Implications of changing national policies on land use in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh

Land use in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh had undergone changes over the past several centuries. The landscape, which was mostly covered with forest with interspersed shifting cultivation plots until the beginning of the colonial period, has gradually changed into a landscape with a blend of land uses. Overall, the forest area has gradually declined, while the area under shifting cultivation and sedentary agriculture has expanded. The process of the change was multi-directional. National forestry, land use, land taxation, population migration policies, and development activities, such as construction of a hydroelectric dam and roads, played an important role in this process. Shifting cultivation had inflicted little damage on the forest until the beginning of the colonial period. The pace of deforestation accelerated with the nationalization of forests which abolished tribal people's customary use and management rights to the forest, and allowed large-scale commercial logging both legally and illegally. The pace was further intensified by the policy encouraging population migration to CHT and construction of a reservoir on the Karnafuli River. Efforts were made to replace shifting cultivation with more productive types of sedentary agriculture. However, much change could not take place in the absence of secure land rights, supportive trade policies, and the required support services and facilities, including infrastructure. Locationally suitable land use evolved in areas where transportation facilities were available and farmers were granted land title with the necessary extension services and credit facilities. These findings have important policy implications for the promotion of environmentally and economically sound land use in CHT.     

Synergistic Techniques for Better Understanding and Classifying the Environmental Structure of Landscapes

The desire to capture natural regions in the landscape has been a goal of geographic and environmental classification and ecological land classification (ELC) for decades. Since the increased adoption of data-centric, multivariate, computational methods, the search for natural regions has become the search for the best classification that optimally trades off classification complexity for class homogeneity. In this study, three techniques are investigated for their ability to find the best classification of the physical environments of the Mt. Lofty Ranges in South Australia: AutoClass-C (a Bayesian classifier), a Kohonen Self-Organising Map neural network, and a k-means classifier with homogeneity analysis. AutoClass-C is specifically designed to find the classification that optimally trades off classification complexity for class homogeneity. However, AutoClass analysis was not found to be assumption-free because it was very sensitive to the user-specified level of relative error of input data. The AutoClass results suggest that there may be no way of finding the best classification without making critical assumptions as to the level of class heterogeneity acceptable in the classification when using continuous environmental data. Therefore, rather than relying on adjusting abstract parameters to arrive at a classification of suitable complexity, it is better to quantify and visualize the data structure and the relationship between classification complexity and class homogeneity. Individually and when integrated, the Self-Organizing Map and k-means classification with homogeneity analysis techniques also used in this study facilitate this and provide information upon which the decision of the scale of classification can be made. It is argued that instead of searching for the elusive classification of natural regions in the landscape, it is much better to understand and visualize the environmental structure of the landscape and to use this knowledge to select the best ELC at the required scale of analysis.     

Policy Windows, Policy Change, and Organizational Learning: Watersheds in the Evolution of Watershed Management

Employing in-depth, elite interviews, this empirical research contributes to understanding the dynamics among policy windows, policy change, and organizational learning. First, although much of the research on agenda setting—how issues attract enough attention that action is taken to address them—has been conducted at the national scale, this work explores the subnational, regional scale. With decentralization, regional-scale environmental decision-making has become increasingly important. Second, this research highlights the role of policy windows and instances of related organizational learning identified by natural resources managers. Having practitioners identify focusing events contrasts with the more typical approach of the researcher identifying a particular focusing event or events to investigate. A focusing event is a sudden, exceptional experience that, because of how it leads to harm or exposes the prospect for great devastation, is perceived as the impetus for policy change.     

土地利用/覆盖变化对长江上游非点源污染影响研究

在国内外相关研究的基础上,利用输出系数模型,结合RS和GIS技术,对长江上游的非点源污染负荷进行了空间模拟和负荷估算.模拟结果表明,在不考虑流域损失的前提下,由于土地利用造成的非点源污染负荷TN总量从20世纪70年代的123万t下降至2000年的116万t,基本呈逐年减少的趋势,由土地利用造成的TP的变化趋势与TN基本相同,从70年代的3.7万t下降到2000年的3.5万t左右.就省份、土地利用类型和水系而言,四川省、种植用地和草地以及金沙江水系和嘉陵江水系对长江上游的非点源污染贡献较大.在非点源污染负荷强度上,重庆市和嘉陵江水系单位面积负荷最高,是今后应重点治理的地区.结果表明,该模型可以对长江上游这样的超大尺度空间的非点源污染进行较好的空间模拟.     

