Water quality of Lugu Lake: Changes,causes and measurements

Lugu lake is an alpine lake in Yunnan Province in western China. It is famous for its beautiful scenery and the special culture of Mosuo people in this area. The lake is becoming contaminated and eutrophicated because of the huge number of visitors and improvements in agriculture during the last decade. This paper uses the water quality index (WQI) as an indicator to describe trends in contamination of Lugu Lake from 1995 to 2004 and analyses several parameters to determine the causes and consequences of contamination. We found that the dominant cause was pollution from tourism and suggest some feasible measures to prevent further deterioration of the lake water quality.     

Impact of tourism development on land-cover change in a matriarchal community in the Lugu Lake area

Remote sensing was used to assess the impacts of tourism development on temporal land-cover changes in the Lugu Lake region, home to the Mosuo people. The ecological and economic significance of the Lugu Lake area derives from the existence of a unique matriarchal system and the success of tourism development. Temporal land-cover changes between 1990 and 2005 were evaluated using digital interpretation of multitemporal Landsat TM images. Pairwise comparison methods were used to quantify changes in land-cover during three periods: 1990 to 1995, 1995 to 2001, and 2001 to 2005. The areas surveyed in each period were 10,226 ha, 7,727 ha and 9,344 ha, respectively. The annual rate of land-cover change for farmland, forest, grassland and wetland were 2.86%, 5.85%, 3.95%, 6.28%, respectively. Farmland and wetland have decreased, whereas forest, grassland and residential areas have increased. The land-cover changes could be explained by the success of tourism development and ecosystem management in Lugu Lake region. The impact of tourism on land cover and the community environment were assessed. The results show that most farmers actively left farms for off-farm jobs and took measures to protect forest, grassland and wetland by developing tourism in the study area. However, construction in residential areas has proceeded in a disorderly fashion. In future, the potential impacts of tourism on the lake ecosystem need to be re-assessed and monitored.     

Preliminary study on effects of tourism on Mosuo matriarchal culture

The ethnic communities of Lugu Lake have experienced the rapid development of tourism because of the attractions of their culture and traditional customs as well as their beautiful environment. Tourism and other economic activities have a variety of socio-cultural effects on host communities. Based on a survey of 105 Mosuo families, statistic correlation analysis was used to examine the local people's viewpoints regarding marriage, language, traditional dress, diet, and factors which could lead to changes in people's opinions. The results show that although Mosuo people are more open to the outside world, Axia relationships and matrilineal families still dominate their life. More than 50% of interviewees have Axia relationships and live in matrilinear families. Tourism income, education and age are three important factors that impact on local people's viewpoints regarding their culture and life. People who are more educated and earn more money from tourism prefer traditional culture and customs. The younger generation is more likely to be affected by tourism because they have contact with the outside world more often in their everyday life. Further research is needed on how to protect the local culture from the boom in tourism, as well as how to minimise its influence on local residents.     

The relationships of urbanization to surface water quality in four lakes of Hanyang,China

By converting rural land into urban land, urbanization impacts on surface water quality, because cities produce more pollutants than farmlands, especially heavy metals. Ways to reduce urbanization impacts on water quality are now being highlighted worldwide. Considering that land use can be a source or sink in pollution runoff, an understanding of the relationship between urbanization and surface water quality, as well as effects of specific land uses on water quality, is crucial. Corresponding management and controlling steps can then be put forward towards non-point source (NPS) pollution control and urban sustainable development. China has experienced rapid urbanization, especially since the 1980s. However, the environmental impacts of this process are not fully investigated. Hanyang, Hubei Province was selected as a typical city to study the impacts of urbanization on lake water quality. Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to elucidate the correlation between different land uses and water quality indicators at both whole lake watershed and small catchment scales. The results indicated that land uses play different roles, either source or sink, in pollution flow processes. Bottomland had a negative and residential land a positive correlation to most water quality indicators, especially heavy metals. These proved to be indicative and crucial land uses in NPS pollution control. Finally, a strategy for regulating urban land uses is proposed for improving surface water quality in cities similar to Hanyang, in southern China.     

Evaluating long-term hydrological impacts of regional urbanisation in Hanyang,China, using a GIS model and remote sensing

China has experienced a rapid urbanisation, especially since the 1980s; however, the environmental impacts of this process are not fully investigated. Hanyang (Hubei Province, south China) was selected as a typical case to investigate runoff and non-point source (NPS) pollution impacts of urbanisation. A water quality simulation model (L-THIA) was applied to determine the long-term implications of different degrees of regional urbanisation impacts on NPS pollutants. Land-use patterns in 1987, 1998 and 2003 were analysed to evaluate the temporal variation of urbanisation, and the precipitation dataset from 1975 to 2003 was used to estimate the mean annual runoff and NPS pollutants. The contributions of different land-use categories to average annual runoff and NPS pollutant production were assessed by the means of a regression model. Results show that urban/impervious lands increased by 30.4% between 1987 and 2003, with the most increase occurring in 1998–2003. Industrial and forestlands have the most and least impact, respectively, on mean annual runoff and NPS pollutants. A combination of L-THIA and the regression model was found to be useful as a decision support tool for regional and urban planning from the perspectives of water quality control.     

Strategies for the sustainable development of Lugu Lake region

Lugu Lake region, containing a plateau lake, and the unique matrichal society of the Mosuo, has become one of the most important areas for ecosystem conservation and cultural heritage protection in China. It is essential to pursue sustainable development in Lugu Lake region. However, rapid increases in the tourism industry have had negative influences on society, the economy and the environment of Lugu Lake region. Extensive concerns have been raised by numerous ecologists, economists and social scientists over recent years. Using systems analysis of major societal, economic and environmental problems, this paper advocates goals for realising sustainable development. A double-layer management model has been developed of regional ecosystem services, composed of natural ecosystem management and macro-control of society and the economy, and has been used to analyse the importance and feasibility of ecotourism development in Lugu Lake region. Constructive management measures and development strategies are then proposed to achieve sustainable development in Lugu Lake region.