Auditing Quality in China

In the research area of Chinese auditing market, few studies have been conducted on the effects that auditor-related characteristics have on auditing quality. Thus, the paper is to examine the influences auditor-related attributes have on auditing quality, including size of the auditing firm, its income, and whether it is Big 4 or not. In addition to that, research topic on relationship between relationship between market concentration level and auditing quality is also an attractive one among the researchers. However, many studies on this subject is usually performed on a short-run periods and many suggest with a dominative market structure. Thus this paper wants to broaden the time period of data to have a larger sample base and thus to test the relationship between market concentration and auditing quality to see whether the government should promote dominative market structure or not. Therefore, this paper mainly investigates two subjects in the Chinese auditing market: 1) auditor-related attributes’ impact on auditing quality; 2) market concentration level and its impact on auditing quality. In auditor-related attributes’ impact on auditing quality study, Total Accruals, which is the sum of the changes in current assets, in cash and cash equivalents, in current liabilities, in the current portion of debt and plus the amount of depreciation and amortization, is adopted as the proxy of the auditing quality of a listed firm as a firm will have low earning quality when holding high accruals. The subsequent multiple regression model demonstrates that auditor-related attributes, such as auditor’s income, its size, and whether it is BIG 4 or not, are not determinants of earning quality and auditing quality in China’s auditing market. Then in market concentration level and its impact on auditing quality part, the market share of the top four largest and eight auditing firms in the four areas of No. of Customers, Customers’ Assets, Auditor’s Income and Customers’ Income is used to measure the market concentration level, and it is found that overall the Chinese auditing market is characterized by oligopolistic competition. And the BIG 4 are found to outperform domestic CPA firms, especially in premium client segment. Then using Qualified Opinion, Adverse Opinion and Disclaimer of Opinion report as the proxy of good auditing work of an auditing firm, a reserve relationship is discovered by conducting regression analysis between concentration ratio and proxy of auditing quality. This indicates the need to reduce market concentration level in the Chinese auditing market so as to increase auditor’s auditing quality

Auditing Quality in China

In the research area of Chinese auditing market, few studies have been conducted on the effects that auditor-related characteristics have on auditing quality. Thus, the paper is to examine the influences auditor-related attributes have on auditing quality, including size of the auditing firm, its income, and whether it is Big 4 or not. In addition to that, research topic on relationship between relationship between market concentration level and auditing quality is also an attractive one among the researchers. However, many studies on this subject is usually performed on a short-run periods and many suggest with a dominative market structure. Thus this paper wants to broaden the time period of data to have a larger sample base and thus to test the relationship between market concentration and auditing quality to see whether the government should promote dominative market structure or not. Therefore, this paper mainly investigates two subjects in the Chinese auditing market: 1) auditor-related attributes’ impact on auditing quality; 2) market concentration level and its impact on auditing quality. In auditor-related attributes’ impact on auditing quality study, Total Accruals, which is the sum of the changes in current assets, in cash and cash equivalents, in current liabilities, in the current portion of debt and plus the amount of depreciation and amortization, is adopted as the proxy of the auditing quality of a listed firm as a firm will have low earning quality when holding high accruals. The subsequent multiple regression model demonstrates that auditor-related attributes, such as auditor’s income, its size, and whether it is BIG 4 or not, are not determinants of earning quality and auditing quality in China’s auditing market. Then in market concentration level and its impact on auditing quality part, the market share of the top four largest and eight auditing firms in the four areas of No. of Customers, Customers’ Assets, Auditor’s Income and Customers’ Income is used to measure the market concentration level, and it is found that overall the Chinese auditing market is characterized by oligopolistic competition. And the BIG 4 are found to outperform domestic CPA firms, especially in premium client segment. Then using Qualified Opinion, Adverse Opinion and Disclaimer of Opinion report as the proxy of good auditing work of an auditing firm, a reserve relationship is discovered by conducting regression analysis between concentration ratio and proxy of auditing quality. This indicates the need to reduce market concentration level in the Chinese auditing market so as to increase auditor’s auditing quality

Correlation between Spatial-Temporal Variation in Landscape Patterns and Surface Water Quality: A Case Study in the Yi River Watershed, China

The evidence for a correlation between landscape patterns and surface water quality is still weak. We chose the Yi River watershed in China as a study area. We selected and determined the chemical oxygen demand, ammonia nitrogen, total phosphorus, dissolved oxygen, and electric conductivity to represent the surface water quality. We analyzed the spatial distribution of the surface water quality. Buffer zones with five different radii were built around each sampling site to analyze landscape patterns on different scales. A correlation analysis was completed to examine the influencing rules and the response mechanisms between landscape patterns and surface water quality indicators. The results show that: (1) Different landscape composition types impact the surface water quality differently and increasing the area of forest land can effectively reduce non-point source pollution, (2) an increase in urban area may threaten the surface water quality, and (3) landscape compositional change has a greater influence on surface water quality compared to landscape configurational change. This study provides a scientific foundation for the spatial development of watersheds and outlines a strategy for improving the sustainability of surface water quality and the surrounding environment

