Tongliao City Research Articles

Analysis on the Comprehensive Utilization Degree of Typical Villages in the Agricultural-Pastoral Intersection of Horqin Sandy Land from 1990 to 2015 Taking Mother and Son Mountain Village of Chifeng City as an example

The eco-environment in the agro-pastoral ecotone of Horqin sandy land is fragile and the land use is unreasonable. Based on the typical mother-son mountain villages in ecological environment, population and economy, and according to the interpretation data of remote sensing images and field survey data, the present situation and dynamic changes of land use in the village area were quantitatively analyzed from the micro perspective. The results show that the cultivated land area of Mother and Son Mountain Village village has fluctuated in the past 25 years, increasing from 836.53 hm2 in 1990 to 1011.01 hm2 in 2000 and decreasing to 651.23 hm2 in 2015; the pasture area has decreased from 1437.15 hm2 in 1990 to 675.8259 hm2 in 2015; the grassland coverage has decreased, and the grassland with high coverage has decreased in 1990. The annual proportion of grassland area was 13.58%, which decreased to 0 in 2015; the forest coverage increased rapidly from 17.6% in 1990 to 53.1% in 2015; and the desertification land area decreased sharply from 13% in 1988 to 3%. In the past 25 years, the land use change index of Mt. Mozi is 9.35. The degree of human land change is increasing, and the relationship between human and land is becoming closer and closer. The degree of land use has changed from low level to high level. The main reasons are population factors, changes in livestock and the results of the adjustment of national policies.The farming-pastoral ecotone in Horqin Sandy Land includes Horqin Right Wing Middle Banner of Xingan League, Tongliao City and Chifeng City, each of which has a total land area of about 142,500 km2 and a population of 6.167 million, of which the rural population is 493,480,000 [1]. Historically, the area was dominated by animal husbandry, with abundant aquatic plants and cattle and sheep everywhere. Due to the rapid growth of population and unreasonable land use over a long period of time, the ecological system of the area was degraded and the economic development was backward. Fourteen of the 16 banner counties belonged to poverty-stricken counties. Reasonable land use is the key to ensure the ecological security and economic development of the region. Relevant experts and scholars have carried out extensive research on this issue, but most of them are based on macro-level research, which can better show the large-scale pattern changes, but the quantitative research on micro-level is rarely reported. The research based on micro-perspective is more convenient to grasp the essence of the development of things and reveal the inherent law of the development of things[2]. In the ecotone of agriculture and animal husbandry, there are significant regional differences in both natural and human aspects. Therefore, in order to fundamentally solve the ecological and economic problems in the region, the micro-quantitative research in different regions must be focued on. Based on the typical mother-son mountain villages in ecological environment, population and economy, the author conducted a field survey in August-September 2016. Combined with the statistical data of township government and village committee and remote sensing image data provided by relevant departments, the author analyzed the dynamic changes of land use in the past 25 years and made use of soil. The dynamic degree model of land use is used to measure the degree of comprehensive land use in order to provide scientific basis for the rationalization of land use and the sustainable development of agriculture and animal husbandry in this area.

Remote Sensing Dynamic Monitoring and Genetic Analysis of Horqin Sandy Land Based on GIS ——Take Kulun Qi in Tongliao City as an Example

Based on the support of the MAPGIS platform and using the four-stage remote sensing data of MSS \\TM\\ ETM\\ TM, the dynamic change of desertification in Kulun Banner of Tongliao City is obtained, and the reasons for the growth and decline of desertification in Horqin City are analyzed with the data of climate, population and cultivated land area. The results show that the desertification area of Kulun Banner has increased and decreased in the past 40 years. The center of severe desertification has been located in the northern edge of animal husbandry. The climate in Tongliao area tends to be dry and warm, population growth is relatively fast, and land use structure changes are closely related to the evolution of Horqin Sandy land.

A comprehensive analysis on water resources carrying capacity in Tongliao based on ecological footprint method

How to judge the sustainable utilization and carrying capacity of water resources is an important issue for scholars and governments. Based on the theory of ecological footprint, this paper uses the ecological footprint method to calculate the water resources carrying capacity of Tongliao City, and carries out a comprehensive evaluation and analysis on the water resources from both societal and economic perspectives. The result shows that the water resources in the city from 2011 to 2014 is in a state of ecological deficit and overloaded, but from 2015 to 2017 turns to the ecological surplus state. The study would provide local authorities solid data for formulating appropriate regulations for water resource protection and development.

