Spatial patterns and driving forces of land use change in China during the early 21st century

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

Study on spatial pattern of land-use change in China during 1995-2000

It is more and more acknowledged that land-use/cover dynamic change has become a key subject urgently to be dealt with in the study of global environmental change. Supported by the Landsat TM digital images, spatial patterns and temporal variation of land-use change during 1995 -2000 are studied in the paper. According to the land-use dynamic degree model, supported by the 1km GRID data of land-use change and the comprehensive characters of physical, economic and social features, a dynamic regionalization of land-use change is designed to disclose the spatial pattern of land-use change processes. Generally speaking, in the traditional agricultural zones, e.g., Huang-Huai-Hai Plains, Yangtze River Delta and Sichuan Basin, the built-up and residential areas occupy a great proportion of arable land, and in the interlock area of farming and pasturing of northern China and the oases agricultural zones, the reclamation I of arable land is conspicuously driven by changes of production conditions, economic benefits and climatic conditions. The implementation of "returning arable land into woodland or grassland" policies has won initial success in some areas, but it is too early to say that the trend of deforestation has been effectively reversed across China. In this paper, the division of dynamic regionalization of land-use change is designed, for the sake of revealing the temporal and spatial features of land-use change and laying the foundation for the study of regional scale land-use changes. Moreover, an integrated study, including studies of spatial pattern and temporal process of land-use change, is carried out in this paper, which is an interesting try on the comparative studies of spatial pattern on change process and the change process of spatial pattern of land-use change.

Geological records of marine environmental changes in the southern Okinawa Trough

Indexes of sediment grain size, sedimentation rates, geochemical composition, heavy minerals, benthic foraminiferal fauna, indicator species of the Kuroshio Current, paleo-SST and carbonate dissolution of core E017 conformably suggest a great marine environmental change occurring at about 10.1-9.2 cal. kaBP in the southern Okinawa Trough, which may correspond to the strengthening of the Kuroshio Warm Current and re-entering the Okinawa Trough through the sea area off northeast Taiwan. The invasion of Kuroshio current has experienced a process of gradual strengthening and then weakening, and its intensity became more fluctuation during the last 5000 years. Compared to the transition of sediment grain size, geochemical composition and heavy minerals, the foraminiferal faunas show a 900-year lag, which may indicate that the invasion of Kuroshio Current and the consequent sea surface and deep-water environmental changes is a gradual process, and fauna has an obvious lag compared to environment altering. The carbonate dissolution of the Okinawa Trough has had an apparent strengthening since 9.2 cal. kaBP, and reached a maximum in the late 3000 years, which may be caused by the deep-water environmental changes due to the invasion of Kuroshio Current.

