Whether human-induced activities could change the gradient pattern of coastal land use along the sea-land direction:a case study in Manila Bay,Philippines

Increasing intense human activities have largely changed the coastal landscape and caused many environmental issues.However,whether human-induced activities could change the coastal land use gradient pattern,an important coastal zonal characteristic along the sea-land direction,remains unclear.Manila Bay was selected as the study area in this work.According to the distance of the land use and land cover(LULC)to the coastline,we clustered the typical coastal land use sequence patterns(CLUSPs)along the sea-land direction between 1988 and 2016 in Manila Bay and found the following.(1)Four typical CLUSPs,including the natural CLUSP dominated by forest land and grassland,the agricultural CLUSP dominated by dry farm and paddy field,the urbanised CLUSP dominated by construction land and the fishery CLUSP dominated by fishing farm,were mined in 1988.Three typical CLUSPs(a natural CLUSP,an intermediate CLUSP between the agricultural and urbanised CLUSPs,and a fishery CLUSP)were mined in 2016.(2)Affected by the dominant LULC,these typical CLUSPs showed a regular spatial pattern along the sea-land direction.For example,the typical natural CLUSP showed a landward pattern due to the long distance between the forest land and grassland and the coastline.(3)However,influenced by urban and aquaculture expansion,the land intensification of the CLUSP exhibited an obvious increase and caused the decrease of the CLUSP diversity from 1988 to 2016.The increase in the area of LULC coverage showed no obvious correlation with its distance from the coastline(DFC),but the net increase rate of LULC coverage had a significant negative correlation with the DFC.Therefore,human-induced activities have a large impact on the gradient pattern of coastal land use along the sea-land direction.

Extensive identification of landslide boundaries using remote sensing images and deep learning method

The frequent occurrence of extreme weather events has rendered numerous landslides to a global natural disaster issue.It is crucial to rapidly and accurately determine the boundaries of landslides for geohazards evaluation and emergency response.Therefore,the Skip Connection DeepLab neural network(SCDnn),a deep learning model based on 770 optical remote sensing images of landslide,is proposed to improve the accuracy of landslide boundary detection.The SCDnn model is optimized for the over-segmentation issue which occurs in conventional deep learning models when there is a significant degree of similarity between topographical geomorphic features.SCDnn exhibits notable improvements in landslide feature extraction and semantic segmentation by combining an enhanced Atrous Spatial Pyramid Convolutional Block(ASPC)with a coding structure that reduces model complexity.The experimental results demonstrate that SCDnn can identify landslide boundaries in 119 images with MIoU values between 0.8and 0.9;while 52 images with MIoU values exceeding 0.9,which exceeds the identification accuracy of existing techniques.This work can offer a novel technique for the automatic extensive identification of landslide boundaries in remote sensing images in addition to establishing the groundwork for future inve stigations and applications in related domains.

Social and Environmental Impacts of Maryland Oil Palm Plantations on Forests,Biodiversity,and Community Livelihoods in Liberia

