The Underground Chamber of the Famensi Pagoda: Its Date, Background, and Historical Significance

Entre 1997 et 1998, les archéologues chinois ont découvert, sous la pagode du temple bouddhique Famensi à Fufeng (Shaanxi), une chambre souterraine contenant des reliques sacrées et de magnifiques trésors d'art. Ces derniers sont pour la plupart des dons votifs de la famille impériale Tang qui, dès le début de la dynastie, a soutenu le culte de l'« os du Buddha » conservé au Famensi. Les trésors furent déposés dans la chambre à la fin du IXe siècle, après les persécutions anti-bouddhiques sous le règne de l'empereur Wuzong (r. 840-846). Cet article présente une analyse détaillée de l'architecture et de l'ornementation de la chambre souterraine et montre qu'elle a été construite bien plus tôt, sous le règne de l'empereur Gaozong (r. 649-683). Similaire aux tombes princières des Tang, elle constitue une innovation radicale à l'époque, dont l'impératrice Wu Zetian (r. 684-704) fut à l'origine. Cette connexion impériale explique que la chambre souterraine du Famensi ait servi par la suite de modèle à d'autres chambres de dépôt construites sous des pagodes à travers l'empire Tang.Jixi Gao. The Underground Chamber of the Famensi Pagoda: Its Date, Background, and Historical Significance. In: Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 17, 2008. Studies in Chinese Art History — Études sur l'histoire de l'art chinois. En hommage à Lothar Ledderose. pp. 193-216

Habitat preference and potential distribution of Magnolia officinalis subsp. officinalis and M. o. subsp. biloba in China

Magnolia officinalis subsp. officinalis and M. officinalis subsp. biloba are important medicinal plants in China. The hark of these two subspecies is commonly used in the production of a widely-used Chinese traditional medicine named 'Houpu'. In recent years, M. o. subsp. officinalis and M. a. subsp. biloba have become increasingly threatened owing to the over-harvesting of their bark and the fragmentation of their habitats. In this study, we aimed to support the conservation and cultivation of these two subspecies in China by: (I) assessing the relationship between numerous environmental variables and the geographical distributions of the subspecies; (2) analysing the environmental characteristics of suitable habitats for both subspecies and predicting the spatial distribution of these habitats in China: and (3) identifying conservation areas of both subspecies in China via overlay analysis. We also assessed the degree of human disturbance within suitable habitats. We found that temperature was a major determinant for the distribution of Al: o. subsp. officinalis. Conversely, the distribution of Al. a. subsp. biloba was primarily dependent on precipitation rather than temperature. Distinct habitat preferences were observed between M. o. subsp. officinalis and M. o. subsp. biloba. Suitable habitats of Al. a. subsp. officinalis were primarily distributed in the northern subtropical areas of China, with greater fluctuations in ambient temperature, lower extreme temperatures, less precipitation and greater fluctuations in precipitation. Habitats suitable for M. o. subsp. biloba were highly fragmented and were distributed in the central subtropical areas of China. We found that a large proportion of suitable habitats were not in the protected all= and that they were significantly disturbed by human activity. This analysis could provide useful information for the conservation of both Al. a. subsp. officinalis and Al. o. subsp. biloba and could aid in the selection of cultivation sites

Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of Rainfall Anomalies in 1961–2010 in the Yangtze River Basin, China

Understanding rainfall anomalies and their relationship with floods in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) is essential for evaluating flood disasters, which have a great impact on the development of agriculture and the economy. On the basis of daily rainfall data from 1961 to 2010 from 178 meteorological stations, the temporal and spatial characteristics of rainfall anomalies in the YRB were studied on an annual scale, seasonal scale, and monthly scale. The annual rainfall of the YRB showed a generally increasing trend from 1961 to 2010 (14.22 mm/10 a). By means of the Bernaola–Galvan abrupt change test and Redfit spectrum analysis, it was found that the annual average rainfall increased abruptly after 1979 and had a cycle of 2–3 years. On the seasonal scale, the rainfall in spring and autumn showed a gradually decreasing trend, especially in September, while it showed a significant increasing trend in summer and winter in the YRB. As for the monthly scale, the rainfall in the rainy season from June to July presented a clear increasing trend during the study period, which greatly enhanced the probability of floods in the YRB. Additionally, through the analysis of the spatial distribution characteristics of rainfall in the entire YRB from 1961 to 2010, it was observed that the annual rainfall amount in the YRB presented an “increase–decrease–increase” tendency from east to west, accompanied by a rain belt that continuously moved from west to east. Moreover, the rainfall characteristics in flood years were summarized, and the results revealed that the years with rainfall anomalies were more likely to have flood disasters. However, anomalies alone would not result in big floods; the spatially and temporally inhomogeneous rainfall distribution might be the primary reason for flood disasters in the entire YRB

Prioritizing ecological conservation strategies to enhance national ecological connectivity in China

