Impacts of Environmental Factors on the Structure Characteristics of Avian Community in Shanghai Woodlots in Spring

From March to May, 2004, we selected 8 typical parks or green lands in Shanghai downtown as the study sites to conduct a ornithological research. During this study, total 55 species of birds were recorded, which included 31 resident and 24 migratory species. With statistics methodology, we analyzed the avian communities with 10 major environmental factors covering the park area, water percentage, vegetation species, canopy cover, shrub cover, grass cover, hill number, location condition, human quantity, path width, the study results indicated that: (1) the following 7 environmental factors were important to impact the structures of the avian community, they were park area, vegetation species, shrub coverage, grass coverage, hill number, location condition of the parks and path width; (2) the avian community of theses urban parks tended to deteriorate in the bird number and diversity; the man-made lake which was currently promoted in the park designing and planning process would not be good to attract the birds.

Topsoil phosphorus signature in five forest types along an urban-suburban-rural gradient in Nanchang, southern China

Conversions from rural to urban land uses have the potential to greatly modify soil phosphorus （P） levels. Soils in shrubs, Masson pine forest, conifer and broadleaf mixed forest, evergreen broadleaved forest and bamboo forest in the mid-subtropical region along an urban-rural gradient in Nanchang City, southern China, were analyzed for total P and P fractions using the modified Hedley P sequential fractionation method. Results show that the topsoil total P and total exactable P concentrations were significantly higher in the urban area （0.71 g·kg^-1 and 378.50 mg·kg^-1, respectively） than in the suburban （0.30 g·kg^-1 and 150.74 mg·kg^-1, respectively） and rural areas （0.31 g·kg^-1 and 147.38 mg·kg^-1, respectively） （p〈0.05）. Among the five P fractions of resin-P, NaHCO3-P NaOH-P, Sonication-P and HCI-P, the relative abundance of HCl-P in urban forest soils （36%） was the highest and also significantly higher than in suburban （8%） and rural soils （6%）, while NaOH-P was the dominant form in suburban （41%） and rural soils （50%）. Phosphorus accumulation in the urban soils could affect the cycle of P in urban forest systems, particularly the HCl-P fraction that might rapidly enrich aquatic systems in urban areas.

Quantity of plant leaf area on three major public squares in Kunming City, China

Regressive formulae to calculate the quantity of plant leaf area for 13 species of ornamental plants were set up based on investigation data of 30 species on 3 major public squares (Dongfeng square, Shengli square and Guandu square) in Kun-ming City, China, which were applied to calculate quantities of plant leaf area of these 13 species. The quantities of plant leaf area for the other 17 ornamental plant species on these squares were directly measured, and the total quantity of plant leaf area of each studied square was obtained individually. The results showed that the quantity of plant leaf area on Shengli square with ornamental plants structure composed of arbor tree species, shrub tree species and turf grass was highest among the three squares. It is believed that the design model of multi-storied vertical structure and proper tending of plant community could not only increase the quantity of plant leaf area, but also play an important role in generating ecological and landscaping benefits. Some corresponding suggestions were put forward on the basis of comprehensive analyses on the plant leaf area quantity of the three representative squares in Kunming urban area.

Research Progress on Urban Forest

The concept of urban forest was originated from the U.S. and Canada. Since Professor Eric Jorgensen first proposed the integrated conception of urban forest, numerous scholars in China and abroad have discussed it from various perspectives, and defined its connotation from the aspects of component, function and management. Through reviewing studies on the function and benefit, evaluation, structure, planning and management of urban forest, the authors proposed prospects of studies on this field, and orientations for further enhancing value system, establishing scientific evaluation system, further promoting landscape analysis, strengthening monitoring and management, applying new technologies and methods.

A Comparative Study on Pattern of Urban Forest Patch and Its Ecological Benefit Evaluation in the Park of Hefei Based on the GIS Technology

Based on the GIS technology, CITYgreen computer model was used in this paper to estimate ecological benefits of urban forest in the park of Hefei city.It used this technology to make an analysis on urban forest ecological benefits. The research discussed how to use the technology of CITYgreen model developed in USA to account urban forest benefits in China. The results showed that forests in Xiaoyao Jin Park occupied about 52.62% of park land area and Xinghua Park13.00% respectively, indicating that Xiaoyaojin Park is dominated by large trees such as arbors, and Xinghua Park dominated by laws, with low coverage. Besides,the comprehensive eco-benefits of Xiaoyaojin Park and Xinghua Park were 5.150 3and 1.354 3 million yuan and per unit area eco-benefits were 144 000 and 47 400yuan/hm^2, which indicated that Xiaoyaojin Park makes the greatest contribution in ecological benefits.

