Water‐Yield Reduction After Afforestation and Related Processes in the Semiarid Liupan Mountains,Northwest China1

Abstract: The increase of coverage of forest/vegetation is imperative to improve the environment in dry‐land areas of China, especially for protecting soil against serious erosion and sandstorms. However, inherent severe water shortages, drought stresses, and increasing water use competition greatly restrict the reforestation. Notably, the water‐yield reduction after afforestation generates intense debate about the correct approach to afforestation and forest management in dry‐land areas. However, most studies on water‐yield reduction of forests have been at catchment scales, and there are few studies of the response of total evapotranspiration (ET) and its partitioning to vegetation structure change. This motivates us to learn the linkage between hydrological processes and vegetation structure in slope ecosystems. Therefore, an ecohydrological study was carried out by measuring the individual items of water balance on sloping plots covered by different vegetation types in the semiarid Liupan Mountains of northwest China. The ratio of precipitation consumed as ET was about 60% for grassland, 93% for shrubs, and >95% for forestland. Thus, the water yield was very low, site‐specific, and sensitive to vegetation change. Conversion of grassland to forest decreased the annual water yield from slope by 50‐100 mm. In certain periods, the plantations at lower slopes even consumed the runon from upper slopes. Reducing the density of forests and shrubs by thinning was not an efficient approach to minimize water use. Leaf area index was a better indicator than plant density to relate ET to vegetation structure and to evaluate the soil water carrying capacity for vegetation (i.e., the maximum amount of vegetation that can be supported by the available soil water for an extended time). Selecting proper vegetation types and plant species, based on site soil water condition, may be more effective than the forest density regulation to minimize water‐yield reduction by vegetation coverage increase and notably by reforestation. Finally, the focuses in future research to improve the forest‐water relations in dry‐land areas are recommended as follows: vegetation growth dynamics driven by environment especially water conditions, coupling of ecological and hydrological processes, further development of distributed ecohydrological models, quantitative relation of eco‐water quota of ecosystems with vegetation structures, multi‐scaled evaluation of soil water carrying capacity for vegetation, and the development of widely applicable decision support tools.     

Spatial Distribution of Water Supply in the Coterminous United States1

Abstract: Available water supply across the contiguous 48 states was estimated as precipitation minus evapotranspiration using data for the period 1953‐1994. Precipitation estimates were taken from the Parameter‐Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM). Evapotranspiration was estimated using two models, the Advection‐Aridity model and the Zhang model. The evapotranspiration models were calibrated using precipitation and runoff data for 655 hydrologically undisturbed basins, and then tested using estimates of natural runoff for the 18 water resource regions (WRR) of the 48 contiguous states. The final water supply coverage reflects a mixture of outputs from the two evapotranspiration models. Political, administrative, and land cover boundaries were mapped over the coverage of mean annual water supply. Across the entire study area, we find that 53% of the water supply originates on forested land, which covers only 29% of the surface area, and that 24% originates on federal lands, including 18% on national forests and grasslands alone. Forests and federal lands are even more important in the West (the 11 western contiguous states), where 65% of the water supply originates on forested land and 66% on federal lands, with national forests and grasslands contributing 51%.     

基于Landsat8影像的Himawari-8叶绿素a空间降尺度研究

新型地球静止气象卫星Himawari-8由于空间分辨率较低,其叶绿素a产品难以满足空间异质性高的近岸海域水质监测要求。为了克服这个限制,基于非线性的随机森林算法,利用陆地资源卫星Landsat8的波段反射率数据和Himawari-8的叶绿素a产品,通过构建降尺度模型,以提高Himawari-8的叶绿素a数据的空间分辨率。结果表明,2个秋季模型和2个冬季模型的模型决定系数(R²)分别达到0.6、0.72、0.71和0.85;均方根误差(RMSE)为别为1.47,1.05,1.89,0.76mg/m³。通过实测站点数据对比分析表明,降尺度模型生成的叶绿素a与葵花叶绿素a数据具有较高的一致性,R²达到了0.81,能较好的反映近岸海域叶绿素a浓度的空间变化特征。     

Forest-tundra larch forests and climatic trends

Climate-related changes that occurred in the Ary-Mas larch forests (the world’s northernmost forest range) in the last three decades of the 20th century have been analyzed. An analysis of remote-sensing images made by Landsat satellites in 1973 and 2000 has provided evidence for an increase in the closeness of larch forest canopy (by 65%) and the expansion of larch to the tundra (for 3–10 m per year) and to areas relatively poorly protected from wind due to topographic features (elevation, azimuth, and slope). It has also been shown that the radial tree increment correlates with summer temperatures (r = 0.65, τ = 0.39) and the amounts of precipitation in summer (r = ?0.51, τ = 0–41) and winter (r = ?0.70, τ = ?0.48), decreases with an increase in the closeness of forest canopy (r = ?0.52, p > 0.8; τ = ?0.48, p > 0.95), and increases with an increase in the depth of soil thawing (r = 0.63, p > 0.9; τ = 0.46, p > 0.9). The density of undergrowth depends on temperatures in winter (τ = 0.53, p > 0.8) and summer (r = 0.98, p > 0.99, τ = 0.9, p > 0.99) and the date of the onset of the growing period (r = ?0.60, p > 0.99; τ = ?0.4, p > 0.99) and negatively correlates with the amount of precipitation in summer (r = ?0.56, p > 0.99, τ = ?0.38, p > 0.99).     

