Root system architecture (RSA) refers to the spatial distribution and extended morphology of plant root systems in soil. RSA not only determines the ability of plants to obtain water and nutrients but also affects other ecological functions. Hence, it plays a dominant role in the overall health of plants. The study of RSA can provide insight into plant absorption of water and fertilizers, the relationship between above- and belowground plant parts, and the physiological health and ecological functions of plants. Therefore, this paper summarizes research on the morphology, functionality, plasticity and research methods of RSA. We first review the basic structure, physiology, and ecological functions of root systems. Then the soil factors that shape RSA—including soil moisture, nutrients, temperature, aeration, and others—are summarized. After that, research methods for studying RSA are described in detail, including harvesting, two-dimensional morphological observation, and three-dimensional image reconstruction. Finally, future research developments and innovations are discussed to provide a theoretical basis for further investigations in this field.

Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVM) are powerful tools for studying complicated ecosystem processes and global changes. This review article synthesizes the developments and applications of the Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS), a DGVM, over the past two decades. IBIS has been used to evaluate carbon, nitrogen, and water cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, vegetation changes, land-atmosphere interactions, land-aquatic system integration, and climate change impacts. Here we summarize model development work since IBIS v2.5, covering hydrology (evapotranspiration, groundwater, lateral routing), vegetation dynamics (plant functional type, land cover change), plant physiology (phenology, photosynthesis, carbon allocation, growth), biogeochemistry (soil carbon and nitrogen processes, greenhouse gas emissions), impacts of natural disturbances (drought, insect damage, fire) and human induced land use changes, and computational improvements. We also summarize IBIS model applications around the world in evaluating ecosystem productivity, carbon and water budgets, water use efficiency, natural disturbance effects, and impacts of climate change and land use change on the carbon cycle. Based on this review, visions of future cross-scale, cross-landscape and cross-system model development and applications are discussed.

With the rapid development of the economy, acid rain has become one of the major environmental problems that endanger human health. Being the largest developing country, the environmental problems caused by acid rain are of increasing concern with the rapid industrialization and urbanization in China. Recently, many researchers have focused on acid rain. To better understand the temporal and spatial dynamics of acid rain in China, the monitoring data on acid rain from 1998 to 2018 were studied using ArcGIS 10.2. The results show that the proportion of acid rain cities, the frequency, and the area of acid rain were decreasing, however, the situation still remains serious. Overall, the chemical type of acid rain was mainly sulfuric acid rain. However, the concentration ratio of SO₄ ^2-/NO₃ ^- decreased by 81.90% in 2018 compared with 1998, and presented a decreasing trend, which indicates that the contribution of nitrate to precipitation acidity has been increasing year by year. This research will help us to understand the distribution characteristics and causes of acid rain in China, and it may provide an effective reference for the prevention and control of acid rain in China.

In this paper, the life cycle assessment (LCA) method is used to evaluate and quantify the energy consumption and environmental impacts of biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) plastic packaging from the five stages of raw material acquisition, raw material transportation, product production, products use and final disposal. Seven impact categories were selected for the impact analysis: abiotic depletion potential fossil fuels (ADP), global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), photochemical ozone formation potential (POCP), human toxicity potential (HTP), and terrestrial ecotoxicity potential (TETP). The results of the LCA are discussed and the results show that production of products is the highest stage of the environmental impact. Meanwhile, in the entire life cycle, the top three environmental impact categories are GWP, ADP and HTP, which account for 32.63%, 24.83% and 14.01%, respectively. The LCA results show that the environmental impact can be reduced in several ways: reducing the consumption of electricity, increasing the input of new energy, increasing the conversion rate of materials in the production process, using organic and water-soluble fertilizers instead of conventional fertilizers, using environment-friendly fuels and establishing a sound recycling system.

Eco-agriculture is the principal measure for addressing the environmental issues caused by agriculture and an essential direction for agriculture in the future. Meanwhile, the development of eco-agriculture is inseparable from its technical support. At present, the eco-agricultural technologies commonly used in China can be divided into three categories according to their theoretical basis and practical types: the technologies used to realize the precision input of material resources, the technologies used to improve material circulation efficiency, and the technologies that use the principle of species symbiosis. Although these technologies provide essential support for developing eco-agriculture in China, there are also problems associated with their implementation, such as poor technical application and a low level of industrialization. Therefore, in the future development of eco-agriculture technology in China, the technologies producers should take the actual problems as guide and pay attention to the popularization, industrialization, and application of the technologies.

