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This study recorded various sounds heard in Han Buddhist temples and analysed their acoustic parameters. Subsequently, it investigated the factors that influence sound preferences in these temples using a questionnaire survey. The results indicate that the physical acoustic and psychoacoustic parameters of various sounds correspond to the roles they play at the temple. Buddhism-related man-made sounds dominate the sound environment in temples. In addition, signal and soundmark are prevalent. In the case of sound preferences, natural sounds are preferred, and age and religious beliefs have a significant effect on the respondents' preference for the sound of a temple bell. Signal and Buddhism-related man-made sounds are affected by a variety of respondent demographic characteristics, while Buddhism-unrelated man-made sounds and keynote sounds are rarely affected by these characteristics. The education level of the respondents affects their preferences for various types of sound, and the respondents' evaluations of Buddhism and acoustic environment are related to their preferences for Buddhism-related man-made sounds, soundmarks, and keynote sounds. Among the assessed physical acoustic and psychoacoustic parameters, only sharpness is closely correlated with sound preference in Han Buddhist temples.

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Rocky desertification (RD) is a special process of land deterioration in karst topography, with a view of bedrock exposure and an effect of ecological degradation. Among the three largest karst regions in the world, southwest China boasts the largest RD area and highest diversity of karst landscapes. However, inefficient field surveying tends to restrict earlier studies of RD to local areas, and the high complexity of karst geomorphology in southwest China further lead to the shortage of the knowledge about its macroecological pattern so far. To address this gap, this study innovatively took county as the unit to statistically explore the links between the 2008-censused distributions of county-level RD in southwest China and its potential impact factors of three kinds (geologic, climatic, and anthropogenic), all transformed into the same mapping frame. Spatial pattern analyses based on spatial statistics and artificial interpretation unveiled the macroscopic characteristics of RD spatial patterns, and attribution analyses based on correlation analysis and dominance analysis exposed the links of the impact factors to RD and their contributions in deciding the macroscopic pattern of RD. The results suggested that geologic factors play a first role in drawing the macroecological pattern of RD, also for the slight-, moderate-, and severe-level RD scenarios, in southwest China. Despite this inference somehow collides with the popular awareness that anthropogenic factors like human activities are leadingly responsible for the RD-relevant losses, the findings are of practical implications in guiding making the macroscopic policies for mitigating RD degradation and advancing its environmental restoration. Rocky desertification (RD) recently has attracted increasing academic and administrative attentions 1-3 , since this kind of unique land degradation phenomena has become one of the most serious ecological problems in the world. First proposed in the earlier 1980s 4 , the concept of RD is defined as a category of terrestrial processes of land deteriorations involving severe soil erosion, extensive exposure of bedrocks, drastic decrease of land productivity, and appearance of desert-like landscapes 5. This adverse effect may trigger both natural hazards (such as droughts, floods, landslides, and land subsidence) and worsen economic, social, and cultural lives. At the regional scales, RD even can disturb climatic development and carbon balance 2. During its studies, people found that the occurrences of RD are often related to karst geomorphology, which is a distinctive topography resulting from the solution process of acidic water acting on carbonate bedrocks 6. Globally, karst landscapes cover ~22, 000, 000 km 2 , accounting for ~15% of the total terrestrial area 7. Thereby, understanding of RD more comprehensively and mitigating its risks for such a large karst landform is of fundamental implications for advancing global ecological protection 8. Among the three largest karst regions in the world, southwest China comprisi...

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