The case study based on Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi Province of China, in virtue of the information from TM image, classifies the land types and analyzes their spatial and temporal differential law, and puts forward three structural patterns of land types in mountainous areas, namely, spatial, quantitative and qualitative structures of mountainous land types. Furthermore, it has been noticed that the analysis of structural patterns can disclose the heterogeneity and orderliness of combination of land types, which can lay the theoretic foundation for comprehensively recognizing ecological characteristics and succession law of structure and function of land types. After the all-around comparative analysis, an optimal allocation of land use in Qinling Mountains has been put forward according to the principle of sustainable development and landscape ecology, which can lay the scientific foundation in practice for the structural adjustment and distribution optimization from the macro level to micro level.

Based on TM image data and other survey materials, this paper analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of land use change in the Bohai Rim during 1985–2005. The findings of this study are summarized as follows: (1) Land use pattern changed dramatically during 1985–2005. Industrial and residential land in urban and rural areas increased by 643,946 hm², of which urban construction land had the largest and fastest increase of 294,953 hm² at an annual rate of 3.72%. (2) The outward migration of rural population did not prevent the expansion of residential land in rural areas by 184,869 hm². This increase reveals that construction of rural residences makes seriously wasteful and inefficient use of land. (3) Arable land, woodland and grassland decreased at a rate of –0.02%, –0.12% and –1.32% annually, while unused land shrank by 157,444 hm² at an annual rate of –1.69%. (4) The change of land use types showed marked fluctuations over the two stages (1985–1995 and 1995–2005). In particular, arable land, woodland and unused land experienced an inversed trend of change. (5) There was a significant interaction between arable land and woodland. Industrial construction land in urban and rural areas showed a net trend of increase during the earlier period, but only adjustment to its internal structure during the second period. The loss of arable land to the construction of factories, mines and residences took place mainly in the fringe areas of large and medium-sized cities, along the routes of major roads, as well as in the economically developed coastal areas in the east. Such changes are closely related to the spatial differentiation of the level of urbanization and industrialization in the region.

Based on archaeological excavations, 217 samples were collected from the Luotuodun Site. Of them 63 samples from the section plane of the site layer were used for identification analysis of foraminifera, plant debris and seed fossils, and four samples were used for 14C dating and relevant analysis. Through many kinds of experiments, we have drawn some conclusions. Firstly, benthic foraminifera, such as Ammonia compressiuscula and Ammonia cff. sobrina, are found in the 10th layer, indicating that between 7500 and 5400 BC, i.e. before the emergence of the Majiabang Culture, Luotuodun Site and its nearby regions had ever experienced a marine transgression event. Secondly, we have found 450 plant fossils in this site, such as Polygonum sp., Scripus sp., Najas sp., Physalis sp., which indicated lacustrine or swamp environment.

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.

In view of food affordability and the threshold for food security, this paper has established an integrated index for assessing the vulnerability of food security in China, which is composed mainly of the balance between food supply and demand, the reserve for food security and the economic capacity for offset food demand. Six types of food security regions are identified based on the data from county-level statistics. At regional scale, China’s food security is not optimistic. Under normal conditions without the emergence of extreme disasters and decline of grain-sown areas, China’s most vulnerable areas (Type VI) account for 30.3% of the total number of counties (cities), which are unable to meet the ends by food productivity or market based measures at subsistence levels. In China, there are only 14.5% of the counties (cities) that could guarantee well-off food security through grain production (Type I) or economic measures to meet the demand by themselves (Type III). According to the different vulnerable levels of food security and its dominant forming factors, vulnerable regions of food security in China could be classified into three categories: (1) Vulnerable regions of food security dominated by natural factors (including Type IV and Type VIa), which account for 39.4% of the total number of counties (cities), mainly located in fragile ecologic zones, i.e., farming-grazing transitional zones in the marginal areas of summer monsoon, the poor hilly areas in southern China and so on; (2) Vulnerable regions of food security dominated by low ratio of grain-sown areas (including Type VIb and Type V), which account for 16.7% of the total number of counties (cities), mostly located in the developed areas in the eastern coast of China; (3) Potential vulnerable regions of food security with underdeveloped local economies (Type II), of which 57% are the main grain-surplus regions in China, mainly located in the areas of plains and basins with favorable climate.

