Effects site conditions on industrial fiber plantations of Lar/x olgensis

Plot sampling was conducted in the second cultivation areas ofLarix olgensis in Heilongjiang Province, China. By analyzing plot investigation data, wood properties, and kraft pulps of 840 plots and 248 sample trees in industrial plantations of L. olgensis on different sites, we examined the growth process of L. olgensis industrial plantation with suitable structure, the wood fiber feature, chemical composition, physical performance and pulp characteristics. It is suggested that site conditions have major effects on plantation growth, fiber contains, fiber length, rate between fiber length and fiber width, pulping rate and pulp physics intensity. The best site for L. olgensis industrial plantation growth is site class Ⅰ and site class Ⅱ, which are on lower locations. Site condition has an obvious influence on the wood characteristics. Within the range of site conditions and stand densities studied, the worse the site condition, the less the fiber contains, the shorter the fiber length, and the more the 1% NaOH extraction. This kind of relationship becomes more obvious as stand age increases. However, the influence of site condition on pulping rate and pulp physics intensity is not obvious. The result provides theoretical base for cultivation of industrial fiber plantation of L. olgensis.

Study on the relationship between Toona sinensis Roem stand productivity and site conditions in Sichuan Basin

According to the relationship between Toona sinensis Roem stand volume,productivity and forest age,site conditions,stand density and other factors,through selecting 8 representative cities or counties,using standard investigation and stem analysis method,this paper makes relatively systematic research about the Toona sinensis Roem plantation accumulation,productivity,and the relationship between them and site conditions.Through comparative analysis indicators of multiple site conditions,this paper expects to give a more comprehensive picture about the source of accumulation and productivity difference.

Lectotype optimization of mid-highrise residential building based on site conditions and seismic fortification intensity

A multi-objective lectotype optimization model based on site conditions and seismic fortification intensity is presented for mid-highrise residential buildings taking into account multiple items such as the original investment, disaster losses and maintenance cost, the integral stiffness, the total ductility, the construction period, and so on. A Three-Scale Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy process is proposed by introducing the Three-Scale Analytical Hierarchy process and the trapezoid fuzzy number. The result of a calculation example shows that the T-FAHP is practical.

Research on the relationship between stand productivity and site condition of Larix kaempferi

In this research, five plots are Selected based on stand storage and productivity of planted forest of Larix kaempferi （Japanese larch） as well as their relationship with factors suCh as forest age, site condition and stand density. Through standard plot investigation and method of trunk analysis, systematic research is conducted on storage and productivity of the planted forest and their relationship with site condition. As shown in the research, productivity of planted forest of Larix kaempferi in low latitude area is higher than that in high latitude area while stand productivity is higher in slight acid soil. Contents of potassium element in the soil have Considerable influence on productivity of the Larix kaempferi forest.

Seismic response characteristics of nuclear island structure at generic soil and rock sites

The number of traditionally excellent coastal lithologic nuclear power plants is limited.It is a trend to develop nuclear power plants on soil sites in inland areas.Therefore,the seismic safety and adaptability of non-rock nuclear power plant(NPP)sites are the key concerns of nuclear safety researchers.Although the five site categories are clearly defined in the AP1000 design control documents,the effects of nuclear power five site conditions and soil nonlinearity on the seismic response characteristics of nuclear island buildings have not been systematically considered in previous related studies.In this study,targeting the AP1000 nuclear island structure as the research object,three-dimensional finite element models of a nuclear island structure at five types of sites(firm rock site(FR),soft rock site(SR),soft-to-medium soil site(SMS),upper bound soft-to-medium site(SMS-UB),and soft soil site(SS))are established.The partitioned analysis method of soil-structure interaction(PASSI)in the time-domain is used to investigate the effects of site hardness and nonlinearity on the acceleration,displacement,and acceleration response spectrum of the nuclear island structure under seismic excitation.The incremental equilibrium equation and explicit decoupling method are used to analyze the soil nonlinearity described by the Davidenkov model with simplified loading-reloading rules.The results show that,in the linear case,with the increase of site hardness,the peak ground acceleration(PGA)and the peak of acceleration response spectrum of the nuclear island structure increase except for the FR site,while the maximum displacement decreases.In nonlinear analysis,as the site hardness increases,the PGA,maximum displacement,and the peak of acceleration response spectrum of the nuclear island structure increase.The peak value of the acceleration response spectrum in the nonlinear case is greater than that in the linear case for FR,while smaller for SR and soil sites.The site nonlinearity reduces the peak values of the response spectrum for SR and soil sites much more as the site hardness decreases.The results of this study can provide a reference for design of nuclear island structures on soil and rock sites.

