Human and Environmental Factors Affect Patterns of Crop Diversity in an Ethiopian Highland Agroecosystem

The Ethiopian highlands are a center of diversity for numerous globally important crops. Heterogeneous landscapes, traditional agricultural practices, and inaccessibility have created and maintained diverse subsistence agroecosystems. We surveyed sixty-three farms in twelve communities of the Gamo highlands and found high levels of on-farm diversity of crop species and varieties. The extent and nature of this diversity are related to both ecological factors, namely elevation, and anthropogenic factors such as land-use history, accessibility to markets and extension, and strength and scale of farmer exchange networks. These human landscape features have the potential to both enhance and mediate effects of elevation and other environmental factors on crop diversity. The interaction of environmental and anthropogenic forces on the diversity of crops grown by farmers affects the strategies farmers employ to adapt their farming to changing conditions.     

Rapid generation of Digital Elevation Models from topographic maps

Abstract

In this article we demonstrate that substantial gains in time can be made when using point sampling rather than contour line digitising for generation of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). A simple sampling scheme, based on regularly distributed points, was used supplemented with points near break-lines in the terrain. An evaluation of surfaces created with three different interpolation methods at three different resolutions shows that the statistical distribution was better when using points as opposed to contours, and that the accuracy was comparable despite the much smaller amount of input data.     

Dark side of the planet: hidden dimensions of urban agglomeration

ABSTRACT

This intervention probes the hidden, political dimensions of planetary urbanization. Drawing on political theory, it approaches its analysis through the analytic of ‘the political,’ the dimension in which antagonism performs a constitutive function in the social order. In doing so the intervention throws into relief the ways in which group-based differentiation, conflict, and exclusion establish the conditions of possibility for ongoing transformations of urban agglomeration. It then develops a case for further exploring intersections of the political and capitalist agglomeration to generate new knowledge about current mutations in urban economies of space.     

LOCATING EMPLOYMENT GROWTH IN URBAN AREAS TO MINIMIZE TRAVEL TIME

The transportation requirements of an urban area are, in part, a function of its land use pattern. Reducing travel in an urban area by effective land use design appears to be a worthwhile public policy objective. The planning model derived in this article uses as its core the matrix version of the Lowry model developed by Garin. The model allocates basic employment to the zones of an urban area in order to minimize work and service trips. A hypothetical planning problem for Metropolitan Toronto illustrates use of the model.     

主体功能区情景下的土地系统变化模拟

主体功能区要求对国土实施相对严格的空间管制措施,以实现资源生态和社会经济发展的协调。选择黑龙江省哈大齐(哈尔滨-大庆-齐齐哈尔)地区为研究案例,以CLUE-S模型模拟了两种情景下的未来土地系统变化情况,结果表明,在不实施任何空间管制措施的情景下,耕地对草地的蚕食将延续,生态功能持续降低;而在主体功能区建设的情景下,居民地将大幅度扩展,且主要占用盐碱地,同时保持了耕地和生态用地的安全,在一定程度上可缓解土地利用冲突,优化土地利用结构和国土开发格局。     

信息物理系统研究与应用综述

信息物理系统是以信息世界与物理世界的紧密结合为显著特征的,集计算、通信与控制为一体的网络系统。首先介绍信息物理系统的起源与发展。比较分析几个比较有代表性的信息物理系统定义,给出对信息物理系统的概念的理解与定义。在文献梳理的基础上,总结信息物理系统的主要特征。简要介绍3个典型的信息物理系统应用方案,即智能电网、生物与医疗、智能高速公路与无人驾驶。最后总结信息物理系统研究与应用中所面临的挑战,提出今后信息物理系统可能的研究热点。为更好地了解信息物理系统相关知识,为信息物理系统领域的研究提供有价值的参考。     

一种无线数据传输接口及控制装置

本文介绍一种无线数据传接口及控制装置。装置中采用计算机软件实现串—并、并—串变换及频率调制、其硬件成本低廉,工作可靠,可用于速率为50、300、600或1200bps的数传通信。     

渤海湾天津近岸海域水环境空间变异分析

由于海岸带的地理条件和海洋动力特性的复杂性以及人类开发活动对海岸带的影响,近岸海域的生态环境系统在空间分布上有很大的变异性.基于现场实测资料,建立系统的空间变异分析模型,对海岸带生态环境空间变化规律进行分析,可以充分了解不同区域的污染特征和变化趋势.应用所构建的空间变异分析模型对渤海湾天津近岸海域的水环境特性进行分析,结合对应年份的入海流量及其变化,分析了天津渤海湾海岸带污染的主因子和区域水环境的分布特征,结果可以对海洋功能区的划分和水环境综合评价结果进行验证和补充.     

4D seismic time-lapse monitoring of an active cold vent,northern Cascadia margin

Two single-channel seismic (SCS) data sets collected in 2000 and 2005 were used for a four-dimensional (4D) time-lapse analysis of an active cold vent (Bullseye Vent). The data set acquired in 2000 serves as a reference in the applied processing sequence. The 4D processing sequence utilizes time- and phase-matching, gain adjustments and shaping filters to transform the 2005 data set so that it is most comparable to the conditions under which the 2000 data were acquired. The cold vent is characterized by seismic blanking, which is a result of the presence of gas hydrate in the subsurface either within coarser-grained turbidite sands or in fractures, as well as free gas trapped in these fracture systems. The area of blanking was defined using the seismic attributes instantaneous amplitude and similarity. Several areas were identified where blanking was reduced in 2005 relative to 2000. But most of the centre of Bullseye Vent and the area around it were seen to be characterized by intensified blanking in 2005. Tracing these areas of intensified blanking through the three-dimensional (3D) seismic volume defined several apparent new flow pathways that were not seen in the 2000 data, which are interpreted as newly generated fractures/faults for upward fluid migration. Intensified blanking is interpreted as a result of new formation of gas hydrate in the subsurface along new fracture pathways. Areas with reduced blanking may be zones where formerly plugged fractures that had trapped some free gas may have been opened and free gas was liberated.     

A brief catalogue of failures: Framing evaluation and learning in fisheries resource management

We propose a framework for enabling a systematic evaluation of a fisheries resource management system, which we define as a feed-back mechanism coupled to a fishery. The resource management system includes four basic functions: diagnostics, intervention, goal setting, and decision making. This model allows for the development of an evaluation framework for fisheries resource management by facilitating a typology of failures. We suggest that the potential for systemic and interdisciplinary learning will be significantly enhanced through the process of developing such a framework.