Effects of vegetation restoration on soil physical properties of abandoned farmland on the Loess Plateau,China

To improve the ecological environment in China, the Chinese government implemented a country-wide ecological protection and reforestation project (namely the “Grain for Green Project”) in 1999 to return cultivated land with slopes of 25° or more to perennial vegetation. Vegetation restoration reduces soil erosion mainly by changing the soil physical properties. Different vegetation restoration methods might produce different impacts on soil physical properties. In this study, two vegetation restoration methods (i.e., natural restoration and artificial restoration) were compared on abandoned farmland in the typically hilly and gullied areas of the Loess Plateau of Northwest China. In the natural restoration method, the farmland was abandoned to natural vegetation succession without irrigation, fertilization or other artificial disturbances. In the artificial restoration method, the farmland was planted with black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) and watered and cultivated for the first two years. Three soil physical properties (i.e., soil moisture, bulk density and aggregation) were investigated under the two vegetation restoration methods. The results showed that the soil moisture and soil bulk density were higher under artificial restoration than under natural restoration within the first three years of vegetation restoration. By the fourth year, the soil moisture and soil bulk density were higher under natural restoration than under artificial restoration. For the stability of soil aggregates?>?0.25 mm, the soil aggregates in the 0-20 cm soil layer were more stable under artificial restoration than under natural restoration, while the results were the opposite for the 40-60 cm soil layer. Overall, the soil physical properties were continuously improved during the restoration of vegetation on abandoned farmland. In choosing between vegetation restoration methods, natural restoration is preferable to artificial restoration, but artificial intervention is needed during the first three years.     

Analysis of nonstationarity in low flow in the Loess Plateau of China

An approach for nonstationary low‐flow frequency analysis is developed and demonstrated on a dataset from the rivers on the Loess Plateau of China. Nonstationary low‐flow frequency analysis has drawn significant attention in recent years by establishing relationships between low‐flow series and explanatory variables series, but few studies have tested whether the time‐varying moments of low flow can be fully described by the time‐varying moments of the explanatory variables. In this research, the low‐flow distributions are analytically derived from the 2 basic explanatory variables—the recession duration and the recession coefficient—with the assumption that the recession duration and recession coefficient variables follow exponential and gamma distributions, respectively; the derived low‐flow distributions are applied to test whether the time‐varying moments of explanatory variables can explain the nonstationarities found in the low‐flow variable. The effects of ecosystem construction measures, that is, check dam, terrace, forest, and grassland, on the recession duration and recession coefficient are further discussed. Daily flow series from 11 hydrological stations from the Loess Plateau are used and processed with a moving average technique. Low‐flow data are extracted following the pit under threshold approach. Six of the 11 low‐flow series show significant nonstationarities at the 5% significance level, and the trend curves of the moments of low flow are in close agreement with the curves estimated from the derived distribution with time‐dependent moments of the recession duration and time‐constant moments of the recession coefficient. It is indicated that the nonstationarity in the low‐flow distribution results from the nonstationarity in the recession duration in all 6 cases, and the increase in the recession duration is resulted from large‐scale ecosystem constructions rather than climate change. The large‐scale ecosystem constructions are found to have more influence on the decrease in streamflow than on the increase in watershed storage, thus resulting in the reduction of low flow. A high return period for the initial fixed design value decreases dramatically with an increasing recession duration.     

黄土高原植被恢复潜力研究

黄土高原从1999年开始大规模退耕还林（草）,植被覆盖发生了较大变化,对黄土高原植被恢复现状和恢复潜力进行评估具有重要意义。本文使用1999-2013年SPOT VEG NDVI数据,采用线性回归、Hurst指数分析法、统计学方法以及地理空间分析技术,对黄土高原植被恢复状况和潜力进行了探讨。结论主要为：① 1999年退耕还林（草）以来,黄土高原植被覆盖度呈显著上升趋势,黄土高原三分之二地区的植被将会持续改善;② 植被响应曲线分析表明,黄土区植被覆盖度和干旱指数呈显著的指数关系,且缓坡相关性大于陡坡。土石山区植被响应函数为线性函数,相关系数下降;③ 整个黄土高原地区平均植被恢复潜力为69.75%。植被恢复潜力值东南高而西北低,黄土高原东南地区植被恢复状况较好,其植被恢复潜力指数较小,而植被恢复潜力指数较高的地区主要为北方风沙区及西部丘陵沟壑区;④ 不同降水量条件下,植被恢复速度差别显著,其中降水量在375~575 mm之间的地区,植被恢复最快。植被恢复措施应该“因水制宜”,避免因造林带来的土壤干化加剧。研究结果以期为黄土高原生态文明建设提供科学支撑。     

