Assessment of the green development level for participating countries in the Belt and Road initiative.

Green Belt and Road development has gradually become a global consensus, and the quantitative assessment of the green development level constitutes the basis for building a green Belt and Road high-quality development path in practice. In this paper, the Belt and Road Green development index (BRGI) was proposed in three dimensions, i.e., green nature, green economy and green society, to evaluate the green development spatial and temporal characteristics of the 80 participating countries in the Belt and Road Initiative from 2010 to 2018, and based on the quadrant method, green development cooperation model was established. The results showed: (1) In 2018,the average BRGI of participating countries is 54.38, and more than half of the countries have not reached the average level; From a regional perspective, the green development level in Europe is the highest, followed by Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, and it is the lowest in South Asia and Africa. (2) At the considered time scale, the green development level in the Belt and Road participation countries has been increased from 2010 to 2018. (3) The green Belt and Road development cooperation modes can be divided into the all-round high-level energy attraction cooperation model, systematic win-win cooperation model for the whole field, three-dimensional refined empowerment cooperation model and multilevel high-trust cooperation. According to the different cooperation modes, the study also provides policy recommendations to promote for green development.

Evaluating the ecological benefits of plantations in arid areas from the perspective of ecosystem service supply and demand-based on emergy analysis.

Plantations can significantly improve the ecological environment of arid areas. However, in the arid area of Northwestern China, plantations consume several thousand cubic meters of water per hectare per year, which also has a negative effect. By evaluating the relationship between the supply and demand of ecosystem services, the positive and negative benefits of plantations can be effectively identified for regional sustainable development. This study took typical arid regions as examples and evaluated the changes in ecosystem services before and after the conversion of a desert shrub system to a plantation system based on emergy analysis. The relationship between the supply and demand of various ecosystem services from different stakeholder perspectives was investigated and combined with the degree of ecosystem service demand obtained from the participatory survey. Results showed the following. (1) The ecosystem services provided by vegetation increased, the ecosystem services provided by water resources decreased, and the total service decreased by 6.89E+17 sej. (2) The relationship between the supply and demand of ecosystem services provided by water resources was of the "low-high" type. Dust purification was of the "high-high" type, and carbon sequestration and soil conservation were of the "high-low" type. (3) From the perspective of citizens, the matching degrees of the supply and demand of dust purification and soil conservation services were 21.75% and 9.38% higher than those of farmers, respectively. From the perspective of farmers, the matching degrees of the supply and demand of water supply, water purification, power supply and sediment transport, and carbon sequestration were 9.90%, 10.96%, 3.22%, and 18.28% higher than those of citizens, respectively. In summary, attention should be given to the efficient use and conservation of water resources and the promotion of the coordinated development of ecosystem services by comparing the differences in matching degrees of supply and demand among different stakeholders when constructing plantations. Meanwhile, the distribution of water resources should be given attention to protect the water demand of citizens in a targeted manner for effectively improving the level of regional well-being.

Responses of soil respiration to soil management changes in an agropastoral ecotone in Inner Mongolia, China.

Studying the responses of soil respiration (Rs) to soil management changes is critical for enhancing our understanding of the global carbon cycle and has practical implications for grassland management. Therefore, the objectives of this study were (1) quantify daily and seasonal patterns of Rs, (2) evaluate the influence of abiotic factors on Rs, and (3) detect the effects of soil management changes on Rs. We hypothesized that (1) most of daily and seasonal variation in Rs could be explained by soil temperature (Ts) and soil water content (Sw), (2) soil management changes could significantly affect Rs, and (3) soil management changes affected Rs via the significant change in abiotic and biotic factors. In situ Rs values were monitored in an agropastoral ecotone in Inner Mongolia, China, during the growing seasons in 2009 (August to October) and 2010 (May to October). The soil management changes sequences included free grazing grassland (FG), cropland (CL), grazing enclosure grassland (GE), and abandoned cultivated grassland (AC). During the growing season in 2010, cumulative Rs for FG, CL, GE, and AC averaged 265.97, 344.74, 236.70, and 226.42 gC m-2 year-1, respectively. The Ts and Sw significantly influenced Rs and explained 66%-86% of the variability in daily Rs. Monthly mean temperature and precipitation explained 78%-96% of the variability in monthly Rs. The results clearly showed that Rs was increased by 29% with the conversion of FG to CL and decreased by 35% and 11% with the conversion of CL to AC and FG to GE. The factors impacting the change in Rs under different soil management changes sequences varied. Our results confirm the tested hypotheses. The increase in Q10 and litter biomass induced by conversion of FG to GE could lead to increased Rs if the climate warming. We suggest that after proper natural restoration period, grasslands should be utilized properly to decrease Rs.