Driving Mechanism of Cultivated Land Transition in Yantai Proper,Shandong Province,China

Cultivated land transition and its driving mechanism are the hotspots among studies on land use change. In this study, we constructed a framework to study the driving mechanism of cultivated land transition from the quantitative perspective. Based on the vector data of land use in 1990, 2000 and 2009 of Yantai Proper, Shandong Province China, 11 explanatory variables were chosen from two aspects: the elevation, slope, cost distance to major water area and cost distance to minor water area, which presented physical factors; cost distance to district center, cost distance to town center, cost distance to city expansion center, cost distance to major roads, cost distance to city roads, cost distance to county roads and cost distance to rural roads, which presented the socio-economic factors. Combined with spatial analysis tools and Logistic regression analysis model, we construct Logistic regression analyses with four objectives that were urban construction land, rural residential land, orchard and other lands. The results show that, cost distance to district center, cost distance to town center, cost distance to city expansion center and cost distance to city roads are the significant explanatory variables for the transition of cultivated land into urban construction land. The main explained factors on the transition of cultivated land into rural residential land are slope, cost distance to town center, cost distance to county roads and cost distance to rural roads. Slope, cost distance to minor water area, cost distance to town center, cost distance to county roads and cost distance to rural roads are the significant explanatory variables for the transition of cultivated land into orchard land. Elevation, slope, cost distance to major water area and cost distance to minor water area are the main explanatory variables on the transition of cultivated land into other land uses.

Interpretation of Climate Change and Agricultural Adaptations by Local Household Farmers: a Case Study at Bin County, Northeast China

Although climate change impacts and agricultural adaptations have been studied extensively, how smallholder farmers perceive climate change and adapt their agricultural activities is poorly understood. Survey-based data （presents farmers＇ personal perceptions and adaptations to climate change） associated with external biophysical-socioeconomic data （presents real-world climate change） were used to develop a farmer-centered framework to explore climate change impacts and agricultural adaptations at a local level. A case study at Bin County （1980s-2010s）, Northeast China, suggested that increased annual average temperature （0.6＆#176;C per decade） and decreased annual precipitation （46 mm per decade, both from meteorological datasets） were correctly perceived by 76 and 66.9%, respectively, of farmers from the survey, and that a longer growing season was conifrmed by 70%of them. These reasonably correct perceptions enabled local farmers to make appropriate adaptations to cope with climate change：Longer season alternative varieties were found for maize and rice, which led to a signiifcant yield increase for both crops. The longer season also affected crop choice：More farmers selected maize instead of soybean, as implicated from survey results by a large increase in the maize growing area. Comparing warming-related factors, we found that precipitation and agricultural disasters were the least likely causes for farmers＇ agricultural decisions. As a result, crop and variety selection, rather than disaster prevention and infrastructure improvement, was the most common ways for farmers to adapt to the notable warming trend in the study region.

