Central Henan Research Articles

Effects of tillage and fertility on soil nitrogen balance and greenhouse gas emissions of wheat-maize rotation system in Central Henan Province, China.

Energy saving, emission reduction, and efficiency improvement are important directions for agricultural development in Central Henan Province, the main grain production area in the Huang-huai-hai Plain. Based on the tillage and fertilization positioning experiment in 2010, we investigated the effects of three tillage methods (deep tillage, shallow tillage, and no-tillage) and two fertilization methods (nitrogen fertilizer and nitrogen fertilizer+organic fertilizer) on soil nitrogen balance and greenhouse gas emissions from 2018 to 2019. The results showed that soil nitrogen accumulation increased with organic fertilizer addition. During wheat and maize maturation, soil total nitrogen accumulation in the 0-60 cm layer was the highest under the treatment of shallow tillage+organic fertilizer, being 8058.53 and 8299 kg N·hm-2, respectively, being 3.2%-27.4% and 4.3%-7.2% higher than other treatments. The treatment with organic fertilizer addition resulted in nitrogen surplus. The shallow tillage+organic fertilizer treatment led to the highest nitrogen surplus (13.57 kg N·hm-2), which was 9.52 and 0.18 kg N·hm-2 higher than deep tillage+organic fertilizer and no tillage+organic fertilizer treatments. Nitrate leaching was the main way of nitrogen losses, accounting for 73.4%-76.9% of the total losses. The amount of nitrate leaching was the highest in deep tillage+organic fertilizer treatment (48.37 kg N·hm-2), being 18.9%-35.1% higher than other treatments. Results of greenhouse gases emission during 2018-2019 showed that global warming potential was the highest under the treatment of deep tillage+organic fertilizer, which was 33070 kg N·hm-2, being 6.6%-26.8% higher than other treatments. The treatment of organic fertilizer addition increased the emission of N2O and CO2 and reduced the absorption of CH4. The annual grain yield was highest under the treatment of deep tillage+organic fertilizer, which was 5.0%-17.1% higher than other treatments. The crop harvest index was the highest under the treatment of shallow tillage+organic fertilizer. The recommended cropping mode in Central Henan Pro-vince is shallow tillage+organic fertilizer, which could ensure crop yields, maintain soil nitrogen balance, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A study on the model of economic growth convergence in developing regions: an empirical analysis from Henan Province, China

In this paper, an empirical analysis is proposed by employing a regression-based convergence test, which was first introduced by Phillips and Sul. Unlike most related studies, this approach allows examining for evidence of club convergence and enables to endogenously identify groups of counties that converge to different equilibria. The results obtained in this paper support the existence of convergence clubs, indicating that 108 counties of Henan Province in China form four separate groups within which income per capita dispersion is decreasing over time. Moreover, results from an ordered logit model suggest that differences in initial income, physical capital, government intervention, geographical agglomeration, and topography factor among these counties have played vital roles in determining club membership. The most important conclusion of this paper is that the structural characteristics and infrastructure level do not contribute to determining club membership, and neighbors’ effect is also not a decisive factor. Particularly, counties which belong to Central Henan Urban Agglomeration are more likely to fall into a club with a higher mean income per capita. The findings in this paper may have significant policy implications for developing regions.

Air pollution intervention and life-saving effect in China

As a critical air pollutant, PM2.5 is proved to be associated with numerous adverse health impacts and pose serious challenges to human life. This situation is especially important for China as the most populous and one of the heaviest PM2.5 polluted country in the world. However, health burden estimations reported for China in previous studies may be biased due to the usage of PM2.5 concentrations at a coarsely spatial resolution, as well as the ignorance of the spatial discrepancies of parameters (e.g. respiratory rate) employed in the exposure-response function. This study therefore utilized a hybrid remote sensing-geostatistical approach to refine PM2.5 concentrations at 1 km resolution across mainland China from 2013 to 2017. Meanwhile, nationwide exposure parameters were for the first time introduced to weight the integrated exposure response (IER) function to calculate and spatially reallocate the corresponding PM2.5-attributable premature deaths at 1 km resolution. Results showed that annually averaged PM2.5 concentrations in mainland China decreased by 39.5%, from 59.1 μg/m3 in 2013 to 35.8 μg/m3 in 2017. Subsequently, PM2.5 attributable premature deaths reduced 12.6%, from 1.20 million (95% CI: 0.57; 1.71) in 2013 to 1.05 million (95% CI: 0.44; 1.44) in 2017. This declining trend was found in most parts of China except some areas in Xinjiang, Jilin, and Heilongjiang provinces. As a result, 214,821 (95% CI: 96,675; 302,897) life were saved with an estimated monetary value of US$ 210.14 billion (2011 values). However, it has to be acknowledged that, the central and northern China within priority areas of air pollution control were still experiencing high numbers of premature deaths due to the severe PM2.5 pollution and high-density population. But more worrying than these priority areas are those Harbin-Changchun Metropolitan Region, City Belt in Central Henan and Yangtze-Huaihe City Belt in non-priority areas, which also have been seriously suffering PM2.5 attributable premature deaths over 28, 000 cases per year. In conclusion, despite the huge gain in life-saving effects in China over the past five years with the help of air pollution intervention policy, future work on cleaner air and better human health is still strongly needed, especially in non-priority areas of air pollution control.

