Spatio-temporal variation of water conservation and its impact factors on the southern slope of Qilian Mountains

The ecology of Qilian Mountains has been seriously threatened by uncontrolled grazing and wasteland reclamation. This study examined the ecological changes on the southern slope of Qilian Mountains in China from the perspective of water conservation by classifying different clusters of water conservation functional areas to efficiently use limited human resources to tackle the water conservation protection problem. In this study, we used Integrate Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs(InVEST) model to estimate water conservation and analyzed the factors that influence the function. The results of this study include:(1) from 2000 to 2015, the water conservation of the southern slope of Qilian Mountains generally showed an increasing trend, and the total water conservation in 2015 increased by 42.18% compared with that in 2000.(2) Rainfall, fractional vegetation cover(FVC), and evapotranspiration have the most significant influence on the water conservation of the study area. Among them, water conservation is positively correlated with rainfall and FVC(P<0.05) and negatively correlated with evapotranspiration(P<0.05).(3) The importance level of water conservation functional areas gradually increases from northwest to southeast, and the region surrounding Menyuan Hui Autonomous County in the southeast of the southern slope of Qilian Mountains is the core water conservation functional area. And(4) the study area was divided into five clusters(Cluster Ⅰ–Cluster Ⅴ) of water conservation, with the areas of Clusters Ⅰ through Ⅴ accounting for 0.58%, 13.74%, 41.23%, 32.43%, and 12.01% of the whole study area, respectively.

Peat humification-and δ^(13)C_(cellulose)-recorded warm-season moisture variations during the past 500 years in the southern Altai Mountains within northern Xinjiang of China

To predict future spatio-temporal patterns of climate change, we should fully understand the spatio-temporal patterns of climate change during the past millennium. But, we are not yet able to delineate the patterns because the qualities of the retrieved proxy records and the spatial coverage of those records are not adequate. Northern Xinjiang of China is one of such areas where the records are not adequate. Here, we present a 500-yr land-surface moisture sequence from Heiyangpo Peat(48.34°N, 87.18°E, 1353 m a.s.l) in the southern Altai Mountains within northern Xinjiang. Specifically, peat carbon isotope value of cellulose(δ^(13)C_(cellulose)) was used to estimate the warm-season moisture variations and the degree of humification was used to constrain the δ^(13)C_(cellulose)-based hydrological interpretation. The climatic attributions of the interpreted hydrological variations were based on the warm-season temperature reconstructed from Belukha ice core and the warm-season precipitation inferred from the reconstructed Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillations(AMO). The results show that humification decreased and the δ^(13)C_(celluose)-suggested moisture decreased from ~1510 to ~1775 AD, implying that a constant dryingcondition may have inhibited peat decay. Our comparison with reconstructed climatic parameters suggests that the moisture-level decline was most likely resulted from a constant decline of precipitation. The results also show that humification kept a stable level and the δ^(13)C_(celluose)-suggested moisture also decreased from ~1775 to ~2013 AD, implying that peat decay in the acrotelm primarily did not depend on the water availability or an aerobic environment. Again, our comparison with reconstructed climatic parameters suggests that the land-surface moisturelevel decline was most likely resulted from a steady warming of growing-season temperature.

Cosmogenic ^(26)Al/^(10)Be Burial Dating of the Uplift Rate of Southern Qinling Mountains since the Middle Pleistocene

Objective The Qinling Mountains （QM） in Central China is a natural harrier that corresponds to the boundary between the southern and northern climate and environment （Gong Hujun et al., 2017）. Northern QM is relatively steep, and southern QM is in contrast relatively low and gentle. Investigations have shown that the average uplift rate of northern QM since 17.8 Ma is approximately 0.19 mm/a （Yin Gongming et al., 2001）, whereas that of central QM since 0.36 Ma is approximately 0.32 mm/a （Wang Fei et al., 2004）. To date, however, few investigations have yet been conducted on the uplift rate of southern QM. Accordingly, we aim to obtain the uplift rate of southern QM by using the cosmogenic ^26A1/^10 Be burial dating method to determine the age of the highest river terrace on the southern slope of QM.

