Forest Management and Water Resources in the Anthropocene

Decades of research has provided a depth of understanding on the relationships among forests and water, and how these relationships change in response to climate variability, disturbance, and forest management. This understanding has facilitated a strong predictive capacity and the development of best management practices to protect water resources with active management. Despite this understanding, the rapid pace of changes in climate, disturbance regimes, invasive species, human population growth, and land use expected in the 21st century is likely to create substantial challenges for watershed management that may require new approaches, models, and best management practices. These challenges are likely to be complex and large scale, involving a combination of direct effects and indirect biophysical watershed responses, as well as socioeconomic impacts and feedbacks. We explore the complex relationships between forests and water in a rapidly changing environment, examine the trade-offs and conflicts between water and other resources, and examine new management approaches for sustaining water resources in the future

Soil Erosion and Sustainable Land Management (SLM)

This Special Issue titled “Soil Erosion and Sustainable Land Management” presents 13 chapters organized into four main parts. The first part deals with assessment of soil erosion that covers historical sediment dating to understand past environmental impacts due to tillage; laboratory simulation to clarify the effect of soil surface microtopography; integrated field observation and the random forest machine learning algorithm to assess watershed-scale soil erosion assessment; and developing the sediment delivery distributed (SEDD) model for sub-watershed erosion risk prioritization. In Part II, the factors controlling soil erosion and vegetation degradation as influenced by topographic positions and climatic regions; long-term land use change; and improper implementation of land management measures are well dealt with. Part III presents different land management technologies that could reduce soil erosion at various spatial scales; improve land productivity of marginal lands with soil microbes; and reclaim degraded farmland using dredged reservoir sediments. The final part relates livelihood diversification to climate vulnerability as well as the coping strategy to the adverse impacts of soil erosion through sustainable land management implementation which opens prospects for policy formulation. The studies cover regions of Africa, Europe, North America and Asia, being dominantly conducted under the framework of international scientific collaborations through employing a range techniques and scales, from the laboratory to watershed scales. We believe those unique features of the book could attract the interest of the wider scientific community worldwide

A spatiotemporal epidemiological investigation of the impact of environmental change on the transmission dynamics of Echinococcus spp. in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China

