scholarly journals Spatial-Temporal Pattern of Human-Induced Land Degradation in Northern China in the Past 3 Decades—RESTREND Approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (13) ◽  
pp. 2258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenyi Zhuge ◽  
Yaojie Yue ◽  
Yanrui Shang
Keyword(s):  
Land Degradation ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Temporal Pattern ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Monthly Precipitation ◽  
The Past

Land degradation is one of the world’s most serious environmental issues. Human activities play an important role in it. Therefore, human-induced land degradation monitoring is of crucial scientific significance in revealing the evolution of land degradation and guiding its governance. Based on the residual trend (RESTREND) approach and using Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) 3g and monthly precipitation as data sources, a quantitative evaluation is conducted on the conditions of human-induced land degradation during 1982–2012 in northern China. The results indicate that (1) the “optimal cumulative precipitation-NDVImax” regression model constructed herein can improve the capability of recognizing human-induced land degradation of arid and semiarid areas in the RESTREND approach. Moreover, long time-series NDVI and precipitation data may reduce the uncertainty of quantifying human-induced land degradation. (2) In the past 3 decades, northern China has experienced three stages of human-induced land degradation, i.e., rapid development, overall reversal with local development, and continuous reversion. Human-induced land degradation in the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China has shown a rapid restoration trend since the 1990s. (3) It is believed that the dominant factor of land degradation has a significant spatial-temporal scale effect and spatial heterogeneity. Therefore, concrete issues should be specifically analyzed to improve our understanding of land degradation development and reversal, the spatial-temporal pattern and the driving forces of land degradation in the past 3 decades in northern China. Climate change may be the main driving force of land degradation. However, the influence of human activities on the development and reversal of land degradation in small areas and in a short time is more remarkable.

scholarly journals Human-Induced Enrichment of Potentially Toxic Elements in a Sediment Core of Lake Balkhash, the Largest Lake in Central Asia

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Huang ◽  
Long Ma ◽  
Jilili Abuduwaili ◽  
Wen Liu ◽  
Gulnura Issanova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Sediment Core ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Toxic Elements ◽  
Potentially Toxic Elements ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Past Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Lake Balkhash ◽  
The Impact

Over the past century, the impacts of human activities on the natural environment have continued to increase. Historic evolution of the environment under anthropogenic influences is an important reference for sustainable social development. Based on the geochemical analyses of a short sediment core of 49 cm from Lake Balkhash, the largest lake in Central Asia, potential factors historically influencing geochemical variation were revealed, and influences of human activity on regional environmental change were reconstructed over the past 150 years. The results showed that the dominant factor inducing changes in potentially toxic elements (V, Cr, Co, Ni, Zn, Cu, Cd, and Pb) is the physical weathering of the terrestrial materials. The variation in Ca content was influenced by the formation of authigenic carbonate. Since 1930, potentially toxic elements (Cr, Co, Ni, Zn, Cu, Cd, and Pb) in the lake sediments have obviously been affected by human activities, but the impact of human activities has not exceeded that of natural terrestrial weathering. In particular, the enrichment factors (EFs) for Cd and Pb reached 1.5. The average ecological risks of Cd were higher than the criterion of 30, suggesting a moderate risk to the local ecosystem in recent years. Total risk indices indicated moderate potential ecological risk for the lake ecology. The results will provide support for the environmental protection and better management practices of the Lake Balkhash watershed.

scholarly journals THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE OPEN SPACE EXISTENCE AND BUILDING HEIGHT ON JAKARTA’S ROADS

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Made Anggita Wahyudi Linggasani
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Method ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Open Space ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Building Construction ◽  
Border Line ◽  
The Road ◽  
The City ◽  
Day By Day

Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is indirectly experiencing rapid development in building construction. As a result, day by day Jakarta is becoming crowded by buildings and eventually forced to negate the existence of open space in one site. This condition is also experienced in Jalan Jaksa (a tourism area) and Jalan Wahid Hasyim (at the end of Jalan Jaksa). Both of these roads seem lacking in considering the existence of local development regulations that should pay attention to the rules of the building border line (GSB) and the road border line (GSJ). To find out the truth, the research will be conducted through the method of observing the city face on both roads. The analytical method used is correspondence analysis using variable height of buildings and the existence of open space in each building. Based on the results of the analysis, it was found that there are still many buildings that not applying the rules of the building border line (GSB) and the road border line (GSJ). Especially for one-story buildings that tend not to have a yard (open space area) on the front as a form of implementing the GSB / GSJ rules. Meanwhile, multi-storey buildings (2-storey, 3-storey, etc.) here in general have a yard in the front. The existence of the yard is actually important to be provided as an open space, because it can accommodate human activities and needs, such as a parking area or an assembly point when a disaster occurs.

scholarly journals Documentary Evidence of 17th Century Landcover and Climate Change in Northern China and Mongolia Compared to Modern Spectral Greening Trends

Land ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
Michael Kempf
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Degradation ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Northern China ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Vegetation Response ◽  
Climate Change Effects ◽  
The Past

Fighting land degradation of semi-arid and climate-sensitive grasslands are among the most urgent tasks of current eco-political agenda. Particularly, northern China and Mongolia are prone to climate-induced surface transformations, which were reinforced by the heavily increased numbers of livestock during the 20th century. Extensive overgrazing and resource exploitation amplified regional climate change effects and triggered intensified land degradation that forced policy-driven interventions to prevent desertification. In the past, however, the regions have been subject to continuous shifts in environmental and socio-cultural and political conditions, which makes it particularly difficult to distinguish into regional anthropogenic impact and global climate change effects. This article presents analyses of historical written sources, palaeoenvironmental data, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) temporal series from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to compare landcover change during the Little Ice Age (LIA) and current spectral greening trends over the period 2001–2020. Results show that decreasing precipitation and temperature records triggered increased land degradation during the late 17th century in the transition zone from northern China and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to Mongolia. From current climate change perspectives, modern vegetation shows enhanced physical vegetation response related to an increase in precipitation (Ptotal) and temperature (T). Vegetation response is strongly related to Ptotal and T and an increase in physical plant condition indicates local to regional grassland recovery compared to the past 20-year average.

scholarly journals Monitoring landcover change and desertification processes in northern China and Mongolia using historical written sources and vegetation indices

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Kempf
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Degradation ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Past ◽  
Landcover Change ◽  
Written Sources

Abstract. Fighting land degradation of semi-arid and climate-sensitive grasslands are among the most urgent tasks of current eco-political agenda. Northern China and Mongolia are particularly prone to surface transformations caused by heavily increased livestock numbers during the 20th century. Extensive overgrazing and resource exploitation amplify regional climate change effects and trigger intensified surface transformation, which forces policy-driven interventions to prevent desertification. In the past, the region has been subject to major shifts in environmental and socio-cultural parameters, what makes it difficult to measure the extent of the regional anthropogenic impact and global climate change. This article analyses historical written sources, palaeoenvironmental data, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) temporal series from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to compare landcover change during the Little Ice Age (LIA) and the reference period 2000–2018. Results show that decreasing precipitation and temperature records led to increased land degradation during the late 17th century. However, modern landcover data shows enhanced expansion of bare lands contrasting an increase in precipitation (Ptotal) and maximum temperature (Tmax). Vegetation response during the early growing season (March–May) and the late grazing season (September) does not relate to Ptotal and Tmax and generally low NDVI values indicate no major grassland recovery over the past 20 years.

scholarly journals Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of Vegetation NDVI Changes and the Driving Forces in Mongolia during 1982–2015

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyu Meng ◽  
Xin Gao ◽  
Shengyu Li ◽  
Jiaqiang Lei
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Gobi Desert ◽  
Vegetation Distribution ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Vegetation Growth ◽  
The Impact

