and future strategies plans of this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is a major concern in the agricultural sector, especially due to its recurrence and adverse effects on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Vulnerability of smallholder farmers to drought is higher in developing countries such as South Africa than in developed countries. This is due to the high dependence on rainfall by farmers in developing countries. The need to understand the coping strategies adopted by these farmers to improve their resilience cannot be over emphasised. Factors associated with the ability to cope with drought conditions by smallholder livestock farmers were investigated using retrospective data collected from randomly selected smallholder farmers (n = 280). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis. The results revealed that farmer's adaptive capacity was influenced by the "Agricultural Centre", changes in farm management, practicing supplementary feeding before onset of the drought, introduction of supplementary feeding during the drought, and having access to clean water during the drought. This study highlighted the varying coping strategies adopted by smallholder livestock farmers that should be considered when designing intervention strategies and drought preparedness education programmes. There is a need for the development of area-specific proactive drought coping strategies and education programmes targeted at smallholder farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meteorological factors, especially temperature and humidity, have a great impact on human physiology. In the context of climate change, the impact of temperature on people's health in Thai Binh city (Vietnam) is becoming more and more serious. Based on meteorological data for the period of 1991-2021 and Vietnam climate change scenario data, the daily maximum heat index (HImax) scenario for the period of 2024-2054 is calculated by the method of correlation evaluation and regression equations. The results show that in the future the trend of HImax is 0.0875°C per year under the RCP 4.5 scenario (Medium Low Greenhouse Gases Concentration Scenario) and 0.0919°C per year under the RCP 8.5 scenario (High Greenhouse Gases Concentration Scenarios). The number of weeks per 5 years having daily HImax at danger level (HIwave) tends to increase 6.14 times for scenario RCP 4.5; 7.0 times for scenario RCP 8.5. Especially, the number of days at risk of heat stroke in the past 31-year period is 5 days, then in the future 31-year period there are 77 days with scenario RCP 4.5 and 116 days with scenario RCP 8.5 and this phenomenon mainly concentrated in the months of June, July, August. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmers are aware of challenges brought by climate change yet struggle with adaptation measures due to a lack of resources such as early warning systems, ecosystem restoration, climate-resilient infrastructure, and water supply. This study, undertaken to assess smallholder crop farmers' awareness of, and adaptation to, the impacts of climate change, was conducted in the three local municipalities of Mopani district in the Limpopo Province, South Africa: Giyani, Letaba and Maruleng. The proportionate sampling technique was used to obtain the study sample size of 291 farmers. A Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28 was used to analyze data, along with descriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression model. The results indicated that 100% of smallholder crop farmers were aware of climate change but struggled to implement adaptation measures. The binary logistic regression results revealed that the variables gender, farm size and change of weather had a significant influence on farmers' adaptation measures. Ninety per cent of smallholder crop farmers were aware of, and implemented, climate change adaptation measures. The study recommends a heightened focus on improving the level of farmers' efforts to adapt, to mitigate the effects of climate change in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive agricultural development in China has given rise to a range of environmental issues that pose a significant hurdle to the country's "dual-carbon" goal. In order to tackle this challenge effectively, it becomes crucial to tap into the potential of green financial developments as means of reducing carbon emissions. To shed light on this matter, this study collates data from a total of 30 provinces in China from 2007 to 2019. And A two-way fixed-effects model was employed to examine the extent to which the advancement of green finance (GF) in China has effectively contributed to the decrease of carbon emissions in the agricultural sector. Furthermore, our research endeavors encompass the investigation of the specific mechanisms via which green finance has its influence on carbon emissions within the agricultural sector. The findings indicate that the implementation of green finance plays a crucial role in facilitating the reduction of carbon emissions within the agricultural sector in China. Technological advancements emerge as the primary mechanism through which green finance facilitates agricultural carbon emission reduction. Nevertheless, the impact of modernizing the regional industrial structure has been detrimental in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a study on the main reasons for the transformation of wetland ecosystems in the Delta of the Ili River in the period of 1979-2014. The study results are shown based on the analysis of multi-temporal satellite data Landsat, dynamics of hydrological regime of the river Ili, climate conditions and features of economic activities of the local community, as well as fieldwork in the study region. Analysis of area changes of main types of hydromorphic and semi-hydromorphic ecosystems of Delta river Ili in high and medium on water discharge in the following (1979, 1993, 2000, 2010, and 2015) years. Increasing water consumption in China and in Kazakhstan part of the Ili-Balkhash basin due to the development of the agrarian and municipal sectors of economy especially in China, significantly exceed increasing flow of Ili River, caused by regional warming in the catchment part of Ili River Basin. The global warming has intensified the degradation of glaciers in mountain catchment areas of Ili River, this in the near future threatens with a decline in river flow and as a consequence lead to the deterioration of delta ecosystems and the desiccation of lake Balkhash similarly to the ecological disaster of the Aral Sea. Analysis of long-term (from 1970 to 2013) climatic data from three meteorological stations demonstrated a trend of the regional increase of average annual air temperature by 1.4 °C and decreasing of average annual precipitation by 10 mm. These factors also contribute to the transformation process of hydromorphic ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concepts of vulnerability and resilience are gaining popularity in the development literature but still lack conceptual integration with the theory and practices of livelihood dynamics. However, the livelihood system of a community is a key element of the social system which may frequently be disrupted by the ecological, financial, natural and human-made vulnerability. