With Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) and trend analysis method adopted, the spatio-temporal variation of total cloud amount is analyzed for 75 stations on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau during the period 1971–2004. Analysis indicates that the total cloud amount decreases from the southeast to the northwest of the plateau, and that the annual and seasonal variations in total cloud amount both show an apparent declining tendency over the past decades. Correlation analysis demonstrates that the total cloud amount is negative with sunshine duration and diurnal temperature range (DTR), and is positive with precipitation and the relative humidity, respectively. The negative correlation is consistent with the radiative effect of cloud, while the positive correlation between total cloud amount and precipitation is obscured because of the influence of topographic factors. Discussion implies that the decrease of total cloud amount is possibly due to the variation of atmospheric aerosol content and ozone concentration over the plateau, although it is difficult to quantify the driving force mechanism up to now.

Eco-geographic regional system is formed by division or combination of natural features based on geographic relativity and comparison of major ecosystem factors (including biological and non-biological) and geographic zonality. In previous studies, soil types were often taken as a basis for soil regionalization. However, the quantitative characteristics of soil indicators are fitter than the qualitative ones of soil types for modern regionalization researches. Based on the second China’s national soil survey data and the provincial soil resource information, by principal analysis and discriminant analysis, this paper discusses the appropriate soil indicators as the complement of eco-geographic region indicator systems and the relationships between these soil indicators and soil types in regionalization. The results show that five indicators are used in eco-geographic zonality in mid-temperate zone of eastern China which are organic matter content, cation exchange capacity, pH, clay content and bulk density in topsoils. With a regression-kriging approach, the maps of soil indicators in mid-temperate zone of eastern China are compiled with a resolution of 1 km in every grid and the indicative meanings of these soil indicators are discussed. By cluster analysis it is proved that these soil indicators are better than the soil types and soil regionalization in delineating eco-geographic regions.

On top of Shigujian Peak (1477 m a.s.l.) of the Dayangshan Mountain in Jinyun County, Zhejiang Province, large amounts of granite pits with diameters ranging from several dozens of centimeters to around one meter and depth from 10 cm to 45 cm are found on rock surface. These pits mainly appear on the NE and SE sides, and their drainage mouths are in the same direction. The identification results through micropolariscope and X-ray fluorescence spectrometer reveal that bedrock of pits is from middle to fine-grained moyite being apt to be weathered and modified. In Dayangshan region the annual mean temperature is 9.2℃ and annual precipitation is over 1700 mm. On the one hand, there always experiences a period of periglacial action with temperature oscillating near 0℃ for 4 months, i.e., from December to March next year. As a consequence, the freezing-thawing cycles may be remarkable to disintegrate the bedrock. On the other hand, the windward slope of Shigujian Peak meets typhoon of over force 10 on the Beaufort scale in summer, therefore, the blowing makes suspending sands or pebbles grind in swirling form. Based on field investigation and periglacial geomorphic theory, the pits on top of Shigujian Peak are attributed to freezing- thawing of periglacial action. Meanwhile, storm and strong wind accelerate the process. Observation shows that both the actions are still undergoing and variant directions of wind are the main cause for making different shapes of the pits. Because the top of Shigujian is 1500 m lower than the present snow line, some scholars considered that “glacial pothole” formed in the Quaternary is hard to work, even though in the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM).

Based on measured hydrological data by using ship-mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) instrument, we analyzed shapes of river cross sections of the middle Yangtze River basin (mainly focusing on Makou and Tianjiazhen river reach). Hydrodynamic properties of river channels were also discussed. The research results indicate that nonlinear relationships can be identified between river-width/river-depth ratio (W/D ratio), sizes of cross section and mean flow velocity. Positive relations are detected between W/D ratio and mean flow velocity when W/D<1; and negative relations are observed when W/D>1. Adverse relationships can be obtained between W/D ratio and cross-section area. Geomorphologic and geologic survey indicates different components of river banks in the wider and narrower river reaches respectively. These may be the main driving factors causing unique hydrological properties of river channels in the middle Yangtze River basin. Narrower river cross sections tend to raise water level in the upstream river reach near narrower river channel, giving rise to backwater effects. River knots can cause serious backwater effects, which is harmful for flood mitigation. However river knots will also stabilize river channel and this will be beneficial for river channel management. The results of this paper may be helpful for flood mitigation and river channel management in the middle Yangtze River basin.

