Vulnerability and adaptation of an oasis social–ecological system affected by glacier change in an arid region of northwestern China

The Hexi Inland River Basin in an arid region of northwestern China was chosen as the study area for this research. The authors define the vulnerability of an oasis social-ecological system to glacier change; select 16 indicators from natural and socioeconomic systems according to exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity; and construct a vulnerability-assessment indicator system aimed at an inland river basin in the arid region of Northwestern China. Vulnerability of the oasis socialecological system affected by glacier change in the study area is evaluated by Spatial Principal Component Analysis(SPCA) under the circumstance of glacier change. The key factors affecting the vulnerability are analyzed. The vulnerability of the oasis social-ecological system in the Hexi Inland River Basin affected by glacier change is of more than medium grade, accounting for about 48.0% of the total number of counties in the study area. In terms of the spatial pattern of the vulnerability, the oasis economic belt is the most vulnerable. With the rapid development of the area's society and economy, the exposure of the system to glacial changes is significantly increased; and an increase in glacial meltwater is not enough to overcome the impact of increased exposure, which is the main reason for the high vulnerability. Based on the result of the vulnerability analysis and combined with the present industrial structure in the Hexi Inland River Basin, near-,medium-, and long-term adaptation initiatives are put forward in the article.     

Observations of the Drainage of an Ice-Dammed Lake — Strupvatnet,Troms, Norway

The behaviour of the ice-dammed lake, Strupvatnet, Troms County, Norway, is described. Past observations are noted and related to observations in 1959 and to other ice-dammed lakes. Mechanisms for opening and maintaining water flow during a ‘hlaup’ are discussed. It is considered that Liestol's melt widening process operates after initiation by a pressure gradient across the dam. The lake and the internal drainage system of the glacier are thus linked. There is no evidence of lifting of the ice dam at Strupbreen.     

The potential model – an analysis of some methodological problems

Stokkan, J. The potential model – an analysis of some methodological problems. Norsk geogr. Tidsskr. 29, 111–132.

The article is concerned with operational problems of the potential model. In connection with a general discussion of operational problems, a base model is constructed. This model is applied to a study area in order to determine the model's sensitivity to the area of the analytical unit, the distance exponent, and distances within the unit. The analysis shows that the potential is to a large degree dependent upon the definition of these three factors.     

2007 Annual Academic Conference of China Society of Natural Resources Held in Xi＇an

The 2007 Annual Academic Conference of China Society of Natural Resources （CSNR） was held on July 28-30 in Xi＇an, Shaanxi Province of Northwest China. This conference was co-sponsored by CSNR and Shaanxi Normal University, and also supported by the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research. A total of more than 500 scholars from over 140 universities, institutions and the government departments concerned in mainland China participated in this conference.[第一段]     

End of an Era? Population Geography in New Zealand at the Turn of the Century

Research into and teaching on population issues in New Zealand's university geography departments is at a crossroads. A significant cohort of New Zealand population geographers who gained their graduate and post-graduate training during the 1950s and 1960s is rapidly diminishing as a result of retirements and late career shifts. In the much more competitive university environment of the 1990s staff are either not being replaced, or their positions and programmes are being reshaped as part of radical restructuring of the social sciences and humanities. This paper reflects on recent developments in population geography in New Zealand, highlighting the contributions made by three of the country's most prominent researchers and teachers in what is fast becoming a dying field of discourse in university geography departments. The paper concludes on an ambivalent note about prospects for geographers in the era of sub-replacement fertility and the heightened attention that will be accorded to migration processes.     

SPIDER—an interactive statistical tool for the analysis of spatially distributed data

Interactive statistical graphics are reviewed in the contexts of spatial data and geographical information systems (GIS). GIS provide the user with an active geographical view of the data—a map that can be used as an entry point to the data base. Prototype software—SPIDER—illustrates the possibilities of using statistical graphics as further views of the data, which can be made active and thus provide alternative means of querying the data. These views can be cross-referenced by 'linking'. It is argued that such a system can provide a very rich environment for pursuing exploratory statistical analysis of spatial data.     

