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    The evaluation of TRMM Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) in drought monitoring in the Lancang River Basin
    ZENG Hongwei, LI Lijuan, LI Jiuyi
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2012, 22 (2): 273-282.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-012-0926-1
    Abstract1503)      PDF (513KB)(67)      

    Drought is one of the most destructive disasters in the Lancang River Basin, which is an ungauged basin with strong heterogeneity on terrain and climate. Our validation suggested the version-6 monthly TRMM multi-satellite precipitation analysis (TMPA; 3B43 V.6) product during the period 1998 to 2009 is an alternative precipitation data source with good accuracy. By using the standard precipitation index (SPI), at the grid point (0.25°×0.25°) and sub-basin spatial scales, this work assessed the effectiveness of TMPA in drought monitoring during the period 1998 to 2009 at the 1-month scale and 3-months scale; validated the monitoring accuracy of TMPA for two severe droughts happened in 2006 and 2009, respectively. Some conclusions are drawn as follows. (1) At the grid point spatial scale, in comparison with the monitoring results between rain gauges (SPI1g) and TMPA grid (SPI1s), both agreed well at the 1-month scale for most of the grid points and those grid points with the lowest critical success index (CSI) are distributed in the middle stream of the Lancang River Basin. (2) The same as SPI1s, the consistency between SPI3s and SPI3g is good for most of the grid points at the 3-months scale, those grid points with the lowest were concentrated in the middle stream and downstream of the Lancang River Basin. (3) At the 1-month scale and 3-months scale, CSI ranged from 50% to 76% for most of the grid points, which demonstrated high accuracy of TMPA in drought monitoring. (4) At the 3-months scale, based on TMPA basin-wide precipitation estimates, though we tended to overestimate (underestimate) the peaks of dry or wet events, SPI3s detected successfully the occurrence of them over the five sub-basins at the most time and captured the occurrence and development of the two severe droughts happened in 2006 and 2009. This analysis shows that TMPA has the potential for drought monitoring in data-sparse regions.

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    Cited: Baidu(2121)
    Spatial patterns and driving forces of land use change in China during the early 21st century
    LIU Jiyuan, ZHANG Zengxiang, XU Xinliang, KUANG Wenhui, ZHOU Wancun, ZHANG Shuwen, LI Rendong, YAN Changzhen, YU Dongsheng, WU Shixin, JIANG Nan
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2010, 20 (4): 483-494.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-010-0483-4
    Abstract1577)      PDF (637KB)(102)      

    Land use and land cover change as the core of coupled human-environment systems has become a potential field of land change science (LCS) in the study of global environmental change. Based on remotely sensed data of land use change with a spatial resolution of 1 km × 1 km on national scale among every 5 years, this paper designed a new dynamic regionalization according to the comprehensive characteristics of land use change including regional differentiation, physical, economic, and macro-policy factors as well. Spatial pattern of land use change and its driving forces were investigated in China in the early 21st century. To sum up, land use change pattern of this period was characterized by rapid changes in the whole country. Over the agricultural zones, e.g., Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, the southeast coastal areas and Sichuan Basin, a great proportion of fine arable land were engrossed owing to considerable expansion of the built-up and residential areas, resulting in decrease of paddy land area in southern China. The development of oasis agriculture in Northwest China and the reclamation in Northeast China led to a slight increase in arable land area in northern China. Due to the “Grain for Green” policy, forest area was significantly increased in the middle and western developing regions, where the vegetation coverage was substantially enlarged, likewise. This paper argued the main driving forces as the implementation of the strategy on land use and regional development, such as policies of “Western Development”, “Revitalization of Northeast”, coupled with rapidly economic development during this period.

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    Cited: Baidu(633)
    The scientific foundation of Major Function Oriented Zoning in China
    FAN Jie, LI Pingxing
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2009, 19 (5): 515-531.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-009-0515-0
    Abstract1799)      PDF (457KB)(106)      

    Major function oriented zoning (MFOZ hereafter) is the guideline for optimizing the spatial pattern of regional development in China, which entails both theoretical and methodological innovation in the academic field of economic geography. This study analyzes the basic features of territorial function and puts forward a spatial equilibrium model for regional development for the first time. It argues that there exists a trend of regional convergence in the average value which indicates the comprehensive development status of any region. Based on this finding, the study illustrates that the formation of functional zone should be conducive to the narrowing of regional gap and that free flow of resources between regions is the prerequisite to spatial equilibrium. It also investigates the impact of territorial functional evolution on the process of spatial equilibrium and suggests that the maximization of benefits derived from zoning proposal is interrelative with the method of regional division and the degree of understanding towards the temporal changes of territorial function. Furthermore, this study goes on to examine the scientific foundation of several issues concerning the reconciliation between contradictory functions of development and protection, the selection of indicators and the spatial and temporal features of MFOZ. It is then probes into the rationality of achieving dual goals of efficiency and equality simultaneously through three-dimensional flow and spatial equilibrium. The paper ends with discussions on the position, implementation and coordination of MFOZ from the perspective of institutional arrangements of spatial governance including law, planning and government policy.

