Introduction: Geographic Contributions to Agrobiodiversity Conservation

Abstract

Since the period of bank deregulation in the 1980s, deferred deposit loan operations, better known as payday lenders, have become commonplace in the landscapes of many American cities. At the same time, traditional banking facilities have become less common, especially in the inner city. Growing disparities in the type of and accessibility to credit in the inner city has generated calls for greater regulation to curb practices by payday lenders that critics claim disproportionately affect poor and minority consumers. Payday lenders argue that they serve communities neglected by traditional banks. This article analyzes the site-location strategies of banks and payday lenders in metropolitan Louisiana, and in Cook County, Illinois, and finds that disenfranchised neighborhoods are simultaneously targeted by payday lenders and neglected by traditional banks. The implications these findings have for public policy and for ongoing discourses on the urban condition, race, and class are briefly discussed.

     

An Analysis of the Relationship Between Housing Foreclosures,Lending Practices,and Neighborhood Ecology: Evidence from a Distressed County

Residential foreclosures increased sharply during the 1990s and in the first years of the twenty-first century. These foreclosures have profound impacts on the households and neighborhoods involved. Although foreclosures occur everywhere, the geography of foreclosures displays a pattern tied to a metropolitan area's social, fiscal, and economic geography. We examine these correspondences as they exist within Summit County (Akron), Ohio, between 2001 and 2003. Foreclosures themselves often result from unfortunate financial events that can affect any household, but we found that the geography of foreclosures corresponds primarily to Summit County's racial distribution, above and beyond any correspondence with income levels and housing fiscal stress. There also exists a clear coincidence of foreclosures with subprime lending, itself associated with Summit County's racial patterns. Concentrations of foreclosures in particular neighborhoods can be tremendously harmful to the social and economic health of the neighborhood. These comparisons help us to better understand the neighborhood ecology of foreclosure rates and subprime lending.     

Landscape Analysis of the Forest-Tundra Ecotone in Rocky Mountain National Park,Colorado*

Landscapes in the ecotone between forest and tundra contain a mosaic of patches of trees, meadows, lakes, disturbed areas, and other features. The structure of this mosaic affects species habitat and potential ecotone response to global change. However, the alpine forest-tundra ecotone may be insensitive to climatic change if it is a climatic relict or is frequently disturbed. We used GIS and multivariate statistics to (1) analyze landscape structure in transects across the ecotone in Rocky Mountain National Park, (2) identify the major variants of forest-tundra ecotone, and (3) identify the influence of the environment and natural disturbances on variation in the landscape structure of the ecotone. There are six major types of ecotone varying in the amount of natural disturbances, permanent features (e.g., lakes), closed forest, patch forest, and krummholz. Variation is primarily related to slope, elevation, aspect, and geology associated with the morphology of the mountains and the disturbances they produce. The ecotone is not strongly structured by natural disturbances; thus, it may be more strongly controlled by and sensitive to climatic change than in areas where disturbance is more prevalent. Monitoring of potential ecotone response to global change is feasible, if tailored to the types of ecotone and their expected response.     

Landscapes of transhumance in Norway and Spain: Farmers' practices,perceptions, and value orientations

The mountain areas of Europe have been of vital importance in the system of summer farming whereby the movement of livestock between different altitudinal levels is a key element. However, summer farming has been downscaled considerably during the 20th century. The article describes two areas where summer farming is still practised: Forollhogna in Norway, and Asturias in Spain. The authors document the transhumance system in the two areas, and investigate how farmers view the summer farming system and landscape, how they relate to nature protection, and whether specific value orientations can be detected in their views. The findings show that the logic behind summer farming is the same in both areas: economic motivation and access to grazing grounds. With regard to nature and landscape protection, the opinion that wild nature is given priority and that ‘managed nature’ of transhumance is overlooked was found in both areas, although it was expressed more strongly in Asturias than in Forollhogna. Opinions and ideals related to ‘good farming’ were found in both contexts, and were reflected in well-kept fields and productive and healthy livestock.     

