BIODIVERSITY AND LAND‐USE CHANGE IN THE AMERICAN MOUNTAIN WEST

ABSTRACT. Rural private lands in the Mountain West of the United States are undergoing a profound land‐use conversion, from agriculture to low‐density residential or exurban development, though little scientific study documents the ecological consequences of this change. Nongovernmental conservation organizations are working with ranchers to keep rangeland out of development and in ranching, ostensibly because these organizations believe that biodiversity is better protected on ranches than on exurban developments. We compared plant and wildlife communities across the principal rural land uses in the Mountain West: protection, livestock ranching, and exurban development. Native plant and faunal biodiversity was better maintained on ranches and protected areas than on exurban developments. Exurban developments favored species that were nonnative or adapted to human‐altered environments. The continued conversion of ranches to exurban development suggests a long‐term alteration of the region's natural heritage.     

1986-2010年成长型旅游小镇用地演变格局——河北省野三坡旅游区三坡镇的案例实证

旅游小镇是近年旅游业发展的重要热点和乡村城镇化的主要方向之一。研究采取参与式农村评估(PRA)、GIS和高清遥感图像相结合的方法,反演了1986-2010年旅游城镇三坡镇土地利用的演变过程。结果显示:其土地利用在空间上表现为离心扩散和向心集聚交替,集约程度不断提高;扩张速度经过了缓慢增长(1986-1995年),快速扩展(1995-2005年),稳定发展(2005-2010年)3个阶段;在功能变化上,由传统城镇的单一功能向多元旅游功能转变。以旅游住宿、餐饮、购物、娱乐用地不断扩展为核心,旅游企业空间集聚成为旅游城镇成长的主要形式。在驱动机制上,以自然地理环境约束为基础,外部旅游市场需求拉动,市场主体的理性选择和政府干预与调控等成为旅游城镇用地演变的主要动力。     

Between Environmental Change and Neoliberalism: The Effects of Oil Palm Production on Livelihood Resilience

Rural communities worldwide are increasingly confronted with the simultaneous impacts of environmental change dynamics and processes of economic restructuring that diminish traditional sources of state support while shifting investments toward large-scale intensive production models. A key question in this context is how livelihoods are affected by these interacting forces of change and whether new production models can contribute to resilience at the household and community scales. Here we examine the impacts of oil palm production on marginal rural communities in Mexico that have experienced both the economic changes associated with neoliberal policy reforms and the dynamics of environmental change. We find that oil palm production can contribute to livelihood resilience when community members participate in its management and governance and when production is associated with state support, but that the kinds of neoliberal policies promoting oil palm expansion may exacerbate existing community vulnerabilities in the face of environmental change.     

Milking the Plains: movement of large dairy operations into southwestern Kansas

Western Kansas has an historical identification with cattle, with a focus on cattle ranching and more specifically since the 1950s, beef-cattle feedlots. Since the mid-1990s large dairy operations have moved into southwestern Kansas. Today more than twenty large dairies house more than 70,000 milk cows. These operate as confined feeding operations similar to beef-cattle feedlots. Regional advantages for the dairy industry include affordable land with wide-open space, local residents' cattle- and dairy-friendly attitudes, and other factors. Regional promoters have actively recruited dairies, and a dairy-business support system has emerged. The prospects for continued expansion of dairies in southwestern Kansas are unclear; despite the locational advantages and the possibility that the industry may continue to relocate here, as did the cattle-feeding industry several decades ago, further moves into the area may depend on continued resources availability and additional infrastructure development.     

