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.

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.

Rocky Land Desertification and its Driving Forces in the Karst Areas of Rural Guangxi,Southwest China

With a subtropical climate,Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has a typical karst landscape.Rocky desertification has become a serious environmental issue due to its high vulnerability caused by the joint effect of natural settings and human activities,because of which its eco-environment has been deteriorated in recent years,and farmland has been disappearing sharply at the same time.This,in turn,has exacerbated the poverty level in the rural areas of the region.In this study,we monitored the spatial distribution of rocky land desertification and its temporal evolution using Landsat TM/ETM images of 1985,1995,2000 and 2005.We also analyzed the driving forces of the desertification and its expansion.Through constructing regression models by using all the relevant variables and considering the lagged effects as well as fixed effects,we quantified the exact role of different factors causing rocky land desertification in the study area with some new findings.The new findings in this study are greatly helpful for preserving,restoring and reconstructing the degraded mountain environment in Guangxi and other karst areas in Southwest China,and also for alleviating poverty in the rural areas in the future.

Geographical Differences and Influencing Factors of Rural Energy Consumption in Southwest Mountain Areas in China:A Case Study of Zhaotong City

China is a mountainous country,and Southwest mountain areas cover the most mountain areas in China and have the most serious problems.Taking Zhaotong city as the study area,based on 902 rural household questionnaires of 11 villages in 2 counties and Tobit model,this paper analyzes the geographical differences and influencing factors of energy consumption for non-production purposes of rural households living in different terrain conditions.This research finds that:(1) Coal takes up the main part of energy consumption in valley areas and coal consumption is mainly affected by per capita cultivated land area,household income,proportion of rural household energy expenditure in total expenditure,coal price,and family population size.Firewood takes up the main part of energy consumption in high mountain areas and firewood consumption is mainly affected by per capita firewood forest area,distance to purchase coal,household income,electricity price,and coal price.(2) Only when the distance is greater than 20 kilometers,that is the average distance of rural households living in middle mountain areas(1,600m^1,800m) to purchase coal,the transportation condition has a significant impact on coal consumption.(3) In high mountain areas,prices of coal and electricity are the main factors influencing energy consumption choice of rural households.Too high prices of coal and electricity would to some extent lead rural households to choose firewood as the main energy consumption type.Compared to coal,rural households prefer to choose electricity.

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.

Chemical characteristics of rainwater in karst rural areas,Guizhou Province, Southwest China

The chemical composition of rainwater has been studied in a karst rural area from September 2012 to August 2013 in Guizhou Province,Southwest China.The results indicated that the VWM value of p H was 5.4,varied from 4.6 to 6.9.Ca^(2+)and NH_4^+were the major cations,and SO_4^(2-)was the dominant anion.Neutralization factors show that the acid was mainly neutralized by Ca^(2+),NH_4^+and Mg^(2+).Investigations of correlation coefficients and enrichment factors revealed that Ca^(2+)and Mg^(2+)were mainly crust origins,and NH_4^+was from agriculture and livestock manure.SO_4^(2-)and NO_3^-were mainly from anthropogenic sources.

Accumulation and risk assessment of heavy metals in dust in main living areas of Guiyang City, Southwest China

Guiyang is a famous tourist city located in southwestern China. In this study, dust from eleven residential areas, seven city squares, and nine schools was collected to measure the heavy metal levels and evaluate its risk. At each sampling site, 4–5 sub-samples were taken as a bulk sample. All samples were air-dried, ground, passed through a 0.105 mm nylon sieve, digested with HNO3-HClO4 to determine the concentrations of Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn by ICP-MS, and digested with 1:1 aqua regia to determine As by AFS. The results show that the concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in dust of Guiyang City follow normal distribution with means of 16.1, 1.54, 138, 47.7, 129 and 479 mg/kg, respectively. Levels of As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn exceed the background level of soil in Guizhou Province by 33%, 96%, 100%, 78%, 96%, and 100%, respectively. Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn are heavily accumulated in dust of living areas with accumulation factors of 4.10, 5.12, 4.12 and 5.51, respectively. City square possesses the highest geometric means of As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn. The risks of heavy metal exposure to teenagers are not obvious and in an order of As>Pb>Cu>Ni>Zn(Cd).

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.

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".

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.

ECOLOGICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC REHABILITATION IN THE KARST OF SOUTHWEST CHINA

The Karst of Southwest China is a typical representative of poverty stricken region with impoverishment-degradation spiral. To essentially break away from this vicious circle, the local ecology, economy and society should be rehabilitated, and hence to strengthen the self-development capacity building of the localities. Two considerations are stressed in this article: (1) Poverty alleviation is a system project with great complexities. Any single approach is difficult to success and integrated measures should be taken. (2) Some typical and feasible areas should be selected to demonstrate the project of poverty alleviation and ecological, socio-economic reconstruction. Then, they can be used as a model to promote the sustainable development of the whole region. Based upon these ideals, a project entitled “Reversal of Impoverishment-Degradation Spiral in the Karst of Southwest China' was proposed and has been listed in 《Priority Programme for China's Agenda 21》.

ENVIRONMENTAL MIGRATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT——A Case Study of Southwest China

This paper focuses on migration occurrence as a result of environmental degradation and population growth. It briefly reviews previous practices in some less developed courtries and then considers the extent to which environmental factors have been and may be significant in initiating migration. A case study of the karst region of southwest China is used to illustrate the phenomenon, including root causes, restrictive factors, nature of the migration, desires of migrants, strategies of response and optional policies. It is argued that a comprehensive approach to the prevention of environmentally caused displacement should be developed.

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.