Greening Strategies for the Construction of Eco-garden City in Xinjiang

There are a lot of problems in urban greening strategies for Xinjiang due to geographical conditions, climate and humanity. Based on the construction of eco-garden city in Xinjiang, this paper analyzed the greening problems during the construction of eco-garden city, so as to provide a reference for the greening construction of eco-garden city in Xinjiang.

Thoughts on Building Nanchang a Forestry City

From the concept of urban forest and status quo of urban forest in Nanchang,the problems existing on urban forest were proposed,as well as countermeasures and suggestions.

Preliminary Evaluation on Urban Forest Ecosystem Services Function in Meizhou City

In order to better explore the function of urban forest in human habitation and settlement environment,the ecosystem functions were evaluated in terms of air purification,water conservation,soil conservation,maintenance of biodiversity in Meizhou by the methods of market price,shadow prices approach and opportunity cost,and the problems of the value assessment at home and abroad in urban forest ecosystem services function were simply discussed.

花木大王

在益阳,几乎没有人不知道这样一个女人,她就是湖南绿海园林有限公司董事长徐琼花,是名副其实的“花木大王”,她先后被评为湖南省杰出青年农民、全国各族农村妇女“双学双比”先进女能手,2006年被选为湖南省第九届党代会代表,2007年被选为十七大代表。1980年代,年轻的徐琼花一次偶然的机会,听市林科所一位专家说:“有交通就有绿化。”得到启发的徐琼花。

Effects of Climate Warming on Phenological Characteristics of Urban Forest in Shenyang City,China

Change in plant phenology is one of the most sensitive ecological responses to climate warming. Little information is known about the effects of climate warming on phenology of urban tree species in the northern forest of China. In this study, we investigated the phenological characteristics of the main tree species in the urban forest of Shengyang City in China and the correlation between phenology and atmospheric temperature from the discontinuous data during past 42 years over three time periods(from 1962 to 1965, 1977 to 1978, and 2000 to 2005). The results showed that the annual average temperature in Shenyang City showed an increasing trend and increased by 0.96℃ from 1962 to 2005 due to climate warming. The germination phenology of the urban trees was negatively correlated with the temperature in winter and early spring. The leafing phenology was mainly influenced by the temperature in spring before leafing. Influenced by climate warming, the germination, leafing, and flowering phenologies of this urban forest in 2005 were 14, 13, and 10 days earlier than those in 1962, respectively. We inferred that further warming in winter might prolong the growing season of urban trees in the northern forest of China.

FORMATION MECHANISM AND SPATIAL PATTERN OF URBAN AGGLOMERATION IN CENTRAL JILIN OF CHINA

Urban agglomeration is made up of cities with different sizes to be linked by traffic network in a given area, and it is an inevitable result when urbanization reaches a certain level. Taking urban agglomeration in central Jilin (UACJ) as an example, this article analyzes the formation mechanism and spatial pattern of urban agglomeration in the less-developed area. First, the dynamics of UACJ has been analyzed from the aspects of geographical condition, economic foundation, policy background, and traffic condition. Then the development process is divided into three stages-single city, city group and city cluster. Secondly, the central cities are identified from the aspects of city cen- trality, and the development axes are classified based on economic communication capacity. Finally, the urban agglo- meration is divided into five urban economic regions in order to establish the reasonable distribution of industries.

Composting Efficiency of Urban Forest Litter and River Sediment at Different Proportions

In order to explore a technology for producing organic fertilizer by composting urban forest litter and river sediment passivated by fly ash, an experiment was conducted to study dynamic changes of several parameters including temperature, pH, organic matter, C/N and germination index （GI） during high-temperature composting of urban forest litter and river sediment at five different proportions （1：1 （Ⅰ）, 1：2 （Ⅱ）, 1：3 （Ⅲ）, 2：1 （Ⅳ） and 3：1 （Ⅴ））. Results showed that the temperature and pH increased first and then decreased; at the proportion of 3：1, the temperature increased rapidly and the high-temperature duration was longest （5 d）; at the end of the composting, all the treatments reached the decomposed status, the pH ranged from 7.47 to 8.87, and the organic matter content was reduced by 36%, 38%, 42%, 33% and 29%, respectively, indicating that increasing the proportion of urban forest litter was conducive to reducing the loss of organic matter. Due to low C/N ratio of river sediment, increasing the proportion of urban forest litter was helpful to improve the efficiency of composting. The GI of treatments I, IV and V reached 80% on day 26, 18 and 19 respectively, but the GI of treatments II and III did not reach this level until the end of composting. Considering the quality of fertilizer and efficiency of composting for large-scale production, the proportion between urban forest litter and river sediment is suitable to be set as 3：1 for production of organic fertilizer.

