China Steps Up Anti-poverty Effort in Arid Western Areas

China＇s State Council, or the cabinet, has decided to further extend a program that involves special funds for infrastructure and other projects in three particularly add and poor areas in the country＇s remote northwest. While extending the program from 2009 to 2015, the government also decided to raise the annual total funding from 200 million yuan （29.2 million U.S. dollars） to 300 million yuan.

Revisit of event-based rainfall characteristics at Shapotou area in northern China

Distribution of rainfall event sizes and interval lengths between events are important characteristics of arid and semi-arid climates. Understanding their importance will contribute to our ability to understand ecosystem dynamics in these regions. Rainfall event timing and magnitude are important drivers of ecosystem processes and are instrumental in creating land-scape heterogeneity in arid and semi-arid regions. Rainfall event characteristics were analyzed using an automatic tip-ping-bucket rain-gauge record across the entire summer monsoon season from 2008 to 2015 at the arid desert area of Shapotou in the Tengger Desert, China. Changing the minimum inter-event time （MIT） from 30 min to 24 h alters the number of rainfall events from 64 to 25 for the event depth larger than 0.1 mm. The mean rainfall intensity declined from 0.95 mm/h to 0.53 mm/h, and the geometric mean event duration rose from 0.55 h to 4.4 h. The number of rainfall events, mean rainfall intensity, and geometric mean event duration differed under different criteria of individual rainfall depths, except that for an individual rainfall depth of 0.5, 1.0, and 5.0 mm. The aforementioned features differed only at the lowest range of the mean rainfall intensity and depth for MIT=3 and 6 h. These findings suggest that identification of event-based rainfall in this specific arid region can be better achieved by setting the MIT at six hours. The wide variation in rainfall event properties indicate the need for paying more attention to the proper selection and reporting of event criteria in studies that adopt event-based data analysis. This is especially true in quantifying effective rainfall for soil water replenishment in terms of rainfall depth and intensity with infrequent rainfall events.

西部干旱半干旱露天煤矿生态重构技术难点及发展方向

露天煤矿开采对生态环境最严重和直接的影响是对水资源破坏与土地资源的挖损占压,以及对生态系统的物种破坏。西部干旱半干旱露天矿区生态重构的关键是水资源保护与利用、排土场土层结构重构、表土改良和植被优化组合。西部干旱半干旱露天矿区生态重构核心技术是研发露天矿区岩层结构与含水量探测技术,监测地下水存在的范围与边界。以水资源量为约束,构建排土场近地表合理的土层结构,实现重构土层保水涵水动态协调供给。提出干旱半干旱露天矿排土场近地表高效低成本的表土生态层-涵水层-隔水层的3层土层重构结构模型,研发物探检测成套技术与装备,监测矿坑水来源、排土场土层结构与含水率,保证生态工程水资源有效利用。结合土地的生态承载力,对排土场重构生态进行功能分区与景观设计。开发新型微生物菌剂培养配方,揭示微生物改良土壤及抗逆境机理,形成较好的有机生物立体生态重构模式,可产生较好的经济、生态和社会效益,促进矿区绿色可持续发展。通过对西部干旱半干旱露天矿区及其周边环境动态观测,在生态条件差的地区,人工干预能有效地打破原始生态禁锢,刺激生态正向发展,获得西部干旱半干旱露天矿区自然与人工生态协调发育规律。解豁了科技界担心大规模的煤炭开发使西部干旱半干旱地区的生态环境进一步恶化,造成“雪上加霜”效应的难题。同时针对西部干旱半干旱区露天矿排土场重构土壤的结构差、肥力低、植物种类单一,重构生态难的现状,采用微生物-植物联合修复技术,研发多型号生物修复菌剂和基质,有效地促进了植物根系发育,增强了植物抗土壤压实、养分贫瘠、干旱缺水及易盐碱化等逆境的生理生化反应,人工干预重构后的生态环境比原生态效应提高10倍以上。实践了西部露天煤矿区开发金山银山,再造绿水青山的生态理念。

中国荒漠化病因诊断

荒漠化研究和治理工作在中国已有多年，提出的治理措施与发表的研究论文硕果累累。但时至今日，荒漠化危害不仅依在，而且危害仍在逐年加剧，呈现这种局面的主要原因在于虽然对荒漠化的物理、生物机理有较透彻的认识，但对其社会机理还认识不够。社会管理者的科学求实态度、管理系统的自我调节功能、运转效率、协调程度以及受监督机制等深刻影响着一地区荒漠化的走势与治理结果。正在进行的西部大开发使中国荒漠化发展处于整体加速或减速的十字路口，一个好的环境结局将取决于干旱区社会管理者们科学素质的提高，思维决策模式与管理体制的革新。

干旱区流域下游绿洲环境变化及其成因分析——以甘肃省河西地区石羊河流域下游民勤县为例

本文主要根据社会调查结果资料分析了甘肃省河西地区石羊河流域下游民勤县的环境变化趋势及其成因,认为中国西部干旱区各流域下游几乎都存在环境恶化趋势。20世纪50年代以来,该地区地下水位迅速下降,沙漠化、土壤盐渍化、植被衰退过程加快,农业生产受到很大影响。造成环境变化的人文原因主要是全流域人口增长过快所引致的耕地扩张所造成的农业用水需求无节制的增长,导致中上游截留下游淡水资源,使得下游地下水利用规模逐年扩张引致地下水位快速下降和水质迅速恶化。后者又导致盐渍化过程加剧以及农业产量的急剧下降。农业产量下降又成为盲目开垦荒地的主导因素之一。这些都导致了植被衰退和破坏,共同造成了生态环境的灾难性突变。

西部干旱区农业灌溉水价的间接补偿机制研究

从使用者付费、受益者补偿、节水者受益等补偿原则入手,明确政府和农民分别作为补偿的主体与对象,梳理了资金补偿、实物补偿、技术补偿、制度补偿为主的4种补偿方式。通过平行位移建模来核算补偿标准,提出加大财政转移支付中生态补偿力度、建立生态补偿基金、加强喷灌或微灌等技术的推广、改进农业用水管道运输、强化产学研合作等间接补偿机制的保障措施,构建西部干旱区农业灌溉水价的间接补偿机制。