Hazard assessment of drought disaster using a grey projection incidence model for the heterogeneous panel data

PurposeHazard assessment on drought disaster is of great significance for improving drought risk management. Due to the complexity and uncertainty of the drought disaster, the index values have some grey multi-source heterogeneous characteristics. The purpose of this paper is to construct a grey projection incidence model (GPIM) to evaluate the hazard of the drought disaster characterised by the grey heterogeneity information.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the index system of the drought hazard risk is established based on the formation mechanism of the drought disaster. Then, the GPIM for the heterogeneous panel data is constructed to assess drought hazard of five cities in Henan Province. Subsequently, based on the assessment results, the grey clustering model is employed for the regional division.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that five cities in central Henan Province are divided into three categories, which correspond to three different risk grades, respectively. With respect to different drought risk areas, corresponding countermeasures and suggestions are proposed.Practical implicationsThis paper provides a practical and effective new method for the hazard assessment on drought disaster. Meanwhile, these countermeasures and suggestions can help policy makers to improve the efficiency of drought resistance work and reduce the losses caused by drought disasters in Henan Province.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a new GPIM which resolves the assessment problems of the uncertain systems with grey heterogeneous information, such as real numbers, interval grey numbers and three-parameter interval grey numbers. It not only expands the application scope of the grey incidence model, but also enriches the research of panel data.

The higher grain production, the more social deprivation? A case study of Henan province in traditional agricultural areas of China

This paper examines the spatial-temporal dynamics of inequality from the perspective of social deprivation in the context of continuous growth of grain production using national census data from 2000 and 2010 for Henan province, China. Our analytical results show an overall level of social deprivation that is high and a widening social deprivation gap at the county level. The social deprivation shows great spatiotemporal heterogeneity, the higher deprived counties are mainly distributed in central and eastern Henan province, while counties with lower social deprivation are clustered in northwestern regions, formed a belt-shape spatial differential between the south (higher deprived counties clustered) and northwest (low deprived counties clustered) Henan in 2000, and changed toward a core-periphery semi annular spatial structure in 2010, the low deprived counties surrounded by high deprived counties. The social deprivation shows a “west low and east high” spatial pattern, similar to the grain production in Henan province. Socioeconomic development level was low in most counties in Yudong plain despite of keeping the continuous increase of grain production, meaning the higher grain output did not result in the more social development expected in Chinese traditional agricultural areas, and the regional disparity is expected to increase in the near future if development conditions are not changed, which could inspire more targeted rural governance options.

Detection of coal-mining-induced subsidence and mapping of the resulting deformation using time series of ALOS-PALSAR data

ABSTRACTLand subsidence caused by extracted void collapses due to coal mining activities is a major geohazard in northern China. Differential SAR interferometry (DInSAR) has been adopted as an effective tool for coal mining subsidence detection and deformation mapping. However, previous studies were mostly focused on the derivation of linear deformation rates in coal mines, while the spatial–temporal pattern of coal mining subsidence and its interaction with the fault systems have rarely been investigated. In this study, ALOS-PALSAR images acquired from 19 June 2007 to 12 November 2010 were analysed with DInSAR and small baselines subset (SBAS) techniques to characterize the distribution and magnitude of subsidence in central Henan province, which is one of the leading coal producers in China. More than 40 funnel-shaped subsidence areas distributed within the coalfields have been detected in both Dengfeng and Xinmi. The maximum annual mean deformation can be as high as 8 cm in the line-of-sight (LOS) direction. Deformation maps were generated in the study area, showing an extended subsidence of 2009 compared with that of 2007. We also analysed the deformation profiles perpendicular to the faults, and found an asymmetric subsidence pattern along the profiles. Such a pattern may be an indicator of local fault activities, and it may help understanding of coal mine subsidence near faults.

