吴起县耕地变化与粮食安全问题研究

选取全国退耕还林第一县——吴起县为研究对象,对吴起县自1997-2006年耕地变化动态与粮食生产情况进行了分析研究,运用最小人均耕地面积和耕地压力指数模型法,在分析吴起县1997-2006年10年间耕地、人口、粮食动态变化的基础上,总结了该区域最小人均耕地面积和耕地压力的变化特点,并以此为基础提出了保障吴起县耕地动态平衡和粮食安全的一些建议。

GAAS/GAALAS GRADED INDEX SEPARATE CONFINEMENT SINGLE QUANTUM-WELL SINGLE-MODE WAVE-GUIDE ELECTROABSORPTION LIGHT-MODULATOR

A GaAs/GaAlAs graded-index separate confinement single quantum well heterostructure single-mode ridge waveguide electroabsorption modulator was fabricated and investigated. For the modulator with a quantum well width of 100 angstrom and device length of 700-mu-m, an on/off ratio of 29.7 dB and estimated absorption insertion loss of 3 dB were obtained for TE polarised light with wavelength 8650 angstrom, and for TM polarisation the on/off ratio was 28.5 dB. With a switching voltage of 1 V, an on/off ratio of 15 dB was achieved. Photocurrent spectra exhibited a red shift of 600 angstrom of the absorption edge when the voltage applied to the PIN diode was varied from 0.5 to -7 V. The corresponding shift of the room temperature exciton peak energy was 96 meV.

Coupling coefficients of gratings with graded refractive index waveguides

In this paper, the effective coupling coefficient k(eff) and the self-coupling coefficient zeta(1) are introduced to describe the characteristic of gratings in a resonant situation when the effects of radiation and other partial waves coupling are considered. The dependence of these two coupling coefficients on grating tooth shapes and depths and the dimensions of graded refractive index (GRIN) waveguides is numerically analysed. The results show that the gratings with linear GRIN waveguides have the largest \k(eff)\. The possibility of realizing a complex-coupled DFB laser, even a pure gain or loss coupled DFB laser, employing only a real refractive index coupled grating is also discussed.

Morphology Evolution of (331)A High-Index Surfaces During Atomic Hydrogen Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE)

Step like morphology of (331)A high-index surfaces during atomic hydrogen assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth has been investigated. Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) measurements show that in conventional MBE, the step heights and terrace widths of GaAs layers increase monotonically with increasing substrate temperatures. The terrace widths and step densities increase with increasing the GaAs layer thickness and then saturates. And, in atomic hydrogen assisted MBE, the terrace width reduces and density increases when depositing the same amount of GaAs. It attributes this to the reduced surface migration length of Ga adatoms with atomic hydrogen. Laterally ordered InAs self-aligned nano-wires were grown on GaAs (331)A surfaces and its optical polarization properties were revealed by photoluminescence measurements.

Multimode Interference Couplers with Different Background Refractive Index *

A novel structure of MMI coupler with different background refractive index has been designed. With stronger optical confinement in multimode waveguides, more guided modes are excited to improve imaging quality. Two-dimensional finite difference beam propagation method (2-D FDBPM) was used to simulate this new structure and had proven that its imaging quality, in terms of power uniformity and excess loss, is much better than conventional structure. This structure can be applied in SOI rib waveguides by deep etching method.

Optical analysis of AlGaInP laser diodes with real refractive index guided self-aligned structure

Optical modes of AlGaInP laser diodes with real refractive index guided self-aligned (RISA) structure were analyzed theoretically on the basis of two-dimension semivectorial finite-difference methods (SV-FDMs) and the computed simulation results were presented. The eigenvalue and eigenfunction of this two-dimension waveguide were obtained and the dependence of the confinement factor and beam divergence angles in the direction of parallel and perpendicular to the pn junction on the structure parameters such as the number of quantum wells, the Al composition of the cladding layers, the ridge width, the waveguide thickness and the residual thickness of the upper P-cladding layer were investigated. The results can provide optimized structure parameters and help us design and fabricate high performance AlGaInP laser diodes with a low beam aspect ratio required for optical storage applications.

