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In the Hengduan Mountain region, soil erosion is the most serious ecological environmental problem. Understanding the impact mechanism of water yield and soil erosion is essential to optimize ecosystem management and improve ecosystem services. This study used the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) and Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) models to separate the relative contributions of land use and climate change to water yield and soil erosion. The results revealed that: (1) Although soil and water conservation has been strengthened in the past 25 years, both water yield and soil erosion increased from 2010 to 2015 due to the conversion of woodland to grassland, which indicates that continuous benefits after the implementation of ecological restoration projects were not obtained; (2) Climate change played a decisive role in water yield and soil erosion changes in the Hengduan Mountain region from 1990 to 2015, and soil erosion was not only related to the amount of precipitation but also closely related to precipitation intensity; (3) The contribution of land use and climate change to water yield was 26.94% and 73.06%, while for soil erosion, the contribution of land use and climate change was 16.23% and 83.77%, respectively.

Natural climate change and human activities are the main driving forces associated with vegetation coverage change. Nanxiong Basin is a key ecosystem-service area at the national level with a dense population and highly representative of red-bed basins, which are considered as fragile ecological units in humid regions. In this study, the authors aimed to determine the trends in vegetation cover change over past two decades and the associated driving forces in this study area. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of 2000–2015, derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) remote sensing dataset along with the application of statistical methods and GIS (geographic information system) techniques were used to quantify vegetation cover change. The results show that human-induced factors can explain most variations at sites with significant cover change. That is to say that human activities are the main drivers of vegetation dynamics in this study area, which shows a significant reduction trend in vegetation cover during the industrialization and urbanization processes of the study period and noticeable recovery trend in 2000–2015 under the plantation and enclosed forest policy.

Understanding of the Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) change, its transitions and Landscape risk (LR) evaluation in earthquake-affected areas is important for planning and urban sustainability. In the present study, we have considered Dujiangyan City and its Environs (DCEN), a seismic-prone area close to the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (8.0 Mw) during 2007–2018. Five different multi-temporal data sets for the years 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015, and 2018 were considered for LULC mapping, followed by the maximum likelihood supervised classification technique. The individual LULC maps were further used in four time periods, i.e., 2007–2018, 2008–2018, 2010–2018, and 2015–2018, to evaluate the Land Use and Land Cover Transitions (LULCT) using combined remote sensing and GIS (Geographical Information System). Furthermore, multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) techniques were applied for LR mapping. The results of the LULC change data indicate that built-up, agricultural area, and forest cover are the prime categories that had been changed by the natural and anthropogenic activities. LULCT, along with multi-parameters, are suggested to avoid development in fault-existing areas that are seismically vulnerable for future landscape planning in a sustainable manner.

This paper examines the spatial and temporal trajectories of Seattle’s industrial land use restructuring and the shifting riskscape in Seattle, WA, a commonly recognized urban model of sustainability. Drawing on the perspective of sustainability as a conflicted process, this research explored the intersections of urban industrial and nonindustrial land use planning, gentrification, and environmental injustice. In the first part of our research, we combine geographic cluster analysis and longitudinal air toxic emission comparisons to quantitatively investigate socioeconomic changes in Seattle Census block-groups between 1990, 2000, and 2009 coupled with measures of pollution volume and its relative potential risk. Second, we qualitatively examine Seattle’s historical land use policies and planning and the growing tension between industrial and nonindustrial land use. The gentrification, green cities, and growth management conflicts embedded within sustainability/livability lead to pollution exposure risk and socioeconomic vulnerability converging in the same areas and reveal one of Seattle’s significant environmental challenges. Our mixed-method approach can guide future urban sustainability studies to more effectively examine the connections between land use planning, industrial displacement, and environmental injustice. Our results also help sustainable development practitioners recognize that a more just sustainability in Seattle and beyond will require more planning and policy attention to mitigate obscured industrial land use conflicts.

