In order to understand the spatial distribution characteristics of rainfall erosivity in Yimeng Mountain Area, the authors used the ordinary kriging and regression kriging to predict the rainfall erosivity spatial distribution and to analyze the prediction precision and differences of the different interpolation methods, based on the 88 rainfall stations’ daily precipitation data (1980—2010) in Yimeng Mountain Area. The results indicated that, 1) although the spatial distribution regularities of rainfall erosivity in this two methods were coincident, the regression kriging was better for describing the local variabilities. The rainfall erosivity interpolation results of regression kriging are close to the actual calculation values, compared with the ordinary kriging, and the relative prediction accuracy was improved by 53.64%. 2) The maximum value of rainfall erosivity in Yimeng Mountain Area was 5 438.22 MJ·mm/ (hm²·h·a) and the minimum value was 3 033.23 MJ·mm/ (hm²·h·a); the mean value was 4 133.92 MJ·mm/ (hm²·h·a). The analysis of semi variance function showed that the average annual rainfall of flood season and the annual erosive rainfall were the main factors affecting the spatial variability of rainfall erosovity. 3) The spatial distribution pattern of rainfall erosivity in Yimeng Mountain Area decreased gradually from the south to the northwest and from the south to the northeast. The spatial distribution of rainfall erosivity in Yimeng Mountain Area was medium variability, but it was weak variability at county scale (except Zoucheng).

Pisha sandstone is a specific mudstone/ sandstone, and is the main resource of Yellow River coarse sand. Through the experiment, the water resistance of Pisha sandstone was observed, and the compressive strength, particle size distribution, maximum dry density and other physical indexes of Pisha sandstone were tested. XRD, SEM and optical microscope observations were used to analyze the mineral composition, chemical composition and microstructure of Pisha sandstone, respectively. The results showed that, the mechanical strength was between 0.4 and 2.8 MPa. Quartz, feldspar and hematite were the main mineral composition. And the silicon dioxide, aluminium oxide, and calcium oxide were the main oxide composition. The microstructure observations indicated that the Pisha sandstone had a bad pore structure, and the carbonate and clay were the main cementing materials.

Rainfall is not only one of the most important drivers for soil erosion, but also the key factor for geological disasters such as landslide and mudslide. Furthermore, not only high intensity rainfall in short duration may lead to soil erosion, but also low intensity rainfall in long duration would increase the risk for geological disasters. Therefore, it is important to assess the features of rainfall amount and rainfall days for regional environment security. In this study, the temporal and spatial characteristics of rainfall amounts and rainfall days with different rainfall levels were analyzed by using linear trend method, Mann-Kendall test and R/ S method. This analysis was based on daily rainfall data collected from 17 meteorological stations in Fujian from 1960 to 2011. Mann-Kendall test is a non-parametric statistical method which has been widely used in the past. We used this method to analyze and test the trend of rainfall from 1960 to 2011. R/ S method was used to determine the trend of rainfall in the future. The Hurst values derived from R/ S method will specifically indicate the future trends for different rainfall levels. The results showed that the annual rainfall amounts increased while the rainfall days decreased significantly in the time series of 1960—2011. Both of them decreased spatially from northwestern to southeastern Fujian. The rainfall amounts and rainfall days of light rain and moderate rain for all seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter) were decreased, while the rainfall amounts and rainfall days for heavy rain and rainstorm were increased for all seasons. The spatial variations of different rainfall levels for different seasons were significant. The central Fujian (Pingnan-Jiuxianshan) had the largest average annual rainfall amount for light rain. The southeast coastal area was always the high value region for heavy rain. The central Fujian had less rainstorms in winter than that in the northern and southern Fujian. The Hurst values showed that the rainfall amounts and rainfall days of heavy rain and rainstorm in spring, summer and winter would keep increasing in the future, but the rainfall amounts and rainfall days of light rain and moderate rain showed the reverse trend. It indicated that the enhanced frequency of extreme rainfall and periodic drought. Although the rainfall amounts and rainfall days showed significant fluctuation in time series and large difference at spatial level, the rainfall intensity would increase in the long term trend.

Predicting storm peak flow in small watersheds is critical to model soil erosion in the LoessPlateau. In this study, we simulated the relationships between storm peak discharge and the parameters which represent precipitation, watershed geometry, and runoff so as to sort out the dominant factorsaffecting storm peak flow in the Loess Plateau. We collected precipitation and runoff data from 65 small watersheds in the Loess Plateau and built a database which included 2 441 storms. The results showed that peak flow was positively correlated with the product of precipitation volume and precipitation intensity, watershed area, watershed length, watershed width, runoff volume, runoff depth, and runoff coefficient, but negatively correlated with the slope of the main channel. The impacts of these parameters of precipitation, watershed geometry and runoff on peak flow were divergent at different subzones in this plateau as well as at different watershed scales. Our results are helpful for the modeling of the storm peak flow with empirical equations in the Loess Plateau.

