WSSD 2002, Latin America and Brazil: Biodiversity and Indigenous People

Latin America comprehends notable variations in terms of natural environment, availability of natural resources, living standards, and demographic patterns. Latin America is a mosaic of cultures, post- and pre-Columbian. The rich variety of life forms discovered and described by chroniclers and traveling naturalists in the Neotropics contributed to the proposal, in mid-XVIIIth century, of a new system of classification and a scientific code of nomenclature for all organisms. Biodiversity was, for many centuries, a source of resources to be exploited in natura. In scientific circles, its inventory became the domain of taxonomists. But modern technology showed how important the miriad of life forms really are as sources of chemical molecules to be engineered as drugs and reassembled as novel manufactured products. We are on the brink of a new agricultural and medical revolution, thanks to the techniques of genetic engineering, which will lead eventually to the elimination of hunger and malnutrition.In this essay, the Brazilian environmental and social heterogeneity will serve as an example to illustrate some key points, which have influenced sustainability policies. The Amazon deforestation and indigenous knowledge (IK), subjects often associated with areas of high biodiversity, are usually the focus of environmental debates. The importance of IK in integrating development, reducing poverty and sustainability are considered together with the intellectual property rights of native populations.In the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Implementation Plan, a few paragraphs were dedicated to Latin America, because of the pre-existing Action Platform on the Road to Johannesburg 2002, approved in Rio de Janeiro in October 2001. This paper calls attention to the need to draw up specific environmental policies for a region which shows an extremely high cultural and biological diversity, associated with a high availability of forests and water, among other resources.     

苏州市与温州市不同经济模式下流动人口的空间特征比较

我国正经历着一个巨大的人口流动潮，其主要流向是中西部向东部发达地区流动，农村地区向城镇密集的大中城市地区流动。发达地区的经济模式不尽相同。不同模式下地区流动人口的流向也存在着一定差异。分析比较不同发达地区的流动人口特征，对当地经济政策、产业定位、管理制度等方面均有着非常重要的指导作用。以发达地区流动人口的空间特征为研究目标，以最具代表性的“苏南模式”的苏州市和“温州模式”的温州市两个城市作为研究对象，比较总结两城市的流动人口空间特征与差异，可以看出：苏州市以人口流入为主，温州市流入流出人口数量持平；苏州市吸引外来人口的范围不如温州市广；苏州市城市中流动人口所占比例高过温州市。此外，还对不同经济模式下流动人口空间特征对地区经济发展产生的影响进行了总结，并且给出结论，以期能够对地区的经济发展起到一定的指导和促进作用。     

华南元古宙地壳演变过程研究中的几点进展

根据近两年对华南元古宙地壳演变过程的研究，提出了华南基底构造格架的划分方案；同时发现了华南陆下存在相对稳定高速高阻冷的古地幔柱的残留部分一“残烃柱”；指出华南古大洋基底蛇绿岩层序中存在斜长花岗岩等酸性组分；探讨了陆下地幔新矿物相；初步建立了华南及西太平洋壳一幔分层柱体模型；讨论了华南部分地区下地壳及上地幔的岩石流变学特征。对元古宙Cu、Au等成矿作用也作了初步的总结并提出了有希望的成矿远景区。     

南美地台地质构造演化与主要金属矿产成矿作用

南美地台区矿产资源丰富,从太古代到新生代不同阶段的地质构造演化为其奠定了优越的成矿地质条件。地质构造演化与矿产资源的形成关系密切,不同地质构造演化阶段形成不同的矿产资源。本文总结了南美地台的构造演化及其成矿作用,指出不同阶段构造演化对区内成矿作用控制的不同特点,总结区内主要矿产空间分布规律。     

The need for attuned soil quality risk assessment for non-Western humans and ecosystems,exemplified by mining areas in South Africa

Worldwide, soils are under threat of deterioration and contamination due to anthropogenic activities. Whilst risk assessment of soils in Europe has been well studied, the same cannot be said of soils in Southern Africa. Soil screening values exist in SA, which enables soil quality assessment, but lack a clear risk-based scientific foundation and site-specific risk assessment. This is specified, in the light of the proximity of mine tailings disposal facilities to residential areas, exposing people to a wide range of possible contaminants. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of soil quality risk assessment with specific reference to European models, and to explore how these could be used in a Southern African context where soil quality risk assessment is a relatively new and insufficiently investigated field. Therefore, the attention in this paper is on typical non-Western conditions to which soil quality risk assessment has to be attuned.     

层次分析法在闽南沿海山地混交林优化模式选择上的应用

采用层次分析法(AHP)对闽南沿海山地各混交经营模式进行层次决策选择,从层次选择模型和判断矩阵的构建入手,对评价因子和混交优化模式进行排序并经一致性检验,结果表明,所构建的判断矩阵的随机一致性比率=0.0646<0.10,总排序的=0.0516<0.10,均具有满意的一致性和可靠性,选择出的优化模式与现实生产实际相吻合,说明层次分析法在混交林经营模式的定量化选择上的应用是可行的.     