Inhibiting Effects of Vegetation on the Characteristics of Runoff and Sediment Yield on Riparian Slope along the Lower Yellow River

Riparian vegetation plays a vital role in soil and water conservation and river health maintenance. However, its inhibiting effects on water and soil loss are limited by different factors, such as slope gradient, vegetation coverage and their interaction. Therefore, this study quantified the inhibiting effect of riparian vegetation on the runoff, sediment and hydraulic characteristics of overland flow, and assessed its relative contribution to slope gradient. Specifically, we selected a riparian slope along the lower Yellow River as a case, and used a field-simulated rainfall experiment under specific rainfall intensity (90 mm/h), different vegetation coverage (0%, 15% and 30%) and slope gradients (5°, 10°, 15° and 20°). The results showed that the presence of vegetation can reduce the slope runoff rate and erosion rate. However, greater slope gradients can result in a lowering of the inhibiting effects of riparian vegetation on sediment yield. There was a critical value of vegetation coverage for inhibiting eroded sediments which was influenced by the degree of slope gradient. At 15% vegetation coverage, vegetation inhibited the slope sediment yield greatly at a slope gradient of less than 8°; while at 30% vegetation coverage, vegetation greatly inhibited the slope sediment yield at slope gradients <11°. Hydraulic characteristics were closely related to the slope gradient and vegetation coverage by the power function. Grey correlation analysis revealed that, with increasing of vegetation coverage, the effect of stream power on slope sediment yield decreased, while the effect of the friction coefficient on slope sediment yield increased. In summary, riparian vegetation can effectively inhibit slope runoff and sediment yield, but its inhibiting effect is notably affected by slope gradient

Improving Soil and Water Conservation of Riparian Vegetation Based on Landscape Leakiness and Optimal Vegetation Pattern

Soil erosion inflicts multiple and severe damage throughout the world. The importance of vegetation spatial patterns in conserving soil and water has been widely acknowledged. In this study, by using the leakiness index (LI), which indicates the soil and water conservation function of the landscape by integrating landscape patterns closely with hydrological processes, we analyzed the changes in this function of riparian vegetation under different patterns with the aim of identifying the optimal pattern for improving soil and water conservation in severely eroded riparian buffer zones. Prior to this, the relationship between the erosion modulus and LI was discussed to provide certain evidence for the potential application of LI to the study area given the limited empirical works. Results showed that LI illustrated a significantly linear correlation with the erosion modulus (R2 = 0.636, p < 0.01), thereby suggesting a promising application of LI in the Beijiang riparian vegetation buffer zone. A comparison of the LI values regarding four different vegetation patterns indicated that under the premise of the same coverage (40%), the aggregation degree and patch orientation with low LI values exerted improved performance for soil and water conservation, so we selected the horizontal distribution and compact aggregation as the optimal pattern for vegetation regulation. The spatial variations of LI values in the study area showed that five regions were suffering from severe erosion, thus becoming the targeted area for regulation. The final regulation with the optimal vegetation pattern in severely eroded areas performed well given that the soil and water conservation was improved to a high level with a LI value less than or equal to 0.2. The results described in this study provide an alternative screening method to figure out the severe erosion areas needing improvement, a further understanding of the effect of vegetation pattern on soil and water conservation and a theoretical basis for the extended application of LI

Relationships between Riparian Vegetation Pattern and the Hydraulic Characteristics of Upslope Runoff

Riparian vegetation plays a vital role in inhibiting soil and water loss, but few studies have quantified the relationships between vegetation spatial pattern and the hydraulic characteristics of upslope runoff. This study investigated how hydraulic characteristics (e.g., runoff coefficient, flow regime, flow resistance, and flow shear stress of overland flow) responded to differences in vegetation cover (15% and 30%), slope gradient (5°, 10°, 15°, and 20°), and vegetation pattern in the riparian zone along the lower Yellow River, China, based on landscape pattern analysis and a runoff scouring experiment with flow rates of 9 and 15 L/min and an experimental plot size of 1 m × 3 m. We found that runoff generation on shallow slopes was moderated by increasing vegetation cover, but that this moderating effect decreased on steeper slopes. The regime of overland flow switched from laminar and subcritical on the 5° slope (Fr = 0.56−0.87) to laminar and critical on the 10°, 15°, and 20° slopes (Fr = 1.02−2.18). Flow resistance increased with vegetation cover and flow rate and decreased with slope gradients, and it was larger on shallow slopes with high vegetation cover. Flow shear stress had a range of 1.42−3.55 N m−2, and it increased with increasing slope gradient, vegetation cover, and flow rate. The hydraulic characteristics of upslope runoff, especially flow resistance, were significantly related to vegetation pattern at both the landscape and class levels. Flow resistance was negatively related to patch density, and positively related to perimeter−area fractal dimension and connectance index. The influencing mechanism of landscape patterns on soil erosion processes is dependent on the landscape scale, since the relationships between flow resistance and some landscape pattern indices (aggregation index, effective mesh size, and splitting index) were opposite at the landscape level compared to the class level. We conclude that fragmented vegetation distributions reduce flow resistance, and that riparian vegetation could be managed to inhibit slope erosion by increasing flow resistance