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to clarify the concept of vulnerability and resilience in the perspective of livelihoods in a climate vulnerable context. It also addresses the methodological gaps through translation of theory from existing literature. This study argues that vulnerability and livelihood resilience are inversely related. It recommends some indicators and pillars for a better understanding of the vulnerability and livelihood resilience drawing from assorted literature through analysing the concept from various dimensions. The study will be helpful in understanding the livelihood dynamics and its assessment in the perspective of vulnerability and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the significant effects of carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions on the environment, analysis of historical emission levels and prediction of future levels are of huge importance in managing climate change. This study focuses on predicting CO2 emissions in the United States (US), European Union (EU), and China based on the data collected from the World Bank's database. The time series were modelled using the ARIMA methodology, while the analysis was conducted in R. The findings indicate that by 2030, the EU is projected to experience a decline of 23.70% in emissions compared to 2019 levels, while the United States is expected to witness a decrease of 21.95%. However, China's projections are discouraging, with an anticipated increase of 26.83% in emissions. These projections serve as valuable tools to assess the achievement of imposed CO2 emission targets in specific economies, informing the necessary adjustments to existing policies or the implementation of new ones. This study underscores the significance of analysing historical data and forecasting future CO2 emissions to manage climate change and develop energy-related policies effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populus euphratica (Pe) and Populus pruinosa (Pp) are important dominant species for maintaining ecological balance in desert and arid areas. Understanding the distribution of potentially suitable areas of Pe and Pp in arid areas is of great significance for the protection and restoration of natural Pe and Pp forests. The optimized MaxEnt was used to reconstruct and predict the potential suitable areas of Pe and Pp in China, and calculate the migration of distribution center points. The results showed that (1) the geographical distribution of Pe was mainly affected by coldest month minimum temperature (Bio6), mean Temperature of Warmest Quarter (Bio10). The geographical distribution of Pp was mainly affected by coldest month minimum temperature (Bio6), temperature Annual Range (Bio7); (2) under the current climatic scenarios, the potential suitable areas of Pe and Pp in China are 141.16 × 104 km2 and 172.25 × 104 km2;(3) The niche overlap D and I values of Pe and Pp were 0.533 and 0.775 respectively; (4) under the future climate scenario, the potential high-fitness area of Pe and Pp would shift to higher latitudes. Our research provides a scientific basis for the long-term protection and management of these rare natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nyang River is located in an area sensitive to global climate change, the climate warming changes and human activities have impacted the fragile ecosystem of Plateau Rivers, for which we analyzed the bacterial diversity, community structure characteristics and main influencing factors in the surface sediments of 7 sampling sites in the middle and lower of the Nyang River in Tibet which is in China by high-throughput sequencing technology. The study showed that the abundance of bacterial community in the surface sediments of the middle and lower reaches of the Nyang River that is S1 (upstream of the junction of Bahe Town), S2 (Bahe River), S3 (downstream of the junction of Bahe Town), S4 (upstream of Duobu Hydropower Station), S5 (downstream of Duobu Hydropower Station), S6 (upstream of Bayi Town), S7 (downstream of Bayi Town). The abundance of bacterial community and bacterial diversity at S2 site are relatively high, and the bacterial diversity and abundance of the 7 sampling sites are lower than those of other areas. Five dominant bacteria phyla, including Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and seven dominant bacteria genera, including Exiguobacterium, Hymenobacter, Hyphomicrobium, Leptolyngbya_FYG, Phormidesmis_ANT. L52.6, Tychonema_CCAP_1459-11B were extracted from the surface sediments of the middle and lower reaches of the Nyang River in the dry season. There were significant differences in the dominant bacteria among the samples. Further study found that the influencing factors were flow velocity, environmental factors and nutrients in descending order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nagpur, the geographical center of India, has witnessed flooding consistently for the past ten years due to urbanization and climate change. Cities like Nagpur, which are newly prone to disasters, need to identify flood-prone areas for planning city development and mitigation measures. Developing countries lack data to generate susceptibility maps, thus remote sensing (RS) and GIS have been used in this study. Ten flood-causing parameters namely altitude, slope, topographic wetness index (TWI), landuse/landcover (LULC), soil texture, rainfall, surface runoff, distance from river, lithology and landforms, have been mapped for Nagpur on ArcGIS10.8 using freely available data. The frequency ratio (FR) model has been adopted, with 70% of flood locations used for machine learning and the remaining 30% for validation. Parameters of surface runoff (FR up to 4.30), landform (FR up to 3.58), lithology (FR up to 2.36), and high rainfall (FR up to 1.82) have shown a maximum positive relationship with the floodprone areas. The results having 80.90% accuracy and validation of 81.58%. proved that the selected parameters can be robustly adopted for mapping flood susceptible areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined knowledge of symbiotic relationship between man and natural environment, climate change and their implications to sustainable environmental behaviour and sustainable development among the urban/semi urban settlers in southeast Nigeria. The study was guided by Environmentally Responsible Behaviour (ERB) model, to understand the extent of environmental and ecological knowledge, and pro environmental sustainability behaviour among the citizens. 