Spatial Differentiation of the Coupling Characteristics of Soil Carbon and Nitrogen on Mulberry Plantations in China

Soil is the most important carbon pool of the mulberry plantation ecosystem, so understanding the characteristics of the soil carbon pool in mulberry plantations provides an important basis for the research of carbon sinks in economic forest ecosystems and farmland ecosystems. In order to explore the spatial differentiation pattern of the relationship between carbon and nitrogen in mulberry plantation soil, this study analyzed the organic carbon content and total nitrogen content of the surface soil layer (0-20 cm) and the subsurface soil layer (20-40 cm) of 475 mulberry plantations in five major regions of China, Southwest China (SWC), Central South China (CSC), East China (EC), North China (NC), and Northwest China (NWC). The research showed seven key aspects of this system. (1) The soil organic carbon of mulberry plantations was significantly different at the two soil depths. The average content of organic carbon in the surface layer of mulberry plantation soil was 10.71±7.01g kg^?1, which was 37.13% higher than that of the subsurface layer. (2) The soil organic carbon of mulberry plantations had significant differences in spatial differentiation, which was manifested as SWC>CSC>EC>NC>NWC. (3) The total nitrogen content in mulberry plantation soil had significant responses to the region, the soil layer depth, and the interaction between the region and soil layer depth. Among the regions, NWC had no significant difference between the surface layer and subsurface layer of the soil. EC had the maximum difference in total nitrogen content, with the total nitrogen content in the surface soil layer being 56.68% higher than that of the subsurface soil layer. The total nitrogen contents of the surface soil layers in the SWC and NC were 34.27% and 20.79% higher than those of the respective subsurface soil layers. (4) The mulberry plantation soil C/N ratios had a significant response to regional differences, as NWC>SWC> EC>CSC>NC, but this ratio had no significant response to soil depth. (5) Soil pH had significant spatial differentiation in relation to soil organic carbon and total nitrogen content in mulberry plantations. NWC had no significant correlation between pH and organic carbon or total nitrogen content, while CSC had a significant positive correlation between pH and both soil organic carbon and total nitrogen content. Other regions showed significant negative correlations between pH and both organic carbon and total nitrogen content. (6) There was a significant negative correlation between the C/N ratio of the surface soil layer and pH in mulberry plantations, which was mainly contributed by SWC, while the other regions’ surface soil layers had no significant correlations between C/N ratio and pH. (7) There was no significant correlation between the C/N ratio and pH in the subsurface soil layer in mulberry plantations. These results reveal that in either the research on mulberry plantation carbon pools or the innovation of green and low-carbon planting technology in mulberry plantations, the spatial differentiation characteristics of soil must be considered. Furthermore, the spatial differentiation of soil organic carbon can be used as the basic foundation for the planning and design of mulberry afforestation or ecological restoration projects.     

Developing a gross primary production model for coniferous forests of northeastern USA from MODIS data

Accurate estimation of ecosystem carbon fluxes is crucial for understanding the feedbacks between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere and for making climate-policy decisions. A statistical model is developed to estimate the gross primary production (GPP) of coniferous forests of northeastern USA using remotely sensed (RS) radiation (land surface temperature and near-infra red albedo) and ecosystem variables (enhanced vegetation index and global vegetation moisture index) acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor. This GPP model (called R-GPP-Coni), based only on remotely sensed data, was first calibrated with GPP estimates derived from the eddy covariance flux tower of the Howland forest main tower site and then successfully transferred and validated at three other coniferous sites: the Howland forest west tower site, Duke pine forest and North Carolina loblolly pine site, which demonstrate its transferability to other coniferous ecoregions of northeastern USA. The proposed model captured the seasonal dynamics of the observed 8-day GPP successfully by explaining 84–94% of the observed variations with a root mean squared error (RMSE) ranging from 1.10 to 1.64 g C/m²/day over the 4 study sites and outperformed the primary RS-based GPP algorithm of MODIS.     

