THE A.D. 1300 EVENT IN THE PACIFIC BASIN*

ABSTRACT. Around a.d. 1300 the entire Pacific Basin (continental Pacific Rim and oceanic Pacific Islands) was affected by comparatively rapid cooling and sea‐level fall, and possibly increased storminess, that caused massive and enduring changes to Pacific environments and societies. For most Pacific societies, adapted to the warmer, drier, and more stable climates of the preceding Medieval Climate Anomaly (a.d. 750–1250), the effects of this A.D. 1300 Event were profoundly disruptive, largely because of the reduction in food resources available in coastal zones attributable to the 70–80‐centimeter sea‐level fall. This disruption was manifested by the outbreak of persistent conflict, shifts in settlements from coasts to refugia inland or on unoccupied offshore islands, changes in subsistence strategies, and an abrupt end to long‐distance cross‐ocean interaction during the ensuing Little Ice Age (a.d. 1350–1800). The A.D. 1300 Event provides a good example of the disruptive potential for human societies of abrupt, short‐lived climate changes.     

THE DEMOGRAPHIC CONSEQUENCES OF METROPOLITAN POPULATION DECONCENTRATION IN THE U.S.

Although the recent growth in the nonmetropolitan population of the U.S. is now well documented, little attention has been given to the consequences these trends will have on the future composition and growth of metropolitan and nonmetropolitan regions. This paper discusses the feedback effects of migration on the future age structure and population growth of both regions during the period 1975–2000.     

THE CASTLE HILL BASIN.

CORRIGENDA. Professor V.J. Chapman has written to the Editor asking that two items be emended in his article, 'The Geographical Status of New Zealand Lowland Forest Vegetation' which was published in the New Zealand Geographer , Volume 14, Number 2, October 1958. On page 106, Metrosideros umbellata in line I should read Metrosideros robusta whilst P. nivalis in line 17 should read P. hallii.     

中国荒漠区蒲公英属订正

《中国沙漠植物志》第3卷中,蒲公英属(TaraxacumF.H.Wigg.)只收载了9种,通过对中国荒漠地区蒲公英属标本鉴定和文献考证,认为中国荒漠地区该属植物有12种,并记载了每个种的产地和生境。