Multi-scales Analysis of Driving Forces on Land Use/Cover Change in China: Taking Farmland Returning to Forest or Grassland as a Case

Abstract

Increasing populations are causing an increase in food demands, and the area of cultivated land expands every year. Inappropriate land transition from ecology to production results in the constant decline of the ecological security level and influences the regional sustainable development. Adjusting unreasonable land use mode and reconstructing natural land cover are important ways to maintain and improve the ecological environment. Also reclaiming farmland as areas for forests and grasslands (FRFG) is another way. Successful implementation of FRFG in China is the result of comprehensive effect of the multi-scales driving forces. This paper analyses the driving forces of FRFG in China on a national (country)—regional (province)—local (county)—household (farmer) level scale, and the results are: driving forces at the national scale include ecological and food security and the western development of China; at the regional scale, ecological and economic benefits become the main factors to influence the dimension of FRFG under the same policy. The driving forces can be divided into 6 types: industrial structure adjustment, water source protection, flood prevention, the Three-Gorge Project protection, reduction of the amount of sediment flowing into the Yellow River and wind erosion desertification prevention. The driving forces at the local scale can be divided into 12 types with developing leading industries, increasing farmers' income and improving agricultural production conditions as the main types; at the household scale, the national policy meeting farmers' demands and the optimization of individual interests are all driving forces.     

Environmental benefits from the use of the residual biomass in nurseries

Every year, nurseries waste about 40 t of residual biomass for each ha of potted plants cultivation. The European nursery sector deals with about 90,000 ha of cultivated land and 120,000 ha of nurseries, with a turnover of 19.8 billion Euros in 2011. In recent years, a number of Italian projects highlighted that GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions for the nursery sector range between 37 tCO₂eq/ha/year and 45 tCO₂eq/ha/year for potted plants, mainly due to the consumption of electric energy, plastics and peat. Moreover, other studies analyse the impacts associated to nurseries, recommending best practices for energy reductions and waste recycle or reuse. Therefore, the present work focused its attention to the possible environmental benefits associated to the reuse of residues (wood and substrate) of potted plants that are discarded from the nursery production chain. GHG emissions and fossil energy requirement were quantified by considering the CO₂eq (CO₂ equivalent) and the CER (cumulative energy requirement) respectively, in order to assess the environmental impacts of two different scenarios proposed for the materials recovery. Final results highlighted that the solutions which are able to recover the substrate and the wood allow impact reductions compared to landfill disposal. In particular, the scenario consisting in the immediate separation of the substrate from the root-plant system and the successive chipping of wood for energetic reuse, allows higher savings than those obtainable through shredding and subsequent wind separation. Moreover, for what concerns the CO₂eq, an adequate use of the residual biomass make it possible to compensate the GHG emissions of the nurseries up to 15%.     

水力负荷对3种滤料生物挂膜和溶解无机氮去除效果的初步研究

以人工模拟海水养殖废水为处理对象,探讨了PE(聚乙烯)环、珊瑚石和PP(聚丙烯)方便面净水板3种生物滤料对氨氮的吸附性能,获得了动态吸附的穿透曲线。研究了3种滤料的生物挂膜情况以及挂膜成熟后在不同水力负荷下的净水效果。结果表明,珊瑚石滤料的挂膜成熟时间明显短于PE和PP材质的滤料,生物膜厚度与水流流速呈负相关。水力负荷对3种滤料生物滤器的净水效果有显著影响,当水力负荷为19～51 m3/(m2.h)时,生物滤器对TAN、TOC和NO2--N有较为理想的去除效果。     

Plant biomass allocation strategies of the dominant species in an alpine meadow of northwestern Sichuan,China北大核心CSCD

Plant biomass partitioning is an important driver of whole-plant net carbon gain, as biomass allocation could directly affect plant's future growth and reproduction. Alpine meadow in the northwestern Sichuan was impressed by the abundant community structure and species diversity. This study on biomass allocation pattern of different functional types and lifeforms might help understand plant life-history strategy of alpine meadow plants. We investigated 72 dominant herbaceous species for their compartments, biomass, and morphological traits during 2012-2014. These plants were sampled from natural grassland, disturbed grassland, and wintergreen grassland; they belonged to three functional types (grass, sedge, and forb) and two lifeforms (annual and perennial). The scaling relationships between functional traits of these plants were analyzed using Model type II regression method to estimate the parameters of the allometric equations. (1) Biomass allocation proportion of components significantly differed among grasses, sedges, and forbs owing to phylogeny: grasses had the highest stem biomass percentage, sedges had higher root biomass percentage, and forbs had higher leaf biomass percentage, but the scaling relationships were not significantly different, and isometric scaling was noted between biomass components for the three functional types. (2) Moreover, plant lifeforms affected the biomass allocation proportion of components, owing to the shorter or longer turnover rate and investment strategy between annual and perennial species. Annuals allocated more biomass to the stem and reproduction organs, but perennials invested more biomass to the leaves and roots. (3) In addition, plants from different grassland types differed in both biomass and morphology traits. Moreover, forbs from natural grassland and wintergreen grassland had higher leaf and reproductive biomass, but those from disturbed grasslands had higher stem biomass. Our results suggest that the functional type and lifeform decide the inherent scaling relationships between components of plants, but anthropogenic disturbance significantly impacted the quantity of component biomass. This study has important theoretical and practical significance to understand the response of alpine plants to climate change and anthropogenic disturbance as well as to help in the scientific management of alpine meadow. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

