It is feasible to study the mechanical characteristics of coarse-grained soil by simulated granular materials such as glass beads. In this paper, 3 mm diameter glass beads are used to conduct drained and undrained triaxial tests under the condition of different confining pressures to explore their strength, deformation and critical state characteristics. Specifically, the influence of drainage and confining pressure on the stick-slip phenomenon of glass beads is reported. The experimental findings from triaxial tests show that the stress-strain relationship of glass beads softens when the confining pressure is high. Under the undrained condition, the initial modulus increases with the increase in the confining pressure. In contrast, it is not significantly affected by the confining pressure under the drained condition. It is quite evident that the glass beads hardly contract during the shearing process, and their stress path is approximately a segmented straight line. The slope of the critical state line under the undrained condition is greater than that under the drained condition, and the friction angle of the glass beads under the undrained and drained conditions is calculated to be 28.1° and 29.5°, respectively. The phenomenon of stick-slip has been depicted for the different test conditions, and the stick-slip amplitude linearly increases with the confining pressure, especially in the undrained condition. It is also found that the maximum energy released from the phenomenon of stick-slip increases linearly with the confining pressure.

Portable in-situ devices have been used for characterizing low accessible field, such as the railway subgrade. In this study, the automated cone penetrometer (ACP) was designed for the application on the railway subgrade. ACP is composed of the cone tip, driving rod, and hydraulic hammer system. The hydraulic motor lifts and drops the 294.3 N hammer from a height of 200 mm such that the potential energy of 58.9 N?m impacts the driving rod. The N-value (N_ACP) from the ACP test was compared with the dynamic cone penetration index (DCPI) from the dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) test. The test results show that the N_ACP and DCPI profiles show opposite trend owing to the inverse concept of the unit. From the correlation of DCPI and N_ACP, the limitation of DCPI reveals owing the minimum manually measured value of 1 mm/blow. Additionally, the evaluation of the deflection modulus (E_FWD) using N_ACP is more efficient than that using DCPI. Based on the result of this study, we suggest that ACP can be used for strength and stiffness evaluation of railway subgrade rapidly and reliably.

The measurement of pile axial load is of great significance to determining pile foundation design parameters such as skin friction and end bearing capacity and analyzing load transfer mechanisms. Affected by the temperature and ice content of frozen ground, the interface contact relationship between pile foundation and frozen soil is complicated, making pile axial load measurements more uncertain than that in non-frozen ground. Therefore, it is necessary to gain an in-depth understanding of the current pile axial load test methods. Four methods are systematically reviewed: vibrating wire sensors, strain gauges, sliding micrometers, and optical fiber strain sensors. At the same time, the applicability of the four test methods in frozen soil regions is discussed in detail. The first two methods are mature and commonly used. The sliding micrometer is only suitable for short-term measurement. While the Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) strain gauge meets the monitoring requirements, the Brillouin optical time-domain reflectometer (BOTDR) needs further verification. This paper aims to provide a technical reference for selecting and applying different methods in the pile axial load test for the stability study and bearing capacity assessment of pile foundations in cold regions.

The Freeze-Sealing Pipe-Roof (FSPR) method, which has been applied for the first time in the Gongbei Tunnel of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, is a new approach of tunnel pre-support that allows flexible adjustment of freeze tube arrangement and can be adapted to different environmental conditions. When the FSPR method is used to construct shallow burial submerged tunnels, the frozen wall to hold back groundwater during excavation will be weakened by air and water flows inside and outside the tunnel, and its waterproof performance needs to be further investigated. In this paper, a two-dimensional numerical model of the temperature field considering excavation and moving water boundary is established based on the preliminary design scheme and in-situ conditions and is used to analyze the variation in frozen curtain properties with various active freezing times during excavation. The results show that excavation has a weakening effect on both sides of the frozen wall, with a greater effect on the inner side, and a positive temperature appears in the local area inside the jacked pipe. The concrete fill in the jacked pipe obviously improves the freezing efficiency, and the tunnel excavation after 60 days of active freezing in the interval filling mode can ensure that the frozen soil thickness at the thinnest segment exceeds 2 m, i.e., the design requirement. In practice, the active freezing time can be extended appropriately to reduce the influence of river water flow above the tunnel. The study serves as a technical reference for the design and implementation of similar projects.

