Overload type and optimization of meadow carrying capacity in Maqin County in the Three-River Source Region,China

Alpine meadows,comprising the main ecosystem of the Three-River Source Region,play an important role in the economic development of western pastoral areas.To determine whether the grazing level was too intense or the nutrient-carrying capacity of the meadows was overloaded,and to offer solutions in Maqin County,Qinghai Province,China,the meadows carrying capacity was determined by combining grass-yield and nutrients data for different seasons across different meadows.The results showed that the levels of crude protein(CP),ether extract(EE),ash,soluble sugars(SS),gas production,and energy value of forage in the summer–autumn grazing meadows were higher than those of the winter–spring meadows.Neutral detergent fiber(NDF)and acid detergent fiber(ADF)of forage in the summer–autumn grazing meadows were lower than those of the winter–spring meadows.We found that no pastures were overloaded with metabolizable energy(ME)for the whole year but digestible crude protein(DCP)was overloaded in winter–spring.And there were differences in the amount carrying capacity(forage yield)of seasonal grazing meadows for the different herds,the overload types were annual overloading(herd A),overloaded in summer–autumn(herd B),overloaded in winter–spring(herd C),and not overloaded(herd D).Compared with the previous grazing mode,theoretical carrying capacity,DCP carrying capacity,and ME carrying capacity of herd A increased by 20,19,and 27 sheep units,respectively,after optimization;herd B:36,31,and 45 sheep units,respectively;herd C:28,23,and 44 sheep units,respectively;and herd D:43,40,and 61 sheep units,respectively.In the Three-River Source Region and similar alpine pastoral areas,the grassland-livestock structure should be optimized to improve grassland vegetation status and increase the theoretical carrying capacity.

Carrying Capacity:An Overview

The concept of carrying capacity is derived from ecology, with widespread contentions of its theoretical connotations and applications in the international academic community, especially the impact of human activities on the environment. Disputes on carrying capacity have been occurring not only among biologists and ecologists, but also among mainstream economists. Based on their efforts, the author makes an attempt to describe its origin, connotations, problems, measurement, and at the same time note the latest international progress in this field.

Experimental Exclusion of Guanaco Grazing Increases Cover, Diversity, Land Function and Plant Recruitment in Patagonia

Semiarid Patagonia represents 25%of the rangeland area in Argentina,and sheep overgrazing has degraded about a third of it in the past.In this century,depleted domestic stocks have mostly stabilized,but Guanaco populations have grown.These native camelids share habitat and diets with sheep,but their effect on vegetation is poorly understood and has long been debated.We set up an exclusion experiment in Monte León and Cañadón Vaca,a semiarid shrubland grassland in southern Patagonia,currently grazed only by guanacos.Vegetation baselines were studied in 2016 in twelve plots,and half of them were protected from guanaco grazing.Thirty-six plots were cleared to study revegetation.Vegetation was reassessed in 2021,and changes were evaluated using a paired t-test.Within protected plots,vegetation cover increased,bare soil diminished,and vegetated patches grew in size,but the density of the patch-interpatch arrangement did not change.Biodiversity,measured by richness and the Shan-non-Wiener(SW)index,grew significantly.Nutrient recycling increased,as did the Stability and Infiltration Land Function indexes,although these last differences were not significant.Vegetation cover under guanaco grazing also increased,mainly due to the growth of dwarf shrubs,a typical tendency in sheep grazing-induced transitions in the region.Vegetated patches under grazing fragmented,resulting in smaller patches and denser patch struc-tures,while diversity and land function indexes remained unchanged.Young plants established in cleared plots without guanacos showed higher cover density and individual size.These effects are similar to those observed in numerous experimental sheep exclosures.Guanaco grazing may thus prevent restoration and contribute to the generalized land degradation processes that overgrazing has been causing in Patagonia for over a century.