Visualizing Patterns of Genetic Landscapes and Species Distribution of Taxus wallichiana (Taxaceae), Based on GIS and Ecological Niche Models

The Chinese yew (Taxus wallichiana), which is widely distributed in the Himalayas and in southern China, is now on the edge of extinction. In order to understand the evolutionary processes that control the current diversity within this species at the genetic and ecological levels, its genetic patterns and range dynamics must first be identified and mapped. This knowledge can then be applied in the development of an effective conservation strategy. Based on molecular data obtained from 48 populations of T. wallichiana, we used GIS-based interpolation approach for the explicit visualization of patterns of genetic divergence and diversity, and a number of potential evolutionary hotspots have been specifically identified within the genetic landscape maps. Within the maps of genetic divergence and diversity, five areas of high inter-population genetic divergence and six areas of high intra-population genetic diversity have been highlighted in a number of separate mountain regions, and these evolutionary hotspots should have the priority to be protected. Furthermore, four geographical barriers have been identified: the eastern Himalayas, the Yunnan Plateau, the Hengduan Mountains and the Taiwan Strait. According to ecological niche modeling (ENM), the populations of T. wallichiana within the Sino-Himalayan Forest floristic subkingdom experienced westward expansion from the periods of Last Inter-glacial to Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Following the LGM, the distribution range overall became reduced and fragmented. These findings challenge the classic mode of contraction-expansion in response to the last glaciation. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the changes in geographical landscapes and climate that occurred during the Quaternary resulted in current genetic landscape patterns.     

Landscapes in Music: Space,Place and Time in the World's Greatest Music

The purpose of this article is twofold. The first is to suggest that techniques for mapping public disagreements over claims to knowledge, or controversies, can act as assistive devices for researchers in geography to move from research topics to research questions. A second purpose is to offer a recipe or “how-to” guide of specific approaches and free scholarly software that researchers without specialized coding skills can use to achieve their own controversy mapping goals. We use a case of creating a controversy map covering the issue of transboundary movements of electronic waste (e-waste) to illustrate how these approaches and software can be associated together so that other researchers may put them to use for their own controversy mapping purposes.     

办公与居住用地开发的空间结构研究——价格梯度、开发数量与开发区位

文章基于竞租函数的基本思想,从理论上探索了办公与居住用地开发的空间演变机理,并以北京市为例进 行了实证研究。研究结果表明：办公用地的价格梯度明显高于居住用地,并且办公用地的开发区位更靠近市中心; 一定区域内,价格相对较高的土地利用类型,其开发量相对较大;实证结果同时发现了资本和土地之间的替代效应 以及办公用地开发的集聚经济。研究结论认为：随着我国土地市场的发展和成熟,市场力量在土地开发模式中发挥 着日益显著的作用;土地价格成为影响土地开发量、开发区位以及开发强度的重要信号。     

三工河流域两种农田景观的差异及其成因

从宏观与微观视角,对比分析三工河流域两种经营模式下的农田景观特征,探讨形成这两种景观的原因。得出以下结论:①三工河流域农田扩张过程中,1989-1999年地方的农田增长起主导作用,1999-2007年兵团的农田扩张比地方更为明显,地方与兵团农业发展中的灌溉技术差距是决定两地农田规模扩张差异的主要原因;②土地使用制度的不同导致地方农田表现出小斑块、高密度的特点,而兵团农田则具有大斑块、低密度的特点;③兵团作物种植受宏观调控影响显著,这与地方农户自主选择作物种植类型不同,由此两地农田内部景观格局也形成一定的差异;④撂荒地这一特殊农田景观在地方与兵团也存在差异,兵团撂荒地是地方的2.49倍,主要以连片形式分布于绿洲边缘与荒漠戈壁相邻的区域,地方的撂荒地分布较为零散。     

Land Use Change in New Spain: A Three-Dimensional Historical GIS Analysis

The introduction of European livestock into the New World resulted in extensive land use changes. Studying the spatiality of these changes as they actually transpired in a three-dimensional landscape can enhance our knowledge of the environmental transformations that accompanied colonization. This article focuses on a case study area in New Spain, roughly equivalent to present-day Mexico, wherein forty-seven sheep ranches were established through viceregal land grants between 1535 and 1610. An integration of fieldwork, textual analysis of land grants, and imagery analysis enables these ranches to be mapped in a three-dimensional geographic information system (GIS) environment. Once mapped in a GIS, the spatial statistics of each ranch's elevation, slope, and aspect (slope orientation) can be calculated to identify spatio-temporal patterns of land use change. These spatio-temporal patterns can be interpreted within the highly localized contexts of land granting to amplify our understanding of human–environment interaction in New Spain. This article's key findings are that grantees harbored a persistent preference for south-facing land; ranches clustered most heavily on isolated elevations; viceregal ordinances were effective at keeping livestock away from low-lying, agriculturally productive zones; and, as a consequence of native population decline and forced native resettlements, the midelevations experienced a land use change from semiterraced agriculture to ranching. These results offer a fresh perspective on the local-scale processes of land use change that resulted from the European colonization of the New World.     