640 respondents (18+) from 16 settlements across the region were randomly selected for the study, while survey design was adopted for the study with the aid of questionnaire instrument. The data collected were analysed with aid of descriptive and inferential statistics tools for testing the relationship of substantive variables in the study. From the findings of the study, positive predictors of knowledge of social ecology included public media enlightenment on environment (p < .000), public institution quality (p < .000) and environmental citizenship (p < .000). Knowledge of solid waste management (p < 0.01) positively correlate with pro environmental behaviour. Positive predictors of global climate change awareness include knowledge of the natural environment, public media enlightenment on environment and duration in the place of residence (p < .000). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Poyang Lake catchment with frequent drought and flood disasters in recent years was chosen as the study area. Due to the influence of global climate changes, great changes have taken place in the hydrological and climatic process of Poyang Lake in the past half a century, leading to the increase of extreme weather and hydrological events, shrinkage of water, threat to wetland ecosystem and other problems. First, historical climate data simulated by Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models CCSM4 and ECHAM5 were obtained, which were then applied to Poyang Lake catchment with downscaling method. The hydrological model WATLAC can be driven by upper climate data along with other data so that we get the runoff series in this catchment for the past one thousand years. Based on the research, it was found that the runoff series were in significant positive correlation with precipitation series. The frequency of extreme runoff was consistent with that of precipitation in both models. The peak value was 0.03, indicating the period was 30 years. The wavelet power spectrum contours of runoff and precipitation series generate significant signals in 20~40-year scale. The signal is the strongest in a scale of about 30 years, which further confirms the runoff of Poyang Lake catchment has a macro cycle of about 30 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chi River Basin (CRB) is one of the major river basins in Thailand. Flooding often occurs in this floodplain, which has a profound effect on human life and property. Currently, climate change has a high impact on river discharges and therefore on floods. Hence, the management of flooding to minimize impacts due to climate change is essential and a priority at national and regional levels. The purpose of this study is to provide a quantitative understanding of the impacts of climate change on hydrological regimes and to provide a guideline for coping with the consequences. In this paper, General Circulation Model (GCM) outputs, the Statistical DownScaling Model (SDSM), the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model, the Hydrological Engineering Centre - River Analysis System (HECRAS) program, and the Geographic Information System (GIS) were used to determine areas vulnerable to flooding due to climate change. A flood hazard map was developed for the Lampao River Basin (LRB), which is a sub catchment of the CRB. According to the results, an appropriate flood management plan for the area was proposed. The plan involved structural and non-structural measures that integrated three methods of dealing with flood hazards which are modifying the hazards, moderating the impacts, and reducing the risks. Integrated flood management is a complex endeavor therefore computer-based tools that enable analysis of the whole system should be developed to implement the plan efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green infrastructure is strategic and spatial approach to landscape and environment planning, applying key principles of landscape ecology to urban environments, and specifically planning in multiscale approach. It is adopted and developed as a result of the opportunities it has provided in various disciplines to meet ecological, environmental, social challenges of landscape planning. Multi use of green infrastructure has the potential of contributing to climate change adaptation in various scales and regions. Climate change as a result of historical emissions of greenhouse gases would jeopardize cities. The deficiency of existing urban systems to cope with the risks resulting from these changes such as floods, droughts and extreme temperatures (intensification of the urban island heat effect), render residents of cities vulnerable to these changes. Green infrastructure by providing a range of ecosystem services has a significant role to play in helping to combat climate change. In this paper, it is investigated how and in what function and services, Green infrastructure strategy can help us in adopting to climate change in urban landscape context. At the first step, we classified the methods, principle and impacts on these two strategies (climate change adaptation and green infrastructure) to compare them. Then through this comparison, a conceptual model is developed clarifying their complementarity and relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is widely expected to influence geographic distribution and range shifts of plant species. Southwestern China, which has been identified as one of the global biodiversity hotspots, is experiencing a warming trend that is well above the global average. Pinus yunnanensis is a mountainous conifer species endemic to southwestern China. However, little is known about its specific responses to future climate change. Here, based on a maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model, we integrated