Seven approaches to research in socio-ecological practice & five insights from the RWC-Schön-Stokes model.

In this review article, I examine seven commonly used approaches to research in socio-ecological practice and share insights about their defining characteristics, similarities, differences and connections. I derived these approaches and gained insights through the RWC-Schön-Stokes model, a theoretical framework for codifying, tabulating, examining and comparing multiple ways of methodical knowing in socio-ecological systems. For this reason, I begin with an introduction of the model and, in a chronological order, provide a review of its association with three intellectual ancestors: the Bush linear model (1945), the Stokes quadrant model (1997) and the Schön-Stokes model (2017).

"The trouble", its maker, and Yang Gui's confidence in "taming the troublemaker" with a 1962 bilateral agreement.

On August 15, 1962, an agreement was signed by the representatives of the Red Flag Canal users from two counties in China. Since then, it has enabled people from both counties to share canal benefits, and as such ably become a cornerstone for a peaceful canal culture between the two peoples. The agreement and its making process were both initiated by Yang Gui (), the top leader of one of the two counties who masterminded the Red Flag Canal project. In explaining his motivation, Yang Gui stated, "We are building the Red Flag Canal for posterity; we must do everything we can to save posterity the trouble." However, just what "the trouble" he perceived was, who the troublemaker he thought would be, and why he was confident that a bilateral agreement could serve the noble goal "to save posterity the trouble", Yang Gui did not say, neither did he leave any record. In this article, we report our aspiration and endeavor to fill this knowledge gap, and present fresh discoveries and insights we derived from examining this instance through a CPR lens-an eclectic collection of economic constructs of common-pool resources (CPRs). The article is the fourth in a mini-series on the Red Flag Canal, one of the best kept secrets in the history of socio-ecological practice.

In fighting common threats, people's deep commitment to taking collective action matters: examples from China's COVID-19 battle and her other combats.

In fighting against common threats to human survival and well-being, be they from natural disaster or human conflict, people's commitment to taking collective action matters and can make a huge or even decisive difference. Throughout human history, there is a myriad of powerful examples from around the world in which people's deep commitment to taking collective action changed the course of combat against common threats. These examples are invaluable heritages that belong to the entire humanity. At this critical juncture in human history, they can help cultivate a greater sense of optimism among all the people in the world both in the present fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. To this end, in this showcase article, we present examples of this kind from China's ongoing COVID-19 battle, and from two of her many historical combats.

Why was Tao Lujia so willing and swift to greenlight the Red Flag Canal Project in 1960? New insights via a lens of compassion practice.

In an extraordinarily willing and swift fashion, the top leader of Shanxi Province in China, Tao Lujia [, (1917-2011)], gave permission to the Red Flag Canal Project in 1960. Why was he so willing and swift to greenlight a project that would divert water from his home province to benefit the people in a neighbor province? We explored this question through a bipartite investigation. First, we dug into the empirical literature, the literature based on experience and/or observation, in search of his motivations for the action. Second, for a more systematic, deeper understanding, we examined the instance via a lens of compassion practice, an eclectic collection of theoretical constructs on compassion practice through which one can examine an individual's behavior and performance for new insights. This article reports the second part of our research. It is a sequel to Why was Tao Lujia so willing and swift to greenlight the Red Flag Canal Project in 1960? The instance and his motivations which reports the first part of our research and is also published in this journal. Both articles are part of the SEPR mini-series on the Red Flag Canal, one of the best kept secrets in the world history of socio-ecological practice.

The Red Flag Canal: a socio-ecological practice miracle from serendipity, through impossibility, to reality.

This showcase article presents a 50-year-old, 1500-km-long irrigation canal in China as an exemplary case of socio-ecological practice. With a focus on its genesis, the article is the first of a mini-series on one of the best kept secrets in the history of socio-ecological practice.

Why was Tao Lujia so willing and swift to greenlight the Red Flag Canal Project in 1960? The instance and his motivations.

In an extraordinarily willing and swift fashion, the top leader of Shanxi Province in China, Tao Lujia [, (1917-2011)], gave permission to the Red Flag Canal project in 1960. Why was he so willing and swift to greenlight a project that would divert water from his home province to benefit the people in a neighbor province? We explored this question through a bipartite investigation. First, we dug into the empirical literature, the literature based on experience and/or observation, in search of his motivations for the action. Second, for a more systematic, deeper understanding, we examined the instance via a lens of compassion practice, an eclectic collection of theoretical constructs on compassion practice through which one can examine an individual's behavior and performance for new insights. This article reports the first part of our research. Its sequel Why was Tao Lujia so willing and swift to greenlight the Red Flag Canal Project in 1960? New insights via a lens of compassion practice reports the second part and is also published in this journal. Both articles are part of the SEPR mini-series on the Red Flag Canal, one of the best kept secrets in the world history of socio-ecological practice.

