Design and Applications of Land Resources and Ecological Environment Information System: A Case Study of Zigui County in the Three Gorges Area of China

The design and applications of a land information system built upon ARC/INFO and ArcView are presented. The proposed system not only maintains all the advantages of the more conventional implementations but also enhances them in the following ways: 1) the application program interfaces (API) are used to transmit data and messages among different parts of the system; 2) the integrated system can support studies on land evaluations and ecological analyses by efficient management of attribute and spatial data and 3) correspondingly, spatial records and attributive records are linked by the same identifiers (ID). A case study application in Zigui County of the Three Gorges Area in China demonstrates that the system could employ land-use maps and land property data to predicate and analyze the land utilization changes in the past, present and future. The ecological environment analysis can be carried out with the data of land, economics and terrain map used, showing that the system can be widely applied, especially to survey land and environment resources in the countryside area.

THE STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF THE LAND RESOURCES SYSTEM IN THE FARMLAND SHELTER FOREST REGION IN THE NORTHEAST PLAIN

The structure and dynamics of land resources system in the shelter forest region in the Northeast Plain is discussed according to the remote sensing and statistical information from the typical profiles and spots. For agricultural utilization, the land resources system is made up of five components, i.e. man, land resources, water resources,climatic resources and barren land. The local economy depends heavily upon its land resources, especially farm land. Having been exploited for 50-60 years from the 1930s to 1980s, it has already changed from the reclaiming period into the declining period.There is no waste land to be reclaimed. Facing the increase of population and requirements and the decrease of farmland fertility, proper management of land resources is indispensable if local economic and living level is maintained. It is imperative to make artificial regeneration (highest input) for the land resources and to keep fine circle of thesystem. If only natural regeneration if relied, the system will be changed to vicious circle.

The supporting capability of Water and land resources for sustainable increase of yield in North China Plain

The potential of yield increase in the North China Plain is about 30 billion kg by ameliorating the low yield and medium low yield farmlands and 4 billion kg by reclaiming unused land. Water shortage will be the main limitation to the further increase of grain crop yield. The amount of water shortage is 8 200 million m3 at present, and will be 17 720 million m3 in 2 000. Yield increase can not be realized by using more water in the future. Other factors such as decrease of the area of cultivated land and the grain crop growing area, deterioration of environment and destruction of resources will also affect the development of grain production. Some suggestions have been proposed in the paper for attaining sustainable increase of yield in the plain.

Current Status and Development Countermeasures of Forest Land Resources in Southern Cixi City

Based on the investigation of the status of forest land resources in the southern parts of Cixi City,the problems exiting in the development of forestry(e.g.overdevelopment of industry and decline in water conservation quality)are pointed out,and countermeasures(e.g.coordination,integration,scientific planning,strict protection,orderly development and ecological compensation)are put forward,in order to provide a reference for the sustainable development of forestry in Cixi City.

What are the underlying causes and dynamics of land use conflicts in metropolitan junction areas?A case study of the central Chengdu–Chongqing region in China

Land use conflicts(LUCs),as a spatial manifestation of the conflicts in the human-land relationships,have a profound impact on regional sustainable development.For China’s metropolitan junction areas(MJAs),the existence of“administrative district economies”has made the issue of LUCs more prominent.Based on a case study of the central Chengdu–Chongqing region,we conducted an exploratory spatial data analysis of the evolutionary process of regional LUCs.Furthermore,structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze the dynamic mechanism of LUCs in MJAs,with a particular emphasis on exploring the influences of administrative boundary.The results showed that from 2010 to 2020,LUCs in the central Chengdu–Chongqing region continued to worsen,and the spatial process conflict and spatial structure conflict indices increased by more than 30.0%.The intensification of LUCs in the central Chengdu–Chongqing region from 2010 to 2020 was mainly the result of the deterioration of conflicts in evaluation units with low conflict levels.LUCs in China’s metropolitan areas generally presented a circular gradient distribution,weakening from the core to the periphery,but there were some strong isolated conflict zones in the outer regions.LUCs in China’s MJAs were the result of interactions among multiple factors,e.g.,natural environment,socio-economic development,policy and institutional processes,and administrative boundary effects.Administrative boundary affected the flow of socio-economic elements,changing the supply-and-demand competition of stakeholders for land resources,consequently exerting an indirect influence on LUCs.This study advances the theory of the dynamic mechanism of LUCs,and provides theoretical support for the governance of these conflicts in transboundary areas.

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%.