Seismic vulnerability estimation of the building considering seismic environment and local site condition

A procedure is developed to incorporate seismic environment and site condition into the framework of seismic vulnerability estimation of building to consider the effects of the severity and/or frequency content of ground motion due to seismic environment and site condition. Localized damage distribution can be strongly influenced by seismic environment and surficial soil conditions and any attempt to quantify seismic vulnerability of building should consider the impact of these effects. The seismic environment, site and structure are coupled to estimate damage probability distribution among different damage states for the building. Response spectra at rock site are estimated by probabilistic seismic hazard assessment approach. Based upon engineering representations of soil and amplifying spectral coordinates, frequency content and severity of ground motion are considered. Furthermore the impacts of severity and/or frequency of ground motion effects are considered to estimate the seismic response of reinforced concrete building and damage probability distribution for the building. In addition, a new method for presenting the distribution of damage is developed to express damage probability distribution for the building for different seismic hazard levels.

Recording-based identification of site liquefaction

Reconnaissance reports and pertinent research on seismic hazards show that liquefaction is one of the key sources of damage to geotechnical and structural engineering systems. Therefore, identifying site liquefaction conditions plays an important role in seismic hazard mitigation. One of the widely used approaches for detecting liquefaction is based on the time-frequency analysis of ground motion recordings, in which short-time Fourier transform is typically used. It is known that recordings at a site with liquefaction are the result of nonlinear responses of seismic waves propagating in the liquefied layers underneath the site. Moreover, Fourier transform is not effective in characterizing such dynamic features as time-dependent frequency of the recordings rooted in nonlinear responses. Therefore, the aforementioned approach may not be intrinsically effective in detecting liquefaction. An alternative to the Fourier-based approach is presented in this study, which proposes time-frequency analysis of earthquake ground motion recordings with the aid of the Hilbert-Huang transform （HHT）, and offers justification for the HHT in addressing the liquefaction features shown in the recordings. The paper then defines the predominant instantaneous frequency （PIF） and introduces the PiF-related motion features to identify liquefaction conditions at a given site. Analysis of 29 recorded data sets at different site conditions shows that the proposed approach is effective in detecting site liquefaction in comparison with other methods.

Newmark design spectra considering earthquake magnitudes and site categories

Newmark design spectra have been implemented in many building codes, especially in building codes for critical structures. Previous studies show that Newmark design spectra exhibit lower amplitudes at high frequencies and larger amplitudes at low frequencies in comparison with spectra developed by statistical methods. To resolve this problem, this study considers three suites of ground motions recorded at three types of sites. Using these ground motions, influences of the shear-wave velocity, earthquake magnitudes, source-to-site distances on the ratios of ground motion parameters are studied, and spectrum amplification factors are statistically calculated. Spectral bounds for combinations of three site categories and two cases of earthquake magnitudes are estimated. Site design spectrum coefficients for the three site categories considering earthquake magnitudes are established. The problems of Newmark design spectra could be resolved by using the site design spectrum coefficients to modify the spectral values of Newmark design spectra in the acceleration sensitive, velocity sensitive, and displacement sensitive regions.

Site dependence of far-source ground motions during the Wenchuan earthquake

This paper aimed to examine the site dependence and evaluate the methods for site analysis of far-source ground motions. This was achieved through the examination of frequency content estimated by different methods based on strong ground motions recorded at twelve far-source stations in Shandong province during the Wenchuan earthquake. The stations were located in sites with soil profiles ranging from code classes Ⅰ to Ⅲ. Approaches used included the Fourier amplitude spectrum （FAS）, the earthquake response spectrum （ERS）, the spectral ratio between the horizontal and the vertical components （H/V）, the spectral ratio between the spectra at the site and at a reference site （SRRS）, and coda wave analysis （CWA）. Results showed that major periods of these ground motions obtained by FAS, ERS and H/V ratio methods were all evidently larger than site dominant periods; the periods were also different from each other and mainly reflected the frequency content of long period components. Prominent periods obtained by the SRRS approach neither illuminated the long period aspect nor efficiently determined site features of the motions. The CWA resulted in a period close to site period for stations with good quality recordings. The results obtained in this study will be useful for the evaluation of far-source effect in constructing seismic design spectra and in selecting methods for ground motion site analysis.

