Statistical Methodologies Used to Calculate Urbanization Rates in China

To analyze China’s actual urbanization level, we iden- tified two statistical approaches: using the population living within the administrative boundaries (administrative-based method) and within the urbanized or built-up areas (infrastructure-based method) of cities and towns as urban population. To illustrate the two approaches and the associated problems, we used data for Tangshan City as a case study. The estimates on the administrative-based method were unreliable and the infrastructurebased method pro...     

Predicting the variation in detection function in line transect sampling through random parameter model

A method for calibrating (localizing) detection function models in line transect sampling is proposed. The method is based on a random parameter model which supplies localized predictions of detection function parameters utilizing a few sample data points from the concerned location(s). The method has the clear advantage of being able to provide density estimates based on very few observations from a location which would be impossible through traditional methods. The method is successfully illustrated using census data on sambar (Cervus unicolor) from a set of wildlife sanctuaries in Kerala, India. The need for further research in this direction is indicated.     

四川省人口分布与土地利用的关系及人口数据空间化试验

通过对四川省158个市县中人口密度小于1 000人/km2的151个市县的人口密度与各种土地利用指数的多元回归分析发现,人口密度与各种土地利用指数的多元线性相关系数为0.93,人口密度的对数与各种土地利用指数的多元线性相关系数为0.96。根据这一关系对四川省1999年的市县人口统计数据进行空间化,用罗江县的实际乡镇人口数据对空间化结果进行检验。结果为通过空间化得到的各乡镇的人口数与各乡镇的实际人口数的相关系数为0.91,平均误差为16.5%。     

Rural and Suburban Sprawl in the U.S. Midwest from 1940 to 2000 and Its Relation to Forest Fragmentation

Abstract:  Housing growth and its environmental effects pose major conservation challenges. We sought to (1) quantify spatial and temporal patterns of housing growth across the U.S. Midwest from 1940–2000, (2) identify ecoregions strongly affected by housing growth, (3) assess the extent to which forests occur near housing, and (4) relate housing to forest fragmentation. We used data from the 2000 U.S. Census to derive fine-scale backcasts of decadal housing density. Housing data were integrated with a 30-m resolution U.S. Geological Survey land cover classification. The number of housing units in the Midwest grew by 146% between 1940 and 2000. Spatially, housing growth was particularly strong at the fringe of metropolitan areas (suburban sprawl) and in nonmetropolitan areas (rural sprawl) that are rich in natural amenities such as lakes and forests. The medium-density housing (4–32 housing units/km²) category increased most in area. Temporally, suburban housing growth was especially high in the post-World War II decades. Rural sprawl was highest in the 1970s and 1990s. The majority of midwestern forests either contained or were near housing. Only 14.8% of the region's forests were in partial block groups with no housing. Housing density was negatively correlated with the amount of interior forest. The widespread and pervasive nature of sprawl shown by our data is cause for conservation concern. Suburban sprawl has major environmental impacts on comparatively small areas because of the high number of housing units involved. In contrast, rural sprawl affects larger areas but with less intensity because associated housing densities are lower. The environmental effects per house, however, are likely higher in the case of rural sprawl because it occurs in less-altered areas. Conservation efforts will need to address both types of sprawl to be successful.     

Mapping Patterns of Human Use and Potential Resource Conflicts on Public Lands

Focusing on a 2.2 million hectare area surrounding the Lolo National Forest in western Montana, USA, we illustrate a GIS method for predicting patterns of human use on public lands and highlighting potential for impacts on fish and wildlife species. Data inputs include human population count (derived from the 1990 Census), roads and trails, and the predicted distributions of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and 41 terrestrial vertebrates of special concern. Because results highlight areas where conflicts between humans and resources may occur, they are of potential use to land managers. This approach can be applied wherever data are available, and inputs can be varied according to the topics of interest.     

