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Climate trends during maize growing period and their impacts on spring maize yield in North China was investigated. This dataset contains: 1) information of stations in cultivation region for spring maize in North China; 2) Trend in temperature and its effect on yield in cultivation region for spring maize in North China; 3) Trend in radiation and its effect on yield in cultivation region for spring maize in North China; 4) Trend in precipitation and its effect on yield in cultivation region for spring maize in North China. Climate trends during maize growing period and their impacts on spring maize yield in North China was investigated. This dataset contains: 1) information of stations in cultivation region for spring maize in North China; 2) Trend in temperature and its effect on yield in cultivation region for spring maize in North China; 3) Trend in radiation and its effect on yield in cultivation region for spring maize in North China; 4) Trend in precipitation and its effect on yield in cultivation region for spring maize in North China.

Aim: Climate warming and biodiversity loss both alter plant productivity, yet we lack an understanding of how biodiversity regulates the responses of ecosystems to warming. In this study, we examine how plant diversity regulates the responses of grassland productivity to experimental warming using meta-analytic techniques. Location: Global Major taxa studied: Grassland ecosystems Methods: Our meta-analysis is based on warming responses of 40 different plant communities obtained from 20 independent studies on grasslands across five continents. Results: Our results show that plant diversity and its responses to warming were the most important factors regulating the warming effects on plant productivity, among all the factors considered (plant diversity, climate and experimental settings). Specifically, warming increased plant productivity when plant diversity (indicated by effective number of species) in grasslands was lesser than 10, whereas warming decreased plant productivity when plant diversity was greater than 10. Moreover, the structural equation modelling showed that the magnitude of warming enhanced plant productivity by increasing the performance of dominant plant species in grasslands of diversity lesser than 10. The negative effects of warming on productivity in grasslands with plant diversity greater than 10 were partly explained by diversity-induced decline in plant dominance. Main Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the positive or negative effect of warming on grassland productivity depends on how biodiverse a grassland is. This could mainly owe to differences in how warming may affect plant dominance and subsequent shifts in interspecific interactions in grasslands of different plant diversity levels.

Changes in late rice phenology during 1981–2009 were investigated using observed phenological data from agro-meteorological stations across China. This dataset contains 1) details of late rice agrometeorological experiment stations; 2) mean date of late rice phenology date and trend in phenology date during the period of 1981–2009; 3) trends in length of late rice growing period during the period of 1981-2009. Changes in late rice phenology during 1981–2009 were investigated using observed phenological data from agro-meteorological stations across China. This dataset contains 1) details of late rice agrometeorological experiment stations; 2) mean date of late rice phenology date and trend in phenology date during the period of 1981–2009; 3) trends in length of late rice growing period during the period of 1981-2009.

Widespread shrub encroachment is profoundly impacting the structures and functions of global drylands, and precipitation change is assumed to be one of the most critical factors affecting this phenomenon. However, there is little evidence to show how precipitation changes will affect the process. In this study, we conducted a 6-year precipitation manipulation experiment (-30%, ambient, +30%, and +50%) to investigate the effects of precipitation changes on the growth of shrubs and herbaceous plants in a shrub-encroached grassland in Inner Mongolia. We found that the increasing precipitation significantly increased the mean height, coverage, and aboveground biomass of herbaceous species, while the growth of shrub species did not exhibit a significant response to precipitation changes. With increasing precipitation, the relative coverage of shrubs decreased, while that of herbs increased. The native dominant herbaceous plant (Leymus chinensis) with more sensitive maximum photosynthetic rate to the precipitation change, showed higher photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency and water use efficiency than those of the encroached shrub species (Caragana microphylla) at high soil moisture contents, reflecting that the ecophysiological characteristics of L. chinensis might provide it a competitive advantage under increased precipitation. Our findings suggest that increasing precipitation may slow down shrub encroachment by facilitating herbaceous growth in Mongolian grasslands, and consequently affect the forage value and carbon budget in these ecosystems. 

Comparison of the water budget for the typical cropland and pear orchard ecosystems in the North China Plain Comparison of the water budget for the typical cropland and pear orchard ecosystems in the North China Plain