Effects of Harvesting Flowers from Shrubs on the Persistence and Abundance of Wild Shrub Populations at Multiple Spatial Extents

Abstract: Wildflower harvesting is an economically important activity of which the ecological effects are poorly understood. We assessed how harvesting of flowers affects shrub persistence and abundance at multiple spatial extents. To this end, we built a process‐based model to examine the mean persistence and abundance of wild shrubs whose flowers are subject to harvest (serotinous Proteaceae in the South African Cape Floristic Region). First, we conducted a general sensitivity analysis of how harvesting affects persistence and abundance at nested spatial extents. For most spatial extents and combinations of demographic parameters, persistence and abundance of flowering shrubs decreased abruptly once harvesting rate exceeded a certain threshold. At larger extents, metapopulations supported higher harvesting rates before their persistence and abundance decreased, but persistence and abundance also decreased more abruptly due to harvesting than at smaller extents. This threshold rate of harvest varied with species’ dispersal ability, maximum reproductive rate, adult mortality, probability of extirpation or local extinction, strength of Allee effects, and carrying capacity. Moreover, spatial extent interacted with Allee effects and probability of extirpation because both these demographic properties affected the response of local populations to harvesting more strongly than they affected the response of metapopulations. Subsequently, we simulated the effects of harvesting on three Cape Floristic Region Proteaceae species and found that these species reacted differently to harvesting, but their persistence and abundance decreased at low rates of harvest. Our estimates of harvesting rates at maximum sustainable yield differed from those of previous investigations, perhaps because researchers used different estimates of demographic parameters, models of population dynamics, and spatial extent than we did. Good demographic knowledge and careful identification of the spatial extent of interest increases confidence in assessments and monitoring of the effects of harvesting. Our general sensitivity analysis improved understanding of harvesting effects on metapopulation dynamics and allowed qualitative assessment of the probability of extirpation of poorly studied species.     

Elemental Uptake by Seaweed,Plocamium corallorhirza Along the KwaZulu-Natal Coast of Indian Ocean,South Africa

This study reports the elemental uptake by Plocamium corallorhiza, a Rhodophyta class of coralline alga grown richly along KwaZulu-Natal coastline. The uptake of seven important elements, namely Fe, Mn, As, B, Ti, Zn and Hg, selected based on their abundance in the samples, were investigated for a one-year cycle, from June 2002 to May 2003, at four chosen sites located along the KwaZulu-Natal coastline. The sites spread over 150 km from North to South Coast are Zinkwasi, Ballito, Treasure Beach and Park Rynie. P. corallorhiza possess good manganese and arsenic-accumulating ability and has potential to be an excellent indicator for most of the metals studied. A typical P. corallorhiza sample at Park Rynie (winter) recorded Mn (14 ppm), Fe (6.02 ppm), As (8.4 ppm), B (1580 ppb), Zn (234 ppb), Ti (751 ppb) and Hg (15.8 ppb). The general trend found at all sites was a large decrease in iron concentration in spring and summer and increase in winter. Mercury uptake was lowest in winter and autumn at all sites. The highest mercury levels in the seaweeds were recorded during spring or summer.     

What drives large South African corporations to invest in sub‐Saharan Africa? CEO's perspectives and implications for FDI policies

Foreign direct investment (FDI) flowing into Africa is highly diverse in terms of the origin of the investors, size of the firms, and the sectors of activity. The motivations and factors driving firms' decisions to invest in Africa are equally diverse. A direct survey of senior management in South African firms that are operating in sub-Saharan Africa reveals that the drivers of foreign investment as well as the risks and the strategies to overcome them differ markedly between sectors. A further finding is that there is a limited pool of FDI promotion policies and incentives that governments can institute that are effective in impacting South African corporations' investment decisions. As a consequence, broad-based FDI promotion policies aimed at attracting FDI across all investor groups are likely to have limited impact in attracting FDI from any particular investor group, or in attracting any FDI from multinational companies similar to the South African companies studied here. Such broad based policies probably need to be complemented with policies targeting those specific firms or sectors which countries hope to attract.     

长江河口中央沙位移变化与南北港分流口稳定性研究

中央沙位于长江口南北港分流口河段，这一河段集中了宝钢等一批重要码头，下游有长兴岛造船基地和长江口深水航道等重点工程，因此分流口保持稳定至关重要。以1870年中央沙出现雏形以来的海图为基础资料，利用ArcGIS等GIS软件，研究了中央沙发育演变的位移变化及其典型剖面特征，发现中央沙的变化特点是在长期径流作用下后退和承接上游底沙下泄发生上提的“下移-上提-再下移……”的周期性演变规律。再进一步对南北港分流口各个沙洲近10年来面积和体积进行计算，结合实测水文资料对通道演变进行了分析，认为现阶段长江口南北港分流口处于不稳定时期，应尽早实施分流口整治工程，稳定河势、滩势和减小底沙下泄对下游的威胁.