scholarly journals Threatened Status Assessment of Multiple Grassland Ecosystems and Conservation Strategies in the Xilin River Basin, NE China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1084
Author(s):  
Xia Meng ◽  
Huasheng Huang ◽  
Luo Guo ◽  
Dan Wang ◽  
Rui Han ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Red List ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Leymus Chinensis ◽  
Environment Interaction ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Ecosystem Productivity ◽  
Artemisia Frigida ◽  
Boreal Ecosystem ◽  
Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator

The Red List of Ecosystems, proposed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature can determine the status of ecosystems for biodiversity conservation. In this study, we applied the Red List of Ecosystems Categories and Criteria 2.0 with its four major criteria (A, B, C, and D) to assess twelve dominant ecosystems in the Xilin River Basin, a representative grassland-dominating area in China. We employed Geographical Information Systems and remote sensing to process the obtained satellite products from the years 2000 to 2015, and generated indicators for biological processes and degradation of environment with boreal ecosystem productivity simulator. The results show that all twelve ecosystems in the Xilin River Basin confront varying threats: Artemisia frigida grassland and Festuca ovina grassland face the highest risk of collapse, sharing an endangered status; Filifolium sibiricum meadow grassland and Leymus chinensis grassland have a least concern status, while the remaining eight ecosystems display a vulnerable status. This study overcomes the limits of data deficiency by introducing the boreal ecosystem productivity simulator to simulate biological processes and the plant–environment interaction. It sheds light on further application of the Red List of Ecosystems, and bridges the research gap and promote local ecosystems conservation in China.

scholarly journals Impacts of droughts on carbon sequestration by China's terrestrial ecosystems from 2000 to 2011

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2583-2599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Liu ◽  
Y. Zhou ◽  
W. Ju ◽  
S. Wang ◽  
X. Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Ecosystem Respiration ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Northwest China ◽  
Central China ◽  
Ecosystem Productivity ◽  
Model Driven ◽  
Boreal Ecosystem ◽  
Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator

Abstract. In recent years, China's terrestrial ecosystems have experienced frequent droughts. How these droughts have affected carbon sequestration by the terrestrial ecosystems is still unclear. In this study, the process-based Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator (BEPS) model, driven by remotely sensed vegetation parameters, was employed to assess the effects of droughts on net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of terrestrial ecosystems in China from 2000 to 2011. Droughts of differing severity, as indicated by a standard precipitation index (SPI), hit terrestrial ecosystems in China extensively in 2001, 2006, 2009, and 2011. The national total annual NEP exhibited the slight decline of −11.3 Tg C yr−2 during the aforementioned years of extensive droughts. The NEP reduction ranged from 61.1 Tg C yr−1 to 168.8 Tg C yr−1. National and regional total NEP anomalies were correlated with the annual mean SPI, especially in Northwest China, North China, Central China, and Southwest China. The reductions in annual NEP in 2001 and 2011 might have been caused by a larger decrease in annual gross primary productivity (GPP) than in annual ecosystem respiration (ER). The reductions experienced in 2009 might be due to a decrease in annual GPP and an increase in annual ER, while reductions in 2006 could stem from a larger increase in ER than in GPP. The effects of droughts on NEP lagged up to 3–6 months, due to different responses of GPP and ER. In eastern China, where is humid and warm, droughts have predominant and short-term lagged influences on NEP. In western regions, cold and arid, the drought effects on NEP were relatively weaker but prone to lasting longer.

scholarly journals Impacts of droughts on carbon sequestration by China's terrestrial ecosystems from 2000 to 2011

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 17469-17509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. B. Liu ◽  
Y. L. Zhou ◽  
W. M. Ju ◽  
S. Q. Wang ◽  
X. C. Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Northwest China ◽  
Central China ◽  
Ecosystem Productivity ◽  
Model Driven ◽  
Lagged Effects ◽  
Vegetation Parameters ◽  
Boreal Ecosystem ◽  
Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator

Abstract. In recent years, droughts have frequently hit China's terrestrial ecosystems. How these droughts affected carbon sequestration by China's terrestrial ecosystems is still unclear. In this study, the process-based Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator (BEPS) model, driven by remotely sensed vegetation parameters, was employed to assess the effects of droughts on net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of terrestrial ecosystems in China for the period from 2000 to 2011. Different categories of droughts, as indicated by a standard precipitation index (SPI), extensively hit terrestrial ecosystems in China, particularly in 2001, 2006, 2009 and 2011. The national total NEP exhibited a slight decline of −11.3 Tg C yr−2 during the study period, mainly due to large reductions of NEP in typical drought-hit years 2001, 2006, 2009 and 2011, ranging from 61.1 Tg C yr−1 to 168.8 Tg C yr−1. National and regional total NEP anomalies were correlated with corresponding annual mean SPI, especially in Northwest China, North China, Central China, and Southwest China. In drought years, the reductions of NEP might be caused by a larger decrease in gross primary productivity (GPP) than in respiration (RE) (2001 and 2011), a decrease in GPP and an increase in RE (2009), or a larger increase in RE than in GPP (2006). Droughts had lagged effects of up to 3–6 months on NEP due to different reactions of GPP and RE to droughts. In east humid and warm parts of China, droughts have predominant and short-term lagged influences on NEP. In western cold and arid regions, the effects of droughts on NEP were relatively weaker and might last for a longer period of time.