Damage caused by frost heave leads to costly maintenance in cold regions, like Hokkaido, Japan. Therefore, the study of the frost mechanism with experimental and numerical methods has been of great interest. Numerous models have been developed to describe the freezing process of saturated soil, which differs from the partially saturated conditions in the field. In fact, most subsurface soils are unsaturated. The freezing process of partially saturated soils is more complex than saturated soils, as the governing equations show strongly nonlinear characteristics. This study proposes a thermo-hydro-mechanical coupled model considering the heat transfer, water infiltration, and deformation of partially saturated soil to reproduce the freezing process of partially saturated frost susceptible soils distributed in Hokkaido. This model better considers the water-ice phase change and soil freezing characteristic curve (SFCC) during freezing under field conditions. The results from the multiphysics simulations agree well with the frost heave and water migration data from frost heave tests of Touryo soil and Fujinomori soil. In addition, this study discussed the influence of the various factors on frost heave amount, including temperature gradients, overburden pressures, water supply conditions, cooling rates, and initial saturation. The simulation results indicate that the frost heave ratio is proportional to the initial degree of saturation and is inversely proportional to the cooling rate and overburden pressure.

Moreover, simulation under the open system generates much more frost heave than under the closed system. Finally, the main features of the proposed model are revealed by simulating a closed-system frost heave test. The simulation results indicate that the proposed model adequately captures the coupling characteristics of water and ice redistribution, temperature development, hydraulic conductivity, and suction in the freezing process. Together with the decreased hydraulic conductivity, the increased suction controls the water flow in the freezing zone. The inflow water driven by cryogenic suction gradient feeds the ice formation, leads to a rapid increase in total water content, expanding the voids that exceed the initial porosity and contributing to the frost heave.

This paper investigates the influence of the deviation in freeze pipe installation on the development of the frozen wall in long cross passages by numerical simulation with ANSYS software. The study case is from the artificial ground freezing project along the Fuzhou Metro Line 2 between Ziyang Station and Wuliting Station. Two freeze-pipe configurations, i.e., one with perfectly aligned pipes without any deviation from design and another with randomly distributed deviation, are included for comparison. The effect of the random deviation in the freeze pipes on frozen wall interconnection time, the thickness of the frozen wall and the development of the temperature field is explored. For the characteristic section of the numerical model at a depth of 25 m, it is found that the frozen wall interconnection time under the random deviation case and no deviation case is 24 days and 18 days, respectively. The difference in the thickness of the thinnest frozen wall segment between the random deviation and no deviation cases is the largest in the early freezing stage (up to 0.75 m), which decreases with time to 0.31 m in the late freezing stage. The effects of random deviation are more significant in the early freezing stage and diminish as the freezing time increases.

Based on the engineering background of the contact channel between Shangyang and Gushan of Fuzhou Metro Line 2 undercrossing the existing tunnel line, the freezing temperature field of the contact channel, the displacement field of the existing tunnel line and the contact channel with different net distances and horizontal angles are analyzed by ANSYS finite element software and field measurement method. The obtained results indicate that during the freezing period, the temperature drops at different measuring holes are almost the same. The temperature near the bottom freezing tube drops faster than that far from the tube. It is found that the bilateral freezing technique improves the formation of the freezing wall in the intersection area. In this case, the intersection time of the cross-section is 7 days faster than that of the adjacent ordinary section. The change curve of the displacement of the surface uplift in different freezing periods with the distance from the center of the channel is "M" shaped. The maximum uplift displacement at 12 m from channel center is 25 mm. The vertical displacement of the measuring point located above the central axis of the connecting channel is large. The farther the point from the central axis, the smaller the corresponding vertical displacement. When the horizontal angle between the existing tunnel and the connecting channel is less than 60°, the existing vertical displacement of the tunnel changes rapidly with the horizontal angle, reaching 0.17 mm/°. Meanwhile, when the net distance is less than 6.1 m, the change rate of the vertical displacement of the tunnel is up to 2.4 mm/m.