陆地植物对环境变化的响应

陆地植物起源以后，地球上的环境发生了巨大的变化。大气CO2浓度自泥盆纪早期的2000-4OOOμml•mol_1下降至石炭一二叠纪的300μml•mol_1左右，02浓度在泥盆纪至石炭一二叠纪时期，由20-30μml•mol_1上升到70-80μml•mol_1，随后又下降到目前的水平。陆地植物登陆后，形态结构也发生了显著的改变，气生部分表而分化出了通气结构--气孔器和保护结构--角质层。泥盆纪首选标志植物刺镰蕨（Drelpanophycus spinaefrmis）在整个泥盆纪，广布全世界。刺镰蕨的气孔器类型一直存在两种观点，一种认为刺镰蕨的气孔器是平列型，即气孔器山两个保卫细胞和两个副卫细胞组成：另一观点认为刺镰蕨的气孔器为不规则型，即气孔器仅有两个保卫细胞构成，不具副卫细胞。我们借助于扫描电镜、石蜡制片技术和叶表皮离析法，细致地研究了现代石松（Lycopodium japonicum）叶的横切而、表皮及气孔器的内外表面结构，并同刺镰蕨的表皮和气孔器进行了对比。认为刺镰蕨的气孔器和所有的化石石松类及现代石松类的气孔器一样，均属于不规则型。从而解决了关于刺镰蕨气孔器类型的长期争论的关键性科学问题。 胡桃科青钱柳属植物起源于晚白垩世的环北太平洋沿岸，化石植物最早发现于北美古新世和早始新世的Motana,，Wyoming，North Dakota，north Colorado地区，欧亚地区仅出现在渐新世至上新世的Kazakhstan、Germany、Romnania、Russia、Japan、中国云南远谋和四川米易地区。我们将采于吉林省珲春组始新世的叶化石鉴定为一青钱柳相似种，该化石成为东亚地区出现最早的青钱柳属植物，这一发现也支持晚白垩至早第三纪时期环北太平洋两岸曾经相连的观点，青钱柳属在晚白垩由北美起源，在始新世经东亚向欧亚大陆扩散，由于环境变迁，第四纪以后，青钱柳属仪剩一种植物分布于中国的亚热带地区。文中还利用共存分析方法估测出始新世吉林省珲春地区属于暖温带至亚热带气候。 统万城遗址位于我国黄土高原向毛乌素沙漠过渡地带的北缘，属于暖温带森林草原向温带干草原、温带荒漠草原过渡的地区，同时又是东部季风区向西北干旱区过渡的生态环境敏感带。今天统万城地区的自然景观属于沙漠，仅存稀疏的次生灌丛和草本群落。但是，通过对统万城城墙内的孢粉和木材进行的综合研究表明，在约1600年前，当地为温带草原，在塬面或山丘上分布有侧柏林，沟谷、河岸边生长喜温湿的乔木，河流、湖泊、沼泽中水生植物繁盛，在丘间低洼处或盐碱土上分布有灌木和草本植物。当时该地区的年均温为7.8 ℃-9.3℃，最热月平均温度23.0℃-24.9℃，最冷月平均温度-12℃-5.6℃，年较差28.5℃-3 8.2℃，年降雨量403.4-550．Omm，最大月降雨量83.8-123.9mm，最少月降雨量4.4-12.2mm，当时气候比现在温暖湿润，年均温比现在高出0.2-0.7℃，年降雨量也高出60--lOOmm。而如此的历史景观今天已经向南迁移，侧柏林或森林草原退缩至延安以南地区。在此近1600年的时间里，毛乌素沙漠分布范围不断扩大，其南部边缘推进了约200 km，推测沙漠扩展的速率达到平均125m/a。

中国北方花粉--气候走势面研究及内蒙中部全新世环境变迁

本文在对中国北方表土花粉研究的基础上，采用多项式函数回归方法建造了中国北方松属(Pinus)、桦属(Betula)、栎属(Quercus)、蒿属(Artemisia)、藜科(Chenopodiaceae)、菊科(Compositae)、云杉属(Picea)、麻黄属(Ephedra)、禾本科(Gramineae)等的花粉——气候趋势面，从而为利用化石花粉资料直接恢复古气候、古环境提供了一种方便易行的方法;采用多元分析方法对内蒙古中部草原区表土花粉进行了主成分分析，探讨了草原区表土花粉组合的规律及与植被类型的关系;本文还应用孢粉分析方法，结合14C测年技术，通过内蒙古中部察素齐泥炭剖面高分辨率的化石花粉数据，初步恢复了大青山山地南部及土默特平原地区分辨率为70年的全新世以来植被演替和环境变迁的状况，并与邻近地区的全新世古气候、古环境进行了对比研究，研究发现，本区域全新世古环境的变迁序列基本上可以与周围地区及华北地区进行对比，其环境变迁经历了凉干～温湿～暖湿～温干～凉干的变化，且气候最适宜期出现在5000～4100aB.P.期间;最后，对利用花粉——气候趋势面方法恢复古气候进行了尝试和探讨，经与常规方法对比，表明利用趋势面模型重建古气候是一种行之有效的新方法。

