Mountainous Regions Of China Research Articles

Identification of nitrogen dioxide and ozone source regions for an urban area in Korea using back trajectory analysis

The NO2 and O3 in an urban background site of Seoul, Korea (Yongsan), were analyzed using hourly data collected from 2005 to 2013. The potential role of meteorological parameters in controlling air quality at the receptor site was analyzed using a conditional probability function. In addition, the relative contributions of such variables were examined for special cases (i.e., more than 60ppb of NO2 and O3) with the help of trajectory. A potential source contribution function with a grid size resolution of 0.25°×0.25° was used to determine the potential exogenous sources of NO2 and O3 for the study area. The results of both the trajectory and potential source contribution function analyses suggest that both the northern China region and local emission sources are the most influential source pathways contributing to the recent increase in NO2 concentration at the study site. In the case of O3, this role was shared by both oceanic and mountainous regions of China and Japan.

Land Use Changes of Valleys Based on Topographic Factors in Beijing Mountainous Regions of China

Land use changes in mountainous regions were greatly enhanced as the rapid development of economy due to the expanded population in developing countries. Acting geographically as the basic unit of mountainous regions, valleys are the primary sites of economic activities. Therefore optimization of land use policy in valleys is of critical important to the sustainable development in mountainous regions. On the basis of land use data in 1995 and 2012, this study explored the changes of land use according to the assessment of varied topographic factors (i.e., altitude and slope) in typical valleys of the Beijing mountainous regions, China. Our results showed that the valley is an efficiently geographical unit to evaluate land use changes in mountainous regions. We also found that major land use changes in mountainous regions of Beijing from 1995 to 2012 were the dramatic losses of grassland to the cultivated and construction lands, while most of these changes took place at the altitude of 0-400m and the slope of 6-15°. Considering the ever increasing economic development in Beijing mountainous regions, the increases of the construction and cultivated lands are inevitable, however, the great changes at a steeper slope imply the need to tailor land use structure coming into line with topographic factors, and suggesting ecological barriers and water conservation must be exercised in the developments of these areas.

Characterization of Mycobacterium leprae Genotypes in China--Identification of a New Polymorphism C251T in the 16S rRNA Gene.

Leprosy continues to be prevalent in some mountainous regions of China, and genotypes of leprosy strains endemic to the country are not known. Mycobacterium lepromatosis is a new species that was discovered in Mexico in 2008, and it remains unclear whether this species exists in China. Here, we conducted PCR- restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis to classify genotypes of 85 DNA samples collected from patients from 18 different provinces. All 171 DNA samples from skin biopsies of leprosy patients were tested for the presence of Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis by amplifying the 16S rRNA gene using nested PCR, followed by DNA sequencing. The new species M. lepromatosis was not found among the 171 specimens from leprosy patients in 22 provinces in China. However, we found three SNP genotypes among 85 leprosy patients. A mutation at C251T in the 16S rRNA gene was found in 76% of the strains. We also found that the strains that showed the 16S rRNA C251T mutation belonged to SNP type 3, whereas strains without the point mutation belonged to SNP type 1. The SNP type 3 leprosy strains were observed in patients from both the inner and coastal regions of China, but the SNP type 1 strains were focused only in the coastal region. This indicated that the SNP type 3 leprosy strains were more prevalent than the SNP type 1 strains in China. In addition, the 16S rRNA gene sequence mutation at C251T also indicated a difference in the geographical distribution of the strains. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a new polymorphism in 16S rRNA gene in M. leprae in China. Our findings shed light on the prevalent genotypes and provide insight about leprosy transmission that are important for leprosy control in China.

Elimination of schistosomiasis japonica from formerly endemic areas in mountainous regions of southern China using a praziquantel regimen

Schistosomiasis japonica is a major public health problem in China. Domestic animals play a major role in the transmission of Schistosoma japonicum to humans. To better understand the epidemiology of schistosomiasis japonica in domestic animals in the mountainous areas of China, we performed a 5-year longitudinal study of schistosomiasis in cattle and horses in Yunnan Province from 2009 to 2013. We also performed a concurrent drug-based intervention study in three settlement groups in Yunnan Province aimed at developing an effective means of controlling transmission in this region. The prevalence of infection in cattle fluctuated between 1.67% and 3.05% from 2009 to 2011, and monthly treatments of schistosome-positive animals reduced the prevalence to 0% (P<0.05) from 2012 to 2013. Prior to the intervention, we found that schistosomiasis was prevalent from May to October, with the highest prevalence observed in June (10.00%). We surveyed for environmental schistosome contamination, and 94.29% of the miracidia found were from cattle. Our study showed that it is possible to eliminate schistosomiasis in domestic animals in the mountainous regions of China by monthly treating cattle and horses from schistosome-positive households from May to October.