森林管理对动物生境影响的模拟研究——以小兴安岭友好林业局为例

理解森林管理对野生动物生境的累积效应，需要对不同森林管理预案作出预测、分析和评价。本文，以小兴安岭友好林业局为研究区，利用空间直观景观模型LANDIS模拟其在6种森林管理预案—无采伐、皆伐、择伐I（禁伐区不采伐，限伐区和商品林区每10年采伐面积分别为5%和10%）、择伐II（限伐区和商品林区10%和15%）、造林I（采伐同择伐I，伐后人工更新）和造林II（采伐同择伐II，伐后人工更新）下200年内的森林景观变化。在查阅文献、野外考察和咨询相关专家的基础上，以GIS为平台，构建有着不同生境需求的3种动物：松鼠（Sciurus vulgaris）、马鹿（Cervus elaphus）和花尾榛鸡（Bonasa bonasia）在景观尺度上的生境适宜度指数（Habitat suitability index, HSI）模型，利用Arc的宏语言AML（Arc Macro Language）将LANDIS的输出结果与3种动物的HSI模型相结合，借助生境单元和类水平（Class level）上的景观指数（结合度指数等）评价动物生境，以反映不同森林管理预案对动物生境的影响。研究结果表明： 1）对于LANDIS的模拟结果而言，不同森林管理预案往往导致不同的森林演替动态：无采伐和2造林方案下，森林逐渐向成、过熟林演替，且造林方案显著增加了营林树种的分布面积；择伐I和择伐II下，由于成、过熟林被采伐，森林向后期演替的速度较为缓慢，而皆伐下，中、幼龄林的比重较大。定性而言，对于偏好早期演替的动物而言，皆伐下的生境适宜性较高；对于偏好中、后期演替森林的动物而言，2种择伐方案下生境适宜性较高；对于偏好后期演替的动物而言，无采伐和2造林方案下生境适宜性较高。 2）对于松鼠，无采伐和2造林预案下的生境单元和适宜生境（HSI≥0.5）结合度指数较高，适宜生境的平均斑块面积较大，表明这3种预案下的生境适宜性较高，而2择伐预案由于移去了大量成、过熟林，导致松鼠生境适宜性的下降，对于皆伐，尽管采伐量比2择伐预案的小，由于其不利于针叶林的天然更新，对松鼠的生境破坏更为严重。 3）对于马鹿，皆伐和2造林预案下的生境单元和结合度指数较高，而无采伐下的生境单元和结合度指数整体上又小于2择伐预案下的，这表明，适当的干扰反而利于提高马鹿的生境适宜性，因为，若没有这些采伐、造林等干扰活动，森林的郁闭度会随着树冠的封闭而逐渐加大，下层的许多不耐荫的树种就会消失或减少，降低马鹿的食物来源。 4）对于花尾榛鸡，若不考虑营林活动对其干扰，2造林预案下的生境单元和结合度指数较高，其次为无采伐预案，而皆伐和2择伐方案下较低，这表明，单纯的采伐的将减小花尾榛鸡的生境适宜性。 生态系统是一复杂的系统，因此，不可能存在适于所有动物的森林管理预案，对于管理预案的选择取决于管理者多方面（经济、生态和社会）的权衡。本文是将LANDIS与HSI相结合模拟评估森林管理预案对动物生境影响的一次尝试，研究结果表明了这一方法的实用性。尽管这一方法存在一定的局限性，但利用这一方法，能够可视化和量化结果，并比较不同森林管理预案，从生物多样性保护出发，为森林管理提供决策支持。最后，需要声明的是，本研究侧重方法的探讨，作为实际应用，还需要大量的野外工作来验证HSI模型。

