Image perception of ice and snow tourism in China and the impact of the Winter Olympics.

This study analyzes image perceptions of ice and snow tourism destinations in China. Using network text analysis on data from several online travel platforms such as Ctrip, Qunar, and Meituan, it further investigated how the Winter Olympics impacts destination image. Results reveal the following 1) The development patterns of ice and snow attractions in northern and southern China are different. 2) Ice and snow tourism destination imagination in China is generally positive. 3) The 2022 Winter Olympics has no significant influence on the image perception of ice and snow tourism destinations. The Winter Olympics increases tourists' interest in ice and snow tourism, but the lagging development of service and management levels in scenic spots cannot match the sudden increase in visitors. This study provides a reference for researchers to recognize the image of China's ice and snow tourism destinations and suggests ways for policymakers to promote such tourism attractions.

Diversity of bacterium communities in saline-alkali soil in arid regions of Northwest China.

BACKGROUND: The saline-alkali soil area accounts for over 1/4-1/5 of the land area in Gansu Province of China, which are mainly distributed in the north of Hexi corridor and Jingtai basin. The unique ecological environment contains unique and diverse microbial resources. The investigation of microbial diversity in saline environment is vital to comprehend the biological mechanisms of saline adaption, develop and utilize microbial resources. RESULTS: The Illumina MiSeq sequencing method was practiced to investigate the bacterial diversity and composition in the 5 subtypes and 13 genera of saline-alkali soil in Gansu Province, China. The results from this study show that Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Gemmatimonadetes were the dominant bacterial groups in 13 saline soil. Proteobacteria had the greatest abundance in sulfate-type meadow solonchaks and orthic solonchaks, chloride-type orthic solonchaks and bog solonchaks, sulfate-chloride-type, chloride-sulfate-type, and sulfate-type dry solonchaks. Halobacteria was the dominant bacterial class in soil samples except for sulfate-type meadow solonchaks and orthic solonchaks, chloride-type orthic solonchaks and bog solonchaks. The richness estimators of Ace and Chao 1 and the diversity indices of Shannon and Simpson revealed the least diversity in bacterial community in sulfate-chloride-type orthic solonchaks. CONCLUSIONS: The sulfate anion was the most important driving force for bacterial composition (17.7%), and the second most influencing factor was pH value (11.7%).

The effects of the environmental protection tax law on heavily polluting firms in China.

In 2016, China implemented an environmental protection tax (EPTL2016) to promote the transformation and upgrading of heavily polluting industries through tax leverage. Using panel data of China's listed companies, this study assesses the treatment effects of the EPTL2016 on the transformation and upgrading of heavily polluting firms by incorporating the intermediary role of the financial market. The empirical findings show that the EPTL2016 significantly reduced the innovation investment and productivity of heavily polluting firms but had no significant effect on fixed-asset investment. Additionally, EPTL2016 reduced the supply of bank loans to heavily polluting firms and increased the value of growth options for private enterprises and the efficiency of the supply of long-term loans to heavily polluting firms. Although the environmental policy of EPTL2016 benefits the transformation and upgrading of heavily polluting industries in many aspects, it generally hinders the industrial upgrading because of the reduction of bank loans.

Long-Term Chili Monoculture Alters Environmental Variables Affecting the Dominant Microbial Community in Rhizosphere Soil.

Continuous cropping negatively affects soil fertility, physicochemical properties and the microbial community structure. However, the effects of long-term chili monoculture on the dominant microbial community assembly are not known. In this study, the impact of long-term chili monoculture on the correlation between the dominant microbial community and soil environmental variables was assessed. The results indicated that increasing duration of chili monoculture generated significant changes in soil nutrients, soil aggregates and soil enzymes: nutrient contents increased overall, mechanically stable macroaggregates increased and microaggregates decreased, water-stable macroaggregates and microaggregates decreased, ß-glucosidase decreased nonlinearly, and nitrate reductase and alkaline phosphatase activities showed a nonlinear increase. Moreover, an increasing number of years of chili monoculture also affected the structure of the dominant microbiota, with substantial changes in the relative abundances of 11 bacterial and fungal genera. The drivers of the dominant microbial community assembly in rhizosphere soil were soil moisture, abiotic nitrogen, pH and salt.

