Spatial patterning of Manta birostris in United States east coast offshore habitat

This study aims to identify patterns in spatial distribution of Manta birostris along American East Coast by analyzing presence data using a suite of geostatistical techniques. Analysis of data from 1979 to 2008 revealed that the spatial patterns exhibited by the M. birostris include a strong clustering zone off the North Carolina from (however, not all years are represented in that range), Virginia and Maryland coast. Their presence is high near the coastal shelf edge and along the edge of the Gulf Stream. The mix of warm water and high chlorophyll concentration throughout the year in the region seem to create an ideal environment for this clustering pattern. However, in seasons with warmer water temperature, manta rays spread further north and inshore, possibly to avoid competition for prey. The results of geographic weighted regression indicate the role of sea surface temperatures on Manta presence or absence off the main current of the Gulf Stream near North Carolina and Virginia. Knowledge of the spatial distribution of M. birostris can assist in further protecting the species especially from dangers of by-catch and habitat degradation.     

略论我国历史地理学发展的新途径——兼评台湾省出版的两部《历史地理学》

从中国大陆出版的教材及通论性着作的内容来看,我国的历史地理学研究主要以中国历史地理为研究对象,对国外历史地理学理论方法及学术进展的了解乃至研究较为薄弱。我国台湾省的历史地理学研究与大陆有所差异,陈芳惠所着《历史地理学》主要从一般原理意义上整合世界历史地理研究成果进行内容编撰,姜道章所着《历史地理学》重点论述历史地理学的理论与方法并介绍世界各国历史地理学的进展情况。启示如下:建设中国的历史地理学,除了需要继续推进中国历史地理研究外,更应系统开展世界历史地理研究和进一步加强历史地理学理论与方法等学科问题研究,进而在整体推进我国的历史地理学研究的基础上,期待有通论性的“历史地理学”教材及着作的早日问世。     

An Evaluation of University World Geography Textbook Questions for Components of Spatial Thinking

ABSTRACT

Geography textbooks contain chapter or review questions that may engage students in spatial thinking. This research used Jo and Bednarz’s (2009) Taxonomy of Spatial Thinking to evaluate the percentage of spatial thinking questions in four university-level world geography course textbooks. The results from this study were then compared to the findings in Jo and Bednarz’s (2009) analysis of high school geography textbooks. Thirty-five percent of university level textbook questions are related to spatial thinking compared to twenty-four percent in high school geography textbooks. The results provide information useful to stakeholders, such as teachers, administrators, and textbook writers and may help these stakeholders to consciously incorporate the three components of spatial thinking as defined by the National Research Council (2006). A simplified taxonomy for identifying spatial-thinking concepts in textbook review questions is also suggested.     

Time and Practice: Learning to Become a Geographer

Abstract

Illustrated Dictionary of Place Names: United States and Canada. By Kelsie B. Harder. New York: Van Nostrand, 1976. Pp. xiv + 631, $18.95.

Middle America: Its Lands and Peoples. 2nd ed. By Robert C. West and John P. Augelli. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1976. Pp. xvii + 494, $14.95.

Contemporary Africa: Geography and Change. Edited by C. Gregory Knight and James L. Newman. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1976. Pp. xiv + 546, $14.95.

Atlas of Mexico. By Stanley A. Arbingast et al. 2nd ed. Austin, Tex.: Bureau of Business Research, University of Texas, 1975. Pp. ix + 165, $15.00.

Readings in Social Geography. Edited by Emrys Jones. London: Oxford University Press, 1975. Pp. 328, $18.50 and $6.95.

California: Patterns on the Land. 5th ed. By Robert Durrenberger and Robert Johnson. A California Council for Geographic Education Publication. Palo Alto, Calif.: Mayfield Publishing, 1976. Pp. viii + 134, $6.95.

Studying China in Elementary and Secondary Schools, Studying India in Elementary and Secondary Schools, and Studying Japan in Elementary and Secondary Schools. By Leonard S. Ken-worthy. World Affairs Guides. New York: Teachers College Press, 1975. Pp. 68, iii + 67, and iii + 65, $2.75 each.

World Regional Geography: A Question of Place. By Paul Ward English and James Andrew Miller. Harper &; Row Series in Geography. New York: Harper &; Row, 1977. Pp. xiii + 591, $15.95.

Census Data: Geographic Significance and Classroom Utility. Edited by Borden D. Dent. Tualatin, Oreg.: Geographic and Area Study Publications, 1976. Pp. ix + 277.

The Middle East: A Geographical Study. By Peter Beaumont, Gerald H. Blake, and Malcolm J. Wagstaff. London: John Wiley &; Sons, 1976. Pp. xvii + 572, $25.50 and $14.95.

Man's Economic Environment. By Edgar C. Conklingand Maurice Yeates. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1976. Pp. xi + 308, $11.95.

Applied Climatology: An Introduction. 2nd ed. By John F. Griffiths. New York/London: Oxford University Press, 1976. Pp. xiii + 136, $9.00.

Man and the Environment: Regional Perspectives. Edited by J. H. Holmes. Hawthorn, Victoria: Longman Australia Pty Limited, 1976. Pp. vi + 261, $7.95.

