THE EMERGENCE OF REGIONAL CULTIVAR SPECIALIZATIONS IN CALIFORNIA VITICULTURE*

Centuries of evolution of viticultural patterns in Europe have established well-known associations between cultivars and viticultural regions. Though California's viticultural landscape is much younger than Europe's, scholars increasingly talk about cultivar specialization in California wine regions. This study uses data for recent years and location quotients to test the hypothesis of regional cultivar specialization in California. Support is found for the hypothesis, though not for each cultivar and region. Evidence suggests also that there are significant differences between California and Europe with respect to viticultural specialization. Two such differences are in physical geography and wine laws.     

Upland Adjustment to Regional Drainage in Central Pennsylvania: An Application of Trend Surface Analysis

Abstract

The use of quantitative measurements in geography has increased rapidly throughout the 1960s, and will probably continue to accelerate. It is unfortunate that those with limited mathematical backgrounds have felt intimidated by this new methodology. Even more regrettable is the fact that few quantifiers have attempted to make their work more palatable to a wider audience. The method of trend surface analysis employed here to explore an old problem—peneplanation—has many other potential applications in geographic research. The author believes that no geographer should feel intimidated by mathematical symbolism. An attempt is made to “talk-through” the technique of spatial trend analysis—one of many measurement tools already or shortly available to geography teachers and high school students via remote terminals linked to university computing centers. In addition, the concepts of the Erosion Cycle and upland accordance are reviewed and evaluated in the light of new evidence trend surface analysis now makes possible.     

Books,Places, Regions—A Natural Blend

Abstract

Children love books, and through carefully chosen ones geographic concepts can be conveyed. Books are good resources—great background material for describing a place, emphasizing the culture of a region, highlighting a geographical issue, or clarifying where a place is in the world. This article explains how literature encourages geographic thinking, builds geographic skills, and develops lasting mental maps of places and regions.     

Problem-Based Inquiry on World Water Problems in Large Undergraduate Classes

Abstract

This paper reports on the design and implementation of a project-based course—World Water Problems—that was introduced within the framework of introductory undergraduate geography education. The aims of the course were twofold: (1) to cultivate in students a world geographic perspective on water problems; and (2) to conduct an original research project on the search for detailed appraisals, or ex-post evaluations, of completed water projects and programs. The project involved problem-based inquiry and learning through several interrelated tasks including: hypothesis testing, systematic electronic library and database searching, corresponding with water resources experts; and synthesizing of results. Evaluation of the project, and the course more generally, was achieved through a questionnaire administered to the students and a focused in-class discussion. Overall, the students' comments about the course project demonstrate learning in the form of greater knowledge of world geographic regions and water sectors as well as enhancement of database search skills and critical thinking.     

An Approach to leaching Applied GIS: Implementation for Local Organizations

Abstract

Geographic information systems (GIS) is a fairly new and evolving curriculum area within geography and other disciplines at colleges and universities in the United States. The challenge of teaching underlying concepts of GIS functionality, the details of computer operation and software interfaces, as well as the contexts of various applications can be a difficult one. At Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a teaching strategy—Client-Life Cycle GIS Project Learning—has been introduced in which students in an upper level GIS course work with local organizations, faculty from other university departments, and governmental entities. This allows students with some GIS background to work with real clients; utilize and operationalize the concepts of the GIS Project Life Cycle; make the connection between data development, analysis, and applications development; provide expertise and needed data to local organizations; and see the utility and impact of their work. A group pilot project from the spring semester of 1998 is discussed to illustrate how students responded to this method of teaching GIS.     

中国雾区的分布及其季节变化

1 Introduction Fog is a weather phenomenon that horizontal visible distance is reduced within 1 km by plenty of water drops and particles of ice crystal. It not only has unfavorable influence on the traffic of water, land and air, but also brings serious …     

Geographic Graphics

Abstract

The diagrammatic climate key presented here was developed in an attempt to simplify the teaching of climate classification at the secondary and college levels. The chart emphasizes four critical temperatures involved in the Koppen classification, and shows their relationships to the various climate types. It is hoped that use of this key will give students a better understanding of the role of critical temperatures such as 64.4° or 71.6°, symbols such as Aw or BSk, and the overall scheme of climate classification. The chart has been developed for the Köppen climatic classification as modified by Ackerman and Van Royen and popularized by Trewartha.¹ Because the modified Koppen system is widely used and accepted, that system—along with Fahrenheit temperatures—will be utilized in the following discussion. Figure 1 represents the working skeleton, which may be drawn upon the chalkboard, presented by use of transparent overlay, or handed out on individual laboratory exercise sheets.     