Seroprevalence and risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in horses in Jilin Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northern China

Toxoplasmosis is caused by the protozoon Toxoplasma gondii that can infect almost all warm-blooded hosts including horses and humans. Horse meat is one of the most important meat products for human consumption. However, data on seroprevalence of T. gondii in horses intended for human consumption in Northern China is scarce. Thus, a total of 614 serum samples were collected from Jilin Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR) between 2015 and 2017, and were detected the seroprevalence for T. gondii by indirect hemagglutination assay test. In the prevalence study, the overall seroprevalence of T. gondii in horses was 17.92% (110/614) by IHA test, at the cut- off 1:64. Horses collected from Changchun (13.58%, P = 0.02) has a significantly lower seroprevalence than those from Meihekou City (21.72%) and Tongliao City (22.81%). Moreover, a significant difference of T. gondii seroprevalence was found between horses ages at less than 12 months (22.75%) and ≥12 months or higher (16.42%, P = 0.002). To our knowledge, this is the first report of seroprevalence of T. gondii in horses in Jilin and IMAR, Northern China. Logistic regression suggested that age and geographical location of horses were identified as risk factors. These findings will provide the useful data for controlling and preventing toxoplasmosis in horses and/or other hosts in China.

国有林の「家族生態林場」による請負の実態と問題点 : 中国内モンゴル自治区通遼市の国有林場を事例として

国有林の「家族生態林場」による請負の実態と問題点 : 中国内モンゴル自治区通遼市の国有林場を事例として

SD simulation study on degraded farmland policy on farming-pastoral area under the constrains of water resources–Taking Tongliao City of Inner Mongolia as example

Water resources are the primary factor in restricting the sustainable development of farming-pastoral regions. To support the sustainable development of water resources, whether or not the land uses patterns of farming-pastoral areas is a reasonably important issue. This paper takes Tongliao city as example for the purpose of sustainably developing the farming-pastoral area in the north. Several scientific preductions and evaluations were conducted to study the farming-pastoral landuse pattern, which is the key problem that effects sustainable development of farming-pastoral areas. The paper then proposes that 1:7 landuse pattern is suitable for the sustainable development of farming-pastotal area. Based on the analysis of the research findings on sustainable development of farming-pastoral area, the paper established a suitability evaluation indicators system of degraded farmland policies in Tongliao city, and used an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to determine the weight to run system dynamic (SD) model. The simulation results were then obtained on social economic ecological development in Tongliao city under different degraded farmland policies, and used the comprehensive evaluation model to optimize the results. It is concluded that stabilizing the policy of degraded farmland policy is the preferential policy in Tongliao, which provides useful theoretical research for the sustainable development of farming-pastoral area.

Discovery of Wolitu Pb-Zn deposit through geochemical prospecting under loess cover in Inner Mongolia, China

We report the finding of the Wolitu Pb-Zn deposit in Inner Mongolia, China, through a series of geochemical surveys. The Wolitu area, located in the loess-cover area in the Hure Banner, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia, and neighboring the Horqin Sandy Land to the north, had no previous history of Pb-Zn mining or record of Pb-Zn mineralization. Our study identified a large Pb-Zn anomaly with potential zones of mineralization by stream sediment survey. Random rock sampling reveals limonitization at sporadic outcrops in the gullies. The high concentrations of Pb in the residual debris provided guidelines to fix the position for exploratory trench. Oxidized concealed orebodies were identified by trenching. Blind orebodies in veins hosted within the structural zone between slates and marbles of the upper Carboniferous Shizuizi Formation and the Permian granite were discovered by drilling. It is computed that the ore reserve may reach up to 540,000 tones with Pb grade of 1.27% and Zn of 1.9%. This case study is an excellent example for identifying potential polymetallic deposits in loess covered terrains using geochemical exploration.

