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The mining area in the Muli region, Qinghai Province, China, is an important source of water and an ecological security barrier in the Qilian Mountains region and has a very important ecological status. A series of ecological problems such as vegetation degradation and loss of biodiversity caused by mining have attracted widespread attention. In this paper, we used Landsat secondary data from 2000 to 2021 from the Muli region to obtain the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of the vegetation in the Muli region by inversion of the fractional vegetation cover, above-ground biomass and the land surface phenology to comprehensively analyze the ecological changes in the vegetation in the Muli region. The results showed the following: (1) the above-ground biomass and cover of grassland in the Muli region showed a decreasing trend between 2000 and 2021, with a particularly pronounced decrease in grassland cover between 2009 and 2016; (2) the start of the vegetation growth cycle, i.e., the beginning of the vegetation growing season (SOG) became more advanced, the end of the vegetation growing season (EOG) was delayed, and the length of the growing cycle (LOG) became longer for most of the vegetation in the Muli region; (3) the results of this comprehensive analysis showed that the grassland in the Muli region showed dynamic changes with complex characteristics from 2000 to 2021, and anthropogenic disturbances had some influence on ecological indicators such as fractional vegetation cover and biomass. The extension of the vegetation growing season might be related to climate change. Based on the results of this paper, it is recommended to utilize biomass and fractional vegetation cover as indicators to assess the grass growth status of mining sites. This study analyzed the spatial and temporal characteristics of grasslands in the Muli area with several indicators, which will help relevant departments continue to improve and optimize ecological restoration measures. In addition, this study provides a reference for achieving comprehensive restoration of the ecological environment and ecological functions in mining areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics of wine phenolics found in several North American and (for comparison) European grape cultivars grown in China were analyzed. This was done to find non-Vitis vinifera wines with prominent features in order to diversify the kinds of wines. The phenolic richness and antioxidant activity decreased in the order: red > rose > white wines. In the red wines, the American grape 'Cynthiana' had the highest total concentrations of phenols, anthocyanins, flavonols and phenolic acids, as well as antioxidant capacity, followed by the French hybrid 'Chambourcin', the lowest were detected in two European grape varieties, 'Merlot' and 'Cabernet Sauvignon', while the total flavon-3-ols levels were reversed among these red grape cultivars. The highest concentration of stilbenes out of all the wines analyzed was found in the 'Merlot' variety. There were significant differences among wine phenolic compositions between North American and European grape cultivars. The antioxidant activities were significantly related to the concentrations of total phenols (r² = 0.996), anthocyanins (r² = 0.984), flavonols (r² = 0.850) and gallic acid (r² = 0.797). The prominent features of wine aroma and nutrition could make the American grape wines attractive to consumers. It is therefore necessary to perform further research on cultural practices and wine making involving these grapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's household energy consumption has obvious regional differences, and rising income levels and urbanization have changed the ability of households to make energy consumption choices. In this paper, we analyze the energy consumption characteristics of urban village residents based on microlevel household survey data from urban villages in Guangzhou, China. Then, the results of modeling the material flows of per capita carbon emissions show the most dominant type of energy consumption. OLS is applied to analyze the influencing factors of carbon emissions. We find that the per capita household carbon emissions in urban villages are 722.7 kg/household.year, and the average household carbon emissions are 2820.57 kg/household.year. We also find that household characteristics, household size, household appliance numbers, and carbon emissions have a significant positive correlation, while income has no significant effect on carbon emissions. What is more, the size and age of the house have a positive impact on carbon emissions. Otherwise, the new finding is the demonstration that income is not significantly correlated with household carbon emissions, which is consistent with the characteristics of urban villages described earlier. On the basis of this study, we propose more specific recommendations regarding household energy carbon emissions in urban villages.