Evaluation of the WRF Model with Different Land Surface Schemes: A Drought Event Simulation in Southwest China during 2009–10

The authors examined the performance of version 3.4.1 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model(WRF) with various land surface schemes in simulating a severe drought event in Southwest China. Five numerical experiments were completed using the Noah land surface scheme, the Pleim-Xiu land surface scheme, the Noah-MP land surface schemes, the Noah- MP scheme with dynamic vegetation, and the Noah-MP scheme with dynamic vegetation and groundwater processes. In general, all the simulations reasonably reproduced the spatial and temporal variations in precipitation, but significant bias was also found, especially for the spatial pattern of simulated precipitation. The WRF simulations with the Noah-MP series land surface schemes performed slightly better than the WRF simulation with the Noah and Pleim-Xiu land surface schemes in reproducing the severe drought events in Southwest China. The leaf area index(LAI) simulated by the different land surface schemes showed significant deviations in Southwest China. The Pleim-Xiu scheme overestimated the value of LAI by a factor of two. The Noah-MP scheme with dynamical vegetation overestimated the magnitude of the annual cycle of the LAI, although the annual mean LAI was close to observations. The simulated LAI showed a long-term lower value from autumn 2009 to spring 2010 relative to normal years. This indicates that the LAI is a potential indictor to monitor drought events.

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.

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.

Characteristics and distributions of humic acids in two soil profiles of the southwest China Karst area

Characteristics and distributions of humic acid(HA) and soil organic matter(SOM) in a yellow soil profile and a limestone soil profile of the southwest China Karst area were systematically investigated to reveal their evolutions in different soils of the study area. The results showed that characteristics and distribution of SOM along the two soil profiles were notably different. Total organic carbon(TOC) contents of soil samples decreased just slightly along the limestone soil profile but sharply along the yellow soil profile. TOCs of the limestone soils were significantly higher than those of the corresponding yellow soils, and C/N ratios of SOMs showed a similar variation trend to that of TOCs, indicating that SOM can be better conserved in the limestone soil than in the yellow soil. The soil humic acids were exhaustively extracted and further fractionated according to their apparent molecular weights using ultrafiltration techniques to explore underlying conservation mechanisms. The result showed that C/N ratios of HAs from different limestone soil layers were relatively stable and that large molecular HA fractions predominated the bulk HA of the top soil, indicating that HA in the limestone profile was protected while bio and chemical degradations were retarded. Combined with organic elements contents and mineral contents of two soils, weconcluded that high calcium contents in limestone soils may play a key role in SOM conservation by forming complexation compounds with HAs or/and enclosing SOMs with hypergene CaCO_3 precipitation.

Spatial differentiation pattern of interregional migration in ethnic minority areas of Yunnan Province, China

Interregional migration has broad and far-reaching impacts on regional urbanization process in ethnic minority areas of Southwest China.The previous literature of interregional migration paid less attention on the ethnic minority areas with fragile geographical feature and marginal socio-economic context in the developing world due to the dearth of reliable data.Based on the 2015 national 1%population sampling survey at the village/community scale,taking Yulong Naxi Autonomous County,Yunnan Province,China as the case study,this paper analyzed the spatial differentiation pattern.The results showed that:(1)migration in Yulong Naxi Autonomous County exhibited obvious spatial differentiation characteristics in terms of population aggregation,population loss,migration direction,and migration activity;(2)the overall spatial differentiation of migration exhibited a"layer+sector"pattern in Yulong Naxi Autonomous County:the first layer was active areas with net inflows(<20 km from the seat of the county government),the second layer was inactive areas(within 20–60 km of the seat of the county government),and the third layer was a mixed"layer+sector"zone(>60 km to the seat of the county government),comprised of inactive areas and active areas with net outflows;(3)the spatial differentiation pattern of migration was highly correlated with the regional contexts including the regional economic development,regional transportation accessibility and regional social development,while regional physical geographical factors had insignificant relationships with the migration pattern.

Distribution pattern and driving factors of genetic diversity of passerine birds in the Mountains of Southwest China

Genetic diversity is one of the three dimensions of biodiversity and fundamental to various life forms on the Earth.Understanding the distribution pattern of genetic diversity and its driving forces has been an important topic in ecology,biogeography and conservation biology since the last decade.We investigated the genetic diversity pattern of passerine birds in the Mountains of Southwest China,a global biodiversity hotspot with the highest species richness of birds in the entire Eurasia,and explored the influencing forces of environmental variables on genetic diversity.We compiled 1189 Cytochrome b sequences of 27 passerine species from 152 geographic sites,covering the range of Mountains of Southwest China and its adjoining areas.We generated genetic diversity distribution maps using a grid-cell method based on nucleotide diversity and haplotype diversity indices.We further analyzed the variation pattern of the two indices along latitudinal,longitudinal,and elevational gradients.The correlations between the two indices and environmental variables were also evaluated.The nucleotide diversity hotspots were mostly located in the southern Hengduan Mountains,while for haplotype diversity,three hotspots were detected:the southeast edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau,the southern Hengduan Mountains and the Qinling Mountains.There was no monotonic increasing or decreasing pattern in nucleotide diversity or haplotype diversity along latitudinal,longitudinal or elevational gradients except for altitudinal range.Correlation and model selection analyses detected multiple environmental variables in driving genetic diversity patterns,including temperature,precipitation,vegetation,human influence,longitude and altitude range.Similar to the pattern of species richness,the nucleotide diversity pattern of passerine birds in the Mountains of Southwest China presents a decreasing trend from southwest to northeast,while the haplotype diversity pattern is more likely decreased from west to east.Our results indicate that the distribution pattern of genetic diversity may be derived from the complex topography and diverse microclimates in the Mountains of Southwest China.