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.

The prominent types of Danxia landform in Fangyan include enclosed valleys, mesas, peaks, stone columns and grooves etc. Their spatial combinations have regular configurations along the northwest–southeast direction: typical grooves and caves are located in the northwestern Wufengshuyuan mainly; abundant fresh collapsed stones may be observed in central Jimingfeng and Taohuafeng; stone drums and stone columns are in the southeastern Shiguliao particularly; enclosed valleys are encircling joints of peaks and plains from three directions east, west, and south. Their spatial combinations reflect that the developments of Danxia landform have undergone stages of geomorphic cyclical erosion in the form of weathering, collapse, transportation, sedimentation and other processes, together with the “sculpture” of external forces mainly as tectonic uplift. The picturesque Danxia landform began its formation at that point. Danxia landform developed mainly in the strata of Fangyan Formation (K₁f) caused by the alluvial fan-braided river phase of anterior fan in the late period of the Early Cretaceous. Regular patterns of weathering of stones and features of braided alluvial phase sediments may be verified by the analysis of three groups of experimental data. Danxia landform of Fangyan is a unique representative of the “adolescent” development type in the application of the World Natural Heritages status in China, by virtue of its outstanding universal aesthetic and scientific value.

Water has become a key restricting factor of the urbanization process in developing arid areas. Based on qualitative and quantitative methods, we constructed an integrated indicator system to assess the status of water resources and urbanization system in arid area, and established an AHP model reformed by entropy technology to evaluate the temporal and spatial variations of water resources constraint intensity on urbanization. This model is applied to the Hexi Corridor, a typical arid area in NW China. Results show that, water resources constraint intensity on urbanization in the Hexi Corridor is bigger in the east and smaller in the west. It has changed from the less strong constraint type into the strong constraint type from 1985 to 2005, yet it decreased appreciably in recent years. At present, most areas in the Hexi Corridor belong to the less strong or strong constraint type. Through rational adjustment of water resources and urbanization system, the Hexi Corridor can still promote water resources sustainable utilization and accelerate the urbanization process. This study suggests that the integrated assessment model of water resources constraint intensity on urbanization is an effective method to analyze the conflicts between water resources and urbanization system in arid area.

According to a long series of measured sediment data, the sedimentation effects of the Dongting Lake Area (DLA) were studied in light of the relationship between sedimentation characteristics and resources and environment. The result shows that the long-term deposition and the impact of human activities have led to a cycle of the evolution of sedimentation pattern, resulting in sediment disaster effects and resources effects in the DLA. The main features are as follows: 1) The water beach, silt beach, lake marsh beach, reed beach and other types of beach shaped by sedimentation effects constitute the main body of the giant lake system. 2) The disaster chains are induced, i.e., sedimentation → marshland expansion and reclamation → flood function decline, fish resource depletion, biodiversity reduction disaster chain, sedimentation → marshland expansion → floods, water pollution disaster chain, sedimentation → marshland floating vegetation rising → schistosomiasis, rodents virulence disaster chain, sedimentation → flood embankment bursting → land desertification disaster chain. 3) Sedimentation has created about 98.13×104 hm² of land in the past 55 years. Rational development and utilization of marshland resources have produced tremendous economic benefits.

In this study, short-term gully retreat was monitored from the active gullies selected in representative black soil area, using differential global positioning system (GPS). With the support of geographic information system (GIS), multi-temporal digital elevation models (DEM) were constructed from the data collected by GPS and used for further analysis. Based on the analysis of multi-temporal DEM, we discussed the erosion–deposition characteristics within gully and a developing model for black soil gully area of Northeast China was proposed. The results are: (1) The analysis of the monitored gully data in 2004 indicated that the retreat of gully head reached more than 10 m, gully area extended 170–400 m², net gully eroded volume 220–320 m³,and gully erosion modulus 2200–4800 t?km^?2?a^?1. (2) Compared with the mature gully the initial gully grows rapidly, and its erosion parameters are relatively large. The erosion parameters have not only to do with flow energy, but also with the growth phase. (3) There are significant seasonal differences in gully erosion parameters. The extension of gully area and width dominates in winter and spring without marked net erosion while changes mainly occur in gully head and net erosion in rainy season. (4) It is remarkable for freeze-thaw erosion in the black soil area of NE China. The gully wall of SG2 extended 0.45 m under freeze-thaw effect in 2004, and the distance of gully head retreated maximally 6.4 m. (5) Due to freeze-thaw action and snowmelt, gully is primarily in the interior adjustment process in winter and early spring. There are much more depositions compared with that during rainy season, which can almost happen throughout the gully, while erosion mostly occurs near head, esp. for gullies having a relatively long history of development. On the other hand, the process of energy exchange with exterior dominates in rainy season. It is considered that this cyclic process is an important mechanism for gully growth in high latitude or/and high attitude regions.