Conserving biodiversity takes a plan: How planners implement ecological information for biodiversity conservation.

Conserving biodiversity is critical to the sustainability of human settlements, and stands to benefit from collaboration between ecologists focused on understanding natural systems and planners balancing social, environmental, and economic priorities. Drawing from the socially-situated definition of 'sustainability', we sought to understand the relationship between ecologists and planners by probing how planners in the southeastern US prioritize and engage with biodiversity conservation and ecological information, and how context influences these decisions. We find that context matters, e.g., higher jurisdictional population density was positively associated with prioritizing tree cover and diversity. We find, also, that while biodiversity conservation and ecological information are valuable to planners, planners rely heavily on their colleagues to inform conservation-related activities and prioritize conservation topics that differ from ecological research foci. Improved communication by ecologists and context-specific transdisciplinary sustainability research, especially that which incorporates the primary role of elected officials in biodiversity conservation, may help to integrate ecological science and planning practice.

[Influencing factors of non-point source pollution of watershed based on boosted regression tree algorithm.] / åŸºäºŽå¢žå¼ºå›žå½’æ ‘çš„æµåŸŸéžç‚¹æºæ±¡æŸ“å½±å“å› å­åˆ†æž.

Non-point source (NPS) pollution has become a key water pollution problem under the condition of point source pollution was controlled. The complexity and uncertainty research of NPS pollution influential factors has always been important and difficult. This paper simulated NPS pollution of the Fanhe River watershed in 2003-2012 by the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) and analyzed its spatial distribution. Meanwhile, the boosted regression tree (BRT) method was proposed to quantitatively analyze the corresponding influential factors including land use, soil, elevation and slope. The results showed that NPS pollution in the Fanhe River watershed had high spatial heterogeneity. The spatial distribution of total nitrogen (TN) had greater difference than that of total phosphorus (TP). The three pollutants, TN, TP and sediment, were all positively related to slope gradients (P<0.01). The slope gradients played the strongest role in determining the sediment and TP output with the contribution rate of 46.5% and 38.2%, respectively. Land use had important influence on sediment and TP loads, with the contribution rate of 27.2% and 35.3%, respectively. TN was produced abundantly in low-elevation and steep-slope locations and with cultivated land use. Cinnamon soil was most vulnerable to the TN load while meadow soil took the second place in terms of soil erosion and TP load. The paper overcame the complexity of influential factors for NPS pollution by BRT, and deepened the understanding of NPS pollution mechanism.

[Optimization and evaluation of key photosynthesis parameters in forest ecosystems based on FLUXNET data and VPM model.] / 基于FLUXNET观测数据与VPMæ¨¡åž‹çš„æ£®æž—ç”Ÿæ€ç³»ç»Ÿå ‰åˆä½œç”¨å ³é”®å‚æ•°ä¼˜åŒ–åŠéªŒè¯.

Gross primary productivity (GPP) plays an important role in global carbon cycle. Vegetation maximum light use efficiency (Δmax) is the key parameter for GPP simulation of terrestrial ecosystem. Based on the vegetation photosynthesis model (VPM) and the eddy covariance flux data at 40 stations from FLUXNET (179 site-years of data), we identified the key model parameters influencing the simulation of GPP with VPM through one-at-a-time (OAT) method. The cross validation method was employed to optimize the key model parameters and evaluate the model perfor-mance for global forest ecosystems. The results showed that the prediction of GPP was mostly affec-ted by Δmax, maximum temperature for photosynthesis (Tmax), and optimum temperature for photosynthesis (Topt). There were distinguishable differences for the key optimized parameters among different forest ecosystems. The optimized Δmax ranged from 0.05 to 0.08 µmol CO2·µmol-1 PAR (evergreen broad-leaved forest>evergreen coniferous forest>mixed forest>deciduous broad-leaved forest). The optimized Tmax ranged from 38 to 48 ℃,while Topt ranged from 18 to 22 ℃. With the optimized key parameters based on ecosystem types, the VPM was able to simulate the seasonal and inter-annual variations of GPP in four forest ecosystems.

[Near surface CO2 concentration and its quantitative relationship with character of underlying surface in Shanghai City, China].

