A preliminary study on ecological waterdemand estimation in the arid region─A case in the Qaidam Basin

lWhyDoResearchontheEWDEstimationWaterisoneoftilemostachvefactorsintilearidecosystem.Thechamcteristicsoftheandwatershedecosystemaregrcahydeterminedbyits11ydrologicalcycling.Forexample.watertransmissionandconversioncontrolsthevndahonofdieandoasis.Waterisalsooneofthepri~elementSwhich"desitpossibletodevelopeconomicactivity'.Howet,er.itsecologica-IbenefithasalwaysbeenignoredallerFoundationitem:UndertheauSPicesof'TheNahonalgthFive-YearPlanPeriod"KeyProjectforSciencesandTechnology(No.96-912…     

Spatio-temporal differentiation of landscape ecological niche in western ecological frangible region： A case study of Yan＇an region in northwestern China

In this study, we attempt to put forward a conception of landscape ecological niche, enlightened by international scholars on extending the ecological niche theory from spatial niche to functional niche. That is helpful for comprehensively appraising landscape spatial patterns and ecological functions, also, presents a new method for analyzing landscape features from multidimensional aspects. The practice process is demonstrated by taking Yan＇an region in northwestern China as a case. Firstly, the indices system including spatial attribute and functional attribute is established for assessing landscape ecological niche. Additionally, two-dimensional figures are drawn for comparing the spatio-temporal features of landscape ecological niche in 1987 and 2000 among the 13 administrative counties. The results show that from 1987 to 2000, towards Yan＇an region, spatial attribute value of landscape ecological niche changes from 1.000 to 1.178 with an obvious increment, and functional attribute value changes from 0.989 to 1.069 with a little increment, both of which enhance the regional landscape ecological niche. Towards each county, spatial attribute value of landscape ecological niche increases to different extent while functional attribute value changes dissimilarly with an increment or a decrement.     

Spatial-temporal differences in in-stream flow requirement based on GIS： A case study of Yan＇an region,northern Shaanxi

Although water has the central function of the bloodstream in the biosphere especially in arid or semi-arid regions such as Yah＇an region in northwestern China, yet the very limited attention is paid to the role of the water-related processes in ecosystem. In this research, based on continuous nearly 50-year data including runoff volume, sediment discharge as well as sediment accretion from hydrographic stations, and 10-year information of water quality from pollution monitoring stations, the method for measuring in-stream flow requirement has been put forward supported by experiential models and GIS spatial analysis. Additionally, the changes of in-stream flow requirement for environment and economic development have been addressed from spatial-temporal dimensions. The results show that： （1） According to the central streams in Yan＇an region, mean annual in-stream flow requirement reaches 1.0619 billion m^3, and the surface water for economic exploitation is 0.2445 billion m3 （2） Mean annual in-stream flow requirement for sediment transfers in flood period occupies over 80% of the integrated volume in a year. （3） From the 1950s to 1970s, in-stream flow requirement for sediment transfers is comparatively higher, while from the 1980s to 1990s, this requirement presents a decreasing tendency.     

Water quantity-quality combined evaluation method for rivers＇ water requirements of the instream environment in dualistic water cycle： A case study of Liaohe River Basin

In this article the meaning of the quantity and quality of environmental flows of river in dualistic water cycle is discussed, and compared with the meaning of unitary water cycle. Based on the analysis of the relationship between environmental flows of river requirements, the efficiency of water resource usage, the consumption coefficient, and the concentration of waste water elimination, the water quantity and water quality calculation method of the environmental flows of river requirements in dualistic water cycle is developed, and the criteria for environmental flows of river requirements are established, and therefore the water quantity-quality combined evaluation of natural river flows requirements are realized Taking the Liaohe River as a model, the environmental flows of river requirements for Xiliao River, Dongliao River, mainstream Liaohe River, Huntai River and northeast rivers along the coasts of the Yellow and Bohai seas in unitary water cycle are calculated, each taking up 39.3%, 63.0%, 43.9%, 43.3% and 43.5% of runoff respectively. Evaluated according to Tennant recommended flow, the results show that： except Xiliao River is ＂median＂, the rest are all upon ＂good＂, the Dongliao River is even ＂very good＂. The corresponding results in dualistic water cycle are that, the proportion of natural flows for each river is 57.5%, 74.1%, 60.8%, 60.3% and 60.4%; while the combined evaluation results show that： considering ＂quantity＂, except Xiliao River, the rest rivers can all achieve the ＂quantity＂ criteria of the en- vironmental flows of river requirements, but if considering the aspect of ＂quality＂, only Dongliao River can reach the ＂quality＂ standard. By water quantity-quality combined evaluation method, only Dongliao River can achieve the criteria. So the water quality is the main factor that determines whether the environmental flows can meet the river ecosystem demands.     

