Ecological Suitability Analysis of Siraitia grosvenorii Producing Areas across the World

[Objectives]The purpose of this study was to provide reference for scientific introduction and rational production planning of Siraitia grosvenorii.[Methods]Using the Geographic Information System for Global Medicinal Plants(GMPGIS),the ecological factors and suitable producing areas of S.grosvenorii were analyzed.The maximum information entropy model MaxEnt and the GMPGIS analysis method were compared.Verification analysis was performed with cosine similarity and Kappa method.[Results]S.grosvenorii is mainly produced in China.Brazil and Congo(Democratic Republic)are the two countries with the largest potential distribution.Indonesia,Colombia,Peru,the United States,Bolivia,Thailand and Myanmar have great development potential in the introduction and cultivation of S.grosvenorii.In China,S.grosvenorii mainly grows in the coastal provinces dominated by Guangxi,with a tendency of gradually expanding to the north,where the temperature has been rising slowly compared with the original producing area of Guilin.Guangxi is the main producing area.Guangdong,Jiangxi and Hunan are regions with potential wide distribution.Fujian,Yunnan,Sichuan,Guizhou,Zhejiang,Chongqing,Hainan,Hubei and Taiwan,China also have small distributions.Among the 210 largest ecologically similar areas,the average cosine similarity was above 99.9%.[Conclusions]The potential distribution areas predicted by the GMPGIS analysis method have high prediction accuracy.This will provide effective scientific reference for the introduction and standardized cultivation of medicinal plants.

Ecological Suitability Evaluation and Planting Division of Potato in County Based on GIS——A Case Study of Shangnan County of Shaanxi Province

Potato is one of the important food crops in Shangnan County,Shaanxi Province.Potato planting strategy in this region has great significance for potato planting,according to local conditions and for optimizing regional layout.The ecological suitability of potato cultivation in Shangnan County was evaluated by using geographic information system(GIS)technology,county cultivated land resource management information system and analytic hierarchy process(AHP).The evaluation index system of ecological suitability of potatoes in Shangnan County was established by screening the evaluation index of each ecological factor with expert experience method.The AHP and fuzzy evaluation method were applied to the quantitative calculation of the weight of each index.The ecological suitability assessment map of potato planting in Shangnan County was obtained by using the overlay analysis function of ArcGIS 10.2.The results showed that highly suitable area for potato cultivation was 6974.04 hm^2,accounting for 28.07%of the cultivated land.The suitable area was 11205.75 hm^2,accounting for 45.10%of the cultivated land area.These two types of arable land mainly distributed in the shallow hilly area,the middle mountain landform and the river valley area.The remaining arable land in this region mainly distributed in the shallow hills and the mid-mountain landscapes,including the arable land which was reluctantly suitable for potato cultivation and unsuitable for potato cultivation,with 5646.15 and 1022.33 hm^2,respectively,accounting for only 22.72%and 4.11%of the total arable land areas.Therefore,based on the statistics and analyses of potato planting environment in Shangnan County,the pattern of local ecological adaptability distribution was summarized and the spatial distribution map was drawn,thus providing scientific basis for rational distribution and planning of potato in Shangnan County.

Evaluation and Research Analysis of Marine Ecological Suitability

Whether in the past,present and future,marine ecological environment is the most important part in the history of human development,we can call it the"patron saint"of mankind.It provides all kinds of resources and energy needed for social production,and plays an irreplaceable role in species diversity and ecological balance.However,the weakening of self-purification ability of marine ecosystem,the decline of pollution purification ability,the deterioration of marine ecological environment,and the decline of biological resources and biodiversity,etc.all these bring fatal impact to coastal areas and even the whole terrestrial ecosystem,it is imminent to strengthen ecological protection.It is our bounden duty to protect the living environment of human.We have the right to enjoy the convenience brought by the natural environment,so we should fulfill the obligation to protect it.

Comprehensive Evaluation of Tobacco Ecological Suitability of Henan Province Based on GIS