Environmental history of an urban lake: a palaeolimnological study of Lake Jyväsjärvi, Finland

Sedimentary diatom frustules and chironomid remains, in addition to the chemical stratigraphy of 32 elements and organic pollutants such as resin acids, PCB, DDT and its metabolites, were studied from core samples taken from Lake Jyväsjärvi in Central Finland (64° 14 N, 25° 47 E). The sediment profile covered over 200 years, with the oldest samples representing a period of very low human interference. The town of Jyväskylä was established on the lake shore in 1837, and the lake received untreated municipal wastewater from the town up until, 1977. A paper mill started operations in 1872 and began discharging effluent into Lake Jyväsjärvi. In recent years this effluent loading has been reduced. Based on the biological and chemical properties of the sediment strata, five developmental phases were distinguished and named as follows: (1) a pre-industrial phase (approximately up until the 1860s); (2) a phase of early changes in the lake ecosystem (from the 1870s to ca. 1940s); (3) a phase of increasing eutrophication (from ca. 1950 to ca. 1965); (4) a phase of severe pollution (from ca. 1966 to the early-1990s); and (5) a phase of recovery, which proceeded more quickly during the late-1990s following long-term hypolimnetic aeration. It was estimated that the ecological status of the lake changed from good to moderate during the second phase. Due to the poor chemical status of the lake (including increased concentrations of harmful substances) and the pronounced changes in diatom and chironomid communities, the ecological status from 1950 to the early-1990s was classified as bad. The present ecological status, after a slow recovery of about 20 years, can be classified as moderate/poor. Chemical analysis of the sediment revealed that some elements (C, N, P, S, Ba, Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, Ni and Zn) followed the known history of municipal waste water discharge into the lake, but Hg, Cr and persistent organic pollutants had different stratigraphies, and therefore mainly originated from other sources. Pronounced changes in profundal benthic communities (chironomids) started about 80 years later than those in diatoms, but later changes in chironomid assemblages were greater than those in diatoms.     

Is there an observable lack of reciprocity in PKP(DF) traveltimes?

On average, traveltimes of PKP_DF for equatorial ray paths through the quasieastern hemisphere of the inner core are around 0.5 s faster than equivalent ray paths through its quasiwestern hemisphere. In these observations, the eastern hemisphere is sampled primarily by westward and the western hemisphere by eastwardpropagating waves. Noting that westward propagation is faster than eastward propagation inside a rotating earth, I estimate the expected traveltime difference from Coriolis splitting of the displacement eigenfunctions of the PKP_DF equivalent modes. It turns out that Coriolis effects are too small to give rise to residuals of the required magnitude. Thus, the observations must be primarily due to velocity heterogeneities.     

Game strategies in government-led eco-compensation in the Xin’an River Basin from the perspective of the politics of scale

China's policy on ecological compensation (eco-compensation) in watershed eco-systems is of economic,social and environmental significance for China's ecological gov-ernance and protection of natural areas.It involves balancing the interests of regional stakeholders,coordinating the development of regional environments and establishing effec-tive cooperation models,making it a classic topic for geographical research.This study in-troduces the concept of institutional "stickiness" to the theory of politics of scale to analyze the features and mechanisms of the game behavior of government entities in the process of im-plementing watershed eco-compensation in the Xin'an River Basin.Our results show the following:government entities at various levels,including the central,provincial and municipal governments,experienced the three stages of game strategy of competition,cooperation and"coopetition";building a government community of shared interests can promote watershed eco-compensation,and "appropriate intervention" by the central govemment is key to achieving inter-provincial watershed eco-compensation;there was clear institutional stickiness during the transition from a "vertical" model of watershed eco-compensation to a "vertical-horizontal"model,with government entities using policy innovations and social participation to limit and reduce stickiness so as to reshape the watershed eco-compensation system;scalar jumping is the core mechanism that promoted eco-compensation in the study basin,and government entities shaped the discourse on watershed eco-compensation by redistributing powers and capital and creating informal constraints,which promoted the transformation of eco-compensation from a "strong state-weak society" structural model,to a "strong state-strong society" model in the Xin'an River Basin.These results can provide theoretical support for the construction of inter-regional watershed eco-compensation mechanisms,pro-vide a scientific basis for the rational evaluation and guidance of watershed eco-compensation practices,and promote the coordinated and sustainable socioeconomic development of watersheds.     

