Long-term tropical morphogenesis of New Caledonia (Southwest Pacific): Importance of positive epeirogeny and climate change

Extensive mapping of relict lateritic landsurfaces over the 1600 m of relief of mainland New Caledonia is used to evaluate long-term morphogenesis of the island since its emergence in the Oligocene. The results support the interpretation of the lateritic levels as abandoned, stepped remnant landsurfaces that may be grouped into eight island-scale erosion levels recording episodic lowering of base level. The separation of the erosion levels results from the combination of positive epeirogenic movements of the New Caledonia continental ridge and long-term Neogene climate variability, which is recorded by the contrasted erosion and weathering patterns of the three youngest levels and tentatively correlated with known global and regional paleoclimatic events.     

Informing Program Design for Connectivity Conservation in the New South Wales Southern Highlands,Australia

Connectivity initiatives typically require conservation action on private lands as a complement to public reserve systems, so they are more likely to succeed if underpinned by knowledge of the social factors influencing landholders' participation. Using a combination of social survey and market research techniques, we identify spatially referenced landholder segments. Using a number of behavioral and attitudinal constructs, including three psychographic constructs not previously used for identifying segments—sense of place, lifestyle motives, and nature values—we identify three lifestyler and two farmer segments, and show that the characteristics of lifestyler segments are more nuanced than previously thought. Preferences for four corridor connectivity initiatives are found to differ across landholder segments, which indicates the importance using a targeted approach for designing connectivity conservation programs. The results highlight the importance for achieving corridor connectivity of the Blue Collar Lifestyler segment, a lower sociodemographic segment not previously identified in the literature.     

Connecting Local to Global: Geographic Information Systems and Ecological Footprints as Tools for Sustainability

Tools that support public engagement with sustainability are essential for local sustainability planning. This research investigates the ability of two geographic information system (GIS)-based tools to promote discussion of sustainability in a suburban context. A local ecological footprint tool and a community environmental atlas (an environmentally themed online mapping system) were created for seven suburban boroughs of Montreal. Variations of both tools have been used to support sustainability efforts, but their use has not been widely evaluated. Working from a public participation GIS (PPGIS) framework that recognizes the powerful influence of data representation, this research uses focus groups to evaluate how well these tools address three criteria that have emerged from the literature on public engagement in sustainability: interdependency across systems, reflexivity about personal and social decision making, and interactions across spatial scales. Whereas the atlas remains advantageous for discussing local spatial specifics, it was found that the ecological footprint helped people see the interconnections among systems, integrate local and global aspects of sustainability, and reflect on the values and assumptions underlying current social and economic structures.     

An indigenous soil classification system for Bellona Island – a raised atoll in Solomon Islands

One of the challenges of evaluating existing traditional farming systems is to combine local knowledge and modern scientific methods and terminology. This requires an evaluation of indigenous soil classification in modern terms. This paper focuses on an indigenous soil classification system developed by local farmers on the island of Bellona, Solomon Islands. The definitions of the different soil types are described and the principles of the classification system and the applicability of ethnopedology in soil surveys are discussed. Based on interviews with about 20 per cent of the farmers on the island as well as standard soil chemical and physical determinations on main soil types, an evaluation of the soil types for cultivation of various crops is carried out. The soils on Bellona are developed on oolitic or clayey phosphate-rich deposits forming the basis for the agriculture production on the island. The Bellonese soil classification system is mainly based on the physical properties of the humus-containing top layer. Subsoil layers are only used for classification if they are very close to the surface and may be mixed with the topsoil. Results show a general agreement among farmers, who perceive the same four out of seven soil types as highly useful for cultivation and rank these soil types similarly according to their suitability for different crops such as yam, watermelon, cassava and sweet potato. It is concluded that the indigenous soil classification is in line with the soil production potential and useful for land evaluation on Bellona.     

New Zealand coastal system boundaries, connections and management

Abstract:    Understanding coastal boundaries, connections and drivers of landscape change is integral to effective coastal planning and management. This concept is explored here through case studies representing two very different New Zealand systems: embayed sand beaches in eastern and western open-coast settings; and mixed sand and gravel coast river-mouth lagoons. When framed within a resource and environmental management context these studies indicate that national recognition of the dynamic and interactive nature of coastal environments is a relatively new and amorphous phenomenon in New Zealand and, as such, has been ineffective in driving integrated regional management practices and sustainable coastal outcomes.     

