Spatiotemporal evolution of land transportation networks and accessibility in inland mountainous areas 1917-2017:A case study of Southwest China

Located in the western hinterland,Southwest China is a typical mountainous area covered by plateaus,mountains and hills.Its ruggedness hinders regional internal and external connections,and its poor transportation infrastructure has long constrained the socioeconomic development of Southwest China.Based on the GIS transportation database,this paper explored the spatiotemporal evolution and characteristics of the land transportation networks and the accessibility of Southwest China from 1917 to 2017.Regional accessibility in Southwest China has significantly improved,and transportation infrastructure has gradually integrated the transportation circles of the52 central cities.The transportation network has followed an evolutionary process from a"hub-spoke pattern"to a"network pattern",while the construction of a high-speed railway(HSR)has brought about significant spatial polarization.We argue that innovation in transportation technology is one of the most effective factors for promoting a significant change in regional accessibility.In addition,the spatial distribution and evolution of accessibility in Southwest China presents a verticalcharacteristic that distinguishes it from the plains,as the spillover effects of new transportation infrastructure on accessibility improvement are partly offset by the mountainous terrain.Additionally,in Southwest China,there is significant"path dependence"in the evolution of the transportation network,since a large portion of the population is concentrated along transportation corridors in mountainous areas.

Rural vulnerability,migration,and relocation in mountain areas of Western China:An overview of key issues and policy interventions

Western China features a vast area of mountains and high plateaus where millions of people,including diverse ethnic minority groups,have inhabited for generations.Geographically located in the mountainous,remote,and isolated regions,rural communities are prone to natural hazards and thus become vulnerable to impoverishment.To reduce rural vulnerability,many people residing in mountainous villages opted to out-migrate from their original villages and hometowns while some took in-situ adaptation measures.A host of government-sponsored resettlement programs have been carried out to help rural villagers seek alternative livelihoods elsewhere over the past four decades.To achieve a sustainable future for rural communities in mountainous areas of western China,more effective policies and measures need to be developed and enforced.

Human Carrying Capacity of Rangeland Resources in China′s Mountain Areas

Based on analysis of the development potential of rangeland resources in China＇s mountain areas, the paper makes analysis and forecast in human carrying capacity of rangeland resources. It provides some reference for drawing up the development strategy in mountain areas.

Slope runoff study in situ using rainfall simulator in mountainous area of North China

Simulated rainfall is a valid tool to examine the runoff generation on the slope.13 simulated rainfall experiments with different rainfall intensities and durations are completed in a 5 m ×10 m experimental plot in mountainous area of North China.Simultaneously,rainfall,surface runoff,soil-layer flow,mantel-layer flow and soil moisture are monitored respectively.From the results,it is found that the hydrographs in all layers have the characteristics of rapid rise and fall.The recessions of surface flow and soil-layer flow are much faster than that of mantel-layer flow.Surface flow,the main contributor,makes up more than 60% of the total runoff in the study area.It even exceeds 90% in the cases of high intensity rainfall events.Runoff coefficient(ratio of total runoff to rainfall amount) is mainly influenced by rainfall amount,rainfall intensity and antecedent soil moisture,and the relationship can be well expressed by a multiple linear regression function α = 0.002P + 0.182i + 4.88Wa-0.821.The relation between the rainfall intensity and the lag time of three flows(surface runoff,soil-layer flow and mantel-layer flow) is shown to be exponential.Then,the result also shows that the recession constant is 0.75 for surface runoff,is 0.94 for soil-layer and mantel-layer flow in this area.In this study area,the dominant infiltration excess runoff is simulated by Horton model.About 0.10 mm/min percolation is observed under the condition of different rainfall intensities,therefore the value is regarded as the steady infiltration rate of the study area.

CONSULTATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN KARST AND ROCK-NAKED MOUNTAIN AREAS OF SOUTHWEST CHINA

The serious degradation of the ecological environment and the rapid expansion of stone desert have had a serious effect on the economic development of karst and rock-naked mountain areas in Southwest China. Moreover, these areas are still at the initial stage of industrialization, characterized by a greater significance of agriculture to the economy, face sharp contradictions among the population, the arable land and resources, and are suffering because of a shortage of investment. On the basis of this current situation, three recommendations are made in this article: "coordinating the relations among grain, ecology, population and economic development", "increasing the input of science and technology", and "adopting policies consistent with social equity in areas of poverty".