Facing the impacts of climate change and the ecological environmental problems caused by urbanization, urban-rural resilience is a new value goal of territorial space development. Blue-green space is an interconnected network system of natural and artificial green space and water bodies, which can dissolve the internal and external pressures of the system by way of mitigatory acceptance and adaptive interaction, reduce the impact of climate change and artificial construction disturbances, and provide diversified composite functions. By recognizing the connotation of the concept of blue-green space, its composite ecological functionality and its relationship with the value of urban-rural resilience, this paper constructs a conceptual framework for the integrated planning of blue-green space in urban and rural areas with “resilient objectives, resource identification, integrated configuration, differentiated regulation”. The paper proposes an integrated and coordinated multi-scale practicable approach of blue-green space planning (i.e., the construction of the blue-green corridor network, the configuration of blue-green open space, the allocation of blue-green infrastructure) and the regulation-based urban-rural transect, with the aim of improving the hydroecological performance and composite functional services in order to realize urban and rural resilience.

Ecosystem services have rapidly changed at the global and regional scales in recent years. Exploring the driving mechanisms of ecosystem services change and projecting future change are of increasing importance to inform policy and decision-making options for ecosystem conservation and sustainable use. Although some research has analyzed the influences of land use or climate changes on ecosystem services, a systematic review on the mechanisms of ecosystem services change has not been carried out so far. This work elaborated on the mechanisms of ecosystem services change based on a literature review, and reached four main conclusions. (1) Climate change and land use jointly determine the ecosystem services change through complex and interacting pathways. (2) Whereas the present research progresses mainly focus on the identification of a single influencing factor, they fail in the determination of multiple influencing factors. (3) Although multi-scenario simulations based on remote sensing and climate models are the main means used to predict future changes in ecosystem services, clarifying the interactive mechanisms of multiple factors is the precondition for future projection of ecosystem services change; (4) Therefore, future research should strengthen the analysis and simulation of the effects of human activities on ecosystem services, especially the development of technology to detect the dynamic responses of ecosystem services to major ecological projects, which is crucial to the selection of restoration measures and the regional arrangement of ecosystem conservation projects.

Research on spatial flow as it relates to the relationship between the supply and demand of ecosystem services supports a significant connection between the supply of ecosystem services and human well-being. Understanding the entire process of the production and flow, as well as the use of ecosystem services, accurately assessing the balance of supply and demand of ecosystem services, and establishing a two-way feedback relationship between supply and demand are vital for the scientific management of the ecosystem and ensuring the sustainable development of regional resources. Based on a large number of relevant publications, this paper comprehensively summarizes the concepts and assessment methods of ecosystem service supply and demand from the perspective of ecosystem service supply and demand, and discusses the impacts of land use and climate change on the temporal and spatial changes of ecosystem services under the background of global change. Then, an analysis of the research progress in the ecosystem services spatial flow indicated that there are still deficiencies in the quantification of cultural services, the dynamics of ecosystem service flow and the driving mechanism of ecosystem services. We also propose that clarifying the driving mechanism and transfer process of ecosystem services, and realizing the mutual conversion between different spatial-temporal scales of ecosystem services, is an important approach for improving the application of ecosystem services research in practice in the future.

As an important foundation for promoting social progress and economic development, natural resources play an important role in the sustainable development of cities. However, the increasing demand of human beings for natural resources has led to various ecological environmental problems, such as excessive population density, serious environmental pollution, the continuous decline of total natural resources and per capita resources, all of which have hindered sustainable development. Therefore, the study of natural resources and sustainable development has become the focus of many current scholars. In this paper, CiteSpace is used as an analysis tool to analyze the literature on natural resources and sustainable development over the past 20 years. First of all, this paper deeply analyzes the research status of this field in terms of academic research trends, authors and research institutions, co-occurrence of keywords, etc., and on this basis, it then deeply analyzes its evolutionary path and research hot spots in the past 20 years through keyword emergence. Finally, according to the visualization of the analysis results, the future development trends of this research field are speculated: (1) Grasp the current research focus; (2) Improve the research accuracy; (3) Enrich the theoretical system of research; and (4) Establish an interdisciplinary research system.

Against the backdrop of global climate change, the threat of extreme rainfall and flooding hazards to urban safety is becoming increasingly serious, and there is an urgent need to improve the resilience of cities through the construction of sponge cities. However, improving the sponge city’s capacity for resisting the risk of urban flooding is challenging. The relevant concept of ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR) is currently one of the main international theories of urban resilience, and it has important value for enhancing urban stormwater resilience. An approach for improving the stormwater resilience of sponge cities is presented in this paper, using the urban design of Jiangchuanlu Street in Shanghai as an example and the stormwater model to simulate flood disasters on Jiangchuanlu Street. In addition to the simulation results, the population and property conditions of the site were combined in order to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment through the risk matrix. Then, the Eco-DRR measures were implemented to enhance the urban stormwater resilience of Jiangchuanlu Street based on the assessment results. Finally, the ecological infrastructure of the study area was constructed, and the safety and health units were created on the basis of the ecological substrate to prevent and respond to public health emergencies. The results show that the stormwater resilience enhancement approach based on Eco-DRR can effectively alleviate the flood risk of Jiangchuanlu Street. At the same time, the safety and health units created through the ecological infrastructure can also help to prevent and respond to public health emergencies. The results of this study provide a resilience enhancement approach for sponge cities based on Eco-DRR, as well as a theoretical reference for the planning and construction of safe and resilient cities.