Driving forces of ＂poplar expansion and cropland shrinkage＂ in the North China Plain：A case study of Wen＇an County,Hebei Province

以Landsat5TM遥感影像、农户调查数据和统计数据为基础数据,运用3S技术提取了案例区河北省文安县1995～2007年土地利用变化信息,分析了杨树扩张的时空格局;并从农户杨树种植决策行为视角,运用数理统计、投入产出法分析了杨树扩张占地的驱动因素。结论如下：（1）杨树林地扩张幅度大、速率快。（2）杨树扩张所用土地92.14%来源于耕地,＂杨上粮下＂现象突出。（3）杨树扩张速率的空间差异显著。杨树扩张受生产要素、土地产品市场及政策因素的综合驱动,其中劳动力因素和经济因素起主要作用。（4）非农从业人员比率和农民年人均收入越高,杨树扩张速度越快。在劳动力由富余转为相对稀缺的情况下,农户为提高经济收益,倾向选择耗工少,劳动生产率较大的杨树,是杨树扩张占地的根本原因。     

Plant life in the Umm as Samim,Oman – A case study in a major inland sabkha

The Umm as Samim is a vast salt flat of central Oman, in which many wadis which flow south-westwards from the central sector of the northern mountains converge. Most of the area is devoid of vegetation due to extraordinary salinity (sabkha). Significant plant growth is possible chiefly on miniature dunes, called nabkhas, which enable the plants to prosper in an otherwise harsh environment.The site conditions are depicted by mapping of miniature dunes and vegetation, accompanied by an account of morphometric parameters, i.e. height of nabkha, height of plant growth, and status of plant life. Within the chosen sample plot, 12.3% of the sabkha is covered by nabkhas. The total plant cover amounts to 5.0%, but only 3.1% of it is alive, while 2.0% is dead or lifeless.Two nabkhas were longitudinally excavated to examine the salinity of soil samples in relation to dune structure and root and shoot system position. The salinity analysis was done via electrical conductivity (EC_{1:5 extract}). Extremely high EC values were found on current or former sabkha surfaces and on the periphery of nabkhas, whereas central nabkha parts and bottom soil offer more favourable salinity values for plant and root growth.     

A 4D sedimentological approach to reconstructing the flood frequency and intensity of the Rhône River (Lake Bourget,NW European Alps)

A high-resolution sedimentological study of Lake Bourget was conducted to reconstruct the flood frequency and intensity (or magnitude) in the area over the last 350 years. Particular emphasis was placed on investigating the spatio-temporal distribution of flood deposits in this large lake basin. The thicknesses of deposits resulting from 30 flood events of the Rhône River were collected over a set of 24 short sediment cores. Deposit thicknesses were compared with instrumental data for the Rhône River discharge for the period from 1853 to 2010. The results show that flood frequency and intensity cannot be reliably reconstructed from a single core because of the inhomogeneous flood-deposit geometry in such a large lake. From all documented flood-deposit thicknesses, volumes of sediment brought into the lake during each flood event were computed through a Kriging procedure and compared with the historical instrumental data. The results show, in this study, that reconstructed sediment volumes are well correlated to maximal flood discharges. This significant correlation suggests that the increase of embankment and dam settlements on the Rhône River during the last 150 years has not significantly affected the transport of the smallest sediment fraction during major flood events. Hence, assessment of the flood-sediment volumes deposited in the large Lake Bourget is the only way to reliably reconstruct the flood frequency and intensity.     

Can designation without regulation preserve land in the face of urbanization? A case study of ZNIEFFs in the Paris region

Preservation through legal protection of natural areas is costly and limited in its extent. A much cheaper strategy to preserve natural areas could be to simply identify areas of ecological interest and let it be known. A survey was launched in France to identify such areas (called ZNIEFF) in the early 1980s. Since then, municipalities have had to account for ZNIEFFs in their formal land planning schemes, though they are not under any obligation to protect them. In this study, we tested the effectiveness of ZNIEFFs as a conservation tool in an area of high growth near Paris. Using GAM modeling, we compared the rate of urbanization inside and outside ZNIEFFs in the 17 years following designation, accounting for the share of farmland, the overall rate of urbanization and ZNIEFF proportion in the municipalities, and also accounting for demography and physical constraints (hydromorphy and slope). Overall, there was less urbanization inside ZNIEFFs, but this varied depending on the context. Surprisingly, they were better preserved in areas of more intense urbanization. This effect was increased if farmland area was already reduced (<30% of the municipality area). In contrast, when farmland was still predominant and urbanization rates were lower, ZNIEFFs tended to be more urbanized than the areas outside. This shows that the value of remnant natural areas varies considerably, perhaps as a function of the value attributed to farmland.     

