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Although comprehensive land consolidation may stimulate industrial revitalization, the interactions and pathways between land consolidation and industrial revitalization are unclear. Using villages in China as case studies, the historical development process and pathways of comprehensive land consolidation, and rural industrial revitalization, are summarized and clarified. Development processes and pathways for villages in Puhe, Maosi, Dianzi, and Baicaopo in Gansu Province were compared. The comparison suggested the following nested generic strategy for revitalization, comprising: (1). A core strategy for guiding industrial development that consolidates the spatial layout; (2). Strengthening ecological restoration as a key part of the optimization strategy with (1); and (3). Including and enhancing cultural industrialization as a desirable supplement. Our study and worked examples can be applied to other villages or regions worldwide to explore the development path of village industry revitalization under the guidance of our proposed comprehensive land consolidation framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The value of ecosystem services and service capabilities continue to improve, and the way to form a path of resource industrialization development has become one of the important directions of sustainable development. This paper mainly takes the construction of national parks as a major opportunity and explores the temporal and spatial changes in the value of ecosystem services in Qilian Mountain National Park (Gansu area) and the construction path of the industrial system of national park construction. The total value of ecosystem services was calculated using a comprehensive index of the degree of land use, land contribution rate, ecological service value, equivalent factor of economic value, and the improved value coefficient of farmland ecological services, and then the Sensitivity index was used to reveal the dependence of the value of ecosystem services on the value index over time. The results showed the following: (1) Human disturbance factors in Qilian Mountain National Park (Gansu area) are weak, and the land use of Qilian Mountain National Park (Gansu Area) was mainly grassland, followed by unused land, forest land, and glacial snow, with the change in glacial snow cover being the largest. (2) The ecosystem of Qilian Mountain National Park (Gansu area) is strong, and the contribution rate of forest land, construction land, unused land, and glacial snow cover in Qilian Mountain National Park (Gansu Area) was positive, while cultivated land, grassland, and water area were negative. Among them, glacial snow cover contributed the most at 10.4723 the ecological barrier function plays a stable role. (3) The ecosystem service value (ESV) in Qilian Mountain National Park (Gansu Area) showed a fluctuating growth trend on the whole, showing the characteristics of high northwest and low southeast, among which the total value of grassland was the largest, the value of unused land was the smallest with the largest increase range, and the increase in water area was the smallest. (4) Qilian Mountain National Park (Gansu Area) is mainly based on regulated services, followed by support services, supply services, and cultural services, all showing a clear growth trend, increasing by 181.77%, 183.90%, 196.19%, and 170.38%, respectively. With the development of low-carbon economy and circular economy as the main idea, we aim to build a national park industrialization development path of direct product supply, indirect product supply, and basic guarantee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: China is beginning to see increasingly complex real estate development dynamics as urbanization, industrialization and globalization advance. As a key driver of economic and social development in China's cities, real estate has created prosperity while facing the risk of capitalization and a "hard landing", making it increasingly difficult to bring it under control. (2) Methods: a new approach that integrates "evolution dynamics–driving mechanism–policy design" is constructed based on the Boston Consulting Group matrix, exploratory spatial data analysis, GIS and Geodetector, and this paper empirically studies the dynamics and driving mechanism of real estate development based on the case study of small county-level cities in Gansu, China. (3) Results: Firstly, real estate development in Gansu is characterized by significant spatial differentiation, heterogeneity and autocorrelation, and its distribution pattern comes into being from unsynchronized macroeconomic, population, social, industrial, institutional and policy development interweaved with the real estate control. Secondly, the real estate is diversified in spatiotemporal evolution models, and the cold and hot cities of different models are in quite different geographical patterns with high spatial agglomeration. Thirdly, there are many driving factors affecting the distribution patterns in real estate. These factors are in complex relationships and they are classified into three categories of "Scale–Contribution–Comprehensive"-oriented driving factor and three sub-categories of "Key–Important–Auxiliary" factors. Fourthly, the factors show large differences in the interaction effects, with the real estate industry scale influencing factors being dominated by bifactor enhancement and the economic contribution influencing factors being dominated by non-linear enhancement. Notably, factors such as permanent resident population, urbanization and government revenue have a strong direct influence on the industry scale and economic contribution of real estate, and factors such as expenditure, output value of industry, urbanization rate and number of secondary schools all have a strong interactive influence. (4) Conclusions: The cities are divided into four policy areas of comprehensive development, contribution improvement, scale growth and free decision. Furthermore, differentiated and adaptive measures are proposed for each zoning, which significantly improves the accuracy and synergy of urban real estate management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of the construction of urbanization and ecology index system, this study takes the core area of Silk Road Economic Belt, Gansu, as the research object and creates the coordination evaluation model between urbanization and ecological environment in Gansu; meanwhile, it uses BP neural network to predict the coordinated development of urbanization and ecology in Gansu Province. Finally, the aforesaid model is validated by means of empirical evidence. The results show that Gansu, in the Silk Road Economic Belt, has accelerated its urbanization level in the 10-year period from 2010 to 2019 in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative, especially in Jiayuguan and Lanzhou, mainly due to its industrialization-led urbanization； meanwhile, in terms of coupling degree, most of them are between 0.45 and 0.55, and most of them are out-of-frequency pro-disorder recession type, indicating that under the background of urbanization, the ecology of each city and prefecture in Gansu is also under great pressure. At the same time, through the forecast, Gansu is considered to be in the red light in 2019, as the endangered disorder recession B environmental lagging type, indicating that Lanzhou is facing great ecological pressure, but in general, the relationship between human and land is gradually developing in harmony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carbon peaking and carbon neutrality strategy have become China's national strategy. Given the significant regional differences in China, the Chinese government has