A method of characterizing land-cover swap changes in the arid zone of China

Net area change analysis can dramatically underestimate total change of land cover, even sometimes seriously misinterpret ecological processes of the ecosystem, especially in arid or semiarid zones. In this paper, a suite of indices are presented to characterize land-cover swaps that may seriously damage the ecosystem in arid or semiarid zones, based on swap-change areas extracted from remotely sensed images. First, swap percentage of total area and swap intensity of total changes were used to determine the status of land-cover swap change in an area. Then, dominated swap category and individual swap-change intensity for a land-cover category were used to determine flagged land-cover swap-change categories. Finally, swap-change mode and Pielou’s index were used to determine the land-cover swap-change processes of dominant categories. A case study is conducted using this approach, based on two land-cover maps in the 1980s and 2000 in Naiman Qi, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia, China. This study shows that the approach can clearly quantify the severity and flagged classes of land-cover swap-change and reveal their relationship with ecological processes of the ecosystem. These results indicate that the approach can give deep insights into swap change, which can be very valuable to land-cover policy making and management.

Analysis on Economic Efficiency and Industrial Structure Adjustment of Some Counties Based on DEA Method

The county economy is not only an important component of the national economy, but also be the basic operation unit of the national economy.It plays an irreplaceable role in the great economic and social development of our country. In this paper, we provide a non-parametric method for analyzing the economic efficiency based on DEA theory. Then we analyze the development efficiency of eight counties in Tongliao City from 2003 to 2012 , we also put forward suggestions on how to adjust the industrial structure according to the data analysis of the results of the model.

Determination of 137Cs reference inventories in a large-scale region: A case study in the central-eastern Inner Mongolia Plateau

In isotope 137Cs tracing studies, it is a premise to determine suitable 137Cs reference inventory (CRI) plots and the CRI values. Owing to the heterogeneous spatial distribution of 137Cs deposition in the ground and diverse, or even irregular, operations in sampling and testing procedures, CRI determination is usually faced with many difficulties and uncertainties. In addition, more difficulties occur in an investigation of a large-scale region because of time constraints and measurement cost limitations. In this study, traditional CRI acquiring methods were summarized first, and then a new complex scheme was established, involving seven core steps and coupling the model estimate and sample measurement. The above CRI determination methodology was implemented in the central-eastern Inner Mongolia Plateau. The case study results showed that the CRI in the dark chestnut soil sub-region, located in the east and south of Xing’an City, exhibited 2447 Bq·m−2; the CRI in the aeolian sandy soil sub-region, positioned in the south central Tongliao City and central Chifeng City, showed 2430 Bq·m−2; the CRI in the sandy chernozem soil sub-region, situated in the northwestern Chifeng City, presented 2384 Bq·m−2; and the CRI in the chestnut soil sub-region, in the southern Xilin Gol City, was 2368 Bq·m−2. The newly proposed CRI determination scheme was proved effective, and the determined CRI plots and CRI values were convincing. The methodology offered a framework for 137Cs tracing studies in large-scale regions or long-distance transects.

Influence of the sewage irrigation on the agricultural soil properties in Tongliao City, China

Increasing shortages of fresh water has led to greater use of treated wastewater for irrigation of crops. This study evaluates the spatial variability of soil properties after irrigation with wastewater and freshwater. Geostatistical techniques were used to identify the variability of soil properties at the different sites. A set of physical and chemical soil properties were measured including total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), organic matter (OM) and soil moisture. The TN concentration levels varied from 567 to 700 mg·kg−1, while OC levels ranged from 7.3 to 16.3 mg·kg−1 in wastewater-irrigated zones. The concentration levels of TP were between 371.53 and 402.88 mg·kg−1 for the wastewater-irrigated sites. Wastewater irrigation resulted in higher TN, TP and OM concentrations by 18.4%, 8% and 25%, respectively. The highest TN and OM occurred along the wastewater trunk. It was also observed that nitrogen concentrations correlate with the soil’s organic matter. The increase of salinity may be associated with the increase of pH, which might suggest that a reduction of pH will be beneficial for plant growth due to the decrease of salinity. The average concentrations of nitrogen in topsoil were higher than those in subsurface soils in irrigated areas. Such differences of the N profile might be due to variations in organic matter content and microbial populations. Consistent with TN and OM, soil C:N decreased significantly with an increase of depth. This phenomenon possibly reflects a greater degree of breakdown and the older age of humus stored in the deeper soil layers. The analysis of pH levels at different depths for the three sites showed that pH values for wastewater irrigation were slightly lower than the controlled sites at the same depths.

