As the largest inland river basin of China,the Tarim River Basin(TRB),known for its various natural resources and fragile environment,has an increased risk of ecological crisis due to the intensive exploitation and ut...As the largest inland river basin of China,the Tarim River Basin(TRB),known for its various natural resources and fragile environment,has an increased risk of ecological crisis due to the intensive exploitation and utilization of water and land resources.Since the Ecological Water Diversion Project(EWDP),which was implemented in 2001 to save endangered desert vegetation,there has been growing evidence of ecological improvement in local regions,but few studies have performed a comprehensive ecological vulnerability assessment of the whole TRB.This study established an evaluation framework integrating the analytic hierarchy process(AHP)and entropy method to estimate the ecological vulnerability of the TRB covering climatic,ecological,and socioeconomic indicators during 2000-2017.Based on the geographical detector model,the importance of ten driving factors on the spatial-temporal variations of ecological vulnerability was explored.The results showed that the ecosystem of the TRB was fragile,with more than half of the area(57.27%)dominated by very heavy and heavy grades of ecological vulnerability,and 28.40%of the area had potential and light grades of ecological vulnerability.The light grade of ecological vulnerability was distributed in the northern regions(Aksu River and Weigan River catchments)and western regions(Kashgar River and Yarkant River catchments),while the heavy grade was located in the southern regions(Kunlun Mountains and Qarqan River catchments)and the Mainstream catchment.The ecosystems in the western and northern regions were less vulnerable than those in the southern and eastern regions.From 2000 to 2017,the overall improvement in ecological vulnerability in the whole TRB showed that the areas with great ecological improvement increased by 46.11%,while the areas with ecological degradation decreased by 9.64%.The vegetation cover and potential evapotranspiration(PET)were the obvious driving factors,explaining 57.56% and 21.55%of the changes in ecological vulnerability across the TRB,respectively.In terms of ecological vulnerability grade changes,obvious spatial differences were observed in the upper,middle,and lower reaches of the TRB due to the different vegetation and hydrothermal conditions.The alpine source region of the TRB showed obvious ecological improvement due to increased precipitation and temperature,but the alpine meadow of the Kaidu River catchment in the Middle Tianshan Mountains experienced degradation associated with overgrazing and local drought.The improved agricultural management technologies had positive effects on farmland ecological improvement,while the desert vegetation in oasis-desert ecotones showed a decreasing trend as a result of cropland reclamation and intensive drought.The desert riparian vegetation in the lower reaches of the Tarim River was greatly improved due to the implementation of the EWDP,which has been active for tens of years.These results provide comprehensive knowledge about ecological processes and mechanisms in the whole TRB and help to develop environmental restoration measures based on different ecological vulnerability grades in each sub-catchment.展开更多
The status of regional biodiversity is determined by habitat quality.The effective assessment of habitat quality can help balance the relationship between economic development and biodiversity conservation.Therefore,t...The status of regional biodiversity is determined by habitat quality.The effective assessment of habitat quality can help balance the relationship between economic development and biodiversity conservation.Therefore,this study used the InVEST model to conduct a dynamic evaluation of the spatial and temporal changes in habitat quality of the Tarim River Basin in southern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China by calc ulating the degradation degree levels for habitat types that were caused by threat factors from 1990 to 2018(represented by four periods of 1990,2000,2010 and 2018).Specifically,we used spatial autocorrelation analysis and Getis-Ord Gi*analysis to divide the study area into three heterogeneous units in terms of habitat quality:cold spot areas,hot spot areas and random areas.Hemeroby index,population density,gross domestic product(GDP),altitude and distance from water source(DWS)were then chosen as the main disturbance factors.Linear correlation and spatial regression models were subsequently used to analyze the influences of disturbance factors on habitat quality.The results demonstrated that the overall level of habitat quality in the TRB was poor,showing a continuous degradation state.The intensity of the negative correlation between habitat quality and Hemeroby index was proven to be strongest in cold spot areas,hot spot areas and random areas.The spatial lag model(SLM)was better suited to spatial regression analysis due to the spatial dependence of habitat quality and disturbance factors in heterogeneous units.By analyzing the model,Hemeroby index was found to have the greatest impact on habitat quality in the studied four periods(1990,2000,2010 and2018).The research results have potential guiding significance for the formulation of reasonable management policies in the TRB as well as other river basins in arid areas.展开更多
Background:Tree mortality and regeneration(seedling and sapling recruitment)are essential components of forest dynamics in arid regions,especially where subjected to serious eco-hydrological problems.In recent decades...Background:Tree mortality and regeneration(seedling and sapling recruitment)are essential components of forest dynamics in arid regions,especially where subjected to serious eco-hydrological problems.In recent decades,the mortality of the Euphrates poplar(Populus euphratica)along the Tarim River in Northwest China has increased.However,few studies have quantified the causes of mortality and regeneration in this azonal riparian forest type.Methods:The present study describes the annual hydrological response of tree mortality and regeneration in forest gaps.A total of 60 canopy gaps were investigated in six replicate grid plots(50m×50 m)and the annual runoff and water consumption data during the period of 1955–2016 were collected from hydrological stations in the middle reaches of the Tarim River.We compared the regeneration density of seedlings and saplings within the canopy gap areas(CGAs),undercanopy areas(UCAs),and uncovered riverbank areas(RBAs)through detailed field investigation.Results:Our study found that the mortality of young and middle-aged gap makers has increased remarkably over recent decades,particularly since the year 1996.The main results indicated that regional water scarcity was the primary limiting factor for long-term changes in tree mortality,as shown by a significant correlation between the diameter at breast height(DBH)of dead trees and the annual surface water.The average density(or regeneration rate)of seedlings and saplings was highest in the RBAs,intermediate in the CGAs,and lowest in the UCAs.Compared with the UCAs,the CGAs promote tree regeneration to some extent by providing favorable conditions for the survival and growth of seedlings and saplings,which would otherwise be suppressed in the understory.Furthermore,although the density of seedlings and saplings in the CGAs was not as high as in the RBAs,the survival rate was higher in the CGAs than in the RBAs.Conclusion:Forest canopy gaps in floodplain areas can play a decisive role in the long-term germination and regeneration of plant species.However,as a typical phreatophyte in this hyper-arid region,the ecosystem structure,functions and services of this fragile P.euphratica floodplain forests are threatened by a continuous decrease of water resources,due to excessive water use for agricultural irrigation,which has resulted in a severe reduction of intact poplar forests.Furthermore,the survival of seedlings and saplings is influenced by light availability and soil water at the regional scale.Our findings suggest that policymakers may need to reconsider the restoration and regeneration measures implemented in riparian P.euphratica forests to improve flood water efficiency and create canopy gaps.Our results provide with valuable reference information for the conservation and sustainable development of floodplain forest ecosystems.展开更多