proposed "one policy for one province" guiding principle for carbon emission reduction. This study takes Tianjin as a representative of "a province-level city with high degree of industrialization and prominent emerging industries", and Gansu Province a representative of "a province with a low degree of industrialization but the potential for green energy". Using the integrated modeling frameworkthis study conducts a comparative analysis of the hidden flows generated by inter-provincial inward and outward transfers and extracts a feasible model for carbon neutrality transformation. The study also focuses on carbon emission, GDP changes, carbon hidden flow change in trade and carbon emission reduction path. By comparing the results, this study identifies the mechanism of the industrial spillover effect and carbon emission spillover effect between the two regions. Then it concludes the "cross-regional transfer mode of high-carbon industries" of industrial carbon neutral transformation: more carbon emission allowances are allocated to developing regions represented by Gansu Province, implement regionally differentiated carbon emission reduction constraint policies, and achieve industrial spatial transfer through more inter-provincial transfer. The paper found that in implementing a regionally differentiated carbon emission reduction constraint policy (DE scenario), the transfer of high-carbon industries can achieve the "superposition effect" through inter-provincial transfer. Accordingly, three carbon policy mechanisms for cross-regional transfer of high-carbon industries are summarized. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human activities exert a profound influence on land use and land cover, and these changes directly influence habitat quality and ecosystem functioning. In the Gansu–Qinghai contiguous region of the upper Yellow River, habitat quality has undergone substantial transformations in recent years due to the synergistic impacts of natural processes and human intervention. Therefore, evaluating the effects of land use changes on habitat quality is crucial for advancing regional sustainable development and improving the worth of ecosystem services. In response to these challenges, we devised a two-pronged approach: a land use simulation (FLUS) model and an integrated valuation of ecosystem services and trade-offs (InVEST) model, leveraging remote sensing data. This integrated methodology establishes a research framework for the evaluation and simulation of spatial and temporal variations in habitat quality. The results of the study show that, firstly, from 1980 to 2020, the habitat quality index in the Gansu–Qinghai contiguous region of the upper Yellow River decreased from 0.8528 to 0.8434. Secondly, our predictions anticipate a decrease in habitat quality, although the decline is not pronounced across all scenarios. The highest habitat quality values were projected under the EP (Ecology Priority) scenario, followed by the CLP (Cultivated Land Priority) scenario, while the BAU (Business as Usual) scenario consistently yielded the lowest values in all three scenarios. Finally, the ecological land, including forest land and grassland, consistently occupied areas characterized by high habitat quality. In contrast, Construction land consistently appeared in regions associated with low habitat quality. The implementation of conservation measures emerges as a crucial strategy, effectively limiting the expansion of construction land and promoting the augmentation of forest land and grassland cover. This approach serves to enhance overall habitat quality. These outcomes furnish a scientific foundation for the judicious formulation of future land-use policies and ecological protection measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the main challenges, and it poses a tough challenge to the agriculture industry globally. Additionally, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the main contributor to climate change; however, croplands are a prominent source of GHG emissions. Yet this complex challenge can be mitigated through climate-smart agricultural practices. Conservation tillage is commonly known to preserve soil and mitigate environmental change by reducing GHG emissions. Nonetheless, there is still a paucity of information on the influences of conservation tillage on wheat yield, soil properties, and GHG flux, particularly in the semi-arid Dingxi belt. Hence, in order to fill this gap, different tillage systems, namely conventional tillage (CT) control, straw incorporation with conventional tillage (CTS), no-tillage (NT), and stubble return with no-tillage (NTS), were laid at Dingxi, Gansu province of China, under a randomized complete block design with three replications to examine their impacts on yield, soil properties, and GHG fluxes. Results depicted that different conservative tillage systems (CTS, NTS, and NT) significantly (p < 0.05) increased the plant height, number of spikes per plant, seed number per meter square, root yield, aboveground biomass yield, thousand-grain weight, grain yield, and dry matter yield compared with CT. Moreover, these conservation tillage systems notably improved the soil properties (soil gravimetric water content, water-filled pore space, water storage, porosity, aggregates, saturated hydraulic conductivity, organic carbon, light fraction organic carbon, carbon storage, microbial biomass carbon, total nitrogen, available nitrogen storage, microbial biomass nitrogen, total phosphorous, available phosphorous, total potassium, available potassium, microbial counts, urease, alkaline phosphatase, invertase, cellulase, and catalase) while decreasing the soil temperature and bulk density over CT. However, CTS, NTS, and NT had non-significant effects on ECe, pH, and stoichiometric properties (C:N ratio, C:P ratio, and N:P ratio). Additionally, conservation-based tillage regimes NTS, NT, and CTS significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the emission and net global warming potential of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) by 23.44, 19.57, and 16.54%, respectively, and decreased the greenhouse gas intensity by 23.20, 29.96, and 18.72%, respectively, over CT. We conclude that NTS is the best approach to increasing yield, soil and water conservation, resilience, and mitigation of agroecosystem capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human activities have caused different degrees of land-use change on different topographic gradients, with impacts on the landscape and ecosystem. Effectively preventing and addressing ecological risk (ER) and achieving harmonious coexistence between humans and nature are important aspects of sustainable development. In this study, we used Gansu Province as an example, adopted five periods of land-use data in 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020, and used the geoinformatic Tupu method and the terrain distribution index to study land-use changes under different topographic gradients, and then constructed the landscape ecological risk assessment (LERA) model based on the landscape pattern index to analyze landscape ecological risk (LER) spatiotemporal changes under different topographic gradients, and finally explored the LER driving factors using the geodetector model. The results showed that (1) the dominant land-use types were unused land and grassland, accounting for approximately 74% of the land. The situation of transferring and changing each type was more drastic. The distribution and changes in cropland and built-up land were easily found in low topographic gradient areas with low elevations and small slopes; the distribution and changes in woodland, grassland and water areas were easily found in high topographic gradient areas with high