基于RS和GIS的四川省土地利用/覆盖变化及可持续利用研究

LUCC是全球变化研究的核心主题之一，也是社会经济可持续发展的关键问题。改革开放后四川的社会经济发展非常快，在各种因素的驱动下，土地利用/覆盖发生了深刻变化。目前四川省缺乏基于实际调查数据的、全域性的、具有连续时间序列的LUCC和驱动力分析及土地可持续利用研究成果，这对我们从全局上把握全省土地利用现状、发展变化趋势，利用土地政策参与宏观调控，实现长期可持续发展目标，建设资源节约型、环境友好型社会极为不利。本研究针对这一问题，选取全川八大土地利用类型作为研究对象，研究了全省1996年到2006年的土地利用/覆盖格局和变化情况，分析了不同尺度的驱动因素，对全省农用地和建设用地的集约利用状况、潜力进行了分析评价，并提出相应的对策措施。 1．1996年-2006年10年来整个省域的土地利用/覆盖格局变化。 （1）1996年-2006年全省的土地利用/覆盖格局 1996年，全省是一个以农用地为主的土地利用/覆盖格局，林地和牧草地属于优势覆盖类型（合占69.17%），居民点及工矿用地和交通用地合占只有3%左右。 2000年的LUCC格局较为明显的特点是耕地所占比重下降0.4个百分点，水域和未利用土地所占比重有所下降，牧草地保持不变，其余地类所占比重有所上升。 与2000年相比，2004年林草地的优势格局进一步得到强化（合占比重达到70.23%）。耕地面积占幅员面积的比重下降0.83个百分点，略有下降的有未利用土地、水域和牧草地。值得关注的是在“退耕还林还草”的大背景下，牧草地占幅员面积的比重下降0.04个百分点。 到2006年，仍为林草地为主导优势的格局，二者合占上升0.15%。在城市化快速推进的背景下，居民点及工矿用地中的城市用地和建制镇用地占比重超过15%，农村居民点占比重降至76%。交通用地中农村道路占比重降至57.8%,公路用地占比重升至37.5%。五个地貌区的土地利用/覆盖格局与全省的变化基本一致。值得关注的是盆西平原区的交通用地上升幅度和盆地丘陵区的未利用土地的开发利用力度明显大于其它地貌区。 （2）1996-2006年10年间土地利用/覆盖格局的变化 1996-2000年4年间，耕地、水域和未利用地三个地类下降，年均减少0.75、0.19和0.32个百分点。其中耕地年均减少49229.0公顷，约一半流向林地，13.77%流向园地，约20%流向建设用地。另外5个地类面积增长，增长绝对量最大的是林地，年均增长40063.7公顷，交通用地增幅最大，4年年均增长达1.95%。 2001-2004年是西部大开发逐步推进、“退耕还林还草”项目全面展开和土地整理深入实施的关键期，LUCC更为深刻。耕地、未利用地、水域和牧草地四个地类面积下降，其余地类按增长幅度依次是园地、交通用地、居民点及工矿用地和林地。耕地加速下降，年均降幅达到1.59%，其减少去向主要是林地（占66.75%）和园地（占19.84%），其增加来源主要是未利用地、园地和水域。交通用地的增幅最大，为3.96%,其增加主要来源于耕地、未利用土地和林地，分别占49.96%、16.63%和13.09%。居民点及工矿用地增长幅度为3.12%。 从1996年到2006年的10年间，耕地、未利用地、水域和牧草地下降幅度分别为10.36%、3.61%、1.34%和0.26%。园地增幅达23.61%。绝对面积增长最大的则是林地，达630733.3公顷。交通用地和居民点及工矿用地增幅也较大，分别为15.00%和9.31%。 10年间年均总变化量为310326.6公顷，2000年-2004年之间变化最大（为356865.8公顷），高于平均变化量，而1996-2000年间和2004-2006年间都小于平均变化量。 （3）10年间不同地貌区的LUCC变化 盆西平原区的特点是园地大幅上升达77%，居民点及工矿用地和交通用地也大幅上升，耕地、未利用地下降幅度大，该区耕地、水域、未利用地的减少强度和园地、居民点及工矿用地、交通用地的上升强度均居五区第一；盆地丘陵区的特点是牧草地下降幅度大，为-36.89%,交通用地、园地和林地上升幅度较大，该区耕地减少、未利用地减少、林地增加、居民点及工矿用地和交通用地增加的变化强度均居五区相应地类增减的第二位；盆周山地区的特点是耕地减少较多，交通用地和园地增长较大，该区林地变化强度居各区第一位，牧草地和水域变化强度居各区第二位，耕地、居民点及工矿用地和未利用地居各区第三位；川西南山地区的特点是园地、耕地、交通用地和居民点及工矿用地变化幅度大，另外四个地类变化较小。该区减少的牧草地占全省牧草地减少的97.91%，变化强度居各个地貌区的第一位，园地相对变化强度居五区的第二位；川西北高山高原区的特点是耕地大幅下降、园地大幅上升，交通用地升幅也较大，其余地类变化不大。