In order to make the soil and water conservation experiments based on artificial rainfall simulation system more reliable,we studied the characteristics of artificial rainfall produced by the QYJY-503C simulation system and examined the possibility of application of the device in practical experiments of soil and water conservation. The results showed that: 1)the relationship between raindrop and stain diameters followed the function d = 0.383 9D0.709 when the raindrops were at their terminal velocity. 2) The effective rainfall uniformity of the QYJY -503C artificial rainfall simulation system was over 80%. 3) The raindrop diameter increased with the increasing rainfall intensity following a power function of d50 =0.559 5I0.280 5; at the same rainfall intensity, the diameter of raindrops generated by the device was 20% - 70% smaller than that of natural raindrops. 4) The kinetic energy and rainfall intensity had a good linear relationship: E = 0.004 2I – 0.021, suggesting that it is feasible to achieve the kinetic energy of natural rainfall through controlling the simulated rainfall intensity. 5) The performance of QYJY -503C artificial rainfall simulation system was stable and reliable, so it can be used to study soil erosion indoor.

Indoor rain simulation experiments were conducted in this study under different slope degrees (10°,15°,20°,25°),rainfall intensities (90,120 mm/ h) and slope lengths(5,7 m). The variation characteristics of fractal dimension of eroded soil particle composition under different rainfall conditions were analyzed. Results showed that the fractal dimension of soil particles was significantly positively correlated with clay and silt content of soil. There was a significantly negative correlation between fractal dimension and sand content of soil. The fractal dimension decreased as rainfall intensity increased, and the effects of slope degree and length were not obvious. Under the condition of 5 m slope length, fractal dimension showed the tendency of first declining then rising with rainfall duration. Under the condition of 7 m slope length, fractal dimension increased with rainfall duration under 20°and 25°slope conditions, while there was no obvious changing regulation under 10°and 15°slope conditions. The fractal dimension after rill appeared was lower than that before rill appeared under the 10°slope condition, significantly higher than that before rill appeared under 15°, 20°and 25°conditions.

The purpose of this research was to explore the possibility of feldspathic sandstone as a kind of new sand-fixing material from the grain size composition change statistics and particle size distribution charactertistics, to provide a scientific support for desertification control, soil and water conservation and development of farming in Mu Us Sandy Land, and at the same time, to improve the living standards of local people. Methods of mixing feldspathic sandstone and aeolian sandy soil according to the kinds of mass ratios of mf：ms =1:0,1:1,1:2,1:5,and 0:1(where mf is the quality of the feldspathic sandstone, ms is the quality of the aeolian sandy soil) were used, then, the particle graded composition and particle size distribution characteristics of feldspathic sandstone and aeolian sandy soil compound soil were studied with Malvern 2000 laser particle size analyzer. The results showed that after feldspathic sandstone and aeolian sandy soil compounding, the texture characteristics of compound soil changed for the better. These features of sand-based, loose structure, easy to wind erosion of aeolian sandy soil were improved gradually after feldspathic sandstone and aeolian sandy soil compounding. The mass content of < 0.05 mm particle increased with feldspathic sandstone mass increasing and the mass content of > 0.05 mm particle decreased with feldspathic sandstone mass increasing. The texture presented this kind of change trend from sand to sandy loam to loam to silt loam. The small particle size distribution, good particle homogeneity and other shortcoming of aeolian sandy soil were improved to a certain degree, and the particle size distribution became broad after feldspathic sandstone and aeolian sandy soil compounding. The grain grading was continuous and the particle grading characteristics were good when the mass ratio of feldspathic sandstone and aeolian sandy soil compound soil was 1:5(the nonuniform coefficient was 54.71 and the curvature coefficient was 2.54) or 1:2(the nonuniform coefficient was 76.21,the curvature coefficient was 1:12). After feldspathic sandstone and aeolian sandy soil compounding, not only the shortcoming of particle size composition of aeolian sandy soil was improved, but also this problem of high clay content of feldspathic sandstone was resolved, which effectively prevented the soil compaction problem of feldspathic sandstone. After feldspathic sandstone and aeolian sandy soil compounding, and particles of various sizes were mixed, the grain grading was continuous from microscopic particles of view, which provided a scientific base for land desertification control. Consequently, feldspathic sandstone has the possibility of sand-fixing from grain size composition of view. The texture characteristics changes for better with feldspathic sandstone mass increasing, and when the mass ratio of feldspathic sandstone and aeolian sandy soil is 1:2 or 1:5 which compound better for particle grading characteristics.

