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Protecting the ecological environment of the Yellow River Basin (YRB) is the key to promoting high-quality development of the whole YRB. Based on the information on environmental governance and the ecological environment in the YRB from 2016 to 2020, we constructed the regional eco-environment index (ECI) of the YRB, measured the government's environmental governance capacity, and used the entropy weight method and relevant spatial statistical tools to reveal the spatial distribution characteristics of the ECI in the YRB. In addition, we used the method of configuration qualitative comparative analysis to explore the adaptation path of environmental governance for improving the ECI. The study showed that the regional ECI of the YRB was obviously heterogeneous, showing a spatial pattern of "good in the upstream, middle in the downstream, and depressed in the midstream." There are three appropriate paths for environmental governance to improve the ecological environment: the government efficiency-oriented, rule of law-oriented, and pressure-oriented paths, among which the government efficiency-oriented path is the most common path. The findings propose the governance path of the ecological environment in the YRB from the perspective of configuration, reveal the configuration relationship among the factors affecting the government's environmental governance, broaden ideas for solving ecological environment improvement problems in the YRB, and enrich the research methods of the government's environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil salinization is one of the most important forms of land degradation in drylands of the world. As a typical type of saline‐sodic soil, takyric solonetz seriously jeopardizes the living environment of the inhabitants with severe consequences for regional ecology, agriculture, and the aeolian dust dynamics. Improving the vegetation and ecology status of takyric solonetz is essential but challenging because of its extremely drought conditions with low saturated hydraulic conductivities (ks <0.1 mm/day). Here, we conducted a three‐year field experiment by three‐stage drip irrigation to regulate the water and salt levels of the soil and improved ridge cultivation through sand as a water dispersal media strip for takyric solonetz in northern China. Results showed that the planting ridge was desalted after 3‐year treatments of drip irrigation. The electrical conductivity of a saturated soil paste extract reduced from 21.28 and 13.38 to below 3.00 dS/m, indicating a decrease of 91.50% and 88.50% in the 0–40 cm and 0–120 cm soil layers, respectively. The pH of the soil paste extract decreased from 11.13 to 9.78 in the 0–120 cm soil layer. The survival rate of the willow saplings planted for a shelterbelt was 91.60%. The height, diameter at breast height, and ground diameter of the willow increased slowly to 84.60 cm, 1.20 mm, and 2.02 mm in the first 2 years, respectively, but increased rapidly to 121.90 cm, 7.48 mm, and 12.02 mm, respectively, in the third year. Our treatment also substantially changed the understory vegetation status, in terms of vegetation coverage (89%), number of species (18), and density (600 plant m−2). The dominant plant family in the vegetation community shifted from the Amaranthaceae to the Poaceae. This study provides and validates a new technology for ecological improvement of takyric solonetz, supporting a theoretical and practical approach for ecosystem and vegetation improvement in takyric solonetz in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terrestrial cyanobacterium Nostoc flagelliforme, which contributes to carbon and nitrogen supplies in arid and semi-arid regions, adopts a filamentous colony form. Owing to its herbal and dietary values, this species has been overexploited. Largely due to the lack of understanding on its morphogenesis, artificial cultivation has not been achieved. Additionally, it may serve as a useful model for recognizing the morphological adaptation of colonial cyanobacteria in terrestrial niches. However, it shows very slow growth in native habitats and is easily disintegrated under laboratory conditions. Thus, a novel experimental system is necessary to explore its morphogenetic mechanism. Liquid-cultured N. flagelliforme has been well developed for exopolysaccharide (EPS) production, in which microscopic colonies (micro-colonies) are generally formed. In this study, we sought to gain some insight into the morphogenesis of N. flagelliforme by examining the effects of two external factors, the EPS and environmental stress-related growth rate, on the morphological shaping of micro-colonies. Our findings indicate that the EPS matrix could act as a basal barrier, leading to the bending of trichomes during their elongation, while very slow growth is conducive to their straight elongation. These findings will guide future cultivation and application of this cyanobacterium for ecological improvement.

