The available soil water capacity (ASWC) is important for studying crop production, agro-ecological zoning, irrigation planning, and land cover changes. Laboratory determined data of ASWC are often not available for most of soil profiles and the nationwide ASWC largely remains lacking in relevant soil data in China. This work was to estimate ASWC based on physical and chemical properties and analyze the spatial distribution of ASWC in China. The pedo-transfer functions (PTFs), derived from 220 survey data of ASWC, and the empirical data of ASWC based on soil texture were applied to quantify the ASWC. GIS technology was used to develop a spatial file of ASWC in China and the spatial distribution of ASWC was also analyzed. The results showed the value of ASWC ranges from 15 × 10^-2 cm³·cm^-3 to 22 × 10^-2 cm³·cm^-3 for most soil types, and few soil types are lower than 15 × 10^-2 cm³·cm^-3 or higher than 22 × 10^-2 cm³·cm^-3. The ASWC is different according to the complex soil types and their distribution. It is higher in the east than that in the west, and the values reduce from south to north except the northeastern part of China. The "high" values of ASWC appear in southeast, northeastern mountain regions and Northeast China Plain. The relatively "high" values of ASWC appear in Sichuan basin, Huang-Huai-Hai plain and the east of Inner Mongolia. The relatively "low" values are distributed in the west and the Loess Plateau of China. The "very low" value regions are the northern Tibetan Plateau and the desertified areas in northern China. In some regions, the ASWC changes according to the complex topography and different types of soils. Though there remains precision limitation, the spatial data of ASWC derived from this study are improved on current data files of soil water retention properties for Chinese soils. This study presents basic data and analysis methods for estimation and evaluation of ASWC in China.

The water of Bosten Lake was released to lower reaches of the Tarim River for 5 times from 2000 to 2002. The changes of total dissolved solid (TDS) and the major ions (SO^2-₄, Cl^-, Na⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and HCO^-₃) were analyzed during this period. It was found out that TDS and the concentrations of the major ions initially and quickly increased and then decreased, but finally increased again. These changes were different at different distances from the river, which indicated that the groundwater changes relied on the distance from the river. In addition, the salt in groundwater was only diluted but not removed by the water. It was suggested that ecological measures should be sought to really promote the quality of the groundwater at the lower reaches of the Tarim River.

To reveal the changing trend and annual distribution of the surface water hydrology and the local climate in the Bayanbuluk alpine-cold wetlands in the past 50 years, we used temperature, precipitation, different rank precipitation days, evaporation, water vapor pressure, relative humidity, dust storm days and snow depth to analyze their temporal variations. We conclude that there were no distinct changes in annual mean temperature, and no obvious changes in the maximum or minimum temperatures. Precipitation in warm season was the main water source in the wetlands of the study area and accounted for 92.0% of the annual total. Precipitation dropped to the lowest in the mid-1980s in the past 50 years and then increased gradually. The runoff of the Kaidu River has increased since 1987 which has a good linear response to the annual precipitation and mean temperature in Bayanbuluk alpine-cold wetland. Climate change also affected ecosystems in this area due to its direct relations to the surface water environment.

Forty middle and small rivers in three towns of Fengjing, Songjiang and Zhujiajiao of suburban Shanghai were chosen as sampling sites for water quality research. Measurement results of DO, CODCr, TP, TN and so on show that the rivers are under heavy eutropic conditions, which are several times greater than the critical values of the worst level (Type V) of water. Water pollution situation has different temporal and spatial characteristics. Non-point pollution, such as village domestic sewage, farmland runoff, livestock feces, has become the primary source of pollution of the middle and small rivers in suburban Shanghai.

Water-quality deterioration and eutrophication of the Lake Dianchi have acquired more and more attention in the last few decades. In this paper, the spatial and temporal eutrophication status of the Lake Dianchi was assessed. The comprehensive trophic state index was chosen to assess the trophic status of the Lake Dianchi in the past 13 years. The result reveals that the trophic condition of Caohai is more serious than that of Waihai. Most of time Caohai was in extremely hypereutrophic state from 1988 to 2000. The trophic condition of Waihai had a worsening tendency from 1988 to 2000. Waihai was in eutrophic state before 1995, but it got in a hypereutrophic state after 1995. It was pointed out that TN and TP were the two biggest contributors of CTSIM in both Caohai and Waihai.

Sustainable development has become a primary objective for many countries and regions throughout the world now. The ecological footprint (EF) is a kind of concise method of quantifiably measuring the natural capital consumption and it can reflect the goal of sustainability. In this paper, the concept, the theory and method of ecological footprint are introduced. On this basis, the study brings forward the method of ecological footprint and capacity prediction. The method is employed for the ecological footprint prediction combining consumption model with population model and the technique is adopted for the ecological capacity (EC) prediction uniting the Geographical Cellular Automata (Geo CA) and Geographic Information System (GIS). The above models and methods are employed to calculate EF and EC in 1995 and 2000 and predict them in 2005 in Hexi Corridor. The result shows that EF is continually increasing, and EC ascended in the anterior 5 years and will descend in the posterior 5 years. This suit of method is of the character of accuracy and speediness.