Liberia holds 44.5% of the remaining portion of the Upper Guinean Rainforest in West Africa,which is home to critically endangered forest elephants and western chimpanzees.The forests are of vital importance for the livelihoods of millions of West Africans and provide key ecosystem services of local and global importance for food systems transformation and agroecology.Liberia’s efforts toward land reform through legislation and policies recognise communities’rights to own and manage their customary lands and resources.These include the National Forestry Reform Law of 2006,the Community Rights Law Concerning Forest Lands of 2009,and the Land Rights Act of 2018,and more.In May 2022,a program team from the Sustainable Development Institute(SDI)-Friends of the Earth Liberia researched the social and environmental impacts of Maryland Oil Palm Plantations(MOPPs)in Liberia.Twenty-three(23)key informant interviews(KIIs)and 10 focus group discussions(FGDs)were conducted in seven communities in and around the MOPP.They included farmers,contract workers,MOPP staff,local authorities,women and youth leaders,the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)Inspector,the Civil Society Head,and the Gender Coordinator of Maryland County.The team cross-checked information with formal documents as much as possible and took photographs and global positioning system(GPS)locations of areas of deforestation,pollution,and conflict.The team also used observation to monitor environmental pollution,such as affluent into water bodies and planting oil palm in wetlands.The team used narrative analysis and geospatial landscape analysis to analyze the data.The research finds that land conflict and deforestation have several negative impacts on communities.MOPP has not respected land tenure rights or followed Free Prior and Informed Consent(FPIC)standards,including resettlement without reparation and destruction of farms and old towns without(sufficient)compensation or restitution.During MOPP land acquisition and clearance,communities experienced the loss of their farms and the identification of villages as“village de squatters”,leading to restricted access to farmland,heightened food insecurity,and reduced income from cash crops to support families.MOPP destroyed high conservation value areas and destroyed secondary forest regrowth,which affected important biodiversity areas.MOPP is one of the four large-scale industrial palm oil plantations in Liberia in Maryland County.It has a palm oil mill in a joint venture with Golden Veroleum Liberia(GVL).Its 2011 concession agreement includes 8,800 hectares for industrial palm oil plantations.

Relative importance of climate factors and human activities in impacting vegetation dynamics during 2000–2015 in the Otindag Sandy Land,northern China

In recent years, there has been increasing research interests in differentiating the relative importance of climate factors and human activities in impacting vegetation dynamics. In this study, based on residual trend method, we used MOD13A3（MODIS vegetation index product）, MCD12Q1（MODIS land cover product） and meteorological datasets to differentiate the relative importance of climate factors and human activities in impacting vegetation dynamics during 2000–2015 in the Otindag Sandy Land, northern China. Results show that during the study period（2000–2015）, the overall vegetation condition had improved in the Otindag Sandy Land. The driving forces of vegetation dynamics differed spatially in the whole study area over the study period. The area with vegetation degradation solely resulted from human activities accounted for 8.23% of the study area, while the area with vegetation degradation resulted from others（including climate factors and combination of climate factors and human activities） occupied 1.53%. The area with vegetation recovery benefitted from human activities occurred over 26.02% of the study area; the area benefitted from climate factors accounted for 23.69%; and the area benefitted from both climate factors and human activities occupied 37.74%. All in all, impacts of climate factors and human activities on vegetation dynamics varied at the county/city/banner scales and locality-specific measures should be adopted to protect the environments.

Comparative Study on the Human Driving Force of Cultivated Land and Construction Land Use Change in Hubei Province,China

Change trend of cultivated land and construction land in Hubei Province is analyzed.The years 1998-2003 are the reduction period of cultivated land;the years 2004-2007 are the increase period of cultivated land;the years 1988-2002 are the slow growth period of construction land;and the years of 2003 and 2007 are the increase period of construction land.Based on related social economic statistical data in 1988-2007,human driving forces on cultivated land and construction land in Hubei Province are analyzed quantitatively and comparatively by using SPSS software and mathematical statistics method.Result shows that driving force factors have negative driving effect on cultivated land,and positive driving effect on construction land.Driving force factors have significant differences of driving effects on cultivated land and construction land.Three principal components affecting the changes of cultivated land and construction land are policy,population and economic development level,and gap between urban and rural living standards.The three principal components have different degrees of sensitivity on the two land use types and the effects direction are reverse.The other factor driving abilities are relatively weak,and these factors have relatively stronger driving force on construction land than that on cultivated land.It is put forward that Hubei Province should implement rational allocation of land resources and scientific and rational use in order to ensure land security and to realize the sustainable development of regional economy and society based on the intensive land use,the planning policy constraints,and the agricultural and industrial production.