Using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis geopotential height (GHT) and wind at 850 hPa, GHT at 500 hPa, precipitation rate, sea level pressure (SLP) and precipitation observations from more than 600 stations nationwide in June–August from 1951 to 2006, and focusing on the East Asia–West Pacific region (10o–80oN, 70o–180oE), interannual variation of East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and its correlations with general circulation and precipitation patterns are studied by using statistical diagnostic methods such as 9-point high pass filtering, empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis, composite analysis and other statistical diagnosis, etc. It is concluded as follows: (1) EOF analysis of SLP in the East Asia–West Pacific region shows the existence of the zonal dipole oscillation mode (APD) between the Mongolia depression and the West Pacific high, and APD index can be used as an intensity index of EASM. (2) EOF analysis of GHT anomalies at 500 hPa in the East Asia–West Pacific region shows that the first EOF mode is characterized with an obvious meridional East Asian pattern (EAP), and EAP index can also be used as an EASM intensity index. (3) The composite analysis of high/low APD index years reveals the close correlation of APD index with EAP at 500 hPa (or 850 hPa). The study shows an obvious opposite correlation exists between APD index and EAP index with a correlation coefficient of –0.23, which passes the confidence test at 0.10 level. (4) Both APD and EAP indexes are closely correlated with precipitation during flood-prone season in China and precipitation rate over the East Asia–West Pacific region. The significant correlation area at 5% confidence level is mainly located from the southern area of the Yangtze River valley to the ocean around southern Japan, and the former is a positive correlation and the latter is a negative one.

The goal of this study is to provide information on the process of pothole growth on a gorge streambed. Pothole geometries were measured in a reach of the Dabu river bed at the head of a gorge more than 200 m deeply incising into a 650–750 m high planation surface formed in the middle Miocene in northern Guangdong, China. Geometric and derivative data of the potholes obtained from fieldwork were interpreted using standard statistical methodologies. Our study shows that the formation and development of a stream pothole were only related to local conditions of a stream reach where the pothole occurs; the weaknesses, which are usually intersect fractures, typically interconnected vertical joints, or triangular pits generated by hitting of rock fragments during floods, initiate the pothole development on a streambed; the geometrical dimensions of the potholes are controlled by tectonic joints developed in bedrock of the stream reach; the radius and the depth of potholes are strongly (log) positive correlated; the pothole shapes and the flow patterns are inconstant during pothole growth; a pothole can be formed within a short period, but cannot be fully developed and maintained for a long time in a strong incision streambed. The finding in our study can improve the understanding of Quaternary environment in Guangdong.

Annual freezing and thawing index of 7 meteorological stations along the Qing-hai-Xizang Railway were calculated based on daily maximum and minimum temperature records for 1966?2004. Trends of annual freezing and thawing index were analyzed using the Mann-Kendall test and a simple linear regression method. The results show that: 1) The mean annual freezing indices range from 95 to 2300℃·d and the mean annual thawing indi-ces range from 630 to 3250℃·d. The mean annual freezing index of the 7 stations exhibited decreasing trends with decreasing rate of ?16.6– ?59.1℃·d /10a. The mean annual thawing index of these 7 stations showed increasing trends with the related decreasing rate is 19.83–45.6℃·d /10a. 2) The MK trend test indicated the significant decreasing trends (sig-nificant at < 0.05 significant level) in the annual freezing index for most stations except for Golmud. The significant increasing trends can be observed in the annual thawing index for 4 stations except Golmud and Tuotuohe. Golmud was the only station with no trends in both annual freezing and annual thawing index.

Based on the long-term precipitation series with annual time resolution in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and its four sub-regions during 1736?2000 recon-structed from the rainfall and snowfall archives of the Qing Dynasty, the precipitation cycles are analyzed by wavelet analysis and the possible climate forcings, which drive the precipita-tion changes, are explored. The results show that: the precipitation in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River has inter-annual and inter-decadal oscillations like 2?4a, quasi-22a and 70?80a. The 2?4a cycle is linked with El Ni?o events, and the precipitation is lower than normal year in the occurrence of the El Ni?o year or the next year; for the quasi-22a and the 70?80a cycles, Wolf Sun Spot Numbers and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) coincide with the two cycle signals. However, on a 70?80a time scale, the coincidence between solar activity and precipitation is identified before 1830, and strong (weak) solar activity is generally correlated to the dry (wet) periods; after 1830, the solar activity changes to 80?100a quasi-century long oscillation, and the adjusting action to the precipitation is be-coming weaker and weaker; the coincidence between PDO and precipitation is shown in the whole time series. Moreover, in recent 100 years, PDO is becoming a pace-maker of the precipitation on the 70?80a time scale.

