城市用地扩张、规模经济与经济增长质量

城市用地扩张不仅影响经济增长数量,还通过产业结构升级、城市化、生态环境变化和规模经济等路径影响区域经济增长质量。城市用地扩张,促进市场范围扩大,有利于区域内与区域间开展分工合作,提升城市的集聚经济效益与规模经济水平;但若城市用地扩张使区域突破最优规模经济状态后,因管理与服务成本、交通成本和环境成本等快速增加,城市规模效率会下降,对经济增长质量产生负影响。实证研究结果表明:在全国、中部和西部地区3个空间维度,城市用地扩张与规模效率间存在倒U型关系,而在东部地区此关系并不成立;在4个空间维度,城市用地扩张通过规模经济路径对全要素生产率的影响都为负,表明城市用地扩张已使各区域突破最优规模经济状态,土地要素投入存在冗余现象,与资本、劳动等要素配置比例非最优。研究结果还表明,人力资本、城市化、产业结构升级、基础设施等变量对经济增长质量有正影响。     

畜禽养殖废水生物处理与农田利用过程抗生素抗性基因的转归特征研究进展

兽用抗生素的广泛使用造成了畜禽养殖场及其周边环境中抗生素抗性基因丰度的提高,而畜禽养殖废水所携带的抗性基因在生物处理及其农田利用过程中的转归规律尚不明确,存在抗性基因从畜禽养殖场向周边环境的传播风险.本文通过文献调研,综述了畜禽养殖废水中抗性基因的赋存特征、抗性基因在畜禽养殖废水生物处理和农田利用过程中转归的研究进展,并提出了今后的研究方向,以期为揭示畜禽养殖废水在生物处理和农田利用过程中抗性基因的消减规律、降低抗性基因传播风险提供借鉴.     

基于土地利用转型视角的“亚喀斯特”区域生态环境效应研究——以黔中部分地区为例

在遥感与GIS的支持下,以1995、2000、2005和2010年的TM影像及2015年的Landsat8 OLI遥感影像为数据源,从土地利用转型的角度,运用区域生态环境质量指数和土地利用转型类型的生态贡献率对亚喀斯特地区的土地利用/覆盖变化过程及生态环境效应进行了定量分析。结果表明,1995~2015年间,亚喀斯特地区土地利用/覆盖变化较为显著,其中生活用地和生态用地面积增加,而生产用地面积减少,主要表现为农业生产用地向城镇、农村生活用地及林地生态用地的转化。计算得到亚喀斯特区域5期的生态环境质量指数分别为0.540 2、0.539 7、0.552 3、0.558 1和0.561 5,生态环境质量总体维持稳定,呈一定的上升趋势。致使亚喀斯特区域生态环境质量改善的主要原因是农业生产用地向林地、草地和水域生态用地的转化;致使生态环境恶化的主要是农业生产用地向城镇、农村生活用地等的转化,但生态环境改善的趋势要大于恶化的趋势。     

Declines in Common, Widespread Butterflies in a Landscape under Intense Human Use

Abstract:  Analyses of species' population losses typically show a dichotomy between strongly affected, rare, and localized species and apparently unaffected, common, and widespread species. We analyzed 16 years (1992–2007) of butterfly transect count data from The Netherlands in a reevaluation of the trends of common, widespread species. Fifty-five percent (11 of 20 species) of these species suffered severe declines in distribution and abundance. Overall, cumulative butterfly abundance declined by around 30%. Some of the species in decline used to be omnipresent in gardens and parks, and 2 of the species were previously considered agricultural pests. Based on their declines over the last 16 years, 2 of the 20 species ( Lasiommata megera and Gonepteryx rhamni ) reached endangered status in The Netherlands under the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) population-decline criterion, and 2 species ( Inachis io and Thymelicus lineola ) met vulnerable criterion. Butterflies in farmland, urban, and particularly woodland areas showed the largest decline in species abundance. The abundance of species associated with vegetation types found mainly in nature reserves (dunes, heathland, and, to a lesser extent, seminatural grassland) increased or remained stable. The decline of widespread species requires additional conservation strategies in the wider landscape.     

Physical Determinants of Methane Oxidation Capacity in a Temperate Soil

Methane oxidation capacity of soil from an experimentalsite in Northwest England was strongly dependent on temperatureand percentage water holding capacity. The soil had a distincttemperature optimum of 25 °C, with capacity for net methaneoxidation being completely lost below 5 and greater than37 °C. Optimum percentage water holding capacity for methaneoxidation was in the range 30–60%, with significant reductions inmethane oxidation rates in soils outside this range. Organic andmineral layers within the soil showed differences in potentialmethane oxidation rate, with methane oxidation being most rapid inthe buried organic layer and least rapid in the surface organiclayer. The importance of soil structure and gas diffusionlimitation is underlined, as is the strong temperature dependenceof methane oxidation when such diffusion limitation is removed.     