‘Rising Waters Don't Lift All Boats’: a sustainable livelihood analysis of recursive cycles of vulnerability and maladaptation to flood risk in rural Bihar,India

ABSTRACT

Bihar, in the central Gangetic Basin, is simultaneously India's poorest and most flood-prone State. Climate change models currently identify a heightening of Bihar's flood risk, as rainfall patterns become more intense and Himalayan glaciers recede. During the past half century, the major strategy deployed by the State and national governments to address the risk of floods has involved the construction of embankments: raised areas of land that seek to control river flow and provide temporary sanctuaries for flood-affected populations. In this article, qualitative data from interviews with flood-affected villagers and policy makers at local, district and State levels are used to assess the social implications of embankments as an adaptive response to flood risk. Evidence from these testimonies leads us to conceptualise embankments as contributing to recursive cycles of vulnerability, in which women, children and poorer social segments have been unwitting bearers. Hence, reliance on embankments is a maladaptation that perpetuates, if not exacerbates, the severe manifestations of social and economic inequality that continue to plague rural Bihar. Perhaps not surprisingly, the voices of those whose lives have been made more difficult by embankments are heard all too infrequently in policy debates. This emphasises the need for climate adaptation initiatives to be anchored in a sustainable livelihood approach, for which the prime analytical objective is to understand the factors that enable or constrain the abilities of people, especially those who are most vulnerable, to make decisions about their lives.     

Terrain revised model for air temperature in mountainous area based on DEMs： A case study in Yaoxian county

In mountainous area, spatial interpolation is the traditional method to calculate air temperature by use of observed temperature data. Due to lack of sufficient observation data in mountainous areas many precise interpolation methods could give only coarse result which could not meet the demand of precision agriculture and local climate exploration. Based on DEMs of 25 m resolution, a reversed model is constructed, with which temperature is simulated to the corresponding slope unit from the solar radiation. Taking Yaoxian county as a test area, and mean monthly temperature data as basic information sources, which are collected from 15 weather stations around Yaoxian county in Shaanxi province from the year of 1970 to 2000, a simulation for the solar radiation cell by cell is completed. By simulating solar radiation at each slope and flat cell unit, the terrain revised temperature model could be realized. A comparison between the simulated temperature and the radiation temperature from TM6 thermal infrared image shows that the terrain improved model gets a finer temperature distribution at local level. The accuracy of simulated temperature in mountainous area is higher than it is in flat area.     

Impact of radiations on the long-range correlation of soil moisture: A case study of the A’rou superstation in the Heihe River Basin

Journal of Geographical Sciences - Analyses of the soil moisture evolution trend and the influence of different types of radiation on soil moisture are of great significance to the simulation and...     

A Queer Country? A case study of the politics of gay/lesbian belonging in an Australian country town

The present paper examines the complex politics of gay/lesbian belonging through a case study of Daylesford, Victoria, an Australian country town. It contributes to two research bodies: gay/lesbian rural geographies and the politics of belonging. Daylesford hosts ChillOut, Australia's largest rural gay/lesbian festival, which provides a telling context for investigating gay/lesbian belonging in rural Australia. We use qualitative data from the 2006 ChillOut Festival, including interviews with local residents, newspaper commentaries, and visitors’ surveys, to explore how Daylesford has been constructed, imagined, and experienced as a ‘unique’ site of gay/lesbian belonging in rural Australia. We find that ChillOut crucially contributes to its wider reputation as a gay-friendly country town, but also, we argue, to the contested nature of gay/lesbian belonging. This was most powerfully demonstrated by the local council's refusal to fly the gay-identified rainbow flag on the Town Hall during the 2006 Festival and its subsequent banning of the display of all festival flags from that key public building. Because ChillOut was the catalyst for this protocol, the resolution was viewed as homophobic. Indeed, the homophobic and heterosexist rhetoric that ensued in the Letters to the Editor section of the local newspaper revealed some residents’ underlying antagonism towards ChillOut and the local gay/lesbian community. Moreover, appealing to a shared ‘Australian identity’ and associated normative ‘family values’, these letter writers deployed a multi-scalar politics of belonging, where a sense of gay/lesbian belonging to Daylesford at the local scale was contested by the assertion of a ‘more meaningful’ national scale of allegiance fashioned by heteronormativity.     