Timely removal of the flower is a key agricultural measure to ensure the concentrated supply of nutrients for the growth of underground bulbs and to increase the yield of lilies. Removing flowers and returning them to the field is one of the traditional ways of treatment, and field litter is formed at this time. Previous study showed that the decomposition of litter changes the soil properties. In order to study the effects of lily litter decomposition on soil physical and chemical properties and microbial structure, three treatments were set up in reference to the Decomposition Bag Method: control (CK), Lanzhou lily flower treatment (LZF), and Zhongbai No.1 flower treatment (ZBF). The effects of lily decomposition on soil physical and chemical properties and microbial community composition were studied in order to provide a scientific basis and theoretical guidance for the planting process of Lanzhou lily. The results show that the decomposition of lily flowers significantly increased the contents of soil organic matter, soil total nitrogen, soil total phosphorus and soil available potassium, and decreased soil pH. RDA shows that soil available nutrients and pH were the driving factors for the change of the soil microbial community. A short-term change of soil microenvironment caused by the decomposed lily flower is beneficial to growing the Lanzhou lily. However, under the correlation analysis of environmental factors, the long-term effects of returning the Lanzhou lily flower to the field, such as the trend of soil acidification, need to be further studied.

CO₂ released by soil serves as an important link between terrestrial ecosystems and atmospheric CO₂, whose small changes may significantly affect the global carbon cycle. In order to reveal the spatio-temporal variations of CO₂ concentrations in deep loess, this paper takes Qingliangsi Gully watershed in northwestern Shanxi Province, China as an example to systematically study soil CO₂ concentration and its spatio-temporal variations and carbon sink significance under different watershed locations and different land use types. Results show that: (1) The release potential of the loess soil is larger in the depth range of 2 m, which is much more likely to be the CO₂ release area. (2) Grassland and forest are more advantageous in terms of soil microbial activity and soil carbon reserve compared with farmland. In addition, the change of land use type from farmland to grassland can increase soil organic carbon reserve, which is of far-reaching significance to the global carbon cycle. This is especially true in an area like the Loess Plateau with densely covered hills, gullies, and serious soil erosion in an area of 64×10⁴ km². (3) In the study area, the diurnal concentration of soil CO₂ at different depths shows a weak "high-low-high-low" trend from 08:00 to 07:00 next day; and in deep soil it has a lag time compared with the daily change of temperature, generally about 4-12 h, which may be caused largely by the more compact loess structure. It is worth pointing out that the Loess Plateau in China, with a thickness of the loess of tens to hundreds of meters, has the most abundant soil resources in the world, and also stores a large amount of terrestrial soil carbon, which carries the hope of promoting the research of global carbon cycle.

Bacteria constitute a large proportion of the biodiversity in soils and control many important processes in terrestrial ecosystems. However, our understanding of the interactions between soil bacteria and environmental factors remains limited, especially in sensitive and fragile ecosystems. In this study, geographic patterns of bacterial diversity across four sandy grasslands along a 1,600 km north-south transect in northern China were characterized by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Then, we analyzed the driving factors behind the patterns in bacterial diversity. The results show that of the 21 phyla detected, the most abundant were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria and Firmicutes (average relative abundance >5%). Soil bacterial operational taxonomic unit (OTU) numbers (richness) and Faith's phylogenetic diversity (diversity) were highest in the Otindag Sandy Land and lowest in the Mu Us Sandy Land. Soil electrical conductivity (EC) was the most influential factor driving bacterial richness and diversity. The bacterial communities differed significantly among the four sandy grasslands, and the bacterial community structure was significantly affected by environmental factors and geographic distance. Of the environmental variables examined, climatic factors (mean annual temperature and precipitation) and edaphic properties (pH and EC) explained the highest proportion of the variation in bacterial community structure. Biotic factors such as plant species richness and aboveground biomass exhibited weak but significant associations with bacterial richness and diversity. Our findings revealed the important role of climate and salinity factors in controlling bacterial richness and diversity; understanding these roles is critical for predicting the impacts of climate change and promoting sustainable management strategies for ecosystem services in these sandy lands.

High temperature rutting is a typical highway damage in Xinjiang, China, and its trigger process usually has a close relationship with characteristics of road temperature distribution. A numerical model of earth-atmosphere coupling heat transfer on a typical section of the Beijing-Xinjiang Expressway (G7) from Wutong Daquan to Yiwu was established in this work. Spatiotemporal characteristics of pavement structure layer temperature distribution, frequency and duration times of road surface high temperature from May 1 to September 30 are statistically studied. The effects of wind speed, weather and air temperature on asphalt layer and pavement temperature are analyzed. The results show that: (1) Spatial and temporal temperature distribution characteristics of pavement structural layers are greatly affected by the coupled earth-atmosphere heat transfer process. Surface temperature increases along the airflow direction and daily temperature variation of the pavement structure layer decreases with an increase of depth. (2) G7 expressway will face the challenge of high rutting damage. The proportion of temperature higher than 50 °C for pavement surface and asphalt upper layer both exceeds 50% and high temperature of road lasts for more than six hours in numerous days. (3) High temperatures of asphalt pavement are usually associated with low ambient wind speeds, while the wind flow has little cooling effect when the road surface temperature is relative high. Weather conditions have a significant impact on temperature of the road surface. The probability of high temperature in sunny days is obviously higher than other weather conditions. (4) Pavement temperature rises as air temperature rises. When air temperature is higher than 30 °C, the proportion of pavement daily maximum temperature over softening point reaches up to 78%.