Effects of Forest Type and Urbanization on Carbon Storage of Urban Forests in Changchun, Northeast China

Rapid urbanization has led to dramatic changes in urban forest structures and functions, and consequently affects carbon(C) storage in cities. In this study, field surveys were combined with high resolution images to investigate the variability of C storage of urban forests in Changchun, Northeast China. The main objectives of this study were to quantify the C storage of urban forests in Changchun City, Northeast China and understand the effects of forest type and urbanization on C storage of urban forests. The results showed that the mean C density and the total C storage of urban forests in Changchun were 4.41 kg/m2 and 4.74 × 108 kg, respectively. There were significant differences in C density among urban forest types. Landscape and relaxation forest(LF) had the highest C density with 5.41 kg/m2, while production and management forest(PF) had the lowest C density with 1.46 kg/m2. These differences demonstrate that urban forest type is an important factor needed to be considered when the C storage is accurately estimated. Further findings revealed significant differences in different gradients of urbanization, and the mean C density decreased from the first ring(6.99 kg/m2) to the fourth ring(2.87 kg/m2). The total C storage increased from the first ring to the third ring. These results indicate that C storage by urban forests will be significantly changed during the process of urbanization. The results can provide insights for decision-makers and urban planners to better understand the effects of forest type and urbanization on C storage of urban forests in Changchun, and make better management plans for urban forests.

Urban Garden Planning and Design and Ornamental Plant Protection

Due to the rapid economic and social development, the quality of life of people has been significantly improved, and peopled demand for living environment has become increasingjy high, which has increased peopled awareness of landscaping. Because of the development of urbankation, however, most cities have lost their balance in the ecological enviionment although they seem to have the modem flavor of life. Integrating garden design with plant protection is an important measure to protect the ecological environment and maintain ecological balance. How to protect the plants in urban garden planning and design has become a problem to be solved by garden designers. In this paper, the relationship between garden design and plant protection was ekbofated, the status quo and problems of ornamental plant protection were analyzed, and measures to protect ornamental plants were proposed.

Effect of Growth Regulators on Rooting of Hardwood Cuttings of Lycium shawii, Nitraria retusa and Farsetia aegyptia

Utilization of native plants in urban landscaping can potentially support their conservation and safeguard endangered native species from extinction. In this study, efforts were made to standardize vegetative propagation techniques for Lycium shawiL Nitraria retusa and Farsetia aegyptia. Effects of varying concentrations of rooting hormones on the success of rooting of hardwood cuttings of these species were studied in this research. Rooting in hardwood cuttings of Lycium shawii was enhanced （100%） by treating them with 1,000 ppm IBA, Ormone radicante in polvere （5,000 ppm NAA） and hormex （1,000 ppm IBA）. Treatment with 1,000 ppm NAA was found to be effective for Nitraria retusa, while marginal success was recorded in rooting of hardwood cuttings of Farsetia aegyptia when treated with 400 ppm NAA. Rooting in untreated cuttings was 80%.

Grey-relation Analysis of Traffic System and Urbanization in Jilin Province of China

It has been long believed there should be some relations between traffic system and urbanization,but the in-teraction between them,especially on the regional level,has been not in consideration due to the difficulty in quantitative analysis.Based on the development of Jilin Province during 1981-2003,the paper analyzed the relation with the grey-relation model which was adjusted to fit specific problem,and came to some conclusions.Firstly,there exists ob-vious and strong correlation between traffic system and urbanization.Secondly,urbanization responds to the develop-ment of traffic system mainly on the level of urbanization,such as population and developed area,however,less on urbanization quality.Thirdly,traffic system influences urbanization as a whole except for several peculiar factors,which means we should optimize the whole traffic system to promote urbanization.Based on those conclusions,the paper illustrated the mechanism of traffic system,promoting urbanization scale and urbanization quality.

Effects of Urbanization,Soil Property and Vegetation Configuration on Soil Infiltration of Urban Forest in Changchun,Northeast China

Urban forest soil infiltration, affected by various factors, is closely related with surface runoff. This paper studied the effect of urban forest types, vegetation configuration and soil properties on soil infiltration. In our study, 191 typical plots were sampled in Changchun City, China to investigate the soil infiltration characteristics of urban forest and its influencing factors. Our results showed that the steady infiltration rates of urban forest soil were highly variable. High variations in the final infiltration rates were observed for different vegetation patterns and compaction degrees. Trees with shrubs and grasses had the highest infiltration rate and trees with bare land had the lowest infiltration rate. In addition, our results showed that the soil infiltration rate decreased with an increase in the bulk density and with a reduction in the soil organic matter content and non-capillary porosity. The soil infiltration rate also had significantly positive relationships with the total porosity and saturated soil water content. Urban soil compaction contributed to low soil infiltration rates. To increase the infiltration rate and water storage volume of urban forest soil, proper techniques to minimize and mitigate soil compaction should be used. These findings can provide useful information for urban planners about how to maximize the water volume of urban forest soil and decrease urban instantaneous flooding.