Based on historical documents, modern survey and statistics, as well as the result of predecessor studies, the trend and main process of forest dynamics are recognized. The forest area and forest coverage rates for each province of China from 1700 to 1949 are es-timated backward by every 50 years. Linking the result with modern National Forest Inventory data, the spatial-temporal dynamics of Chinese forest in recent 300 years (AD 1700–1998) is quantitatively analyzed. The study shows that in recent 300 years, the forest area in current territory of China has declined by 0.95×10⁸ hm² (or 9.2% of the coverage rate) in total, with a trend of decrease and recovery. Before the 1960s, there was a trend of accelerated de-scending. The forest area was reduced by 1.66×10⁸ hm² (or 17% of the coverage rate) in 260 years. While after the 1960s, there has been a rapid increase. The forest area increased by 0.7×10⁸ hm² (or 8% of the coverage rate) in 40 years. The study also shows that there is a significant spatial difference in the dynamics of forest. The amplitudes of increasing and de-creasing in western China are both smaller than the ones in eastern China. During the rapid declining period from 1700 to 1949, the most serious decrease appeared in the Northeast, the Southwest and the Southeast, where the coverage rate in most provinces dropped over 20%. In Heilongjiang Province, the coverage rate dropped by 50%. In Jilin Province, it dropped by 36%. In Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality, it dropped by 42%. In Yunnan Prov-ince, it dropped by 35%. During the recovery period 1949–1998, the western provinces, mu-nicipality and autonomous regions, including Ningxia, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Si-chuan–Chongqing, Yunnan, Tibet, Xinjiang and Qinghai, etc, the increase rates are all below 5%, while the eastern provinces, municipality and autonomous regions (except Heilongjiang, Hubei, Jiangsu–Shanghai) have achieved an increase over 5%, among which the Guang-dong–Hainan, Guangxi, Anhui, Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Zhejiang, and Fu-jian have an increase over 10%.

Taking the Lhasa River Basin above Lhasa hydrological station in Tibetan Plateau as a study area, the characteristics of the annual and monthly mean runoff during 1956?2003 were analyzed, based on the hydro-data of the two hydrological stations (Lhasa and Tanggya) and the meteorological data of the three meteorological stations (Damxung, Lhasa and Tanggya). The trends and the change points of runoff and climate from 1956 to 2003 were detected using the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test and Pettitt-Mann-Whitney change-point statistics. The correlations between runoff and climate change were analyzed using multiple linear regression. The major results could be summarized as follows: (1) The annual mean runoff during the last 50 years is characterized by a great fluctuation and a positive trend with two change points (around 1970 and the early 1980s), after which the runoff tended to in-crease and was increasing intensively in the last 20 years. Besides, the monthly mean runoff with a positive trend is centralized in winter half-year (November to April) and some other months (May, July and September). (2) The trends of the climate change in the study area are generally consistent with the trend of the runoff, but the leading climate factors which aroused the runoff variation are distinct. Precipitation is the dominant factor influencing the annual and monthly mean runoff in summer half year, while temperature is the primary factor in winter season.

Although water has the central function of the bloodstream in the biosphere espe-cially in arid or semi-arid regions such as Yan’an region in northwestern China, yet the very limited attention is paid to the role of the water-related processes in ecosystem. In this re-search, based on continuous nearly 50-year data including runoff volume, sediment discharge as well as sediment accretion from hydrographic stations, and 10-year information of water quality from pollution monitoring stations, the method for measuring in-stream flow require-ment has been put forward supported by experiential models and GIS spatial analysis. Addi-tionally, the changes of in-stream flow requirement for environment and economic develop-ment have been addressed from spatial-temporal dimensions. The results show that: (1) According to the central streams in Yan’an region, mean annual in-stream flow requirement reaches 1.0619 billion m³, and the surface water for economic exploitation is 0.2445 billion m³. (2) Mean annual in-stream flow requirement for sediment transfers in flood period occupies over 80% of the integrated volume in a year. (3) From the 1950s to 1970s, in-stream flow requirement for sediment transfers is comparatively higher, while from the 1980s to 1990s, this requirement presents a decreasing tendency.