内蒙古半干旱温带草原土壤微生物对环境变化的响应

地处干旱半干旱区的我国北方温带草原是欧亚大陆草原生物区系的重要组成部分，对全球变化敏感。土壤微生物在联系生态系统地上和地下部分起着中枢作用，由于其周转速率快，对环境因子变化响应快速，可用来指示短期内环境因子的变化对生态系统的影响。目前关于内蒙古半干旱温带草原的研究主要集中在生态系统地上部分，对地下尤其是土壤微生物对全球变化及人为干扰的响应研究仍然缺乏。本研究选取位于内蒙古多伦县的代表性的半干旱温带草原，通过对多种环境因子变化及人为干扰下土壤微生物量、呼吸、氮可利用性及转化等参数进行测定，旨在探讨全球变化及人为干扰对土壤微生物的影响，为地上植物群落的响应及生态系统地上与地下部分的联系提供机理解释，研究结果如下： 通过研究土壤微生物生物量和呼吸生长季的动态变化，以及它们对地形、火烧、施用氮肥及其交互作用的响应，结果表明，土壤微生物参数在生长季表现出明显的季节变异。土壤微生物生物量碳(MBC)、氮(MBN)分别在坡下比坡上高出14.8%和11.5%。但是，有机碳微中生物量碳的百分比(Cmic/Corg)以及总氮中微生物量氮的百分比(Nmic/Ntot)分别在坡上比坡下高16.9%和26.2%。微生物呼吸(MR)和代谢熵(qCO2)都不受地形的影响。火烧在整个生长季分别提高MBC和MBN29.8%和14.2%，MR和qCO2 则有降低趋势，尤其是在八月份。火烧在坡上提高Cmic/Corg 和Nmic/Ntot，但是在坡下对二者没有影响。氮肥的施用在第一个生长季对所有土壤微生物指标都没有影响。 草原生态中环境因子的空间和时间变异可以影响土壤微生物以及它们对干扰的响应。通过对地形、火烧、施肥进行三年连续处理和观测土壤微生物指标发现，1)土壤微生物参数有明显的年际变异。2)在相对湿润的年份，土壤微生物量在坡下比坡上高，但是Cmic/Corg和Nmic/Ntot 在坡上高于坡下。但在干旱年份里，所有土壤微生物参数都是在坡下高于坡上，且由于地形引起的差异在干旱年份表现更强烈。MBC、MBN、MR 的变异系数在坡上高，表明土壤微生物量和活性在坡下稳定性高。说明了土壤水分含量在半干旱温带草原调节土壤微生物和其稳定性方面起着重要作用。地形对土壤可利用的氮没有影响。3)每年一次的火烧对土壤微生物量、Cmic/Corg、Nmic/Ntot 有正效应但正效应随处理时间延长和处理次数增加而降低。火烧在在第一年内不论在坡上还是坡下都降低MR，但是在干旱年份里，火烧在坡上降低MR，在坡下提高MR。火烧在第二年里在坡下提高了土壤无机氮含量，但在坡上降低了土壤无机氮含量。在第三年，不论坡上还是坡下，火烧使得土壤无机氮含量降低。4)施用氮肥提高土壤无机氮含量，但是它对土壤微生物参数产生负效应，且负效应随着处理时间延长和处理次数的增加而增强。此外，氮肥增加了MBC、MBN、MR的变异系数。 土壤微生物在生态系统碳氮循环中起着关键作用，但是关于氮素添加是否促进或抑制土壤微生物生物量和活动仍然存在争议。在我国北方温带草原的这项研究目的在于探讨土壤微生物沿着一个施氮梯度的响应。本研究设置了每年一次、连续四年的八个水平(0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 g N m-2以尿素形式施入土壤)N处理。并在第三年和第四年测定了土壤微生物生物量碳、氮、磷、微生物呼吸和代谢熵、土壤无机氮、净氮矿化和硝化。大多数测定的微生物参数都在低施氮处理下有所增加，相反在高施氮处理下降低。在取样测定的两年中，对土壤微生物生长和活动的最适施氮量大致为2 g N m-2 y-1；而施氮的阈值在16 和32 gN m-2 y-1之间，在此阈值之上，土壤pH、微生物生物量、微生物呼吸、Cmic/Corg、Nmic/Ntot 急剧降低，相反，土壤无机氮、净氮矿化和硝化急剧增加。土壤微生物对低施氮处理和高施氮处理的特异性响应(Differential Response)可能是由于微生物碳氮限制的转换、以及高施氮处理下土壤pH值降低的毒害影响而引起的。本研究中观察到的土壤微生物沿着施氮梯度的非线性响应有助于解决不同报道及不同生态系统中氮素添加对土壤微生物影响的争议。 气候变化将显著影响陆地生态系统的碳循环。以2005年4月开始的一项野外控制实验为平台，检验我国北方半干旱典型草原土壤和微生物呼吸以及微生物生物量对试验增温和增加降水的响应。在3 个实验年份内(2005-2007 年)测定了整个生长季节的土壤呼吸、微生物呼吸、微生物生物量碳和微生物生物量氮。结果表明，1)受到降水年际波动的影响，土壤和微生物呼吸以及微生物生物量均存在明显的年际变化。2)实验室内沿着一个水分梯度的培养实验揭示了微生物呼吸对温度的响应受到低土壤水分含量的限制。3)在三年时间内，试验增温引起土壤和微生物呼吸以及微生物生物量的显著降低，说明试验增温通过加剧土壤水分胁迫的间接负效应大于温度增加的直接正效应。试验增温所引起的蒸发散的增加导致土壤水分可利用性减少到某一胁迫阈值(Threshold)之下，并因此抑制了植物生长、根系和微生物活动。4)降水增加显著刺激了土壤和微生物呼吸以及其它微生物参数，而且这种正效应随着时间而增强。研究结果表明：在半干旱温带草原，土壤水分在调节土壤和微生物呼吸以及微生物生物量及其对气候变化的响应方面所起的作用比温度更为重要。比较温带草原土壤呼吸与总初级生产力的相对变化显示，相对于光合碳固定而言，增温导致更多而增雨引起较少的呼吸碳损失。这一发现说明：除非降水增加，气候变暖情形下，我国北方的干旱半干旱温带草原将可能作为一个净的碳源。