Land cover change and eco-environmental quality response of different geomorphic units on the Chinese Loess Plateau

Land cover in the Chinese Loess Plateau has undergone dramatic changes since the late 1980s.Revealing the trend in land cover change and eco-environmental quality response of different geomorphic units in this stage is a realistic requirement for promoting sustainable development of the Chinese Loess Plateau.Based on the data of geomorphic units and land cover in 1990,2000,2010 and 2018 of the Chinese Loess Plateau,we studied the trend of land cover change and eco-environmental quality response of different geomorphic units by using a significance index of land cover change,a proportion index of land cover change and an eco-environmental response model.The results indicated that from 1990 to 2018,the areas of forestland and construction land substantially increased,whereas those of cropland,grassland,wetland and unused land considerably decreased.Land cover change exhibited large geomorphic differences,and the main conversion of land cover was from cropland into other land types.Unstable trend of land cover change in the loess tablelands and sandy loess hills declined,whereas the unstable trends in the other geomorphic units enhanced.Eco-environmental quality varied among different geomorphic units.The expansion of construction land and degradation of forestland,grassland and wetland resulted in the deterioration of eco-environmental quality.The conversion of cropland and unused land into forestland and grassland,and the conversion of grassland into forestland were the main factors that drove the improvement of eco-environmental quality.The findings of this study may provide theoretical reference and support decision making for the optimization of land use structure and the improvement of eco-environmental quality on the Chinese Loess Plateau.

A Preliminary Study of Holocene Climate Change and Human Adaptation in the Horqin Region

Human activity during the Holocene in the Horqin region, northeastern China, has been widely documented. As an important proxy record of human activity, black carbon（BC） in sediments has been linked to climate change and human adaptation. A loess-paleosol section located in south Horqin was chosen for this study. Holocene climate change and human adaptation to the environment were discussed by analyzing BC, organic carbon（OC） and other proxies. The conclusions included：（1） before 3900 cal BP, human activity was closely related to the natural environment and cultural development was dominated by climate change. For example, the rapid decline of the agrarian Hongshan culture was caused by a slight decrease in temperature at ~5000 cal BP;（2） during 3900-3200 cal BP, the heavy dependence of human societies on nature gradually lessened and the ability of those human societies to adapt to the environment was enhanced. However, the farming-dominated Lower Xiajiadian culture was nonetheless replaced by the pastoralist Upper Xiajiadian culture due to an extremely cooling event at ~3200 cal BP;（3） during the late Holocene period, the marked influence of climate change on human activity might have lessened as a result of a clear improvement in human labor skills. After this, human living styles were influenced by cultural developments rather than climate change because humans had mastered more powerful means of productivity.

HUMAN DRIVING MECHANISM OF REGIONAL LAND USE CHANGE:A CASE STUDY OF KARST MOUNTAIN AREAS OF SOUTHWESTERN CHINA

Based on analysis of the change of land use and related social- economic factors in karst mountain areas of southwestern China, the index system characterizing land use change and its human driving forces in county scale is put forward. Then the relationship of land use change and the driving forces is studied by statistic analysis to identify quantitatively the contribution of human forces and their differences in driving land use change. Moreover, taking the Luodian County as the case, a model simulating the annual change of cultivated land area under the driving of human forces is built. Result of the study will supply reference for the management of the relationship of man and land in karst mountain areas of southern- western China, and accumulate research experience for further study on land use/cover change.

Quantitative Assessment of Impacts of Regional Climate and Human Activities on Saline-alkali Land Changes:A Case Study of Qian'an County,Jilin Province

Interdecadal and interannuat variations of saline-alkali land area in Qian＇an County, Jilin Province, China were comprehensively analyzed in this paper by means of satellite remote sensing interpretation, field flux observations and regional climate diagnosis. The results show that on the interannual scale, the impact of climate factors accounts for 71.6% of the total variation of the saline-alkali land area, and that of human activities accounts for 28.4%. Therefore the impact of climate factors is obviously greater than that of human activities. On the interdecadal scale, the impact of climate factors on the increase of the saline-alkali land area accounts for 43.2%, and that of human activities accounts for 56.8%. The impact of human activities on the variation of saline-alkali land area is very clear on the interdecadal scale, and the negative impact of human activities on the environment should not be negligible. Besides, changes in the area of heavy saline-alkali land have some indication for development of saline-alkali land in Qian＇an County.

