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Purpose: Human exposure to particulate matter emitted from on-road motor vehicles includes complex mixtures of heavy metals from tyres, brakes, part wear, and resuspended road sediment. The purpose of this study was to determine the concentrations of 14 platinum-group and other traffic-related heavy metals in road sediment within the metropolitan area of Guangzhou, China, with a view to identifying their sources and assessing the extent of anthropogenic influence on heavy metal contamination of road sediment. Materials and methods: Thirty-five samples of road sediment were collected. The concentrations of Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, La, Ce, Mo, Cd, Pb, Ba, and Rh were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Pt and Pd were analyzed by isotopic dilution-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Multivariate statistical analysis and enrichment factor methods were employed to identify the sources of these heavy metals and to assess anthropogenic influences on their occurrence. Results and discussion: The mean concentrations of Pt, Pd, Rh, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, La, Ce, Mo, Cd, Pb, and Ba in the road sediment samples were 68.24, 93.15, 23.85, 147.5, 712.3, 47.24, 177.5, 1254, 47.50, 96.62, 4.91, 3.00, 198.1, and 641.3 ng g, respectively. Very weak to significant linear positive correlations were found among the various heavy metals. The elemental composition of road sediment was dominated by five principal components. Three clusters were identified through cluster analysis, and enrichment factors were calculated relative to soils in China. The sources and degree of contamination of the heavy metals are discussed based on the results. Conclusions: The mean concentrations of heavy metals are higher than background values, especially for Pt, Pd, Rh, Cd, and Zn. Four main sources are identified: (1) Pt, Pd, and Rh were derived from traffic sources; (2) La, Ce, Mn, and Ba were derived mainly from natural sources; (3) Cr, Ni, Cu, Mo, Cd, and Pb showed mixed traffic-industry sources; and (4) Zn originated mainly from industrial sources. Enrichment factor analysis supported this source identification and further indicated that contamination of road sediment in Guangzhou is extremely high for Pt, Pd, and Rh; moderate to very high for Cd, Zn, Pb, Cu, and Mo; and minimal for Cr, Ni, La, Ce, and Ba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to determine the influence of time and precipitation as covariates on the flood frequency distribution in the Songhua River tributaries under the nonstationarity assumption and to investigate the possibility of nonstationary models' application in river management scope demarcation work. Nonstationary flood frequency analysis (NS-FFA) was conducted in three typical basins of the Songhua River (in Northeastern China) based on the generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape (GAMLSS), and stationary flood frequency analysis was used as a comparison. Under the stationarity assumption, the Pearson type Ⅲ (P-Ⅲ) distribution is the main theoretical distribution for the flood extremum at hydrological stations, followed by a lognormal (LN) distribution. Under the nonstationarity assumption, when time is considered a covariate, the optimal theoretical distribution of the flood extremum is mainly LN (with 63.75%), followed by the Weibull distribution (with 18.75%). When precipitation is considered as a covariate, the optimal theoretical distribution of the flood extremum is mainly LN (with 57.5%). We attempted to apply several FFA methods to calculate the design frequency in this study, referring to the work requirements for river management scope demarcation in three typical basins, and came to the following conclusions. From the simulation results of the p = 10% flood at the export stations of typical basins, it can be seen that time-covariate NS-FFA obtained the best simulation results. Two cases of the simulation under the stationarity assumption are positive, which will lead to a high design scale. The time-covariate GAMLSS in NS-FFA has the advantages of higher calculation accuracy and simpler processes. To better balance construction costs and disaster protection requirements, NS-FFA can be used to determine the design scale of water conservation projects; additionally, it can be used to demarcate the scope of river management. The accuracy of GAMLSS for FFA is also influenced by the complexity of the terrain, with basins with relatively simple terrain having higher calculation accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to climate change, 2/3 of the world's population will face water shortage problems by 2025, while a 50% increase in food production is required in 2050 to feed nine billion people. In addition, the intensified anthropogenic activities have significantly increased water resource pollution. In this condition, wastewater reuse for crop irrigation to reduce water scarcity is currently becoming global, while it often causes soil pollution