Carrying Capacity and Coupling Coordination of Water and Land Resources Systems in Arid and Semi-arid Areas: A Case Study of Yulin City, China

Quantitatively assessing the carrying capacity of water and land resources systems in arid and semi-arid areas is crucial for achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.In this work,taking Yulin City in China as a case study and employing the Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation(CRITIC)method,a modified model of coupling degree was developed to evaluate the car-rying capacity of water and land resources systems endowment and utilization,as well as their coupling coordination degree from 2013 to 2020.Our findings indicate that the water and land resources of Yulin are diminishing due to declines in agriculture,higher industrial water use,and wetland shrinkage.However,reallocating domestic water for ecological sustainability and reducing sloping farmland can mitigate this trend of decline.Temporally,as the coupling coordination between water and land resources system endowment in Yulin continuously improved,the coupling coordination between water and land resources system utilization first decreased and then in-creased with 2016 as the turning point.Spatially,the carrying capacity of water and land resources systems,the coupling coordination degree between water and land resources system endowment,and the coupling coordination degree between water and land resources system utilization in Yulin exhibited the same pattern of being higher in the six northern counties than in the six southern counties.Improving the water resources endowment is vital for the highly efficient use of water and land resources.

The carrying capacity for vegetation of forest land across China:Near real-time monitoring and short-term forecasting based on satellite observation

Ecological restoration projects implemented over the past 20 years have substantially increased forest coverage in China,but the high tree mortality of new afforestation forest remains a challenging but unsolved problem.It is still not clear how much vegetation can be sustained by the forest lands with given water,energy and soil conditions,i.e.,the carrying capacity for vegetation(CCV)of forest lands,which is the prerequisite for planning and implementing forest restoration projects.Here,we used a simplified method to evaluate the CCV across forest lands nationwide.Specifically,based on leaf area index(LAI)dataset,we use boosted regression tree and multiple linear regression model to analyze the CCV during 2001-2020 and 2021-2030 and explore the contribution of environmental factors.We find that there are three typical regions with lower CCV located in the Loess Plateau and the southern region of the Inner Mongolia Plateau,the Hengduan Mountain region,and the Tianshan Mountains.More importantly,the vegetation in the regions near the dry-wet climate transition zone show excess local carrying capacity for vegetation over the past two decades and they are more susceptible to potential climatic stress.In comparison,in the Greater Khingan Mountains and Hengduan Mountains,there is high potential to improve the forest growth.Temperature,precipitation and soil affects the CCV by shaping the vegetation in the optimal range.This indicates that more consideration should be given to restrictions of regional environmental constraints when planning afforestation and forest management.This study has important implications for guiding future forest scheme in China.

A NovelMethod for Determining Tourism Carrying Capacity in a Decision-Making Context Using q−Rung Orthopair Fuzzy Hypersoft Environment

Tourism is a popular activity that allows individuals to escape their daily routines and explore new destinations for various reasons,including leisure,pleasure,or business.A recent study has proposed a unique mathematical concept called a q−Rung orthopair fuzzy hypersoft set(q−ROFHS)to enhance the formal representation of human thought processes and evaluate tourism carrying capacity.This approach can capture the imprecision and ambiguity often present in human perception.With the advanced mathematical tools in this field,the study has also incorporated the Einstein aggregation operator and score function into the q−ROFHS values to supportmultiattribute decision-making algorithms.By implementing this technique,effective plans can be developed for social and economic development while avoiding detrimental effects such as overcrowding or environmental damage caused by tourism.A case study of selected tourism carrying capacity will demonstrate the proposed methodology.

Spatio-temporal evolution of the coordinated development of high-tech industry agglomeration and resource-environmental carrying capacity in the Yellow River Basin

Under the background of new infrastructure,the Yellow River Basin’s superior growth cannot be separated originating with the synergistic effect of scientific and technological inventiveness and ecological civilization construction.In light of the coupling coordination analysis of the coordination effect of provincial high-tech industry agglomeration and resource carrying capacity in the Yellow River Basin from 2009 to 2021,The evolution of the geographical and temporal pattern of development was investigated using the Moran index and kernel density estimation.The results show that the agglomeration of high-tech industries in the Yellow River Basin presents a development trend of seek improvement in stability,and there is a good coupling and coordination throughout the progression of scientific and technological innovation and the loading capacity of the resource,from the viewpoint of a time series.From the perspective of spatial pattern distribution,the whole basin aims at the lower reaches,accelerates the optimization of digital industry and promotes Yellow River Basin development of superior quality through innovation support and increase of input,and based on policy guidance.

