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

Water resources in the arid land of Northwest China mainly derive from snow and glacier melt water in mountainous areas. So the study on onset, cessation, length, temperature and precipitation of snowmelt period is of great significance for allocating limited water resources reasonably and taking scientific water resources management measures. Using daily mean temperature and precipitation from 8 mountainous weather stations over the period 1960?2010 in the arid land of Northwest China, this paper analyzes climate change of snowmelt period and its spatial variations and explores the sensitivity of runoff to length, temperature and precipitation of snowmelt period. The results show that mean onset of snowmelt period has shifted 15.33 days earlier while mean ending date has moved 9.19 days later. Onset of snowmelt period in southern Tianshan Mountains moved 20.01 days earlier while that in northern Qilian Mountains moved only 10.16 days earlier. Mean precipitation and air temperature increased by 47.3 mm and 0.857℃ in the mountainous areas of Northwest China, respectively. The precipitation of snowmelt period increased the fastest, which is observed in southern Tianshan Mountains, up to 65 mm, and the precipitation and temperature in northern Kunlun Mountains increased the slowest, an increase of 25 mm and 0.617℃, respectively, while the temperature in northern Qilian Mountains increased the fastest, increasing by 1.05℃. The annual runoff is also sensitive to the variations of precipitation and temperature of snowmelt period, because variation of precipitation induces annual runoff change by 7.69% while change of snowmelt period temperature results in annual runoff change by 14.15%.

Based on phenological records extracted from Chinese historical dairies, spring phenological series in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) of China since 1834 is reconstructed. Together with temperature and phenological observation data, the indicating significance of spring phenological series to temperature changes is also analyzed. The results are shown as follows. (1) From 1834 to 1893, spring phenodate in the YRD was fluctuated and gradually delayed, but, advanced greatly at the end of the 19th century. From 1900 to 1990, although the decadal variations were found, no clear multi-decadal trend was detected. From 1990 to 2010, spring phenodate showed significantly advance again. Compared with the mean value for 1977-1996, the latest phenodate occurred in 1893 with 27 days delayed while the earliest phenodate occurred in 2007 with 17 days advanced. (2) The correlation coefficients between spring phenodates and temperatures from December to March and from January to March exceeded -0.75 and -0.80, respectively, indicating that our phenodate series well presents the long-term changes of winter and early spring (especially from January to March) temperatures. These results provide important basic data for the long-term integrated temperature reconstruction over China in the future work.

Vegetation greenness is a key indicator of terrestrial vegetation activity. To understand the variation in vegetation activity in spring across eastern China (EC), we analysed the variation in the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from April to May during 1982-2006. The regional mean NDVI across EC increased at the rate of 0.02/10yr (r²=0.28; p=0.024) prior to 1998; the increase ceased, and the NDVI dropped to a low level thereafter. However, the processes of variation in the NDVI were different from one region to another. In the North China Plain, a cultivated area, the NDVI increased (0.03/10yr; r²=0.52; p<0.001) from 1982 to 2006. In contrast, the NDVI decreased (-0.02/10yr; r²=0.24; p=0.014) consecutively from 1982 to 2006 in the Yangtze River and Pearl River deltas, two regions of rapid urbanisation. In the eastern region of the Inner Mongolian Plateau and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in East China, the NDVI increased prior to 1998 and decreased thereafter. In the Hulun Buir area and the southern part of the Yangtze River Basin, the NDVI increased prior to 1998 and remained static thereafter. The NDVI in the grasslands and croplands in the semi-humid and semi-arid areas showed a significant positive correlation with precipitation, while the NDVI in the woodlands in the humid to semi-humid areas showed a significant positive correlation with temperature. As much as 60% of the variation in the NDVI was explained by either precipitation or temperature.

Plant growth at northern latitudes is highly responsive to the climatic changes that have occurred over recent decades. However, the sensitivity of the phasing of the seasonal cycle of terrestrial ecosystems to a changing environment remains less widely understood. We present an investigation and comparative study of large-scale changes in seasonal cycling of both land surface temperature and plant growth. Our results have shown trends indicating a marked increased towards overall plant productivity by ~3% from 1982 to 2005, reduced trends in seasonal variation at low-mid latitudes by ~2%, increased trends in seasonal variations at mid-high latitudes by ~7%, and an earlier phase in northern terrestrial ecosystems (~1.1 days) in parallel with changes in the phasing of surface temperatures at northern latitudes over the 24 years in this study. These shifts in annual cycles of terrestrial vegetation appear to have a distinct geographical zonality and are dependent upon latitudinal changes in climatic variables. More conspicuous changes in overall vegetation productivity and the seasonal phase of ecosystems have been observed in Eurasia compared to North America, largely because of a more rapid rise in temperature. Our results state that changing climate boosts plant growth at northern latitudes, but also alters the phase and seasonal variations of the annual cycle of terrestrial ecosystems.

Rice planted in southern China accounts for 94% of the total in sown acreage and 88% of the total in production, which matters a lot to Chinese food security. However, due to the prolonged conflict between water availability and rice growth in spatial/temporal distribution, rice production suffers from seasonal drought at acreage of 16%-22%, which compromises food production capacity and food security. Focusing on the spatial distribution of seasonal drought with rice and the practices to adapt to it, and based on an analysis of balanced water supply for and demand by rice at a growing season scale during 1981-2030, this paper assesses the changing seasonal drought in the process of rice production under the changing climate in the future, and identifies general rice re-cultivation options for climate change adaptation. Some conclusions can be drawn as follows. (1) Rice suggests a decline in seasonal drought, with early season rice (early rice hereafter) by 12,500 km², middle season rice (middle rice) by 80,000 km², and in particular late season rice (late rice) by 25,000 km², which accounts for almost 20% of its cultivated acreage. It is indicated that due to climate change, seasonal drought in major rice producing areas tends to alleviate in general, late season rice in particular. (2) Future climate change brings about a significant impact on the spatial/temporal distribution of water resources in rice producing areas in China. Based on 'pre-designed' adaptation actions for rice-re-cultivation, the rice cultivation pattern undergoes a significant alteration between 1981-2000 and 2001-2030. In eastern Guizhou and western Hunan, the pattern of single early plus single dry farming is changed into double cropping. In eastern Hunan, the pattern of dry cropping is changed into single early plus single dry farming. In northern Anhui, the pattern of dry farming cropping is changed into middle rice. All this is aimed at a potential adequate availability of water for rice production in the future. (3) Rice re-cultivation patterns developed in this paper help re-balance water demand and supply for rice growth using the spatial analysis tool to adapt rice growth to the changing water availability from spatial perspective, and come up with rice producer-friendly re-cultivation options in response to climate change.

