Spatial distribution of metals in soils in Baltimore, Maryland: role of native parent material, proximity to major roads, housing age and screening guidelines

We investigated the spatial distribution of heavy metal above-background (anthropic) contents of Cd, Co, Cu, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Ti, V, and Zn in Baltimore City surface soils and related these levels to potential contaminating sources. Composite soil samples (0-10 cm depth) were digested using a nitric and hydrochloric extraction technique. Slightly more than 10% of plots exceeded United States Environmental Protection Agency screening guidelines for Pb. In a principal component analysis, the first component corresponded to Co, Cr, and Fe, which are constituents of local mafic rocks. The second component corresponded to Cu, Pb, and Zn which were significantly higher within than beyond a 100 m buffer of the major roads within the city; furthermore, Pb and Zn were higher in older residential lots.     

Patterns of bird abundance along the agricultural gradient of the Pampean region

Bird and land-use surveys were conducted along the agricultural gradient covering from pure croplands through mixed-farming to pure pastoral-farming scenario in the Pampean region of Argentina. Simple regression analyses were performed to analyse the responses of bird abundance to the percentage of land devoted to crop-production. The specific variables associated to bird abundance within both the crop and pastoral-farming landscapes were identified by running redundancy analyses (RDA). The abundance of 20 out of 43 species (47%) was significantly related to the percentage of cropland, finding negative (65%), positive (25%) unimodal (5%) and bimodal (5%) responses of birds to increasing intensity of crop production. The results showed three types of negative and two types of positive responses of bird abundance to the agricultural gradient. RDA revealed the importance of crop-field types in the crop-production scenario and of cattle presence and grass height in the pastoral-farming scenario for the structuring of the grassland bird community. As most species were negatively affected by crop production, the current land-use homogenisation towards high-intensity croplands will most likely result in population decline of many birds in the region.     

拉法山国家森林公园地文景观特色及旅游发展

本文在对拉法山国家森林公园进行简要介绍的基础上，按照国家标准对其地文景观进行调查分类，详细的分析了公园内以洞穴、山峰、怪石为主的地文景观的特色；在分析公园旅游发展的有利条件的基础上，提出了对地文景观进行旅游开发的几点建议，仅供有关部门参考。     

Putting Density Back into the Habitat‐Quality Equation: Case Study of an Open‐Nesting Forest Bird

Abstract: Ecological traps and other cases of apparently maladaptive habitat selection cast doubt on the relevance of density as an indicator of habitat quality. Nevertheless, the prevalence of these phenomena remains poorly known, and density may still reflect habitat quality in most systems. We examined the relationship between density and two other parameters of habitat quality in an open‐nesting passerine species: the Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla). We hypothesized that the average individual bird makes a good decision when selecting its breeding territory and that territory spacing reflects site productivity or predation risk. Therefore, we predicted that density would be positively correlated with productivity (number of young fledged per unit area). Because individual performance is sensitive to events partly determined by chance, such as nest predation, we further predicted density would be weakly correlated or uncorrelated with the proportion of territories fledging young. We collected data in 23 study sites (25 ha each), 16 of which were located in untreated mature northern hardwood forest and seven in stands partially harvested (treated) 1–7 years prior to the survey. Density explained most of the variability in productivity (R²= 0.73), and there was no apparent decoupling between density and productivity in treated plots. In contrast, there was no significant relationship between density and the proportion of territories fledging ≥1 young over the entire breeding season. These results suggest that density reflects habitat quality at the plot scale in this study system. To our knowledge this is one of the few studies testing the value of territory density as an indicator of habitat quality in an open‐nesting bird species on the basis of a relatively large number of sizeable study plots.     

Seeking knowledge of traditional Indigenous burning practices to inform regional bushfire management

ABSTRACT

A transdisciplinary review of the current academic knowledge of Indigenous traditional fire management is presented for the Mt Lofty Ranges in South Australia. For a long time, the roles of Indigenous management of the landscape have either been overlooked or discounted within environmental studies. That situation is beginning to change in many parts of Australia. However, this review of knowledge of traditional Indigenous burning practices specifically for the Mt Lofty Ranges suggests that there is very little formalised, academic knowledge available that could be utilised to inform prescribed burning practices in the region. Perhaps Indigenous peoples’ use of fire was strongly governed by individual choices, or perhaps established regimes demarcated roles across groups; perhaps some areas were burnt regularly and others were left unaltered – there is still no clear evidence from the academic literature to provide even limited understandings of such elements of pre-colonial fire regimes. That gap in knowledge will become increasingly problematic as the need for appropriate, sophisticated burning practices to respond to risk in peri-urban Adelaide increases with a changing climate. To learn from traditional Indigenous land management: (a) formal knowledge needs to be generated on past regional burning practices; and (b) understanding needs to be developed as to whether past burning practices could lead to effective hazard management and biodiversity outcomes within contemporary landscapes. Such an integration of Indigenous knowledge for effective environmental management will only be possible if the injustices of past exclusions of the importance of Indigenous biocultural practices are recognised.     

