| The interactions between urban development and ecological processes are extraordinarily complex. Urban development evolves over time and in space as the outcome of microscopic interactions of individual choices and actions taken by multiple agents. These decisions affect ecosystem structures and functions through the conversion of land, the fragmentation of natural habitat use, the disruption of hydrological systems, and the modification of energy flow and nutrient cycles. Environmental changes at local and regional scales affect human well-being and preferences as well as the decisions people make.In recent decades, Jinan the capital city of Shandong Province in China, is facing many of the most urgent ecological issues. Insufficiency of vegetation cover, rapid growth of urban population, continuous loss of underground water, pollution on urban areas, biodiversity decline, and so on, which render the durable city concept uneasy for Jinan at this time. Due to recent reformation in policy, Urbanization Tendency is making a large pattern for both industrial and commercial districts, which irreversibly occurs ecosystem destruction in urban areas. For instance Liuchang Mountain in Southwest, Lv Mountain in Northeast, and Xiaolimao Mountain located at the Southeast. Together with other scientists including economist, sociologist, geologist, and so on; ecologist appears useful for solving these issues.In this context, I have decided to conduct my study in the city of Jinan entitled: STUDY OF THE MAIN ECO-ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN THE CITY OF JINAN, CHINA..There are three major reasons why I chose to study the city of Jinan. First, having taken into account Jinan's geographical position and its intensive economic activities, it is possible to conclude that ecological solutions for Jinan City are also applicable to other cities of northeastern China, and possibly abroad. Second, I was surprised to find that Jinan is one of these Chinese cities were ecological issues raise with accutness. This finding may be from the government that expected to lay unprecedented emphasis on ecological conservation and environmental protection during its economic expansion in the 10th Five-Year Plan. In recent times, this project also affirms to start "Eco-province" projects in some of China's provinces including Shandong province. Third, the cooperativeness from all teachers and students I met for the first time in our department Building. Directly, they have given me ideas forbetter way for a good team work, especially for a foreign student it seemed a best opportunity to learn and explore the ecological new field, named "Urban Ecology".This dissertation attempts an ecological assessment in the urban area. Such as it was formulated, the topic appears complex and cannot easily be exploited. So, it was limited to three main aspects: urban vegetation, urban air pollution, urban population, which are followed by the change comparison between the population and public environmental utilities. The study aims to be one of the stages for solving ecological Issues in the City of Jinan.To perform this study, the paper is divided into five chapters. Each chapter, except for the first one, has been divided into introduction, study methods, results, discussion, and conclusion.The first chapter introducing the city of Jinan is entitled: Descriptive Study of the City of Jinan. Jinan, Capital city of Shandong province, is located between the latitude 36°02' - 37°3l'N and the longitude 116°11'- 117°35'E. The Yellow River borders the city of Jinan from southwest to northeast. Its bed is higher than the surface of the city. This makes possible its seasonal flooding towards the city, increasing then soil moisture. The soil of Jinan includes six main types: the brown alkaline soil, cinnamon soil, tidal soil located at the north, gravel ginger black soil, paddy soil, and sand soil. Geologically, the city of Jinan has two kinds of rocks: limestone, and igneous rock. Jinan is situated at the junction between the lower hills from the south and the pluvial plains from the north of Shandong Province. From south to north, Jinan's topography is varied with low mountains, hills, inclined plain in front of the mountains and the alluvial plains of the Yellow River. More than 60 percent of the suburb land includes mountains and hills in Jinan. With a warm-temperate continental monsoon climate and clear-cut seasonal changes, Jinan has an annual average temperature of 14.2 °C. The annual average precipitation is 650-700 mm. Vaporization intensity is higher than precipitations and increases gradually from southeast to northwest. Moreover, the annual average non-hoarfrost is 192-238 days. With a population of 5.826 million at the end of 2003, the total area of Jinan is estimated about 8,227 km2 including 2,119 km2 of urban area. Historically, the people of Jinan like to associate plant life to its culture. This is why Nymphaea tetragona Georgi (Lotus), a water lily belonging to the family of Nympheraceae was selected as the City Flower