Optimization of water-urban-agricultural-ecological land use pattern:A case study of Guanzhong Basin in the southern Loess Plateau of Shaanxi Province,China

Extensive land use will cause many environmental problems.It is an urgent task to improve land use efficiency and optimize land use patterns.In recent years,due to the flow decrease,the Guanzhong Basin in Shaanxi Province is confronted with the problem of insufficient water resources reserve.Based on the Coupled Ground-Water and Surface-Water Flow Model(GSFLOW),this paper evaluates the response of water resources in the basin to changes in land use patterns,optimizes the land use pattern,improves the ecological and economic benefits,and the efficiency of various spatial development,providing a reference for ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.The research shows that the land use pattern in the Guanzhong Basin should be further optimized.Under the condition of considering ecological and economic development,the percentage change of the optimum area of farmland,forest,grassland,water area,and urban area compared with the current land use area ratio is+2.3,+2.4,-6.1,+0.2,and+1.6,respectively.The economic and ecological value of land increases by14.1%and 3.1%,respectively,and the number of water resources can increase by 2.5%.

Effect of Different Land Use Patterns on Physical Properties of Soil Water in Yellow River Wetland in Shaanxi Province

[Objective] This study was to reveal the effect of different land use patterns on physical characteristics of soil water in the Yellow River wetland in Shaanxi Province.[Method]Taking Yellow River wetland in Shaanxi Province as experimental plot,we compared the physical properties of the soil water under different land use patterns and studied the physical properties and the change law of soil water during the wetland degeneration process.[Result]Under different land use patterns,soil bulk density rose with the increase of soil depth.During the degeneration process of from river wetland to reclaimed wetland（paddy field）,finally to abandoned land owing to salinization,the mean soil bulk density reduced correspondingly from 1.474 to 1.522 g/cm3,finally to 1.593 g/cm3 when abandoned.Accompanying wetland degeneration,soil became compact increasingly,and the indicators of soil porosity（total porosity,capillary porosity,non-capillary porosity）were also reduced with the change of land use patterns,in which,capillary porosity and total porosity reached the extremely significant level with the change of land use patterns,and non-capillary porosity reached significant level.The changes of soil porosity condition accelerated the deterioration of wetland.Under different land use patterns,the maximum soil moisture capacity,capillary moisture capacity and minimum moisture capacity all showed a similar change law.Compared with wetland,the maximum soil moisture capacity of reclaimed land（paddy field）and salinized land respectively decreased by 5.7% and 22.3%,capillary moisture capacity by 0.2% and 19.4%,minimum moisture capacity by 2.7% and 15.9%.Of the three land use patterns,wetland displayed both higher water holding capacity and water drainage capacity over reclaimed land（paddy field）and salinized land.By comparison with wetland,the reclaimed land（paddy field）and salinized land respectively decreased by 12.4% and 15.2% in total water holding capacity,and by 2.7% and 15.9% in total water drainage capacity.[Conclusion]To conserve the water resource in Yellow River wetland,regulate the hydrological cycle and enhance drought and water logging resistances,it should be noted that reasonable countermeasures be taken to exploit the state-owned forest land and paddy field around the wetland and the related resources.

Effects of Different Land Use Patterns on Soil Microbial Quantity and Activity in Hongta District,Yuxi City

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the effects of different land use patterns on soil ecological environment. [Method] Total three representative land use patterns （corn field, cherry tree land, wood land） were selected from Hongta District, Yuxi City, and under these three patterns, soil microbial quantity and activity were studied. [Result] Under the three land use patterns, soil microorganisms were domi- nated by bacteria; soil microbial quantity ranked as wood land＇s〉cheery tree land＇s〉 corn field＇s; and total microbial activity, catalase activity and urease activity all ranked as cherry tree land＇s〉wood land＇s〉corn field＇s. [Conclusion] Soil microbial activity and functions are related to farmland management measures, as well as land use pattern and soil nutrients.