The decline of ecological connectivity poses a challenge for China as it faces a continuous loss of biodiversity. However, this phenomenon also increases the country’s natural reserves and afforestation area. With the approval of the national plan for combating climate change and the implementation of the “ecological redline” policy, there is an opportunity to improve China’s eco-connectivity with significant investments available for a continuous ecological restoration. However, little research has been conducted with respect to ecological connectivity, thus preventing policy makers from allocating a central investment between provinces for ecological restoration. This study modelled the resistance map against connectivity conservation by quantifying indicators of human disturbance and subsequently derived the national eco-corridor network by using least-cost path methods. A total of 2790 potential eco-corridors, connecting 97% of the protected areas in continental China were extracted. The paper ranked the importance of each eco-corridor for maintaining national ecological connectivity and identified the pinch points with high resistance. Based on the national eco-corridor framework, this paper proposed a two-dimensional coded table to help policy makers conduct effective management. The table also develops scenarios to aid decision makers in allocating central investments in provinces. By prioritizing ecological restoration to enhance ecological connectivity, the established eco-corridor network and scenario analysis will contribute to biodiversity conservation in China. This paper gives policy suggestions on cross-border management and plan implementation of eco-corridors, which helps decision makers in working towards ecological protection in China

Value assessment of ecosystem services in nature reserves in Ningxia, China: a response to ecological restoration.

Changes in land use can cause significant changes in the ecosystem structure and process variation of ecosystem services. This study presents a detailed spatial, quantitative assessment of the variation in the value of ecosystem services based on land use change in national nature reserves of the Ningxia autonomous region in China. We used areas of land use types calculated from the remote sensing data and the adjusted value coefficients to assess the value of ecosystem services for the years 2000, 2005, and 2010, analyzing the fluctuations in the valuation of ecosystem services in response to land use change. With increases in the areas of forest land and water bodies, the value of ecosystem services increased from 182.3×10(7) to 223.8×10(7) US$ during 2000-2010. Grassland and forest land accounted for 90% of this increase. The values of all ecosystem services increased during this period, especially the value of ecosystem services for biodiversity protection and soil formation and protection. Ecological restoration in the reserves had a positive effect on the value of ecosystem services during 2000-2010

Temporal Variation of Soil Moisture and Its Influencing Factors in Karst Areas of Southwest China from 1982 to 2015

Climate change and human activities are two dominating factors affecting soil moisture temporal variation trends, whereas their individual contributions to soil moisture trends still remain uncertain in the karst areas of Southwest China. Based on the linear regression trend analysis, Mann–Kendall mutation detection, and residual analysis methods, we quantified the contributions of climate change and human activities to soil moisture temporal variation trends in the karst areas of Southwest China. The results showed that the soil moisture in the study area experienced a drying trend from 1982 to 2015. The mutated year was 1999, and the soil moisture decreasing trend was more evident from 2000 to 2015 than from 1982 to 1999. Human activities and climate change accounted for 59% and 41%, respectively, of soil moisture drying trends. Owing to the spatial heterogeneity of geomorphic features, the individual contributions of climate change and human activities to soil moisture trends exhibited regional differences. Although remarkable regional vegetation restoration was found since applying the Grain for Green Project, the negative impact of vegetation restoration on soil moisture cannot be neglected. This study is a quantitative analysis of the relative impacts of climate change and human activities on soil moisture trends, and our findings provide a theoretical reference for the sustainable use of soil water resources in the karst areas of Southwest China

Monitoring Water Transparency in Shallow and Eutrophic Lake Waters Based on GOCI Observations

Water transparency represented by the Secchi disk depth (Zsd) plays an important role in understanding water ecology environment variations, especially for optically complex and shallow lake waters. In this study, using in situ measured remote sensing reflectance (Rrs), diffuse attenuation coefficient (Kd), and Zsd data collected in Lake Taihu (China), a regional algorithm for estimating Kd from Rrs was designed, and the semi-analytical model proposed by Lee et al. (2015) (hereafter called Lee_2015 model) was refined using a linear scaling correction for remote sensing of Zsd. The results showed that a good agreement between the derived Kd and in situ measured data (mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) = 26% for Kd(490); MAPE < 5% for Kd at 443, 555, and 660 nm). The in situ Rrs-derived Zsd results using the refined Lee_2015 model compared well with the in situ measured Zsd (R2 = 0.72 and MAPE = 36%), which was an obvious improvement over the Lee_2015 model in our study region. Subsequently, the refined Lee_2015 model was applied to the geostationary ocean color imager (GOCI) observations between 2012 and 2018 to yield the spatial and temporal variations of water transparency in the Lake Taihu waters. The long-term mean distribution of Zsd revealed that water transparency values in the northeastern Lake Taihu were generally higher than those in the southwest part. Monthly climatological Zsd patterns suggested that the Zsd distributions had large temporal variability, and distinct monthly patterns of Zsd existed in different subregions of Lake Taihu. The significant interannual variations of Zsd in Lake Taihu are probably affected by a combination of the water column stability mainly caused by wind, water temperature, human activity, and riverine discharge. The present study can provide a new approach for quantifying water visibility and serve for water-color remote sensing of optically complex and highly turbid waters