Carrying Capacity and Coupling Coordination of Water and Land Resources Systems in Arid and Semi-arid Areas: A Case Study of Yulin City, China

Quantitatively assessing the carrying capacity of water and land resources systems in arid and semi-arid areas is crucial for achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.In this work,taking Yulin City in China as a case study and employing the Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation(CRITIC)method,a modified model of coupling degree was developed to evaluate the car-rying capacity of water and land resources systems endowment and utilization,as well as their coupling coordination degree from 2013 to 2020.Our findings indicate that the water and land resources of Yulin are diminishing due to declines in agriculture,higher industrial water use,and wetland shrinkage.However,reallocating domestic water for ecological sustainability and reducing sloping farmland can mitigate this trend of decline.Temporally,as the coupling coordination between water and land resources system endowment in Yulin continuously improved,the coupling coordination between water and land resources system utilization first decreased and then in-creased with 2016 as the turning point.Spatially,the carrying capacity of water and land resources systems,the coupling coordination degree between water and land resources system endowment,and the coupling coordination degree between water and land resources system utilization in Yulin exhibited the same pattern of being higher in the six northern counties than in the six southern counties.Improving the water resources endowment is vital for the highly efficient use of water and land resources.

Design and Applications of Land Resources and Ecological Environment Information System: A Case Study of Zigui County in the Three Gorges Area of China

The design and applications of a land information system built upon ARC/INFO and ArcView are presented. The proposed system not only maintains all the advantages of the more conventional implementations but also enhances them in the following ways: 1) the application program interfaces (API) are used to transmit data and messages among different parts of the system; 2) the integrated system can support studies on land evaluations and ecological analyses by efficient management of attribute and spatial data and 3) correspondingly, spatial records and attributive records are linked by the same identifiers (ID). A case study application in Zigui County of the Three Gorges Area in China demonstrates that the system could employ land-use maps and land property data to predicate and analyze the land utilization changes in the past, present and future. The ecological environment analysis can be carried out with the data of land, economics and terrain map used, showing that the system can be widely applied, especially to survey land and environment resources in the countryside area.

THE STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF THE LAND RESOURCES SYSTEM IN THE FARMLAND SHELTER FOREST REGION IN THE NORTHEAST PLAIN

The structure and dynamics of land resources system in the shelter forest region in the Northeast Plain is discussed according to the remote sensing and statistical information from the typical profiles and spots. For agricultural utilization, the land resources system is made up of five components, i.e. man, land resources, water resources,climatic resources and barren land. The local economy depends heavily upon its land resources, especially farm land. Having been exploited for 50-60 years from the 1930s to 1980s, it has already changed from the reclaiming period into the declining period.There is no waste land to be reclaimed. Facing the increase of population and requirements and the decrease of farmland fertility, proper management of land resources is indispensable if local economic and living level is maintained. It is imperative to make artificial regeneration (highest input) for the land resources and to keep fine circle of thesystem. If only natural regeneration if relied, the system will be changed to vicious circle.

ON MARKET ECONOMIC SYSTEM AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL LAND RESOURCES IN ARID ZONE

1. The basic features of the socialist market economic system in China Although there are some different views as to the basic features of the socialist marketeconomic system in China in theory, I think there are five basic features: The first, theChinese Communist Party is in power, who represents the interests of the whole people.

What are the underlying causes and dynamics of land use conflicts in metropolitan junction areas?A case study of the central Chengdu–Chongqing region in China

Land use conflicts(LUCs),as a spatial manifestation of the conflicts in the human-land relationships,have a profound impact on regional sustainable development.For China’s metropolitan junction areas(MJAs),the existence of“administrative district economies”has made the issue of LUCs more prominent.Based on a case study of the central Chengdu–Chongqing region,we conducted an exploratory spatial data analysis of the evolutionary process of regional LUCs.Furthermore,structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze the dynamic mechanism of LUCs in MJAs,with a particular emphasis on exploring the influences of administrative boundary.The results showed that from 2010 to 2020,LUCs in the central Chengdu–Chongqing region continued to worsen,and the spatial process conflict and spatial structure conflict indices increased by more than 30.0%.The intensification of LUCs in the central Chengdu–Chongqing region from 2010 to 2020 was mainly the result of the deterioration of conflicts in evaluation units with low conflict levels.LUCs in China’s metropolitan areas generally presented a circular gradient distribution,weakening from the core to the periphery,but there were some strong isolated conflict zones in the outer regions.LUCs in China’s MJAs were the result of interactions among multiple factors,e.g.,natural environment,socio-economic development,policy and institutional processes,and administrative boundary effects.Administrative boundary affected the flow of socio-economic elements,changing the supply-and-demand competition of stakeholders for land resources,consequently exerting an indirect influence on LUCs.This study advances the theory of the dynamic mechanism of LUCs,and provides theoretical support for the governance of these conflicts in transboundary areas.