值得注意的是，该区牧草地和水域面积增加，与全省该地类的变化相反。其余地类的相对变化强度均是五个地貌区中最小的。 用变化强度分值考量变化强度，盆西平原区的变化强度最大，盆地丘陵区和盆周山地区的变化强度相当，川西北高山高原区的变化强度则要小得多。 （4）1996年及2006年全省土地利用/覆盖格局的景观生态学分析 全省是以自然景观占优势（占约70%）、农业景观为补充、建设用地景观居于从属地位的土地利用景观格局。景观多样性和均匀度不高。到2006年，全省总的景观格局并无大的改变。总体情况是随着时间的推移和人类活动的加强，区内景观优势度上升、多样性和均匀度变小。但斑块数减少，斑块面积和斑块孔隙度有所增大。斑块的形状指数和分维数均有所下降，表明受人为干扰有加剧的趋势。反映景观格局结构的破碎度指数有轻微下降。景观指数的变化表明全省土地利用有缓慢集中、规模聚集的趋势。 （5）三大生态建设工程对土地利用/覆盖变化的影响 1996-2006年间LUCC与三大生态建设工程实施的耦合分析，发现退耕工程对耕地、林地、牧草地等地类覆盖变化的影响最大，天保工程次之，长防工程最小。 2.四川省LUCC驱动力分析 （1）总体分析： 从整体上分析，人为因素对区域整体LUCC的影响从1996年的63.32%增加到2006年的66.99%，变得日益强烈。同时人为因素影响强度表现出明显的区域差异，地势平缓、经济区位条件好的区域其人为影响强度明显较高。 政策体制转变下的经济高速增长、快速的城市化、工业化过程和生态建设是四川省LUCC宏观尺度的驱动因素。区域的LUCC主要受到了由内向外(从城市到乡村)和由外向内(从山顶向平地)两种作用力的共同推动。局部尺度上，如距离交通线、水利线、中心城市的远近，地形凸起、大型独立项目落址、重污染项目的阻隔等，甚至一些乡规民俗等因素也会成为LUCC的驱动影响因素。在较小的尺度上,人类个体行为选择对LUCC的影响也是存在的。 　　根据驱动因子的特性作者将其划分为驱变、阻变、良性、惰性因子等类型。 （2）分地貌区的驱动因子分析 各地貌区都存在城市化、工业化、生态工程实施、自然灾害等驱动因子，但主次不一。对于盆西平原和盆地丘陵区，城市化、工业化是前两位的因子，而对另外三个地貌区，生态工程实施和产业结构调整则成为第第一、二位的驱动因子。 （3）分地类的驱动因子分析（以坡耕地为例） 分坡度的耕地变化分析发现，耕地减少主要集中在2°以下的平地、15°-25°和25°以上三个坡度级，是其它坡度级耕地减幅的三倍左右。这表明耕地减少受城市化进程和“退耕还林还草”工程驱动影响尤为巨大。 3.土地利用格局优化、集约利用评价和可持续利用及对策研究 （1）土地利用格局优化的战略选择及调整预测 土地利用格局调整的战略是农业生产用地、建设用地和生态及其他用地占幅员的比重分别稳定在13%、7%和80%左右，重点是三大类别内部二级和三级地类的合理调整。 （2）全省土地集约利用评价 全省农用地利用集约度为0.46，总体上集约度不高，处于较适度利用阶段。建设用地利用集约度为0.38，处于较适度利用阶段。集约利用提升空间较大。 农用地的潜力主要在于加强土地保育、完善利用制度、提高单产。城市建设用地的包括存量潜力、强度潜力、结构潜力，空间很大。农村居民点整理潜力可以逐步挖掘。 （3）新增建设用地集约利用的统筹安排 据测算，到2020年，四川省城市建设用地需求量在463850-492360hm2之间，城镇各业新增建设用地规模为361276.79hm2，占用耕地200565.94 hm2。2004-2020年间四川省农村居民点整理潜力33.86万hm2。农村居民点建设用地需求量为70.57万公顷。 （4）土地集约利用措施与坡耕地可持续利用战略 提出了土地集约利用的措施。在对坡耕地生态系统结构与功能分析的基础上，提出坡耕地可持续利用战略与生态恢复战略，并从技术和政策层面提出了坡耕地合理利用和生态退耕的措施和建议。 