Diversity of Orchids in Terms of Their Distribution, Uses and Conservation in Annapurna Conservation Area of Nepal

The Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA), the first conservation area and the largest protected area (PA) in Nepal, is incredibly rich in biodiversity. Notwithstanding this, orchids in the ACA have not been explored enough yet thus making the need for ambitious research to be carried out. Previous study only included 81 species of orchids within ACA. This study aims to update the record of species and genera richness in the ACA. In total 198 species of orchids, belonging to 67 genera (40% and 62% of the total recorded orchid species and genera in Nepal) has been recorded in ACA. This represents an increase of 144% in species and 56% in genera over the previous data. Out of the 198 species, 99 were epiphytes, 6 were holomycotrophic and 93 were terrestrial. Among the 67 genera, Bulbophyllum (17) species were dominant, followed by Dendrobium (16), Herminium (10), Coelogyne, Plantanthera (9 each), Eria, Habenaria, Oberonia (8 each), Calanthe (7), and Liparis (6). Fifty-six species were found to be ornamentally significant and 85 species medicinally significant.

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.

Soil Organic Carbon Stock Variation under Different Soil Types and Land Uses in the Sub-Humid Noun Plain, Western Cameroon

This study was conducted to assess the current stock of soil organic carbon under different agricultural land uses, soil types and soil depths in the Noun plain in western Cameroon. Three sites were selected for the study, namely Mangoum, Makeka and Fossang, representative of the three dominant soil types of the noun plain (Andosols, Acrisols and Ferralsols). Three land uses were selected per site including natural vegetation, agroforest and crop field. Soil was sampled at three depths;0 - 20 cm, 20 - 40 cm, and 40 - 60 cm. Analysis of variance showed that soil type did not significantly influence carbon storage, but rather land uses and soil depth. SOCS decreased significantly with depth in all the sites, with an average stock of 66.3 ± 15.8 tC/ha at 0 - 20 cm, compared to an average stock of 33.3 ± 7.4 tC/ha at 40 - 60 cm. SOCS was significantly highest in the natural formation with 57.2 ± 19.7 tC/ha, and lowest in cultivated fields, at 37.7 ± 10.6 tC/ha. Andosols, with their high content of coarse fragments, stored less organic carbon than Ferralsols and Acrisols.

Development and Evolution of Papermaking in Ancient China based on the Uses and Forms of Paper

In the past,scholars have divided the history of Chinese papermaking into different stages based on the development of ancient papermaking technology,emphasizing the development and progress of papermaking in different historical periods but paying less attention to the changes in the form of paper.Here,the stages are defined based on changes in use and function rather than technological developments.When this approach is combined with the history of printing,books,calligraphy,and painting,the history of Chinese papermaking can be divided into the writing paper,writing and printing paper,printing paper,and calligraphy and painting paper periods.Different periods of paper have significant differences in texture,form,and performance owing to their different applications.This significant difference provides a reference for the identification of ancient papers and reveals the internal connection between the history of printing,books,calligraphy,painting,and papermaking.

Some Processing Steps and Uses of Cashew Apples: A Review

In addition to the cashew nut, which is the main product, the cashew tree also produces the cashew apple which is considered a by-product. The cashew apple has a high nutritional potential. Indeed, it is rich in vitamin C, carotenoids, dietary fibers, vitamins, sugars and mineral elements where are essential for human nutrition. In addition to its nutritional quality, the cashew apple has technological advantages: the edible part of the fruit is between 85% and 100% higher than that of other traditional tropical fruits, and its juicy and sweet flesh is free of seeds or pits. In addition, very large volumes are available. As a result, the development of this fruit represents a considerable economic challenge. This paper first presents the cultivation of cashew trees and the bibliography of the work done on cashew juice. The favorable conditions for cashew tree cultivation and the planting method were presented. Then, the study highlights the work done on the physicochemical characteristics of cashew apples, the effect of the growing area, the variety and the stage of maturity on its characteristics. It also shows the influence of the processing steps on the nutritional value and organoleptic quality of the cashew apple;as well as the methods of clarification, stabilization, concentration and dehydration. Some uses of cashew apple were reviewed: beverage, food, substrate, bioethanol, nutraceutical, food additive and agro materials.