Household Surveys performed in four villages selected from Oromia, Amhara and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) following from the ‘Ethiopian Rural Household Survey’ (ERHS) conducted in 2004.It contains detailed data on household consumption and expenditures, assets, income, agricultural activities, land allocation, demographic characteristics, and other variables. From September 2011 to January 2012 another survey of 221 households was conducted in three major regions of central and southern Ethiopia. At the time of this latest survey effort the most recent ERHS survey data available was from 2004. The selection of respondents, determination of sample size, and apportionment of the sample were based on a proportional sampling technique.In addition to addressing important questions from the ERHS survey data, the field survey was designed to generate detailed information on household biomass energy production and consumption practices; as well as farming activities; labour and land allocation; economic and demographic characteristics; and expenditures on food, non-food items, and energy. The 2011 survey effort collected detailed household biomass energy use data. The measurement of household biomass energy use was obtained in traditional units and later converted into kilograms. The conversion factors for each of the biomass were collected from the closest urban centre of each of the study areas. Information obtained on household biomass energy use was collected for a time period of one week before the survey was conducted. It was then aggregated into annual figures, although household biomass energy use may vary seasonally. Quality/Lineage: The data was collected by qualified enumerators who had participated in previous ERHS survey. In addition to myself I recruited assistant supervisor to check the accuracy and quality of data on daily basis and followup interview process closely. Before the survey commenced a pilot survey was conducted in each of the study areas to identify the different types of energy households are using and other critical variables of interest for the research. This information was used to revise and improve questionnaire. Moreover, a one day in-depth training was given to enumerators and assistant supervisor to enrich their deeper understanding of each the question in the survey and to further improve questionnaire from their earlier experiences in those villages. Purpose: Over 90% of Ethiopian rural population rely on biomass energy. However, biomass energy utilization is linked to household livelihood as in rural households produce and consume biomass energy simultaneously with other (on and off-farm)activities. With the rampant rate of deforestation that Ethiopia is facing it is important to investigate the effect of deforestation or fuelwood scarcity which is assumed affect household welfare through influence on wage and price. In light of this, the survey effort collected information on household use of biomass energy sources, expenditure and labour allocation choices and amount of labour time used for each activities.This helped me to investigate the effect of fuelwood scarcity on household welfare from three aspects: labour allocation decision, energy expenditure and fuel choice and biomass energy consumption behavior to better understand the related linkage of household production and utilization of biomass with livelihoods or food security. This dataset was first published on the institutional Repository "Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung: ZEF Data Portal" with ID={c08e08aa-3055-4651-801b-0383610c1987}.

Although the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) advocate, through SDG 4 and SDG 10, equitable quality education and the reduction of inequalities within and between countries, respectively, few studies have examined how inequalities in regional sustainability influence higher education. Therefore, this study aims to examine the relationship between regional sustainability and higher education in China using fixed-effects panel modelling. A systematic force framework showing how regional sustainability drives higher education was constructed from economic, social, and environmental perspectives, and the endogeneity in the process of how regional sustainability affects higher education was explored by introducing one-year lagged values as instrumental variables. Our results show that regional sustainability has a significant impact on higher educational attainment in China, with differing effects in the eastern, central, and western regions, respectively. In central China, economic sustainability plays a significant positive role in higher educational attainment; in the western region, economic and social sustainability have stronger positive effects, while environmental sustainability has significantly negative effects. In terms of policy implications, our findings can be used to support regional development policies to promote regional higher education.

Livestock grazing is among the most intensive land-use activities in grasslands and can affect plant communities directly or indirectly via grazing-induced soil legacies. Under climate change, grasslands are threatened globally by recurrent drought. However, the extent to which drought influences grazing-induced soil legacy effects on plant biomass production and community composition remains largely unexplored. We grew five naturally co-occurring plant species (three dominants and two subordinates) in mixed communities in a glasshouse experiment in live and sterilized soil that had or had not been subjected to 19 years of grazing; these plant communities were then exposed to a subsequent drought. We tested the treatment effects on plant community biomass, proportional aboveground biomass of individual species, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal root colonization, and soil nutrient availability. Under drought-free conditions, soils from grazed plots produced significantly higher plant aboveground and total community biomass compared to soils from ungrazed plots. In contrast, plant aboveground and total community biomass were similar between grazed and ungrazed soils under drought conditions. Similarly, soils from grazed plots increased the proportional biomass of dominant species but decreased the proportion of subordinate species; however, the proportional biomass of dominant and subordinate species was similar between grazed and ungrazed soils under drought conditions. Soil NO3--N in grazed soil was significantly higher compared to ungrazed soil. Drought dramatically increased soil NO3--N in sterilized soil and had a more pronounced increase in grazed soil than in ungrazed soil. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal root colonization from grazed soil was lower compared to ungrazed soil. Drought significantly increased the soil available phosphorus concentration, as well as plant community AM fungal root colonization. Synthesis. Our study suggests that drought can neutralize positive grazing effects on plant community biomass production via altered plant-soil interactions. Also, we found that drought can alleviate the negative effects of grazing legacies on subordinate species by reducing the competitiveness of dominant species. Our study provides new insights for understanding the underlying mechanisms of grazing effects on grassland productivity under climate change. Please see the README document and the accompanying published article: Duan, DD., Tian, Z., Wu, NN., Feng, XX., Hou, FJ., Nan, ZB., Kardol, P., and Chen, T. 2023. Drought neutralizes positive effects of long-term grazing on grassland productivity through altering plant-soil interactions. Functional Ecology. 

This dataset contains the underlying data for the following publication: Li, R., Perdana, S., Vielle, M. (2021), Potential integration of Chinese and European emissions trading market: welfare distribution analysis, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 26:22 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-021-09960-7.