This study is focused on indexes for the rice chilling injury in Heilongjiang Province during 1960-2009. Firstly, we compared a new derived climate data weighted by rice planting density with the traditional method, and found that the new one is more reasonable to assess the impact of climate change on crop yields. Considering the frequency and intensity of rice chilling in the province, secondly, chilling indexes defined by meteorological, national and international levels were assessed. The result showed that the meteorological standards were suitable for the delayed-type injury, while the international one, so-called sum of Growing Degree Day below threshold (GDD_n-), characterized best the sterile-type chilling injury for rice. The explanation ability of the rice yield time series model including both injury types as two independent variables reached approximately 92% (p < 0.05). Finally, we concluded that the contribution rates of human and weather factors to rice yields are about 87.2% and 12.8% respectively, and as light increasing trend for sterile-type chilling injury was found during heading to flowing period in recent years, indicating a high chilling risk for rice planting in Heilongjiang Province in the future global warming.

The “Grain for Green Project” initiated by the governments since 1999 were the dominant contributors to the vegetation restoration in the agro-pastoral transitional zone of northern China. Climate change and human activities are responsible for the improvement and degradation to a certain degree. In order to monitor the vegetation variations and clarify the causes of rehabilitation in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Region, this paper, based on the MODIS-NDVI and climate data during the period of 2000-2009, analyzes the main characteristics, spatial-temporal distribution and reasons of vegetation restoration, using methods of linear regression, the Hurst Exponent, standard deviation and other methods. Results are shown as follows. (1) From 2000 to 2009, the NDVI of the study area was improved progressively, with a linear tendency being 0.032/10a, faster than the growth of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program (0.007/10a) from 1982 to 2006. (2) The vegetation restoration is characterized by two fast-growing periods, with an “S-shaped” increasing curve. (3) The largest proportion of the contribution to vegetation restoration was observed in the slightly improved area, followed by the moderate and the significantly improved area; the degraded area is distributed sporadically over southern part of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region as well as eastern Dingbian of Shaanxi province, Huanxian and Zhengyuan of Gansu province. (4) Climate change and human activities are two driving forces in vegetation restoration; moreover anthropogenic factors such as “Grain for Green Project” were the main causes leading to an increasing trend of NDVI on local scale. However, its influencing mechanism remains to be further investigated. (5) The Hurst Exponent of NDVI time series shows that the vegetation restoration was sustainable. It is expected that improvement in vegetation cover will expand to the most parts of the region.

This note analyzes the change in water renewal time characteristics based on reservoir action and then establishes calculation models for the water renewal time in the Yellow River mainstream. The results indicate that the amount of renewable water with reservoir action can meet the annual water demand and that water flows naturally at the Lijin station near estuary. Initial storage dynamics is an important factor in water resource renewable capacity at a certain time, and rational reservoir action can promote sustainable water resource utilization. When the initial storages in the Longyang Gorge reservoir are 9.343 and 5.343 billion m³, the water renewal times are 28 and 33.9 d, respectively. Flow stoppage appears in April and May.

Qinghai Lake and Zhuye Lake, ~400 km apart, are located in the northwest margin of the Asian summer monsoon. Water of these two lakes mostly comes from the middle and eastern parts of the Qilian Mountains. Previous studies show that the Holocene climate changes of the two lakes implied from lake records are different. Whether lake evaporation plays a role in asynchronous Holocene climate changes is important to understand the lake records. In this paper, we used modern observations beside Qinghai Lake and Zhuye Lake to test the impact factors for lake evaporation. Pan evaporation near the two lakes is mainly related to relative humidity, temperature, vapor pressure and sunshine duration. But temperature has different impacts to lake evaporation of the two lakes, which can affect Holocene millennial-scale lake level changes. In addition, differences in relative humidity on the millennial-scale would be more significant, which also can contribute to asynchronous lake records.

