Factors influencing surface runoff generation from two agricultural hillslopes in central Pennsylvania

The variable source area (VSA) concept provides the underlying paradigm for managing phosphorus losses in runoff in the north‐eastern USA. This study sought to elucidate factors controlling runoff along two hillslopes with contrasting soils, including characterizing runoff generation mechanisms and hydrological connectivity. Runoff monitoring plots (2 m × 1 m) were established in various landscape positions. Footslope positions were characterized by the presence of a fragipan that contributed to seasonally perched water tables. In upslope positions without a fragipan, runoff was generated primarily via the infiltration‐excess (IE) mechanism (96% of events) and was largely disconnected from downslope runoff. Roughly 80% of total runoff originated from the north footslope landscape position via saturation‐excess (SE) (46% of events; 62% of runoff) and IE (54% of events; 38% of runoff) mechanisms. Runoff from the north hillslope was substantially greater than the south hillslope despite their proximity, and apparently was a function of the extent of fragipan representation. Results demonstrate the influence of subsurface soil properties (e.g. fragipan) on surface runoff generation in variable source area hydrology settings, which could be useful for improving the accuracy of existing runoff prediction tools. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS AND FRACTAL MODELING ON THE MOSAIC STRUCTURE OF LANDSCAPE IN THE CENTRAL AREA OF SHANGHAI METROPOLIS

The mosaic structure of landscape of the central area of Shanghai Metropolis is studied by quantitative methods of landscape ecology based on Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) in this pa-per. Firstly, landscapes are classified into eight categories: residential quarter, industrial quarter, road, other urban landscape, farmland, village and small town, on-building area, river and other water bodies (such as lake, etc.). Sec-ondly, a GIS is designed and set up based on the remote sensing data and field investigation, and a digital map of landscape mosaic is made. Then the indexes of diversity, dominance, fragmentation and isolation, and fractal dimen-sion of each type of landscape in different periods are calculated by using spatial analysis method of GIS. With refer-ence to the calculated results, a series of relative issues are discussed.     

Hydrological heterogeneity of an alpine stream–lake network in Switzerland

Water source and lake landscape position can strongly influence the physico‐chemical characteristics of flowing waters over space and time. We examined the physico‐chemical heterogeneity in surface waters of an alpine stream‐lake network (>2600 m a.s.l.) in Switzerland. The catchment comprises two basins interspersed with 26 cirque lakes. The larger lakes in each basin are interconnected by streams that converge in a lowermost lake with an outlet stream. The north basin is primarily fed by precipitation and groundwater, whereas the south basin is fed mostly by glacial melt from rock glaciers. Surface flow of the entire channel network contracted by ～60% in early autumn, when snowmelt runoff ceased and cold temperatures reduced glacial outputs, particularly in the south basin. Average water temperatures were ～4 °C cooler in the south basin, and temperatures increased by about 4–6 °C along the longitudinal gradient within each basin. Although overall water conductivity was low (<27 µS cm^?1) because of bedrock geology (ortho‐gneiss), the south basin had two times higher conductivity values than the north basin. Phosphate‐phosphorus levels were below analytical detection limits, but particulate phosphorus was about four times higher in the north basin (seasonal average: 9 µg l^?1) than in the south basin (seasonal average: 2 µg l^?1). Dissolved nitrogen constituents were around two times higher in the south basin than in the north basin, with highest values averaging > 300 µg l^?1 (nitrite + nitrate‐nitrogen), whereas particulate nitrogen was approximately nine times greater in the north basin (seasonal average: 97 µg l^?1) than in the south basin (seasonal average: 12 µg l^?1). Total inorganic carbon was low (usually <0·8 mg l^?1), silica was sufficient for algal growth, and particulate organic carbon was 4·5 times higher in the north basin (average: 0·9 mg l^?1) than in the south basin (average: 0·2 mg l^?1). North‐basin streams showed strong seasonality in turbidity, particulate‐nitrogen and ‐phosphorus, and particulate organic carbon, whereas strong seasonality in south‐basin streams was observed in conductivity and dissolved nitrogen. Lake position influenced the seasonal dynamics in stream temperatures and nutrients, particularly in the groundwater/precipitation‐fed north‐basin network. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

