丝绸之路青海道吐蕃时期墓葬出土木材记载的森林干扰史

森林动态与气候变化及人类活动有着紧密的联系,了解森林干扰的发生历史对准确预测全球变暖背景下的森林动态具有重要意义,也可为理解历史时期的气候变化和人地关系演变提供线索.文章利用丝绸之路青海道沿线吐蕃时期3个墓葬中出土的78棵祁连圆柏(Juniperus przewalskii Komarov)原木作为研究对象,利用树木年...     

Hydrological impacts of forest conversion to agriculture in a large river basin in northeast Thailand

Small‐scale experiments have demonstrated that forest clearance leads to an increase in water yield, but it is unclear if this result holds for larger river basins (>1000 km²). No widespread changes in rainfall totals and patterns were found in the 12 100 km² Nam Pong catchment in northeast Thailand between 1957 and 1995, despite a reduction in the area classified as forest from 80% to 27% in the last three decades. Neither were any detectable changes found in any other water balance terms nor in the dynamics of the recession at the end of the rainy season. When a hydrological model calibrated against data from the period before the deforestation was applied for the last years of the study period (1987–1995), runoff generation was however underestimated by approximately 15%, indicating increased runoff generation after the deforestation. However, this was mainly due to the hydrological response during one single year in the first period, when the Q/P ratio was very low. When excluding this year, neither analysis based on the hydrological model could reveal any significant change of the water balance due to the deforestation. More detailed land‐use analysis revealed that shade trees were left on agricultural plots as well as a number of abandoned areas where secondary growth can be expected, which is believed to account for the results. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anthropogenic Impacts on the Sediment Flux in the Dry-hot Valleys of Southwest China-an Example of the Longchuan River

The sediment flux data, measured from a dry-hot valley of the Longchuan River, a tributary of the lower Jinsha River, were analyzed with Mann-Kendall test, Seasonal Mann-Kendall test and Sen‘s test. In both the upper reaches (Xiaohekou) and the lower reaches (Xiaohuangguayuan), the sediment fluxes showed a significant increase from 1970 to 2001, despite the fact that the water discharge did not change significantly during the period and numerous reservoir constructions which contribute to the trap of sediment. This can be attributed to the intensification of human activities, especially the activities related to land surface disturbances such as deforestation and afforestation, expansion of agriculture land, and road constructions. This increase is more significant in the lower reaches of the river observed at the place of Xiaohuangguayuan due to the dry-hot climate. The profound increase in sediment flux has significant implications for effective management of the sedimentation problems of the on-going Three Gorges Reservoir.     

Forest Clearing Among Farm Households in the Maya Biosphere Reserve*

Central America's tropical forests have been felled more rapidly than those of any other world region during the latter half of the twentieth century. During this time, nearly half of Guatemala's forests were eliminated. Most of this deforestation has been concentrated in the northern department of Petén. The remaining forests in Petén are now mainly concentrated in the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR), the heart of the largest lowland tropical forest in Central America. The pace, magnitude, and geography of this trend is of critical importance to forest conservation and rural development efforts. This article examines socioeconomic, political, demographic, and ecological factors behind settler land use and forest clearing among 241 farm households in the Sierra de Lacandón National Park (SLNP), a core conservation zone of the MBR. Some of the factors positively related to forest clearing were household size, Q'eqchí Maya ethnicity, land owned in the previous residence, farm size, land title, and the cropping of velvet bean as a soil amendment. Education, off‐farm employment, and farm distance to a road were negatively related to farm‐level deforestation.     

Deforestation in the Madagascar Highlands – Established `truth' and scientific uncertainty

The Madagascar central highlands with their red soils and erosion gullies are often held up as a frightening example of the consequences of deforestation. They are also used as a model of how the entire island will look if so-called `forest unfriendly activities' of local people continue. This insight is based on a narrative that describes the highlands as totally forested by the time of human arrival and gradually deforested as a response to human activities. This paper questions the deforestation narrative of Madagascar and points at alternative explanations for present day land cover. By the use of alternative sources of information the paper presents a counter-narrative that sees the treeless rolling planes of Madagascar as a result of several abiotic and biotic changes and not as the work of one single agent. The paper points at the political nature of the deforestation narrative as an explanation for its hegemonic position. On a theoretical level the paper makes an attempt to investigate the epistemological implication of a social constructivist approach to environmental discourses in Third World settings. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Forest conversion, conservation and forestry in Cross River State, Nigeria

This paper presents new data on the rate and patterns of loss of tropical moist forest cover to agriculture in Cross River State, Nigeria. Data from sequential aerial photographs and field surveys are used to derive an estimate of forest loss of 0.6 per cent per year. This rate is relatively modest, yet current conservation and forestry policy in the area is based on assumptions of rapid conversion of forest. The implications of these findings for debates about conservation and policy are discussed.     