elevations and large slopes. (2) The landscape ecological risk index (LERI) was 0.018, 0.019, 0.019, 0.019 and 0.020, respectively, with spatial expressions of high in the northwest and low in the southeast. Low LER was concentrated in high topographic gradient ecological reserves; high LER was concentrated in low topographic gradient human interference areas and high topographic gradient natural environmental complex areas. (3) Natural factors mainly acted on the LER on moderate and high topographic position gradients; socioeconomic factors mainly acted on the LER on low topographic position gradients. Human interference interacted with natural factors more than human interference alone on LER. This study can provide a scientific basis for ensuring ecological security and sustainable development in areas with complex topography and geomorphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This swift progression of urbanization has led to increasingly prominent conflicts over the use of land, particularly around its supply and demand. Researchers, both in China and internationally, have underscored the inherent interconnection between urbanization and land utilization. This relationship has gradually become more complex with the development of urbanization. With the implementation of the Yellow River Basin's strategy to preserve the environment while ensuring high-quality development, the Yellow River Basin has become a focal point of attention for numerous scholars. This study centers on the 57 county-level administrative divisions within the Gansu segment of the Yellow River Basin. We employed an extensive array of methodologies, such as GIS technology, the entropy method, data envelopment analysis, the coupling coordination degree model, and the panel vector autoregressive model. We established an index system and a measurement model to evaluate the degree of urbanization and the efficiency of land use. We also investigated the coupling coordinated dynamics between these two variables, to further explore the dynamic interplay between urbanization and land use and reveal their underlying mechanisms. The conclusions are as follows. The urbanization level and efficiency of land use in the Gansu section of the Yellow River Basin have exhibited a consistent upward trajectory, albeit at levels that are not particularly high, indicating substantial room for improvement in the future. The level of coupling coordination between urbanization and land use efficiency in the Gansu section of the Yellow River Basin has shown a generally upward trend. However, the overall coordination level remains relatively low, characterized by an imbalance, with "high coupling but low coordination". Regarding spatial distribution patterns, considerable disparities exist in the level of coordination development, which generally decreases from the eastern toward the western regions. A strong reciprocal and interactive relationship exists between the urbanization level and land use efficiency. An elevated level of economic urbanization can initially stimulate land use efficiency. Similarly, the improvement in the level of population urbanization, social urbanization, and ecological urbanization tends to exert a restraining influence on the augmentation of land use efficiency. Conversely, the enhancement of land use efficiency makes a distinct contribution to promoting the elevation of the urbanization level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigation of the coupling and coordination association between scientific and technological innovation and the eco-environmental system is of vital practical significance for promoting the high-quality economic development of China's Gansu province. The evaluation index system is constructed based on the explanation of the coupling and coordination mechanism of a "Binary system". Subsequently, a comprehensive evaluation model is developed using the entropy method, whereas the coupling coordination relationship between "Binary systems" is analyzed in the context of the coupling coordination degree model. The study findings indicate that the innovation drive has become the primary driving force that leads the high-quality economic development in Gansu province. Furthermore, the comprehensive development level and coupling and coordination degree of all systems in Gansu province demonstrate a sound trend of steadily rising. Additionally, there is an issue of uncoordinated development between scientific and technological innovation and eco-environment systems in Gansu province. Thus, this research study proposes certain policy suggestions, such as optimizing the environment of Sci-tech innovation, insisting on the priority of ecology, increasing the input of Sci-tech innovation, and building up a contingent of talents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal pollution may lead to a variety of diseases; for this reason, it has become a matter of public concern worldwide. However, it is necessary to use biomonitoring approaches to assess the risks posed to human health by metals. In this study, the concentrations of 14 metal elements in 181 urine samples obtained from the general population of Gansu Province, China, were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Eleven out of fourteen target elements had detection frequencies above 85%, namely, Cr, Ni, As, Se, Cd, Al, Fe, Cu and Rb. The concentrations of most metal elements in the urine of our subjects corresponded to the medium levels of subjects in other regional studies. Gender exerted a significant influence (p < 0.05) on the concentrations of Tl, Rb and Zn. The concentrations of Ni, As, Pb, Sr, Tl, Zn, Cu and Se showed significant differences among different age groups and the age-related concentration trends varied among these elements. There were significant differences in the urine concentrations of Zn and Sr between those subjects in the group who were frequently exposed to soil (exposed soil > 20 min/day) and those in the group who were not, indicating that people in regular contact with soil may be more exposed to metals. This study provides useful information for evaluating the levels of metal exposure among general populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Along with the maturity of smart cities, digital villages and smart villages are receiving more attention than ever before as the key to promote sustainable rural development. The Chinese government has made great efforts in promoting the digital development of villages in recent years, as evidenced by policies intensively introduced by the central and local governments, making China a typical representative country in the world. (2) Methods: This paper evaluates the performance and geographic pattern of rural digital development by the Geographic Information System (GIS) in Gansu, a less developed province in western China, and analyzes the driving mechanism of rural digital development using GeoDetector, providing a basis for spatial zoning and differentiated policy design for the construction, planning and management of digital villages based on the GE matrix. (3) Results: First, the development of digital villages shows a prominent geographical imbalance, with 79 counties divided into leader, follower and straggler levels. Second, digital villages show unsynchronized development in different dimensions, with the village facilities digitalization index in the lead and the village economy digitalization index lagging behind. Thirdly, the development of digital villages is characterized by significant spatial correlation and spillover effects, with cold and hot counties distributed in clusters, forming a "center-periphery" structure. Fourth, the factors show significant influence differentiation. They are classified into all-purpose, multifunctional