Quantitative Research on Ecological Compensation among Every City of Guangdong Province Based on Ecological Footprint and Ecological Carrying Capacity

Based on the relative theories and methods of ecological footprint and ecological carrying capacity,and according to practical conditions of Guangdong Province,this paper tried to put forward the determinant standard for ecological compensation through calculating the ecological footprint and ecological carrying capacity of every city in Guangdong Province. The results indicated that the ecological footprint of each city was in the status of deficit and the deficit level decreased gradually from developed regions of Pearl River Delta to the outlying regions. The cities which belonged to development areas of Pearl River Delta needed to pay ecological compensation,such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen and so on. In contrast,the cities which accepted compensation were underdeveloped areas,such as Heyuan and Jieyuan and so on.

Dynamic Changes of Land Ecological Carrying Capacity Based on the Ecological Footprint——By the Case Study of Chengdu City

Chengdu City is in the period of rapid urbanization and industrialization, and the disturbance derived from human activities on environment is increasing remarkablely in recent 20 years. The pressure on environment, economy and population is also increasing and land use in Chengdu has changed enormously. As struc- ture and function of land ecological system change obviously, sustainable development of land productivity has been an important goal and strategic task from now on, and it is necessary to systematically research land ecological carrying capacity based on ecological footprint. The ecological footprint of Chengdu City in the past ten years was calculated and analyzed from the spatial and temporal aspects according to statistical data from 1998 to 2008, as per ecological footprint method, ecological carrying capacity and the GIS spatial analysis method, and regression analysis method. The ecological footprint and ecological carrying capacity values from 2009 to 2019 in Chengdu City were predicted through calculation results in the past ten years. The results show that the ecological footprint and ecological deficit of land use from 1998 to 2008 increased in Chengdu City. The ecological deficit of land use within the city center was in high levels in the past ten years, and the ecological footprint kept raising, especially in areas, such as Shuangliu, Chongzhou, Qingyang among 9 city areas, 4 counties and 6 districts in Chengdu City. There is fanlike distribution of ecological deficit of land use. Analysis shows that the social and natural ecological system is uneven distribution, which is not in sustainable de- velopment situation. The results of the study show that the economic, social and natural ecological system in Chengdu City is not sustainable, and the ecological foot- print is uneven distribution. The analysis of the dynamic change of land ecological carrying capacity in Chengdu City is very important for city government in the pro- cess of the vigorous development in new Tianfu Xinqu, and redevelopment in the northern part of this city.

Reviews on Soil Environmental Capacity and Carrying Capacity

The research introduced the current development of carrying capacity of environment and population size. Based on analysis of atmosphere environment bearing capacity and water environment carrying capacity, it further studied and summarized the soil environmental capacity on pollutants and social activities. The soil environmental capacity on pollutants is the maximum pollutants contained in a unit of soil within a limited time. Current research mainly focuses on background values, limit and migration coefficient of soil and the relevant modeling. The soil environmental capacity on social activities refers to the limit values of soil on the size,density and pace of development of social activities, while maintaining the normal structure and function of the bio-and eco-system of the soil. In other words, it not only refers to the capacity on pollutants, but also refers to the capacity on social and economic activities. Based on the research ＂Criteria on the standards of soil system＂, this report is mainly focused on the capacity of soil system on heavy metals. Further studies are still needed to come up with a universal definition of the soil environmental capacity and its theory system, as well as the standard and complete evaluating system.

Relation between Economic Development Level and Resource and Environment Carrying Capacity of Central Area of Yunnan Province Based on Decoupling Analysis

Based on the decoupiing theory and method, an indicator system was built for the relation between economic development level and resource and environment carrying capacity. And the study was carried out on decoupling degree and temporal changes of economic development level and resource and environment carrying ca- pacity in the central area of Yunnan Province. Results indicated that （i） the economic development level and resource and environment carrying capacity in the central area of Yunnan Province mainly experienced strong decoupling, weak decoupling, and ex- pansive negative coupling, and in general it was strong decoupling, and it took on re- verse ＂N＂ in temporal changes. （ii） Change rate of economic development level in the central area of Yunnan Province was greater than zero, but the amplitude of change was not large, while the change rate of resource and environment carrying capacity was negative in 2007-2008, and it was positive in the rest years; from 2007, it took on gradual expansion trend, and scissors difference gradually increased after experi- encing reverse ＂V＂ change. （iii） The strong decoupling was the main situation and it reached the peak value in T5 period and T6 pedod.