The eco-environmental restoration has been a chief task of the western development strategies carried out by the central and local governments of China since the late 1990s, and the ecological de-farming has been regarded as a powerful measure for the ecological restoration in the Loess Plateau and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. "Relieving and de-farming" (RD) and "rebuilding terrace and de-farming" (RTD) are two more mature ones among various de-farming modes. Taking the loess hilly-gully region as a case, this paper summarized the basic characteristics of RD and RTD modes, calculated the sizes of de-farming slope farmland, rebuilt terraces, enlarged garden plots and restored vegetation, and compared the differences of two modes in terms of de-farming area, ecological reestablishment index, investment demand amount and benefits. The results showed that RTD mode has many advantages, including suitable investment, sufficient grain supply and great benefits, and will be the best ecological reestablishment mode in the loess hilly-gully region, and RD mode which is being carried out in this region should be replaced by RTD mode as soon as possible.

Greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in China have aroused much interest, and not least in recent evidence of their reduction. Our intent is to place that reduction in a larger context, that of the process of industrialization. A lengthy time perspective is combined with a cross-sectional approach-China plus five other countries-and addressed through two general models. The findings are salutary. First, they suggest that a diversified economic structure is consistent with diminished intensity in energy use. Secondly, and the obverse of the first, they imply that a diversified energy structure promotes reductions in CO² emissions. Finally, one is led inevitably to the conclusion that, together, the findings point to a path for countries to transform their economies while at the same time undertaking to drastically moderate their energy use, switching from a pattern of heavy carbon emissions to one in which lighter carbon emissions prevail. The implications of such findings for environmental management are enormous.

The Yangtze delta area is among the fastest developing areas in China. Here there are mega-cities like Shanghai, Nanjing and the attached urban areas of different sizes including those along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River from Shanghai up to Nanjing as well as their satellite cities and towns, forming one of the most densely distributed urban areas in China. This is a case study done in Suzhou city at the center of the Yangtze delta to reflect the impact of urban sprawl on soil resources using satellite images and digital soil databases. The extent of the developed land in the studied area and the impact of development on soil resources at 1:100,000 scale are estimated and the soil types impacted most by urbanization development are determined through overlaying the soil map on the satellite images (Landsat-7) of the studied area at different times (1984, 1995, 2000 and 2003). The methodology for this study consists of analyzing data resulting from using a geographic information system (GIS) to combine urban land use maps of different times derived from satellite images with data on soil characteristics contained in the established soil databases by which some results come into being to present the fast expanding trend of urbanization in the Yangtze delta area, the urban spread and the soils occupied by the urbanization process, and also the quality of the occupied soils.

Ecosystem services are premises for human beings to exist and develop in the world, and it is of importance to study effects of land use change on ecosystem functions. Songnen plain, located in Northeast China, is one of the national key bases for agricultural production. Because there were remarkable variations in land use in recent years, it can supply specific foundation for protection and restoration of regional eco-environment to explore changes in its values of ecosystem services. This study aims to qualify long-term changes in land use of Songnen plain from 1980 to 2000, and to explore the impact of land use change on ecosystem services. With 2-period land use data using RS and GIS, this paper analyzed changes in land use and in ecosystem service values using the ecosystem service value coefficients (VC) put forward by Costanza et al. Results showed that from 1980 to 2000, area of rangeland, water area and wetlands and area of cropland decreased, but urban area and unused land increased. Due to cropland's comparatively low VC and comparatively high VC of wetlands and water area, increment in cultivated land could not offset the total decrement in regional ecosystem service values because of the decrease in area of wetlands and water area. Meanwhile, city sprawl has also led to loss of ecological values. Total ecosystem service values of the study area reduced dramatically, from 34,926.10×10⁶$ to 31,744.54×10⁶$ in the period 1980-2000. This represents a 9.11% net decline in annual value of ecosystem services in the study area.

In this paper, we discuss the development of electronic atlas in China, with focus on the issues of visualization. We particularly categorise this development into four periods, and then analyse the characters in each period and discuss the visualization issues. The four periods are highlighted: 1) Infant period (<1990) characterized as computer assisted mapping with products of screen maps; 2) Starting period (1991-1995) characterized as object-oriented mapping with products of interactive maps/atlases; 3) Advancing period (1996-2000) characterized as integrated mapping with products of multimedia cartographic maps; 4) New era (> 2001) characterized as web mapping and adaptive map design with products of Internet maps and atlas as well as adaptive maps. It is obvious that the development follows the logical way from static to dynamic, and even real time visualization, from single user to multiple users, from presentation to exploration for effective communication and knowledge construction. Current research and development projects are focused on customisation of atlas information systems for real-time tasks, Internet operability, small displays and mobile environments. The major challenges involved in each of such customisation processes are identified and commented in relation to the further development of visualization.