基于社区理论大城市郊区化过程中失地农民社区的城镇化问题分析——以长春市兴华园社区为例

基于长春市兴华园社区典型案例,利用社区理论揭示了大城市郊区化过程中失地农民社区的城镇化机制与影响。结果表明土地征用体制下以农村社区为载体实现了快速城镇化,实现了乡村社会和经济空间重构,乡村生产空间和生活空间的优化和重组,地域空间并入城市发展范畴,城镇化进程加快,主要表现为城市景观和设施的推进,农民市民化进程加快,包括就业非农化与生活方式市民化等,但存在社会保障和补偿机制不健全,失地农民生活满意度低,社会认同感缺失等问题。     

经济欠发达地区农户对耕地非农转换的价值感知——西宁市郊区案例研究

针对耕地非农转化过程中产生的一系列社会问题,采用参与性农户调查方法,对西部欠发达地区西宁市郊区5个样本村190户农户进行了随机入户调查。根据城市开发进程、到市区距离和种植类型等条件,将调查样本村分为近郊城区化农村、近郊农村和远郊农村,就农户对耕地非农转换的基本认知及耕地非农转换的经济、社会和环境价值感知进行分析。结果表明:耕地征用后农户能理性感知和判别耕地非农转换价值,并普遍认为失去耕地后生活费用增加、生活保障降低、收入来源和就业机会少;感知主要受耕地数量、区位条件、耕地开发阶段等因素的影响;处于不同区位条件的农户对耕地非农转换的价值感知存在差异性,城区化农户已逐渐适应城市生活,近郊农户的非农转换经济和社会感知压力最大,远郊农民也感知经济和生活保障压力,但更希望能通过打工增加收入。     

衡阳南岳区农村居民点用地合理布局分析

城镇化水平的快速推进和社会主义新农村建设的开展给建设用地供给和耕地保护形成了巨大的压力。农 村居民点用地普遍散乱、粗放的现象为挖掘现有建设用地潜力,少占耕地提供了可能。以衡阳南岳区为例,应用GIS 空间分析与景观指数分析等方法,在分析社会经济、自然地理和生产环境三方面的主要因素对南岳区农村居民点 用地布局的影响后,提出引导南岳区农村居民点合理布局的对策与建议。     

From Rural Dilution to Multifunctional Countryside: Some pointers to the future from South Australia

Rural dilution, a term originally used in the UK in the 1950s, refers to change in the social composition of rural populations: those elements engaged in primary production (and its necessary servicing) are thinned out by agricultural restructuring and labour shedding, while at the same time in-migration of new elements (retirement, long-distance commuting, lifestyle migration) is occurring. The extent to which such dilution occurs is influenced by a number of factors, including distance in travel time from the nearest metropolitan or other large city, location with respect to the coast/perceived environmental amenity, and rural population density. This paper explores changes in traditional rural communities in Southern Yorke Peninsula, South Australia, which lie 2½-3 hours' drive from Adelaide and have been subject to substantial rural dilution. Drawing on two detailed surveys of the strictly rural (dispersed) population of the region carried out in 1984 and replicated in 2000, some important social impacts of the recent migration flows are identified, including changes in perceived community identity and allegiance, shopping and business patterns, and the very recent impact of the uptake of electronic communication innovations. The paper concludes with an assessment of the extent to which the trends identified are likely to continue, and mould future communities in similar distance and amenity situations over the next 10-20 years, changing the nature of rurality in Australia.     

Dissolving the sugar fields: Land reform and resistance identities in the Philippines

The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Programme (CARP) was introduced in the Philippines in 1988 to facilitate a more equitable distribution of land and heighten agrarian efficiencies. The programme has faced considerable obstacles on the island of Negros, where sugar barons have tried to manipulate the new land laws to retain ownership of their large estates. This paper outlines the response of peasant communities on Negros who, with national scale nongovernmental organizations, have coalesced a social movement in a vision of fair and equitable land reform. Building on recent work by social movement theorists, we focus upon the production of the collective identity that binds geographically isolated communities into a coherent and recognized grouping. Particular attention is given to the promulgation of oppositional histories and narratives through farmer association networks which provide peasants with the means to nurture alternative environmental imaginaries and inspire resistance actions. While the strengths of such identities in resisting more powerful development actors are evident, questions are raised about the longevity of such identities, their role post-land reform and their potential to contribute to more fundamental postdevelopment challenges to imposed development norms and processes.     