several years ago. While Salix babylonica (Willow), which has drooping leaves and branches is the selected City Tree. In modern areas however, it is being used less than 5. matsudana Koidz,whose mature branches are easy to plant and grow. This chapter also briefly introduces the history of the city of Jinan.The second chapter is essentially a scientific proceeding on an ecological survey on the current state of urban vegetation in the city of Jinan. In fact, an eco-survey was carried out in sixteen sites in the city of Jinan. A total of 454 plant species and varieties belonging to 118 families were recorded, including trees, shrubs, creepers, and grasses. Some of them grow in natural vegetation; others are planted in cultivated vegetation. In terms of the number species, 20 plant families were found with more than 5 species. With 42 species, Rosaceae is still the biggest family in the vegetation of Jinan. It is an Angiosperm family including trees, shrubs, creepers, and grasses species. Plants belonging to this family were found more in the cultivated vegetation than in the natural vegetation. Asteraceae follows with 41 species; Poaceae having 24 grass species, Leguminose with 21 species including trees, shrubs, and grasses, and so on. In the terms of species distribution, three trees and creeper species are more widely distributed: Sabina chinensis (L.) Antoine, Ligustrum lueidum Ait, and Salix matsudana Koidz, that were found in 11/16 sites. They are followed by Cedrus deodara, Pinus densiflora, Primus ceraasifera f. atropurpurea, and Populus tomentosa found in 10/16 sites, etc. Many other species are relatively distributed.Natural and cultivated vegetations were distinguished in Jinan. The first is relatively weak and of the secondary type which is reproduced by regeneration. It is found only on some mountains, hills, and on the banks of Yellow River. The natural vegetation is rapidly disappearing because of some factors, such as dense population, new residential areas, use of a considerable patch of area for agricultural purposes, and building works. Currently, one finds more grasses and shrubs than trees. At the northern and western mountainous areas, illustrative natural vegetation patches can be found on Hua Mountain, Yao Mountain, etc. Two main natural forest types have been discovered: Coniferous forests and deciduous broad-leaves forests. Actually, the city of Jinan attaches great importance to urban construction and cultivated vegetation. The application of the project of forestation and resource protection raised the rate of vegetation coverage to 24.7 % in the south mountainous areas (SMA), and to 36 % in the whole eastern city areas. Unfortunately, the urban greening area covers 41,744.300 hectares corresponding to 19.7 % of the average urban vegetation coverage.In the Cultivated Vegetation, there are public and specialized green lands. Public greening areas include parks, gardens, green lands of neighborhood units and street verges. The town of Jinan has 8 parks, which are protected by the government, and 3 sites of cultural interest and landscape. These sites are a real beginning of urban plant community conservation. Specialized green areas include green lands in factories, hospitals, schools, administrations, etc. Shandong Provincial Hospital, the New Campus of Shandong University, which gives a nice green environment to study, work, and live; and greening along the roads, which are improving from the east to the center of the city, are the typical examples. On the other hand, Species Rank-Abundance was evaluated. So taking into account only the first seven most frequent species in every vegetation type, the rank-abundance curve is still almost similar for natural vegetation, while it shows dominance for cultivated vegetation. Cultivated vegetation also has a higher species richness, diversity and equitability, probably as a result of selecting stage before planting those in the sites.A survey also was used as a means to assess the attitude of Jinan's residents toward roadside vegetation. A questionnaire survey has the advantage of reaching a reasonably representative group of people in a short period of time. A number of 466 persons answered and completed the questionnaire, from August to November 2004, on different days of a week and different bicyclists, at different times in a day, at bike stations and cross roads. Respondent citizens are not satisfied with the current state of roadside vegetation.It appears that vegetation restoration, especially natural or potential forest and urban greening is important, necessary, and urgent. But actually, it is very difficult to perform it, due to the many limiting factors from ecology, society, and economics. Despite all these difficulties, it is urgent to make urban vegetation a priority in Jinan, not only to beautify but also to facilitate the improvement of the urban environmental quality and to develop an ecological city. So, with weak vegetation coverage, vegetation restoration is still the only way to the best perspective in the city of Jinan.The