THE SPREAD OF AGRICULTURE IN CHINA

At pressent, China has about 100 million ha of farmland and 1.1 billion inhabitants, of which, about 80% are still engaged in agriculture. In geographical distribution, primitive shifting cultivation was at first mainly scattered in small patches in Eastern Monsoon China, especially concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of the Huanghe (Yellow) River and the Changjiang (Yangtze) River. The ratio of agriculture to industry in production value changed from 7:3 in the early 1950s to 3:7 in the middle 1980s. Agricultural Regionalization is based upon agricultural development as well as physical regionalization in China. Seven first-level agricultural regions might be identified.     

Type and evolution of landscapes of Nansha Islands

Landscapes of the Nansha Islands may be divided into five types: tropical marine organism-breeding landscape of reef knoll like Zengmu Shoal, Wan’an Bank and so on; tropical marine organism-breeding landscape of atoll including all emerged reefs and most submerged reefs; tropical evergreen arbor-bush forest and phosphorous lime soil landscape of limesand Islets like Taiping Islet, Nanwei islet and so on; tropical shallow sea marine organism-breeding landscape of southern continental shelf; tropical oceanic and deep-sea marine organism landscape in middle and north parts of the Nansha Islands area. These five landscape types may be also summed up as two categories, one is tropical sea landscape including those in shallow and deep sea, the other is tropical coral reef landscape including those of reef knoll, atoll and limesand islet. This paper outlines the evolutional model of landscapes of the Nansha Islands. The distribution and evolution of landscape types are related with palaeogeography and modern environmental conditions. The former shallow sea of the Nansha islands was coastal zone in the Late Pleistocene epoch. Deep sea is evolved from shallow sea due to long and slow subsidence of crust. Modern coral reefs develop on old reef top of the Late pleistocene epoch or on baserock of continental shelf in the Holocene due to the rise of sea level in postglacial. Limesand islet is in the peak of developmental stage.     

Sensitivity of bocage landscapes to surfaces run-off: Application of the kirkby index

The Breton bocage is a landscape of fields enclosed by a network of hedgerow banks and ditches. Organization of this bocage varies considerably in different areas of Brittany. However, one constant feature of the different bocage landscapes is the presence of banks enclosing bottom lands, which enclose elongated plots in the thalweg bottoms. The banks enclosing the bottom lands influence the sensitivity of the basin to surface run-off and also the presence of excess surface water zones. To analyse the part played by banks enclosing bottom lands, the topography of a typical first order basin was modelled and the existence of such a bank within the catchment was simulated. The effect of the bank on the Kirkby index, a topographical parameter defining the sensitivity of soils to surface run-off was analysed. Modification of its spatial distribution is considerable for mean values of the index. The saturation zone, the storm run-off source area, is reduced to that area of bottom land enclosed by the bank; it thus varies very little so that run-off conditions are almost constant whatever the climatic conditions. From the methodological point of view, the interest of analysing the spatial distribution of morphometric parameters of a catchment may be noted; in the example studied, the heterogeneity of the Kirkby index distribution is an important factor in the analysis.     

恐惧景观及其在旅游地理学中的应用综述

恐惧景观作为一种具有特殊意义的景观,存在于自然界和人类社会。恐惧景观在生物系统中有巨大的生态效应,同样在人-地系统中深刻影响物质景观和集体记忆等各个方面。景观知觉、景观态度以及景观与人类的互动影响是当代地理学研究的重要主题,但对恐惧景观的研究仍然较为薄弱。文章对恐惧景观的概念和研究内容进行系统梳理,并探讨其在旅游地理学中的应用。主要结论包括：1）恐惧景观在生态学研究中已经形成恐惧生态学,相比而言,其他学科领域尚处于探索阶段。2）生态学对恐惧景观的定义和研究内容是动物的捕食风险感知,在其他相关研究学科上则主要从人与地方/空间之间的恐惧景观的呈现形式和景观感知进行研究。3）从恐惧景观、游客及情感三者的关联看,可以发现恐惧景观在旅游地理学的应用主要集中于情感地理、黑色旅游和情感特性3个方面。最后,提出未来可以跨学科多角度、情感心理及以黑色旅游为切入点对恐惧景观进行探索,深化旅游地理学领域的研究内容。     

