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Agricultural heritage systems are receiving increasing attention due to their multifunctional role, their capability to provide ecosystem services, and for representing sustainable development models for rural areas. At the international level, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations launched in 2002 the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Program to identify and safeguard traditional agro-silvo-pastoral systems that are the result of the adaptation of rural communities to the surrounding environments. Following this approach, similar national programs have been developed, among which the Italian National Register of Historical Rural Landscapes and the China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (China-NIAHS) initiative stand out. This research compares the China-NIAHS initiative and the Italian Register of Historical Rural Landscapes, highlighting similarities and differences and identifying strengths and weaknesses, to contribute to the development of proper tools for the conservation and valorization of agricultural heritage systems. Both initiatives were established in 2012 and share similar aims and inscription criteria, including historical and current significance, knowledge system and social structure, economic and productive framework, and causes of vulnerability. The main differences are related to the delimitation of the boundaries of the proposed sites and to the inscription process; in addition, while for the Italian National Register spatial analyses of land-use changes and landscape structure are mandatory according to a precise methodology, for the China-NIAHS no specific landscape analyses are required. The main critical issues are the lack of public participation and the lack of a monitoring plan after the inscription. The absence of monitoring is also the main vulnerability of the FAO GIAHS Programme. This research can offer important information for different stakeholders at the international, national, and local levels dealing with agricultural heritage conservation and valorization. In particular, it highlights the need of developing a multidisciplinary monitoring system with a standard methodology based on different indicators that can contribute to maximizing the impact of these initiatives. This research also provides useful information for the countries that are interested in developing a national initiative for agricultural heritage systems' identification and valorization/conservation or for countries that intend to improve their national programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and rapid urbanization pose significant challenges to the conservation and management of agricultural heritage systems, including decline in agricultural land, loss of labor, and ecosystem degradation. Although existing studies have proposed general strategies with theoretical guidance and specific strategies for particular systems to promote the conservation of agricultural heritage systems, there remains a large knowledge gap in effective and differentiated management strategies at the regional level. This is especially so in China because of the clear regional differences in the natural and socioeconomic conditions of the widely distributed China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (China-NIAHS). In this study, we integrated multi-source data and spatial analysis to reveal the distribution characteristics of existing China-NIAHS and proposed differentiated management strategies. Results show that there are four clustering distribution zones of China-NIAHS, i.e., the northwest clustering zone west of the Heihe-Tengchong Line (Zone I), the clustering belt with 'Northeast-Hebei-Shandong' as core (Zone II), the Yangtze River Delta clustering zone (Zone III), and the Hunan-Chongqing-Yunnan-Guizhou clustering zone (Zone IV). Different management strategies are proposed for the China-NIAHS in each clustering zone. Specifically, Zone I should focus on maintaining their ecological functions and services, while Zone II should aim for livelihood supply, sustainable resource use, and ecological protection. For Zone III, rapid urbanization could become a positive driving force for China-NIAHS conservation through sustainable tourism and reasonable urban zoning. Zone IV should emphasize the mutual support between characteristic product development and the brand effect of the China-NIAHS. These findings will help establish regional and targeted management strategies for China-NIAHS and provide a reference for the conservation of agricultural heritage systems in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global greening and its relationship with climate change remain the hot topics in recent years, and are of critical importance for understanding the interactions between the terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle and the climate system. China, especially north China, has contributed a lot to global greening during the past few decades. As a water-limited ecosystem, human activities, not precipitation amount, were thought as the main contributor to the greening of north China. Considering the importance of precipitation event characteristics (PEC) in the altered precipitation regimes, we integrated long-term normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and meteorological datasets to reveal the role of precipitation regimes, especially PECs, on vegetation growth across temperate grasslands in north China. Accompanied with a significantly decreased growing season precipitation (GSP), NDVI increased significantly in the largest area of the temperate grasslands during 1982–2015, i.e., greening. We found that 28.44% of the area was explained by PECs, including more heavy or extreme precipitation events, alleviated extreme drought, and fewer light events, while only 0.92% of the area was associated with GSP. NDVI did not always increase over the 30 years and there was a decrease during 1996–2005. Taking afforestation projects in desertified lands into account, we found that precipitation, mainly PECs, explained more the increase and decline of NDVI during 1982–1995 and 1996–2005, respectively, while an equivalent explanatory power of precipitation and afforestation projects to the increase in NDVI after 2005. Our study indicates a possible higher productivity under future precipitation regime scenario (e.g., fewer but larger precipitation events) or intensive afforestation activity, implying more carbon sequestration or livestock production of temperate steppe in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protection and management of important agricultural heritage systems (IAHS) are essential to the sustainable economic and social development of heritage sites. Using the time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) model, this paper analyzes the influence of the identification of IAHS on economic growth and compares the difference between Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) and China's Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (China-NIAHS). The results show that the identification of IAHS can significantly promote the economic growth of heritage sites, and the identification of GIAHS has a stronger role. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the economic driving effect of IAHS identification on heritage sites is affected by geographical location and poverty. The economic driving effect is stronger in Western China and in relatively poor areas. In addition, the influencing mechanism of regional economic growth after IAHS identification is discussed. The results show that IAHS identification can promote the development of the grain processing industry and the improvement of infrastructure construction, so as to increase the added value of secondary industries at heritage sites. Moreover, the level of heritage recognition leads to different policy tendencies. Among these, GIAHS identification significantly promotes investment growth, while China-NIAHS identification significantly promotes the population agglomeration of heritage sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guangdong Chaoan Fenghuangdancong Tea (GCFT) Cultural System is the second batch of China's Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (China-NIAHS), identified by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 2014 as having rich biodiversity, valuable knowledge of indigenous technology, and unique ecological and cultural landscape. Under the dual background of rapid urbanization and agricultural industry structure transformation, China-NIAHS-GCFT is facing the reality of structural changes in land use/cover and landscape patterns. Therefore, it is important to systematically portray land use/land cover (LULC) changes in China-NIAHS-GCFT sites and clarify the spatial pattern differences due to the impact of China-NIAHS-GCFT recognition on tea garden areas and the tea industry. This study was conducted in Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province, where GCFT is located, to compare and analyze the LULC characteristics of the core area of the heritage site (Chaoan, Chaozhou) and the control area (Raoping, Chaozhou) before and after recognition. We assessed the spatial variation in tea garden area and the intrinsic driving mechanisms of the change by integrating social factors, such as China-NIAHS-GCFT recognition, and natural factors, such as elevation, precipitation, and temperature. The results show that: (1) Around 2010, the change in LULC of the core and control areas progressed from slight changes to dramatic changes, mainly shifting from natural to anthropogenic landscapes. The decrease in the cropland and grassland and the increase in built-up land in the core area were obviously larger than those in the control area. (2) Before and after GCFT was recognized as China-NIAHS in 2014, the changing pattern of tea garden shifts from "basically stable and small growth" to a trend of "substantial expansion". Specifically, the recognition brought about tea garden area expansion and tea industry development in the core area, especially Fenghuang. Meanwhile, a radiating effect extends to the control area, especially the townships adjacent to Fenghuang. (3) Similar natural climatic conditions of temperature and precipitation in the two regions provide a basic growing environment for tea trees; however, elevation was the key natural resource condition affecting the distribution of tea gardens. The elevation conditions of the core area are more suitable for growth of tea trees compared to the control area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management evaluation is increasingly required for national parks worldwide as it is an essential mechanism for improving management levels and achieving management objectives. The management capacity evaluation (MCE), an integral component of management evaluation, emphasizes the suitability of management measures. It helps identify the deficiencies in existing management measures and form feedback to improve them, thus increasing the overall management level of national parks. However, the existing MCE methods from international programs suffer from limited adaptability and are difficult to promote in other countries. In this research, we apply the best practice-based (BPB) method to the Three-River-Sources National Park (TNP), the first national park in China, to reveal the changes in its management capacity during the pilot period. The BPB method is new compared with other MCE methods, but is more adaptable to the current situation of China's national parks. Results show that TNP's comprehensive management capacity and the five aspects of management capacities improved effectively, which means the management measures adopted during the pilot phase were generally appropriate and practicable. Some management capacities, such as management organization, legal system construction, management planning, and natural resources confirmation and registration performed well or improved significantly during the pilot period, providing beneficial lessons for other national parks in China. Some management capacities, such as the ecological compensation scheme, monitoring and early warning system, and management team, are still deficient and should be prioritized for future improvement. The effectiveness and operability of the BPB method are validated in this research, as it provides a rapid and accurate diagnosis of TNP's management capacities and useful feedback for improving them. We submit that the BPB method not only contributes to the theoretical improvement of MCE methods, but also shows wider adaptability to different protected area types and countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although numerous studies have explored the role of government, conservation managers and local residents in the governance of protected areas, little attention has been paid to the role of tourists. Based on a field survey and a network-based content analysis of tourists' perceptions and expectations of Wuyishan National Park, this research sought to promote the governance of national parks by strengthening the tourists' influence. The results showed that: (1) tourists had a changing, but still narrow understanding of the national park's functions, (2) tourists' expectations of tourism and recreational functions are growing more diversified, and (3) lack of information restrained them from making an effective contribution to conservation. The results suggest that tourists can be effective in conservation governance with the aid of better publicity and closer interactions with other stakeholders. This study has theoretical and managerial implications for understanding the role of tourists in the governance of national parks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to protect traditional agricultural systems of global importance, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched an initiative for the conservation of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in 2002. After nearly two decades of development, the number of GIAHS has increased from the initial 5 in 2005 to the current 65 in 22 countries around the world. Despite the remarkable increase in the number of GIAHS, many countries are now facing the difficult task of dynamic conservation and adaptive management of GIAHS. As an important element of heritage management, monitoring plays an important role in improving the level of heritage management. Scientific and effective monitoring can not only achieve the conservation of the heritage itself and the maintenance of its value, but also the sustainable development of the heritage site. However, FAO did not put forward mandatory requirements for GIAHS monitoring, nor did it issue any guiding document on GIAHS monitoring, but left it to various countries to explore their own GIAHS monitoring. In this context, the paper systematically sorts out the theoretical research and practical exploration of GIAHS monitoring conducted by different countries and research institutions, comparing and analyzing the differences between the theoretical design of monitoring GIAHS themselves and that of GIAHS action plan monitoring, as well as the differences in practical exploration of GIAHS monitoring among China, South Korea, Japan and Portugal. This paper argues that countries and research institutions face common problems in the research and application of GIAHS monitoring, which are: (1) low enthusiasm of heritage sites about participation; (2) lack of legal and financial support; and (3) lack of technical support and guidance. To further promote GIAHS monitoring globally and better promote dynamic conservation and adaptive management of GIAHS, this paper proposes that FAO should cooperate with various countries to establish a unified, scientific and efficient GIAHS monitoring system, including: (1) clarifying monitoring