By scouring experiments, the changeable process and characteristics of sediment yield in the hillslope-gully side erosion system with different coverage degrees and spatial locations of grass were studied. Five grass coverage degrees of 0, 30%, 50%, 70%, 90%, three spatial locations of grass (upslope, mid-slope, low-slope) and two water inflow rates of 3.2 L/min, 5.2 L/min were applied to a 0.5 by 7 m soil bed in scouring experiments. Results showed that the sediment yield decreased with the increase of grass coverage degree at 3.2 L/min water inflow rate in scouring experiments and the sediment yield with different grass locations on the sloping surface was in the order of upper > middle > lower. At 5.2 L/min water inflow rate, the differences of sediment yield among various grass coverage degrees were increased, whereas the changeable tendency of sediment yield with different grass locations on the whole sloping surface was not very obvious. The proportion of sediment yield from the gully side increased in an exponential relationship with the increase of grass coverage degree. When the grass was located on the lower position of hillslope, the influence for accelerating gully erosion is the greatest.

De-farming slope farmland has been an effective measure in recent years for the improvement of the eco-environment and the mitigation of soil and water loss on the Loess Plateau. This paper, taking the Yangou Basin as a case study and using day-by-day meteorological data of Yan’an station in 2005, simulated and analyzed the quantitative relation between crop yield, soil and water loss and topographic condition with the aid of WIN-YIELD software. Results show that: 1) topographic gradient has important influence on crop yield. The bigger gradient is, the lower the crop yield. Yields of sorghum and corn decrease by 15.44% and 14.32% respectively at 25° in comparison to the case of 0°. In addition, yields of soya, bean and potato decrease slightly by 5.26%, 4.67% and 3.84%, respectively. The influences of topographic height and slope aspect on crop yield are slight. 2) Under the same topographic condition, different crops’ runoff and soil loss show obvious disparity. Topographic gradient has important influence on soil and water loss. In general, the changing trend is that the soil and water loss aggregates with the increase of gradient, and the maximal amount occurs around 20°. The influence of topographic height is slight. Topographic aspect has a certain effect, and the fundamental characteristic is that values are higher at the aspect of south than north. 3) Topographic gradients of 5° and 15° are two important thresholds. The characteristic about soil and water loss with the variation of topographic gradients show that: the slope farmland with gradient less than 5° could remain unchanged, and the slope farmland more than 15° should be de-farmed as early as possible.

Optimal scale is one of the important issues in ecology and geography. Based on land-use data of the Tarim River Basin in Xinjiang of China in the 1950s, regarding the area of land use types as the parameter in scale selecting, the histograms of the patches in area are charted. Then, by reinforcing the normalized scale variances (NSV) with 3 landscape indices, the scale characteristics of land use in the Tarim River Basin can be summarized. (1) NSV in the Tarim River up to a maximum at scale of 1:50,000 which is considered appropriate for the Tarim River. (2) Diversity indices of saline land are consistent with NSV’s. Diversity indices and NSV of sandy land showed that the appropriate scale is in the same scale domain. There is a significant difference between diversity indices and NSV of forestland and shrubland. (3) Fractal dimension of sandy land and saline land showed a hierarchical structure at a scale of 1:10,000. Fractal dimension of forestland and shrubland are distributed under the same hierarchical structure in the region.