Impact of feature selection on the accuracy and spatial uncertainty of per-field crop classification using Support Vector Machines

Crop mapping is one major component of agricultural resource monitoring using remote sensing. Yield or water demand modeling requires that both, the total surface that is cultivated and the accurate distribution of crops, respectively is known. Map quality is crucial and influences the model outputs. Although the use of multi-spectral time series data in crop mapping has been acknowledged, the potentially high dimensionality of the input data remains an issue. In this study Support Vector Machines (SVM) are used for crop classification in irrigated landscapes at the object-level. Input to the classifications is 71 multi-seasonal spectral and geostatistical features computed from RapidEye time series. The random forest (RF) feature importance score was used to select a subset of features that achieved optimal accuracies. The relationship between the hard result accuracy and the soft output from the SVM is investigated by employing two measures of uncertainty, the maximum a posteriori probability and the alpha quadratic entropy. Specifically the effect of feature selection on map uncertainty is investigated by looking at the soft outputs of the SVM, in addition to classical accuracy metrics. Overall the SVMs applied to the reduced feature subspaces that were composed of the most informative multi-seasonal features led to a clear increase in classification accuracy up to 4.3%, and to a significant decline in thematic uncertainty. SVM was shown to be affected by feature space size and could benefit from RF-based feature selection. Uncertainty measures from SVM are an informative source of information on the spatial distribution of error in the crop maps.     

Performance of dense digital surface models based on image matching in the estimation of plot-level forest variables

Recent research results have shown that the performance of digital surface model extraction using novel high-quality photogrammetric images and image matching is a highly competitive alternative to laser scanning. In this article, we proceed to compare the performance of these two methods in the estimation of plot-level forest variables. Dense point clouds extracted from aerial frame images were used to estimate the plot-level forest variables needed in a forest inventory covering 89 plots. We analyzed images with 60% and 80% forward overlaps and used test plots with off-nadir angles of between 0° and 20°. When compared to reference ground measurements, the airborne laser scanning (ALS) data proved to be the most accurate: it yielded root mean square error (RMSE) values of 6.55% for mean height, 11.42% for mean diameter, and 20.72% for volume. When we applied a forward overlap of 80%, the corresponding results from aerial images were 6.77% for mean height, 12.00% for mean diameter, and 22.62% for volume. A forward overlap of 60% resulted in slightly deteriorated RMSE values of 7.55% for mean height, 12.20% for mean diameter, and 22.77% for volume. According to our results, the use of higher forward overlap produced only slightly better results in the estimation of these forest variables. Additionally, we found that the estimation accuracy was not significantly impacted by the increase in the off-nadir angle. Our results confirmed that digital aerial photographs were about as accurate as ALS in forest resources estimation as long as a terrain model was available.     

基于MAPGIS地理信息平台城镇地籍数据库建库探讨——以神农架林区松柏镇为例

以MapGIS地理信息平台为基础、以SQL SERVER2000数据库为后台,神农架林区松柏镇为研究对象,阐述了城镇地籍建库的方式、建库流程,再列举了在建库过程中遇到常见问题及解决方案,从而建成符合城镇地籍数据库标准MAPGIS地理信息平台的城镇地籍数据库成果。最后介绍了MapGIS地理信息平台的下数据库实现功能如地籍数据格式转换功能、图形与信息检索查询、ACESS数据导入与影像挂接、统计分析与成果输出、日常办公及查询统计等功能。     

Fallow,labour and livelihood in shifting cultivation: implications for deforestation in northern Lao PDR

Shifting cultivation is often blamed for deforestation in tropical upland areas. Based on a case study of three villages in northern Lao PDR, this paper combines household surveys with a remote sensing based analysis of forest cover, covering the period 1989–1999, in order to analyse changes in shifting cultivation practices and livelihood strategies and the impact of these on deforestation. Due to population pressure and relocation of villages, easily accessed land is increasingly scarce and fallow periods have been shortened during the 1990s. A net annual deforestation of about 1% was found in the area during the study period. This deforestation rate reflects shorter fallow periods in secondary forests rather than encroachment on mature forests, which are not used for cultivation by the farmers in the three villages. Farmers rate scarce labour as a major constraint on shifting cultivation; nonetheless, a tendency towards lower labour input with shorter fallow periods is observed, contradicting conventional intensification theory. Livelihoods are diversifying through the establishment of plantations, cultivation of wet rice and adoption of animal husbandry, but given the socio-economic conditions in the area, shifting cultivation is likely to remain the most suitable farming system in the near future.     