Towards a potential research agenda to guide the implementation of Spatial Data Infrastructures—A case study from India

Recently, Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) has been a rapidly expanding field and broadly assumed to underpin the development of information society and the knowledge economy. In this paper, we argue that the anticipated benefits of SDIs have largely not yet been generally realized in practice due to a lack of a robust theoretical framework as well as insufficient empirical research to guide the implementation efforts. We posit that learnings from the allied discipline of Information Infrastructures, which has matured during the 1990s in response to the proliferation of distributed, complex, and heterogeneous networked systems, can provide a useful theoretical lens to inform the emerging domain of SDIs. We focus on three key concepts identified in the domain of information infrastructure theory, viz. the installed base, reflexive standardization, and cultivation approach to design, to develop a theoretical framework, which is then applied to analyse the ongoing initiative to establish National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) in India. This analysis helps us to provide the basis to articulate a potential research agenda—for both theory and practice—which, we believe, offers the promise to better conceptualize and implement SDIs, particularly in developing country settings like India.     

Habitat specificity can blur the predictions of species–energy theory: A case study of tenebrionid beetles adapted to aridity

Species–energy theory predicts a positive relationship between species richness and energy. The mechanism assumed by this theory is that high energy promotes high population abundance, which in turn promotes high species richness. Evaluations of this mechanism have rendered conflicting evidence, suggesting that more effort is needed to understand the theory’s limitations. Several studies have addressed these limitations, contributing to expand the theory’s scope by incorporating energy variation, whereas others have demonstrated scale dependence of the more individuals hypothesis. We propose that another limitation of this theory is related to its application to groups of species with strong habitat specificity. We suggest that the expected relationship between energy and richness is not necessarily positive at large scales for groups of species adapted to harsh environments. Using data on tenebrionid beetles from arid areas of southern South America, we contrasted four hypotheses that lead to contrasting predictions about the strength and direction of the species–energy relationship on tenebrionid richness. We found a negative relationship between richness and energy availability. We propose that this negative relationship is the result of a constraint in the mechanisms assumed by species?energy theory because organisms evolve adaptations to survive climatic harshness, which influences population abundances.     

Simulation on slope uncertainty derived from DEMs at different resolution levels： a case study in the Loess Plateau

Slope is one of the crucial terrain variables in spatial analysis and land use planning, especially in the Loess Plateau area of China which is suffering from serious soil erosion. DEM based slope extracting method has been widely accepted and applied in practice. However slope accuracy derived from this method usually does not match with its popularity. A quantitative simulation to slope data uncertainty is important not only theoretically but also necessarily to applications. This paper focuses on how resolution and terrain complexity impact on the accuracy of mean slope extracted from DEMs of different resolutions in the Loess Plateau of China. Six typical geomorphologic areas are selected as test areas, representing different terrain types from smooth to rough. Their DEMs are produced from digitizing contours of 1:10,000 scale topographic maps. Field survey results show that 5 m should be the most suitable grid size for representing slope in the Loess Plateau area. Comparative and math-simulation methodology was employed for data processing and analysis. A linear correlativity between mean slope and DEM resolution was found at all test areas, but their regression coefficients related closely with the terrain complexity of the test areas. If taking stream channel density to represent terrain complexity, mean slope error could be regressed against DEM resolution (X) and stream channel density (S) at 8 resolution levels and expressed as(0.0015S2 0.031S-0.0325)X-0.0045S2-0.155S 0.1625, with a R2 value of over 0.98. Practical tests also show an effective result of this model in applications. The new development methodology applied in this study should be helpful to similar researches in spatial data uncertainty investigation.     

Do swarms of migrating barchan dunes record paleoenvironmental changes? — A case study spanning the middle to late Holocene in the Pampa de Jaguay, southern Peru

Swarms of barchan dunes are common in arid environments. Unlike immobile or slowly moving dunes whose stratigraphy can be used to reconstruct paleoenvironmental changes, the high migration rate of barchans seems to prohibit their use as geoarchives. In this paper, a possible use of barchan swarms for paleoenvironmental reconstructions is presented. The approach is based on dune migration. In a case study based on 500 dunes in the Pampa de Jaguay aeolian transport corridor in coastal southern Peru, middle to late Holocene changes in the supply of aeolian material are inferred from calculating the time of dune initiation at the coastline. Limitations posed by the assumptions underlying this approach are discussed.     

