Autumn photoproduction of carbon monoxide in Jiaozhou Bay,China

Carbon monoxide(CO) plays a significant role in global warming and atmospheric chemistry. Global oceans are net natural sources of atmospheric CO. CO at surface ocean is primarily produced from the photochemical degradation of chromophoric dissolved organic matter(CDOM). In this study, the effects of photobleaching, temperature and the origin(terrestrial or marine) of CDOM on the apparent quantum yields(AQY) of CO were studied for seawater samples collected from Jiaozhou Bay. Our results demonstrat that photobleaching, temperature and the origin of CDOM strongly affected the efficiency of CO photoproduction. The concentration, absorbance and fluorescence of CDOM exponentially decreased with increasing light dose. Terrestrial riverine organic matter could be more prone to photodegradation than the marine algae-derived one. The relationships between CO AQY and the dissolved organic carbon-specific absorption coefficient at 254 nm for the photobleaching study were nonlinear, whereas those of the original samples were strongly linear. This suggests that: 1) terrestrial riverine CDOM was more efficient than marine algae-derived CDOM for CO photoproduction; 2) aromatic and olefinic moieties of the CDOM pool were affected more strongly by degradation processes than by aliphatic ones. Water temperature and the origin of CDOM strongly affected the efficiency of CO photoproduction. The photoproduction rate of CO in autumn was estimated to be 31.98 μmol m-2 d-1 and the total DOC photomineralization was equivalent to 3.25%- 6.35% of primary production in Jiaozhou Bay. Our results indicate that CO photochemistry in coastal areas is important for oceanic carbon cycle.     

A Method for Alpine Wetland Delineation and Features of Border: Zoigê Plateau,China

Accurate wetland delineation is the basis of wetland definition and mapping, and is of great importance for wetland management and research. The Zoigê Plateau on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was used as a research site for research on alpine wetland delineation. Several studies have analyzed the spatiotemporal pattern and dynamics of these alpine wetlands, but none have addressed the issues of wetland boundaries. The objective of this work was to discriminate the upper boundaries of alpine wetlands by coupling ecological methods and satellite observations. The combination of Landsat 8 images and supervised classification was an effective method for rapid identification of alpine wetlands in the Zoigê Plateau. Wet meadow was relatively stable compared with hydric soils and wetland hydrology and could be used as a primary indicator for discriminating the upper boundaries of alpine wetlands. A slope of less than 4.5° could be used as the threshold value for wetland delineation. The normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) in 434 field sites showed that a threshold value of 0.3 could distinguish grasslands from emergent marsh and wet meadow in September. The median normalized difference water index(NDWI) of emergent marsh remained more stable than that of wet meadow and grasslands during the period from September until July of the following year. The index of mean density in wet meadow zones was higher than the emergent and upland zones. Over twice the number of species occurred in the wet meadow zone compared with the emergent zone, and close to the value of upland zone. Alpine wetlands in the three reserves in 2014 covered 1175.19 km2 with a classification accuracy of 75.6%. The combination of ecological methods and remote sensing technology will play an important role in wetland delineation at medium and small scales. The correct differentiation between wet meadow and grasslands is the key to improving the accuracy of future wetland delineation.     

Multiple Time-scale Characteristics of Runoff Variations in Middle Reaches of Huolin River and Their Effects

The Huolin River is one of the most important water sources for Xianghai wetland, Horqin wetland, and Chaganhu wetland in the western Songnen Plain of Northeast China. The annual runoff series of 46 years at Baiyun- hushuo Hydrologic Station, which is located in the middle reaches of the Huolin River, were analyzed by using wavelet analysis. Main objective was to discuss the periodic characteristics of the runoff, and examine the temporal patterns of the Huolin River recharging to the floodplain wetlands in the lower reaches of the river, and the corresponding effects of recharging variation on the environmental evolution of the wetlands. The results show that the annual runoff varied mainly at three time scales. The intensities of periodical signals at different time scales were strongly characterized by local distribution in its time frequency domain. The interdecadal variation at a scale of more than 30yr played a leading role in the temporal pattern of runoff variation, and at this scale, the runoff at Baiyunhushuo Hydrologic Station varied in turn of flood, draught and flood. Accordingly, the landscape of the floodplain wetlands presented periodic features, es- pecially prominent before the 1990s. Compared with intense human activities, the runoff periodic pattern at middle (10-20yr) and small (1-10yr) scales, which has relatively low energy, exerted unobvious effects on the environmental evolution of the floodplain wetlands, especially after the 1990s.     