Effects of Land Management Practices on Soil Water in Southwestern Mountainous Area, China

The effects of selected land management practices （cross-sloping tillage, ridge culture, organic manure, and straw mulch） on soil water conservation in a southwestern mountainous area, China, were studied during November 2002 to November 2004. The experimental field is divided into three parts based on soil layer depths, 0-60 cm （part Ⅰ）, 0-40 cm （part Ⅱ）, and 0- 20 cm （part Ⅲ）, and they all had the same slope azimuth （SE）, slope （10°）, and slope type （linear）. The experimental plots were subjected to the following treatments： cross-sloping tillage （CST）; cross-sloping tillage with organic manure （CST/ OM）; cross-sloping tillage with straw mulch （CST/SM）; contour ridge culture （CRC）; contour ridge culture with organic manure （CRC/OM）; and contour ridge culture with straw mulch （CRC/SM）, to identify the effects of management practices on soil water. Water contents were determined for soil samples collected, using a 2.2 cm diameter manual probe. Soil water was monitored once every five days from Nov. 20, 2002 to Nov. 20, 2004. The results indicated that, in the study stages, an integration of rainfall, evaporative losses, and crop transcription controlled the basic tendencies of profile （mean） soil water, while land management practices, to a certain extent, only modified its amount, distribution, and routing. Moreover, these modifications also mainly focused on the first 20 cm depth of topsoil layer. When each management practice was compared with control treatment, season changes of profile （mean） soil water were pronounced, while interannual changes among them were not significant. More comparisons indicated that, in the study stages, contour ridge culture had better effects than cross-sloping tillage. And under the same tillage, the combination of organic manure could achieve more than straw mulch. These management practices should be recommended considering the effectiveness of soil and water management techniques in the southwestern mountainous area, China.

Street Space in Traditional Settlements in Mountainous Area of North China

With mountainous area of North China as the research objective,the study analyzed street space in traditional settlements in mountainous area of North China from the perspective of form,structure and culture,hoping to find some methods and laws that could be served as the reference for the design of living environment in future.

The Quantitative Analysis of Land Use Structure Characteristics of County in Mountainous Areas in Sichuan Province of China——A Case Study of Rong County

Based on the data concerning detailed survey on land in the year 2009 and land change in the year 2010 in Rong County,a mountainous region of Sichuan Province,by using quantitative geographical model,we conduct quantitative analysis of the status quo of land use in Rong County in terms of land use diversification,land use centralization,land use combination type,land use geographic significance and comprehensive use degree of land use.The results show some characteristics as follows.Firstly,land use in study area displays prominent characteristic of diversification;there is a high degree of completeness land use type;there is a great similarity among towns.Secondly,there is limited combination number of land use type;mostly the combination number of the towns is 2-3;the holistic function of regional land is fragile;the proportion of farmland areas is big,reaching 40.09%;the land use type of 21 towns is farmland.Thirdly,the towns with prominent characteristic of diversification of land use in Rong County,have low degree of centralization of land use and relatively big combination number of land use type,and vice versa.Fourthly,the type and quantity of agricultural land resources with geographical significance are relatively complete with nothing missing;it abounds in untapped land,but the overall index values of land use are all smaller than 300,with low overall use degree of land.

Length of stay in urban areas of circular migrants from the mountainous areas in China

Currently, there is limited literature dealing with the length of stay of circular migrants in urban areas （LSCMU）, although many studies have discussed the phenomenon of migration and the determinants of migration. This study attempts to fill that gap using survey data from the mountainous areas of Chongqing, Southwest China. From a comparative perspective, this study divided workers into two groups （a young group aged between 16 and 35 years and an old group aged between 36 and 65 years）. The average LSCMU values for the young and old groups were 225 days and ~74 days, respectively. Two multi-regression models were used to estimate the determinants of LSCMU in the two groups. The results showed that LSCMU was closely related to individual factors in both groups, including gender, age and job training. Family and community factors, including household size, arable land per capita and the distance from market, had much weaker effects on the dependent variable, especially in the older group. It was noticeable that job training had significant positive effects on LSCMU in both groups; these findings have special implications for the urbanization process in China.