According to the analysis of the climate materials including the topographic map in 1975, the TM and CBERS satellite remote sensing materials from the 1980s to 2005 as well as the air temperature, precipitation, evaporation rate, maximum depth of snow and the biggest depth of frozen soil in the past 45 years, the water level area of four lakes at the southeast of Nagqu, Tibet including Bam Co, Pung Co, Dung Co and Nuripung Co show a distinct trend of expansion in the past 30 years. In 2005, the water level area of the above four lakes increased by 48.2 km², 38.2 km², 19.8 km² and 26.0 km² respectively compared to 1975, with the respective increase rate of 25.6%, 28.2%, 16.2% and 37.6%. That is closely related to the warming and humidified climate change in the recent years such as rise of the air temperature, increase of the precipitation, decrease of the evaporation rate and permafrost degradation.

The characteristics of water vapor transport (WVT) over China and its relationship with precipitation anomalies in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) are analyzed by using the upper-air station data in China and ECMWF reanalysis data in summer from 1981 to 2002. The results indicate that the first mode of the vertically integrated WVT is significant whose spatial distribution presents water vapor convergence or divergence in the YRB. When the Western Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH) is strong and shifts southward and westward, the Indian Monsoon Low Pressure (IMLP) is weak, and the northern part of China stands behind the middle and high latitude trough, a large amount of water vapor from the Bay of Bengal (BOB), the South China Sea (SCS) and the western Pacific forms a strong and steady southwest WVT band and meets the strong cold water vapor from northern China in the YRB, thus it is likely to cause flood in the YRB. When WPSH is weak and shifts northward and eastward, IMLP is strong, and there is nearly straight west wind over the middle and high latitude, it is unfavorable for oceanic vapor extending to China and no steady and strong southwest WVT exists in the region south of the YRB. Meanwhile, the cold air from northern China is weak and can hardly be transported to the YRB. This brings on no obvious water vapor convergence, and then less precipitation in the YRB.

In order to reveal the characteristics and climatic controls on the stable isotopic composition of precipitation over Arid Northwestern China, eight stations have been selected from Chinese Network of Isotopes in Precipitation (CHNIP). During the year 2005 and 2006, monthly precipitation samples have been collected and analyzed for the composition of δD and δ¹⁸O. The established local meteoric water line δD=7.42δ¹⁸O+1.38, based on the 95 obtained monthly composite samples, could be treated as isotopic input function across the region. The deviations of slope and intercept from the Global Meteoric Water Line indicated the specific regional meteorological conditions. The monthly δ¹⁸O values were characterized by a positive correlation with surface air temperature (δ¹⁸O (‰) =0.33 T (℃)–13.12). The amount effect visualized during summer period (δ¹⁸O (‰) = –0.04P (mm)–3.44) though not appeared at a whole yearly-scale. Spatial distributions of δ¹⁸O have properly portrayed the atmospheric circulation background in each month over Arid Northwestern China. The quantitative simulation of δ¹⁸O, which involved a Rayleigh fractionation and a kinetic fractionation, demonstrated that the latter one was the dominating function of condensation of raindrops. Furthermore, the raindrop suffered a re-evaporation during falling processes, and the precipitation vapor might have been mixed with a quantity of local recycled water vapor. Multiple linear regression equations and a δ¹⁸O–T relation have been gained by using meteorological parameters and δ¹⁸O data to evaluate physical controls on the long-term data. The established δ¹⁸O–T relation, which has been based on the present-day precipitation, could be considered as a first step of quantitatively reconstructing the historical environmental climate.

Competitive use of transboundary freshwater resources is becoming one of the key factors influencing regional peace and political relationship among states. In China, 18 major international river basins are concentrated in three regions, of which the total annual outflow at the border is 7320×108 m³, occupying 26.8% of the total annual runoff of China, and the inflow at the border is only 172×108 m³. In this paper, we analyzed the major drivers affecting shared water vulnerability in China, namely: (1) changes in physical conditions affecting the availability of water; (2) competing objectives between economic development and ecological conservation; (3) lack of emergency response mechanisms; (4) unsound administrative institutions; and (5) shortcomings in the development of regional cooperation based on transboundary waters. We concluded by identifying four pathways for reducing vulnerability: (1) encouraging scientific research cooperation; (2) constructing information-sharing channels; (3) establishing early-warning mechanisms; and (4) promoting further coordination and negotiation.