Phylogenetic and Functional Structure of Wood Communities among Different Disturbance Regimes in a Temperate Mountain Forest

The mechanisms responsible for biodiversity formation and maintenance are central themes in biodiversity conservation. However, the relationships between community assembly, phylogeny, and functional traits remain poorly understood, especially following disturbance. In this study, we examined forest community assembly mechanisms in different disturbance regimes across spatial scales and including tree life history classes, using phylogenetic and functional trait metrics. Across disturbance regimes, phylogenetic structure tended to be over-dispersed, while functional structure tended to be clustered. The over-dispersion of phylogenetic structure also increased from small to large diameter species. Moreover, the explanation of spatial distance for the turnover of phylogenetic and functional structure was increased, while environmental distance explained less structure as disturbance intensity decreased. Our findings suggest that niche theory largely explains forest community assembly in different disturbance regimes. Furthermore, environmental filtering plays a major role in moderate to high disturbance regimes, while competitive exclusion is more important in undisturbed and slightly disturbed ecosystems

Phylogenetic and Functional Structure of Wood Communities among Different Disturbance Regimes in a Temperate Mountain Forest

The mechanisms responsible for biodiversity formation and maintenance are central themes in biodiversity conservation. However, the relationships between community assembly, phylogeny, and functional traits remain poorly understood, especially following disturbance. In this study, we examined forest community assembly mechanisms in different disturbance regimes across spatial scales and including tree life history classes, using phylogenetic and functional trait metrics. Across disturbance regimes, phylogenetic structure tended to be over-dispersed, while functional structure tended to be clustered. The over-dispersion of phylogenetic structure also increased from small to large diameter species. Moreover, the explanation of spatial distance for the turnover of phylogenetic and functional structure was increased, while environmental distance explained less structure as disturbance intensity decreased. Our findings suggest that niche theory largely explains forest community assembly in different disturbance regimes. Furthermore, environmental filtering plays a major role in moderate to high disturbance regimes, while competitive exclusion is more important in undisturbed and slightly disturbed ecosystems

Optimizing Management Practices to Reduce Sediment Connectivity between Forest Roads and Streams in a Mountainous Watershed

Forest roads often increase runoff and sediment loss, thus greatly impacting hydrological processes in mountainous watersheds. While there has been previous investigation on best management practices (BMPs) to reduce soil erosion from forest roads, few studies have attempted to optimize BMPs based on how much they can decrease sediment connectivity between forest roads and streams. To close this gap in knowledge, we analyzed the spatial relationship between forest roads and streams, presented the spatial distribution of sediment connectivity by integrating the forest roads into the calculation of the index of connectivity (IC), determined how sediment connectivity would respond to additional BMPs through simulating scenarios, and used these data to optimize the BMPs so they would intercept the greatest sediment loads. We found that forest roads and streams in the Xiangchagou watershed in the Dabie Mountain area of China tend to occur within 180 m of each other; however, within the same buffer zones, streams are more often accompanied by forest roads. IC was greatest near road–stream crossings but smaller near streams and forest roads, and it tended to decrease as the buffer distance increased. Furthermore, we found that sediment connectivity was decreased through running a variety of scenarios that used sediment basin and riparian buffers as BMPs between forest roads and streams. Specifically, within this watershed, riparian buffers should be 64 m wide, and there should be 30 sediment basins with a minimum upslope drainage area of 2 ha. At these quantities, the BMPs in this watershed would significantly affect sediment connectivity. By contrast, beyond these thresholds, increasing the width of riparian buffers or the number of sediment basins does not lead to meaningful sediment reductions. In this way, we were able to use the mean change point method to determine the optimal sediment basin quantity (30 with corresponding minimum upslope drainage area of 2 ha) and the optimal riparian buffer width (64 m) for the Xiangchagou watershed. While these results are a first approximation in a novel research area, they can guide forest managers and stakeholders to design and optimize BMPs that control the delivery of eroded sediments associated with forest roads