Climate change, water resources and sustainable development in the arid and semi-arid lands of Central Asia in the past 30 years

The countries of Central Asia are collectively known as the five "-stans": Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. In recent times, the Central Asian region has been affected by the shrinkage of the Aral Sea, widespread desertification, soil salinization, biodiversity loss, frequent sand storms, and many other ecological disasters. This paper is a review article based upon the collection, identification and collation of previous studies of environmental changes and regional developments in Central Asia in the past 30 years. Most recent studies have reached a consensus that the temperature rise in Central Asia is occurring faster than the global average. This warming trend will not only result in a higher evaporation in the basin oases, but also to a significant retreat of glaciers in the mountainous areas. Water is the key to sustainable development in the arid and semi-arid regions in Central Asia. The uneven distribution, over consumption, and pollution of water resources in Central Asia have caused severe water supply problems, which have been affecting regional harmony and development for the past 30 years. The widespread and significant land use changes in the 1990 s could be used to improve our understanding of natural variability and human interaction in the region. There has been a positive trend of trans-border cooperation among the Central Asian countries in recent years. International attention has grown and research projects have been initiated to provide water and ecosystem protection in Central Asia. However, the agreements that have been reached might not be able to deliver practical action in time to prevent severe ecological disasters. Water management should be based on hydrographic borders and ministries should be able to make timely decisions without political intervention. Fully integrated management of water resources, land use and industrial development is essential in Central Asia. The ecological crisis should provide sufficient motivation to reach a consensus on unified water management throughout the region.

Countermeasures for Intensive Use of Land from the Perspective of Urban-Rural Integration

This paper analyzes problems of excessive emphasis on expansion of urban land,improper village and town construction,and low land utilization efficiency in urban-rural integration construction.In line with characteristics and principle of intensive land use of urban-rural integration,it puts forward integration of urban-rural land layout,practically exploring connotation,and improving land intensification in many ways.Based on these,it presents countermeasures for intensive use of land from the perspective of urban-rural integration,including stressing function of overall planning of land use in integration and control of urban-rural regional development,raising population,ecological and economic bearing capacity of land on the condition of protecting arable land and focusing on intensive use of land,and promoting healthy,sustainable and coordinated development of industrialization,urbanization and urban-rural integration.

DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES OF WATER AND LAND RESOURCES IN THE HEXI REGION,CHINA

Hexi region is located in the northwest arid zone in China,being both the base of industry and agriculture,and the prop of developing northwestern China on a large scale in the next century.On the basis of the study on exploitation and utilization process of water and land resources in past 40 years,and present productivity,this paper approaches the utilization trend and development potential of water and land resources;analyses the characteristics,problems and directions of resource utilization in the future;and proposes the countermeasures of rational development of water and land resources.

Analysis of Cultivated Land Change in Hubei Province for the Last 60 Years

[Objective] The aim was to study the characteristics of land resources changes in Hubei Province in recent 60 years. [Method] By dint of historical documents,statistics and prevailed data in Hubei Province from 1949 to 2009,the temporal and spatial changes of arable land resources in Hubei Province in recent 60 years were discussed in terms of human-land relation. [Result] The amount of arable land resources in Hubei Province in recent 60 years had gone through the dynamic changes of increasing first for a short time and then continuing to decrease and then increasing stably again. Because of different natural condition and social economy,the regional differences of arable land changes were distinct. The reduction of arable resources and population worsened the relation of human being and the land,intensified the contradiction and resulted in large impact on the sustainable development of agricultural production and social economy. [Conclusion] It provided theoretical basis for the sustainable development of Hubei Province.

A Preliminary Study on the Rational Utilization of Land Resources in the Poverty-Stricken Mountainous Areas in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River:A Case Study of Xueshan Township

As one of the most fragile alpine plateau and canyon areas in China,the upper reaches of the Yangtze River are the key areas of ecological construction in China.It is also a key area for poverty alleviation in the country.Therefore,it is necessary to take into account the dual goals of poverty reduction and ecological environment construction,and explore a win-win road of ecological construction and poverty alleviation in line with the reality of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.Taking Xueshan Township,Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County,Yunnan Province,which is located in the poor mountainous area of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River as an example,based on many field investigations and existing investigation and statistical data,this paper analyzes the current situation and main problems of land use in Xueshan Township,and then puts forward measures and suggestions for rational utilization of land resources in Xueshan Township.This can provide a necessary reference for the next implementation of rural revitalization strategy and ecological construction.