Urban Spatial Restructuring in Transitional Economy——Changing Land Use Pattern in Shanghai

For almost three decades, China has been undergoing significant transition from a planned economy to a market economy. Fast-paced economic growth and urbanization, interacting with market-oriented reforms in land re- sources allocation, have caused profound spatial restructuring of Chinese cities. This paper examines urban expansion and land use reconfiguration in Shanghai’s central city from 1979 to 2002, with a special focus on the effect of the adoption of the land-leasing system in 1988. The empirical research, which employs GIS-based spatial analysis tech- niques to explore land use data for multiple years, indicates fundamental changes in the spatial characteristics of urban development in Shanghai after this important land policy reform.

Fractal features of soil profiles under different land use patterns on the Loess Plateau, China

Fractal theory is becoming an increasingly useful tool to describe soil structure dynamics for a better understanding of the performance of soil systems. Changes in land use patterns significantly affect soil physical, chemical and biological properties. However, limited information is available on the fractal characteristics of deep soil layers under different land use patterns. In this study, the fractal dimensions of particle size distribution（PSD） and micro-aggregates in the 0–500 cm soil profile and soil anti-erodibility in the 0–10 cm soil profile for 10 typical land use patterns were investigated in the Zhifanggou Watershed on the Loess Plateau, China. The 10 typical land use patterns were： slope cropland, two terraced croplands, check-dam cropland, woodland, two shrublands, orchard, artificial and natural grasslands. The results showed that the fractal dimensions of PSD and micro-aggregates were all significantly influenced by soil depths, land use patterns and their interaction. The plantations of shrubland, woodland and natural grassland increased the amount of larger micro-aggregates, and decreased the fractal dimensions of micro-aggregates in the 0–40 cm soil profile. And they also improved the aggregate state and aggregate degree and decreased dispersion rate in the 0–10 cm soil profile. The results indicated that fractal theory can be used to characterize soil structure under different land use patterns and fractal dimensions of micro-aggregates were more effective in this regard. The natural grassland may be the best choice for improving soil structure in the study area.

Rehabilitation and Sustainable Use Pattern of Rocky-desertified Land in Southwest China’s Poverty-stricken Karst Mountainous Areas——A Case Study in Benggu Township, Xichou County, Yunnan, China

The rocky desert in a karst area directly causes the lack of soil, water and forest, hence leading to the poverty there. In 1990, the villagers from the Muzhe Village in Benggu Township, Xichou County, Yunnan declared a war against rocky desert in an attempt to ask the fields for more yields. They invented a distinctive land rehabilitation and sustainable use pattern called “transforming heavenand earth” that had been practiced in Southwest China’s karst areas. The key mechanism of the pattern was to develop terraced fields with well conserved soil, water and fertility by exploding rocks in the fields, building stone walls, gathering more soil, and improving soil quality and productivity for the fields in combination with building of irrigation facilities and roads, as well as with forestation and agriculture structure adjustment. The purpose of the pattern was to alleviate poverty in the karst areas by improving soil productivity and promoting agriculturaldevelopment. A typical area was studied with the help of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and the pattern was carried out there for fifteen years, have produced excellent ecological benefits and good economic benefits. Its application in the area approved that it was a sustainable land use pattern for rocky desert areas.

Dynamics of Coastal Land Use Patterns of Inner Lingdingyang Bay in the Zhujiang River Estuary

To satisfy the growing of land demand from economic development,a large scale of land reclamation from sea has been carried out in Inner Lingdingyang Bay in the Zhujiang(Pearl)River estuary in recent years.As a result,the tidal flat and the water channels became narrow,the frequency of floods increased,and the environment was un-dermined.Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey(GMGS)conducted an integrated project for marine geo-environ-ment and geo-hazards survey in 2003.With the integration of multi-temporal remote sensing images of 1977,1978,1988,1996,and 2003,GIS spatial analyzing approach and GPS technique,as well as field data and other background data of the region,this research investigated the comprehensive characteristics and the drivers of coastal land use dy-namics and shoreline changes in Inner Lingdingyang Bay.The results reveal that the reclaimed coastal land was mainly for agriculture and aquaculture in early years,but now they are used for construction sites of harbors and in-dustries,especially high-tech industry.