Study on Headland-Bay Sandy Coast Stability in South China Coasts

Headland-bay beach equilibrium planform has been a crucial problem abroad to long-term sandy beach evolution and stabilization, extensively applied to forecast long-term coastal erosion evolvement and the influences of coastal engineering as well as long-term coastal management and protection. However, little concern focuses on this in China. The parabolic relationship is the most widely used empirical relationship for determining the static equilibrium shape of headland-bay beaches. This paper utilizes the relation to predict and classify 31 headland-bay beaches and concludes that these bays cannot achieve the ultimate static equilibrium planform in South China. The empirical bay equation can morphologically estimate beach stabilization state, but it is just a referential predictable means and is difficult to evaluate headland-bay shoreline movements in years and decades. By using Digital Shoreline Analysis System suggested by USGS, the rates of shoreline recession and accretion of these different headland-bay beaches are quantitatively calculated from 1990 to 2000. The conclusions of this paper include that （a） most of these 31 bays maintain relatively stable and the rates of erosion and accretion are relatively large with the impact of man-made constructions on estuarine within these bays from 1990 to 2000; （b） two bays, Haimen Bay and Hailingshan Bay, originally in the quasi-static equilibrium planform determined by the parabolic bay shape equation, have been unstable by the influence of coastal engineering; and （c） these 31 bays have different recession and accretion characters occuning in some bays and some segments. On the one hand, some bays totally exhibit accretion, but some bays show erosion on the whole. Shanwei Bay, Houmen Bay, Pinghai Bay and Yazhou Bay have the similar planforms, characterized by less accretion on the sheltering segment and bigger accretion on the transitional and tangential segments. On the other hand, different segments of some bays have two dissimilar evolvement characters. Dacheng Bay, Shenquan Bay, Hudong Bay, Wukan Bay, Fengjia Bay, Wuchang Bay, Lingshui Bay and Tufu Bay produce accretion on the tangential segment, erosion on the transitional segment and accretion on the sheltering segment. However, Guang＇ao Bay, Haimen Bay, Jinghai Bay, Sanya Bay（a）, Dajiao Bay, Hailingshan Bay, Hebei Bay, Fuhu Bay, Shuidong Bay, Wangcun Bay and Bomao Bay generate erosion on the tangential part, accretion on the transitional part and accretion on the sheltering part. It seems to imply some relations between headland-bay beach evolvement and controls on headland-bay beaches, which may possibly to classify headland-bay beach types and should be further studied.

Typical Equilibrium Beach Profile Models and Their Significances from Different Segments of A Headland-Bay Beach

This study introduces three typical models on equilibrium beach profile, and discusses the application limitations of these models. Then this study examines the selections for applying these models on different coastal segments of a headland-bay beach in west Guangdong, South China, and explores the physical significances of those parameters in the models. The results indicate that：（1） Bodge＇s model is more in line with the equilibrium beach profile of the tangential or transitional segment, whereas Lee＇s model is more consistent with the shadow profile;（2） most of the parameters in three models have clear physical significances in accordance with the actual characteristics of this headland-bay beach; and（3） both the selections for the equilibrium beach profile from different segments and significances of most of the parameters in three models are in essence correlated with the morphodynamic states at various coastal locations.

Wave-dominated,mesotidal headland-bay beach morphodynamic classsfications of the Shuidong Bay in South China

Beach morphodynamic classifications have achieved extensive acceptance in foreign coastal geomorphological studies. Three beaches located in different zones of a headland-bay coast are classified according to a dimensionless fall parameter, a relative tide range parameter and a dimensionless embayment scaling parameter. Synchronous data, including wave, tide, sediment and beach morphology, are respectively collected from the tangential beach, the transitional beach and the shadow beach of the Shuidong Bay during each spring tide for 16 successive months. The research results indicate that （1） the beach in the tangential zone falls between two major categories which are low tide terrace beaches with rips and barred beaches; the beach in the transitional zone exhibits two main types which are low tide bar/rip beaches and barred dissipative beaches; and the beach in the shadow zone mainly mirrors dissipative states with presence or absence of bars; and （2） the sequential changes and differences of beach states in different coastal zones reflect spatial and temporal variabilities of the headland- bay coast, totally meeting the actual measured beach morphology changes, showing that studies on wave- dominated, meso-macrotidal beaches need to consider the influences of the tides. Meanwhile, the research mainly provides a framework about beach state studies, due to different beach states with different erosion patterns, which requires the need to strengthen the researches in this respect, in order to further enrich theoretical basis for a beach topography evolution, beach morphodynamic processes and beach erosion orevention in China.

Current study and prospect of the Old Red Sand along the southeast coast of China

The Old Red Sand is composed of brown-red, red, or orange-yellow semi-cemented and medium-fine sand sediment, mainly dis- tributed along the southeast coast of China. Based on previous studies, this paper summarizes the distribution and forms, sedi- mentary characteristics, formation mechanism, developing age, reddening process and the paleo-environment, suggesting that the Old Red Sand is mainly aeolian sediment of Late Pleistocene Age. The reddening process is mainly the result of decomposition and oxidation of iron-containing minerals caused by hot and humid tropical and sub-tropical climate. In this study, existing prob- lems are discussed and the prospect of further research is presented as well.