LUCC is one of the key questions of global change and sustainable development of society. After the opening and reform of China, the society and economy of Sichuan Province developed very fast ,the land-use/cover changed very strong droved by many factors .But nowadays we have no constant spatial-temporal study and driving force analysis about the whole province based on investigation. And it is lack of land sustainable utilization study based on correlative study. So we choose all the land resource in Sichuan, combine RS and GIS and field investigation, and take statistic-mathematic means and system analysis, to study the LUCC patterns and different scale driving force of different physiognomy regions, land cover types and periods; to analyze the current situation and potential of land resource intensive utilization, and gave out corresponding measurements. We found that forest and grassland are the dominant cover types of Sichuan provincial land –use/cover pattern, and becoming more and more stronger from 1996 to 2006,the natural landscape is the metric and occupy 70%,the diversity and evenness index are not high; the totally change quantity from 2000 to 2004 is the biggest; cultivated land especially steep cultivated land ,garden plot, forestry land ,settlement and industry land and traffic land changed relative stronger; among five physiognomy regions ,the changing intensity of PEN XI PING YUAN QU is the biggest, CHUAN XI BEI GAO SHAN GAO QU is smallest; under the background of policy system changing, the fast developing of economy, fast urbanization and industrialization and ecology construction are the macro-scale driving force of Sichuan provincial LUCC; to compare the impacts of “TUI GENG GONG CHENG” on LUCC especially to cultivated land ,forestry land and grassland is strongest, “TIAN BAO GONG CHENG ” is stronger,“ HANG FANG GONG CHENG” is smallest; the intensive utilization level of farmland and construction land of whole province is relative moderation, there is huge potential to excavate and fulfill the increasing demand of construction land；we must take synthetic measurements to accelerate the sustainable utilization of land resource, including administrative, economical ,technological and ecological policies.