Paleoenvironmental history in the monsoonal margin in the northeast Tibetan Plateau provides important clue to the regional climate. Previous researches have been limited by either poor chronology or low resolution. Here we present a high-resolution pollen record from a 40.92-m-long sediment core (DLH) taken from Dalianhai, a terminal lake situated in the Gonghe Basin, the northeast Tibetan Plateau for reconstructing the vegetation and climate history since the last deglacial on the basis of a chronology controlled by 10 AMS ¹⁴C dates on plant remains preserved in the core sediments. The pollen assemblages in DLH core can be partitioned into 6 pollen zones and each zone is mainly characterized by the growth and decline of tree or herb pollen percentage. During the periods of 14.8-12.9 ka and 9.4-3.9 ka, the subalpine arboreal and local herbaceous pollen increased, indicating the subalpine forest developed in the surrounding mountains and a desert steppe or typical steppe developed in Gonghe Basin under a relatively moister climate. During the periods of 15.8-14.8 ka, 12.9-9.4 ka and 3.9-1.4 ka, the forest shrank or disappeared according to different degrees of aridity, and the desert steppe degraded to a more arid steppe desert in the basin, indicating a dry climate. After 1.4 ka, vegetation type around Dalianhai was mainly dominated by steppe suggested by increased Artemisia. Our results suggested the climate history in this region was dry from 15.8-14.8 ka, humid from 14.8-12.9 ka and dry from 12.9-9.4 ka, after which the climate was humid during 9.4-3.9 ka, followed by dry conditions during 3.9-1.4 ka and humid conditions in the last 1.4 ka. The change of pollen percentage and the evolution of palaeovegetation in Dalianhai since the last deglacial were similar to those recorded in Qinghai Lake. The forest expanded in the mountains around Dalianhai during the B?lling-Aller?d period, shrank during the Younger Dryas and the early Holocene, then it developed and reached its maximum in the mid-Holocene. During the late Holocene, the vegetation began to shrink till disappearance. However, the timing of forest expansion in the Holocene lagged behind that of Qinghai Lake, and this spatial heterogeneity was probably caused by the different forest species between these two places. The maximum of forest development in the mid-Holocene was inconsistent with the period of stronger summer monsoon in the early Holocene indicated by stalagmite records, the reason might be related to the complexity of vegetation response to a large-scale climatic change.

On the basis of Landsat TM data of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) Economic Zone in 1991, 2001 and 2008, this article, taking 90 counties in this region as study units, built spatial data transformation models, ecosystem service value (ESV) and coordination degree of eco-economic system (CDES) models. With the aid of ArcGIS9.3, mass grid and vector data has been processed for spatial analyses. ESV and CDES indexes have demonstrated the relationship between economic development and eco-environment system and its evolution characteristics in the researched areas. Furthermore, the indexes have also been used for functional zoning and pattern recognition. Some results can be shown as follows. Firstly, since 1991, land use in the YRD has greatly changed: urban land area has increased primarily from original paddy land, dry land, grassland, garden plot and other land. Secondly, the ESV model has proved the deterioration trend of the YRD ecological system from 1991 to 2001 and slower degradation trend during 2001-2008. Also, it is illustrated that land-use conversion from water area and paddy field to urban area and dry land could cause great damage to ecosystem stabilization. Thirdly, GDP in the central and southern parts of the YRD is higher than that in the northern part since 1991. GDP growth rate in the central part is higher than that in the northern part during 1991-2001. This growth rate in the central part is also higher than that in the southern and northern parts of the YRD from 2001 to 2008. Fourthly, the YRD could be categorized into 12 types of subregions in terms of CDES index. According to its spatial characteristic of CDES index value in the study area, eco-economic conflict area with low CDES value which is located in the central part is surrounded by eco-coordinated areas with high CDES values. This illustrates a core-periphery spatial structure exists in the YRD. During 1991-2001, the CDES value implied the convergent deterioration trend of eco-economic system in the study area; while it gradually stepped into coexistence of divergent deterioration and coordination during 2001-2008. Finally, this paper analyzed five subregions in the YRD, including initially degrading zone, initially coordinative zone, continuously degrading zone, coordination-declined zone and coordination-promoted zone, based on eco-economic coordination and evolution patterns. And these subregions can be recognized and categorized by spatial transformation model.

The spatial organization of the Chinese petrochemical industry was optimized according to the status of development of the industry employing linear programming and ArcGIS spatial analysis tools. We first identified the indexes of the spatial organization of the petrochemical industry and established a comprehensive evaluation index system that includes four major categories and 11 indicators. The weight of each index was then determined by the analytical hierarchy process. Afterward, taking the 337 Chinese prefecture-level administrations as basic units and scientifically evaluating the potential comprehensive layout coefficients of the cities, 151 prefecture-level administrative units were selected as the basis for the choice of optimization sites with a linear programming model. Secondly, using the 151 prefecture-level administrative units and the maximum-coverage model, the optimal number and spatial distribution of refineries were identified for service radii of 100, 200 and 300 km. Thirdly, considering the actual distribution of China’s refineries, general rules for the number of refinery layout points and objective values were summarized, and 52 refinery layout points were selected for China. Finally, with ArcGIS spatial analysis tools, the spatial effect of the 52 optimal refinery layout points was simulated for the service scope and socioeconomic factors respectively, and the GDP and population data for each refinery layout point were then extracted within the service scope. On this basis and with estimation of the intensity of crude-oil consumption, final results were obtained for the optimal spatial organization of the Chinese refining capacity and ethylene production capacity.

The damage of dwelling houses constitutes the primary cause of casualties and asset loss in seismic disasters that occurred in Chinese rural areas. The structure of houses is crucial for assessing the vulnerability of rural houses. However, at present, available data on rural housing structure are incomplete and their spatial scales are inconsistent. This paper estimated the amount and ratio of rural houses in five structures, namely ‘wood’, ‘brick’, ‘mixed’, ‘reinforced concrete’, and ‘other’, for 2380 counties across China. With the percentage sampling census data in 2005, four accuracy levels were specified. Then, a set of down-scaling models were established, where the impact of climate, economic development level and ethnic minority cultural factors on rural housing structure, as well as the spatial autocorrelation of neighboring spatial units were considered. Based on the estimation results, a database of county-level rural housing structure was established, based on which the vulnerability of rural houses in different areas was clarified.

The 2012 Sino-European Symposium on Environment and Health (SESEH 2012) was successfully held at National University of Ireland, Galway during August 20-25, 2012.

From 1981 to 2010,the effects of climate change on evapotranspiration of the alpine ecosystem and the regional difference of effects in the Tibetan Plateau(TP)were studied based on the Lund-Potsdam-Jena dynamic vegetation model and data from 80 meteorological stations.Changes in actual evapotranspiration(AET)and water balance in TP were analyzed.Over the last 30 years,climate change in TP was characterized by sig- nificantly increased temperature,slightly increased precipitation,and decreased potential evapotranspiration(PET),which was significant before 2000.AET exhibited increasing trends in most parts of TP.The difference between precipitation and AET decreased in the south- eastern plateau and increased in the northwestern plateau.A decrease in atmospheric water demand will lead to a decreased trend in AET.However,AET in most regions increased be- cause of increased precipitation.Increased precipitation was observed in 86%of the areas with increased AET,whereas decreased precipitation was observed in 73%of the areas with decreased AET.