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    Cited: Baidu(461)
    The land use and land cover change database and its relative studies in China
    LIU Jiyuan, LIU Mingliang, DENG Xiangzheng, Zhuang Dafang,ZHANG Zengxiang, LUO Di
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2002, 12 (3): 275-282.  
    Abstract1466)      PDF (445KB)(51)      

    In the mid-1990s, we established the national operative dynamic information serving systems on natural resources and environment. During building the land-use/land-cover change (LUCC) database for the mid-1990s, 520 scenes of remotely sensed images of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) were interpreted into land-use/land-cover categories at scale of 1:100,000 under overall digital software environment after being geo-referenced and ortho-rectified. The vector map of land-use/land-cover in China at the scale of 1:100,000 was recently converted into a 1-km raster database that captures all of the high-resolution land-use information by calculating area percentage for each kind of land use category within every cell. Being designed as an operative dynamic information serving system, monitoring the change in land-use/land-cover at national level was executed. We have completed the updating of LUCC database by comparing the TM data in the mid-1990s with new data sources received during 1999-2000 and 1989-1990. The LUCC database has supported greatly the national LUCC research program in China and some relative studies are incompletely reviewed in this paper.

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    Cited: Baidu(269)
    Effect of apple production base on regional water cycle in Weibei upland of the Loess Plateau
    HUANG Ming-bin, HE Fu-hong, YANG Xin-min, LI Yu-shan
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2001, 11 (2): 239-243.  
    Abstract348)      PDF (72KB)(22)      

    Weibei upland, located in southern part of the Loess Plateau, is a commercial apple production base in China. The enlargement of apple-planting area has a great impact on the regional water cycle. The effects of different land use on hydrological parameters are compared and studied in this paper. The main results are as follows: (1) The initial and steady infiltration rates in apple orchard are higher than those in other land use types such as grassland, idle land and farmland. Their initial rates of infiltration are 0.823 cm/min, 0.215 cm/min, 0.534 cm/min and 0.586 cm/min in apple orchard, grassland, idle land and farmland respectively. Their steady infiltration rates are 0.45 cm/min, 0.038 cm/min, 0.191 cm/min and 0.155 cm/min respectively. (2) There is no runoff generated in plot of apple orchard in all 8 storm events in observed natural rainfalls, while runoff is generated in winter wheat plot, corn plot and alfalfa plot with runoff coefficients of 2.39%, 1.58% and 0.31% respectively. (3) The transpiration of apple trees is strong and thus soil moisture is gradually depleted. The average soil water contents in 3-9 m soil profile in Changwu plots with apple trees of 14 and 32 years in age are 11.77% and 11.59% and in Luochuan plots with those of 15 and 28 years in age are 11.7% and 11.59% respectively, which are nearly 9.0% of wilting moisture of Changwu soil and 8.6% of wilting moisture of Luochuan soil. The pathway of rainfall percolating to groundwater is hindered by dry soil profile.

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    Cited: Baidu(252)
    Assessing the impacts of climate variability and human activities on streamflow in the water source area of Baiyangdian Lake
    HU Shanshan, LIU Changming, ZHENG Hongxing, WANG Zhonggen, YU Jingjie
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2012, 22 (5): 895-905.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-012-0971-9
    Abstract1112)      PDF (449KB)(29)      

    As the largest wetland in the North China Plain (NCP), the Baiyangdian Lake plays an important role in maintaining water balance and ecological health of NCP. In the past few decades, the decreasing streamflow in the Baiyangdian Basin associated with climate variability and human activities has caused a series of water and eco-environmental issues. In this study, we quantified the impacts of climate variability and human activities on streamflow in the water source area of the Baiyangdian Lake, based on analyses of hydrologic changes of the upper Tanghe river catchment (a sub-basin of the Baiyangdian Basin) from 1960 to 2008. Climate elasticity method and hydrological modeling method were used to distinguish the effects of climate variability and human activities. The results showed that the annual streamflow decreased significantly (P>0.05) by 1.7 mm/a and an abrupt change was identified around the year 1980. The quantification results indicated that climate variations accounted for 38%-40% of decreased streamflow, while human activities accounted for 60%-62%. Therefore, the effect of human activities played a dominant role on the decline of the streamflow in the water source area of the Baiyangdian Lake. To keep the ecosystem health of the Baiyangdian Lake, we suggest that minimum ecological water demand and integrated watershed management should be guaranteed in the future.

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    Cited: Baidu(251) CSCD(4)
    Structural change of agricultural land use intensity and its regional disparity in China
    CHEN Yuqi, LI Xiubin, TIAN Yujun, TAN Minghong
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2009, 19 (5): 545-556.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-009-0545-7
    Abstract2718)      PDF (591KB)(64)      

    Based on the data from the Cost-benefit Data of Farm Produce and the China Agricultural Yearbook, this paper divided the intensity of cultivated land use into labor intensity and capital intensity, and then analyzed their temporal and spatial change at both national and provincial levels between 1980 and 2006. The results showed that: (1) At the national level, labor intensity on food produce decreased from 398.5 day/ha in 1980 to 130.25 day/ha in 2006; and a continuous decrease with a steep decline between 1980 and 1986, a slower decline from 1987 to 1996, and another steep decline from 1997 to 2006. On the contrary, capital intensity shows an increasing trend since 1980. As to the internal composition of capital intensity, the proportion of seed, chemical fertilizer and pesticide input decreased from 90.36% to 73.44% and the proportion of machinery increased from 9.64% to 26.56%. The less emphasis on yield-increasing input and more emphasis on labor-saving input are the main reasons for a slow increase of yield per unit area after 1996. (2) At the provincial level, the developed areas have lower labor intensity and higher capital intensity. The less developed ones have higher labor intensity but lower capital intensity. From the viewpoint of the internal composition of capital intensity, labor-saving input accounts for more proportion in the developed areas than that of other areas. The main reason is that in these developed areas, labor input has become a constraint factor in food production as more and more labors engaged in off-farm work. Farmers increase the labor-saving input for higher labor productivity. However, in the less developed areas, the major constraint is the shortage of capital; food production is still depending on labor and yield-increasing inputs.