As a new type of heritage, Agricultural Heritage Systems (AHS), represented by Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) designated by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (NIAHS) designated by some countries’ Ministry of Agriculture, are typical Social-Ecological Systems (SES), which usually are rich in biodiversity, traditional knowledge, resource utilization technology and outstanding cultural landscapes. Cultural Keystone Species (CKS) are defined as the culturally salient species that shape the cultural identity of a people in a major way. CKS can be used as a prominent tool for the synergistic conservation of SES biology and culture, and to promote the overall enhancement of system functions. This paper summarizes a review of the definition of the CKS and its application in SES conservation. According to the characteristics and protection needs of AHS, this paper defined the CKS in AHS as: “Composites of biological resources and cultural practices, which have a significant impact on the stability of local society and culture systems, contribute to the achievement of AHS’ conservation goals.” Based on this definition, we analyzed the significance of the identification of CKS in AHS. First of all, CKS help to quickly identify the key elements of AHS. Secondly, CKS can promote community participation in the conservation and development of AHS. In addition, the identification of CKS has a significant role in food and livelihood security, biodiversity conservation, traditional knowledge and technology transmission, social organization maintenance, and cultural landscape maintenance in AHS, which helps to achieve the conservation goals of GIAHS and/or NIAHS.

Promoting the green development effect characterized by green total factor productivity (GTFP) is the key to achieving high-quality development in the new era. Using the 2001?2021 inter-provincial panel data, the energy and environmental factors were simultaneously included in the analysis framework for assessing the green effect of environmental regulations in China. The Malmquist-Luenberger index based on the SBM directional distance function was used to measure the GTFP and its decomposition terms, the dynamic panel model was further constructed, and the GMM method was used to empirically test the direct and indirect effects of three types of environmental regulation and foreign direct investment (FDI) on GTFP. The results show that China’s GTFP is growing at an average annual rate of 2.13%, green technology progress is the source of GTFP growth, and the GTFP regional gap is expanding. There is not a non-linear effect in command-controlled environmental regulation, while the economic incentive type and the voluntary agreement type of environmental regulation respectively show a “U” shaped relationship and an inverted “U” shaped relationship. The control type regulation does not have an indirect effect on GTFP through FDI, but the incentive type and protocol type regulations can drive the promotion of GTFP indirectly through FDI. The GTFP lifting effects of the different types of environmental regulation and FDI show regional heterogeneity. Exploring the green development effect and characteristics of environmental regulation has important theoretical significance and practical value for selecting rational environmental regulation types, adopting differentiated environmental regulation intensities, implementing two-wheel drive to boost GTFP growth, realizing the benign interactions between environmental regulation and FDI, and ultimately promoting high-quality economic development.

The Huaihe River Basin is one of the typical large river basin economies, promoting its ecological protection and high-quality development is a strategic choice to improve the quality of China’s economic development and narrow the regional development gap, which has far-reaching strategic value for the region and the country in the new era. Based on the theoretical connotation of watershed ecological protection and high-quality economic development, starting from the special characteristics and practical features of the Huaihe River Eco-economic Belt, the panel data of 28 prefecture-level cities in the Huaihe River Eco-economic Belt from 2003-2018 are used as the research samples, the improved entropy method, Dagum Gini coefficient method and panel Tobit model investigate and analyze the time and space of ecological protection and high-quality development in the Huaihe Eco-economic Belt Evolution characteristics and promotion drivers. The results show that the overall ecological protection and high-quality development level of the Huaihe River Eco-economic Belt is 1.4824, showing an overall upward trend, with obvious periodic fluctuations; the high-value areas are mainly located in the lower and middle reaches of the basin, with the spatial agglomeration characteristic of “double core leading”, while the upper reaches are always in the stage of “low level and stable growth trap”; the hypervariable density is the main cause of the regional disparity; per capita output, opening to the outside world, human capital and government intervention drive the improvement of ecological protection and high-quality development. There are significant differences in the driving factors of ecological protection and high-quality development in the upper, middle and lower reaches of the city. The study of the development status of the Huaihe River Eco-economic Belt and its evolution law are of great theoretical significance, practical value for analyzing the synergistic enhancement path of urban ecological protection and high-quality development, promoting the ecological protection and high-quality economic development of the entire Huaihe River Basin.