Background: Human echinococcoses are zoonotic parasitic diseases of major public health importance globally. According to recent estimates, the geographical distribution of echinococcosis is expanding and becoming an emerging and re-emerging problem in several regions of the world. Echinococcosis endemicity is geographically heterogeneous and might be affected by global environmental change over time. The aims of my research were: 1) to assess and quantify the spatiotemporal variation in land cover and climate change in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR); 2) to identify highly endemic areas for human echinococcoses in NHAR, and to determine the environmental covariates that have shaped the local geographical distribution of the disease; 3) to develop spatial statistical models that explain and predict the spatiotemporal variation of human exposure to Echinococcus spp. in a highly endemic county of NHAR; and 4) to analyse associations between the environment and the spatiotemporal variation of human exposure to the parasites and dog infections with Echinococcus granulosus and Echinococcus multilocularis in four echinococcosis-endemic counties of NHAR. Methods: Data on echinococcosis infections and human exposure to E. granulosus and E. multilocularis were obtained from different sources: 1) A hospital-based retrospective survey of human echinococcosis cases in NHAR between 1992 and 2013; 2) three cross-sectional surveys of school children conducted in Xiji County in 2002–2003, 2006–2007 and 2012–2013; and 3) A cross-sectional survey of human exposure and dog infections with E. granulosus and E. multilocularis conducted in Xiji, Haiyuan, Guyuan and Tongxin Counties. Environmental data were derived from high-resolution (30 m) imagery from Landsat 4/5-TM and 8-OLI and meteorological reports provided by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Image analysis techniques and a Bayesian statistical framework were used to conduct a land cover change detection analyses and to develop regression models that described and quantified climate trends and the environmental factors associated with echinococcosis risk at different spatial scales. Results: The land cover changes observed in NHAR from 1991 to 2015 concurred with the main goals of a national policy on payments for ecosystem services, implemented in the Autonomous Region, in increasing forest and herbaceous vegetation coverages and in regenerating bareland. Statistically significant positive trends were observed in annual, summer and winter temperatures in most of the region, and a small magnitude change was found in annual precipitation, in the same 25-year period. The south of NHAR was identified as a highly endemic area for cystic echinococcosis (CE; caused by E. granulosus) and alveolar echinococcosis (AE; caused by E. multilocularis). Selected environmental covariates explained most of the spatial variation in AE risk, while the risk of CE appeared to be less spatially variable at the township level. The risk of exposure to E. granulosus expanded across Xiji County from 2002–2013, while the risk of exposure to E. multilocularis became more confined in communities located in the south of this highly endemic area. In 2012–2013, the predicted seroprevalences of human exposure to E. granulosus and dog infection with this parasite were characterised by similar geographical patterns across Xiji, Haiyuan, Guyuan and Tongxin Counties. By contrast, the predicted high seroprevalence areas for human exposure and dog infection with E. multilocularis did not coincide spatially. Climate, land cover and landscape fragmentation played a key role in explaining some of the observed spatial variation in the risk of infection with Echinococcus spp. among schoolchildren and dogs in the south of NHAR at the village level. Conclusions: The findings of this research defined populations at a high risk of human exposure to E. granulosus and E. multilocularis in NHAR. The research provides evidence on the potential effects of landscape regeneration projects on the incidence of human echinococcoses due to the associations found between the infections and regenerated land. This information will be essential to track future requirements for scaling up and targeting the control strategies proposed by the National Action Plan for Echinococcosis Control in China and may facilitate the design of future ecosystem management and protection policies and a more effective response to emerging local environmental risks. The predictive models developed as part of this research can also be used to monitor echinococcosis infections and the emergence in Echinococcus spp. transmission in the most affected areas

Deserts and Desertification

A desert is an ecosystem in an arid zone in which sand dunes cover the land and sandstorms often occur. Although desert vegetation is sparse, it plays an important role in ecosystem structure and function. Desertification is one of the most severe environmental problems today. Land desertification can be controlled through many measures, such as eco-villages, eco-agriculture, biodiversity conservation, and the combination of engineering and biology. This edited volume provides new insights into the pattern of desert ecosystems and the progress of desertification control. It is a useful resource for researchers in ecology, forestry, and land desertification control

Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability-Volume 4

Anthropogenic activities are significant drivers of climate change and environmental degradation. Such activities are particularly influential in the context of the land system that is an important medium connecting earth surface, atmospheric dynamics, ecological systems, and human activities. Assessment of land use land cover changes and associated environmental, economic, and social consequences is essential to provide references for enhancing climate resilience and improving environmental sustainability. On the one hand, this book touches on various environmental topics, including soil erosion, crop yield, bioclimatic variation, carbon emission, natural vegetation dynamics, ecosystem and biodiversity degradation, and habitat quality caused by both climate change and earth surface modifications. On the other hand, it explores a series of socioeconomic facts, such as education equity, population migration, economic growth, sustainable development, and urban structure transformation, along with urbanization. The results of this book are of significance in terms of revealing the impact of land use land cover changes and generating policy recommendations for land management. More broadly, this book is important for understanding the interrelationships among life on land, good health and wellbeing, quality education, climate actions, economic growth, sustainable cities and communities, and responsible consumption and production according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We expect the book to benefit decision makers, practitioners, and researchers in different fields, such as climate governance, crop science and agricultural engineering, forest ecosystem, land management, urban planning and design, urban governance, and institutional operation.Prof. Bao-Jie He acknowledges the Project NO. 2021CDJQY-004 supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and the Project NO. 2022ZA01 supported by the State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Building Science, South China University of Technology, China. We appreciate the assistance of Mr. Lifeng Xiong, Mr. Wei Wang, Ms. Xueke Chen, and Ms. Anxian Chen at School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chongqing University, China