environmental factors, bioclimatic variables, and species occurrence data from extensive field surveys to project the potential suitable habitats of P. yunnanensis for the years 2050 and 2090 under two climate scenarios. According to our projections, P. yunnanensis generally experienced a suitable habitat loss in the coming decades, and there was a clear acceleration of habitat loss with the severity of climate scenarios. Moreover, the suitable habitat of P. yunnanensis showed a slight southward and downslope shift in response to climate change. Our results indicated that temperature-related factors and solar radiation, especially temperature seasonality, lowest temperature in the coldest month, and mean diurnal range, performed better than precipitation and topo-soil factors in explaining species distributional dynamics. In addition, we identified southern Sichuan and north-central Yunnan as long-term refuges for P. yunnanensis under future climate change, while southeastern Tibet should be protected as a priority conservation area. Our results can be used to guide long-term dynamic monitoring and provide a basis for conservation management of this endemic species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the temporal and spatial characteristics of drought and vegetation dynamics as well as the lag time of vegetation’s response to drought in Southwest China were determined. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and standardized precipitation and evapotranspiration index (SPEI) were used to evaluate the effects of drought on vegetation and determine the response of vegetation to hydrological and climatic changes in different seasons and time scales. The results indicated that from 1970 to 2020, the climate in Southwest China showed a aridity trend with a decreasing rate of 0.024/10a. In autumn, the drought trend intensified, and 90.62% of the study area exhibited a trend toward drought; the most significant drought trend was in Yunnan Province (P < 0.05). On a seasonal level, the NDVI had a downward trend in summer, with a decrease rate of 0.033/10a and an increasing trend in spring, autumn, and winter, with increase rates of 0.016/10a, 0.009/10a, and 0.15/10a, respectively. The areas with the most obvious improvement in vegetation cover were southern Guangxi Province and eastern Sichuan Province, which had the fastest improvement rate, 0.24/10a. The NDVI was most sensitive to the 6-month SPEI (SPEI_6). The lag time of the NDVI for SPEI at different time scales was 1 month, whereas the lag time for SPEI_6 was up to 2 years. The time delay effect of the NDVI on drought in northwest Sichuan, west Yunnan, southeast Guizhou, and north Guangxi was significantly correlated (P < 0.05). The region with the weakest correlation between the NDVI and SPEI was the agricultural area in eastern Sichuan (P > 0.05). This study provides a crucial theoretical basis for water balance, ecosystem protection, and efficient water resource management in Southwest China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soils support a diverse range of organic life and provide several ecosystem functions and services that allow terrestrial life to thrive. Earthworms influence greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the soil both biologically (via respiration and litter modification) and physically (via increased macroporosity and altered air and water movement pathways). They improve soil carbon sequestration but also actively contribute to the release of major greenhouse gases. Shifting geographical ranges of earthworms due to changes in climatic conditions might affect the composition, structure and function of the soil ecosystem. This review examines the possible effects of the projected change in climate on earthworm communities and resulting implications for soil GHGs due to changes in environmental endpoints such as temperature and moisture. Earthworm activity, abundance, and biomass increase as soil moisture content increases, but drought and flooding reduce earthworm productivity. Climate change is likely to exacerbate earthworm invasions at higher latitudes and altitudes. However, because higher temperatures inhibit earthworm activities during droughts, anticipated warmer and drier climates may impede earthworm invasions. Climate change may disrupt the delicate balance between carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions from soil in the coming century, but there are currently insufficient field studies to back up these prognostications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mongolian Scots pine has been used for vegetation restoration and windbreaks in Horqin Sandy land, Northern China, where climate change is the principal factor limiting tree survival and growth. To investigate the effect of annual precipitation and annual temperature variables on stem biomass and carbon stock of Mongolian Scots pine healthy (HP), sub healthy (SHP), stress (STP), and shrink (SRP) plantation. We used climate sensitive allometric model to find out accurate biomass along climatic factors from 1965 to 2019. The result show that, stem biomass and carbon stock of Mongolian Scots pine, HP, SHP, STP and SRP plantation, have strong correlations with annual PP and annual (Tmax) (R² = 0.88, R2 = 0.84, R² = 0.82, R2 = 0.61) and (R2 = 0.86, R² = 0.82, R2 = 0.72, R² = 0.60). While, annual average (Tmini) and annual (Tmean) have a slightly positive correlations with the Mongolian Scots pine, HP and SHP, plantation (R2 = 0.73, R2 = 0.70) and (R² = 0.76, R2 = 0.71). However, negative correlations (R² = 0.49, R² = 0.29) and (R² = 0.40, R² = 0.39) were found with STP, and SRP, plantation. Mongolian Scots pine, afforestation on reclamation sites brings important environmental and production benefits. Mongolian Scots pine has a strong adaptive nature with climate change and hence can survive under stress conditions of Horqin sandy land China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tamarix chinensis (Tamaricaceae), a halophytic plant, is native to China. Tamarix chinensis has shown significant advantages in improving soil desertification and enhancing soil quality in coastal saline lands and can be used for ornamental and medicinal purposes with high scientific, ecological and economic values. The scarcity of information about geographic distribution under global climate change makes it difficult to promote better cultivation of this shrub. For this study, we modeled the current and future suitable growth areas in 2050 and 2070 for T. chinensis by the Maxent model