区域滑坡灾害地形地貌因子敏感性分析研究

为分析地形地貌与滑坡敏感性之间的关系,借助地理信息系统(GIS)空间分析技术和滑坡影响因子贡献率的数学方法,研究雅安市雨城区坡度坡向对滑坡的影响程度的大小。通过研究得到了每一区间的坡度和坡向对滑坡的贡献率,定量地分析了坡度、坡向对研究区域的滑坡发育的关系。研究结果表明,坡度20～30°区间的区域为滑坡最敏感的区域,坡向带90～120°区间是滑坡灾害最敏感的区域,但坡向带每一区域的贡献率差别不大。     

产业结构视角下的新疆区域经济差异分解研究

区域经济差异与产业结构有着密切的联系.从三次产业结构的视角,运用加权变异系数对1995年以来新疆区域经济差异进行产业分解.研究发现,1995-2009年新疆第二、第三产业的加权变异系数明显高于人均GDP加权变异系数,对总体经济差异起着明显的"上拉"作用.通过三次产业对总体差异的贡献分析发现,第二产业差异对新疆总体经济差异的年均贡献率达73.5%,表明第二产业差异是造成新疆总体差异的关键因素,提出了缩小新疆区域经济差异的对策建议.     

近年来中国边境贸易研究的问题与发展趋势

自古以来,边境贸易是我国对外经济交流的主要方式.近年来对我国边境研究较多,主要集中在我国边境贸易发展的历史总结、政策规范、边境贸易与区域经发展等方面,但对边境贸易与边境安全、边境贸易过程中跨境民族问题和我国边境贸易的优势等方面的研究较少.随着研究的不断深入,针对边境贸易出现了边境地区当地居民参与边境贸易过程、边境贸易与大尺度区域经济发展、"区位论"视角下的边境贸易等新动向.     

基于协调度与熵权法的绩效评价新方法

自人们意识到绩效评价的重要性以来,越来越多的研究集中于绩效评价的方法。以往的绩效评价侧重用数字表象进行评价,而忽略了政府、企业系统及其与社会经济发展之间的特性。基于此,根据既有的信息熵理论研究成果,提出了协调度与熵权法复合评价模型,并运用该模型对2009年度河北省区域创新绩效进行了实证分析,既科学、全面地衡量绩效情况,又便于政府、企业及其与社会经济发展之间的系统分析,是一种绩效评价方法的创新,具有一定的普适性和通用性。     

Development of the gap model ZELIG-CFS to predict the dynamics of North American mixed forest types with complex structures

When the development of gap models began about three decades ago, they became a new category of forest productivity models. Compared with traditional growth and yield models, which aim at deriving empirical relationships that best fit data, gap models use semi-theoretical relationships to simulate biotic and abiotic processes in forest stands, including the effects of photosynthetic active radiation interception, site fertility, temperature and soil moisture on tree growth and seedling establishment. While growth and yield models are appropriate to predict short-term stemwood production, gap models may be used to predict the natural course of species replacement for several generations. Because of the poor availability of historical data and knowledge on species-specific allometric relationships, species replacement and death rate, it has seldom been possible to develop and evaluate the most representative algorithms to predict growth and mortality with a high degree of accuracy. For this reason, the developers of gap models focused more on developing simulation tools to improve the understanding of forest succession than predicting growth and yield accurately.In a previous study, the predictions of simulations in two southeastern Canadian mixed ecosystem types using the ZELIG gap model were compared with long-term historical data. This exercise highlighted model components that needed modifications to improve the predictive capacity of ZELIG. The updated version of the model, ZELIG-CFS, includes modifications in the modelling of crown interaction effects, survival rate and regeneration. Different algorithms representing crown interactive effects between crowns were evaluated and species-specific model components that compute individual-tree mortality probability rate were derived. The results of the simulations were compared using long-term remeasurement data obtained from sample plots located in La Mauricie National Park of Canada in Quebec. In the present study, three forest types were studied: (1) red spruce-balsam fir-yellow birch, (2) yellow birch-sugar maple-balsam fir, and (3) red spruce-balsam fir-white birch mixed ecosystems. Among the seven algorithms that represented individual crown interactions, two better predicted the changes in basal area and individual-tree growth: (1) the mean available light growing factor (ALGF), which is computed from the proportion of light intercepted at different levels of individual crowns adjusted by the species-specific shade tolerance index, and (2) the ratio of mean ALGF to crown width. The long-term predicted patterns of change in basal area were consistent with the life history of the different species.     

The influences of climate and hydrology on population dynamics of waterbirds in the lower Murrumbidgee River floodplains in Southeast Australia: Implications for environmental water management

Restoration of waterbird diversity and abundance is a key objective of river system management in Australia. Therefore, understanding the effects of climatic and hydrological variables on waterbird population dynamics is fundamental for successful river restoration programs. We investigated the population dynamics of waterbirds (total abundance) and seven functional waterbird groups in the floodplains of lower Murrumbidgee River. We found a general declining abundance trend from 1983 to 2007, except for the deep water foragers. We modelled the relative contribution of the climatic and hydrological factors to waterbird population decrease using the generalized additive model (GAM) framework after identifying the negative binomial distribution. Most of the seven functional groups were positively related to both annual rainfall and water usage, defined as the total water volume intercepted by the river reach, and the models indicated that rainfall was slightly more important. Temperature also played a role in waterbird abundance: the maximum summer temperature negatively influenced the abundance of dabbling ducks, shoreline foragers and fish eaters, while the minimum winter temperature positively affected the abundance of dabbling ducks and shoreline foragers. Overall, our results support the practice of providing environmental water for sustaining waterbird populations. However, environmental water provision is likely to be most effective when timed to coincide with antecedent rainfall.     

