Characteristics of soil erosion change along a long slope in the gentle hilly areas in black soil region in Northeast China are discussed. A simplified slope model based on seg-ments was used to analyze the runoff data and soil erosion data observed between 2003 and 2004 over 10 field plots with different slope length in Heshan Farm, Heilongjiang Province. We found that soil erosion rate over long slopes in the black soil region changed alternatively along the slope and creates alternative zones of intensive erosion and week erosion.The exact place of each zone is different for different rainfall conditions. In a year with less and mild precipitation, rill cannot happen within the top 50 m, while in a year with large and inten-sive precipitation, rill can be formed starting even at 15 m from the top of the slope. 相似文献
For those interested in ethical research, quantitative methods are often dismissed as apolitical; as unreflective exercises in ‘mere counting’. If, however, in doing research, we bring into being the very worlds we purport to describe, the question begs: what kinds of worlds might quantitative methods bring into being? Is there space for a reflexive, quantitative research agenda? In this paper, I will discuss an action-based predominantly quantitative research project that aimed to investigate the diverse impacts of sustainable agriculture on small-scale farmers in the Philippines. The study, one of the largest ever undertaken on organic rice production, was consciously designed, not merely to describe, but to perform organic agriculture differently. While most quantitative, and indeed much qualitative, research ignores its performativity, this research was intended to enact a reality of sustainable agriculture as a viable and vital alternative to mainstream, capitalist agriculture. 相似文献
Complementary and alternative medical approaches such as chiropractic, massage, acupuncture, holistic, and naturopathic therapies act as complements to, and in some cases replacements for, conventional medical techniques. The growing acceptance of the benefits of "traditional" medicine in the Canadian province of Ontario continues to provide complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners with business opportunities, but to date little attention has been directed toward the spatial patterns exhibited by these operations. A province-wide database of 4,599 records, containing addresses and selected characteristics (e.g., sales, employment) of CAM offices, is utilized to describe the geographic pattern across Ontario. An additional database allows for the assessment of four intermediate-sized census metropolitan areas (CMAs) in Ontario (Kingston, Guelph, Thunder Bay, and Greater Sudbury), and it is determined (using a general nearest neighbor analysis and a nearest neighbor hierarchical clustering procedure) that CAM offices are significantly clustered in specific portions of each CMA. The results from a survey administered to CAM practitioners suggests that the benefits of urbanization economies are biasing location decisions within these CMAs, and that localization economies advantages appear to be influencing complementary and alternative healthcare specialists to share offices. 相似文献
This study examines the challenges of achieving sustainable management of the world's largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, in Bangladesh. The Sundarbans is currently managed by the Bangladesh Department of Forest, under a state property‐rights regime, while our study explores an alternative property‐rights regime. We employed a mixed‐method approach to examine the prospects of alternative management and livelihood strategies to achieve sustainability. Both focus groups and household surveying were used to assess the opportunities for, and barriers to, achieving sustainability. It was found that two conflicting groups—forest‐dependent communities and foresters—are responsible for policy failures due to the absence of power‐sharing arrangements, nor is it likely a common property‐rights regime will be enough to cap degradation and achieve sustainability, while supply‐and‐demand policy interventions may well could help achieve sustainable management of the Sundarbans. 相似文献
ABSTRACTThe poor performance of Pacific students at university is a concern for every level of society. Conventional models of teaching, learning and assessment have overlooked the cultural background of students, yet the effects of this oversight have been disastrous, alienating and disempowering. Studies of and developments in education in the Pacific and elsewhere offer opportunities to rethink the methods of teaching, learning and assessment of Pacific students in ways that are congruent with their home culture. Informed by the principle of so’a lau pule (the Samoan concept of consensus through consultation and conversation) and ethnographic research methods, this study describes an attempt to rethink ways of teaching, learning and assessing student performance in a third-year course on Resource Conservation and Management in the School of Geography, Earth Science and Environment at the University of the South Pacific. Introduced in 2007, the Student Innovative Contribution to Knowledge (SICK) allows students to participate in key decisions concerning teaching, learning and assessment. SICK is grounded in the principles of inclusiveness and participation. It takes account of the skills and abilities of Pacific students and is aligned with the philosophical basis of Pacific cultures. One hundred and fifty-eight students took part in this study over a 5-year period. Analysis was based on students’ written reviews of the semester’s work, in-depth conversation with individual students and the end-of-the-course evaluation. The findings show that, while students embrace the need for non-conventional forms of teaching, learning and assessment, the most frequently cited responses for non-participation are poor time management and varying perceptions of what is considered an innovative assessment. This study shows that understanding the cultural background of students is critical to creating culturally inclusive learning environments. 相似文献