Effect of the Grain for Green Project on freshwater ecosystem services under drought stress

The Grain for Green Project(GGP) is an important measure for the prevention of sloping farmland and the restoration of natural vegetation.This project has been critical to the restoration of ecological environments in western China. However,the effect of the GGP on freshwater ecosystem services under extreme climates remains unclear. Thus, taking the middle and upper reaches of the Wujiang River Basin in western China as an example, this study assessed the variation of three freshwater ecosystem services(e.g., water yield, soil retention and nutrient retention) impacted by the GGP under drought stress by employing the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs(In VEST) model. In addition,the trade-off/synergistic relationship between three freshwater ecosystem services was analyzed based on the Pearson correlation coefficient. As revealed from the results, the effect of the GGP on the water yield and nutrient retention under drought stress was significantly higher than that on the soil retention.With the increase in the drought degree, the variation rate of the water yield and nutrient retention impacted by the GGP increased, whereas that of the soil retention decreased. The GGP in droughts of different seasons resulted in a significant heterogeneity in the changes of three freshwater ecosystem services. The correlation coefficients between the water yield and soil retention as well as that between the water yield and the nutrient retention increased, and the correlation coefficients declined between soil and nutrient retention under different drought degrees following the GGP. Unlike for the summer drought case, there were no significant changes in the correlation coefficients between three freshwater ecosystem services in spring, autumn and winter droughts. The results suggest that the amount of farmland converted to shrubland should be regulated to reduce the trade-off intensity between freshwater ecosystem services. In addition, food security and ecological environment protection should be balanced during the implementation of the GGP, and the most concentrated distribution region of farmland-to-forest conversion will be the key area of ecological management in the future.

How China's Grain-for-Green Project Contributes to Farmers' Income Growth

Initially intended to prevent water and soil erosion, China's Grain-for-Green Project(GGP) also has had economic impacts on farmers' income and employment. Based on the poverty monitoring survey data between 2006-2010 from National Bureau of Statistics(NBS), this paper evaluates the GGP's policy effects with respect to farmers' income, non-agricultural employment and poverty alleviation. Our findings suggest that contributing to the GGP, farmers' income including GGP subsidies increased significantly compared with the pre-GGP level; however, if GGP subsidies are not taken into account, the increase in farmers' non-agricultural income after the GGP could only compensate for the income losses from farmland reduction, showing an insignificant effect. Second, there exist significant differences on employment tendency among GGP households. High-income households tend to engage in operation business in forestry, livestock and fishery activities, while medium-income families are more inclined to seek employment outside, and the differences attribute to the inter-group intrinsic characteristics. Lastly, the GGP's poverty alleviation effect varies with the difference in poverty standard. Overall, the GGP's poverty alleviation effect is significant.

Responses of vegetation cover to the Grain for Green Program and their driving forces in the He-Long region of the middle reaches of the Yellow River

The implementation of the Grain for Green Program is a great breakthrough in the history of China＇s ecological environment construction,which can control soil erosion effectively,increase land productivity and improve the ecological environment.To investigate the eco-environmental benefits brought by the Grain for Green Program,the spatiotemporal variations of vegetation cover in the growing season from 2000 to 2010 across the Hekou-Longmen （He-Long） region were analyzed by using remote sensing information,meteorological data and land use data.Moreover,the impacts of climate and human activities on vegetation change were evaluated objectively.Annual vegetation cover in the growing season increased very significantly.Increased vegetation cover occurred in 98.7％ of the region,of which the area for vegetation cover improved slightly constituted 79.8％ of the whole area.Vegetation moderately improved was mainly distributed in the south of the He-Long region,covering 9.6％ of the area,and the area for vegetation basically unchanged concentrated in the middle and upper reaches of the Wuding River.Precipitation was found to be an important natural factor influencing vegetation cover change.The area of vegetation cover showing a significantly positive correlation with precipitation occupied 22.14％ of the region.As driven by policies from the Grain for Green Program,forestland increased significantly and land use structure became more intensive.Human activities played a positive and effective role in the protection,restoration and improvement of vegetation in the places where vegetation cover was basically unchanged,even though precipitation declined greatly,and vegetation improved moderately with massive increases of forestland and grassland.