In order to study the mechanical properties and energy evolution of low-temperature concrete during uniaxial compression, a uniaxial compression test was performed on concrete. In addition, the evolution laws of compressive strength, deformation modulus and total energy, elastic potential energy, dissipated energy and peak energy of concrete in the process of deformation and failure are analyzed. The effects of age and temperature on low-temperature concrete is analyzed from the perspective of energy. Test results show that temperature improves the strength and deformation of concrete to varying degrees. When cured for 28 days, the compressive strength and deformation modulus of concrete at -20 ℃ is increased by 17.98% and 21.45% respectively, compared with the compressive strength and deformation modulus at room temperature of 20 ℃. At the point of failure of the concrete under uniaxial compression, the total damage energy and the dissipation energy both increase, while the developed elastic strain energy increases and then decreases. Increase in curing duration tends to increase the total destruction energy of concrete, peak point elastic strain energy, peak point dissipation energy, and peak point total energy. Whereas increase in curing durations, has shown to decrease the total destruction energy of concrete, the peak point elastic strain energy, peak point dissipation energy, and peak point total energy. The peak point strain energy reflects the ability of low-temperature concrete to reasonably resist damage. By using the principle of energy analysis to study the deformation process of concrete, it provides research methods and ideas for the deformation analysis of this type of material under load.

As a linkage between plants and soil, litter decomposition and its effect on nutrient recirculation have an important ecological significance as they contribute to soil structure improvement and the restoration of degraded ecosystems. Fragile ecosystems in arid regions (both hot and cold) are depleted in soil organic matter, and as a result of various factors their circulation of material and energy is slower. Here we discuss how litter decomposition is necessary to maintain the stability of fragile ecosystems. We reviewed research on litter decomposition carried out in arid regions. Our objective in this review is to outline how litter decomposition, and the subsequent buildup of organic matter in soil, is a key process determining the stability of fragile ecosystems. Our review shows that existing studies have focused on the influence of single ecological factors on litter decomposition and nutrient cycling, and highlights how the exploration of interactions among factors determining litter decomposition is still lacking. This interaction is a key aspect, since in the real world, decomposition and nutrient return to soil of litter products is affected by multiple factors. We propose a network setup on a cross-regional scale using standardized methods (e.g., the tea bag method) to understand litter decomposition and nutrient return in fragile ecosystems. Such a unique network could contribute to establish predictive models suitable for litter decomposition and nutrient return in these areas, and thus could provide theoretical and practical support for regional ecological protection and high-quality development.

Three deterministic prediction evaluation methods, including the standard deviation, root-mean-square error, and time correlation coefficient, and three extreme temperature indices were used to assess the performance of the BCC_CSM2_MR model from CMIP6 in simulating the climate of Northwest China based on monthly grid air temperature data from ground stations. The model performance was evaluated using the daily mean temperature, daily minimum temperature, and daily maximum temperature from 1961 to 2014 and future temperature changes in Northwest China under different radiative forcing scenarios. The BCC_CSM2_MR model reproduces well the seasonal changes, spatial distribution, and other characteristics of the daily mean temperature in Northwest China, especially in the Tarim Basin, the Kunlun and Qilian mountains, and Shaanxi. There is still some deviation in the simulation of the daily mean temperature in the high terrains of the Tianshan, Kunlun, and Altai mountains. The model better simulates the daily minimum temperature than the daily maximum temperature. The simulation error is smallest in summer, followed by autumn and winter, and largest in spring. In terms of extreme temperature indices, the deviations are smaller for cold nights, warm nights, and the annual maximum daily minimum temperatures. Furthermore, the model can capture the increase in warm events and the decrease in cold events. Under different forcing scenarios, there is a general warming trend in Northwest China, with the greatest warming in Xinjiang.