Simulating Critical Nitrogen Dilution Curve and Modeling Nitrogen Nutrition Index in Winter Wheat in Central Henan Area

Simulating Critical Nitrogen Dilution Curve and Modeling Nitrogen Nutrition Index in Winter Wheat in Central Henan Area

Impacts of Climate Change on Growth Period and Planting Boundaries of Spring Wheat in China Under RCP4.5 Scenario

Abstract: This article contributes to research on how climate change will impact crops in China by moving from ex-post empirical analysis to forecasting. We construct a multiple regression model, using agricultural observations and meteorological simulations by GCMs, to simulate the possible planting boundaries and suitable planting regions of spring wheat under RCP4.5 scenario for the base period 2040s and 2070s. We find that the south boundary of possible planting region for spring wheat spreads along the belt: south Shandong—north Jiangsu—north Anhui—central Henan—north Hubei—southeast Sichuan—north Yunnan provinces, and will likely move northward under RCP4.5 scenario in 2040s and 2070s, resulting in the decrease of possible planting area in China. Moreover, the sowing and harvest date of spring wheat in the base period shows a gradually delayed phenomenon from the belt: south Xinjiang — Gansu, to the Tibet Plateau. As a result, the growth period of spring wheat in China will shorten because of the im...

Featured Graphic. Mushrooming Jiedaos, Growing Cities: An Alternative Perspective on Urbanizing China

With more than 15 million new urban residents entering its cities every year, China is witnessing one of the greatest socioeconomic and environmental transformations in human history. In addition to these ongoing changes, urbanization in China often involves a significant political dimension, as the government would purposely accord city status to settlements, regardless of their developmental level: Largely rural settlements (eg, Zhen) could be accorded with the city status (eg, Jiedao) overnight by administrative power. Such redesignation is nontrivial as city status often translates into real socioeconomic changes; city status is closely linked to the land-use quota, provision of public services, local governments’ legislature power, as well as residents’ hukou. While socioeconomic and environmental aspects of Chinese cities have been analyzed extensively with aggregated statistics and/or remote sensing data (Deng et al, 2012), little is known about the shifting political geography of Chinese cities: that is, where new city status is being granted. It is this lacuna that our project aims to fill. We focus on the basic building block of a city proper in China: Jiedao (subdistricts). China has three township-level administrative units: Jiedao in the urban area and its counterparts in the rural side (Xiang, townships; and Zhen, towns). The re-designation of city status often involves Zhen and Jiedao: Zhens are considered as ‘next in the pipeline’ for city status and turned into Jiedaos when there is a political and/or economic need. We geocoded the 41 871 township-level units based on the Population Census of China, and estimated the spatial extent of individual units with Voronoi diagrams for the years of 2000 and 2010. The end product is a first map of ‘mushrooming’ Jiedaos in China. The total number of Jiedaos has grown from 5510 to 6923—a 25% increase—during the period 2000–10. Most new cities-proper have been created around major urban regions along the economically more developed eastern coast [eg, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Shandong Peninsula, and Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH)]. Other regions with noticeable growth are Central Henan in Central China, as well as the Chengdu–Chongqing corridor in West China. We also mapped out the distribution of Zhens: regions in East and Central China (eg, Shandong and Henan) feature predominantly, revealing the potential for future urban expansion. As city status often translates into real urban growth, we conjecture that the uneven geography of mushrooming Jiedaos would entrench the already huge East–West divide in China.