requirements and formulating monitoring guidelines; (2) improving the management system and establishing incentive mechanisms; (3) promoting multi-stakeholder participation and strengthening technical training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, most rural areas in China have faced the prominent livelihood transformation of smallholder farmers. It may directly or indirectly affect the regional environment. Thus, this paper constructed a conceptual framework and chose the first Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) site in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as the case for evaluating the impact of smallholder farmers' livelihood transformation on the agricultural system. From 2016 to 2019, the main direction of livelihood transformation of smallholder farmers in the case area is the non-agricultural livelihood transformation. And the average proportion of agricultural income in households has continued to decline. With the non-agricultural livelihood transformation, smallholder farmers' land use and energy use behaviour has changed. As a result, the elements in farmland and the relationship between farmland, woodland, and grassland have shown weakening trends in the structure of the case agricultural system. In addition, the ecological and sociocultural functions of the case agricultural system have declined. Still, the productive function has remained almost at a stable level and has even increased slightly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has a deep traditional culture and a long history, and is rich in traditional settlements (designated as "Famous Historic-Cultural Villages/Towns", "Chinese Traditional Villages" by Chinese Government). To help people develop these traditional settlements to achieve the great goal of Chinese National Rejuvenation, Chinese scholar put forward the Cultural Landscape Genes of Traditional Settlements (CLGTS) in 2003. Since then, CLGTS theory has been employed to solve the issues of Chinese traditional settlements, such as the identification and regionalization of cultural landscape genes in traditional settlements, and the understanding of architectural features. Although CLGTS theory has made great strides in many application fields, there is still a lack of scientific findings in exploring the symbol mechanism from a perspective of semiotics. To explore this, we firstly examined the core features of CLGTS through a dialectical perspective. We analyzed two features of CLGTS in depth. First, CLGTS is the dialectical combination of macro settlement image and micro cultural factors of traditional settlements, material appearance and inherent traditional cultural implications, overall features and local self-renewal mechanisms, qualitative and quantitative methods, superiority of cultural factors and rich cultural connotation. Second, CLGTS is famous for its nonlinearity, self-organization, and self-iteration due to various spatial shapes and complex structures. Based on the above, we first proposed the concept of Symbolization Method of CLGTS (SM-CLGTS). Then, we further explored the key features, classification methods, and corresponding representation methods of CLGTS symbols. Finally, by using Visual C#.net program language, we developed a prototype system of the Traditional Landscape Genetic Symbol Database (TLGSD) to create and centrally manage CLGTS symbols. Test results show that TLGSD can meet the needs of constructing a CLGTS symbol database for a given region. This study is of great significance to explore and contribute to visualizing the CLGTS symbols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small-scale agriculture (SA) is regarded as unsustainability because of its low benefit. To protect traditional agricultural landscapes like terraces through SA will be difficult. However, in China, terraces are still maintained well by smallholders now. This study takes the family as a basic unit and SA in Hani terraced region as an object to explore its sustainability from the perspective of labor productivity (LP) through the questionnaire method. The findings are that peasant households work on both farm and non-farm jobs. They get a low income (3854.5 yuan RMB) from hybrid-rice-cropping and a high income (44,665.8 yuan RMB) from non-farm jobs but spend a small part of labors (34.23 person•days) in growing hybrid-rice and expended lots of labor (522 person•days) for non-farm jobs. In conclusion, LP of hybrid-rice-cropping is 1.32 times that of non-farm jobs for a household. The result shows SA in Hani terraced region has a higher return of labor investment than non-farm jobs. It is different from the common impression of the low benefit of SA and also explains why SA still continues to exist in the mountainous area in China now. However, SA in Hani terraced region also faces challenges with salary level rise of non-farm jobs and part-time farmers' requirement for living quality improvement. In the future, promoting industrial integration development in this region to add local employment for improving farmers' income is a feasible approach to protect terraced landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of straw alone or combined with industrial and agricultural wastes as fertilizers on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are still poorly known in cropland areas. Here, we studied the effects of 3.5 Mg ha−1 straw and 3.5 Mg ha−1 straw combined with 8 Mg ha−1 of diverse wastes on GHG emission in a subtropical Jasminum sambac plantation in southeastern China. There were five treatments in a completely randomized block design: control, straw only, straw + biochar, straw + steel slag, and straw + gypsum slag. Emissions of carbon dioxide were generally higher in the treatments with waste than in the control or straw-only treatments, whereas the contrary pattern was observed in CH4 and N2O emission rates. Moreover, the total global warming potentials (GWPs) were no significantly higher in most of the amended treatments as compared to the control and straw-only treatments. In relation to the treatment with only straw, GWPs were 9.4% lower when steel slag was used. This finding could be a consequence of Fe amount added by steel slag, which would limit and inhibit the emissions of GHGs and their transport from soil to atmosphere. Our results showed that the application of slags did not increase the emission of GHGs and that the combination of straw with steel slag or biochar could be more effective than straw alone for controlling GHGs emission and improve soil C and nutrient provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism can be an important strategy for conserving traditional agricultural systems and potentially enhancing livelihoods of hosting communities. The intricate and complex relations between agricultural heritage conservation, tourism and community livelihoods are examined at a GIAHS site in China. Through multi-stakeholder interviews, the study illustrates that the increased government support and public awareness after GIAHS designation do not ease the struggle between conservation and development at Guanhou Village. Particularly in the context of fast urbanization, multi-layer integration of tourism and the agricultural heritage system should be sought to sustain traditional agriculture and enhance community livelihoods. Practical implications are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Zhagana Agriculture-Forest-Animal Husbandry Composite System (ZCS) is the first Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems site in the Tibetan Plateau. Similar to many traditional agricultural regions, with the development of tourism and leisure agriculture, the peasant households in ZCS have gradually changed their livelihood strategies and livelihood activities in the past 10 years, resulting in the disappearance of some traditional farming methods and agricultural landscapes with a long history. By taking livelihood assets as the entry point and