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    Cited: Baidu(248)
    The process and driving forces of rural hollowing in China under rapid urbanization
    LIU Yansui, LIU Yu, CHEN Yangfen, LONG Hualou
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2010, 20 (6): 876-888.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-010-0817-2
    Abstract823)      PDF (480KB)(90)      

    Rural hollowing is a recent geographic phenomenon that has received significant attention in China, which is experiencing rapid urbanization. It has led to the wasteful use of rural land resources, and imposed obstacles on the optimization of land use and coordinated urban-rural development. Rural hollowing has various forms of manifestation, which refers to the neglect and vacancy of rural dwellings, both of which can lead to damage and ultimate abandonment of rural dwellings. Damaged dwellings have different degrees of destruction, ranging from slight, moderate to severe. The evolutive process of rural hollowing in general has five stages, i.e., emergence, growth, flourishing, stability, and decline. Based on the combination of both regional economic development level and its physiographic features, the types of rural hollowing can be categorised as urban fringe, plain agricultural region, hilly agricultural region, and agro-pastoral region. Especially, the plain agricultural region is the most typical one in rural hollowing, which shows the spatial evolution of rural hollowing as a “poached egg” pattern with a layered hollow core and solid shape. Furthermore, the driving forces behind rural hollowing are identified as the pull of cities and push of rural areas. In particular, this paper identifies contributors to rural hollowing that include rural depopulation in relation to rapid urbanisation and economic change, land ownership and land use policy, and institutional barriers.

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    Cited: Baidu(232)
    A review on the eco-geography of soil fauna in China
    YIN Xiuqin, SONG Bo, DONG Weihua, XIN Weidong, WANG Yeqiao
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2010, 20 (3): 333-346.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-010-0333-4
    Abstract1655)      PDF (436KB)(68)      

    This review summarizes main research findings in soil fauna eco-geography in China in the past 30 years. The subject areas and main results were overviewed including biodiversity and eco-geological distribution of soil fauna communities. Studies of ecological distributions of soil fauna and dynamic ranges in space from tropical, subtropical to temperate regions, and in categories from forest, grassland, desert, wetland, farmland to urban ecosystems, the responses and indications of soil fauna to soil environments. Effects of intensive disturbance such as fire, grazing, farming, fertilization on soil fauna include sensitive (e.g. nematode) and rare groups and community indexes. The functions of soil fauna were discussed including environmental construction, environmental purification, litter decomposition and elements cycling. Interactions between soil fauna and other biota in soil ecosystems and linking between aboveground and belowground diversity and the effects of global change on soil fauna community in China were also included. Finally, the authors pointed out common interests in soil fauna eco-geographical studies, which include application of molecule biology into soil fauna taxa; function and mechanism of soil fauna community diversity; interaction between aboveground and belowground ecosystems; effects of disturbance, pollution, biological invasion, and global change on soil fauna community and function. The review is to provide a scientific basis for promoting soil fauna eco-geographical studies in China.

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    Cited: Baidu(225)
    The relationship between NDVI and precipitation on the Tibetan Plateau
    DING Mingjun, ZHANG Yili, LIU Linshan, ZHANG Wei, WANG Zhaofeng, BAI Wanqi
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2007, 17 (3): 259-268.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-007-0259-7
    Abstract629)      PDF (6579KB)(47)      

    The temporal and spatial changes of NDVI on the Tibetan Plateau, as well as the relationship between NDVI and precipitation, were discussed in this paper, by using 8-km resolution multi-temporal NOAA AVHRR-NDVI data from 1982 to 1999. Monthly maximum NDVI and monthly rainfall were used to analyze the seasonal changes, and annual maximum NDVI, annual effective precipitation and growing season precipitation (from April to August) were used to discuss the interannual changes. The dynamic change of NDVI and the corre-lation coefficients between NDVI and rainfall were computed for each pixel. The results are as follows: (1) The NDVI reached the peak in growing season (from July to September) on the Tibetan Plateau. In the northern and western parts of the plateau, the growing season was very short (about two or three months); but in the southern, vegetation grew almost all the year round. The correlation of monthly maximum NDVI and monthly rainfall varied in different areas. It was weak in the western, northern and southern parts, but strong in the central and eastern parts. (2) The spatial distribution of NDVI interannual dynamic change was different too. The increase areas were mainly distributed in southern Tibet montane shrub-steppe zone, western part of western Sichuan-eastern Tibet montane coniferous forest zone, western part of northern slopes of Kunlun montane desert zone and southeastern part of southern slopes of Himalaya montane evergreen broad-leaved forest zone; the decrease areas were mainly distributed in the Qaidam montane desert zone, the western and northern parts of eastern Qinghai-Qilian montane steppe zone, southern Qinghai high cold meadow steppe zone and Ngari montane desert-steppe and desert zone. The spatial distribution of correlation coeffi-cient between annual effective rainfall and annual maximum NDVI was similar to the growing season rainfall and annual maximum NDVI, and there was good relationship between NDVI and rainfall in the meadow and grassland with medium vegetation cover, and the effect of rainfall on vegetation was small in the forest and desert area.