During June-July 2013, we investigated the soil permeability of five typical plantations, namely pure Cunninghamia lanceolata, C. lanceolata + Pinus massoniana, Schima superba + C. lanceolata + P. massoniana, S. superba + Cinnamomum camphora + Lithocarpus glaber + Liquidambar formosana, and S. superba + L. glaber plantations, with bicyclic infiltration method in Simian mountain of Chongqing City. Then we compared the results with those in 2008 which were obtained by using the same experimental method, in order to reveal the effect of the growth of plantation on forest hydrological function. Results indicated that: 1) The saturated soil-water holding capacity in mixed plantations was greater than that of the pure C. lanceolata plantation. Compared with 2008, such capacity in 2013 decreased by 11.76% in the pure C. lanceolata plantation, while it increased by 19.24% in the mixed coniferous plantation, 11.94% in the mixed broadleaf-conifer plantation, 17.98% in the mixed broadleaf-shrub plantation and 7.53% in the mixed broadleaf plantation. 2) In comparison with 2008 data, the initial rate of soil infiltration in 2013 in the above-mentioned plantations increased by 52.8%, 115.8%, 51.1%, 15.9% and 49.9%, respectively. 3) The Horton infiltration model has better simulation results than Kostiakov and Philip models for all the five typical plantations.

In order to understand the flooding tolerance of Taxodium hybrid ‘Zhongshanshan’, we investigated the preserving rate and growth situation of this species in March 2014. The results showed that the average preserving rate of T. hybrid ‘Zhongshanshan’at the 163-174 m elevation was 98.1%, the slope gradient of the hydro-fluctuation belt had a significant effect on the preserving rate, while the original land use type in the hydro-fluctuation belt had no significant effects on the preserving rate. Its average height of trees exceeded 3.5 m, average diameter at breast height (DBH) was larger than 4 cm; the depth of water had no significant effects on the height of trees, but had significant effects on DBH. The gradient of the hydro-fluctuation belt had significant effects on the height of trees and DBH, but the original land use type in the hydro-fluctuation belt had no significant effects on the height of trees and DBH. The strong flooding tolerance of T. hybrid‘Zhongshanshan’lays a solid foundation for improving the Three Gorges Reservoir area in the Yangtze River by biological measures.

For the purpose of investigating spatial variability of vegetation cover and the effectiveness of vegetation restoration on the Loess Plateau, MODIS/ NDVI data during 2000 -2013 were analyzed. The results were as follows: 1) The NDVI increased from northwest to southeast of the Loess Plateau, showing obviously three zones: <0.2, ≥0.2 -0.4, and ≥0.4, which were roughly consistent with the drought mid temperate zone, the mid temperate zone and the south temperate zone. 2) NDVI increased on 88% of the Loess Plateau area, particularly in the summer season. Moderate and obvious improvements of annual average NDVI were found in about 50% of the area, and obvious improvement of summer season NDVI was found in about 50% of the area. 3) The average annual NDVI was moderately improved and the summer NDVI showed obvious improvements in the mid temperate zone. The average annual NDVI was in a state of slight improvement and the summer NDVI was characterized by moderate and slight improvements. 4) On the slope of ≥15°- 25°, NDVI increased more significantly than other slope grades with the medium and obvious improvements in more than 40% of the area for annual NDVI and more than 60% for summer NDVI, respectively. However, on the slope of <6°or ≥35°, the annual average NDVI kept basically unchanged and lightly degraded in about 20% of the area.

In order to reveal the laws of forest vegetation artificial restoration in severe fire area in Daxing’anling Mountain, with the method of deducing time series from spatial series for vegetation succession, we analyzed the succession process of Larix gmelinii forest with artificial restoration in severe fire area in Daxing’anling Mountain. The results showed that, early after the fire, the number of shrubs and herbs species increased fast. As time goes on, the number of shrubs and herbs species started to reduce, and the herbs reduced stronger. As time goes on, the coverage of arbors and shrubs increased, but the herbs showed an opposite trend. We found in species similarity study that it was high to shrubs similarity in different years. And the herbs had a high similarity in the years closer, and a low similarity in the years further. And as time goes on, the similarity became lower. After the severe fire, artificial recovery accelerated the recovery of the forest. The results showed that after 25 years, the artificial restoration of Larix gmelinii forest had the same state with the Larix gmelinii natural forest which was not be burned.