社会—生态韧性视角下城乡治理的逻辑框架

伴随着快速城镇化,生态环境剧烈变化与社会经济结构深刻转变使中国城乡发展问题愈发突出,城乡治理面临新挑战。社会—生态韧性理论与城乡治理实践存在紧密关联,但对两者关系的研究欠缺。论文以中国城乡发展问题为导向,厘清社会—生态韧性与城乡发展的关系,构建社会—生态韧性视角下城乡治理的逻辑框架。将社会—生态韧性的核心理念(耦合、自组织和学习)引入城乡规划、个体参与和政策制定,将促进城乡融合和可持续发展。在未来的城乡治理中,需要将社会与生态问题统筹考虑,贯彻人地耦合的理念,形成多层级的城乡协同治理网络,促进适应性治理,培育不同尺度城乡治理主体的合作和创新,尤其要重视城乡社区的学习、适应能力构建。实践中需要充分利用空间规划工具,将生态系统服务纳入城乡空间治理范畴,协调城乡生态系统服务与居民福祉的关系,增强城乡对不确定性的缓冲和应对能力。     

Governance arrangements targeting diversity in Europe: how New Public Management impacts working with social cohesion

This article analyses how policies to foster social cohesion within diverse and unequal urban contexts are affected by New Public Management and austerity policies. Based on the analysis of a handful of governance arrangements in three cities that differ in their institutional structure and diversity policy approaches (Copenhagen, Leipzig and Milan), it is shown that negative effects are quite widespread yet cushioned by a strong welfare state structure, solid local government and high priority given to the recognition of diversity. Nevertheless, the shift towards the application of market logic to social work reduces innovative potential, increases efforts spent on procedures and weakens public coordination.     

Multi-decadal coastal change in New Zealand: Evidence, mechanisms and implications

Abstract:   Coastal research and monitoring on New Zealand beaches have typically examined seasonal and event-driven (storms) changes in the coast. However, historical records are now of sufficient length to indicate that change occurs at longer timescales. This paper presents examples of multi-decadal change at three case-study locations around New Zealand. Results show that morphological adjustment of the coast occurs at multi-decadal scales and is much larger than short-term dynamics. Physical mechanisms driving changes are ill defined but may be associated with El Niños and La Niña episodes which modulate waves and sea level, as well as changes in sediment supply.     

A GeoAgent‐based framework for knowledge‐oriented representation: Embracing social rules in GIS

While current Geographic Information Systems (GISs) can represent observational spatial data well, they have limited capabilities in representing some non‐observational social elements and goal‐driven behaviours that can be important factors in a wide range of geographic issues. Such social components may include laws, regulations, polices, plans, culture, and customs, as well as their relations and interactions with the geographic environment at different scales. Getting beyond traditional data‐centred approaches, this research presents a knowledge‐oriented strategy in order to address these issues within a GIS context. We incorporate two major conceptual elements. First, extending from conventional agent notions and their geographic applications, geographic agents (GeoAgents) are considered as a basic representation component to specifically address social rules and goal‐driven behaviours that impact the Earth and environmental systems. Second, in order to incorporate GeoAgents with current space–time representation, a new conceptual representation framework, called ‘fields, objects, time, GeoAgents, and relations’ (FOTAR), is introduced to address the cross‐scale processes of both social and natural interactions. A Java‐based prototype, GeoAgent‐based Knowledge System (GeoAgentKS), is described to implement this framework by integrating agent technologies with multiple data and knowledge representation techniques, such as expert systems, concept maps, mathematical models, and geospatial databases. The application of this prototype in a case study is also presented, investigating scale‐dependent human–environment interactions under different emergency situations for community water systems in Central Pennsylvania, USA. In this case study, a systematic set of methodologies of knowledge acquisition, representation, and confirmation for constructing GeoAgents' knowledge bases by using expert systems were explored to formalize high‐level knowledge and social behaviours in the FOTAR‐based representations. The results show that the proposed conceptual representation framework is achievable at both implementation and application levels, and the prototype tool is demonstrated to be valuable in facilitating knowledge sharing, policymaking, municipal management, and decision‐making, especially for real‐world emergency management.     

