Water Adaptability of Traditional Mountainous Human Settlements in Mentougou of West Beijing

The climatic environment,landscape environment and settlement environment of traditional mountainous human settlements in Mentougou of west Beijing are summarized.Based on the analysis from the perspective of water adaptability,the spatial database of water adaptability of traditional mountainous human settlements in Mentougou of west Beijing is constructed,and the experience of water adaptability construction of settlement location,irrigation and water conservancy,flood control and soil fixation in river beach and gully areas is summarized.The landscape system of water adaptability of traditional mountainous human settlements in Mentougou of west Beijing embodies the typical wisdom of water adaptability construction contained in traditional mountainous human settlements,and has high reference value in the related research of water adaptability.

Multi-object approach and its appfication to adaptive water management under climate change

This paper addresses issues on adaptive water management under the impact of climate change. Based on a set of comprehensive indicators of water system, a decision making approach of multi-objects is developed and applied to quantify water adaptive man- agement for the demands of water sustainable use, water environmental protection and eco-water requirement under the climate change. For this study in China, two key indicators are proposed, namely （1） the water resources vulnerability （V） that was represented by inte- grated sensitivity （S） and resilience （C） of climate change impact on water resources, and （2） the sustainability of socio-economy and water environment, marked by DD, that is integrated scaler of socio-economic development （EG） based on the amount of GDP and the water en- vironment and relative eco-system quality （LI）. To find a reasonable solution for adaptive water management, a multi-objective decision making model of adaptive water management is further developed and the multi-objective model was transformed into an integrated single optimization model through developing an integrated measure function, called as VDD=DD/V. This approach has been applied to adaptive water resources planning and management for case study of China with new policy, called as the strict management of water resources based on three red line controls, i.e., the control of total water use by the total water re- sources allocation, the control of lower water use efficiency by the water demand manage- ment and the control of the total waste water load by water quality management in the East- ern China Monsoon Region that covers major eight big river basins including Yangtze River, Yellow River, Haihe River and Huaihe River. It is shown that the synthetic representation of water resource vulnerability and socio-economic sustainability by the integrated objective function （VDD） and integrated decision making model are workable and practicable. Adaptive management effect of the criterion compliance rate and water use efficiency are more ap- preciable through new water policy of the three red line controls, which can reduce 21.3% of the water resources vulnerability （V） and increase 18.4% of the sustainability of socio- economy and water environment （DD） for the unfavorable scenario of climate change in2030.

Adaptation to a Warming-Drying Trend Through Cropping System Adjustment over Three Decades:A Case Study in the Northern Agro-Pastural Ecotone of China

Long-term field monitoring data and historical crop data are useful to assess the impacts of climate change and to manage cropping systems. The objectives of this study are to understand the cropping system response to a warming-drying trend in the northern agro-pastural ecotone （NAE） of China and to document how farmers can adapt to the warming-drying trend by changing cropping system structure and adjusting planting date. The results indicate that a significant warming-drying trend existed in the NAE from 1980 to 2009, and this trend significantly decreased crop （spring wheat, naked oat, and potato） yields. Furthermore, the yield decreased by 16.2%-28.4% with a 1℃ increase in maximum temperature and decreased by 6.6%-11.8% with a 10% decrease in precipitation. Considering food security, water use efficiency, and water ecological adaptability in the semi-arid NAE, cropping system structure adjustment （e.g., a shift from wheat to potato as the predominant crop） and planting date adaptation （e.g., a delay in crop planting date） can offset the impact of the warming-drying trend in the NAE. Based on the successful offsetting of the impact of the warming-drying trend in the NAE, we conclude that farmers can reduce the negative effects of climate change and minimize the risk of crop failure by adapting their cropping system structure at the farming level.