TY - JOUR A1 - Shi, Lei A1 - Halik, Ümüt A1 - Abliz, Abdulla A1 - Mamat, Zulpiya A1 - Welp, Martin T1 - Urban Green Space Accessibility and Distribution Equity in an Arid Oasis City: Urumqi, China JF - Forests N2 - Urban green space (UGS) is crucial to the healthy development of urban residents. However, UGS that is accessible can benefit residents to an even greater degree. Based on the two-step floating catchment area model (2SFCA) and the location quotient (LQ), we analyzed the changes from 1999 to 2019 in UGS walking accessibility and equity in built-up areas of Urumqi at different administrative levels, and how UGS policy affects the improvement of accessibility. The results showed that UGS accessibility and equity are not evenly distributed at different administrative levels and UGS categories. Although the overall UGS accessibility and equity has improved with policy implementation, these changes are caused by metro-level UGS construction in urban fringe areas. The improvement in UGS accessibility at the neighborhood level in densely populated areas is neglected, which leads to a mismatch between UGS construction and population distribution. In addition, the accessibility of UGS is also limited by geographical location, population density, road distribution, and water shortage in arid metropolitan Urumqi. Our research results provide a theoretical basis for Urumqi and other cities in the optimization of UGS structure and the realization of social equity. KW - oasis city KW - urban green space (UGS) KW - two-step gloating catchment area method (2SFCA) KW - accessibility KW - inequality KW - UGS policy Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2385 SN - 1999-4907 VL - 11 IS - 6 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Missall, Siegmund A1 - Abliz, Abdulla A1 - Halik, Ümüt A1 - Thevs, Niels A1 - Welp, Martin T1 - Trading Natural Riparian Forests for Urban Shelterbelt Plantations—A Sustainability Assessment of the Kökyar Protection Forest in NW China JF - Water N2 - Cities at the fringe of the Taklimakan desert in NW China are prone to dust and sand storms with serious consequences for human well-being. The Kökyar Protection Forest was established in the 1980s as an ecological engineering project with the intent of protecting the city of Aksu, NW China, from these impacts. It is designed as a combination of poplar shelterbelts and orchards, irrigated by river water from the Aksu River, the main tributary of the Tarim River. Prevalent literature describes it as an afforestation project for combatting desertification with manifold positive effects for the economic, social, and environmental dimension of sustainable development. This paper sets out to challenge these claims by a sustainability assessment in which the plantation is examined from a broader perspective, embedding it to the wider context of social and environmental problems in South Xinjiang. Methods comprise evapotranspiration calculations, interviews, a socioeconomic household survey, stakeholder dialogues, and literature research. Results affirm its economic sustainability, but see a mixed record for the social sphere. From the nature conservation point of view, it has to be classified as unsustainable because its high irrigation water consumption results in the downstream desiccation and desertification of natural riparian forests along the Tarim River, causing a forest loss in the downstream area twice the size of the forest gain in the upstream area. There is a trade-off between artificial shelterbelt plantations for urban ecosystem services on the one hand side, and natural riparian forests and their biodiversity on the other hand side. The paper recommends restricting agricultural extension, and using locally adapted less water consuming agroforestry schemes to protect urban dwellers from dust stress. KW - Central Asia; Tarim River; shelterbelt; Tugai; desertification; sustainability; afforestation; ecosystem services; ecological engineering Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-5022 SN - 2073-4441 IS - 10(3) ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wei, Zhicheng A1 - Halik, Ümüt A1 - Aishan, Tayierjiang A1 - Abliz, Abdulla A1 - Welp, Martin T1 - Spatial distribution patterns of trunk internal decay of Euphrates poplar riparian forest along the Tarim River, northwest China JF - Forest Ecology and Management N2 - Trunk internal decay is a common phenomenon in forest ecosystems, causing the loss of forest resources. Euphrates poplar (Populus euphratica Oliv.) is the only constructive tree species of the desert riparian forests along the Tarim River in northwestern China. The ecosystem stability of these forests has been damaged due to widespread internal decay or hollow rot in many tree trunks. However, forest resource conservation is difficult due to the unclear spatial patterns of P. euphratica trunk decay under different water conditions and tree morphology in the middle (MTR) and lower reaches (LTR) of the Tarim River. We conducted a field experiment and lab analysis to assess the reliability of the ARBOTOM® 2D stress wave Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) technique on P. euphratica populations. We explored the quantitative characterization method and the spatial distribution patterns of P. euphratica trunk internal decay in the MTR and LTR. Our study found that (1) the accuracy of the stress wave NDT technique in detecting trunk decay of P. euphratica in the arid desert area was more than 80%; The severity of internal trunk decays can be quantitatively characterized by the combination of the Matlab Image Processing Toolbox, (2) the trunk decay proportion of P. euphratica showed an increasing trend with the tree height in the MTR. The LTR first increased, then decreased. The degree of decay was highest when the tree height was 6–7 m. The trunk decay proportion of individual trees positively correlated with the diameter at breast height and crown loss (p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with the crown diameter (p < 0.001). The higher the decay occurrence, the worse the individual size was, and vice versa, and (3) the decay proportion of the P. euphratica showed an overall increasing trend with an increase in groundwater depth. The trunk decay was significantly higher in the LTR compared to the MTR at the same distance of 300–1050 m from the river channel. Our findings suggested that the trunk decay in P. euphratica had a higher difference among different tree morphology, and the occurrence of decay in the LTR was much higher than in the MTR. The water stress at the site is one of the leading factors in internal defects in the riparian forests along the Tarim River. The results provide a theoretical basis and scientific support for desert riparian forest ecosystems’ conservation and sustainable management. Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-5488 SN - 0378-1127 SN - 1872-7042 IS - 522 PB - Elsevier ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shi, Lei A1 - Halik, Ümüt A1 - Mamat, Zulpiya A1 - Aishan, Tayierjiang A1 - Abliz, Abdulla A1 - Welp, Martin T1 - Spatiotemporal investigation of the interactive coercing relationship between urbanization and ecosystem services in arid northwestern China JF - Land Degradation & Development N2 - Rapid urbanization has negative effects on ecosystem structure, function, and balance, leading to the loss of ecosystem services (ES) and posing a threat to regional sustainable development. However, the complex interactive coercing relationship between urbanization and ES is not yet fully understood, especially in arid Northwestern China. In this study, we constructed an evaluative framework for urbanization and ES using land cover/land use data and socioeconomic data from 1990 to 2018. We used global and local autocorrelation models to reveal the spatiotemporal interaction between urbanization and ES. The results revealed that the urbanization index increased from 0.06 in 1990 to 0.16 in 2018 in Xinjiang, and urbanization was significantly negatively correlated with ES. With the acceleration of urbanization, the ecosystem services value (ESV) has decreased 2,698.74 × 109 Yuan from 1990 to 2018 (6.62 Yuan = 1 .00 US$). Due to geographical advantages, resource conditions, and land use changes, the spatial relationship of urbanization and ES has obvious heterogeneity. High–low correlation areas are mainly concentrated in the Northern Tianshan Mountain Economic Zone, whereas low–high correlation areas are concentrated in the Kashgar and Hotan Oases in southern Xinjiang. Based on regional geographical conditions and the spatial heterogeneity of resources, diversified ecological, social, and economic balance models should be considered to promote future sustainable urban planning and development. KW - ecosystem services; interactive coercing relationship; urbanization; Xinjiang Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-5451 SN - 1099-145X SN - 1085-3278 VL - 32 IS - 14 SP - 4105 EP - 4120 PB - Wiley ER -