Vegetation growth status is an important indicator of ecological security.The Tarim River Basin is located in the inland arid region of Northwest China and has a highly fragile ecological environment.Assessing the veg...Vegetation growth status is an important indicator of ecological security.The Tarim River Basin is located in the inland arid region of Northwest China and has a highly fragile ecological environment.Assessing the vegetation net primary productivity(NPP)of the Tarim River Basin can provide insights into the vegetation growth variations in the region.Therefore,based on the Google Earth Engine(GEE)cloud platform,we studied the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin(except for the eastern Gobi and Kumutag deserts)from 2001 to 2020 and analyzed the correlations between vegetation NPP and meteorological factors(air temperature and precipitation)using the Sen slope estimation method,coefficient of variation,and rescaled range analysis method.In terms of temporal characteristics,vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin showed an overall fluctuating upward trend from 2001 to 2020,with the smallest value of 118.99 g C/(m2•a)in 2001 and the largest value of 155.07 g C/(m2•a)in 2017.Regarding the spatial characteristics,vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin showed a downward trend from northwest to southeast along the outer edge of the study area.The annual average value of vegetation NPP was 133.35 g C/(m2•a),and the area with annual average vegetation NPP values greater than 100.00 g C/(m2•a)was 82,638.75 km2,accounting for 57.76%of the basin.The future trend of vegetation NPP was dominated by anti-continuity characteristic;the percentage of the area with anti-continuity characteristic was 63.57%.The area with a significant positive correlation between vegetation NPP and air temperature accounted for 53.74%of the regions that passed the significance test,while the area with a significant positive correlation between vegetation NPP and precipitation occupied 98.68%of the regions that passed the significance test.Hence,the effect of precipitation on vegetation NPP was greater than that of air temperature.The results of this study improve the understanding on the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin and the impact of meteorological factors on vegetation NPP.展开更多
The Tarim River is the longest inland river in China and is considered as an important river to protect the oasis economy and environment of the Tarim Basin.However,excessive exploitation and over-utilization of natur...The Tarim River is the longest inland river in China and is considered as an important river to protect the oasis economy and environment of the Tarim Basin.However,excessive exploitation and over-utilization of natural resources,particularly water resources,have triggered a series of ecological and environmental problems,such as the reduction in the volume of water in the main river,deterioration of water quality,drying up of downstream rivers,degradation of vegetation,and land desertification.In this study,the land use/land cover change(LUCC)responses to ecological water conveyance in the lower reaches of the Tarim River were investigated using ENVI(Environment for Visualizing Images)and GIS(Geographic Information System)data analysis software for the period of 1990-2018.Multi-temporal remote sensing images and ecological water conveyance data from 1990 to 2018 were used.The results indicate that LUCC covered an area of 2644.34 km^(2) during this period,accounting for 15.79%of the total study area.From 1990 to 2018,wetland,farmland,forestland,and artificial surfaces increased by 533.42 km^(2)(216.77%),446.68 km^(2)(123.66%),284.55 km^(2)(5.67%),and 57.51 km^(2)(217.96%),respectively,whereas areas covered by grassland and other land use/land cover types,such as Gobi,bare soil,and deserts,decreased by 103.34 km2(14.31%)and 1218.83 km2(11.75%),respectively.Vegetation area decreased first and then increased,with the order of 2010<2000<1990<2018.LUCC in the overflow and stagnant areas in the lower reaches of the Tarim River was mainly characterized by fragmentation,irregularity,and complexity.By analyzing the LUCC responses to 19 rounds of ecological water conveyance in the lower reaches of the Tarim River from 2000 to the end of 2018,we proposed guidelines for the rational development and utilization of water and soil resources and formulation of strategies for the sustainable development of the lower reaches of the Tarim River.This study provides scientific guidance for optimal scheduling of water resources in the region.展开更多
The tree ring is an important carrier of the evolution of climate in the study of global change.It enjoys advantages of accurate dating,strong continuity,high resolution ratio and high reconstruction precision.This pa...The tree ring is an important carrier of the evolution of climate in the study of global change.It enjoys advantages of accurate dating,strong continuity,high resolution ratio and high reconstruction precision.This paper tested the changes of Populus euphratica tree ring and the runoff in the upper and middle reaches of the Tarim River through the monotonic trend and analyzed the response of the tree ring in the lower reaches of the Tarim River to the water supply through the combined tree ring data and the historical literature,so as to confirm the accuracy of the response of Populus euphratica tree ring to river diversion.The results were included as follows.(1)From 1957 to 2010,the radial growth of Populus euphratica in the upper and middle reaches of the Tarim River decreased gradually in the time series,which was the same as the runoff.The downtrend was significant,and|Zc|was more than 0.96.(2)From1913 to 2000,the radial growth of Populus euphratica as a whole in the lower reaches of the Tarim River decreased.The downtrend was significant between 1973 and 2001,reaching the lowest level in the past 100years.The formation and diversion of the Layi River was as described in the historical literature.(3)The development of the ecological water delivery project has improved the ecological environment of the lower reaches,which has been verified from the Populus euphratica tree ring in the lower reaches.However,despite the ecological water delivery project in recent years,the growth of Populus euphratica tree ring has not reached to the level before 1920,indicating that the existing ecological water delivery is of limited value in recovering desert riparian forest.(4)In the analysis of the response of the Populus euphratica to the water resources,the wavelet analysis method and the historical literature review method have drawn the same conclusion.展开更多
This paper explores the method of comprehensive evaluation of water resources carrying capacity and sets up an evaluation model applying the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. Based on the data of nature,society,e...This paper explores the method of comprehensive evaluation of water resources carrying capacity and sets up an evaluation model applying the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. Based on the data of nature,society,economics and water resources of the Tarim River Basin in 2002,we evaluated the water resources carrying capacity of the basin by means of the model. The results show that the comprehensive grades are 0.438 and 0.454 for Aksu and Kashi prefectures respectively,where the current water resources exploitation and utilization has reached a relative high degree and there is only a very limited water carrying capacity,0.620 for Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture,where water resources carrying capacity is much higher,and in between for Hotan Prefecture and Bayingolin Mongo-lian Autonomous Prefecture. As a whole,the comprehensive grade of the Tarim River Basin is 0.508 and the current water resources exploitation and utilization has reached a relative high degree. Thus,we suggest that the integrated management of the water resources in the basin should be strengthened in order to utilize water resources scientifically and sustainably.展开更多
Based on the time series data from the Aral hydrological station for the period of 1958-2005,the paper re-veals the long-term trend and fractal of the annual runoff process in the mainstream of the Tarim River by usin...Based on the time series data from the Aral hydrological station for the period of 1958-2005,the paper re-veals the long-term trend and fractal of the annual runoff process in the mainstream of the Tarim River by using the wavelet analysis method and the fractal theory.The main conclusions are as follows:1)From a large time scale point of view,i.e.the time scale of 16(24)years,the annual runoff basically shows a slightly decreasing trend as a whole from 1958 to 2005.If the time scale is reduced to 8(23)or 4(22)years,the annual runoff still displays the basic trend as the large time scale,but it has fluctuated more obviously during the period.2)The correlation dimension for the annual runoff process is 3.4307,non-integral,which indicates that the process has both fractal and chaotic characteris-tics.The correlation dimension is above 3,which means that at least four independent variables are needed to describe the dynamics of the annual runoff process.3)The Hurst exponent for the first period(1958-1973)is 0.5036,which equals 0.5 approximately and indicates that the annual runoff process is in chaos.The Hurst exponents for the second(1974-1989)and third(1990-2005)periods are both greater than 0.50,which indicate that the annual runoff process showed a long-enduring characteristic in the two periods.The Hurst exponent for the period from 1990 to 2005 indi-cates that the annual runoff will show a slightly increasing trend in the 16 years after 2005.展开更多