黄河中游多沙粗沙区水沙变化趋势及其主控因素的贡献率

随着气候变化和人类活动影响加剧,黄河中游多沙粗沙区的水沙变化剧烈,因此研究影响黄河中游多沙粗沙区径流量和输沙量的驱动因素对预测未来水沙变化具有重要意义。本文选取Mann-Kendall趋势检验法,Pettitt突变点检验法,位置、尺度、形状的广义可加模型以及累积量斜率变化率比较法对黄河中游多沙粗沙区15个水文站控制流域1956-2010年的年降水量、年径流量以及年输沙量变化特征及其贡献率进行分析,确定影响黄河中游多沙粗沙区径流量和输沙量变化的主要原因。结果表明：① Mann-Kendall趋势检验在5%的显著性水平下,表明降水量虽呈减少趋势但并不显著,径流量和输沙量则有显著的减少趋势;② Pettitt突变点检验得出所研究区域径流量和输沙量的突变年份在1972年、1985年以及1996年左右;③ GAMLSS模型分析结果同样表明降水的均值不随时间发生变化,但降水的方差有减小的趋势;④ 通过累积量斜率变化率比较法得出,人类活动对窟野河流域径流输沙的影响大于无定河流域。通过分析黄河中游多沙粗沙区径流量和输沙量变化的原因,可为黄河中游多沙粗沙区水资源合理分配提供一定的理论支持。     

Runoff and Soil Erosion on Slope Cropland: A Review

Soil erosion has become a serious environmental problem worldwide, and slope land is the main source of soil erosion. As a primary cover of slope land, crops have an important influence on the occurrence and development of runoff and soil erosion on slope land. This paper reviews the current understanding of runoff and soil erosion on slope cropland. Crops mainly impact splash detachment, slope runoff, and sediment yield. In this review paper, the effects of crop growth and rainfall on the splash detachment rate and the spatial distribution of splash detachment are summarized. Crop growth has a significant impact on runoff and sediment yield. Rainfall intensity and slope gradient can influence the level of erosive energy that causes soil erosion. Furthermore, other factors such as antecedent soil water content, soil properties, soil surface physical crust, and soil surface roughness can affect soil anti-erodibility. The varying effects of different crops and with different influence mechanisms on runoff and soil erosion, as well as changes in their ability to influence erosion under different external conditions should all remain focal points of future research. The effect of crop vegetation on runoff and soil erosion on slope land is a very important factor in understanding large-scale soil erosion systems, and in-depth study of this topic is highly significant for both theory and practice.     

Effect of Covering-soil Thickness on Crop Growth on Bare Rock nd Gravel Land in an Ecological Restoration Project

To study the mechanism by which the thickness of covering soil effects crop growth in an ecological restoration project of bare rock and gravel land, the physiological characteristics of summer maize were observed during 2010-2015. This experiment was set up on exposed rock land, which had been covered by soil with six different thicknesses: 30 (C30), 40 (C40), 50 (C50), 60 (C60), 80 (C80) and 100 cm (C100). During the experiment, soil physical properties and the physiological traits and yields of crops were recorded. The results indicated several effects. 1) With the same thickness level, soil bulk density of the covering soil increased in successive planting years. There was a logarithmic relationship between soil bulk density and covering thickness. There was also a strong algorithmic relationship between covering thickness and sedimentation coefficient (R²=0.91). 2) The thickness of covering soil had a significant influence on both the height of summer maize, and soil and plant analyzer development (SPAD) values. In each treatment, the growth rates of the crops during the jointing and booting stages were higher than that in the booting to grain filling stage. After two years of land-use, the mean height of the crop in the C50 treatment was 8.16%, 3.32%, 3.31%, 9.86% and 7.55% higher than that for the C30, C40, C60, C80 and C100 treatments, respectively. The differences between treatments were significant (p < 0.05). SPAD values were highest at the heading stage. The highest value for the C50 treatment was 298.41 after two years of land-use. 3) Soil thickness significantly affected yields and the water use efficiency (WUE) of summer maize. The highest average crop yield and WUE value during the experimental period for the C50 treatment were 4614.12 kg hm^-2 and 13.57 kg hm^-2 mm, respectively. For the C50 treatment the multi-year average water use efficiency was significantly higher than that of the other treatments in 2010-2015. In conclusion, a soil thickness of 50 cm covering the bare exposed rock was adequate as a tillage layer for the crop, and all crop growth indexes in this treatment were better than for other soil thicknesses. The results provide a scientific basis for the land remediation and ecological restoration of bare rock and gravel land. At the same time, for Africa, where one-third of the land is desert, arable land resources are relatively scarce and agricultural ecology is fragile, can serve as a significant reference to improve the ecological environment, develop arable land resources and increase agricultural income.     