基于农业多功能视觉的都市农业用地效益时空变化研究——以西安都市圈为例（英文）

The excessive expansion of urbanized areas has resulted in haphazard land utilization, immoderate consumption of superior agricultural land and water resources, significant fragmentation of agricultural landscape, and gradual deterioration of the agro-ecological environment. Combined, these factors cause poor land use efficiency. Under these circumstances, comprehensively assessing land use efficiency for urban agriculture is a key issue in land use research. Currently, evaluation methods for agricultural land use efficiency narrowly concentrate on aspects of economic input and output. However, urban agro-ecosystems can provide diverse economic, social, and ecological services and functions. In particular, the social and ecological services and functions originating from agricultural land, which have a higher value than economic services, play a significant role in ensuring regional social, ecological, and environmental security. However, recent research has rarely taken these benefits into consideration. Therefore, land use value has been greatly underestimated, which has resulted in mishandled and poor land use policies. In this study, we apply Landsat imagery and social and economic statistical data for the Xi'an metropolitan zone(XMZ) to investigate agricultural multi-functionality. We develop an evaluation framework for urban agricultural land use efficiency and identify agro-ecosystem services and functions as important outputs from agricultural land. The land use efficiency of urban agriculture is then evaluated using ecosystem services models, providing a mechanism for assessing spatial-temporal changes in land use efficiency in the XMZ from 1999 to 2015. Four important conclusions are reached from this analysis. First, the rapid urbanization and agricultural transformation from traditional cereal cultivation to modern urban agriculture has resulted in steadily increasing costs, outputs, and land use efficiency of urban agriculture. The total output value increased 41% and land use efficiency per hectare increased by 33.13% on average. Second, the spatial patterns of comprehensive output and land use efficiency were dominated by economic outputs from agricultural land. Areas near cities, which are dominated by orchard and arable land, providemore economic functions. These areas support and regulate services due to the transformation from extensive cereal production to intensive modern urban agriculture; therefore, they have higher output value and land use efficiency. In contrast, areas distant from cities, towns, and high traffic roads, namely, remote rural areas, provide more support and regulating services, but have relatively lower economic function due to inaccessibility to urban markets and slow agricultural transformation. Therefore, these areas have lower output value and land use efficiency. The spatial change in agricultural output and land use efficiency in urban areas is strongly dependent on the degree of urbanization and agricultural transformation. Third, the total output value and land use efficiency of urban agriculture measured with our approach are much higher than evaluations using traditional methods. However, the spatial patterns measured using the two approaches are in agreement. The evaluation framework integrates ecological services and economic and social functions into a comprehensive output from agricultural land. This approach is more methodical and accurate for evaluating the comprehensive efficiency of land use based on quantities and spatial scale because they are at the pixel scale. Finally, the evaluation results have important implications for enhancing current agricultural subsidies and even implementing ecological payment policies in China. Most importantly, they can be directly applied to agricultural transformation regulations, decision-making, and guidance for rational land utilization.     

Spatial-temporal change in urban agricultural land use efficiency from the perspective of agricultural multi-functionality: A case study of the Xi’an metropolitan zone