An Evaluation of an Object-Oriented Paradigm for Land Use/Land Cover Classification∗

Object-oriented image classification has tremendous potential to improve classification accuracies of land use and land cover (LULC), yet its benefits have only been minimally tested in peer-reviewed studies. We aim to quantify the benefits of an object-oriented method over a traditional pixel-based method for the mixed urban–suburban–agricultural landscape surrounding Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. To do so, we compared a traditional pixel-based classification using maximum likelihood to the object-oriented image classification paradigm embedded in eCognition Professional 4.0 software. This object-oriented paradigm has at least four components not typically used in pixel-based classification: (1) the segmentation procedure, (2) nearest neighbor classifier, (3) the integration of expert knowledge, and (4) feature space optimization. We evaluated each of these components individually to determine the source of any improvement in classification accuracy. We found that the combination of segmentation into image objects, the nearest neighbor classifier, and integration of expert knowledge yields substantially improved classification accuracy for the scene compared to a traditional pixel-based method. However, with the exception of feature space optimization, little or no improvement in classification accuracy is achieved by each of these strategies individually.     

A Queer Country? A case study of the politics of gay/lesbian belonging in an Australian country town

The present paper examines the complex politics of gay/lesbian belonging through a case study of Daylesford, Victoria, an Australian country town. It contributes to two research bodies: gay/lesbian rural geographies and the politics of belonging. Daylesford hosts ChillOut, Australia's largest rural gay/lesbian festival, which provides a telling context for investigating gay/lesbian belonging in rural Australia. We use qualitative data from the 2006 ChillOut Festival, including interviews with local residents, newspaper commentaries, and visitors’ surveys, to explore how Daylesford has been constructed, imagined, and experienced as a ‘unique’ site of gay/lesbian belonging in rural Australia. We find that ChillOut crucially contributes to its wider reputation as a gay-friendly country town, but also, we argue, to the contested nature of gay/lesbian belonging. This was most powerfully demonstrated by the local council's refusal to fly the gay-identified rainbow flag on the Town Hall during the 2006 Festival and its subsequent banning of the display of all festival flags from that key public building. Because ChillOut was the catalyst for this protocol, the resolution was viewed as homophobic. Indeed, the homophobic and heterosexist rhetoric that ensued in the Letters to the Editor section of the local newspaper revealed some residents’ underlying antagonism towards ChillOut and the local gay/lesbian community. Moreover, appealing to a shared ‘Australian identity’ and associated normative ‘family values’, these letter writers deployed a multi-scalar politics of belonging, where a sense of gay/lesbian belonging to Daylesford at the local scale was contested by the assertion of a ‘more meaningful’ national scale of allegiance fashioned by heteronormativity.     

Investigating the geomorphic characteristics of an Amazonian headwater stream draining a páramo ecosystem

Páramos are neotropical alpine grasslands located in the northern Andes of South America. Although they cover important headwater regions, little is known about the hydro-geomorphic characteristics of páramo river systems, which are increasingly being impacted by human use and climate change. The objective of this research is to characterize the geomorphology of the Ningar River, Ecuador, an Amazonian headwater river that drains a 22.7 km2 páramo sub-basin, by (1) classifying the geomorphology based on common geomorphic classifications, (2) deriving downstream hydraulic geometry relationships, and (3) performing a global comparison with mountain river systems. Common geomorphic field surveying techniques were used to acquire the necessary data. Results suggest that the Ningar River has similar form-function characteristics as other known mountain headwater streams and corresponds to commonly known stream classification systems, but displays more of an alluvial character than might be expected for montane headwater streams as a result of a convexity in the stream’s longitudinal profile. Additionally, preliminary analyses suggest that other páramo headwater streams may exhibit similar characteristics; thus, the findings of this research are important for future management and protection of these valuable headwater ecosystems.     

