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Dam breach would bring great loss to people’s life and properties, further, loss assessment of dam breach is an important part of dam risk management, which can provide important theoretical support for risk decision-making. In this study, the research progress of dam breach induced loss around the world was introduced, respectively for loss of life, economic loss, and ecologicalloss. According to the comparison of the evaluation indicators and simulation results for each loss assessment model, the advantages and disadvantages of the established models were studied. Simultaneously, the limitations of objective factors such as lack of measured data on dam breach loss assessment were discussed; in addition, some advices were put forward for the future research work. It is pointed out that: the reliability of basic data is crucial to the establishment and validation of dam failure loss assessment methods, and the lack of historical dam failure data and confusing records also restrict the establishment of assessment methods; the distillation and analysis of various loss influencing factors are the basis of dam failure loss assessment, and the quantification process of influencing factors also has an important impact on the reliability and accuracy of assessment models; the current domestic and international studies on dam failure loss of life and economic loss are mainly based on static indicators. The current studies on the loss of life and economic loss of dam failure at home and abroad are mainly based on static indicators, but the influence of human intervention to the assessment results of dam failure loss should be fully considered, and the dynamics of the dam failure evacuation system can be studied based on human behavior and social organization mechanisms to explore the quantitative relationship between dynamic indicators and dam failure loss, and to establish a comprehensive index system and dynamic assessment model for dam failure loss assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opencast mining contributes to the severe disturbance of vegetation and serious damage to the ecological environment. Scientific assessment of the ecological losses may provide guidance for the sustainable land use in mining areas. This study uses the Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach (CASA) model to estimate the net primary productivity (NPP) of vegetation in the Pingshuo mining area from 2006 to 2020 and uses statistical analysis and mathematical models to study the impact of mining and land reclamation on NPP. The results show that NPP decreased slowly at a rate of 0.809 gC/(m2·month) per year. In 2006, the urban area of Pinglu and the opencast coal mining area were located in the western part of the study area, while the eastern part was distributed with a large amount of grassland, forested and cultivated land, and the NPP showed a high pattern in the east and low in the west. With the continued eastward movement of Antaibao and Anjialing mining areas, as well as the construction and continuous westward expansion of the East opencast mine, the pits of all three opencast mines moved to a central location in 2020, changing the spatial distribution of NPP to high in the surroundings and low in the middle. The NPP within the three opencast mines decreased significantly, but the change in NPP increased from −7.34 gC/(m2·month) to 7.15 gC/(m2·month) as the reclamation area increased, indicating that mining increased ecological losses while land reclamation mitigated them. The variation of NPP within 600 m outside the mining area is 2.06~7.45 gC/(m2·month), and 0.11~1.00 gC/(m2·month) from 600 m to 1000 m, indicating that NPP is sensitive to the influence of mining. The results may provide guidance for further analysis of the impact of mining on local environments and exploration of more appropriate land reclamation measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opencast mining contributes to the severe disturbance of vegetation and serious damage to the ecological environment. Scientific assessment of the ecological losses may provide guidance for the sustainable land use in mining areas. This study uses the Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach (CASA) model to estimate the net primary productivity (NPP) of vegetation in the Pingshuo mining area from 2006 to 2020 and uses statistical analysis and mathematical models to study the impact of mining and land reclamation on NPP. The results show that NPP decreased slowly at a rate of 0.809 gC/(m2·month) per year. In 2006, the urban area of Pinglu and the opencast coal mining area were located in the western part of the study area, while the eastern part was distributed with a large amount of grassland, forested and cultivated land, and the NPP showed a high pattern in the east and low in the west. With the continued eastward movement of Antaibao and Anjialing mining areas, as well as the construction and continuous westward expansion of the East opencast mine, the pits of all three opencast mines moved to a central location in 2020, changing the spatial distribution of NPP to high in the surroundings and low in the middle. The NPP within the three opencast mines decreased significantly, but the change in NPP increased from −7.34 gC/(m2·month) to 7.15 gC/(m2·month) as the reclamation area increased, indicating that mining increased ecological losses while land reclamation mitigated them. The variation of NPP within 600 m outside the mining area is 2.06~7.45 gC/(m2·month), and 0.11~1.00 gC/(m2·month) from 600 m to 1000 m, indicating that NPP is sensitive to the influence of mining. The results may provide guidance for further analysis of the impact of mining on local environments and exploration of more appropriate land reclamation measures.

