Farmland size,chemical fertilizers,and irrigation management effects on maize and wheat yield in Mexico

ABSTRACT

Farmland size is a key factor in debates over agricultural land use, food security, agrochemical pollution, and the future of smallholder systems. This paper examines relationships between farmland size, chemical fertilizers and irrigation management, and maize and wheat yield in Mexico. We used agricultural census data to estimate the mean farmland areas and crop yields of 5.5 million farms and nine million agricultural plots in 2,455 Mexican municipalities. We also derived indices of socio-environmental and management factors to examine relationships with yield. Using multiple regression models, we found that although mean farmland area positively relates to maize and wheat yield, the relationships depend critically on the management contexts of chemical fertilizers and irrigation, which vary widely across farm size gradients. Smallholder yield gaps were associated with deficits in irrigation, rather than chemical inputs. Findings highlight the growing need for expanded irrigation access and/or water management assistance for smaller farms.     

贵州喀斯特地区不同土地利用方式土壤CO_2体积分数变化及影响因素

为了解不同土地利用方式对土壤剖面CO2体积分数的影响,采用气相色谱法对贵州喀斯特地区土壤不同深度空气CO2体积分数进行观测。结果表明：不同土地利用对土壤平均CO2体积分数影响较大,其次序为：次生林（0.35%±0.06%）〉草地（0.34%±0.05%）〉人工林（0.27%±0.03%）〉农田（0.16%±0.03%）。次生林、草地与农田之间土壤CO2体积分数差异性显著,而人工林与农田之间无显著性差异。不同土地利用方式土壤剖面CO2体积分数的时空变化特征比较一致：从春季到夏季逐渐增加而从秋季到冬季又逐渐降低,与该区域的温度和降雨量变化趋势一致。同时随着土壤剖面深度增加CO2体积分数逐渐增大,但在土层12 cm处有突然降低现象（农田除外）。不同土地利用方式土壤空气CO2体积分数变化与大气、土壤温度密切相关（r=0.602~0.886,P〈0.05）,土壤温度升高会导致土壤CO2体积分数上升。土壤湿度虽然也在一定程度上影响了剖面CO2体积分数,但相关性分析表明二者之间并不显著（r=0.105~0.393,P〉0.05）,说明在贵州喀斯特地区,土壤温度对土壤空气CO2体积分数的影响大于土壤湿度。     

村镇土地资源集约利用评价与影响因素分析——以四川省葛仙山镇为例

土地是人类生存和发展的基础,土地利用水平与人类社会的经济、社会和环境效益紧密相关。目前,随着我国城镇化水平的快速发展,城镇土地利用方式正在从粗放外延式向集约内涵式转化,而农村地区由于不合理的土地利用方式,大部分土地集约利用水平低,土地利用效率低。因此,研究农村土地集约利用状况,对转换目前农村土地利用方式并促进农村的可持续发展至关重要。基于行政村空间尺度,利用四川省彭州市2006年土地利用变更调查数据和葛仙山镇社会经济统计数据,运用模糊评价法和因子分析法,对四川省葛仙山镇20个行政村土地资源集约利用水平进行评价,并对影响因素进行因子分析。结果表明：从总体来看,葛仙山镇土地资源集约利用水平较低,属于低度集约利用水平,各行政村之间没有明显的空间差异性,受地形和区位等因素影响,北部丘陵山区的土地资源集约利用水平低于南部平原坝区。因子分析表明提高土地利用程度和土地投入水平是促进葛仙山镇土地资源集约利用水平的两个首要解决问题。尤其是减少北部丘陵山区人均农村居民点面积,提高对建设用地的利用强度,加大对土地的资金投入和人力资源投入,进一步挖掘北部丘陵山区的土地利用潜力,提高土地利用的强度,是葛仙山镇提高土地集约利用总体水平的首要任务。同时,还需加强葛仙山镇村镇土地整理的力度,多途径挖掘土地利用潜力,扩大人均耕地面积,提高土地的可持续利用程度。     