Through detailed statistics and analysis of drought and water disasters in the Weihe Plain in the historical period, we discovered that in more than 2300 years (from 370 BC to 2000 AD), natural disasters occurred most frequently in two periods. One is from 610 to 850 AD (from the late Sui Dynasty to the late Tang Dynasty) and the other is from 1580 to 2000 AD (after the late Ming Dynasty). Different natural disasters occurred synchronously, that is to say, when the drought occurred frequently, water disasters occurred frequently in the same periods. Frequencies of natural disasters, on the one hand, connected with climate changes and development course of ancient cities, while on the other, related closely to population changes. The excessive exploitation of natural resources and human disturbance and damages to ecological environment are the major reasons for the increased drought and water disasters.

Landscape spatial pattern mainly refers to the distribution of patches, which are different in size and shape in space owing to the interaction of various ecological activities. In landscape ecology study, landscape pattern has been one of the key study areas. Water body landscape plays an important role in the development history of a city, but at present city water body landscape in many cities has been destroyed, hence protecting water body in the city is becoming more and more important. In order to protect city water body landscape reasonably, the precondition is to probe the dynamics of water body landscape. Based on historical data and remote sensing data, six indexes including patch number, patch area, landscape dominance index, fractal dimension, patch density and connectivity index etc. were used to analyze landscape pattern dynamics of water body in Kaifeng city since the end of the Qing Dynasty (in the 20th century). The results showed: (1) Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, landscape area of water body in Kaifeng city increased first and then decreased from 1898 to 2002AD; the landscape dominant degree had the same changing tendency with the area. (2) Patch number of water body landscape in Kaifeng city had an increase from 1898 to 2002, but maximum area of patch, minimum area of patch and average area of patch decreased, which resulted in an increase in landscape fragment degree. (3) Connectivity index decreased and fractal dimension increased from 1898 to 2002. The reasons for these changes were the repeated overflows and flooding of the Yellow River and the influence of human activities.

According to the field investigation, observation by an electronic microscope and x-ray identification and chemical analysis, desert-steppe migration in the Loess Plateau at about 450 kaBP was studied. The data show that gypsum illuvial horizon indicating the desert-steppe environment developed in the early stage of the formation of the fifth layer loess in Shaoling tableland in Chang'an and Bailu tableland in Xi'an of Shaanxi are situated in the southern Loess Plateau. This indicates that remarkable drying occurred, a large-scope migration of desert steppe took place toward south and the climate zone migrated 5 degrees in latitude to south which is the largest migration range indicated by geochemical indexes. The desert-steppe and more wild environment distributed widely on the Loess Plateau at that time. The development of gypsum also indicates that the climate changed at 450 kaBP from monsoon climate to nonmonsoon climate in the Loess Plateau, and the region was not affected by summer monsoon and was in the cold and dry environment of nonmonsoon climate. Annual mean precipitation was about 200 mm, 400 mm less at that time than at present.

The landscape fragmentation caused by road construction has many direct and indirect impacts on wildlife and ecosystems. By using the GIS and statistic software of fragmentation computation, a comprehensive index, road-induced landscape fragmentation index (RLFI), is proposed to quantify the degree of landscape fragmentation resulting from different levels of road constructions. The results show that road-induced fragmentation index in China ranges from 0.987 to 3.357, with a mean of 1.846 in 2002. The regional differences of landscape fragmentation are obvious and scoring sequence is: North China (2.65) > East China (2.62) > Central China (2.60) > South China (2.51) > Southwest China (2.34) > Northeast China (2.19) > Inner Mongolia (1.88) > Northwest China (1.67) > Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (1.65). The anisotropic analysis indicates that the variation of fragmentation index in east-west direction is larger than that in south-north direction.

The Integrated Environmental Monitoring (IEM) project, part of the Asia-Pacific Environmental Innovation Strategy (APEIS) project, developed an integrated environmental monitoring system that can be used to detect, monitor, and assess environmental disasters, degradation, and their impacts in the Asia-Pacific region. The system primarily employs data from the moderate resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS) sensor on the Earth Observation System- (EOS-) Terra/Aqua satellite, as well as those from ground observations at five sites in different ecological systems in China. From the preliminary data analysis on both annual and daily variations of water, heat and CO₂ fluxes, we can confirm that this system basically has been working well. The results show that both latent flux and CO₂ flux are much greater in the crop field than those in the grassland and the saline desert, whereas the sensible heat flux shows the opposite trend. Different data products from MODIS have very different correspondence, e.g. MODIS-derived land surface temperature has a close correlation with measured ones, but LAI and NPP are quite different from ground measurements, which suggests that the algorithms used to process MODIS data need to be revised by using the local dataset. We are now using the APEIS-FLUX data to develop an integrated model, which can simulate the regional water, heat, and carbon fluxes. Finally, we are expected to use this model to develop more precise high-order MODIS products in Asia-Pacific region.