典型草原抗风蚀能力的实验研究

为了了解人为干扰对典型草原抗风蚀能力的影响,采用风洞实验的方法对不同干扰条件下典型草原原状土的抗风蚀能力进行了研究.不同时间禁牧草原的风洞实验结果表明,禁牧典型草原的风蚀量和风蚀率都明显低于自由放牧草原,而且,在相同风速下,禁牧时间越长,侵蚀率及侵蚀量越小;草原开垦后,土壤的侵蚀率和侵蚀量远远高于典型草原,而且风速越大,相差越大;草原土壤侵蚀率随风速的增加而增加,但受草原土壤可侵蚀量的限制.另外,人工模拟干扰实验表明,典型草原土壤的侵蚀率与干扰程度呈直线相关关系.结果说明:放牧及耕作会使典型草原的抗风蚀能力明显降低,而禁牧可以有效提高其抗风蚀能力.在典型草原区,实行禁牧是遏制草原退化的有效措施.     

Targeting sites for conservation: using a patch-based ranking scheme to assess conservation potential

Rare habitats are increasingly threatened by fragmentation and measures are required to conserve these valuable resources. Here, we present a method of targeting habitat patches for conservation using a Geographical Information System. We ranked patches of chalk grassland in the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty using simple abiotic criteria, namely: patch area, patch shape, proximity to areas of the same habitat and surrounding land-use type. We compiled a regionally specific list of indicator species and ranked the habitat patches based on their alpha diversity (calculated from species richness). We compared the results of the two ranking schemes and identified key aggregations of the existing reserve network. These could form the basis of future habitat expansion as required by the United Kingdom Biodiversity Action Plan.     

Estimation of Nitrous Oxide Emissions from US Grasslands

2 O) emissions from temperate grasslands are poorly quantified and may be an important part of the atmospheric N₂O budget. In this study N₂O emissions were simulated for 1052 grassland sites in the United States using the NGAS model of Parton and others (1996) coupled with an organic matter decomposition model. N₂O flux was calculated for each site using soil and land use data obtained from the National Resource Inventory (NRI) database and weather data obtained from NASA. The estimates were regionalized based upon temperature and moisture isotherms. Annual N₂O emissions for each region were based on the grassland area of each region and the mean estimated annual N₂O flux from NRI grassland sites in the region. The regional fluxes ranged from 0.18 to 1.02 kg N₂O N/ha/yr with the mean flux for all regions being 0.28 kg N₂O N/ha/yr. Even though fluxes from the western regions were relatively low, these regions made the largest contribution to total emissions due to their large grassland area. Total US grassland N₂O emissions were estimated to be about 67 Gg N₂O N/yr. Emissions from the Great Plains states, which contain the largest expanse of natural grassland in the United States, were estimated to average 0.24 kg N₂O N/ha/yr. Using the annual flux estimate for the temperate Great Plains, we estimate that temperate grasslands worldwide may potentially produce 0.27 Tg N₂O N/yr. Even though our estimate for global temperate grassland N₂O emissions is less than published estimates for other major temperate and tropical biomes, our results indicate that temperate grasslands are a significant part of both United States and global atmospheric N₂O budgets. This study demonstrates the utility of models for regional N₂O flux estimation although additional data from carefully designed field studies is needed to further validate model results.     

油田开发区域草原生态环境演变规律及保护恢复对策

针对目前大庆地区草原面积逐渐减少;草原“三化”加剧,草质变劣;草原土壤板结,污染严重以及草原支离破碎的现状,分析了油田开发建设对生态的影响,并从宏观上提出了对油田区草原植被的保护对策与恢复措施。     

Amelioration of Streamwater Acidity by Catchment Liming-Response of Podzolic Soils to Pasture Improvement

The effects of agricultural improvement by cultivation, re-seeding, lime and fertiliser additions on the soil solution chemistry of acid podzolic soils have been investigated in a field experiment in a mid-Wales catchment. the treatment resulted in an increase in the pH, alkalinity and calcium content of soil waters from the surface, organic-rich horizon. in the year following treatment, soil waters in the mineral horizons became more acid and had higher aluminium concentrations than observed at the control site. This response is ascribed to soil water acidification resulting from increased nitrification rates following liming and cultivation. in subsequent years, soil water acidity in these lower horizons was neutralised by lime-rich water percolating from the surface. No changes in stream water acidity and calcium content were observed in the catchment containing the area of agriculturally improved soils. This suggests that the selective treatment of moorland catchments to improve agricultural productivity may not always be accompanied by amelioration of acid stream water.     

灾害与锡林郭勒草地退化,沙漠化

锡林郭勒盟是我国北方重要的畜牧业基地，它以拥有约０．１９７亿ｈｍ２天然草地而著称于世。然而，由于自然灾害和人为不正确的利用而发生了严重退化．到目前，全盟退化草地已占４８．６３％，它不仅为畜牧业生产带来了困难，同时也使一些重要的草地生态因子发生了变化，直接危及了人们的生产和生活。对于退化、沙漠化和草地整治已刻不容缓，应该引起国家有关部门和各级领导的足够重视．