Response of ecosystem service value to land use/cover change in the northern slope economic belt of the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, China

Land use/cover change(LUCC)is becoming more and more frequent and extensive as a result of human activities,and is expected to have a major impact on human welfare by altering ecosystem service value(ESV).In this study,we utilized remote sensing images and statistical data to explore the spatial-temporal changes of land use/cover types and ESV in the northern slope economic belt of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,China from 1975 to 2018.During the study period,LUCC in the study region varied significantly.Except grassland and unused land,all the other land use/cover types(cultivated land,forestland,waterbody,and construction land)increased in areas.From 1975 to 2018,the spatial-temporal variations in ESV were also pronounced.The total ESV decreased by 4.00×10^(8) CNY,which was primarily due to the reductions in the areas of grassland and unused land.Waterbody had a much higher ESV than the other land use/cover types.Ultimately,understanding the impact of LUCC on ESV and the interactions among ESV of different land use/cover types will help improve existing land use policies and provide scientific basis for developing new conservation strategies for ecologically fragile areas.

Changes of groundwater flow field of Luanhe River Delta under the human activities and its impact on the ecological environment in the past 30 years

The Luanhe River Delta is located in the center of the Circum-Bohai Sea Economic Zone.It enjoys rapid economic and social development while suffering relatively water scarcity.The overexploitation of groundwater in the Luanhe River Delta in recent years has caused the continuous drop of groundwater level and serious environmental and geological problems.This study systematically analyzes the evolution characteristics of the population,economy,and groundwater exploitation in the Luanhe River Delta and summarizes the change patterns of the groundwater flow regime in different aquifers in the Luanhe River Delta according to previous water resource assessment data as well as the latest groundwater survey results.Through comparison of major source/sink terms and groundwater resources,the study reveals the impacts of human activities on the groundwater resources and ecological environment in the study area over the past 30 years from 1990 to 2020.The results are as follows.The average annual drop rate of shallow groundwater and the deep groundwater in the centers of depression cones is 0.4 m and 1.64 m,respectively in the Luanhe River Delta in the past 30 years.The depression cones of shallow and deep groundwater in the study area cover an area of 545.32 km^(2)and 548.79 km^(2),respectively,accounting for more than 10%of the total area of the Luanhe River Delta.Overexploitation of groundwater has further aggravated land subsidence.As a result,two large-scale subsidence centers have formed,with a maximum subsidence rate of up to 120 mm/a.The drop of groundwater level has induced some ecological problems in the Luanhe River Delta area,such as the zero flow and water quality deterioration of rivers and continuous shrinkage of natural wetlands and water.Meanwhile,the proportion of natural wetland area to the total wetland area has been decreased from 99%to 8%and the water area from 1776 km^(2)to 263 km^(2).These results will provide data for groundwater overexploitation control,land subsidence prevention,and ecological restoration in plains and provide services for water resources management and national land space planning.

THE INFLUENCE OF HUMAN BEING ON THE DESERTIFICATION OF ORDOS AND THE POSSIBLE COUNTERMEASURES IN THE FUTURE

The Ordos Plateau is a unified geographical region demarcated by the Yellow River’s elbow section on the north and the Great Wall on the south, administratively comprisingthe whole Ih-Ju League of Inner Mongolia, part of Yulin Prefecture of Shaanxi Province,and part of Yanchi County of Ningxia. The unique sandy and denuded landscape of the pla-