Snowpacks samples were colleted from two glaciers: Baishui No.1 glacier and Hailuogou No.1 glacier in June, 2006. The method of sea-salt ions tracer, correlation analysis and trend analysis were used in this research in order to confirm the source of main ions, it is indicated that Na+ is mainly from marine moisture and other ions mainly originate from land dust. The non-marine source percent of Cl^-, NO^-₃, SO^2-₄, K⁺, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ is 52%, 99%, 100%, 98%, 99.9% and 83%, respectively, in Hailuogou No.1 glacier, while the corresponding value in Baishui No.1 glacier is 68%, 99%, 100%, 98%, 99% and 59%. The non-marine source of ions is from dust of Central Asia arid regions carried by westerly circulation and the plateau borne-areas with Qinghai-Tibet Plateau winter monsoon in two glacial areas. How-ever, the import of local dust in glacial area has made a great contribution to ions concentra-tion in Baishui No.1 glacier, which accounts for the reason why the ions concentration in Bai-shui No.1 glacier is much higher than that of Hailuogou No.1 glacier. It is obvious that the source of each ion is different between Hailuogou No.1 glacier and Baishui No.1 glacier. There are three reasons which can explain it: firstly, the difference in the internal environment of glacial area, such as lithology, mountain-valley wind system, topographical relief and so on; secondly, the influence exerted by ions elution in snowpacks section, and ions elution in Hailuogou No.1 glacier is very strong; and thirdly, the difference caused due to varying ions transporting styles, deposition modes, chemical characteristics and post-ions-deposition process.

Lakes in China have undergone considerable environmental changes during the past 50 years, e.g. lake level, water area changes, as did in the past several thousands years. The enhanced human activities, such as land reclamation, application of chemical fertilizer, land use and cover, irrigation and industrialization in the catchment etc., have played an im-portant role on the recent decades’ changes of these lakes, although constrained to a great extent by the natural impact. Comparative study on variations of lake volume (water level, depth and area) in the eastern and western lake regions of China during 1950–2000 indicated that, lake volume in the eastern region had approximately undergone a two-stage change, i.e. a dramatic decrease from the 1950s to 1970s, and a continuous increase between the 1980s and 1990s; while, in the western region, lake volume had been decreasing nearly all the time. Further studies on some typical lakes concluded that, climatic change was a primary factor for the variations of lake volume during the past 50 years, although human activities showed important effect.

Summer monsoons (South Asian monsoon, South China Sea monsoon and Sub-tropical monsoon) are prominent features of summertime climate over southern China. Dif-ferent monsoons carry different inflow moisture into China and control the temporal and spa-tial distributions of precipitation. Analyses of meteorological data, particularly wind, tempera-ture and pressure anomalies are traditional methods of characterizing moisture sources and transport patterns. Here, we try to utilize the evidence from stable isotopes signatures to trace summer monsoons over southern China. Based on seven CHNIP (Chinese Network of Iso-topes in Precipitation) observatory stations located in southern China, monthly composite precipitation samples have been collected and analyzed for the composition of δ¹⁸O during July, 2005. The results indicated that the spatial distributions of δ¹⁸O in precipitation could properly portray the moisture sources together with their transport pathways. Moreover, the amount effect, altitude effect, temperature effect and the correlation between δ¹⁸O vs. relative humidity were discussed.

By the Empirical Mode Decomposition method, we analyzed the observed monthly average temperature in more than 700 stations from 1951–2001 over China. Simultaneously, the temperature variability of each station is calculated by this method, and classification chart of long term trend and temperature variability distributing chart of China are obtained, supported by GIS, 1 km×1 km resolution. The results show that: in recent 50 years, the temperature has increased by more than 0.4℃/10a in most parts of northern China, while in Southwest China and the middle and lower Yangtze Valley, the increase is not significant. The areas with a negative temperature change rate are distributed sporadically in Southwest China. Meanwhile, the temperature data from 1881 to 2001 in nine study regions in China are also analyzed, indicating that in the past 100 years, the temperature has been increasing all the way in Northeast China, North China, South China, Northwest China and Xinjiang and declining in Southwest China. An inverse ‘V-shaped’ trend is also found in Central China. But in Tibet the change is less significant.