文化景观对建构地方集体记忆的影响——以徽州呈坎古村为例

以对黄山市徽州区呈坎古村居民和游客的问卷调查和半结构式访谈为基础,综合运用独立样本t检验和ArcGIS空间分析等方法,分析了文化景观在地方集体记忆建构中的作用。结果显示,无论居民或游客,都对呈坎古村的宗族文化和风水文化形成了集体记忆,而罗东舒祠和水口园林等文化景观则在建构地方集体记忆中发挥了重要作用。但由于与景观接触的方式不同,居民比游客更重视景观的真实性,相对排斥重建和新建的景观,也较少受到导游词的影响;而游客则对景观的真实性不敏感,文化景观和导游解说都可能影响游客的地方记忆。因此,为更好引导对古村落的集体记忆的建构,不仅要重视保护传统文化景观,更要在景观重建或新建过程中尊重居民的建议,争取在居民的传统意识和游客的旅游想象中实现平衡。     

A Local Example of Land‐Use Change: Southern Illinois—1807, 1938, and 1993*

This article provides an analysis of a wetland site in southern Illinois from presettlement to the present. The study area is part of the Cache River‐Cypress Creek Wetland, which has international importance, as recognized by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Land‐cover data for 1807, 1938, and 1993 were created and analyzed with a geographic information system (GIS). Land‐use change by topographic setting (uplands, transitional, and bottomlands) and soil productivity was quantified and studied. Interviews with local experts informed this analysis. Results illustrate the complexity of environmental change and its driving forces. First, notable forest and swamp acreage was converted to cropland between 1807 and 1938 and, to a lesser degree, from 1938 to 1993. Second, there were land‐use variations by topographic region. Between 1807 and 1938, the largest transformation occurred in the uplands, with substantial acreage converted from forest to cropland. Between 1938 and 1993, however, agriculture decreased in the upland areas as hilly areas reverted to forest cover. At the same time, agriculture expanded in the bottomlands as this land was drained for farming. Third, there are interesting patterns within these categories of land‐use change, as soil productivity is an indicator of what lands were taken out of cropland and converted back to grassland and forest.     

伊洛河流域不同地貌类型区的景观空间结构对比分析——以洛宁县为例

运用景观生态学原理,借助遥感和地理信息系统技术,选取斑块密度、边缘密度、分维数、景观多样性、景观优势度和破碎化指数等指标,对比分析了伊洛河流域的洛宁县不同地貌类型区的景观空间分布和空间格局特征,探讨了该地区不同地貌类型区人类活动与景观结构之间的关系。结果显示从南北中山区向内到南北低山区到南北塬陵区再到川涧区,斑块破碎化指数从0.0190到0.3225到0.4378再到0.1794,总体呈增加趋势,破碎化程度增大,川涧区则由于遥感影像解析精度问题,使得破碎化指数低于塬陵区;景观多样性指数从0.1828到0.3586到0.2983再到0.3634,总体也呈增大趋势;平均斑块分维数从1.1148到1.3854到1.2263再到1.3680,呈两低两高分布。     

Comparative Accuracy in Four Civil War Maps of the Shenandoah Valley: A GIS Analysis*

This study compares the accuracy of four maps available to Union and Confederate officers during the 1862 Shenandoah Valley campaign of the American Civil War. It examines historical maps of the Valley of Virginia by the following cartographers: James W. Abert, Hermann Böÿe and Lewis von Buchholtz, Jedediah Hotchkiss, and Franz Kappner. Both simple and three‐tiered sinuosity measures are derived for reference points along study map representations of the Shenandoah river system. These data are then statistically compared to corresponding sinuosity data from USGS topographic quadrangles to identify the relative accuracies of the historical maps. This article offers evidence to refute the common historical assumption that Hotchkiss provided Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson with terrain intelligence that was far superior to that available to his Union opponents. Evidence indicates that maps by Union cartographers as well as the prewar Böÿe‐Buchholtz map were at least as accurate, or superior to, the work of Hotchkiss.     

