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Research Article Open Access
Research Progress and Prospects of Plant-Based Microclimate Creation in Outdoor Spaces
​Under the dual background of intensified urban heat island effect and upgraded demand for living environment quality, the regulatory effect of plants on outdoor microclimate has become a research hotspot in the fields of landscape architecture and urban ecology. This article takes the creation of microclimate by outdoor plants as the research core, adopts the method of literature review, sorts out relevant research results at home and abroad, and analyzes the problems in current research, such as the lack of systematic explanation of regulatory mechanisms, fragmented research on community structure driving effects, and disconnection between research and practice. The existing research methods have gradually evolved from traditional field observations to numerical simulations and multi technology integration, but there are still limitations such as difficulty in scale conversion and insufficient evaluation of long-term effects. This article preliminarily explores the coupling relationship between plant community structure and microclimate effects, and proposes that in the future, collaborative benefit research should be carried out around the "dual carbon" goal to promote intelligent and dynamic plant microclimate creation design and monitoring system construction. Plants achieve microclimate regulation through a dual process of thermodynamics and fluid mechanics. The vertical structure, horizontal pattern, and individual plant morphological characteristics of the community are the core elements determining the regulation efficiency. Research provides theoretical reference for the scientific configuration of outdoor space plants and microclimate optimization design, and has important practical significance for improving the quality of urban living environment.
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Evaluation of Green Space Ecological Service Value and Ecological Pattern Optimization in Xi'an Daming Palace Relic Park
As a complex space that integrates historical culture and ecological functions, the assessment of green space ecosystem service values and the optimization of spatial patterns in urban heritage parks are key issues for the coordinated development of urban ecological construction and cultural heritage conservation. Taking Xi'an Daming Palace Relic Park as the study area, this paper adopts remote sensing interpretation, GIS spatial analysis, the equivalent factor method, landscape metrics, and the minimum cumulative resistance model to systematically evaluate four categories of ecosystem services---supply, regulation, support, and culture---provided by the park's green spaces. It also analyzes the current status and core problems of the ecological pattern and proposes targeted optimization strategies. The results show that the total ecosystem service value of green spaces in Daming Palace Relic Park exhibits strong spatial heterogeneity, with cultural and regulatory services as the main contributors. The park's green spaces face issues such as patch fragmentation, insufficient corridor connectivity, and unbalanced structural composition. Accordingly, optimization strategies are put forward from four aspects: core patch improvement, ecological corridor construction, green space structure adjustment, and coordinated layout of heritage and ecological zones. After optimization, the ecosystem service values of the park's green spaces are expected to rise significantly, and the rationality of the ecological pattern and compatibility with heritage conservation will be effectively enhanced. This study provides a practical basis for ecological protection and sustainable management of Daming Palace Relic Park, and also offers a reference for evaluating ecosystem service values and optimizing spatial patterns in similar urban heritage parks.
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Impacts of Aerosol and Cloud Radiative Interactions on Surface Shortwave Radiation Changes over China from 2001 to 2025
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Surface shortwave radiation (SSR) is an important part of the surface energy budget. It is closely linked to climate change, ecosystem change, and the use of solar energy resources. In China, SSR changes in a complex way. Its temporal changes and spatial distribution are quite different across regions. Previous studies have shown that clouds and aerosols are key factors that affect SSR in China. But their relative roles in different regions and periods are still not fully clear. Using CERES-SYN satellite observation data, this study examined the spatiotemporal changes in SSR over China from 2001 to 2025. It also assessed the relative effects of clouds and aerosols on SSR changes. The results show that high SSR values mainly occur in northwestern China and on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. By contrast, SSR values are generally lower in the southeastern coastal regions. In terms of temporal change, SSR showed clear period-based features during the study period. A marked shift occurred around 2013. From 2001 to 2013, SSR generally increased in most parts of China. In the northwestern plateau region and the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, changes in SSR were highly consistent with cloud changes. From 2014 to 2025, SSR changes in the northwestern and southwestern plateau regions remained closely related to cloud changes. In the eastern and southern coastal regions, SSR changes were more closely linked to aerosol changes. In general, clouds and aerosols affect SSR changes in different ways across regions and periods. Their combined effects have shaped the regional features of SSR change in China. These findings may also offer a useful basis for later studies on regional climate and solar energy resource assessment.
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A Current Status and Prospects of CRISPR/Cas9 Technology in Rice Genetic Improvement
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Food security is a fundamental strategic issue concerning the survival and development of the global population. With the continuous growth of the population, the continuous reduction of cultivated land resources, the frequent occurrence of extreme climates, and the rampant spread of pests and diseases, various factors restricting food production have become increasingly prominent, and the urgency of rice genetic improvement has also grown more intense. As the most promising gene editing technology at present, CRISPR/Cas9 technology has obvious advantages such as simple operation, high specificity and low cost. It has achieved breakthrough results in many fields of rice genetic improvement, including yield improvement, quality improvement, stress resistance enhancement, and research related to apomixis. This paper systematically sorts out the application status of CRISPR/Cas9 technology in rice genetic improvement, carefully analyzes the problems and challenges existing in the practical application of this technology, such as off-target effects and heterogeneity of editing efficiency, and also discusses its future development directions in technical optimization and integrated application. The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical reference and practical guidance for the further promotion and application of this technology in rice molecular breeding, promote the innovative development of rice genetic improvement technology, and ultimately help alleviate the contradiction between food supply and demand and ensure global food security.
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Grid-Scale Ecological Security Assessment of a Semi-Arid Inland River Basin Using a DPSIR-CRITIC Framework
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Ecological security assessment is needed to identify degradation risk in arid and semi-arid inland river basins where water availability, grassland condition and human disturbance are tightly coupled. This study developed a 1 km grid-scale ecological security index for the Wulagai River Basin in northern China by integrating a DPSIR indicator system with the CRITIC objective weighting method. Twenty-three indicators covering driving force, pressure, state, impact and response dimensions were harmonized for seven benchmark years from 1990 to 2020 at five-year intervals. The results show that ecological security followed a fluctuating downward trajectory, with persistent west-low and east-high spatial differentiation. The strongest decline occurred during 1990-2005, and low-security areas remained concentrated in the western basin and around Gaobi. The state layer contributed the largest share of total weight, followed by pressure and impact indicators, indicating that vegetation condition, water-related ecosystem services and landscape fragmentation jointly shaped ecological security. The framework provides a transferable approach for long-term ecological monitoring and restoration-oriented management in data-limited grassland inland river basins.
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Information Fusion and Application Analysis of Multi-Source Precipitation Data in Qinghai under Complex Topography
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Precipitation is a key parameter for regional water resources and ecological environment.The Qinghai Plateau is highly sensitive to global climate change due to its special location,complex atmospheric circulation and underlying surface features.As the"Third Pole"of the Earth,its precipitation plays a crucial role in regional river water supply and ecological regulation.However,observation stations on the Qinghai Plateau is sparse,and precipitation data is extremely scarce.This has pose huge challenges to hydrology,water resources,and disaster warning research.This study first evaluate GPM precipitation products on the Qinghai Plateau at different temporal and spatial scales based on"true value"ground station data.Then it fuse the accuracy of daily precipitation at measured stations from precipitation amount,rainy day frequency and probability distribution to correct its bias.
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