Optimization of water-urban-agricultural-ecological land use pattern:A case study of Guanzhong Basin in the southern Loess Plateau of Shaanxi Province,China

Extensive land use will cause many environmental problems.It is an urgent task to improve land use efficiency and optimize land use patterns.In recent years,due to the flow decrease,the Guanzhong Basin in Shaanxi Province is confronted with the problem of insufficient water resources reserve.Based on the Coupled Ground-Water and Surface-Water Flow Model(GSFLOW),this paper evaluates the response of water resources in the basin to changes in land use patterns,optimizes the land use pattern,improves the ecological and economic benefits,and the efficiency of various spatial development,providing a reference for ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.The research shows that the land use pattern in the Guanzhong Basin should be further optimized.Under the condition of considering ecological and economic development,the percentage change of the optimum area of farmland,forest,grassland,water area,and urban area compared with the current land use area ratio is+2.3,+2.4,-6.1,+0.2,and+1.6,respectively.The economic and ecological value of land increases by14.1%and 3.1%,respectively,and the number of water resources can increase by 2.5%.

Climate change, water resources and sustainable development in the arid and semi-arid lands of Central Asia in the past 30 years

The countries of Central Asia are collectively known as the five "-stans": Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. In recent times, the Central Asian region has been affected by the shrinkage of the Aral Sea, widespread desertification, soil salinization, biodiversity loss, frequent sand storms, and many other ecological disasters. This paper is a review article based upon the collection, identification and collation of previous studies of environmental changes and regional developments in Central Asia in the past 30 years. Most recent studies have reached a consensus that the temperature rise in Central Asia is occurring faster than the global average. This warming trend will not only result in a higher evaporation in the basin oases, but also to a significant retreat of glaciers in the mountainous areas. Water is the key to sustainable development in the arid and semi-arid regions in Central Asia. The uneven distribution, over consumption, and pollution of water resources in Central Asia have caused severe water supply problems, which have been affecting regional harmony and development for the past 30 years. The widespread and significant land use changes in the 1990 s could be used to improve our understanding of natural variability and human interaction in the region. There has been a positive trend of trans-border cooperation among the Central Asian countries in recent years. International attention has grown and research projects have been initiated to provide water and ecosystem protection in Central Asia. However, the agreements that have been reached might not be able to deliver practical action in time to prevent severe ecological disasters. Water management should be based on hydrographic borders and ministries should be able to make timely decisions without political intervention. Fully integrated management of water resources, land use and industrial development is essential in Central Asia. The ecological crisis should provide sufficient motivation to reach a consensus on unified water management throughout the region.

DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES OF WATER AND LAND RESOURCES IN THE HEXI REGION,CHINA

Hexi region is located in the northwest arid zone in China,being both the base of industry and agriculture,and the prop of developing northwestern China on a large scale in the next century.On the basis of the study on exploitation and utilization process of water and land resources in past 40 years,and present productivity,this paper approaches the utilization trend and development potential of water and land resources;analyses the characteristics,problems and directions of resource utilization in the future;and proposes the countermeasures of rational development of water and land resources.

A Preliminary Study on the Rational Utilization of Land Resources in the Poverty-Stricken Mountainous Areas in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River:A Case Study of Xueshan Township

As one of the most fragile alpine plateau and canyon areas in China,the upper reaches of the Yangtze River are the key areas of ecological construction in China.It is also a key area for poverty alleviation in the country.Therefore,it is necessary to take into account the dual goals of poverty reduction and ecological environment construction,and explore a win-win road of ecological construction and poverty alleviation in line with the reality of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.Taking Xueshan Township,Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County,Yunnan Province,which is located in the poor mountainous area of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River as an example,based on many field investigations and existing investigation and statistical data,this paper analyzes the current situation and main problems of land use in Xueshan Township,and then puts forward measures and suggestions for rational utilization of land resources in Xueshan Township.This can provide a necessary reference for the next implementation of rural revitalization strategy and ecological construction.