The excessive expansion of urbanized areas has resulted in haphazard land utilization, immoderate consumption of superior agricultural land and water resources, significant fragmentation of agricultural landscape, and gradual deterioration of the agro-ecological environment. Combined, these factors cause poor land use efficiency. Under these circumstances, comprehensively assessing land use efficiency for urban agriculture is a key issue in land use research. Currently, evaluation methods for agricultural land use efficiency narrowly concentrate on aspects of economic input and output. However, urban agro-ecosystems can provide diverse economic, social, and ecological services and functions. In particular, the social and ecological services and functions originating from agricultural land, which have a higher value than economic services, play a significant role in ensuring regional social, ecological, and environmental security. However, recent research has rarely taken these benefits into consideration. Therefore, land use value has been greatly underestimated, which has resulted in mishandled and poor land use policies. In this study, we apply Landsat imagery and social and economic statistical data for the Xi’an metropolitan zone (XMZ) to investigate agricultural multi-functionality. We develop an evaluation framework for urban agricultural land use efficiency and identify agro-ecosystem services and functions as important outputs from agricultural land. The land use efficiency of urban agriculture is then evaluated using ecosystem services models, providing a mechanism for assessing spatial-temporal changes in land use efficiency in the XMZ from 1999 to 2015. Four important conclusions are reached from this analysis. First, the rapid urbanization and agricultural transformation from traditional cereal cultivation to modern urban agriculture has resulted in steadily increasing costs, outputs, and land use efficiency of urban agriculture. The total output value increased 41% and land use efficiency per hectare increased by 33.13% on average. Second, the spatial patterns of comprehensive output and land use efficiency were dominated by economic outputs from agricultural land. Areas near cities, which are dominated by orchard and arable land, provide more economic functions. These areas support and regulate services due to the transformation from extensive cereal production to intensive modern urban agriculture; therefore, they have higher output value and land use efficiency. In contrast, areas distant from cities, towns, and high traffic roads, namely, remote rural areas, provide more support and regulating services, but have relatively lower economic function due to inaccessibility to urban markets and slow agricultural transformation. Therefore, these areas have lower output value and land use efficiency. The spatial change in agricultural output and land use efficiency in urban areas is strongly dependent on the degree of urbanization and agricultural transformation. Third, the total output value and land use efficiency of urban agriculture measured with our approach are much higher than evaluations using traditional methods. However, the spatial patterns measured using the two approaches are in agreement. The evaluation framework integrates ecological services and economic and social functions into a comprehensive output from agricultural land. This approach is more methodical and accurate for evaluating the comprehensive efficiency of land use based on quantities and spatial scale because they are at the pixel scale. Finally, the evaluation results have important implications for enhancing current agricultural subsidies and even implementing ecological payment policies in China. Most importantly, they can be directly applied to agricultural transformation regulations, decision- making, and guidance for rational land utilization.     

基于CA-ABM模型的福州城市用地扩张研究

以中国海西地区重要门户福州市为研究区,结合其地理位置多层次约束性条件,以地理加权回归模型作为元胞自动机(CA)层的转换规则,同时以2000-2015年多期LandsatTM/ETM+影像的城市用地情况为参照,借助GIS空间分析技术,对CA和多智能体(ABM)相耦合的城市用地扩张模型进行改进。然后利用传统的和改进后的CA-ABM模型,多角度、多层次地模拟福州市2000年、2005年、2010年、2015年城市用地扩张在微观格局上的变化。结果表明,传统的和改进后的CA-ABM模型的整体精度均在80%以上,模拟结果具有较强的可信度;改进的 CA-ABM模型模拟的点对点总体精度和Kappa系数均高于传统的CA-ABM模型,而且模拟结果更加接近实际的城市用地扩张分布情况。结论可为平衡城市化进程和合理规划城市用地提供重要的理论技术支撑。     

Why do they burn the 'bush'? Fire, rural livelihoods, and conservation in Zambia

Despite the historical importance of fire as a savanna land management tool, much controversy still surrounds discussions on anthropogenic fire utilization and the sustainability of indigenous land management practices in African savannas. This controversy is arguably a result of a discord between official fire policies and actual indigenous fire practices – a discord based on a gap in existing knowledge of, and a lack of informed literature on, the importance of fire for socio-economic and environmental survival in savanna environments. Addressing a continuing lack of research on the political ecology of fire, this study investigates the historical and present day socio-economic, environmental and political frameworks that affect anthropogenic burning regimes and land management in the Kafinda Game Management Area and Kasanka National Park in Zambia. A series of participatory research activities revealed the continuing importance of fire to rural livelihoods, but that a mismatch in desired burning regimes exists between local stakeholders. The paper argues that local power relations are preventing the local communities from adopting burning regimes that would be more environmentally sustainable and more in line with present day farming systems.     