松嫩平原西部碱尘气溶胶的时段变化及其气候影响因素分析

利用耦合等离子体发射光谱测试技术(ICP-AES)对松嫩平原西部2003年7月到2004年5月间获得的大气总悬浮颗粒物(TSP)样品进行了元素分析,并结合气象资料和TSP质量浓度,初步确定了碱尘活动年际内的演变规律及其主要控制因素.结果表明,TSP质量浓度的高峰时段是早春,其元素总体浓度亦高于其它时段,其中Na元素浓度具有明显的高值,表明碱尘在该时段为TSP的主要成分;晚春时段区域沙尘影响加强,很难监测本地碱尘活动;夏季,碱尘的3种重要元素(Na、Ca、K)含量增加,表明夏季有碱尘活动,与TSP浓度偏高吻合;秋季,碱尘和区域沙尘的活动均减弱.影响碱尘活动的气候因子主要是风力、降水量、温度、日照和湿度,但不同时段其主导作用不同.     

Characteristics of sewage sludge and distribution of heavy metal in plants with amendment of sewage sludge

In order to better understand land application of sewage sludge, the characterization of heavy metals and organic pollutants were investigated in three different sewage sludges in Shanghai City, China. It was found that the total concentrations of Cd in all of sewage sludge and total concentrations of Zn in Jinshan sewage sludge, as well as those ofZn, Cu, and Ni in Taopu sludge are higher than Chinese regulation limit of pollutants for sludge to be used in agriculture. Leachability of rig in all of studied samples and that of Cd in Taopu sewage sludge exceed the limit values of waste solid extraction standard in China legislation. Based on the characteristics for three kinds of sewage sludge, a pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of soil amended with Quyang sewage sludge on the accumulation of heavy metalo.by Begonia semperfloreas-hybr; Ophiopogon japonicas （L.F.） Ker-Gaw; Loropetalum chindense-var, rubrum; Dendranthema morifolium; Viola tricolor; A ntirrhinum majas; Buxas radicans Sieb; Viburnum macrocephalum; Osmanthas fragrans Lour; Cinnamomum camphora siebold and Ligustrum lucidum ait. Results showed that 8 species of plant survived in the amended soil, and moreover they flourished as well as those cultivated in the control soil. The heavy metal concentration in plants varied with species, As, Pb, Cd and Cr concentration being the highest in the four herbaceous species studied, particularly in the roots of D. morifolium. These plants, however, did not show accumulator of As, Pb, Cd and Cr. The highest concentration of Ni and Hg was found in the roots ofD. morifolium, followed by the leaves ofB. semperflorens-hybr. Levels of Zn and Cu were much higher in D. morifolium than in the other plant species. D. morifolium accumulated Ni, Hg, Cu and Zn, which may contribute to the decrease of heavy metal contents in the amended soil. Treatment with sewage sludge did not significantly affect the uptake of heavy metals by the L. chindense-var, rubrum, however, it significantly affected the uptake of heavy metals by D. morifolium.     

咸阳地裂缝成因分析

咸阳地裂缝出现于1992年,以近东西向为主,局部发育为近南北向,水平拉张位移最明显,垂直位移次之,水平扭动位移最小,为拉张兼具左旋地裂缝。咸阳地裂缝的出现位置与区域构造线吻合,说明与区域地质构造环境密切相关,构造带的存在与活动为地裂缝的发育提供了空间条件和力学薄弱界面,而承压水头的急剧下降,最终使地裂缝的出现成为可能。     

气候变化主要因子对马铃薯生物量积累及产量和品质的影响

利用新型开顶式气室(OTC)开展CO2浓度升高和大气增温试验,分别为模拟增温2.0℃,模拟增温2.0℃且CO2浓度增加到650μmol·mol-1,对照CO2浓度约410μmol·mol-1,对马铃薯叶片、叶柄和茎等地上生物量、根和块茎等地下生物量积累过程及其特征参数的协同影响研究,分析气候变化对马铃薯产量形成和品质的...     

环境对冲压发动机烟火点火器性能影响研究

为促进某型冲压发动机烟火点火器生产工艺的定型,在海南进行了高温、高湿热带海洋气候自然环境对点火器长期贮存性能影响的研究。点火器采取无包装的暴露试验和密封包装贮存试验2种方法,分别在户外暴露场、棚库和库房等3种环境条件下进行试验。通过试验得到环境温度变化对密封包装储存的点火器的绝缘电阻值、电阻性能均无明显影响,点火性能良好,玻璃钢、涂层等贮存性能良好,点火器的环境适应性良好等结论。     

快速城市化背景下的思雅河流域水环境分析

通过对思雅河流域连续3年的水环境质量监测,结合遥感影像获得其土地利用类型变化,据此研究城市化对水环境的影响。结果表明:2012—2014年间思雅河流域自然、农业景观面积占比减少,而建设用地面积持续增加;研究期间除TDS年均值略微下降外,其余水质指标的年均值几乎均呈递增趋势,尤以TSS和COD增加最显著;TSS、COD、NH 3-N和TP的相对标准偏差均>0.1,显著高于其余参数,说明其波动程度较大。主成分分析表明水环境变化最主要的影响因子为第一主成分(TSS、COD、NH 3-N和TP)。贵安新区大学城建设活动加重了思雅河流域水体污染趋势。