Effects of Land Cover on Soil Temperature,Humidity and Moisture in Phoebe bournei Forest

Under the condition of high temperature, the effects of five cover patterns （clean tillage, film mulching, weed covering, branches and leaves covering and growing grass covering） on soil properties in young Phoebe boumei forest were in- vestigated. The results showed that the five cover patterns all showed significant ef- fects on soil properties in young Phoebe bournei forest under the condition of high temperature. Land cover increased land temperature in Phoebe boumei forest. Un- der the film mulching, the land temperature was increased most rapidly with the largest increment. However, weed covering, branches and leaves covering and growing grass covering decreased land temperature. Among them, growing grass covering showed the best cooling effect. The film mulching, weed covering, branch- es and leaves covering and growing grass covering all increased land humidity. The film mulching showed the best moisture-preserving effect in the early period, but in the late period, the humidity in the film mulching treatment group was lower than that in the clean tillage treatment group. Among the five mulching patterns, moisture loss in the film mulching treatment group was slowest and least, followed by those in the weed covering and branches and leaves covering treatment groups, and moisture loss in the growing grass covering treatment group was fastest and most.

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本期杂志编迄之时，声势浩大的土地执法百日行动正在向纵深推进，势如大潮，众目关注。

Potential Effect of Conservation Tillage on Sustainable Land Use: A Review of Global Long-Term Studies

Although understood differently in different parts of the world, conservation tillage usually includes leaving crop residues on the soil surface to reduce tillage. Through a global review of long-term conservation tillage research, this paper discusses the long-term effect of conservation tillage on sustainable land use, nutrient availability and crop yield response. Research has shown several potential benefits associated with conservation tillage, such as potential carbon sequestration, nutrient availability, and yield response. This research would provide a better perspective of the role of soil conservation tillage and hold promise in promoting application of practical technologies for dryland farming systems in China.

Land Quality Assessment and Monitoring:The Next Challenge for Soil Science

Sustainable land management (SLM) is the key to harmonizing environmental and ecological concernsof society with the economic realities of producing adequate food and fiber of high quality and ensuring abasic minimal quality of life. The aim of SLM is to maintain the integrity of the biophysical land resourcebase, but it can only be realized if land users understand the impacts of land management options on theirlands but also on other off-site areas and can optimize the socioeconomic and environmental benefits of theirchoice. To facilitate this, the contribution of soil survey organizations would be through the assessment andmonitoring of land quality. Land quality is a measure of the ability of land to perform specific functions and isderived by an integration of soil survey information with other environmental, and if necessary, socioeconomicinformation. The desired reliability influences the operational scale of the assessment. Such an assessmentwould assist in: 1) locating homologous areas for research sites or for transferring technologies; 2) providingthe geographic basis for systems analysis (e.g. by modeling); 3) serving as a basis for local, national andglobal resource assessment and monitoring; 4) providing an ecosystem context for land use, assessments oftemporal and spatial variability, and impact of human interventions; 5) serving as a framework for moredetailed assessment for all levels of interest; and 6) evaluating global issues such as food security, impacts ofclimate change, biodiversity monitoring, and addressing desertification.Based on an evaluation of the progress made in soil resource inventories and considering the demandsof the environment focused world, the paper considers the need for countries to mount such a program. Theauthors believe that this is the next demand of soil science and that we can fulfill our social contract byperiodically providing such information on the state of a nation's land resource.

Assessing Sustainability of Land Management Using a Risk Identification Model

New Zealand is highly dependent on its soil resource for continued agricultural production. To avoiddepleting this resource, there is a need to identify soils and associated land management practices wherethere is a risk of soil degradation. Environmental integrity and ecosystem services also need to be maintained.Accordingly, to ensure sustainable production, the on- and off-site environmental impacts of land managementneed to be identified and managed. We developed a structural vulnerability index for New Zealand soils. Thisindex ranks soils according to their inherent susceptibility to physical degradation when used for agricultural(pasture, forestry and cropping) purposes. We also developed a rule-based model to assess soil compactionvulnerability by characterising the combined effects of resistance and resilience. Other soil attributes havebeen appraised using seven chemical, physical and biological indicators of soil quality. These indicators havebeen applied in a nation-wide project involving data collection from over 500 sites for a range of land uses.These soil quality data can be interpreted via the World Wide Web - through the interactive decision-support tool SINDI. The land-use impact model is a framework to assess agricultural land management andenvironmental sustainability, and may be applied to land units at any scale. Using land resource data andinformation the model explicitly identifies hazards to land productivity and environmental integrity. It utilisesqualitative expert and local knowledge and quantitative model-based evaluations to assess the potentialenvironmental impacts of land-management practices. The model is linked to a geographic informationsystem (GIS), allowing model outputs, such as the environmental impacts of site-specific best managementpractices, to be identified in a spatially explicit manner. The model has been tested in New Zealand in anarea of pastoral land use. Advantages of this risk identification model include: utilising current knowledge ofthe causes and effects of land-management practices on soil degradation; linking land management practiceto both on- and off-site environmental consequences; identifying important gaps in local knowledge; andproviding spatially explicit information on the environmental impact of land-management practices.

