Physical and Temporal Isolation of Mountain Headwater Streams in the Western Mojave Desert,Southern California1

Abstract: Streams draining mountain headwater areas of the western Mojave Desert are commonly physically isolated from downstream hydrologic systems such as springs, playa lakes, wetlands, or larger streams and rivers by stream reaches that are dry much of the time. The physical isolation of surface flow in these streams may be broken for brief periods after rainfall or snowmelt when runoff is sufficient to allow flow along the entire stream reach. Despite the physical isolation of surface flow in these streams, they are an integral part of the hydrologic cycle. Water infiltrated from headwater streams moves through the unsaturated zone to recharge the underlying ground‐water system and eventually discharges to support springs, streamflow, isolated wetlands, or native vegetation. Water movement through thick unsaturated zones may require several hundred years and subsequent movement through the underlying ground‐water systems may require many thousands of years – contributing to the temporal isolation of mountain headwater streams.     

Benefits of protective fencing to plant and rodent communities of the western Mojave Desert,California

Human disturbance in the western Mojave Desert takes many forms. The most pervasive are livestock grazing and off-highway vehicle use. Over the past few decades several areas within this region have been fenced to preclude human disturbance. These areas provide opportunities to study the impact of human activities in a desert ecosystem. This paper documents the response of plant and small mammal populations to fencing constructed between 1978 and 1979 at the Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area, Kern County, California. Aboveground live annual plant biomass was generally greater inside than outside the fenced plots during April 1990, 1991, and 1992. The alien grassSchismus barbatus was a notable exception, producing more biomass in the unprotected area. Forb biomass was greater than that of alien annual grasses inside the fence during all three years of the study. Outside the fence, forb biomass was significantly higher than that of alien grasses only during spring 1992. Percent cover of perennial shrubs was higher inside the fence than outside, while no significant trend was detected in density. There was als more seed biomass inside the fence; this may have contributed to the greater diversity and density of Merriam's kangaroo rats (Dipodomys merriami), long-tailed pocket mice (Chaetodipus formosus), and southern grasshopper mice (Onychomys torridus) in the protected area. These results show that protection from human disturbance has many benefits, including greater overall community biomass and diversity. The significance and generality of these results can be further tested by studying other exclosures of varying age and configurations in different desert regions of the southwestern United States.     

Plant response to utility right of way construction in the Mojave Desert

Disturbance of flora from utility construction tends to generate new plant growth. This growth changes productivity, diversity, and stability. Although the enhancement of vegetation may balance out the biomass destroyed by the original disturbance, it often adversely affects the quality of the vegetation. Percentage composition of the dominant long-lived perennials combined with quantitative measures are used to assess longterm effects of utility corridor construction. Differential effects of enhancement of vegetation are found along road edges, enhancement under wires of powerlines, and over trenches dug for pipelines. Areas under powerline pylons seem to receive the greatest damage and also show the most variable recovery of vegetation. Significant recovery rates are noticeable where the time span between year of construction has allowed for considerable regrowth of the older corridor. Recovery rates depend on soil type, landform, and other physical features of the disturbed sites. Drastic disturbance in one area or transect site may impede vegetation recovery, whereas slight disturbance might enhance vegetation in another, tending to offset the effect of the drastic disturbance. Disturbed areas and control areas may appear to have similar vegetation covers, biomasses, and densities, but these similarities often vanish when one examines qualitative aspects, such as proportion of long-lived species and presence of characteristic dominants.     

Effects of Protective Fencing on Birds, Lizards, and Black-Tailed Hares in the Western Mojave Desert