Identifying erosion hotspots and assessing communities' perspectives on the drivers,underlying causes and impacts of soil erosion in Toledo's Rio Grande Watershed: Belize

Erosion in the Rio Grande watershed of Belize, Central America results in widespread ecological impacts and significant economic costs. In this study, quantitative soil loss analysis and qualitative social surveys were integrated to identify erosion vulnerable areas or hotspots, and to analyze varying perspectives between communities near and far from erosion hotspots regarding the causes of erosion. The results of the quantitative analysis suggest that erosion hotspots are located in the upper-mid reaches of the watershed near the communities of Crique Jute, Naluum Ca, San Pedro Columbia and San Miguel. The Mann–Whitney U test identified significant difference in the ranking of erosion drivers (cattle ranching, logging, and clearing of slopes) between communities. Communities far from erosion hotspots (FEH) ranked cattle ranching and logging higher than communities near erosion hotspots as the main drivers of soil erosion (NEH and FEH, mean = 79.02, 105.92, (U) = 3055, p < 0.001 and mean = 84.9, 100.90, (U) = 3560.5 p < 0.05) respectively. On the other hand, communities near erosion hotspots (NEH) ranked clearing and planting on slopes higher than communities far from erosion hotspots as the main driver of soil erosion (NEH and FEH, mean = 107.03, 81.86, (U) = 3136.5, p < 0.001). The logistic regression model depicted that ethnicity, distance, gender, and employment were significant in explaining the data variability on the perceived implementation of erosion prevention techniques in the watershed (2LL = 208.585, X² = 49, df = 8, p < .001). This research provides significant information on the drivers, underlying causes and erosion vulnerable areas that will aid stakeholders to garner community support, develop and implement sustainable soil management practices. Moreover, the study highlights the need to implement cost-effective soil erosion prevention programs and to assess the loss of soil nutrients and agriculture productivity in the study site.     

Curbing enthusiasm for Brazilian agribusiness: The use of actor-specific assessments to transform sustainable development on the ground

Current enthusiasm for the potential of sustainable agricultural development must be based on a realistic assessment of the dynamics used by specific farming sectors. This study highlights the structural limitations that impede agricultural progress and explains why it is necessary to overcome these impediments in a case study of Brazil, one of the world's main agricultural exporters. In Brazil, the commodity-exporter large-farmers production chain is largely controlled by multinational corporations, with the investment of national capital a mere 12.4% in the technology-intensive sectors of the soy business (composed of seed production, fertilizers, pesticides, machinery, trading companies). The agricultural sector's future depends on increasing the share of national capital into domestic businesses and confronting the current and simplistic strategy of expansion into new agricultural frontiers, which often have high social and environmental costs. The future of family farmers depends on comprehensive development alternatives and challenging the current policies, since current development has been restricted to the 17.9% of family farmers who have access to rural credit, whom are mostly based in the Southern region of Brazil.     

Locality Attributes and Networks Serving to Reveal Amazonian Urbanization beyond the Cities

Beyond the Amazonian cities, distinct spatial units arranged in networks compose an extended urban space, usually invisible to government agencies and public polities. This article empirically reveals this space by studying the localities’ characteristics and connections. In southwestern Pará, Brazil, 236 communities were sampled using field expeditions. Variables related to the locality organization, history, health and education services, urban infrastructure, and land use were explored in a fuzzy cluster analysis. Local production and consumption flows were considered in the locality network analysis. The fuzzy analysis allowed identifying a hierarchy of localities for which the geographical location influences the spatial distribution patterns of five groups. On the other hand, consumption and production networks identified different locality's articulations, with persistent dependence on cities. These results characterize extensive urbanization at the local level and highlights the participation of the local populations configuring the Amazonian territory.     

