Cretaceous desert cycles,wind direction and hydrologic cycle variations in Ordos Basin: Evidence for Cretaceous climatic unequability

Whether climate under greenhouse condition in geological history, especially in Cretaceous, was eq-uable or not has been acutely debated for a long time. Early studies[1—8] show that the subtropical zones then expanded northwards and southwards to the latitudes about 65S and 65N, while the temperate zones oc-cupied the latitudes of 65—90S and 65—90N. Con-sequently, the two poles were ice-free, equator-to-pole surface temperature gradient was obviously reduced, amplitude of climatic change…     

Expansion and contraction of Chinese deserts during the Quaternary

Episodic dune formations during the Quaternary are found in many deserts of China.The causes of desert expansions on different time scales are not the same. Desert extension atabout 1.1 and 0.9 Ma ago were the response to the active tectonic movements, whereas the de-sert evolutions on the ten-thousand years time scale were the response to the orbital scale climaticchanges. Spatial scale studies on desert evolution indicate that desert margins shifted greatly dur-ing the last glacial maximum (LGM) and the Holocene optimum, its changing from 125°E of theLGM to 105°E of the climatic optimum. Historical desertification in the semiarid China is not a re-sponse to climate drought but largely associated with the human impacts (mainly over-cultivation)since about 2300 years ago, which leads to the reworking of the underlying LGM sands.     

北魏(AD386——534)鄂尔多斯高原的自然一人文景观

通过使用历史地理学研究方法，对北魏时期（ＡＤ３８６－５３４）历史文献记录进行断代考证研究，参用研究精度较高的第四纪地质实验分析资料，围绕鄂尔多斯高原景观问题按地理要素展开探讨，取得的结果是本时段内库布齐沙漠沙深，面积广大，毛乌素沙地已有风成沙丘，植被不丰，干燥气候条件下多个季节仍有雨雪冷湿天气，高原上呈现沙草并存的荒漠－荒漠草原景观，居住其上的人民在套上黄河支流发育地段务农，牧民和载畜量由北向南增多，东南缘边最为集中。     

Interactions between aeolian and fluvial systems in dryland environments

Historically, fluvial and aeolian processes in dryland environments have been viewed as mutually exclusive. However, recent research indicates that in many regions dryland aeolian and fluvial systems do not operate independently. There are interactions between the two systems that have important implications for the geomorphology of the landscape. This paper reviews the factors controlling the transfer of sediments between aeolian and fluvial systems, focusing on moisture availability, sediment supply and the magnitude/frequency characteristics of fluvial and aeolian events. We conclude by highlighting areas of future research that will contribute greatly to our understanding of aeolian–fluvial relationships in dryland areas.     

腾格里沙漠包气带水,汽,热运动的耦合模型及水热状况模拟

采用中子水分仪、负压计和电子测温器同步测定腾格里沙漠邓马营湖包气带０～４２５ｃｍ范围内不同深度含水量、基质势和温度,确立有关的水热特征参数。基于Ｐｈｉｌｉｐ、ＤｅＶｒｉｅｓ提出的土壤内水热运动理论,建立并解算了该包气带水、汽、热运动的耦合模型,并对不同气象条件下沙漠包气带水热状况进行数值模拟和预报,其结果反映了沙漠包气带含水量变化及温度分布特征。     

Yielding to high yields? Critiquing food security definitions and policy implications for ethnic minority livelihoods in upland Vietnam