Scaling-up spatially-explicit ecological models using graphics processors

How the properties of ecosystems relate to spatial scale is a prominent topic in current ecosystem research. Despite this, spatially explicit models typically include only a limited range of spatial scales, mostly because of computing limitations. Here, we describe the use of graphics processors to efficiently solve spatially explicit ecological models at large spatial scale using the CUDA language extension. We explain this technique by implementing three classical models of spatial self-organization in ecology: a spiral-wave forming predator-prey model, a model of pattern formation in arid vegetation, and a model of disturbance in mussel beds on rocky shores. Using these models, we show that the solutions of models on large spatial grids can be obtained on graphics processors with up to two orders of magnitude reduction in simulation time relative to normal pc processors. This allows for efficient simulation of very large spatial grids, which is crucial for, for instance, the study of the effect of spatial heterogeneity on the formation of self-organized spatial patterns, thereby facilitating the comparison between theoretical results and empirical data. Finally, we show that large-scale spatial simulations are preferable over repetitions at smaller spatial scales in identifying the presence of scaling relations in spatially self-organized ecosystems. Hence, the study of scaling laws in ecology may benefit significantly from implementation of ecological models on graphics processors.     

An inverse model for the analysis of the Venice lagoon food web

A steady-state model of the Venice lagoon food web was constructed, based on a comprehensive set of data, which were collected in the years 2001-2005. Energy flows were estimated by means of an inverse methodology of constrained optimization based on the Minimum Norm criterion, i.e. on the minimization of both the sum of squares of the residuals and of the sum of squares of energy flows. The solution was constrained by a set inequalities, which were derived from general eco-physiological knowledge and site specific data on energy flows. The trophic network was represented by thirty-two nodes, including single-species compartments for the species of high economical or ecological relevance. Mass balance equations were weighted, in order to obtain meaningful results in presence of large differences, up to 5 orders of magnitude, among biomasses. A perturbation technique was applied, with the purpose of reducing the risk of finding solutions heavily affected by the set of constraints and of obtaining a more robust representation of the energy flows. The main patterns of energy flow are consistent with those obtained in previous attempts at modelling the Venice lagoon food web. Micro- and macro-phytobenthos account for the largest fraction of the primary production. Energy is then transferred towards higher trophic levels by means of two main pathways: the recycling of dead biomass through the detritus compartment and the direct consumption by grazers. The first pathway is the most important and accounts for approximately two/thirds of the energy transferred to the second trophic level.     

Disentangling the effects of heterogeneity, stochastic dynamics and sampling in a community of aquatic insects

A dynamic and heterogeneous species abundance model generating the lognormal species abundance distribution is fitted to time series of species data from an assemblage of stoneflies and mayflies (Plecoptera and Ephemeroptera) of an aquatic insect community collected over a period of 15 years. In each year except one, we analyze 5 parallel samples taken at the same time of the season giving information about the over-dispersion in the sampling relative to the Poisson distribution. Results are derived from a correlation analysis, where the correlation in the bivariate normal distribution of log abundance is used as measurement of similarity between communities. The analysis enables decomposition of the variance of the lognormal species abundance distribution into three components due to heterogeneity among species, stochastic dynamics driven by environmental noise, and over-dispersion in sampling, accounting for 62.9, 30.6 and 6.5% of the total variance, respectively. Corrected for sampling the heterogeneity and stochastic components accordingly account for 67.3 and 32.7% of the among species variance in log abundance. By using this method, it is possible to disentangle the effect of heterogeneity and stochastic dynamics by quantifying these components and correctly remove sampling effects on the observed species abundance distribution.     

Common challenges for ecological modelling: Synthesis of facilitated discussions held at the symposia organized for the 2009 conference of the International Society for Ecological Modelling in Quebec City, Canada, (October 6-9, 2009)

The eleven symposia organized for the 2009 conference of the International Society for Ecological Modelling (ISEM 2009) held in Quebec City, Canada, October 6-9, 2009, included facilitated discussion sessions following formal presentations. Each symposium focused on a specific subject, and all the subjects could be classified into three broad categories: theoretical development, population dynamics and ecosystem processes. Following discussions with the symposia organizers, which indicated that they all shared similar issues and concerns, the facilitated discussions were task-oriented around four basic questions: (1) key challenges in the research area, (2) generating and sharing new ideas, (3) improving collaboration and networking, and (4) increasing visibility to decision-makers, partners and clients. Common challenges that emerged from the symposia included the need for improved communication and collaboration among different academic disciplines, further progress in both theoretical and practical modelling approaches, and accentuation of technology transfer. Regarding the generation and sharing of new ideas, the main issue that emerged was the type of positive interactions that should be encouraged among potential collaborators. The usefulness of the Internet, particularly for the sharing of open-source software and conducting discussion forums, was highlighted for improving collaboration and networking. Several communication tools are available today, and it is important for modellers to use them more intensively. Visibility can be increased by publishing professional newsletters, maintaining informal contacts with the public, organizing educational sessions in primary and secondary schools, and developing simplified analytical frameworks and pilot studies. Specific issues raised in each symposium are also discussed.