In saline soil areas, there are a large number of ions in soil or water environments, such as Cl^- and SO₄^2-, which have strong corrosive interactions with buildings. To study the deterioration of non-dispersible underwater concrete in sulfate, chloride, and mixed salt environments, the compressive strength and deterioration resistance coefficient of the studied concrete mixed with different amounts of ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) were analyzed in this paper. At the same time, the micro morphology and corrosion products distribution of the studied concrete were observed by means of SEM, plus XRD diffraction, TG-DTG and FT-IR analyses to explore the influence of corrosive solutions on the hydration products of concrete. We also analyzed the mechanism of improving the deterioration resistance of the studied concrete by adding GGBS in a saline soil environment. The results show that the compressive strength of the studied concrete in a chloride environment was close to that in a fresh water environment, which means that chloride has no adverse effect on compressive strength. The deterioration of the studied concrete was most serious in a sulfate environment, followed by mixed salt environment, and the lowest in a chloride environment. In addition, by adding GGBS, the compressive strength and deterioration resistance of the studied concrete could be effectively improved.

Soil fungi play a key role in soil functional performance and ecological restoration. To understand the diversity and composition of culturable fungi in soils of Horqin Sandy Land, China, mobile dune, semi-fixed dune, fixed dune and sandy grassland were selected to investigate the soil fungal diversity using a traditional culture-dependent approach. ITS sequencing was applied to identify the fungal strains. The counts of culturable fungi increased significantly from mobile dune to sandy grassland along the gradient of sandy land restoration. The Shannon-Wiener, Simpson and Evenness indices of culturable fungi ranged from 1.26-1.71, 0.22-0.37 and 0.83-0.87, respectively. A total of 27 fungal strains were isolated using dilution plate cultural technique. The 27 fungal isolates were clustered into three groups: Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Mucoromycota at phylum level, indicating that Ascomycota was the dominant fungal phylum (88.9% of the total). The isolated fungi were grouped into 3 phyla, 5 classes, 6 orders, 11 families and 13 genera. The results show that culturable fungi were diverse in sandy land soils and fungal isolates have potential function in lipid turnover, cellulose degradation and ethanol, glucose and fatty acid production. Future studies should be carried out to explore their ecological and biological function for degraded sandy land restoration.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) stocks are usually calculated with samples collected using core samplers. Although the calculation considers the effects of gravel in soil samples, other coarse fragments such as stones or boulders in soil may not be collected due to the restricted diameter of core samplers. This would cause an incorrect estimation of soil bulk density and ultimately SOC and TN stocks. In this study, we compared the relative volume of coarse fragment and bulk density of fine earth determined by large size soil sampler with three core samplers. We also investigated the uncertainties in estimation of SOC and TN stocks caused by this soil sampler procedure in three typical alpine grasslands on the northeast edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), China. Results show that (1) the relative volume and size of coarse fragment collected by large size sampler were significantly (p <0.05) higher and larger than those of core samplers, while bulk density of fine earth, SOC and TN stocks show opposite patterns in all grassland types; (2) SOC and TN stocks determined by core samplers were 17%-45% and 18%-46% higher than larger size sampler for three typical alpine grasslands; and (3) bulk density of fine earth, SOC and TN stocks exponentially decreased with the increasing of coarse fragment content. We concluded that core sampler methods significantly underestimated the volume occupied by coarse fragment but overestimated SOC and TN stocks. Thus, corrections should be made to the results from core samplers using large size samplers on regions with gravel and stone-rich soils in future studies.

For most mountain glaciers, chemical components in snowfall are subject to the elution process under the influences of meltwater before they are preserved in ice, creating difficulties for interpreting ice core records. To understand the formation process of ice core records and analyze the influences of meteorological factors on the ice core resolution, we measured ion concentrations of snowpacks from 2003 to 2006 in the PGPI (Program for Glacier Processes Investigation) site of Urumqi Glacier No. 1. The ion concentration variation in snowpack exhibits apparent seasonality. In summer, the higher snowmelt rates due to air temperature rise intensify dilution and lead to an exponential decrease in ion concentrations as the accumulated positive temperature increases. In winter, the snow ion concentrations are stable and low as a result of reduced temperature and rare precipitation. Many ions from summer precipitation are leached out by meltwater, and only the precipitation that occurs at the end of the wet season can be preserved. Through tracking the evolution of magnesium ion peaks in the snowpack, it is concluded that the ice core resolution is one year on Urumqi Glacier No. 1, albeit 70% of the concentration information is lost.