To investigate the relationships between the degradation of plant community and groundwater level in the lower reaches of the Tarim River, nine monitored sections were set along the main stream, where there had been n...To investigate the relationships between the degradation of plant community and groundwater level in the lower reaches of the Tarim River, nine monitored sections were set along the main stream, where there had been no runoff for nearly 30 years. The characteristics of plant communities were analyzed. It was found that the coverage of trees gradually decreased along the groundwater depth gradient, while the coverage of shrubs slightly increased rather than decreased at first and then gradually decreased, and the coverage of herbs steadily decreased at the beginning and then quickly decreased. The species diversity and species richness of both herbs and woody plants showed obvious degrading trends, while the variations in species evenness were slight. The degrading sequences of species were related to their physiological and ecological characteristics, especially their sensitivity to changes of groundwater table. The herbs with shallow roots first degenerated or disappeared when the groundwater table fell, and then did the deep-rooted herbs, and finally the trees and shrubs with strong tolerance to drought degenerated. The Populus euphratica communities showed typical degrading characteristics, namely the dominant species Populus euphratica remained its dominant status during the degradation. Overall, the existence of strongly tolerant-drought species was the obvious indication of plant species degradation; while simplification of community structure and the decrease of species richness were the obvious indication of plant community degradation.展开更多
Using wavelet analysis,regression analysis and the Mann-Kendall test,this paper analyzed time-series(1959-2006) weather data from 23 meteorological stations in an attempt to characterize the climate change in the Tari...Using wavelet analysis,regression analysis and the Mann-Kendall test,this paper analyzed time-series(1959-2006) weather data from 23 meteorological stations in an attempt to characterize the climate change in the Tarim River Basin of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,China.Major findings are as follows:1) In the 48-year study period,average annual temperature,annual precipitation and average annual relative humidity all presented nonlinear trends.2) At the 16-year time scale,all three climate indices unanimously showed a rather flat before 1964 and a detectable pickup thereafter.At the 8-year time scale,an S-shaped nonlinear and uprising trend was revealed with slight fluctuations in the entire process for all three indices.Incidentally,they all showed similar pattern of a slight increase before 1980 and a noticeable up-swing afterwards.The 4-year time scale provided a highly fluctuating pattern of periodical oscillations and spiral increases.3) Average annual relative humidity presented a negative correlation with average annual temperature and a positive correlation with annual precipitation at each time scale,which revealed a close dynamic relationship among them at the confidence level of 0.001.4) The Mann-Kendall test at the 0.05 confidence level demonstrated that the climate warming trend,as represented by the rising average annual temperature,was remarkable,but the climate wetting trend,as indicated by the rising annual precipitation and average annual relative humidity,was not obvious.展开更多
The relationship between climate change and water resources in the Tarim River was analyzed by combining the temperature,precipitation and streamflow data from 1957 to 2007 from the four headstreams of the Tarim River...The relationship between climate change and water resources in the Tarim River was analyzed by combining the temperature,precipitation and streamflow data from 1957 to 2007 from the four headstreams of the Tarim River (Aksu,Hotan,Yarkant and Kaidu rivers) in the study area.The long-term trend of the hydrological time series including temperature,precipitation and streamflow were studied using correlation analysis and partial correlations analysis.Holt double exponential smoothing was used to fit the trends between streamflow and the two climatic factors of Aksu River,Hotan River and Yarkant River.The streamflow of the main stream was forecasted by Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Model (ARIMA) modeling by the method of time series analysis.The results show that the temperature experienced a trend of monotonic rising.The precipitation and runoff of the four headstreams of the Tarim River increased,while the inflow to the headstreams increased and the inflow into the Tarim River decreased.Changes of temperature and precipitation had a significant impact on runoff into the four headstreams of the Tarim River: the precipitation had a positive impact on water flow in the Aksu River,Hotan River and Kaidu River,while the temperature had a positive impact on water flow in the Yarkant River.The results of Holt double exponential smoothing showed that the correlation between the independent variable and dependent variable was relatively close after the model was fitted to the headstreams,of which only the runoff and temperature values of Hotan River showed a significant negative correlation.The forecasts by the ARIMA model for 50 years of annual runoff at the Allar station followed the pattern of the measured data for the same years.The short-term forecasts beyond the observed series adequately captured the pattern in the data and showed a decreasing tendency in the Tarim River flow of 3.07% every ten years.The results showed that global warming accelerated the water recharge process of the headstreams.The special hydrological characteristics of the arid area determined the significant association between streamflow and the two climatic factors studied.Strong glacier retreat is likely to bring a series of flood disasters within the study area.展开更多
Understanding stand structure and height-diameter relationship of trees provides very useful information to establish appropriate countermeasures for sustainable management of endangered forests. Populus euphratica, a...Understanding stand structure and height-diameter relationship of trees provides very useful information to establish appropriate countermeasures for sustainable management of endangered forests. Populus euphratica, a dominant tree species along the Tarim River watershed, plays an irreplaceable role in the sustainable development of regional ecology, economy and society. However, as the result of climate changes and human activities, the natural riparian ecosystems within the whole river basin were degraded enormously, particularly in the lower reaches of the river where about 320 km of the riparian forests were either highly degraded or dead. In this study, we presented one of the main criteria for the assessment of vitality of P. euphratica forests by estimating the defoliation level, and analyzed forest structure and determined the height-diameter(height means the height of a tree and diameter means the diameter at breast height(DBH) of a tree) relationship of trees in different vitality classes(i.e. healthy, good, medium, senesced, dying, dead and fallen). Trees classified as healthy and good accounted for approximately 40% of all sample trees, while slightly and highly degraded trees took up nearly 60% of total sample trees. The values of TH(tree height) and DBH ranged from 0–19 m and 0–125 cm, respectively. Trees more than 15 m in TH and 60 cm in DBH appeared sporadically. Trees in different vitality classes had different distribution patterns. Healthy trees were mainly composed more of relatively younger trees than of degraded tress. The height-diameter relationships differed greatly among tress in different vitality classes, with the coefficients ranging from 0.1653 to 0.6942. Correlation coefficients of TH and DBH in healthy and good trees were higher than those in trees of other vitality classes. The correlation between TH and DBH decreased with the decline of tree vitality. Our results suggested that it might be able to differentiate degraded P. euphratica trees from healthy trees by determining the height-diameter correlation coefficient, and the coefficient would be a new parameter for detecting degradation and assessing sustainable management of floodplain forests in arid regions. In addition, tree vitality should be taken into account to make an accurate height-diameter model for tree height prediction.展开更多