资源型城市土地利用变化及其对生态系统服务价值的影响

东营市是新兴的石油资源城市,土地利用/覆被变化剧烈且具有独特的区域特征。探讨该地区的土地利用变化及其对生态系统服务价值的影响有着重要的现实意义。为此,基于RS和GIS技术,利用Costanza提出的生态系统服务价值评估方法,研究了东营市1986—2008年间的土地利用变化及其引起的生态系统服务价值动态变化。研究结果表明：（1）耕地是东营市主要的土地利用类型,面积有所减少;未利用地和次生盐碱地所占比重较大,居民点及工矿用地大幅增加,油田生产建设和生态环境保护矛盾非常突出。（2）生态系统服务价值减少了6.68%。2008年东营市提供的生态服务仍然以维护原材料、气体调节、食物生产、气候等为主,而废物处理、水源涵养、生物多样性保护、土壤形成与保护和娱乐文化功能是比较弱的。今后应维护生物多样性保护和水源涵养功能,防止土壤盐渍化,提升区域生态系统服务功能;（3）生态系统服务价值对生态价值系数的敏感性指数均小于1,说明研究区内的生态系统服务价值缺乏弹性,研究结果是可信的。     

冬季土地管理对稻季CH4产生、氧化和排放的影响

通过室内培养和田间试验测定了冬季休闲、种麦和淹水处理水稻生长期CH4的产生潜力、氧化潜力及其排放通量,以探讨冬季土地管理对后续稻季CH4产生、氧化和排放的影响。结果表明：休闲与种麦处理间CH4产生潜力无显著差异（P〉0．05）,但2者均显著低于淹水处理（P〈0．05）;各处理间CH4氧化潜力无显著差异（P〉0．05）,土壤中NH4^＋-N含量可能是较冬季土地管理更为重要的影响CH4氧化潜力的因素;休闲处理CH4平均排放通量显著高于种麦处理（P〈0．05）,但2者均显著低于淹水处理（P〈0．05）。冬季持续淹水稻田CH4产生潜力显著高于冬季排水稻田是其CH4排放量远高于冬季排水稻田的原因。冬季土地管理对稻季CH4排放的影响主要受CH4产生潜力而非CH4氧化潜力的限制。     

Understanding the Lessons and Limitations of Conservation and Development

Abstract: The lack of concrete instances in which conservation and development have been successfully merged has strengthened arguments for strict exclusionist conservation policies. Research has focused more on social cooperation and conflict of different management regimes and less on how these factors actually affect the natural environments they seek to conserve. Consequently, it is still unknown which strategies yield better conservation outcomes? We conducted a meta‐analysis of 116 published case studies on common resource management regimes from Africa, south and central America, and southern and Southeast Asia. Using ranked sociodemographic, political, and ecological data, we analyzed the effect of land tenure, population size, social heterogeneity, as well as internally devised resource‐management rules and regulations (institutions) on conservation outcome. Although land tenure, population size, and social heterogeneity did not significantly affect conservation outcome, institutions were positively associated with better conservation outcomes. There was also a significant interaction effect between population size and institutions, which implies complex relationships between population size and conservation outcome. Our results suggest that communities managing a common resource can play a significant role in conservation and that institutions lead to management regimes with lower environmental impacts.     

The Quagga Mussel Crisis at Lake Mead National Recreation Area,Nevada (U.S.A.)

Abstract: Parks are cornerstones of conservation; and non‐native invasive species drive extensive changes to biological diversity in parks. Knowing this, national park staff at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in the southwestern United States had a program in place for early detection of the non‐native, invasive quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis). Upon finding the mussel in January 2007, managers moved quickly to access funding and the best available science to implement a response. Managers considered four options—doing nothing, closing the park, restricting movement on the lakes, and educating and enforcing park visitors—and decided to focus on education and enforcing existing laws. Nonetheless, quagga spread throughout the park and soon began to appear throughout the western United States. I examined why efforts to control the expansion failed and determined the general lessons to be learned from this case. Concentrating human visitation on the lakes through land‐use zoning opened a pathway for invasion, reduced management options, and led to the rapid spread of quagga. To reconcile competing mandates to protect nature and provide recreation, zoning in parks has become a common practice worldwide. It reduces stress on some areas of a park by restricting and thus concentrating human activity in particular areas. Concentrating the human activity in one area does three things: cements pathways that repeatedly import and export vectors of non‐native invasive species; creates the disturbed area necessary to enable non‐native invasive species to gain a foothold; and, establishes a source of invasions that, without appropriate controls, can quickly spread to a park's wilderness areas.     

