BOOK REVIEWS

Books reviewed in this article: Boundary Control and Legal Priniciples . Curtis M. Brown , Walter G. Robillard and Donald A. Wilson . Lost Initiatives: Canada's Forest Industries, Forest Policy, and Forest Conservation . R. Peter Gillis and Thomas R. Roach . The Navajo Atlas: Resources, People, and History of the Dine Bikeyah . James M. Goodman . The City and the Sign . M. Gottdiener AND Alexandros Ph . Lagopoulos , EDS. The Comfortable House: North American Suburban Architecture 1890–1930 . Alan Gowans . Arabic-Islamic Cities. Building and Planning Principles . Besim Salim Hakim . Contemporary Climatology . Ann Henderson -Sellers and Peter J. Robinson . A Trace of Desert Waters . Samuel G. Houghton . Geography, Resources and Environment. Vol. 1: Selected Writings of Gilbert F. White. Vol. 2: Themes from the Work of Gilbert F. White . Robert W. Kates AND Ian Burton , ED. Spatial Dimensions of Unemployment and Underemployment (A Case Study of Rural Punjab) . Gopal Krishan . Maps of the Holy Land: Cartobibliography of Printed Maps, 1475–1900 . Compiled by Eran Laor , assisted by Shoshana Klein . The Geography of Third World Cities . Stella Lowder . A Perspective on U.S. Farm Problems and Agricultural Policy . Lance Mc Kinzie , Timothy G. Baker AND Wallace E. Tyner . Soil Erosion and Its Control. R.P.C . Morgan , ED Geopolitics . Patrick O'Sullivan . Landscape, Meanings and Values . Edmund C. Penning -Rowsell AND David Lowenthal , EDS.     

Perceptions of Local People on the Use of Nyabarongo River Wetland and Its Conservation in Rwanda

This research presents a case study on perceptions of local people on the use of Nyabrongo river wetland and its conservation in Rwanda. It critically examines the potential implications of a shift in wetland use and management practices for local people and presents empirical data from a household survey, group discussions, and observations from transect walks. Results showed that the change in the use and management regime of Nyabarongo river wetland poses substantial loss for local people in terms of provision of resources, income, and access to the wetland, so that the majority of the participants are not happy with the current use of the wetland. Research concluded that there should be participation of all stakeholders, including local people, during policy development in order to shift from command-and-control toward local stakeholder integration in decision making.     

中国气温变化对全球变暖停滞的响应

1998-2012年出现的全球变暖停滞（global warming hiatus）现象,近年来受到各界的广泛关注。基于中国622个气象站的气温数据,研究了全国及三大自然区气温变化对全球变暖停滞的响应。结果表明：① 1998-2012年间,中国气温变化率为-0.221 ℃/10 a,较1960-1998年增温率下降0.427 ℃/10 a,存在同全球变暖停滞类似的增温减缓现象,且减缓程度更明显,其中冬季对中国增温减缓的贡献最大,贡献率为74.13%,夏季最小;② 中国气温变化对全球变暖停滞的响应存在显著的区域差异,从不同自然区看,1998-2012年东部季风区和西北干旱区降温显著,其中东部季风区为中国最强降温区,为全国增温减缓贡献了53.79%,并且具有显著的季节依赖性,减缓期冬季气温下降了0.896 ℃/10 a,而夏季上升了0.134 ℃/10 a。青藏高寒区1998-2012年增温率达0.204 ℃/10 a,对全球变暖停滞的响应并不显著;③ 中国增温减缓可能受太平洋年代际振荡（PDO）负相位、太阳黑子数与太阳总辐照减小等因素的影响;④ 1998-2012年中国虽出现增温减缓现象,但2012年之后气温快速升高,且从周期变化看,未来几年可能持续升温。     