Effectiveness of ecological restoration projects in Horqin Sandy Land, China based on SPOT-VGT NDVI data

Horqin Sandy Land is a major source of sandstorms in Northern China, especially the Beijing–Tianjin–Tangshan Region. A series of ecological restoration projects including the ‘Grain for Green Project’, the ‘Beijing and Tianjin Sandstorm Source Controlling Project’, and the ‘Three-North Shelterbelt Project’ were implemented in this region. This study assesses the effectiveness of ecological restoration projects within Tongliao City, the main body of Horqin Sandy Land. The different treatment effects of various sand dunes were assessed and compared based on Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from SPOT VEGETATION Ten Daily Synthesis Archive from 1999 to 2007 and the desert distribution map of China in 2000. The results showed that: (1) the fixed and semi-fixed sand dunes were the main sand dune types, which accounted for 70% of the entire sand dune area in 2000; followed by shifting sand dunes and the semi-shifting sand dunes. (2) The ecological restoration projects resulted in improvements of different sand dune types, the improved area covered 76% of the sand dune area, mainly in the southern parts of the study area. The vegetation cover of the sand dunes in Naiman Banner, Hure Banner and the south of Horqin Left Back Banner increased significantly. While mild improvement occurred in the central sand dunes of the study area. (3) The area with degraded vegetation accounted for approximately 10% of sand dune area, mainly located in the southeast of Jarud Banner and the west of Horqin Left Middle Banner. Most of these areas showed mild and insignificant degradation except for a small area of moderate degradation. (4) The types of sand dunes in degraded status were mainly the fixed and semi-fixed sand dunes, followed by the semi-shifting sand dunes and saline-alkali land. The lower the dune fixity (e.g. shifting or semi-shifting versus semi-fixed or fixed) and the more likely to contribute to sand-storms, the greater the effectiveness of restoration projects. Finally, some implications for the sustainable development of the ecological restoration projects are discussed.

Numerical Modeling of Three Dimension Groundwater Flow in Tongliao (China)

The use of groundwater flow models1 is prevalent in the field of environmental hydrogeology to predict the fate and transport of contaminants for risk evaluation purposes. In this paper, the authors develop a groundwater flow model in Tongliao city, China by using Visual MODFLOW. The conceptual model was built by analyzing the hydrogeological data. Hydrologic parameters have been calibrated based on the available data observed from 1999 to 2002, the calibrated results show that the computed water heads fit into with perfectly the measured data, which indicate that the conceptual model and the parameters used in the model can reflect the actual physical system of the study domain. The calibrated parameters will be very useful to identify the aquifer properties and to analyze the groundwater flow dynamics, the changes of groundwater levels in the study area.

Process and Problems of Farmland Expansion to Forestland in Rural China : A Case Study of Village X in Tongliao City of Inner Mongolia

Process and Problems of Farmland Expansion to Forestland in Rural China : A Case Study of Village X in Tongliao City of Inner Mongolia

Interaction between the C(-344)T polymorphism of CYP11B2 and alcohol consumption on the risk of essential hypertension in a Chinese Mongolian population

The present study aimed to explore gene-gene and gene-environment interactions among three candidate genes and several environmental risk factors, and their impacts on hypertension in Chinese Mongolian population. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2003-2004 among 1,575 Mongolian people in Tongliao City of Inner Mongolia, China. Epidemiologic and clinical data and blood samples were obtained from subjects. Multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) and logistic regression were used to analyze gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. The MDR model indicated a significant interactions among the CYP11B2 gene C(-344)T polymorphism, body mass index, age, and alcohol consumption on the risk of hypertension, with a cross-validation consistency of 10 of 10 and a prediction error of 34% (P < 0.001). Logistic regression suggested alcohol consumption (≥200 g/d) was associated with an OR of 2.4 (95% CI, 1.6-3.5) for hypertension. When stratified by the CYP11B2 genotype, the estimated OR was 1.2 (95% CI, 0.5-3.0) on hypertension for the CC genotype group, but was 3.0 (95% CI, 1.5-5.7) and 2.9 (95% CI, 1.4-5.7) for the TC and TT genotype groups, respectively. A significant interaction between the CYP11B2 genotype and alcohol consumption was also found by the logistic models (P (crude) = 0.035, P (adjusted) = 0.048). This study demonstrates a significant interaction between the CYP11B2 genotype and alcohol consumption on the risk of hypertension in Chinese Mongolian population.