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    Cited: Baidu(224)
    The extreme dry/wet events in northern China during recent 100 years
    MA Zhuguo, DAN Li, HU Yuewen
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2004, 14 (3): 275-281.  
    Abstract443)      PDF (510KB)(6)      

    Using monthly precipitation and monthly mean temperature, a surface humid index was proposed. According to the index, the distributed characteristics of extreme dryness has been fully analyzed. The results indicated that there is an obvious increasing trend of extreme dryness in the central part of northern China and northeastern China in the last 10 years, which shows a high frequency period of extreme dryness; while a low frequency period in the regions during the last 100 years. Compared with variation trend of the temperature in these regions, the region of high frequent extreme dryness is consistent with the warming trend in the same region.

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    Cited: Baidu(195)
    Interdecadal change in Western Pacific Subtropical High and climatic effects
    HE Xue-zhao, GONG Dao-yi
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2002, 12 (2): 202-209.  
    Abstract615)      PDF (440KB)(34)      

    Western North Pacific Subtropical High is a very important atmospheric circulation system influencing the summer climate over eastern China. Its interdecadal change is analyzed in this study. There is a significant decadal shift in about 1979/1980. Since 1980, the Western North Pacific Subtropical High has enlarged, intensified, and shifted southwestward. This change gives rise to an anti-cyclonic circulation anomaly over the region from the South China Sea to western Pacific and thus causes wet anomalies over the Yangtze River valley. During the summers of 1980-1999, the precipitation is 63.9 mm above normal, while during 1958-1979 it is 27.3 mm below normal. The difference is significant at the 99% confidence level as a t-test shown. The southwestward expanding of the Western North Pacific Subtropical High also leads to a significant warming in southern China, during 1980-1999 the summer mean temperature is 0.37oC warmer than that of the period 1958-1979. The strong warming is primarily due to the clearer skies associated with the stronger downward air motion as the Western North Pacific Subtropical High expanding to the west and controlling southern China. It is also found that the relative percentage of tropical cyclones in the regions south of 20oN is decreasing since the 1980s, but in the regions north of 20oN that is increasing at the same time. The Western North Pacific Subtropical High responds significantly to sea surface temperature of the tropical eastern Pacific with a lag of one-two seasons and simultaneously to sea surface temperature of the tropical Indian Ocean. The changes in the sea surface temperatures are mainly responsible for the interdecadal variability of the Western North Pacific Subtropical High.

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    Cited: Baidu(194)
    Livelihood diversification and cropland use pattern in agro-pastoral mountainous region of eastern Tibetan Plateau
    ZHANG Liping, ZHANG Yili, YAN Jianzhong, WU Yingying
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2008, 18 (4): 499-509.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-008-0499-1
    Abstract493)      PDF (615KB)(25)      

    This study examined livelihood diversification and cropland use pattern in Keerma village, located in Jinchuan County, eastern Tibetan Plateau. Through stratified random sampling survey, participatory rural appraisal, investigation of households’ plots and statistical methods, 63 households and 272 cropland plots were systemically investigated and sampled. The results show: (1) Different types of household have variety livelihood strategies, portfolio and income. Livelihood diversification and introducing and expanding off-farm activities can be the future trend, whereas, adverse natural environment, socio-economic conditions and peasants’ capabilities together affect sustainable livelihood and land use. (2) Each livelihood strategy has its own impact on land use, mainly affecting land use type and land use intensification level. (3) Diversification into off-farm activities could be the key of building sustainable livelihood and the essential approach of realizing sustainable land use in the region.

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    Cited: Baidu(190)
    A quantitative comparison and analysis on the assessment indicators of greenhouse gases emission
    ZHANG Zhiqiang, QU Jiansheng, ZENG Jingjing
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2008, 18 (4): 387-399.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-008-0387-8
    Abstract559)      PDF (566KB)(43)      

    Anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG) emission and related global warming issues have been the focus of international communities for some time. The international communities have reached a consensus to reduce anthropogenic GHG emissions and restrain global warming. The quantitative assessment of anthropogenic GHG emissions is the scientific basis to find out the status of global GHG emission, identify the commitments of each country, and arrange the international efforts of GHG emission reduction. Currently the main assessment indicators for GHG emission include national indicator, per capita indicator, per GDP indicator, and international trade indicator etc. The introduction to the above indicators is put forward and their merits and demerits are analyzed. Based on the GHG emission data from the World Resource Institute (WRI), the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), and the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC), the results of each indictor are calculated for the world, for the eight G8 industrialized countries (USA, UK, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Russia), and the five major developing countries including China, Brazil, India, South Africa and Mexico. The paper points out that all these indicators have some limitations. The Indicator of Industrialized Accumulative Emission per Capita (IAEC) is put forward as the equitable indicator to evaluate the industrialized historical accumulative emission per capita of every country. IAEC indicator can reflect the economic achievement of GHG emission enjoyed by the current generations in every country and their commitments. The analysis of IAEC indicates that the historical accumulative emission per capita in industrialized countries such as UK and USA were typically higher than those of the world average and the developing countries. Emission indicator per capita per GDP, consumptive emission indicator and survival emission indicator are also put forward and discussed in the paper.