Strategically Siting Urban Agriculture: A Socioeconomic Analysis of Roanoke,Virginia

Food insecurity is a major concern in the United States, particularly in high-poverty areas and among households with children. Urban agriculture helps address food insecurity and promote recreation, aesthetics, biodiversity, and other benefits. This article reports a socioeconomic evaluation of ten different variables, including in situ analysis of healthy, nutritious food options, of a small, intensely urbanized city to identify neighborhoods that would benefit from urban agriculture. We produced a hierarchy of locations (using census block groups), from least to greatest socioeconomic need, for new urban agriculture sites. Our results found that one block group qualified in all ten variables and two-thirds demonstrated a need in at least half of the variables. The majority of these block groups were distributed within the middle of the city.     

New Tricks with Old Maps: Urban Landscape Change,GIS, and Historic Preservation in the Less Developed World

This article presents a methodology for a more detailed investigation of urban landscape change in rapidly growing cities of the less developed world beyond typical macrolevel approaches. This research is an attempt to bridge the gap between traditional landscape analysis and geographic information science (GIS). The article presents the preliminary results from a pilot project in Zamalek, Egypt, highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of the two techniques. Rarely used to study the less developed world, these techniques are utilized to assess change within a portion of Cairo's urban landscape. Large-scale historic maps and high-resolution satellite imagery, combined with field attribute collection, are the major data sources in this applied landscape analysis. A motivating factor in the desire to examine landscape change at such a large scale is the need to create monitoring systems for historic preservation in cities of the less developed world.     

New Tricks with Old Maps: Urban Landscape Change,GIS, and Historic Preservation in the Less Developed World

This article presents a methodology for a more detailed investigation of urban landscape change in rapidly growing cities of the less developed world beyond typical macrolevel approaches. This research is an attempt to bridge the gap between traditional landscape analysis and geographic information science (GIS). The article presents the preliminary results from a pilot project in Zamalek, Egypt, highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of the two techniques. Rarely used to study the less developed world, these techniques are utilized to assess change within a portion of Cairo's urban landscape. Large‐scale historic maps and high‐resolution satellite imagery, combined with field attribute collection, are the major data sources in this applied landscape analysis. A motivating factor in the desire to examine landscape change at such a large scale is the need to create monitoring systems for historic preservation in cities of the less developed world.     

榆林市农业景观格局变化研究

根据1986年和2000年两期TM影像资料和其他辅助资料, 运用人机交互解译方法以及地理信息系统的空间分析和数理统计功能, 分析了榆林市农业景观格局变化, 包括土地利用数量变化、变化速度和区域差异等特征, 以及各景观类型之间的转化情况, 并对景观格局变化进行了定量分析。结果表明: 14a间, 榆林市未利用地减少1305.56km², 其中主要是沙地减少; 耕地、林地、草地分别增加567.11km²、99.6km²和616.79km²; 未利用地和建设用地的变化率最大, 分别为-22.11%和18.18%; 土地利用变化存在明显的区域差异; 各类型间的转化突出表现为未利用地向草地转化, 草地向林地和耕地转化。榆林市近十几年景观类型发生了明显转换, 土地整治取得显著成绩。     

基于GIS的农村居民点分布特征及景观格局研究——以揭阳市为例

农村居民点作为乡村区域空间人口集聚形态的一种表现,是构成乡村聚落景观的一个重要部分,对其特征的分析研究对于推动城乡一体化建设和美丽乡村建设等政策的理论研究和实践开展和促进农村土地节约集约利用有重要意义.运用Ripley's K函数和ArcGIS 10.2中的核密度法来研究广东省揭阳市农村居民点的空间分布特征,建立河流和...     

Groundwater Depletion and Agricultural Land Use Change in the High Plains: A Case Study from Wichita County,Kansas*

Shifts in resource availability and resulting land use changes are important research themes for coupled human and natural systems and human dimensions of global environmental change. This study examines the relationship between groundwater depletion and agricultural land use change within a single county in the High Plains, where agro-economic systems and populations are dependent on access to reliable groundwater supplies. Results indicate a significant relationship between high proportionate decreases in groundwater and land being removed from irrigation. This case study strengthens the links among local, regional, and global environmental change, and contributes to a greater understanding of the High Plains in the context of regional sustainability and vulnerability concerns.