中国卧龙自然保护区不同海拔川滇高山栎(Quercus aquifolioides)群体的遗传变异

海拔梯度造成的环境异质性，如崎岖的地形、复杂的植被结构以及花期延迟等可能会极大地影响到物种的形态和遗传变异格局。理解物种形态和遗传变异的海拔格局对于物种多样性的管理和保护是非常重要的。尽管植物群体遗传学是一个飞速发展的研究领域，然而与海拔相关的形态变异、遗传变异及群体间遗传差异的研究却很少。到目前为止，还不清楚遗传变异与海拔之间是否必然的相关性。 川滇高山栎是一种重要的生态和经济型树种，广泛分布于中国西南的四川、西藏、贵州和云南省的高海拔地区，在保持水土、调节气候方面起着十分重要的作用。尽管主要受阳光限制而仅分布于阳坡，但其海拔梯度范围较大，表明川滇高山栎对不同的环境具有很强的适应性。本文通过叶型及生理响应、微卫星分子标记和扩增性片段长度多态性方法，试图探索川滇高山栎叶沿海拔梯度的形态和生理响应及其沿海拔梯度的遗传变异格局，为川滇高山栎的保护和利用提供进一步的遗传学理论依据和技术指导。 对叶形、含氮量及碳同位素的试验结果表明，平均比叶面积、气孔密度、气孔长度和气孔指数等气孔参数随海拔的升高呈非线性变化。在海拔大于2800 m时，川滇高山栎的比叶面积、气孔长度和气孔指数都随海拔升高而降低，但是在海拔小于2800 m时，这些指标都随海拔的升高而增大。相对而言，单位叶面积的含氮量和碳同位素则表现出相反的变化模式。另外，比叶面积是决定碳同位素沿海拔梯度变化的最重要参数。本研究结果表明，海拔2800 m附近是川滇高山栎生长和发育的最适地带，在这里生长的植物叶片厚度更薄、气孔更大、叶碳同位素值更小。 利用六对微卫星引物对五个不同海拔川滇高山栎群体遗传多样性进行研究，结果表明，群体内表现出较高的遗传多样性，平均每位点等位基因数11.33个，平均期望杂合度达0.820。群体间差异较小，分化仅为6.6％。聚类分析也并没有显示出明显的海拔格局。然而低频率等位基因却与海拔呈显著性正相关(R2=0.97, P < 0.01)，表明在高海拔处，川滇高山栎以更多的稀有基因来适应恶劣的环境条件。本试验结果表明由海拔梯度形成的选择性压力对川滇高山栎群体的遗传变异影响并不明显。 为了进一步探讨川滇高山栎群体遗传变异与海拔之间的相互关系，我们还对其进行了扩增性片段长度多态性分析。结果表明：(1)随海拔的升高(从群体WL2到群体WL5)，群体内遗传变异降低，而群体间遗传差异增加；(2)低海拔群体WL1表现出最低的遗传变异性(HE = 0.181)，同时与其余四个群体间呈现出最大的遗传差异性(平均FST = 0.0596)；(3)在除去低海拔群体WL1后，Mantel检测表明群体间遗传距离与海拔距离之间表现出正相关性。另外，研究结果还表明，遗传变异受生境条件(过度的湿热环境)及人为干扰(火烧、砍伐和放牧)的影响，这一点至少在低海拔群体WL1上发生了作用。 通过叶形态、生理及DNA分子水平的研究，结果表明叶形态特征和碳同位素与海拔紧密相关，与海拔之间呈非线性变化，海拔2,800 m附近是川滇高山栎生长和发育的最适地带。海拔梯度在一定程度上会影响到川滇高山栎群体的遗传变异结构，但在这样一个狭窄的地理分布区域里，这种影响并不足以导致群体间较大的遗传分化。同时生境条件及人为干扰也是影响遗传变异的限制性因子，不容忽视。 Altitudinal gradients impose heterogeneous environmental conditions, such as rugged topography, a complex pattern of vegetation and flowering delay, and they likely furthermore markedly affect the morphological and genetic variation pattern of a species. Understanding altitudinal pattern of morphological and genetic variation at a species is important for the management and conservation of species diversity. Although plant population genetics is a fast growing field of research, there are only few recent investigations, which analyzed the genetic differentiation and changes of intra-population variation along altitudinal gradients. At present, it is still unclear whether there are some common patterns of morphological and genetic variation with altitude. Quercus aquifolioides Rehder & E.H. Wilson, which is an important ecological and economical endemic woody plant species, is widely distributed in the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, Southwest China. Its large range of habitat across different altitudes implies strong adaptation to different environments, although it is mainly restricted to sunny, south facing slopes. It plays a very important role in preventing soil erosion, soil water loss and regulating climate, as well as in retaining ecological stability. In this paper, we tried to understand the altitudinal pattern of morphological and genetic variation along altitudinal gradients through the experiments of leaf morphological and physiological responses, microsatellite analysis and AFLP markers. In leaf morphological and physiological responses experiment, we measured leaf morphology, nitrogen content and carbon isotope composition (as an indicator of water use efficiency) of Q. aquifolioides along an altitudinal gradient. We found that these leaf morphological and physiological responses to altitudinal gradients were non-linear with increasing altitude. Specific leaf area, stomatal length and index increased with increasing altitude below 2,800 m, but decreased with increasing altitude above 2,800 m. In contrast, leaf nitrogen content per unit area and carbon isotope composition showed opposite change patterns. Specific leaf area seemed to be the most important parameter that determined the carbon isotope composition along the altitudinal gradient. Our results suggest that near 2,800 