Land use change and fossil fuel combustion due to urbanization have a significant effect on global carbon cycle and climate change. It's important to have an explicit understanding of the spatial distribution of CO2 to recognize and control GHG emission, which is helpful to reduce human-induced contribution to global climate change. The study area of this project was set in the city of Shanghai with intensive human activity and rapid urbanization. The monitoring of near surface CO2 concentration along 3 transects was conducted across an urban-rural gradient by means of near infrared gas analyzer Li-840A in spring, 2014. Remote sensing data were also used to derive underlying surface information. Further quantitative analysis of the mechanism of CO2 concentration's response to the characteristics of underlying surface was presented in this paper. The results showed that the average near surface CO2 concentration was (443.4±22.0) µmol . mol-1. CO2 concentration in city center was in average 12.5% (52.5 µLmol . mol-1) higher than that in the suburban area. Also, CO2 concentration showed a significant spatial differentiation, with the highest CO2 concentration in the northwest, the second highest in the southwest, and the lowest in the southeast, which was in accordance with the urbanization level of the underlying surface. The results revealed that the vegetation coverage rate (CVeg) was an important indicator to describe near surface CO2 concentration with a negative correlation, and the impervious surface area coverage rate (CISA) had lower explanatory power with a positive correlation. The study also found that the determination coefficient (R2) between CO2 concentration (CCO2) and CISA or CVeg achieved its highest value when the buffer distance was 5 km, and their quantitative relationships be described by a stepwise regression equation: CCO2=0.32CISA-0.89CVeg+445.13 (R2 =0.66, P<0.01).

[Spatiotemporal pattern of carbon sources and sinks in Yangtze River Delta region, China].

Yangtze River Delta region is the world's sixth and China's largest urban agglomeration. Its rapid and massive urbanization has also caused a series of ecological and environmental impacts. This paper accounted the inventory of carbon sources and sinks in Yangtze River Delta region during 1995-2010 and analyzed their spatiotemporal patterns. It was found that the carbon sinks increased by 9.43 million tons from 1995 to 2010, in which forest ecosystem net production in Zhejiang Province was the largest contributor. The "grain for green" policy implemented since 2003 in China played a significant role in increasing the forest area and the carbon sinks. The carbon sources increased by 327 million tons, and energy consumption and industrial processes based emissions accounted for 96% of total carbon sources in 2010. Due to the large share of manufacturing and heavy industries in economy and their dependence on the high carbon intensity energy, either the amount or the growth speed of carbon emissions in Jiangsu Province was the top one in the whole region. Moreover, because the growth speed of net carbon emissions that occurred upon the built-up land was much faster than the sprawl speed of urban built-up land, the net carbon emission intensity kept increasing in the whole region, in which Jiangsu Province demonstrated the fastest increase.

Potential for nutrient removal by integrated remediation methods in a eutrophicated artificial lake - a case study in Dishui Lake, Lingang New City, China.

A new integrated water remediation technology, including a floating bed, a buffer zone of floating plants, enclosed 'water hyacinth' purification, economic aquatic plants and near-shore aquatic plant purification, was used in Dishui Lake to improve its water quality. A channel of 1,000 m length and 30 m width was selected to implement pilot-scale experiments both in the static period and the continuous water diversion period. The results showed that the new integrated water remediation technology exhibited the highest removal rate for permanganate index in a static period, which achieved 40.6%. The average removal rates of total nitrogen (TN), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and total phosphorus (TP) in a static period were 23.2, 21.6 and 19.1%, respectively. However, it did not exhibit an excellent removal rate for pollutants in the continuous water diversion period. The average removal rates for all pollutants were below 10%. In winter, the new integrated remediation technology showed efficient effects compared to others. The average removal rate for CODMn, TN, NH3-N and TP were 7, 5.3, 7.6 and 6.5%, respectively. Based on our results, the new integrated water remediation technology was highly efficient as a purification system, especially during the static period in winter.

[Quantitative analysis of the built-up area expansion in Su-Xi-Chang region, China].

Based on RS-derived maps and socio-economic statistics, this paper analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamic pattern and driving mechanism of built-up area expansion in Su-Xi-Chang region from 1990 to 2010. 3S-based spatial analysis techniques were used, landscape expansion indices were calculated, and multiple stepwise regression models were also used. In the past 20 years, the built-up area had experienced rapid-moderate-accelerating expansion stages, which was strongly affected by the national development strategies and policies regarding land use. During the study period, the built-up area had increased by 2218.9 km2 mainly due to the encroaching from paddy field, dryland and artificial ponds. From 1990-1995, the pattern of built-up area expansion was dominated by the infilling and edge-expansion type; from 1995-2000, the outlying-type had overplayed infilling and edge-expansion types due to policy restrictions on the latter; after 2000, the outlying-type growth had decreased by a large extent, whereas the infilling mode had increased dramatically, which resulted in the spatially compact pattern of the newly built-up area. The increase of urban population and the boom of regional economy were the major driving forces of built-up area expansion. The study implied that improvements were urgently needed in land management system and high-efficiency use of cropland. Promoting the compact development of built-up area was also crucial for striving toward regional sustainability.