and single-functional factors by their scope of action, and into key, important and auxiliary factors by their intensity of action. Fifth, the interaction and driving mechanism between different factors is quite complex, dominated by nonlinear enhancement and bifactor enhancement, and the synergistic effect of factor pairs helps increase the influence by 1–4 times. (4) Conclusions: It is suggested that the government develop differentiated policies for zoning planning and management based on the level of digital development of villages in combination with the factor influence and its driving mechanism and promote regional linkage and common development and governance through top-level design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the pollution assessment and quantitative source apportionment of heavy metals in surface dust, a total of 52 surface dust samples were collected from bus stops in Tianshui City. The geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and potential ecological risk index (RI) were used to analyze the pollution levels caused by heavy metals. The Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) of the receptor modeling and geo-statistics were employed to analyze the source of the heavy metals. The results were as follows. ① Except for Mn, Co and V, the mean concentrations of other heavy metals have exceeded the local background value of Gansu. The percentage of excessive concentrations of Cu, Zn, Sr, Ba and Pb in the samples was 100%, and that of Cr, Ni and As were 96.15%, 94.23%, and 96.15%, respectively. ② Semivariogram model fitting showed that the block-based coefficients of Cu, Zn, Sr, Ba, Pb, Cr, Ni, and As were between 0.25 and 0.75, indicating that they were mainly affected by human factors. The high values of Pb, Zn, Ni and As were mainly distributed in the eastern part of the study area, and the high values of Cu, Sr, Ba and Cr were distributed in a spot-like pattern in the study area. ③ The Igeo results showed that As, Cu, Zn, and Pb were the main contamination factors, and the optimized RI showed that the heavy metals were the overall ecological risk of intensity, among which Pb, As and Cu were the main ecological factors and should be taken as the priority control objects. ④ Based on the PMF, there are four main sources of eleven heavy metals. V, Mn, and Co were attributed to natural sources, accounting for 18.33%; Cu, Sr, and Ba were from mixed sources of pollution from transportation and industrial alloy manufacturing, accounting for 26.99%; Cr and Ni were from sources of construction waste pollution, accounting for 17.17%, As, Zn and Pb were mainly produced by coal-traffic mixed pollution emissions, accounting for 37.52%. Overall, the study area was dominated by coal-traffic emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The active participation of farmers is not only a real demand to alleviate the dilemma of "free-rider" in improving the rural living environment but also a requirement of the Times to realize ecological sustainability and rural revitalization. The planning behavior theory tells us that improving farmers' willingness is an important prerequisite for farmers' activities. This paper constructs the analysis framework of "organizational support (government and village committee) → environmental health literacy → farmers' willingness" from the actual practice of government-led rural living environment improvement. Using data from a sample of 1225 farmers in Gansu Province and Jiangsu Province, China, we empirically tested the mechanisms of organizational support on farmers' willingness to participate in living environment improvement and the mediating effect of environmental health literacy using formative structural equation modeling. The study showed that organizational support positively affected farmers' willingness to participate, the effect of emotional support was more potent than that of instrumental support, and there were regional differences in the relative effects of government support and village committee support on farmers' willingness to participate. All four types of organizational support positively affected environmental health literacy, but the degree of the effect differed and showed regional heterogeneity. Among the direct effects of farmers' environmental health literacy on their willingness to participate, basic skills made the highest contribution, followed by basic ideas and the lowest basic knowledge. Among the indirect effects, basic skills made the most significant contribution in the pathway of organizational support to increase farmers' willingness to participate through fostering farmers' environmental health literacy. The results can provide a theoretical basis for government and village committees to policy optimization and improve the system, improve the resource utilization of the government and village committees, improve farmers' environmental health literacy, and change farmers' participation attitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacillus anthracis is a gram-positive, rod-shaped and endospore-forming bacterium that causes anthrax, a deadly disease to livestock and, occasionally, to humans. The spores are extremely hardy and may remain viable for many years in soil. Previous studies have identified East Qinghai and neighbouring Gansu in northwest China as a potential source of anthrax infection. This study was carried out to identify conditions and areas in the Qinghai Lake basin that are environmentally suitable for B. anthracis distribution. Anthrax occurrence data from 2005–2016 and environmental variables were spatially modeled by a maximum entropy algorithm to evaluate the contribution of the variables to the distribution of B. anthracis. Principal Component Analysis and Variance Inflation Analysis were adopted to limit the number of environmental variables and minimize multicollinearity. Model performance was evaluated using AUC (area under the curve) ROC (receiver operating characteristics) curves. The three variables that contributed most to the suitability model for B. anthracis are a relatively high annual mean temperature of -2 to 0°C, (53%), soil type classified as; cambisols and kastanozems (35%), and a high human population density of 40 individuals per km2 (12%). The resulting distribution map identifies the permanently inhabited rim of the Qinghai Lake as highly suitable for B. anthracis. Our environmental suitability map and the identified variables provide the nature reserve managers and animal health authorities readily available information to devise both surveillance strategy and control strategy (administration of vaccine to livestock) in B. anthracis suitable regions to abate future epidemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this work was to explore the relationship between the microbial communities of sourdoughs collected from the Xinjiang and Gansu areas of China and the quality of steamed bread. Compared to yeast-based steamed bread, sourdough-based steamed bread is superior in terms of its hardness, adhesiveness, flexibility, and chewiness. It is rich in flavor compounds, but a significant difference in volatile flavor substances was observed between the two sourdoughs. A total of 19 strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from the Gansu sourdough sample, in which Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Pediococcus pentosaceus were the dominant species, accounting for 42.11% and 36.84%, respectively. A total of 16 strains of LAB were isolated from the Xinjiang sourdough sample, in which Lactiplantibacillus plantarum was the dominant species, accounting for 75%. High-throughput sequencing further confirmed these results. Clearly, the species diversity of Gansu sourdough was higher. The volatile profiles of the sourdoughs were similar, but differences in the individual volatile compounds were detected between the sourdoughs of the Gansu and Xinjiang regions. These results point out that the differences in the microbiota and the dominant strains lead to differences in the quality of sourdoughs from region to region. This investigation offers promising guidance on improving the quality of traditional steamed bread by adjusting the microorganisms in sourdough. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land-use change is supposed to exert significant effects on the spatio-temporal patterns of ecosystem carbon storage in arid regions, while the relative size of land-use change effect under future environmental change conditions is still less quantified. In this study, we combined a land-use change dataset with a satellite-based high-resolution biomass and soil organic carbon dataset to determine the role of land-use change in affecting ecosystem carbon storage from 1980 to 2050 in the Gansu province of China, using the MCE-CA-Markov and InVEST models. In addition, to quantify the relative size of the land-use change effect in comparison with other environmental drivers, we also considered the effects of climate change, CO2 enrichment, and cropland and forest managements in the models. The results show that the ecosystem carbon storage in the Gansu province increased by 208.9 ± 99.85 Tg C from 1980 to 2020, 12.87% of which was caused by land-use change, and the rest was caused by climate change, CO2 enrichment, and ecosystem managements. The land-use change-induced carbon sequestration was mainly associated with the land-use category conversion from farmland to grassland as well as from saline land and desert to farmland, driven by the grain-for-green projects in the Loess Plateau and oasis cultivation in the Hexi Corridor. Furthermore, it was projected that ecosystem carbon storage in the Gansu province from 2020 to 2050 will change from −14.69 ± 12.28 Tg C to 57.83 ± 53.42 Tg C (from 105.62 ± 51.83 Tg C to 177.03 ± 94.1 Tg C) for the natural development (ecological protection) scenario. By contrast, the land-use change was supposed to individually increase the carbon storage by 56.46 ± 9.82 (165.84 ± 40.06 Tg C) under the natural development (ecological protection) scenario, respectively. Our results highlight the importance of ecological protection and restoration in enhancing ecosystem carbon storage for arid regions, especially under future climate change conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Snow is involved in and influences water–energy processes at multiple scales. Studies on land surface snow phenology are an important part of cryosphere science and are a hot spot in the hydrological community. In this study, we improved a statistical downscaling method by introducing a spatial probability distribution function to obtain regional snow depth data with higher spatial resolution. Based on this, the southern Gansu Plateau (SGP), an important water source region in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, was taken as a study area to quantify regional land surface snow phenology variation, together with a discussion of their responses to land surface terrain and local climate, during the period from 2003 to 2018. The results revealed that the improved downscaling method was satisfactory for snow depth data reprocessing according to comparisons with gauge-based data. The downscaled snow depth data were used to conduct spatial analysis and it was found that snow depth was on average larger and maintained longer in areas with higher altitudes, varying and decreasing with a shortened persistence time. Snow was also found more on steeper terrain, although it was indistinguishable among various aspects. The former is mostly located at high altitudes in the SGP, where lower temperatures and higher precipitation provide favorable conditions for snow accumulation. Climatically, factors such as precipitation, solar radiation, and air temperature had significantly singular effectiveness on land surface snow phenology. Precipitation was positively correlated with snow accumulation and maintenance, while solar radiation and air temperature functioned negatively. Comparatively, the quantity of snow was more sensitive to solar radiation, while its persistence was more sensitive to air temperature, especially extremely low temperatures. This study presents an example of data and methods to analyze regional land surface snow phenology dynamics, and the results may provide references for better understanding water formation, distribution, and evolution in alpine water source areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Making efforts to promote rationalized urban construction land change, distribution, allocation, and its performance is the core task of territory spatial planning and a complex issue that the government must face and solve. Based on the Boston Consulting Group matrix, a decoupling model, and a GIS tool, this paper constructs a new tool that integrates "dynamic analysis + performance evaluation + policy design" for urban construction land. We reached the following findings from an empirical study of Gansu, China: (1) Urban construction land shows diversified changes, where expansion is dominant and shrink cannot be ignored. (2) Most cities are in the non-ideal state of LH (Low-High) and LL (Low-Low), with a small number in the state of HH (High-High) and HL (High-Low). (3) Urban construction land change and population growth, economic development, and income increase are in a discordant relationship, mostly in strong negative decoupling and expansive negative decoupling. (4) The spatial heterogeneity of urban construction land change and its performance are at a high level, and they show a slow upward trend. Additionally, the cold and the hot spots show obvious spatial clustering characteristics, and the spatial pattern of different indexes is different to some extent. (5) It is suggested that in territory spatial planning Gansu should divide the space into four policy areas—incremental, inventory, a reduction development policy area, and a transformation leading policy area—to implement differentiated management policies and to form a new spatial governance system of "control by zoning and management by class". The change of urban construction land, characterized by dynamics and complexity, is a direct mapping of the urban growth process. The new tools constructed in this paper will help to reveal the laws of urban development and to improve the accuracy of territory spatial planning in the new era. They are of great theoretical significance and practical value for promoting high-quality and sustainable urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Gansu Province, China, Wuwei City is an ecologically fragile migration area at the intersection of the Loess Plateau, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the Mongolia-New Plateau. Using the Triangular Fuzzy TOPSIS method and the obstacle factor diagnostic model, the implementation performance and follow-up support issues of the Ecological Resettlement Project were analyzed from the perspective of the eco-migrant and the public value theory. In contrast to traditional performance appraisal methods, Triangular Fuzzy TOPSIS breaks through the ambiguity of complex environments and subjective information and effectively quantifies the fuzziness of evaluator language variables to improve the validity. The overall performance of the Ecological Resettlement Project in Wuwei is good; the average closeness degree of process is higher than outcome. Migrants rated the fairness of the project as the highest, followed by support, economic outcome, and satisfaction. Gulang County's performance