Ecological Carrying Capacity in Beijing Mountainous Areas——Taking Fangshan District as an Example

[Objective] The aim was to investigate ecological carrying capacity of Fangshan District in Beijing. [Method] Ecological footprint and carrying capacity of Fangshan District in 2007 and 2008 were analyzed with ecological footprint model and the difference between ecological footprint and carrying capacity there was con- cluded. Furthermore, an assessment was made on relation between Fangshan de- velopment with local ecological carrying capacity to evaluate sustainable development of Fangshan District. [Result] Fangshan District is of lightly ecological deficit; ecologi- cal footprint per capita in 2007-2008 was deficit and tended to expand. Two meth- ods are available to reduce ecological ：deficit, including reduction of ecological foot- print and increase of carrying capacity. In general, supply and demand of carrying capacity in Fangshan are better, though with some problems. It is necessary to fur- ther develop related industries to final eliminate ecological deficit in order to achieve ecological conservation-orientation and sustainable development of Fangshan District. [Conclusion] The research provides theoretical references for overall evaluation on eco- logical carrying capacity of Fangshan District.

Analysis of Grassland Productivity and Carrying Capacity of Natural Warm-temperature Tussock in the Central Region of Guizhou Province

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the influences of grazing and fencing on grassland productivity and carrying capacity of subtropical natural warmtemperature tussock. [Method] With the natural warm temperature tussock in Longli County of Guizhou Province as study area, monthly, seasonal and annual dynamics of grassland productivity were investigate continuously during 2010 -2012, and the data were analyzed. [Result] Under grazing and fencing conditions, grassland present biomass and forage growth of warm temperature tussock in Longli County of Guizhou Province both increased first and decreased, reaching the maximum from August to October. Fencing significantly improved the productivity of natural grassland but had little effect on the vegetation composition. [Conclusion] From the perspective of grass-livestock balance, the suitable stocking capacity of warm-temperature tussock in the central region of Guizhou Province was 3.45 -4.66 sheep/hm2 , which has high ecological efficiency and can be borne by farmers and herdsmen.

Assessment on the Water Resources Carrying Capacity in Karst Area Based on the Cosine Vector Included Angle

[Objective] The research aimed to assess the water resources carrying capacity in Guizhou Province based on the cosine vector included angle method. [Method] By using the cosine vector included angle method, the index weight was determined. The projection value of water resources carrying capacity in Guizhou Province was counted by using the multi-objective gray relational projection method. Moreover, the projection value which was counted by the index weight determined by the mean-variance method was as the control. [Result] The projection values which were obtained by two kinds of methods were very close, and the ordering result was consistent. [Conclusion] In the assessment of water resources carrying capacity, it was feasible to use the cosine vector included angle method to determine the index weight.

Carrying Capacity of Grassland and Sustainable Development of Animal Husbandry in Qinghai Lake Area

Based on the estimation of carrying capacity of grassland and status analysis of animal husbandry in Qinghai Lake area, the paper explores the strategic measure of sustainable development of animal husbandry in Qinghai Lake area under the actual conditions.

Evaluation Model of Carrying Capacity of Water Resources Based on Standardized Indices of Radial Basis Function

[Objective] The aim was to study on RBF model about evaluation on carrying capacity of water resources based on standardized indices. [Method] The indices were transformed and the averages of standard values in different levels were taken as the standardized values of components of central vectors for basic functions of RBF hidden nodes. Hence, the basic functions are suitable for most indices, simplifying expression and calculation of basic functions. [Result] RBF models concluded through Monkey-king Genetic Algorithm with weights optimization are used in evaluation on water carrying capacity in three districts in Changwu County in Shaanxi Province, which were in consistent with that through fuzzy evaluation. [Conclusion] RBF, simple and practical, is universal and popular.