In this paper,variations of surface water flow and its climatic causes in China are analyzed using hydrological and meteorological observational data,as well as the impact data set(version 2.0)published by the National Climate Center in November 2009.The results indicate that surface water resources showed an increasing trend in the source region of the Yangtze River over the past 51 years,especially after 2004.The trend was very clearly shown,and there were quasi-periods of 9 years and 22 years,where the Tibetan Plateau heating field enhanced the effect,and the plateau monsoon entered a strong period.Pre- cipitation notably increased,and glacier melt water increased due to climate change,all of which are the main climatic causes for increases in water resources in the source region. Based on global climate model prediction,in the SRESA1B climate change scenarios,water resources are likely to increase in this region for the next 20 years.

The mouth bar in the Yangtze estuarine waterways has a significant influence on navigational transport within the estuary,flood discharge and construction of the Shanghai Port.In this paper the morphological evolution and mechanisms of mouth bar formation of the Yangtze estuarine waterways are studied by analyzing hundreds of years of historical data and the latest profile maps of some or the main mouth bar channels in the Yangtze Estuary. The results are shown as follows:The mouth bars in the North Branch have moved gradually from outside the mouth to the inside and formed a huge sand bar.In the North Channel,the head of the mouth bar has migrated about 30 kilometers downstream,and a channel bar has been developing since 2001.Two mouth bar tops,which always existed in the North Passage, disappeared in 2010.The head of the mouth bar in the South Passage has migrated downstream about 14 km and the number of tops increased at first but is reduced to only one now. According to the results,we can conclude that the evolution of the mouth bars differs depending on their location.In the North Branch it is directly related to large-scale reclamation in Chongming Island,but in the North Passage it has a close relationship with regulation of the Yangtze Estuary Deepwater Channel.However,the evolution of mouth bars in the North Channel and South Passage is not only connected with the Yangtze Estuary Deepwater Channel Regulation Project,but also with the reclamation in the East Hengsha Shoal and the closure of the Qingcaosha Reservoir.

The vegetation coverage dynamics and its relationship with climate factors on different spatial and temporal scales in Inner Mongolia during 2001–2010 were analyzed based on MODIS-NDVI data and climate data.The results indicated that vegetation coverage in Inner Mongolia showed obvious longitudinal zonality,increasing from west to east across the region with a change rate of 0.2/10°N.During 2001–2010,the mean vegetation coverage was 0.57,0.4 and 0.16 in forest,grassland and desert biome,respectively,exhibiting evident spatial heterogeneities.Totally,vegetation coverage had a slight increasing trend during the study period.Across Inner Mongolia,the area of which the vegetation coverage showed extremely significant and significant increase accounted for 11.25%and 29.13%of the area of whole region,respectively,while the area of which the vegetation coverage showed extremely significant and significant decrease accounted for 7.65%and 26.61%,respectively. On inter-annual time scale,precipitation was the dominant driving force of vegetation coverage for the whole region.On inter-monthly scale,the change of vegetation coverage was consistent with both the change of temperature and precipitation,implying that the vegetation growth within a year is more sensitive to the combined effects of water and heat rather than either single climate factor.The vegetation coverage in forest biome was mainly driven by temperature on both inter-annual and inter-monthly scales,while that in desert biome was mainly influenced by precipitation on both the two temporal scales.In grassland biome,the yearly vegetation coverage had a better correlation with precipitation,while the monthly vegetation coverage was influenced by both temperature and precipitation.In grassland biome,the impacts of precipitation on monthly vegetation coverage showed time-delay effects.

Knowledge of vegetation distribution patterns is very important.Their relationships with topography and climate were explored through a geographically weighted regression (GWR)framework in a subtropical mountainous and hilly region,Minjiang River Basin of Fujian in China.The HJ-1 satellite image acquired on December 9,2010 was utilized and NDVI index was calculated representing the range of vegetation greenness.Proper analysis units were achieved through segregation based on small sub-basins and altitudinal bands.Results indicated that the GWR model was more powerful than ordinary linear least square(OLS) regression in interpreting vegetation-environmental relationship,indicated by higher adjusted R² and lower Akaike information criterion values.On one side,the OLS analysis revealed dominant positive influence from parameters of elevation and slope on vegetation distribution. On the other side,GWR analysis indicated that spatially,the parameters of topography had a very complex relationship with the vegetation distribution,as results of the various combinations of environmental factors,vegetation composition and also anthropogenic impact.The influences of elevation and slope generally decreased,from strongly positive to nearly zero, with increasing altitude and slope.Specially,most rapid changes of coefficients between NDVI and elevation or slope were observed in relatively flat and low-lying areas.This paper confirmed that the non-stationary analysis through the framework of GWR could lead to a better understanding of vegetation distribution in subtropical mountainous and hilly region.It was hoped that the proposed scale selection method combined with GWR framework would provide some guidelines on dealing with both spatial(horizontal)and altitudinal(vertical) non-stationarity in the dataset,and it could easily be applied in characterizing vegetation distribution patterns in other mountainous and hilly river basins and related research.