Land Management Effects on Biogeochemical Functioning of Salt-Affected Paddy Soils

Most lowlands in Northeast Thailand(Isaan region)are cultivated with rice and large areas are affected by salinity, which drastically limits rice production.A field experiment was conducted during the 2003 rainy season to explore the interactions between salinity and land management in two fields representative of two farming practices:an intensively managed plot with organic inputs and efficient water management,and one without organic matter addition.Field measurements,including pH,Eh,electrical conductivity(EC),and soil solution chemistry,were performed at three depths, with a particular focus on Fe dynamics,inside and outside saline patches. High reducing conditions appeared after flooding particularly in plots receiving organic matter and reduction processes leading to oxide reduction and to the release of Fe and,to a lesser extend,Mn to the soil solution.Oxide reduction led to the consumption of H^+ and the more the Fe reduction was,the higher the pH was,up to 6.5.Formation of hydroxy-green rust were likely to be at the origin of the pH stabilization.In the absence of organic amendments,high salinity prevented the establishment of the reduction processes and pH value remained around 4.Even under high reduction conditions,the Fe concentrations in the soil solution were below commonly observed toxic values and the amended plot had better rice production yield.

Effects of Land Management Practices on Labile Organic Carbon Fractions in Rice Cultivation

A research trial with four land management practices, i.e., traditional tillage-fallow (TTF), traditional tillage-wheat (TTW), conservation tillage-fallow (CTF) and conservation tillage-wheat (CTW), was sampled in the 15th year after its establishment to assess the effects of different management practices on labile organic carbon fractions (LOCFs), such as easily oxidizable organic carbon (EOC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), particulate organic carbon (POC) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) in a typical paddy soil, Chongqing, Southwest China. The results indicated that LOCFs were significantly influenced by the combination of no-tillage, ridge culture and crop rotation. And, different combination patterns showed different effectiveness on soil LOCFs. The effects of no-tillage, ridge culture and wheat cultivation on EOC, DOC, POC and MBC mainly happened at 0-10cm. At this depth, soil under CTW had higher EOC, DOC, POC and MBC contents, compared to TTF, TTW and CTF, respectively. Moreover, the contents of LOCFs for different practices generally decreased when the soil depth increased. Our findings suggest that the paddy soil in Southwest China could be managed to concentrate greater quantities of EOC, DOC, POC and MBC.

Changes and Effecting Factors of Grain Production in China

Based on the data from the Cost-benefit Data of Farm Produce and the China Agricultural Yearbook, this paper aims to examine the spatial and temporal change characteristics of total grain production and its affecting factors. The results show that： 1） During 1980 to 2007, total grain production increased from 3.20 ~ 108 t to 5.02 x 108 t in China, with annual increasing rate of 1.68%. From the regional disparities, most of the regions present increasing trend of total grain production except for several regions with higher level of economic development; 2） Grain sown area decreased from 1.17 × 108 ha in 1980 to 1.06 x 108 ha in 2007, which has negative effect on total grain production; 3） The increase of grain yield per unit area caused by land use intensity changes contributed to the increase of total grain yield greatly. However, as the land use intensity showed that farmers pay more attention to labor-saving input but not yield-increasing input, the less enthusiasm of farmers in grain production may become an important constraint on fu- ture grain production increase in China; 4） Based on the results, this paper proposed different land management poli- cies in different regions, for example, the government should protect cultivated land, promote large scale production. As to the less developed regions, the government should pay more attention to agricultural subsidies to promote farm- ers＇ enthusiasm in grain production.