third chapter evokes some aspects of urban pollution in the city of Jinan. Because of specific difficulties and in order to restrict the topic, this chapter studies only "air pollution". Another motive in favor of this choose is the rapidity which air can reach everyone everywhere, while others source pollutants limitedly spread. Despite the fact that a few studies exist in Jinan, on air pollution; several researchers have led important studies on pollution item, abroad and in another regions of China.They propose separately different methods according to their specific aims and contexts. Since these varieties of methods, we used two in order to get some fresh data on the field.First, official data were recorded. In Jinan, a provincial proceeding on an ecological survey led by a Hall Town team has been usefully used. It was completed by a series of yearbooks reports on the city of Jinan. The data from official work statistically were interpreted in order to get a large understanding. Second, a questionnaire was conceived and submitted to 500 persons who belong to different urban resident communities of Jinan concerning their age, sex,- social and professional origins. Questionnaires are largely used in the ecological field for impact assessment of human activities on environment changes. That is to allow an appreciation of the daily atmospheric pollution by the resident of Jinan. Responses to the questionnaire show that more than 90 persons in Jinan are daily interested to urban pollution issue and more than 70 percent think that air pollution conditions are unhealthy in Jinan. It appears that Air Pollution is still a real issue in Jinan. Local government, taking tanks of some local companies, increases the related dispenses to air pollution (41.4 %) within the whole of investment for urban pollution. This fact indicates that the issue is arising with more acuteness in the airfield than in other ones (i.e. water, soil, noise). According to the present study, Air Pollution sources are numerous in the region of Jinan, especially in the city. Ecologically, this permanency of pollution factors associated with daily life activities of the residents consists of a significant problem that cannot be neglected.This study encourages the efforts from the local government to improve air quality in Jinan. However, no doubt public awareness of air pollution problems has increased the need for timely information about air pollution levels. The air pollution index, in this case, is a means of concise representation of information on air quality. It provides a simple and uniform way to report daily air pollution concentration and services as a basis for issuing advice to the public before the onset of air pollution episodes. This will enable everyone, particularly susceptible groups, such as people with heart or respiratory illnesses, to consider taking precautionary measures when necessary.The fourth chapter relates to urban population. This one is still a permanent issue of the world, and especially of China. Human population and its implication in the process of ecological disturbance in urban areas are evoked here. Every ecologicalproblem is caused or worsened by an increasingly strong pressure of human activities. One can also speak about demographic explosion or bomb D. in 2000, the world population approached 6, 179 million, which Asia continent accounts for itself more than 60 percent, among which China takes the head. Some authors estimated the population of China to 1.28453 billion people at the end of 2002, one-fifth of the world's total, only for the Mainland. Moreover, the population density is high, with a national average of 134 people per km2; more than 400 people along the coastal areas in the east; in the central areas, over 200; and in the west there are less than 10 people per km2. In the City of Jinan, at the end of 2002, urban population was estimated to 3.28 million, with an urban density of 1,349.69 people per km2, and an urbanization rate of 57 %. These figures explain the urban ecological problems through the dynamic process of urban population in the city of Jinan. They show that because of a rapid economical development and the accelerated social changes, urban population origins are dense and varied, including immigration, marriage, and education, employement searching and transfers, illegal identity people, and others.Otherwise, urban population constantly undergoes a major impact from both industrialization and urbanization phenomenon as well as provide the necessary means to improve them. Moreover, with an increasing net growth estimated to 8.29%o in 2000, urban population of Jinan becomes more numerous year by year. Some authors affirm that a high growth rate of urban population is still at the root of the problem in terms of ecology. Accordingly, it is right to mention following ecological problems in Jinan: over-use of natural resources, ecosystem disturbance and biodiversity decline, foodstuffs rarity (which is not so delicate yet in the city), traffic weakness, unemployment, direct and