The Malicious Uses of Artificial Intelligence(MUAI)and Psychological Security in the Case of Iran

Artificial intelligence(AI)is attracted great attention in the world,because its uses are going to be prevailed in many areas and issues.As a result,keeping the situation to use AI in the positive and optimistic manner would be meant that it is well-protected the society’s mentality.The malicious uses of AI in the case of Iran are mattered by the three issues-the huge sanctions imposed to Iran by the Western countries,the psychological dissonance there is in the Iran’s decision making process,and by ontological security perceived by the Iran’s officials.It is tried to examine them in accordance with the technical,cognitive,and the institutional levels of AI.

Vertical variation and storage of nitrogen in an aquic brown soil under different land uses

The vertical variation and storage of nitrogen in the depth of 0-150 cm of an aquic brown soil were studied under 14 years of four land use patterns, i.e., paddy field, maize field, fallow field and woodland in Shenyang Experimental Station of Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in November of 2003. The results showed that different land uses had different profile distributions of soil total nitrogen (STN), alkali N, ammonium (NH4+-N) and nitrate (NO3--N). The sequence of STN storage was woodland >maize field > fallow field > paddy field, while that of NO3--N content was maize field > paddy field > woodland > fallow field, suggesting the different root biomass and biological N cycling under various land uses. The STN storage in the depth of 0-100 cm of woodland averaged to 11.41 thm-1, being 1.65 and 1.25 times as much as that in paddy and maize fields, respec-tively, while there was no significant difference between maize and fallow fields. The comparatively higher amount of NO3--N in maize and paddy fields may be due to nitrogen fertilization and anthropogenic disturbance. Soil alkali N was significantly related with STN, and the correlation could be expressed by a linear regression model under each land use (R20.929, p<0.001). Such a correlation was slightly closer in nature (woodland and fallow field) than in agro ecosystems (paddy and maize fields). Heavy N fertilization induced an excess of crop need, and led to a comparatively higher amount of soil NO3--N in cultivated fields than in fallow field and woodland. It is suggested that agroforestry practices have the potential to make a significant contribution to both crop production and environment protection.

Identification of Heterogeneity of Social and Economic Environment of Land Uses in China

The robust principal component analysis （RPCA） is a technique of multivariate statistics to assess the social and economic environment quality. This paper aims to explore a RPCA algorithm to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of social and economic environment of land uses （SEELU）. RPCA supplies one of the most efficient methods to derive the most important components or factors affecting the regional difference of the social and economic environment. According to the spatial distributions of the levels of SEELU,the total land resources of China were divided into eight zones numbered by Ⅰ to Ⅷ which spatially referred to the eight levels of SEELU.

黄河流域生态保护迈向高质量发展的特征——植被绿度、生产力和降水利用效率的差异性变化

Globally,vegetation has been changing dramatically.The vegetation-water dynamic is key to understanding ecosystem structure and functioning in water-limited ecosystems.Continual satellite monitoring has detected global vegetation greening.However,a vegetation greenness increase does not mean that ecosystem functions increase.The intricate interplays resulting from the relationships between vegetation and precipitation must be more adequately comprehended.In this study,satellite data,for example,leaf area index(LAI),net primary production(NPP),and rainfall use efficiency(RUE),were used to quantify vegetation dynamics and their relationship with rainfall in different reaches of the Yellow River Basin(YRB).A sequential regression method was used to detect trends of NPP sensitivity to rainfall.The results showed that 34.53%of the YRB exhibited a significant greening trend since 2000.Among them,20.54%,53.37%,and 16.73%of upper,middle,and lower reach areas showed a significant positive trend,respectively.NPP showed a similar trend to LAI in the YRB upper,middle,and lower reaches.A notable difference was noted in the distributions and trends of RUE across the upper,middle,and lower reaches.Moreover,there were significant trends in vegetation-rainfall sensitivity in 16.86%of the YRB’s middle reaches—14.08%showed negative trends and 2.78%positive trends.A total of 8.41%of the YRB exhibited a marked increase in LAI,NPP,and RUE.Subsequently,strategic locations reliant on the correlation between vegetation and rainfall were identified and designated for restoration planning purposes to propose future ecological restoration efforts.Our analysis indicates that the middle reach of the YRB exhibited the most significant variation in vegetation greenness and productivity.The present study underscores the significance of examining the correlation between vegetation and rainfall within the context of the high-quality development strategy of the YRB.The outcomes of our analysis and the proposed ecological restoration framework can provide decision-makers with valuable insights for executing rational basin pattern optimization and sustainable management.