Water isotope technology application for sustainable eco-environmental construction: Effects of landscape characteristics on water yield in the alpine headwater catchments of Tibetan Plateau for sustainable eco-environmental construction

Topography–climate–vegetation–runoff relationships are important issues in hydrological studies. In this paper, based on analyzing water isotope characteristics of river water, the influence of these variables on the relative contribution of rain to river water was investigated during one rain event in the Heishui Valley of the upper Yangtze River in China. During one rain event on August 19, 2005, a total number of 182 river water samples were collected at 13 sampling sites located along the principal river course and its tributaries. The analysis of water isotopes in the principal river course and its tributaries showed that new rain water and secondary evaporation precipitation caused great variation in values of δD and high d-excess increased with altitude. Based on calculations of two-component hydrograph separation using δ18O, the results showed that the biggest relative contribution of new rain to river water (43%) was found in tributary B, while the smallest contribution (less than 5%) was found in tributary I. According to stepwise linear regression analysis, topography (elevation and slope) was the most important factor affecting the contributions of new rain to river water. When only vegetation variables were considered in the regression model, alpine shrub coverage proved to be negatively correlated with the contributions of new rain to river water, while alpine meadow coverage was positively correlated with the contributions of new rain. This would imply that increasing the relative coverage of alpine shrubs in this mountainous region of China may decrease the risk of flooding.

Principal Points for Promoting the Sustainable Development in the Mountain Regions of China: Taking Fujian Province as an Example

Case study of Fujian province is used to illustrate the problems of undeveloped economic , the urban and rural disparities, economic development clash with resources and environment, less capacity of independent innovation in the mountain regions of China from the view of the sustainable development. There are a lot of difficulties in solving these problems. Based on the regional condition, the ways to promote the sustainable development are analyzed from four principal points, including prospering mountainous areas, shorten the urban and rural disparities enhancing the performance of resources and environment and promoting the supporting capacity of independent innovation. These ways will promote the sustainable development of the economy in the mountain regions of China.

Steppe cultures in South-western mountainous region of China and the formation of ‘Ancient Tea Route’

Steppe cultures in South-western mountainous region of China and the formation of ‘Ancient Tea Route’

A family-based association study of PRSS12 and mental retardation in the Qinba mountain region of China

A family-based association study of PRSS12 and mental retardation in the Qinba mountain region of China

α-Eleostearic acid from Gynostemma pentaphyllum seed oils

Gypenoside tablets are commercially produced from the whole plant of Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thunb.) Makino (Jiaogulan, in Chinese), and is a well-known traditional Chinese herbal medicine. The plant is a herbaceous vine of the family Cucurbitaceae that grows in the mountainous regions of China, India, Myanmar, Korea, and Japan [1]. Gynostemma pentaphyllum has a variety of biological properties, such as antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and immunopotentiation [2, 3] and has been extensively used to treat chronic diseases. To date, previous studies of G. pentaphyllum have been mainly focused on its resource distribution, morphological characteristics, saponin glycosides, and pharmacological properties [4, 5]. Seed germination of G. pentaphyllum has been studied [6, 7], but the properties of the seed oils have not been reported in any studies. Conjugated fatty acids that occur in seed oils of certain plants include -eleostearic acid, calendic acid, and catalpic acid. They are of commercial and biotechnological interest because of their chemical and physiological properties, and they have been shown to reduce fat accumulation in livestock, which results in enhanced meat quality [8, 9]. Selected species from at least eight different plant families are known to produce seeds that are rich in conjugated fatty acids [10]. Among conjugated fatty acids, -eleostearic acid (1) is more effective than punicic acid against oxidative DNA damage [11]. It is a natural and biologically active compound that has been shown to possess potent antitumor properties [12]. -Eleostearic acid was discovered in seed oils of five plants, including Aleurites fordii, Punica granatum, Trichosanthes kirilowii, Momordica charantia, and Impatiens balsamina. In addition, -eleostearic acid, which is mainly obtained from seed oils of Aleurites fordii, has been adopted for alternative cancer therapies [13]. We report -eleostearic acid from seed oils of Gynostemma pentaphyllum in this paper.