The Tarim River Basin, located in the typical arid region, is one of the key regions of LUCC research in China and plays an important role in maintaining the sustainable development of the western China. In recent yea...The Tarim River Basin, located in the typical arid region, is one of the key regions of LUCC research in China and plays an important role in maintaining the sustainable development of the western China. In recent years,the ecological environment of the Tarim River Basin has degraded greatly. In the lower reaches, in particular, the riverbed has been dried up for more than 20 years, which accelerated the desertification and has been a great threat to people′s lives. Taking the section of the Tarim River between Qiala Lake and Taitema Lake as a typical region, an investigation on land cover changes was carried out with the support of remote sensing information of 1988 and 2000 respectively. The changes of land cover in this region were obtained: 1) Cropland tended to increase. 2) Urban or Built-up Area in 2000 was 324.4ha more than that in 1988. 3) Waters expanded by 3476.51ha. 4) Woodland and Grassland decreased, while Barren Land increased by 3824.9ha. The total amount of land use/land cover change between 1988 and 2000 is small,which is only 0.355% of the total area. It shows that the developmental pace of the lower reaches of the Tarim River is relative slow. Based on these results, the authors assessed the landscape dynamics of this region and pointed out that the degree of desertification was strengthened and the landscape dominated by sand land was further characterized by salt desert.展开更多
This paper examines spatio-temporal characteristics of an oasis economy and its relationship with water and mineral resources in the Tarim River Basin from 1965 to 2005. A spatial autocorrelation model, the center of ...This paper examines spatio-temporal characteristics of an oasis economy and its relationship with water and mineral resources in the Tarim River Basin from 1965 to 2005. A spatial autocorrelation model, the center of gravity model, and index system of the regional central city are used to probe the evolution laws of spatial structure of oasis economy. The study finds that: 1) The economic centre of gravity, whose variation track during this period follows linear rate law, was moving from headstream to middle reaches of the Tarim River. 2) Positive spatial autocorrelation which showed a waving and ascending trend of regional economy was significant and the neighbor effect of regional economic growth was strengthened continuously. 3) The regional economic centre was located in Hotan City before 1980, moved to Aksu City during the 1980s and to Korla City after 1990. We conclude that above all, during the recent four decades the evolution of the oasis economy in this region has gone through three stages: a traditional agriculture stage (before 1980), oasis agriculture and agricultural product processing stage (1980–1990) and oasis energy industry stage (after 1990). Furthermore, the dependence degree of the oasis economy on natural resources in different stages are studied by using dominance index, regression model, and grey relation method, which shows that an oasis econ- omy highly depends on water resources in the oasis agriculture and agricultural product processing stage while it de- pends more on mineral resources such as oil and natural gas during the oasis energy industry stage.展开更多
Since 2000, the Chinese government has implemented emergency water diversion measures to restore the damaged riparian forest ecosystem with dominant tree species Euphrat poplar(Populus euphratica Oliv.)at the lower re...Since 2000, the Chinese government has implemented emergency water diversion measures to restore the damaged riparian forest ecosystem with dominant tree species Euphrat poplar(Populus euphratica Oliv.)at the lower reaches of the Tarim River. In the present study, comparative analysis of variations in the vitality of P. euphratica trees were made using 2005 and 2010 data to illustrate the revitalization process of riparian forest. Poplar trees within 300 m of the riverbed were positively revitalized, while the vitality of trees farther than 300 m from the river decreased. Population structure was studied to demonstrate the development of poplar community. In the first belt, the class structure for the diameter at breast height(DBH) of P. euphratica fit a logistic model, and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th belt curve fittings were close to a Gaussian model; in other plots they were bimodal. Cluster analysis of the composition of the DBH class of poplar trees demonstrated that those within 16–36 cm DBH were the most abundant(58.49% of total) in study area, under 16 cm of DBH were second(31.36%), and trees >40 cm DBH were the least abundant(10.15%). More than 80% of the trees were young and medium-sized, which means that the poplar forest community in the vicinity of the lower Tarim River is at a stable developmental stage. The abundance of juvenile trees of P. euphratica in the first and second measuring belts was 12.13% in 2005 and increased to 25.52% in 2010, which means that the emergency water transfer had a positive impact on the generation of young P. euphratica trees in the vicinity of the river.展开更多
Mineral resources exploitation significantly affects the spatial structure and evolutive trend of urbanization in arid areas.In this study,the spatial autocorrelation method and the spatial computation model were used...Mineral resources exploitation significantly affects the spatial structure and evolutive trend of urbanization in arid areas.In this study,the spatial autocorrelation method and the spatial computation model were used to investigate the spatial impacts of mineral resources excavation and processing on comprehensive level of urbanization in the Tarim River Basin,Xinjiang,China for the years of 2000,2006 and 2008.The results are as follows:1)There was a spatial correlation of the development of mineral resources industry and the comprehensive level of urbanization in 2006 and 2008,with the spatial concentration trend rising significantly in 2006 and decreasing in 2008.2)The patterns of local spatial concentration of mineral resources industry and of the comprehensive level of urbanization were relatively stable,and the two patterns showed signs of spatial correlationship.The higher was the degree of the concentration of mineral resources industry,the stronger was its impact on the spatial clustering of urbanization.3)In 2000, mineral resources excavation and processing had a significant positive impact on the comprehensive level of urbanization in the region but not in its adjacent regions.However,in 2008,mineral resources excavation and processing significantly raised the comprehensive level of urbanization not only in the region but also in its neighboring regions.This research demonstrates that the development of mineral resources industry can strongly affect the trends and spatial patterns of urbanization.展开更多
The method of time series is applied to analyze the variation of precipitation and temperature from 1961 to 2002 in the mountainous areas ofthe Tarim RiverBasin,as wellas water consumption in the headstream and mainst...The method of time series is applied to analyze the variation of precipitation and temperature from 1961 to 2002 in the mountainous areas ofthe Tarim RiverBasin,as wellas water consumption in the headstream and mainstream areas. Those hydrologic parameters are verified. Quantitative results indicate thatthe precipitation and temperature in the headstream areas have an increasing trend to differentextent.The increasing trend ofprecipitation islesssignificantthan thatof the temperature (!= 0.05).Runoffofthree headstreams also increases especially from 1994 to 2002. Compared with the perennialrunoff,the annualrunoffhas increased by 25.163×108 m3/a.However, inflowsofthe mainstream areashasonly increased by 0.9985×108 m3/a.So the runoffatthe different hydrologic stationsin the headstream areashasa lineardecreasing trend.Itisshown thatthe degraded trend ofeco-environmentofthe Tarim RiverBasin hardly changesin the specialwaterperiod forten consecutiveyears.Given runoffofthreeheadstreamsisaccounted in normalperiod from 1957 to 2003, the annualrunoffofthe headstream areas would be only 22.57×108 m3.Therefore,more attention should begiven to ecologicalsafety oftheTarim RiverBasin.展开更多
基金This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan of China(2017YFB0504204)the CAS Interdisciplinary Innovation Team(JCTD-2019-20)+1 种基金the Tianshan Innovation Team(2020D14016)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(U2003201).