livelihood strategies as the core, this paper analyzed the basic situation of households' livelihood and the transition mechanism of different livelihood strategies in order to offer suggestions for the dynamic conservation and sustainable development of Agricultural Heritage Systems (AHS). (1) The livelihood strategies of peasant households in ZCS can be divided into two major categories: specialized strategies and diversified strategies. (2) According to the empirical calculation of the livelihood asset accounting framework of AHS, the average livelihood asset value of peasant households in ZCS is 2.040, showing that the situation of peasant households' livelihood is inadequate. (3) The transition of peasant households' livelihood strategies from traditional strategy to specialized or diversified livelihood strategies is mainly influenced by natural assets, human assets, cultural assets, social assets and informational assets. In order to meet the growing material and spiritual needs of peasant households and achieve the sustainable development of ZCS simultaneously, it is suggested that the agriculture-forestry-animal husbandry-tourism composite strategies shall be taken as the development direction of peasant households' livelihood strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The designation, conservation and tourism development of agricultural heritage systems, which are embedded with intricate human–nature relations, could significantly influence community livelihoods. Therefore, a livelihood approach is critical for agricultural heritage conservation and the sustainability of the hosting community. Taking Guanhou Village, Xuanhua Grape Garden Urban Agricultural Heritage Site as an example, this study examines impacts of heritage conservation and tourism on the community livelihood system and its implications for community livelihood sustainability. A sustainable livelihood framework is adopted to guide the analysis. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted with management officials, village leaders and village residents. The research identified the importance of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) designation on raising government support and public awareness on conservation. Tourism emerges as an alternative livelihood to some residents which exerts positive economic influence. However, tourism participation is currently at a low level which restricted the distribution of benefits. The sustainability of local rural livelihood is at risk due to the rapid urbanization, the decline of human resources and the insufficient integration of traditional agriculture with tourism. Practical implications were discussed to enhance local participation and tourism contribution to GIAHS conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2002, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization initiated the Globally Important Agriculture Heritage Systems conservation program. Agricultural organic certification, based on traditional environmentally friendly technology, increases farmer income and encourages traditional agricultural heritage. However, during the organic conversion period, farmer income cannot be guaranteed; this period is also a bottleneck for heritage conservation via organic certification. Based on experiences at the Honghe Hani rice terrace system in Yunnan, China, we calculated and compared inputs and outputs of traditional and modern systems during organic conversion and developed a calculation method for determining opportunity costs of agricultural production. We found that the stability of farmer income during conversion can be guaranteed by setting the protective purchasing price at 6.93 CNY/kg, thereby achieving the goal of dynamic conservation of agricultural heritage systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water pollution is a well-known major problem in the Tai Lake Basin, China. Compared to industries and domestic sewage, non-point pollution from agriculture is more difficult to detect, measure, and control. Therefore, a range of policies has been formulated, among which is that of 'adjustment of the planting structure.' However, this policy during implementation has been used to simply convert paddy fields to dry land and food crops to cash crops. More surprisingly, to date, no research has provided evidence that such an agricultural land-use change contributes to the reduction of agricultural nutrient pollution. Based on an extensive farm survey, this research finds that conversion of rice paddy to dry land farming has not generated a positive effect on nutrient pollution control. It is estimated that nitrogen runoff from agricultural land has increased by 11 %, while phosphorus runoff has increased more than two times since land-use patterns changed, as farmers are inclined to apply more fertilizer on dry land than in paddy fields. However, this agricultural land-use change is economically effective as land-use conversion increases the net profits of farming in a significant way. It is demonstrated that, compared to environmental concerns, economic considerations are seen to have greater benefits after such an adjustment in the planting structure. These findings have important implications for policy making by local authorities in their efforts to improve environmental management and pollution control in their territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the urgency of their conservation has been recognized, Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) designated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) since 2002 and China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (China-NIAHS) certified by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) of China since 2012 are faced with questions as to why to conserve them, what is to be conserved, who should conserve them, and how? This paper attempts to clarify and respond to such questions focusing on the conservation of agricultural heritage systems in China based on a review of both theoretical and practical progress. Agricultural heritage systems exhibit a multitude of values for sustainable and equitable development and therefore should be conserved for both present and future generations. Unlike most conventional heritages, the conservation of agricultural heritage systems is a complex, systematic 'engineering' in which both physical and biological components and associated socio-cultural processes should be conserved in a dynamic way. Farmers and heritage sites must benefit from the continuance of traditional agricultural production under the premise of ecological functions being sustained and traditional culture being inherited. For a more effective conservation, a multi-stakeholder process should be established involving governments at different levels, multi-disciplinary scientists, communities and farmers, and business enterprises as well as social organizations. As has been demonstrated, the conservation of agricultural heritage systems aims to promote the regional sustainable development, to improve the livelihood, food security and well-being of farm people, and to provide references for the development of modern agriculture in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hani Rice Terraces System, based on gravity-flow irrigation, is one of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) pilot sites selected by FAO in 2010. The water resource plays an important role in the sustainable development of this system. The value of water conserved by the forest is influenced by natural, economic and social factors. In this paper, the water quality, per capita water resources, per capita GDP and population density are chosen as indices to construct an index system for a comprehensive evaluation of water resources value. The weights of these indices are 0.443, 0.31, 0.141 and 0.106 respectively, which are determined by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. The water resources value has