For preventing ecosystem degradation,protecting natural habitats and conserving biodiversity within the habitats,2588 nature reserves have been established in China at the end of 2010.The total area is up to 149.44 million ha and covers over 15%of Chinese terrestrial surface.Land-cover change,as the primary driver of biodiversity change,directly impacts ecosystem structures and functions.In this paper,180 National Nature Reserves(NNRs)are selected and their total area is 44.71 million ha,accounting for 29.9%of all NNRs in China.In terms of the ecosystem characteristics and their major protected object,all selected NNRs are classified into 7 types.A Positive and Negative Change Index of Land-cover(PNCIL)was developed to analyze the land-cover change of each NNRs type from the late 1980s to 2005. The results show that the land-cover of all selected NNRs types have degradated to a certain degree except the forest ecosystem reserves with a decreasing rate,but the rate of degradation alleviated gradually.The mean positive and negative change rates of land-cover in all core zones decreased by 0.69%and 0.16%respectively.The landscape pattern of land-cover in the core zones was more stable than that in the buffer zones and the experimental zones. Furthermore,the ecological diversity and patch connectivity of land-cover in selected NNRs increased generally.In short,the land-cover of 180 selected NNRs in China had a beneficial change trend after NNRs established,especially between 1995 and 2005.

Recently,important land use changes have occurred in the Black Sea coastal regions of Ístanbul due to urban growth and population increases.The objective of this study was to determine changes in land use in the Black Sea coastal regions of?stanbul between 1987 and 2007.Landsat 30 m satellite images from 1987 and 2007 are used in the study.The study area is 1000 m in width from the coastline to the land and the study has been carried out using the controlled classification method to classify areas into residential,agricultural, forest,bare land,brush/grassland,and lake/pond land classes.Land use changes between 1987 and 2007 were analysed in detail.Residential areas of the Black Sea coastal regions of Ístanbul increased by 122%over the two decades.Also an increase of 55%in agriculture areas was observed,while there were decreases of 26%in forest areas and 15%in free land. A 21%increase in the area of brush and grassland took place.Furthermore 79%of the study area was covered by residential areas in 2007.It is probable that pressure on the Ístanbul coastal regions will continue due to migraton and rapid urbanization.Therefore,Istanbul's Black Sea coastal regions should be maintained using a sustainable coastal management plan.

Historical database of National Soil Survey Center containing 1424 geo-referenced soil profiles was used in this study for estimating the organic carbon(SOC)for the soils of Ohio,USA.Specific objective of the study was to estimate the spatial distribution of SOC density(C stock per unit area)to 1.0-m depth for soils of Ohio using geographically weighted regression(GWR),and compare the results with that obtained from multiple linear regression (MLR).About 80%of the analytical data were used for calibration and 20%for validation.A total of 20 variables including terrain attributes,climate data,bedrock geology,and land use data were used for mapping the SOC density.Results showed that the GWR provided better estimations with the lowest(3.81 kg m^-2)root mean square error(RMSE)than MLR approach. Total estimated SOC pool for soils in Ohio ranged from 727 to 742 Tg.This study demonstrates that,the local spatial statistical technique,the GWR can perform better in capturing the spatial distribution of SOC across the study region as compared to other global spatial statistical techniques such as MLR.Thus,GWR enhances the accuracy for mapping SOC density.

As important mechanisms of regional strategy and policy,prefecture-level regions have played an increasingly significant role in the development of China's economy.However, little research has grasped the essence of the economic development stage and the spatio-temporal evolution process at the prefecture level;this may lead to biased policies and their ineffective implementations.Based on Chenery's economic development theory,this paper identifies China's economic development stages at both national and prefectural levels. Both the Global Moran I index and the Getis–Ord Gi*index are employed to investigate the spatio-temporal evolution of China's economic development from 1990 to 2010.Major conclusions can be drawn as follows.(1)China's economic development is generally in the state of agglomeration.It entered the Primary Production Stage in 1990,and the Middle Industrialized Stage in 2010,with a‘balanced–unbalanced–gradually rebalanced' pattern in the process.(2)China's rapid economic growth experienced a spatial shift from the coastal areas to the the inland areas.Most advanced cities in mid-western China can be roughly categorized into regional hub cities and resource-dependent cities.(3)Hot spots in China's economy moved northward and westward.The interactions between cities and prefectures became weaker in Eastern China,while cities and prefectures in Central and Western China were still at the stage of individual development,with limited effect on the surrounding cities.(4)While the overall growth rate of China's economy has gradually slowed down during the past two decades,the growth rate of cities and prefectures in Central and Western China was much faster than those in coastal areas.(5)Areas rich in resources,such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia,have become the new hot spots of economic growth in recent years.For these regions,however,more attention needs to be paid to their unbalanced industrial structures and the lagging social development against the backdrop of the rapid economic growth, driven predominantly by the exploitation of resources.

The wide application of information and communication technologies(ICTs)has been argued to be critical to spatial transformation of firms.Recent advances in the studies along this line have challenged traditional location theory.The existing literature,however, focuses mainly on the impacts of ICTs on locational conditions and industrial spatial distribution.The dynamics behind such changes have not yet been given sufficient attention by ge- ographers.Given this background,this paper investigates the impact of new ICTs on traditional location theory and the dynamics of industrial re-location that are enabled by new ICTs, based on data collected from an investigation of 178 firms.The paper argues that the application of new ICTs has been a key location factor in the information age,and that the time-cost is becoming critical to the spatial organization of firms,particularly as a result of a shorter product life and mass customization,among other dynamics.