The Heat Island Effect Response to the Urban Landscape Pattern of Haikou based on the “Source-Sink” Theory

The Landsat images of the 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2018 are selected as the data source to retrieve land cover and surface temperature data. The contribution of Sink-Source landscape pattern to the heat island and its ecological effects on urban and rural gradient were analyzed by using Heat Index (HI), Sink and Source Landscape Contribution (CI_sink, CI_source) and Landscape Effect Index (LI) in Haikou. The results show that the heat island is concentrated on the West Coast, and in the central urban and Jiangdong New Area; the HI shows a pattern of decreasing value with the following land types: “Bare land>Artificial surface﹥Source landscape>Shrub grassland>Farmland>Sink landscape>Woodland>Water body”. In the central city section, the CI_sink and CI_source are relatively large in these five periods. The LI decreases rapidly along the urban-rural gradient, promoting the Urban Heat Island (UHI) to a large degree. In contrast, the suburban area contributes to a lesser degree. Overall, the LI fluctuates, the proportion of mitigating UHI is large, and there is a second peak outside the city center. The existing Source-Sink Landscape contributes the most to UHI in the central urban area, and this contribution decreases along the urban-rural gradient. With the continuous expansion of city-town areas, the proportion of Sink areas has increased along the gradient, and the proportion of Source areas has subsequently declined, resulting in the spatial transfer and diffusion of UHI. Therefore, a UHI mitigation strategy based on the theory of regional landscape systems is proposed here.     

Spatio-temporal patterns and driving mechanism of farmland fragmentation in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain

Exploring the spatio-temporal variations of farmland landscape patterns in a traditional agricultural region can provide scientific support for decision-making on sustainable rural land use and rural vitalization development. This study established a comprehensive evaluation index for farmland fragmentation with multiple aspects (dominance, integrity, aggregation, regularity, and connectivity) at the county scale. The goal was to identify the evolution of farmland fragmentation in the traditional agricultural region of the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain during 2000-2015 and investigate underlying drivers using panel data of 359 counties. Results showed an accelerating but fluctuating fragmentation pattern of the farmland landscape. The indexes of dominance, integrity, and aggregation of farmland decreased most sharply, while the index of connectivity increased. Furthermore, the evolution of the farmland fragmentation pattern showed significant spatio-temporal heterogeneity, which is similar to the trajectory of urbanization and land use transition. Farmland fragmentation in municipal districts also emerged earlier and was more severe than in county-level cities and counties. Factors influenced by advancing urbanization include the proportion of artificial land, population density, and proportion of primary industry; these factors drove the evolution of farmland fragmentation. In contrast, the increase in income of rural residents and production efficiency of farmland were the key factors contributing to the improvement in farmland connectivity.     

Simulating urban growth by integrating landscape expansion index (LEI) and cellular automata

Traditional urban cellular automata (CA) model can effectively simulate infilling and edge-expansion growth patterns. However, most of these models are incapable of simulating the outlying growth. This paper proposed a novel model called LEI-CA which incorporates landscape expansion index (LEI) with CA to simulate urban growth. Urban growth type is identified by calculating the LEI index of each cell. Case-based reasoning technique is used to discover different transition rules for the adjacent growth type and the outlying growth type, respectively. We applied the LEI-CA model to the simulation of urban growth in Dongguan in southern China. The comparison between logistic-based CA and LEI-CA indicates that the latter can yield a better performance. The LEI-CA model can improve urban simulation accuracy over logistic-based CA by 13.8%, 10.8% and 6.9% in 1993, 1999 and 2005, respectively. Moreover, the outlying growth type hardly exists in the simulation by logistic-based CA, while the proposed LEI-CA model performs well in simulating different urban growth patterns. Our experiments illustrate that the LEI-CA model not only overcomes the deficiencies of traditional CA but might also better understand urban evolution process.