The preliminary results of long-term CO₂ flux measurements at forest sites in East Asia are explained and compared with each other. The features of seasonal variation of CO₂ fluxes are different among deciduous-broadleaf, evergreen-coniferous, deciduous-coniferous and tropical forests in East Asia, and the causes of difference are discussed. The integrated yearly NEP (net ecosystem production) estimated from the CO₂ flux by eddy covariance method in various forests of East Asia has a notable difference in the range of 2 to 8 tC ha-1 yr^-1. The main factors of this difference are the annual mean temperature and tree species. Furthermore, the remaining issues are discussed, such as the quantitative estimation of the CO₂ flux by the eddy covariance method and the synthetic analysis of the carbon budget under collaborations with biological survey.

Terrestrial ecosystems represent the second largest carbon reservoir, and the C balance in terrestrial ecosystems can be directly impacted by human activities such as agricultural management practices and land-use changes. This paper focuses on the C-sequestration in soil. Although many studies showed that the concentration of SOC is much higher in the shallow soils (0-30 cm), the deeper horizons represent a much greater mass of soil and represent a huge C-storage pool. The process of preferential retention of more strongly adsorbing components, along with competitive displacement of weakly binding components are the key processes that enhance the movement of organic carbon to deeper soil horizons. DOC represents the most dynamic part of organic carbon in soils, and thus can be used as a timely indicator of the short-term change of C-sequestration. Long-term experiments have demonstrated that higher SOC levels in shallow soils would lead to increased fluxes of DOC to deeper horizons, but more data on a wider range of soils and treatment strategies are needed to fully evaluate the linkages between changes in SOC in shallow soil, vertical fluxes of DOC to deeper soil horizons, and enhanced C-inventories in deeper, slow-turnover SOC pools.

Yangtze Estuary Tidal Wetlands Geographic Information System (YETWGIS) is a comprehensive software system for environmental management and decision of Yangtze estuary tidal wetlands. Based on MapObjects components technology, Data Mining technology, mathematical modeling method and Visual Basic language, this software system has many functions such as displaying, editing, querying and searching, spatial statistics and analysis, thematic map compiling, and environmental quality evaluation. This paper firstly outlined the system structure, key techniques, and achieving methods of YETWGIS, and then, described the core modules (the thematic map compiling module and environmental quality evaluation model module) in detail. In addition, based on information entropy model, it thoroughly discussed the methods of environmental quality evaluation and indicators' weight calculation. Finally, by using YETWGIS, this paper analyzed the spatial distribution characteristics of Heavy Metal and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) of the Yangtze estuary tidal wetlands in 2002, and evaluated the environmental quality of the Yangtze estuary tidal wetlands in 2003.

Soil erodibility is an important index to evaluate the soil sensitivity to erosion. The research on soil erodibility is a crucial tache in understanding the mechanism of soil erosion. Soil erodibility can be evaluated by measuring soil physiochemical properties, scouring experiment, simulated rainfall experiment, plot experiment and wind tunnel experiment. We can use soil erosion model and nomogram to calculate soil erodibility. Many soil erodibility indices and formulae have been put forward. Soil erodibility is a complex concept, it is influenced by many factors, such as soil properties and human activities. Several obstacles restrict the research of soil erodibility. Firstly, the research on soil erodibility is mainly focused on farmland; Secondly, soil erodibility in different areas cannot be compared sufficiently; and thirdly, the research on soil erodibility in water-wind erosion is very scarce. In the prospective research, we should improve method to measure and calculate soil erodibility, strengthen the research on the mechanism of soil erodibility, and conduct research on soil erodibility by both water and wind agents.

Modelling scenarios of land use change and their impacts in typical regions are helpful to investigate the mechanism between land use and ecological systems and process the land use allocation under the ecological security. A system dynamics (SD) model with the aim to modelling scenarios of land use change and assessing ecological impact in northern China in the next 50 years is developed here. The accuracy assessment with the historic data from 1990 to 2001 indicated the SD model is robust. After the different "what-if" scenarios controlled by GDP, population, market, and technology advancement were built, the different scenarios of land use change in northern China from 2000 to 2050 were simulated with their ecological impact assessed. The result suggested that such factors as GDP, population, market and technology have a strong relationship with land use structural change in northern China. It also indicated that such measures as strict controlling of population increase, importing some food to keep the supply-demand balance in the region, and improving agricultural technology will be the guarantee of regional sustainable development with fast economic growth and the obvious land use structural improvement at the same time.