Study on the Sustainable Use of Land-water Resources in Shandong Province of China Based on Food Security

After the analysis of food security of Shandong Province since 1990s, based on the change of grain output and per unit grain yield, it was considered that food production of Shandong Province was generally stable; through comparing the proportion of per capita possession of grains and per unit grain yield of Shandong Province in the whole country, it revealed that they were higher than the national average level. On this basis, the relationship between land-water resources and food security had been analyzed, and it summarized that Shandong water resources were insufficient, agricultural water was not enough and water had been seriously polluted; and that cultivated area was large and the overall quality was high. Meanwhile, it had analyzed the spatial pattern of land-water resources and the loss of water and soil. Finally, suggestions for the sustainable use of land-water resources in Shandong Province based on food security had been proposed. It should enhance the construction of basic agricultural facilities and implement united dispatching of multiple water resources; strengthen the supervision of cultivated land resources and comprehensively develop reserve resources of cultivated lands; and intensify the treatment of land-water resources and prevention of the loss of water and soil in key areas.

RESEARCH ON THE POPULATION CARRYING CAPACITY OF THE LAND RESOURCES IN THE ECONOMIC AREA OF ZHUJIANG DELTA

The authors once made a preliminary research on population carrying capacity of the land in the Economic Area of Zhujiang Delta (EAZD for short) in 1995, and reckoned that the ultimate population in this region will be 23 550 thousand by year of 2000. While the population in being in EAZD was 22.62 million in 1999.This accords with the prefigured result in the rough from the point of view of development. According to the data of plow land resources from the 2000 Statistical Yearbook of EAZD and the study on the population-foodstuff-plow land relationship, this paper calculates the productive potential of plow land and the population carrying capacity of land by year of 2010, and puts forward the countermeasures for improving the population carrying capacity of land in this region.

Evaluation of shallow geothermal energy resources in the Beijing-Tianjin- Hebei Plain based on land use

To discover the characteristics,distribution and potential of shallow geothermal energy in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Plain area.This paper,based on a large amount of data collection and field investigations,evaluateed the shallow-layer geothermal energy in the study area through the analytic hierarchy process and comprehensive index method.Based on suitability zoning results superimposed with 1:100000 land use data,the study area is divided into encouraged,controlled,restricted and prospective mining areas regarding the development of shallow geothermal energy,and the economic availability of shallow geothermal energy in the encouraged and controlled areas are evaluated.The results show that the shallow geothermal energy in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Plain can meet the heating and cooling demand of 6×10^(8) m2 of buildings,equivalent to 1.15×10^(7) t of standard coal,thus reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 2.73×10^(7) t and reducing sulfur dioxide emissions by 1.95×10^(5) t.According to the development and utilization mode,the energy demand level and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development plan,the development and utilization of geothermal resources in the plain area has two types:Urban concentrated mining areas and rural scattered mining areas.The scale and level of intensive utilization of regional geothermal resources are of great significance.

Impact of Climate and Land-Use Changes on Water Security for Agriculture in Northern China

North China is the most important food basket of China, where the majority of wheat and corn are produced. Most crops grown in North China are irrigated, thus water security is food security. Since the 1980s, drying has been frequently observed, as shown by a reduction in precipitation, cutoff in riverflow, and shrinkage of lakes. This increase in drying cannot be explained by climate change alone. We propose that intensive land-use in this area in recent decades has had a significant impact. The objectives of the study are to develop a quantitative model of the concurrent processes of climate change and land-use in North China, and to estimate the relative contributions of each on the observed drying. We integrated relevant socioeconomic data, land-use data, and climate data in the model, and carried out a detailed multi-temporal （decade, year, day） analysis. Results showed that land-use has greatly changed since 1999. This change is mainly associated with an extremely important 1999 national policy of ＂returning farmland and grazing land to forest and grassland＂. We found an interesting interaction between climate change and land use policy on riverflow, runoff, and evapotranspiration. During 1970s and 1980s, climate change explained more than 80%, while the land-use change explained only 10% of the riverflow change. The relative contributions were 45 and 45% in the 1980s-1990s and 35 and 55% in the 1990s-2000s respectively for climate change and land-use change. Since the 1990s land-use change has also contributed more to runoff change than climate change. The opposite trend was found for changes in evapotranspiration. Water availability for agriculture in northern China is simultaneously stressed by extensive changes in land-use and rapid climate change. Adaptation of ecological principles, such as the ＂returning farmland/grazing land to forest and grassland＂ policy, and other adjustments of economic developmental strategies can be effective tools to mitigate the water shortage problem in northern China and promote sustainable agricultural and food development.