Depth distribution of chironomids and an evaluation of site-specific and regional lake-depth inference models: a good model gone bad?

We used 39 surface samples from Marcella Lake, Yukon Territory, to examine the distribution of chironomid head capsules in relation to depth and to develop a site-specific (intralake) inference model for reconstructing past lake levels. Ten of the 34 most-frequently occurring taxa encountered in the surface-sediment samples are significantly related to depth. We then applied the site-specific inference model and a previously developed regional model to samples from deep- and shallow-water cores from Marcella Lake. The inferences were compared to an independent Digerfeldt-type reconstruction of lake level history and to moisture inferences drawn from pollen data. Although the site-specific model was good in having better performance statistics than the regional model, it was bad at producing depth reconstructions because most samples from the long cores lacked suitable analogues in the site-specific training set. None of the chironomid-based reconstructions was a good match to the Digerfeldt-type reconstruction. Inconsistencies remain between the paleohydrological inferences derived from the chironomid depth models, the Digerfeldt-type reconstruction and pollen-inferred reconstructions of past moisture regimes.     

A study on the spatial flow intensity of overseas travelers in tourist hotspots of China──taking Beijing as an example

A series of spatial ~feding for traVeler's retUrn from the starting place of touriSt source conshtUtes thewhole process of tourist flow ti]. The tourist flow is the bilatelal directions of touristS in the whole processby going to tile tourist destinations from the place of tourist souxces and returning to that source. ThetouriSt flow is tile main and core body that has the decisive and restricted funchons for touriSt matter flowand energy flow [21. There are few researches on the fiXing amo…     

A Review of “Spatial and Environmental Injustice in an American Metropolis: A Study of Tampa Bay,Florida”

The North Carolina Hispanic population has grown at a rapid pace in recent years. Before 1980, the majority of Hispanics in North Carolina were engaged primarily in migrant agricultural work. Hispanics who are part of the new influx are arriving in urban areas and are working at nonagricultural pursuits. Previous research and anecdotal evidence suggest that Hispanic newcomers come from other U.S. jurisdictions and from abroad. Labor migration occurs in response to demand for labor, and labor demand is meditated by employers’ preferences and hiring practices. However, focusing solely on employer demand for labor ignores the role of past U.S. immigration policy and the large growth in services employment in the Sunbelt that have fueled the Hispanic in–migration. This research project explored the attitudes and recruiting behavior of employers in the Triangle region of North Carolina. A newspaper content analysis was undertaken, and interviews were conducted with selected intermediaries and a group of employers. Qualitative analysis of the data collected revealed that these employers utilize the social networks of their immigrant Hispanic employees to recruit new workers. They also use a variety of other recruiting methods to recruit Hispanics both locally and from abroad. If this practice is widespread, it may be fueling the influx of Hispanic immigrants to North Carolina. Employers interviewed extolled the work ethic of Hispanic workers and often bypassed native–born workers, whom they felt were inferior employees. These findings have ramifications for future immigration policy and for the success of welfare–to–work programs. Employer demand for labor is one factor that must be considered when formulating new immigration policy.     