Based upon the 1970 aero-photo topographic map, and TM/ETM satellite images taken in 1991 and 2000, the authors artificially interpreted boundaries of lake and glaciers in Nam Co Catchment, and quantified lake-glacier area variations in different stages by “inte-grated method” with the support of GIS. Results show that from 1970 to 2000, lake area in-creased from 1942.34 km² to 1979.79 km² at a rate of 1.27 km²/a, while glacier area de-creased from 167.62 km² to 141.88 km² at a rate of 0.86 km²/a. The increasing rate of lake in 1991–2000 was 1.76 km²/a that was faster than 1.03 km²/a in 1970–1991, while in the same period of time, the shrinking rates of glaciers were 0.97 km²/a and 0.80 km²/a respectively. Important factors, relevant to lake and glacier response to the climate, such as air tempera-ture, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration and their values in warm and cold seasons, were discussed. The result suggests that temperature increasing is the main reason for the accelerated melting of glaciers. Lake expansion is mainly induced by the increase of the gla-cier melting water, increase of precipitation and obvious decrease of potential evapotranspi-ration. Precipitation, evaporation and their linkages with lake enlargement on regional scale need to be thoroughly studied under the background of global warming and glacier retreating.

Having analyzed the tree ring width and maximum latewood density of Pinus den-sata from west Sichuan, we obtained different climate information from tree-ring width and maximum latewood density chronology. The growth of tree ring width was responded princi-pally to the precipitation in current May, which might be influenced by the activity of southwest monsoon, whereas the maximum latewood density reflected summer temperature (June–September). According to the correlation relationship, a transfer function had been used to reconstruct summer temperature for the study area. The explained variance of re-construction is 51% (F=52.099, p<0.0001). In the reconstruction series: before the 1930s, the climate was relatively cold, and relatively warm from 1930 to 1960, this trend was in accor-dance with the cold-warm period of the last 100 years, west Sichuan. Compared with Chengdu, the warming break point in west Sichuan is 3 years ahead of time, indicating that the Tibetan Plateau was more sensitive to temperature change. There was an evident sum-mer warming signal after 1983. Although the last 100-year running average of summer tem-perature in the 1990s was the maximum, the running average of the early 1990s was below the average line and it was cold summer, but summer drought occurred in the late 1990s.

With the rapid economic development during the last 30 years in China, more and more disparities have emerged among different regions. It has been one of the hot topics in the fields of physical geography and economic geography, and also has been the task for Chinese government to handle. Nevertheless, to quantitatively assess the impacts of physio-geographical patterns (PGP) on the regional development disparity has been ignored for a long time. In this paper, a quantitative method was adopted to assess the marginal ef-fects of the PGP on spatio-temporal disparity using the partial determination coefficients. The paper described the construction of the evaluation model step by step following its key scien-tific thinking. Total GDP, per capita GDP, primary industrial output value and secondary in-dustrial output value were employed in this study as the indicators to reflect the impacts of PGP on the regional development disparity. Based on the evaluation methods built by re-searchers, this study firstly analyzed the temporal impacts of the PGP on spatio-temporal disparity of the regional development in China during the past 50 years, and then explained the spatial differences at each development stage. The results show that the spatio-temporal disparity in China is highly related to the PGP, and that the marginal contribution rate could be employed as an effective way to quantitatively assess the impact of the PGP on spa-tio-temporal disparity of the regional development.

Data of 44 glacier systems in China used in this paper were obtained from Chinese Glacier Inventories and the meteorological data were got from Meteorological Atlas of Plateau of west China. Based on the statistical analysis and functional model simulation results of the 44 glacier systems in China, the glacier systems were divided into extremely-sensitive glacier system, semi-sensitive glacier system, extremely-steady glacier system and semi-steady glacier system in terms of glacier system’s level of water-energy exchange, rising gradient of the equilibrium line altitudes and retreating rate of area to climate warming, their median size and vertical span distribution, and their runoff characteristics to climate warming. Furthermore, the functional model of glacier system to climate warming was applied in this paper to predict the average variation trends of the 4 types of glacier systems, which indicate that different sensitivity types of glacier systems respond to the climate warming differently.