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Theoretical researchers and policy makers have been using both traditional production factors and relatively new production factors to explain the different growth rates in different countries and regions. However, as pollution becomes more serious, the ecological environment gradually becomes an important part of the national (regional) development strategy. Few scholars have laid their hands on energy and environmental factors in the study of China's economic growth. On the contrary, they have frequently considered physical and human capital accumulation as the main sources of China's economic growth. Thus, strong sustainability should attract more attention from researchers. This article attempts to shed light on the sources of China's economy from the perspective of strong sustainability. Employing a Cobb-Douglas production function, this paper introduces environment pollution, as a key natural capital, and energy consumption into the economic accounting framework. We also introduce government intervention, financial structure, industrial structure and degree of openness into the framework of total factor productivity to examine the effectiveness of the Chinese government's direct and indirect participation in the markets. Then, we use the long-term growth accounting equation of China to decompose its economic growth and to analyze the decomposition results dynamically. In addition, this paper analyzes the short-term change of China's economic growth by using a VAR model. The results revealed three facts. First, we find an inverted U-shaped relationship between the degree of openness and the industrial structure and their marginal growth effects, a U-shaped relationship between the financial structure and its marginal growth effect and a negative relationship between the government intervention and gross domestic product growth. Secondly, China's economic development approach was still extensive and unsustainable, and it should follow a model that relies more on total factor productivity and relies less on ecological factors. China's economic growth mainly depended on physical capital and energy consumption, and environment pollution was also a necessary byproduct of economic growth, however, the contribution of human capital and total factor productivity were small. Last but not the least, in the short term, the total factor productivity was an important source of China's economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ecologically constrained and scenario oriented urban growth simulation provides an effective means to address and mitigate ecological impacts resulting from urban expansion. However, current urban growth simulations usually set ecological indicators as explanatory variables in the model, while ignoring the trade-off relationship between the requirement for additional urban space and the prevention of ecological loss. In this study, ecological loss was set as a constraint parallel to the urban growth simulation indicator system. The Minimum losses of key ecosystem functions were set as constraints in order to realize optimized urban growth pattern. Taking Beijing's urban growth from 2000 to 2010 as a case, we proposed an optimized coupling model with ecological loss as a constraint in urban growth simulation. The results showed a 22.96% reduction in the total amount of ecological loss under the ecological constraint. According to the urban growth simulation , the "constant growth scenario" had the least ecological loss. Moreover, a combination of multiple ecosystem functions is required for describing the ecological constraint. We suggest that ecological constraint in an urban growth simulation model could be an effective policy tool to plan urban expansion and provide more accurate support for the formulation of spatial planning. • An ecological-priority-oriented landscape planning perspective was embedded in model. • Ecological loss was set as a spatial constraint in the urban growth simulation. • Ecological loss reduced by 22.96% under the ecological constraint. • The "constant growth scenario" had the least ecological loss. • Combination of multiple ecosystem functions is required for constraint description. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of South China Normal University (Natural Science Edition) / Huanan Shifan Daxue Xuebao (Ziran Kexue Ban) is the property of Journal of South China Normal University (Natural Science Edition) Editorial Office 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.)

As an important and typical human activity, hydropower development provides a source of energy as well as socioeconomic benefits; however, it inevitably damages or even destroys the ecosystem at different spatial scales – the plant scale, the river scale, and the watershed scale. In this paper, a multi-scale evaluation method is proposed for placing a monetary value on ecological losses at these three spatial scales due to hydropower development in Tibet. At the plant scale, ecological losses are defined as the damage caused by environmental pollution and ecological destruction, and it is suggested that they can be almost completely prevented if appropriate measures are taken. The ecological losses at the river and watershed scales are defined as alteration of the ecosystem structure and deterioration of ecosystem function, and even the most efficient protective measures usually cannot completely avoid such losses. To test the results of these evaluations and determine whether they are consistent with actual losses, case studies of hydropower projects in Tibet were carried out on 5 large hydropower projects (LHP) and 10 small hydropower projects (SHP). For the SHP, a correlation is suggested between the estimated ecological losses caused by each project, and its installed capacity and electricity production. The results tested well for predicting the ecological loss for SHP, and provide a referenced norm for policy-makers for hydropower development in Tibet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking Jiuli mine area of Xuzhou as an example, a NPP evaluation was taken by CASA model. The results indicate that: it is available to scale mining eco-environment by NPP; during the period of 1987--2008, the NPP decreased from 18.019 to 9. 261 gC/( m2 · month), and the average variation of NNP increased from 0. 293 to 3. 389 gC/(m² · month). With the increase of mining activity, ecological loss increased gradually; the variation of NPP in the ecological damage area was from 2. 752 to 4. 752 gC/( m² · month). The variation of NPP in the ecological influencing area was from 0. 152 to 0. 352 gC/( m² · month). The average variation in the ecological damage area was greater than the ecological influencing area; there is a significantly positive con-elation between NPP reduction and mining capacity. NPP begins to decrease in the construction period of mine, and NPP reduces markedly in the high stable production period of mining, and subsequently NPP has an increasing trend during the decay period of mining, and the mining eco-environment developes to the bright side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]