Archaeal community diversity in different types of saline-alkali soil in arid regions of Northwest China.

High-throughput sequencing was used to investigate the archaeal community structure and diversity, and associated influencing factors in the 5 subtypes and 13 genera of saline-alkali soil in Gansu Province, China. The results indicated the analysis of chemical parameters demonstrated statistically significant differences in these soils. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs), Chao 1, ACE, Simpson, and Shannon indexes of the archaeal community varied significantly in the 5 subtypes and 12 genera of soil except for chloride-type orthic solonchaks. The abundance was highest for sulfate-chloride-type meadow solonchaks and lowest for chloride-sulfate-type dry solonchaks. The diversity was highest for chloride-sulfate-type orthic solonchaks and lowest for sulfate-type orthic solonchaks. The archaeal community was dominated by the Euryarchaeota and Crenarchaeota. Except chloride-type orthic solonchaks; Halomicrobium in chloride-type meadow solonchaks (12.7%); Halobacterium in sulfate-chloride-type and chloride-sulfate-type dry solonchaks (11.1% and 9.2%, respectively); Candidatus Nitrososphaera in sulfate-chloride-type, chloride-sulfate-type, and sulphate-type meadow solonchaks; sulfate-type orthic solonchaks; and chloride bog solonchaks (9.0%, 21.6%, 27.0%, 45.3%, and 30.0%, respectively); Halorhabdus in sulfate-chloride-type orthic solonchaks, magnesium alkalized solonchaks, chloride-type dry solonchaks (15.7%, 11.5%, and 5.9%, respectively); and Haloarcula in chloride-sulfate-type orthic solonchaks (8.1%) were the most dominant archaea. Redundancy analysis showed that archaeal diversity was influenced by soil organic matter, total salt, sulfate anion, and zinc contents and pH. These results will lead to more comprehensive understanding of how 5 subtypes and 13 soil genera of saline-alkali soil affects microbial distribution.

[Effects of irrigation quota on moisture and salt redistribution in apple orchard soil in arid region].

Taking the salinized apple orchard soil in Qin'an County of Gansu Province, Northwest China as test object, a field experiment was conducted to study the effects of different irrigation quota (0, 900, 1800, 2700, and 3600 m3 x hm(-2)) on the redistribution of moisture and salt in 0-100 cm soil profile on the 10, 20, and 30 d during apple florescence stage. With the increase of irrigation quota, the leached depth of Na+ increased and its hysteretic effect of redistribution was more obvious, "the zero flux plane" of Ca2+ disappeared gradually, the scope of "the zero flux plane" of Mg2+ increased gradually, the leaching-migration mode of Cl- changed from "fluctuation" to "straight-line" and the evaporation-migration changed from "fluctuation" to "ladder", the redistribution pattern of SO4(2-) showed "point", and the position of redistribution and accumulation of HCO3- shifted gradually from the bottom to upper layer in soil profile. In the middle of the soil profile with deeper groundwater table, there existed a "zero flux plane" of salt, which shifted gradually from the upper layer to the bottom during the redistribution of moisture in soil profile, embodying the characteristics of moisture depletion in upland soils. When the irrigation quota was between 2700 and 3600 m3 x hm(-2), irrigation was helpful to the leaching of salt and water-soluble Na+ in the 0-100 cm soil profile. However, when the irrigation quota was < 1800 m3 x hm(-2), irrigation accelerated the salt accumulation in surface soil. Therefore, from the viewpoints of salt leaching and water-saving, an irrigation quota of 1800-2700 m3 x hm(-2) in spring would be more appropriate for the salinized apple orchard soil in arid regions.