Soil degradation: a global problem endangering sustainable development

1 Introduction Soil is not only the major natural resource on which human being depends for the production of food, feed, fiber, renewable energy and raw materials, but also plays a key role in maintaining the complex terrestrial ecosystems and climate systems of this planet. Recent rapid increase in the human population is placing a great strain on the worlds soil resources. Only about 11% of the global land surface covered by the soils are being used to raise crops and livestock, in other …     

Some Aspects of Resource Uncertainty and Their Economic Consequences in Assessment of the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Natural Resources Research - Exploration ventures in frontier areas have high risks. Before committing to them, firms prepare regional resource assessments to evaluate the potential payoffs. With...     

The global rainforest mapping project JERS-1:a paradigm of international collaboration for monitoring land cover change

The Global Rainforest Mapping (GRFM) project was initiated in 1995 and, through a dedicated data acquisition policy by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), data acquisitions could be completed within a 1.5-year period, resulting in a spatially and temporally homogeneous coverage to contain the entire Amazon Basin from the Atlantic to the Pacific; Central America up to the Yucatan Peninsular in Mexico; equatorial Africa from Madagascar and Kenya in the east to Sierra Leone in the west; and Southeast Asia, including Papua New Guinea. To some extent, GRFM project is an international endeavor led by NASDA, with the goal of producing spatially and temporally contiguous Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data sets over the tropical belt on the Earth by use of the JERS-1 L-band SAR, through the generation of semi-continental, 100m resolution, image mosaics. The GRFM project relies on extensive collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Joint Research Center of the European Commission (JRC) and the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) for data acquisition, processing, validation and product generation. A science program is underway in parallel with product generation. This involves the agencies mentioned above, as well as a large number of international organizations, universities and individuals to perform field activities and data analysis at different levels.     

Luxury Tourism and Regional Economic Development in Mexico

This article argues that little attention has been paid to the territorial and socioeconomic impact of consumer–service globalization on Third World countries. It specifically examines the economic role of tourism in Mexico and its limited effect on the country's regional development. Despite governmental support in order to enhance economic growth, currency receipts, and employment, tourism contributes less than 5 percent to the gross domestic product, and the majority of tourism–related jobs are precarious and low–skilled. The promotion of luxury resorts in coastal areas has led to highly concentrated and fast–growing enclaves of mainly foreign investment. However, this strategy has failed to stimulate productive links between tourist centers and their hinterlands and has led to large–scale urbanization characterized by a considerable lack of basic services for the resident population.     

山东省省际边界地区发展研究

省际边界地区有其自身的发展特点，对于区域的发展起着特殊的作用。文章分析了山东省省际边界地区的特点，并根据康维斯（P.D.Converse)断裂点理论，对山东省及周边中心城市的引力范围进行了计算，比较分析了目前山东省省界城市和省内城市吸引范围及竞争力差异，提出了山东省发展省际边界地区的相应对策。     

长效钾肥产业化与农业可持续发展

我国钾肥需求量逐年增加，80％需要进口，但同时又有大量的低品位非水溶性钾矿资源没有利用，利用非水溶性钾矿生产长效钾肥既能缓解钾肥短缺的矛盾，又可以解决普通钾肥对环境的污染和破坏。长效钾肥原料分布广，生产和施用技术简单，成本低，易于推广普及形成产业化，其对农业可持续发展将会产生重要的促进作用。     

浙江原发性产业集群的形成机制与持续发展

原发性产业集群是浙江省产业发展的主要模式，是在开放的环境中自发形成的。独特的区域“文化基因”，产业特定性知识，产业氛围与地方政府的促进作用是原发性产业集群形成的主要因素；小企业大群落，区内企业的分工协作与竞争，产品的多样化与差别化及集体学习是其主要特点；生产要素的培育和创造，区域品牌树立，学习型企业群落创建及特色制造业基地的培育是产业集群区持续发展的主要措施。     

中国劳动力资源配置区域差异分析

区域经济发展和经济结构调整的关键在于劳动力资源的合理配置。中国各省市区劳动力资源的产业和行业分布具有显著的地域差异，在空间分布上东、中、西部具有差异，西部地区的西南和西北地区也存在差别，这种规律反映了我国经济发展和产业结构高级化的区域差异。根据劳动力行业配置的区位熵排序结果，将各省市区分成4种类型：大都市型、沿海高工业化水平型、中等工业化水平型、中下等工业化水平型。这些类型具有自东向西有规律性的分布，与我国的经济发展格局和工业化水平的东西差异相应。     

美国外商制造业直接投资区域分异模式研究

本文以美国经济区为基本地域单元，以区位商和相关系数为主要研究指标，从一般投资区位和新建投资区位两方面研究了美国外商制造业直接投资区域分异模式。主要研究结论如下：外商制造业企业就业与美国制造业企业就业的区域分布很相似，但更倾向于集中在美国东南部；外商新建投资企业相对集中在新英格兰部分地区和东南部，得克萨斯和路易丝安那海岸地区，密苏里州和伊利诺伊州西部；外商新建企业倾向于分布在高人口密度区，但相关性没有美国本国新建企业强；外商新建投资企业与外商并购企业的分布略有不同。     

企业网络发育程度与区域创新能力研究

本文从分析企业网络的发育和完善程度出发，探讨影响网络创新能力的因素。文章指出，网络发育程度与创新能力(创新数量、创新发生的频率)是正相关的。从宏观上讲网络越密集、各种正式和非正式联系越有效、网络联系越稳定、网络自我更新能力越强、网络的开放性越强、网络越能根植于当地的良好的区域环境，越容易激发创新；从微观上讲，网络中行为主体的学习能力越强，其创新发生频率越高，创新能力越强。