Spatial and Temporal Differences of Urban Land Comprehensive Carrying Capacity in Guangxi

The comprehensive carrying capacity of urban land can reflect the re- source level, economic scale, social development and environmental pressure of ur- ban land carrying. The assessment indicator system of urban land comprehensive carrying capacity was constructed from the 4 aspects of resource, economy, society, environment, and principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used to evaluate the urban land comprehensive carrying capacity of Guangxi and the 14 cities in 2005-2014, and analyzed its spatial and temporal characteristics as well as the driving forces, with the aim to provide references for improving the urban land comprehensive carrying capacity. The results showed that, the overall urban land comprehensive carrying capacity in Guangxi increased in 2005-2014, and there were significant differences in the land comprehensive carrying capacities among the cities in Guangxi in 2005-2014, in which Liuzhou, Guilin, Nanning belonged to the regions with the highest carrying capacity, while Beihai, Yulin, Wutong belonged to the regions with high carrying capacity, and the carrying capacities of the other cities changed with the changes of time. The economic development degree was an important factor influencing urban land comprehensive carrying capacity, but could not directly represent the urban land comprehensive carrying capacity level.

Assessment of Land Comprehensive Carrying Capacity in Lin'an City

According to regional characteristics and the actual situation in Lin ’an City, an evaluation index system of land comprehensive carrying capacity composed of three support subsystems （eco-environment, social and economic carrying capaci-ties） containing 22 evaluation indexes was established to evaluate the comprehen-sive carrying capacity of land resource in Lin’an City during 2005-2012. Meanwhile, based on the target data of overal land use plan, the level of land comprehensive carrying capacity was predicted at the end of the plan period （2020） .The results showed that land comprehensive carrying capacity had a significant growth in Lin ’an from 2005 to 2012, and the development trend was basical y sustainable. The sub-systems also had been greatly improved, in which the constant improvement of ec-ological environment carrying capacity made the largest contribution to the constant raising of land comprehensive carrying capacity. The degree of coordination between the systems was poor, in which eco-environment carrying capacity had the maxi-mum growth, far more than the social and economic carrying capacities. According to the land comprehensive carrying capacity in 2020, utilization of land resources in Lin＆#39;an city can achieve sustainable development in general. Final y, proposals of im-proving comprehensive carrying capacity were put forward in terms of the enhance-ment of eco-environment protection, accelerating economic development and policy guidance.

Evaluation of Environmental Carrying Capacity of Water Resources in Jiangxi Province

In order to quantitatively evaluate the sustainable development status of water resources in Jiangxi Province, the dynamic changes in ecological footprint, carrying capacity and load index of water resources in Jiangxi Province during 2009-2013 were analyzed according to the primary principle and calculation model of ecological footprint. The results showed that in Jiangxi Province during 2009- 2013, the water resources ecological footprint per capita was relatively low; the wa- ter resources utilization level was relatively low; the overall development potential of water resources was great; the water resources ecological carrying capacity per capita and ecological footprint per capita were trended to be increased overall. The changes in water resources ecological footprint are closely related to the social and economic development. Therefore, the industrial structure should be fully adjusted, and the water resources should be scheduled and utilized reasonably so as to pro- mote the protection of water resources and sustainable development of society and economic in Jiangxi Province.

Study on the Bacterial Carrying Seeds as the Primary Infection Sources of Curvularia Leaf Spot in Maize

[Objective] The aim was to study the bacterial carrying seeds as the primary infection sourcs of Cunularia leaf spot of maize, and to provide the theo-retical basis for the control of the disease in production. [ Method] Through slide germination and seed tissue isolation method, the viabilities of seeds with internaland external bacterial carrying were detected ; the infection of bacterial carrying of seeds on the young seedling was detected indoors by sand culture method ; and the infection of bacterial carrying seeds on maize was detected using field cultivation method. [Result] The conidia of Gunularia and mycelia carried by maize seeds could survive through the winter. Intemal bacterial carrying of seed affected the germination of seeds, but external bacterial carrying did not affect the germination; internal and external bacterial carrying seeds could infect the radicle and gemmule of maize seedling. [Condusion] The conidia of Curvularia and mycelia carried by maize＇seeds could survive through the winter and infect the seedling, which would make the seedlings have weak growth.