Nature Experience, Recreation Activity and Health Benefits of Visitors in Mountain and Urban Forests in Vienna, Zurich and Freiburg

Mountain forests are managed for various purposes. Of these, recreation, leisure, and ecotourism are increasingly gaining prominence. Yet, with the development of new techniques for creating and managing urban forests, the perception of the public with regard to mountain forests and such urban forests is narrowing. For the purpose of this study, eight mountain forests and urban forests located in Zurich(Switzerland), Vienna(Austria) and Freiburg(Germany) were shortlisted. These places are renowned for their well-functioning management of mountain forests and creation of urban forests. As the study was to focus on the comparison of the perceptions of visitors in terms of their satisfaction in urban and mountain forests, the interview covered the following questions:(i) how satisfactory was the nature experience;(ii) how satisfactory were the outdoor recreational activities;(iii) whether the nature experiences influenced the mental and physical health of visitors. Responses thus received for each of the mountain forests and urban forests were assessed, with the total number of respondents being 247. Tourists visiting the selected areas were randomly chosen for a one-on-one interview survey. Results of the survey show that there is a clear perceptions of visitors differed between urban and mountain forests. However, the gap is insignificant or almost nonexistent with respect to satisfaction level of outdoor recreational activities and health benefits. These results are contrary to the findings of previous studies, which argued that the natural landscape of mountain areas is superior to other artificially built green spaces. Visitors did not perceive significant differences in outdoor recreational activities and health effects between the two spaces.

Naturalization of Landscaping Woody Plant, Magnolia obovata Potentially Invasive Species

Magnolia obovata, a tree species native to Japan, is a traditional landscaping tree that has also been introduced to various countries. M. obovata individuals have recently emerged in non-planting areas in Korea, prompting us to investigate its distribution by establishing Dosolsan in an urban forest of Daejeon City as the target site. In order to determine its naturalization, the study explored the status of population growth by examining the diameter at breast height of the individuals, and diameter diminution quotient was calculated. Cores of the trees were collected, and the age distribution was estimated by regression analysis. Reproduction possibility was analyzed by verifying the flowerblooming and fruit-bearing. Spontaneous colonization was investigated in the other potential sites which have different location and environment, respectively.The diameter distribution showed a reverse J-shaped curve, and the diminution quotient was ≥ 1.8. The population was composed of different generations,thus confirming the growth of the population. The distributed M. obovata grew and flowered normally,and followed a normal life cycle. The same phenomenon was observed in other planting areas,residual forests in urban or rural areas, alluvial islands, and mountain forests. The continuous spread of M. obovata in new ecosystems may be attributable to its long-term distribution by birds, relatively fast growth, and maturity time. Investigations on the naturalization and spread of M. obovata in Korea, as well as in various countries, are warranted.

The Interaction of Population,Industry and Land in Process of Urbanization in China:A Case Study in Jilin Province

Urbanization is a complex process that covers a wide range of topics, of which population, industry and land urbanization are three important aspects. Jilin Province is an important agricultural province in China. The contradiction between population, industry and land urbanization is especially prominent here, and its coupling development is of great practical significance. In this paper, the coupling degree of population-industry-land urbanization in Jilin Province in 1990, 2000 and 2010 is measured by coupling mode. The spatial pattern of the coupling degree is analyzed by trend surface analysis and global and local spatial autocorrelation. The influence factors and their spatial differentiation are discussed using multiple linear regression(MLR) model and geographic weighted regression(GWR) model. The results show that: 1) the coupling degree of population-industry-land urbanization in Jilin Province is at a low level. Judging from the change of time scale, the urbanization of most research units is becoming more and more coordinated. From the comparison of spatial scales, there is significant spatial difference in the research units of different administrative levels. 2) Judging from the global change trend, the coupling degree of population-industry-land urbanization in the central region is higher than that in western and eastern regions. The coordination of urbanization in the central region is relatively good, and the distribution of the cold and hot spots is basically the same as that overall. 3) The spatial pattern of the coupling degree is related to the cold and hot spot distribution of the influence coefficient of urban population density and per capita urban construction land. The variation of the coupling degree spatial pattern is synchronous with the spatial change of the urban population density influence coefficient. 4) The degree of agglomeration of the urban population is the main factor promoting the coupling pattern of population-industry-land urbanization in Jilin Province, and the extent of its influence is gradually increasing. In addition, the level of city administrative, the efficiency of urban expansion and the capacity of market consumption also have an important influence on the coupling pattern.