Distribution of general aerobic heterotrophic bacteria in sediment core taken from the Canadian basin and the Chukchi Sea

The occurrence percentage and abundance of General Aerobic Hetero- trophic Bacteria （GAB） were determined by using the method of MPN for 182 sub- samples from 10 sediment cores taken from the Canadian basin and the Chukchi Sea at two different culturing temperatures. The results showed that the general occurrence percentage of GAB was quite high, average abundanees of GAB at cultured temperatares of 4℃ and 25℃ were 4.46 ×10^7 and 5.47×10^7 cells·g^-1（wt）, respectively. The highest abundance of GAB occurred at 20 -22 cm section in the sediment. GAB abundances changed among the section of sediments, but there is a trend ： the a-bundances at the middle or lower sections were lower than those at upper section. Cultivation at 25℃ could improve the occurrence percentage and abundances of GAB, which suggests that the increasing of temperature may change the living circum-stances of GAB. The differences of GAB among the latitudes areas indicated that occurrence percentage and abundances of GAB in middle latitude areas were higher than those in the higher or lower latitude areas, and were more obvious at 4℃ than those at 25℃. The GAB abundances in sediment under the shallower water seemed to be low- er than those in sediments under the deeper water and this status was more obvious at 25℃ than that at 4℃.     

Seasonal changes of energy fluxes in an estuarine wetland of Shanghai,China

The energy budget and regulating factors were investigated over an estuarine wetland during one year of continuous measurement in 2006.The results show that the seasonal changes of the energy fluxes and Bowen ratio(β) were greatly affected by incoming shortwave radiation and canopy growth.During the non-growing season and early-growing season, sensible heat(H) dominated the energy flux, and β could reach a maximum of 2.5, while during most of the growing season, latent heat dominated the energy flux and β fluctuated from 0.4 to 1.0.The energy budget ratio in growing season was about 0.76, and the value would be higher if heat exchange during tidal flooding was in-cluded.During tidal flooding days, β was slightly higher than that at exposure days in most cases.Vegetation cover seems exert little effect on energy partitioning except in March when the standing dead grass intercepted the incoming radiation that might reach the soil surface and reduce the turbulence between soil and atmosphere, thus suppressing the evaporation from the soil though the soil mositure was high at that time.     

Biodiversity of free-living marine nematodes in the southern Yellow Sea,China

Biodiversity patterns of free-living marine nematodes were studied using specific,taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity measures in the southern Yellow Sea,China.The results showed that the average of Shannon-Wiener diversity index(H′) in the study area was 3.17.The higher values were distributed in the east part of Shandong coastal waters and north part of Jiangsu coastal waters,while the lower values were distributed in the southern Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass(YSCWM).The average of taxonomic diversity(Δ) was 62.09 in the study region.The higher values were distributed in the transitional areas between the coastal areas and the southern YSCWM,while the lower values were distributed near the north part of Jiangsu coastal waters and the YSCWM.Results of correlation analysis of species diversity and taxonomic diversity showed that some of the two kinds of diversity index were independent,which suggested that combining the two kinds of diversity indices can reflect the ecological characteristics better.A test for 95% probability funnels of average taxonomic distinctness and variation in taxonomic distinctness suggested that Station 8794(in the YSCWM) was outside of the 95% probability funnels,which may be due to the environmental stress.Results of correlation analysis between marine nematodes biodiversity and environmental variables showed that the sediment characteristics(Md? and Silt-clay fraction) and phaeophorbide a(Pha-a) were the most important factors to determine the biodiversity patterns of marine nematodes.     

