A review of the physics and ecological implications of the thermal bar circulation

Following recent applications of numerical modelling and remote sensing to the thermal bar phenomenon, this paper seeks to review the current state of knowledge on the effect of its circulation on lacustrine plankton ecosystems. After summarising the literature on thermal bar hydrodynamics, a thorough review is made of all plankton observations taken in the presence of a thermal bar. Two distinct plankton growth regimes are found, one with production favoured throughout the inshore region and another with a maximum in plankton biomass near the position of the thermal bar. Possible explanations for the observed distributions are then discussed, with reference to numerical modelling studies, and the scope for future study of this interdisciplinary topic is outlined.     

磷脂脂肪酸在地下水微生物生态学中的应用及存在的若干问题

磷脂脂肪酸(PLFA)是研究地下水微生物生态的一种新兴技术，它比基于培养基的传统方法有许多明显的优势，但同时也存在一些需要解决的问题。样品中的PLFA总量可以通过转换因子估算地下水微生物的生物量，但微生物群落组成的差异和环境的物理变化都是潜在的误差来源，以传统微生物技术互补和选择合适的转换因子可提高结果的可靠性；PLFA还可以被用来指示地下水微生物在各种环境压力下的生理状态；用特定的PLFA生物标志物、PLFA的组成模式、指纹技术来描述地下水微生物的群落结构和变化特征时，存在的主要问题是不同微生物PLFA的重叠、背景值的干扰和环境因子变化的影响，以PLFA技术为主导，借助于数学统计方法，结合传统微生物技术、核酸鉴定、同位素示踪等多种技术可望有效地消除各种干扰因子，从而揭示完整的地下水微生物的生理生态，为地下水污染的生物修复提供理论指导。     

三江源生态环境监测研究

青海省生态环境监测系统主要由遍布全省各典型生态系统区的生态环境监测站网、卫星遥感信息接收处理系统，信息收集、处理、模拟、评价系统，综合信息服务与反馈等部分组成。建立环境监测系统的目的是对青海省的生态环境进行系统监测和评估，及时为各级政府、有关部门和公众提供准确、全面的生态环境监测信息，为生态环境保护和建设提供科学依据。青海省生态环境监测系统于2003年5月1日开始业务运行，目前尚处于起步阶段。     

中国干旱半干旱区农业生态地质环境系统工程研究

干旱半干旱区是当前我国农业经济发展最有潜力的地区。可是，该区生态环境脆弱，并受到一定程度的破坏。利用系统工程学的原理，从农业生态地质环境容量的角度出发，对该区的农业生态地质环境的演化过程和演化模式进行了研究，进而提出了农业生态地质环境系统工程研究模式。在调控社会人口和经济发展的基础上，合理开发利用水、土、生物资源，保护治理生态环境，提高自然资源环境的承载力，抑制对资源环境的破坏力，使该区农业生态环境得以恢复和重建，建立起稳定持续发展的农业基地。     

论资源与环境的关系

资源与环境是人类赖以生存和发展的物质基础和条件，作为地球生态的两个方面，二者共同构成矛盾的统一体，相辅相成又相互制约。当与经济联系起来时，便具有确稀缺性和极限性。     

Wildlife management and land reform in southeastern Zimbabwe: a compatible pairing or a contradiction in terms?

This paper examines the melding of two discourses in southeastern Zimbabwe: land reform and wildlife management. The former seeks to redistribute large, ‘under-utilized’ landholdings to smallholders whilst the latter needs extensive land holdings to be viable. These two discourses are rooted in very different models of development. The land reform exercise emphasizes direct redistribution, equity and land for crops; whilst the wildlife management discourse tends to stress maximizing foreign exchange earnings, encouraging public-private partnerships and trickle down. Yet there has been a recent flurry of interest in the development of ‘wildlife models’ for land reform which would combine the two. This paper investigates whether the competing discourses about land for smallholders and wildlife-based land reform are compatible or can be successfully reconciled. It traces the ways they have come together in Zimbabwe’s southeast lowveld and examines the ‘science’ and politics underlying their melding. Finally it explores the potential implications for rural people’s livelihoods of this development. It concludes that land reform and wildlife management can be reconciled, but probably not in a particularly equitable way: it is more likely to provide an opening for an equitable land reform agenda to be usurped by local and non-local elites with wildlife interests.     

博斯腾湖向塔里木河输水风险分析方法

为了拯救塔里木河下游生态环境，塔里木河流域管理局根据博斯腾湖从1999年到2003年处于丰水期，湖泊处于高水位的有利时机，从2000年5月到2003年6月实施5次向塔里木河下游生态应急输水，结束塔里木河下游300多km河道近30年的断流历史。现在的问题是“博斯腾湖向塔里木河生态输水能否持续?”，“保证可持续输水的风险有多大?”本文以解决此问题为实例，介绍一般水库调节计算和水库特征水位确定方法；主要探讨水库(湖泊)向下游输水可持续性风险分析问题，提出的方法称为“水库输水可持续性风险计算时历试算法”，简称为“试算法”(T＆E方法)；并将此方法应用于实例中，计算博斯腾湖向塔里木河下游输水的可持续风险。     

Global cotton and local environmental management: the political ecology of rich and poor small-hold farmers in southern Mali

This study examines the hypothesis that poor households engage in less sustainable soil management practices than rich households in a similar socioeconomic environment. This broad objective is explored in Mali's southern cotton belt through three specific research questions. First, is there empirical evidence to support the claim that poor households engage in less sustainable soil management practices than rich households? Second, what local and extra-local factors influence household agricultural management approaches in southern Mali? Third, what broader scale political and economic processes are linked to the factors that influence local-level agricultural management approaches? The author reports that soil quality measures on the farms of rich and poor households are not significantly different, refuting the conventional wisdom that the wealthy are better managers of the environment. A variety of environmentally deleterious practices are associated with export-oriented cotton production, an activity more vigorously pursued by wealthy than poor farmers. Finally, the focus on poverty in international environment and development discourse has allowed the government of Mali to avoid a serious debate on the sustainability of cotton production. The study's findings are based on household interviews describing agricultural management practices, an analysis of farm field soil measures, and discussions with donors and national policymakers.     

Counting Beans: Agrobiodiversity,Indigeneity, and Agrarian Reform

In‐field conservation of locally domesticated crop varieties ameliorates agrobiodiversity losses, but the interaction among nationally regulated socioeconomic factors at the local scale tends to discourage this. Analyses of household surveys conducted in Ecuador demonstrate that state and nongovernmental institutions interact to discourage cultivation of locally domesticated varieties of beans (Phaseolus spp.). Land privatization, agricultural extension, and credit programs favor market production of introduced modern bean varieties, and locally domesticated varieties are noted for favorable nutrition, culinary, and agroecological qualities. Resolving disconnections between the market and social values for landrace beans may provide agrobiodiversity conservation opportunities.