in the Ecological Resettlement Project is the best, followed by Tianzhu County and Liangzhou District. Project obstacles were mostly related to the outcome dimension, especially the ecological restoration and management, the return to poverty risk, and industrial development on the resettlement site. The main obstacle to the process dimension is migrant satisfaction with government subsidies. Research results provide case study support and experience inspiration for migrant relocation models and their long-term livelihood improvement in the context of rural revitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This was a long-term retrospective study, aiming to understand the temporal and spatial trend of cirrhosis in Wuwei from 1995 to 2016, explore its spatio-temporal aggregation, and find out the high incidence areas. To provide theoretical basis for the formulation of comprehensive prevention and treatment strategy of cirrhosis in Wuwei. Methods: Herein, we extracted data of cirrhosis patients who were treated in 12 sentinel hospitals in Wuwei from their medical records. We used SAS and Joinpoint Regression Program for data analysis, SaTScan 9.4 software for clustering area detection, and ArcGIS 10.2 software for geographical distribution mapping. Results: Among 3308 patients with liver cirrhosis (average age, 55.34 years) included in this study, 15.9% were aged 50–54 years. The majority were men (2716, 65.8%), with a sex ratio of 1.92:1 and peasants by occupation (1369, 60.3%). The basic social medical insurance system covered the healthcare costs of 1271 patients (63%). A Joinpoint regression analysis done for 1995–2016 revealed an increase in the standardized cirrhosis rate [average annual percent change (AAPC) = 16.7% (95% CI, 10.2–23.5%)] with three joinpoints in 2010, 2013, and 2016. The annual percent change (APC) from 1995 to 2010 was 11.13% (95% CI: 6.5–16.0), and APC from 2010 to 2013 was 66.48% (95% CI:16.0–138.9); conversely, from 2013 to 2016, APC was 4.4% (95% CI, −7.5–17.8%). Hongshagang Town showed the highest average incidence. Each township showed a gradual increase in the incidence after 2010. The results revealed that in each township, liver cirrhosis incidence had some spatial aggregation and was nonrandom. Four liver cirrhosis clusters were noted in 75 townships in Wuwei. Data were gathered from 2011 to 2016. Conclusions: From 1995 to 2016, the incidence of cirrhosis in Wuwei still showed an increasing trend, but the growth rate slowed down since 2013. In Wuwei, the rate of standardization of cirrhosis in female patients increased steadily and faster than in male patients. It is necessary to strengthen the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and control measures of cirrhosis-related diseases. The results of spatial scanning, basic spatial distribution, aggregation time, and time trend analysis were consistent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most important industrial cities in Northwest China, Lanzhou currently suffers from serious air pollution. This study analyzed the formation mechanism and potential source areas of persistent air pollution in Lanzhou during the heating period from November 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017 based on the air pollutant concentrations and relevant meteorological data. Our findings indicate that particulate pollution was extremely severe during the study period. The daily PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations had significantly negative correlations with daily temperature, wind speed, maximum daily boundary layer height, while the daily PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations showed significantly positive correlations with daily relative humidity. Five persistent pollution episodes were identified and classified as either stagnant accumulation or explosive growth types according to the mechanism of pollution formation and evolution. The PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations and PM2.5/PM10 ratio followed a growing "saw-tooth cycle" pattern during the stagnant accumulation type event. Dust storms caused abrupt peaks in PM10 and a sharp decrease in the PM2.5/PM10 ratio in explosive growth type events. The potential sources of PM10 were mainly distributed in the Kumtag Desert in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Qaidam Basin and Hehuang Valley in Qinghai Province, and the western and eastern Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province. The contributions to PM10 were more than 120 μg/m3. The important potential sources of PM2.5 were located in Hehuang Valley in Qinghai and Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu; the concentrations of PM2.5 were more than 60 μg/m3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban–rural income gap is a principal indicator for evaluating the sustainable development of a region, and even the comprehensive strength of a country. The study of the urban–rural income gap and its changing spatial patterns and influence factors is an important basis for the formulation of integrated urban–rural development planning. In this paper, we conduct an empirical study on 84 county-level cities in Gansu Province by using various analysis tools, such as GIS, GeoDetector and Boston Consulting Group Matrix. The findings show that: (1) The urban–rural income gap in Gansu province is at a high level in spatial correlation and agglomeration, leading to the formation of a stepped and solidified spatial pattern. (2) Different factors vary greatly in influence, for example, per capita Gross Domestic Product, alleviating poverty policy and urbanization rate are the most prominent, followed by those such as floating population, added value of secondary industry and number of Internet users. (3) The driving mechanism becomes increasingly complex, with the factor interaction effect of residents’ income dominated by bifactor enhancement, and that of the urban–rural income gap dominated by non-linear enhancement. (4) The 84 county-level cities in Gansu Province are classified into four types of early warning zones, and differentiated policy suggestions are made in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of virtual water, as a new approach for addressing water shortage and safety issues, can be applied to support sustainable development in water-scarce regions. Using the input-output method, the direct and the complete water use coefficients of industries categorized as primary, secondary, or tertiary, and the spatial flow patterns of the inter-provincial trade in the Gansu province region of China, were explored. The results show that in 2007, 2010, and 2012 the direct and complete water use coefficients of the primary industries were the greatest among the three industry categories, with direct water use coefficients of 1545.58, 882.28, and 762.16, respectively, and complete water use coefficients of 1692.22, 1005.38, and 873.44, respectively; whereas, the direct and complete water use coefficient values of the tertiary industry category were the lowest, with direct water use coefficients of 16.65, 7.74, and 66.89 for 2007, 2010, and 2012, respectively, and complete water use coefficients of 65.46, 66.89, and 72.81 for 2007, 2010, and 2012, respectively. In addition, study results suggest that the volume of virtual water supplied to Gasnu province's local industries has decreased annually, while virtual water exports from the province have increased annually, with the primary industry accounting for 95% of virtual water output. Overall, the virtual water of Gansu province in 2010 showed a net output trend, with a total output of 0.506 billion m³, while in 2007 and 2012 it showed a net input trend with a total input of 0.104 and 1.235 billion m³, respectively. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Ningxia and other water-scarce areas were the main input, or import source for Gansu's virtual water; during the years studied, these provinces imported more than 50 million m³ individually. Based on these results, it is clear that under the current structure, virtual water is mainly exported to the well-developed coastal areas and their adjacent provinces or other water-abundant regions. Therefore, Gansu province should (1) adjust the industrial structure and develop water-saving and high-tech industries; (2) adjust the current trade pattern to reduce virtual water output while increasing its input to achieve balanced economic development and water resource security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decade, China's agro-food production has increased rapidly and been accompanied by the challenge of increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other environmental pollutants from fertilizers, pesticides, and intensive energy use. Understanding the energy use and environmental impacts of crop production will help identify environmentally damaging hotspots of agro-production, allowing environmental impacts to be assessed and crop management strategies optimized. Conventional farming has been widely employed in wolfberry (Lycium barbarum) cultivation in China, which is an important cash tree crop not only for the rural economy but also from an ecological standpoint. Energy use and global warming potential (GWP) were investigated in a wolfberry production system in the Yellow River irrigated Jingtai region of Gansu. In total, 52 household farms were randomly selected to conduct the investigation using questionnaires. Total energy input and output were 321,800.73 and 166,888.80 MJ ha−1, respectively, in the production system. The highest share of energy inputs was found to be electricity consumption for lifting irrigation water, accounting for 68.52%, followed by chemical fertilizer application (11.37%). Energy use efficiency was 0.52 when considering both fruit and pruned wood. Nonrenewable energy use (88.52%) was far larger than the renewable energy input. The share of GWP of different inputs were 64.52% electricity, 27.72% nitrogen (N) fertilizer, 5.07% phosphate, 2.32% diesel, and 0.37% potassium, respectively. The highest share was related to electricity consumption for irrigation, followed by N fertilizer use. Total GWP in the wolfberry planting system was 26,018.64 kg CO2 eq ha−1 and the share of CO2, N2O, and CH4 were 99.47%, 0.48%, and negligible respectively with CO2 being dominant. Pathways for reducing energy use and GHG emission mitigation include: conversion to low carbon farming to establish a sustainable and cleaner production system with options of raising water use efficiency by adopting a seasonal gradient water pricing system and advanced irrigation techniques; reducing synthetic fertilizer use; and policy support: smallholder farmland transfer (concentration) for scale production, credit (small- and low-interest credit) and tax breaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gansu is an inland province located in the northwest of China with an arid to semi-arid climate and a developed animal husbandry. Snowmelt in Gansu is an important source of water for rivers and plays an important role in ecological environment and social-economic activities. In this study, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 8-day composite snow products MOD10A2 and MYD10A2 are combined to analyse snow cover variations during the snow season (October to March) period from 2002 to 2013. We define the snow area percentage (SAP) and snow cover occurrence percentage (SCOP) to analyse the spatial and temporal characteristics of the snow cover variation in Gansu. In addition, we apply the Mann-Kendall test to verify the SAP inter-annual variation. The results indicate that the SAP in Gansu remained above 5 % with three peaks in November, December and January. SAP varies a lot in the four sub-regions of Gansu, with the highest in the Gannan Plateau sub-region and the lowest in the Longzhong Loess Plateau sub-region in most of the snow seasons examined. The SCOP is high in the southwest mountains and low in the northeast Gobi and desert. The SCOP is highly related to elevation in most of Gansu, with an exception in the high mountains. In the Hexi Desert and oasis region, the SAP significantly decreases during the snow season, particularly in February and March. We find that there are a significantly negative correlation between SCOP and temperature during the snow season and a significantly positive correlation between SCOP and precipitation in December. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetation is seen as a sensitive indicator of global change because of its crucial role in connecting the atmosphere, soil, and water. Fractional vegetation cover (FVC), in turn, is an important indicator of vegetation status. Qingyang is a typically ecologically sensitive region, with a range of changes in vegetation in the last decade as a result of climatic and non-climatic factors. However, the exact impact of climate change and human activities remains unclear. Satellite observations can help to clarify that impact, allowing us to assess trends in vegetation change in the last two decades (2000–2019). In this study, daily and composite time series vegetation variations were derived from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data and the impact of climate and human activity factors was examined for different administrative districts. By deploying multiple regression models, the research revealed that human activity has contributed 46% to the FVC variation, while the remaining 54% was led by climate factors. In areas where FVC was increasing, human activity contributed 55.89% while climate factors contributed 44.11%. In areas where FVC was decreasing, human activity and climate factors contributed 24.58% and 75.42%, respectively. The study also looks at the impacts of El Nino/IOD events in FVC dynamics in the study site. The FVC inversion result from MODIS proved capable of capturing long-term and seasonal vegetation patterns and thus provide a valuable archive for decadal-scale vegetation dynamics in the study area. Moreover, the improvement in FVC was a dual effect of climatic and human activities, while the latter owns a higher contribution especially for the implementation of ecological construction projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented on the effects of childhood health on adult health and socioeconomic status (SES) in China. According to the authors, there are strong associations between childhood health and adult health outcomes, particularly among Chinese women. The relationship between childhood health and adult per capita expenditure (PCE) is also discussed. Other topics include income, depression, body mass index (BMI), and living conditions in China's Gansu and Zhejiang provinces.