m in altitude could be the optimum zone for growth and development of Q. aquifolioides, and highlight the importance of the influence of altitude in research on plant physiological ecology. Genetic variation and differentiation were investigated among five natural populations of Q. aquifolioides occurring along an altitudinal gradient that varied from 2,000 to 3,600 m above sea level in the Wolong Natural Reserve of China, by analyzing variation at six microsatellite loci. The results showed that the populations were characterized by relatively high intra-population variation with the average number of alleles equaling 11.33 per locus and the average expected heterozygosity (HE) being 0.779. The amount of genetic variation varied only little among populations, which suggests that the influence of altitude factors on microsatellite variation is limited. However, there is a significantly positive correlation between altitude and the number of low-frequency alleles (R2=0.97, P < 0.01), which indicates that Q. aquifolioides from high altitudes has more unique variation, possibly enabling adaptation to severe conditions. F statistics showed the presence of a slight deficiency of heterozygosity (FIS=0.136) and a low level of differentiation among populations (FST=0.066). The result of the cluster analysis demonstrates that the grouping of populations does not correspond to the altitude of the populations. Based on the available data, it is likely that the selective forces related to altitude are not strong enough to significantly differentiate the populations of Q. aquifolioides in terms of microsatellite variation. To further elucidate genetic variation pattern of Q. aquifolioides populations under sub-alpine environments, genetic variation and differentiation were investigated along altitudinal gradients using AFLP markers. The altitudinal populations with an average altitude interval of 400 m, i.e. WL1, WL2, WL3, WL4 and WL5, correspond to the altitudes 2,000, 2,400, 2,800, 3,200 and 3,600 m, respectively. Our results were as follows: (i) decreasing genetic variation (ranging from 0.253 to 0.210) and increasing genetic differentiation with altitude were obtained from the WL2 to the WL5 population; (ii) the WL1 population showed the lowest genetic variation (HE = 0.181) and the highest genetic differentiation (average FST = 0.0596) with the other four populations; (iii) the positive correlation was obtained using Mantel tests between genetic and altitude distances except for the WL1 population. Our results suggest that altitudinal gradients may have influenced the genetic variation pattern of Q. aquifolioides populations to some extent. In addition, habitat environments (unfavorable wet and hot conditions) and human disturbances (burning, grazing and felling) were possible influencing factors, especially to the low-altitude WL1 population. The present study shows that there were close correlations between morphological features and carbon isotope composition in our data. This indicates that a coordinated plant response modified these parameters simultaneously across different altitudes. Around 2,800 m altitude there seems to be an optimum zone for growth and development of Q. aquifolioides, as indicated by thinner leaves, larger stomata and more negative d13C values. All available evidence indicates altitudinal gradients may have influenced the genetic variation pattern of Q. aquifolioides to some extent. Decreasing genetic variation and increasing genetic differentiation with altitude was obtained except for the WL1 population. And the environment of habitats and human disturbances were also contributing factors, which impact genetic variation pattern, especially to the low-altitude WL1 population.