Coupling outdoor air quality with thermal comfort in the presence of street trees:a pilot investigation in Shenyang,Northeast China

Together,the heat island eff ect and air pollution pose a threat to human health and well-being in urban settings.Nature-based solutions such as planting trees are a mitigation strategy to improve outdoor temperatures(thermal comfort)and enhance air quality in urban areas.In this study,outdoor thermal comfort,and particulate matter levels were compared between treeless and treed areas to provide a better understanding of how street trees improve thermal comfort and air quality.Street trees decreased the physiological equivalent temperature from 46.3 to 44.2℃in summer but increased it from 36.4 to 37.5℃in autumn.Air temperature and relative humidity contributed more in summer while wind speed contributed more in autumn.Particulate matter concentrations were negatively correlated with physiological equivalent temperature in summer but not in autumn.The presence of trees decreased concentrations of fi ne particulate matter in hot summer conditions but increased in hot autumn conditions.The presence of trees increased coarse particulate matter in very hot summer conditions in summer and in hot autumn conditions.Overall,the layout of trees in urban street canyons should consider the trade-off between outdoor thermal comfort and air quality improvement.

Spatial heterogeneity of plant species on the windward slope of active sand dunes in a semi-arid region of China

Species richness and abundance are two important species diversity variables that have attracted particular attention because of their significance in determining present and future species composition conditions. This paper aims to explain the qualitative and quantitative relationships between species diversity pattern and grain size （i.e. size of the sampling unit）, and species diversity pattern and sampling area, and to analyze species diversity variability on active sand dunes in the Horqin Sandy Land, northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. A 50 mx50 m sampling plot was selected on the windward slope, where the dominant species was annual herb Agriophyllum squarrosum. Species composition and abundance at five grain sizes were recorded, and the species-area curves were produced for thirteen grain sizes. The range of values for species abundance tended to increase with in- creasing grain size in the study area, whereas, generally, species richness did not follow this rule because of poor species richness on the windward slope of active sand dunes. However, the homogeneity of species richness in- creased significantly. With the increase in sampling area, species abundance increased linearly, but richness in- creased logarithmically. Furthermore, variograms showed that species diversity on the windward slope of active sand dunes was weakly anisotropic and the distribution pattern was random, according to the Moran Coefficient. The results also showed that species richness was low, with a random distribution pattern. This conflicts with the results of previous studies that showed spatial aggregation in lower richness in a sampling area within a community and inferred that the physical processes play a more important role in species diversity than distribution pattern on active sand dunes. Further research into different diversity patterns and mechanisms between active sand dunes and interdune lowlands should be conducted to better understand biodiversity conservation in sand dune fields.

Spatial structure and species composition of soil seed banks in moving sand dune systems of northeast China

Soil seed banks can provide a mechanistic for understanding the recruitment dynamics and can inform conservation management of ecosystems. To investigate the contribution of soil seed banks to vegetation restoration in moving sand dune systems, we compared seed structure and species similarity between soil seed banks and standing vegetation among moving sand dunes, ecotones and dune slacks in northeast China. Average seed density in dune slacks was greater than in ecotones or moving sand dunes. Seed density in the soil layer of 0-10 cm was greater than at 10-20 cm both in the moving sand dunes and the eco- tones, but seed densities were similar at depths of 10-20 and 20-30 cm in moving sand dunes. Moreover, the spatial autocorrelation of seed density on moving sand dunes was weak but was strong on the ecotones and dune slacks. The species in the soil seed bank of moving sand dune systems were nearly all annuals, and the low similarity was mainly due to the lack of perennial species that were common in standing vegetation. Consequently, vegetation restoration cannot mainly rely on the soil seed banks in the movingsand dunes and more attention should be paid to protection of the dune slacks because they are the main source of seed disperse and seedling recruitment in moving sand dune systems.

Assessing outdoor air quality vertically in an urban street canyon and its response to microclimatic factors

The vertical distribution of air pollutants in urban street canyons is closely related to residents’health.However,the vertical air quality in urban street canyons has rarely been assessed using field observations obtained throughout the year.Therefore,this study investigated the seasonal and annual concentrations of particulate matter(PM2.5 and PM10),CO,NO_(2),SO_(2),O_(3),air quality index,and their responses to microclimatic factors at three height levels(1.5,27,and 69 m above street level)in an urban street canyon.The PM concentration was higher at 27 m than at 1.5 m in winter,whereas the situation was reversed in other seasons.It was found that photochemical pollutants such as NO_(2) and O_(3) were the primary pollutants in the urban street canyon.The days on which O3 was the primary pollutant at the height of 1.5 m accounted for 81.07% of the entire year.The days on which NO_(2) was the primary pollutant at the height of 27 and 69 m accounted for 82.49% and 72.33%of the entire year,respectively.Substantially higher concentrations of NO2 and O_(3) were found at the height of 27 m than at 69 m.In-canyon concentrations of NO_(2) and O_(3) were strongly correlated with air temperature,wind speed,and wind direction,which played important roles in photochemical reactions and pollutant dispersion.