As a result of the unique geographical characteristics, pastoral lifestyle, and economic conditions in Mongolia, its fragile natural ecosystems are highly sensitive to climate change and human activities. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was employed in this study as an indicator of the growth status of vegetation. The Sen’s slope, Mann–Kendall test, and geographical detector modelling methods were used to assess the spatial and temporal changes of the NDVI in response to variations in natural conditions and human activities in Mongolia from 1982 to 2015. The corresponding individual and interactive driving forces, and the optimal range for the maximum NDVI value of vegetation distribution were also quantified. The area in which vegetation was degraded was roughly equal to the area of increase, but different vegetation types behaved differently. The desert steppe and the Gobi Desert both in arid regions have degraded significantly, whereas the meadow steppe and alpine steppe showed a significant upward trend. Precipitation can satisfactorily account for vegetation distribution. Changes of livestock quantity was the dominant factor influencing the changes of most vegetation types. The interactions of topographic factors and climate factors have significant effects on vegetation growth. In the region of annual precipitation between 331 mm and 596 mm, forest vegetation type and pine sandy soil type were found to be most suitable for the growth of vegetation in Mongolia. The findings of this study can help us to understand the appropriate range or type of environmental factors affecting vegetation growth in Mongolia, based on which we can apply appropriate interventions to effectively mitigate the impact of environmental changes on vegetation.

An Integrated Development Model of TIE for Ethnic Towns in China: The Case of Pengshui

2021 ◽  
pp. 001312452110045
Author(s):  
Yu Wang ◽  
Ru-an Yang ◽  
Xiang Gao
Keyword(s):  
Driving Forces ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Development Model ◽  
Cultural Resources ◽  
Integrated Development ◽  
Ethnic Tourism ◽  
Local Resources ◽  
Development Levels

Ethnic towns in China are always special and important. Their rich natural and cultural resources and relatively poor conditions make their development different. This research constructs an integrated development model of town-industry-education (TIE) for ethnic towns in China. The case of Pengshui is presented to illustrate the details of this model. Chiyou Jiuli town, ethnic tourism industry, and Chongqing Vocational Institute of Tourism formed an integration of TIE in their development. Some closely related elements form the basis of their integration and some similar driving forces motivate the formation of their integration. Through the operating platform of Jiuli Ordered Class, their integration could benefit all the participants and contribute to local economic and social development. This model helps to make use of local resources and improve local development levels. Considering the rapid development of society, further studies are needed to apply this model to more regions and include various institutions.

The Political Economy of Local Governance in Yemen

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 45-69
Author(s):  
Benoit Challand ◽  
Joshua Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Past ◽  
Strong State ◽  
Self Help ◽  
Local Initiatives ◽  
Self Rule

This paper provides an historical exploration of local governance in Yemen across the past sixty years. It highlights the presence of a strong tradition of local self-rule, self-help, and participation “from below” as well as the presence of a rival, official, political culture upheld by central elites that celebrates centralization and the strong state. Shifts in the predominance of one or the other tendency have coincided with shifts in the political economy of the Yemeni state(s). When it favored the local, central rulers were compelled to give space to local initiatives and Yemen experienced moments of political participation and local development.

Spatiotemporal Changes of Riverbed and Surrounding Environment in Yongding River (Beijing section) in the Past 40 Years

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 40407-1-40407-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ran Pang ◽  
He Huang ◽  
Tri Dev Acharya
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Water Volume ◽  
Cropland Area ◽  
The Past ◽  
Surrounding Environment ◽  
Spatiotemporal Changes ◽  
Yongding River

Abstract Yongding River is one of the five major river systems in Beijing. It is located to the west of Beijing. It has influenced culture along its basin. The river supports both rural and urban areas. Furthermore, it influences economic development, water conservation, and the natural environment. However, during the past few decades, due to the combined effect of increasing population and economic activities, a series of changes have led to problems such as the reduction in water volume and the exposure of the riverbed. In this study, remote sensing images were used to derive land cover maps and compare spatiotemporal changes during the past 40 years. As a result, the following data were found: forest changed least; cropland area increased to a large extent; bareland area was reduced by a maximum of 63%; surface water area in the study area was lower from 1989 to 1999 because of the excessive use of water in human activities, but it increased by 92% from 2010 to 2018 as awareness about protecting the environment arose; there was a small increase in the built-up area, but this was more planned. These results reveal that water conservancy construction, agroforestry activities, and increasing urbanization have a great impact on the surrounding environment of the Yongding River (Beijing section). This study discusses in detail how the current situation can be attributed to of human activities, policies, economic development, and ecological conservation Furthermore, it suggests improvement by strengthening the governance of the riverbed and the riverside. These results and discussion can be a reference and provide decision support for the management of southwest Beijing or similar river basins in peri-urban areas.

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