AN INSIGHT ON DRIVERS OF LAND USE CHANGE AT REGIONAL SCALE

The studies of driving forces of regional land use change (LUC) are to reveal the real motivation behind the LUC and its interacting mechanism, so as to simulate and predict the process of LUC. Presently, studies rooting from different natural and socio-economic backgrounds and from different scales have deepened the people’s understanding and cognition to driving forces of regional LUC. Biophysical driving forces are relatively stable, and have the cumulating effects. Human driving forces are relatively active, and are main driving forces of short-term regional LUC. Existing regional LUC models can answer the three main problems: which contribution (why), which location (where) and what rate (when). But, regional land use system is defined as the self-organized system, usually affected by the cri- tical value area and sudden change, and controlled by different stages. To reduce the impact of critical threshold and break on land use system, the studies of LUC driving forces will aim at following priority areas: data linkage between remote sensing and no-remote sensing data; underlying driving force identification; driving factor quantification; driving factor scale dependence; and driving process integration simulation.

Analysis of Spatio-Temporal Changes of Land Usein Xuzhou City Based on Remote Sensing

Based on the satellite remote sensing TM/ETM images of Xuzhou city, basic data about land use of the city from 1994 to 2000 are obtained with the neural network classification module of PCI software, and the dynamic con- version matrix of land use is thus calculated. The areas of construction land and water body have increased by 1833.93 hm2 and 804.87 hm2, respectively. On the contrary, the area of cropland has decreased by 3207.24 hm2. The area of cropland converted into construction land makes up 26.84%, and that converted into water body amounts for 8.17% of the total area of cropland in 1994. The variation index of land use degree and the dynamic degree index of land use computed are 1.38 and 57.81%, respectively, which demonstrate that land use in Xuzhou is in a development period and the changes are drastic. The frequency index and importance index of the form in which cropland converted into con- struction land are 29.91% and 68.93% respectively. The results indicate that the change is not only widespread in space but a major form of spatial change of land use in the area.

SCISSORS DIFFERENCE AND ITS IMPACTS ON ECONOMIC VALUE OF CULTIVATED LAND IN CHINA

The problem of price scissors difference between industrial products and agricultural products is one of the important problems in China. It impacts not only the living standard improvement of farmers but also the economic value of cultivated land, furthermore results in the direct and indirect loss of cultivated land resources. China＇s cultivated land area has decreased dramatically in recent years. An important reason for the decrease is the relatively low cost of cultivated land occupancy, which results from the distortion of economic value of cultivated land due to the existence of scissors difference. This study firstly analyzed the dynamic change of scissors difference and calculated the absolute and relative magnitude of scissors difference from 1997 to 2002, then computed the economic value of cultivated land before and after scissors difference adjustment in 2002, and finally discussed the inverted scissors difference. Results suggest that the scissors difference has a remarkable impact on the economic value of cultivated land, and the adjustment of scissors difference even inverted scissors difference to the economic value of cultivated land is indisoensable.

The Effect of Land Use Change on Soil and Water Quality in Northern Iran

Rapid urbanization has led to extensive land-use changes,particularly in developing countries.This research is aimed to investigate the role of land use and its effect on soil and water quality in Ziarat watershed focusing on four land uses:forest,pasture,cultivated and urban development.Soil samples were taken from a depth of 0-30 cm on each land use and were analyzed by completely randomized split-plot design in two geographical directions.Results showed that bulk density(BD),electrical conductivity(EC),pH,calcium carbonate equivalent(CCE),and soil particle density(DS) of the soil samples in pastures,cultivated and urban areas increased and the mean weight diameter(MWD),soil porosity(F),organic carbons(OC),total nitrogen(TN),exchangeable cations(Ca 2+,Mg 2+,K +,Na +),cation exchange capacity(CEC) and soil microbial respirations(SMR) decreased,respectively in comparison with the forest soils.For water quality evaluations,sodium adsorption ratio(SAR),electrical conductivity(EC),pH,total dissolved solids(TDS),bicarbonate(HCO 3),chloride(Cl),total hardness(TH),calcium(Ca 2+),potassium(K +),sodium(Na +) and magnesium(Mg 2+) were investigated in two areas:Nahrkhoran and Abgir stations.Results showed that the concentration of TDS,EC and HCO 3 in Naharkhoran station is higher than that in Abgir station.On the other hand,the concentration of TDS,EC and HCO 3 in Abgir station are the relatively higher due to its location.Total hardness had the same trend during the study years except in the last three years;however,TH showed an increase of 25% TH in Naharkhoran for the last two years.Cl,K + and SAR in Naharkhoran station increased by 61%,22%,78% and 56% respectively,in comparison with Abgir station.This study demonstrated that the trend of soil degradation and mismanagement of land use may increase the frequency of urban floods and human health problems.