Natural capital accounting in Xi’an City of western China during 1995–2011

As one of the most important metropolitan areas in China, Xi＇an City plays a leading role in the development of the western regions. To impede the decision and policy prefer- ences for environmental and ecological factors, this paper took account of the natural capital depletion of Xi＇an City during 1995-2011, considered in terms of constant 1990 price levels. The results are as follows. （1） Natural capital depletion in Xi＇an City consistently increased from1995 to 2011, increasing from 14.31x108 yuan to 42.28x108 yuan, with an average an- nual growth rate of 12.22%. The primary component of natural capital depletion in Xi＇an City was the cost associated with fossil fuel resource depletion, while the cost associated with ecological services contributed the least to the total cost. （2） During 1995-2011, the proportion of natural capital depletion to Xi＇an City in Yanta and Lianhu districts dropped, whereas in counties such as Gaoling County, Chang＇an District and Lintong District, it increased. In 2011, the proportion of natural capital depletion varied between the different counties： Yanta District （15.75%）, Weiyang District and Lianhu District （10%-15%）, Huxian County, Xincheng District, Beiling District, Chang＇an District, Baqiao District, and Gaoling County （5%-10%）, and in Lintong District, Lantian County, Zhouzhi County and Yanliang District, it was 〈5%. （3） The spatial pattern of natural capital depletion varied with different perspectives, for example, from a total value perspective, a nuclear pattern around the administrative center of Xi＇an City was evident, whereas from a density per capita of natural capital depletion perspective, a bi-nuclear spatial distribution visible in 1995 had become a poly-nuclear distribution by 2011. Conversely, from a density per hectare perspective, a ＂core-edge＂ pattern characterized by three circles was observed. （4） The natural capital depletion relative to GDP curve was in accordance with the environmental Kuznets curve, while the proportion of natural capital de- pletion to GDP was the highest in circle III and the lowest in circle I.     

The end of an affair? Geography and fertility in late post‐transitional societies

A common theme in the writings of population geographers with a fertility interest has been a concern with the convergence of interregional fertility differentials. It is now clear, however, that the widespread achievement in western societies of below‐replacement fertility has resulted in a dramatic diminution of most forms of differential fertility, whether sectoral or spatial. The question of ‘what remains for the spatial analyst working in the traditional ecological mode?’ must therefore be posed. An analysis of small‐area fertility differentials in NSW in 1986 suggests (a) that most of the variability in local marital and total fertility is not statistically significant, and (b) that even if this problem is ignored, traditional ecological analysis has only trivial ‘explanatory’ power. While complete spatial uniformity is unlikely ever to be achieved, it is argued that the intrasocietal convergence of reproductive norms and behaviour has proceeded so far that conventional geographic approaches to the analysis of fertility are unlikely any longer to be — if they ever were — fruitful.     

Land use change and its ecological effect in Qian＇an County of Jilin Province

Based on GIS and statistical methods, with the help of searching historical literatures and calculating the landscape indices, the land use changes of Qian‘an County in both spatial and temporal aspects from 1945 to 1996 has been analyzed in this paper. And the driving forces of land use changes and their ecological effects are discussed too. The main findings of this study are as follows: (1) Land use changed greatly in Qian‘an during 1945-1996, characterized by a decrease in grassland, wetland and water bodies, and an increase in cultivated land, saline-alkali land, and the land for housing and other construction purposes. Grassland decreased by 175,828.66 ha, and cultivated land increased by 102,137.23 ha over the half century. Accordingly, the main landscape type changed from a steppe landscape to a managed agricultural ecosystem. (2) Results of correlation analysis show that the land use change in the study area was mainly driven by the socioeconomic factors. (3) The ecological effects of land use change in the area are characterized by serious salinization, degression of soil fertility and the weakening, of landscaoe suitability.     

Vagueness and the trade-off between the classification and delineation of geographic regions – an ontological analysis

For inherently vague and granular phenomena such as ecoregions, ecosystems, biomes, and biotopes, the interplay of granularity and vagueness leads to a trade-off in the classification and delineation of such phenomena: the goal of preciseness (lack of vagueness) of the delineation contradicts the goal of building a sophisticated classification system using the Aristotelian method of classification. This trade-off is based on the reliance on local qualities for a precise delineation of particular regions and the reliance on nonlocal qualities that serve as differentia in the Aristotelian classification. An ontological analysis of the logical interrelations between vagueness, granularity, and scale is critical for developing logically rigorous, nonlocal, and nonarbitrary classification and delineation systems for inherently vague and granular geographic phenomena.