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• The ecological source area covers 93277 ha, which represents 26.78 % of the total administrative region of Maiji District. • There are 28 significant ecological corridors, with a combined length of 333.80 km. • Identify the ecological restoration pattern of "one belt, one screen, two zones, five corridors, and multiple points". One of the crucial areas of research in land space planning in China is finding ways to coordinate urban development and ecological preservation since the rapid growth of cities has led to numerous environmental issues. It is highly important to enhance the regional ecological environment and economy, thereby improving human well-being, by optimizing the spatial arrangement of ecosystems and identifying areas that need ecological restoration within the national land space. This study was conducted in Maiji District, where a combination of MSPA (Multiple Scale Pattern Analysis) and service function methods were employed to evaluate the ecological resources, identify critical ecological corridors, optimize the ecological security pattern, determine priority areas for ecological restoration in the land space, and formulate strategies for ecological restoration. The results indicated that in Maiji District, the ecological source area covers 93277 ha, which represents 26.78 % of the total administrative region. Within the southeastern part of Maiji District, there are 28 significant ecological corridors, with a combined length of 333.80 km. Based on the existing ecological resistance surfaces, ecological sources, and ecological corridors, a plan for ecological restoration has been developed for Maiji District, known as the "one belt, one screen, two areas, five corridors, and multiple points" ecological restoration pattern. This plan serves as a guideline for identifying suitable areas for ecological restoration, security pattern, and creating restoration plans for the Maiji District land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil desiccation is a major challenge faced by subsistence farmers growing alfalfa (Medicago sativa L) in consecutive cultivation in semiarid regions. We hypothesized that alfalfa fodder yield would increase with the length of growing season, growing degree-days, and rainfall. A field experiment was conducted on alfalfa production from 2012 to 2016 to 1) determine the response of fodder yield to rainfall, the length of growing season, and accumulated growing degree day (AGDD) in different growing-cutting stage (GCS)s; 2) obtain the suitable mulching material and the optimum ridge width for ridges with manually compacted soil (MCS), mulched with bio-degradable film (BF), and plastic film (PF). There were 10 treatments (3 ridge widths × 3 ridge-mulching materials + flat planting (FP) as control) with three replications laid in a randomized block design. The ratio of the first GCS to the second GCS in fodder yield ranged from 1.10 to 4.55, which was similar to the ratio of the first GCS to the third GCS in fodder yield ranged from 1.14 to 4.59, although rainfall, the length of growing season, and AGDD were different during the two or three GCSs. The highest fodder yield was obtained from the first GCS in one year and reached the highest level in the second growing year, and maintained a similar level in the subsequent years, although rainfall, the length of growing season, and AGDD varied during the five year periods. Fodder yield was affected by both the rainfall in the GCS and the available soil moisture prior to the GCS. Compared to FP, the increase of evapotranspiration for MCS, BF, and PF was 11, 61, and 63 mm, respectively. Fodder yield for BF and PF increased by 28% and 33%, respectively. Fodder yield for MCS maintained the same level as that for FP. Evapotranspiration increased and fodder yield decreased as ridge width increased. The optimum ridge width for MCS, BF, and PF was 29, 39, and 37 cm, respectively, across five years. Future study should focus on alfalfa-crop rotation to mitigate soil desiccation after alfalfa consecutively production. • High rainfall, growing season length and temperature did not mean high alfalfa fodder yield. • Soil moisture prior to growing-cutting stage and rainfall in the stage had impact on alfalfa fodder yield. • Rainfall had higher effects on alfalfa fodder yield than actual evapotranspiration. • Highest fodder yield was obtained in first growing-cutting stage and reached highest level in second stand year. • Optimum ridge width for ridge compacted with soil, biodegradable and plastic film was 29, 39 and 37 cm, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ridge-furrow rainwater-harvesting (RFRH) has emerged as an effective technology to mitigate drought stress, control soil erosion, and increase crop yield in semiarid regions of China. However, the use of plastic film mulch in RFRH makes this technology impractical. A field experiment was conducted for three consecutive years in a randomized complete block design to determine 1) the runoff coefficient for ridges compacted with soil mixed with two types of biochar (rice straw biochar and cow dung biochar) at two application rates (single application rate i.e., 3 × 104 kg ha−1; and double application rate i.e., 6 × 104 kg ha−1; and 2) the effects of the ridges compacted with soil mixed with two types of biochar at two application rates on soil physico-chemical properties, economic benefit, fodder yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of alfalfa, and ridges compacted with soil (no biochar) as control. The average runoff coefficient for NB, SRSB, DRSB, SCDB, and DCDB (NB, SRSB, DRSB, SCDB, and DCDB were ridges compacted with soil, compacted with soil mixed with single rice straw biochar application, double rice straw biochar application, single cow dung biochar application, and double cow dung biochar application, respectively) over these three years was 31%, 28%, 27%, 22%, and 21%, respectively. Ridges compacted with soil-biochar crust had lower runoff coefficients, soil water storage, net income, and higher soil nutrients, when compared to ridges compacted with soil. The topsoil temperature at ridge tops was affected by the ridges compacted with soil-biochar crust, but the topsoil temperature at furrow bottoms was not affected. Compared to ridges compacted with soil mixed with cow dung biochar, ridges compacted with soil mixed with rice straw biochar had lower soil nutrients, and higher soil water storage resulting in higher fodder yield and WUE of alfalfa. With runoff, the nutrients in biochar flowed from ridges to furrows, becoming usable for plants. Ridges compacted with soil-biochar crust increased topsoil nutrients, especially soil organic matter ranging from 15% to 34%, resulting in high fodder yield and WUE of alfalfa. Compared to NB, annual fodder yield for SRSB, DRSB, SCDB, and DCDB increased by 9.0%, 5.9%, 4.4%, and 3.8%, respectively, over three years, while WUE for the same treatments increased by 2.81, 1.95, 0.65, and 0.45 kg ha−1 mm−1. Rice straw biochar at an application rate of 3 × 104 kg ha−1 was found to be suitable type of biochar for increase in fodder yield and WUE of alfalfa in RFRH. Future studies should be conducted in the form of long-term field study to determine economic benefits of biochar application. • Ridges compacted with soil-biochar had low runoff coefficient, soil moisture, and high soil nutrients. • High topsoil nutrients, especially organic matter, resulted in high fodder yield and WUE of alfalfa. • As biochar application rate increased, runoff coefficient and soil moisture decreased, while soil nutrients increased. • Rice straw biochar resulted in low soil nutrients and high soil moisture, compared to cow dung biochar. • Rice straw biochar (3 × 104 kg ha−1) was suitable form in ridge-furrow rainwater-harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]