To provide materials for the selection of plant species for vegetation restoration and reconstruction in the farming-pastoral zone in northern China, where the eco-environment has been already deteriorated by over-far...To provide materials for the selection of plant species for vegetation restoration and reconstruction in the farming-pastoral zone in northern China, where the eco-environment has been already deteriorated by over-farming and over-grazing, the suitable trees, shrubs and herbages were examined, screened and identified under the guidance of four principles of taking precedence for ecological conservation, being beneficial to economic production, matching species (trees, shrubs and herbages) with the site, and giving consideration to the integrity of local administrative division. According to the key ecological factors that determine species growth and distribution in the zone, i.e., the lowest daily mean temperature in a year, annual accumulated temperature, and water regimes represented by the moist index, the ratio between annual rainfall and accumulated temperature (>0 degreesC), as well as the soil type influenced by climate, surface substances and landform, the farming-pastoral zone was regionalized into seven parts: ( I) Western Songliao Plain and Da Hinggan Mountain Region; (II) Upper Liaohe River Sandy Region; (III) Mid-Eastern Nei Mongol Plateau and Northwestern Heibei Mountain Region; (IV) Luliang, Taihang and Yanshan Mountain Region; ( V) Ordos Plateau Sandy Region; (VI) Northern Shaanxi to Eastern Gansu Loess Plateau Region; and (VII) Mid Gansu to Eastern Qinghai Plateau Loess Region. And the suitable trees, shrubs and herbages for each region were selected and tabularly introduced in detail.展开更多
We identified and mapped ecotourism areas in the First Meander of the Yellow River （FMYR） by incorporating tourist preferences, and regional division was also conducted. Considering wetland protection and local natu...We identified and mapped ecotourism areas in the First Meander of the Yellow River （FMYR） by incorporating tourist preferences, and regional division was also conducted. Considering wetland protection and local natural worship, we identiifed available ecotourism areas and used GIS to overlay six layers of the criteria to generate a suitability map of available areas. This process incorporated the opinions of 158 tourists to weight each criterion. Available areas were classiifed into ifve levels of suitability, with class I being the least suitable for ecotourism and class V being the most suitable. Distance from water area was found to be the most important criterion, and presence of forest to be the least important. The results show that a majority of the FMYR is class Ⅱ, Ⅲ or Ⅳ. FMYR was further divided into ifve sub-regions, and it is clear that the particular ecological characteristics and service functions of each sub-region warrant particular development. This study provides useful insights for tourism planners, local managers and visitors.展开更多
Successful wildlife management must take into account suitable habitat areas. Information on the correlation between distribution ranges and environmental conditions would, therefore, improve the efficacy of in-situ c...Successful wildlife management must take into account suitable habitat areas. Information on the correlation between distribution ranges and environmental conditions would, therefore, improve the efficacy of in-situ conservation of wildlife. In this contribution, correlations between environmental factors and the distribution of 51 amphibians in southern and central China were investigated. Ecological niche factor analysis （ENFA） at a spatial resolution of 1°latitudexllongitude identified a mixture of climatic and habitat factors as important predictors of the occurrence of individual species. The aims of the present work were （i） to evaluate potential distributions of amphibians based on the suitability of areas; （ii） to identify the major environmental descriptors upon which they depend; and （iii） to identify areas of potential high richness that have been overlooked in available inventories. Most of the predicted species ranges of species covered the majority of southern and central China. Six richness hotspots were predicted, of which four have been described previously, but two overlooked （SE Fujian and SE Qinghai）. The prediction model was considered to be relatively accurate and it is recommended that these two new potential hotspots should be subjected to further evaluation and sampling efforts. Amphibians have high ecological preference for high humidity and precipitation, and low annual frost days. ENFA is a useful tool in wildlife conservation assessment because it is able to identify potential hotspots where studies on the correlations between environmental descriptors and the occurrence of particular species could be focused.展开更多
文摘To provide materials for the selection of plant species for vegetation restoration and reconstruction in the farming-pastoral zone in northern China, where the eco-environment has been already deteriorated by over-farming and over-grazing, the suitable trees, shrubs and herbages were examined, screened and identified under the guidance of four principles of taking precedence for ecological conservation, being beneficial to economic production, matching species (trees, shrubs and herbages) with the site, and giving consideration to the integrity of local administrative division. According to the key ecological factors that determine species growth and distribution in the zone, i.e., the lowest daily mean temperature in a year, annual accumulated temperature, and water regimes represented by the moist index, the ratio between annual rainfall and accumulated temperature (>0 degreesC), as well as the soil type influenced by climate, surface substances and landform, the farming-pastoral zone was regionalized into seven parts: ( I) Western Songliao Plain and Da Hinggan Mountain Region; (II) Upper Liaohe River Sandy Region; (III) Mid-Eastern Nei Mongol Plateau and Northwestern Heibei Mountain Region; (IV) Luliang, Taihang and Yanshan Mountain Region; ( V) Ordos Plateau Sandy Region; (VI) Northern Shaanxi to Eastern Gansu Loess Plateau Region; and (VII) Mid Gansu to Eastern Qinghai Plateau Loess Region. And the suitable trees, shrubs and herbages for each region were selected and tabularly introduced in detail.
基金National Natural Science Fund of China(No.4130141,41171435)Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China(No.LY13D010007)
文摘We identified and mapped ecotourism areas in the First Meander of the Yellow River （FMYR） by incorporating tourist preferences, and regional division was also conducted. Considering wetland protection and local natural worship, we identiifed available ecotourism areas and used GIS to overlay six layers of the criteria to generate a suitability map of available areas. This process incorporated the opinions of 158 tourists to weight each criterion. Available areas were classiifed into ifve levels of suitability, with class I being the least suitable for ecotourism and class V being the most suitable. Distance from water area was found to be the most important criterion, and presence of forest to be the least important. The results show that a majority of the FMYR is class Ⅱ, Ⅲ or Ⅳ. FMYR was further divided into ifve sub-regions, and it is clear that the particular ecological characteristics and service functions of each sub-region warrant particular development. This study provides useful insights for tourism planners, local managers and visitors.
基金partially supported by a University of British Columbia scholarship
文摘Successful wildlife management must take into account suitable habitat areas. Information on the correlation between distribution ranges and environmental conditions would, therefore, improve the efficacy of in-situ conservation of wildlife. In this contribution, correlations between environmental factors and the distribution of 51 amphibians in southern and central China were investigated. Ecological niche factor analysis （ENFA） at a spatial resolution of 1°latitudexllongitude identified a mixture of climatic and habitat factors as important predictors of the occurrence of individual species. The aims of the present work were （i） to evaluate potential distributions of amphibians based on the suitability of areas; （ii） to identify the major environmental descriptors upon which they depend; and （iii） to identify areas of potential high richness that have been overlooked in available inventories. Most of the predicted species ranges of species covered the majority of southern and central China. Six richness hotspots were predicted, of which four have been described previously, but two overlooked （SE Fujian and SE Qinghai）. The prediction model was considered to be relatively accurate and it is recommended that these two new potential hotspots should be subjected to further evaluation and sampling efforts. Amphibians have high ecological preference for high humidity and precipitation, and low annual frost days. ENFA is a useful tool in wildlife conservation assessment because it is able to identify potential hotspots where studies on the correlations between environmental descriptors and the occurrence of particular species could be focused.