文摘As the largest inland river basin of China,the Tarim River Basin(TRB),known for its various natural resources and fragile environment,has an increased risk of ecological crisis due to the intensive exploitation and utilization of water and land resources.Since the Ecological Water Diversion Project(EWDP),which was implemented in 2001 to save endangered desert vegetation,there has been growing evidence of ecological improvement in local regions,but few studies have performed a comprehensive ecological vulnerability assessment of the whole TRB.This study established an evaluation framework integrating the analytic hierarchy process(AHP)and entropy method to estimate the ecological vulnerability of the TRB covering climatic,ecological,and socioeconomic indicators during 2000-2017.Based on the geographical detector model,the importance of ten driving factors on the spatial-temporal variations of ecological vulnerability was explored.The results showed that the ecosystem of the TRB was fragile,with more than half of the area(57.27%)dominated by very heavy and heavy grades of ecological vulnerability,and 28.40%of the area had potential and light grades of ecological vulnerability.The light grade of ecological vulnerability was distributed in the northern regions(Aksu River and Weigan River catchments)and western regions(Kashgar River and Yarkant River catchments),while the heavy grade was located in the southern regions(Kunlun Mountains and Qarqan River catchments)and the Mainstream catchment.The ecosystems in the western and northern regions were less vulnerable than those in the southern and eastern regions.From 2000 to 2017,the overall improvement in ecological vulnerability in the whole TRB showed that the areas with great ecological improvement increased by 46.11%,while the areas with ecological degradation decreased by 9.64%.The vegetation cover and potential evapotranspiration(PET)were the obvious driving factors,explaining 57.56% and 21.55%of the changes in ecological vulnerability across the TRB,respectively.In terms of ecological vulnerability grade changes,obvious spatial differences were observed in the upper,middle,and lower reaches of the TRB due to the different vegetation and hydrothermal conditions.The alpine source region of the TRB showed obvious ecological improvement due to increased precipitation and temperature,but the alpine meadow of the Kaidu River catchment in the Middle Tianshan Mountains experienced degradation associated with overgrazing and local drought.The improved agricultural management technologies had positive effects on farmland ecological improvement,while the desert vegetation in oasis-desert ecotones showed a decreasing trend as a result of cropland reclamation and intensive drought.The desert riparian vegetation in the lower reaches of the Tarim River was greatly improved due to the implementation of the EWDP,which has been active for tens of years.These results provide comprehensive knowledge about ecological processes and mechanisms in the whole TRB and help to develop environmental restoration measures based on different ecological vulnerability grades in each sub-catchment.
基金funded by the Joint Funds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(U2003204)。
文摘The status of regional biodiversity is determined by habitat quality.The effective assessment of habitat quality can help balance the relationship between economic development and biodiversity conservation.Therefore,this study used the InVEST model to conduct a dynamic evaluation of the spatial and temporal changes in habitat quality of the Tarim River Basin in southern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China by calc ulating the degradation degree levels for habitat types that were caused by threat factors from 1990 to 2018(represented by four periods of 1990,2000,2010 and 2018).Specifically,we used spatial autocorrelation analysis and Getis-Ord Gi*analysis to divide the study area into three heterogeneous units in terms of habitat quality:cold spot areas,hot spot areas and random areas.Hemeroby index,population density,gross domestic product(GDP),altitude and distance from water source(DWS)were then chosen as the main disturbance factors.Linear correlation and spatial regression models were subsequently used to analyze the influences of disturbance factors on habitat quality.The results demonstrated that the overall level of habitat quality in the TRB was poor,showing a continuous degradation state.The intensity of the negative correlation between habitat quality and Hemeroby index was proven to be strongest in cold spot areas,hot spot areas and random areas.The spatial lag model(SLM)was better suited to spatial regression analysis due to the spatial dependence of habitat quality and disturbance factors in heterogeneous units.By analyzing the model,Hemeroby index was found to have the greatest impact on habitat quality in the studied four periods(1990,2000,2010 and2018).The research results have potential guiding significance for the formulation of reasonable management policies in the TRB as well as other river basins in arid areas.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31860134,U1703102,31700386).
文摘Background:Tree mortality and regeneration(seedling and sapling recruitment)are essential components of forest dynamics in arid regions,especially where subjected to serious eco-hydrological problems.In recent decades,the mortality of the Euphrates poplar(Populus euphratica)along the Tarim River in Northwest China has increased.However,few studies have quantified the causes of mortality and regeneration in this azonal riparian forest type.Methods:The present study describes the annual hydrological response of tree mortality and regeneration in forest gaps.A total of 60 canopy gaps were investigated in six replicate grid plots(50m×50 m)and the annual runoff and water consumption data during the period of 1955–2016 were collected from hydrological stations in the middle reaches of the Tarim River.We compared the regeneration density of seedlings and saplings within the canopy gap areas(CGAs),undercanopy areas(UCAs),and uncovered riverbank areas(RBAs)through detailed field investigation.Results:Our study found that the mortality of young and middle-aged gap makers has increased remarkably over recent decades,particularly since the year 1996.The main results indicated that regional water scarcity was the primary limiting factor for long-term changes in tree mortality,as shown by a significant correlation between the diameter at breast height(DBH)of dead trees and the annual surface water.The average density(or regeneration rate)of seedlings and saplings was highest in the RBAs,intermediate in the CGAs,and lowest in the UCAs.Compared with the UCAs,the CGAs promote tree regeneration to some extent by providing favorable conditions for the survival and growth of seedlings and saplings,which would otherwise be suppressed in the understory.Furthermore,although the density of seedlings and saplings in the CGAs was not as high as in the RBAs,the survival rate was higher in the CGAs than in the RBAs.Conclusion:Forest canopy gaps in floodplain areas can play a decisive role in the long-term germination and regeneration of plant species.However,as a typical phreatophyte in this hyper-arid region,the ecosystem structure,functions and services of this fragile P.euphratica floodplain forests are threatened by a continuous decrease of water resources,due to excessive water use for agricultural irrigation,which has resulted in a severe reduction of intact poplar forests.Furthermore,the survival of seedlings and saplings is influenced by light availability and soil water at the regional scale.Our findings suggest that policymakers may need to reconsider the restoration and regeneration measures implemented in riparian P.euphratica forests to improve flood water efficiency and create canopy gaps.Our results provide with valuable reference information for the conservation and sustainable development of floodplain forest ecosystems.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42161049,41761019,41061052)the Special Project for Talent Development in the Western Region(201408655089).