Satellite remote sensing is widely used to estimate snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) which are two key parameters in global and regional climatic and hydrological systems. Remote sensing techniques for snow depth mainly include passive microwave remote sensing, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Interferometric SAR (InSAR) and Lidar. Among them, passive microwave remote sensing is the most efficient way to estimate large scale snow depth due to its long time series data and high temporal frequency. Passive microwave remote sensing was utilized to monitor snow depth starting in 1978 when Nimbus-7 satellite with Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) freely provided multi-frequency passive microwave data. SAR was found to have ability to detecting snow depth in 1980s, but was not used for satellite active microwave remote sensing until 2000. Satellite Lidar was utilized to detect snow depth since the later period of 2000s. The estimation of snow depth from space has experienced significant progress during the last 40 years. However, challenges or uncertainties still exist for snow depth estimation from space. In this study, we review the main space remote sensing techniques of snow depth retrieval. Typical algorithms and their principles are described, and problems or disadvantages of these algorithms are discussed. It was found that snow depth retrieval in mountainous area is a big challenge for satellite remote sensing due to complicated topography. With increasing number of freely available SAR data, future new methods combing passive and active microwave remote sensing are needed for improving the retrieval accuracy of snow depth in mountainous areas.

Solar energy is clean and renewable energy that plays an important role in mitigating impacts of environmental problems and climate change. Solar radiation received on the earth's surface determines the efficiency of power generation and the location and layout of photovoltaic arrays. In this paper, the average daily solar radiation of 77 stations in China from 1957 to 2016 was analyzed in terms of spatial and temporal characteristics. The results indicate that Xinjiang, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, North, Central and East China show a decreasing trend with an average of 2.54×10^-3 MJ/(m²?10a), while Northwest and Northeast China are basically stabilized, and Southwest China shows a clear increasing trend with an average increase of 1.79×10^-3 MJ/(m²?10a). The average daily solar radiation in summer and winter in China from 1957 to 2016 was 18.74 MJ/m² and 9.09 MJ/m², respectively. Except for spring in Northwest, East and South China, and summer in northeast China, the average daily solar radiation in all other regions show a downward trend. A critical point for the change is 1983 in the average daily solar radiation. Meanwhile, large-scale (25-30 years) oscillation changes are more obvious, while small-scale (5-10 years) changes are stable and have a global scope. The average daily solar radiation shows an increasing-decreasing gradient from west to east, which can be divided into three areas west of 80°E, 80°E-100°E and east of 100°E. The average daily solar radiation was 2.07 MJ/m² in the 1980s, and that in 1990s lower than that in the 1960s and the 1970s. The average daily solar radiation has rebounded in the 21st century, but overall it is still lower than the average daily solar radiation from 1957 to 2016 (13.87 MJ/m²).

Patterns in species geographic range size are relatively well-known for vertebrates, but still poorly known for plants. Contrasts of these patterns between groups have rarely been investigated. With a detailed flora and fauna distribution database of Xinjiang, China, we used regression methods, redundancy analysis and random forests to explore the relationship of environment and body size with the geographic range size of plants, mammals and birds in Xinjiang and contrast these patterns between plants and animals. We found positive correlations between species range size and body size. The range size of plants was more influenced by water variables, while that of mammals and birds was largely influenced by temperature variables. The productivity variable, i.e., Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) was far more correlated with range size than climatic variables for both plants and animals, suggesting that vegetation productivity inferred from remote sensing data may be a good predictor of species range size for both plants and animals.

Samples from the Horqin sandy land were exposed to a series of wind velocities, and sink particles were collected at the end of the diffusion section of a wind tunnel. Grain sizes of collected samples show great variation because of the granularity difference of the surface samples. The original samples show lower average content of SiO₂ and higher average content of Al₂O₃, Fe₂O₃, MgO, CaO, Na₂O, and K₂O than collected samples. Compared with other dust source areas in China, the Horqin sandy land had higher content of Zr, Ba, SiO₂, Al₂O₃ and K₂O. Compared with the average upper continental crust (UCC) composition, surface samples were rich in the content of Y, Zr, Nb, Ba, La, Nd. Geochemistry characteristics of fine grain components of the Horqin sandy land differ from those from other dust source regions, because fine-grained particles in the Horqin sandy land were mostly derived from various local deposits formed in its unique depositional environments influenced by several tectonic activities.