Lepus californicus ), perennial plant cover, and structural diversity of perennial plants were evaluated from spring 1994 through winter 1995 at the Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area (DTNA), in the Mojave Desert, California. Abundance and species richness of birds were higher inside than outside the DTNA, and effects were larger during breeding than wintering seasons and during a high than a low rainfall year. Ash-throated flycatchers (Myiarchus cinerascens), cactus wrens (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus), LeConte's thrashers (Toxostoma lecontei), loggerhead shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus), sage sparrows (Amphispiza belli), and verdins (Auriparus flaviceps) were more abundant inside than outside the DTNA. Nesting activity was also more frequent inside. Total abundance and species richness of lizards and individual abundances of western whiptail lizards (Cnemidophorous tigris) and desert spiny lizards (Sceloporus magister) were higher inside than outside. In contrast, abundance of black-tailed hares was lower inside. Structural diversity of the perennial plant community did not differ due to protection, but cover was 50% higher in protected areas. Black-tailed hares generally prefer areas of low perennial plant cover, which may explain why they were more abundant outside than inside the DTNA. Habitat structure may not affect bird and lizard communities as much as availability of food at this desert site, and the greater abundance and species richness of vertebrates inside than outside the DTNA may correlate with abundances of seeds and invertebrate prey.     

辽宁沿海经济带区域发展的差异、格局及其态势

1995年以来辽宁沿海经济带得到了较好的发展,但区域经济的总体差异在不断扩大,通过计算锡尔系数,1995—2010年该经济带发展的总体差异呈现上升趋势,其中市间差异、市县间差异是造成这一现象形成的主要原因,同时县域经济差异也在不断的扩大。由于区位条件、经济基础和发展速度等诸多影响因素的不同,区域经济的空间格局形成了双核格局,双核与东西部经济发展的差异较大,尤其是西部经济的发展比较滞后,这也是引起辽宁沿海经济带区域经济总体差异扩大的原因。     

Effects of Increasing Urbanization on the Ecological Integrity of Open Space Preserves

This article analyzes the effects of increasing urbanization on open space preserves within the metropolitan area of Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Time series analysis is used in 10-year increments over 40 years to study urban landscape change. Three landscape metrics—(1) matrix utility (measures intensity of adjacent land uses), (2) isolation (measures distances to other open space patches), and (3) connectivity (measures physical links to other open space patches and corridors)—are used to assess changes in landscape patterns and serve as indicators of urban ecological integrity of the open space preserves. Results show that in the case of both open space preserves, general decline in indicators of urban ecological integrity was evident. The matrix utility analysis demonstrated that increasing intensity of land uses adjacent to preserve is likely to increase edge effects, reducing the habitat value of interior or core habitat areas. Isolation analysis showed that both preserves have experienced increasing isolation from other open space elements over time. Also, connectivity analysis indicated that terrestrial connections to other open space elements have also deteriorated. Conclusions of this research demonstrate that while preservation of natural areas as open space is important in an urban context, intense development of surrounding areas reduces the urban ecological integrity significantly.     

Tendencies in the Development of Tracks in Open Areas

area cells (the areas between the tracks) increased geometrically in the unprotected area, while the increase in the protected area was linear; and (3) most area cells (50%–70%) in the protected area in each of the years analyzed (except 1944) were smaller than 10 ha in size. However, an area cell greater than 100 ha has always been observed. In contrast, in the unprotected site the number of area cells increased with time while their area size decreased. Twenty-seven percent of the unprotected area is composed at present of area cells smaller in size than 1 ha. The development of a track system in the protected site changed moderately with a few peaks during the past 50 years. This trend is a result of land management policies that actively promote sustainable ecotourism. However, in the unprotected open area, the track system has changed continuously and drastically due to a lack of land conservation management.     

The Impact of Future Land Use Scenarios on Runoff Volumes in the Muskegon River Watershed

In this article we compared the response of surface water runoff to a storm event for different rates of urbanization, reforestation and riparian buffer setbacks across forty subwatersheds of the Muskegon River Watershed located in Michigan, USA. We also made these comparisons for several forecasted and one historical land use scenarios (over 140 years). Future land use scenarios to 2040 for forest regrowth, urbanization rates and stream setbacks were developed using the Land Transformation Model (LTM). Historical land use information, from 1900 at 5-year time step intervals, was created using a Backcast land use change model configured using artificial neural network and driven by agriculture and housing census information. We show that (1) controlling the rate of development is the most effective policy option to reduce runoff; (2) establishing setbacks along the mainstem are not as effective as controlling urban growth; (3) reforestation can abate some of the runoff effects from urban growth but not all; (4) land use patterns of the 1970s produced the least amount of runoff in most cases in the Muskegon River Watershed when compared to land use maps from 1900 to 2040; and, (5) future land use patterns here not always lead to increased (worse) runoff than the past. We found that while ten of the subwatersheds contained futures that were worse than any past land use configuration, twenty-five (62.5%) of the subwatersheds produced the greatest amount of runoff in 1900, shortly after the entire watershed was clear-cut. One third (14/40) of the subwatersheds contained the minimum amount of runoff in the 1960s and 1970s, a period when forest amounts were greatest and urban amounts relatively small.     