The growth of tobacco is sensitive to environment conditions. The tobacco production is strictly restricted by regional cultivated land. Based on the principal of hiberarchy analysis and fuzzy mathematics and the technique of geographic information system （GIS）, the comprehensive evaluation of tobacco ecology suitability were studied according to the actual circumstances of the whole Henan tobacco planting regions, China. The evaluation index system of tobacco ecology suitability of Henan tobacco planting regions was established by choosing 17 evaluation indexes from 3 respects of climate, soil and landform with Delphi method. Furthermore, the membership function was set up according to the effects of each ecology factors on the growth and quality of tobacco suitability. And the analytical hierarchy process （AHP） was used to determine the weight of indexes by using quantitative analysis. Then the tobacco ecology suitability map of Henan tobacco plantation was drawn with GIS software mapGIS. It is found that the most areas of the western and southern parts of Henan Province, China, are the highly suitable regions, accounting for 22.52% of Henan tobacco planting areas. It is because that there are medium air temperature, sunshine and rainfall, medium soil pH value, and high contents of soil organic matter in the regions. Moreover, the topography is hill and massif, and the height above sea level is between 150-800 m there. Some areas of the southern and middle parts of Henan Province are the suitable ones, accounting for 34.99% of Henan tobacco planting areas. It is because that there are enough rainfall, medium air temperature, high contents of available N and available K in the soil in these regions. There are less suitable regions in the northern and eastern parts of the investigated regions because of drought, too high pH value and CI in the soil and irrigation water, accounting for 35.54% of the whole areas. It can be conducted rapidly and correctly by combining AHP and membership function for comprehensive evaluation of tobacco ecological suitability supported by GIS. There are above moderate ecological suitability for most part of tobacco planting fields in Henan Province. The distributions of tobacco ecological suitability calculated are identical with actual tobacco productivity completely.

Evaluation and prediction of ecological suitability of medicinal plant American ginseng (panax quinquefolius)

Objective： American ginseng is a medicinal plant with large market demands,however,its producing areas are shrinking because of the continuous cropping obstacles in China.Therefore,it is urgent to establish a suitable model to determine the new producing areas.Here we evaluated and predicted the suitable areas of American ginseng using the maximum entropy model（Max Ent）.Methods： Based on the 37 environmental variables over thirty years from 1970 to 20 0 0 and 226 global distribution points of American ginseng,Max Ent was used to determine the global ecological suitable areas for American ginseng.The Receiver Operating Curve（ROC）was used to evaluate the model prediction accuracy.Meanwhile,an innovative ecological variable,the precipitation–temperature ratio,was established to indicate the climate characteristic in the American ginseng suitable areas based on the monthly precipitation and temperature.Results： The potential ecological suitable areas of American ginseng were primarily in Appalachian Mountain in America and Changbai Mountain in China,about in the range of 35 °N–50 °N,60 °W–120 °W and 35 °N–50 °N,110 °E–145 °E,respectively,including the United States,Canada,China,North Korea,South Korea,Russia and Japan.South Korea and Japan were the potential producing regions.The precipitation–temperature ratios were stable at（0.22,0.56）of the vigorous growth period（April–October）in the best suitable areas of American ginseng,serving as characteristic parameters to optimize the prediction model.The model showed that the common soil parameters were pH 4.5–7.2,Base Saturation（BS）above 80%,Cation Exchange Capacity（CEC）10–20 cmol/kg,organic carbon（OC）〈 1.4%,and the soil types were sandy loam or loam.Conclusion： An optimized Max Ent model was established to predict the producing area for American ginseng that needed to be validated by a field test.

Ecological niche suitability model with an application in Taojiang land use planning

Ecological suitability analysis is an important step in ecological planning. It applies the basis toestablish a sound development planning. In this paper, by applying multi-dimension niche concept, an eco-logical niche suitability (ENS) model was developed. The ENS model, combined with geographical informa-tion system (GIS) and spatial simulation, was used to analyze regional resources and environmental features ,and identify the suitability of regional resource and environment to regional development. An application ofthe ENS model in Taojiang agricultural land use planning is presented.

Integrated use of GIS, remote sensing and multi-criteria decision analysis to assess ecological land suitability in multi-functional forestry

The Zagros forests are a treasure of valuable oak forests, but they have been severely degraded from long-term misuse. Geographic information systems （GIS） and multi-criteria decision analysis （MCDA） have been increasingly used to improve the management of vulnerable ecosystems to prevent further degradation and increase the sustainability of land use. This study presents a methodology to assess land suitability using remote sensing （RS） to obtain wall-to-wall data for the calculations, GIS to analyze the data, and MCDA to rank alternative land uses. The criteria and subcriteria affecting the suitability of land for different uses were identified and weighted using an analytic hierarchy process. Variables used as subcriteria were assessed using satellite data and other sources of information such as existing maps and field surveys. Numerical values for the subcriteria were classified, and each class was given a priority rating according to expert judgments. Based on the ratings and weights of the subcriteria, a priority map was created for each land use using the weighted linear combination method. The priority maps for different land uses were overlaid to obtain a preliminary land use map, which often indicated several simultaneous land uses for the same location. The preliminary map was further edited by removing unrealistic, mutually exclusive land-use combinations. The study tested and demonstrated the potential of integrating RS, G1S and MCDA techniques for solving complicated land allocation problems in forested regions using a scientifically sound and practical approach for efficient and sustainable allocation of forestland for different uses.

