People,environment and place: the function and significance of human hybrid relationships at an allotment in South East England

Allotments are a valued part of the British cultural landscape, with benefits often associated with exercise and fresh food. However, there are other significant but less tangible values that are often implicit in green-space research, but which require further substantiation. This article sheds light on the role of allotments as places where people engage in meaningful relationships with the natural world. Drawing on in-depth qualitative data, we develop a co-constructionist understanding of the human–nature relationships which exist between plot-holders and the non-human agents they encounter. These non-human elements are implicated in formulating important social values, such as identity, knowledge and community. Furthermore, they are seen to help collapse the natural-social dualism, which is often cited as a root cause of unsustainability, and enrich the lives of plot-holders in diverse and significant ways. Advocacy for their inclusion in urban communities is discussed in relation to the development of socially and environmentally sustainable cities.     

Political Incentives for Biodiversity Conservation

Abstract:  There seems to be a worldwide lack of political will for conservation that leads, inevitably, to an undermining of conservation policy. This is a standard complaint but one that has received little academic attention. In an attempt to better understand the gap between conservation policy and practice, we examined conservation policies and practice as they have played out in the Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh, India, over the past two decades. In particular we consider the park's experience within two larger contexts: (1) Himachal's current development orientation, which seeks to transform the state into the electrical powerhouse of the country by building over 300 medium and large power projects and (2) electoral politics that result in politician's support for villagers and others denied access to national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Each of these factors works to undermine state conservation policies. Conservationists need to build political bridges with local communities if they are to use electoral power to work for rather than against conservation. Only such electoral power can be expected to force governments to adopt more cautious policies in advancing a particular development agenda. In the absence of strategic alignments in places such as Himachal Pradesh with strong democratic traditions, one must expect continued political support for potentially destructive megaprojects and an absence of political support for the conservation of biological diversity.     

Human impact on the landscape of small islands in the West-Estonian archipelago

Research on the development of the interrelationship between society and environment is crucial for the understanding of contemporary landscapes. The West-Estonian archipelago provides an opportunity for such investigations because of its small size, landscape diversity, and well-defined economic activities. The contemporary landscapes of the islands reflect environmental changes resulting from centuries of human activity. This paper describes both natural and human factors in the change in landscape of small Estonian islands during the last centuries. During the period 1850–1940, human activity diversified the landscape structure. During World War II, with the establishment of Soviet rule, the islets were depopulated; their landscape became more uniform and lost their economic and ecological vitality. The re-establishment of private ownership of land and a market economy is predicted to result in positive changes in the landscape of the islets.     

Correspondence between spatial patterns in fish assemblages in ohio streams and aquatic ecoregions

Land classification systems can be useful for assessing aquatic ecosystems if relationships among them exist. Because the character of an aquatic ecosystem depends to a large extent upon the character of the landscape it drains, spatial patterns in aquatic ecosystems should correspond to patterns in the landscape. To test this hypothesis, the US state of Ohio was divided into four aquatic ecoregions based on an analysis of spatial patterns in the combination of land-surface form, land use, potential natural vegetation, and soil parent material. During the period July–October 1983, fish assemblages were sampled in 46 streams that were representative of the ecoregions, and that had watersheds relatively undisturbed by human activities. Spatial patterns of the fish assemblages were examined relative to the ecoregions; distinct regional differences were identified. The assemblages differed most between the Huron/Erie Lake Plain region and the Western Allegheny Plateau region; assemblages in the Eastern Corn Belt Plains and the Erie/Ontario Lake Plain-Interior Plateau regions were intermediate. This pattern also reflects the gradient in landscape character as one moves from the northwest to the southeast of Ohio.     

高师地理教育专业学生灾害教育研究

地理师范生是未来普及灾害教育的生力军,他们对灾害知识的了解水平将直接影响到未来灾害教育的普及,因此必须加强地理师范生灾害教育.研究认为高等院校地理专业应建立完善灾害教育体系,强化地理师范生灾害知识体系,同时对怎样训练地理师范生掌握现代多媒体技术和充分利用网络资源以及培训他们推广灾害知识的能力提出建议.     