As urbanization accelerates and an increasing number of people move from rural to urban areas, changes in household energy consumption have become a major symptom of typical human-land relationship activities in different regions, i.e., labour migration is affecting household energy consumption, especially household cooking energy. Based on household data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (1989–2015), this paper employs a panel multinomial logit model and mathematical statistics to reveal structural changes in urban and rural Chinese households cooking energy consumption and the driving factors of these changes over the past 30 years and provides suggestions for the structural upgrade of household cooking energy consumption. The research shows that household cooking energy consumption in China has undergone a substantial transition since the 1980s, displaying diverse trends in urban and rural households. The shift from coal to natural gas in urban areas and from solid fuels to electricity in rural areas was driven by a range of factors such as per capita disposable income, government policies, energy prices and availability. Among these, household income was found to be the most influential factor. Additionally, migration had a notable effect on household cooking energy consumption in rural areas. The reduction of solid fuel usage and the electrification of cooking are proven methods of lowering household energy emissions, as natural gas releases 60% less CO 2 compared to coal when producing the same amount of heat. The government must implement a focused strategy for the transition towards cleaner energy sources for household cooking, prioritizing rural areas by strengthening energy infrastructure and fostering the development of solar and wind energy. In urban areas, efforts should be directed towards enhancing income, stabilizing energy costs, and popularizing the use of natural gas. [Display omitted] • Household cooking energy consumption in China has undergone a significant transition since the 1980s. • Cooking energy transition has been influenced by various factors and has urban-rural differences. • Rural-urban migration is an important driver of rural household cooking energy transition. • The energy transition has a good effect on emission reduction and ecological improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Nostoc flagelliforme, a filamentous nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium, is widely distributed in arid steppes of the west and northwestern parts of China. However, as a food delicacy this species has been overexploited from 1970 to 2000. Moreover, overgrazing, land reclamation and the removal of medicinal herbs have caused severely reduced vegetation coverage there. In this communication, a badly damaged but slowly rehabilitating N. flagelliforme-inhibiting steppe is described, and the rehabilitation of desertified steppes by the renewed growth of N. flagelliforme is proposed. The restoration of this dominant nitrogen supplier would be an ecologically sustainable solution for supplementing current measures already taken in the desertified regions. In addition, a goal of 50%–60% vegetation coverage is proposed by the N. flagelliforme restoration.

This paper describes the development of a guidance tool for assessing the ability of a receiving watercourse to assimilate pollution from point discharges. The 'sustainable capacity tool' uses a framework that accounts for the 'no-deterioration' requirement of the Water Framework Directive, in terms of the downgrading of a river-stretch classification and the requirement to return all rivers to 'good ecological status'. The second requirement results in a long-term set of river-quality targets or objectives, and it is generally assumed that 'good' refers to 'A2 quality' in the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency classification system. The resulting sustainable capacity is defined as the risk-based amount of capacity that could be allocated without causing a failure of the target class and which could also result in a negative capacity if the river stretch is currently failing the target class. This is plotted as a GIS layer and is intended to form an overview of water quality to help inform stakeholders who are participating in a water-quality strategy for the next Scottish investment programme on Quality and Standards 3. The sustainable capacity tool could be used in conjunction with integrated catchment modelling for complete management of the Water Framework Directive river-basin districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terrestrial cyanobacterium Nostoc flagelliforme , which contributes to carbon and nitrogen supplies in arid and semi-arid regions, adopts a filamentous colony form. Owing to its herbal and dietary values, this species has been overexploited. Largely due to the lack of understanding on its morphogenesis, artificial cultivation has not been achieved. Additionally, it may serve as a useful model for recognizing the morphological adaptation of colonial cyanobacteria in terrestrial niches. However, it shows very slow growth in native habitats and is easily disintegrated under laboratory conditions. Thus, a novel experimental system is necessary to explore its morphogenetic mechanism. Liquid-cultured N. flagelliforme has been well developed for exopolysaccharide (EPS) production, in which microscopic colonies (micro-colonies) are generally formed. In this study, we sought to gain some insight into the morphogenesis of N. flagelliforme by examining the effects of two external factors, the EPS and environmental stress-related growth rate, on the morphological shaping of micro-colonies. Our findings indicate that the EPS matrix could act as a basal barrier, leading to the bending of trichomes during their elongation, while very slow growth is conducive to their straight elongation. These findings will guide future cultivation and application of this cyanobacterium for ecological improvement., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)