GIS APPLICATION IN RESEARCH OF WILDLIFE HABITAT CHANGE——A case study of the Giant Panda in Wolong Nature Reserve

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Shaking and splashing—A case study of far-field effects of the Mjølnir asteroid impact on depositional environments in the Barents Sea

The Mjølnir impact crater in the Norwegian Barents Sea features among the 20 largest impact craters listed in the Earth Impact Database. The impact is dated to 142 ± 2.6 Ma, corresponding closely to the Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary in the Boreal stratigraphy. Multidisciplinary studies carried out over the last three decades have suggested that the up to 40 km wide crater was created by a 1–3 km diameter impactor colliding with a shallow epicontinental sea, causing regional havoc and a regional ecological crisis that followed in its wake. Only minor evidence for the consequences of the impact for the surrounding depositional basins has been documented so far. This study describes a large submarine slump penetrated by hydrocarbon exploration well 7121/9-1, located in the southern Hammerfest Basin and approximately 350 km away from the impact site. The slump is dated by a black shale drape, which contains characteristic impact-related biotic assemblages and potential ejecta material. This precise dating enables us to associate the slump with large-scale fault movements and footwall collapse along the basin-bounding Troms-Finnmark Fault Complex, which we conclude were caused by shock waves from the Mjølnir impact and the passage of associated tsunami trains. The draping black shale is interpreted to represent significant reworking of material from the contemporary seabed by tsunamis and currents set up by the impact.     

Spatial-temporal change in urban agricultural land use efficiency from the perspective of agricultural multi-functionality: A case study of the Xi’an metropolitan zone

The excessive expansion of urbanized areas has resulted in haphazard land utilization, immoderate consumption of superior agricultural land and water resources, significant fragmentation of agricultural landscape, and gradual deterioration of the agro-ecological environment. Combined, these factors cause poor land use efficiency. Under these circumstances, comprehensively assessing land use efficiency for urban agriculture is a key issue in land use research. Currently, evaluation methods for agricultural land use efficiency narrowly concentrate on aspects of economic input and output. However, urban agro-ecosystems can provide diverse economic, social, and ecological services and functions. In particular, the social and ecological services and functions originating from agricultural land, which have a higher value than economic services, play a significant role in ensuring regional social, ecological, and environmental security. However, recent research has rarely taken these benefits into consideration. Therefore, land use value has been greatly underestimated, which has resulted in mishandled and poor land use policies. In this study, we apply Landsat imagery and social and economic statistical data for the Xi’an metropolitan zone (XMZ) to investigate agricultural multi-functionality. We develop an evaluation framework for urban agricultural land use efficiency and identify agro-ecosystem services and functions as important outputs from agricultural land. The land use efficiency of urban agriculture is then evaluated using ecosystem services models, providing a mechanism for assessing spatial-temporal changes in land use efficiency in the XMZ from 1999 to 2015. Four important conclusions are reached from this analysis. First, the rapid urbanization and agricultural transformation from traditional cereal cultivation to modern urban agriculture has resulted in steadily increasing costs, outputs, and land use efficiency of urban agriculture. The total output value increased 41% and land use efficiency per hectare increased by 33.13% on average. Second, the spatial patterns of comprehensive output and land use efficiency were dominated by economic outputs from agricultural land. Areas near cities, which are dominated by orchard and arable land, provide more economic functions. These areas support and regulate services due to the transformation from extensive cereal production to intensive modern urban agriculture; therefore, they have higher output value and land use efficiency. In contrast, areas distant from cities, towns, and high traffic roads, namely, remote rural areas, provide more support and regulating services, but have relatively lower economic function due to inaccessibility to urban markets and slow agricultural transformation. Therefore, these areas have lower output value and land use efficiency. The spatial change in agricultural output and land use efficiency in urban areas is strongly dependent on the degree of urbanization and agricultural transformation. Third, the total output value and land use efficiency of urban agriculture measured with our approach are much higher than evaluations using traditional methods. However, the spatial patterns measured using the two approaches are in agreement. The evaluation framework integrates ecological services and economic and social functions into a comprehensive output from agricultural land. This approach is more methodical and accurate for evaluating the comprehensive efficiency of land use based on quantities and spatial scale because they are at the pixel scale. Finally, the evaluation results have important implications for enhancing current agricultural subsidies and even implementing ecological payment policies in China. Most importantly, they can be directly applied to agricultural transformation regulations, decision- making, and guidance for rational land utilization.