Abstract:There is plenty of forests in Northeast China which contributes a lot to the conservation of water and land resources, produces timber products, and provides habitats for a huge number of wild animals and plants. With changes of socio-economic factors as well as the geophysical conditions, there are dramatic changes on the spatial patterns of forest area. In this sense, it is of great significance to shed light on the dynamics of forest area changes to find the underlining reasons for shaping the changing patterns of forest area in Northeast China. To explore the dynamics of forest area change in Northeast China, an econometric model is developed which is composed of three equations identifying forestry production, conversion from open forest to closed forest and conversion from other land uses to closed forest so as to explore the impacts on the forest area changes from demographic, social, economic, location and geophysical factors. On this basis, we employ the Dynamics of Land System (DLS) model to simulate land-use conversions between forest area and non-forest cover and the land-use conversions within the sub-classes of forest area for the period 2000-2020 under business as usual scenario, environmental protection scenario and economic growth scenario. The simulation results show that forest area will expand continuously and there exist various kinds of changing patterns for the sub-classes of forest area, for example, closed forest will expand continuously and open forest and shrub will decrease a little bit, while area of other forest will keep intact. The research results provide meaningful decision-making information for conserving and exploiting the forest resources and making out the planning for forestry production in the Northeast China region.

Abstract:High-resolution measurements of rainfall, water level, pH, conductivity, temperature and carbonate chemistry parameters of groundwater at two adjacent locations within the peak cluster karst of the Guilin Karst Experimental Site in Guangxi Province, China, were made with different types of multiparameter sonde. The data were stored using data loggers recording with 2 min or 15 min resolution. Waters from a large, perennial spring represent the exit for the aquifer's conduit flow, and a nearby well measures water in the conduit-adjacent, fractured media. During flood pulses, the pH of the conduit flow water rises as the conductivity falls. In contrast, and at the same time, the pH of groundwater in the fractures drops, as conductivity rises. As Ca 2C and HCO 3 were the dominant (>90%) ions, we developed linear relationships (both r 2 > 0Ð91) between conductivity and those ions, respectively, and in turn calculated variations in the calcite saturation index SI C and CO 2 partial pressure P CO 2 of water during flood pulses. Results indicate that the P CO 2 of fracture water during flood periods is higher than that at lower flows, and its SI C is lower. Simultaneously, P CO 2 of conduit water during the flood period is lower than that at lower flows, and its SI C also is lower. From these results we conclude that at least two key processes are controlling hydrochemical variations during flood periods: (i) dilution by precipitation and (ii) water-rock-gas interactions. To explain hydrochemical variations in the fracture water, the water-rock-gas interactions may be more important. For example, during flood periods, soil gas with high CO 2 concentrations dissolves in water and enters the fracture system, the water, which in turn has become more highly undersaturated, dissolves more limestone, and the conductivity increases. Dilution of rainfall is more important in controlling hydrochemical variations of conduit water, because rainfall with higher pH (in this area apparently owing to interaction with limestone dust in the lower atmosphere) and low conductivity travels through the conduit system rapidly. These results illustrate that to understand the hydrochemical variations in karst systems, considering only water-rock interactions is not sufficient, and the variable effects of CO 2 on the system should be evaluated. Consideration of water-rock-gas interactions is thus a must in understanding variations in karst hydrochemistry.

Food safety and its related influencing factors in China are the hot research topics currently, and cultivated land conversion is one of the significant factors influencing food safety in China. Taking the North China Plain as the study area, this paper examines the changes of cultivated land area using satellite images, estimates land productivity from 1985 to 2005 using the model of Estimation System for Land Productivity (ESLP), and analyzes the impact of cultivated land conversion on the land production. Compared with the grain yield data from statistical yearbooks, the results indicate that ESLP model is an effective tool for estimating land productivity. Land productivity in the North China Plain showed a slight decreasing trend from 1985 to 2005, spatially, increased from the north to the south gradually, and the net changes varied in different areas. Cultivated land area recorded a marginal decrease of 8.0 × 10 5 ha, mainly converted to other land uses. Cultivated land conversion had more significant negative impacts on land production than land productivity did. Land production decreased by about 6.48 × 10 6 t caused by cultivated land conversion between 1985 and 2005, accounting for 91.9% of the total land production reduction. Although the land productivity increased in Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, it can not offset the overall adverse effects caused by cultivated land conversion. Therefore, there are significant meanings to control the cultivated land conversion and improve the land productivity for ensuring the land production in the North China Plain.

Hydrochemistry and Sr isotope compositions were measured in water samples collected during high- and low-water periods from the main stream and tributaries of the Xijiang River Basin in southern China. The primary weathering end-members were analyzed and calculated using the multi-model combination and classic hydrogeochemical method. During the high-water period, structural factors were found to be the main factors controlling chemical weathering in the basin, whereas anthropogenic activity and other random factors had a negligible influence. During the low-water period, both structural and random factors controlled chemical weathering. Through path-model and semi-variance analyses, we determined and quantified the relationship between the main weathering sources, whose results were stable; this is consistent with the inversion model. The total dissolved substances were mainly derived from carbonate weathering, which was approximately 76% (0–96%) while silicate weathering accounted for only 14% (5–19%). The inversion model results showed that the optimum silicate weathering rate was 7.264–35.551 × 103 mol/km2/year, where carbonic acid was the main factor that induces weathering. The CO2 flux consumed by rock weathering in the basin during the study period was 150.69 × 109 mol/year, while the CO2 flux consumed by carbonic acid weathering of carbonate (CCW) and silicate rocks (CSW) was 144.47 and 29.45 × 109 mol/year, respectively. The CO2 flux produced by H2SO4 weathered carbonate (SCW) was 23.23 × 109 mol/year.