Study on the Sustainable Use of Land-water Resources in Shandong Province of China Based on Food Security

After the analysis of food security of Shandong Province since 1990s, based on the change of grain output and per unit grain yield, it was considered that food production of Shandong Province was generally stable; through comparing the proportion of per capita possession of grains and per unit grain yield of Shandong Province in the whole country, it revealed that they were higher than the national average level. On this basis, the relationship between land-water resources and food security had been analyzed, and it summarized that Shandong water resources were insufficient, agricultural water was not enough and water had been seriously polluted; and that cultivated area was large and the overall quality was high. Meanwhile, it had analyzed the spatial pattern of land-water resources and the loss of water and soil. Finally, suggestions for the sustainable use of land-water resources in Shandong Province based on food security had been proposed. It should enhance the construction of basic agricultural facilities and implement united dispatching of multiple water resources; strengthen the supervision of cultivated land resources and comprehensively develop reserve resources of cultivated lands; and intensify the treatment of land-water resources and prevention of the loss of water and soil in key areas.

RESEARCH ON THE POPULATION CARRYING CAPACITY OF THE LAND RESOURCES IN THE ECONOMIC AREA OF ZHUJIANG DELTA

The authors once made a preliminary research on population carrying capacity of the land in the Economic Area of Zhujiang Delta (EAZD for short) in 1995, and reckoned that the ultimate population in this region will be 23 550 thousand by year of 2000. While the population in being in EAZD was 22.62 million in 1999.This accords with the prefigured result in the rough from the point of view of development. According to the data of plow land resources from the 2000 Statistical Yearbook of EAZD and the study on the population-foodstuff-plow land relationship, this paper calculates the productive potential of plow land and the population carrying capacity of land by year of 2010, and puts forward the countermeasures for improving the population carrying capacity of land in this region.

Remote Sensing Investigation Method on Land Resources by A Geographic Information System

The human living and developing depend on the land. The remote sensing images in Keerqinhouqi, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, were processed . Supported by a geographical information system, the image map was formed by th e boundary making and overlaying to the precision-corrected remote sensed image . Finally, the current land use types were also classified and outlined. The area s were also calculated. The error is less than 10 precent, compared with the sur vey. Thus the proceduce is considered accepfable.

On the Capitalization of Land Resources in Rural Areas in China

The capitalization of land resources in rural areas is good for the transforming of agricultural management method,carrying out the process of urbanization,alleviating lack of funds for construction in rural areas and further guarantee farmers’rights.However,in the process of capitalization of land resources in rural areas in China,problems such as ambiguity of land property right,inaccuracy of the appraisal of the investment in land,imperfectness of the related supporting system and non-fluency of land resources circulation in rural areas and so on still exist,which need the support from governments of all levels to actively explore and survey,taking such actions as carrying out land registration,establishing a scientific and normative price appraisal system for land resources,improving the system of registration as a legal person,increasing subsidies,improving taxation reducing policy,forming the diversified rural financial system,setting up and improving the land resources circulation market in rural areas and so on.

THE CHANGING TENDENCY OF LAND RESOURCES AND THE COUNTERMEASURES IN HAINAN PROVINCE IN 2000

Hainan Provine, with an land area of 34,170 km2, is the largest economic district for external development in China. With the further deepening of reform and openning up, some new problems of land resource exploitation and use have arisen. The changing tendency of land use is estimated as follows: Land use in economic exploitation, city development and traffic will be increased rapidly; hydraulic construction will occupy a part of land; the use of wasteland is increasing; and the total farmland and per capital farmland will decrease continously. In 2000, the occupied land should be controlled in 5 million mu (1 mu=1/ 15 ha), in which farmland is 160,000 mu. The farmland should be maintained in 6.5 million mu. Some measures to implement the strategy and object of land use are put forward: enhancing land management and administration; excuting land policy and making land management mechanism active; enhancing the efficiency of land use; and control the growth of population strictly.

THE EXPERIENCES AND MODELS OF LAND RESOURCES USE IN CHINA

This paper introduces the experiences and models of land resources use in China. They are: (1) to protect farmland is as the basic state policy; (2) to carry out land resources survey and land use planning; (3) establishing a resource-saving agricultural production system with land saving as its priority; (4) to develop agriculture in the whole territory and explore food resources; (5) improving eco-environment and protecting land resources; (6) population control’and moderate consumption to release the pressure on land resources; (7) the integrated development and experiment of the typical regions.