Coupling between the Grain for Green Program and a household level-based agricultural eco-economic system in Ansai,Shaanxi Province of China

The implementation of the Grain for Green Program(GGP)has changed the development track of the agricultural eco-economic system in China.In response to the results of a lag study that investigated the coupling between the GGP and the agricultural eco-economic system in a loess hilly region,we used a structural equation model to analyze the survey data from 494 households in Ansai,a district of Yan’an City in Shaanxi Province of China in 2015.The model clarified the direction and intensity of the coupling between the GGP and the agricultural eco-economic system.The coupling benefits were derived through linkages between the program and various chains in the agricultural eco-economic system.The GGP,the agroecosystem of Ansai and their potential coupling effects were in a state of general coordination.The agroecosystem directly affected the coupling effect,with the standardized path coefficient of 0.87,indicating that the agroecosystem in Ansai at this stage provided basic material support for the coupling between the GGP and the agricultural eco-economic system.The direct path coefficient of agroeconomic system impacted on the coupling effect was-0.76,indicating that partial contradictions occurred between the agroeconomic system and the coupling effect.Therefore,although the current agroecosystem in Ansai should be provided sufficient agroecological resources for the benign coupling between the program and the agricultural eco-economic system,agricultural development failed to effectively transform agroecological resources into agricultural economic advantages in this region,which resulted in a relative lag in the development of the agricultural economic system.Thus,the coupling between the GGP and the agricultural eco-economic system was poor.To improve the coupling and the sustainable development of the agricultural eco-economic system in cropland retirement areas,the industrial structure needs to be diversified,the agricultural resources(including agroecological resources,agricultural economic resources and agricultural social resources)need to be rationally allocated,and the chain structure of the agricultural eco-economic system needs to be continuously improved.

Characteristics of Steep Cultivated Land and the Impact of the Grain-for-Green Policy in China

The Grain-for-Green Policy in China could not only improve China's ecological quality, but also influence grain supplies for a short term. Based on data from the detailed nationwide land use survey in 1996 and the steep cultivated land survey update in 2000, a regression model for the driving forces affecting steep cultivated lands was developed, and cluster analysis was used to identify seven steep cultivated land types in order to analyze the grain availability impact of the project with land usage estimates for 2010 and 2030. The results suggested that consecutive days with minimum daily temperature over 10℃ and the dominant slope in a county constrained the spatial distribution of steep cultivated lands. In terms of socioeconomic factors, steep cultivated land was a complex interaction of population size, gross domestic production level, and the richness and quality of cultivated lands having slopes less than 15°. The trends for steep cultivated land in 2010 and 2030 were forecast using a driving forces model and China's grain security criteria and showed that the Grain-for-Green Policy at the national level would not cause a grain shortage or threaten food security criteria. However, if steep sloped lands were to be retired from production, some regions would need grain supplements as early as 2010. Also, assuming that only 60% of the cultivated land at the national level was needed, population and economic development pressures in 2030 would require some steep cultivated lands to be used for grain production.

Impacts of Drought and Human Activity on Vegetation Growth in the Grain for Green Program Region,China

The Chinese government adopted six ecological restoration programs to improve its natural environments. Although these programs have proven successful in improving local environments, some studies have questioned their performance when regions suffer from drought. Whether we should consider the effects of drought on vegetation change in assessments of the benefits of ecological restoration programs is unclear. Therefore, taking the Grain for Green Program(GGP) region as a study area, we estimated vegetation growth in the region from 2000–2010 to clarify the trends in vegetation and their driving forces. Results showed that: 1) vegetation growth increased in the GGP region during 2000–2010, with 59.4% of the area showing an increase in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI). This confirmed the benefits of the ecological restoration program. 2) Drought can affect the vegetation change trend, but human activity plays a significant role in altering vegetation growth, and the slight downward trend in the NDVI was not consistent with the severity of the drought. Positive human activity led to increased NDVI in 89.13% of areas. Of these, 22.52% suffered drought, but positive human activity offset the damage in part. 3) Results of this research suggest that appropriate human activity can maximize the benefits of ecological restoration programs and minimize the effects of extreme weather. We therefore recommend incorporating eco-risk assessment and scientific management mechanisms in the design and management of ecosystem restoration programs.

