Dealing with drought: The challenge of using water system technologies to break dryland poverty traps

We explore strategies among farmers in semi-arid Tanzania to cope with drought, and investigate if access to a local supplemental irrigation system (the Ndiva system) can improve coping capacity. Results show high dependency on local ecosystem services when harvests fail, and indicate that farmers commonly exhaust asset holdings during droughts. Ndiva access did not have any direct effects on coping capacity, but seemed to have some indirect effects. Drawing on our findings we discuss the complexity of escaping persistent dryland poverty, and outline the circumstances under which small-scale water system technologies, such as Ndiva irrigation, may help.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Books Reviewed in this article: Lob Trees in the Wilderness . Clifford and Isabel Ahlgren . Satellite Microwave Remote Sensing . T. D. Allan , ed. Sunbelt Cities: Politics and Growth Since World War II . Richard M. Bernard and Bradley R. Rice , eds. Legacy of Minneapolis: Preservation Amid Change . John R. Borchert , David Gebhard , David Lanegran , and Judith A. Martin . Bloomington, MN: Preparing a Historic Preservation Ordinance. Richard J. Roddewig . The Mountains of Northeastern Tasmania, A Study of Alpine Geomorphology . Nel Caine . Introductory Cartography . John Campbell . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Changing Climate . Manual of Remote Sensing, Second Edition . 2 Vols. Robert N. Colwell , ed.-in-chief; David S. Simonett and John E. Estes , vol. eds. Remote Sensing in Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology . A. P. Cracknell , ed. Multidimensional Scaling . Mark L. Davison . Environmental Karst . Percy H. Dougherty , ed. The Urban Environment . Ian Douglas . Geomorphology of Europe . Clifford Embleton , ed. An Introduction to South Asia . B. H. Farmer . Great Geological Controversies . A. Hallam . Hazardous Waste Management: In Whose Backyard? Michalann Harthill , ed. Energy for Subsistence . Margaret Haswell . Perspective on Ratzel's Political Geography . James M. Hunter . Economic Deposits and their Tectonic Setting . Charles S. Hutchison . Energy Risk Assessment . Herbert Inhaber . Discovering the Vernacular Landscape . John Brinckerhoff Jackson . Climate and Energy Systems: A Review of Their Interactions . Jill Jäger . Dilemmas in Regional Policy . Antoni Kuklinski and J. G. Lambooy , eds. California Farmland: A History of Large Agricultural Landholdings . Ellen Liebman . The Spatial Organization of New Land Settlement in Latin America . Jacob O. Maos . Dark Continent: Africa as Seen by Americans . Michael McCarthy . Westport, CT: Climatology: An Introduction . John E. Oliver and John J. Hidore . Columbus, OH: The Geography of Warfare . Patrick O'Sullivan and Jesse W. Miller . The Expanding City. Essays in Honour of Professor Jean Gottmann . John Patten , ed. Scotland's Environment During the Last 30,000 Years . Robert J. Price . Integrated Urban Models . S. H. Putman . Development and the Environmental Crisis: Red or Green Alternatives? Michael Redclift .     

非对称性增温对农业生态系统影响研究进展

该文概述了北半球和我国气候变暖中增温的非对称性特征:北半球气候变暖存在明显的季节差异和昼夜不同步性, 大部分地区冬、春季升温高于夏、秋季, 日最低气温升幅是日最高气温升幅的2~3倍; 近50年我国近地表气温升高主要是最低气温明显上升的结果, 日最低气温升幅是日最气高温升幅的2~3倍, 与北半球基本一致; 升温最显著的季节为冬季和春季。在此基础上概述了非对称性增温对农业生态系统的影响, 论述了非对称性增温对农作物物候和农作物产量的影响, 得出最低气温升高促使整个生长季延长, 促使早春作物物候期提前, 但最低气温和最高气温对不同作物的物候以及同一作物的不同发育阶段影响不同。现有研究多采用模型或统计的方法研究气候变暖对作物生长的影响, 认为温度升高对作物有“强迫成熟”效应; 而现有的最低气温升高和最高气温升高对作物生长影响的研究结果并不一致。非对称性增温对农作物影响的实验研究极少, 且缺乏对模型模拟结果的实验验证。     

DISTRIBUTION OF ODONATA （INSECTA） IN VARIOUS ECOSYSTEMS IN NORTHERN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Odonata larvae and adults were collected from fourteen sites of various habitats including rivers, rice fields, mountain streams, freshwater and peat swamps, oil palm, sugarcane and rubber plantations and lake. Out of 51 species recorded, Libellulidae made up the most dominant of 10 families followed by Gomphidae and Coenagrionidae. Other families were less common. Riverine and stream ecosystems were the most diverse, both with six families and 19 and 13 species respectively. In the rice fields, Libellulidae and Coenagrionidae were represented by 17 and seven species respectively. The poorest fauna of Odonata was recorded from a lake system. A few of libellulids were found to be pollution tolerant and widespread in distribution. Many odonate species were restricted to preferred habitats or water parameter gradients that could be used as bioindicators of respective habitats or parameters.     

Groundwater recharge under irrigated agro-ecosystems in the North China Plain: From a critical zone perspective

Journal of Geographical Sciences - From a critical zone perspective, the present paper aims to present the magnitude of groundwater recharge under different agricultural land-use types, reveal the...