Estimating shaking-induced casualties and building damage for global earthquake events: a proposed modelling approach

Recent earthquakes such as the Haiti earthquake of 12 January 2010 and the Qinghai earthquake on 14 April 2010 have highlighted the importance of rapid estimation of casualties after the event for humanitarian response. Both of these events resulted in surprisingly high death tolls, casualties and survivors made homeless. In the Mw = 7.0 Haiti earthquake, over 200,000 people perished with more than 300,000 reported injuries and 2 million made homeless. The Mw = 6.9 earthquake in Qinghai resulted in over 2,000 deaths with a further 11,000 people with serious or moderate injuries and 100,000 people have been left homeless in this mountainous region of China. In such events relief efforts can be significantly benefitted by the availability of rapid estimation and mapping of expected casualties. This paper contributes to ongoing global efforts to estimate probable earthquake casualties very rapidly after an earthquake has taken place. The analysis uses the assembled empirical damage and casualty data in the Cambridge Earthquake Impacts Database (CEQID) and explores data by event and across events to test the relationships of building and fatality distributions to the main explanatory variables of building type, building damage level and earthquake intensity. The prototype global casualty estimation model described here uses a semi-empirical approach that estimates damage rates for different classes of buildings present in the local building stock, and then relates fatality rates to the damage rates of each class of buildings. This approach accounts for the effect of the very different types of buildings (by climatic zone, urban or rural location, culture, income level etc), on casualties. The resulting casualty parameters were tested against the overall casualty data from several historical earthquakes in CEQID; a reasonable fit was found.

A Storm-Triggered Landslide Monitoring and Prediction System: Formulation and Case Study

Abstract Predicting the location and timing of mudslides with adequate lead time is a scientifically challenging problem that is critical for mitigating landslide impacts. Here, a new dynamic modeling system is described for monitoring and predicting storm-triggered landslides and their ecosystem implications. The model ingests both conventional and remotely sensed topographic and geologic data, whereas outputs include diagnostics required for the assessment of the physical and societal impacts of landslides. The system first was evaluated successfully in a series of experiments under idealized conditions. In the main study, under real conditions, the system was assessed over a mountainous region of China, the Yangjiashan Creeping (YC) slope. For this data-rich section of the Changjiang River, the model estimated creeping rates that had RMS errors of ∼0.5 mm yr−1 when compared with a dataset generated from borehole measurements. A prediction of the creeping curve for 2010 was made that suggested significant slope movement will occur in the next 5 years, without any change in the current precipitation morphology. However, sliding will become imminent if a storm occurs in that 5-yr period that produces over 150 mm of precipitation. A sensitivity experiment shows that the identified location fails first, triggering domino-effect slides that progress upslope. This system for predicting storm-triggered landslides is intended to improve upon present warning lead times to minimize the impacts of shallow, fast moving, and therefore hazardous landslides.

Thermal state of permafrost and active layer in Central Asia during the international polar year

AbstractPermafrost in Central Asian is present in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau in China, the Tien Shan Mountain regions in China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the Pamirs in Tajikistan, and in Mongolia. Monitoring of the ground thermal regime in these regions over the past several decades has shown that the permafrost has been undergoing significant changes caused by climate warming and increasing human activities. During the International Polar Year, measured mean annual ground temperature (MAGT) at a depth of 6 m ranged from −3.2°C to 0.2°C on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and the active‐layer thickness (ALT) varied between 105 and 322 cm at different sites. Ground temperatures at the bottom of the active layer (TTOP) warmed on average by 0.06°C yr−1 over the past decade. In Mongolia, MAGT at 10–15 m depth increased by up to 0.02–0.03°C yr−1 in the Hovsgol Mountain region, but by 0.01–0.02°C yr−1 in the Hangai and Hentei Mountain regions. The increase in permafrost temperatures in the northern Tien Shan from 1974 to 2009 ranged from 0.3°C to 0.6°C. At present measured permafrost temperatures vary from −0.5°C to −0.1°C. The ALT increased from 3.2 to 4 m in the 1970s to a maximum of 5.2 m between 1995 and 2009. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Hypogymnia (Parmeliaceae) species new to Japan and Taiwan