Multifractal characteristics and spatial variability of soil particle-size distribution in different land use patterns in a small catchment of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region,China

Characterizing soil particle-size distribution is a key measure towards soil property.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the multifractal characteristics of soil particle-size distribution among different land-use from a purple soil catchment and to generalize the spatial variation trend of multifractal parameters across the catchment.A total of 84 soil samples were collected from four kinds of land use patterns(dry land,orchard,paddy,and forest)in an agricultural catchment in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region,China.The multifractal analysis method was applied to quantitatively characterize the soil particle size distribution.Six soil particle size distribution(PSD)multifractal parameters(D(0),D(1),D(2),(35)a(q),(35)f[a(q)],α(0))were computed.Additionally,a geostatistical analysis was employed to reveal the spatial differentiation and map the spatial distribution of these parameters.Evident multifractal characteristics were found.The trend of generalized dimension spectrum of four land use patterns was basically consistent with the range of 0.8 to 2.0.However,orchard showed the largest monotonic decline,while the forest demonstrated the smallest decrease.D(0)of the four land use patterns were ranked as:dry land<orchard<forest<paddy,the order of D(1)was:dry land<paddy<orchard<forest,D(2)presented a rand-size relationship as dry land<forest<paddy<orchard.Furthermore,all land-use patterns presented asΔf[α(q)]<0.The rand-size relationship ofα(0)was same as D(0).The best-fitting model for D(0),D(1),D(2)andΔf[α(q)]was spherical model,forΔα(q)was gaussian model,and forα(0)was exponential model with structure variance ratio was 1.03%,49.83%,0.84%,1.48%,22.20%and 10.60%,respectively.The results showed that soil particles of each land use pattern were distributed unevenly.The multifractal parameters under different land use have significant differences,except forΔα(q).Differences in the composition of soil particles lead to differences in the multifractal properties even though they belong to the same soil texture.Farming behavior may refine particles and enhance the heterogeneity of soil particle distribution.Our results provide an effective reference for quantifying the impact of human activities on soil system in the Three Gorges Reservoir region.

Distribution,Use Pattern and Prospects for Conservation of Medicinal Shrubs in Uttaranchal State,India

The present paper gives an insight into the distribution and use pattern of medicinal shrubs in Uttaranchal State. A total of 222 medicinal and aromatic shrub species have been appended based on secondary information. Euphorbiaceae, Rosaceae, Verbenaceae, and Fabaceae have the highest repre- sentatives of medicinal shrubs. Twenty one families had one species each in medicinal use. Verbenaceae and Euphorbiaceae in the sub-tropical region, Rosaceae in the temperate region, and Ericaceae and Rosaceae in the sub-alpine and alpine regions, respectively, had the highest representatives of medicinal shrubs. The distribution of medicinal shrubs was 42 % in sub-tropical, 29 % in warm temperate, 13 % in cool temperate, 9 % in sub-alpine and 7 % in the alpine region. Of the total species, 70 medicinal shrubs were native to the Himalayas and 22 native to Himalayan region including other Hima- layan countries. The most frequently used plant parts for various ailments were leaves (31 %) and roots (23 %). Most shrubs are being used for the diseases, viz. skin diseases, dysentery, cough, fever, wounds, and rheumatism. The present paper will help in the execution of strategies for promotion and cultivation of medicinal shrubs in Uttaranchal State.