Soil Wettability as Affected by Soil Characteristics and Land Use

Depth distribution of soil wettability and its correlations with vegetation type, soil texture, and pH were investigated under various land use (cropland, grassland, and forestland) and soil management systems. Wettability was evaluated by contact angle with the Wilhelmy plate method. Water repellency was likely to be present under permanently vegetated land, but less common on tilled agricultural land. It was mostly prevalent in the topsoil, especially in coarse-textured soils, and decreased in the subsoil. However, the depth dependency of wettability could not be derived from the investigated wide range of soils. The correlation and multiple regression analysis revealed that the wettability in repellent soils was affected more by soil organic carbon (SOC) than by soil texture and pH, whereas in wettable soils, soil texture and pH were more effective than SOC. Furthermore, the quality of SOC seemed to be more important in determining wettability than its quantity, as proofed by stronger hydrophobicity under coniferous than under deciduous forestland. Soil management had a minor effect on wettability if conventional and conservation tillage or different grazing intensities were considered.

Problems of Land Use and Management in Development Zones and Enlightenment to Implementation of "Construction up to the Mountains" Strategy in Yunnan

ln the research, problems of land use and management in development zone were concluded, and analysis was made on the causes in order to draw lessons from land use and management in development zones. Furthermore, enlight-enment to implementation of ＂construction up to the mountains＂ strategy in the ar-eas similar to Yunnan was explored, which provides references for developing of＂construction up to the mountains＂ strategy and protecting of highly-qualified cultivat-ed lands in dam regions.

Comparison of Soil Fauna (Oribatids and Enchytraeids)Between Conventional and Organic (Tillage and No-Tillage Practices) Farming Crop Fields in Japan

The major soil animal groups, enchytraeid worms and oribatid mites, were compared in the abundance and diversity between conventional fields (CT) and organic farming fields with tillage (OT) or no-tillage (ON) practices. The values of abundance, species richness, diversity and evenness were significantly larger in OT and ON than in CT, indicating that the abundance and diversity in organic farming fields were greater than those in conventional farming. The community structure of enchytraeid genera was different between OT and ON. Enchytraeus was the most abundant in OT, while Fridericia in ON. The abundance of oribatids in OT was similar to that in ON, while the species richness and diversity in the former were smaller. These results suggested that no-tillage practice under organic management might contribute to the improvement in quality of soil mesofauna.

Distribution,Properties,Land Use and Management of Mollisols in South America

Mollisols are common in South America. They cover about 8.87 × 107ha, 1.3 × 107ha and 4.3 × 106ha in Argentina, Uruguay and Southern Brazil respectively, which is 11.5% of the world total. Most of South American Mollisols were developed on Pleistocene and Holocene sediments and lie within the limits of the temperate zone, though the extreme north is bordering subtropical and the extreme south is within a cold-temperate zone. All suborders of Mollisols occur in Argentina, the most extensive being Udolls followed by Ustolls, whereas only Udolls, Aquolls and Albolls occur in Uruguay. Vertisols in Uruguay have many properties similar to Mollisols, and the occurrence of Vertisols is strongly associated with Mollisols. The Pampean Mollisols are a significant component of the global breadbasket of modem times. The main Argentine crops are wheat, corn, sorghum, barmy, soybeans and sunflower, while Mollisols in Uruguay remain mostly dedicated to cattle and sheep grazing though crop production has been increasing very rapidly in the last decade. Throughout South America, research has shown that Mollisols are experiencing losses of soil organic matter and nutrients, and degradation of physical properties after long cropping periods, resulting in soil scientists calling for increased conservation practices to reduce future losses and a deterioration of soil quality, and thus a more sustainable agriculture in the region.