Regional Variability of the Effects of Land Use Systems on Soil Properties

In order to explore the regional variability of the effects of land use systems on soil properties, Shouyang County in Shanxi Province and Danling County in Sichuan Province of China were selected as the study areas. Field soil samples of the four land use systems （natural forest, forest plantation, shrubland, and cropland） were collected, respectively, from the two areas. The general statistical tools were used to analyze soil data. The results showed that the influence of land use systems on soil properties was significant. In general, soils in slightly human-disturbed land use systems presented a higher fertility level than those in strongly human-disturbed land use systems in both areas. Furthermore, the impacts of the same land use systems on soil properties showed a distinct regional variability, and even in the same land use system, different farming systems and site management measures （such as irrigation, fertilization, and pesticides） could also lead to the regional heterogeneity in soil properties. The regional variability of land use effects on soil properties reveals the regional variability of the effects of human activities on environmental changes, and could explain the complex relationship between humans and the natural environment in certain ways.

Comparative Human Landing Catch and CDC Light Trap in Mosquito Sampling in Knowlesi Malaria Endemic Areas in Peninsula Malaysia

Adult mosquito sampling techniques are essential for monitoring transmission of malaria and other mosquito borne infections. Preference for any sampling technique depends on both its field efficiency and the characteristics of local vector populations. Surveys on adult mosquitoes using Human Landing Catch (HLC) and CO2-baited CDC light trap (CDC-LT) techniques were conducted in several knowlesi malaria endemic areas between the months of March to December 2012 in several states of Peninsula Malaysia. These two techniques were relatively compared to determine the preferences of anopheline mosquitoes towards CO2-baited CDC-LT technique using HLC technique as the reference method. Cx. gelidus, An. maculates and An. introlatus were the main three species collected by HLC technique, whereas the species collected by CO2-baited CDC-LT technique were mostly An. cracens, Ar. durhami and Coquillettidia species. Most of the Anopheles species were collected almost exclusively by the human collectors except for An. cracens and An. introlatus which were collected using both techniques. Anopheles cracens was the most dominant species captured using CO2-baited CDC-LT technique. This is the first report showing An. cracens was caught using CO2-baited CDC-LT technique in Malaysia.

Working for the Happiness of the People: The Scientific Analysis and Demarcation of the Principal Contradiction Facing the Chinese Society by the Communist Party of China

The report to the 19th national Congress of the Communist Party of China stated an important new definition of the principal contradiction facing Chinese society.in a century’s development,the formulation of the CPC’s major strategies,paths,guidelines,and policies is closely related to the Party’s scientific analysis and evaluation of the principal contradiction according to the development stage of Chinese society in different historical periods.This is of great significance for identifying the work focus of the Party and the State and for realizing China’s progress and development.in the course of its striving to solve the principal contradiction facing the Chinese society,the Party has always been unremittingly committed to seeking happiness for the people.from the perspective of localization of the Marxist human rights theory in China,this is the ultimate reason why the Party and the State can make great achievements in various undertakings,including the construction of human rights.

A Study of Human-Land Linking Policy Based on Urbanization Away from Home: A Case Study of Anhui Province

This paper analyzes the features and trends of urbanization away from home in Anhui Province,and believes that the cross-city floating population in the province shows a expanding scale,and dual cores of the province has obvious attractiveness. This paper also analyzes the relations between urban-rural construction land and urban-rural population transformation in the province,and expounds the possibility and necessity of carrying out human-land linking policy northern Anhui-Wanjiang. Based on the factors affecting human-land linking policy,this paper recommends that we should establish cross-regional trading policy system for land development rights in Anhui Province from four key links( urban entry,urban integration,rural exit,common urban-rural development),in order to effectively promote migrant workers' citizenization.