Testing the scoping phase of a bottom-up planning guide designed to support Australian Indigenous rangers manage the impacts of climate change on cultural heritage sites

Since the early 1990s archaeologists have suggested archaeological and cultural heritage sites (cultural sites) will face major challenges from anthropogenic climate change. While techniques to manage such impacts are emerging, no planning tools exist for bottom-up, community-based management of the issue. This paper forms part of an overarching research project that aims to fill this gap by developing a bottom-up planning guide (the Guide). The paper tests the first of the proposed Guide’s five phases: the scoping phase. It presents the results of workshops conducted with two Australian Indigenous rangers groups. While existing studies document Indigenous peoples’ perceptions of climate change in general, none have focussed on their perceptions of impacts on cultural heritage sites. Here, Indigenous rangers related strong perceptions of particular climate change impacts on specific cultural sites in particular bio-regions. While the rangers were actively engaged with sites, they felt site management should be extended in the face of additional threats from climate change. Rangers were able to nominate a preferred methodological approach, based on a risk analysis of biophysical hazards, as well as local adaptive capacity building in the face of governance challenges. Various barriers to adaptation planning and resource limitations were identified but these were not regarded as insurmountable in terms of the current project. Testing of the scoping phase of the Guide suggested rangers had a strong organisational capacity to achieve practical adaptation results.     

西藏中部巴木错湖泊面积变化及其原因分析

受气候变化影响,西藏中部内陆湖泊在最近10 a来出现了水位上涨、湖面扩大等情况。采用遥感技术及统计学方法分析了西藏中部巴木错湖泊面积年内、年际变化及其原因。结果表明:①湖泊周边班戈站的年降水量、年平均气温、年平均地温以及年平均相对湿度等呈现增加趋势,年平均风速显现下降趋势;②2009年的面积在2月、5月和8月出现了三个"峰值",主要与湖面封冻、气温升高及降水增加等有关,年际变化呈逐步增加趋势;③经线性相关、多元回归等分析发现,年内变化受各月面降水量AP、蒸发量E和气温T的影响,合计贡献率为90.0%,排序为AP>E>T;年际变化受年平均风速SWS、7月降水量P7、平均地温ST和气温T的影响,合计贡献率为65.2%,排序为SWS>P7>ST>T。     

经济地理学角度的区域生态补偿机制研究

传统生态补偿以保护与改善生态环境、优化资源利用为目的,已不能体现其在生态保护、环境建设和区域发展方面的全部价值。新的区域发展形势对生态补偿机制提出了新的要求,生态补偿被认为是实现区域可持续发展和区域之间协调发展的重要手段。区域可持续发展和区域间协调发展是我国经济地理学的主要研究对象之一。如何从经济地理学的视角看待区域生态补偿,成为通过区域生态补偿机制的实施实现生态良好、经济发展和社会进步三位目标和谐发展的重要命题。从经济地理学的经典理论出发,在探讨区位论、产业结构演替理论、人地关系地域系统理论的基础上,分析了传统生态补偿的缺失和不足,并在现阶段我国以构建区域可持续和有序发展格局为目标的规划工作——主体功能区规划的基础上,就区域生态补偿的理论基础、目标导向和实施机制进行了探讨,将经济地理学的空间区位论、地域功能理论、区域发展空间均衡理论等充实到区域生态补偿的理论基础中,明确了以实现区域协调发展和基本公共服务均等化为目标导向,探索了政府主导、市场参与的区域生态补偿的实施模式,最后分析了实施难点、提出了相应的解决建议。     

地理气候及湖盆形态对我国湖泊营养状态的影响

利用SPSS统计分析软件的相关性分析和曲线估计功能分析了我国145个湖泊富营养化指标与自然因素之间的关系.富营养化指标包括2008—2010年现场监测的总氮、总磷、高锰酸盐指数、透明度、叶绿素a(Chla)和营养状态综合指数(TLI),自然因素包括:2个湖盆形态指标(平均水深和面积)、3个湖泊地理位置指标(经度、纬度和海拔)和3个气候指标(年均温、年平均降水量和>0℃积温).相关性分析的结果表明,TLI指数与湖泊平均水深和海拔呈显著负相关(p<0.01),而与湖泊所在经度、>0℃积温呈显著正相关(p<0.01,p<0.05).Chla与湖泊平均水深呈显著负相关(p<0.05),与年均温和>0℃积温呈显著正相关(p<0.05).曲线估计的分析结果表明,TLI与湖泊平均水深和经度呈幂函数关系,与海拔和>0℃积温呈指数函数关系.研究结果还表明,贫营养湖泊位于高海拔(>1000m)和低经度(<105°)地区,并且湖泊的平均水深大于30m.年平均降水量低于1000mm,>0℃积温低于5400℃.     

自然地理与资源环境专业《环境科学概论》课程教学改革与实践研究

《环境科学概论》作为自然地理与资源环境专业的一门专业基础课,具有明显的导引课程特点,知识覆盖面广,涉及学科领域多,教学难度大,对于培养学生的专业精神,培养学生的环境意识和科学素养,激发学生的专业兴趣均有重要的地位.结合西安科技大学自然地理与资源环境专业课程定位与目标、教学内容革新和教学方法革新等方面,针对《环境科学概论》的课程教学改革进行了探讨,提出了培养技术型和创新型的复合型人才培养目标模式与定位.