using the latest Coupled Model Comparison Program 6 (CMIP6) data set. The results revealed that annual mean temperature, precipitation of wettest quarter, annual mean UV-B and elevation were identified as the most important factors affecting T. chinensis distribution. The total suitable potential distribution areas for T. chinensis encompassed ca. 191.38×104 km², in which the highly suitable areas were mainly distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the eastern coastal areas in China. Under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) 126 scenario, we predicted an expansion of the suitable habitat range in 2050 followed by a contraction in 2070; however, under the SSP585 scenario, the suitable habitat range of T. chinensis would decrease in 2050 and 2070. Overall, T. chinensis showed a shift trend in distribution to higher latitudes and elevations with global warming. This study could provide a theoretical guidance for formulating management plans for T. chinensis and saline soil rehabilitation in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to global climate change the salt-affected agricultural land has enlarged in Indonesia, especially in coastal areas. Chemical soil properties, such as pH, Na and Cl contents, as well as soil nutrients including availability of soil phosphorus, are changed by higher soil salinity. Phosphorus fertilizer management on saline soils must be done properly since improper dosage of P can worsen the severity of the effects of salinity. The study aimed to determine appropriate dose of P fertilization for salttolerant soybean genotypes in saline soil. The experiment was conducted on an agricultural field during dry season 2018 in Tuban District, East Java Province, Indonesia. The treatment consisted of two P fertilizer dosage (72 and 108 kg P2O5/ha) on two salt-tolerant of soybean genotypes (Anjasmoro variety and K-13 line). The treatment was arranged in randomized complete block design, with fourteen replicates. Soil EC at the study site during the growing season was 9-17 dS/m, while EC of irrigation water was 6-16 dS/m. Results showed that among the two tested salt-tolerant genotype, Anjasmoro variety revealed better performance than K-13 line according to growth parameters, as well as yield and yield attributes. Appropriate P fertilizer dosage for both genotypes was 108 kg P2O5/ha. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has resulted in profound changes in biodiversity throughout the globe. It has also become a serious source of worry for environmentalists and governments alike. The goal of this study is to provide first-hand information about the effects of climate change on floristic composition in the Khulais region, Saudi Arabia, during the last decade. Data obtained from the metrological station showed that the amount of annual precipitation decreased, while the mean annual temperature exhibited an increase. The results showed that Lange, De Martonne and Emberger's drought indices, ranged between (3x10-5 to 2.8), (3x 10-5 to 2.0), and (2x 10-4 to 14.8), respectively, which decreased in 2020 by between 50% and 230% from 2011. Most plant species in the studied region showed a decrease in their frequency. 50 out of 251 species showed a frequency change of more than ten percent, which was recorded in the first survey. Species that showed the largest declines were mostly a variety of agricultural weeds and valley plants, while species of rocky and mountain habitats were less affected. Only seven species showed a relative increase in their frequency, Prosopis Juliflora and Trianthema portulacastrum L. recording the highest change in their frequency. This work serves as a warning to those interested in wild plants and to governments to take appropriate measures to protect the arid environment threatened by the impact of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and the growing-demand for food security force growers to identify ways to improve both food production and resource-utilization effectiveness. Liaoning province is one of the major rice (Oryza sativa L.) production regions of China (CL), accounting for about 10% of the total national japonica cultivation area. In this study, the experimental regions were divided into five rice agroecological zones based on the difference in the planting area and climate conditions. Four nitrogen (N) management levels were designed by the application amount of N fertilizer. ORYZA (v3) model was calibrated, validated and applied to simulate yields under four N fertilizer levels. The results showed that ORYZA (v3) can describe grain yield and above-ground biomass well, and it can be applied to simulate growth in CL region. Scenario-analysis indicated that the simulated grain-yield responded strongly to a low nitrogen level. However, there was no significant grain-yield increase under more N. Significant spatial variation in the grain-yield was observed at different levels. Compared to regions with limited temperature and light resources during the rice growing-periods, the regions with more optimal conditions showed higher grain-yields under all four N levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important indicator of soil quality and crop production. In order to optimize management practices and balance agronomic and environmental interests, we conducted physicochemical fractionation to determine the effect of different fertilization treatments on a maize-wheat field in southern China. The fertilization treatments include unfertilized control (CK), nitrogen fertilizer alone (N), balanced fertilizer (NPK) and application of fertilizer plus manure (NPKM). SOC in CK was 6.5 g kg-1 lower than that in the NPKM treatment and 1.4 g kg-1 higher than that in the N treatment. The proportions of C fractions to SOC in unprotected pool, physically protected pool and stably protected pool (chemically protected pool plus biochemically protected pool) were 22.2~43.9%, 4.8~6.9%, and 49.4~71.6%, respectively. Soil organic carbon was mainly contained in the unprotected C pool. In addition, the biochemically protected C showed changing saturation levels in different fertilization treatments. Therefore, the application of fertilizer plus manure might be the best option in order to improve soil TOC and C fractions in the maize-wheat cropping system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we investigated the effects of climate change on the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Based on the current distribution records of S. frugiperda and selected