Trade-offs and Synergies of Ecosystem Services in Karst Area of China Driven by Grain-for-Green Program

As an important means regulating the relationship between human and natural ecosystem,ecological restoration program plays a key role in restoring ecosystem functions.The Grain-for-Green Program(GFGP,One of the world’s most ambitious ecosystem conservation set-aside programs aims to transfer farmland on steep slopes to forestland or grassland to increase vegetation coverage)has been widely implemented from 1999 to 2015 and exerted significant influence on land use and ecosystem services(ESs).In this study,three ecological models(In VEST,RUSLE,and CASA)were used to accurately calculate the three key types of ESs,water yield(WY),soil conservation(SC),and net primary production(NPP)in Karst area of southwestern China from 1982 to 2015.The impact of GFGP on ESs and trade-offs was analyzed.It provides practical guidance in carrying out ecological regulation in Karst area of China under global climate change.Results showed that ESs and trade-offs had changed dramatically driven by GFGP.In detail,temporally,SC and NPP exhibited an increasing trend,while WY exhibited a decreasing trend.Spatially,SC basically decreased from west to east;NPP basically increased from north to south;WY basically increased from west to east;NPP and SC,SC and WY developed in the direction of trade-offs driven by the GFGP,while NPP and WY developed in the direction of synergy.Therefore,future ecosystem management and restoration policy-making should consider trade-offs of ESs so as to achieve sustainable provision of ESs.

Changes in Land Use and Agricultural Production Structure Before and After the Implementation of Grain for Green Program in Western China–Taking Two Typical Counties as Examples

Soil erosion becomes a serious environmental problem in the world, especially in western China. An effective management practice called the Grain for Green Program(GGP), which was launched in 1999, aims to reduce soil and water loss and alleviate the ecological environment problem in western China. Two typical counties in western China, the Zhongxian(in Chongqing Municipality) and Ansai(in Shaanxi Province) were chosen to evaluate the dynamic changes of land use and agricultural production structure before and after the implementation of the Program in this paper. The results showed that the cultivated land area was reduced by 7.08% from 1989 to 2003. The cultivated land per person was decreased by 8.42% during 1999-2003. Moreover, the stability index of the secondary sector of the economy was increased from 0.91 in the period 1990-1999 to 0.94 in the following ten years. In addition, the stability index of tertiary economic sector increased from 0.88 to 0.92 in Zhongxian county. Meanwhile, the cultivated land area was reduced by 15.48% from 1990 to 1999. The soil erosion modulus was decreased by 33.33% from 1999 to 2006. Also, the stability index of secondary and tertiary economic sectors was 0.86 in the period 1998-2002. However, it decreased by 77% during 2002 to 2007 in Ansai County. These results imply that the Grain for Green Program had different impact on the two regions. Several effective strategies of soil and water conservation have been carried out to ameliorate the sustainable development of ecological environment and economy in these two counties of western China.

Controllable precision of the projective truncation approximation for Green's functions

Recently, we developed the projective truncation approximation for the equation of motion of two-time Green's functions(Fan et al., Phys. Rev. B 97, 165140(2018)). In that approximation, the precision of results depends on the selection of operator basis. Here, for three successively larger operator bases, we calculate the local static averages and the impurity density of states of the single-band Anderson impurity model. The results converge systematically towards those of numerical renormalization group as the basis size is enlarged. We also propose a quantitative gauge of the truncation error within this method and demonstrate its usefulness using the Hubbard-I basis. We thus confirm that the projective truncation approximation is a method of controllable precision for quantum many-body systems.