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    Cited: Baidu(160)
    Dynamic mechanism and present situation of rural settlement evolution in China
    ZHOU Guohua, HE Yanhua, TANG Chengli, YU Tao, XIAO Guozhen, ZHONG Ting
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2013, 23 (3): 513-524.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-013-1025-7
    Abstract999)      PDF (484KB)(80)      

    This paper provides a detailed analysis of the factors influencing the evolution of rural settlements, including natural environmental constraints, infrastructure, regional cultural inheritance and integration, urbanization and rural industrial transformation, land use reformation and innovation, rural household behavior conversion, macro-control policy factors, and so on. Based on differences between the ways and degree of effect on rural settlement evolution, these factors are classified into basic factors, new-type factors and mutation factors. The drive of basic factors mainly focuses on the traditional inheritance of rural settlements, the new-type factors mainly affect rural settlement transition, and the mutation factors may bring about sudden changes. All these factors constitute a “three-wheel” driving mechanism for the evolution of rural settlements, and shape three typical driver paths: slow smooth path under the basic factors, new path to rapid development under the new-type factors, and the sudden change path under the mutation factors. The paper also investigates the overall situation of rural settlement evolution in the aspects of settlement system, settlement scale, settlement morphology, settlement function, settlement culture, settlement environment, etc. The general process of rural settlement evolution is divided into four stages: initial, transitional, developmental, and mature stages.

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    Cited: Baidu(159) CSCD(31)
    Glacial change in the vicinity of Mt. Qomolangma (Everest), central high Himalayas since 1976
    NIE Yong, ZHANG Yili, LIU Linshan, ZHANG Jiping
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2010, 20 (5): 667-686.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-010-0803-8
    Abstract1066)      PDF (764KB)(40)      

    Glaciers are one of the most important land covers in alpine regions and especially sensitive to global climate change. Remote sensing has proved to be the best method of investigating the extent of glacial variations in remote mountainous areas. Using Landsat thematic mapping (TM) and multi-spectral-scanner (MSS) images from Mt. Qomolangma (Everest) National Nature Preserve (QNNP), central high Himalayas for 1976, 1988 and 2006, we derived glacial extent for these three periods. A combination of object-oriented image interpretation methods, expert knowledge rules and field surveys were employed. Results showed that (1) the glacial area in 2006 was 2710.17 ± 0.011 km2 (about 7.41% of the whole study area), and located mainly to the south and between 4700 m to 6800 m above sea level; (2) from 1976 to 2006, glaciers reduced by 501.91 ± 0.035 km2 and glacial lakes expanded by 36.88 ± 0.035 km2; the rate of glacier retreat was higher in sub-basins on the southern slopes (16.79%) of the Himalayas than on the northern slopes (14.40%); most glaciers retreated, and mainly occurred at an elevation of 4700–6400 m, and the estimated upper limit of the retreat zone is between 6600 m and 6700 m; (3) increase in temperature and decrease in precipitation over the study period are the key factors driving retreat.

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    Cited: Baidu(147) CSCD(16)
    Heavy metal concentrations of agricultural soils and vegetables from Dongguan, Guangdong
    CAI Limei, HUANG Lanchun, ZHOU Yongzhang, XU Zhencheng, PENG Xiaochun, YAO Ling'ai, ZHOU Yang, PENG Ping'an
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2010, 20 (1): 121-134.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-010-0121-1
    Abstract992)      PDF (608KB)(49)      

    A total of 118 of agricultural soil and 43 of vegetable samples were collected from Dongguan City, Guangdong, China. The spatial distribution, sources, accumulation characteristics and potential risk of heavy metals in the agricultural soils and vegetables were depicted in details by three different approaches, including total contents of eight metal elements in soils and vegetables, GIS maps and multivariate analysis of heavy metals in soils in the study. The results show that there are higher accumulation of heavy metals such as Cu, Zn, Ni, Pb, Cd and Hg in agricultural soils, and the contents of Pb (65.38 mg kg?1) and Hg (0.24 mg kg?1) are 1.82 and 2.82 times of the background contents of the corresponding heavy metals in soils of Guangdong Province, respectively. There are about 3.4% of Cu, 5.9% of Ni, 1.7% of Cd and 28% of Hg in all collected soil samples from all investigated sites which have overran the contents for heavy metals of the China Environmental Quality Standard for Soils (GB15618-1995, Grade Ⅱ). The pollution characteristics of multi-metals in soils are mainly reflected by Hg. There are different sources to eight metal elements in soils, Cu, Zn, Ni, Cr and As are predominantly derived from parent materials, and Pb, Hg and Cd are affected by anthropogenic activities. The spatial distribution shows that the Cu, Zn, Ni, Cr, Pb, As and Hg contents of agricultural soils are high in the west and low in the east, and Cd contents are high in the northwest, southeast and low in the southwest in Dongguan. The ratios of vegetable samples which Ni, Pb and As concentrations higher than the Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods (GB2762-2005) are 4.7%, 16.3% and 48.8%, respectively. The order of bio-concentration factors (BCF) of heavy metals in vegetables is Cd > Zn > Cu > As > Ni > Hg > Cr > Pb. It is necessary to focus on potential risk of heavy metals for food safety and human’s health from agricultural soils and vegetables in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province.

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    Cited: Baidu(147)
    Climatic trends over the Tibetan Plateau during 1971-2000
    WU Shaohong, YIN Yunhe, ZHENG Du, YANG Qinye
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2007, 17 (2): 141-151.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-007-0141-7
    Abstract691)      PDF (4540KB)(31)      

    Trends of annual and monthly temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspi-ration and aridity index were analyzed to understand climate change during the period 1971–2000 over the Tibetan Plateau which is one of the most special regions sensitive to global climate change. FAO56–Penmen–Monteith model was modified to calculate potential evapotranspiration which integrated many climatic elements including maximum and mini-mum temperatures, solar radiation, relative humidity and wind speed. Results indicate gen-erally warming trends of the annual averaged and monthly temperatures, increasing trends of precipitation except in April and September, decreasing trends of annual and monthly poten-tial evapotranspiration, and increasing aridity index except in September. It is not the isolated climatic elements that are important to moisture conditions, but their integrated and simulta-neous effect. Moreover, potential evapotranspiration often changes the effect of precipitation on moisture conditions. The climate trends suggest an important warm and humid tendency averaged over the southern plateau in annual period and in August. Moisture conditions would probably get drier at large area in the headwater region of the three rivers in annual average and months from April to November, and the northeast of the plateau from July to September. Complicated climatic trends over the Tibetan Plateau reveal that climatic factors have nonlinear relationships, and resulte in much uncertainty together with the scarcity of observation data. The results would enhance our understanding of the potential impact of climate change on environment in the Tibetan Plateau. Further research of the sensitivity and attribution of climate change to moisture conditions on the plateau is necessary.