Study on Dryland Weed Species under Different Land Use Patterns in Southwest of Guangxi Province——A Case Study of Longzhou County

With Longzhou County as example, the weed species, distributions, domi- nant populations and diversity indexes in corn, sugarcane, pineapple, banana and mango fields under different land use patterns in southwest Guangxi were investi- gated. The results showed that there were 27 families 54 species of weeds in sampling area. Eleven species were Gramineae and ten species were Compositae. There were eight families 13 species in corn fields, ten families 20 species in sug- arcane fields, 12 families 18 species in pineapple fields, ten families 11 species in banana fields and nine families 14 species in mango fields. Bidens bipinnata, Eupa- torium odoratum and Emilia sonchifolia of Compositae were generally occurred with serious harm. Roegneria kamoji, Stellaria media and Bothriochloa intermedia of Gramineae were widely occurred. Weed community made up of Compositae ＋ Gramineae ＋ Oxalidaceae was the main form of dryland weed. The Pielou uniformi- ty of the five use patterns in the studying area were 0.967, 0.964, 0,947, 0.969 and 0.962, respectively, which were high.

Research Advances of Effects of Land Use Pattern on Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Grassland Ecosystem

The grassland is the largest terrestrial ecosystem in China,and greenhouse gas fluxes such as CO2,CH4 and N2O play an important role in the global climate change. The differences in grazing,cultivation and management measures will affect greenhouse gas emissions in grassland ecosystem. Studies suggest that reclamation will lead to increased CO2 fluxes,and fertilization will lead to increased N2 O fluxes; no grazing in summer can reduce greenhouse gas emissions,but impacts of grazing and management measures on greenhouse gas fluxes have not yet reached the same conclusion. The different results may be related to local natural conditions,management measures and research methods. Future research should be focused on unity and standardization in these areas,making the results scientific and comparable,and finally providing the basis for emission reduction of greenhouse gases in grassland ecosystem.

The Characteristics of Soil Nutrients in Terracing Land under Different Land Use Patterns in Three Gorges Reservoir Area

In this study,taking the typical terracing land in Wushan County of Chongqing Municipality for example,we study the distribution of soil nutrients in the terracing land under different land use patterns in Three Gorges Reservoir Area. We conduct field survey and sampling on three different land use patterns( cash crop land,food crop land and abandoned land),and do the indoor experimental analysis of soil nutrient indicators. The results indicate that there is significant or very significant impact on soil nutrients under different land use patterns. The content of soil organic matter declines in sequence from abandoned land,food crop land to cash crop land; the content of soil N declines in sequence from cash crop land,abandoned land to food crop land; the content of soil P declines in sequence from cash crop land,food crop land to abandoned land; the content of soil K declines in sequence from abandoned land,cash crop land to food crop land. The result is in close relation to land use patterns,human cultivation activity,land disturbance and application of fertilizer.

Effects of land use patterns on soil aggregate stability in Sichuan Basin,China

Soil aggregate stability as a key indicator of soil structure, is a product of interactions between soil environment, management practices, and land use patterns. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of various land use patterns on soil aggregate stability in Sichuan Basin of southwestern China. The dry- and water-stable aggregate size distributions were determined by manual dry sieving procedure and Yoder＇s wet sieving procedure, respectively, while microaggregates and its mechanical and chemical stabilities by Kachisky＇s method, oscillator method, and citrate-dithionate （C-D） reagent method, separately. The results indicated that fractal dimension and surface fractal dimension were useful indicators to reflect soil aggregate distribution. Land use patterns have an obvious influence on soil aggregate stability. In the study area, water stability, mechanical stability, and chemical stability followed the sequence, Barren land 〉 forestland 〉 orchard 〉 cropland, and the original stability and collapse velocity were sensitive to soil properties and soil structure. The difference of aggregate stability under different land use patterns is mainly due to the intensity of human disturbance and cultivation. Improper land use patterns will lead to breakdown of unstable aggregates, producing finer and more-easily transportable particles and microaggregates. In the future, inappropriate cultivation and land use patterns should be changed to protect soil structure, to improve soil aggregate stability and soil fertility in Sichuan Basin.