黄土高原白羊草、沙棘和辽东栎细根比根长特性

以黄土高原地区典型草本(白羊草)、灌木(沙棘)和乔木(辽东栎)为对象,研究了3种植物细根比根长在不同土层的分布状况以及与其它细根参数和土壤物理因子之间的相关性。结果表明,3种植物细根比根长的变化范围为6~55 mm/mg。在0~80cm土层,白羊草、沙棘和辽东栎细根比根长变化范围分别为18~55 mm/mg,14~40 mm/mg,6~33 mm/mg。3种植物0~80cm土层平均细根比根长从大到小依次为白羊草>沙棘>辽东栎。3种植物0~10cm土层细根比根长依次为沙棘>辽东栎>白羊草,10~80cm依次为白羊草>辽东栎>沙棘,表明3种植物细根比根长不仅在这两土层中的分布不具一致性,而且与0~80cm土层平均比根长也不具有一致性,进一步说明3种植物沿土壤剖面的生物量分配策略不同。相关分析表明,3种植物细根比根长与其它细根参数之间的相互关系各不相同,制约程度存在差异。与土壤物理因子的相关分析表明,3种植物细根比根长均随土壤含水量的增加而减少。土壤各级水稳性团聚体和土壤颗粒对3种植物细根比根长并无一致的影响。

Uncertainties in estimates of cropland area in China: a comparison between an AVHRR-derived dataset and a Landsat TM-derived dataset