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    Cited: Baidu(143)
    Heavy metal pollution of soils and vegetables in the midstream and downstream of the Xiangjiang River, Hunan Province
    WANG Lixia, GUO Zhaohui, XIAO Xiyuan, CHEN Tongbin, LIAO Xiaoyong, SONG Jie, WU Bin
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2008, 18 (3): 353-362.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-008-0353-5
    Abstract522)      PDF (620KB)(26)      

    A total of 219 agricultural soil and 48 vegetable samples were collected from the midstream and downstream of the Xiangjiang River (the Hengyang–Changsha section) in Hunan Province. The accumulation characteristics, spatial distribution and potential risk of heavy metals in the agricultural soils and vegetables were depicted. There are higher accu-mulations of heavy metals such as As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in agricultural soils, and the contents of Cd (2.44 mg kg-1), Pb (65.00 mg kg-1) and Zn (144.13 mg kg-1) are 7.97, 3.69 and 1.63 times the corresponding background contents in soils of Hunan Province, respectively. 13.2% of As, 68.5% of Cd, 2.7% of Cu, 2.7% of Ni, 8.7% of Pb and 15.1% of Zn in soil sam-ples from the investigated sites exceeded the maximum allowable heavy metal contents in the China Environmental Quality Standard for Soils (GB15618-1995, Grade II). The pollution characteristics of multi-metals in soils are mainly due to Cd. The contents of As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in vegetable soils are significantly higher than the contents in paddy soils. 95.8%, 68.8%, 10.4% and 95.8% of vegetable samples exceeded the Maximum Levels of Contami-nants in Foods (GB2762-2005) for As, Cd, Ni and Pb concentrations, respectively. There are significantly positive correlations between the concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn in vegetables and the concentrations in the corresponding vegetable soils (p<0.01). It is very necessary to focus on the potential risk of heavy metals for food safety and human health in agricultural soils and vegetables in the midstream and downstream of the Xiangjiang River, Hunan Province of China.

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    Effect of spatial pattern on nutrient reduction in the Liaohe Delta
    LI Xiu-zhen, XIAO Du-ning, HU Yuan-man, WANG Xian-li
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2001, 11 (3): 336-349.  
    Abstract585)      PDF (348KB)(8)      

    The effect of spatial pattern on the nutrient reduction is investigated based on the spatial simulation model developed for the study area of the Liaohe Delta, China. Four scenarios are designed to test the effect of different landscape components on the nutrient reduction in the reed marsh: Canal density, reed area size, reed area shrinking pattern, and pumping station position. Based on a spatial model designed for the study area, the nutrient reduction in each case of these scenarios is simulated. The results indicate that each factor brings less than 10% change in the total nutrient reduction rate. More canals will not help much to improve nutrient reduction. Smaller areas are more efficient than larger ones. The shrinkage pattern is better than others in keeping a higher nutrient reduction rate. It is also more efficient to keep the pumping station near the border of the area to be irrigated. These conclusions provide theoretical supports to strategy makers for local land use planning, and contribute to the understanding of the relationship between landscape patterns and functions.

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    Cited: Baidu(138)
    Soil erosion and management on the Loess Plateau
    CAI Qiang-guo
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2001, 11 (1): 53-70.  
    Abstract526)      PDF (1057KB)(12)      

    The Loess Plateau is well known to the world for its intense soil erosion. The root cause for river sedimentation of Yellow River (Huanghe) and its resultant "hanging river" in certain section is soil and water loss on the Loess Plateau. The Loess Plateau has a long cultivation history, hence population growth, vegetation degeneration and plugging constitute the chief reason for serious soil and water loss on Loess Plateau. This paper analyses several successful cases and failures in soil conservation, presents practical soil conservation technique and related benefit analysis, and discusses some effective methods adopted in China in soil erosion control, research directions and future perspectives on Loess Plateau.

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    Cited: Baidu(129)
    Sandy desertification trend in western Northeast China Plain in the past 10 years
    LI Bao-lin, ZHOU Cheng-hu
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2001, 11 (2): 179-186.  
    Abstract387)      PDF (700KB)(6)      

    The west sandy land of the Northeast China Plain is located in the eastern huge sandy belt of mid-latitude in Eurasia and the eastern fringe of desertified land with best bio-climatic conditions in China. With rapid economic development, the deterioration of eco-environment has occurred and the desertification becomes very obvious. The first part of this paper studies the regional differences of landscape patterns and explores the regional differences of desertification. The second part aims to reveal the dynamics of desertification in the 1990s by using NOAA/AVHRR data and thematic data in GIS database. This work lays a scientific basis for the rehabilitation and development of the sandy lands.