Using ArcGIS to analyze the spatial distribution of traditional villages in Yunnan Province in combination with the actual local conditions of traditional villages, the purpose of this study is to determine the development model suitable for their characteristics. The results show several important features of traditional village distribution. (1) The traditional villages in Yunnan Province have spatial structural characteristics of unbalanced cohesive distribution, and they are mainly distributed in the higher-level cities and prefectures such as northwest Yunnan, west Yunnan and south Yunnan. Among them, the traditional villages of Baoshan City have the highest distribution density of 66.33 per 10000 km². This is followed by Dali Prefecture and Honghe Prefecture, where the densities of traditional villages are 44.13 per 10000 km² and 37.66 per 10000 km², respectively. (2) The factors affecting the spatial distribution structure of traditional villages in Yunnan Province are natural geographical factors, humanistic historical factors and transportation factors. Among them, the natural geographical conditions with a large vertical gap in Yunnan Province gave birth to the human settlement environment of traditional villages. The history of a farming civilization that has been passed down from generation to generation has laid a brilliant and splendid humanistic foundation for traditional villages, and the high-altitude areas are relatively primitive. The transportation conditions have delayed the destruction of traditional villages by urbanization and industrialization. In summary, these factors have affected the spatial distribution pattern of traditional villages in Yunnan Province to some extent. (3) According to the law of the spatial distribution of traditional villages in Yunnan Province, it is necessary to explore the activation path of traditional village tourism with regional characteristics and ethnic characteristics, and also to carry out differentiated development according to the different endowment characteristics of local resources, that is to develop a series of activation modes including agricultural tourism, cultural tourism and ecological tourism.

The global ski tourism market has been in a relatively mature period. However, passenger flows are stagnating in many countries and the growth perspectives are not very appealing. This change of the tourism market troubled the entire ski industry with new challenges, leading to the ski tourism industry model established in the 20th century failing to meet the current development needs. According to multiple data sources, including relevant industry reports and the latest data from internetm, this article based on a variety of these reports and the latest data from website, analyzed the ski tourism market’s both sides of supply and demand, systematically summarized the evolution of ski tourism industry since the 21st century, discussed the process of the ski tourism industry’s development and the economy’s growth, and revealed the relationship between the influencing factors of ski tourism market’s potentials. Meanwhile, the main problems and challenges in the ski market were also summarized. The results showed that global ski tourism had entered a mature stage since the beginning of 2000. Moreover, there was a specific correlation between skiing participation rate and GDP, which varied with the regional economic level and the maturity degree of skiing industry. Despite some impacts from COVID-19, the ski industry in most regions exhibited signs of recovery in 2021. The Winter Olympic Games in China have brought new opportunities to the skiing industry and have been expected to encourage global participation in skiing. However, some existing ski resorts in different countries and regions may not significantly contribute to the future development of global ski tourism, and the potential growth of ski tourism market might be small and mainly concentrated in China. At present, the biggest threat to the ski market is baby boomers having long been the bulk of ski resort visitors. The ski market is faced with this aging problem and the widespread phenomenon of ski culture fault. How to meet the needs of this new generation of customers who lack ski backgrounds or cultures is a severe challenge for all emerging and existing ski resorts around the world. Besides, public transport accessibility, service quality and resorts operation capacity have also been the improvement direction of the ski market in dire need.

Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2000 to 2018, the mutual relationships and mechanisms of influence between industrial upgrading, total factor energy efficiency and regional carbon emission were investigated. The results show that the sophistication of industrial structure has a significant inhibitory effect on carbon emissions in all regions. The intensity of inhibition in different regions shows a sequence of “western > central > eastern”. The inhibitory effect of the rationalization of industrial structure on carbon emissions varies greatly among the different regions, with a significant restraining influence in the central and western regions, but much less influence in the eastern region. The inhibition of carbon emissions through the improvement of total factor energy efficiency is significant in all regions, and the inhibition intensity shows the sequence of “western > eastern > central”. Furthermore, the mediating effect test shows that the total factor energy efficiency in different regions has either a partial or complete mediating effect on the influence of industrial upgrading on carbon emission, so it can promote and strengthen the inhibitory effect of industrial upgrading on carbon emissions. Therefore, upgrading the industrial structure and improving the total factor energy efficiency are effective means to promote carbon emission reduction. Reducing carbon emissions by relying solely on industrial upgrading is not ideal, and it needs to be combined with improvements in the total factor energy efficiency to effectively promote carbon emission reduction.