Facilitating Public Involvement in Strategic Planning for Wildland Fire Management∗

Wildland fire creates a complex relationship between federal agencies and public stakeholders. Questions surrounding the public's role in federal wildland fire management point to broader questions about the relationships among scientists, policymakers, federal agencies, and the public. In this article we report on a project to provide information about the key components of federal policies that govern wildland fire management. The goal is to enhance the decision support capabilities of a geographic information system (GIS)-based fire risk model and the capacity of users to interpret the outputs of the model from a fire policy perspective. We conclude by making recommendations for how this and other such tools might be refined to improve and expand policy interactions among government land and resource management agencies, scientists, and the public.     

Factors Influencing Species Composition in Canopy Gaps: The Importance of Edge Proximity in Hueston Woods,Ohio

In this research, we attempt to quantify the factors structuring woody species composition within forest gaps in the interior of Hueston Woods Nature Preserve, Ohio. Our results indicate that composition is related not only to factors commonly cited in other studies, including disturbance history, topographic position, and environmental factors (e.g., gap age, soil pH, slope, and aspect), but also to the proximity of forest edge communities. Partitioning of species variation to environmental factors, spatial factors, and spatially structured environmental factors reinforces the importance of both environment and edge proximity in explaining gap composition. These findings underscore the need for a more complete understanding of the potential impacts of edge effects in fragmented landscapes.     

When Fields Revert to Forest: Development and Spontaneous Reforestation in Post-War Puerto Rico

During the past 50 years forests have recolonized extensive areas of Puerto Rico. Between 1950 and 1990 forest cover increased from 9% to 37% of the island's land area. In proportional terms more land has reverted to forest in Puerto Rico than anywhere else on earth during the second half of the twentieth century. This paper explores the geography of this process by matching changes in land cover with the characteristics of the land and communities in Puerto Rico. The reversion of agricultural lands to forest occurred most frequently in humid, upland, coffee-growing regions characterized by heavy out-migration and populations of smallholders who earned some of their income from off-farm sources. These findings suggest that changes in non-farm labor markets, as well as changes in the political economy of agriculture, have important impacts on the prospects for converting agricultural lands into forests.     

Instrumental method for reducing error in compression-derived measurements of rainfall interception for individual trees

Abstract

This technical note presents an instrumental method for the precise and timely installation of mechanical displacement sensors to investigate stem compression and relaxation associated with whole-tree rainwater loading and evaporation, respectively. We developed this procedure in response to the conclusions of Friesen et al. (2008 Friesen, J. 2008. Tree rainfall interception measured by stem compression. Water Resources Research, 44 doi:doi:10.1029/2008 WR007074. [Google Scholar]), which called for the development of a precision mounting method for strain sensors on inherently-irregular trunk cross-sections so that rainfall interception, storage and evaporation may be distinguished from other strain-related phenomena. To supply precise sensor installation locations, high-resolution trunk profiles are generated using the LaserBark^TM automated tree measurement system. These scans are utilized to approximate the location of neutral bending axes. A routine then instructs a mobile rangefinder along the cross-section to optically indicate exact positioning for strain sensors over the bending axes. As imprecise sensor placement linearly increases error and diminishes signal-to-noise ratio, this automated installation routine is designed to remove significant distortions created by wind throw, off-centre loading within unevenly-distributed canopies, and human error that can lead to erroneous measurements of rainfall interception.

Citation Van Stan, J. T. II, Jarvis, M. T., Levia, D. F. Jr & Friesen, J. (2011) Instrumental method for reducing error in compressionderived measurements of rainfall interception for individual trees. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(6), 1061–1066.