An Application of Remote Sensing Data in Mapping Landscape-Level Forest Biomass for Monitoring the Effectiveness of Forest Policies in Northeastern China

Monitoring the dynamics of forest biomass at various spatial scales is important for better understanding the terrestrial carbon cycle as well as improving the effectiveness of forest policies and forest management activities. In this article, field data and Landsat image data acquired in 1999 and 2007 were utilized to quantify spatiotemporal changes of forest biomass for Dongsheng Forestry Farm in Changbai Mountain region of northeastern China. We found that Landsat TM band 4 and Difference Vegetation Index with a 3 × 3 window size were the best predictors associated with forest biomass estimations in the study area. The inverse regression model with Landsat TM band 4 predictor was found to be the best model. The total forest biomass in the study area decreased slightly from 2.77 × 10⁶ Mg in 1999 to 2.73 × 10⁶ Mg in 2007, which agreed closely with field-based model estimates. The area of forested land increased from 17.9 × 10³ ha in 1999 to 18.1 × 10³ ha in 2007. The stabilization of forest biomass and the slight increase of forested land occurred in the period following implementations of national forest policies in China in 1999. The pattern of changes in both forest biomass and biomass density was altered due to different management regimes adopted in light of those policies. This study reveals the usefulness of the remote sensing-based approach for detecting and monitoring quantitative changes in forest biomass at a landscape scale.     

Time-dependent recordkeeping fatigue among youth completing health diaries of unintentional injuries

PROBLEM: Increasingly, investigators are asking youth to self-report daily activity patterns and health outcomes in diary studies. This study assesses recordkeeping fatigue with respect to data quality and event reporting among youth participating in a health diary study. METHOD: Unintentional injury data were collected during a 13-week longitudinal diary study of Ohio youth exposed to agricultural hazards. Two analyses were conducted using data from 2000. Analysis 1 examined trends in discernable recordkeeping errors (DREs) over the course of follow-up. Analysis 2 assessed trends in injury reporting over follow-up. RESULTS: The percentage of items containing a DRE showed a slight, non-significant decline throughout follow-up. Injury reporting declined significantly (p<0.001) over follow-up. SUMMARY: There was no compelling evidence of respondent fatigue with respect to DREs. The observed decline in injury reporting is problematic because estimates of youth injury incidence in health diary studies may vary depending upon the length of the follow-up period.     

Bird distributions relative to remotely sensed habitats in Great Britain: towards a framework for national modelling

This paper develops a comprehensive and objective picture of bird distributions relative to habitats across Britain. Bird species presence/absence data from an extensive field survey and habitat data from the remotely sensed UK Land Cover Map 2000 were analysed in 36,920 tetrads (2 kmx2 km) across Britain (a 65% sample of Britain's c. 240,000 km2). Cluster analysis linked birds to generalised landscapes based on distinctive habitat assemblages. Maps of the clusters showed strong regional patterns associated with the habitat assemblages. Cluster centroid coordinates for each bird species and each habitat were combined across clusters to derive individualised bird-habitat preference indices and examine the importance of individual habitats for each bird species. Even rare species and scarce habitats showed successful linkages. Results were assessed against published accounts of bird-habitat relations. Objective corroboration strongly supported the associations. Relatively scarce coastal and wetland habitats proved particularly important for many birds. However, extensive arable farmland and woodland habitats were also favoured by many species, despite reported declines in bird numbers in these habitats. The fact that habitat-specialists do not or cannot move habitat is perhaps a reason for declining numbers where habitats have become unsuitable. This study showed that there are unifying principles determining bird-habitat relations which apply and can be quantified at the national scale, and which corroborate and complement the cumulative knowledge of many and varied surveys and ecological studies. This 'generality' suggests that we may be able, reliably and objectively, to integrate and scale up such disparate studies to the national scale, using this generalised framework. It also suggests the potential for a landscape ecology approach to bird-habitat analyses. Such developments will be important steps in building models to develop and test the sustainable management of landscapes for birds.     

Rural households’ livelihoods diversification through termite utilization in depressed region of Zimbabwe

This study sought to examine the utility of termites to rural households in depressed regions of Bikita, Zimbabwe. Colonialism and its spread of European culture had viewed entomophagy with contempt resulting in reduced utilization and consumption of termites in most colonies. In our quest to understand how people in depressed regions utilized termites, both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were employed. Questionnaires and in-depth interviews were used to gather data during field work. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used in recruiting respondents. Excel and content analysis were used in data presentation and analysis. Results revealed that dampwood and drywood termites are climatic indicators for the rural communal farmers, a low-cost technology in weather forecasting. Subterrain and mold builders provide manure, relish, and are medicinal in nature. They are traded for income generation, and as for the poor, harvesting, processing, storage, and marketing is cost effective. Though considered nostalgic foods, most respondents highlighted that selling termites complimented other off-farm livelihood activities. Termite consumption and utilization provide a sustainable way for livelihood diversification in depressed regions and has partly addressed problems of food insecurity.     

Disseminating near-real-time hazards information and flood maps in the Philippines through Web-GIS

The Philippines being a locus of tropical cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, is a hotbed of disasters. These natural hazards inflict loss of lives and costly damage to property. Situated in a region where climate and geophysical tempest is common, the Philippines will inevitably suffer from calamities similar to those experienced recently. With continued development and population growth in hazard prone areas, it is expected that damage to infrastructure and human losses would persist and even rise unless appropriate measures are immediately implemented by government. In 2012, the Philippines launched a responsive program for disaster prevention and mitigation called the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (Project NOAH), specifically for government warning agencies to be able to provide a 6 hr lead-time warning to vulnerable communities against impending floods and to use advanced technology to enhance current geo-hazard vulnerability maps. To disseminate such critical information to as wide an audience as possible, a Web-GIS using mashups of freely available source codes and application program interface (APIs) was developed and can be found in the URLs http:// noah.dost.gov.ph and http://noah.up.edu.ph/. This Web-GIS tool is now heavily used by local government units in the Philippines in their disaster prevention and mitigation efforts and can be replicated in countries that have a proactive approach to address the impacts of natural hazards but lack sufficient funds.