Gross ecosystem product (GEP) is the gross value of all ecosystem products and services provided by ecosystems for human society. In practice, GEP measures the ecosystems' contributions to human well-being and constitutes one of the core issues in the construction of ecological civilization systems. Currently, GEP accounting faces a series of problems, such as the inconsistency of accounting subjects and a lack of accounting standards, the result of which is the non-reproducibility and weak applicability of accounting results. In this paper, mainstream models for ecosystem service valuation are summarized in a systematic manner. On this basis, eight basic principles are established for screening accounting indicators: biological productivity, human benefits, production territoriality, current increment, actual effectiveness, physical metrizability, data availability, and harmlessness. Next, a series of ecosystem service subjects are identified that need to be excluded from accounting, and the detailed reasons for their exclusion are presented. Finally, three ideas for improving GEP accounting are offered from the perspectives of the relationship between biological production and human production, the circulation-transport relationship and spatial differences, and harms to the ecosystem carrying capacity. The purpose is to provide positive considerations aimed at promoting the socio-economic applications of accounting and to contribute to the scientific quantification of the values of ecological products.

Preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics have promoted the rapid development of ice-snow tourism in China, which contributes to achieving the goal of having “300 million people participate in ice-snow sports”. This paper analyzes the status quo and problems associated with the growth of ice-snow tourism in China based on the methods of documentation and field investigation. The results indicate that China’s efforts have born abundant fruits. Notwithstanding, there are still some problems due to the limited time and hastened process of ice-snow tourism development, including unreasonable exploitation, low-quality products and services, imperfect investment and financing system, inadequate management, a single marketing mode, and insufficient talent teams. Compared with developed countries in Europe and the United States, ice-snow tourism in China is in the stage of rapid development. To achieve the high-quality development of ice-snow tourism in China, this paper proposes actions from eight aspects which involve policy, products and services, marketing, safety management and control, talent teams, standardization construction, science and technology, and community participation. This study can provide references for the high-quality development of ice-snow tourism in China, as well as perfecting Chinese theoretical research on ice-snow tourism.

The Beijing Winter Olympics brought a historical miracle to the development of China’s ice and snow tourism. It is both an opportunity and a challenge to reap the extra dividends of the times and to develop China’s ice and snow tourism. By selecting 18 academic papers, this special issue deeply discusses the status quo and the future measures of ice and snow tourism in China from three aspects: ice and snow tourism development and management, the ice and snow tourism experience and its influencing factors, and ice and snow tourism impact assessment. Moreover, one part entitled “Tourism Culture and Ecotourism” has been set up to emphasize those cutting-edge research topics. It is worth mentioning that this issue is in-depth and has profound connotations. First of all, the research area ranges from national to regional to the city-level, including both longitudinal and horizontal research. In additon, the research methods are practical, innovative, and at the frontier of scientific research, and include industrial correlation analysis methods, kernel density, spatial autocorrelation and other geospatial analysis methods, content analysis methods, sentiment analysis methods, structural equation models, Delphi methods, spatial statistics methods, geographic detector method and many others. In general, this special issue combines qualitative research with quantitative research, provides a variety of theoretical perspectives such as perceived value theory, institutional evolution theory, etc., and builds various useful models like the pre-competition evaluation model for ice and snow tourism heritage, the consumption skill-travel radius decision-making influence model under the moderating effect of the ski resort comprehensive leisure environment, the evaluation model of the suitability of glacier tourism resource development, the model of the relationship between tourists’ experience value and loyalty in the context of ice and snow tourism, among others. These studies are expected to provide theoretical and practical guidance for the development of ice and snow tourism in the post-Winter Olympics era, and help ice and snow tourism develop in a sustainable and high-quality direction.

The Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses Project is the most symbolic and globally important ecological engineering effort to build the human and natural life community. After the call and mobilization stage since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the first round of Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses occurred at the end of the 20th century. With the second round of Conversion of Farmland to Forests And Grasses launched in 2014, the central government has invested 535.3 billion yuan altogether by 2020, and 34.83 million ha have been returned to forest and grassland in 25 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) (2435 counties included). Among them, 14.23 million ha were returned from farmland; barren hills and wasteland afforestation accounted for 17.53 million ha; and sealed mountain forest cultivation represented 3.07 million ha, accounting for 40% of the total afforestation area of national key projects in the same period, and 41 million households and 158 million farmers benefited directly. The project construction has made great achievements. The total value of ecological benefits has reached 1.42 trillion yuan, plus economic benefits of 0.26 trillion yuan, and social benefits of 0.73 trillion yuan, for a total amount of 2.41 trillion yuan. This effort has made outstanding contributions toward building an ecological civilization and a beautiful China. Looking forward to the future, the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses will embark on a new stage of high-quality development, which will strive to achieve high-quality construction, high efficiency and a high level of management. China will promote the third round of conversion of farmland to forest and grassland from 2021 to 2035, and it is expected to return 6.67 million ha to forests and grasses.