The large uncertainties in estimates of cropland area in China may have significant implications for major cross-cutting themes of global environmental change-food production and trade, water resources, and the carbon and nitrogen cycles. Many earlier studies have indicated significant under-reporting of cropland area in China from official agricultural census statistics datasets. Space-borne remote sensing analyses provide an alternative and independent approach for estimating cropland area in China. In this study, we report estimates of cropland area from the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD-96) at the 1:100,000 scale, which was generated by a multi-year National Land Cover Project in China through visual interpretation and digitization of Landsat TM images acquired mostly in 1995 and 1996. We compared the NLCD-96 dataset to another land cover dataset at I-km spatial resolution (the IGBP DIScover dataset version 2.0), which was generated from monthly Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from April, 1992 to March, 1993. The data comparison highlighted the limitation and uncertainty of cropland area estimates from the DIScover dataset. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

An inventory of forest relicts in the pastures of Southern Tibet (Xizang AR, China)

An inventory of isolated tree stands surrounded by desert pastures in Southern Tibet (A.R. Xizang, China) revealed more than 50 sites with vigorous trees of Juniperus convallium Rehder & E.H. Wilson and Juniperus tibetica Kom and additional more than 10 records where juniper trees had been destroyed between 1959-1976. The tree stands are not restricted to any specific habitat, and occur within an area stretching 650 km westwards from the current forest border of Southern Tibet. The trees are religious landmarks of the Tibetan Buddhists. The highest trees were found at an elevation of 4,860 m. Vegetation records, rainfall correlations and temperature data collected by local climate stations and successful reforestation trials since 1999 indicate that forest relicts fragmented through human interference could regenerate if current cattle grazing and deforestation practices are halted. The drought line of Juniperus forests in Southern Tibet is approximately 200-250 mm/a. A first pollen diagram from Lhasa shows forest decline associated with the presence of humans since at least 4,600 yr BP. The currently degraded commons developed in the last 600 yr. To date, no findings of remains of ancient forests in the Central Tibetan Highlands of the Changtang have been reported.

黄土-红粘土化学风化与晚新生代气候变化——甘肃平凉白水剖面为例

Late Cenozoic has witnessed a series of climate-environmental change which ends with a transitional shift from greenhouse to icehouse conditions. In last two decades, scientists began to employ the tectonic uplift and its weathering effect to interpret the climatic changes during the late Cenozoic. However, this endeavor has partly been restricted by the lacking of regional and global chemical weathering data. The loess-red clay deposit in the Loess Plateau may record the weathering features of the detritus material from the wide range upwind of the Loess Plateau. Therefore geochemistry of the loess-plaeosol and red clay sequences may provide insights into the regional chemical weathering regime and the connection between the chemical weathering and the late Cenozoic climate-environmental change Here we selected 319 samples from the Baishui section near the Pingliang City, Gansu Province, and analyzed them with X-ray fluorescence. Based on the result, we reconstruct the chemical weathering history of the Baishui section since 6Ma. We chose CIA as the proxy for chemical weathering intensity. The CIA ratio in soil units is higher than in adjacent loess horizons, but lower than in the red clay, in good agreement with the field observation. The CIA ratios of the Baishui section correlates well with the global ice volume fluctuations, indicating that the global cooling may contribute a lot to the chemical weathering variations in Chinese Loess Plateau. There are at least 3 million-year time scale variations that can be identified in the chemical weathering intensity curve, i.e., between 3.3 to 2.1 Ma, 1.7 to 0.9 Ma and from 0.9Ma. We think these may reflect the combined effect of the tectonic uplift and ice sheets on monsoon intensity. Other time scale variations can be also observed. In the period between 2.4 and 0.8 Ma, the CIA record display the 400,000 years cycle, which may be resulted from the Tibetan uplift during the Pliocene-early Pleistocene which have significantly amplified the monsoon response sensitivity to the orbital-scale variations in insolation. From 1.2 Ma, the 100,000 years period became intensifying, and particularly after 0.8 Ma, the earlier monsoon response at 400,000 year periodicity was overwhelmed by the ice sheet forcing at 100,000 year periodicity. These may indicate that the expansions of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets may have crossed a threshold, which enforce the monsoon responding at the 100,000 year periodicity.