Association of aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) gene -344T/C polymorphism with essential hypertension in Mongolian nationality

To explore the relationship between the -344T/C polymorphism of aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) gene and essential hypertension in Chinese Mongolian population. By cluster-sampling method, a total of 1575 Mongolian people in Tongliao city of Inner Mongolia were included in this study. And 417 subjects were normotension, 596 subjects were prehypertension and 562 subjects were essential hypertension. A survey was conducted to collect data by personal interview using a standard questionnaire, meanwhile fasting blood samples were drawn. Height, weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, blood-fat indexes and fasting plasma glucose were measured. The variant genotypes of CYP11B2 were identified by PCR assays. The relationship between the -344T/C polymorphism of CYP11B2 gene and essential hypertension were analyzed by multinomial logistic regression model. Crude prevalence of prehypertension among Mongolian people was 37.84% (596/1575) and hypertension was 35.68% (562/1575). The age-standardized prevalence of prehypertension was 38.57% and hypertension was 31.53%. The frequency of the T and C allele was 0.66 (481/728) and 0.34 (247/728) for normotension group, 0.69 (696/1042) and 0.33 (346/1042) for prehypertension group, 0.71 (706/998) and 0.29 (292/998) for hypertension group. The multiple logistic models showed CYP11B2 variant genotypes were associated with prehypertension (TT/CC, OR = 1.33, 95%CI: 0.87 - 2.01; TC/CC, OR = 1.74, 95%CI: 1.13 - 2.67; TC + TT/CC, OR = 1.49, 95%CI: 1.01 - 2.22); CYP11B2 variant genotypes were associated with hypertension (TT/CC, OR = 1.70, 95%CI: 1.07 - 2.70; TC/CC, OR = 1.59, 95%CI: 0.98 - 2.50; TC + TT/CC, OR = 1.66, 95%CI: 1.06 - 2.58). CYP11B2 gene -344T/C polymorphism were associated with essential hypertension in Chinese Mongolian population.

Interaction of the C-344T polymorphism of CYP11b2 gene with body mass index and waist circumference affecting diastolic blood pressure in Chinese Mongolian population

Background. The relationship between the C-344T polymorphism of CYP11b2 gene and blood pressure (BP) is controversial. The present study aimed to investigate whether it was affected by environmental determinants in Chinese Mongolian population. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted between 2003 and 2004 in Tongliao City of Inner Mongolia, China. Epidemiological and clinical data and blood samples were obtained from subjects. Multiple linear regression models were used to estimate the associations between the CYP11b2 genotype and BP. Results. In univariate model, the CYP11b2 genotype was associated with diastolic BP. When stratified by the body mass index (BMI) tertile, the estimated association was significant in the highest tertile of the BMI group with adjustment for age and gender (TT:β=3.3, p=0.042), but was not significant in the other tertiles. After multivariate adjustment, the estimated association was still significant only in highest tertile of BMI group (TC:β=3.7, p=0.030; TT:β=3.7, p=0.023). A similar pattern emerged in analyses stratified by the waist circumference (WC) tertile. Conclusion. In this study, the association between the CYP11b2 genotype and diastolic BP was modified by BMI and WC, suggesting an interaction of the C-344T polymorphism of CYP11b2 with BMI and WC in a Chinese Mongolian population.