近10年来中国农村居民点用地时空特征

利用20世纪90年代中国1:10万土地利用动态变化数据,利用单元自动机和人工神经网络模型对中国农村居民点用地进行了区划。在此基础上,研究了90年代中国农村居民点用地动态变化时空格局。研究表明,农村居民点用地受区域位置、经济发展和国家政策的影响。90年代前5年,受沿海开放政策和经济高速发展的影响,长江三角洲、珠江三角洲和华北平原农村居民点用地扩展较快,中西部地区农村居民点用地扩展较慢;90年代后5年,在沿海地区经济发展速度放慢和国家实施耕地资源保护条例的情况下,沿海地区农村居民点用地扩张受到抑制,西部地区扩展加快。90年代中国经济体制处于由计划经济向市场经济转轨的过程中,农村居民点用地的动态变化格局受到经济发展和土地利用政策的深刻影响。     

Pastoralists’ perceptions and realities of vegetation change and browse consumption in the northern Kalahari, Namibia

Pastoral production around artificial watering points in semi-arid environments affects the density and composition of plant communities. In the Kalahari desert of southwestern Africa, bush encroachment is often regarded as the major form of land degradation resulting from pastoral production around watering points. We investigated the OvaHerero pastoralists’ perceptions of the extent of vegetation change since the establishment of artificial watering points in the northern Kalahari desert of Namibia, and related this to ecological data on vegetation change. We determined the utility of woody vegetation to pastoralists’ livelihoods in terms of provision of construction material, fuel wood and browse. We quantified local knowledge of cattle browse consumption and correlated this with field data. We also assessed the purposes for which major livestock types were used. Our results showed that: (1) pastoral knowledge of bush encroachment and browse consumption was consistent with concurrently collected field data, (2) the current level of bush encroachment was perceived to be beneficial for pastoral production, and (3) cattle played an important role in the production of milk and milk by-products for domestic use, and served as a source of cash income, while sheep and goats were primarily kept for meat consumption. This result contrasts with historical studies that mainly portray cattle as a symbol of social status among OvaHerero pastoralists.     

领域化理论视角下的乡村旅游社区社会空间变迁——以丹霞山青湖塘村为例

乡村地区的旅游发展带来乡村社会空间的快速变迁与重构。对此,现有研究主要侧重空间生产过程的分析,而空间生产与权力关系之间的联系尚未充分理论化。论文以丹霞山青湖塘村为例,借助领域化理论,分析了多元主体的领域化行为所引发的乡村旅游社区社会空间变迁,总结了其中交织的权力—空间关系及社会空间变迁机制。结果发现：乡村旅游社区社会空间变迁是一个持续的领域化过程,是由“领域的社会组织”与“社会的领域组织”之间的交互作用所引致的,在这个过程中,无论是自上而下的管控权力还是自下而上的抵制权力,只有通过领域建构实现空间化才能实现真正的控制,权力关系正是在空间化中实现了生产与再生产。基于此,论文对旅游地社会空间变迁中的“权力—空间关系”进行了初步理论化,并讨论了领域化分析对于旅游社区产权制度实践、旅游地空间治理等问题所具有的启示意义。     

湖南省传统农区乡村功能时空演变及影响因素研究

乡村是城市功能扩散与转移的重要承接地,乡村功能的时空演变及影响因素分析对实现城乡统筹发展与可持续发展具有重要意义。综合运用熵值法、冷热点分析和地理探测器等方法,以湖南省102个县市为研究对象,对湖南省乡村功能的时空演变、空间分异及其影响因素进行研究。结果表明：① 1997―2017年县域乡村生产和生活功能整体上呈现出上升的发展态势,而乡村生态功能整体上呈减弱的趋势。② 1997―2017年湖南省乡村功能热点区由长株潭地区向外扩张,而冷点区呈先收缩后扩张的发展态势;20 a间,在长株潭地区形成稳定的热点区,在湘西地区形成稳定的冷点区。③ 湖南省乡村功能空间分异是农业现代化、乡村就业主体、县域经济基础、城镇化、工业化等综合作用的结果,其影响力大小与方向存在显著的差异性,其中农业现代化水平、乡村就业主体对湖南省及5个地区乡村功能空间分异有重要的驱动作用。