China is distinguished by a prominent monsoonal climate in the east of the country, a continental arid climate in the northwest and a highland cold climate on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Because of the long history of Chinese civilization, there are abundant and well-dated documentary records for climate variation over the whole of the country as well as many natural archives (e.g., tree-rings, ice cores, stalagmites, varved lake sediments and corals) that enable high-resolution paleoclimatic reconstruction. In this paper, we review recent advances in the reconstruction of climate and extreme events over the last 2000 years in China. In the last 10 years, many new reconstructions, based on multi-proxies with wide spatial coverage, have been published in China. These reconstructions enable us to understand the characteristics of climate change across the country as well as the uncertainties of regional reconstructions. Synthesized reconstructed temperature results show that warm intervals over the last 2000 years occurred in AD 1-200, AD 551-760, AD 951-1320, and after AD 1921, and also show that cold intervals were in AD 201-350, AD 441-530, AD 781-950, and AD 1321-1920. Extreme cold winters, seen between 1500 and 1900, were more frequent than those after 1950. The intensity of regional heat waves, in the context of recent global warming, may not in fact exceed natural climate variability seen over the last 2000 years. In the eastern monsoonal region of China, decadal, multi-decadal and centennial oscillations are seen in rainfall variability. While the ensemble mean for drought/flood spatial patterns across all cold periods shows a meridional distribution, there is a tri-pole pattern with respect to droughts south of 25°N, floods between 25° and 30°N, and droughts north of 30°N for all warm periods. Data show that extreme drought events were most frequent in the periods AD 301-400, AD 751-800, AD 1051-1150, AD 1501-1550, and AD 1601-1650, while extreme flood events were frequent in the periods AD 101-150, AD 251-300, AD 951-1000, AD 1701-1750, AD 1801-1850, and AD 1901-1950. Between AD 1551-1600, extreme droughts and flood events occurred frequently. In arid northwest China, climate was characterized by dry conditions in AD 1000-1350, wet conditions in AD 1500-1850, and has tended to be wet over recent decades. On the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, centennial-scale oscillations in precipitation have occurred over the last 1000 years, interrupted by several multi- decadal-scale severe drought events. Of these, the most severe were in the 1480s and 1710s. In southwest China, extreme droughts as severe as those seen in Sichuan and Chongqing in 2006 are known to have occurred during historical times.

Accompanying the rapid growth of China’s population and economy, energy consumption and carbon emission increased significantly from 1978 to 2012. China is now the largest energy consumer and CO₂ emitter of the world, leading to much interest in researches on the nexus between energy consumption, carbon emissions and low-carbon economy. This article presents the domestic Chinese studies on this hotpot issue, and we obtain the following findings. First, most research fields involve geography, ecology and resource economics, and research contents contained some analysis of current situation, factors decomposition, predictive analysis and the introduction of methods and models. Second, there exists an inverted “U-shaped” curve connection between carbon emission, energy consumption and economic development. Energy consumption in China will be in a low-speed growth after 2035 and it is expected to peak between 6.19-12.13 billion TCE in 2050. China’s carbon emissions are expected to peak in 2035, or during 2020 to 2045, and the optimal range of carbon emissions is between 2.4-3.3 PgC/year (1 PgC=1 billion tons C) in 2050. Third, future research should be focused on global carbon trading, regional carbon flows, reforming the current energy structure, reducing energy consumption and innovating the low-carbon economic theory, as well as establishing a comprehensive theoretical system of energy consumption, carbon emissions and low-carbon economy.

The varied altitudinal gradient of climate and vegetation is further complicated by mass elevation effect (MEE), especially in high and extensive mountain regions. However, this effect and its implications for mountain altitudinal belts have not been well studied until recently. This paper provides an overview of the research carried out in the past 5 years. MEE is virtually the heating effect of mountain massifs and can be defined as the temperature difference on a given elevation between inside and outside of a mountain mass. It can be digitally modelled with three factors of intra-mountain base elevation (MBE), latitude and hygrometric continentality; MBE usually acts as the primary factor for the magnitude of MEE and, to a great extent, could represent MEE. MEE leads to higher treelines in the interior than in the outside of mountain masses. It makes montane forests to grow at 4800-4900 m and snowlines to develop at about 6000 m in the southern Tibetan Plateau and the central Andes, and large areas of forests to live above 3500 m in a lot of high mountains of the world. The altitudinal distribution of global treelines can be modelled with high precision when taking into account MEE and the result shows that MEE contributes the most to treeline distribution pattern. Without MEE, forests could only develop upmost to about 3500 m above sea level and the world ecological pattern would be much simpler. The quantification of MEE should be further improved with higher resolution data and its global implications are to be further revealed.