Defining Historical Baselines for Conservation: Ecological Changes Since European Settlement on Vancouver Island,Canada

Abstract: Conservation and restoration goals are often defined by historical baseline conditions that occurred prior to a particular period of human disturbance, such as European settlement in North America. Nevertheless, if ecosystems were heavily influenced by native peoples prior to European settlement, conservation efforts may require active management rather than simple removal of or reductions in recent forms of disturbance. We used pre‐European settlement land survey records (1859–1874) and contemporary vegetation surveys to assess changes over the past 150 years in tree species and habitat composition, forest density, and tree size structure on southern Vancouver Island and Saltspring Island, British Columbia, Canada. Several lines of evidence support the hypothesis that frequent historical burning by native peoples, and subsequent fire suppression, have played dominant roles in shaping this landscape. First, the relative frequency of fire‐sensitive species (e.g., cedar [Thuja plicata]) has increased, whereas fire‐tolerant species (e.g., Douglas‐fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii]) have decreased. Tree density has increased 2‐fold, and the proportion of the landscape in forest has greatly increased at the expense of open habitats (plains, savannas), which today contain most of the region's threatened species. Finally, the frequency distribution of tree size has shifted from unimodal to monotonically decreasing, which suggests removal of an important barrier to tree recruitment. In addition, although most of the open habitats are associated with Garry oak (Quercus garryana) at present, most of the open habitats prior to European settlement were associated with Douglas‐fir, which suggests that the current focus on Garry oak as a flagship for the many rare species in savannas may be misguided. Overall, our results indicate that the maintenance and restoration of open habitats will require active management and that historical records can provide critical guidance to such efforts.     

Evaluating Private Land Conservation in the Cape Lowlands,South Africa

Abstract: Evaluation is important for judiciously allocating limited conservation resources and for improving conservation success through learning and strategy adjustment. We evaluated the application of systematic conservation planning goals and conservation gains from incentive‐based stewardship interventions on private land in the Cape Lowlands and Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. We collected spatial and nonspatial data (2003–2007) to determine the number of hectares of vegetation protected through voluntary contractual and legally nonbinding (informal) agreements with landowners; resources spent on these interventions; contribution of the agreements to 5‐ and 20‐year conservation goals for representation and persistence in the Cape Lowlands of species and ecosystems; and time and staff required to meet these goals. Conservation gains on private lands across the Cape Floristic Region were relatively high. In 5 years, 22,078 ha (27,800 ha of land) and 46,526 ha (90,000 ha of land) of native vegetation were protected through contracts and informal agreements, respectively. Informal agreements often were opportunity driven and cheaper and faster to execute than contracts. All contractual agreements in the Cape Lowlands were within areas of high conservation priority (identified through systematic conservation planning), which demonstrated the conservation plan's practical application and a high level of overlap between resource investment (approximately R1.14 million/year in the lowlands) and priority conservation areas. Nevertheless, conservation agreements met only 11% of 5‐year and 9% of 20‐year conservation goals for Cape Lowlands and have made only a moderate contribution to regional persistence of flora to date. Meeting the plan's conservation goals will take three to five times longer and many more staff members to maintain agreements than initially envisaged.     

盐池北部风沙区土地利用变化的社会经济效应

以盐池北部风沙区为研究区域,利用1996—2007年土地利用变更调查与社会经济统计数据,借助典型相关分析,提取沙区农村土地利用变化对社会经济发展影响的主要方面。结果表明：（1）研究区土地利用变化对农村经济总体水平、经济结构、社会发展具有显著影响;（2）种植业、林业、牧业产值与粮食总产量是衡量研究区农村经济总体水平的重要指标,耕地、林地、居民点、沙地组成对其影响显著;（3）人口产业结构与居民收入结构反映了研究区农村社会发展、劳动力就业情况,受林地和沙地组成影响较大;（4）林地和沙地组成对地区农业结构,尤其是林业产值比重影响较大。沙区土地利用变化的社会经济效应分析,为土地利用结构调整方向提供依据,目的是促进沙区种植业结构调整、林牧业发展、农村劳动力合理分配。