Interactions between water-land resources and oasis urban development at the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains,Xinjiang,China

Urban development in arid and semi-arid regions is largely constrained by fragile physical environ- ments. The characteristics of an urban settlement are different from those in other regions of China. This paper analyses the coupling characteristics and spatio-temporal variations for oasis urban development and water-land resources at the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains by principal component analysis and a coupling degree model. The result shows that the degree and change in regional use of water and land resources are different among the studied cities/counties during their development. The built-up areas of these cities/counties have changed little with increasing populations and urbanization levels, which well reflects that the urban development in arid and semi-arid regions is limited by oasis areas. Per capita amount of water supplied, however, presented a trend of slowed growth with increasing levels of urbanization. Water consumption gradually increased with urban development and the improvement of people＇s living standards, accompanied by enhanced water use efficiency. The level of urbanization can be assessed through the coupling degree between oasis urban development and the use of water and land resources. A high coupling degree represents a high level of comprehensive urban devel- opment and use of water-land resources. Alternatively, a low coupling degree denotes a low level of urban devel- opment and water-land resource use.

LAND RESOURCES OF INNER MONGOLIA AND THEIR RATIONAL UTILIZATION

1. The Characteristics of land resources in Inner Mongolia1.1 The vast expance of land Accounting for 12.5 per cent of the Total area of China, the land area in InnerMongolia is 1.183 million square kilometer. The land of per person in Inner Mongolia,which was 5.5 hectares, was 6.5 times of per person in China in 1990.

The supporting capability of Water and land resources for sustainable increase of yield in North China Plain

The potential of yield increase in the North China Plain is about 30 billion kg by ameliorating the low yield and medium low yield farmlands and 4 billion kg by reclaiming unused land. Water shortage will be the main limitation to the further increase of grain crop yield. The amount of water shortage is 8 200 million m3 at present, and will be 17 720 million m3 in 2 000. Yield increase can not be realized by using more water in the future. Other factors such as decrease of the area of cultivated land and the grain crop growing area, deterioration of environment and destruction of resources will also affect the development of grain production. Some suggestions have been proposed in the paper for attaining sustainable increase of yield in the plain.

Current Status and Development Countermeasures of Forest Land Resources in Southern Cixi City

Based on the investigation of the status of forest land resources in the southern parts of Cixi City,the problems exiting in the development of forestry(e.g.overdevelopment of industry and decline in water conservation quality)are pointed out,and countermeasures(e.g.coordination,integration,scientific planning,strict protection,orderly development and ecological compensation)are put forward,in order to provide a reference for the sustainable development of forestry in Cixi City.

Impact of Economic Development Model on the Fitting Effect of the Mathematical Model of Changes in Cultivated Land Resources

The mathematical model is often used for fitting the trend of changes in cultivated land resources in the land use planning,but the fitting effect is different in different study areas. In this paper,we take two geographically adjacent cities with great differences in the economic development model,Xinghua City and Jingjiang City,as the research object. Using logarithmic model( M1),Kuznets model( M2),logistic model( M3) and multivariate linear model( M4),we fit the process of changes in cultivated land resources during the period 1980- 2009,and compare the differences in the fitting effect between different models. In terms of the model fitting effect in Xinghua City,it is in the order of M3 > M4 > M1 > M2,which is related to the fact that the local areas lay great emphasis on agricultural development,and pay close attention to ensuring the cultivated land area; in terms of the model fitting effect in Jingjiang City,it is in the order of M1 > M3 > M4 > M2,and the deep-seated cause is that its development model is dominated by extended trade expansion,and the level of intensive land use is constantly improved. In addition,we discuss the multi-stage characteristics of changes in cultivated land resources,and propose a solution of using the same model to simulate in various phases. The research results in Jingjiang City show that the coefficient of determination in the first phase( R2=0. 958) and the standard error( SE = 0. 261) are both better than those of the original model( R2= 0. 945,SE = 0. 312); the coefficient of determination in the second phase is slightly low( R2= 0. 851),but the standard error is greatly improved( SE = 0. 137). Compared with the research conclusions of other scholars,it can be believed that this method can better solve the problems that the scatter plot of logistic model presents wave-shape and the scatter plot of Kuznets model presents " M"-shape,in order to improve the applicability of mathematical models.