Potential of the Random Forest Model on mapping of different desertification processes was studied in Muttuma watershed of mid-Murrumbidgee river region of New South Wales, Australia. Desertification vulnerability index was developed using climate, terrain, vegetation, soil and land quality indices to identify environmentally sensitive areas for desertification. Random Forest Model (RFM) was used to predict the different desertification processes such as soil erosion, salinization and waterlogging in the watershed and the information needed to train classification algorithms was obtained from satellite imagery interpretation and ground truth data. Climatic factors (evaporation, rainfall, temperature), terrain factors (aspect, slope, slope length, steepness, and wetness index), soil properties (pH, organic carbon, clay and sand content) and vulnerability indices were used as an explanatory variable. Classification accuracy and kappa index were calculated for training and testing datasets. We recorded an overall accuracy rate of 87.7% and 72.1% for training and testing sites, respectively. We found larger discrepancies between overall accuracy rate and kappa index for testing datasets (72.2% and 27.5%, respectively) suggesting that all the classes are not predicted well. The prediction of soil erosion and no desertification process was good and poor for salinization and water-logging process. Overall, the results observed give a new idea of using the knowledge of desertification process in training areas that can be used to predict the desertification processes at unvisited areas.

This study presents a numerical method based on the surface temperature data and the ground temperature increase in Daqing for predicting temperature field distribution in the Binzhou Railway subgrade and analyzing the temporal and spatial distribution of freeze-thaw status of railway subgrade. The calibrated numerical method is applied to simulate the temperature field distribution and roadbed vibrational response of the railway subgrade with a thermal insulation layer at different seasons. The results show the following: (1) The thermal insulation layer can remarkably increase the soil temperature below it and maximum frost depth in the subgrade. (2) Thermal insulation can effectively reduce the subgrade vibration and protect it from frost damage. (3) Given that the strength requirements are met, the insulation layer should be buried as shallow as possible to effectively reduce the subgrade vibration response. The research findings provide theoretical support for the frost damage prevention of railway subgrades in seasonally frozen regions.

The behavior and fates of environmental pollutants within the cryosphere and the associated environmental impacts are of increasing concerns in the context of global warming. The Tibetan Plateau (TP), also known as the "Third Pole", represents one of the most important cryospheric regions in the world. Mercury (Hg) is recognized as a global pollutant. Here, we summarize the current knowledge of Hg concentration levels, pools and spatio-temporal distribution in cryospheric environments (e.g., glacier, permafrost), and its transfer and potential cycle in the TP cryospheric region. Transboundary transport of anthropogenic Hg from the surrounding heavily-polluted regions, such as South and Southeast Asia, provides significant sources of atmospheric Hg depositions onto the TP cryosphere. We concluded that the melting of the cryosphere on the TP represents an increasing source of Hg and brings a risk to the TP environment. In addition, global warming acts as an important catalyst accelerating the release of legacy Hg from the melting cryosphere, adversely impacting ecosystems and biological health. Furthermore, we emphasize on the remaining gaps and proposed issues needed to be addressed in future work, including enhancing our knowledge on some key release pathways and the related environmental effects of Hg in the cryospheric region, integrated observation and consideration of Hg distribution, migration and cycle processes at a key region, and uses of Hg isotopic technical and Hg models to improve the understanding of Hg cycling in the TP cryospheric region.

In this study, a systematic survey of cultural airborne fungi was carried out in the occurrence environments of wall paintings that are preserved in the Tiantishan Grottoes and the Western Xia Museum, China. A bio-aerosol sampler was used for sampling in four seasons in 2016. Culture-dependent and -independent methods were taken to acquire airborne fungal concentration and purified strains; by the extraction of genomic DNA, amplification of fungal ITS rRNA gene region, sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis, thereafter the fungal community composition and distribution characteristics of different study sites were clarified. We disclosure the main environmental factors which may be responsible for dynamic changes of airborne fungi at the sampling sites. The concentration of cultural airborne fungi was in a range from 13 to 1,576 CFU/m³, no significant difference between the two sites at the Tiantishan Grottoes, with obvious characteristics of seasonal variation, in winter and spring were higher than in summer and autumn. Also, there was a significant difference in fungal concentration between the inside and outside of the Western Xia Museum, the outside of the museum was far more than the inside of the museum in the four seasons, particularly in the winter. Eight fungal genera were detected, including Cladosporium, Penicillium, Alternaria, and Filobasidium as the dominant groups. The airborne fungal community structures of the Tiantishan Grottoes show a distinct characteristic of seasonal variation and spatial distribution. Relative humidity, temperature and seasonal rainfall influence airborne fungal distribution. Some of the isolated strains have the potential to cause biodeterioration of ancient wall paintings. This study provides supporting information for the pre-warning conservation of cultural relics that are preserved at local sites and inside museums.