Assessing benthic ecological status in coastal area near Changjiang River estuary using AMBI and M-AMBI

The Changjiang （Yangtze） River estuary has been subject to a variety of anthropogenic pressures in recent decades. To assess the ecological health of the coastal benthic ecosystem adjacent to the estuary, three surveys were conducted in 2005, 2009, and 2010. The AZTI＇s Marine Biotic Index （AMBI） and multivariate-AMBI （M-AMBI） were used to analyse the benthic ecological status of this coast. The AMBI indicate that the ecological status of the coast adjacent to the Changjiang River estuary was only slightly degraded in all 3 years. In contrast, the M-AMBI indicated that the ecological status was seriously degraded, a result that is most likely due to pollution and eutrophication induced by human activities. The assessment of the coast＇s ecological status by the AMBI was not in agreement with that of the M-AMBI at some stations because of lower biodiversity values at those sites. The analysis of the two indices integrated with abiotic parameters showed that the M-AMBI could be used as a suitable bio-indicator index to assess the benthic ecological status of the coast adjacent to the Changjiang River estuary. The reference conditions proposed for the coast of the Changjiang River estuary should be further evaluated in future studies. Designation of local species could also provide an important reference for Chinese waters. To improve the reliability of AMBI and M-AMBI, further research into the ecology of local species is required to understand their arrangement in ecological groups.     

The distribution feature of size-fractionated chlorophyll a and primary productivity in Prydz Bay and its north sea area during the austral summer

The investigation of size-fractionated chlorophyll a and primary productivity were carried out in three longitudinal sections (63°-69°12'S, 70°30'E, 73°E and 75(30'E) at December 18-26, 1998 and January 12-18, 1999 in Prydz Bay and its north sea area, Antarctica. The results showed that surface chlorophyll a concentration were 0. 16 -3. 99 μg dm-3. The high values of chlorophyll a concentration (more than 3.5 μg dm -3) were in Prydz Bay and in the west Ladies Bank. The average chlorophyll a concentration at sub-surface layer was higher than that at surface layer; its concentration at the deeper layers of 50 m decreased with increasing depth and that at 200 m depth was only 0. 01 -0. 95μg dm -3. The results of size-fractionated chlorophyll a showed that the contribution of the netplanktion to total chlorophyll a was 56% , those of the nanoplankton and the picoplankton were 24% and 20% respectively in the surveyed area. The potential primary productivity at the euphotic zone in the surveyed area wa     

Spatial patterns and storage composition of woody debris in a natural secondary forest dominated by Pinus tabulaeformis on Loess Plateau,China

Woody debris(WD) is an important par of natural Pinus tabulaeformis mixed stands, and i affects the forest ecosystem stability and developmen The WD spatial patterns are especially importan structural characteristics that can provide insights into forest dynamics. In this paper, the WD storage WD spatial patterns and WD associations among the main species were examined in the natural secondary forest on Loess Plateau in northwest China. Data were collected in a 1 ha(100 m × 100 m) permanent plot and all the trees with a diameter at breast height o more than 3 cm were measured and stem-mapped Ripley's K functions from the spatial-point-pattern analysis method were used to analyze the spatia distribution and associations. The results showed tha(1) The total storage of WD was 10.73 t/ha, fallen wood was the main source of WD, and the majority diameters were greater than 20 cm, and in intermediate levels of decay;(2) The overall spatia pattern was closely related to the spatial scale, which exhibited an aggregated pattern on a small scale, and a random pattern on a large scale. The spatia patterns of coarse woody debris also gradually transitioned from an aggregated pattern in fine scales to a random pattern in broader spatial scales, which matched the overall spatial pattern. The spatial intensity was gradually decreased with the increasing diameters, and increased with the decomposition classes;(3) The WD of Pinus tabulaeformis species was negatively associated with Betula platyphylla and Populus davidiana on a small scale but positively associated with these species on a large scale. The spatial pattern and interspecies relations were the results of long-term interactions between the natural secondary forest community and the surrounding natural environment. These findings would provide a scientific basis for the sustainable management and protection of natural secondary forest ecosystems on Loess Plateau.     