and heavy metal accumulation in agricultural areas. This situation has increased public concern over its environmental impact. Thus, an integrated framework was conducted to discuss the status of water availability in China, wastewater treatment and reuse in irrigation systems, and the potential health risks. Avenues for new research toward sustainable agriculture were discussed. We emphasize that wastewater reuse reduces the freshwater deficit and increases food productivity. However, adequate treatment should be applied before use to reduce its adverse impacts on human health risks and environmental pollution. Facilities and policies should support more accessible access to reclaimed water used in industries and urban facilities from secondary municipal wastewater treatment plants. This could be a long-term solution to eradicate water scarcity and inefficient water resources in agricultural systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High levels of manganese (Mn) and other heavy metals from electrolytic manganese residue (EMR) stockpiled would be released into the environment under natural conditions. A batch-leaching test was carried out to investigate the release characteristics of heavy metals from EMR with different storage times under simulated environmental conditions such as acid rain with different pH (3.0, 4.5, 5.6, and 7.0) at contact times of 1, 2, 4, 6, and 12 h; liquid to solid ratio (L/S) (5:1, 10:1, 20:1, and 30:1); and temperature (15, 25, 35, and 45 °C). The results showed that low pH (3.0 and 4.5) and high temperature (35 and 45 °C) could significantly promote heavy metal leaching from EMRs and increasing the L/S ratio above 20:1 mL/g significantly decreased heavy metal leachate concentrations due to dilution effect. Cr, Mn, and Pb concentrations in leachate increased almost continuously throughout the leaching process, while Zn decreased slightly at the 12th hour. Meanwhile, heavy metal concentrations in EMR1 (fresh EMR) were higher than in EMR2 (out stockpiled for more than 3 months). The concentrations of Mn, Pb, and Zn in leachates from EMRs at pH 3.0 and 4.5 leaching far exceeded the allowable maximum discharge concentrations for pollutants of the integrated wastewater discharge standard in China (GB8978–1996) by 57.5–59.0, 1.3–4.3, and 1.1–1.8 and 53.5–56.0, 3.04–7.25, and 1.0–1.91 times, respectively. Additionally, the Mn concentrations from both EMR leachates at pH 7.0 were above the national safe emission threshold. The morphological structure of EMRs changed after leaching, and XRD analysis showed the disappearance of MnO2, SiO2, FeS2, and CaSO4. The XPS revealed that Cr, Mn, Pb, and Zn existed as Cr3+, MnO, PbSO4, and ZnSiO3, respectively, after leaching. The study concluded that Mn, Pb, and Zn from EMRS leached by acid rain might pose a high potential environmental risk. Therefore, developing appropriate disposal techniques for EMR is necessary to prevent heavy metal pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid recognition of rainstorm-induced emergencies (e.g., building and road inundation, facility damage, and trapped citizens) is vital to timely disaster response. One big challenge that limits the performance of emergency recognition is the data imbalance between different emergency domains. The present study aims to develop an effective cross-domain transfer learning framework for rainstorm-induced emergency recognition based on the text reports provided by citizens. The critical component of the framework is the use of joint distribution adaption (JDA) analysis embedded in a discriminative feature mapping procedure, which transfers rich knowledge learned from large-scale datasets to the learning task from small emergence data. Considering the feature incompleteness that is caused by short text length, a basic probability assignment function is constructed and applied to extract important spatial features for rainstorm emergency recognition, with an improved marginal Fisher analysis being adopted to optimize cross-domain text feature representation. The proposed scheme is validated using the empirical data of ten emergency classes from Wuhan City, China. Our experimental results show that the proposed method could significantly address data imbalance and thus help achieve high recognition performance through domain knowledge complementation. Meanwhile, the use of various spatial features is proved to be effective in tackling missing features. This scheme can be further developed into smart systems for rainstorm disaster response with reasonable performance and imbalanced sample sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The global pest Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) colonized maize in Shizong, Qujing, Yunnan, China in 2019 and caused great economic loss. To monitor this pest and reduce the damage it causes, this study explored the temporal and spatial distribution of S. frugiperda in local fields from 2020 to 2021. The results showed that (1) there were two peaks in the density of eggs, larvae, and adults in both 2020 and 2021 throughout the maize growth period; (2) larvae of all instars were found in all growth stages and in different parts of maize, except 1st instar larva, which did not damage the male ears. However, the relative composition of different instars differed among growth stages and parts of maize; (3) larvae mainly damaged the heart leaf before the tasseling stage and the female ears after the tasseling stage; (4) early instar larvae were aggregated in mountain maize fields, while late instar larvae were distributed uniformly. This study provides monitoring data for S. frugiperda that can function as a guide for predictive models in integrated pest management programs. Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a major pest of maize worldwide. This pest colonized maize in Shizong, Qujing, Yunnan, China in 2019. To explore the temporal and spatial distribution of S. frugiperda in local fields, "W" type 5-point sampling was performed from 2020 to 2021. The spatial distribution was analyzed using the aggregation index, Iwao's regression, and Taylor's power law. The temporal distribution showed two peaks for both 2020 and 2021 when the density of eggs, larvae, and adults was high throughout the maize growth period. Additionally, 1st and 3rd instar larvae were higher in number during the maize seedling, jointing, and spinning stages. Fourth to 6th instar larvae were higher in number after the tasseling stage. Additionally, the spatial distribution results showed that 1st to 3rd instar larvae were aggregated, while 4th to 6th instar larvae were uniformly distributed in mountain maize fields. This study provides monitoring data for S. frugiperda and clarifies the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics for larvae in mountain maize fields. Further, it also provides guidance for investigation into population dynamics and the development of predictive models for integrated S. frugiperda management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The type of soft rice with low amylose content (AC) is more and more favored by consumers for its better eating and cooking quality, as people's quality of life continuously improves in China. The Wx gene regulates the AC of rice grains, thus affecting the degree of softness of the rice. Mei Meng B (MMB), Tian Kang B (TKB), and DR462 are three indica rice maintained lines with good morphological characters, but also with undesirably high AC. Therefore, CRISPR/Cas9 technology was used to edit the Wx gene of these lines to create a batch of soft rice breeding materials. New gene-edited lines MMB-10-2, TKB-21-12, and DR462-9-9, derived from the above parental lines, respectively, were selected in the T2 generations, with an AC of 17.2%, 16.8%, and 17.8%, and gel consistency (GC) of 78.6 mm, 77.4 mm, and 79.6 mm, respectively. The rapid viscosity analysis (RVA) spectrum showed that the three edited lines had a better eating quality as compared to the corresponding wild type, and showing new characteristics, different from the high-quality soft rice popular in the market. There was no significant difference in the main agronomic traits in the three edited lines compared to the corresponding wild types. Moreover, the chalkiness of DR462-9-9 was reduced, resulting in an improved appearance of its polished rice. The present study created soft rice germplasms for breeding improved quality hybrid rice, without changing the excellent traits of their corresponding wild type varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, soils heavy metals pollution and health risks researches in oasis are few, and in this study, the Aibi lake basin-a typical oasis-was chosen as the research area, and then, we evaluated the pollution status and sources identification and analyzed the health risks of ten heavy metals in the soils. Results showed that (1) the average (range) values for As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn were (6.500-48.040) 20.011, (0.0002-0.088) 0.035, (0.060-18.150) 5.994, (24.160-106.400) 53.557, (3.460-58.760) 16.981, (0.0002-0.099) 0.042, (195.310-842.850) 483.311, (0.960-70.100) 14.235, (0.180-25.390) 8.086, and (22.340-156.250) 61.334 mg/kg, respectively, and we can get except for As, the maximum values of other nine elements all within the limited values provided by the soil environmental quality risk control standard of China. (2) Health risk evaluation showed that the total exposure amount for ADIing for children and adults was 0.001067998 and 0.000344707, ADIinh for children and adults was 9.69977E-08 and 7.95869E-08, ADIderm for children and adults was 8.52275E-06 and 2.09927E-06, and the order of exploring ways is ADIing > ADIinh > ADIderm. (3) The multivariate statistical analysis and PMF results showed that Cr, Cu, Co, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn primarily come from the natural background and man-made sources; Cd primarily comes from man-made sources; As and Hg come from natural background sources and industry sources. The results can provide reference values for heavy metals pollution prevention and the protection of the environment in the