Elsholtzia:review of traditional uses,chemistry and pharmacology

The chemical constituents, pharmacological activity and traditional uses of 20 species attributed to the genus Elsholtzia （Labiatae） used in China are reviewed and compared. A survey of the literature available shows that these species are used mostly for the treatment of respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders. Additionally, some of these Elsholtzia species show antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, relieving fever, analgesic activities and myocardial ischemia protection. Generally, the essential oils or flavonoids from these plant extracts are assumed to be the active principles.

Remaining Useful Life Prediction Method for Multi-Component System Considering Maintenance:Subsea Christmas Tree System as A Case Study

Maintenance is an important technical measure to maintain and restore the performance status of equipment and ensure the safety of the production process in industrial production,and is an indispensable part of prediction and health management.However,most of the existing remaining useful life(RUL)prediction methods assume that there is no maintenance or only perfect maintenance during the whole life cycle;thus,the predicted RUL value of the system is obviously lower than its actual operating value.The complex environment of the system further increases the difficulty of maintenance,and its maintenance nodes and maintenance degree are limited by the construction period and working conditions,which increases the difficulty of RUL prediction.An RUL prediction method for a multi-omponent system based on the Wiener process considering maintenance is proposed.The performance degradation model of components is established by a dynamic Bayesian network as the initial model,which solves the uncertainty of insufficient data problems.Based on the experience of experts,the degree of degradation is divided according to Poisson process simulation random failure,and different maintenance strategies are used to estimate a variety of condition maintenance factors.An example of a subsea tree system is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Accurate and efficient remaining useful life prediction of batteries enabled by physics-informed machine learning

The safe and reliable operation of lithium-ion batteries necessitates the accurate prediction of remaining useful life(RUL).However,this task is challenging due to the diverse ageing mechanisms,various operating conditions,and limited measured signals.Although data-driven methods are perceived as a promising solution,they ignore intrinsic battery physics,leading to compromised accuracy,low efficiency,and low interpretability.In response,this study integrates domain knowledge into deep learning to enhance the RUL prediction performance.We demonstrate accurate RUL prediction using only a single charging curve.First,a generalisable physics-based model is developed to extract ageing-correlated parameters that can describe and explain battery degradation from battery charging data.The parameters inform a deep neural network(DNN)to predict RUL with high accuracy and efficiency.The trained model is validated under 3 types of batteries working under 7 conditions,considering fully charged and partially charged cases.Using data from one cycle only,the proposed method achieves a root mean squared error(RMSE)of 11.42 cycles and a mean absolute relative error(MARE)of 3.19%on average,which are over45%and 44%lower compared to the two state-of-the-art data-driven methods,respectively.Besides its accuracy,the proposed method also outperforms existing methods in terms of efficiency,input burden,and robustness.The inherent relationship between the model parameters and the battery degradation mechanism is further revealed,substantiating the intrinsic superiority of the proposed method.

Yields,growth and water use under chemical topping in relations to row configuration and plant density in drip-irrigated cotton

Background Water deficit is an important problem in agricultural production in arid regions.With the advent of wholly mechanized technology for cotton planting in Xinjiang,it is important to determine which planting mode could achieve high yield,fiber quality and water use efficiency(WUE).This study aimed to explore if chemical topping affected cotton yield,quality and water use in relation to row configuration and plant densities.Results Experiments were carried out in Xinjiang China,in 2020 and 2021 with two topping method,manual topping and chemical topping,two plant densities,low and high,and two row configurations,i.e.,76 cm equal rows and 10+66 cm narrow-wide rows,which were commonly applied in matching harvest machine.Chemical topping increased seed cotton yield,but did not affect cotton fiber quality comparing to traditional manual topping.Under equal row spacing,the WUE in higher density was 62.4%higher than in the lower one.However,under narrow-wide row spacing,the WUE in lower density was 53.3%higher than in higher one(farmers’practice).For machine-harvest cotton in Xinjiang,the optimal row configuration and plant density for chemical topping was narrow-wide rows with 15 plants m-2 or equal rows with 18 plants m-2.Conclusion The plant density recommended in narrow-wide rows was less than farmers’practice and the density in equal rows was moderate with local practice.Our results provide new knowledge on optimizing agronomic managements of machine-harvested cotton for both high yield and water efficient.