The study employs slope,aspect,relief degree of land surface,land use,vegetation index,hydrology and climate,as evaluation indexes to set up the Human Settlements Environmental Index(HEI)model to evaluate the environmental suitability for human settlements in the Shiyang River Basin.By using GIS spatial analysis technology,such as spatial overlay analysis,buffer analysis and density analysis,the environmental suitability of the human settlement spatial situation and spatial pattern are established to analyze their spatial distribution. The results show that the index of suitability for human settlements in the Shiyang River Basin is between 17.13 and 84.32.In general,suitability for human settlements decreases from the southwest to the northeast.Seen from an area pattern,the suitable region is mainly distributed in the Minqin oasis,Wuwei oasis and Changning basin,which are about 1080.01 km² and account for 2.59%of the total area.Rather and comparatively suitable region is mainly distributed around the counties of Gulang,Yongchang and north of Tianzhu,which is about 1100.30 km² .The common suitable region is mainly distributed outside the counties of Yongchang,Jinchuan and most parts of Minqin County,which are about 23328.04 km² ,accounting for 56.08%of the total area.The unsuitable region is mainly distributed upstream and to the north of the river,which is about 9937.60 km² ,accounting for 23.89%of the total area.Meanwhile,the least suitable region is distributed around the Qilian Mountains,which are covered by snow and cold desert and lie in the intersecting area between the Tengger Desert and Badain Jaran Desert.The total area is about 6154.05 km² ,accounting for 14.79% of the total area.Suitable regions for human habitation are mainly distributed around rivers in the form of ribbons and batches,while others are scattered.The distribution pattern is identical to the residential spatial pattern.In addition,the relationships between HEI and other factors have been analyzed.There is a clear logarithmic correlation between the residential environment and population,that is,the correlation coefficient between the evaluation value and population density reaches 0.851.There is also a positive correlation between the resi- dential environment and economy,which reaches an evaluation value of 0.845 between the residential environment and GDP.Results also show that the environment is out of bearing with the existing population in Shiyang River Basin.Spatial distribution of population is profoundly affected by severe environmental problems,such as the expanded deserts,the hilly terrain and the changing climate.Surface water shortage and slow economic growth are bottlenecks for suitable human settlement in the Shiyang River Basin.Combining these problems with planning for construction of new country and the exploitation of local land,some residential areas should be relocated to improve the residential environment.

Environments in arid and semiarid regions are extremely sensitive to climate changes.High wind activity in these regions has resulted in an extensively developed arid geomorphology,but past environmental changes are poorly understood because of the absence of relatively high-resolution proxies.The accumulation characteristics of nebkhas, which have developed extensively in these regions,can be used as a method of reconstructing environmental changes.Here we summarized recent advances in research on the formation,development,and sediment characteristics of nebkhas and their significance to environmental changes in arid and semiarid regions.Based on the studies of our colleagues, we suggested that research on nebkha formation can provide distinct clues about environmental changes in arid and semiarid regions;however,continued studies are needed.

Actual evapotranspiration is a key process of hydrological cycle and a sole term that links land surface water balance and land surface energy balance.Evapotranspiration plays a key role in simulating hydrological effect of climate change,and a review of evapotranspiration estimation methods in hydrological models is of vital importance.This paper firstly summarizes the evapotranspiration estimation methods applied in hydrological models and then classifies them into the integrated converting methods and the classification gathering methods by their mechanism.Integrated converting methods are usually used in hydrological models and two differences exist among them:one is in the potential evaporation estimation methods,while the other in the function for defining relationship between potential evaporation and actual evapotranspiration.Due to the higher information requirements of the Penman-Monteith method and the existing data uncertainty,simplified empirical methods for calculating potential and actual evapotranspiration are widely used in hydrological models. Different evapotranspiration calculation methods are used depending on the complexity of the hydrological model,and importance and difficulty in the selection of the most suitable evapotranspiration methods is discussed.Finally,this paper points out the prospective development trends of the evapotranspiration estimating methods in hydrological modeling.

As geographic literacy training is an essential content for Chinese citizens' literacy education,national geographical education is one of the indispensable key aspects of that training.Because of China's vast land area and the significance of the regional differences,it is difficult for students to receive a solid education regarding China's geography.In 1902,the government established the geography curriculum and began to incorporate the concept of geographical regionalization to facilitate the teaching of China's geography by publishing the first syllabi,which was modified later and put into use in 1904.Since 1904,numerous geography textbooks have attempted to find an appropriate way to present China's geographical regionalization,as it is important for secondary students to have a clear understanding and appreciation for the different regional characteristics.Accordingly,the geographical regionalization content is divided into four main phases:1902 to 1927;1928 to 1948;1949 to 1986; and 1986 to the present.During these phases,the content related to China's geographical regionalization in secondary middle school geography textbooks has been gradually simplified and has adopted a more scientific foundation,thus leading to the present time where there are now four geographical regional areas.From this historical study,we find that while China's geographical regionalization has gradually matured,there are still some problems. For example,dividing the study into four regions to describe the panorama of China is too simplified,and the learning therefore becomes too scattered and haphazard,particularly given the new curriculum reform.

The 2012 Annual Meeting of the Geographical Society of China(GSC)was held on October 12-14 in Henan University,Kaifeng,Henan Province.The meeting was co-sponsored by the GSC and Henan Association of Science and Technology,and co-hosted by Henan University with a history of 100 years and Henan University of Economics and Law.A total of around 1300 geographers throughout China participated in this meeting and more than 800 papers including 560 oral presentations were submitted and discussed.During the meeting,20 young scholars were prized for their excellent papers presented to this annual meeting.

Ecological land rent is the excess profit produced by resource scarcity, and is also an important indicator for measuring the social and economic effects of resource scarcity. This paper, by calculating the respective ecological land rents of all the provinces in China for the years 2002 and 2007, and with the assistance of the software programs ArcGIS and GeoDA, analyzes the spatial differentiation characteristics of ecological land rent; then, the influencing factors of ecological land rent differentiation among the provinces are examined using the methods of traditional regression and spatial correlation analysis. The following results were obtained: First, ecological land rent per unit of output in China shows stable distribution characteristics of being low in the southwestern and northeastern provinces, and high in Hebei and Henan provinces. There is also an increasing tendency in the central and western provinces, and a decreasing one in the eastern provinces. In general, the spatial distribution of ecological land rent per unit of output in China is quite scattered. Second, the total ecological land rent shows significant spatial aggregation characteristics, in particular the provinces in China possessing high total amounts of ecological land rent tend to be adjacent to one another, as do those with low total amounts, and the spatial difference characteristics of the eastern, central and western provinces are distinguished. The Bohai Rim, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta are shown to be highly clustering regions of total ecological land rent, while the western provinces have very low ecological land rent in terms of total amount. Third, population distribution, economic level and industrial structure were all important influencing factors influencing ecological land rent differentiation among provinces in China. Furthermore, population density, urbanization level, economic density, per capita consumption level and GDP per capita were all shown to be positively related to total ecological land rent, which indicates that spatial clustering exists between ecological land rent and these factors. However, there was also a negative correlation between ecological land rent and agricultural output percentage, indicating that spatial scattering exists between ecological land rent and agricultural output percentage.