COMPARISON OF THE EULERIAN AND LAGRANGIAN TIDAL RESIDUALS IN THE BOHAI SEA

Tidal residual is very important to the transport of water particles, nutrients, plank-ton, etc. in the coastal sea. Eulerian scheme and Lagrangian scheme are two different ways to get the time averaged residual. Solution of the Bohai Sea‘s hydrodynamic system using a semi-implicit layer aver-aged numerical model yielded different direction Eulerian and Lagrangian tidal residuals. The latter were stronger than the former in most sea areas. Their different directions produced different ciretdation pattern in some areas. Compared with the Eulerian residual, the Lagranglan residual seemed to be more in accord with the observation.     

Spatial Variation and Risk Assessment of Arsenic and Heavy Metals in Surface Water and Suspended Particulate Matter in Tail Reaches of the Yellow River,China

To determine the pollution levels and potential toxic risks of arsenic(As) and heavy metals(Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd) in water and suspended particulate matter(SPM) in tail reaches(including freshwater reach and low-salinity reach) of the Yellow River as the Flow-Sediment Regulation Project(FSRP) has been carried out for approximately 15 yr, the surface water and SPM were sampled at pre-flood(April) and post-flood seasons(October). Results showed that similar changes of As and metal levels in water and SPM were observed along the tail reaches at pre-flood or post-flood season. Compared to pre-flood season, the levels of As, Cu, Cr and Ni in freshwater reach and the concentrations of Cr and Ni in low-salinity reach rose greatly at post-flood season. The levels of As and metals in SPM of freshwater reach or low-salinity reach at pre-flood season were significantly higher than those at post-flood season(P < 0.01).The pollutions of As and metals in surface water of tail reaches at pre-flood or post-flood season were not serious. The SPM in freshwater reach at pre-flood season were polluted by Cd, As, Cr, Cu and Ni while those in low-salinity reach were polluted by Cd and Cr. The SPM in freshwater reach at post-flood season were polluted by Cd and Pb while those in low-salinity reach were polluted by Cd and Cr.Cd was identified as heavy metal of primary concern at both pre-flood and post-flood seasons. Combined with the existed data reported in present research, this study found that the toxic risk of As and metals in SPM of tail reaches at pre-flood season was higher than that at post-flood season, implying that the implementation of FSRP during flooding season, to a great extent, reduced the toxic risk of these elements. With the long-term implementation of FSRP, the pollution levels of As and metals(particularly for Cd) in SPM of tail reaches might be elevated and the potential toxic risk primarily produced by Cr, Ni and As might be increased if effective measures were not taken in future.     

Effects of Diet on the Volatile Flavor and Nutritional Ingredients of Common Octopus(Octopus vulgaris)

Cephalopods are important economic shellfish that have been developed extensively in the coastal water of various countries. Octopus vulgaris is a large-scaled economic cephalopod that is mainly cultured in South China. This study explored the effect of different diets on the volatile flavor and nutritional ingredients of O. vulgaris. Four diets were tested in four groups: Group A(fish(Scomberomorus niphonius)), Group B(crab(Helice tridens tientsinensis Rathbun)), Group C(clam(Mactra veneriformis)), and Group D(squid(Loligo japonica)). Octopus muscles were sampled after 36 days of feeding, and volatile flavor substances(VFSs), fatty acids(FAs), and amino acids(AAs) were detected. Results showed that the VFSs, FAs, and AAs of octopus in the four groups were obviously different. The sum of volatile ketones and aldehydes was higher in Group B than in the other groups, which could present much more flavors. All groups were abundant in unsaturated FAs, including eicosapentaenoic acid(EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid(DHA). In terms of content and variety, the FAs in Group B were more beneficial to human health than those in the other groups. The content of each AA in Group B was basically higher than those in the other groups and was significantly higher than that in Group D(P < 0.05). Comparing the VFSs, FAs, and AAs in samples fed with four kinds of diets, the results indicate that using crab to feed O. vulgaris can achieve better effects on volatile flavor and nutritional ingredients.     