been assessed by the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model. The results show that the water resources value in the Hani Rice Terraces System is 4.25 RMB/m. Evaluating the value of water resources in the Hani Rice Terraces System can provide a reference for ecological compensation, for raising public awareness of the importance of protecting the system, and ultimately achieving its sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil temperature plays an important role in physical, biological, and microbiological processes occurring in the soil, but it is rarely reported as an indicator of climate change. A long-term soil temperature database, collected in the Mojave Desert region from 1982-2000, was used to examine the relationship between regional climate change and soil temperature. During this 19-year study period, there was a warming trend in the Mojave Desert region. The soil temperature in this region, measured at 50-cm deep, increased at an average rate of 0.79°C per decade. The temporal changes of soil temperature and those of air temperature were highly correlated. Elevation was the dominating factor that affected the spatiotemporal variations of soil and air temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological value encapsulated in the term "spiritual ecology" is drawing more and more attention from ethnology, folklore, ecology, and other related disciplines. The custom of respecting and pacifying forest spirits has distinct regional and ethnic characteristics, and many scholars have discovered samples from different studies around the world. Qingyuan County, located in the mountainous region of southwest Zhejiang, is a very typical case of the practice of respecting and pacifying forest spirits. The mushroom-cultivation technology invented by the chthonic people there more than 900 years ago made this the global birthplace of artificial mushroom cultivation. The Qingyuan Forest–Mushroom Co-cultivation System (QFMCS) has been listed as an important agricultural heritage system by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Beijing, China and a candidate project by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy for Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). Additionally, the QFMCS is currently an important part of the Baishanzu National Park under construction. The authors made an in-depth field study in the mountainous areas of Qingyuan and used theoretical methods of ecology, anthropology, and folklore to reveal the function spiritual ecology plays in ecological conservation, forest protection, identity, and the maintenance of community interests. In the "traditional-modern" transformation of Qingyuan County, the practice of respecting and pacifying the Spirits is still being propagated, resulting in expansion and social cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to isolate a select group of landscape metrics particularly well-suited for describing the Hani Terrace in southwest of China. We examined the response of 47 landscape metrics to a large range of imagery grain sizes. Based on a correlation analysis, the original 47 metrics were placed into 21 groups such that all metrics within a group were strongly correlated with each other with a value of more than 0.9, and were represented by a single descriptor. Using these cross-sectional metrics in the context of principal components analysis, we found that five factors explained almost 93% of the total variation in the landscape pattern. The highest loadings for these five factors were the Splitting index (SPLIT), Patch area distribution (AREA_CV), Shannon's diversity index (SHDI), Euclidean nearest neighbor distance distribution (ENN_AM), and Total core area (TCA), respectively. Considering the real landscape, we added the Patch fractal dimension distribution (FRAC_MN) as the sixth landscape pattern metric. As the scale effect of landscape pattern metrics we design to investigate how a suite of commonly use landscape metrics respond to changing grain size. Based on the anlasis, we determined that the best domain of scale to characterise the Hani Terrace pattern metrics is between 40m and 45m. Through the fractal method, we found that the characteristic scale of the Hani Terrace is the same as the scale domain of metrics, among the 40m and 45m. We suggest that the majority of the patterns in the Hani Terrace landscapes, indeed for all those in southwest China,can be described effectively with these six metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population growth, loss of biodiversity, and climate change necessitate a new vision for the future of both agriculture and biodiversity. In order to safeguard and support the world's agricultural heritage systems, in 2002 the FAO started an initiative for the conservation and adaptive management called Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). Tourism is suggested as part of the future as it is considered to be an alternative income source that will not only promote local economic development, but also provide the opportunity for tourists to learn about agriculture and ecology. However, inappropriate tourism in GIAHS sites will bring impacts on local culture and living styles, which not only threatens tourism's sustainable development, but also has the potential to damage these unique agricultural systems. This paper proposes that agriculture-based tourism is suitable for GIAHS and that Multi-functionality of Agriculture (MFA) can be the link between agriculture and tourism. This study constructs the framework for tourism development in GIAHS through MFA and applies it to the four GIAHS sites in China. Referring to the quantitative assessment for MFA and a qualitative analysis of the relationship between agriculture and tourism, we can give advice on agricultural tourism development in GIAHS sites. This framework also offers a universal methodology that allows stakeholders to communicate about the multiple functions of GIAHS across scales [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) initiative was launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 2002 with the aim of establishing the basis for the global recognition, dynamic conservation and adaptive management of outstanding traditional agricultural systems and their associated landscapes, biodiversity, knowledge systems and cultures. There is anecdotal evidence that designated GIAHS are economically better than non-GIAHS sites. However, there have not been done an economic analysis to prove this. Nor are any sophisticated economic performance criteria for GIAHS in place for a continuously monitoring of the functioning. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to conduct an economic valuation for a GIAHS system versus a similar non designated GIAHS system. For this, a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) is chosen. The major constraint is the data availability. Therefore, a framework for economic analysis shall be developed with the intention to provide directions, assumptions, and data requirement to carry out an economic analysis and so give guidance on future inclusion of economic valuations of GIAHS. Theconceptual framework for economic assessment will use the Rice-Fish pilot site in China as a case study. The example calculations on the rice-fish co-culture (RFC) have to be taken cautiously due to data availability on different activities (tourism, marketed products on local and international markets) as well as comparison to similar systems [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In rural life, everything is connected to everything else. Seen as a complex adaptive system, the "rural" in most regions of the world has evolved over many centuries and is well known to have endured invasive predations and conflicts and to have adapted to changing conditions, both physical and human, many times. Such changes are recorded in the culture and in the landscapes which have continuously evolved and