Changing Ideas About The Use Of Vegetation As An Indicator Of Soil Quality: Example Of New York And Michigan

Abstract

In Colonial America soil was commonly evaluated by the vegetation it produced: heavy timber and lush undergrowth indicated fertile soil—a thin covering of trees, barrenness. Settlers in the “Genesee Country” of New York developed new understandings about the relationship between soil quality and vegetation. Here was encountered a thinly-timbered landscape which they called “oak openings.” Although at first suspicious of the fertility of this thinly-timbered land, it was found to produce fine wheat crops. Thus, a new concept of landscape appraisal entered the culture of these people — thinly-timbered land may be fertile. By the time the agricultural frontier reached Inner Michigan, the old concepts about soil fertility and vegetation had been largely overturned. There, it was the open land (oak openings and prairie) that attracted the immigrants, not the heavy timber. The typical settlement sequence in Inner Michigan was to take up the prairies first, the oak openings next, and the heavy timber last.     

Planning For The Development Of Site-Specific Resources: The Example Of Geothermal Energy*

Low temperature geothermal energy requires that precedence for development be given land use characteristics in communities of proposed utilization. A procedure which uses Scottsdale, Arizona as the model involves overlaying maps of user energy density, parcel ownership, parcel size, parcel vacancy, and zoning. An analysis of existing geochemical and geological data and cost/benefit followed and allowed further refinement. Adopting this procedure elsewhere would accelerate direct usage of geothermal energy.     

Settlement History As Reflection Of Climate Change: The Case Study Of Lake Jues (Harz Mountains, Germany)

Postglacial sediments from Lake Jues, located at the SW margin of the Harz Mountains, were investigated for pollen, diatoms and sediment characteristics. The paper focuses on the time period between 7600 and 1200 y cal. BP (calibrated years before present), during which human impact began to influence the environnment of the lake. Climate variability was mainly inferred from sediment characteristics and changes in algal assemblages. The observed climatic changes coincide well with those recorded from other sites. Neolithic settlement started during the warm and dry Atlantic period. Intensive land use occurred under favourable climatic conditions during the Bronze and the Iron Ages, while human activities declined during cool and wet periods around 4000 and 2700 y cal. BP and after 2300 y cal. BP. The study shows that climate strongly influenced human settlement at remote locations like Lake Jues.     

Use of Business-Naming Practices to Delineate Vernacular Regions: A Michigan Example

This article provides a history of efforts to map vernacular regions as context for offering readers a way of using business directories in order to construct a GIS-based map of vernacular regions. With Michigan as a case study, the article discusses regional-naming conventions, boundaries, and inclusions and omissions of areas from regional labels in order to offer educators ideas that can enhance classroom content on regions. This article concludes by providing suggestions for classroom activities collecting, analyzing, and discussing vernacular region patterns and processes in accordance with National Geography Standard Five at the eighth-grade level.     

县域聚落体系与交通网络分形特征 ——以灵宝市和柘城县为例

综合运用回旋半径法和地理信息系统分别对河南省豫西山地灵宝市和豫东平原柘城县进行聚落与交通网络空间分布特征分析,结果表明：柘城县交通网络的长度维数（DL）为1.165 9,灵宝市为1.098 3,均小于2,两地均表现出交通网络密度从测算中心向周围地域逐渐递减的规律性;柘城县交通网络分枝维数（Db）为1.324,灵宝市为0.981 8,柘城县较灵宝市交通网络的通达性高;柘城县聚落体系分布半径维数（D）为1.504 4,灵宝市为1.057 1,柘城县较灵宝市聚落体系空间分布均匀。平原县市和山地丘陵县市的交通网络与城乡聚落体系空间分布均表现出明显的分形特征。     

农村居民点功能演变的微尺度分析——山东省沂水县核桃园村的实证

从微尺度考察农村居民点演变为解决当前农村发展中出现的问题提供了重要视角。构建农村居民点功能演变的分析框架,采用参与式农村评估（PRA）、GIS与遥感影像相结合方法,以山东省沂水县核桃园村为例进行实证。结果表明,农业生产功能一直是农村居民点生产功能的主导,但不同阶段有不同的内容。农业生计主导阶段（1949~1977年）,农户以种植业为主要生计来源,利用庭院及房前屋后种植蔬菜;生计多样化阶段（1978~1999年）,农户生计策略演变为种植、养殖和外出务工相结合,农户在宅基地内修建猪圈养猪,在庭院内散养家禽;生计非农转化阶段（2000~2012年）,农户以种植和外出务工相结合为生计策略,将庭院硬化用来晾晒粮食、猪圈改造为储物间存放粮食和农机具。农村居民点用地一直以宅基地为主导,缺乏非农生产用地;随着生计成果的逐渐丰富,农户对农村居民点生活功能追求不断强化,表现在对住宅建筑材料的优化、居住空间的扩展及旧住宅的翻新。农村居民点内部土地利用结构及其功能承载状况是与农户生计需求相适应的,农村居民点整理应充分尊重这一客观事实。