RECRUITMENT OF POSTLARVAL PRAWNS, PENAEUS ORIENTALIS, TO A TIDAL ESTUARY OF JIAOZHOU BAY, CHINA

Postlarval Penaeus orientalis kishinouye were simultaneously sampled at three fixed stations near the mouth of the Dagu River estuary in northwestern Jiaozhou Bay, China, at hourly intervals over a 49-h period in mid-June, 1984. The purpose of this sampling was to investigate the prawn's recruitment into estuaries from coastal areas.The abundance of the postlarvae varied considerably between stations and time, but they tended to concentrate at the surface. Maximum entropy spectral analysis was first applied in the study of prawn recruitment and it revealed that variations in abundance involved a pronounced 12.4 hr cycle. It was concluded that natural tidal cycles had a strong influence on the changes of postlarval abundance, in contrast with the minor effects of diet and other environmental cycles. A tidally varying cross-river gradient of postlarval density was found. During flood tides the postlarvae were more abundant in the axis of the channel than over the banks. The opposite held true during ebb t     

ALTERNATIVE METHODS FOR CONDUCTING COMPARATIVE ANALYSES OF CADASTRAL SYSTEMS

The conception of an efficient cadastral system is an important element in the development of each coun-try. It is crucial for the efficient operation of the real estate market—the security and liberty of making transactions, register-ing a property, planning operations, the introduction of an ad valorem tax on property and more rational use of space. InEurope there are different types of cadastral systems, because the countries in Europe have different cultural back-grounds, different economical and social backgrounds. Through the centuries, many types of cadastral systems evolvedand their differences often depend upon local cultural heritage, physical geography, land use, technology, etc. Compara-tive analyses of cadastral systems have been the subjects of many publications and studies in world literature. It was as-sessed that the useful tools in conducting comparative analyses of various cadastral systems include the procedures of statisti-cal inference. This paper presents the results of a project to compare the performance of ten cadastral systems international-ly by creating appropriate integrated indicators of a cadastral system using statistical technique. Such indicators willmake it possible to compare different cadastral systems and present them hierarchically in relation to their quality, struc-ture, as well as legal, organizational and technological solutions. From a good number of methods available, techniquesoriginating from two spheres of statistic inference were selected: distribution free methods and multivariate analysis meth-ods. For analyses with the distribution free methods, FRIEDMAN‘‘s test (FRIENDMAN‘‘s non-parametric variance analy-sis) as well as KENDALL‘‘s test ( KENDALL‘‘s compatibility ratio) were selected. For analyses with the multivariate analy-sis methods, factor analysis was selected.     

Soil evolution features of debris flow waste-shoal land

The reclamation and utilization of debris flow waste-shoal land plays an important role in the mitigation and control of debris flow hazards, which thus contributes a lot to the exploitation of insufficient land resources in mountainous areas and the reduction of losses caused by debris flow. The aim of this paper is to discuss the features and mechanism of soil evolution of debris flow waste-shoal land so as to search for the available modes of its reclamation and utilization. The Jiangjiagou Ravine, a typical debris flow ravine, was selected to study soil evolution features of debris flow waste-shoal land based on the analysis of soil physieochemical properties and soil microstructure. It was found that the soil evolution rates of debris flow waste-shoal land varied with different modes of reclamation. For the land which had been reclaimed for less than lO years, soil evolved most rapidly in paddy fields, and more rapidly in dry farmland than in naturally restored waste-shoal land. For the land which had been used for more than lo years, the soil evolution rates of dry farmland, naturally restored waste-shoal land and paddy farmland decreased in the file. For the same utilization period of time, significant differences were recognized in soil evolution features under different modes of reclamation. Analysis data showed that soil clay content, soil thickness, the psephicity of skeleton particles and contents of microaggregates （〈0.02 mm） in paddy farmland were all highest. Soil nutrients and porosity of dry farmland were better than those of paddy farmland and naturally restored waste-shoal land, and those of paddy farmland were superior to those of naturally restored waste-shoal land. Paddy farmland characterized by rapid pedogenesis, stable evolution and high utilizability was the priority candidate for the reclamation and utilization of debris flow waste -shoal land.     