The Boao coastal system along the eastern coast of Hainan Island is a dynamic delta-tidal inlet-barrier formed during the late Holocene. The delta developed inside a shallow lagoon barred by a sandy barrier with a narrow, shallow tidal inlet opening. Two major distributary channels separated by small islands characterize the delta. The lagoon is silting up receiving and trapping sediments from both the river and, in minor measure during storms, through the tidal inlet opening and barrier washovers. The barrier at the tidal inlet is highly dynamic and changes its form, accreting (migrating spit) against the inlet during fair-weather conditions and being eroded during storms and river floods. The delta has almost completely filled the lagoon and major concerns exist on the effect that ongoing large development plans may have on the environment. These concerns include the effect on floods and rate of siltation once banks of the islands have been stabilized and floodwater and sediment load are impeded from spreading over the lowlands, and the effect of increasing pollutant loads from the new facilities on the ecosystems of the increasingly restricting lagoon water and on the seashores.

Coastal salt-marshes represent an important coastal wetland system. The total area of coastal wetlands exceeds 5000 km² in Jiangsu Province, China, but it is decreasing rapidly in response to the intense reclamation activities and coastal erosion along a part of the coastline. Hence, two types of plants, Spartina angelica and Spartina alterniflora, were introduced successively into the Jiangsu coastal areas, in order to protect the coastline from erosion and to increase the accumulation rate. Pb-210 and Cs-137 analyses were carried out for sediment samples from the salt-marshes of Wanggang to determine the sedimentation rate, on the basis of an evaluation of the background activity values and the factors affecting the enrichment of Pb-210. Analysis of a typical sediment column of the tidal flat shows that there is weak absorption of Pb-210 in the silt-dominated sediment. Because of the influences of factors such as storm events, bioturbation, material sources and analytical error, some abnormal data points appear in the Pb-210 record. After ignoring these data the calculated sedimentation rate was 3.3 cm yr^-1 on average. Based upon analysis of the Cs-137 dating, the rate since 1963 was 3.1 cm yr^-1 on average, similar to the data by Pb-210 dating and the previous studies. The dating results show that there were three stages of sedimentation, with the most rapid accretion being taking place after Spartina angelica was introduced into the area. The study also shows that at the stage of Spartina alterniflora growth, the accretion rate was higher than on the flat surface with the same elevation without the cover of this plant.

Here we report our recent magnetic fabric investigation of loess deposition in Shagou section, located at the northeastern Qilian Mountains, the northeastern rim of the Tibetan Plateau. On the basis of environmental magnetism data, we indicate that the variation of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) parameters, especially the foliation (F) and degree of anisotropy (P), might be more sensitive to the environmental change in the arid and semiarid regions than the magnetic susceptibility fluctuation. During the investigated interval, from 0.83 to 0.128 Ma, most of the middle to late Pleistocene significant climate change can be unraveled by the AMS parameters, such as the strengthening of cold/dry climate, the step drying event occurred nearly 250 ka, and the severe environmental change in MIS16. Our results also suggest that there is strong correlation between median diameter (Md) of grain size, F, and P. We propose that the AMS parameters can act as an important paleoenvironmental change indicator in the arid and semiarid regions.

Variation characteristics of temperature and precipitation in January and July and annual mean temperature and annual precipitation are analyzed with the help of cumulative anomalies, Mann-Kendall analysis and wavelet analysis. The research results indicate that January precipitation presents an increasing trend after 1990, wavelet analysis result suggests that this increasing trend will continue in the near future. The changes of July precipitation present different features. During 1900-1960, July precipitation is in a rising trend, but is in a declining trend after 1960. Wavelet analysis shows that this declining trend will go on in the near future. Temperature variations in Shanghai are in fluctuations with 2 to 3 temperature rising periods. Mann-Kendall analysis indicates that temperature variations have the obvious abrupt change time when compared with precipitation changes in Shanghai during the past 100 years. The abrupt change time of January temperature lies in 1985, and that of July temperature lies in 1931-1933 and annual mean temperature has the abrupt change time in 1923-1930. Except July precipitation, the precipitation in January, temperature in January, July and annual mean temperature, and annual precipitation are also in a rising trend in the near future. The research results in this paper may be meaningful for future further climatic changes of Shanghai and social mitigation of climatic disasters in the future.

Using geographic information system (GIS) techniques and the newest seasonal and annual average precipitation data of 679 meteorological stations from 1971 to 2000, the multiple regressions equations of the precipitation and topographical variables are established to extract the effect of topography on the annual and seasonal precipitation in the upper-middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Then, this paper uses a successive interpolation approach (SIA), which combines GIS techniques with the multiple regressions, to improve the accuracy of the spatial interpolation of annual and seasonal rainfall. The results are very satisfactory in the case of seasonal rainfall, with the relative error of 6.86%, the absolute error of 13.07 mm, the average coefficient of variation of 0.070, and the correlation coefficient of 0.9675; in the case of annual precipitation, with the relative error of 7.34%, the absolute error of 72.1 mm, the average coefficient of variation of 0.092, and the correlation coefficient of 0.9605. The analyses of annual mean precipitation show that the SIA calculation of 3-5 steps considerably improves the interpolation accuracy, decreasing the absolute error from 211.0 mm to 62.4 mm, the relative error from 20.74% to 5.97%, the coefficient of variation from 0.2312 to 0.0761, and increasing the correlation coefficient from 0.5467 to 0.9619. The SIA iterative results after 50 steps identically converge to the observed precipitation.

