History,effort distribution and landings in an artisanal bottom longline fishery: An empirical study from the North Atlantic Ocean

Commercial fishing data were used to reconstruct historical spatio-temporal patterns of fishing effort and landings in the bottom longline fishery of the Azores. Key events during an important 15-year period were charted, through fisher interviews together with GIS analysis. While effort distribution varied over time, the prevailing pattern was a shift in focus from eastern to western areas and from shelf/slope to offshore banks and seamounts in response to policy measures (e.g. banning bottom longline inside 3 NM, public aids for modernization of the fleet) and reduced fishing yields. Areas 12–50 NM from shore represented the most vital fishing grounds in terms of fishing effort and production. Declining landings of the major demersal species, in recent years, indicate that present catch levels are not sustainable and further measures need to be taken in order to sustain fisheries resources. Knowledge of fleet behavior and the distribution of fishing effort, particularly in patchy environments, provide valuable insights into the impacts of past management decisions and help predict the outcome of new policies both in this region and elsewhere.     

Biogeographic assessments: A framework for information synthesis in marine spatial planning

This paper presents the Biogeographic Assessment Framework (BAF), a decision support process for marine spatial planning (MSP), developed through two decades of close collaborations between scientists and marine managers. Spatial planning is a considerable challenge for marine stewardship agencies because of the need to synthesize information on complex socio-ecological patterns across geographically broad spatial scales. This challenge is compounded by relatively short time-frames for implementation and limited financial and technological resources. To address this pragmatically, BAF provides a rapid, flexible and multi-disciplinary approach to integrate geospatial information into formats and visualization tools readily useable for spatial planning. Central to BAF is four sequential components: (1) Planning; (2) Data Evaluation; (3) Ecosystem Characterization; and (4) Management Applications. The framework has been applied to support the development of several marine spatial plans in the United States and Territories. This paper describes the structure of the BAF framework and the associated analytical techniques. Two management applications are provided to demonstrate the utility of BAF in supporting decision making in MSP.     

Mismatch between biological,exploitation, and governance scales and ineffective management of sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus) fisheries in Galicia

The spatial structure of fishery resources influences stock dynamics and finally the fishery. Therefore, this aspect should be included as a key topic in the assessment and management of fisheries. The fishery of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus in Galicia has been used as case study to demonstrate how the mismatch between biological, fishery and management scales causes failures in the governance, giving rise to over-exploitation. P. lividus is spatially distributed in nested biological units: patches, micro-stocks, local populations and metapopulations. Fishing operations are local exploiting micro-stocks; however management units in Galician comprise usually more than one local population. This pattern allows the depletion of several micro-stocks without any short-term signals in the exploitation rates over the complete managed territory. Management units should be redefined according to the boundaries of the local populations. In addition, the implementation of reserve networks or a rotation system could allow to effectively managing the resource at a fine-scale. Any of both regulations could also compensate the inverse density dependence that regulates recruitment and fecundity in this species.     

Legacies of 19th century land use shape contemporary forest cover

Historic land use can exert strong land-use legacies, i.e., long-lasting effects on ecosystems, but the importance of land-use legacies, alongside other factors, for subsequent forest-cover change is unclear. If past land use affects rates of forest disturbance and afforestation then this may constrain land use planning and land management options, and legacies of current land management may constrain future land use. Our goal was to assess if and how much land-use legacies affect contemporary forest disturbance, and the abundance of different forest types in the Carpathian region in Eastern Europe (265,000 km², encompassing parts of Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, and Czech Republic). We modeled contemporary forest disturbance (based on satellite image analysis from 1985 to 2010) as a function of historic land use (based on digitized topographic maps from 1860 and 1960). Contemporary forest disturbance was strongly related to historic land use even when controlling for environmental, accessibility and socio-political variation. Across the Carpathian region, the odds of forest disturbance were about 50% higher in areas that were not forested in 1860 (new forests) compared to areas that were forested then (old forests). The forest disturbance in new forests was particularly high in Poland (88% higher odds), Slovakia (69%) and Romania (67%) and persisted across the entire range of environmental, accessibility and socio-political variation. Reasons for the observed legacy effects may include extensive plantations outside forest ranges, predominantly spruce, poplar, and black locust, which are prone to natural disturbances. Furthermore, as plantations reach harvestable age of about 70 years for pulp and 120 year for saw-timber production, these are likely to be clear-cut, producing the observed legacy effects. Across the Carpathians, forest types shifted towards less coniferous cover in 2010 compared to the 1860s and 1960s likely due to extensive historic conifer harvest, and to recent natural disturbance events and clear-cuts of forest plantations. Our results underscore the importance of land-use legacies, and show that past land uses can greatly affect subsequent forest disturbance for centuries. Given rapid land use changes worldwide, it is important to understand how past legacies affect current management and what the impact of current land management decisions may be for future land use.     