The alpine treeline ecotone is defined as a forest-grassland or forest-tundra transition boundary either between subalpine forest and treeless grassland, or between subalpine forest and treeless tundra. The alpine treeline ecotone serves irreplaceable ecological functions and provides various ecosystem services. There are three lines associated with the alpine treeline ecotone, the tree species line (i.e., the highest elevational limit of individual tree establishment and growth), the treeline (i.e., the transition line between tree islands and isolated individual trees) and the timber line (i.e., the upper boundary of the closed subalpine forest). The alpine treeline ecotone is the belt region between the tree species line and the timber line of the closed forest. The treeline is very sensitive to climate change and is often used as an indicator for the response of vegetation to global warming. However, there is currently no comprehensive review in the field of alpine treeline advance under global warming. Therefore, this review summarizes the literature and discusses the theoretical bases and challenges in the study of alpine treeline dynamics from the following four aspects: (1) Ecological functions and issues of treeline dynamics; (2) Methodology for monitoring treeline dynamics; (3) Treeline shifts in different climate zones; (4) Driving factors for treeline upward shifting.

Approximately ten years have passed since Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) was introduced to Japan in 2011, with 11 GIAHS sites designated so far. The Japan Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (J-NIAHS), which considers resilience, multi-stakeholder participation and sixth industrialization, was subsequently established in 2016, and has designated 15 J-NIAHS sites. GIAHS sites can be classified into three major types: Landscape, farming method, and genetic resource conservation types, and most Japanese GIAHS sites are of the landscape type. Since there is almost no national subsidy for GIAHS or J-NIAHS, designated sites are expected to secure funding for conservation from their own efforts. For this reason, a voluntary network of the Japanese GIAHS sites has been active in promoting cooperation on GIAHS conservation. The priorities of the Japanese GIAHS have focused on raising public awareness about GIAHS and J-NIAHS, improving livelihoods, as well as fostering the international exchange of experience and knowledge regarding Agricultural Heritage Systems, especially among Japan, China and Korea.

The catering industry is an important industry related to the growth of the national economy and the needs of daily life. After 2012, the central government has successively introduced and implemented a series of policies to limit the official consumption and catering waste. These policies have had a huge impact on China's catering industry, especially the development of high-end catering. Based on expert scoring and interviews with government managers, the catering industry organizations, catering enterprises, researchers and consumers, this paper studies the impacts of the policies before and after 2012 on the sustainable development of the catering industry. The results show that: (1) Policies after 2012 have been very strong in their strength and duration, and this can ensure that the policies can effectively perform their restraint and management functions in the long term. (2) As affected by policies after 2012, the frequency and amounts of public expenditures in China have dropped significantly, and mass consumption is developing faster. (3) The impact of policies on income is quite controversial. On the whole, the policies have continued to promote the increasing of catering income after 2012, and have played a significant role in optimizing the catering structure and reducing food waste. However, the policies have had little effect on the improvement of industry standards and environmental protection. (4) The sustainable development of the catering industry requires the efforts of the government, industry organizations, restaurants and consumers. Steady income growth, a reasonable and healthy industry structure, sound industry standards, and low food waste are important standards and goals for the sustainable development of the catering industry.

The present study aimed to assess if the people are satisfied with the relief fund scheme in the three different user committees belonging to 10 Buffer Zone User Group (BZUG) of Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park (SNNP) in the situation with the higher incidents of conflict on those areas. Differences in local people’s attitudes and the effect of socio-economic factors like age, education, economic status, the quantity of crop damage, and their influence on the satisfaction level of people towards the prevailing relief scheme were mainly captured using a semi-structured questionnaire survey of the households. A total of 162 households (HHs), comprising 40.5% of the total 377 households, were surveyed using a purposive sampling method. People’s attitude towards relief schemes was measured at three levels (positive, negative, or neutral) while the Chi-square test at 5% level of significance was used to determine whether people’s attitudes and relief schemes were dependent or not. Similarly, Chi-square test was used to determine the dependency of different socioeconomic factors and people’s attitudes towards the relief scheme. The results showed that the majority of respondents i.e. 56% were not satisfied (negative attitude) with the relief scheme, 26% were neutral and only 18% of respondents were positive towards the relief fund (satisfied). A mere 41.93 USD was provided as relief against the crop loss of 101 USD at an average in the study area. Similarly, 73 USD was the relief amount for livestock loss (goat) of 124 USD per case. Owing to inadequate and delayed payment, the relief fund scheme was unable to bring a satisfactory change in the attitudes of people. Thus, the regular amendments of relief guidelines to address insufficient and delayed payment are recommended. Additionally, further studies on the wildlife damage relief schemes and its cost-effectiveness and appropriate measures to manage the drawback of this scheme are required.