Earth observation-based multi-scale impact assessment of internally displaced person (IDP) camps on wood resources in Zalingei,Darfur

This study describes the development of a semi-automatic object-based image analysis approach for the detection and quantification of deforestation in Zalingei, Darfur, in consequence of the increasing concentration of refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region. The classification workflow is based on a multi-scale approach, ranging from the analysis of high resolution SPOT-4 to very high resolution IKONOS and QuickBird satellite imagery between 2003 and 2008. The overall accuracy rates for the classification of the SPOT 4 data ranged from 92% up to 95%, while those for the QuickBird and IKONOS classification have shown values of 88 and 87%, respectively. The resulting trends in woody vegetation cover were compared with the development of the local population and the variability of precipitation. The results show that the strong increase in human population in the Zalingei IDP camps can be associated with considerable decrease in woody vegetation in the camp vicinity.     

Tropical forest monitoring and remote sensing: A new era of transparency in forest governance?

The extent of tropical deforestation is now being tracked by actors in the nongovernmental, academic, private and government sectors using several different sources of satellite imagery. This paper presents an overview of the satellite systems that can be used for operational forest monitoring in the tropics and examines some recent trends in their use. It also reviews various satellite-based studies to map moist tropical forests and draws upon lessons learned from land cover mapping projects in several countries and regions. The case of Indonesia, examined as a nation undergoing rapid conversion of forest to other land uses, is contrasted with Brazil where satellite-based deforestation monitoring is fully operational. In Indonesia, the paper argues, the creation of a national monitoring system for tropical forest conversion is needed to create a source of transparent, reliable information on forest cover and condition. Such a system is likely to succeed if based on multitemporal, moderate-resolution optical data such as imagery provided by MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer). When MODIS images are complemented by radar and fine-resolution imagery from sensors such as IKONOS and QuickBird, areas of abrupt change can be identified and the causes potentially discerned. Thus, satellite imagery at multiple temporal and spatial resolutions can effectively increase transparency in the forestry sector by revealing the rate and extent of deforestation on an annual basis and identifying potential areas of illegal logging.     

Modeling the effects of vegetation on Mediterranean climate during the Roman Classical Period: Part II. Model simulation

The purpose of this study is to perform a high-resolution general circulation model (GCM) experiment to quantify the sensitivity of regional climate to change in vegetation around the Mediterranean basin, corresponding to vegetation change during the Roman Classical Period (RCP), about 2000 years BP. First, an RCP vegetation distribution based on fossil pollen maps and historical records was defined. Second, the RCP vegetation inferred from palynology and other proxies was converted to the 12 vegetation types required by the biosphere model implemented in the GCM. The albedo change due to the change in vegetation significantly alters the atmospheric circulation over northern Africa and the Mediterranean. The consequences of this change involve a northward shift of the ITCZ in the African continent and a coupled circulation between northwestern Africa and the Mediterranean Sea. A large increase of precipitation occurs over the Sahel, the Nile valley and northwestern Africa. A smaller increase of precipitation occurs also over the Iberian Peninsula and the region corresponding to the south of the Caucasus range (Armenia). The increase of precipitation over northern Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and the Armenian region are consistent with the pollen, historical and geographical data. These results suggest that deforestation around the Mediterranean during the last 2000 years contributed to the dryness of the current climate.     

黄土高原粮食生产空间重构过程中的生态系统服务权衡——以陕北榆林市为例

粮食生产空间重构集中了土地系统变化的主要矛盾,探索粮食生产空间重构过程中的生态系统服务权衡变化有利于明确粮食安全、生态修复与经济发展之间的矛盾,从而推进区域生态文明建设和高质量发展.采用生态系统服务评估模型及均方根偏差法,对2000—2018年陕北榆林市粮食生产空间重构过程中的固碳、食物供给、土壤保持和产水服务及其权衡...