Based on TIMESAT 3.2 platform, MODIS NDVI data (2000-2015) of Qaidam Basin are fitted, and three main phenological parameters are extracted with the method of dynamic threshold, including the start of growth season (SGS), the end of growth season (EGS) and the length of growth season (LGS). The spatial and temporal variation of vegetation phenology and its response to climate changes are analyzed respectively. The conclusions are as follows: (1) SGS is mainly delayed as a whole. Areas delayed are more than the advanced in EGS, and EGS is a little delayed as a whole. LGS is generally shortened. (2) With the altitude rising, SGS is delayed, EGS is advanced, and LGS is shortened and phenophase appears a big variation below 3000 m and above 5000 m. (3) From 2000 to 2015, the temperature appears a slight increase along with a big fluctuation, and the precipitation increases evidently. (4) Response of phenophase to precipitation is not obvious in the low elevation humid regions, where SGS arrives early and EGS delays; while, in the upper part of the mountain regions, SGS delays and EGS advances with temperature rising, SGS arrives early and EGS delays with precipitation increasing.

Ecosystem services have become one of the core elements of ecosystem management and evaluation. As a key area of ecosystem services and for maintaining national ecological security, ecosystem changes and implementation effect evaluation are important in national key ecological function zones, for promoting the main function zone strategy and for improving the construction of an ecological civilization. This article studies the ecological zone of a tropical rainforest region in the central mountain area of Hainan Island, China. Multi-source satellite data and ground observation statistics are analyzed with geo-statistics method and ecological assessment model. The core analysis of this paper includes ecosystem patterns, quality and services. By means of spatial and temporal scale expansion and multidimensional space-time correlation analysis, the trends and stability characteristics of ecosystem changes are analyzed, and implementation effect evaluation is discussed. The analysis shows a variety of results. The proportion of forest area inside the ecological zone was significantly higher than the average level in Hainan Island. During 1990-2013, settlement gradually increased inside the ecological zone. After implementation of the zone in 2010, human activity intensity increased, with the main land use being urban construction and land reclamation. Water conservation in the ecological function zone was higher than that outside the zone. In general, it increased slightly, but had obvious fluctuations. Soil conservation inside the zone was also better than that outside. However, it demonstrated dramatic fluctuations and relatively poor stability during 1990-2013. The human disturbance index inside the zone was significantly lower than that outside, and had a lower biodiversity threat level. Especially in 2010-2013, the increased range of the human disturbance index inside the zone was significantly less than that outside.

Rodents are the main host animals that spread plague, and Spermophilus dauricus (S. dauricus) is the most common rodent in North China. In this study, a rodent density survey was carried out in China’s Jilin Province from April to August 2005. Moran’s I and semivariogram curves were used to investigate the spatial distribution characteristics of the sampling data. We found that the spatial auto-correlation index was low and failed to generate a meaningful semivariogram curve. In this case, commonly used interpolators, such as kriging, were not suitable for mapping density over the study area. However, the Sandwich model, which is based on spatial stratified heterogeneity, could be applied to our data. Our results showed that the type of soil and land use significantly influenced the distribution of rodent density, and the interactive effect of these variables was much stronger than that of each variable alone. The Sandwich-estimated rodent density map showed that rodent density increased from the southeast to the northwest in Jilin Province. Finally, a framework of a rodent density survey using the Sandwich model was introduced.

The use of multi-perspective and multi-scalar city networks has gradually developed into a range of critical approaches to understand spatial interactions and linkages. In particular, road linkages represent key characteristics of spatial dependence and distance decay, and are of great significance in depicting spatial relationships at the regional scale. Therefore, based on highway passenger flow data between prefecture-level administrative units, this paper attempted to identify the functional structures and regional impacts of city networks in China, and to further explore the spatial organization patterns of the existing functional regions, aiming to deepen our understanding of city network structures and to provide new cognitive perspectives for ongoing research. The research results lead to four key conclusions. First, city networks that are based on highway flows exhibit strong spatial dependence and hierarchical characteristics, to a large extent spatially coupled with the distributions of major megaregions in China. These phenomena are a reflection of spatial relationships at regional scales as well as core-periphery structure. Second, 19 communities that belong to an important type of spatial configuration are identified through community detection algorithm, and we suggest they are correspondingly urban economic regions within urban China. Their spatial metaphors include the administrative region economy, spatial spillover effects of megaregions, and core-periphery structure. Third, each community possesses a specific city network system and exhibits strong spatial dependence and various spatial organization patterns. Regional patterns have emerged as the result of multi-level, dynamic, and networked characteristics. Fourth, adopting a morphology-based perspective, the regional city network systems can be basically divided into monocentric, dual-nuclei, polycentric, and low-level equilibration spatial structures, while most are developing monocentrically.