Alcohol Expectancies Among High School Students in Inner Mongolia, China

This study examines differences in Chinese high school students' alcohol expectancies by drinking status (nondrinker, occasional drinker, regular drinker) and gender (male, female). The authors administered the Chinese Adolescent Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (CAEQ) to a convenience sample of 1244 high school students (M = 627; F = 617) from schools in Huhhot City and Tongliao City in Inner Mongolia, China. Differences were found in the 8 CAEQ factors (3 negative and 5 positive factors). Regular drinkers had lower negative consequences and higher positive perception expectancies than nondrinkers or occasional drinkers. Nondrinkers had higher harm to person/reputation expectancies than occasional or regular drinkers. Occasional drinkers had higher beneficial/moderation and lower harm to person/ reputation expectancies than nondrinkers. Boys had higher positive perception expectancies than girls. Expectancies are associated with Chinese adolescents' drinking. Identifying the characteristics of alcohol consuming youth can inform the development of prevention interventions and alcohol policies.

Impact of gene-environment interaction between the C (-344) T polymorphism of CYP11B2 and drinking index on the risk of hypertension under multifactor dimensionality reduction model in Chinese Mongolian population

To explore the interaction between C (-344) T polymorphism of CYP11B2 and drinking index (DI) as well as their impact on the risk of hypertension in Chinese Mongolian population. A total of 1575 Mongolian people aged 20 and older including 562 hypertensive and 1013 normal-tensive from agricultural and pastoral areas in Tongliao city of Inner Mongolia, were included in this study. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect data by personal interview with local residents, using a standard questionnaire. Fasting blood samples were drawn and height, weight and blood pressure were measured. The variant genotypes of CYP11B2, ACE and eNOS were identified by PCR assays. Gene-environment interactions were analyzed, using multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) model. Based on the result of the best MDR model, a multiple logistic regression model was constructed as the final cause-effect interpretative model. The interaction between CYP11B2 variant genotype and drinking index appeared the best MDR model with statistical significance (chi(2) = 66.35, P < 0.01). Testing balance accuracy of the model was 0.604. The cross-validation consistency was 10/10. Data from the final multiple logistic regression based on the MDR model showed that the main effects of both CYP11B2 variant genotype and the DI were not significantly different but the interaction between the genotype (TC) and the DI (90-) was, with regard to hypertension (OR, 10.25; 95%CI, 2.23 - 47.18; P = 0.003). The combined effects between CYP11B2 variant genotype and the DI showed that following indices as: genotype TT or TC combining non-zero drinking index, including genotype (TT) combining the drinking index (> or = 168), the genotype (TT) combining the drinking index (> or = 40), the genotype (TT) combining the drinking index (> or = 1) and the genotype (TC) combining the drinking index (> or = 90), were all risk factors of hypertension when comparing with genotype (CC) combining the drinking index (0), and the ORs (95%CI) appeared to be 2.07 (1.15 - 3.70), 2.35 (1.22 - 4.56), 2.05 (1.07 - 3.94) and 5.56 (2.54 - 12.18) respectively. Essential hypertension might positively be affected by the interaction of the C (-344) T polymorphism of CYP11B2 and the drinking index in Chinese Mongolian population.

Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its risk factors in Inner Mongolia, China

Objective — To assess the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its risk factors, Mongolian people from Inner Mongolia were studied.Methods and results — 2536 participants aged 20 years or above from Tongliao city in Inner Mongolia were selected for a cross-sectional study. Lifestyle risk factors, body weight, height, waistline, hipline, fasting plasma glucose, blood lipids, and C-reactive protein (CRP), were investigated in all participants. They were divided into metabolic syndrome and non-metabolic syndrome groups. Risk factors were graded from two to four. The standardized prevalence rate of the metabolic syndrome was 17.1%, lower in men (11.4%) than in women (21.6%) (P < 0.001). In men, with multivariate logistic regression, total cholesterol in the highest grade, hip circumference in the highest grade, waist-to-hip ratio and body mass index were associated with the metabolic syndrome. In women, LDL-cholesterol, C-reactive protein in the highest grade, hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and body mass index were associated with the metabolic syndrome. There is no relationship between cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking and metabolic syndrome in men or women.Conclusion — In Mongolian people of agricultural and pasturing areas in Inner Mongolia, China, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome is higher in women than in men. Hip circumference, waistto-hip ratio and body mass index are significantly associated with the metabolic syndrome.