Selective Laser Melting of Novel SiC and TiC Strengthen 7075 Aluminum Powders for Anti-Cracks Application

The aerospace and military sectors have widely used AA7075, a type of 7075 aluminum alloy, due to its exceptional mechanical performance. Selective laser melting (SLM) is a highly effective method for producing intricate metallic components, particularly in the case of aluminum alloys like Al-Si-Mg. Nevertheless, the production of high-strength AA7075 by SLM is challenging because of its susceptibility to heat cracking and elemental vaporization. In this study, AA7075 powders were mechanically mixed with SiC and TiC particles. Subsequently, this new type of AA7075 powder was effectively utilized in green laser printing to create solid components with fine-grain strengthening microstructures consisting of equiaxial grains. These as-printed parts exhibit a tensile strength of up to 350 MPa and a ductility exceeding 2.1%. Hardness also increases with the increasing content of mixed powder, highlighting the essential role of SiC and TiC in SLM for improved hardness and tensile strength performance. .

Cultivated-land change in Mu Us Sandy Land of China before and after the first-stage grain-for-green policy

Mu Us Sandy Land(MUSL) of China, as a typical eco-fragile and farming-pastoral transitional region, shows great vulnerability to disturbances from cultivation activity. In this region, the conflict between cultivation activity and environmental protection has not attracted great importance until the implementation of China's Grain-for-Green Policy(CGGP) since2000. Here, using Landsat5 TM/Landsat7 ETM+ images from 1990, 2000, and 2010, we monitor the cultivation activity and land-use/cover changes(LUCC) resulting from cultivation activity in the MUSL region. Based on the data from images, we developed a series of databases of cultivated activity-induced LUCC and use them to discuss comparatively the spatio-temporal evolution trends of cultivation activity before and after CGGP implementation. These results provide evidence for managers to evaluate the implementation effectiveness of governmental policy and the influence of cultivation activity on the ecological environment of the MUSL region.

Trade-off analyses between food provision and soil conservation service of Grain for Green Program in Mountainous Area

The Grain for Green Program and soil and water conservation engineering initiatives are crucial for controlling erosion in steep-slope agriculture.However,it is still unclear how these two management methods should be carried out in respect to the situation in mountainous areas.Therefore,taking a typical mountainous area in southwest China as an example,we simulated six scenarios in order to compare the food provisioning service(FPS)and soil conservation service of the Grain for Green Program(converting to grassland)and Construction Measures(converting to sloping terrace)under different slopes.Results showed that when farmland with a>25°slope was converted into grassland,the amount of soil erosion(M)decreased by 21.0%,while FPS decreased by only 0.7%.However,when farmland with a>25°slope was converted into sloping terrace,M decreased by 31.3%while FPS increased by 18.7%.With the increases of farmland slope ranges in the Construction Measures scenario,M gradually decreased and FPS gradually increased.Particularly when farmland>15°was converted into sloping terrace,M decreased by 63.9%and FPS increased by 52.7%.Furthermore,the trade-offs of Construction Measures are lower than that of Grain for Green on different slope ranges.Therefore,we conclude that Construction Measures are a more suitable method in mountainous areas than the Grain for Green,and we suggest that further research be conducted to consider the ecological risks of construction engineering measures.

Consensus‑based multidimensional due diligence of fintech‑enhanced green energy investment projects

The purpose of this study is to provide a hybrid group decision-making approach to evaluate fintech-based financial alternatives for green energy investment projects.First,the multidimensional factors of due diligence for fintech-based financing alternatives of green energy investment projects are identified.In this regard,the balanced scorecard perspectives are considered.Next,consensus-based group decision-making analysis is performed.Second,impact-relation directions for fintech-based financing alternatives of green energy investment projects are defined.For this purpose,the spherical fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory(DEMATEL)methodology is applied.The novelty of this study is its proposal of a new outlook to due diligence of fintech-project financing for renewable energy investments by using the group and integrated decision-making approaches with spherical fuzzy DEMATEL.The findings indicate that customer expectations are the most essential factor for the revenue sharing and rewarding models.Additionally,this study identified that organizational competency plays the most important role with respect to the peer-to-business debt model.In contrast,the conclusion was reached that financial returns have the greatest importance for the equity sharing model.