文摘Vegetation growth status is an important indicator of ecological security.The Tarim River Basin is located in the inland arid region of Northwest China and has a highly fragile ecological environment.Assessing the vegetation net primary productivity(NPP)of the Tarim River Basin can provide insights into the vegetation growth variations in the region.Therefore,based on the Google Earth Engine(GEE)cloud platform,we studied the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin(except for the eastern Gobi and Kumutag deserts)from 2001 to 2020 and analyzed the correlations between vegetation NPP and meteorological factors(air temperature and precipitation)using the Sen slope estimation method,coefficient of variation,and rescaled range analysis method.In terms of temporal characteristics,vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin showed an overall fluctuating upward trend from 2001 to 2020,with the smallest value of 118.99 g C/(m2•a)in 2001 and the largest value of 155.07 g C/(m2•a)in 2017.Regarding the spatial characteristics,vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin showed a downward trend from northwest to southeast along the outer edge of the study area.The annual average value of vegetation NPP was 133.35 g C/(m2•a),and the area with annual average vegetation NPP values greater than 100.00 g C/(m2•a)was 82,638.75 km2,accounting for 57.76%of the basin.The future trend of vegetation NPP was dominated by anti-continuity characteristic;the percentage of the area with anti-continuity characteristic was 63.57%.The area with a significant positive correlation between vegetation NPP and air temperature accounted for 53.74%of the regions that passed the significance test,while the area with a significant positive correlation between vegetation NPP and precipitation occupied 98.68%of the regions that passed the significance test.Hence,the effect of precipitation on vegetation NPP was greater than that of air temperature.The results of this study improve the understanding on the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin and the impact of meteorological factors on vegetation NPP.
基金This study was supported by the Key Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China-Xinjiang Joint Fund(U1803241)the Key Project of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Talent Special Plan-Tianshan Outstanding Youth(2019Q033)+1 种基金the West Light Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(2017-XBQNXZ-B-019)the Science and Technology Plan Major Projects of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,China(2021A03001-3).
文摘The Tarim River is the longest inland river in China and is considered as an important river to protect the oasis economy and environment of the Tarim Basin.However,excessive exploitation and over-utilization of natural resources,particularly water resources,have triggered a series of ecological and environmental problems,such as the reduction in the volume of water in the main river,deterioration of water quality,drying up of downstream rivers,degradation of vegetation,and land desertification.In this study,the land use/land cover change(LUCC)responses to ecological water conveyance in the lower reaches of the Tarim River were investigated using ENVI(Environment for Visualizing Images)and GIS(Geographic Information System)data analysis software for the period of 1990-2018.Multi-temporal remote sensing images and ecological water conveyance data from 1990 to 2018 were used.The results indicate that LUCC covered an area of 2644.34 km^(2) during this period,accounting for 15.79%of the total study area.From 1990 to 2018,wetland,farmland,forestland,and artificial surfaces increased by 533.42 km^(2)(216.77%),446.68 km^(2)(123.66%),284.55 km^(2)(5.67%),and 57.51 km^(2)(217.96%),respectively,whereas areas covered by grassland and other land use/land cover types,such as Gobi,bare soil,and deserts,decreased by 103.34 km2(14.31%)and 1218.83 km2(11.75%),respectively.Vegetation area decreased first and then increased,with the order of 2010<2000<1990<2018.LUCC in the overflow and stagnant areas in the lower reaches of the Tarim River was mainly characterized by fragmentation,irregularity,and complexity.By analyzing the LUCC responses to 19 rounds of ecological water conveyance in the lower reaches of the Tarim River from 2000 to the end of 2018,we proposed guidelines for the rational development and utilization of water and soil resources and formulation of strategies for the sustainable development of the lower reaches of the Tarim River.This study provides scientific guidance for optimal scheduling of water resources in the region.
基金Sponsored by National Natural Science Foundation of China(31400466,31370551,41471099)Main Service Project of Characteristic Research Institutes of Chinese Academy of Sciences(TSS-2015-014-FW-2-2)Special Project in Public Welfare Industry of the Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China(201501060)
文摘The tree ring is an important carrier of the evolution of climate in the study of global change.It enjoys advantages of accurate dating,strong continuity,high resolution ratio and high reconstruction precision.This paper tested the changes of Populus euphratica tree ring and the runoff in the upper and middle reaches of the Tarim River through the monotonic trend and analyzed the response of the tree ring in the lower reaches of the Tarim River to the water supply through the combined tree ring data and the historical literature,so as to confirm the accuracy of the response of Populus euphratica tree ring to river diversion.The results were included as follows.(1)From 1957 to 2010,the radial growth of Populus euphratica in the upper and middle reaches of the Tarim River decreased gradually in the time series,which was the same as the runoff.The downtrend was significant,and|Zc|was more than 0.96.(2)From1913 to 2000,the radial growth of Populus euphratica as a whole in the lower reaches of the Tarim River decreased.The downtrend was significant between 1973 and 2001,reaching the lowest level in the past 100years.The formation and diversion of the Layi River was as described in the historical literature.(3)The development of the ecological water delivery project has improved the ecological environment of the lower reaches,which has been verified from the Populus euphratica tree ring in the lower reaches.However,despite the ecological water delivery project in recent years,the growth of Populus euphratica tree ring has not reached to the level before 1920,indicating that the existing ecological water delivery is of limited value in recovering desert riparian forest.(4)In the analysis of the response of the Populus euphratica to the water resources,the wavelet analysis method and the historical literature review method have drawn the same conclusion.
基金Project supported by the Pilot Project of Knowledge Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX2-YW-127) the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 90502004, 40671014).
基金Under the auspices of Knowledge Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX2-YW-127)National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40671014, 90502007)
文摘This paper explores the method of comprehensive evaluation of water resources carrying capacity and sets up an evaluation model applying the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. Based on the data of nature,society,economics and water resources of the Tarim River Basin in 2002,we evaluated the water resources carrying capacity of the basin by means of the model. The results show that the comprehensive grades are 0.438 and 0.454 for Aksu and Kashi prefectures respectively,where the current water resources exploitation and utilization has reached a relative high degree and there is only a very limited water carrying capacity,0.620 for Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture,where water resources carrying capacity is much higher,and in between for Hotan Prefecture and Bayingolin Mongo-lian Autonomous Prefecture. As a whole,the comprehensive grade of the Tarim River Basin is 0.508 and the current water resources exploitation and utilization has reached a relative high degree. Thus,we suggest that the integrated management of the water resources in the basin should be strengthened in order to utilize water resources scientifically and sustainably.