Hypogymnia hengduanensis, previously known only from southwestern mainland China, is reported for the first time from Taiwan and Japan. So far it is the only species of Hypogymnia with rimmed holes to be found east of the Hengduan Mountain region of China. Also new to Taiwan are Hypogymnia stricta and H. subarticulata. A key is provided for species of Hypogymnia from Taiwan.

Cliff roads: An ecological conservation technique for road construction in mountainous regions of China

Cliff ecosystems are important for biodiversity protection because these sites often support surprisingly ancient and diverse communities, including rare plants and lichens, trees, birds, and small mammals. To protect Chinese cliff ecosystems, an ancient cliff road construction technique is now being used. To understand the environmental benefits of this approach, we monitored eight cliff road sites in the warm Shennongjia region of China's Hubei Province from June 2006 to July 2009 during road construction. Compared with the traditional filling in of roadside slopes or bridge construction formerly used for highway construction in this area, the cliff highway technique, which combines cantilevered slab roads along the edge of the cliff with bridge support structures where additional support is required, reduces environmental damage and represents a good option for the conservation of fragile cliff ecosystems, while greatly reducing the construction cost. In such areas, the basic objectives of road construction must include biodiversity protection and careful control of the construction process and subsequent cleanup of the site, which cannot be ignored as a result of concentrating on the goal of using the roads to promote regional economic and tourism development.

ANALYSIS OF GENETIC DIVERSITY AMONG WILD CHINESE CHESTNUT POPULATIONS USING SSR MARKERS

Ten SSR primer pairs of Castanea mollissima amplified good PCR products from 60 genotypes of wild chestnut (C. mollissima) that were collected from four mountainous regions of China. With an average level of 7.9, ten loci showed a total of 79 alleles, ranging from 4-11 per locus. High values of PIC and H e in wild populations of C. mollissima were up to 0.74 and 0.78, respectively. In comparison with low values of PIC and He (0.601 and 0.522) in a wild population of the Da Bie Shan mountains, high genetic diversity levels were found in other populations obtained from three mountainous regions (Da Bie Shan, Qin Ling and Lian Hua Feng). The geographic relationship among these four populations is discussed.

An integrated approach to identify distribution of Oncomelania hupensis, the intermediate host of Schistosoma japonicum, in a mountainous region in China

The aim of this study is to better understand ecological variability related to the distribution of Oncomelania hupensis, the snail intermediate host of Schistosoma japonicum, and predict the spatial distribution of O. hupensis at the local scale in order to develop a more effective control strategy for schistosomiasis in the hilly and mountainous regions of China. A two-pronged approach was applied in this study consisting of a landscape pattern analysis complemented with Bayesian spatial modelling. The parasitological data were collected by cross-sectional surveys carried out in 11 villages in 2006 and mapped based on global positioning system (GPS) coordinates. Environmental surrogates and landscape metrics were derived from remotely-sensed images and land-cover/land-use classification data. Bayesian non-spatial and spatial models were applied to investigate the variation of snail density in relation to environmental surrogates and landscape metrics at the local scale. A Bayesian spatial model, validated by the deviance information criterion (DIC), was found to be the best-fitting model. The mean shape index (MSI) and Shannon's evenness indexes (SEI) were significantly associated with snail density. These findings suggest that decreasing the heterogeneity of the landscape can reduce snail density. A prediction maps were generated by the Bayesian model together with environmental surrogates and landscape metrics. In conclusion, the risk areas of snail distribution at the local scale can be identified using an integrated approach with landscape pattern analysis supported by remote sensing and GIS technologies, as well as Bayesian modelling.