Agricultural intensification is at the core of the current agrarian transition in Southeast Asia. New crop varieties promise higher productive outputs, but depend on significant increases in chemical inputs. In the highlands of northern Vietnam, we find that adopting hybrid maize is inevitably associated with an increasing dependence on cash for direct and indirect inputs and investments. This reliance on the cash economy is a new reality for semi-subsistence ethnic minority Hmong households, and provides evidence of the advancing agrarian transition in Vietnam’s remote northern highlands. While livelihood outcomes of hybrid seed adoption include increased maize yields, local farmers highlight numerous drawbacks, including unstable input prices, limited storage periods, pest concerns, and the increased reliance on cash. Strong preferences for the taste of traditional local maize, as well as concerns over regular harvests, lead many households to resist the full adoption of new hybrid varieties and redirect hybrid maize to livestock feed and household alcohol production instead. Thus while state policies extoll the virtues of high-yielding hybrid maize for poverty reduction, we find that food availability is an overemphasized element of household food security and upland agricultural development policies. Food security interventions must move beyond conceptualizing food security as a result of food availability alone, and also incorporate cultural acceptability of food, better understandings of hybrid maize cultivation challenges, and respect the seed diversity on which local livelihoods and food security rely.     

Preliminary reconstruction of the desert and sandy land distributions in China since the last interglacial period

The desert and sandy land are the products of arid climate. The spatial distribution of modern deserts and sandy land in China and their relation to climate show following characteristics: arid and hyper-arid desert zones, at isohyet of less than 200 mm, are dominated by mobile dunes; semi-arid steppe and arid desert steppe with the precipitation between 200-400mm, are dominated by semi-fixed and fixed sand dunes; the precipitation of sub-humid forest grassland and humid forest zones with scattered fixed sand land is higher than 400 mm. With this as reference, in combination with considerable amount of paleoclimatic data in desert regions and adjacent regions, the distributions of desert and sandy land in China during the last interglacial period, the last glacial maximum (LGM), and the Holocene megathermal, were preliminarily reconstructed. The results compared with that of today show that the distribution of desert and sandy land in China was greatly dwindled during last interglacial period, and the mobile dune area was about two-thirds of that of today's, but greatly expanded during LGM. However, the dwindling area of desert and sandy land in the Holocene megathermal was smaller than that in the last interglacial period. The forcing mechanism was mainly related to the changes of East Asian winter and summer monsoon, south-northward swing of the westerlies and the variations of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau monsoon intensity caused by global climate changes during the cold and warm intervals since the last interglacial period.     

西部荒漠地区的湿地和水禽多样性

我国西部荒漠地区约有自然和人工湿地 96 180km2 ,这些湿地按成因分为断层陷落积水成湿地 ,冰川湖湿地 ,地下水浅出湿地 ,灌溉退水湿地和人工湿地。栖息着《湿地公约》规定的水禽 14 2种 ,占我国水禽种数的5 4 .8% ,其中繁殖种类 74种 ,占 5 2 .1%。列入国家野生动物重点保护名录的 2 6种 ,占 18.3% ,占我国列入保护名录水禽种数的 5 0 .0 %。列入《濒危野生动植物物种国际贸易公约》(CITES)的 12种 ,占 8.4 % ;列入《中日候鸟及其栖息环境保护协定》的 84种 ,占 5 9.2 %。荒漠地区湿地对水禽迁徙、繁殖、越冬有着特殊重要的作用。自然环境改变 ,尤其气候变干旱和人类活动严重影响着荒漠地区湿地的存在 ,对水禽的物种多样性和种群数量产生了强烈影响。应加强荒漠地区湿地保护     

Land conservation campaign in China: integrated management, local participation and food supply option

In an effort to halt soil erosion, desertification and sandstorms, the Chinese government has recently launched a series of land conservation programs targeted at the country’s north, northwest and southwest areas where problems are severe. This paper provides an overview of the current status of the major land conservation projects and their environmental and social-economic significance, as well as the challenges encountered. Conflicts of interests and objectives among different administrative entities involved and problems associated with the lack of local participation are addressed. Impacts on the food economy and implications for the environment are discussed in light of the options for meeting the country’s increasing food demand. The analysis highlights the necessity of improving cooperation and integration across different administrations and the imperative of participation of local communities in the planning and management process for achieving the goals of land conservation campaign. The importance of internalizing the environmental externality of land degradation and stipulating sustainable national food supply strategies is also stressed.