Spatio-temporal dynamics of maize cropping system in Northeast China between 1980 and 2010 by using spatial production allocation model

Understanding crop patterns and their changes on regional scale is a critical re- quirement for projecting agro-ecosystem dynamics. However, tools and methods for mapping the distribution of crop area and yield are still lacking. Based on the cross-entropy theory, a spatial production allocation model （SPAM） has been developed for presenting spa- tio-temporal dynamics of maize cropping system in Northeast China during 1980-2010. The simulated results indicated that （1） maize sown area expanded northwards to 48~N before 2000, after that the increased sown area mainly occurred in the central and southern parts of Northeast China. Meanwhile, maize also expanded eastwards to 127°E and lower elevation （less than 100 m） as well as higher elevation （mainly distributed between 200 m and 350 m）; （2） maize yield has been greatly promoted for most planted area of Northeast China, espe- cially in the planted zone between 42°N and 48°N, while the yield increase was relatively homogeneous without obvious longitudinal variations for whole region; （3） maize planting density increased gradually to a moderately high level over the investigated period, which reflected the trend of aggregation of maize cultivation driven by market demand.

“Listening to the Sounds of the Water”:Bringing Together Local Knowledge and Biophysical Data to Understand Climate-Related Hazard Dynamics

Integrating local knowledge and scientific information can aid in co-developing locally relevant approaches for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.Communities along the Mekong River have adapted to variability in temperature,rainfall,and flooding patterns over time.Rapid environmental change in the Mekong Basin presents a new set of challenges related to drought,altered seasonal rainfall,more frequent high-flow flood events,and water withdrawals for hydropower and irrigation.We present a multi-method approach to understand how local knowledge of the spatial and temporalpatterns of floods,droughts,and rainfall can be integrated with scientific information along a flood-prone section of the lower Mekong River in Kratie Province,Cambodia.Participatory hazard mapping of community members’knowledge of the movement of floodwaters through the landscape enabled interpretation of flood extent mapping using Synthetic Aperture Radar images from the Sentinel-1A satellite.Seasonal calendars of weather patterns and livelihood activities,together with local indicators of flooding,rainfall,and drought were compared with trends in 35 years of rainfall data,and highlighted"pressure points"at the beginning and end of the rainy season where agriculture may be particularly impacted by climate change.We discuss potential applications of our findings for adaptation and hazard planning.

Analysis of the complex morphology of sediment particle surface based on electron microscope images

The morphology of sediment particles plays an important role in interfacial interactions.The difficulties in complex morphological description significantly limit the research on interfacial interactions.In this study,images of a single sediment particle extracted from electron microscope photos were used to analyze the gray values and present the probability of shape of the sediment particles.Moreover,the morphological features of the sediment particles were qualitatively described using the fractal method(surface area-volume method).The fractal dimension D of a single sediment particle was calculated to analyze the features and quantitative complexity of the sediment particle morphology.Results indicate that the probability of shape can provide intuitive morphological structure and fully describe the complex morphological characteristics of sediment particle surfaces.The fractal dimension abstractly described the complexity of the morphology of a sediment particle surface and matched well with the experimental results.The methods discussed in this study are suitable for describing the complex morphology of the sediment particle surface and lay the scientific foundation for further research on the interfacial interaction between the sediment particle and the pollutant.

Constructing Human Settlements to Achieve Scientiic Development:Yunfu's Experiment

In the background of development mode transformation, the city of Yunfu has carried out the experiment of the Sciences of Human Settlements, which takes Scientific View of Development as the guiding ideology and the Sciences of Human Settlements as the theoretical basis. "Joint development of beautiful environment and harmonious society" is the epistemology and methodology of the experiment and its framework includes the vision of human settlements, major function enlargement of county region, construction guideline for integrated community, and action outline of joint development of beautiful environment and harmonious society. Through a series of actions, Yunfu has made remarkable achievements which include the improvement of human settlement quality in urban-rural areas, the promotion of socio-economic development, and the harmonious relationship between the Party and the people.