As an emerging mountain vacation tourism product, ski tourism is becoming increasingly important in the domestic tourism market. As an important theory for studying the quality of consumer experience, perceived value has been widely employed in tourism research in recent years, and improving the ski tourism experience value has become the focus of competition among ski tourism destinations. Taking the ski tourists in Chongli District of Zhangjiakou as an example, 305 valid questionnaires were collected by using online and offline methods. Based on the theory of perceived value, this paper adopted principal component analysis and cluster analysis to conduct a preliminary study of ski tourism experience and market segmentation. In addition, this paper examined the differences in demographic and behavioral characteristics of different types of ski tourists. This study finds that: (1) The perceived value of ski tourism experience includes four dimensions: facility value, perceived price, safety value and service value. (2) Using the perceived value to segment ski tourists, three different customer segments are identified: comfort-pursuant, price-sensitive and safety-oriented. (3) There are significant differences in key metrics, such as number of visits and stay time, among different types of ski tourists according to their demographic characteristics such as gender, age, monthly income, and behavioral characteristics. These results reveal the different dimensions of the perceived value of ski tourism experience and determine the market segments and characteristics of ski tourists. Developing a corresponding marketing strategy based on the different market segments can better promote the perceived value of ski tourists, and ultimately strengthen the competitiveness of the enterprises.

The accurate simulation and prediction of grassland aboveground biomass (AGB) and theoretical livestock carrying capacity are key steps for maintaining ecosystem balance and sustainable grassland management. The AGB in fenced grassland is not affected by grazing and its variability is only driven by climate change, which can be regarded as the grassland potential AGB (AGB_p). In this study, we compiled the data for 345 AGB field observations in fenced grasslands and their corresponding climate data, soil data, and topographical data on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (TP). We further simulated and predicted grassland AGB_p and theoretical livestock carrying capacity under the climate conditions of the past (2000-2018) and future two decades (2021-2040) based on a random forest (RF) algorithm. The results showed that simulated AGB_p matched well with observed values in the field (R² = 0.76, P < 0.001) in the past two decades. The average grassland AGB_p on the Tibetan Plateau was 102.4 g m^-2, and the inter-annual changes in AGB_p during this period showed a non-significant increasing trend. AGB_p fluctuation was positively correlated with growing season precipitation (R² = 0.57, P < 0.001), and negatively correlated with the growing season diurnal temperature range (R² = 0.51, P < 0.001). The average theoretical livestock carrying capacity was 0.94 standardized sheep units (SSU) ha^-1 on the TP, in which about 54.1% of the areas showed an increasing trend during the past two decades. Compared with the past two decades, the theoretical livestock carrying capacity showed a decreasing trend in the future, which was mainly distributed in the central and northern TP. This study suggested that targeted planning and management should be carried out to alleviate the forage-livestock contradiction in grazing systems on the Tibetan Plateau.

Inner Mongolia is the important ecological barrier zone in northern China, which plays an important role in the prevention and control of wind in the regional ecosystem. Based on the Revised Wind Erosion Equation (RWEQ) model and the cost-recovery method, this study simulated the wind erosion prevention service (WEPS) in Inner Mongolia in 2010 and 2015, investigated the spatial pattern of material and monetary value of WEPS, and analyzed the differences among various cities and various ecosystems. The results indicated that the total WEPS of Inner Mongolia was estimated to be 73.87×10⁸ t in 2015, which was 4.61×10⁸ t less than in 2010, while the monetary value of WEPS was calculated to be 738.66×10⁸ yuan in 2015, which was 46.16×10⁸ yuan less than in 2010. Among all the leagues and cities, Xilin Gol League supported the highest WEPS, reaching 18.65×10⁸ t in 2015, while Wuhai provided the lowest. The WEPS of Hulunbeier increased the most, by 4.37×10⁸ t from 2010 to 2015. The WEPS in the grassland ecosystem was the highest among the different ecosystems, accounting for more than 55% of the total WEPS in Inner Mongolia, but it was reduced by 1.05×10⁸ t during the same period. The WEPS in the forest ecosystem increased the most, reaching 0.19×10⁸ t. This study found that the implementation of projects such as returning farmland to forests and grasses and sand control effectively increased the WEPS by increasing the forest area. However, unsuitable land use increased the desertification of ecosystems which resulted in a reduction of WEPS in Inner Mongolia.

