Assessment of extreme drought and human interference on baseflow of the Yangtze River

Attention has been given to baseflow in large rivers, but up to now, no study on baseflow for the Yangtze River in combination with extreme drought and extensive human activities has been carried out. Discharge data in 2000–2005 and in the extreme drought years, 1978 and 2006, at stations along the main stream, lakes and distributaries of the Yangtze River were collected to analyse the features of baseflow in 2006 by using baseflow separation technique, HYSEP. It can be seen that the baseflow relative to the streamflow in 2006 was greater than those in other years. The variation of baseflow discharge in the Upper Yangtze River Stream (UYRS) was larger than that in the Mid‐Lower Yangtze River Stream (MLYRS). Human activities in MLYRS are more intensive than that in the UYRS and the baseflow discharge was greater. The baseflow is influenced by the extreme climate and human activities along the Yangtze River with the former being the dominant factor in 2006. The contribution of human interference to baseflow discharge was about 10% in 2006. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantitative Assessment of Impacts of Regional Climate and Human Activities on Saline-alkali Land Changes： A Case Study of Qian＇an County, Jilin Province

Interdecadal and interannual variations of saline-alkali land area in Qian’an County, Jilin Province, China were comprehensively analyzed in this paper by means of satellite remote sensing interpretation, field flux observations and regional climate diagnosis. The results show that on the interannual scale, the impact of climate factors accounts for 71.6% of the total variation of the saline-alkali land area, and that of human activities accounts for 28.4%. Therefore the impact of climate factors is obviously greater than that of human activities. On the interdecadal scale, the impact of climate factors on the increase of the saline-alkali land area accounts for 43.2%, and that of human activities accounts for 56.8%. The impact of human activities on the variation of saline-alkali land area is very clear on the interdecadal scale, and the negative impact of human activities on the environment should not be negligible. Besides, changes in the area of heavy saline-alkali land have some indication for development of saline-alkali land in Qian’an County.     

中国西北地区植被NDVI的时空变化及其影响因子分析

利用GIMMS/NDVI数据分析了中国西北地区1982-2006年植被NDVI时空变化特征及其影响因子。近25年来,中国西北地区年均植被NDVI增速为0.5%/10a,并存在明显的空间差异。天山、阿尔泰山、祁连山、青海的中东部等地区植被NDVI显著增加;青海南部地区、陕西和宁夏交界地区、甘肃部分地区,以及新疆部分地区的植被NDVI下降。从不同植被类型看:林地、草地和耕地的年均NDVI都在提高。研究表明:中国西北地区植被NDVI变化是各种自然和人为因素综合作用的结果。植被NDVI与气温、降水的年际变化整体上都呈弱的正相关。但与其年内变化则都呈显著的线性关系,当月均温量超过20℃时,植被NDVI呈下降趋势;当月降水量在0¹00mm期间,植被NDVI随降水线性增长,当月降水量超过100mm之后,不再有明显的增长趋势。农业生产水平提高和植被生态建设等人类活动对西北地区植被NDVI增加有重要影响。     

The role of long‐term human impact on avulsion and fan development

This study aims to understand (mainly qualitatively) the long‐term role of human impact on avulsion processes and the development of fluvial (mega‐) fans in semi‐arid environments. In this paper we refer to human impact as the direct influences of actions on the river's hydraulics (i.e. flow regulation, flow diversion and channel engineering). In five case‐studies drawn from the Khuzestan plains in southwest Iran we have analysed the setup and triggering conditions of specific avulsions that occurred in the past (timescale of millennia) and identified the role of human interference in their causation. Our analysis is based on the integration of historical, archaeological, geomorphological and geological data. Through this study we demonstrate that avulsions in the Khuzestan plains are the result of long‐term and complex interplay between multiple human‐induced and natural causes. In similar ways human‐induced actions may play important roles during different phases of avulsion development. The ‘success‘ of an avulsion in the post‐triggering phase may be defined by human‐induced setup causes as well as morphodynamic processes. We suggest that present‐day flood events may be partly inherited from long‐term human alterations of the natural processes. These finding could have implications for any fluvial system (e.g. distributive fluvial systems, deltas) where avulsion plays a major role in their development and research tends to emphasize on natural mechanisms. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