Site effect on strong-motion records of the 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku earthquake in Japan

Strong-motion site effect was checked for four sites at comparable epicentral distances from the March 11, 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku earthquake in Japan. The result showed that site condition had a significant impact on peak acceleration, and on maximal amplitude and characteristic period of its response spectrum. Shorter-period seismic waves were amplified mainly in shallower soils, while longer-period waves in deeper soft rocks and soils, where the characteristic periods of response spectra were longer than those on ground surface.

Amplification Effect of Peak Ground Motion Acceleration in ClassⅡ and Ⅲ Sites over Shandong Province

In this paper, the amplification factor （ks ） of peek ground motion with different exceedance probability in class Ⅱ and Ⅲ sites over Shandong Province was estimated by analyzing the seismic response data of soil layers collected from 358 boreholes of class Ⅱ sites and 140 boreholes of class Ⅲ site. From the results, one can conclude that： （1） The scatter plot of ks generally obeys a normal distribution ; （2） ks decreases with the increase of the strength of input ground motion, which is more apparent in Class Ⅲ site than in class lI site; （3） for class Ⅱ site, with the increase of depth of the bedrock interface where ground motion inputs, ks increases gradually until to a stable value when the depth reaches up to approximately 20 meters or larger. Yet, for class Ⅲ site, ks is insensitive to the depth; （4） the average of ks for class Ⅱ site is 1.47, slightly larger than that used in the Seismic Ground Motion Parameters Zonation Map of China （ GB 18306-2001 ）. Also, ks in class Ⅱ and Ⅲ sites at different levels of peak ground acceleration over Shandong Province is preliminarily discussed in the paper.

Factors affecting poplar wetwood characteristics

Wet wood is an abnormal phenomenon in growing trees,which adversely affects growth,subsequent wood processing and economic values of wood products.In this study,the influences of factors such as clones,afforestation methods,site conditions and climate conditions on the characteristics of poplar wetwood were studied through field investigations in 27 clones from 48 sample plots in 28 counties.Results showed that the incidences of wetwood were almost 100%in all plots.Ratios of wetwood area among the48 plots differed from 15.1 to 90.2%.Wetwood area ratios,moisture contents and pH differed significantly between the 27 clones.Wetwood area ratios of the clones ranged from18.7 to 62.3%.Ratios of wetwood areas were positively correlated with wet wood moisture content and pH,tree age,and negatively correlated with pH of sap wood.The repeatability of wet wood area ratios was 0.52,moderately controlled by genetics.Wetwood moisture content and pH were highly controlled by genetics,indicated by the repeatability of 0.91 and 0.89,respectively.There were significant differences in wetwood area ratios,moisture content and pH between different site conditions,afforestation methods,and geographical regions.Sloping land had the lowest wetwood area ratios and moisture content among four types of sites.Afforestation by direct seeding and rooted cuttings had the lowest wetwood area ratios and moisture content,respectively.In the three geographical regions,the Yellow River Basin had the lowest wetwood values of all three factors.

Evaluation of underground blast-induced ground motions through nearsurface low-velocity geological layers