Emergency road network structure and planning optimization in mountainous regions in Southwest China under earthquake scenarios

Emergency road networks(ERNs),an important part of local disaster prevention systems,can provide security to residents and their property.Exploring the ERNs structure is of great significance in terms of promoting disaster prevention and establishing road safety in dangerous mountainous areas.This study considered the ERNs of the Kangding section of the Dadu River Basin as the area for a case study.Complex Network Analysis was used to examine the relationship between the four characteristic indicators of mountain roads and the degree of earthquake impacts under the Lushan,Wenchuan,and Kangding Earthquake scenarios.Based on the analysis results,the southwest mountain road network was evaluated;then,computer simulations were used to evaluate the structural changes in the road network after index changes.The network was optimized,and the corresponding emergency avoidance network was proposed to provide a reference for the establishment of the mountainous ERN.The results show that the overall completeness of the mountainous ERNs in Southwest China is poor and prone to traffic accidents.Moreover,the local stability is poor,and the network is susceptible to natural hazards.The overall structure of the road network is balanced,but that of certain road sections is not.Road sections with different attributes present a“gathering-scattering”spatial distribution,i.e,some sections are clustered together while others are far apart.Accordingly,a planning optimization strategy is proposed to better understand the complexity and systematic nature of the mountainous ERN as a whole and to provide a reference for disaster prevention and mitigation planning in mountainous regions in Southwest China.

Can Multiple Livelihood Interventions Improve Livelihood Resilience of Out-of-poverty Farmers in Mountain Areas?A Case Study of Longnan Mountain Area,China

Clarifying the impact of livelihood interventions on the livelihood resilience of farmers in undeveloped mountain areas can not only optimize interventions,but also provide experiential support for global poverty alleviation.To analyze the impact of multiple livelihood interventions on livelihood resilience,we constructed an analytical framework and analyzed the enjoyment of livelihood interventions and the heterogeneity of livelihood resilience among out-of-poverty farmers in the Longnan mountain areas,China.Then,we studied the impact of intervention intensity on livelihood resilience through the multiple linear regression model.The results revealed that:1)the livelihood interventions enjoyed by out-of-poverty farmer in mountain areas were multiple.The proportion of farmers enjoyed diversified livelihood interventions was in descending order of high mountain areas,semi-mountain area and Chuanba valley areas.2)The overall livelihood resilience of farmers in Longnan mountain areas was generally low,with an average of 0.299.There were significant differences in the livelihood resilience of farmers across different geographic areas in the study area and types of interventions.3)The effects of industry interventions,employment interventions and education interventions were significant.The endogenous power of farmers not only had a significant positive effect on livelihood resilience,but also positively moderated the impact of the intensity of interventions on livelihood resilience.In addition,the household dependency ratio and the average altitude of the village area had a significant negative impact on their livelihood resilience.

Landform Classification for Community Siting: A case Study in Quxian County, China

This study is to explore a suitable method to classify landform, in order to support the decision making for community siting in mountainous areas.It first proposes the landform classification for community siting(LCCS) method with detailed discussions on its rationality and the chosen parameters.This method is then tested and verified in Quxian county.The LCCS method entails twograde parameters, which uses relative relief as the first grading parameter, slope as the second, followed by a synthesis process to form a suitable landform classification system.By applying the LCCS method in Quxian county, the result shows that its use of watershed to identify geomorphometric units, and its use of the altitude datum concept, can effectively classify landform according to the local cultural traditions, and the economic and environmental conditions.The verification result shows that comparing to the conventional methods, the LCCS method respects to people's daily experience due to its bottom-up approach.It not only help to minimize the disturbance to the nature when choosing locations for community development, but also helps to prepare more precise land management policies,which maximizes agricultural production and minimizes terrain transformation.

Variations of temperature and precipitation of snowmelt period and its effect on runoff in the mountainous areas of Northwest China

Water resources in the arid land of Northwest China mainly derive from snow and glacier melt water in mountainous areas. So the study on onset, cessation, length, tempera- ture and precipitation of snowmelt period is of great significance for allocating limited water resources reasonably and taking scientific water resources management measures. Using daily mean temperature and precipitation from 8 mountainous weather stations over the pe- riod 1960-2010 in the arid land of Northwest China, this paper analyzes climate change of snowmelt period and its spatial variations and explores the sensitivity of runoff to length, temperature and precipitation of snowmelt period. The results show that mean onset of snowmelt period has shifted 15.33 days earlier while mean ending date has moved 9.19 days later. Onset of snowmelt period in southern Tianshan Mountains moved 20.01 days earlier while that in northern Qilian Mountains moved only 10.16 days earlier. Mean precipitation and air temperature increased by 47.3 mm and 0.857~C in the mountainous areas of Northwest China, respectively. The precipitation of snowmelt period increased the fastest, which is ob- served in southern Tianshan Mountains, up to 65 mm, and the precipitation and temperature in northern Kunlun Mountains increased the slowest, an increase of 25 mm and 0.617~C, respectively, while the temperature in northern Qilian Mountains increased the fastest, in- creasing by 1.05~C. The annual runoff is also sensitive to the variations of precipitation and temperature of snowmelt period, because variation of precipitation induces annual runoff change by 7.69% while change of snowmelt period temperature results in annual runoff change by 14.15%.