Data show that carbon emissions are increasing due to human energy consumption associated with economic development. As a result, a great deal of attention has been focused on efforts to reduce this growth in carbon emissions as well as to formulate policies to address and mitigate climate change. Although the majority of previous studies have explored the driving forces underlying Chinese carbon emissions, few have been carried out at the city-level because of the limited availability of relevant energy consumption statistics. Here, we utilize spatial autocorrelation, Markov-chain transitional matrices, a dynamic panel model, and system generalized distance estimation (Sys-GMM) to empirically evaluate the key determinants of carbon emissions at the city-level based on Chinese remote sensing data collected between 1992 and 2013. We also use these data to discuss observed spatial spillover effects taking into account spatiotemporal lag and a range of different geographical and economic weighting matrices. The results of this study suggest that regional discrepancies in city-level carbon emissions have decreased over time, which are consistent with a marked spatial spillover effect, and a ‘club’ agglomeration of high-emissions. The evolution of these patterns also shows obvious path dependence, while the results of panel data analysis reveal the presence of a significant U-shaped relationship between carbon emissions and per capita GDP. Data also show that per capita carbon emissions have increased in concert with economic growth in most cities, and that a high-proportion of secondary industry and extensive investment growth have also exerted significant positive effects on city-level carbon emissions across China. In contrast, rapid population agglomeration, improvements in technology, increasing trade openness, and the accessibility and density of roads have all played a role in inhibiting carbon emissions. Thus, in order to reduce emissions, the Chinese government should legislate to inhibit the effects of factors that promote the release of carbon while at the same time acting to encourage those that mitigate this process. On the basis of the analysis presented in this study, we argue that optimizing industrial structures, streamlining extensive investment, increasing the level of technology, and improving road accessibility are all effective approaches to increase energy savings and reduce carbon emissions across China.

Under China’s innovation-driven development strategy, venture capital has become an important driving force in urban agglomeration integration and collaborative innovation. This paper uses social network analysis to analyze spatiotemporal differences of venture capital in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration for the period 2005-2015. A gravity model and panel data regression model are used to reveal the influencing factors on spatiotemporal differences in venture capital in the region. This study finds that there is a certain cyclical fluctuation and uneven differentiation in the venture capital network in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration in terms of total investment, and that the three centers of venture capital (Beijing, Shijiazhuang and Tangshan) have a stimulatory effect on surrounding cities; flows of venture capital between cities display certain networking rules, but they are slow to develop and strongly centripetal; there is a strong positive correlation between levels of information infrastructure development and economic development and venture capital investment; and places with relatively underdeveloped financial environments and service industries are less able to apply the fruits of innovation and entrepreneurship and to attract funds. This study can act as a reference for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration in building a world-class super urban agglomeration with the best innovation capabilities in China.

Hengduan Mountains offer land space for a variety of ecological services. However, the sustainable development and management of land space has been challenged by increased human activities in recent years. This paper performs the spatial pattern analysis of the quantitative and structural changes of various landscapes at different altitudes, and uses the land use data in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2015 to reveal how various land patterns have changed. The results show that, within the production-living-ecological space schema, the ecological space dominates Hengduan Mountains, while the production and living space was mainly distributed in south region. During 1990-2015, the production-living-ecological spatial changes had been gradually accelerated and the regional differences had become more prominent. The agricultural production space had continuously decreased by 1132.31 km², and the industrial and mining production space had rapidly increased by 281.4 km² during 1990-2015. The living space had steadily increased, and the ecological space had increased with fluctuations. The land space pattern in Hengduan Mountains was greatly restricted by the terrain, such as altitude and slope. The implementations of China Western Development Strategy and the Returning Farmland to Forest Program had favorably promoted the changes of land spatial pattern in Hengduan Mountains.