基于无人机可见光影像的高原丘陵盆地区山药植株识别

采用四旋翼无人机采集特色作物山药种植区影像,针对山药种植时间和管护水平差异导致的植株生长差异化特征,通过筛选红绿比值指数（RGRI）、过绿指数（ExG）和过绿减过红指数（ExG-ExR）等颜色指数获取山药植株最优颜色指数计算方法;以高斯高通滤波（GHPF）增强和保留山药植株高频信息,抑制杂草、玉米植株的噪声;结合田间测量山药植株数据,通过人机交互解译方法对图像滤波增强后的影像进行灰度分割和提取山药植株信息。结果表明：1）样区总体提取精度为91.14%,样区A、B、C的提取精度分别为90.94%、91.96%、90.81%,精度验证完整性为93.16%;2）随着山药植株多株连体生长复杂程度的增强,过绿指数具有的土壤与植被的分离性仍优于红绿比值指数和过绿减过红指数;3）使用高斯高通滤波能够有效消除杂草、玉米植株的影响,减小山药植株多株连接生长所产生的干扰;4）高斯高通滤波卷积核大小79×79适用于不同时相和不同生长情况的山药植株影像处理,针对不同的山药植株生长情况和不同时相的可见光影像,需调整灰度分割的阈值参数t,单株山药植株面积S由田间测量确定。该方法以快速灵活、低成本的方式识别和计算不同生长状态的山药植株数目,适用于喀斯特山区的精准农业监测研究和现代农业生产活动。     

Scenarios of land system change in the Lao PDR: Transitions in response to alternative demands on goods and services provided by the land

Sudden and gradual land use changes can result in different socio-ecological systems, sometimes referred to as regime shifts. The Lao PDR (Laos) has been reported to show early signs of such regime shifts in land systems with potentially major socio-ecological implications. However, given the complex mosaic of different land systems, including shifting cultivation, such changes are not easily assessed using traditional land cover data. Moreover, regime shifts in land systems are difficult to simulate with traditional land cover modelling approaches. A novel simulation approach was employed that focused on simulating changes in land systems rather than focusing on land cover. With the CLUmondo model we simulated three scenarios of potential developments between the years 2010 and 2030 assuming different degrees of international market integration and sustainable growth objectives. Although all scenarios show a decline of shifting cultivation systems, the respective orientation of markets and land governance resulted in strongly different land change trajectories. The land system changes are strongly location dependent and different trajectories are found in different parts of the country. Some scenarios show clear elements of land sparing with intensification of land management in the valleys and re-growth of forest on sloping land. Other scenarios show elements of enhanced multi-functionality. The approach addressed methodological challenges in simulating land system regime shifts and complex mosaic landscapes while accounting for societal demands for different types of goods and services from land systems. The land systems approach allows a nuanced representation of different types of forests and agricultural systems such as shifting cultivation and commercial agricultural plantations. Simulation results contribute to a debate about desired future land use on the national scale including its environmental and socio-economic implications.     

The Value of Practice-Based Knowledge

Increasing recognition of the value of practice-based or experiential knowledge in natural resource management justifies the creation of a new category of articles in Society & Natural Resources that we are calling Practice-Based Knowledge (PBK). The rationale for focusing on PBK is due to its key role in the emergence of hybrid governance institutions across state, market, and civil society, understanding the complexity of dynamic socioecological systems, recognizing the challenges of multiple knowledge systems and context-specific practices, embracing the power of informal institutions and civic science, and engaging debates on the growing prevalence of market-oriented conservation. The goal is to provide a dedicated space within the published, peer-reviewed literature for scholars, government officials, nonprofit managers, and engaged citizens to share experiences informed by practical action. Relevant and timely practice-based insights may improve understanding and management of social and ecological processes and systems, while also offering the potential to contribute to theory.     

The price of spice: Ethnic minority livelihoods and cardamom commodity chains in upland northern Vietnam

The northern uplands of Vietnam are witness to rapidly developing commodity markets for a range of forest and agricultural products. Since the early 1990s the cultivation of black cardamom (Amomum aromaticum) has become a source of cash income for a growing number of ethnic minority households in these uplands. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, and utilizing a commodity chain and livelihoods approach, this article investigates the contemporary dynamics surrounding the cultivation, harvesting and trade of dried cardamom fruit from Hmong cultivators in Lao Cai province to consumers elsewhere in Vietnam and beyond to China and the global market. We analyse the spatial and social structures of these commodity chains, drawing attention to a range of mechanisms of access. We find that these mechanisms are reliant upon specific ethnic relations as well as different forms of capital that together sustain economic advantages for particular actors. While focusing on the ethnic minority cultivators active in these commodity chains, we also call for more nuanced understandings of how the trade in forest products fits within local agricultural systems and household livelihood decision making processes in the Vietnam uplands.     

Insights from past and present social science literature on the (unequal) development of New Zealand's rural communities

A review of social research on rural New Zealand undertaken as part of the National Science Challenge (NSC 11) “Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities” allows a fresh look at rural development within the context of New Zealand's colonial history. The research suggests that government development programmes and legislation privileged those responsible for producing the bulk of New Zealand's export income. Cultural attitudes, structural inequalities and a failure to understand how the character of, and social relations in, rural areas have changed has impeded particularly Māori economic growth, the participation of women, and non‐farm sectors of rural society, to the detriment of all.     