Monsoon-ocean coupled modes in the South China Sea and their linkage with the eastern Indian Ocean-western Pacific warm pool

Monsoon-ocean coupled modes in the South China Sea （SCS） were investigated by a combined singular value decomposition （CSVD） analysis based on sea surface temperature （SST） and sea surface wind stress （SWS） fields from SODA （Simple Ocean Data Assimilation） data spanning the period of 1950-1999. The coupled fields achieved the maximum correlation when the SST lagged SWS by one month, indicating that the SCS coupled system mainly reflected the response of the SST to monsoon forcing. Three significant coupled modes were found in the SCS, accounting for more than 80% of the cumulative squared covariance fraction. The first three SST spatial patterns from CSVD were： （Ⅰ） the monopole pattern along the isobaths in the SCS central basin; （Ⅱ） the north-south dipole pattern; and （Ⅲ） the west-east seesaw pattern. The expansion coefficient of the SST leading mode showed interdecadal and interannual variability and correlation with the Indo-Pacific warm pool （IPWP）, suggesting that the SCS belongs to part of the IPWP at interannual and interdecadal time scales. The second mode had a lower correlation coefficient with the warm pool index because its main period was at intra-annual time scales instead of the interannual and interdecadal scales with the warm pools. The third mode had similar periods to those of the leading mode, but lagged the eastern Indian Ocean warm pool （EIWP） and western Pacific warm pool （WPWP） by five months and one year respectively, implying that the SCS response to the warm pool variation occurred from the western Pacific to the eastern Indian Ocean, which might have been related to the variation of Indonesian throughflow. All three modes in the SCS had more significant correlations with the EIWP, which means the SCS SST varied much more coherently with the EIWP than the WPWP, suggesting that the SCS belongs mostly to part of the EIWP. The expansion coefficients of the SCS SST modes all had negative correlations with the Nino3 index, which they lag by several months, indicating a remote response of SCS SST variability to the El Nifio events.     

Energy Budget over Seasonal Snow Surface at an Open Site and Beneath Forest Canopy Openness during the Snowmelt Period in Western Tianshan Mountains,China

In this study, meteorological factors and snowmelt rate at an open site on sunny slope(OPS) and beneath forest canopy openness on shady slope(BFC) were measured using an automatic weather station and snow lysimeter during the snowmelt period in 2009, 2010 and 2013. The energy budget over snow surface was calculated according to these meteorological datasets. The analysis results indicated that the net shortwave radiation(K) and sensible heat flux(H) were energy sources, and the latent heat flux(LVE) was energy sinks of snow surfaces at all sites. The net longwave radiation(L) was energy sink at OPS and 80% BFC, but energy source at 20% BFC. The gain of K, H, and the loss of LVE at BFC were obviously lower than those at OPS. The L was the maximum difference of energy budget between snow surface at BFC and OPS. In warm and wet years, the most important factor of the energy budget variation at OPS was air humidity and the second mostimportant factor was air temperature. However, the ground surface temperature on the sunny slope was the most important factor for L and energy budget at BFC. With the increases in forest canopy openness and the slope of adjacent terrains, the influences of ground surface temperature on the sunny slope on L and the energy budget over snow surface at BFC increased, especially when the snow cover on the sunny slope melts completely.     