Present land use and cover patterns and their development potential in North Ningxia

With the objectives to acquire the fundamental dat a of the territorial resource, understand the impacts of human activit ies on the land use and cover patterns and evaluate the potential of the future exploitation, an intensive land cover classification with an accuracy of 93% has been completed for North Ningxia by remote sen sing technique based on the adoption of a combination method composed o f texture training, maximum likelihood classification and post-processing such as re-allocation and aggregation. This classification result was incorporated with the contemporaneous socio-economic and meteorological d ata for cross-sectional regression modelling to reveal the spatial dete rminants of the land cover patterns and understand the human-environmen tal relationships. A tentative evaluation on the potential of soil exp loitation in the near future was carried out in combination with our land use and cover change detection results aiming at supplying some useful references for the central and local governments in their sustainable l and use planning.

Evaluation of suitability,adaptability,and reserve potential of construction land on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Construction land is the leading carrier of human activities such as production and living.Evaluating the construction land suitability(CLS)on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(QTP)holds significant implications for harmonizing the relationship between ecological protection and human activity and promoting population and industry layout optimization.However,no relevant studies provide a complete CLS assessment of the QTP.In this study,we developed a model-based CLS evaluation framework coupling of pattern and process to calculate the global CLS on the QTP based on a previously developed CLS evaluation model.Then,using the land-use data of 1990,2000,2010,and 2020,we examined the adaptability of existing construction land(ECL)to the CLS assessment result through the adaptability index and vertical gradient index and further analyzed the limitations of maladaptive construction land.Finally,we calculated the potential area of reserve suitable construction land.This article includes four conclusions:(1)The highly suitable,suitable,moderately suitable,marginally suitable,and unsuitable CLS classes cover areas of 0.33×10^(4)km^(2),10.42×10^(4)km^(2),18.06×10^(4)km^(2),24.12×10^(4)km^(2),and 205.29×10^(4)km^(2),respectively.Only approximately 11%of the study area on the QTP is suitable for large-scale permanent construction land,and approximately 79.50%of the area is unsuitable under current economic and technological conditions.(2)The ECL adaptability index is 85.16%,85.93%,85.18%,and 78.01%during 1990–2020,respectively,with an average adaptability index exceeding 80%on the QTP.The ECL distribution generally conforms to construction land suitable space characteristics but with a significant spatial difference.(3)From 1990 to 2020,the maladaptive ECL was dominated by rural settlement land,transport land,and special land,with a rapidly increasing proportion of urban and other construction land.The maladaptive ECL is constrained by both elevation and slope in the southern Qinghai Plateau,the Hengduan Mountains,and the Qilian Mountains.In contrast,elevation is significantly more limiting than slope in the northern Tibet Plateau,the Gangdis Mountains,and the Himalayan Mountains.(4)The potential area of reserve suitable construction land is 12.41×10^(4)km^(2),accounting for 4.81%of the total land area of the QTP,and the per capita area is 9928 m^(2).Regions of Qaidam Basin,Gonghe Basin,and Lhasa-Shannan Valley have the richest and most concentrated land resource of reserve suitable construction land.The research results provide spatial decision support for urban and rural settlement planning and ecological migration on the QTP.

Spatial pattern of land cover change in China's semiarid environment

This study seeks a routine to quantify spatial pattern of land cover changes in semiarid environment of China based on post-classification comparison method. The method consists of three major steps: (1) the image classification and unification of classified results based on two-level land cover classification themes, (2) the establishment of land cover change classes based on an unification land cover classification theme, (3) the reclassification and mapping of land cover change classes with three overall classes including no-change, gain and loss based on the unification land cover class. This method was applied to detect the spatial pattern of land cover changes in Yinchuan Plain, one of famous irrigation agricultural zones of the Yellow River, China. The results showed the land cover had undergone a remarkable change from 1991 to 2002 in the study area (the changed area was over 30%). Rapid increase of cropland (12.5%), built-up area (131.4%) and rapid decrease of bare ground (51.7%) were alarming. The spatial pattern of land cover changes showed clear regional difference in the study area and was clearly related to human activities or natural factors. Thus, it obtained a better understanding of the human impact on the fragile ecosystem of China’s semiarid environment.