Green Project System Design of Machine Process Factory

As the specialty of the product and the dim conscio us ness of environmental protection, the status of dirty, chaos and difference is l ong-term existed in the machine process factory. It seriously affects workers’ work and living environment, and restricts the total level of the environment p rotection in our country. The project is the fatal scientific research task of H enan province in 2001. As the members’ endeavor of task group, we have finished the total plan of green project system and some other key equipment to the mach ine process factory, such as the design of conveyer of chip, hydraulic former of chip, rough conveyer and dirt collector. And the green project system is made i nto model that the manufacturer can select. This item is a fire-new work. We ho pe that the expert of machine, environment protection and government official ca n put forward some advices by lodging this article. We contribute for our countr y’ environment protection and make it attain a new level.

An Analysis of the Benfit on Green Risk in Construction Projects

The Construction project green risks (CPGRs) refer to those threats to environment, energy sources and material re-sources during the entire life-cycle of a construction project. The emergent green risks in exploiting these resources are of varying concern to all. In this paper, evolutionary game is introduced to make about impacts of strategy choices from interactions among the choices developers, and between the choices developers and EPDs on project green risk. The results show that CPGRs will occur if either developers find that not managing CPGRs has a better payoff than opting for CPGR management, or if monitors impose only mild fines even when they find CPGRs within construction projects of developer’s firms. The study also shows that there is a prohibitively expensive cost incurred by EPDs in monitoring CPGRs. Finally, some strategies are given for EPDs to help them make policies to regulate the strategies of developers.

Decomposition dynamics and ecological stoichiometry of Quercus acutissima and Pinus densiflora litter in the Grain to Green Program Area of northern China

Litter decomposition and ecological stoichiometry of nutrient release is an important part of material cycling and energy flow in forest ecosystems.In a study of the ecological stoichiometry and nutrient release during litter decomposition in a pine–oak forest ecosystem of the Grain to Green Program(GTGP)area of northern China,a typical pine and oak species(PDS:Pinus densiflora Sieb.,QAC:Quercus acutissima Carr.)were selected in the Taiyi Mountain study area.The ecological stoichiometry characteristics of carbon(C),nitrogen(N)and phosphorus(P)and litter decomposition dynamics were studied by field sampling and quantitative analyses.The results showed the following.(1)The decomposition dynamics of both litters was slow-fast-slow.The most important climatic factor affecting the litter decomposition rate from May to October was precipitation and temperature from November to April of the following year.(2)Throughout the 300-day study,in both litters,C of the two litters was released,N first accumulated and was then released,and P exhibited a release-accumulate-release pattern.(3)C:P was significantly higher than C:N and N:P(p<0.05);the C:N of PSD litter was higher than that of QAC(p<0.05),but the N:P of QAC litter was higher than that of PSD litter(p<0.05).The C:N of both litters was very high in the study area,indicating that the nutrient release ability during litter decomposition in the two typical pine–oak forest ecosystems was relatively weak;therefore,more attention should be paid to nitrogen-fixing species and mixed forests in the GTGP area of northern China.

Research on Key Techniques of Green Planting Construction in Landscaping Project

Due to the continuous development of urbanization,it had a serious impact on urban ecology.Therefore,techniques to improve the living environment and quality of life in urban areas as well as ways to improve aesthetics and greening of urban gardens have gradually become the focus of attention.Re-building and arranging the green plant community rationally can effectively improve the quality of people’s living environment.Besides,by maximizing ecological functions,it can better improve the quality of urban environmental.This paper introduces key technologies of green planting construction in urban landscaping projects and suggest ways to improve the urban ecological environment by viewing it from existing problems in the current urban ecological environment.

Analysis of Budget and Cost Control of New Green Building Projects

With the increment of public awareness toward ecological environment protection,green building has gradually become an integral part of construction development.Green building refers to a form of architecture that conforms to the current social development form and meets the requisites of energy conservation and environmental protection.The budget and cost control of green building construction project play very important roles in improving the quality of the construction and reducing the cost of the project.This paper mainly analyzes the problems and control measures in the new green building engineering budget and cost control.