Current re-vegetation patterns and restoration issues in degraded geological phosphorus-rich mountain areas:A synthetic analysis of Central Yunnan, SW China

China has the largest area of inland geological phosphorus-rich(GPR) mountains in the world, where vegetation restoration is key to safeguarding the environment. We reviewed the published literature and collected new data in order to analyze re-vegetation patterns and the status of plant communities in central Yunnan. The aim of our analysis was to suggest future improvements to restoration strategies in GPR mountain regions. Our results showed that spontaneous recovery was the most widespread type of restoration. N-fixing species such as Coriaria nepalensis and Alnus nepalensis play a vital role in succession. In the past, monoculture tree plantation was the primary method used in afforestation activities in central Yunnan; in recent years however, several different methods of restoration have been introduced including the use of agroforestry systems. For practical restoration, we found that spontaneous recovery was capable of delivering the best results, but that during its early stages, restoration results were affected by several factors including erosion risk, the origin of propagates and environmental variation. In contrast, methods employing human-made communities performed better in their early stages, but were constrained by higher costs and vulnerability to degradation and erosion. The use of N-fixing species such as A. nepalensis and Acacia mearnsii in plantations were unsuccessful in restoring full ecosystem functions. The success of restoration activities in GPR mountain regions could be improved through the following measures:(1) developing a better understanding of the respective advantages and disadvantages of current natural and human-engineered restoration approaches;(2) elucidating the feedback mechanism between phosphorus-rich soil and species selected for restoration, especially N-fixing species;(3) introducing market incentives aimed at encouraging specific restoration activities such as agroforestry, and improving the industry value chain.

Empirical formula for β^--decay half-lives of r-process nuclei

Experimental data ofβ--decay half-lives of nuclei with atomic number between 20 and 190 are investigated.A systematic formula has been proposed to calculateβ^--decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei,with a particular consideration on shell and pair effects,the decay energy Q as well as the nucleon numbers(Z,N).Although the formula has relatively few parameters,it reproduces the experimentalβ^--decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei very well.The predicted half-lives for the r-process relevant nuclei obtained with the current formula serve as reliable input in the r-process model calculations.

First result from the Jinping Underground Nuclear Astrophysics experiment JUNA:precise measurement of the 92 keV ^(25)Mg(p,γ)^(26)Al resonance

The ^(25)Mg(p,γ)^(26)Al reaction plays an important role in the study of cosmic 1.809 MeV γ-ray as a signature of ongoing nucleosynthesis in the Galaxy.At astrophysical temperature around 0.1 GK,the ^(25)Mg(p,γ)^(26)Al reaction rates are dominated by the 92 keV resonance capture process.We report a precise measurement of the 92 keV ^(25)Mg(p,γ)^(26)Al resonance in the day-one experiment at Jinping Underground Nuclear Astrophysics experiment(JUNA)facility in the China Jinping Underground Laboratory(CJPL).The resonance strength and ground state feeding factor are determined to be 3.8±0.3×10^(-10) eV and 0:660:04,respectively.The results are in agreement with those reported in the previous direct underground measurement within uncertainty,but with significantly reduced uncertainties.Consequently,we recommend new ^(25)Mg(p,γ)^(26)Al reaction rates which are by a factor of 2.4 larger than those adopted in REACLIB database at the temperature around 0.1 GK.The new results indicate higher production rates of ^(26g)Al and the cosmic 1.809 MeV γ-ray.The implication of the new rates for the understanding of other astrophysical situations is also discussed.

Progress of Jinping Underground laboratory for Nuclear Astrophysics(JUNA)

Jinping Underground laboratory for Nuclear Astrophysics(JUNA) will take the advantage of the ultra-low background of CJPL lab and high current accelerator based on an ECR source and a highly sensitive detector to directly study for the first time a number of crucial reactions occurring at their relevant stellar energies during the evolution of hydrostatic stars. In its first phase, JUNA aims at the direct measurements of^(25)Mg(p,γ)^(26)Al,^(19)F(p,α)^(16)O,^(13)C(α,n)^(16)O and ^(12)C(α,γ)^(16)O reactions. The experimental setup,which includes an accelerator system with high stability and high intensity, a detector system, and a shielding material with low background, will be established during the above research. The current progress of JUNA will be given.

A proposed direct measurement of cross section at Gamow window for key reaction 19F(p,α) 16O in Asymptotic Giant Branch stars with a planned accelerator in CJPL

In 2014, the National Natural Science Foundation of China （NSFC） approved the Jinping Underground Nuclear Astrophysics laboratory （JUNA） project, which aims at direct cross-section measurements of four key stellar nuclear reactions right down to the Gamow windows. In order to solve the observed fluorine overabundances in Asymptotic Giant Branch （AGB） stars, measuring the key 19F（p,a）16O reaction at effective burning energies （i.e., at Gamow window） is established as one of the scientific research sub-projects. The present paper describes this sub-project in details, including motivation, status, experimental setup, yield and background estimation, aboveground test, as well as other relevant reactions.

Parametrization of woods-saxon potential for heavy-ion systems

Several elastic scattering angular distributions of 12C from target nuclei of A≥ 39 are analyzed to extract the Woods-Saxon poten- tial parameters with the fixed imaginary potential and Coulomb radius parameters. Using the best fitted diffuseness parameters, the correlations of the real part parameters with A1/3 1 ＋ A1/3 2and incident energy are revealed, and the systematic Woods-Saxon potential parameters are presented for nucleus-nucleus interaction. The proposed potential parameters can reproduce not only the elastic scattering angular distributions induced by 12C, but also many elastic scattering angular distributions induced by the projectiles other than 12C, thus providing important inputs for the study of nuclear reactions of heavy-ion systems.