Long-Term Impact of Soil Management on Microbial Biomass C, N and P in Rice-Based Cropping System

A 12-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different tillage methods and fertil- ization systems on microbial biomass C, N and P of a gray fluvo-aguic soil in rice-based cropping system. Five fertilization treatments were designed under conventional tillage (CT) or no tillage (NT) system: no fertilizer (CK); chemical fertilizer only (CF); combining chemical fertilizer with pig manure (PM); combining chemical fertilizer with crop straw (CS) and fallow (F). The results showed that biomass C, N and P were enriched in the surface layer of no-tilled soil, whereas they distributed relatively evenly in the tilled soil, which might result from enrichment of crop residue, organic manure and mineral fertilizer, and surficial development of root systems under NT. Under the cultivation system, NT had slightly greater biomass C, N and P at 0～5 cm depth, significantly less biomass C, N and P at 5～15 cm depth, less microbial biomass C, N and equivalent biomass P at 15 ～30 cm depth as compared to CT, indicating that tillage was beneficial for the multiplica tion of organisms in the plowed layer of soil. Under the fallow system, biomass C, N and P in the surface layer were significantly greater for NT than CT while their differences between the two tillage methods were negligible in the deeper layers. In the surface layer, biomass C, N and P in the soils amended with organic manure combined with mineral fertilizers were significantly greater than those of the treatments only with mineral fertilizers and the control. Soils without fertilizer had the least biomass nutrient contents among the five fertilization treatments. Obviously, the long-term application of organic manure could maintain the higher activity of microorganisms in soils. The amounts of biomass C, N and P in the fallowed soils varied with the tillage methods; they were much greater under NT than under CT, especially in the surface layer, suggesting that the frequent plowing could decrease the content of organic matter in the surface layer of the fallowed soil.

Identification of Potential for Banana in Hainan Island, China

Land use alternatives are sought to boost agricultural income and productivity in Hainan Island, China.Regional differences exist in crop limitations, such as typhoon risk, low temperatures, poor soil fertility, and drought. In this study a crop zonation was made for a range of crops, among which is banana, as a way to: 1)establish areas for potential expansion for banana, and 2) identify limitations and options for crop and land management. A spatial soil and terrain database of Hainan Island (1:250 000) was linked to the automated land evaluation system (ALES). The qualitative models were verified by comparing suitability maps with actual land use. The results may support policy formulation on issues such as alternatives to current land use, assessment of best management practices, and the need for fertilizer programmes.

ANALYSIS AND MODELING ON CULTIVATED LAND CONVERSION——Case Study of Hebei Province

： With the acceleration of thc urbanization and industrialization of China, it is inevitable that cultivated land convcrts to built-up land for industrial, commercial and residential uses, which would impose pressure both on food security and on the sustainability of urbanization itself tbr such a country with large population and few cultivated land. Based on thc three-time Landsat Thematic Mapper （TM） digital imagcs and statistic data of Hebei Province, the general facts of cultivated land conversion and its driving forces were analyzcd by establishing econometric model in this papcr. Some conclusions werc drawn as the following： during 1985 2000, the rate of cultivated land converting to built-up arca in Hebei was 4.01% or 0.27% pcr year. Of all the converted cultivated land, 20.96% was converted to built-up area and of all the new built-up areas, 83.4% was converted from cultivated land; meanwhile the conversion is uneven not only in time but also in space; factors such as edgc length shared by cultivated land and built-up land, agricultural value per hectare, non-agriculture value per hectarc, GDP, total population, farmer＇s net income per capita and time had significant effects on this conversion.

Impacts of Land Cover Changes on Ecosystem Carbon Stocks Over the Transboundary Tumen River Basin in Northeast Asia

Understanding the effects of land cover changes on ecosystem carbon stocks is essential for ecosystem management and envi- ronmental protection, particularly in the transboundary region that has undergone marked changes. This study aimed to examine the impacts of land cover changes on ecosystem carbon stocks in the transboundary Tureen River Basin （TTRB）. We extracted the spatial information from Landsat Thematic Imager （TM） and Operational Land Imager （OLI） images for the years 1990 and 2015 and obtained convincing estimates of terrestrial biomass and soil carbon stocks with the INVEST model. The results showed that forestland, cropland and built-up land increased by 57.5, 429.7 and 128.9 km2, respectively, while grassland, wetland and barren land declined by 24.9, 548.0 and 43.0 km2, respectively in the TTRB from 1990 to 2015. The total carbon stocks encompassing aboveground, belowground, soil and litter layer carbon storage pools have declined from 831.48 Tg C in 1990 to 831.42 Tg C in 2015 due to land cover changes. In detail, the carbon stocks de- creased by 3.13 Tg C and 0.44 Tg C in Democratic People＇s Republic of Korea （North Korea） and Russia, respectively, while increased by 3.51 Tg C in China. Furthermore, economic development, and national policy accounted for most land cover changes in the TTRB. Our results imply that effective wetland and forestland protection policies among China, North Korea, and Russia are much needed for protecting the natural resources, promoting local ecosystem services and regional sustainable development in the transnational area.