The role of remote sensing in phenological studies is increasingly regarded as a key to understand large area seasonal phenomena. This paper describes the application of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) time series data for forest phenological patterns. The forest phenological phase of Northeast China (NE China) and its spatial characteristics were inferred using 1-km 10-day MODIS normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) datasets of 2002. The threshold-based method was used to estimate three key forest phenological variables, which are the start of growing season (SOS), the end of growing season (EOS) and growing season length (GSL). Then the spatial patterns of forest phenological variables of NE China were mapped and analyzed. The derived phenological variables were validated by the field observed data from published papers in the same study area. Results indicate that forest phenological phase from MODIS data is comparable with the observed data. As the derived forest phenological pattern is related to forest type distribution, it is helpful to discriminate between forest types.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of using Landsat TM data to retrieve leaf area index (LAI). To get a LAI retrieval model based ground reflectance and vegetation index, detailed field data were collected in the study area of eastern China, dominated by bamboo, tea plant and greengage. Plant canopy reflectance of Landsat TM wavelength bands has been inversed using software of 6S. LAI is an important ecological parameter. In this paper, atmospheric corrected Landsat TM imagery was utilized to calculate different vegetation indices (VI), such as simple ratio vegetation index (SR), shortwave infrared modified simple ratio (MSR), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Data of 53 samples of LAI were measured by LAI-2000 (LI-COR) in the study area. LAI was modeled based on different reflectances of bands and different vegetation indices from Landsat TM and LAI samples data. There are certainly correlations between LAI and the reflectance of Tm³, TM4, TM5 and TM7. The best model through analyzing the results is LAI = 1.2097*MSR + 0.4741 using the method of regression analysis. The result shows that the correlation coefficient R2 is 0.5157, and average accuracy is 85.75%. However, whether the model of this paper is suitable for application in subtropics needs to be verified in the future.

A scanning t-test algorithm for detecting multiple time-scale abrupt changes in the level of a time-series was used to analyze an 8000 year time series of annual precipitation which was reconstructed from tree rings for the Nevada Climate Division 3 in the western USA. The tree ring samples were gathered from eight states in the southwestern USA. Twenty-two change-points were identified by the algorithm and these were used to partition the tree-ring series into twenty-three relatively Wet/Normal/Dry episodes. These twenty-three episodes were collaborated by a coherency analysis of abrupt changes between the precipitation reconstruction series and the TIC/δ18O records from cored sediments of Pyramid Lake in Nevada, and by comparison with published results from related studies. These episodes were also compared with studies of the global climate change and with records of climate change in China during the same periods. The results suggest that the precipitation reconstruction series is quite valuable for climate-change research on multi-centurial time-scales in the western USA, and that the scanning t-test and coherency detection algorithms may have a wide use for detecting multiple time-scale abrupt changes in a long time series.As the TIC and δ18O record series are high resolution with unequal sampling intervals ranging between 3 and 14 years, a new algorithm was developed to deal with the unequal time intervals in the series.

The spatial distribution and seasonal variation of the tide-induced Lagrangian Residual Circulations (LRC hereafter), wind-driven LRC, and the coupling dynamic characteristics were simulated using ECOM, given the Hellerman and Rosenstein global monthly-mean wind stresses. The results showed that the tide-induced LRC of the harmonic constituent m² bears an identical pattern in four seasons in the Bohai Sea: the surface one is weak with random directions; however, there exist a southeast current from the Bohai Strait to the Laizhou bay, and a weakly anticlockwise gyre in the south of the Bohai Strait for the bottom layer LRC. The magnitude of bottom layer tide-induced LRC is larger than the surface one, and moreover, it contributes significantly to the whole LRC in the Bohai Sea. Unlike the identical structure of the tide-induced LRC, the wind driven LRC varies seasonally under the prevailing monsoon. It forms a distinct gyre under the summer and winter monsoons in July and January respectively, but it seems weak and non-directional in April and September.

Based on the historical records of the drought and flood disasters during 1480-1940AD, this paper reconstructs the sequences of wetness index (WI) and drought and flood disasters. We find a good identical relationship between the fluctuation of WI sequence and the δ18O record of the GISP2 ice core in Greenland, which shows an apparent monsoonal disposal pattern of moisture and temperature. By applying the Morlet Wavelet Transform Method to deal with the data, several apparent periodicities, such as 7-8a, 11-15a, 20-23a and ca 50a, are revealed, among which some can be attributed to the solar forcing. Based on results of Cluster Analysis of dry-wet changes, we resume the regional differentiation pattern of flood-drought disasters all over Guangdong during different climatic intervals in the LIA and, find the western and northern parts of Guangdong have undergone drastic changes in drought-flood regional differentiation, but the eastern part is relatively stable, and the area of the Pearl River Delta shows stable condition of more flood disasters.