环境影响评价与西部大开发的可持续发展

环境影响评价作为协调经济发展与环境保护关系的重要手段,将在西部大开发中发挥重要作用。本文从可持续发展的高度,提出进一步完善环境影响评价的具体对策,以确保实现西部大开发的可持续发展。     

中国沿海开放城市旅游发展对策研究

以中国14个沿海开放城市为研究对象,从综合经济实力、旅游业发展水平、基础设施建设、生态环境状况和科教文卫5个方面定量化分析沿海城市旅游发展潜力.运用因子分析法,加权计算各城市旅游发展潜力得分,再运用聚类分析对14个城市进行分层,最后提出沿海开放城市旅游发展对策.     

燃煤电厂部分环境影响损益价值评估方法初探

文章以石门电厂为例 ,运用环境经济学的价值评估方法 ,就大型燃煤电厂的水和大气污染 ,对当地农业、渔业资源、城市建筑以及人体健康等造成的损失进行价值评估 ,为进一步的费用—效益分析提供了参考     

内蒙古乌兰布和沙漠旅游资源开发研究

旅游业对于开发区域丰富的资源及提高区域经济竞争力有着不可忽视的作用。沙漠是一种特殊的旅游资源，国际上沙漠旅游正成为一种新兴的旅游方式。积极开发沙漠旅游资源，既利于区域人地关系的和谐演进，又利于全面推进区域的可持续发展。以内蒙古乌兰布和沙漠旅游资源为研究对象，通过对沙漠中自然和人文资源的分析，探讨了沙漠旅游资源在开发利用中的优势和劣势。最后对乌兰布和沙漠旅游可持续发展的对策进行了探讨，并结合区情，提出了开发的具体措施，目的在于全面推进乌兰布和沙漠旅游业的发展。     

水电开发对生态环境的影响及防治对策

近年来,水电建设在迅速发展的同时也不断暴露出一些问题。本文结合一些实例,分析了目前水电建设中存在的生态环境问题,并提出了相应的对策。     

Impact of Socio-demographic Factors on Willingness to Pay for the Reduction of a Future Health Risk

Knowledge of socio-demographic factors affecting attitudes to and perception of risk is an important instrument in enhancing efficiencies of interventions. The authors evaluated whether socio-demographic variables affected attitudes to an environmental issue (securing future drinking water). An important aspect was the delay between time of environmental pollution and time of human exposure and thereby potential health risk. Gender, education, place of residence and age all influenced the extent to which individuals were willing to allocate present resources to alleviate a future problem. Specifically, people above the age of 50 appeared more reluctant to pay for an intervention against a future potential health threat. The authors found a significant correlation between attitude and willingness to pay (WTP). In the authors' scenarios, the WTP variable worked more as a dichotomous variable than as a continuous variable, stressing the importance and relevance of the WTP=0 answers.     

中国静脉产业园区发展模式与案例研究

本研究对静脉产业园区概念进行解析,梳理了我国静脉产业园的建设概况.从园区建设内容与流程、园区建设布局形式、园区投资建设主体、园区运营管理模式等4大要素研究了静脉产业因区的发展模式.最后以苏州和呼和浩特两地的静脉产业园区建设为例,介绍了综合类静脉产业园区的发展典范.     

城市边缘区土地利用类型及空间扩展模式

从城市边缘区的土地利用现状入手,分析了该区位的土地利用基本类型,并依据城市边缘区土地利用的发展趋势,提出了城市边缘区空间扩展的几种模式。