Research on the geography of agricultural change: redundant or revitalized?

Summary Future research directions for agricultural geography were the subject of debate in Area in the late 1980s, and the subsequent application of political economy ideas undoubtedly revived interest in agricultural research. This paper argues that agricultural geography contains greater diversity than the dominant political economy discourse would suggest. It reviews 'other' areas of agricultural research such as policy, post- productivism, people, culture and animals, presenting future suggestions which should ensure that agricultural research continues revitalized rather than redundant into the next millennium.     

Urbanization of Capital or Capitalization on Urban Land? Land Development and Local Public Finance in Urbanizing China

This study examines the relationship between urban land development and municipal finance in a Chinese regional economy undergoing rapid urbanization. Drawing upon insights from the perspective of political economy, this study analyzes how municipalities in coastal Jiangsu Province have engaged in the land-dominated urbanization process, and the developmental landscape that has emerged from the new approach toward local public finance. Land development has not functioned simply as a passive outcome of urbanization, but has been actively pursued by local governments as a means of revenue generation to finance local economic growth. An inverse correlation is found between the growth of land conveyance income and the level of the regional economies in China's administrative hierarchy. We call for greater attention to be directed to the interrelationship between land development, local public finance, and urbanization in the ongoing transformation of the Chinese political economy.     

What drives nearshore sediment transport controls on the depletion of beach placers at Manavalakurichi,Southwest Coast of India?

An in-depth analysis has been made to simulate hydrodynamic scenarios for understanding the nearshore sediment transport controls of placer mineral depletion at Manavalakurichi, India. From the analyses of topographic configuration (extracted from Hydrographic Nautical Chart No. 2048 and data generated during year 2010), we inferred that the 5-m isobaths had broadened and exhibited shallowness. Distances between the coastline and the isobaths were found to have increased significantly over the past five decades. Along with this, the 10 and 20-m contours were found to have shifted about 35–100?m horizontally landward. These changes led to severe sediment deposition in these regions due to the changed wave energy levels and refraction patterns. Numerical simulations linking bathymetry, hydrodynamics, sediment load, and significant wave heights revealed that changes in bathymetry would amplify the wave heights and convergence of wave energy. Associated removal of sand from the high-energy zones will eventually lead to sediment starvation situations and depletion of placers in the adjacent beaches. As the observed trends of depletion generate great concern, detailed oceanographic investigations should be taken up immediately in the region. Fine-resolution hydrodynamic data-sets should prove useful for further evaluating the physical responses of the system to the altered geometry and for exploring remedial measures for restoring the heavy mineral content of the beach sand.     

Living on the edge? - On the thermobiology and activity pattern of the large herbivorous desert lizard Uromastyx aegyptia microlepis Blanford, 1875 at Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area, Saudi Arabia

Field active body temperatures (T_b) and operative temperatures (T_e) were assessed in a population of Uromastyx aegyptia microlepis at Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area, Saudi Arabia. In summer T_b ranged between 23.2 and 47.2 °C, in winter between 23.0 and 45.1 °C and in spring between 25.5 and 45.9 °C. There is a significant difference between respective T_b and T_e distributions which suggests that U. a. microlepis is an active thermoregulator. Above ground activity is very variable between seasons, with the highest activity level in spring. In winter the animals showed an unimodal activity profile. In spring and summer the lizards exhibit bimodal activity profiles with afternoon activity being generally lower than morning activity levels. Species distribution models were calculated to estimate the future impact of global warming on this taxon. Estimates on the basis of temperature data suggest that the range size on the Arabian Peninsula might be stable but with a remarkable decrease of environmental suitability of up to 70-80%. Based on a synthesis of thermo-ecological data and species distribution models we consider climate warming as a potential threat to the survival of the species.