Trends of changes in the floristic composition of forest vegetation in the northern Baikal region upon climate warming

Parameters characterizing the activity of species in altitudinal zonal elements of the flora have been analyzed in the northern Baikal region. The results provide evidence for the weakening status of xerophilic species in the cenoflora of hemiboreal light coniferous forests of the class Rhytidio-Laricetea, which form the lower part of the forest belt bordering the steppe. This fact indicates that climate on the slopes of mountain ridges is becoming more humid. The increase in humidity may be explained by both progressing degradation of permafrost and increasing precipitation. On the other hand, no significant change has been observed in the cenoflora of mountain taiga forests of the class Vaccinio-Piceetea, which form the upper part of the forest belt.     

Composition, source, mass closure of PM2:5 aerosols for four forests in eastern China

PM2.5 aerosols were collected in forests along north latitude in boreal-temperate, temperate, subtropical and tropical climatic zones in eastern China, i.e., Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve (CB), Dongping National Forest Park in Chongming Island (CM), Dinghu Mountain Nature Reserve (DH), Jianfengling Nature Reserve in Hainan Island (HN). The mass concentrations of PM2.5, organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), water soluble organic carbon (WSOC) as well as concentrations of ten inorganic ions (F-, Cl-, NO3-, SO42-, C2O42-, NH4+, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+) were determined. Aerosol chemical mass closures were achieved. The 24-hr average concentrations of PM2.5 were 38.8, 89.2, 30.4, 18 μg/m3 at CB, CM, DH and HN, respectively. Organic matter and EC accounted for 21%-33% and 1.3%-2.3% of PM2.5 mass, respectively. The sum of three dominant secondary ions (SO42-, NO3-, NH4+) accounted for 44%, 50%, 45% and 16% of local PM2.5 mass at CB, CM, DH and HN, respectively. WSOC comprised 35%-65% of OC. The sources of PM2.5 include especially important regional anthropogenic pollutions at Chinese forest areas.     

The State of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arsenjevia baikalensis</Emphasis> cenopopulations in plant communities of the Western Sayan Mountains

Fifteen A. baikalensis populations growing in natural and disturbed habitats in the dark-taiga forest belt of the Western Sayan Mountains have been studied with respect to age composition, numbers, and variation and interrelation of vegetative characters and parameters of productivity. Specific features of the effect of gaps in the tree canopy on the state of A. baikalensis cenopopulations have been revealed.     

Mercury in leaf litter in typical suburban and urban broadleaf forests in China

Leaf litterfall plays an important role in transporting atmospheric mercury to soil in forests area.     

Using historical spy satellite photographs and recent remote sensing data to identify high-conservation-value forests

High-conservation-value forests (HCVFs) are critically important for biodiversity and ecosystem service provisioning, but they face many threats. Where systematic HCVF inventories are missing, such as in parts of Eastern Europe, these forests remain largely unacknowledged and therefore often unprotected. We devised a novel, transferable approach for detecting HCVFs based on integrating historical spy satellite images, contemporary remote sensing data (Landsat), and information on current potential anthropogenic pressures (e.g., road infrastructure, population density, demand for fire wood, terrain). We applied the method to the Romanian Carpathians, for which we mapped forest continuity (1955–2019), canopy structural complexity, and anthropogenic pressures. We identified 738,000 ha of HCVF. More than half of this area was identified as susceptible to current anthropogenic pressures and lacked formal protection. By providing a framework for broad-scale HCVF monitoring, our approach facilitates integration of HCVF into forest conservation and management. This is urgently needed to achieve the goals of the European Union's Biodiversity Strategy to maintain valuable forest ecosystems.     

Linking Landscape Characteristics and High Stream Nitrogen in the Oregon Coast Range: Red Alder Complicates Use of Nutrient Criteria

Red alder (Alnus rubra), a nitrogen(N)‐fixing deciduous broadleaf tree, can strongly influence N concentrations in western Oregon and Washington. We compiled a database of stream N and GIS‐derived landscape characteristics in order to examine geographic variation in N across the Oregon Coast Range. Basal area of alder, expressed as a percent of watershed area, accounted for 37% and 38% of the variation in summer nitrate and total N (TN) concentrations, respectively. Relationships between alder and nitrate were strongest in winter when streamflow and landscape connections are highest. Distance to the coast and latitude, potential surrogates for sea salt inputs, and watershed area were also related to nitrate concentrations in an all‐subsets regression analysis, which accounted for 46% of the variation in summer nitrate concentrations. The model with the lowest Akaike's Information Criterion did not include developed or agricultural land cover, probably because few watersheds in our database had substantial levels of these land cover classes. Our results provide evidence, at a regional scale, that background sources and processes cause many Coast Range streams to exceed proposed nutrient criteria, and that the prevalence of a single tree species (N‐fixing red alder) exerts a dominant control over stream N concentrations across this region.