北天山新生代构造演化与古环境演变

The Tianshan Mountains is located about 1000-2000 km north of the India-Asia suture and is the most outstanding topography in central Asia, with transmeridional length of nearly 2500 km, north-southern wideness of ~ 300-500 km, peaks exceeding 7000 m above sea level (asl.), and average altitude of over 4000 m asl. Much of the modern relief of the Tianshan Range is a result of contraction driven by the collision of the India subcontinent with the southern margin of Asia, which began in early Tertiary and continues today. Understanding where, when and how the deformation of the Tianshan Mountains occurred is essential to decipher the mechanism of intracontinental tectonics, the process of foreland basin evolution and mountain building, and the history of climate change in central Asia. In order to better constrain the Cenozoic building history of the Tianshan Mountains and the climate change in the southern margin of the Junggar Basin, we carried out multiple studies of magnetostratigraphy, sedimentology, and stable isotopes of paleosol carbonate at the Jingou River section, which is located at the Huoerguosi anticline, the westernest one of the second folds and thrust faults zone in the northern piedmont of the Tianshan Mountains. The Jingou River section with a thickness of about 4160 m is continuous in deposits according to the observed gradual change in sedimentary environments and can be divided into five formations: Anjihaihe, Shawan, Taxihe, Dushanzi and Xiyu in upward sequence. Characteristic remamences were isolated by progressive thermal demagnetization, generally between 300 and 680℃. A total of 1133 out of 1607 samples yielded well-defined ChRMs and were used to establish the magnetostratigraphic column of a 3270-m-thick section from the exposed base of the Anjihaihe Formation to the middle of the Xiyu Formation. Two vertebrate fossil sites and a good correlation with the CK95 geomagnetic polarity time scale suggest that the section was deposited from ~30.5 to ~4.6 Ma and the age of the top of the Xiyu formation is ~2.6 Ma based on an extrapolation of the sedimentation rates. A plot of magnetostratigraphic age vs. height at the Jingou River section shows that significant increases in sedimentation rates as well as notable changes in depositional environments occurred at ~26-22.5 Ma, ~13-11 Ma and ~7 Ma, which represent the initial uplift of the Tianshan Mountains and two subsequent rapid uplift events. In addition, changes in sedimentation rates display characteristic alternations between increases and decreases, which probably indicate that the uplift of the Tianshan Mountains was episodic. We discussed the history of C4 biomass and climatic conditions in the southern margin of the Junggur Basin using the stable carbon and oxygen isotope composition of paleosol carbonates from the Jingou River section during ~17.5-6.5 Ma. The δ13C values indicate that the proportion of C4 biomass was uniform and moderate (15-20 %) during the interval of ~17.5-6.5 Ma. We proposed three hypotheses for this pattern of C4 biomass: (1) counteraction of two opposed factors (global cooling since ~15 Ma and thereafter increased dry and seasonality in central Asia) controlling the growth of C4 grasses, (2) variability in abundance of C3 grasses relative to C3 trees and shrubs if vegetation had ever changed in ecosystems, and (3) the higher latitude of the studied region. The δ18O values show a stepwise negative trend since ~13 Ma which may be attributed to three factors: (1) the temperature decreasing gradually after the middle Miocene (~15 Ma), (2) the increasing contribution of the moistures carried by the polar air masses from the Arctic Ocean to precipitation, and (3) the gradual retreat westward and disappearance of the Paratethys Ocean. Among them, which one played a more important role will need further study of the paleoclimate in central Asia.