Burden of gallstone disease in the United States population:Prepandemic rates and trends

BACKGROUND Gallstone disease is one of the most common digestive disorders in the United States and leads to significant morbidity,mortality,and health care utilization.AIM To expand on earlier findings and investigate prepandemic rates and trends in the gallstone disease burden in the United States using national survey and claims databases.METHODS The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey,National Inpatient Sample,Nationwide Emergency Department Sample,Nationwide Ambulatory Surgery Sample,Vital Statistics of the United States,Optum Clinformatics®Data Mart,and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare 5%Sample and Medicaid files were used to estimate claims-based prevalence,medical care including cholecystectomy,and mortality with a primary or other gallstone diagnosis.Rates were age-adjusted(for national databases)and shown per 100000 population.RESULTS Gallstone disease prevalence(claims-based,2019)was 0.70%among commercial insurance enrollees,1.03%among Medicaid beneficiaries,and 2.09%among Medicare beneficiaries and rose over the previous decade.Recently,in the United States population,gallstone disease contributed to approximately 2.2 million ambulatory care visits,1.2 million emergency department visits,625000 hospital discharges,and 2000 deaths annually.Women had higher medical care rates with a gallstone disease diagnosis,but mortality rates were higher among men.Hispanics had higher ambulatory care visit and hospital discharge rates compared with Whites,but not mortality rates.Blacks had lower ambulatory care visit and mortality rates,but similar hospital discharge rates compared with whites.During the study period,ambulatory care and emergency department visit rates with a gallstone disease diagnosis rose,while hospital discharge and mortality rates declined.Among commercial insurance enrollees,rates were higher compared with national data for ambulatory care visits and hospitalizations,but lower for emergency department visits.Cholecystectomies performed in the United States included 605000 ambulatory laparoscopic,280000 inpatient laparoscopic,and 49000 inpatient open procedures annually.Among commercial insurance enrollees,rates were higher compared with national data for laparoscopic procedures.CONCLUSION The gallstone disease burden in the United States is substantial and increasing,particularly among women,Hispanics,and older adults with laparoscopic cholecystectomy as the mainstay treatment.Current practice patterns should be monitored for better health care access.

Spatiotemporal characteristics of cultivated land use eco-efficiency and its influencing factors in China from 2000 to 2020

Improving cultivated land use eco-efficiency(CLUE)can effectively promote agricultural sustainability,particularly in developing countries where CLUE is generally low.This study used provincial-level data from China to evaluate the spatiotemporal evolution of CLUE from 2000 to 2020 and identified the influencing factors of CLUE by using a panel Tobit model.In addition,given the undesirable outputs of agricultural production,we incorporated carbon emissions and nonpoint source pollution into the global benchmark-undesirable output-super efficiency-slacks-based measure(GB-US-SBM)model,which combines global benchmark technology,undesirable output,super efficiency,and slacks-based measure.The results indicated that there was an upward trend in CLUE in China from 2000 to 2020,with an increase rate of 2.62%.The temporal evolution of CLUE in China could be classified into three distinct stages:a period of fluctuating decrease(2000-2007),a phase of gradual increase(2008-2014),and a period of rapid growth(2015-2020).The major grain-producing areas(MPAs)had a lower CLUE than their counterparts,namely,non-major grain-production areas(non-MPAs).The spatial agglomeration effect followed a northeast-southwest strip distribution;and the movement path of barycentre revealed a"P"shape,with Luoyang City,Henan Province,as the centre.In terms of influencing factors of CLUE,investment in science and technology played the most vital role in improving CLUE,while irrigation index had the most negative effect.It should be noted that these two influencing factors had different impacts on MPAs and non-MPAs.Therefore,relevant departments should formulate policies to enhance the level of science and technology,improve irrigation condition,and promote sustainable utilization of cultivated land.