Altay region is located in the northern part of Xinjiang, and has complex and diverse internal geomorphic types, undulating terrain and a fragile ecosystem. Studying the impact of land use changes on habitat quality is of great significance to regional ecological protection and development, rational planning and utilization, and ensuring the sustainable development of the ecological environment. Based on the InVEST model, combined with land use panel data and topographic relief data of the Altay region, this paper studied the habitat quality from 1995 to 2018. The results show that cultivated land, water area and construction land increased gradually from 1995 to 2018, while grassland and unused land decreased. Forestland remained stable in the first five periods, but increased significantly in 2018. During 1995-2018, all land use types were transferred, mainly between cultivated land, forestland, grassland and unused land in the flat and slightly undulating areas. Poor habitat quality was dominant during 1995-2018. Habitat quality decreased significantly in 2015, which was related to the rapid expansion of cultivated and construction land as threat sources, as well as the decrease of forest and grassland as sensitive factors. However, habitat quality improved significantly in 2018, because a large amount of cultivated land and unused land were converted into forest land and grassland with high habitat suitability. Land use type has an important influence on habitat quality. The distribution characteristics of habitat quality for topographic relief types from good to bad were: large undulating area>medium undulating area>small undulating area>flat area>slightly undulating area. The findings of this study are of great significance for coordinating social, economic, and ecological development in this region and in similar areas.

Investigation of the invasion of Prosopis juliflora and its effects on indigenous plant species are important for the control of the species. The study aimed to assess: (1) the effects of Prosopis juliflora invasion on the diversity of plant species in Awash Fentale and Amibara Woredas; (2) the effects of Prosopis juliflora invasion on the regeneration potential of native woody species. Sample collection was performed in habitats of Prosopis juliflora thicket, Prosopis juliflora mixed with native species stands, non-invaded woodlands, and open grazing lands. The vegetation was stratified into invasion levels of Prosopis juliflora and then a random sampling technique for data collection. Among species of plants, the highest proportion of species, 75 (47.8%), was recorded under non-invaded woodlands, but the lowest proportion of species, 22 (14%), was recorded under open grazing lands. The invasion of Prosopis juliflora reduced the Shannon diversity index. The mean values of the Shannon diversity index and species richness under Prosopis juliflora mixed with native species (H′=2.22, R=14) and non-invaded woodlands (H′=2.23, R=13) were significantly higher than Prosopis juliflora thicket (H′=1.96, R=12) and open grazing lands (H′=1.84, R=10). The highest total density (358 stems ha^?1) of seedlings was recorded under Prosopis juliflora mixed with native species. But, the lowest total density (153 stems ha^?1) of seedlings was recorded under Prosopis juliflora thickets. Moreover, 102 trees ha^?1 native woody species were recorded under Prosopis juliflora thicket, but 1252 trees ha^?1 native species were recorded under non-invaded woodlands. If the invasion of Prosopis juliflora and its effects on native species diversity continue coupled with a drier climate, plant diversity of the Afar flora region will be highly affected and its ecosystem services will be under question. Thus, the participation of all stakeholders and multidisciplinary research approaches should be designed for the management of the species and rehabilitation of the rangelands in the region.

China’s Yellow River Delta represents a typical area with moist semi-humid soil salinization, and its salinization has seriously affected the sustainable use of local resources. The use of remote sensing technology to understand changes in the spatial and temporal patterns of salinization is key to combating regional land degradation. In this study, a feature space model was constructed for remote sensing and monitoring land salinization using Landsat 8 OIL multi-spectral images. The feature parameters were paired to construct a feature space model; a total of eight feature space models were obtained. An accuracy analysis was conducted by combining salt-loving vegetation data with measured data, and the model demonstrating the highest accuracy was selected to develop salinization inversion maps for 2015 and 2020. The results showed that: (1) The total salinization area of the Yellow River Delta displayed a slight upward trend, increasing from 4244 km² in 2015 to 4629 km² in 2020. However, the area’s salting degree reduced substantially, and the areas of saline soil and severe salinization were reduced in size; (2) The areas with reduced salinization severity were mainly concentrated in areas surrounding cities, and primarily comprised wetlands and some regions around the Bohai Sea; (3) Numerous factors such as the implementation of the “Bohai Granary” cultivation engagement plan, increase in human activities to greening local residential living environments, and seawater intrusion caused by the reduction of sediment contents have impacted the distribution of salinization areas in the Yellow River Delta; (4) The characteristic space method of salinization monitoring has better applicability and can be promoted in humid-sub humid regions.