Surface ground motion produced by underground blasts is significantly influenced by near-surface geological conditions.However,near-surface low-propagation velocity layers were always ignored in past analyses of ground motions due to their thin thickness.With the rising concern about surface ground motions produced by the ascendant scale and frequentness of underground excavation and mining,close attention is gradually paid to ground blast vibrations.Therefore,systemic experiments were conducted and took seven months in an underground mine to clarify the variation of motion from underground rock to surface ground.The attenuation of surface ground peak particle velocities(PPVs)is compared to that in underground rock,and horizontal amplitudes are compared to vertical amplitudes.Differences between bedrock and surface ground vibrations are analyzed to illustrate the site effect of near-surface lower-propagation velocity layers.One-dimensional site response analysis is employed to quantify the influence of different geological profiles on surface ground vibrations.The experimental data and site response analysis allowed the following conclusions:(1)geological site effects mainly produce decreasing dominant frequency(DF)of surface ground vibrations;(2)the site amplification effect of blast vibration needs to be characterized by peak particle displacement(PPD);(3)shear waves(S-waves)begin to dominate and surface Rayleigh waves(R-waves)develop as blast-induced ground vibrations travel upward through rock and lower-velocity layers to the surface.The comparison of response relative displacement to a critical value is best to assess the potential for cracking on surface structures.

Vertical root distribution characters of Robinia pseudoacacia on the Loess Plateau in China

On the Loess Plateau, water is the main limiting factors for vegetation growth. Root distribution characters have special ecological meaning as it reflected the utilizations of trees to the environments. Even-aged stands ofRobinia pseudoacacia on slope lands facing south and north were selected as sampling plots for root distribution investigation. Investigatiing results showed that indicated that on all sites, root biomass decreased with depth, and the distribution depth of fine root was deeper than that of coarser root. The results of variance analysis indicated that there were great differences in root biomass among different diameter classes, and coarser root was the main sources of variance, and the root biomass, especially fine root (?<3mm) biomass on northern exposition sites was bigger than that on southern exposition sites. Analysis of the vertical root distribution parameters, root extinction coefficient, β indicated that the value of β on northern exposition was more than 0.982, while the value of β on southern exposition was less than 0.982, which indicated that the vertical root distribution depth ofRobinia pseudoacacia on southern exposition was deeper than that on southern exposition. And the distribution depth of fine roots (Φ<1mm) was deeper than that of thicker roots(Φ<3mm), which was in favor of the uptake of water and nutrients from deeper layers, helped the trees to adapt the arid environment, and promoted the growth of the upper parts of the tree. Keywords Root diameter classes - Variance analysis - Root extinction coefficient - Vertical distribution characters - Site conditions - Loess Plateau CLC number S792.27.01 Document code A Foundation Item: This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (30371150 and 40371075).Biography: LI Peng (1974-) male, post: Ph. D. in Northwest Scientific & Technological University of Agriculture and Forestry, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi Province, P. R. China. Tel: 029-82312651.Responsible editor: Chai Ruihal

An Experimental Analysis of Water and Soil Conservation Effected by Micro-landscape Structure

[Objective] This comparative experiment was to explore the soil loss con- trol effects under cultivation combination of different soil and vegetation types, and to provide scientific basis for the upcoming pilot project of ecological recovery. [Method] Both the rudiment of water locomotion functioned by micro-landscape structures and different spatial combinations of various landscape constituents are considered, thus, the combination of multi-soil type, crop species and site conditions is designed in three different experimental sites. [Result] Soil loss estimates in experiments in South Wello significantly depended on various soil type, slope, vegetation and type of con- servation structure; grass cover tremendously reduces soil loss; legume cultivation performed better than cereal cultivation in soil loss control. [Conclusion] By conduct- ing the data analysis of the experiment, a scientific reference is proposed to the agri- culture planting and protective mode for the alleviation of water and soil loss in Amhara Region, Ethiopia.

Population structure and distribution pattern of Taxus cuspidata in Muling region of Heilongjiang Province, China

An investigation was conducted on distribution pattern, site condition and population structure of yew Taxus cuspidata Sieb. et Zucc. in Muling Forest Bureau of Heilongjiang Province, China in April, 2005. Results showed that yew is mainly distributed under the main storey of natural mixed forest of conifer and broadleaf, the soil moisture content of the yew site is high （40%-60%）, the pH value of soil is relatively lower （4.7-5.5）, and that the population structure of wild yew is not rational, belonging to the degeneration population, which is one of the reasons leading to the population decline. Although the site conditions of Muling area are suitable for the growth of wild yew, the population of wild yew shows a decline tendency, due to the fact that the middle-sized adult yew trees have been cut, young yews are often grazed by wildlife, and that the trunks of adult yew tend to be hollow.