In semi-arid areas of China, gravel and sand mulch is a farming technique with a long history. In this study, a sample survey was conducted on long term gravel sand mulch observational fields in the Northwest Loess Plateau to determine the effects of long term mulch on soil microbial and soil enzyme activities. We found that after long term gravel-sand mulch, compared with bare ground, soil organic matter, alkali nitrogen, conductivity decreased, while pH and soil moisture increased. Urease, saccharase and catalase decreased with increased mulch thickness, while alkaline phosphatase was reversed. The results of Illumina MiSeq sequencing shows that after gravel-sand mulch, the bacterial and fungal community structure was different from bare land, and the diversity was reduced. Compared with bare land, the bacteria Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria abundance increased with increased thickness, and Actinobacteria was opposite. Also, at the fungal genus level, Fusarium abundance was significantly reduced, and Remersonia was significantly increased, compared with bare land. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that soil environmental factors were important drivers of bacterial community changes. Overall, this study revealed some of the reasons for soil degradation after long term gravel-sand mulch. Therefore, it is recommended that the addition of exogenous soil nutrients after long term gravel-sand can help improve soil quality.

In order to test whether the relationship between climate and the radial growth of trees is affected by altitude, altitude variability and time stability of climate-influenced radial growth of a dominant conifer, Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis), in the eastern Qilian Mountains were studied against the background of climate change using dendrochronology. Results show that 1) droughts at the end of the growing season of last year and during the early and middle growing season of the current year were the main limiting factors for the radial growth of Chinese pine at two altitude gradients; this was determined by analyzing the relationship between tree-ring width chronologies and climate factors. 2) The sensitivity of the radial growth of trees to climate change gradually decreased and was affected more by drought stress at a lower altitude. 3) An unstable divergence response was observed in the radial growth at the two altitudes, in response to controlling climatic factors; this observation was based on the moving correlation analysis of growth/climate relationships, and the aggravation of drought stress caused by increasing temperature was the main reason. 4) The growth rate of Chinese pine at the two altitudes increased at first and then decreased, as measured by basal area increment (BAI) modeling. Future temperature rises may have significant effects on mountain forest ecosystems in arid and semi-arid regions. Effective management and protection measures should be taken, according to the response patterns of trees to climate change at different altitude gradients.

The satellite-based water vapor stable isotope measurements have been widely used in modern hydrological and atmospheric studies. Their use is important for arid areas where the precipitation events are limited, and below-cloud evaporation is strong. This study presents the spatial and temporal characteristics of water vapor isotopologue across the Tianshan Mountains in arid central Asia using the NASA Aura Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES). The near-surface water vapor stable isotopes are enriched in summer and depleted in winter, consistent with the seasonality of precipitation isotopes. From the surface to 200 hPa, the isotope values in water vapor show a decreasing trend as the atmospheric pressure decreases and elevation rises. The vapor isotope values in the lower atmosphere in the southern basin of the Tianshan Mountains are usually higher than that in the northern basin, and the seasonal difference in vapor isotopes is slightly more significant in the southern basin. In addition, bottom vapor isotopologue in summer shows a depletion trend from west to east, consistent with the rainout effect of the westerly moisture path in central Asia. The isotopic signature provided by the TES is helpful to understand the moisture transport and below-cloud processes influencing stable water isotopes in meteoric water.

High-precision measuring of glacier evolution remains a challenge as the available global and regional remote sensing techniques cannot satisfactorily capture the local-scale processes of most small- and medium-sized mountain glaciers. In this study, we use a high-precision local remote sensing technique, long-range terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), to measure the evolution of Urumqi Glacier No.1 at an annual scale. We found that the dense point clouds derived from the TLS survey can be used to reconstruct glacier surface terrain, with certain details, such as depressions, debris-covered areas, and supra-glacial drainages can be distinguished. The glacier experienced pronounced thickness thinning and continuous retreat over the last four mass-balance years (2015-2019). The mean surface slope of Urumqi Glacier No.1 gradually steepened, which may increase the removal of glacier mass. The glacier was deeply incised by two very prominent primary supra-glacial rivers, and those rivers presented a widening trend. Extensive networks of supra-glacial channels had a significant impact on accelerated glacier mass loss. High-precision measuring is of vital importance to understanding the annual evolution of this type of glacier.