基金Under the auspices of the Second-stage Knowledge Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX2-XB2-03)Major Direction of Knowledge Innovation Progromt of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX2-YW-127)Shanghai Academic Discipline Project (Human Geography) (No. B410)
文摘Based on the time series data from the Aral hydrological station for the period of 1958-2005,the paper re-veals the long-term trend and fractal of the annual runoff process in the mainstream of the Tarim River by using the wavelet analysis method and the fractal theory.The main conclusions are as follows:1)From a large time scale point of view,i.e.the time scale of 16(24)years,the annual runoff basically shows a slightly decreasing trend as a whole from 1958 to 2005.If the time scale is reduced to 8(23)or 4(22)years,the annual runoff still displays the basic trend as the large time scale,but it has fluctuated more obviously during the period.2)The correlation dimension for the annual runoff process is 3.4307,non-integral,which indicates that the process has both fractal and chaotic characteris-tics.The correlation dimension is above 3,which means that at least four independent variables are needed to describe the dynamics of the annual runoff process.3)The Hurst exponent for the first period(1958-1973)is 0.5036,which equals 0.5 approximately and indicates that the annual runoff process is in chaos.The Hurst exponents for the second(1974-1989)and third(1990-2005)periods are both greater than 0.50,which indicate that the annual runoff process showed a long-enduring characteristic in the two periods.The Hurst exponent for the period from 1990 to 2005 indi-cates that the annual runoff will show a slightly increasing trend in the 16 years after 2005.
基金The National Basic Research Programof China(No.2004CB720201) ,the Knowledge Innovation Project of Chinese Academyof Sciences(No.KZCX1-08-03) andthe National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.90102007)
文摘To investigate the relationships between the degradation of plant community and groundwater level in the lower reaches of the Tarim River, nine monitored sections were set along the main stream, where there had been no runoff for nearly 30 years. The characteristics of plant communities were analyzed. It was found that the coverage of trees gradually decreased along the groundwater depth gradient, while the coverage of shrubs slightly increased rather than decreased at first and then gradually decreased, and the coverage of herbs steadily decreased at the beginning and then quickly decreased. The species diversity and species richness of both herbs and woody plants showed obvious degrading trends, while the variations in species evenness were slight. The degrading sequences of species were related to their physiological and ecological characteristics, especially their sensitivity to changes of groundwater table. The herbs with shallow roots first degenerated or disappeared when the groundwater table fell, and then did the deep-rooted herbs, and finally the trees and shrubs with strong tolerance to drought degenerated. The Populus euphratica communities showed typical degrading characteristics, namely the dominant species Populus euphratica remained its dominant status during the degradation. Overall, the existence of strongly tolerant-drought species was the obvious indication of plant species degradation; while simplification of community structure and the decrease of species richness were the obvious indication of plant community degradation.
基金Under the auspices of the Second-stage Knowledge Innovation Programs of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No KZCX2-XB2-03,KZCX2-YW-127)National Natural Science Foundation of China (No 40671014)Shanghai Academic Discipline Project (Human Geography) (No B410)
文摘Using wavelet analysis,regression analysis and the Mann-Kendall test,this paper analyzed time-series(1959-2006) weather data from 23 meteorological stations in an attempt to characterize the climate change in the Tarim River Basin of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,China.Major findings are as follows:1) In the 48-year study period,average annual temperature,annual precipitation and average annual relative humidity all presented nonlinear trends.2) At the 16-year time scale,all three climate indices unanimously showed a rather flat before 1964 and a detectable pickup thereafter.At the 8-year time scale,an S-shaped nonlinear and uprising trend was revealed with slight fluctuations in the entire process for all three indices.Incidentally,they all showed similar pattern of a slight increase before 1980 and a noticeable up-swing afterwards.The 4-year time scale provided a highly fluctuating pattern of periodical oscillations and spiral increases.3) Average annual relative humidity presented a negative correlation with average annual temperature and a positive correlation with annual precipitation at each time scale,which revealed a close dynamic relationship among them at the confidence level of 0.001.4) The Mann-Kendall test at the 0.05 confidence level demonstrated that the climate warming trend,as represented by the rising average annual temperature,was remarkable,but the climate wetting trend,as indicated by the rising annual precipitation and average annual relative humidity,was not obvious.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.30470329,40671036,30600092)"Xibuzhiguang"Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2010CB951003)
文摘The relationship between climate change and water resources in the Tarim River was analyzed by combining the temperature,precipitation and streamflow data from 1957 to 2007 from the four headstreams of the Tarim River (Aksu,Hotan,Yarkant and Kaidu rivers) in the study area.The long-term trend of the hydrological time series including temperature,precipitation and streamflow were studied using correlation analysis and partial correlations analysis.Holt double exponential smoothing was used to fit the trends between streamflow and the two climatic factors of Aksu River,Hotan River and Yarkant River.The streamflow of the main stream was forecasted by Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Model (ARIMA) modeling by the method of time series analysis.The results show that the temperature experienced a trend of monotonic rising.The precipitation and runoff of the four headstreams of the Tarim River increased,while the inflow to the headstreams increased and the inflow into the Tarim River decreased.Changes of temperature and precipitation had a significant impact on runoff into the four headstreams of the Tarim River: the precipitation had a positive impact on water flow in the Aksu River,Hotan River and Kaidu River,while the temperature had a positive impact on water flow in the Yarkant River.The results of Holt double exponential smoothing showed that the correlation between the independent variable and dependent variable was relatively close after the model was fitted to the headstreams,of which only the runoff and temperature values of Hotan River showed a significant negative correlation.The forecasts by the ARIMA model for 50 years of annual runoff at the Allar station followed the pattern of the measured data for the same years.The short-term forecasts beyond the observed series adequately captured the pattern in the data and showed a decreasing tendency in the Tarim River flow of 3.07% every ten years.The results showed that global warming accelerated the water recharge process of the headstreams.The special hydrological characteristics of the arid area determined the significant association between streamflow and the two climatic factors studied.Strong glacier retreat is likely to bring a series of flood disasters within the study area.
基金supported by International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China (2010DFA92720-12)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31360200)+1 种基金the German Volkswagen Foundation Eco CAR Project (Az88497)the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the framework of the Su Ma Ri O Project (01LL0918D)
文摘Understanding stand structure and height-diameter relationship of trees provides very useful information to establish appropriate countermeasures for sustainable management of endangered forests. Populus euphratica, a dominant tree species along the Tarim River watershed, plays an irreplaceable role in the sustainable development of regional ecology, economy and society. However, as the result of climate changes and human activities, the natural riparian ecosystems within the whole river basin were degraded enormously, particularly in the lower reaches of the river where about 320 km of the riparian forests were either highly degraded or dead. In this study, we presented one of the main criteria for the assessment of vitality of P. euphratica forests by estimating the defoliation level, and analyzed forest structure and determined the height-diameter(height means the height of a tree and diameter means the diameter at breast height(DBH) of a tree) relationship of trees in different vitality classes(i.e. healthy, good, medium, senesced, dying, dead and fallen). Trees classified as healthy and good accounted for approximately 40% of all sample trees, while slightly and highly degraded trees took up nearly 60% of total sample trees. The values of TH(tree height) and DBH ranged from 0–19 m and 0–125 cm, respectively. Trees more than 15 m in TH and 60 cm in DBH appeared sporadically. Trees in different vitality classes had different distribution patterns. Healthy trees were mainly composed more of relatively younger trees than of degraded tress. The height-diameter relationships differed greatly among tress in different vitality classes, with the coefficients ranging from 0.1653 to 0.6942. Correlation coefficients of TH and DBH in healthy and good trees were higher than those in trees of other vitality classes. The correlation between TH and DBH decreased with the decline of tree vitality. Our results suggested that it might be able to differentiate degraded P. euphratica trees from healthy trees by determining the height-diameter correlation coefficient, and the coefficient would be a new parameter for detecting degradation and assessing sustainable management of floodplain forests in arid regions. In addition, tree vitality should be taken into account to make an accurate height-diameter model for tree height prediction.