Research on port ecological suitability evaluation index system and evaluation model

Along with the rapid development of port building, the negative impacts of port＇s construction and operation on the coastline ecosystem are also increasingly strong. Therefore, it＇s urgent to establish a scientific and complete system of port ecological suitability evaluation. This paper pointed out the characteristics of port ecological effects and the principles of selecting evaluation index, and used the ＂pressure-state-response （PSR）＂ model to analysis the various pressures on the environment caused by port construction and operation, and the system＇s response. On this basis, we constructed the port ecological suitability evaluation index. This model used the combination of qualitative and quantitative analytic hierarchy process, to meet the multi-level, multi-objective characteristics of evaluation index system. The evaluation index system and evaluation model can be used to analysis the ecological suitability of port projects comprehensively and have some guiding significance to the port ecological suitability evaluation.

Prediction of the globally ecological suitability of Panax quinquefolius by the geographic information system for global medicinal plants(GMPGIS)

American ginseng(Panax quinquefolius L.) is a well-known Asian traditional herbal medicine with a large market demand. The plant is native to eastern North America, and its main producing areas worldwide are decreasing due to continuous cropping obstacles and environmental changes. Therefore, the identification of maximum similarities of new ecological distribution of P.quinquefolius, and prediction of its response to climate change in the future are necessary for plant introduction and cultivation. In this study, the areas with potential ecological suitability for P. quinquefolius were predicted using the geographic information system for global medicinal plants(GMPGIS) based on 476 occurrence points and 19 bioclimatic variables. The results indicate that the new ecologically suitable areas for P. quinquefolius are East Asia and the mid-eastern Europe, which are mainly distributed in China, Russia, Japan, Ukraine, Belarus, North Korean, South Korea, and Romania. Under global climate change scenarios, the suitable planting areas for P. quinquefolius would be increased by 9.16%–30.97%, and expanding north and west over the current ecologically suitable areas by 2070. The potential increased areas that are ecologically suitable include northern Canada, Eastern Europe, and the Lesser Khingan Mountains of China, and reduced regions are mainly in central China, the southern U.S., and southern Europe. Jackknife tests indicate that the precipitation of the warmest quarter was the important climatic factor controlling the distribution of P. quinquefolius.Our findings can be used as a useful guide for P. quinquefolius introduction and cultivation in ecologically suitable areas.

Ecological Land Suitability for Arid Region at River Basin Scale:Framework and Application Based on Minmum Cumulative Resistance(MCR) Model

As an important and typical arid inland region in China,Shiyang River Basin plays an important role in maintaining the sustainable development of eco-environment,whose ecological land suitability restricts the development of the local human activities.Therefore,Shiyang River Basin was selected as the case study,the minimum cumulative resistance(MCR)model and GIS technique were integrated to create land suitability evaluation map.We calculated the MCR value of ecological source and living source,and divided the whole basin into five partitions according to the difference between ecological source and living source,and analyzed the patterns and characteristics of the ecological land suitability evaluation(ELSE)regions,respectively.The results showed that:1)The suitable ecological land includes prohibited development region and restricted development region,which accounts for 15.45%and 23.35%of the total land area of the Shiyang River Basin,respectively.These two regions mainly distributed high altitude region in the southern Qilian Mountain and low altitude region where had high density of rivers.2)The protection of ecological land requires not only conserving existing ecological land but also focusing on ecological buffer belts around ecological sources and improving ecological land service ability.3)Ecological networks should be constructed through artificial planting trees around the boundary of oasis and ecological restoration region.Buffer greenbelts should also be established between optimized development region and ecological restoration region.

Ecological planning of land use in the central area of Tianjin,China

This paper is attempted to develop a set of suitable principles and methodologies for urban ecological planning of land use,to analyze the ecological suitability of different kinds of land use patterns of Tianjin City, to help local decision makers to work out concrete ecological strategies for promoting a sound development of the city and for improving the life quality of the citizens, and to provide the decision makers with a new approach for solving the environmental problems brought about by the improper mixture of industry and residence.

Potential production and spatial distribution of hybrid poplar as a biofuel crop in Connecticut,USA

The objective of this study was to assess the biomass production potential from hybrid poplars using marginal lands in the state of Connecticut,USA.A land-use suitability model was developed to identify and classify marginal lands in the state that could be used for growing hybrid poplars as a biofuel woody energy crop.The model was built on a geographic information system(GIS)platform,consisting of an exclusion area section,an ecological suitability section,and an economic/land-use suitability section.The model then was used to estimate the total biomass of the land-cover forests,annual biomass from forest and agricultural residues,and in particular the production potential of biomass from hybrid poplars over marginal lands in the state at county level.The results indicated that about 50%of the land in this state is unavailable for hybrid poplar cultivation and that less than 5%is highly suitable.The amount of usable area is highly variable on the county level.Without large-scale land use change,it appears that biofuel production in this state can only be a supplemental resource to the current energy supply.