Analyzing Asymmetric City Connectivity by Toponym on Social Media in China

The connectedness between cities has become one of the most widely discussed topics in urban and regional research in the mobile and big data era. One problem identified is the asymmetric city connectivity, partially due to data availability. We present a data-driven approach based on location and toponym(place name) extracted from social media data, to assess the asymmetric connectivity between cities. The assumption is that a higher frequency of occurrences of the name of city i in posts located in city j would imply that the city i is more influential than other cities upon city j. In addition, we’ve developed a group of measurements such as the relatedness index, impact index, link strength index, dependence index, and structure similar index to characterize such interactions. This framework of connectivity measurements can also be used to support smart planning taking into account the evolving interplay among cities. The space-time structure of urban systems in China is examined as the case study.     

Using impervious surfaces to detect urban expansion in Beijing of China in 2000s

The change of impervious surface area(ISA) can effectively reveal the gradual process of urbanization and act as a key index for monitoring urban expansion. Experiencing rapid growth of the built environment in the 2000 s, urban expansion of Beijing has not been fully characterized through ISA. In this study, Landsat TM images of Beijing in 2001 and 2009 were obtained, and the eight-year urban expansion process in Beijing was analyzed using the ISA extracted by means of the vegetation-imperious surface-soil(V-I-S) model. From the spatial variation in ISA, the ring structure of urban expansion in Beijing was significant during the study period, with decreasing urban density from the city center to the periphery. In the ring road analysis, the most dramatic changes of ISA were found between the fifth ring and the sixth ring. This area has experienced the most new residential development, and is currently the main source of urban expansion. The typical profile lines revealed the directional characteristics of urban expansion. The east-west profile was the most urbanized axes in Beijing, while ISA change in the east-north profile was more significant than in the other five profiles. Moreover, the transition matrix of ISA levels revealed an increase in urban density in the low density built areas; the Moran′s I index showed a clear expansion of the central urban area, which spread contiguously; and the standard deviational ellipse indicated the northeast was the dominant direction of urban expansion. These findings can provide important spatial control guidelines in the next round of national economic and social development planning, overall urban and rural planning, and land use planning.     

Soil anti-scourability enhanced by herbaceous species roots in a reservoir water level fluctuation zone

Revegetation is one of the successful approaches to soil consolidation and streambank protection in reservoir water level fluctuation zones(WLFZs).However,little research has been conducted to explore the impact of herbaceous species roots on soil anti-scourability during different growth stages and under different degrees of inundation in this zone.This study sampled two typical grasslands(Hemarthria compressa grassland and Xanthium sibiricum grassland)at two elevations(172 and 165 m a.s.l.)in the water level fluctuation zone(WLFZ)in the Three Gorges Reservoir(TGR)of China to quantify the changes in soil and root properties and their effects on soil anti-scourability.A simulated scouring experiment was conducted to test the soil anti-scourability in April and August of 2018.The results showed that the discrepancy in inundation duration and predominant herbaceous species was associated with a difference in root biomass between the two grasslands.The root weight density(RWD)values in the topsoil(0-10 cm)ranged from 7.31 to 13 mg cm^-3 for the Hemarthria compressa grassland,while smaller values ranging from 0.48 to 8.61 mg cm^-3 were observed for the Xanthium sibiricum grassland.In addition,the root biomass of the two herbs was significantly greater at 172 m a.s.l.than that at 165 m a.s.l.in the early recovery growth period(April).Both herbs can effectively improve the soil properties;the organic matter contents of the grasslands were 128.06%to 191.99%higher than that in the bare land(CK),while the increase in the water-stable aggregate ranged from 8.21%to 18.56%.Similarly,the topsoil antiscourability indices in both the herbaceous grasslands were larger than those in the CK.The correlation coefficients between the root length density(RLD),root surface area density(RSAD)and root volume density(RVD)of fine roots and the soil antiscourability index were 0.501,0.776 and 0.936,respectively.Moreover,the change in the soil antiscourability index was more sensitive to alternations in the RLD with diameters less than 0.5 mm.Overall,the present study showed that the perennial herbaceous(H.compressa)has great potential as a countermeasure to reduce or mitigate the impact of erosion in the WLFZ of the Three Gorges Reservoir.