Research on Auto-Classification Method of Remote Sensing Images in Mountainous Areas——An Application in Southwest of China

In mountainous areas, it is the undulant terrain, various types of geomorphic and land use that make the remote sensing images great metamorphism. Moreover, due to the elevation, there are many areas covered with shadow, clouds and snow that make the images more inaccurate. As a result, it would be very difficult to carry out auto-classification of RS images in these areas. The study took Southwest China as the case study area and the TM images, SPOT images as the basic information sources assisted by the auxiliary data of DEM, NDVl, topographical maps and soil maps to preprocess the images. After preprocessing by topographic correction and wiping off clouds, snow and shadows, all the image data were stacked together to form the images to be classified. Then, the research used segmentation technology and hierarchical method to extract the main types of land use in the area automatically. The results indicated that the qualitative accuracies of all types of land use extracted in Southwest China were above 90 percent, and the quantitative accuracies was above 86 percent. The goal of reducing workloads had been realized.

ANALYSIS ON POVERTY IN MOUNTAIN AREAS BASED ON OFF-FARM INDUSTRIES

This paper reveals that agricultural growth trend in China is strongly correlated with the growth of off-farm industries-the curve of net income from off-farm industries reflects the general characteristics of net income of households. That means the increase of net income of farm households is chiefly from off-farm industries,more than from agriculture. The authors therefore conclude that the "poverty" in mountain areas or the gap between mountain areas and plain areas lies in the underdevelopment of off-farm industries in mountain areas. Finally,the authors make suggestions of strategic adjustment of economic structure: 1) present situation of mountain areas in China should be fully considered; 2) a full industrial system is not our desire; 3) advantageous industries should be promoted to create famous products; 4) industrialization and urbanization in mountain areas should be promoted and so on.

Quantifying the impact of mountain precipitation on runoff in Hotan River, northwestern China

It is of great significance to quantitatively assess the impact of mountain precipitation on inland river runoff in data scarce regions.Based on the corrected TRMM precipitation and runoff data,a variety of statistical methods were used to identify which areas of precipitation have an important impact on runoff in the Hotan River Basin,and to evaluate the effects that precipitation changes have on runoff at low,mid,high,and extremely high altitudes of mountainous areas.The results showed that:1)From 1998 to 2015,the annual runoff showed a fluctuating upward trend with a rate of 11.21×10^8 m^3/10 a(P<0.05).Runoff in every season also had an increasing trend,with summer runoff the most significant at a rate of 6.09×10^8 m^3/10 a.2)The annual runoff and precipitation changes had certain synchronization,with a correlation coefficient of 0.45(P<0.05).Among them,the correlations between precipitation and runoff changes were highest at low and mid-altitudes,with coefficients of 0.62 and 0.55,respectively(P<0.05).3)65.95%of the regional precipitation at low altitudes and 48.34%at high altitudes were significantly correlated with runoff(P<0.05),while only 38.84%and 26.58%of regional precipitation levels at mid-and extremely high altitudes were significantly correlated with runoff.4)The annual precipitation change in the basin was 1%,which would cause the annual runoff to change by 0.24%.In 1998-2015,the change of annual runoff caused by precipitation change at high altitudes was largest at a rate of−6.01%;the change rates of annual runoff caused by precipitation change in the low,mid-,and extremely high altitudes were−3.66%,−3.62%,and−3.67%,respectively.The results have significant scientific guidance for water resource management in arid basins.