To promote vegetation restoration on arid sunny slopes in the loess plateau, artificial soil crusts were adopted on waste soil slopes in Fangshan County, Shanxi Province, and their effects on the improvement of micro ecological environment and vegetation growth were determined. The first test began on April 26, 2012 and the second on July 20, 2012, both finished on November 30, 2012. The results were shown as follows. 1) The artificial soil crusts increased the monthly average temperature of surface soil layer of 10 cm deep by 1.9°. 2) The monthly average soil moisture at 10 cm depth was 35.8% higher than that of the control area. 3) The volume of rainfall erosion rills in the crusted area was 50% less than that in the control area. 4) When nitrogen fertilizers and carbon biological polymers were applied simultaneously, plant biomass was three times larger than that when either of them was applied alone. 5) The artificial soil crusts promoted the germination of seeds in the soil seed bank. The biomass of plants in the soil seed bank accounted for 83.06% of total plant biomass in the crusted area. 6) The vegetation coverage in the artificial soil crust area was over 90%, much higher than that of the control area (30%) and natural slopes (35%). The fresh weight of plants in the artificial soil crust area was 1.65 t/ hm2, which was 9.5 times and 19.48 times larger than that of the control area and natural slopes.7) A high vegetation coverage in the artificial soil crust area could be formed on loess slopes with serious soil erosion within a single growing season, suggesting that this method is suitable for fast vegetation restoration on loess slopes in Loess Hilly-gully Region.

Tree species selection is greatly critical to afforestation and vegetation restoration in arid and barren mountain areas. To examine the ecological adaptation strategies of different tree species to these special environments, and to supply scientific proof for tree species selection in stress environments, this study sampled whole root system of six tree species, namely Pinus thunbergii, Platycladus orientalis, which belong to conifer trees, Pistacia chinensis, Quercus acutissima, which belong to deciduous-arbor trees, Cotinus coggygria and Euonymus fortunei which belong to deciduous shrub and evergreen woody liana. The root architecture traits like horizontal and vertical distribution pattern were shown in coordination system to compare their difference, and fine roots morphological traits of 1 to 5 order roots were also examined through winrhizo root system. Finally, roots architecture and morphological traits of these tree species were compared to analyze the adaptive strategy of different tree species in this arid and barren environment. The results showed that there were significant differences among all tree species. The roots of three tree species, Pinus thunbergii, Platycladus orientalis, Euonymus fortunei, showed shallow rooted property, and their adaptive strategy to arid barren environment might depend on root exploration and water and nutrient utilization on soil horizontal direction. However, the other three trees, Cotinus coggygria, Pistacia chinensis, Quercus acutissima, showed deep rooted property, which indicated that these tree species would explore their roots to deeper soil for resources utilization. Secondly, the morphological traits of all tree species showed significant differences, and the fine roots of Euonymus fortunei were the most and the root length, surface area and root volume were the highest in all trees(P <0.05), which indicated that it had more abilities of rooting and water nutrient utilization. Thirdly, the root specific length of first and second order roots of Quercus acutissima and Euonymus fortunei were the highest in all tree species, which indicated that they had more ability to absorb water and nutrient. Finally, according to the root architecture and fine root morphological traits of every tree species, we conclude that trees are specific in root growth and root form, the distribution pattern of trees in soil could reflect the strategy utilizing limited resources, especially in arid and barren mountain areas. Thus, mixed forests model should be paid more attention and established during afforestation in these stress environments, e. g. conifer and broad leaved mixed model, arbor and shrub mixed model, to exert more and better ecological effects of forests in water and soil conservation.

The evaluation on biodiversity conservation of ecosystem had been paid much attention extensively, because it was the basis of the supporting function of ecosystem, yet the methodology for it remained an obsession in scientific community. In this paper, the animal species diversity conservation value of desert ecosystem in China was calculated based on the emergy theory proposed by H. T. Odum. And the added value due to species scarcity by means of endangered species index, referring to the species endangerment criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), was evaluated. The results showed that the total animal species diversity conservation value of desert ecosystem in China was 3.51×104 billion yuan RMB, of which scarcity value was 3.64×103 billion yuan RMB. Among the total value,the mammal conservation value accounted for 52.41% and the bird conservation value accounted for 42.04%. The results indicated that desert ecosystem was providing huge value on the animal species diversity conservation, with increasing trends from east to west and south to north. In terms of regions, Xinjiang was the highest province of conservation value reaching up to 2.20 ×104 billion yuan RMB; Qinghai, Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Gansu are not much difference; and Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning are lower regions in conservation value.