Delmarva Coastal Bays Map Contest for Fourth Graders

Abstract

This map contest is an exercise in geographic education for fourth grade students. It is sponsored by a grassroots, nonprofit environmental organization to raise the awareness and appreciation of students to the special features of their home region. The maps illustrate some aspect of the living resources or history of the region. As a case study of the map contest, this paper describes its design, publicity, appeal to teachers, judging of entries, and role of volunteers. It considers the research on map skills among young students and ways in which the contest supports geographic education.     

Identification of field attribute error under different models of spatial variation

Abstract

Recent developments in theory and computer software mean that it is now relatively straightforward to evaluate how attribute errors are propagated through quantitative spatial models in GIS. A major problem, however, is to estimate the errors associated with the inputs to these spatial models. A first approach is to use the root mean square error, but in many cases it is better to estimate the errors from the degree of spatial variation and the method used for mapping. It is essential to decide at an early stage whether one should use a discrete model of spatial variation (DMSV—homogeneous areas, abrupt boundaries), a continuous model (CMSV—a continuously varying regionalized variable field) or a mixture of both (MMSV—mixed model of spatial variation). Maps of predictions and prediction error standard deviations are different in all three cases, and it is crucial for error estimation which model of spatial variation is used. The choice of model has been insufficiently studied in depth, but can be based on prior information about the kinds of spatial processes and patterns that are present, or on validation results. When undetermined it is sensible to adopt the MMSV in order to bypass the rigidity of the DMSV and CMSV. These issues are explored and illustrated using data on the mean highest groundwater level in a polder area in the Netherlands.     

Editorial review

Abstract

This paper comprises the thoughts and perceptions of an interested outsider, an accountant and economist by training, who has recently chaired a Committee of Enquiry into the handling of geographical information. It focuses on the real barriers to getting more practical use from geographical information systems (GIS), most of which have research implications—but not of a technical nature. To an outsider GIS appears as a solution, or more strictly a tool, in search of a problem. Of course, there are numerous problems for GIS to tackle, but the difficulty is that those who have the problems are often either unaware of GIS and the questions they can deal with or, more seriously, are unaware that they have problems and of the questions they should be asking. GIS as a tool is about aiding managers to carry out their jobs more efficiently and effectively, and, more particularly, about better decision-making     

Employing SWOT Analysis in Coursework on the Geographies of Regional Economic Development and Trade

Abstract

The use of SWOT analysis is a means through which geography students can investigate key concepts in economic geography and essential topics in regional economic development. This article discusses the results of a course project where economic geography students employed SWOT analysis to explore medium-sized metropolitan areas across the southern United States and their suitability for export-led development. The results suggest that students were able to critically evaluate these urban regions and their potential for integration into the global economy. This case also intimates that the SWOT concept could be applied to other situations and regions in geography coursework.     

Wine trails as organizational pathway toward landscape coherence: the case of the Finger Lakes region,New York,USA

This paper explores the role of so-called wine trails as planners and managers of viticultural landscapes, using the case of the Finger Lakes region in New York, USA. Using key informant interviews, it assesses the current capacity and the future potential of these non-governmental, fee-based ‘clubs’ to mediate between global markets and the local agricultural landscape in the absence of policy frameworks designed for this purpose. Though it finds little evidence of such mediation today, the paper argues that the structure and institutional position of wine trails, organizations whose members’ livelihoods depend substantially on long-term landscape coherence, position them to play a more assertive role in doing so in the future, particularly in places marked by lax planning regimes and scarce resources.     

Problem-Based Learning for Promoting Student Learning in High School Geography

ABSTRACT

This study determines the impact of problem-based learning on a preuniversity geography class. Learning activities include problem analysis, information collection, an examination of concepts, oral presentations, and group summaries in relation to current and perennial geographical issues of local and/or global concern. Assessment for learning and assessment of learning were done by the teacher, classmates, and students themselves. Results showed that students could analyze problem statements and present their understanding systematically but varied considerably in organization, argument, and quality of thinking. To seek improvements, teachers should become more active facilitators while encouraging students to learn as problem solvers. Teacher training and school-based support are needed for creating a collaborative inquiry-oriented atmosphere in the classroom.     