城镇蔓延与滞留型城镇化人口

在以政府主导为特征的城镇化进程中,我国形成了有别于西方城市蔓延概念的城镇蔓延。在户籍制度以及经济发展水平的制约下,政府主导的城乡空间转化,将造成其中人口城乡身份识别的困难。本文通过构建一个人口聚集与城市空间增长的动态均衡模型来研究政府推动下的城镇空间扩张对人口的影响。研究发现,在城镇蔓延中除了造成城镇空间的扩张,还产生两类"半"城镇化人口:滞留型城镇化人口和未市民化的进入型城镇人口。与"离土离乡"的进入型城镇人口不同,滞留型城镇人口"不离土不离乡"却由于生存空间划分为城镇地区而成为城镇常住人口。利用人口普查数据对改革开放以来农业户籍人口在城镇地区的变动规模进行分解,发现因为城镇蔓延而产生的的滞留型城镇化人口规模超过进入型城镇化人口,成为农业户籍城镇化中最大群体,且该类人口主要集中在镇区。对这类人口的忽视,将对理解我国城镇进程及其作用产生偏差。而城镇蔓延造成的复杂人口结构需要社会重新考虑我国城镇化进程。而城镇化从空间管理向人口管理、率先解决滞留型城镇人口的城镇化问题以及严格控制小城镇土地城镇化现象,将推进我国城镇化健康发展。     

The long iron line: Water resources development at the United States Military Academy,West Point (1802–1943)

Comprehensive analyses of long-term region-specific water resources developments could offer new insights for contemporary water resources planners and decision makers. The objective of this work was to analyze water supply development at the United States Military Academy (USMA) during the 19th and early 20th Centuries through the lens of selected modern water resources planning and management practices. Analysis of water usage, population, and technological growth revealed that changes in technology had a greater influence on total water withdrawals than an increase in population. The USMA water supply system evolved incrementally over much of the 141-year study period and failure to adequately recognize shortcomings in water supply options resulted in several suboptimal decisions. Communications and enhanced stakeholder participation might have resulted in alternative decisions.     

The Brown Trout Population at Loch Fleet Eight Years After Liming

At the start of the Loch Fleet Project in 1984, the Loch and the upper 7 km of its efferent stream were found to be devoid of trout (Salmo trutta) as a result of acidification. Following the liming treatments applied to the catchment, from 1986 the formerly toxic water quality conditions (pH ∼ 4.5, calcium ∼ 1 mgl^-1, elevated aluminium and heavy metal levels) were eliminated, and trout were reintroduced on two occasions, in 1987 and 1988. A total of 520 fish were stocked, at a combined density equivalent to 5.5 kg ha^-1. Surveys of the loch and stream populations were carried out annually until 1993 to monitor their development, using a range of techniques, including electrofishing, gill-netting, seine-netting, spawner trapping and mark-release recapture methods. Length and scale- analysis were used to investigate fish growth.

The trout population in Loch Fleet expanded rapidly as a result of natural spawning in the loch's main feeder stream, augmented by the use of an artificial spawning bed which was constructed at the loch outlet in 1990. in mid-1983 the stock density, estimated by mark-recapture census methods, had increased to 24.9 kg ha^-1. Poor recruitment in the years 1991-93, however, reduced the rate of expansion and resulted in a population comprising mainly older individuals. the poor recruitment in these years was not fully explained but was not caused by water quality and was most likely a result of fry washout by spring spates.

Fish growth rates were high initially and were estimated on the basis of the Elliott trout growth model to be optimal for the prevailing water temperature regime of the loch. By 1991, growth rates had fallen, probably as a result of competition for food, but showed signs of recovery towards the end of the study period in 1993, following the period of lower population densities of young fish.

Trout rapidly repopulated the loch's outlet stream after 1987 but have remained sparse and have shown no signs of spawning within most of the stream. Water analyses have shown that the liming of the Loch Fleet catchment has minimal impact on downstream waters when flows are high, so that potentially toxic acid episodes have not been prevented.