Spatiotemporal patterns of road network and road development priority in three parallel rivers region in Yunnan, China: An evaluation based on modified kernel distance estimate

Road network is a critical component of public infrastructure,and the supporting system of social and economic development.Based on a modified kernel density estimate(KDE)algorithm,this study evaluated the road service capacity provided by a road network composed of multi-level roads(i.e.national,provincial,county and rural roads),by taking account of the differences of effect extent and intensity for roads of different levels.Summarized at town scale,the population burden and the annual rural economic income of unit road service capacity were used as the surrogates of social and economic demands for road service.This method was applied to the road network of the Three Parallel River Region,the northwestern Yunnan Province,China to evaluate the development of road network in this region.In results,the total road length of this region in 2005 was 3.70×104km,and the length ratio between national,provincial,county and rural roads was 1∶2∶8∶47.From 1989 to 2005,the regional road service capacity increased by 13.1%,of which the contributions from the national,provincial,county and rural roads were 11.1%,19.4%,22.6%,and 67.8%,respectively,revealing the effect of′All Village Accessible′policy of road development in the mountainous regions in the last decade.The spatial patterns of population burden and economic requirement of unit road service suggested that the areas farther away from the national and provincial roads have higher road development priority(RDP).Based on the modified KDE model and the framework of RDP evaluation,this study provided a useful approach for developing an optimal plan of road development at regional scale.     

Community structure and seasonal variation of soil arthropods in the forest-steppe ecotone of the mountainous region in Northern Hebei,China

Soil fauna have been receiving more and more attention because they play an important role in nutrient cycling. However, there is a lack of information on soil arthropods in the forest-steppe ecotone in the mountainous region of northern Hebei, which makes it difficult to meet the need of protecting biodiversity in this area. Soil arthropod communities were investigated in the forest-steppe ecotone in northern Hebei province to provide basic information on changes in mountain soil fertility, which could promote the development of soil arthropod communities in mountain ecotones. From the preliminary identification, a total of 7994 individual soil arthropods were collected, which belonged to 25 groups, 6 classes and 24 orders. Acarina, Hymenoptera and Collembola were the dominant groups in the ecotone. The number of Acarina was higher than Collembola, and this phenomenon was obviously different from other areas in the same climate zone. The increased abundance of rare groups in the Forest zone with the richer vegetation, higher arthropod abundance and more substantial litter depth, could be interpreted as a reaction to the suitable soil environment and food supply. And these rare groups were sensitive to environmental changes, which could be regarded as biotic indicators for evaluating soil quality. The analysis of community diversity showed that the abundance index (d), the Shannon-Wiener index (H′), the evenness index (J) and the density-group index (DG) were significantly higher in the forest zone, lower in the forest-steppe zone, and lowest in the meadow-steppe zone. Seasonal variations in community composition correlated with changes in average air temperature and precipitation in this ecotone. Groups and individuals of soil arthropod communities in the three zones were present in greater numbers in the middle of the rainy season than in the early or late periods of the rainy season as a whole. At the same time, seasonal changes in soil arthropod communities from different plots were also influenced by habitat condition.     

Regional difference in social capital and its impact on regional economic growth in China

Social capital has played an increasingly important role in regional development. China is a country with high stocks of social capital. Using several different indicators of social capital, this study tries to research the regional disparities in social capital and the influence of social capital on economic growth of China in 1978–2004. Measuring social capital with indicators of associations, charities and blood donation rates, this study finds significant regional disparities in social capital at provincial level in China. Those indicators for social capital are highly correlated with regional economic performance. Statistical analysis shows that social capital has a significant and positive effect on a long-term provincial economic growth. This relationship exists after controlling policy, macro location factors, and per capita GDP in the initial year. The empirical findings indicate that institutions, culture and social relations are critical for regional development in China. Therefore, the creation and support of social capital should be paid more attention to when making regional policy.     

Remote sensing of ecosystem services: An opportunity for spatially explicit assessment

Ecosystem service is an emerging concept that grows to be a hot research area in ecology. Spatially explicit ecosystem service values are important for ecosystem service management. However, it is difficult to quantify ecosystem services. Remote sensing provides images covering Earth surface, which by nature are spatially explicit. Thus, remote sensing can be useful for quantitative assessment of ecosystem services. This paper reviews spatially explicit ecosystem service studies conducted in ecology and remote sensing in order to find out how remote sensing can be used for ecosystem service assessment. Several important areas considered include land cover, biodiversity, and carbon, water and soil related ecosystem services. We found that remote sensing can be used for ecosystem service assessment in three different ways: direct monitoring, indirect monitoring, and combined use with ecosystem models. Some plant and water related ecosystem services can be directly monitored by remote sensing. Most commonly, remote sensing can provide surrogate information on plant and soil characteristics in an ecosystem. For ecosystem process related ecosystem services, remote sensing can help measure spatially explicit parameters. We conclude that acquiring good in-situ measurements and selecting appropriate remote sensor data in terms of resolution are critical for accurate assessment of ecosystem services.     

Social construction functions of consumption space under stratification: The case of Guangzhou

As Chinese cities rapidly transformed themselves into consumerist societies, the relationship between consumers and consumption space under stratification has become a new research area in the field of urban social geography. Based on a consumer behavior analysis, this study explores the relationship between consumption space and the social strata of consumers in typical shopping malls in Guangzhou where the first shopping mall in China was built. The result shows that shopping malls have performed significant constructive functions of organizing consumers from different social classes into different consumption space. For middle- and upper-class consumers, the function of shopping malls centers on utilitarian consumption, identity recognition, and identity construction; whereas for lower-class consumers, its function revolves around pleasure and enjoyment. The symbolism of consumption space is the underlying reason for shopping malls to have their social constructive function. The findings of this research suggest that: 1) a shopping mall is a productive consumption space and a geographical space with subjectivity; 2) the micro-location of a shopping mall has social construction function; and 3) symbolic consumption is the core of social construction.     