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    Cited: Baidu(128)
    Identification of dominant climate factor for pan evaporation trend in the Tibetan Plateau
    LIU Xiaomang, ZHENG Hongxing, ZHANG Minghua, LIU Changming
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2011, 21 (4): 594-608.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-011-0866-1
    Abstract604)      PDF (1KB)(44)      

    Despite the observed increase in global temperature, observed pan evaporation in many regions has been decreasing over the past 50 years, which is known as the "pan evaporation paradox". The "pan evaporation paradox" also exists in the Tibetan Plateau, where pan evaporation has decreased by 3.06 mm a-2 (millimeter per annum). It is necessary to explain the mechanisms behind the observed decline in pan evaporation because the Tibetan Plateau strongly influences climatic and environmental changes in China, Asia and even in the Northern Hemisphere. In this paper, a derivation based approach has been used to quantitatively assess the contribution rate of climate factors to the observed pan evaporation trend across the Tibetan Plateau. The results showed that, provided the other factors remain constant, the increasing temperature should have led to a 2.73 mm a-2 increase in pan evaporation annually, while change in wind speed, vapor pressure and solar radiation should have led to a decrease in pan evaporation by 2.81 mm a-2, 1.96 mm a-2 and 1.11 mm a-2 respectively from 1970 to 2005. The combined effects of the four climate variables have resulted in a 3.15 mm a-2 decrease in pan evaporation, which is close to the observed pan evaporation trend with a relative error of 2.94%. A decrease in wind speed was the dominant factor for the decreasing pan evaporation, followed by an increasing vapor pressure and decreasing solar radiation, all of which offset the effect of increasing temperature across the Tibetan Plateau.

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    Influence of Arctic Oscillation on winter climate over China
    GONG Daoyi, WANG Shaowu
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2003, 13 (2): 208-216.  
    Abstract603)      PDF (524KB)(18)      

    In this study the relationship between the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and climate in China in boreal winter are investigated. Correlation analysis for the last 41 years shows that the winter temperature and precipitation in China change in phase with AO. High positive correlation (>0.4) between temperature and AO appears in the northern China. High correlation coefficients between precipitation and AO cover the southern China (close to the South China Sea) and the central China (between 30o-40oN and east of ~100oE), with the values varying between +0.3 and +0.4. It is found that during the past several decades the precipitation was strongly affected by AO, but for the temperature the Siberian High plays a more important role. At the interdecadal time scale the AO has significant influence on both temperature and precipitation. Multivariate regression analysis demonstrates that AO and the Siberian High related variance in temperature and precipitation is 35% and 11% respectively. For precipitation, however the portion is rather low, implying that some other factors may be responsible for the changes in precipitation, in addition to AO and the Siberian High.

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    Cited: Baidu(126)
    Soil degradation: a global problem endangering sustainable development
    CHEN Jie, CHEN Jing-zhang, TAN Man-zhi, GONG Zi-tong
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2002, 12 (2): 243-252.  
    Abstract591)      PDF (2575KB)(41)      

    Soil degradation, defined as lowering and losing of soil functions, is becoming more and more serious worldwide in recent decades, and poses a threat to agricultural production and terrestrial ecosystem. It is estimated that nearly 2 billion ha of soil resources in the world have been degraded, namely approximately 22% of the total cropland, pasture, forest, and woodland. Globally, soil erosion, chemical deterioration and physical degradation are the important parts amongst various types of soil degradation. As a natural process, soil degradation can be enhanced or dampened by a variety of human activities such as inappropriate agricultural management, overgrazing, deforestation, etc. Degraded soil means less food. As a result of soil degradation, it is estimated that about 11.9-13.4% of the global agricultural supply has been lost in the past five decades. Besides, soil degradation is also associated with off-site problems of sedimentation, climate change, watershed functions, and changes in natural habitats leading to loss of genetic stock and biodiversity. Therefore, it is essential to combat soil degradation at different levels and scales worldwide, not only for food security and ecological health, but also for the guarantee of global sustainable development.

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    Cited: Baidu(124)
    Extreme drought changes in Southwest China from 1960 to 2009
    ZHANG Mingjun, HE Jinyun, WANG Baolong, WANG Shengjie, LI Shanshan, LIU Wenli, MA Xuening
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2013, 23 (1): 3-16.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-013-0989-7
    Abstract1083)      PDF (739KB)(34)      

    Based on the daily data of temperature and precipitation of 108 meteorological stations in Southwest China from 1960 to 2009, we calculate the monthly and yearly surface humid indexes, as well as the extreme drought frequency. According to the data, the temporal and spatial characteristics of the extreme drought frequency in inter-annual, inter-decadal, summer monsoon period and winter monsoon period are analyzed. The results are indicated as follows. (1) In general, the southwestern Sichuan Basin, southern Hengduan Mountains, southern coast of Guangxi and northern Guizhou are the areas where the extreme drought frequency has significantly increased in the past 50 years. As for the decadal change, from the 1960s to the 1980s the extreme drought frequency has presented a decreasing trend, while the 1990s is the wettest decade and the whole area is turning wet. In the 2000s, the extreme drought frequency rises quickly, but the regional differences reduce. (2) During summer monsoon period, the extreme drought frequency is growing, which generally occurs in the high mountains around the Sichuan Basin, most parts of Guangxi and “the broom-shaped mountains” in Yunnan. It is distinct that the altitude has impacts on the extreme drought frequency; during winter monsoon period, the area is relatively wet and the extreme drought frequency is decreasing. (3) During summer monsoon period, the abrupt change is observed in 2003, whereas the abrupt change during winter monsoon period is in 1989. The annual extreme drought frequency variation is a superposition of abrupt changes during summer monsoon and winter monsoon periods. The departure sequence vibration of annual extreme drought frequency is quasi-5 years and quasi-12 years.