The effects of land use and its patterns on soil properties in a small catchment of the Loess Plateau

Due to relatively strong human activities in the hilly area of Loess Plateau, the natural vegetation has been destroyed, and landscape pattern based on agricultural land matrix was land use mosaic composing of shrub land, grassland, woodland and orchard. This pattern has an important effect on soil moisture and soil nutrients. The Danangou catchment, a typical small catchment, was selected to study the effects of land use and its patterns on soil moisture and nutrients in this paper. The results are as follows: The comparisons of soil moisture among seven land uses for wet year and dry year were performed: (1) the average of soil moisture content for whole catchment was 12.11% in wet year, while it was 9.37% in dry year; (2) soil moisture among seven land uses was significantly different in dry year, but not in wet year; (3) from wet year to dry year, the profile type of soil moisture changed from decreasing type to fluctuation-type and from fluctuant type to increasing type; (4) the increasing trend in soil moisture from the top to foot of hillslope occurred in simple land use along slope, while complicated distribution of soil moisture was observed in multiple land uses along slope. The relationships between soil nutrients and land uses and landscape positions were analysed: (1) five nutrient contents of soil organic matter (SOM), total N (TN), available N (AN), total P (TP) and available P (AP) in hilly area were lower than that in other areas. SOM content was less than 1%, TN content less than 0.07%, and TP content between 0.05% and 0.06%; (2) SOM and TN contents in woodland, shrub land and grassland were significantly higher than that in fallow land and cropland, and higher level in soil fertility was found in crop-fruit intercropping land among croplands; (3) soil nutrient distribution and responses to landscape positions were variable depending on slope and the location of land use types.

Land use data generalization indices considering scale and land use pattern effects

Land use generalization indices are critical for producing normative multi-scale land use databases and maps,but there is still not a national criterion for these indices in China.Previous studies on land use data generalization indices often neglect macroindices such as area proportion of land use types and map load,and also ignore landscape effects on land use generalization indices.Here we constructed an index system of land use data generalization from macro-and micro-perspectives,and examined scale and landscape effects on land use data generalization indices based on the countrywide multi-scale land use data samples.We formulated relationships between land use data generalization indices and both scale and land use pattern metrics.We defined thresholds of land use data generalization indices on scales of 1:50000,1:100000,1:250000,and 1:500000.We verified our methodology and index thresholds through generalizing a county land use database.

The influence of rainfall and land use patterns on soil erosion in multi-scale watersheds: A case study in the hilly and gully area on the Loess Plateau, China

Soil erosion has become a major global environmental problem and is particularly acute on the Loess Plateau(LP), China. It is therefore highly important to control this process in order to improve ecosystems, protect ecological security, and maintain the harmonious relationship between humans and nature. We compared the effects of rainfall and land use(LU) patterns on soil erosion in different LP watersheds in this study in order to augment and improve soil erosion models. As most research on this theme has so far been focused on individual study areas, limited analyses of rainfall and LU patterns on soil erosion within different-scale watersheds has so far been performed, a discrepancy which might influence the simulation accuracies of soil erosion models. We therefore developed rainfall and LU pattern indices in this study using the soil erosion evaluation index as a reference and applied them to predict the extent of this process in different-scale watersheds, an approach which is likely to play a crucial role in enabling the comprehensive management of this phenomenon as well as the optimized design of LU patterns. The areas considered in this study included the Qingjian, Fenchuan, Yanhe, and Dali river watersheds. Results showed that the rainfall erosivity factor(R) tended to increase in these areas from 2006 to 2012, while the vegetation cover and management factor(C) tended to decrease. Results showed that as watershed area increased, the effect of rainfall pattern on soil erosion gradually decreased while patterns in LU trended in the opposite direction, as the relative proportion of woodland decreased and the different forms of steep slope vegetation cover became more homogenous. As watershed area increased, loose soil and craggy terrain properties led to additional gravitational erosion and enhanced the effects of both soil and topography.

