Responding to Deforestation: Productive Conservation,the World Bank,and Beekeeping in Rondonia,Brazil

Productive conservation, a sustainable development concept for the Amazon, ideally leads to economic development in rural areas with conservation of rain forest ecosystems. This study evaluates the human and environmental dynamics of productive conservation in Rondonia, Brazil, using as a case study beekeeping, which has been promoted by the World Bank-funded Rondonia Natural Resources Development Project. Promoters of beekeeping have given little attention to basic ecological or political economic issues that determine whether the practice contributes to ideals of productive conservation. While beekeeping can generate significant increases in household income, beekeeping cooperatives may become overdependent on donor funds. Once the flow of productive conservation donor funds stops, organizations may fail, making it too difficult for beekeepers to maintain their operations. Beekeeping does not lead directly toward rain forest conservation. Moreover, beekeeping almost exclusively employs introduced Africanized “killer” bees, commercially exploitable in the Amazon only because deforestation has temporarily created suitable habitats for them. Given the human and environmental configuration of beekeeping in Rondonia, the paper suggests ways to direct beekeeping toward accomplishing the goals of productive conservation.     

The Best of Times and the Worst of Times: Structural Adjustment Programs and Uneven Development in Africa: The Case Of Ghana

Since 1983, Ghana has been undergoing World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) sponsored Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). The implementation of the SAPs, it is claimed, has arrested Ghana's economy from complete collapse, resulted in consistent growth in GDP averaging 6% over the past decade, reduced inflation levels, created budget surplus, and increased export earnings. Compared to the 1970s, these are the best of times indeed. But while these SAPs-derived improvements in the national economy have been recorded at the macro level, the benefits at the micro level are a matter of considerable debate. This study revisits the issue of socioeconomic and spatial disparities that have characterized Ghana since colonial times, emphasizing the period from 1983 when Ghana's SAPs began. It examines current patterns of socioeconomic disparities with emphasis on the distribution of, and access to, health, education, basic services, and the like. The study focuses on urban-rural as well as interregional disparities in the country.     

Functional composition, but not richness, affected the performance of sessile suspension-feeding assemblages

The efficiency by which communities capture limiting resources may be related to the number of species or functional types competing therein. This is because species use different resources (i.e. complementarity effect) or because species-rich communities include species with extreme functional traits (positive selection effect). We conducted two manipulative studies to separate the effects of functional richness and functional identity on the feeding efficiency (i.e. filtration rate) of suspension-feeding invertebrates growing on vertical surfaces. In addition, one experiment tested whether the density of organisms influences the effect of functional diversity. Monocultures and complete mixtures of functional types were fed with a solution of microalgae of different sizes (6 μm–40 μm). Experiments conducted at two locations, Helgoland and Plymouth, showed that functional identity had far larger effects on filtration rate than richness. Mixtures did not outperform the average monoculture or the best-performing monoculture and this pattern was independent on density. The high efficiency of one of the functional types in consuming most microalgae could have minimised the resource complementarity. The loss or gain of particular species may therefore have a stronger impact on the functioning of epibenthic communities than richness per se.     

秋初台湾浅滩水体浊度和荧光叶绿素分布特征研究

阐述了台湾浅滩邻近海域秋初的水体浊度、荧光叶绿素a的分布变化特征,指出荧光叶绿素a的分布除与营养盐的限制相关外,温盐等水文动力条件对其分布特征也起着重要控制作用,尤其在控制荧光叶绿素a极值分布下界方面可能起着关键作用.而在上升流涌升强烈的地区往往出现了浊度最大值,这可能与底层物质的再悬浮有关.     

扬子地台与华南南盘江盆地大贵州滩三叠系沉积演化史

扬子地台是一个横跨华南地块的以浅海沉积为主的大型碳酸盐岩台地,南盘江盆地是发育在扬子地台碳酸盐岩台地背景之上的一个沉积盆地,从晚元古代到晚三叠世长期海相沉积演化历史中,扬子地台-南盘江盆地体系经历了多次重要的构造演化阶段.扬子地台从晚元古代到早三叠世末期一直保持为一个稳定的碳酸盐岩台地,在中三叠世末期扬子地块整体抬升,海平面下降,形成了遍及扬子主体的拉丁期大海退,从而使扬子地块大部分地区抬升为陆.南盘江盆地位于华南地块南缘,从晚元古代到晚三叠世沉积了一套厚度巨大的海相碳酸盐岩,晚三叠世发育了一套硅质碎屑的浊流沉积,区域沉积也由此转化为河流相沉积.二叠纪和三叠纪碳酸盐岩地层记录了碳酸盐岩台地长期演化历史及其特征多样的沉积建造和沉积环境,而硅质碎屑流和构造沉降速率的变化反映了盆地在三叠纪期间经历的聚合构造和前陆盆地发展过程.在三叠纪时期扬子地台沿西南-北东方向从云南围绕南盘江盆地向贵州延伸,在南盘江盆地中发育了几个孤立的碳酸盐岩台地,包括位于贵州南部和广西境内的大贵州滩和崇左-平果台地.南盘江盆地在晚二叠世发生过一次区域性的海侵事件,早三叠世时期扬子地台和几个孤立台地为由鲕粒边滩组成的低角度斜坡,中三叠世(安尼期)变为由Tubiphytes边礁组成的陡倾斜坡.盆地范围内斜坡变陡激发了Tubiphytes礁和其它的生物体发育,而且它们组成了稳定碳酸盐岩台地的边缘.位于扬子地台西部地区的关林和贞丰一带与最北部的孤立台地(大贵州滩)在安尼期发育了陡倾的边礁.在拉丁期,扬子地台在关林一带进积并与盆地碎屑沉积互层穿插沉积,而位于贞丰的台地边缘出现了由断层控制的地貌特征.与此同时,扬子地台东部(贵阳)由侵蚀滑塌边缘变为进积边缘,向盆地内部进积充填形成了超过600 m的碎屑沉积.但是,与扬子地台不同,位于最北部的孤立台地(大贵州滩)在拉丁期由加积边缘礁变为起伏明显的侵蚀陡崖和饥饿盆地边缘.晚三叠世(卡尼期)扬子地台西部下沉并被晚三叠世浊流沉积埋藏,而扬子地台东部地区在被硅质碎屑沉积埋藏之前持续沉积了一套浅水碳酸盐岩沉积.孤立台地为从南到北逐渐变陡的边缘沉积,而且发育了多个小丘,其中南部地区早期沉降后来被硅质碎屑沉积埋藏,而北部地区到后期下沉.与扬子地台西部一样,最北部的孤立台地(大贵州滩)在晚三叠世下降被碎屑沉积埋藏.以上这种差异源于华南地块南缘因构造聚合作用导致的盆地南部地区不同沉降速率.大贵州滩是盆地中演化历史最长的孤立台地,穿过大贵州滩孤立台地内部和边缘的两条正交剖面显示出了一个被断层切断的向斜构造,这样就很容易识别其沉积建造特征及演化历史.大贵州滩发育的整合的二叠系-三叠系界线剖面以及从早三叠世到中三叠世生物复苏阶段连续的巨厚沉积,使其成为一个研究二叠世末期生物大绝灭期间的海相环境以及生物生态条件最为理想的地区.     