Analysis on the Climatic Characteristics of Hail in the South Mountain Area of Ningxia

[Objective] The research aimed to study the climatic characteristics of hail in the southern mountain area of Ningxia in recent 50 years. [Method] Based on the hail observation data of 5 surface meteorological stations (Guyuan, Xiji, Jingyuan, Longde, Liupanshan) in the south of Ningxia during 1960-2009, the spatial distribution rule, the interannual and monthly climatic characteristics and variation trends of hail in the south mountain area of Ningxia were analyzed by using the statistical method. Moreover, the hail disaster prevention and reduction measures in Guyuan were put forward. [Result] The hail in the south mountain area of Ningxia in recent 50 years had the obvious annual, seasonal, monthly and daily variation characteristics. The hail might occur from March to October and mainly concentrated during May-August which occupied 72% in the whole year. The occurrence probability of hail in June was the biggest and occupied 21.7% in the whole year. It was the typical multi-hail zone in summer. The interannual variation of hail occurrence in Guyuan was big and had 3-year periodicity. The secondary-order time trend of hail in Guyuan was the anti-parabolic type, and the hail occurrence times during the 1960s-1980s presented the increase trend. It was the hail multi-occurrence period in the 1970s and 1980s. After the 1990s, the hail presented the decrease trend. In recent 20 years, the hail significantly decreased. The hail in Guyuan mainly concentrated during 12:00-21:00, and the hail occurrence times occupied 85% of total times. The hail distribution in Guyuan area had the obvious regional characteristics. The hail in the mountain area, hilly area was more and in the stream valley, north Pingchuan area was less. The hail cloud mainly derived from the mountain areas, such as Liupanshan, Nanhua Mountain, Yueliang Mountain, Xifeng Mountain and Yunwu Mountain, etc. The move direction of hail cloud was mainly from northwest to southeast or from north to south. Part of hail cloud disappeared in the original place. According to the regional distribution of hail, the hail risk in Guyuan City was divided into the high, moderate and low occurrence zones by combining with the hail disaster data. [Conclusion] The research provided the scientific basis for the forecast, early-warning of hail weather and the artificial hail suppression.

Study on the Countermeasures of Eco-environment Conservation in the Mountainous Areas of Southern Ningxia under New Situation

Under the implementation of principal functional zoning,further promotion of western development,regional migration,new countryside construction,global warming and so on,the spatial adjustment of regional industry and its structure must be enforced.The spatial adjustment and arrangement of population and economy in the mountainous areas of southern Ningxia could create tremendous opportunity for its eco-environment conservation.Based on analysis on the opportunity and challenge of eco-environment conservation in the mountainous areas of southern Ningxia,some countermeasures of eco-environment conservation were discussed in the paper,so as to provide some theoretical references for the eco-environment conservation in the mountainous areas of southern Ningxia.

Output Characteristics of Non-point Nitrogen and Phosphorus from a Typical Small Watershed in Yimeng Mountainous Area during a Rainstorm

[ Objective] The study aimed to reveal the output characteristics of non-point nitrogen and phosphorus from a typical small watershed in Yimeng mountainous area during a rainstorm. [Method] The dynamic changes of pollutant concentration, precipitation and flow during the rainstorm on August 12, 2010 were monitored at the outlet of Menglianggu watershed. [ Result] During the rainstorm, the generation of runoff was sudden and ephemeral, and the peak of the runoff lagged behind that of rainfall intensity; the concentration of AN and TN increased firstly and then tended to be stable, while NN concentration had no significance change at the beginning of the rainfall, then improved gradually and tended to be stable fi- nally; DOP concentration had no obvious change during the rainstorm, but the concentration of DIP, DP, PP and TP rose firstly and then tended to be stable, and the peak values appeared before the peak of the flow. In addition, the output concentration of TN and TP was far higher than the standard concentration of water eutrophication. [ Conclusion] The study can provide scientific references for the reasonable control of non-point source pollution pollution in Yimeng mountainous area.

Status of Impoverished Population and Contradiction of Economic Development in Qinling-Bashan Mountainous Area——A Case Study of Hanzhong City,Shaanxi Province

The status of impoverished population and economic development in Qinling-Bashan Mountainous area,Shaanxi is introduced based on the brief account of its general situation.Firstly,there are a large proportion of rural people and great outflow of population;a considerable proportion of the weak,the disabled,the sick and the dementia and low population quality;weak capacity of the economy to generate profit on its own and declining trend of financial self-sufficiency rate.taking into account that Qinling-Bashan Mountainous area is the poorest area with the largest impoverished population and the most complex structure of poverty,the impact of the status of the poor population in Qinling-Bashan Mountainous area on its economy is discussed:the first one is backward ecological concept and serious damage to ecological environment;outflow of excellent talents and a serious shortage of labor;the industrial structure is irrational and the resources advantage can not be transformed into economic advantage.Some corresponding measures and suggestions are proposed:the first one to build new small town so as to lessen the loss of population;the second one is to provide preferential policies so as to attract and retain qualified person;the third one to develop education and establish the concept of ecological civilization;the fourth one is to unblock the channels of information transmission and restructure the industry.