基金Under the auspices of Special Science Foundation for Doctoral Subject of Universities,Ministry of Education(No.20020001019)
文摘The Tarim River Basin, located in the typical arid region, is one of the key regions of LUCC research in China and plays an important role in maintaining the sustainable development of the western China. In recent years,the ecological environment of the Tarim River Basin has degraded greatly. In the lower reaches, in particular, the riverbed has been dried up for more than 20 years, which accelerated the desertification and has been a great threat to people′s lives. Taking the section of the Tarim River between Qiala Lake and Taitema Lake as a typical region, an investigation on land cover changes was carried out with the support of remote sensing information of 1988 and 2000 respectively. The changes of land cover in this region were obtained: 1) Cropland tended to increase. 2) Urban or Built-up Area in 2000 was 324.4ha more than that in 1988. 3) Waters expanded by 3476.51ha. 4) Woodland and Grassland decreased, while Barren Land increased by 3824.9ha. The total amount of land use/land cover change between 1988 and 2000 is small,which is only 0.355% of the total area. It shows that the developmental pace of the lower reaches of the Tarim River is relative slow. Based on these results, the authors assessed the landscape dynamics of this region and pointed out that the degree of desertification was strengthened and the landscape dominated by sand land was further characterized by salt desert.
基金Under the auspices of Knowledge Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX2-XB2-03-03)Western Doctor Plan of Chinese Academy of Sciences
文摘This paper examines spatio-temporal characteristics of an oasis economy and its relationship with water and mineral resources in the Tarim River Basin from 1965 to 2005. A spatial autocorrelation model, the center of gravity model, and index system of the regional central city are used to probe the evolution laws of spatial structure of oasis economy. The study finds that: 1) The economic centre of gravity, whose variation track during this period follows linear rate law, was moving from headstream to middle reaches of the Tarim River. 2) Positive spatial autocorrelation which showed a waving and ascending trend of regional economy was significant and the neighbor effect of regional economic growth was strengthened continuously. 3) The regional economic centre was located in Hotan City before 1980, moved to Aksu City during the 1980s and to Korla City after 1990. We conclude that above all, during the recent four decades the evolution of the oasis economy in this region has gone through three stages: a traditional agriculture stage (before 1980), oasis agriculture and agricultural product processing stage (1980–1990) and oasis energy industry stage (after 1990). Furthermore, the dependence degree of the oasis economy on natural resources in different stages are studied by using dominance index, regression model, and grey relation method, which shows that an oasis econ- omy highly depends on water resources in the oasis agriculture and agricultural product processing stage while it de- pends more on mineral resources such as oil and natural gas during the oasis energy industry stage.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos:31360200,31270742)the German Volkswagen Foundation within the framework of EcoCAR project(Az.:88497)
文摘Since 2000, the Chinese government has implemented emergency water diversion measures to restore the damaged riparian forest ecosystem with dominant tree species Euphrat poplar(Populus euphratica Oliv.)at the lower reaches of the Tarim River. In the present study, comparative analysis of variations in the vitality of P. euphratica trees were made using 2005 and 2010 data to illustrate the revitalization process of riparian forest. Poplar trees within 300 m of the riverbed were positively revitalized, while the vitality of trees farther than 300 m from the river decreased. Population structure was studied to demonstrate the development of poplar community. In the first belt, the class structure for the diameter at breast height(DBH) of P. euphratica fit a logistic model, and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th belt curve fittings were close to a Gaussian model; in other plots they were bimodal. Cluster analysis of the composition of the DBH class of poplar trees demonstrated that those within 16–36 cm DBH were the most abundant(58.49% of total) in study area, under 16 cm of DBH were second(31.36%), and trees >40 cm DBH were the least abundant(10.15%). More than 80% of the trees were young and medium-sized, which means that the poplar forest community in the vicinity of the lower Tarim River is at a stable developmental stage. The abundance of juvenile trees of P. euphratica in the first and second measuring belts was 12.13% in 2005 and increased to 25.52% in 2010, which means that the emergency water transfer had a positive impact on the generation of young P. euphratica trees in the vicinity of the river.
基金Under the auspices of Chinese Academy of Sciences Western Doctor Special Financial Aid(No.XBBS200812)National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.40601032)
文摘Mineral resources exploitation significantly affects the spatial structure and evolutive trend of urbanization in arid areas.In this study,the spatial autocorrelation method and the spatial computation model were used to investigate the spatial impacts of mineral resources excavation and processing on comprehensive level of urbanization in the Tarim River Basin,Xinjiang,China for the years of 2000,2006 and 2008.The results are as follows:1)There was a spatial correlation of the development of mineral resources industry and the comprehensive level of urbanization in 2006 and 2008,with the spatial concentration trend rising significantly in 2006 and decreasing in 2008.2)The patterns of local spatial concentration of mineral resources industry and of the comprehensive level of urbanization were relatively stable,and the two patterns showed signs of spatial correlationship.The higher was the degree of the concentration of mineral resources industry,the stronger was its impact on the spatial clustering of urbanization.3)In 2000, mineral resources excavation and processing had a significant positive impact on the comprehensive level of urbanization in the region but not in its adjacent regions.However,in 2008,mineral resources excavation and processing significantly raised the comprehensive level of urbanization not only in the region but also in its neighboring regions.This research demonstrates that the development of mineral resources industry can strongly affect the trends and spatial patterns of urbanization.
文摘The method of time series is applied to analyze the variation of precipitation and temperature from 1961 to 2002 in the mountainous areas ofthe Tarim RiverBasin,as wellas water consumption in the headstream and mainstream areas. Those hydrologic parameters are verified. Quantitative results indicate thatthe precipitation and temperature in the headstream areas have an increasing trend to differentextent.The increasing trend ofprecipitation islesssignificantthan thatof the temperature (!= 0.05).Runoffofthree headstreams also increases especially from 1994 to 2002. Compared with the perennialrunoff,the annualrunoffhas increased by 25.163×108 m3/a.However, inflowsofthe mainstream areashasonly increased by 0.9985×108 m3/a.So the runoffatthe different hydrologic stationsin the headstream areashasa lineardecreasing trend.Itisshown thatthe degraded trend ofeco-environmentofthe Tarim RiverBasin hardly changesin the specialwaterperiod forten consecutiveyears.Given runoffofthreeheadstreamsisaccounted in normalperiod from 1957 to 2003, the annualrunoffofthe headstream areas would be only 22.57×108 m3.Therefore,more attention should begiven to ecologicalsafety oftheTarim RiverBasin.