湘南传统村落人居环境的营建模式

以湘南地区为地理单元,在分析该地自然地理条件和历史文化环境的基础上,探索该地传统村落人居环境的选址思想和营建模式。从选址思想来看,基于安全防御、农业生产、经济营建和风水观念的考虑,湘南传统村落多选址于地域环境相对独立或封闭的丘陵坡地或台地上;从营建模式来看,湘南传统村落人居环境追求“天人合一”的哲学思想,布局遵循传统礼制,实行自主互助并秉承经济实用的原则,发展体现区位择优的生长规律。     

Progress on quantitative assessment of the impacts of climate change and human activities on cropland change

It is important to study the contributions of climate change and human activities to cropland changes in the fields of both climate change and land use change. Relationships between cropland changes and driving forces were qualitatively studied in most of the previous researches. However, the quantitative assessments of the contributions of climate change and human activities to cropland changes are needed to be explored for a better understanding of the dynamics of land use changes. We systematically reviewed the methods of identifying the contributions of climate change and human activities to cropland changes at quantitative aspects, including model analysis, mathematical statistical method, framework analysis, index assessment and difference comparison. Progress of the previous researches on quantitative evaluation of the contributions was introduced. Then we discussed four defects in the assessment of the contributions of climate change and human activities. For example, the methods were lack of comprehensiveness, and the data need to be more accurate and abundant. In addition, the scale was single and the explanations were biased. Moreover, we concluded a clue about quantitative approach to assess the contributions from synthetically aspect to specific driving forces. Finally, the solutions of the future researches on data, scale and explanation were proposed.     

基于分形维数测算的西安古城道路网研究

基于人类尺度营建的古城道路网经过历史演化具有分形结构.在汽车成为道路设计导向的背景下,立足于分形连接的古城道路网应回归人性化出行的视角,应用Hausdorff维数简化分析法,长度--半径维数分析法及分枝数目--半径维数分析法,对1735年,1893年,1949年及2014年四个时期西安古城道路网进行了分形维数的测算,揭示了道路网分形演化趋势和不同时期的分形特征,探讨了演化原因并确定了分形演化过程中的三个阶段(不断向更高层次演化阶段;演化到较高等级,但外部因素对道路网产生逆向扰动;处于较高层级,但交通方式变革使基于人类尺度的道路网在结构和功能上发生局部蜕变),指出目前西安古城道路网在结构和功能上的局部蜕化趋势不容忽视,并针对问题提出应推崇适宜步行和自行车出行的模式典范,对古城道路网保护乃至整个古城的可持续发展具有重要意义.     

气候变化和人类活动对孤山川流域次洪径流量和输沙量的影响

利用有序聚类法、MWP检定法分析出1979年为孤山川流域天然时期和人类活动影响时期水沙的转折点,采用1979年之前的资料建立模型,并将该时期的次洪水量和沙量作为基准,分析了气候变化和人类活动对1979年后次洪水量和沙量的影响.     

SCALING TECHNIQUES IN THE ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL COGNITION DATA∗

The utility of nonmetric, multidimensional-scaling techniques is demonstrated for the analysis and collection of environmental-cognition data. By comparing the multidimensional-scaling solutions of a real-setting map to scaling solutions for sketch maps and two psychophysical, distance-scaling procedures, we demonstrate that magnitude estimation of actual interpoint distances is comparable in accuracy to sketch maps when produced without constraints, or when subjects are given a specified list of landmarks to include on their maps. Triadic comparisons of actual interpoint distances were less accurate than the three other techniques.     

Metropolitan growth and the mobility and immobility of skilled and creative couples across the life course

The human capital and creative class hypotheses argue that the agglomeration of skilled and creative people is key to economic growth. Migration is assumed to play an important role in forming these agglomerations. However, the results of this study indicate that while younger cohorts of skilled and creative individuals are highly mobile, skilled and creative couples are highly immobile. This research hypothesizes that it is these relatively immobile skilled and creative couples that are behind the link between urban growth and concentrations of skill and creativity. Indeed, this analysis finds a strong empirical link between concentrations of skilled couples, but not creative class couples, and economic growth. Public policies designed to increase the size of the skilled population should be directed at retaining younger cohorts long enough for them to develop the local networks upon which spillover effects rely.