bioclimatic factors, we modelled its potential habitat suitability in China under four climate change scenarios using Maximum Entropy Models (MaxEnt) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Our results showed that: (1) the mean area under curve (AUC) values of both our initial and final models were greater than 0.978, indicating high accuracy in the predictions; (2) the dominant environmental factors regulating the habitat suitability of S. frugiperda were Precipitation of Warmest Quarter (bio18), Temperature Seasonality (bio4), Annual Mean Temperature (bio1) and Precipitation Seasonality (bio15); (3) the highly suitable areas for S. frugiperda were mainly distributed in Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, most parts of Henan and Guangxi, central and eastern Hubei, central and southern Shaanxi, and southeastern and northern Zhejiang, accounting for 17.6% of China’s landmass; (4) from the present until the 2070s, the areas of the non-suitable regions will decrease as climate warming becomes more severe, and the geometric center of the highly and total suitable areas will displace to the north under all four climate change scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a dendroclimatic study in the Mustang region of the Himalayas in Nepal with aims to develop the tree-ring chronology and to check response of blue pine (Pinus wallichiana) radial growth with climate variation in the area. We extracted 120 tree cores at an altitudinal range of 2350 to 2550 m and develop a 99-year long tree-ring width chronology of blue pine which spans from 1913 to 2011.Precipitation and temperature were the main climatic factors limiting the radial growth of P. wallichiana. Winter and spring time precipitation was positively correlated to blue pine growth, specifically: precipitation during the previous November (r =0.43, p < 0.01), December (r = 0.39, p < 0.05) and current March (r = 0.34, p < 0.05). Similarly, there was a positive correlation between growth and September temperature of the current year (r = 0.398, p < 0.05), while correlation with temperature in previous year October (r = -0.446, p < 0.05) and December (r = -0.424, p < 0.05) was negative. Site conditions played a significant role in modulating the effect of precipitation and temperature on radial growth. Longer term regional scale dendrochronological studies are needed to improve our understanding on long-term climate change and its impact on forest growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is anticipated that climate change will cause biodiversity loss by altering natural habitats and species distribution. The main purpose of the study was to model the current and future distribution of Axis porcinus to predict the changes in their habitat in Punjab, Pakistan. A Total of 32 variables including bioclimatic, natural, topographical and human impact variables were prepared. Dimension reduction was done by three methods, namely the Pearson’s correlation, multi-collinearity analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) to achieve the appropriate number of predictors. The study predicted the potential distribution of species by the 2050s and 2070s under representative concentrative pathways (RCPs) RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 climate change scenarios using earth observations and maximum entropy (MaxEnt) machine learning model. Results revealed that highly suitable areas for current distribution of Axis porcinus cover 451.3 Km². According to future projections suitable habitat will face an 18.7% decline by 2050s according to RCP 4.5 scenario or 52.8% based on the RCP 8.5 scenario which is alarming and protection measures are crucial. Based on the current and future distribution of the species, three priority conservation areas covering 632 Km² for Axis porcinus are identified. This study supports the formulation of current conservation policies and strategies for protection of the species keeping in view the impact of climate change scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distribution patterns of plant species and their relationships with physiographic, soil and climatic variables were investigated in the subtropical pine forests across the natural limits in the Swat, Hindukush range of Pakistan. A vegetation survey identified 9 tree species belonging to 8 families and 8 genera, which were classified into 3 distinct vegetation communities with an average density ranging from 512-1231 individuals ha-1 and basal areas of 31.6-36 m² ha-1. Total density and basal area values for tree species located at higher elevations were lower than those in the middle and low elevation communities for all the species. We found that P. roxburghii had unimodal size distributions, suggesting that these populations are not at equilibrium and are changing over time. CCA-Ordination with the associated Monte Carlo permutation test was employed to explore the patterns of variation in vegetation distribution and identified elevation and soil organic matter as the most influential variables responsible for the changes in species composition. The MaxEnt predictive modeling results clearly indicate a significant difference in the present predicated inter-site floristic composition and distribution of the species, suggesting an overall restriction to the south, whereas, the future distribution model suggest a shift towards the neighbouring districts in the west. This study identified few significantly important environmental variables linked with P. roxburghii associations and their distribution across the study area. We recommend additional research that includes multiple sampling from varied locations and other abiotic and biotic variables throughout Pakistan and neighbouring countries for better understanding of the species niche modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article was the first attempt of modeling changes in the additive component composition of 900 spruce stands’ (genus Picea sp.) biomass (t/ha), according to the trans-Eurasian hydrothermal gradients of Eurasia using the database compiled on the structure of harvest biomass. This study found that the biomass of all components increases with higher mean January temperature, regardless of mean annual precipitation, but any increase in precipitation leads to a decrease in biomass of all the components. For the first time, trans-Eurasian patterns of changes in the biomass of all components of spruce stands in the climate gradients were obtained due to the authors’ first database on the biomass of