Effects of acid drainage from abandoned coal mines on the microbial community of Shandi River sediment,Shanxi Province

The discharge of acid mine drainage from abandoned high sulfur(S)coal mines has caused serious pollution in the Shandi River,Yangquan,Shanxi Province.To determine the impact of long-term acid mine drainage on the microorganisms in the river,we collected river sediments from a polluted tributary(Group P)and the mainstream of Shandi River(Group R)to study the bacterial diversity and community composition.The results showed that the tributary was seriously polluted by acid drainage from abandoned coal mines,with the pH value of the sediment being<2.5,resulting in the low bacterial richness and diversity of the tributary samples.Acidophillic Fe-and S-metabolizing bacteria,such as Metallibacterium,Acidiphilium,and Acidithiobacillus,were the dominant genera in Group P samples,while the Group R was dominated by the neutral anaerobic iron-reducing bacteria Geothrix and Geobacter.Results of principal co-ordinates analysis(PCoA)revealed that the bacterial communities are significantly different between groups P and R,and the significant different species were mainly attributed to phylum Proteobacteria,Actinobacteria,and Acidobacteria.The distribution of the microbial community is mainly influenced by pH,and the Fe and Cd concentrations.Metallicactrium,the dominant genus,is negatively correlated with pH(R^(2)=-0.95)and positively correlated with Fe(R^(2)=0.99),while Geothrix and Geobacter,are mainly affected by the heavy metals.This study determined the impact of river pollution caused by abandoned coal mine drainage,especially on the microbial diversity and community composition within the river sediment.

An extended input-output table for environmental and resources accounting

Environmentally Extended Input-Output(EEIO)tables have become a powerful element in supporting information-based environmental and economic policies.National-and provincial-level 10 tables are currently published by the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China according to well-defined conventions.However,county-level 10tables are not provided as a rule by official statistics organizations.This paper conducts an overview of compiling EEIO tables for environmental and resources accounting at the county level and then answers several questions:First,what kind of data should be prepared for the compilation of county-level EEIO tables?Second,how can we set up comprehensive EEIO tables at the county level?Third,regarding the survey methods and the indirect modeling,which one should be chosen to build EEIO tables at the county level?Finally,what policy questions could such a table answer?EEIO tables at the county level can be used to predict the economic impacts of environmental policies and to perform trend and scenario analysis.

The impacts of climate change and human activities on grassland productivity in Qinghai Province, China

Qinghai Province, which is the source of three major rivers （i.e., Yangtze River, Yellow River and Lancang River） in East Asia, has experienced severe grassland degradation in past decades. The aim of this work was to analyze the impacts of climate change and human activities on grassland ecosystem at different spatial and temporal scales. For this purpose, the regression and residual analysis were used based on the data from remote sensing data and meteorological stations. The results show that the effect of climate change was much greater in the areas exhibiting vigorous vegetation growth. The grassland degradation was strongly correlated with the climate factors in the study area except Haixi Prefecture. Temporal and spatial heterogeneity in the quality of grassland were also detected, which was probably mainly because of the effects of human activities. In the 1980s, human activities and grassland vegetation growth were in equilibrium, which means the influence of human activities was in balance with that of climate change. However, in the 1990s, significant grassland degradation linked to human activities was observed, primarily in the Three-River Headwaters Region. Since the 21st century, this adverse trend continued in the Qinghai Lake area and near the northern provincial boundaries, opposite to what were observed in the eastern part of study. These results are consistent with the currently status of grassland degradation in Qinghai Piovince, which could serve as a basis for the local grassland management and restoration programs.

An equilibrium analysis of the land use structure in the Yunnan Province, China

Global land use structure is changing rapidly due to unceasing population growth and accelerated urbanization, which leads to fierce competition between the rigid demand for built-up area and the protection of cultivated land, forest, and grassland. It has been a great challenge to realize the sustainable development of land resources. Based on a computable general equilibrium model of land use change with a social accounting matrix dataset, this study implemented an equilibrium analysis of the land use structure in the Yunnan Province during the period of 2008-2020 under three scenarios, the baseline scenario, low TFP （total factor productivity） scenario, and high TFP scenario. The results indicated that under all three scenarios, area of cultivated land declined signifi- cantly along with a remarkable expansion of built-up area, while areas of forest, grassland, and unused land increased slightly. The growth rate of TFP had first negative and then positive effects on the expansion of built-up area and decline of cultivated land as it increased. Moreover, the simulated changes of both cultivated land and built-up area were the biggest under the low TFP scenario, and far exceeded the limit in the Overall Plan for Land Utilization in the Yunnan Province in 2020. The scenario-based simulation results are of important reference value for policy-makers in making land use decisions, balancing the fierce competition between the protection of cultivated land and the increasing demand for built-up area, and guaranteeing food security, ecological security, and the sustainable development of land resources.