The changes in cropland quantity and quality due to land use are critical concerns to national food security, particularly for China. Despite the significant ecological effects, the ecological restoration program (ERP), started from 1999, has evidently altered the spatial patterns of China’s cropland and agricultural productivity. Based on cropland dynamic data from 2000 to 2008 primarily derived from satellite images with a 30-m resolution and satellite-based net primary productivity models, we identified the impacts on agricultural productivity caused by ERP, including “Grain for Green” Program (GFGP) and “Reclaimed Cropland to Lake” (RCTL) Program. Our results indicated that the agricultural productivity lost with a rate of 132.67×10⁴ t/a due to ERP, which accounted for 44.01% of the total loss rate caused by land use changes during 2000-2005. During 2005-2008, the loss rate due to ERP decreased to 77.18×10⁴ t/a, which was equivalent to 58.17% of that in the first five years and 30.22% of the total loss rate caused by land use changes. The agricultural productivity loss from 2000-2008 caused by ERP was more attributed to GFGP (about 70%) than RCTL. Although ERP had a certain influence on cropland productivity during 2000-2008, its effect was still much less than that of urbanization; moreover, ERP was already converted from the project implementation phase to the consolidation phase.

The urban ecosystem possesses dissipating structures that can absorb substances and energy from the external environment and export products and wastes to maintain order within the system. Given these circumstances, this paper analyzed the ability of the urban ecosystem in Guangzhou City to sustain development from the perspective of entropy. The research was carried out in three steps. First, an evaluation index system that considers the ability of the urban ecosystem for sustainable development was formed based on the structures and functions of the urban ecosystem and the change in the entropy of the urban socioeconomic ecosystem. Second, the sustainable development ability assessment model for the urban ecosystem was built using information entropy. Last, by combining the time series variation of the evaluation indicators with the entropy weights, this paper analyzed the influence of the combined factors on the sustainable development ability of the urban ecosystem in Guangzhou and suggested some measures to promote the sustainable development of the urban ecosystem in Guangzhou. The conclusions of this study can be summarized as follows: (1) The urban ecosystem has developed in an orderly and healthy direction, with effective control over the urban environmental pollution problems in Guangzhou between 2004 and 2010. (2) The sustainable development ability of the urban ecosystem had been on an upward trend in Guangzhou during the study period. The ability of the natural urban ecosystem to support the urban socioeconomic ecosystem increased continuously, and the improved ecoenvironment enhanced the harmony and vitality of the urban ecosystem in Guangzhou.

China is physically and socio-economically susceptible to global warming-derived high temperature extremes because of its vast area and high urban population density. This article presents a scenario-based analysis method for high temperature extremes aimed at illustrating the latter’s hazardous potential and exposure across China. Based on probability analysis, high temperature extreme scenarios with return periods of 5, 10, 20, and 50 years were designed, with a high temperature hazard index calculated by integrating two differentially-weighted extreme temperature indices (maximum temperature and high temperature days). To perform the exposure analysis, a land use map was employed to determine the spatial distribution of susceptible human activities under the different scenarios. The results indicate that there are two heat-prone regions and a sub-hotspot occupying a relatively small land area. However, the societal and economic consequences of such an environmental impact upon the North China Plain and middle/lower Yangtze River Basin would be substantial due to the concentration of human activities in these areas.

Based on a monthly dataset of precipitation time series (1961-2010) from 12 meteorological stations across the Three-River Headwater Region (THRHR) of Qinghai Province, China, the spatio-temporal variation and abrupt change analysis of precipitation were examined by using moving average, linear regression, spline interpolation, the Mann-Kendall test and so on. Major conclusions were as follows. (1) The long-term annual and seasonal precipitation in the study area indicated an increasing trend with some oscillations during 1961-2010; however, the summer precipitation in the Lantsang (Lancang) River Headwater Region (LARHR), and the autumn precipitation in the Yangtze River Headwater Region (YERHR) of the THRHR decreased in the same period. (2) The amount of annual precipitation in the THRHR and its three sub-headwater regions was greater in the 1980s and 2000s. The springs were fairly wet after the 1970s, while the summers were relatively wet in the 1960s, 1980s and 2000s. In addition, the amount of precipitation in the autumn was greater in the 1970s and 1980s, but it was relatively less for the winter precipitation, except in the 1990s. (3) The normal values of spring, summer, winter and annual precipitation in the THRHR and its three sub-headwater regions all increased, but the normal value of summer precipitation in the LARHR had a negative trend and the normal value of winter precipitation declined in general. (4) The spring and winter precipitation increased in most of the THRHR. The summer, autumn and annual precipitation increased mainly in the marginal area of the west and north and decreased in the regions of Yushu, Zaduo, Jiuzhi and Banma. (5) The spring and winter precipitation in the THRHR and its three sub-headwater regions showed an abrupt change, except for the spring precipitation in the YARHR. The abrupt changes of spring precipitation were mainly in the late 1980s and early 1990s, while the abrupt changes of winter precipitation were primary in the mid- to late 1970s. This research would be helpful for further understanding the trends and periodicity of precipitation and for watershed-based water resource management in the THRHR.