forest-forming species in Eurasia. In contrast to previously published regional and transcontinental weakly adequate or unreliable regularities that are not additive in the biomass component composition and depersonalized in the species composition, in the proposed additive models for spruce, the contribution of climate variables to the explanation of biomass variability was 9%. The importance of selecting the correct structure of the developed model is shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conducted in a rearing room (RR) (300-410 ppm) and in an open roof ventilation greenhouse system (ORVS) (800-950 ppm). No changes observed on Carpophilus mutilatus colouration after treatment in the ORVS. The survival rate increased from 61.59% in the F1 to 73.05% in the F2 generation reared in the RR. However, a sharp decline was observed from 27.05% in F1 to 1.5% in F2 in the ORVS. There was significant difference in number of individuals between RR and ORVS in F1 and F2 (F 12.76 p= 0.001< 0.05). The life span of F1 and F2 in the RR took about 46 days to complete; 7-21 days from adult to larvae stage, 5-15 days from the larval to pupal stage and 3-10 days from adult to pupal stage. Whereas in ORVS, F1 and F2 took about 30 and 22 days, respectively to complete their life cycles; that is 7-14, 7-14 days (adult to larval stage), 5-10, 0-5 days (larval to pupal stage) and 3-6, 0-3 days (pupal to adult stage), respectively. These data can be used to describe the changes in C. mutilatus due to global warming effects, as CO2 could be one of the main factors affecting the growth and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildfires are predicted to increase with global climate change. Despite studies in several regions of the world indicating that burning smoke produced by wildfires may affect seed germination of some plants, little attention has been paid to this effect on wild plants in subtropical areas of China. In this study, seeds of 11 species from the Karst area of Guizhou province in China were collected for analysis. These seeds were treated with different concentrations of a plant-derived smoke solution prior to investigate seed germination parameters. We report that seven species out of the 11 tested germinated successfully, including five species which showed a positive germination response. Interestingly, we found that the seed germination percentage for Pyracantha fortuneana (Firethorn) and Osbeckia opipara seeds increased by 150% and 171% respectively following treatment with optimal smoke solution concentrations. However, smoke solution treatment had an inhibitory effect on the seed germination of one species and seed germination of one other species was unaffected by smoke solution exposure. Four species failed to germinate under our experimental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrological properties of the clearcutting of forested catchments were widely investigated by analyzing runoff in the pre- and post-harvesting periods. Deforestation worldwide is primarily to meet the wood and fiber products demand for household and industry. It is a widely known phenomenon that deforestation enhances the streamflow and water yield. However, due to the complexity of forest structure and functions, little is known about the exact estimation of a percent increase in water yield after various harvesting intensities of conifers and broadleaved forest globally. To assess these effects, this study analyzed 145 catchments dataset collected from 21 publications. The study evaluates the influence of 25, 50, 75, and 100% deforestation on streamflow. Moreover, changes in the context of various variables like treatment years, elevation, area and mean annual precipitation were also analyzed. Overall comparison showed that after harvesting of broadleaved water yield increases up to 8-23% and in needle-leaved up to 9-28%. The study provides scientific insight into the essential role that annual precipitation, area, elevation, and year of treatment play in influencing hydrology. This research suggests that a target specific approach should be adopted in future forest management under the umbrella of integrated research to mitigate the challenges of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maize (Zea mays L) as an important crop in the world is strongly affected by climatic and teleconnection factors, it is therefore necessary to fully assess their impacts on maize yield. Given the complexity and non-stationarity of the maize yield fluctuations in China, the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and cross-wavelet methods were adopted to explore the correlations between maize yield including its whole series and various frequency series decomposed by the EMD and climatic and teleconnection factors from both macroscopic and microscopic perspectives. Results indicated that: (1) from the macroscopic perspective, sunspots were the main influencing factor of maize yield; (2) from the microscopic perspective, mainly precipitation, temperature, El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Atlantic Oscillation (AO), and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) impact the high-medium frequency components (i.e., the frequency domain is 1~4 years and 6~10 years) of the detrended maize yield sequence, whilst solar activities (i.e., sunspots) primarily influence its low-medium frequency components (i.e., the frequency domain is 8~14 years); (3) three complete influencing hierarchical frameworks of sunspots-teleconnection factors-climatic factors on the various frequency components of the detrended maize yield were constructed, which help develop a physical significance of maize yield prediction model The study provides new insights into crop yield forecasting, thereby laying a solid scientific basis for crop yield decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mekong River-Tonle Sap Lake is a typical river-lake interaction system in a monsoon area. The Tonle Sap Lake (TSL) is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, and is an important component in lower Mekong River (MR) Basin. Water resource managers are highly concerned about the potential impact of climate change on the MR-TSL hydrological system in the future. Thus, it is necessary to develop a numerical model which can simulate MR-TSL interaction system for the assessment of potential impact of natural climatic variations on hydrological cycle in this area. The main objective of this study was to model a river-lake interaction system for water resource assessment