A multi-scale study on land use and land cover quality change: The case of the Yellow River Delta in China

This paper presents a case study of the Yellow River Delta in China, to trace land use and land cover changes during the past 20 years, with an emphasis on land quality changes. Three sets of data are used in this case study: remote sensing data derived from satellite images; crop yield data from statistics; and soil data collected by the researchers in the field. Our study reveals that at the regional scale, LUCC has taken place in a positive direction: vegetation cover has been expanding and crop yields per hectare have been on rise. However, while the overall eco-environment has improved, the improvement is uneven across the Delta region. At local levels, some areas show signs of increased salinization and declining organic content. Both natural forces and human activities are responsible for the LUCC, but human activities play a more important role. While some impacts of human activities are positive, the damages are often long-lasting and irreversible. We also conclude that it is necessary to use both macro data (such as remote sensing data) and micro data (data collected in the field) to study land quality change. The former are efficient in examining land quality changes at the regional scale, the latter can serve to verify ground patterns revealed from macro data and help to identify local variations, so as to get a comprehensive understanding of LUCC and promote sustainable land use and land management. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Small-Mammal Data on Early and Middle Holocene Climates and Biotic Communities in the Bonneville Basin, USA

Archaeological investigations in Camels Back Cave, western Utah, recovered a series of small-mammal bone assemblages from stratified deposits dating between ca. 12,000 and 500 ¹⁴C yr B.P. The cave's early Holocene fauna includes a number of species adapted to montane or mesic habitats containing grasses and/or sagebrush (e.g., Lepus townsendii, Marmota flaviventris, Reithrodontomys megalotis, and Brachylagus idahoensis) which suggest that the region was relatively cool and moist until after 8800 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Between ca. 8600 and 8100 ¹⁴C yr B.P. these mammals became locally extinct, taxonomic diversity declined, and there was an increase in species well-adapted to xeric, low-elevation habitats, including ground squirrels, Lepus californicus and Neotoma lepida. The early small-mammal record from Camels Back Cave is similar to the 11,300–6000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. mammalian sequence from Homestead Cave, northwestern Utah, and provides corroborative data on Bonneville Basin paleoenvironments and mammalian responses to middle Holocene desertification.     

Where the buffalo roam: Boundaries and the politics of scale in the yellowstone region

For more than twenty years, the state of Montana has pursued a controversial policy of lethal control to manage winter migrations of bison from Yellowstone National Park. In the late 1990s, as the state and a number of federal agencies attempted to cooperatively outline a more palatable scenario for bison management, local environmental groups became active participants in the debate. This paper examines the strategies pursued by these organizations in the course of their attempt to construct a new, ecosystem-level territorial space and jurisdictional scale for bison, and places their struggle within the context of existing work in geography on the politics of scale. Ultimately, the failure of their efforts illustrates some of the important constraints faced by social groups that attempt to create new territorial regimes and new scales of resistance in the interstices of existing political structures.     

G-Probe-1 - An International Proficiency Test for Microprobe Laboratories - Report on Round 1 : February 2002 (TB-1 Basaltic Glass)

Results are presented for round one of a new international proficiency testing programme designed for microprobe laboratories involved in the routine analysis of silicate minerals. The sample used for this round was TB-1, a basaltic glass fused and prepared by the USGS. Thirty nine laboratories contributed data to this round, the majority of major element results being undertaken by EPMA and the majority of trace elements by LA-ICP-MS. Assigned values were derived from the median of results produced by nine selected laboratories that analysed powdered material by conventional ICP-MS, INAA and XRF techniques using bulk powders of the sample. Submitted microprobe results were evaluated using a target precision calculated using the Horwitz function, adopting the same criteria as those used for "applied" geochemistry laboratories in the companion GeoPT proficiency testing programme for laboratories involved in the routine bulk analysis of silicate rocks. An evaluation of results from participating microprobe laboratories indicated that overall, data were compatible with this precision function. A comparison between the performance of bulk and microprobe techniques used in the analysis of the basaltic glass showed remarkably good agreement, with significant bias only observed for the major oxide MgO.     

2001年三次6级左右地震前西昌地磁的虚假异常研究

2001年，在西昌地磁台300km范围内连续发生了三次6级左右地震；即2月23日在西昌北200km的四川雅江县境内发生的6．0级地震；5月24日在西昌西南140km的盐源县内境内发生的MS5．8地震，10月27日在西昌西南260km的云南永胜发生的MS6．0地震。震前，西昌地磁台各相对观测记录分量和绝对观测量都发生了明显的异常变化。研究结果表明，由于邻近基建施工，使观测环境发生改变，引起大幅度虚假异常，这些异常 尽管与三次地震对应较好，但不是先兆异常。     

河流水质风险评价的灰色-随机风险率方法

提出了量化影响河流水质的随机不确定性与灰色不确定性的水质超标灰色－随机风险率概念，建立了水质超标灰色－随机风险率评价模型。在水质单项参数评价模型中，将河流污染物浓度变量的分布处理成灰色概率分布，将污染物浓度超过水质类别标准值的风险率处理成灰色概率，即水质超标灰色－随机风险率。在水质综合评价模型中，河流水环境系统被考虑为担任某一使用可能的可靠性系统，而任意一种水质参数超标意味着河流水体使用功能不能得到应有的保证，也即表明水体综合评价超标，最后借鉴系统可靠性分析的理论和方法计算水质综合超标率。该方法应用于黄河花园口断面重金属污染风险评价。     

坝上高原安固里淖粒度年纹层与环境变化

在安固里淖湖心区获取一未扰动沉积物样柱，分析发现了由冬季风搬运物与湖心沉积共同形成的粒度年纹层，建立了纹层年表，恢复了安固里淖湖区8507aB.P，以来的环境变化过程。8507-5429aB.P。冬季风活动较弱，后期的所波动；5429-3244aB.P.冬季风活动较强，3244-2494aB.P。冬季风活动减弱；2494-1165aB.P。冬季风活动略有增强；1165aB.P以来，冬季风活动减弱。安固里小淖粒度年纹层反映的冬季风变化情况与我国北方地区同期的环境变化和海平面变化有很好的对应关系。     

战略环境评价若干问题研究

分析了传统环境影响评价制度的不足，回顾了战略环境评价的研究与实践进展，阐述了战略环境评价与环境可持续发展的关系，并对以实现环境可持续发展为目标的战略环境评价体系所存在的问题进行了分析。     

山岳型旅游区人文建筑环境后效与调控模型

许多山岳型旅游区内或其流域上游，都建有人文建筑，而且在急剧增多，导致自然环境日趋恶化，其中乱建疗养院和旅馆的影响最为严重。通过地监测并全面分析张家界环境演变趋势，发现住宿施对环境的影响，比其他游乐设施更为明显。张家界国家森林公园生态环境的脆弱因子是金鞭溪水质。金鞭溪水质恶化主要表现为蓝藻，绿藻迅速繁殖，感官质量下降。主要原因是磷污染较重，总磷年均值100%超标。本文提出了基于环境脆弱因子的动态阈值调控模型，通过计算得出：在不超出张家界景区最为脆弱的环境因子-金鞭溪水质标准：总磷≤0.02前提下，金鞭溪上游接待区住宿设施生态阈值的动态系列：春季临界床位数为1186，夏季为3057，冬季为545，秋季为333。目前的建筑规模已超过了金鞭溪上游接待区住宿设施生态阈值。