Estimating the productive potential of five natural forest types in northeastern China

Background: There is a serious lack of experience regarding the productive potential of the natural forests in northeastern China, which severely limits the development of sustainable forest management strategies for this most important forest region in China. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to develop a first comprehensive system for estimating the wood production for the five dominant forest types.Methods: Based on a network of 384 field plots and using the state-space approach, we develop a system of dynamic stand models, for each of the five main forest types. Four models were developed and evaluated, including a base model and three extended models which include the effects of dominant height and climate variables. The four models were fitted, and their predictive strengths were tested, using the "seemingly unrelated regression"(SUR) technique.Results: All three of the extended models increased the accuracy of the predictions at varying degrees for the five major natural forest types of northeastern China. The inclusion of dominant height and two climate factors(precipitation and temperature) in the base model resulted in the best performance for all the forest types. On average, the root mean square values were reduced by 13.0% when compared with the base model.Conclusion: Both dominant height and climate factors were important variables in estimating forest production. This study not only presents a new method for estimating forest production for a large region, but also explains regional differences in the effect of site productivity and climate.

Forest succession in post-agricultural Larix olgensis plantations in northeast China

In order to understand the management of regional vegetation,numerical classification and ordination are widely used to investigate community distribution and vegetation features.In particular,two-way indicator-species analysis programs(TWINSPAN)classifies plots and species into different groups.De-trended correspondence analysis(DCA)and canonical correspondence analysis(CCA)reflects the relationship between community and site conditions.Afforestation with Larix olgensis Herry.Plantations is a suitable restoration strategy on post-agricultural fields in the Lesser Khingan Mountains.The results of this study show how these plantations develop over time to establish a reliable pathway model by measuring and clarifying the succession process.Twenty-eight L.olgensis plantations along a 48-year chronosequence of afforestation were investigated with a quadrat sampling method.Species composition,community structure attributes of diversity,and site conditions were analyzed.Communities were classified by TWINSPAN into five successional stages:immature,juvenile,mid-aged,nearmature and mature.Classifications were validated by DCA and CCA analysis.Site conditions such as soil and litter thickness,soil organic matter,soil density,and pH were measured.Successional stages varied in community composition and species population,accompanied by time from afforestation and a gradient of site conditions.This gradient showed changes in vegetation occurrence and diversity coinciding with changes in soil conditions.The study showed that L.olgensis plantations had marked predominance in growth and were associated with improved soil fertility and the formation of a stable plant community.

Study on inelastic displacement ratio spectra for near-fault pulse-type ground motions

In displacement-based seismic design, inelastic displacement ratio spectra （IDRS） are particularly useful for estimating the maximum lateral inelastic displacement demand of a nonlinear SDOF system from the maximum elastic displacement demand of its counterpart linear elastic SDOF system. In this study, the characteristics of IDRS for near-fault pulse-type ground motions are investigated based on a great number of earthquake ground motions. The influence of site conditions, ratio of peak ground velocity （PGV） to peak ground acceleration （PGA）, the PGV, and the maximum incremental velocity （MIV） on IDRS are also evaluated. The results indicate that the effect of near-fault ground motions on IDRS are significant only at periods between 0.2 s - 1.5 s, where the amplification can approach 20%. The PGV/PGA ratio has the most significant influence on IDRS among the parameters considered. It is also found that site conditions only slightly affect the IDRS.

Project of “Three Networks Greening” based on optimal allocation in the Yellow River Delta,China (Dongying section)

We have used the Yellow River Delta （Dongying section） as our study area to address the project of ＂Three Networks Greening＂ （TNG）. With the use of GIS technology and from an ecological point of view, an optimal allocation scheme of land resources is constructed and applied to guide the adjustment of land resources. Given this scheme, we have calculated that the area of land suitable for forest and shrubs without greening is 2256 km^2. Simultaneously, acting on the layout of the TNG project, afforestation site types are prepared and improved. Soil types, microrelief, salinity and underwater levels are combined as major classification factors and irrigation conditions as a reference to classify sites into eight types. In this way, land suitable for forest and grass is afforested given particular planting patterns. Finally, by overlaying this forestry site type map with the TNG plan map, some suggestions and strategies are proposed and used to direct the TNG project. An ecological oasis of the Yellow River Delta should be the result.