Abrupt variation in channel width along part of the River Severn,near Shrewsbury,Shropshire, England

The River Severn, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, is formed by the union of the uppermost Severn with the Vyrnwy; both of these major headstreams drain from the Welsh upland. That part of the trunk Severn here under consideration has been under investigation for some years as exemplifying Osage-type underfitness. In the course of the investigation, a census was made of width between banktops on two reaches, and of water surface width on one of these reaches: the difference between the two types of width gives the value of a third type, the width of batter. All three width types produce Poisson distributions of frequency. Width, particularly width between banktops, varies rapidly in the downstream direction. In view of the observed Poisson distributions, transform rather than arithmetic values have been used in difference-of-means tests applied to variation along the channel: cube root transforms are the type selected. Although there is little to choose, on the study reaches, between arithmetic means and Poisson modes, the results obtained do suggest a query about the selection of the most appropriate width values, for instance for the purposes of channel morphology. All types of width are found to vary along the channel far more rapidly than would be expected from mere randomness. Variation in bank strength appears to account for about half the variation in width between banktops. The results obtained for batter width could be applied in the design of a sampling programme designed to identify local difference in bank strength.     

Auswertung langzeitlicher Meßreihen zur aeroben Abbauleistung der Uferpassage einer Wassergewinnungsanlage am Niederrhein

Evaluation of Long-term Measurements Concerning the Aerobic Degradation Performance of the Subsoil Passage of a Water Catchment at the Lower Rhine The magnitude of the biodegradation of organics during bank filtration was investigated and exemplary quantified at a drinking water catchment in the lower river Rhine area. The catchment is situated at an undercut slope where the Rhine has a steady flow. The observed segment of the quarternary aquifer was free of iron and manganese and showed even under anaerobic conditions no heterotrophic denitrification. This facilitated the assignment and the balance of oxygen consumption and the determination of inorganic carbon due to the metabolic activity of heterotrophic organisms. In particular the progressive curve of the base neutralization capacity up to pH 8.2 of the bank filtered water proved to be a good measure for the biological activity in the river bottom. In the months from summer to autumn there was an increased biological activity. The observed oxygen consumptions could be attributed to the biodegradation of dissolved organic matter by 35 to 45% only. Obviously the particulate organic matter after the rise in temperature during summer takes part in a substantial manner considered little until now. Today the Rhine is regarded as a largely rehabilitated river with respect to oxygen consuming pollutions. The observations demonstrate, that in such flowing waters the particulate organic matter, which should mainly consist of withered organisms, may have a dominant influence on the concentration of oxygen in the bank-filtered water in summertimes.     

Responding to Deforestation: Productive Conservation,the World Bank,and Beekeeping in Rondonia,Brazil

Productive conservation, a sustainable development concept for the Amazon, ideally leads to economic development in rural areas with conservation of rain forest ecosystems. This study evaluates the human and environmental dynamics of productive conservation in Rondonia, Brazil, using as a case study beekeeping, which has been promoted by the World Bank‐funded Rondonia Natural Resources Development Project. Promoters of beekeeping have given little attention to basic ecological or political economic issues that determine whether the practice contributes to ideals of productive conservation. While beekeeping can generate significant increases in household income, beekeeping cooperatives may become overdependent on donor funds. Once the flow of productive conservation donor funds stops, organizations may fail, making it too difficult for beekeepers to maintain their operations. Beekeeping does not lead directly toward rain forest conservation. Moreover, beekeeping almost exclusively employs introduced Africanized “killer” bees, commercially exploitable in the Amazon only because deforestation has temporarily created suitable habitats for them. Given the human and environmental configuration of beekeeping in Rondonia, the paper suggests ways to direct beekeeping toward accomplishing the goals of productive conservation.