Magnitude–frequency relations in debris flow

Debris flow occurs frequently in mountainous regions in China. Because of the difficulties involved in predicting and catching live debris flows, an assessment of the potential for debris flow is crucial in hazard mitigation. Magnitude–frequency (MF) relations are of special significance in such assessments. In previous studies, MF relations have been inferred by analyzing environmental factors and historical records and using empirical relations. This paper is concerned with the derivation of MF relations at regional and valley scales, using a large database of statistics. At the regional scale, it is represented by the distribution of the valley area, because the area is often taken to indicate the potential magnitude of debris flow. Statistics from over 5,000 debris flow valleys in various provinces in China show that a power law holds for the distribution, i.e., p(A) ∼ A −n , where p(A) is the percentage of valleys with area A and n varies with region and thus describes regional differences. At the valley scale, a case study focusing on Jiangjia Gully (JJG) was conducted, and the MF relations derived from it were expressed by the distributions of discharge and runoff (i.e., the total volume) of living debris flows observed over the last 40 years. The distributions can be expressed as exponential functions where the exponents vary with the events. These MF relations provide not only a potential quantitative reference for practical purposes but also hint at the intrinsic properties of the debris flow.

Urbanization and De-urbanization in Mountain Regions of China

Rapid economic development has induced urbanization in China. Urbanization and de-urbanization strategies co-exist in most of China's mountain regions. Urbanization typically occurs in famous scenic spots and in the vicinity of macro engineering works, while de-urbanization is implemented in large areas by the government to protect the natural environment. Over-urbanization has considerable impacts on the esthetic qualities of many mountain tourist resorts and sometimes even destroys the natural state of landscapes and ecosystems. Administrative gaps and omissions of the central government in managing the development of mountain parks and world heritage sites are responsible for over-urbanization in mountains. The search by local governments for short-term economic benefits is also a driving force of over-urbanization. The present article recommends that regulations and laws be developed to effectively assess and monitor the state of parks and world heritage sites in mountains. Institutions with sufficient authority must be set up to legally supervise and protect the natural state of parks and heritage sites in mountains, for the benefit of the Chinese people and the entire world.

Phylogeny of Snub-Nosed Monkeys Inferred from Mitochondrial DNA, Cytochrome B, and 12S rRNA Sequences

Snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus spp.) are confined to isolated mountainous regions in China and North Vietnam. Their systematic classification and phylogenetic relationship has been controversial. The structures of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b and 12S rRNA show that the 4 species of Rhinopithecus are quite different from other colobines. It is reasonable to regard them as an independent genus, as determined by external features, morphometric characters and behavior. However, whether or not there should be a subdivision between the Vietnamese and Chinese species at the subgeneric level remains to be clarified; more evidence from a large range of Asian colobine species is needed. The Guizhou species, Rhinopithecus brelichi, is a valid species, which is more closely related to Pygathrix than the other species ( R. roxellana, R. bieti and R. avunculus) are. Results also indicate that 3 species—Rhinopithecus roxellana, R. bieti and R. avunculus—might have diverged from R. brelichi, but the phylogenetic relationship of R. avunculus is not clear.

A Survey of the Gomphonemaceae and Cymbellaceae (Bacillariophyta) from the Jolmolungma Mountain (Everest) Region of China

ABSTRACT Gomphonemaceae and Cymbellaceae from Jolmolungma Mountain region of China, comprised 79 taxa belonging to five genera. The dominant species were Gomphonema angustatum var. productum, G. gracile var. gracile, G. parvulum var. parvulum, G. hedini, Cymbella aequalis var. pisciculus, C. delicatula, C. cistula, C. cistula var. hebetata, C. cesatii, C. cymbiformis, C. microcephala, C. minuta var. minuta, C. minuta var. silesiaca, C. pusilla, C. affinis. Some arctic and alpine forms also occurred, and the following taxa were unique to this region: Cymbella delicatula, C. naviculiformis, C. gracilis, C. minuta var. minuta, C. affinis, C. cistula, C. cymbiformis, C. cistula var. hebetata, C. arctica, Didymosphenia geminata, Gomphonema hedinii, G. olivaceum. Numbers of taxa in each samples varied greatly. It appears that species diversity of diatoms is related not only to macro-environments (e.g., geographic zonation) but also to micro-environments (e.g., microhabitats and microclimates). Cymbella spp. are not only comparatively widespread in the region but also outnumber Gomphonema spp. A large number of species found in the Jolmolungma Mountain region are also found in Tibet and the headwaters of Yangtze River.