Some things old, some things new: The spatial representations and politics of change of the peak oil relocalisation movement

Despite continued uncertainty about the physical realities and political, economic and social implications of peak oil, combined concerns about oil scarcity, climate change and globalisation has spawned an energetic relocalisation movement dedicated to achieving a comprehensive reduction in oil dependency through community-scale initiatives. This paper uses a discourse approach to examine the emergence, geographical spread and practices of the Transition Network, a UK-originated relocalisation movement now involving 186 local initiatives in the UK and other countries. We trace the movement’s drawing upon, and innovation from, discourses and techniques used by other grassroots environmental movements to promote a spatial representation of peak oil as an inevitable and geographically undiscriminating problem, and its use of addiction metaphors and participatory techniques to promote personal and community-scale energy descent initiatives as a viable and necessary alternative to globalisation. We also analyse the spatial representations and techniques used in the Network’s “rhizomic” spread across multiple localities around the world and embedding in communities where relocalisation initiatives are established. We conclude by examining the future challenges these spatial constructions of peak oil pose for the relocalisation movement.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987110000113

<正>Against the current background of global climate change,the study of variations in the soil carbon pool and its controlling factors may aid in the evaluation of soil's role in the mitigation or enhancement of greenhouse gas.This paper studies spatial and temporal variation in the soil carbon pool and their controlling factors in the southern Song-nen Plain in Heilongjiang Province,using soil data collected over two distinct periods by the Multi-purpose Regional Geochemical Survey in 2005—2007, and another soil survey conducted in 1982—1990.The study area is a carbon source of 1479 t/km~2 and in the past 20 years,from the 1980s until 2005.the practical carbon emission from the soil was 0.12 Gt.Temperature,which has been found to be linearly correlated to soil organic carbon,is the dominant climatologic factor controlling soil organic carbon contents.Our study shows that in the relevant area and time period the potential loss of soil organic carbon caused by rising temperatures was 0.10 Gt,the potential soil carbon emission resulting from land-use change was 0.09 Gt,and the combined potential loss of soil carbon(0.19 Gt) caused by warming and land-use change is comparable to that of fossil fuel combustion(0.21 Gt).Due to the time delay in soil carbon pool variation,there is still 0.07 Gt in the potential emission caused by warming and land-use change that will be gradually released in the future.     

E.U. migrant criminal activity: Exploring spatial diversity and volume of criminal activity attributed to inter EU migrants in England

European Union expansion over the last decade has generated many studies, surpassed in number only by governmental comment and media headlines following this general theme. Issues and knowledge explored and expressed have been many, one being a hard to evidence crime-migration nexus leading to constructive empirical studies focussing on the accession to the EU of predominantly East European nations and ensuing migratory patterns. Appertaining to this study is geographic focus on crime committed by inter-EU migrants in England, resulting from holistic research of a contemporary EU statute concerning inter-state sharing of bio-informatics, seeking contextual knowledge to the benefit of policy makers. The geography of inter-EU crime in England identifies spatial dispersion and regional areas of activity on a meso scale. The activity of individual nationalities is examined in a spatial manner displaying distinct differences in movements on a regional (meso) scale. Results improve on current knowledge of the criminality of inter-EU migrants but also identify and call for further research in a conceptual development as localised criminal activity draws an international investigatory perspective.     

Detecting multi-scale urban growth patterns and processes in the Algarve region (Southern Portugal)

The importance of urban growth processes and their spatial characteristics has led to a growing interest in monitoring these phenomena. Spatial metrics are widely employed for this purpose, appearing in an increasing number of studies where they are used to characterise growth patterns and their evolution over time. This paper presents an analysis of urban growth patterns using spatial metrics in the Algarve (southern Portugal), an area of considerable urban dynamics associated with tourism. Two datasets were used (CORINE 1:100,000 maps and COS 1:25,000 maps) and two time periods (1990 and 2006–2007) in order to compare the different urban land use patterns detected and their evolution over time. The results show differences in urban land use patterns and associated processes at each scale, with stable land use patterns predominating at the 1:100,000 scale whereas the 1:25,000 scale showed a move towards more dispersed patterns. These results have enabled an assessment of the principal differences in urban growth patterns observed at both scales, and the implications for planning these entail.     

北京市湿地空间布局研究初探

针对北京市湿地现状,结合北京市湿地分布存在的问题等,提出了北京市湿地空间布局。依据布局思想和布局原则,提出了构建"一芯-三带-六团-多点"的湿地总体布局,并就每一项布局内容进行了详细解读,为北京市湿地的保护与管理提供有力的科技支撑。     

海上油气田工程压裂作业船及装备配置技术探讨

用于海上油气田的压裂作业船具备高效性和安全性,具有优越的操控性能和良好的稳定性,配备了先进的船舶航行系统、动力定位系统和强大的动力系统.全船配备的压裂作业设备包括支撑剂存储装置,酸液和胶液存储装置,搅拌混合系统,各类液体和化学药剂添加系统,压裂作业泵系统,中央控制室以及数据采集系统,完备的质量控制体系,安全的作业管线和快速脱离装置.压裂作业船能连续施工作业,效率高,安全可靠.