Comparing performance indicators to characterize the water supply to the demands of the Guadiana River basin (Spain)

ABSTRACT

Water indicators and indices are useful tools to assess river basin performance, that is, to measure whether the basin operates satisfactorily under a wide range of possible future demands and hydrological conditions. Spanish regulations assess the performance of water demands by using reliability indicators (RIs), established by law in 2008. This article raises the possibility of updating RIs by comparing them with sustainability indicators (SIs). SIs are widely used for the assessment of river basin performance and several policy scenarios. We applied a water allocation model to the Guadiana River basin in Spain to compare indicators under three scenarios. The study was framed within the science of socio-hydrology, combining the physical environment of a water system with its influence on social aspects. SIs gave better results than RIs when comparing future scenarios. We also propose the introduction of a vulnerability indicator into Spanish regulations.     

山西中部地区农村民居震害特征及抗震对策

收集整理山西中部地区历史地震灾害资料,总结了山西中部地区农村民居由地震引起的地基震害、建筑结构震害、建筑材料与施工震害三大特征,讨论了今后农村民居和村镇公共建筑的抗震对策。为将地震造成的民居震害损失降到最低程度,提出要实行总体规划,增强防震减灾意识,加强对农村民居抗震工作的指导的建议。     

A summer and winter apportionment of particulate matter at urban and rural areas in northern France

The apportionment of atmospheric aerosols undertaken in Northern France during two sampling campaigns allowed to determine the influence of the atmospheric contribution of a heavy industrialized urban center on the particulate matter composition at a nearby rural site. The concentrations of major components and trace elements sampled by bulk filtration have been determined on June–July 2000 and January–February 2001, and the comparison of these two campaigns shows very well the importance of wind directions. The sources of 10 trace elements (Al, Ba, Cu, Fe, K, Mn, Pb, Sr, Ti and Zn) and 7 major components (Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, NH₄⁺, Na, Mg and Ca) are better identified by studying their elemental contribution at each sampling site according to wind sectors. This kind of study shows that the concentrations recorded at the urban sampling site are always higher than those observed at the rural site as well during the summer campaign (about + 35%) as during the winter campaign (+ 90%), because of the predominance of the W–NW wind sector, corresponding to the influence of the urban and industrialized areas.     

BEEKEEPING AND LOCAL SELF-RELIANCE IN RURAL SOUTHERN AFRICA*

ABSTRACT. Beekeeping has the potential to supplement incomes in rural southern Africa. In light of regional economic constraints, self-reliance strategies that draw on local knowledge and skills take on a renewed importance. We consider the advantages and disadvantages of beekeeping and examine appropriate forms of development support. A short case study from Zimbabwe illustrates these issues.     

A rural development strategy for the Apuseni Mountains, Romania

The Apuseni Mountains, part of the Western Carpathians, are distinctive in cultural terms because of the highly dispersed settlement patterns that have developed on the high erosion surfaces where the Moti people cleared the forests to allow for an expansion of family farming in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These small ‘crang’ settlements remain, but the population is declining in the face of limited employment opportunities and poor services. The question arises as to the most appropriate rural development strategy for the region, following the communist period which encouraged centralisation through the provision of housing and industry in key villages and new towns. The emphasis on private farming and the expansion of tourism could protect the inherited cultural landscape but money must be found to improve rural services. There is also a strong conservation movement which supports the establishment of a national park, but this could constrain development through controls on grazing and woodcutting. Hence the dialogue continues to find the best compromise and the concept of a ‘natural park’ is being discussed with such a reconciliation in mind. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The non-agricultural economy in post-socialist rural Romania: The insights and perceptions of national, regional and local institutions

This study evaluates some aspects of the socio-economic transformation of rural Romania with reference to the views of representative organisations (at national, regional and local levels) and other experts. Interviews conducted in ten communes of nine Romanian counties (‘judete’) focus attention on the advantages and disadvantages of system change experienced since 1989; the most important problems and constraints for future socio-economic change; and appropriate policies and perspectives for development in the immediate future. Wherever appropriate the claims of interviewees are substantiated through reference to statistics, drawn in many cases from Chambers of Commerce & Industry (CCI). Local level representatives presented much more negative views on recent change than their national and regional level counterparts, but all agreed on the crucial problem of capital shortage. Thus while specific programmes to assist rural areas are justified, they cannot fully succeed until the national economy is able to grow more rapidly and attract greater foreign investment. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

RURAL ADDRESSING AND COMPUTER MAPPING IN NEW MEXICO

Specifying the location of a rural residence is a common geographic problem. Most addressing systems are designed for urban areas and are not applicable to rural areas. The mile marker addressing system meets all of the requirements for a rural addressing system. With the addition of computer mapping techniques, rural addressing can be done efficiently and can provide the basis for a county's computer mapping system. Projects in New Mexico provide several examples of computerized rural addressing projects.     

文登市农村违法建房存在问题初探

农村土地违法建房问题存在多、乱、差、杂等特点。文登市积极采取应对措施,深入分析原因,认为经济利益驱使、规划不合理和引导不力、宣传监管乏力是造成这一问题的主要原因。建议进一步加大法律法规宣传力度、加大国土资源执法巡查力度、增加规划意识、建立农村宅基地有偿使用制度和农民宅基地使用权制度。     

乡村振兴视阈下冰雪旅游高质量发展的空间联动逻辑与双轮驱动机制

冰雪旅游是冰雪产业、文化产业、旅游产业的集合,在乡村振兴和生态文明建设的大背景下,冰雪旅游的高质量发展需要在经济提升与文化传承之间实现一种主体间的和谐,这种和谐的达成与旅游场域下乡村冰雪旅游地的空间结构演变密切相关,因此以空间范式为轴心的冰雪旅游研究十分有必要。以理论推演和模型构建为方法,依次分析冰雪旅游在乡村振兴中的多元利益主体博弈与文化资本实践的双轮驱动机制、解构在双轮驱动之下冰雪旅游地的空间体系、论述冰雪旅游高质量发展所需要的空间联动逻辑,结果发现：乡村冰雪旅游地空间是动静结合、虚实共存的多维体系,在双轮驱动下重构为地理空间和信息空间的双层空间结构,以及生态空间、生产空间、生活空间、旅游空间的四维空间网络,各层子空间彼此交互联动。从空间体系出发的乡村冰雪旅游高质量发展,需要依靠文化资本实践丰富冰雪旅游产品供给、深化利益主体博弈下的社区协调、通过空间联动优化乡村冰雪旅游规划。     

The ebb and flow of capital in Indonesian coastal production systems

The global fisheries sector has undergone both rapid industrialization and considerable resource depletion. Unlike fisheries in the Northern Hemisphere, the Indonesian (and indeed Southeast Asian) sector is still largely dominated by small-scale producers, who are partially embedded within a subsistence economy. Changes in the nature of production and livelihoods in the fisheries sector appear similar to those in land-based agriculture but have received far less attention in the literature and demand further analysis given the distinct characteristics of the natural resource base. Using national datasets complemented by insights from a two-month period of fieldwork in South Sulawesi, this paper presents the process of capital intensification underpinning national fisheries growth and how it is transforming small-scale production systems. Despite increasing market integration, we found that smallholders have persisted across coastal production systems to an even stronger degree than land-based agriculture. We suggest some reasons why this is so. However, we also observed evidence of internal class differentiation within coastal communities. Such differentiation, combined with resource degradation and depletion, exposes the poorest in the community to enhanced livelihood vulnerability.