Fei Lu

Bio: Fei Lu is an academic researcher from Chinese Academy of Sciences. The author has contributed to research in topics: Carbon sequestration & Greenhouse gas. The author has an hindex of 20, co-authored 29 publications receiving 1764 citations.

Improvements in ecosystem services from investments in natural capital

Abstract: In response to ecosystem degradation from rapid economic development, China began investing heavily in protecting and restoring natural capital starting in 2000. We report on China's first national ecosystem assessment (2000-2010), designed to quantify and help manage change in ecosystem services, including food production, carbon sequestration, soil retention, sandstorm prevention, water retention, flood mitigation, and provision of habitat for biodiversity. Overall, ecosystem services improved from 2000 to 2010, apart from habitat provision. China's national conservation policies contributed significantly to the increases in those ecosystem services.

Soil carbon sequestrations by nitrogen fertilizer application, straw return and no-tillage in China's cropland

Abstract: Soil as the largest global carbon pool has played a great role in sequestering the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO(2)). Although global carbon sequestration potentials have been assessed since the 1980s, few investigations have been made on soil carbon sequestration (SCS) in China's cropland. China is a developing country and has a long history of agricultural activities. Estimation of SCS potentials in China's cropland is very important for assessing the potential measures to prevent the atmospheric carbon rise and predicting the atmospheric CO(2) concentration in future. After review of the available results of the field experiments in China, relationships between SCS and nitrogen fertilizer application, straw return and no-tillage (NT) practices were established for each of the four agricultural regions. According to the current agricultural practices and their future development, estimations were made on SCS by nitrogen fertilizer application, straw return and NT in China's cropland. In the current situation, nitrogen fertilizer application, straw return and zero tillage can sequester 5.96, 9.76 and 0.800 Tg C each year. Carbon sequestration potential will increase to 12.1 Tg C yr(-1) if nitrogen is fertilized on experts' recommendations. The carbon sequestration potentials of straw return and NT can reach 34.4 and 4.60 Tg C yr(-1) when these two techniques are further popularized. In these measures, straw return is the most promising one. Full popularization of straw return can reduce 5.3% of the CO(2) emission from fossil fuel combustion in China in 1990, which meets the global mean CO(2) reduction requested by the Kyoto Protocol (5.2%). In general, if more incentive policies can be elaborated and implemented, the SCS in China's cropland will be increased by about two times. So, popularization of the above-mentioned agricultural measures for carbon sequestration can be considered as an effective tool to prevent the rapid rise of the atmospheric CO(2) in China.

Using ecosystem service trade-offs to inform water conservation policies and management practices

Abstract: Environmental managers and policy makers are increasingly discussing trade-offs between ecosystem services, but few studies have analyzed these trade-offs with a view to informing land-use planning. Using specialized models, we quantify ecosystem services in several land-use scenarios relative to actual land-use change over a 9-year period. These scenarios were developed in an effort to maintain agricultural production while improving water quality and increasing water quantity in the watershed of the Miyun Reservoir, the only source of surface water currently available for domestic use in Beijing, China. Within the watershed, from 2000 to 2009, forest cover and urban area increased by 33% and 280%, while water provision and water purification services declined by 9% and 27%, respectively. Under a hybrid scenario of agricultural expansion with riparian grassland buffers, three services – water provision, water purification, and sediment retention – as well as agricultural production all improved as compared with 2009 levels. Riparian grassland protection zones, seldom used in China, can effectively resolve trade-offs among multiple ecosystem services and are now being considered and implemented in several locations.

Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis.

Abstract: Cause, conseguenze e strategie di mitigazione Proponiamo il primo di una serie di articoli in cui affronteremo l’attuale problema dei mutamenti climatici. Presentiamo il documento redatto, votato e pubblicato dall’Ipcc - Comitato intergovernativo sui cambiamenti climatici - che illustra la sintesi delle ricerche svolte su questo tema rilevante.

China’s response to a national land-system sustainability emergency

Abstract: China has responded to a national land-system sustainability emergency via an integrated portfolio of large-scale programmes. Here we review 16 sustainability programmes, which invested US$378.5 billion (in 2015 US$), covered 623.9 million hectares of land and involved over 500 million people, mostly since 1998. We find overwhelmingly that the interventions improved the sustainability of China’s rural land systems, but the impacts are nuanced and adverse outcomes have occurred. We identify some key characteristics of programme success, potential risks to their durability, and future research needs. We suggest directions for China and other nations as they progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations’ Agenda 2030.