which characterize rural places today. These features of contemporary rural life-economy, culture and landscape-are the key elements of rural systems. Interestingly, they have also become the elements that attract tourists to rural areas. This theoretical paper, starts from the position that the rural world as a whole is complex and that systems adjust in the face of uncertainty, and a type of dynamism that is generated externally in the form of shocks and stresses. Complex Adaptive Systems theory provides an excellent opportunity to examine living systems such as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in China that can provide new perspectives on resilience and self-organizing capabilities of the system. The paper suggests that adopting such approaches in contemporary research will produce new insights of whole systems and stem the tide of mainstream scientific research that reduces systems to their component parts and studies them with micro-techniques, while mostly failing to reintegrate the component parts back into the system as a whole. By reviewing this approach in relation to GIAHS and by introducing tourism into the rural village system, as a perturbation, we can create new ways to understand the effects of rural development interventions in ancient landscapes such as those which cover many parts of rural China today [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite international focus on how to facilitate adaptation to droughts in a changing climate, a good deal of adaptation will be enacted at the local level. Focusing on the Yuanyang Terrace of SW China (a very famous agricultural heritage site), this study illustrates that land use change, dynamic adaptation and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) are the main measures to reduce the drought disaster risk and have the important role in adapting to droughts based on methodology of the land use survey, household questionnaire, local government and companies' interview. And a new conceptual model of adaptation from the insight of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) was proposed in spatial, temporal and social dimensions. It is a good practice to adapt to disaster risk and agricultural heritage conservation by tourism development. Adaptive risk management is more important in adapting to disaster risk in order to maintain heritages conservation and local livelihood improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the mean annual soil temperature collected with the Pallmann method and data on evaporation, precipitation, and the perennial plant species in 75 monitoring sites in the Mojave Desert from 1982 to 2000, we investigated the interrelationships of soil temperature and aridity on the distribution of several dominant desert scrubs in the Mojave Desert. It showed that the creosote bush-white bursage communities populated in the areas with lower elevation (<1,200 m) and higher soil temperature (>20°C). The sagebrush communities were found in wetter areas with higher elevation (>1,500 m) and lower soil temperature (<18°C). The blackbrush communities occupied areas between the creosote bush-white bursage communities and sagebrush communities. The distribution of yucca species is similarly affected by the soil temperature and aridity. Climate change is expected to significantly alter the distribution patterns of vegetation in Mojave Desert. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Besides crops, agriculture supplies all three major categories of ecosystem services (ES). However, agriculture also supplies an array of ecosystem dis-services (EDS) that may harm other ecosystems. The flows of ES and EDS are directly dependent on the management of agricultural ecosystems. The traditional method of Chinese agriculture, which supports sustainable agriculture, has been proven to increase ES and reduce EDS. However, there is a lack of a detailed understanding of the ES and EDS associated with traditional agriculture, and also of differences between traditional and modern agriculture. In this study, an investigation was conducted on the ecosystem services (ES) and ecosystem dis-services (EDS) of traditional and modern agriculture in Congjiang County, Guizhou Province, China. Afterwards, the economic values of ES and EDS were quantified experimentally and calculated based on the market price. The results show that: the net economic value of traditional rice-fish agriculture was 3.31×10 CNY·ha (6.83 CNY = 1 USD as of July, 2009) and that of rice monoculture was 1.99×10 CNY·ha. Significant differences existed between traditional rice-fish and rice monoculture fields for their economic values of some ES or EDS. A benefit and cost analysis (BCA) model was used to adjust the conflict between the economic income and environmental loss from traditional and modern agriculture. The BCA model not only calculates the net income but also monetizes the EDS of the agricultural systems. The results showed that the net income of rice-fish agriculture was 1.94×10 CNY·ha higher than that of rice monoculture. However, the benefit to cost ratio (BCR) of rice-fish agriculture was lower than that of rice monoculture, indicating that the traditional agricultural model was not the most optimized choice for farmers. The value of the rice-fish agriculture was much higher than that of the rice monoculture. Thus, when considering the benefits that rice-fish agriculture contributes to the largescale society, these agricultural methods needs to be utilized. Furthermore, the labor opportunity costs were calculated and the comprehensive value of rice monoculture was negative. Finally, the compensation standard was calculated based on the comprehensive benefit analysis. The lowest level was 1.09×10 CNY·ha, and the highest level was 1.21×10 CNY·ha. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the highlights of the first International Terraced Landscape Conference held in Yunnan Province in south-west China from November 11-15, 2010. Organized by the Yunnan Hani Terrace Institute and sponsored by the World Heritage Center of UNESCO and the Honghe government, the event discussed issues about terraced landscapes, particularly the Hani Rice Terraces.

Correction to: Herit Sci (2021) 9:115 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00589-y Following publication of the original article [[1]], it was reported that the authorship list contained two errors, and that affiliation 2 contained an error. Correction to: Visualizing the cultural landscape gene of traditional settlements in China: a semiotic perspective Reference 1 Hu Z, Strobl J, Min Q, Tan M, Chen F. Visualizing the cultural landscape gene of traditional settlements in China: a semiotic perspective. [Extracted from the article]

The ecological water requirement of forests is defined as the water resources used to maintain and improve the natural balance of forest ecosystems, which can be expressed by evapotranspiration of trees during the growing season. The relationship of evapotranspiration and soil moisture of forestland with tree growth showed that, if the soil moisture was above the temporary wilting point or the point of growth retardation, the growth of trees can, respectively, be basically or normally sustained. Therefore, they can be taken as the minimum and the suitable ecological water requirements of the forest. These points can be estimated by introducing the soil factor ( Ks) and tree species factor ( Kt) to potential evapotranspiration with the Penman formula. With geographic information system (GIS), the ecological water requirement for forests in the Jinghe watershed, western China was estimated. The results revealed that the minimum and suitable ecological water requirements of the forests in the Jinghe watershed were approximately 204×107 and 340×107 m3, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An agricultural heritage system is a special type of protected area that is both culturally and ecologically important. Biological