Finding common ground: relational concepts of land tenure and economy in the oil palm frontier of Papua New Guinea

In the oil palm frontier regions of West New Britain and Oro provinces, Papua New Guinea, customary land tenure arrangements are changing in response to the growing demand for land for agricultural development. This paper examines one aspect of these changes, namely the gifting and selling of customary land for oil palm development to people who have no customary birthrights to the land. By analysing how access rights are maintained over the relatively long cultivation cycle of oil palm (approximately 25 years), and in the context of the rapidly changing socio-economic and demographic environments of the oil palm frontiers, the paper demonstrates that while land transactions seemingly entail the commodification of land, land rights and security of land tenure remain embedded in social relationships. For customary landowners, the moral basis of land rights is contingent on 'outsiders' maintaining particular kinds of social and economic relationships with their customary landowning 'hosts'. In exploring how these social relationships are constituted through the performance of particular kinds of exchange relationships, the paper provides insights into relational concepts of land rights and how these are able to persist in Papua New Guinea's oil palm frontier regions where resource struggles are often intense and where large migrant populations are seeking land for agricultural development.     

功能区定位约束下农户参与农地流转决策的关键因素——以湖北省武汉、孝感的832个农户为例

以湖北省武汉、孝感的832个农户为例,运用Bivariate Probit模型分析不同类型功能区农地经营权流转市场状况及影响农户流转决策的关键因素,探寻促进流转市场建设的差别化激励措施。结果表明:(1)重点开发区、农产品主产区农地流转市场活跃度与生态功能区相比具有比较优势,调研农户农地流转率依次为50.73%,70.50%,28.94%。(2)农地流转市场活跃度较高区域租金水平及非农就业率对农地流转起主导作用,农民生计转型依赖于收入水平能否满足家庭需求;活跃度较低区域家庭收入水平对农地流转起主导作用,农户流转意识相对薄弱。(3)重点开发区受无收入成员比重、非农就业率及规划管制影响显著,农地转出市场活跃;农产品主产区受男性劳动力比例、就业率及收入水平影响显著,小农经营模式短期内难以改变;生态功能区受劳动力人均耕地面积、非农就业率及收入水平共同作用,适宜发展生态农业。     

The Relationship of Place Re-Making and Watershed Group Participation in Appalachia

This article explores how participation in watershed groups creates a social space that mediates the relationship between biophysical places and place-protective action. We analyze qualitative data from a survey of more than 200 watershed group volunteers in the Appalachian region of the United States who were asked to describe experiences that encouraged or discouraged their participation. “Place” emerged as a key theme, with further delineations between made places (those highly affected by human activity, including coal extraction); natural places; and re-made places (those restored by the efforts of the watershed-group participants). Our findings suggest that the places themselves—and the natural, institutional, and social resources in these places—are more than a backdrop or setting for the volunteer activities; they also inspire, enhance, and are transformed by the act of volunteering.     

生态旅游在自然保护区可持续发展的阻碍因素分析——以辽宁省三个国家级自然保护区为例（英文）

自然保护区是生态旅游最主要的实践场地。在可持续发展的大背景下,全球各地大量的自然保护区开展了生态旅游实践探索,并且取得了丰富的实践经验。生态旅游在自然保护区实践中的主要经验包括:建立生态旅游认证体系,成立促进社区参与的管理机构和构建生态旅游实践标准。本研究中以辽宁省的白石砬子、医巫闾山和海棠山三个国家级自然保护区为例,采用问卷调查、田野调查、访谈等方法对当地居民、游客、景区工作人员、自然保护区工作人员、当地媒体等群体进行调查,获取一手资料。通过综合分析发现,当前生态旅游在自然保护区可持续发展的阻碍因素包括两大方面,第一个方面是普遍性阻碍因素,具体包括:(1)环境教育的缺失;(2)社区参与的不足;(3)游客管理的不规范;(4)自然保护区管理机构与当地政府的矛盾冲突(条块矛盾)。第二个方面的阻碍因素是由于每个自然保护区具体的自然环境、社会文化等不同而引起的千差万别的各个自然保护区生态旅游发展的具体性阻碍因素。针对生态旅游在自然保护区实践面临的阻碍因素,本研究提出了五项措施:(1)正确认识并且尽力满足利益相关者的合理利益诉求;(2)完善自然保护区生态旅游的协调机制体系;(3)增加自然保护区管理机构的社会效益职责;(4)自然保护区生态旅游经营权、监督权分离;(5)加强对自然保护区生态旅游游客的环境教育。     