Historical Changes and Multi-scenario Prediction of Land Use and Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Storage in China

Terrestrial carbon storage(CS)plays a crucial role in achieving carbon balance and mitigating global climate change.This study employs the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways and Representative Concentration Pathways(SSPs-RCPs)published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)and incorporates the Policy Control Scenario(PCS)regulated by China’s land management policies.The Future Land Use Simulation(FLUS)model is employed to generate a 1 km resolution land use/cover change(LUCC)dataset for China in 2030 and 2060.Based on the carbon density dataset of China’s terrestrial ecosystems,the study analyses CS changes and their relationship with land use changes spanning from 1990 to 2060.The findings indicate that the quantitative changes in land use in China from 1990 to 2020 are characterised by a reduction in the area proportion of cropland and grassland,along with an increase in the impervious surface and forest area.This changing trend is projected to continue under the PCS from 2020 to 2060.Under the SSPs-RCPs scenario,the proportion of cropland and impervious surface predominantly increases,while the proportions of forest and grassland continuously decrease.Carbon loss in China’s carbon storage from 1990 to 2020 amounted to 0.53×10^(12)kg,primarily due to the reduced area of cropland and grassland.In the SSPs-RCPs scenario,more significant carbon loss occurs,reaching a peak of8.07×10^(12)kg in the SSP4-RCP3.4 scenario.Carbon loss is mainly concentrated in the southeastern coastal area and the Beijing-TianjinHebei(BTH)region of China,with urbanisation and deforestation identified as the primary drivers.In the future,it is advisable to enhance the protection of forests and grassland while stabilising cropland areas and improving the intensity of urban land.These research findings offer valuable data support for China’s land management policy,land space optimisation,and the achievement of dual-carbon targets.

Water and nitrogen footprint assessment of integrated agronomic practice management in a summer maize cropping system

The footprints of water and nitrogen(WF and NF)provide a comprehensive overview of the type and quantity of water consumption and reactive nitrogen(Nr)loss in crop production.In this study,a field experiment over two years(2019 and 2020)compared three integrated agronomic practice management(IAPM)systems:An improved management system(T2),a high-yield production system(T3),and an integrated soil-crop management system(ISCM)using a local smallholder farmer’s practice system(T1)as control,to investigate the responses of WF,Nr losses,water use efficiency(WUE),and nitrogen use efficiency(NUE)to IAPM.The results showed that IAPM optimized water distribution and promoted water use by summer maize.The evapotranspiration over the whole maize growth period of IAPM increased,but yield increased more,leading to a significant increase in WUE.The WUE of the T2,T3,and ISCM treatments was significantly greater than in the T1 treatment,in 2019 and 2020respectively,by 19.8-21.5,31.8-40.6,and 34.4-44.6%.The lowest WF was found in the ISCM treatment,which was 31.0%lower than that of the T1 treatment.In addition,the ISCM treatment optimized soil total nitrogen(TN)distribution and significantly increased TN in the cultivated layer.Excessive nitrogen fertilizer was applied in treatment T3,producing the highest maize yield,and resulting in the highest Nr losses.In contrast,the ISCM treatment used a reduced nitrogen fertilizer rate,sacrificing grain yield partly,which reduced Nr losses and eventually led to a significant increase in nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen recovery.The Nr level in the ISCM treatment was34.8%lower than in the T1 treatment while NUE was significantly higher than in the T1 treatment by 56.8-63.1%in2019 and 2020,respectively.Considering yield,WUE,NUE,WF,and NF together,ISCM should be used as a more sustainable and clean system for sustainable production of summer maize.

Rice Cultivation under Film Mulching Can Improve Soil Environment and Be Beneficial for Rice Production in China

Rice cultivation under film mulching is an integrated management technology that can conserve water, increase soil temperature, improve yield, and enhance water and nitrogen use efficiencies. Despite these advantages, the system does have its drawbacks, such as soil organic matter reduction and microplastic pollution, which impede the widespread adoption of film mulching cultivation in China. Nonetheless, the advent of degradable film, controlled-release fertilizer, organic fertilizer, and film mulching machinery is promoting the development of rice film mulching cultivation. This review outlines the impact of rice cultivation under film mulching on soil moisture, soil temperature, soil fertility, greenhouse gas emissions, weed control, and disease and pest management. It also elucidates the mechanism of changes in rice growth, yield and quality, water use efficiency, and nitrogen use efficiency. This paper incorporates a review of published research articles and discusses some uncertainties and shortcomings associated with rice cultivation under film mulching. Consequently, prospective research directions for the technology of rice film mulching cultivation are outlined, and recommendations for future research into rice cultivation under film mulching are proposed.