Introduction to Cultural Geography. 5th ed. By Henry M. Kendall, Robert M. Glendinning, Clifford H. MacFadden, and Craig H. MacFadden. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976. Pp. xx + 449, $12.95.

Interpretation of Aerial Photographs. 3rd ed. By Thomas Eugene Avery. Minneapolis, Minn.: Burgess Publishing Company, 1977. Pp. xi + 392, $14.95.

Geography of the U.S.S.R. 3rd ed. By Paul Lydolph. New York: John Wiley &; Sons, 1977. Pp. xi + 495, $18.95.     

Use of Business-Naming Practices to Delineate Vernacular Regions: A Michigan Example

This article provides a history of efforts to map vernacular regions as context for offering readers a way of using business directories in order to construct a GIS-based map of vernacular regions. With Michigan as a case study, the article discusses regional-naming conventions, boundaries, and inclusions and omissions of areas from regional labels in order to offer educators ideas that can enhance classroom content on regions. This article concludes by providing suggestions for classroom activities collecting, analyzing, and discussing vernacular region patterns and processes in accordance with National Geography Standard Five at the eighth-grade level.     

Economic Change in Africa

Abstract

The Geographer at Work by Peter Gould Boston: Routledge &; Kegan Paul, 1985. x and 351 pp., figs., photos, maps, and index. $39.95 cloth; $16.95 paper.

Recollections of a Revolution: Geography as Spatial Science by Mark Billinge, Derek Gregory and Ron Martin, eds. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1984. viii and 235 pp., figs., tables, refs., and index. $25.00 cloth.

The Role of Place in Literature by Leonard Lutwack Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1984. viii and 274 pp., refs., and index. $24.95 cloth.

The Essential Landscape: The New Mexico Photographic Survey with Essays by J.B. Jackson. by Steven A. Yates, ed. New Mexico: The University of New Mexico Press, 1985. vii and 147 pp., and photos. $45.00 cloth.

Latin America: Case Studies by Richard G. Boehm and Sent Visser, eds. NCGE Pacesetter Series. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1984. x and 300 pp., figs., tables, photos, maps, apps., refs., and index. $24.95 paper.     

Media Institute on Geographic Concepts

Abstract

A new political geography has emerged that stresses the political conflict behind the production of space. This orientation in the subdiscipline constitutes a turn away from traditional political geography, where the emphasis had previously been on the spatial distribution of political phenomena. The “new” political geographic theory has been applied to the study of environmental issues, turning the attention of scholars to the political struggle behind the construction of nature as well as space. This article reviews how the new political geography of the environment (NPGE) perspective has impacted the study of such environmental phenomena as hazards, siting issues, human-land relationships, resources, development, and international environmental governance. It concludes by suggesting how the NPGE perspective can inform pedagogy in environmental education.     

Accuracy of forecasting in a Nordic paper mill's supply chain: A case study

The article compares the accuracy of forecasted and actual supply chain cost and price factors in a Nordic paper mill's sales to customers in two large European countries. Empirical longitudinal research data covering the years between 2002 and 2008 were obtained from a large integrated Finnish paper mill, and consisted of sales volumes, paper prices, variable costs, and transport costs. It was expected that the mill would be able to forecast demand, prices and costs accurately, but the empirical findings showed that the forecasts for paper price, demand, and cost varied from one market to another and were not highly accurate. In addition, the forecasting of gross margins seemed to be very inexact. It is concluded that there is a need for more reliable forecasting methods in the paper industry to anticipate economic development as paper demand and costs change.     

Bringing the other into political ecology: Reflecting on preoccupations in a research field

For all its vitality political ecology often appears to be a project in which work by Anglo‐Americans in particular, if it is not privileged, certainly predominates. This trend reflects wider language and intellectual tendencies in human geography and the social sciences that distort the development of the field by downplaying or obscuring the contributions of many non‐Anglo‐Americans and by naturalizing Anglo‐American assumptions at the heart of research. The latter in turn determine what constitutes ‘good’ work – even as there is no single definition of political ecology. Arguing against this tendency, this paper draws on postcolonial thinking to emphasize the need to reassess and reorient the field as ‘other’ political ecologies are feasible and desirable.     

中国农业地理集聚格局演化及其机制

通过对1981～2008年12类农作物种植重心、基尼系数、空间自相关和专业化指数的计算,探讨了中国(不包括港、澳、台地区)种植业的空间集聚格局及演化路径,并从演化经济地理视角构建分析框架探讨其演化机制。结果显示:(1)中国种植业整体上空间集聚程度逐渐增大,区域专业化和多样化程度逐步加强。(2)与制造业地理集聚总体呈现"南下东进"不同,种植业地理集聚逐步"南下西进",从东部省份向中西部省份转移,东北地区的三江平原和松嫩平原也是重要的集聚地,而昔日鱼米之乡的优势已逐渐下降。(3)农业地理集聚格局的演变经历了由自然集聚向社会集聚进而形成完善的农业生产体系的过程,其中,自然集聚的作用日益减少,而社会集聚作用逐步增加。技术创新、制度创新等社会变异步伐的加快,也将进一步推进农业的地理集聚和空间重构。