Emerging neo-liberalising processes in New Zealand's land-based sector: A post structural political economy framing using emergence diagrams

The paper draws on Post Structural Political Economy (PSPE) to narrate and interrogate the emergence of neo-liberalising processes connected with New Zealand's land-based industries. It departs from conventional representations of economy, government and industry, by creating Emergence Diagrams (EDs) as a narrative technology. The diagrams are a methodological intervention in knowledge production that brings meso-level theorising and meso-level empirics into the same framing. The EDs are directed towards enlivening thinking and discussion about practices, possibilities and choices in New Zealand's investment environment as part of a conversation that the future might be otherwise. The paper begins by setting out the PSPE approach, indicates current thinking on emergence, and what it can offer in re-appraising evolving market systems. It then addresses and extends recent theoretical work in economic geography on neo-liberalising processes into a meso-level theoretical framing that can be used with meso-level empirics. The paper then considers steps in narrating situated accounts of emergence in the New Zealand context with the long term aim of reinvigorating the generation of and use of social knowledge. It establishes first, the insistent governmental market-making aspirations and action affecting the sector. Second, as a contextualising strategy to disturb standard accounts and to reveal the diversity and variegated nature of neo-liberalising influences, the main privatising moment of each industry in the sector is set in an overview of emerging features. Third, mindful of the new and often counter evidence of the preceding steps, the EDs of the apple and dairy industries are then constructed to reveal multiple dimensions of the collective assembling activity of market-making. The paper concludes with reflections on the potentialities of emergence narratives and the use of EDs in the development of enactive capabilities and politics in economic geography.     

Seismic stratigraphy and paleogeographic evolution of Fairway Basin,Northern Zealandia,Southwest Pacific: from Cretaceous Gondwana breakup to Cenozoic Tonga–Kermadec subduction

We present the first comprehensive seismic‐stratigraphic analysis of Fairway Basin, which is situated on the rifted continent of Zealandia in the Tasman Sea, southwest Pacific, between Australia and New Caledonia. The basin is 700 km long, 150 km wide, and has water depths of 500–3000 m. We describe depositional architecture and paleogeographic evolution of this basin. Basin formation was concurrent with two tectonic events: (i) Cretaceous rifting during eastern Gondwana breakup and (ii) initiation and Cenozoic evolution of Tonga–Kermadec subduction system to the east of the basin. To interpret the basin history we compiled and interpreted 2D seismic‐reflection profiles and make correlations with DSDP boreholes and the geology of New Caledonia. Five seismic‐stratigraphic units were defined. The deepest and oldest unit, FW3, folded and faulted can be correlated with volcaniclastic sediments and magmatic rocks in New Caledonia that are associated with Mesozoic Gondwana margin subduction. Alternatively, given the basin location 200–300 km west of New Caledonia and inboard of the ancient plate boundary, the unit could have formed as Gondwana intra‐continental basin with no known correlative. The overlying unit FW2b records syn‐rift deposition, probably associated with Cretaceous Gondwana breakup. Subaerial erosion supplied terrigenous sediment into the deltas in the northern part of the basin, as suggested by the truncation surfaces on the basement highs and sigmoid reflector geometries within unit FW2b respectively. Above, unit FW2a records post‐rift sedimentation and passive subsidence as the Tasman Sea opened and the Fairway Basin drifted away from Australia. Subsidence led to the flooding of the basement highs and burial of wave‐cut surfaces. Eocene compressive deformation resulted in minor folding and tilting within the Fairway Basin and was associated with the formation of many diapiric structures. The top of unit FW2 is an extensive unconformity that is associated with erosion and truncation on surrounding ridges. Above this unconformity, unit FW1b is interpreted as a turbidite system sourced from topography created during the Eocene tectonic event, which we interpret as being related to Tonga–Kermadec subduction initiation. Pelagic carbonate sedimentation is now prevalent. Unit FW1a has progressively draped the basin during Oligocene to Pleistocene subsidence. Many small volcanic cones were erupted during this final phase of subsidence, either as a delayed consequence of subduction initiation, or related to Tasmantid and Lord Howe hotspot trails. The northern Fairway Ridge remains close to sea level and its reef system continues to supply carbonate detrital sediments into the basin, most likely during sea‐level lowstands. Fairway Basin contains a nearly continuous record of tectonic and paleoclimatic events in the southwest Pacific since Cretaceous time. Its paleogeographic history is a key piece in the puzzle for understanding patterns of regional biodiversity in the southwest Pacific.