Conservation Businesses and Conservation Planning in a Biological Diversity Hotspot

The allocation of land to biological diversity conservation competes with other land uses and the needs of society for development, food, and extraction of natural resources. Trade‐offs between biological diversity conservation and alternative land uses are unavoidable, given the realities of limited conservation resources and the competing demands of society. We developed a conservation‐planning assessment for the South African province of KwaZulu‐Natal, which forms the central component of the Maputaland–Pondoland–Albany biological diversity hotspot. Our objective was to enhance biological diversity protection while promoting sustainable development and providing spatial guidance in the resolution of potential policy conflicts over priority areas for conservation at risk of transformation. The conservation‐planning assessment combined spatial‐distribution models for 646 conservation features, spatial economic‐return models for 28 alternative land uses, and spatial maps for 4 threats. Nature‐based tourism businesses were competitive with other land uses and could provide revenues of >US$60 million/year to local stakeholders and simultaneously help meeting conservation goals for almost half the conservation features in the planning region. Accounting for opportunity costs substantially decreased conflicts between biological diversity, agricultural use, commercial forestry, and mining. Accounting for economic benefits arising from conservation and reducing potential policy conflicts with alternative plans for development can provide opportunities for successful strategies that combine conservation and sustainable development and facilitate conservation action. Negocios de Conservación y Planificación de la Conservación en un Sitio de Importancia para la Biodiversidad     

Land Development in and around Protected Areas at the Wilderness Frontier

Protected areas’ chief conservation objectives are to include species within their boundaries and protect them from negative external pressures. Many protected areas are not achieving these goals, perhaps in part due to land development inside and outside protected areas. We conducted spatial analyses to evaluate the ability of Canadian protected areas to mitigate the effects of nearby land development. We investigated correlations of national patterns of land development in and around protected areas and then examined national patterns of roads, urban area, and croplands in protected areas. We calculated the amount of developed land in protected areas and within 25–100 km of protected‐area borders, the density of roads, and extent of urban and cropland area in protected areas. We constructed logistic‐regression models to test whether development in a protected area was associated with landscape and protected‐area characteristics. Land development was far less extensive inside than outside protected areas. However, several protected areas, particularly small southern areas near small urban centers had substantial development inside their boundaries, and nearly half of protected areas had roads. The cumulative extent of development within 50 km of protected areas was the best predictor of the probability of land development in protected areas. Canadian First Nations, industries, government, and nongovernmental organizations are currently planning an unprecedented number of new protected areas. Careful management of areas beyond protected‐area boundaries may prove critical to meeting their long‐term conservation objectives. Desarrollo de Tierras Dentro y Alrededor de Áreas Protegidas en la Frontera Silvestre     

Adapting cities to climate change – exploring the flood risk management role of green infrastructure landscapes

There is now an emerging sense of the scope and nature of response that can be implemented at building and neighbourhood scales to help adapt cities and urban areas to the changing climate. In comparison, the role of larger natural and semi-natural landscapes that surround and permeate cities is less well understood. Addressing this knowledge gap, this paper outlines two case studies that describe and map the flood risk management functions offered by green infrastructure landscapes situated within the Urban Mersey Basin in North West England. The case studies establish that areas potentially exposed to flooding can be located at some distance, and within different jurisdictions, from upstream areas where the flood hazard may be generated and could be moderated via functions provided by green infrastructure landscapes. This raises planning and governance challenges connected to supporting and enhancing flood risk management functions provided by green infrastructure landscapes.     

Welfare effects of rural-urban land conversion on different aged land-lost farmers: exemplified in Wuhan city

Rural-urban land conversion is a universal phenomenon in the rapid process of economic development and urban growth. The welfare of farmers who lost their farmland attracted a widespread concern within the society and academia. However, further research about differentiated policies according to the characteristics of different farmer groups is still need to be conducted. This article divides the land-lost farmers into three age groups: younger than 45, 45–65, and more than 65. It proposes a welfare index system including eight functional areas based on different age groups of affected farmers, taking four districts of Wuhan City as case study area. Fuzzy mathematics method is used to derive the aggregated welfare effect index. Our analysis show that the overall welfare levels of land-lost farmers of all age groups declined, but with a varying degree, with the level of welfare in those farmers who are 45–65 years old, younger than 45 years old, and older than 65 years old decreased by 18.7%, 16.6%, and 12.7%, respectively. The direction and degree of effects on the functional activity index varies among different groups. Economic conditions, living environment, health, and social participation of all age groups decrease while social security and housing conditions increase. On the other hand, development opportunities, social communication, and leisure have different changing directions in different age stages. These results call for differentiated and tailor-made compensation policies for land-lost farmers, towards improving the welfare levels of all farmers and reduce the disparity among them.     

A Small‐Scale Land‐Sparing Approach to Conserving Biological Diversity in Tropical Agricultural Landscapes

Two contrasting strategies have been proposed for conserving biological diversity while meeting the increasing demand for agricultural products: land sparing and land sharing production systems. Land sparing involves increasing yield to reduce the amount of land needed for agriculture, whereas land‐sharing agricultural practices incorporate elements of native ecosystems into the production system itself. Although the conservation value of these systems has been extensively debated, empirical studies are lacking. We compared bird communities in shade coffee, a widely practiced land‐sharing system in which shade trees are maintained within the coffee plantation, with bird communities in a novel, small‐scale, land‐sparing coffee‐production system (integrated open canopy or IOC coffee) in which farmers obtain higher yields under little or no shade while conserving an area of forest equal to the area under cultivation. Species richness and diversity of forest‐dependent birds were higher in the IOC coffee farms than in the shade coffee farms, and community composition was more similar between IOC coffee and primary forest than between shade coffee and primary forest. Our study represents the first empirical comparison of well‐defined land sparing and land sharing production systems. Because IOC coffee farms can be established by allowing forest to regenerate on degraded land, widespread adoption of this system could lead to substantial increases in forest cover and carbon sequestration without compromising agricultural yield or threatening the livelihoods of traditional small farmers. However, we studied small farms (<5 ha); thus, our results may not generalize to large‐scale land‐sharing systems. Furthermore, rather than concluding that land sparing is generally superior to land sharing, we suggest that the optimal approach depends on the crop, local climate, and existing land‐use patterns. Un Método para Reservar Tierras a Pequeña Escala para Conservar la Biodiversidad en Paisajes Agrícolas Tropicales