Anticlockwise P-T Path and Zircon U-Pb Dating of HP Mafic Granulites in Yushugou Granulite-Peridotite Complex, Southern Tianshan Mountains, China

The Yushugou HP granulite-peridotite complex is located at east of northern margin of southern Tianshan mountains,China,which consists of granulite unit and peridotite unit mainly.Because of the rare association of

New Ar-Ar Isotopic Ages of the Southern Tianshan Mountains, Kyrgyzstan and their Geological Implications

Objective The Late Paleozoic Southern Tianshan Ocean is usually considered to be the last-closed ocean in the Tianshan Orogeny. However, there is still no consensus if this is indeed the case. Blueschist, eclogite and ophiolite are present in the Atbashi Range, Kyrgyzstan, which are believed to be the relics of the Southern Tianshan Ocean. New data obtained through Ar-Ar isotopic analysis in this research provide reliable chronological restrictions for this problem.

Private Livestock Farms At the Southern Edge of the Ba Mountains

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Preliminary Study on Forest Fire Prevention and Extinguishing in Townships in the Southern Mountainous Areas of Zhejiang Province:A Case Study of Lishui

Forest fires seriously threaten forestry resources and the life and property safety of people in mountainous areas of Lishui City. In this paper, a fire prevention concept with refined forecast and early warning of forest fire danger weather ratings in townships as the starting point, satellite real-time observation of fire spots, monitoring of the Internet of Things and other high-tech products as an implementation means, and strengthening forest fire prevention equipment and personnel in townships as a guarantee was established. The command system for rapid emergency response by cities, counties and townships should be improved. During the forest fire prevention period, fire sources should be strictly controlled, and the basic principles of forest fire fighting in townships should be implemented into the actual fire prevention and fire fighting work to eliminate forest fires in time at the initial stage and before the disaster.

Late Cenozoic Geomorphology, Geochronology and Physiography of Yuntaishan in Southern Taihang Mountain, North China

The late Cenozoic geomorphic features and geochronologic data of the Zhingfang River catchment in the Yuntaishan World Geopark are studied. Several quarternary geochronologic methods, including electron spin resonance （ESR）, optically stimulated luminescence （OSL）, thermo-luminescence （TL） and U-series are presented in this paper. The results suggest that there are two planation surfaces, named as the Taihang surface which is a peneplain of Taihang stage formed during Oligocene or Oligocene to early-middle Miocene period, and Tang-hien surface which is a mature wide valley of Tang-hien stage formed during late Miocene-Pliocene or Piiocene-early Pleistocene period and probably ended prior to 2.2-2.6 Ma based on ESR dating. After the Tang-hien stage, the incision and aggradation of the river formed six stream terraces with heights of 3-5 m, 8-12 m, 22-24 m, 28-38 m, 50-62 m and 80-85 m above the river bottom, respectively. The dating results of the alluvium sediments suggest that these terraces were formed during Holocene, 20-23 ka B.P., 110-120 ka B.P., 200-240 ka B.P., 840-1200 ka B.P. or ~450 ka B.P. and 1600-1800 ka B.P. or -1100 ka B.P., respectively. These results indicate that episodic incision of the river, which controls the formation of the scenery in the Yuntaishan World Geopark, was mainly influenced by the periodic dry-wet climate change during late Cenozoic mountain uplift.

Study on the Countermeasures of Eco-environment Conservation in the Mountainous Areas of Southern Ningxia under New Situation

Under the implementation of principal functional zoning,further promotion of western development,regional migration,new countryside construction,global warming and so on,the spatial adjustment of regional industry and its structure must be enforced.The spatial adjustment and arrangement of population and economy in the mountainous areas of southern Ningxia could create tremendous opportunity for its eco-environment conservation.Based on analysis on the opportunity and challenge of eco-environment conservation in the mountainous areas of southern Ningxia,some countermeasures of eco-environment conservation were discussed in the paper,so as to provide some theoretical references for the eco-environment conservation in the mountainous areas of southern Ningxia.