Rockin' and Rappin' in American Music: Themes and Resources

Abstract

As a relevant aspect of contemporary culture, music is a significant part of the lifestyles of students at all levels of education. Thus, use of various genres of American music is framed in the context of the National Standards five themes of geography—location, movement, human-environment interaction, region, and place. Several classroom projects appropriate for grades 7–12 are identified, including data collection, map preparation, and development of a research paper. Teaching resources consist of references used in text, music geography bibliography in addition to references, data sources, useful music-related websites, and list of research paper topics.     

Exploring the future of rural–urban connections in sub-Saharan Africa: modelling urban expansion and its impact on food production in the Addis Ababa region

Abstract

The built-up area of Addis Ababa and its surrounding towns is expanding into the peri-urban region leading to high losses of farmland, directly influencing the food production for the urban population. This paper investigates the patterns of settlement growth in the region surrounding Addis Ababa and their impact on peri-urban agriculture using an urban spatial scenario design model. The effects of two population density scenarios are explored within the framework of a proposed master plan. The model output was used to estimate areas of different suitability levels that would be lost to the modelled settlement expansion. The settlement area in 2038 would represent 29% of the case study’s total area in the low-density scenario but only 19% in the high-density scenario. Compared to the low-density scenario, the high-density scenario would only require a third of the agricultural land transformed into settlement areas. Settlement development would contribute to higher losses of land suitable for cultivating important export products, high nutritional value and import-substituting products. The scenario approach can support sustainable regional planning for settlement expansion that conserves valuable farmland in the peri-urban area and contributes to building capacity for strategic planning of the city regions of sub-Saharan Africa.     

Geo-Historical Approaches to Environment: the Evolution of Environmental Thought in Western Civilization

Abstract

While attempting to establish a workable methodology for the study of environmental perception through history at the undergraduate college level, it was discovered that certain socio-cultural institutions, i.e., economics, politics, religion, and science/technology, play a dominant role in the formation of human thought and subsequent behavior patterns. By reducing human action to categories, students find it possible to investigate the influence of essentially non-physical aspects of environment on environmental perception, and they discover how environmental perception maintains or alters socio-cultural conventions. Here, the Middle Ages provide an example of how one socio-cultural convention — religion — modified human thought, behavior, and environmental alteration.     

Regional disparity in the changes of agricultura land use intensity in China during 1980-2002

Based on the cost-benefit data （1980-2002） of farm products and China Agriculture Yearbooks, this paper studies the regional disparity in the changes of the agricultural land use in China during the period 1980-2002 from three aspects such as the degree of intensity, the sown area and the abandoned farmland. The results show that： （1） The degree of intensity of land use in the westena region during 1980-2000 has a strong uptrend, but in the eastern and central regions the degree of intensity descends obviously and has shown a continuous downtrend since 1997. （2） The total sown area shrinks notably in the eastern region, while it enlarges constantly in the western region. （3） The sown area in the eastern, central and western regions has gone through a similar cyclic process： down （1980-1985）-up （1985-1991）-down （1991-1994）-up （1994-1999）-down （1999-2002）. However, there are obvious differences in amplitude variation and tendency among them. The sown area has shrunk in the eastern region and expanded in the central and western regions especially before 1999. （4） The most cases of abandoned farmland are reported in the central region, the second in the eastern region and the least in the western region. The abandonment phenomena chiefly occurred during 1992-1995 in the eastern region, and during 1998-2002 in the central region.     

The Promise for Geomorphic Discovery in the South

Abstract

Until recently a neglected region, renown for limited exposures, the southern United States is becoming an area of geomorphic discovery. This article presents an overview of current geomorphic research in this region, suggesting that despite past problems, academic geographers have made significant contributions to the geomorphology of the South in recent years. Research topics published on the region are highly varied, with some spatial bias as well as topical bias toward fluvial systems. Yet because of the limited historical work, much is unknown about these unique landscapes and their susceptibility to natural and human disturbances, and much benefit is to be gained from both applied and theoretical study of them.