resources are an essential component of an agricultural heritage system. They are necessary to support human livelihood, and their usage is key to ensuring biodiversity. This study used a survey questionnaire and key informant interviews to investigate the use of edible biological resources (EBRs) in the Shuangjiang Mengku ancient tea and culture system (SMATCS). We investigated similarities and differences in EBR use between four minority groups as well as the driving forces behind them. The four groups used 245 EBR species in 113 families, and diversity of EBR use was found in terms of species, edible parts, harvest season, and usage. EBR use within groups was driven by natural, cultural, social, and economic forces. Two social factors (infrastructure and communication), two economic factors (overall economic development and farmer income), and a biological resource (species diversity) drove EBR utilization in all the groups convergently, while three cultural factors drove EBR utilization divergently. To assure the long-term sustainability of EBRs, the preservation of cultural diversity should be combined with the conservation of biodiversity. Targets must be set to adjust the impacts of the driving factors, and more stakeholders must be involved in the conservation of EBRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural communities are taking active roles in conservation. However, the basic modes and content of community participatory approach are seldom summarised or reflected on in China, leaving the use of terms confused and their links to practice disconnected. By reviewing the literature, we traced back to the protected area-community relations from the perspective of features of rural communities, namely knowledge accumulation, social bond, collective actions, and risk-aversion, and reflected on changing roles of community conservation through recognition of these features. Combining case studies and our own research experience, we focused on the de facto practices behind the somewhat casual use of several terms and re-classified community participation in conservation to three modes of community participatory management, community co-management, and community dominant management, along a continuum in which, from low to high level, conservation is more a means rather than an end for the community to be empowered for their own resource management. We argued that the success of community participation must ensure stable and flexible land tenure so that the right to benefit can be guaranteed, and the collective action in managing resources can be achieved by empowerment. In practice, further institutional changes of improvement in the legislation and optimisation in benefit sharing and compensation are needed to promote community participation in a broader social participation context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To cope with the problem of the global agricultural environment, food security, and the crisis of sustainable agricultural development, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), together with other relevant national organizations and several countries, launched the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in 2002. The Qingtian Rice-Fish system was designated as China's first GIAHS and was included in the first batch of GIAHS pilot sites, in 2005. Since then, study of systematic agricultural heritage and its conservation and development has progressed in China. On the basis of a comprehensive collection of relevant studies, the author reviews the main achievements in conservation and development of China-Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (China-NIAHS) over the past 15 years. At the present stage, the core contents of study on agricultural heritage are focused on two aspects. One is the benefit of exploration with multi-functional development. Another is dynamic conservation with adaptive management. There are many controversies around the concept and connotation of agricultural heritage, which, in turn, promote the understanding of this new type of heritage. The sustainable mechanism within agricultural heritage gives itself value diversity. Study about the value of agricultural heritage highlights the significance of conservation. The development of multi-functional industrials based on its multi-functional value is the pathway for the development of China-NIAHS, including the production of high-quality and characteristic local agricultural products, the development of ecotourism, and the development of cultural industries. To carry out dynamic conservation and adaptive management, the establishment of "five in one" benefit-sharing, multi-stakeholder mechanisms, legally guaranteed incentive mechanisms, government-leading, multi-financing mechanisms, and multi-disciplinary scientific support mechanisms are indispensable. Although China has made great progress in the study of agricultural heritage, it still needs to carry out additional research through heritage resources surveys, regular patterns of system evolution, and sustainable mechanisms, as well as perform more applicable research in framework and mechanism construction and paradigms of dynamic protection. Multidisciplinary comprehensive studies are necessary as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the summarization of previous studies, this paper constructed an analytical model on the driving factors on the choice of farmers' livelihood strategies in nature reserves, covering the aspects of natural disasters, public policies, family characteristics, and livelihood assets, and this paper took Zhagana Village in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as an example to conduct an empirical study. The empirical results show that non-agricultural production strategies, especially a tourism-oriented strategy, are currently the primary livelihood preference for households in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. During the process of livelihood strategy selection, households are influenced by exogenous factors like public policies and natural disasters, as well as by endogenous factors like family characteristics and livelihood assets. Among these factors, the soil erosion as well as the tourism development policy would be the restrictive factors when choosing an agricultural production strategy, or the incentive factors if a non-agricultural production strategy were to be chosen. Meanwhile, anti-poverty development policy, location characteristic, and economic characteristic are the incentive factors for households who want to choose an agricultural production strategy, or the restrictive factors if they would like to select a non-agricultural production strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Qingyuan mushroom culture system (QMCS) in Zhejiang Province has been recognized as the source of the world's first artificial cultivation of mushrooms with a history of more than 800 years. The system embodies the farming wisdom of the local people who have adapted themselves to and utilized nature and has integrated the traditional bark hacking method with multiple modern patterns for mushroom cultivation based on artificial microbial strains. We have investigated the input–output operation of farmers and assessed and analyzed emergy indicators in a bid to reflect and compare their economic and ecological benefits, as well as their sustainable development by analyzing the three typical mushroom cultivation patterns. The cost-benefit analysis of the three patterns shows that the sawdust medium-cultivated method (SMCM) is characterized by dominance in both net income without labor cost and labor productivity; while the evaluation based on emergy indicators has proven that each has its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of ecological and economic benefits and sustainable development. Among them, the bark hacking method (BHM) features the highest utilization rates of local and renewable resources, the