Mineral Composition and Metamorphic P-T Conditions of the Eclogitic Rocks in the Eastern Dabie Mountains and Their Genetic Implication

There are obvious differences in the mineral assemblage and metamorphic P-T conditions between the eclogites from the northern and southern parts of the eastern Dabie Mountains. Those from the northern part of the mountains are developed in Alpine peridotite and gneiss. They have a mineral assemblage of garnet+diopside with no quartz, and were formed at temperatures of 600℃-740℃. Those from the southern part are developed in gneiss and marble. They consist of garnet+omphacite+less quartz and were metamorphosed at temperatures in the range of 650°-800℃. These differences suggest that the former may be formed during the metamorphism of the deep subducted oceanic crust, whereas the latter may be genetically related to the subduction of the continental crust in this area.

Control of favorable lithology on Jinlongshan micro-fine disseminated gold deposits, southern Qinling Mountains

Jinlongshan gold orebelt, a newly discovered one in sedimentary rock region in southern Qinling Mountains, is mainly located in upper Devonian and lower Carboniferous calcareous siltstone and argillic silty limestone of later Paleozoic era. Typical disseminated gold mineralization occurred in calcareous siltstone, which is major host rock and mainly composed of silt (SiO2 mostly varies from 38% to 73%) and calcite (CaO mostly varies from 10% to 25%). Pyrite created by living beings in Nanyangshan formation may be poor in gold. Faults and favorable layers jointly control disseminated gold mineralization. The significance of this opinion is very great for gold exploration.

The vegetation feature and palaeoenvironment significance in the mountainous interior of southern China from the Last Glacial Maximum

Palynological records were selected from the profiles of three research sites in the mountainous interior of southern China(Dajiuhu at Shennongjia in the western part of Hubei Province, Dahu in the Nanling Mountains, and Gantang in the northern part of Fujian Province). It can be inferred that the forest vegetation growing in the south of the Qinling Mountains-Huaihe River was luxuriant during the late glaciation. The species succession with ecological significance in palaeoflora(Abies sp., Fagus sp. and Alnus sp.) revealed that there was a certain amount of precipitation and effective humidity in the mountain lands between Qinling Mountains-Huaihe River and Nanling Mountains. This ecological environment favored the zonal distribution of mountainous forest vegetation. The late glacial maximum featured a cold, wet climate that completely differed from the cold-dry climate on the Loess Plateau, and on the steppe and desert steppe of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Besides being influenced by the predominant factors driving the Northern Hemisphere climate, the cold-wet climate feature of the mountainous interior of southern China was closely associated with some geographical factors such as the latitudinal position, proximity to the ocean, and the topography and landforms.

Stipitate hydnoid fungi of the temperate southeastern United States

An 11 year study was conducted to reevaluate the species of stipitate hydnums from the southern United States especially the Great Smoky Mountains and surrounding geography.The genera evaluated included Bankera herein reduced to synonym with Phellodon,Hydnellum,Sarcodon,and Phellodon.Basidiomata of many stipitate hydnum species from this region were abundant but nitrogen depositions during the last 20 years have impacted their occurrences.Therefore it became critical to do a definitive study of these fungi using current taxonomic tools.Many species within Hydnellum and Phellodon have a indeterminate type growth often dependant on environmental conditions making discrimination between closely related species difficult without supportive molecular sequence data.Once sequence data(ITS)was obtained a phylogenetic analyzes were conducted and the sequences were compared to those in GenBank with particular attention to European data.A total of 41 distinct taxa were determined and many of those were confirmed based on morphological data.A specific new combination from Bankera fuligineoalbum to Phellodon fuligineoalbus is made herein.Futhermore,Phellodon brunneoolivaceus is described as new based on morphological and sequence data.