Coping with extreme climate events and its related climatic disasters caused by climate change has become a global issue and drew wide attention from scientists, policy-makers and public. This paper calculated the expected annual multiple climatic hazards intensity index based on the results of nine climatic hazards including tropical cyclone, flood, landslide, storm surge, sand-dust storm, drought, heat wave, cold wave and wildfire. Then a vulnerability model involving the coping capacity indicator with mortality rate, affected population rate and GDP loss rate, was developed to estimate the expected annual affected population, mortality and GDP loss risks. The results showed that: countries with the highest risks are also the countries with large population or GDP. To substantially reduce the global total climatic hazards risks, these countries should reduce the exposure and improving the governance of integrated climatic risk; Without considering the total exposure, countries with the high mortality rate, affected population rate or GDP loss rate, which also have higher or lower coping capacity, such as the Philippines, Bangladesh and Vietnam, are the hotspots of the planning and strategy making for the climatic disaster risk reduction and should focus on promoting the coping capacity.

Land use and land cover change (LULCC) strongly influence regional and global climate by combining both biochemical and biophysical processes. However, the biophysical process was often ignored, which may offset the biogeochemical effects, so measures to address climate change could not reach the target. Thus, the biophysical influence of LULCC is critical for understanding observed climate changes in the past and potential scenarios in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the mechanisms and effects of large-scale LULCC on climate change through changing the underlying surface, and thus the energy balance. The key scientific issues on understanding the impacts of human activities on global climate that must be addressed including: (1) what are the basic scientific facts of spatial and temporal variations of LULCC in China and comparative countries? (2) How to understand the coupling driving mechanisms of human activities and climate change on the LULCC and then to forecasting the future scenarios? (3) What are the scientific mechanisms of LULCC impacts on biophysical processes of land surface, and then the climate? (4) How to estimate the contributions of LULCC to climate change by affecting biophysical processes of land surface? By international comparison, the impacts of LULCC on climate change at the local, regional and global scales were revealed and evaluated. It can provide theoretical basis for the global change, and have great significance to mitigate and adapt to global climate changes.

Hydrological monitoring and seasonal forecasting is an active research field because of its potential applications in hydrological risk assessment, preparedness and mitigation. In recent decades, developments in ground and satellite measurements have made the hydrometeorological information readily available, and advances in information technology have facilitated the data analysis in a real-time manner. New progress in climate research and modeling has enabled the prediction of seasonal climate with reasonable accuracy and increased resolution. These emerging techniques and advances have enabled more timely acquisition of accurate hydrological fluxes and status, and earlier warning of extreme hydrological events such as droughts and floods. This paper gives current state-of-the-art understanding of the uncertainties in hydrological monitoring and forecasting, reviews the efforts and progress in operational hydrological monitoring system assisted by observations from various sources and experimental seasonal hydrological forecasting, and briefly introduces the current monitoring and forecasting practices in China. The grand challenges and perspectives for the near future are also discussed, including acquiring and extracting reliable information for monitoring and forecasting, predicting realistic hydrological fluxes and states in the river basin being significantly altered by human activity, and filling the gap between numerical models and the end user. We highlight the importance of understanding the needs of the operational water management and the priority to transfer research knowledge to decision-makers.

In the paper, the development of precipitation isotope observation networks in China was reviewed, and recent achievements in isoscape and environmental effect of precipitation stable isotopes were summarized; the hydrological process studies based on precipitation isotopes in China during recent decade were also reviewed. In past decades, the spatial and seasonal patterns of precipitation isotopes have been investigated nationwide, especially after the participation in GNIP (Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation) and the establishment of CHNIP (Chinese Network of Isotopes in Precipitation), although long-term measurements are still limited; besides the nationwide network, a series of regional networks has been widely established across China. From the traditional manual drawing to the computer-aided mapping, and then to the simulation using isotope-equipped models, the productions of precipitation isoscape have been improved. The main factors controlling precipitation isotopes were summarized, and the potential significances of isotopes in climate proxies were mentioned. The recent studies about influence of raindrop sub-cloud secondary evaporation on isotopes were reviewed; based on the precipitation isotope and other parameters, the contribution of recycled moisture (evaporation and transpiration) in local precipitation can be estimated using three- or two-component mixing models. Finally, some prospects of precipitation isotope studies in China were presented.