GIS支持下基于支持向量机的滑坡危险性评价

以仙游县为例,探讨了将地理信息系统技术(GIS)和支持向量机(SVM)算法应用于滑坡灾害危险性评价的基本思路和技术路线。主要内容包括SVM的基本原理和方法、滑坡灾害危险性评价指标的选取和量化、SVM模型的建立以及具体的实现过程。实践证明该方法是一种较好的滑坡灾害危险性评价方法。     

BUILDING A COLONIAL RESOURCE MONOPOLY: THE EXPANSION OF SULPHUR MINING IN NEW SPAIN, 1600–1820*

The discovery, extraction, and monopolistic control of key natural resources was a priority of New Spain's colonial administration. Managing the region's abundant resources, however, often proved difficult for the Spanish Crown. Human and environmental challenges impeded protoindustrial growth and development, and monopolistic control of resources often met resistance. In this article I examine these processes in the context of New Spain's little‐known monopoly on sulphur—a yellow, powdery mineral the Crown jealously guarded as its own. Sulphur was critical for gunpowder and explosives production, yet the Crown often failed to produce enough of it to meet the growing demand by its military and the silver blast‐mining industry. Colonial documents reveal administrators’ attempts to improve sulphur production through reform measures, which included advising sulphur miners on how to discover sulphur deposits and, eventually, how to develop their mines. Efforts to improve sulphur production were moderately successful, although the process was messy and inefficient.     

Planning for growth in a natural resource boomtown: challenges for urban planners in Fort McMurray,Alberta

Between 2000 and 2010, the population of the city of Fort McMurray, Alberta increased by 80%, mainly due to the expansion of oil extraction projects and subsidiary industries. Population growth of this magnitude has significant consequences for city planning. While Fort McMurray struggles to keep up with enormous numbers of in-migrants, the cost of living in the city has skyrocketed. Using interviews with city planners and field experience in the city, in this paper I examine the current challenges faced by urban planners in Fort McMurray against the backdrop of global economic decision-making, corporate influence, and commodity dynamics. While the recession of 2008 gave city planners some breathing room, they still struggle with gathering accurate census information and predicting population growth, providing affordable housing, and balancing short-range planning with their long-term goals. Attempts by city planners to address these challenges could provide a contemporary model for urban planning in rapidly growing, resource-dependent communities.     

GEOGRAPHY AND THE LESSONS FROM EL NIÑO∗

Recognized for years as a major environmental disruption, El Niño generated intense public interest in 1982–1983. During its last occurrence, this phenomenon, which develops in the tropical Pacific and usually affects rimlands of the Pacific basin, exceeded its boundaries and its effects were transmitted to continental North America, Europe, Africa and East Asia. Notwithstanding its vast areal extent, the interest of geographers in El Niño events, past and recent, has been comparatively less than that demonstrated by natural scientists and ecologists: little has been accomplished to place these climatic-ecological crises within global perspective. Lessons from El Niño include the acknowledgement of new concepts of climatic transitivity, ocean dynamics and energy exchanges that must find a place within the conceptual wealth of geography if this science intends to keep up with the rapid progress of other geosciences.     

东日本自然湿地的土壤反硝化

地表水和地下水中硝酸盐污染已成为重要的环境问题之一。随着对全球变暖的贡献增加,N2O（氧化亚氮）也得到IPCC越来越多的关注。反硝化在水生生态系统氮循环过程中起着极为重要的作用。反硝化过程中,厌氧细菌将硝酸盐转化成可溶性亚硝酸盐,最终以N2形式排放到大气。为理解自然湿地生态系统的脱氮机理,以日本千叶县的越智小流域为例开展研究。沿地下水流动方向取原状土,包括2个非饱和带点和2个饱和带点。用乙炔抑制法和带ECD检测器的气相色谱仪于0, 2, 6, 12, 24h测定土壤反硝化能力。同时分析土壤全碳、全氮和反硝化细菌。结果发现,饱和带的反硝化能力高于非饱和带。乙炔抑制后,N2O排放从0-1.17 g Nm-2h-1,前6h增至最大,随后降低。