On the Capitalization of Land Resources in Rural Areas in China

The capitalization of land resources in rural areas is good for the transforming of agricultural management method,carrying out the process of urbanization,alleviating lack of funds for construction in rural areas and further guarantee farmers’rights.However,in the process of capitalization of land resources in rural areas in China,problems such as ambiguity of land property right,inaccuracy of the appraisal of the investment in land,imperfectness of the related supporting system and non-fluency of land resources circulation in rural areas and so on still exist,which need the support from governments of all levels to actively explore and survey,taking such actions as carrying out land registration,establishing a scientific and normative price appraisal system for land resources,improving the system of registration as a legal person,increasing subsidies,improving taxation reducing policy,forming the diversified rural financial system,setting up and improving the land resources circulation market in rural areas and so on.

The SLCP-driven land use changes and farmers' responses in the loess hilly and gully region:a case study for Ansai County

Taking Ansai County located in loess hilly and gully area as a case, this study analyzes the land use changes driven by the SLCP （Slope Land Conversion Program） and the farmers＇ responses by household survey and participatory rapid appraisal （PRA）. It is found that the SLCP aroused various changes in land use, agricultural production, rural incomes, etc. In the period of 1999-2005, the farmland and grasslands were reduced by 26,809 ha and 17,571 ha respectively, while forestland increased by 38,203 ha; greenhouse vegetable and orchard got a quick development, with the area enlarged by about 7 times and nearly doubled respectively. The SLCP reduced the area of crops particularly those that normally grown on slope lands, e.g. the sowing area of winter wheat ped from 19.39% of the total cropping area in 1999 to 0.98% in 2005. Draught animals, pigs and sheep have a decline in the number because the remained land and the ban on grazing on natural grasslands can not provide sufficient feed forage. Thanks to the financial subsidy, farmers increased land inputs and thus outputs. To achieve long-term sustainable development and improve rural income, the government should continuously support farmers to improve the land management, to adopt alternative land use systems, and to increase inputs on soil conservation. Vegetable and fruit production are two promise land use systems, and should be further developed.

THE CHANGING TENDENCY OF LAND RESOURCES AND THE COUNTERMEASURES IN HAINAN PROVINCE IN 2000

Hainan Provine, with an land area of 34,170 km2, is the largest economic district for external development in China. With the further deepening of reform and openning up, some new problems of land resource exploitation and use have arisen. The changing tendency of land use is estimated as follows: Land use in economic exploitation, city development and traffic will be increased rapidly; hydraulic construction will occupy a part of land; the use of wasteland is increasing; and the total farmland and per capital farmland will decrease continously. In 2000, the occupied land should be controlled in 5 million mu (1 mu=1/ 15 ha), in which farmland is 160,000 mu. The farmland should be maintained in 6.5 million mu. Some measures to implement the strategy and object of land use are put forward: enhancing land management and administration; excuting land policy and making land management mechanism active; enhancing the efficiency of land use; and control the growth of population strictly.

THE EXPERIENCES AND MODELS OF LAND RESOURCES USE IN CHINA

This paper introduces the experiences and models of land resources use in China. They are: (1) to protect farmland is as the basic state policy; (2) to carry out land resources survey and land use planning; (3) establishing a resource-saving agricultural production system with land saving as its priority; (4) to develop agriculture in the whole territory and explore food resources; (5) improving eco-environment and protecting land resources; (6) population control’and moderate consumption to release the pressure on land resources; (7) the integrated development and experiment of the typical regions.

Interactions between water-land resources and oasis urban development at the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains,Xinjiang,China

Urban development in arid and semi-arid regions is largely constrained by fragile physical environ- ments. The characteristics of an urban settlement are different from those in other regions of China. This paper analyses the coupling characteristics and spatio-temporal variations for oasis urban development and water-land resources at the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains by principal component analysis and a coupling degree model. The result shows that the degree and change in regional use of water and land resources are different among the studied cities/counties during their development. The built-up areas of these cities/counties have changed little with increasing populations and urbanization levels, which well reflects that the urban development in arid and semi-arid regions is limited by oasis areas. Per capita amount of water supplied, however, presented a trend of slowed growth with increasing levels of urbanization. Water consumption gradually increased with urban development and the improvement of people＇s living standards, accompanied by enhanced water use efficiency. The level of urbanization can be assessed through the coupling degree between oasis urban development and the use of water and land resources. A high coupling degree represents a high level of comprehensive urban devel- opment and use of water-land resources. Alternatively, a low coupling degree denotes a low level of urban devel- opment and water-land resource use.