Ecosystem services are substantial elements for human society. The central challenge to meet the human needs from ecosystems while sustain the Earth’s life support systems makes it urgent to enhance efficient natural resource management for sustainable ecological and socioeconomic development. Trade-off analysis of ecosystem services can help to identify optimal decision points to balance the costs and benefits of the diverse human uses of ecosystems. In this sense, the aim of this paper is to provide key insights into ecosystem services trade-off analysis at different scales from a land use perspective, by comprehensively reviewing the trade-offs analysis tools and approaches that addressed in ecology, economics and other fields. The review will significantly contribute to future research on trade-off analysis to avoid inferior management options and offer a win-win solution based on comprehensive and efficient planning for interacting multiple ecosystem services.

Although the urgency of their conservation has been recognized, Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) designated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) since 2002 and China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (China- NIAHS) certified by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) of China since 2012 are faced with questions as to why to conserve them, what is to be conserved, who should conserve them, and how? This paper attempts to clarify and respond to such questions focusing on the conservation of agricultural heritage systems in China based on a review of both theoretical and practical progress. Agricultural heritage systems exhibit a multitude of values for sustainable and equitable development and therefore should be conserved for both present and future generations. Unlike most conventional heritages, the conservation of agricultural heritage systems is a complex, systematic “engineering” in which both physical and biological components and associated socio-cultural processes should be conserved in a dynamic way. Farmers and heritage sites must benefit from the continuance of traditional agricultural production under the premise of ecological functions being sustained and traditional culture being inherited. For a more effective conservation, a multi- stakeholder process should be established involving governments at different levels, multi-disciplinary scientists, communities and farmers, and business enterprises as well as social organizations. As has been demonstrated, the conservation of agricultural heritage systems aims to promote the regional sustainable development, to improve the livelihood, food security and well-being of farm people, and to provide references for the development of modern agriculture in China.

Climate change and water resource issues are global problems of common concern to the international community, and they are major bottlenecks affecting the eco-environment and sustainable socio-economic development in the arid region of Northwest China. On the basis of results from previous studies, this paper points out that the unique landscape of Northwest China increases the complexity and uncertainty of the climate system. This paper analyzes the key constraints on socio-economic development and ecological security in the region, discusses the impact of climate change on water resources in Northwest China, identifies common themes and the main problems present in research on climate change and water resources in the arid northwest region, and finally, based on the importance and urgency of conducting research on the region’s water resources, proposes scientific problems that need to be addressed: first, the impact of climate change on the formation, conversion and future trends of water resources in the region; second, bidirectional coupling of high-resolution regional climate models and water cycle models of arid region land surface patterns; third, the impact of climate change and human activities on water resources of the arid northwest region. Through consideration and discussion of the above, this paper seeks to further clarify specific areas of research on pressing issues related to climate change and water resources in Northwest China, so as to establish a solid scientific basis for significantly enhancing our ability to respond to climate change and water shortages.

With a continuously increasing population and better food consumption levels, improving the efficiency of arable land use and increasing its productivity have become fundamental strategies to meet the growing food security needs in China. A spatial distribution map of medium- and low-yield cropland is necessary to implement plans for cropland improvement. In this study, we developed a new method to identify high-, medium-, and low-yield cropland from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data at a spatial resolution of 500 m. The method could be used to reflect the regional heterogeneity of cropland productivity because the classification standard was based on the regionalization of cropping systems in China. The results showed that the proportion of high-, medium-, and low-yield cropland in China was 21%, 39%, and 40%, respectively. About 75% of the low-yield cropland was located in hilly and mountainous areas, and about 53% of the high-yield cropland was located in plain areas. The five provinces with the largest area of high-yield cropland were all located in the Huang-Huai-Hai region, and the area amounted to 42% of the national high-yield cropland area. Meanwhile, the proportion of high-yield cropland was lower than 15% in Heilongjiang, Sichuan, and Inner Mongolia, which had the largest area allocated to cropland in China. If all the medium-yield cropland could be improved to the productive level of high-yield cropland and the low-yield cropland could be improved to the level of medium-yield cropland, the total productivity of the land would increase 19% and 24%, respectively.