Experimental approach for quantifying crop water use and pollutant loading from agricultural plot

Storm water runoff is the main contributor to non-point source (NPS) pollution in agricultural land. This issue is extremely important in tropical region due to its high intensity and frequent storms. The objectives of this study were to determine the crop coefficient of two vegetable crops – bittergourd (Mormordica Charantia) and chilli (Capsicum Annuum), investigate the mechanism of NPS pollutant transport and the influence of hydrologic regime on the pollutant loading. This study was conducted at the Modern Agriculture Centre in Kluang, Johor, from August 2013 to May 2014. A total of 86 rainfall events were recorded but only 52 storms had generated measurable runoff. Samples of runoff, soil water and groundwater were collected after every rainfall event and analysed for nutrient and sediment contents. Twenty-six reference evapotranspiration (ETo) models which were classified into four different groups were employed and their performance was ranked based on eight different statistical test. Penman model provide the best result in estimating ETo while the Schendel model tended to overestimate the observed pan ET. The limited parameters used in the temperature based group causes poor performance in predicting the ETo values. Crop coefficient (Kc) curves for both crops were developed as the ratio of actual ET measured by minilysimeters to the ET values of the best model. The Kc values for the bittergourd were 0.58, 0.88 and 0.69 while for chili were 0.58, 0.95 and 0.73 for the initial, mid and end growth stages, respectively. More runoff event was observed for the bittergourd as its growing period coincided with the North-East Monsoon. The average runoff-rainfall ratio is less than one percent due to the high hydraulic conductivity of the site. The concentrations of nutrients and sediments were very high with maximum Nitrite (NO2), Nitrate (NO3), Ammoniacal-Nitrogen (NH3-N), Phosphate (PO4), Total Nitrogen (TN), Total Phosphorus (TP), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) concentrations in the runoff were 0.385, 10, 4.2, 13.7, 27, 18, 190 and 15000 mg/l respectively. However, the calculated pollutant loading were low due to the remarkably small surface runoff volume. Soil water analysis at 15 and 60 cm soil depth shows a high Phosphorus (P) element leaching to the deeper depth even though P is less mobile. Nitrate concentration showed an increasing trend compared to other nutrients with a maximum of 1.7 mg/l at the end of the study period. The calibration and validation of the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM2) were carried out to model the leaching of NO3 to the groundwater. The results of this study can be applied to formulate more reliable water management schemes based on the water requirement of the vegetable crops and providing new information for controlling NPS pollution loading from agricultural activities

The impact of onshore wind power projects on ecological corridors and landscape connectivity in Shanxi, China

The wind power industry has developed rapidly in China, but the effect of wind power projects on the ecosystem is far from being clearly understood. The objective of this study is to evaluate the negative impact of wind power plants on the ecosystem. In this research, least-cost distance and least-cost path models were employed to establish potential ecological corridors based on the resistance at the site of the wind power projects––which is located in the ecological function area in Qinyuan, South Shanxi Province, China. The landscape connectivity was evaluated using a set of connectivity indices. In addition, the impact on the corridor patency, length, and the connectivity between ecological corridors were analyzed. The results showed that the wind power projects could not only significantly increase the migration resistance that hampers the formation of ecological corridors of the species at the landscape scale, but also had an obvious cutting effect on the landscape––resulting in an increase in the length of the ecological corridors and a decrease in corridor patency and landscape connectivity. There was also a positive relationship between the increase in length and the distance between the source patches. In addition, the connectivity was enhanced with the increase in distance threshold. This study evaluated the ecological impact of onshore wind power projects at the landscape level, filling the gap in research on landscape ecology, especially in the protected area with key ecological function. Meanwhile, the results are beneficial to guide the location selection for wind power projects and minimize their negative impact on the key ecological corridors