Dongsheng mining area in Inner Mongolia is located in the fragile ecological area. Under the background of global warming and open coal mining, investigation of the variation of surface dry-wet conditions in this region over the past decades is of great importance. Based on the potential evapotranspiration(E₀) calculated by using the Penman-Monteith method,the ratio of E₀ to precipitation was used as aridity index(∅) for the years 1957—2012. The temporal variation, frequency distribution and periodical characteristics were analyzed. And a total derivative method was used to attribute the change in surface dry-wet conditions. The results showed that the annual aridity index was 3.2 with an increase of 0.004 per year. There was a drying trend in summer, while other seasons trended to be wetting, but the trend of four seasons was not significant. Significant periodicities of 18 -25 and 7 – 12 years were examined, and the primary period was 12 years. The recurrence intervals of maximum and minimum E0 were both more than 50 years. An abrupt increase occurred in 1998. Maximum temperature was the main climatic factor affecting the change in surface dry-wet conditions, followed by precipitation and wind speed.

In this paper, through the implementation of major science and technology projects in Fujian Province, we elaborate the collaborative development of soil erosion control and recycling agriculture in mountainous areas, taking Changting, Ninghua and Pinghe counties as example. We suggest that: 1) the arbor-shrub-grass planting mode can be promoted for restoring vegetation; 2) an optimized forest-grass-animal husbandry-fertilizer mode can be applied for combination ecological farming; 3) applying the collection and processing technology of solid-liquid separation of pig manure to produce special fertilizer for fruit trees, the cumulative removal rate of COD can reach 99.8%; 4) flue-cured tobacco and rice cropping rotation is suitable for 79.94% of arable land in Changting County, and their stalks can be recycled to fertilize the soil; 5) the grass-animal husbandry-biogas-camellia mode is suitable for purple soil area. In short, systematic engineering should be implemented to control soil erosion, and soil and water conservation should be closely integrated with recycling agricultural development in order to promote mutual benefit. In addition, the proposed mechanism should further improve policies to encourage more enterprises and individuals into comprehensive governance of water and soil erosion, in order to achieve the overall benefits of the economy, society and ecology.

In order to rehabilitate the vegetation of the abandoned quarry at the eastern foot of the northern section of Taihang Mountain, we analyzed 14 indicators in terms of topography, vegetation and soil, and determined the main impact factors that affect vegetation recovery, by using correlation analysis, principal component analysis and clustering analysis. The site types of the abandoned quarry were divided and their quality was evaluated. The results showed that soil nutrient content, soil layer thickness and topography feature were the main factors restricting the vegetation restoration in the study area as well as the important factors to assess the condition of a waste site in the studied quarry area. Based on field investigation and the results of principal component analysis and clustering analysis, the abandoned quarry in the study area was divided into eight site types. According to the site quality evaluation, the sample sites were divided into four categories, namely, site with good conditions (the overall score was greater than 24), site with slightly poor conditions (the overall score was between 20 and 24), site with poor conditions (the overall score was between 18 and 20) and site with very poor conditions (the overall score was less than 18). Finally, some suggestions for vegetation restoration were put forward in accordance with the site conditions.

Landslide is a kind of inevitable geological disaster in today's world, and brings serious threats to people's life and property safety. Comprehensive measures can not only solve the problem of slope stability, but can also effectively recover ecological environment of slope. This study took Yejialu landslide slope in Jiande City, Zhejiang Province as the research object, and explored the effects of comprehensive management measures like mechanical slope cutting, anchoring, mixed spraying planting, and seedling planting. It is indicated that the comprehensive measures can stabilize the slope in the short term, obtaining effective soil and water conservation and ecological restoration. Our research provides a technical basis for controlling landslide disasters in Jiande and surrounding areas.

There are a series of environmental problems in China because of the rapid development of urbanization and industrialization, of when the most serious is atmospheric pollution. An important reason causing the high PM _2.5 concentration is bare ground caused by urban construction. Urban soil and water conservation engineering measures and provisional measures can reduce the PM _2.5 concentration. Urban soil and water conservation measures are very important to reduce PM _2.5 concentration.

Condensation water is a form of precipitation, and it is also an important link in the regional water cycle. However, because of its small amount, it is usually neglected in the water research.Through summarizing the significance, status, problem of the studies on condensation water, we found that previous studies focused on amount of condensation water, impact factors, and lasting time ofcondensation; however, studies on distinguishing the condensation water from different vapor resources, and the numerical simulation are relatively few. Therefore studies on the formation mechanism ofcondensation water and its impact on the plant growth need further efforts.