Ambient air pollution brought by the rapid economic development and industrial production in China has exerted a significant influence on socio-economic activities and public health, especially in the densely populated urban areas. Therefore, scientific examination of regional variation of urban air quality and its dominant factors is of great importance to regional environmental management. Based on daily air quality index (AQI) datasets spanning from 2014 to 2016, this study analysed the spatiotemporal characteristics of air quality across different regions throughout China and ascertained the determinants of urban air quality in disparate regions. The main findings are as follows: (1) The annual average value of the urban AQI in China decreased from 2014 to 2016, indicating a desirable trend in air quality at the national scale. (2) The attainment rate of the urban AQI exhibited an apparent spatially stratified heterogeneity, wherein North China retained a high AQI value. The increase of Moran’s I Index reported an apparent spillover effect among adjacent regions. (3) Both at the national and regional scales, the seasonal tendency of air quality in each year is similar, wherein good in summer and relatively poor in winter. (4) Results drawn from the Geographic Detector analysis show that dominant factors influencing AQI vary significantly across urban agglomerations. Topographical and meteorological variations in urban areas may lead to complex spatiotemporal variations in pollutant concentration. Whereas given the same natural conditions, the human-dominated factors, such as industrial structure and urban form, exert significant impacts on urban air quality.The spatial spillover effects and regional heterogeneity of urban air quality illustrated in this study suggest the governments and institutions should set priority to the importance of regional cooperation and collaboration in light of environment regulation and pollution prevention.

Daily average temperature data from 48 meteorological stations in Chinese oases that are within the distribution area of Populus euphratica were analyzed to determine the spatiotemporal responses of this tree to climate change. Specifically, the start and end date as well as the number of days that comprised the growing season were analyzed with a multi-year trend line and using the Mann-Kendall mutation test, inverse distance weighted interpolation (IDW) in the software ArcGIS, a Morlet wavelet power spectrum, and correlation analysis. The results of this study show that, over the last 56 years, the start date of the P. euphratica growing season has advanced, while the end date has been postponed, and the number of days that comprise the growing season have gradually increased. The changing trend rates recovered in this analysis for these three time slices are -1.34 d/10 a, 1.33 d/10a, and 2.66 d/10a (α ≥ 0.001), respectively. Data show that while spatial disparity is extremely significant, it is nevertheless the case that along a southwest-to-northeast transect of Chinese oases, the later the start date of the P. euphratica season, the sooner the end data and the shorter the growing season. Mutations points in start and end date, as well as for the growing season overall were observed in 2001, 1989, and 1996, respectively, and the data presented in this paper show that, in particular, the date of this end of this period is most sensitive to climate warming. Growing season cycles for P. euphratica are between 3.56 years and 7.14 years, consistent with the periodicity of El Ni?o events, while a start date cycle between 3.56 years and 4.28 years is consistent with atmospheric circulation cyclicity. The causal analysis presented in this paper shows that the Asian polar vortex area index (APVAI), the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau index (TPI), the westerly circulation index (WCI), and carbon dioxide emissions (CDE) are the main factors influencing spatiotemporal changes in the growth of P. euphratica, the effect of latitude during the growing season is more significant than altitude, and the start date of the growing season is more significantly influenced by these factors than end date. In addition, data show that the start date, end date, and length of the growing season are all significantly correlated with their average corresponding monthly temperature (correlation coefficients are -0.875, 0.770, and 0.897; α≥0.001). Thus, if the average temperature in March increases by 1℃, the start date of the growing season will advance by 2.21 days, while if the average temperature in October increases by the same margin then the seasonal end date will be delayed by 2.76 days. Similarly, if the average temperature between March and October increases by 1℃, the growing season will be extended by 7.78 days. The results of this study corroborate the fact that changes in the P. euphratica growing are sensitive to regional warming and are thus of considerable theoretical significance to our understanding of the responses of Chinese vegetation to climate change as well as to ecological restoration.

This study analyzed the spatial and temporal variations in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) on the Mongolian Plateau from 1982-2013 using Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) NDVI3g data and explored the effects of climate factors and human activities on vegetation. The results indicate that NDVI has slight upward trend in the Mongolian Plateau over the last 32 years. The area in which NDVI increased was much larger than that in which it decreased. Increased NDVI was primarily distributed in the southern part of the plateau, especially in the agro-pastoral ecotone of Inner Mongolia. Improvement in the vegetative cover is predicted for a larger area compared to that in which degradation is predicted based on Hurst exponent analysis. The NDVI-indicated vegetation growth in the Mongolian Plateau is a combined result of climate variations and human activities. Specifically, the precipitation has been the dominant factor and the recent human effort in protecting the ecological environments has left readily detectable imprints in the NDVI data series.