Triennial Report: 2012-2014

Triennial Report Purpose [Page] 3 Geographical Information Science Center of Excellence [Page] 5 SDSU Faculty [Page] 6 EROS Faculty [Page] 13 Research Professors [Page] 19 Postdoctoral Fellows [Page] 24 GSE Ph.D Program [Page] 36 Ph.D. Fellowships [Page] 37 Ph.D. Students [Page] 38 Recent Ph.D. Graduates [Page] 46 Masters Students [Page] 56 Previous Ph.D. Students [Page] 58 Center Scholars Program [Page] 59 Research Staff [Page] 60 Administrative and Information Technology Staff [Page] 62 Computer Resources [Page] 66 Research Funding [Page] 67 Glancing Back, Looking Forward [Page] 68 Appendix I Alumni Faculty and Staff Appendix II Cool Faculty Research and Locations Appendix III Non-Academic Fun Things To Do Appendix IV Publications 2012-2014 Appendix V Directory Appendix VI GIScCE Birthplace Map Appendix VII How To Get To The GIScC

Water Resource Variability and Climate Change

Climate change affects global and regional water cycling, as well as surficial and subsurface water availability. These changes have increased the vulnerabilities of ecosystems and of human society. Understanding how climate change has affected water resource variability in the past and how climate change is leading to rapid changes in contemporary systems is of critical importance for sustainable development in different parts of the world. This Special Issue focuses on “Water Resource Variability and Climate Change” and aims to present a collection of articles addressing various aspects of water resource variability as well as how such variabilities are affected by changing climates. Potential topics include the reconstruction of historic moisture fluctuations, based on various proxies (such as tree rings, sediment cores, and landform features), the empirical monitoring of water variability based on field survey and remote sensing techniques, and the projection of future water cycling using numerical model simulations

The contemporary distribution of benthic foraminifera in the Pearl River estuary, southeast China, and their use in reconstructing mid‐ to late‐Holocene fluvial flux

This thesis investigates the contemporary distribution of benthic foraminifera in the Pearl River estuary, southeast China, and establishes a new proxy record of estuarine salinity and fluvial flux over the mid‐ to late‐Holocene. Seventy‐six samples from the contemporary estuary yielded 118 benthic taxa. Ammonia beccarii dominates a large proportion of the estuary, with contributions from a number of other calcareous taxa, including Haynesina sp., Elphidium spp., Quinqueloculina spp. and Rotalinoides annectens, and agglutinated taxa, for example Haplophragmoides sp. and Ammobaculites formosensis. Species distribution maps, cluster analysis and unconstrained ordination suggest a link between foraminiferal assemblages and the magnitude of fluvial influence. Constrained ordination links the faunal data to recognised environmental gradients and highlights salinity as the most important factor in controlling species distributions. Transfer function development enables quantitative estimates of palaeosalinity to be obtained from fossil faunal data. A radiocarbon dated mid‐ to late‐Holocene sediment core from the same estuary yielded 102 benthic taxa, 83 % of which were also found in contemporary samples. Ammonia beccarii and Quinqueloculina akneriana dominate fossil assemblages. In light of relative stability in mid‐ to late‐Holocene sea level along the South China coast (Zong, 2004), the long‐term increase in taxa indicative of high salinity environments is primarily interpreted in terms of declining fluvial flux. The trends in quantitative palaeosalinity reconstructions are in agreement with qualitative interpretations, however absolute salinity values are subject to large error terms. The inferred decline in fluvial flux is in accord with bulk organic carbon isotope and diatom data from the same core (Zong et al., submitted a; Yu, 2009) and with records of weakening precipitation intensity derived from terrestrial proxies (e.g. An et al., 2000; Y. Wang et al., 2005; Hu et al., 2008). Millennial‐scale variability in the East Asian monsoon, linked to precession and obliquity cycles of solar insolation, is the hypothesised cause of these trends. A number of abrupt low discharge events, postulated to reflect northern hemisphere teleconnections, punctuate the Pearl River estuary record