Aibi lake basin and as well as central Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Well-functioning factor markets play an important role in improving the performance of the agricultural sector. Our paper examines both technical and allocative efficiencies at the household level, with an application to a cross-section sample of rural households in three provinces of China in 2009. In a first step, we use nonparametric methods to estimate household efficiency. In a second step, we examine econometrically the role of land rental market and its linkages with household-level efficiencies. We find that participation in the land rental market does not affect technical efficiency but has large positive effects on allocative efficiency. This stresses the need to distinguish between technical efficiency and allocative efficiency in the analysis of land tenure issues. The improvements in allocative efficiency from land-leasing contribute to significant increases in household income in rural China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary goals of this study were to reveal the environmental status of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and their ecological risks, as well as their associated health risks in the Baoshan area, southwest China, which has been surveyed with the scale of 1:250,000 geochemical mapping. Based on a comparison of the PTE concentrations with the soil environmental quality of China and the enrichment factor (EF), geo-accumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor (Cf), and potential ecological risk indexes ( E r i and PERI), as well as the potential non-carcinogenic hazard indices (HI and CHI) and carcinogenic risks indices (TCR and CTCR), the following conclusions were drawn: The PTE concentrations in the surface soil samples that were collected from the investigated area (1.65% sites) exceeded the risk intervention values (RIV) for soil contamination of agricultural land of China. Cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg) posed higher ecological risks than other PTEs (arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn)), which was highlighted by their toxic response factor. Arsenic was the main PTE with a non-carcinogenic risk (19.57% sites for children and 0.25% sites for adults) and the only PTE that carries a carcinogenic risk (2.67% sites for Children and 0.76% sites for adults) to humans in the research area. Children are more vulnerable to health risks when compared to adults because of their behavioral and physiological traits. Geological genesis was responsible for the high concentrations, ecological risk, and health risk distribution patterns of the examined PTEs. Even though the present research highlights several important aspects related to PTE pollution in the research area, further investigations are needed, especially in mining areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead (Pb) is a typical toxic heavy metal element in soils and plants, which has a potential threat to human health through the food chain. Uptake of Pb in the soil–vegetable system has attracted broad attention, whereas reports on the main controlling factors of Pb uptake and accumulation in different soil–vegetable systems are limited. The effect of soil properties on Pb uptake and accumulation in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) was studied by a pot experiment with 16 typical soils in China. The results showed that the Pb bioavailability was lower in alkaline soils, and that soil cation exchange capacity (CEC), CaCO3, and total phosphorus contents might influence the uptake and transfer of Pb by peppers. Soil pH and CEC were the most significant factors affecting Pb accumulation in pepper fruits. Soil pH was negatively correlated with Pb uptake and accumulation due to its influence on Pb mobility and bioavailability. The accumulation of Pb decreased as soil CEC increased, which might inhibit the absorption and transfer of Pb in peppers. The multiple linear regression function based on soil Pb content, pH, and CEC could provide enough information for a good prediction of the accumulation of Pb in soil–pepper systems (R2 = 0.733). The results are in favor of developing a Pb threshold for vegetables in agricultural soils in China, thus improving the food safety of crops. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:1443–1451. © 2021 SETAC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Heavy metals are the most important indicator for farmland soil; however, in China, few provincial and national scales of studies have been done on heavy metals. Herein, by retrieving published studies, we calculated the spatial distribution characters and evaluated the health risks of Cu, Zn, Cd, Ni, Pb, Cr, As, and Hg in the farmland soil of 146 cities in China. Results showed that (1) the range (mean) values of eight (metalloid) heavy metals were as follows in mg/kg: Cu 0.236–251.015 (44.604), Zn 0.151–1547.060 (154.203), Cd 0.014–39.100 (1.497), Ni 0.709–554.420 (41.968), Pb 0.327–495.400 (55.143), Cr 0.078–333.510 (70.093), As 0.836–60.000 (12.207), and Hg 0.008–12.190 (0.371). The coefficient of variation values of Cu, Cr, and As displayed moderate variation, and Zn, Cd, Ni, Pb, and Hg displayed high variation (142.148–364.960%). (2) the Igeo values of As, Cu, Cd, Ni, Zn, Cr, Pb, and Hg were − 4.329 to 1.837, − 7.166 to 2.888, − 3.378 to 8.070, − 5.831 to 3.780, − 9.527 to 3.797, − 10.120 to 1.866, − 6.899 to 3.667, and − 3.681 to 6.966, respectively; in many cities, there was some degree of heavy metal pollution of the farmland soil such as Zn in Pingdu, Pb in Huludao, and Hg in Tongguan, Funshun, Huludao, and Qinglong (Igeo > 3); there were no obvious spatial patterns of Cr, Ni, and As, and Zn, Cu, but Cd, Ni, Pb, and Hg mainly located in some cities in the southwest, central or eastern parts of China. (3) Health risk assessment showed that with the exception of Cd, Cr, and As by the respiration route and Ni, Cr, and As through skin exposure, the average amount of daily exposure of the eight (metalloid) heavy metals all showed values for children > adults, and the HQ and HI values were all lower than 1.0, indicating noncarcinogenic risks; calculation of carcinogenic risks showed there were no carcinogenic risks for As, Cr, Ni, and Cd; however, the value for Cr was the maximum and contributed 98.505% of the total. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. To assess the improvements of the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCs) systembetween2002and 2012, andproblems the system hasencountered. Methods. We obtained data from 2 national cross-sectional surveys in 2006 and 2013, including 32 provincial, 139 municipal, and 489 county-level CDCs throughout China. We performed a pre-post comparative analysis to determine trends in resource allocation and service delivery. Results. The overall completeness of public health services significantly increased from 47.4% to 76.6%. Furthermore, the proportion of CDC staff with bachelor's or higher degrees increased from 14.6% to 32.6%, and governmental funding per CDC increased 5.3-fold (1.283-8.098 million yuan). The working area per CDC staff increased from 37.9 square meters to 63.3 square meters, and configuration rate of type A devices increased from 28.1% to 65.0%. Remaining problems included an 11.9% reduction in staff and the fact that financial investments covered only 71.1% of actual expenditures. Conclusions. China's CDC system has progressed remarkably, enabling quicker responses to emergent epidemics. Future challenges include establishing a sustainable financing mechanism and retaining a well-educated, adequately sized public health workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During one orogenic cycle, orogenic belts around the world usually experience a transition from compression to extension, with the initiation of extension signalling the end of the compressional process or the beginning of the post-collisional setting. Igneous rocks in many orogenic belts preserve the record of the transition. For example, igneous (I)-type and sedimentary (S)-type granites are closely related to an overall compressional setting, and A-type granites mainly occur in a post-collisional extensional setting. Fortunately, I-type and S-type granites often juxtapose tectonically with A-type granites in many orogenic belts in the world, for example, eastern China. High-precision dating works on these rocks will be helpful to constrain the duration of transition from compression to extension. This study presents zircon U-Pb ages of I-type and A-type granites from the Laoshan granitic complex in eastern China, determined through the laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry dating method. The new ages for the I-type and A-types granites are 123.4 and 116 Ma, respectively, and these are interpreted to represent the respective emplacement ages for these two types of granites. Our new results, combined with the previously reported 145 Ma for the I-type granites (determined by the Rb-Sr isotopic dating method) and 113-110.8 Ma for A-type alkali granites (determined by isotope dilution dating method), indicate that the ages for I-type granites in the Laoshan granitic complex range from 145 to 123.4 Ma, and those for A-type in the complex range from 116 to 110.8 Ma. In general, granites in the Laoshan granitic complex record the relatively short-period tectonic transition process from compression to extension in this region, and the tectonic transition occurred in the whole eastern China margin during the Mesozoic era. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to evaluate ecological impacts of metals in soil from the restored Panyi coal mining area of China. Zn, Cr, Ni, Pb and Cd had significantly accumulated in the studied soil compared with regional background values ( p < 0.05). Geo-accumulation indices indicate that the soil was at low risk for Cu, Zn, Ni and Pb contamination, while a low to moderate risk for Cr and Cd contamination existed. The ecological impact of all the selected metals was identified by ecological soil screening levels, apart from Cr, the impact of which was determined based on Dutch Target and Intervention Values. Results suggest that plants may be significantly affected by Ni, the avian population by Zn, Pb and Cd, while mammals are possibly influenced by Cd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional hydrogeochemical data and environmental stable isotopes are used to identify the recharge sources and the water-rock interactions in the groundwater-flowing direction within the multilayer groundwater system of the Sulin coal-mining district in the north Anhui province in China. δD and δO of groundwater in the mining district decrease along the groundwater-flowing direction in the recharge areas, yet in the runoff or discharge areas, they rise and fall along average δ values ( δO = −8.68 ‰, δD = −67.4 ‰), which are lower than average δ values of local atmospheric precipitation ( δO = −7.80 ‰, δD = −52.4 ‰). Principal component analysis is used to analyze the conventional hydrogeochemical data (K + Na, Mg, Ca, Cl, SO, HCO, CO) in the groundwater. The first and second principal components have large variance contributions, and represent 'pyrite oxidation or groundwater hardening' and 'desulfurization or cation exchange and adsorption,' respectively. From conventional hydrogeochemical data and environmental stable isotopes, it is demonstrated that groundwater of the Sulin coal-mining district is characterized by a mixing type, which is confirmed by three recharge end-members: fresh groundwater, leaching groundwater, and retained groundwater. By means of a sample dot-encompassed triangle in the scatter diagram of load scores for Component 1-Component 2, whose vertexes stand for the three end-members, a model for calculating groundwater mixing ratio is established and applied successfully to the evaluation and management of groundwater hazards in the coal-mining districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debris flow with intermittent surges is a major natural hazard. Accurate estimation of the total volume of debris flow is a challenge for academic researchers and engineering practitioners. This paper has proposed a new model for the total volume estimation based on 15 years of observations in Jiangjia Valley, China, from 1987 to 2004. The model uses two input variables: debris flow moving time and average surge peak discharge. The Weibull distribution formula is adopted to describe the relationship between the debris flow surge peak discharge and its relative frequency. By integrating the Weibull function and two-point curve fitting, the relationship between the maximum discharge and average surge peak discharge can be established. The total debris flow volume is linked with the debris flow moving time and the average peak discharge. With statistical regression, the debris flow moving time is derived from the debris flow total time. The proposed model has fitted very well with the validation data and outperformed the existing models. This study has provided a new and more accurate way for estimating the total volume of debris flows with intermittent surges in engineering practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author refutes the approach used by Giovanni Ferri and Li-Gang Liu (F&L) in explaining the profitability of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOE) based on the credit subsidy provided by state-owned commercial banks (SOCB). The author argues that the real profit of SOE can be determined by considering the calculation of market interest rate. The author believes that F&L have neglected other significant differences between SOE and private enterprises.

Long and short term investigations have revealed dramatic changes in fish communities after impoundments by reservoirs. However, the process of these changes during impoundment remains poorly studied. In 2005 and 2006, before and during the second stage of impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR), in the upper reaches of the Yangtze, China, we investigated fish catches to assess the impacts of reservoir filling on fish community structure. We conducted sampling at 2 sites, Wanzhou reach, which had been inundated by the first water filling in 2003, and Fuling reach, which still remained a riverine site before this water filling. The results revealed an evident and immediate shift of fish communities from lotic to lentic components. In the Wanzhou reach, during the filling, the abundance percentage of lentic fish increased to 94% compared to 69% before the filling. In the Fuling reach, after the filling, lotic fish declined in abundance from 99% to 85%, while lentic fish increased from less than 1% to 12% in abundance. Based on our investigation and the regulation scheme of the TGR, we predicted that after the completion of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD), there would be typical lacustrine, transitional and riverine zones in TGR, with their corresponding fish assemblages. We suggest that long term monitoring should be conducted to evaluate the future ecological effects, and different strategies implemented in these three zones for conservation purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea is an important cash crop and a beverage that is widely consumed across the world. In China (the largest producer of tea), the industry is growing, and there is a need to understand current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sequestrations and the potential for mitigation so that climate action can be strategically undertaken. Life cycle assessment and carbon footprint methods were used to quantify emissions in tea cultivation and processing in the 16 major producing regions for the year 2017. The system boundary was from cradle to factory gate, which was divided into three subsystems, namely agricultural materials production, tea production and tea processing. Several units of analysis were chosen: the production region (province), the production area (ha) and the product (kg loose tea), etc. Total GHG emissions were 28.75 Mt CO2eq, which were mainly attributable to energy use in tea processing (41%), fertilizer production (31.6%) and soil emissions (26.7%). This equated to 12.0 t CO2eq per ha and 10.8 kg CO2eq per kg processed tea. Production in Hubei, Yunan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Fujian provinces contributed almost two thirds of industry emissions, representing priority areas for strategic action to reduce GHG emissions. At the same time, the total carbon sink amounted to 21.37 MtCO2, representing 74.3% of total GHG emissions. The proportions stored in soil, biomass, and tea production were 49.3%, 30.0%, and 20.7%, respectively. If best recommended management practices for fertilizer application were adopted and biomass was used as a source of energy for tea processing, the GHG emissions reduction potential was 16.66 Mt CO2eq, or 58% of total emissions. The GHG emissions associated with tea production and processing in China appeared high by comparison to other regions of the world. However, considering the carbon sink and emissions reduction potential, the tea industry should be viewed as an important sector for climate action. Moreover, the potential for substantial GHG emissions reduction through the adoption of improved practices seems very realistic. There may also be additional opportunities for GHG emissions reduction through the development of organic tea cultivation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since China's economic reforms and opening-up policy in 1980, China has experienced significant urbanization. This rapid urbanization has stimulated the growth of energy consumption. To investigate the impacts of urbanization on Chinese households' energy consumption, this paper analyzed the changes in households' direct energy consumption (DEC) and calculated households' indirect energy consumption (IEC) based on an energy input-output model. By applying an input-output structure decomposition analysis model, this paper quantitatively measured the impacts of urbanization on the direct and indirect energy consumption of households in China. We found that the amount of China's urban households' DEC gradually increased from 48.7 million tons of oil equivalent to 185.2 million tons of oil equivalent. In 2012, the proportion of coal products in urban households' DEC decreased from 91.4% in 1980 to 24.3%, while the proportion of petroleum products, natural gas, and electricity in urban households' DEC increased. During 1980 to 2012, China's rural households' DEC increased from 36.7 million tons of oil equivalent to 121.5 million tons of oil equivalent. However, the proportion of coal products was still greater than 50% in 2012. Chinese households' IEC increased from 302.8 million tons of oil equivalent in 1987 to 769.9 million tons of oil equivalent in 2010. In addition, China's urban households' IEC had a faster growth rate than China's rural households' IEC. Urban households' IEC increased from 139.0 million tons in 1987 to 599.8 million tons in 2010, while rural households' IEC fluctuated during the same period, with 163.8 million tons in 1987, 132.2 million tons in 2000, and 170.1 million tons in 2010. Among the impact factors of households' DEC, which include the population, urbanization rate, urban/rural households' DEC per capita and urban/rural households' DEC structure, China's total population has a positive effect on households' DEC growth. The urbanization rate is the other important factor constantly stimulating China's households' DEC growth. For households' IEC, the urbanization rate and per capita consumption had positive effects on the increase in households' IEC. Except for the period from 2002 to 2005, direct energy intensity had a negative effect on the increase in households' IEC in other periods. The Leontief effect on households' IEC was positive from 2000 to 2005 and negative in other subperiods. The results indicate that China needs to integrate energy efficiency, ecological conservation, and social fairness in its “new-type urbanization” planning. Green lifestyles within the household and low-carbon city construction should be encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]