北京地震台宽频带面波震级公式建立

利用IASPEI推荐的宽频震级计算公式MBB,重新量取并计算北京地震台1993—2003年(数字宽频地震记录系统与模拟地震仪器记录并行时期)的MBB、MSK、MKIRNOS震级,并分别同中国地震台网中心发布震级MCENC进行震级偏差比较。对比结果显示:采用宽频带垂直向速度型面波震级的MBB,震级偏差在震中距0°—180°范围内均呈现良好的稳定性,且与中国地震台网中心发布的震级偏差最小。遂利用最小二乘法,采用IASPEI公布的宽频带面波震级计算框架,拟合出北京地震台宽频震级公式。     

河北省怀安县朱家洼矿区地球化学特征与找矿方向

河北怀安朱家洼矿区位于华北板块北缘中段太古宙、元古宙、中生代金银铅锌铁硫铁矿成矿带,为火山热液型金多金属矿。为查明该区成矿规律,明确找矿方向,在区内开展了水系沉积物测量、土壤地球化学测量等工作。通过对元素分布、元素相关性、元素异常等特征研究表明,Au、Mo为本区主成矿元素;各元素异常平面分布具有分带性,高温元素W、Sn、Bi异常位于骆驼山火山机构中心,中低温元素Pb、Zn、As、Ag等异常分布于火山机构边部及周边围岩中,成矿元素Au、Mo异常主要位于火山机构西侧围岩中。异常查证发现金钼矿化体2条,金钼矿化受火山机构和北西向构造带控制。依据成矿地质条件、地球化学异常及查证成果认为,朱家洼矿区Au、Mo成矿潜力大,火山机构西侧围岩区是该区重点找矿地段。     

Capacity of soil loss control in the Loess Plateau based on soil erosion control degree

The capacity of soil and water conservation measures, defined as the maximum quantity of suitable soil and water conservation measures contained in a region, were determined for the Loess Plateau based on zones suitable for establishing terraced fields, forestland and grassland with the support of geographic information system (GIS) software. The minimum possible soil erosion modulus and actual soil erosion modulus in 2010 were calculated using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE), and the ratio of the minimum possible soil erosion modulus under the capacity of soil and water conservation measures to the actual soil erosion modulus was defined as the soil erosion control degree. The control potential of soil erosion and water loss in the Loess Plateau was studied using this concept. Results showed that the actual soil erosion modulus was 3355 t?km^-2?a^-1, the minimum possible soil erosion modulus was 1921 t?km^-2?a^-1, and the soil erosion control degree was 0.57 (medium level) in the Loess Plateau in 2010. In terms of zoning, the control degree was relatively high in the river valley-plain area, soil-rocky mountainous area, and windy-sandy area, but relatively low in the soil-rocky hilly-forested area, hilly-gully area and plateau-gully area. The rate of erosion areas with a soil erosion modulus of less than 1000 t?km^-2?a^-1 increased from 50.48% to 57.71%, forest and grass coverage rose from 56.74% to 69.15%, rate of terraced fields increased from 4.36% to 19.03%, and per capita grain available rose from 418 kg?a^-1 to 459 kg?a^-1 under the capacity of soil and water conservation measures compared with actual conditions. These research results are of some guiding significance for soil and water loss control in the Loess Plateau.