scholarly journals Distribution and illegal killing of the Endangered Indian pangolin Manis crassicaudata on the Potohar Plateau, Pakistan

Oryx ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tariq Mahmood ◽  
Faraz Akrim ◽  
Nausheen Irshad ◽  
Riaz Hussain ◽  
Hira Fatima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Food Web ◽  
Geographical Information System ◽  
Iucn Red List ◽  
Red List ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Illegal Hunting ◽  
Iucn Red List Assessment ◽  
Iucn Assessment ◽  
Illegal Killing

AbstractThe Endangered Indian pangolin Manis crassicaudata, a burrowing, armoured mammal, plays an important role in the food web by consuming insects and termites. In Pakistan the species’ range includes the 22,000 km2 Potohar Plateau, where it is under pressure from illegal hunting for its scales and requires conservation attention. We used a geographical information system to quantify the range of the Indian pangolin on the Plateau and to compare this with the range estimated in the IUCN Red List assessment of the species. We found that the species occupies c. 89% of the Plateau, in eight of the 10 protected areas, compared with the IUCN estimate of 71%, and we recorded the species at 40 locations on the Plateau outside the range predicted by the IUCN assessment. We collected data on the illegal capture and killing of the species, recording 412 individuals that had been killed at 48 locations between January 2011 and the end of April 2013. The highest number of killings was recorded in Chakwal District (n = 156, at 13 sites) followed by the Attock District (n = 149, at eight sites). Although the Indian pangolin's range on the Potohar Plateau is c. 18% larger than that estimated in the IUCN assessment, the species is under pressure from illegal killing and requires urgent conservation measures to save the small remaining population and avoid the extirpation of this vital insectivorous predator from the area.

scholarly journals Assessment and distribution of water quality of Pandoh river basin (PRB), Himachal Pradesh, North India

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Prakasam ◽  
R. Saravanan ◽  
M. K. Sharma ◽  
Varinder S. Kanwar
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
North India ◽  
Total Hardness ◽  
Drainage Pattern ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Northern India

AbstractAs the surface water in northern India is the main water resource for regional economic and also supply for drinking and irrigation purposes. However, deficiency of water quality leads to serious water pollution in the Pandoh river basin (PRB). Therefore, the main objective of the present study is to evaluate the quality of surface water. With this objective, surface water samples were collected from the PRB of northern India, and analyzed for pH, EC, turbidity, alkalinity, total dissolved solids, and total hardness. Moreover, geographical information system (GIS) tools were used to prepare the geology, drainage pattern, and location maps of the study region. Surface water quality observed from the PRB has an alkaline nature with a moderately hard type. Further studies are encouraged to better understand the water quality in northern India.

scholarly journals Impact of Landscape Attributes on Surface Water in the Tiber River Basin (Central Italy)

Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Gozzi ◽  
Dakos ◽  
Trevisani ◽  
Buccianti ◽  
Graziano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Water Chemistry ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Sampling Site ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Compositional Data Analysis ◽  
Tiber River

River catchments are highly complex systems characterized by several properties such as self-organization, multi-scale variability, hydraulic and topographic gradients, patchiness and heterogeneity, resilience and a hierarchical structure. These features, coupled with several geomorphological, anthropogenic and climatic drivers, are expected to influence the surface water composition over different temporal and spatial scales. The knowledge of these complex interlinks plays a key role in both river basin management and predictability to potential pollution events. Nevertheless, due to the considerable amount of factors involved in the analysis, the unique combination of attributes characterizing each catchment and the lack of data at an adequate scale, it still remains unclear which of the environmental parameters have a major influence on the water chemistry. In this work, the hierarchy of the variability in the chemical composition of 160 water samples collected in 2017 throughout the Tiber River Basin, the largest catchment in Central Italy (17,156 km2), was explored. The results obtained by using advanced statistical methods, including the Compositional Data Analysis, highlighted different sources of variability linked to the geological (low variability) and anthropogenic origin (high variability) of the main solutes. Furthermore, for each sampling site, the corresponding watershed was calculated from the Digital Terrain Model using a Geographical Information System-based elaboration. The aim was to evaluate the relationships between the landscape morphological properties of the watersheds, such as elevation, drainage area, slope or other morphometric indexes and the physical-chemical parameters of the river waters on the basis of different geological and topographical settings of the basin. The outcomes proved to be particularly useful to discriminate between water chemistry mainly influenced by surface run-off processes and that affected by ground water circulation.

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