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Desertification is showing a trend of overall reversal and partial expansion in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China (APENC). Dune–interdune is the typical micro-topography in APENC and is the expansion area of desertification. Research on anti-desertification strategy at dune–interdune is of great significance to further anti-desertification. This paper studies the vertical differentiation of land use and ecosystem service intensities at dune–interdune in APENC. The fundamental reason of the vertical differentiation of land use and ecosystem service intensities is explored with monitoring data of soil moisture at different locations of dune–interdune. Cultivated land is mainly distributed in areas with an elevation < 241 m. Grain provisioning ecosystem service intensity (GPESI) and maize leaf provisioning ecosystem service intensity (MLPESI) show a downward trend with the increase in elevation at dune–interdune. GPESI has a tipping point at the elevation of 241 m. Forage provisioning ecosystem service intensity and sand fixation regulating ecosystem service intensity are high in areas with low or high elevations while low in the central area. Groundwater depth is the root cause for vertical differentiation of land use and ecosystem service intensities at dune–interdune. According to vertical changes of land use and ecosystem service intensities, and groundwater level, cultivated land with an elevation greater than 241 m should be stopped for cultivation to anti-desertification. The area of dune–interdune within 6 m of groundwater depth can be used as cultivated land. The conclusion has an important reference for other similar regions in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attitudes of developing countries for intellectual property rights (IPR) regulations and law enforcement are ambiguous. We seek to clarify this issue by structuring a model, simultaneously considering the IPR index and the strength of law enforcement of China in period 1996–2015. Firstly, the government of a developing country always holds the strictest attitude towards law enforcement. Secondary, the growing level of IPR leads to the decrease of the total welfare, but the decline of total welfare slows down. Third, the motivation of maximising total welfare induces the governments of developing countries to strengthen law enforcement. This provides internal motivation for development. The findings of this article show that developing countries have long-term internal motivations to improve their strength of IPR levels and law enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Most litter decomposition experiments are early term (less than three years) studies. Unfortunately, early and late terms have different decomposition rates due to different chemical compositions and climatic conditions. Therefore, long-term (more than 5 years) experiments are needed to improve our understanding of decomposition dynamics and unique impacts of different litters. Methods: A 90-month field trial was conducted using a litterbag methodology employing 330 litter samples from four tree species along a climatic gradient in Gongga Mountain, on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. The remaining litter mass (%) was fitted, and models were evaluated using R2 and Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). Decomposition rates of litters from the same site and climatic gradient were compared based on application of the optimization model. Results: The dual negative exponential function (DNEF) model of each litter had the highest R2 and lowest AIC value of the different models tested. The decomposition rate of all litters at 2250m was higher than that at 3000m. P. purdomii and B.utilis had higher decomposition rates compared to R. faberi and L.cleistocarpus. Conclusions: The DNEF model best described the long-term decomposition pattern of the different litters and temperature was the controlling factor of decomposition along an elevation gradient on Gongga Mountain. Higher decomposition rates of P. purdomii and B.utilis were related to their deciduous traits and lower initial C:N. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mountain regions play an increasingly essential role in global sustainable development, and the related sustainable development issues have attracted increasing attention. There are obvious vertical spatial differentiation phenomena in both natural and socio-economic fields with altitude being a key factor affecting the economic development of mountain regions. However, the exact influence of altitude is still unknown. Based on the county scale, this paper used the gravitational potential energy model to evaluate the effects of altitude on economic development in China. The results indicate that the high-altitude areas were the depression areas of county economic development, and county economic density showed a decreasing trend with the increase of altitude. County economic density respectively decreased by 0.10%, 0.04% and 0.02% with every 1% increase in altitude in 2000, 2005 and 2010. Here we demonstrate that high altitude has negative effect on county economy, although the negative effect presented a downward trend. The results also showed that increasing capital and labor investments could reduce the negative effect of high altitude on county economy. In 2010, with every 1% increase in capital and labor density, county economic density increased by 0.62% and 0.83%, respectively. The effects of altitude were the results of multidimensional factors. The fundamental approach to reduce the negative effects of high altitude is to combine the ecological environment and resources to develop characteristic industries. The construction of infrastructure should be strengthened, which can promote the occurrence of the contra-flow of people, logistics and capital, and promote the balanced development of county economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]