Varying responses in mean surface air temperature from land use/cover change in different seasons over northern China

Research on the impacts of land use change on climate change has become a foremost topic in the field of global climate change research. Although many researchers have studied the impacts of LUCC, data related to these impacts on the Chinese climate system remain sparse because of the diversity of China’s regional changes in land use, especially related to agricultural changes. Therefore, additional studies are needed that address regional LUCC in combination with climate modeling. Two simulations with current land use/cover patterns and potential natural vegetation cover were used to investigate the impact of LUCC on surface air temperature in northern China. Simulations of 11years of climate in northern China (1 January 1990–31 December 2000) were carried out using Regional Environment Integrated Modeling System 2.0 (RIEMS2.0). The results showed that: (1) When potential natural vegetation cover types were changed to current vegetation cover types, mean summer surface air temperature decreased in the central northeastern area, eastern Gansu Province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, but increased in Shanxi, Henan and Anhui provinces. Also, surface air temperature changed significantly on a local scale in the central northeastern area, central Henan Province and eastern Gansu Province (P<0.05). In winter, major portions of the study area exhibited non-significant decreases in mean surface air temperature. (2) In summer, a temperate forests removal simulation in northern China behaved more like a tropical forests removal simulation. In winter, removal of the temperate forests in northern China behaved more like a boreal forests removal simulation. In model grids where forest were converted to cropland, the net radiation absorbed has less influence on surface air temperature at lower vs. higher latitudes. Further, latent heat flux has a stronger influence on surface air temperature at lower latitudes.

Low nitrogen-induced expression of cyclophilin in Nicotiana tabacum

Leaf morphology and the leaf protein expression profiles of flue-cured tobacco grown in central Henan province of China under low nitrogen (low-N) and normal nitrogen (normal-N) nutrition were examined. The leaf length and width were measured at 50, 60, and 70days after transplanting. Leaves grown under low-N conditions were shorter and more narrow than those grown under normal-N conditions. The protein expression profiles of tobacco leaves harvested at 70days after transplanting were analyzed by 2-dimensional electrophoresis, and five differentially expressed proteins including a putative protein were identified. Except for the MCM protein-like protein, the other three differentially expressed proteins of cyclophilin-like protein, vacuolar invertase INV2, MAR-binding protein and the one putative protein showed increased expression in the low-N nutrition group. Among these proteins, the cyclophilin-like protein, which is a stress-responsive signal protein, may play pivotal roles in regulating leaf development under stress conditions. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis showed that the mRNA expression level of the cyclophilin-like protein at day 50, 60 and 70 under low-N conditions was 0.90, 1.43 and 6.9-fold higher than that under normal-N conditions, indicating that the gene expression of cyclophilin-like protein was strongly induced by low-N conditions.

An Evaluation of the Level of Liquefaction in an Iron Mine in the Central Henan Transit Railway Line Project

Soil liquefaction is extremely detrimental to the Central Henan transit railway line project. The present study proposes a preliminary design to evaluate the effects of liquefaction and to determine the parameters and protective measures that need to be implemented. The geological properties, clay content, groundwater level, and the thickness of the overlying non-liquefied soil were initially determined. Then, a standard penetration test was employed to analyse the soil liquefaction potential in an iron mine in the Central Henan rail transport project. The evaluation of similar engineering project sites with middle-class areas vulnerable to liquefaction is important to determine the necessary anti-liquefaction measures.

Zircon ages and geochemistry of late Neoarchean syenogranites in the North China Craton: A review

At the end of the Neoarchean continental evolution, voluminous syenogranites were emplaced in the North China Craton, together with other magmatic rocks (trondhjemite–tonalite–granodiorite (TTG), monzogranite, diorite, gabbro). Syenogranites are widely distributed in Anshan-Benxi, Qinhuangdao and western Shandong, and also occur in southern Jilin, northern Liaoning, northwestern Hebei and central Henan. Based on geological relationships, degree of metamorphism, deformation and magmatic zircon ages, two phases of syenogranite magmatism are recognized. Rocks produced during the first phase show a gneissic texture and were formed between 2.53 and 2.52Ga and locally comprise abundant TTG. Rocks of the second phase cut late Neoarchean TTG and supracrustal rocks, display a massive structure, and mainly formed between 2.52 and 2.50Ga. All syenogranites share the same features in major element compositions, being high in SiO2 and low in CaO, total FeO, MgO, TiO2 and P2O5. However, they are different in trace and REE compositions and can be subdivided into three types. (1) Type 1 shows a large variation in total REE contents, low (La/Yb)n ratios, strong negative Eu*/Eu anomalies and Ba depletion; (2) Type 2 is similar to Type 1 but has higher (La/Yb)n ratios. (3) Type 3 shows a large variation in total REE and (La/Yb)n ratios and significantly do not show strongly negative Eu*/Eu anomalies and Ba depletion. Whole-rock Sm–Nd isotopic compositions show large variations in ɛNd(t) values and tDM(Nd) modal ages, ranging from −9.49 to −4.72 and 3.70 to 3.25Ga (Type 1), 0.55–1.03 and 2.77–2.71Ga (Type 2) and −2.35 to 1.23 and 2.93–2.66Ga (Type 3), respectively. Hf isotopic compositions of zircons from three samples have ɛHf(t) values and tDM1(Hf) ages of 0.7–7.2 and 2.84–2.56Ga (Type 1), 2.6–7.4 and 2.74–2.56Ga (Type 2) and 2.1–6.3 and 2.76–2.60Ga (Type 3). It is concluded that syenogranites were generated by melting of continental crust with different mean crustal residence ages, and most of them were emplaced during the second phase (2.52–2.50Ga) in an extensional tectonic regime. The formation of these voluminous syenogranites marks a tectono-magmatic event resulting in stabilization of the North China Craton at the end of the Neoarchean.