Effects of land use patterns on slope soil water in the semiarid Loess Plateau,China

Land use patterns(LUPs)are the form in which various land use types are combined spatially,evidently impacting soil water.However,the influence mechanism by which LUPs form remains unclear.In this study,the soil water content(SWC)in the 0–160-cm soil depth was observed in shrubland(SL),mature forestland(MF),grassland(GL)and young forestland(YF)sites on four slopes with different LUPs in the Yangjuangou catchment of the Chinese Loess Plateau.The SWC in SL-YF-SL(13.28%)was significantly greater than that in YF-MF(9.93%),MF-GL-YF(10.38%)and SL-MF(10.83%)and was temporally stable during the study period.The spatial distribution of SWC along the slope differed among the four LUPs.Vegetation characteristics and soil texture mainly determined the spatial variations in SWC in the shallow soil layers(0–40 cm),while topographic factors were the determinants in the deep soil layers(60–160 cm)as well as in the entire soil profile(0–160 cm).The significance of SWC differences among the various land use patterns increased with decreasing precipitation during the growing seasons.YF-MF(77.8 mm)and SL-YF-GL(73.9 mm)required more rainwater than SL-MF(68.2 mm)and MF-GL-MF(67.5 mm)to compensate for the loss of soil water on the monthly scale during the rainy season.Therefore,vegetation restoration should consider land use patterns on hillslopes for soil water conservation.

Spatio-temporal Pattern and Spatial Heterogeneity of Ecotones Based on Land Use Types of Southeastern Da Hinggan Mountains in China

Ecotones have received great attention due to its critical function in energy flux, species harbor, global carbon sequestration, and land-atmosphere interaction. This study investigated land use pattern and spatial heterogeneity of the ecotones among agricultural land, forest land, and grassland of the southeastern Da Hinggan Mountains in the northeastern China. The change of these delineated ecotones under different slopes and aridity conditions was analyzed by two landscape indices, edge density(ED) and core area percentage of landscape(CPL), to explore the inter-linkage between spatial structure of ecotones and socioeconomic development and land management. Specifically, the ecotones such as agriculture-forest(AF) ecotone, forest-grassland(FG) ecotone, and agriculture-forestgrassland(AFG) ecotone moved from the arid southeast to the humid northwest. The flat area with small slope is more edge-fragmented than the steep area since the ED decreases as the slope increases. The AF ecotone mostly found in the humid region is moving to more humid areas while the agriculture-grassland(AG) ecotone mostly found in the dry region is moving towards the drier region.

Present land use and cover patterns and their development potential in North Ningxia

With the objectives to acquire the fundamental dat a of the territorial resource, understand the impacts of human activit ies on the land use and cover patterns and evaluate the potential of the future exploitation, an intensive land cover classification with an accuracy of 93% has been completed for North Ningxia by remote sen sing technique based on the adoption of a combination method composed o f texture training, maximum likelihood classification and post-processing such as re-allocation and aggregation. This classification result was incorporated with the contemporaneous socio-economic and meteorological d ata for cross-sectional regression modelling to reveal the spatial dete rminants of the land cover patterns and understand the human-environmen tal relationships. A tentative evaluation on the potential of soil exp loitation in the near future was carried out in combination with our land use and cover change detection results aiming at supplying some useful references for the central and local governments in their sustainable l and use planning.

Evaluation Pattern of Use of Voluntary Counseling and Testing Services for HIV among Youths in Anambra State of Nigeria

The study aimed at determining the patterns of use of VCT for HIV among the youths in Anambra State of Nigeria was done using survey research design. Multi-stage, random sampling methods were used to select 400 youth and the instrument for data collection was questionnaire. The results show that majority of youths （85.1%） willingly accessed VCT and major reason was to check own HIV status. However only （35.9%） actually use VCT as recommended （every 6 months） thus indicating poor response to VCT services. Proper education of the public on the importance of VCT services should be provided to improve the response to VCT services.