Chen, Y.; Li, Z.; Li, P.; Gao, H.; Jin, T.; Du, P., and Zhang, Y., 2020. Evaluation of water resources utilization effectiveness based on eco-economics theory. In: Bai, X. and Zhou, H. (eds.), Advances in Water Resources, Environmental Protection, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 115, pp. 148-150. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Facing the increasingly severe water resources situation, how to manage water resources reasonably and effectively, and improve the utilization efficiency and efficiency of water resources is an inevitable requirement for the overall development of China's economic and social water resources ecological environment system. Based on this, the effect of water resources utilization is evaluated based on the theory of ecological economics. The SVM correlation model algorithm is proposed. The dynamic analysis and simulation evaluation are carried out through SD simulation technology, and the total system flow diagram of regional water resources utilization evaluation is established. Based on the maximum flow algorithm, the incentive degree of water resources ecological compensation mechanism is studied. InVEST model and household survey are used to calculate the new water conservation and land use conversion costs. After considering the risk of water resources ecosystem loss, the welfare cost method is adopted. On the county scale, the potential objects of ecological compensation for water resources in the Weihe River Basin are identified. The results show that there are obvious spatial differences in water resources ecological compensation efficiency coefficients in Gansu section of Weihe River Basin. Weiyuan County with the highest runoff is 1.26, Gangu County with the lowest runoff is 0.46. The efficiency of the project can be increased by 40.54% after spatial screening of regional compensation objects. Through the evaluation of water resources utilization and water resources policy simulation, it provides a reference for the coordinated development of water resources and social economy in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural transformation is a transition process of agriculture from the low development stage to the high development stage. Identifying the agricultural transformation stage and analyzing the evolution of agricultural development types based on Total Factor Productivity (TFP) are of great significance for the rational formulation of agricultural development policies. Based on the total factor productivity analysis framework, the DEA-Malmquist index model was used to measure the agricultural TFP of the 87 counties in Gansu Province from 1988 to 2017. The cumulative anomaly method was used to help identify agricultural transformation stages. Agricultural development types of counties in different stages and their evolution process were analyzed. Results show that (1) the agricultural transformation of Gansu Province can be divided into three stages: Traditional agriculture in 1988–1998; low-capacity technology agriculture in 1999–2011; and high-capacity technology agriculture in 2012–2017. (2) From 1988 to 2017, the agricultural TFP showed periodic U-shaped fluctuations, and the areas with high TFP value expanded from the central region to the western region and then to the entire region of the province. (3) Gansu Province presented a significant spatiotemporal variation of agricultural development types. From 1988 to 1998, type-I (low technological efficiency and slow technological progress) and type-VI (high technological efficiency and fast technological progress) agricultural development was mainly observed, and these two kinds of counties accounted for 55.17% of all evaluation units. From 1999 to 2011, the number of counties with type-I agricultural development increased significantly, reaching 35, followed by the number of counties with type IV (low technological efficiency) agricultural development, reaching 18. They together accounted for 60.92% of all evaluation units. From 2012 to 2017, the number of counties with type-IV and type-VI agricultural development was the largest, reaching 29 and 25, respectively. They together accounted for 62.07% of all evaluation units. (4) Types of agricultural development frequently change—from 1988 to 2017, the influencing factors of agricultural development had undergone a transition from both technological efficiency and technological improvement to technological efficiency or technological improvement alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use and cover change (LUCC) is an important issue affecting the global environment, climate change, and sustainable development. Detecting and predicting LUCC, a dynamic process, and its driving factors will help in formulating effective land use and planning policy suitable for local conditions, thus supporting local socioeconomic development and global environmental protection. In this study, taking Gansu Province as a case study example, we explored the LUCC pattern and its driving mechanism from 1980 to 2018, and predicted land use and cover in 2030 using the integrated LCM (Logistic-Cellular Automata-Markov chain) model and data from satellite remote sensing. The results suggest that the LUCC pattern was more reasonable in the second stage (2005 to 2018) compared with that in the first stage (1980 to 2005). This was because a large area of green lands was protected by ecological engineering in the second stage. From 1980 to 2018, in general, natural factors were the main force influencing changes in land use and cover in Gansu, while the effects of socioeconomic factors were not significant because of the slow development of economy. Landscape indices analysis indicated that predicted land use and cover in 2030 under the ecological protection scenario would be more favorable than under the historical trend scenario. Besides, results from the present study suggested that LUCC in arid and semiarid area could be well detected by the LCM model. This study would hopefully provide theoretical instructions for future land use planning and management, as well as a new methodology reference for LUCC analysis in arid and semiarid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels (A. sinensis) is a Chinese herb grown in different geographical locations. It contains numerous active components with therapeutic value. Rhizosphere microbiomes affect various aspects of plant performance, such as nutrient acquisition, growth and development and plant diseases resistance. So far, few studies have investigated how the microbiome effects level of active components of A. sinensis. This study investigated whether changes in rhizosphere microbial communities and metabolites of A. sinensis vary with the soil microenvironment. Soils from the two main A. sinensis-producing areas, Gansu and Yunnan Province, were used to conduct pot experiments. The soil samples were divided into two parts, one part was sterilized and the other was unsterilized planting with the seedling variety of Gansu danggui 90–01. All seedlings were allowed to grow for 180 days. At the end of the experiment, radix A. sinensis were collected and used to characterize growth targets and chemical compositions. Rhizosphere soils were subjected to microbial analyses. Results: Changes in metabolic profiles and rhizosphere microbial communities of A. sinensis grown under different soil microenvironments were similar. The GN (Gansu non-sterilized), YN (Yunnan non-sterilized), GS (Gansu sterilized), and YS (Yunnan sterilized) groups were significantly separated. Notably, antagonistic bacteria such as Sphingomonas, Pseudomonas, Lysobacter, Pseudoxanthomonas, etc. were significantly (p < 0.05) enriched in Gansu soil compared with Yunnan soil. Moreover, senkyunolide I and ligustilide dimers which were enriched in GS group were strongly positively correlated with Pseudomonas parafulva; organic acids (including chlorogenic acid, dicaffeoylquinic acid and 5-feruloylquinic acid) and their ester coniferyl ferulate which were enriched in YS Group were positively associated with Gemmatimonadetes bacterium WY71 and Mucilaginibater sp., respectively. Conclusions: The soil microenvironment influences growth and level/type of active components in A. sinensis. Further studies should explore the functional features of quality-related bacteria, identify the key response genes and clarify the interactions between genes and soil environments. This will reveal the mechanisms that determine the quality formation of genuine A. sinensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]