Molecular characterisation of cereal cyst nematodes in winter wheat on the Huang-Huai floodplain of China using RFLP and rDNA-ITS sequence analyses

In response to the recent discovery of Heterodera filipjevi central Henan and the uncertain taxonomic status of Heterodera avenae more widely in China, heteroderid specimens from winter wheat at 21 locations in Henan and adjacent provinces were subjected to RFLP and rDNA-ITS sequence analysis. H. filipjevi was found in six locations in Henan, including two mixed with H. avenae; H. avenae being found at all other locations. A new RFLP profile type was found for H. filipjevi, three new types for H. avenae and the Australian type (Heterodera australis) were found for the first time in China (at two locations). Otherwise, H. avenae and H. filipjevi were of RFLP types previously reported in China. Phylogenic analysis of the rDNA sequences showed H. filipjevi in China was less diverse than H. avenae, with greatest similarity to specimens from Italy and the USA, which is consistent with a more recent introduction. In contrast, H. avenae in China was clearly distinct from H. avenae found elsewhere, except for the discovery of the Australian types. Although the Australian types clustered together, this fell within the variation found for the remainder of the specimens from China, which may represent a single species. These data reveal additional genetic diversity within the two cereal cyst nematode species in China, which is likely to have implications for the development of their control by host resistance.

Composition and evolution of the archaean crust in central Henan, China

The upper Archaean in central Henan Province is composed chiefly of rocks of the Dengfeng Complex and the Taihua Complex. Rocks of the Dengfeng Complex show essential features of a granite—greenstone terrane. They consist of greenstone belts and surrounding granitic and migmatite-gneiss terranes. When the late superposed structures are removed the Archaean conspicuously exhibits alternating gneiss domes and synformal basins which are occupied by granitic rocks and greenstone belts, respectively. The succession of the greenstone belts is divided into three groups: 1.(1) The lower group consists of ultramafic complexes which are only locally exposed.2.(2) The middle group, which comprises most of the greenstone belts, contains tholeiitic metabasalts and felsic volcanics which are bimodal in character.3.(3) The upper sedimentary group consists of molasse and turbidite formations.The metamorphic grade in the Dengfeng Complex is up to the medium-pressure almandine—amphibolite facies.The mafic volcanics are characterized by flat to slightly enriched REE patterns that resemble the TH2 type of Condie. In most other elements the rocks are also similar to the tholeiitic metabasalts in typical greenstone belts throughout the world. However, they possess certain unique characteristics. As for the granitic rocks, the early plutons tend to be Na-rich and are geochemically similar to tonalitic rocks, while the later intrusives tend to be K-rich.The Taihua Complex is composed primarily of felsic gneisses and metamorphosed supracrustal rocks interbedded with mafic-ultramafic rocks. The metamorphic grade in the complex ranges from granulite to upper amphibolite facies. Geochemical characteristics of the rocks are also similar to those of other high-grade terranes throughout the world. In general, an overall structural grain characterizes the Taihua Complex which constitutes an elongate fold belt with characteristic features of linear mobile belts that are frequently found in high-grade terranes.The extensive Dengfeng granite—greenstone terrane and the linear Taihua high-grade gneissic terrane are bounded by thrusts or contacts of unknown nature and together make up the late Archaean crust in central Henan. They may have developed more or less contemporaneously on a pre-existing sialic crust in this region. Controlled by shallow convection cells in the upper mantle, their development may have occurred in two different tectonic settings; the rift-type and the subsiding-type setting, respectively.