New dates for last glacial cycle in Tibetan bordering mountains and in East Asia show the glacial extent during the early/middle (MIS3-4) stage is larger than that of the late stage (MIS2) in last glacial cycle. It is asynchronous with the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets maximum and changes in oceanic circulation that predominately control global climate. In research areas, three seasonal precipitation patterns control the accumulation and ablation of glaciers. The modes of the westerlies and the East Asian mountains/islands in and along the Pacific Ocean are favorable to glacier advance with mainly winter precipitation accumulation. There was a global temperature-decreasing phase in the middle stage (MIS3b, 54-44 ka BP), when the glacier extent was larger than that in Last Glaciation Maximum due to the low temperature combined with high moisture. It is revealed that the Quaternary glaciers not only evolved with localization, but also maybe with globalization. The latest studies show a fact that the developmental characteristics of glaciers in high mountains or islands along the western Pacific Ocean are not in accord with those inland areas. Therefore, it can be concluded that glacier development exhibits regional differences. The study validates the reasonableness of the asynchronous advance theory, and ascertains that both the synchronous and asynchronous advance/retreat of glaciers existed from 30 ka BP to 10 ka BP. It is not suitable to emphasize the synchronicity between global ice-volume and glacier change.

This paper reviews the research on land use change and its corresponding ecological responses. Patterns of land use changes in spatio-temporal level are produced by the interaction of biophysical and socio-economic processes. Nowadays, the studies derived from different socioeconomic conditions and scales show that at short-term scale, human activities, rather than natural forces, have become a major force in shaping the environment, while biophysical factors control the trends and processes of land use change under the macro environmental background. Providing a scientific understanding of the process of land use change, the impacts of different land use decisions, and the ways that decisions are affected by a changing environment and increasing ecological variability are the priority areas for research: (1) explanation of scale dependency of drivers of land use change; (2) quantification of driving factors of land use change; (3) incorporation of biophysical feedbacks in land use change models; and (4) underlying processes and mechanisms of ecological impacts of land use change.

This paper firstly selects 10 kinds of indexes to reflect eco-environment background condition and builds the multi-subject spatial database by using ground meteorological data, remote sensing data and DEM. It then discusses in detail the methods about evaluating eco-environment background condition and analyzing eco-environment change. The eco-environment background conditions of 1989 and 1999 are synthetically appraised. Finally, the paper analyzes the spatial distribution, quantitative change, the trend of change, the areas of change and the dynamic spatial pattern of eco-environment. The results are as follows: (1) The eco-environment background condition becomes worse from southeast to northwest in the farming-pastoral region of northern China. (2) The eco-environment background condition deteriorates from 1989 to 1999. (3) In the adjacent areas of Shanxi-Shaanxi-Inner Mongolia-Gansu-Ningxia, Horqin Sandy Land and its peripheries, and eastern Qinghai province, eco-environmental deterioration is very serious.

Danxia geomorphology originates from China. This paper studies the spatial distribution and differences in characteristics of Danxia landforms. Based on relevant research and investigations, three congregated areas of Danxia landform in China are discussed in this paper. They are the southeast area (including Jiangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, Hunan and Guangxi provinces), the southwest area (the transitional zone of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and Sichuan Basin) and the northwest area (including Longshan mountain and along the banks of the Huanghe River and its anabranches). Not only the conditions of geology and geography of the three areas but also the differences of Danxia landforms of the three areas are analyzed. The Danxia landscape, characterized by upright-shaped peaks, Danxia mesa, stone wall, cave and vertical cave, "Danxia natural bridge", "a narrow strip of sky" and so on, often presents in the southeast area. The landscape of southwest area is characterized by Danxia escarpment faces and waterfalls. In the northwest area, the Danxia landscape has the traits of arid areas simultaneously, for example, mud-coating type, columniation type, board type, moreover, it is greatly different between these environmental factors such as the microclimate, water, wind, and the loess cover. Finally it explores the causes which lead differences in landform and also explains the landform formation process and its mechanism with reference to the rates of crustal uplift, the tectonic red-basin, and the external processes including working of running water, weathering, biogenic, gravity in each area of Danxia Landforms in China.