In a seasonally frozen soil area, there is frequent energy exchange between soil and environment, which changes the hydrological cycle process, and then has a certain impact on the prediction and management of agricultural soil moisture. To reveal the effects of different modes of regulation on the energy budget of soil in a region with seasonally frozen soil, four treatments, including the regulation of bare land (BL), biochar (CS), and straw (JS), and the combined regulation of biochar and straw (CJS), were used in field experiments. The variations in the soil temperature, liquid water content, and total water content were analyzed, the energy budget of the soil was calculated, the response functions of the soil energy were determined, and the mechanism of soil energy transfer was elucidated. The results showed that, during the freezing period, the JS treatment reduced the amplitudes of the variations in the soil temperature and liquid water content and increased the water content at the soil surface. During the thawing period, the CJS treatment effectively improved the soil hydrothermal conditions. During the freezing period, the heat absorbed by the CS and JS treatments reduced the fluctuation of the soil energy budget. At a soil depth of 10 cm, the spectral entropy of a time series of the soil net energy was 0.837 under BL treatment, and the CS, JS, and CJS treatments decreased by 0.015, 0.059, and 0.045, respectively, compared to the BL treatment. During the thawing period, the CS treatment promoted energy exchange between the soil and the external environment, and the spectral entropy of a time series of the soil net energy was increased; the JS treatment had the opposite effect. The CJS treatment weakened the impact of environmental factors on the soil energy budget during the freezing period, while it enhanced the energy exchange between the soil and the environment during the thawing period. This study can provide important theoretical and technical support for the efficient utilization of soil hydrothermal resources on farmland in cold regions.

Environmental degradation threatens the long term resiliency of the US food and farming system. While USDA has provided conservation incentives for the adoption of best management practices (BMPs), only a small percentage of farms have participated in such conservation programs. This study uses conjoint analysis to examine Vermont farmers’ underlying preferences and willingness-to-accept (WTA) incentives for three common BMPs. Based on the results of this survey, we hypothesize that federal cost share programs’ payments are below preferred incentive levels and that less familiar and more complex BMPs require a higher payment. Our implications focus on strategies to test these hypotheses and align incentive payments and other non-monetary options to increase BMP adoption.

(1) Background: Increased attention has been paid to atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition caused by human activities. N deposition quantity has seriously affected plant productivity and greenhouse gas emissions in wetlands, but the effects of N deposition frequency remain unclear. (2) Methods: We assembled microcosms, which contained vegetative individuals (ramets) of Hydrocotyle vulgaris and soil and subjected them to three frequencies (N addition 1, 2, and 14 times during the experimental period) crossed with three quantities (5, 15, and 30 g N m−2 yr−1) for 90 days. (3) Results: The quantity of N addition significantly increased the root, stem biomass, and ramets number of H. vulgaris, but decreased the spike biomass. N addition quantity significantly promoted N2O emission and inhibited CH4 emission but had no significant effect on CO2 emission. The increasing frequency of N addition significantly promoted the root-to-shoot ratio and decreased N2O emission under high N addition quantity. (4) Conclusions: In conclusion, N addition alters the reproductive strategy of H. vulgaris and enhances its invasiveness, promoting N2O emission but not the CO2 equivalent of the H. vulgaris-soil system.

Tourism and agriculture can contribute to destination sustainability by increasing tourist-stakeholder satisfaction. Grown agriculture is an important component of a rural destination attraction. Nonetheless, tourists’ satisfaction with locally grown agricultural food has been unexplored when it comes to linking tourism with agriculture. The purpose of this study is to develop an understanding of the links between demand for locally grown agricultural products at the destination and the levels of satisfaction among visitors. Theoretical views concerning tourist consumption of local agricultural products and its effects were reviewed. Unstructured in-depth interviews were conducted onsite in Tiantangzhai to investigate the relationship between tourism and agriculture with visitor satisfaction. The sample of respondents consisted of 71 participants who shared their views on the relationship between agriculture and tourism at the destination. Findings were presented in a two-level analysis including the industry focus and a soft-laddering technique that revealed deeper insights. Findings indicate that tourist-stakeholders present a demand-driven economy that can be exploited by local agricultural producers and the tourism economy itself. Theoretical implications point to a more sustainable destination image and practical implications highlight the demand-driven implications of tourist expectations and experience satisfaction.