The paper presents results of a study on the sediment supply and movement of highly turbid sediment plume within Malindi Bay in the Northern region of the Kenya coast. The current velocities, tidal elevation, salinity and suspended sediment concentrations (TSSC) were measured in stations located within the bay using Aanderaa Recording Current Meter (RCM-9), Turbidity Sensor mounted on RCM-9, Divers Gauges and Aanderaa Temperature-Salinity Meter. The study established that Malindi Bay receives a high terrigenous sediment load amounting to 5.7×10⁶ ton·yr^-1. The river freshwater supply into the bay is highly variable ranging from 7 to 680 m³·s^-1. The high flows that are > 150 m³·s^-1 occurred in May during the South East Monsoon (SEM). Relatively low peak flows occurred in November during the North East Monsoon (NEM) but these were usually <70 m³·s^-1. The discharge of highly turbidity river water into the bay in April and May occurs in a period of high intensity SEM winds that generate strong north flowing current that transports the river sediment plume northward. However, during the NEM, the river supply of turbid water is relatively low occurring in a period of relatively low intensity NEM winds that result in relatively weaker south flowing current that transports the sediment plume southward. The mechanism of advection of the sediment plume north or south of the estuary is mainly thought to be due to the Ekman transport generated by the onshore monsoon winds. Limited movement of the river sediment plume southward towards Ras Vasco Da Gama during NEM has ensured that the coral reef ecosystem in the northern parts of Malindi Marine National Park has not been completely destroyed by the influx of terrigenous sediments. However, to the north there is no coral reef ecosystem. The high sediment discharge into Malindi Bay can be attributed to land use change in the Athi-Sabaki River Basin in addition to rapid population increase which has led to clearance of forests to open land for agriculture, livestock grazing and settlement. The problems of heavy siltation in the bay can be addressed by implementing effective soil conservation programmes in the Athi-Sabaki Basin. However, the soil conservation programmes in the basin are yet to succeed due to widespread poverty among the inhabitants and the complications brought about by climate change.

Based on measured data of coastline and bathometry, processed by softwares of Surfer and Mapinfo, and combined with sediment loads in different phases at Lijin gauging station, temporal and spatial evolution of coastline and subaqueous geomorphology in muddy coast of the Yellow River Delta is analyzed. The results show that ~68% of sediments were delivered by the Yellow River deposited around the river mouth and in the littoral area from 1953 to 2000. Coastline in different coasts had distinctive changes in response to shifts of river course. Coastline was stable in the west of the Diaokou river mouth. Coastline from the east of the Diaokou river mouth to the north of the Gudong oilfield had experienced siltation, then serious erosion, and finally kept stable with sea walls conservation. Generally, coastline of the survived river mouth of the Qingshuigou river course stretched seaward, whereas the south side of sand spit at the Qingshuigou old river mouth was eroded after the Yellow River inpouring near the position at the Qing 8. The subaqueous geomorphology off the survived river mouth exhibited siltation from 1976 to 1996, with flat topset beds and steeper foreset beds. From 1996 to 2005, the subaqueous geomorphology off the Qingshuigou old river mouth was eroded in the topset and foreset beds, but silted in the bottomset beds. The subaqueous geomorphology off the new river mouth sequentially performed siltation with small degree compared to that of 1976-1996.

There exists great potential of rural land consolidation in China due to the aggravated hollowed villages against the background of rapid rural-urban transformation. The paper aims to investigate the potential of rural land consolidation within four urbanization scenarios: Complete urbanization, Semi-urbanization, Urbanization in batches and prospective urbanization in 2020. Research findings show that, (1) the potentials of rural land consolidation in complete and semi-urbanization are 809.89×10⁴ hm² and 699.19×10⁴ hm² respectively while rural consolidation rates are 50.70% and 43.77%. As for the urbanization in batches and urbanization in 2020, the potentials are 757.89×10⁴ hm² and 992.16×10⁴ hm². (2) Beside Tibet and Ningxia, rural consolidation rates in most provinces are between 40% and 60%, and the land increase rates are between 3% and 12%. Significant correlation between potential of rural land consolidation and the degree of hollowed villages is also found. (3) Evident differences of potential of rural land consolidation exist across provinces. Rural consolidation rates in the East and Central provinces are higher than that in the West provinces. Villages in the developed areas have higher consolidation rates than those in the less developed areas, and villages in the plain areas tend to have higher consolidation rates than those in the mountainous areas.

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

Given the great number of studies focusing on the temporal interaction between economic and environmental subsystems, it is useful to perform a quantitative spatial assessment of these subsystems. In this paper, comprehensive assessment indicators for regional economic development and environmental pollution subsystems are constructed. Then, the degree of coupling and coordination of the regional economy-environment system is calculated for 350 prefectural units in China. It is found that the economic development and environmental pollution in most prefectural units is still at a low level of coupling and coordination. According to the coupling and coordination values, the Chinese territory can be divided into four types of area: economy-environment harmonious area, economy-environment gearing area, economy-environment rivaling area and low coupling degree of economy-environment area. Based on a structural analysis of the industrial sector in the four types of areas, there is a spatial relationship between the regional industrial sector structure and the coupling-coordination level. In the economy-environment harmonious area, the sectors of manufacturing of high-technology and high value-added products, such as communications, computer and electronic equipment, transport equipment and electrical machinery, account for a large proportion of the value of local industrial output. The industrial value of the economy-environment gearing area is concentrated on the manufacturing of machinery and equipment, and contains a few polluting sectors such as ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical manufacturing and electricity generation. The economy-environment rivaling area is the type of area where polluting sectors concentrate, such as iron and steel, petrifaction, coal mining, building materials and electricity generation. In the low coupling degree of economy-environment area, its industry is concentrated on the production and processing of primary products.