Review on dating methods: Numerical dating in the quaternary geology of High Asia

Over the past few years, OSL and TCN datings of glacial material from High Asia have come into fashion. To this day, however, these techniques do not permit safe calibration. The intensity of the cosmic ray flux is being modulated by the solar and terrestrial magnetic fields and their secular fluctuations in the past. So far, these variations cannot be converted into the respective local TCN production rates for High Asia. We have reason to believe that the ages that are being calculated despite these uncertainties are generally overestimated. This assessment is supported by conventional radiocarbon dates and above all by the glacial chronology developed independently on the basis of the Quaternary geological method. The strongly emerging evidence for a much more extensive LGM glaciation of High Asia is, however, either being ignored or rejected by many authors, solely on the basis of the above-mentioned uncalibrated datings. This self-conceit based on the “dating fallacy”, as we call it, should be avoided since it goes decidedly against the standards of the scientific method established in Quaternary geology and makes a fundamental scientific discussion impossible.     

Impacts of the Wenchuan Earthquake on the giant panda nature reserves in China

The Wenchuan Earthquake that occurred in May of 2008 caused damages to large areas of Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi provinces in China. Reports from local governments and related management agencies show that the giant panda nature reserves in the earthquake-hit areas were heavily damaged. Our estimates in this paper of the impacts of the earthquake on the giant panda in the earthquake-hit areas were made based on the interpretation of remote sensing images and information collected by field survey. A rapid assessment method was designed to estimate the damages of the earthquake on giant panda habitats. By using visual interpretation methods, we decoded the remote sensing images of the disaster area in the 49 giant panda nature reserves. Research results showed that the Wenchuan Earthquake and the succeeding secondary geological disasters caused great damages to the giant panda nature reserves and disturbed the normal life of the giant pandas there (e.g., landscape fragmentation increased significantly). Undoubtedly, the life of the giant pandas there was affected. However, although the earthquake caused certain impacts on the giant pandas, it did not really threat their survival. Even so, we still strongly advocate for protection of the giant pandas, and have prioritized a couple of measures to be taken to restore the giant panda nature reserves in the earthquake-hit areas.     

A new method for the estimation of oceanic mixed-layer depth using shipboard X-band radar images

Shipboard X-band radar images acquired on 24 June 2009 are used to study nonlinear internal wave characteristics in the northeastern South China Sea. The studied images show three nonlinear internal waves in a packet. A method based on the Radon Transform technique is introduced to calculate internal wave parameters such as the direction of propagation and internal wave velocity from backscatter images. Assuming that the ocean is a two-layer finite depth system, we can derive the mixed-layer depth by applying the internal wave velocity to the mixed-layer depth formula. Results show reasonably good agreement with in-situ thermistor chain and conductivity-temperature-depth data sets.     

Comparison of CloudSat cloud liquid water paths in arctic summer using ground-based microwave radiometer

Arctic clouds strongly influence the regional radiation balance, temperature, melting of sea ice, and freezing of sea water. Despite their importance, there is a lack of systematic and reliable observations of Arctic clouds. The CloudSat satellite launched in 2006 with a 94 GHz Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) may contribute to close this gap. Here we compare one of the key parameters, the cloud liquid water path (LWP) retrieved from CloudSat observations and from microwave radiometer (MWR) data taken during the ASCOS (Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study) cruise of the research vessel Oden from August to September 2008. Over the 45 days of the ASCOS cruise, collocations closer than 3 h and 100 km were found in only 9 d, and collocations closer than 1 h and 30 km in only 2 d. The poor correlations in the scatter plots of the two LWP retrievals can be explained by the patchiness of the cloud cover in these two days (August 5th and September 7th), as confirmed by coincident MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) images. The averages of Oden-observed LWP values are systematically higher (40–70 g m⁻²) than the corresponding CloudSat observations (0–50 g m⁻²). These are cases of generally low LWP with presumably small droplets, and may be explained by the little sensitivity of the CPR to small droplets or by the surface clutter.     

Corrosion behavior of anodic oxidized TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> film in seawater

TiO₂ films were formed on metallic titanium substrates by the anodic oxidation method in H₂SO₄ solution under the 80V D.C.. Phase component and microstructure were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Water contact angles on titanium oxide film surface were measured under both dark and sunlight illumination conditions. Corrosion tests were carried out in seawater under different illumination conditions by electrochemistry impedance spectrum (EIS) and polarization curves. The result showed that the TiO₂ film prepared by the anodic oxidation method was anatase with a uniform structure and without obvious pores or cracks on its surface. The average water contact angle of the film was 116.4° in dark, in contrast to an angle of 42.7° under the UV illumination for 2 hours, which demonstrates good hydrophobic property. The anti-corrosion behavior of the TiO₂ film was declining with the extended immersion time. Under dark conditions, however, the hydrophobic TiO₂ film retarded the water infiltrating into the substrate. The impedance changed slowly and the corrosion current density was 2 orders of magnitude lower than that with the film illuminated by sunlight. All of those mentioned above indicate that the TiO₂ film possesses much better performance under dark condition, and it can be applied as an engineering material under dark seawater environment.