in TSL area. The distinctive feature of this study is to develop an integrated River Lake Water Exchange (RLWE) model and couple it to a grid-based distributed hydrological model (YHyM) for MR-TSL system. Using the coupled model, discharge contribution to TSL from tributaries, lake water volume, water exchange between the MR and TSL, and consumptive water use in TSL area were simulated. The potential impact of climate change on TSL hydrological system was also assessed through the application of the coupled model. Several future scenarios were analyzed, and predictions of water budgets within the interaction system under different scenarios were made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change causes drought and rainstorm, two extreme hydrological events, to occur interlock, and in a short period of time the rapid transformation of drought and flood disasters, resulting in more difficult rescue and relief, agricultural losses more serious. In order to study the characteristics of drought and flood in tobacco growing period in Xingren County. By defining the Long-cycle Drought-Flood Abrupt Alternation Index (LDFAI) and Short-cycle Drought-Flood Abrupt Alternation Index (SDFAI), the moving average method and precipitation anomaly are used. For the daily precipitation data during the tobacco growth period (5~8 months) from 1961 to 2012 in Xingren County, A comprehensive analysis of the (LDFAI SDFAI) change trends and monthly precipitation changes during the growth period of tobacco. The characteristics of rapid change of drought and flood in tobacco growing period were identified. The results showed that: the LDFAI in the tobacco growth period are mainly from drought to flood. In the future, there will be an increasing trend from flood to drought, and the strength is reduced; The trend of SDFAI is: increase-decrease-decrease; there is an increasing trend from drought to flood events in May-June; June-July is a period of drought-flood abrupt alternation, and the intensity is higher. In July-August, the flood to drought event has a decreasing trend and the intensity is reduced. During the tobacco maturity period, Monthly average precipitation is higher, the precipitation fluctuates greatly, Extremely prone to Drought-Flood Abrupt Alternation. The research results can provide theoretical basis for the formulation of countermeasures for disaster prevention and mitigation in Xingren County in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the daily precipitation data of 25 national meteorological stations in the Min River Basin (the MRB), the temporal and spatial variation trends of extreme precipitation events from 1961 to 2016 were analyzed using multiple extreme precipitation indices and the Mann-Kendall trend analysis. The extreme precipitation in different recurrence periods was calculated by using the regional frequency analysis combined with the spatial distribution characteristics of extreme precipitation events. The spatial distribution of the extreme precipitation index in the MRB varies considerably. The average characteristics of extreme precipitation are changing from short-term extreme precipitation to sustained extreme precipitation. The main reasons for this change are the significant increases in wet days and consecutive wet days, particularly the number of heavy precipitation days (R10mm). On this basis, the Min River is divided into four hydro-climatically consistent regions and the maxima of RX1DAY’s and RX5DAY’s 20-year and 100-year recurrence periods are found. The traditional at-site hydrological frequency analysis averaged the spatial differences within the basin and underestimated the extreme precipitation in the middle reaches. This indicates that the regional frequency analysis has some reference significance for solving the problem of neglecting the uneven spatial distribution of extreme precipitation in precipitation estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hindu Kush Himalayan is facing greater threat from socio-economic and climatic transitions. The current study has assessed livelihood vulnerability due to climatic variability of natural resource dependent mountainous communities. The northern side of Pakistan is expected to bear severe impacts due to its distinct topography, land use and climate change. Based on primary data collected from four villages complemented with secondary climatic data, livelihood vulnerability was evaluated through a composite indicator as livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) and LVI-IPCC. GIS mapping was carried out to assess land use change in the area. The comparative analysis of Tehsil Balakot showed that UC Balakot was more vulnerable with a LVI score of 0.41 than UC Kawai 0.35. The results of in-depth analysis of differential vulnerability showed that households in UC Balakot had the low adaptive capacity and higher exposure to natural disasters. Developmental planners and policy makers should use such indices to assess root causes of vulnerability and specify community needs in policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing collaboration between archeology and natural sciences, the interactions between paleocultures and paleoenvironment have received more attention in recent years. In this investigation, the authors used nine radiocarbon dates from five profiles to explore the environmental evolution of the south coast of Laizhou Bay, and investigated the spatial-temporal distributions of archeological sites in the Middle Holocene as well as discussed the relationships between human cultures and environmental changes. The results show that the Neolithic archeological sites were mainly distributed in the flat (slopes < 4°) marine plain and alluvial plains with elevations below 29 m, and the quantity and frequency of archeological sites exhibited an early ascending and later descending trend. Multiple data such as those of slope and extent close to the riverside were integrated to indicate that the ability of the ancients to adapt to the environment gradually increased. Further comparison revealed the correlation among Holocene climate change and environmental evolution and the Neolithic cultural development in the study area, which concerns the generally improved living conditions, the development of the primitive culture whereas degeneration coincided with the culture's transition or interruption. The results highlight the geographical factors in the development of prehistoric culture, especially the climatic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]