Land use and cover change and influencing factor analysis in the Shiyang River Basin,China

Land use and cover change(LUCC)is the most direct manifestation of the interaction between anthropological activities and the natural environment on Earth's surface,with significant impacts on the environment and social economy.Rapid economic development and climate change have resulted in significant changes in land use and cover.The Shiyang River Basin,located in the eastern part of the Hexi Corridor in China,has undergone significant climate change and LUCC over the past few decades.In this study,we used the random forest classification to obtain the land use and cover datasets of the Shiyang River Basin in 1991,1995,2000,2005,2010,2015,and 2020 based on Landsat images.We validated the land use and cover data in 2015 from the random forest classification results(this study),the high-resolution dataset of annual global land cover from 2000 to 2015(AGLC-2000-2015),the global 30 m land cover classification with a fine classification system(GLC_FCS30),and the first Landsat-derived annual China Land Cover Dataset(CLCD)against ground-truth classification results to evaluate the accuracy of the classification results in this study.Furthermore,we explored and compared the spatiotemporal patterns of LUCC in the upper,middle,and lower reaches of the Shiyang River Basin over the past 30 years,and employed the random forest importance ranking method to analyze the influencing factors of LUCC based on natural(evapotranspiration,precipitation,temperature,and surface soil moisture)and anthropogenic(nighttime light,gross domestic product(GDP),and population)factors.The results indicated that the random forest classification results for land use and cover in the Shiyang River Basin in 2015 outperformed the AGLC-2000-2015,GLC_FCS30,and CLCD datasets in both overall and partial validations.Moreover,the classification results in this study exhibited a high level of agreement with the ground truth features.From 1991 to 2020,the area of bare land exhibited a decreasing trend,with changes primarily occurring in the middle and lower reaches of the basin.The area of grassland initially decreased and then increased,with changes occurring mainly in the upper and middle reaches of the basin.In contrast,the area of cropland initially increased and then decreased,with changes occurring in the middle and lower reaches.The LUCC was influenced by both natural and anthropogenic factors.Climatic factors and population contributed significantly to LUCC,and the importance values of evapotranspiration,precipitation,temperature,and population were 22.12%,32.41%,21.89%,and 19.65%,respectively.Moreover,policy interventions also played an important role.Land use and cover in the Shiyang River Basin exhibited fluctuating changes over the past 30 years,with the ecological environment improving in the last 10 years.This suggests that governance efforts in the study area have had some effects,and the government can continue to move in this direction in the future.The findings can provide crucial insights for related research and regional sustainable development in the Shiyang River Basin and other similar arid and semi-arid areas.

Enhancing wood efficiency through comprehensive wood flow analysis:Methodology and strategic insights

Wood,an essential natural resource in human civilization,remains widely used despite advances in technology and material substitution.The surge in greenhouse gas emissions and environmental concerns accentuates the need for optimizing wood utilization.Material flow analysis is a powerful tool for tracking material flows and stocks,aiding resource management and environmental decision-making.However,the full extent of its methodological dimensions,particularly within the context of the wood supply chain,remains relatively unexplored.In this study,we delve into the existing literature on wood flow analysis,discussing its primary objectives,materials involved,temporal and spatial scales,data sources,units,and conversion factors.Additionally,data uncertainty,data reconciliation and crucial assumptions in material flow analysis are highlighted in this paper.Key findings reveal the significance of wood cascading and substitution effects by replacing non-wood materials,where they can reduce greenhouse gas emissions more than the natural carbon sink of forests and wood products.The immediate impact of short-term wood cascading might not be as robust as the substitution effect,with energy substitution showcasing better results than material substitution.However,it's crucial to note that these conclusions could experience significant reversal from a long-term and global perspective.Strategies for improving wood efficiency involve maximizing material use,advancing construction technologies,extending product lifespans,promoting cascade use,and optimizing energy recovery processes.The study underscores the need for standardized approaches in wood flow analysis and emphasizes the potential of wood efficiency strategies in addressing environmental challenges.