smallest damage to the environment, the lowest production efficiency, and the highest exchange efficiency, but the sawdust medium-cultivated method is just the opposite, and the log-cultivated method (LCM) is the most favorable one for sustainable development. As its agricultural heritage, the QMCS' core of dynamic protection and adaptive management lies in enhancing the sustainable development of its agricultural production methods. It is recommended that the three patterns be improved by targeting their respective shortcomings and at the same time, integrate their advantages to explore a new sustainable development pattern for mushroom cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In agriculture, synthetic fertilizers have played a key role in enhancing food production and keeping the world's population adequately fed. China's participation is essential to global efforts in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions because it is the largest producer and consumer of synthetic fertilizers. A field experiment was conducted in a Jasminum sambac (L.) field to evaluate the impact different doses of fertilizers (half, standard, and double) and their combination with straw on ecosystem (including crop plants and soil) GHG emissions. The results showed that in comparison with the control or straw treatments, the straw + standard fertilizer treatment increased the soil water content. The fertilizer treatments decreased the soil pH, but the straw and combination treatments, especially the straw + standard fertilizer treatment, had higher soil pH in comparison with the fertilizer treatment. The active soil Fe (Fe2+ and Fe3+) concentration was slightly increased in the straw + standard fertilizer treatment in comparison with the control. Moreover, fertilizer increased the CO2 emission, and we detected a positive interaction between the straw application and the double fertilization dose that increased CO2 emission, but the straw + standard fertilizer treatment decreased it. Fertilizer decreased CH4 and N2O emissions, but when straw and fertilizer treatments were applied together, this increased CH4 and N2O emissions. Overall, considering the soil properties and GHG emissions, the straw + standard fertilizer treatment was the best method to enhance soil water retention capacity, improve soil acid, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions for sustainable management of J. sambac dry croplands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Huzhou mulberry-dyke and fish-pond system (HMFS) is a compound structure of agriculture with interaction among several subsystems, and it is an effective example of a circular economy by exogenous input and waste reduction to maintain a harmonious relationship between humans and nature. As increases in rural urbanization and transition of peasants occur, the traditional systems remain in a constant state of change, along with different kinds of adaptation models. In this study, two main existing models are examined by field investigation and extensive literature analysis. Emergy theory and methods are adopted to make a further quantitative analysis from emergy structure and indices synthetically and systemically. In this process, the models of HMFS are split into several subsystems, including mulberry dyke, fish pond, rape dyke, and silkworm, in terms of a modularization approach. The proportion of combinations among different subsystems is calculated by the average production level of local peasants. The empirical results of emergy analysis indicate that the two existent patterns of HMFS are themselves superior in terms of environmental capacity and commercial efficiency. The mulberry–silkworm–fish model possesses more sustainable characteristics than the rape–fish model by the mass flow and energy flux. In addition, the rape–fish model may obtain considerably better economic returns by more inorganic resources, and thus achieve higher economic benefits. Therefore, the rape–fish model may be an evolutionary model to make directions for further research and protection, while other adaptive units are introduced to form multiple systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The livelihood of peasant households is one of the selection criteria of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems and a critical factor that affects agricultural heritage system conservation and inheritance. Taking the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces System (HHRTS) and Shexian Dryland Terraces System (SDTS) as examples, we investigated 304 households through a participatory rural appraisal method to discuss the livelihood assets and strategies of households in agricultural heritage systems. From the viewpoint of livelihood strategies, household strategies can be divided into pure agricultural, nonagricultural, and part-time agricultural strategies. The livelihood strategies of households in the HHRTS feature a higher proportion of nonagricultural, while those in the SDTS have a diverse distribution. With respect to livelihood assets, we constructed a livelihood assets accounting framework to highlight the important role of traditional culture and information technology in agricultural activities. The average livelihood assets value in the HHRTS and SDTS was 2.249 and 1.832, respectively. Then, applying the multinomial logit model, we quantitatively analyzed the relationship between livelihood assets and strategies. The results show that in both terrace systems, the understanding of traditional agricultural knowledge is important to suppress the shift of pure agricultural households to nonagricultural or part-time agricultural households. Therefore, in order to achieve dynamic conservation of terrace systems, it is necessary to effectively increase the cultural assets level of households, especially farmers’ understanding of traditional agricultural knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifteen years have passed since Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) project in 2002. In this time, participation from East Asian countries has been increasing rapidly with interest flowing over into several related subjects and disciplines. Culture is one of the selection criteria that has to be satisfied to become a GIAHS site, and equally culture plays an important role in the development of tourism to a destination. However, few scientists or GIAHS members have discussed directly how to apply cultural features in GIAHS. Therefore, the purposes of this paper are firstly to recognize the importance and contribution of culture in GIAHS. Then, through detailing the current forms of cultural management in the GIAHS located in Japan, Korea, and China, we identify some of the key cultural problems and prospects in those sites. Two social surveys conducted in Japan show that culture is a prime motivation for tourist visitation, as well as being a core GIAHS selection criteria. These surveys further highlight that GIAHS needs to incorporate culture more effectively into their management strategies. Detailed descriptions of the three countries analyzed in this paper outline each has to engage with particular cultural management challenges: Japan has a well-arranged list of cultural assets, but is unclear how to move forward with that information and data. Korea has just begun to generate a strategy on how to manage cultural heritage features in GIAHS with the use of approaches such as Agrostories or Gil tourism, in recognition of the gradual changes that are occurring in local identity. China has the longest history of engagement with GIAHS in the East Asia region. However, the utilization of the model here has recognized further issues of change in cultural identity not least through commercialization. This paper therefore identifies, discusses and arranges eight problems and prospects for collaborative research on aspects of cultural management amongst the GIAHS in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]