Gas exchange of Populus euphratica leaves in a riparian zone

Riparian vegetation belts in arid regions of Central Asia are endangered to lose their ecosystem services due to intensified land use.For the development of sustained land use,management knowledge of plant performance in relation to resource supply is needed.We estimated productivity related functional traits at the edges of the habitat of Populus euphratica Oliv.Specific leaf area （SLA） and carbon/nitrogen （C/N） ratio of P.euphratica leaves growing near a former river bank and close to moving sand dunes in the Ebinur Lake National Nature Reserve in Xinjiang,Northwest China （near Kazakhstan） were determined and daily courses of CO2 net assimilation （PN）,transpiration （E）,and stomatal conductance （gs） of two consecutive seasons were measured during July-August 2007 and June-July 2008.Groundwater level was high （1.5-2.5 m below ground） throughout the years and no flooding occurred at the two tree stands.SLA was slightly lower near the desert than at the former river bank and leaves contained less N in relation to C.Highest E and gs of P.euphratica were reached in the morning before noon on both stands and a second low maximum occurred in the afternoon despite of the unchanged high levels of air to leaf water vapor pressure deficit （ALVPD）.Decline of gs in P.euphratica was followed by decrease of E.Water use efficiency （WUE） of leaves near the desert were higher in the morning and the evening,in contrast to leaves from the former river bank that maintained an almost stable level throughout the day.High light compensation points and high light saturation levels of PN indicated the characteristics of leaves well-adapted to intensive irradiation at both stands.In general,leaves of P.euphratica decreased their gs beyond 20 Pa/kPa ALVPD in order to limit water losses.Decrease of E did not occur in both stands until 40 Pa/kPa ALVPD was reached.Full stomatal closure of P.euphratica was achieved at 60 Pa/kPa ALVPD in both stands.E through the leaf surface amounted up to 30％ of the highest E rates,indicating dependence on water recharge from the ground despite of obviously closed stomata.A distinct leaf surface temperature （Tleaf） threshold of around 30℃ also existed before stomata started to close.Generally,the differences in gas exchange between both stands were small,which led to the conclusion that micro-climatic constraints to E and photosynthesis were not the major factors for declining tree density with increasing distance from the river.

Coupling analysis of the major impact on sustainable development of the typical arid region of Turpan in Northwest China

Analyzing the sustainable development of a given region can provide an important reference and guide for future orientation.The study selects Turpan(including Gaochang District,Shanshan County,and Toksun County)in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of Northwest China as the study area and first investigates the essence of regional sustainable development.Based on the relevant data of the population,economy,and environment of Turpan from 2002 to 2018,we constructed an evaluation index system for three dimensions,namely,the population,economy,and environment,and analyzed them systematically.Specifically,we quantitatively calculated the comprehensive evaluation index,coupling degree,and coupling coordination degree of the sustainable development system of the study area.The study finds that Turpan has become increasingly sustainable and orderly;the development level has continually improved from near imbalance to positive coordination.During the study period,the government has adopted appropriate models and paths to promote positive interactions among the population,economy,and environment based on engineering techniques and ecological means.The results show that the coupling coordination degree has increased from 0.3692 to 0.8894 during the period 2002–2018,which reflects the actual situation of Turpan and indicates that the proposed analysis method can effectively measure and evaluate the level of sustainable development in this region.Moreover,the study also puts forward main functional zoning of Turpan(i.e.,Gaochang District as an optimized development zone,Shanshan County as a major agricultural production zone,and Toksun County as a key ecological function zone)and regional planning principles based on the population,economic,and environmental coupling analysis for the three jurisdictions in Turpan.

Climate change in Central Asia:Sino-German cooperative research findings

Central Asia(CA)occupies the hinterland of the Eurasian continent,containing the countries of Uzbekistan,Kyrgyzstan,Turkmenistan,Tajikistan,and Kazakhstan[1,2].Being isolated by the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan,the Tibetan Plateau and the Tian Shan Mountains on the border between China and Kyrgyzstan.