Land use/cover change has been recognized as a key component in global change and has attracted increasing attention in recent decades. Scenario simulation of land use change is an important issue in the study of land use/cover change, and plays a key role in land use prediction and policy decision. Based on the remote sensing data of Landsat TM images in 1989, 2000 and 2010, scenario simulation and landscape pattern analysis of land use change driven by socio-economic development and ecological protection policies were reported in Zhangjiakou city, a representative area of the Poverty Belt around Beijing and Tianjin. Using a CLUE-S model, along with socio-economic and geographic data, the land use simulation of four scenarios-namely, land use planning scenario, natural development scenario, ecological-oriented scenario and farmland protection scenario-were explored according to the actual conditions of Zhangjiakou city, and the landscape pattern characteristics under different land use scenarios were analyzed. The results revealed the following: (1) Farmland, grassland, water body and unused land decreased significantly during 1989-2010, with a decrease of 11.09%, 2.82%, 18.20% and 31.27%, respectively, while garden land, forestland and construction land increased over the same period, with an increase of 5.71%, 20.91% and 38.54%, respectively. The change rate and intensity of land use improved in general from 1989 to 2010. The integrated dynamic degree of land use increased from 2.21% during 1989-2000 to 3.96% during 2000-2010. (2) Land use changed significantly throughout 1989-2010. The total area that underwent land use change was 4759.14 km², accounting for 12.53% of the study area. Land use transformation was characterized by grassland to forestland, and by farmland to forestland and grassland. (3) Under the land use planning scenario, farmland, grassland, water body and unused land shrank significantly, while garden land, forestland and construction land increased. Under the natural development scenario, construction land and forestland increased in 2020 compared with 2010, while farmland and unused land decreased. Under the ecological-oriented scenario, forestland increased dramatically, which mainly derived from farmland, grassland and unused land. Under the farmland protection scenario, farmland was well protected and stable, while construction land expansion was restricted. (4) The landscape patterns of the four scenarios in 2020, compared with those in 2010, were more reasonable. Under the land use planning scenario, the landscape pattern tended to be more optimized. The landscape became less fragmented and heterogeneous with the natural development scenarios. However, under the ecological-oriented scenario and farmland protection scenario, landscape was characterized by fragmentation, and spatial heterogeneity of landscape was significant. Spatial differences in landscape patterns in Zhangjiakou city also existed. (5) The spatial distribution of land use could be explained, to a large extent, by the driving factors, and the simulation results tallied with the local situations, which provided useful information for decision-makers and planners to take appropriate land management measures in the area. The application of the combined Markov model, CLUE-S model and landscape metrics in Zhangjiakou city suggests that this methodology has the capacity to reflect the complex changes in land use at a scale of 300 m×300 m and can serve as a useful tool for analyzing complex land use driving factors.

Global climate change has become a major concern worldwide. The spatio-temporal characteristics of net ecosystem productivity (NEP), which represents carbon sequestration capacity and directly describes the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of carbon sources/sinks (C sources/sinks), are crucial for increasing C sinks and reducing C sources. In this study, field sampling data, remote sensing data, and ground meteorological observation data were used to estimate the net primary productivity (NPP) in the Inner Mongolia grassland ecosystem (IMGE) from 2001 to 2012 using a light use efficiency model. The spatio-temporal distribution of the NEP in the IMGE was then determined by estimating the NPP and soil respiration from 2001 to 2012. This research also investigated the response of the NPP and NEP to the main climatic variables at the spatial and temporal scales from 2001 to 2012. The results showed that most of the grassland area in Inner Mongolia has functioned as a C sink since 2001 and that the annual carbon sequestration rate amounts to 0.046 Pg C/a. The total net C sink of the IMGE over the 12-year research period reached 0.557 Pg C. The carbon sink area accounted for 60.28% of the total grassland area and the sequestered 0.692 Pg C, whereas the C source area accounted for 39.72% of the total grassland area and released 0.135 Pg C. The NPP and NEP of the IMGE were more significantly correlated with precipitation than with temperature, showing great potential for C sequestration.