indirect urban pollution sources.Solving or preventing these ecological problems requires associating specialists with one another from different fields operating in the city. To limit the over-use of natural resources of Jinan needs to reduce poverty in favor of suburban people in southern and western residents of Jinan. Ecosystem disturbance and biodiversity decline will be avoided when there is carefully application or implementation at building sites. It requires putting the responsible in charge to assure the species life continuity in situ or ex-situ after a careful ecological investigation. Urban chausses-way is already weak because of intense traffic that is due to over-population, vehicles, and motorbikes. They need to build many highways and dig new tunnels or under ground roads. To resolve unemployment issue involves continuing new job settlement.Review the social labor law in order to stop individual combining jobs. Pollution sources from population could be identified and according to the related law, the authors will be put in related cleaning charge. With a partial demographic transition curve, Jinan is in industrialization progress. It is located between the final part of Transitional and first part of industrial process. Fortunately, this phase corresponds for the best for ecological construction, which needs to associate the ecologist and other scientists in the process.The fifth and final one is a trying an ecological assessment of the City of Jinan regarding to five following parameters: the public greenland area, the area of the swept road which, the public toilets, the coverage water per capita, and the occupied area per capita.Because of high social, economic, and probable political sensibility of the topic, all used data here almost were drawled from official yearbooks.Despite the fact that high buildings are multiplying as housing to hold the increasing population, this was illustrated by the number of people who regularly use the public toilets with about 7 200 persons for just one public toilet unit from 1982, and far more in the following years, it is evident that until nowadays, urban population exceeds the real welcome capacity. Insufficiency in this field might lead to other problems, such as the over-exploitation of natural resources that are already limited. It also can be the potential root of probable epidemics, and then, a permanent threat to health. Urban vegetation is one of the sacrificed resources in the city. The weakness of occupied areas, which laterally diverges with the population growth, is a serious issue that needs attention. These findings also suggest that it is useful to pay constant attention to the use of resources in the city of Jinan. The new legislation on the mobility of people could be consulted anytime, and thereby the population issue would be addressed in the city. Despite the efforts made to improve urban environment, especially in the last two years, there is obviously a huge gap between the needs and availability resources.To conclude with, urban vegetation cover is still so weak in the City of Jinan. Natural factors, like topsoil thinness, human activities due to- the rapid urbanization, and the poverty of southern inhabitants are the main causes of the current situation. More than ever before, it is urgent to pay attention to restoring urban vegetation in the city of Jinan. Such restoration is necessary for improving the people's health, which in turn allows increasing economic development. Taking into account the urgent needand the comparatively low cost, the following methods can be used in residential, factory, roadsides, and square areas: pot seedlings and mechanic mounding for planting, top soil dressing, and planting mature trees. The application of engineering methods also is feasible and could follow, especially in the larger patches of natural areas like the south mountainous areas (SMA), surrounding, and areas along Yellow River's banks. A permanent system of control must be rigorously implemented on the multiple new building work sites. It is also necessary to conserve and catalogue the existing plant species before carefully choosing, which ones are best to be used in urban vegetation restoration. The suitable and efficacy strategy for fighting urban pollution is the law that must charge producers to treat their respective wastes in the city. Population migration from the countryside could be limited through the creation of countryside trade and cultural activities.Finally, this study is an exploring study of its kind in northeastern cities of China. It explains the need to combine efforts in order to solve ecological problems in this city, and possibly in others in northeastern China. It also urges the continuing research into the ecological crisis facing these cities, especially the City of Jinan. Of course in this study, an effort has been made to explore this field of ecological research that is expected to become increasingly critical in the future, namely, the urban ecology.
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