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    Cited: Baidu(124) CSCD(8)
    Soil moisture of different vegetation types on the Loess Plateau
    WANG Zhiqiang, LIU Baoyuan, ZHANG Yan
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2009, 19 (6): 707-718.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-009-0707-7
    Abstract531)      PDF (432KB)(33)      

    Water stored in deep loess soil is one of the most important resources regulating vegetation growth in the semi-arid area of the Loess Plateau, but planted shrub and forest often disrupt the natural water cycle and in turn influence plant growth. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of main vegetation types on soil moisture and its inter- annual change. Soil moisture in 0–10 m depth of six vegetation types, i.e., crop, grass, planted shrub of caragana, planted forests of arborvitae, pine and the mixture of pine and arborvitae were measured in 2001, 2005 and 2006. Soil moisture in about 0–3 m of cropland and about 0–2 m of other vegetation types varied inter-annually dependent on annual precipitation, but was stable inter-annually below these depths. In 0–2 m, soil moisture of cropland was significantly greater than those of all other vegetation types, and there were no significant differences among other vegetation types. In 2–10 m, there was no significant moisture difference between cropland and grassland, but the soil moistures under both of them were significantly higher than those of planted shrub and forests. The planted shrub and forests had depleted soil moisture below 2 m to or near permanent wilting point, and there were no significant moisture differences among forest types. The soil moisture of caragana shrub was significantly lower than those of forests, but the absolute difference was very small. The results of this study implicated that the planted shrub and forests had depleted deep soil moisture to the lowest limits to which they could extract and they lived mainly on present year precipitation for transpiration.

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    Hydrology and water resources variation and its response to regional climate change in Xinjiang
    XU Changchun, CHEN Yaning, YANG Yuhui, HAO Xingming, SHEN Yongping
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2010, 20 (4): 599-612.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-010-0599-6
    Abstract480)      PDF (835KB)(31)      

    Based on the surface runoff, temperature and precipitation data over the last 50 years from eight representative rivers in Xinjiang, using Mann-Kendall trend and jump detection method, the paper investigated the long-term trend and jump point of time series, the surface runoff, mean annual temperature and annual precipitation. Meanwhile, the paper analyzed the relationship between runoff and temperature and precipitation, and the flood frequency and peak flow. Results showed that climate of all parts of Xinjiang conformably has experienced an increase in temperature and precipitation since the mid-1980s. Northern Xinjiang was the area that changed most significantly followed by southern and eastern Xinjiang. Affected by temperature and precipitation variation, river runoff had changed both inter- annually and intra-annually. The surface runoff of most rivers has increased significantly since the early 1990s, and some of them have even witnessed the earlier spring floods, later summer floods and increasing flood peaks. The variation characteristics were closely related with the replenishment types of rivers. Flood frequency and peak flow increased all over Xinjiang. Climate warming has had an effect on the regional hydrological cycle.

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    Cited: Baidu(122)
    Progress in China's climate change study in the 20th century
    ZHAI Panmao, CHAO Qingchen, ZOU Xukai
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2004, 14 (Z): 3-11.  
    Abstract383)      PDF (386KB)(11)      

    Studies on the 20th century climate change in China have revealed that under the background of global warming over the past century, climate in China has also experienced significant change with mean annual temperature increased by about 0.5 oC. More reliable results for the latter part of the 20th century indicate that the largest warming occurred in Northwest China, North China and Northeast China, and the warming in winter is most significant. Although no obvious increase or decrease trends were detected for mean precipitation over China in the past half century, regional differences are very distinct. In the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, precipitation increased, while that in the Yellow River Basin markedly decreased. Studies suggest that climate change in China seems to be related not only with the internal factors such as ENSO, PDO, and the others, but also with the anthropogenic effects such as greenhouse gas emissions, and land use. The future climate change studies in China seem to be important in narrowing understanding the nature of China's climate change and its main causes, since it is significant for projection and for impact assessment of climate change in the future.

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    Cited: Baidu(122)
    Chemical weathering intensity and element migration features of the Xiashu loess profile in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province
    CHEN Yingyong, LI Xusheng, HAN Zhiyong, YANG Shouye, WANG Yongbo, YANG Dayuan
    Journal of Geographical Sciences    2008, 18 (3): 341-352.   DOI: 10.1007/s11442-008-0341-9
    Abstract660)      PDF (664KB)(23)      

    The chemical weathering intensity and element migration features of the Xiashu loess profile in Zhenjiang are studied in this paper. (1) The Xiashu loess profile underwent moderate chemical weathering. It seems that the precipitation is a more important factor than the temperature in controlling the process of the chemical weathering. (2) The major elements such as Si, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Mn and P were migrated and leached, while the elements Fe and Ti were slightly enriched. The migration features of the major elements reveal that the Xiashu loess finished the primary process of chemical weathering characterized by leaching of Ca and Na, and almost reached the secondary process characterized by leaching of K. Except the elements Sr and Ga, other trace elements such as Th, Ba, Cu, Zn, Co, Ni, Cr and V were enriched. It might be caused by both the biogeochemical process and the adsorption of trace elements by clay mineral and organic materials. (3) The difference of element migration down the Xiashu loess profile reveals that the climate was warm and wet at the early-middle stage of the middle Pleistocene. At the end of the middle Pleistocene, it became dry and cool. At the early stage of the Late Pleistocene, the paleoclimate became warm and wet again. As a whole, the paleoclimate generally became drier and cooler in this region from the beginning of the middle Pleistocene.

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    Cited: Baidu(120)
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