The forest resources in Xinjiang were surveyed and analyzed based on RS and GIS. Satellite data interpretation was adopted to obtain the general situation of Xinjiang forest resources in assistance with the sampling method and on-the-spot investigations. Based on GIS, related data obtained from satellite remote sensing in 1996 and 2001 were studied through contrastive analysis. Moreover, the dynamic variation of Xinjiang forest resources was studied in an all-around way. In the past five years, the areas of the forestland, woodland, sparse woodland, nursery garden and the land usable for forestry in Xinjiang kept growing, moreover, the forest cover rate and the total standing stock volume increased correspondingly, showing that the wooded area and the amount of growing stock in Xinjiang were increasing. The forestland area in Xinjiang went up to 17,837 km² from 17,331 km², with an annual average increase of 101 km². Accordingly, the forest vegetation came to 1.08% from 1.05%, up 0.03 percentage point; the total standing stock volume went up to 289,985,200 m³ from 262,416,000 m³, a total increase of 27,569,200 m³, an annual average increase of 5,514,000 m³ and an annual average net growth rate of 2.00%. The analysis results showed that the forest resources in Xinjiang were increasing on the whole, however, there remained some problems, such as the sparse natural forests, low forest cover rate, imbalanced wood age structure, and mono tree species composition, etc.

Debris flows in essence are the process of mass transportation controlled by the constitution featured by a wide-ranged distribution of grain size. Debris-flow samples of different densities collected from different regions and gullies reveal that cumulative curve of grain composition, in particular for debris flows of high density, ρs >2 g/cm³, can be fitted well by exponential function with exponents varying with regions and gullies. Debris flows fall into a narrow-valued domain of the exponent, as evidenced by Jiangjiagou Gully (JJG) with high occurrence frequency of debris flows. Furthermore, fractality of grain composition and porosity have been derived from cumulative curves in a certain size range, a range that determines the upper limit of grains constituting the matrix of debris flows. One can conclude that fractal structure of porosity plays crucial roles in soil fluidization that initiates debris flows, and debris flows occur at some range of fractal dimension, in coincidence with field observations.

The lower reaches of the Tarim River are one of the areas suffering from most severe sandy desertification in Xinjiang, Northwest China. Irrational utilization of water and land resources results in eco-environmental deterioration in the Tarim River. In May 2000, the local government carried out the water conveyances project in the Tarim River. The influence of water conveyance on desertification reversion is analyzed and discussed according to the monitoring data in the past three years. Based on monitored data of the nine observed sections, along the channel of conveyance, the intensity and scope of desertification reversion in the upper reaches are larger than those in the lower reaches. Dynamic changes of desertification reversion are more obvious from the channel of conveyance to its two sides. However, the range of influence and intensity of desertification reversion is limited at present. It is suggested that the way and range of water conveyances should be adjusted in the future.

Along the north bank of the Xuxi River, the sand-intercalated-muddy gravel layer from -3.7~-5.8 m in the borehole 7508 at the East Dam and the middle, coarse and fine sand layer with a thickness of 4.5 m at the lower part of the borehole 8179 between the East Dam and the West Dam indicate that a large natural river was here before the Kingdom of Wu excavated the Xuxi Canal. The existence of Neolithic sites such as Xuecheng, Chaoduntou and Xiajiadang along the Xuxi River and the silt layer with dozens of meters archived under the earth's surface within a range of 1 km along both banks are the even more important evidences for the existence of the ancient Zhongjiang River. The floodgate of the East Dam nowadays makes against the communication between the Shuiyangjiang River and the Taihu Lake. The authors suggest the canal between Wuhu and Taihu Lake should be excavated as soon as possible, namely, the navigation channel from Wuhu through Guchenghu Lake, Xuxi River, East Dam, Liyang, Yixing to Taihu Lake should be further widen and the deposits composed of slope wash on the watershed between Shuiyangjiang River and Taihu Lake should be dredged away. Then, the channel journey can be shortened, the boats in ship transportation on the Yangtze River can be shunted to ensure the security of shipping, the resources of sand and gravel in the old river channel can be exploited and the dike of the Yangtze River can be reinforced. So, the problems of irrigation, flood diversion, pollution abatement and drainage of flooded fields in the lower Yangtze River will be resolved. Then, the above methods can impel the sustainable development of the Xuxi River and Taihu Lake area.

Under Rayleigh equilibrium condition, stable isotopic ratio in residual water increases with the decrease of the residual water proportion f exponentially, and the fractionation rate of stable isotopes is inversely proportional to temperature. However, under kinetic evaporation condition, the fractionation of stable isotopes is not only related to the phase temperature but also influenced by the atmospheric humidity and the mass exchange between liquid and vapor phases. The ratio δ in residual water will not change with f after undergoing evaporation of a long time for great relative humidity. The rate that the evaporating water body reaches isotopic steady state is mainly dependent on the relative humidity in atmosphere. The analysis shows that the actual mean linear variety rates, about -30.0, of the δ18O in residual water versus the residual water proportion at Nagqu and Amdo stations are consistent with the simulated process under temperature of 20 oC and relative humidity of 50%. The distillation line simulated under Rayleigh equilibrium condition is analogous to the global meteoric water line (MWL) as the temperature is about 20 oC. Under non-equilibrium condition, the slope and constant values of distillation line are directly proportional to temperature and relative humidity. According to the basic data, the simulated distillation line is very consistent with the actual distillation line of Qinghai Lake.