成都市热力景观空间格局分析

城市热力景观空间格局是城市附属物和城市活动性在热场方面的综合表现。使用2008年11月23日的Landsat5/TM数据,将第6波段反演为亮温,并按温度值的高低把热力景观分为7个类型;借鉴景观生态学的原理和方法,以破碎度指数、多样性指数、均匀度指数和优势度指数为评价指标,对成都市三环路内约200km2热力景观空间格局的研究结果表明：5个行政区的热力景观格局指数存在显著差别,如锦江区的破碎度指数最大,为0.924,成华区的最小,为0.559,指数大小与城市热力景观类型的分布特点密切相关。这些结果对于分析和研究城市整体格局、城市规划和环境保护等具有应用意义。     

潮沟对黄河三角洲湿地典型景观格局的影响

为揭示潮沟发育对黄河三角洲典型湿地景观类型空间分布格局的影响,通过对1989-2016年黄河三角洲7期遥感影像进行目视解译,在获取潮沟及湿地景观类型空间分布基础上,通过冗余分析识别影响黄河三角洲典型湿地景观特征的主要潮沟指标。结果表明：光滩面积占比的变化趋势与芦苇（Phragmites australis）、碱蓬（Suaeda salsa）相反;黄河三角洲北部区域湿地景观的斑块密度整体上大于南部,景观破碎化程度相对较高;RDA结果显示前两个排序轴能够解释潮沟发育指标与景观格局指数关系的85.7%,较好地反映了两者的相关关系;潮沟长度、数量、网络连通度和曲率对区域景观格局的影响程度较大;潮沟分维值对景观格局影响程度最小;潮沟长度、数量、分维值与芦苇和碱蓬的面积占比及斑块密度呈负相关关系,与光滩面积占比呈正相关关系。     

In search of greener towns

Around 1970 a quiet revolution occurred in several European countries involving the use of naturalistic design approaches and ecological principles in the design and management of urban green spaces. The objective was to bring the qualities of nature into peoples’ daily lives and provide a richer external living environment. Parallel programmes of community participation and environmental education were involved. Successful projects in Holland, Sweden and Britain are described. These indicate that despoiled urban and urban‐fringe land can be quickly and economically transformed into green environments which are attractive for living and commercial investment. A reorganisation of Local Authority landscape resources is recommended.     

Assessing the role of economic actors in the production of private and public goods in three EU agricultural landscapes

The study analyses the contribution of relevant economic actors to the provision of private and public goods in agricultural landscapes. A method consisting of a multi-sectoral perspective and an integrated approach based on the analytic network process (ANP) and the use of selected local stakeholders is applied. The usefulness of the method is demonstrated in three European case studies in Austria, Italy and Spain. The results show that agriculture and tourism are the sectors that contribute the most and the least, respectively, to the provision of goods and services in agricultural landscapes. Moreover, the results underscore that policy instruments towards such provision need to be targeted differently in different areas and must take into account the different roles of the local actors involved.     

Same but different: sources of natural resource management advice for lifestyle oriented rural landholders

Amenity migration to attractive and accessible non-metropolitan areas changes social and environmental relations with consequences for natural resource management and landscape composition and trajectories. Lifestyler oriented rural landholders are often cast as a problem for land management and extension. Managers and some researchers see them as a cause of landscape and social fragmentation and report difficulties in engaging such landowners on natural resource management issues and responsibilities. In contrast, limited existing research indicates that lifestylers do join and form networks of personal and other contacts for advice and support in land management. We contribute to this research with a survey of rural landholders in southeastern New South Wales (NSW). We explicitly compare the sources of advice for land management for lifestylers with those of farmers. We focus on the types of sources available to rural landholders in Australian regions and their relative importance to these two landholder groups. We find that lifestylers and farmers are different in their sources of advice but that both prefer personal sources rather than sources such as agencies. We reflect on the significance of the differences for engagement with lifestyle oriented rural landowners and for understanding landscape change.