Downstream effects of dams on livelihoods of river-dependent communities: the case of Ghana’s Kpong Dam

Construction of dams affects the livelihoods of the population living along the dammed river. There is a need for more studies to guide dam development policies and management to safeguard the livelihoods of local river users. This paper examines the effects of dams on the socio-economic livelihoods of downstream communities by drawing on the Kpong Dam in Ghana constructed from 1979 to 1982 with the goal of supplying energy and for irrigation purposes. Primary data were collected in resettled and non-resettled downstream communities using a mixed-research approach. This case study highlights how the Kpong Dam has affected the downstream river-dependent population whose livelihoods, particularly farming and fishing revolved around the seasonal flow regimes of the Volta River. Our study challenges the general perception that dams increase agricultural production by illustrating that developing ancillary facilities such as irrigation schemes as part of dam projects can enhance all-year-round agricultural production to improve food and income security of downstream households only when constraints such as lack of farm inputs are addressed. To safeguard livelihoods and limit the social impacts of dams, compensation schemes and alternative livelihood activities should be designed to include resettled and non-resettled communities along the downstream areas affected by dam projects.     

The Influence of Community Size and Location on Different Dimensions of Vulnerability: a case study of Australian coastal communities

ABSTRACT

Coastal communities are part of the Australian identity but little is known about their characteristics and their long-term prosperity prospects. Increased migration to coastal areas and increased exposure to extreme climatic events indicates a need for social and economic data to inform socio-ecological systems planning. Here, we undertake a geo-spatial analysis to develop a typology of Australian coastal communities and assess relative vulnerability to climate-driven environmental change for a range of social and economic indicators. The aim of this study is to understand how the vulnerability of Australian coastal communities varies with geographic location or community size, and in comparison to other community types. Results show that both the population size and location of a coastal community matter and that coastal communities overall are more vulnerable on some socio-economic dimensions to climate-driven environmental change than their rural equivalents. However, results also demonstrate that the smallest coastal communities are strong in some important aspects of the human, social and financial domains, putting them in a good position to deal with some changes. Scale-appropriate and context-specific social policies are needed to address identified socio-economic vulnerabilities, supported by a range of formal and informal institutional structures, such as strategies to improve education and female workforce participation, and encourage participation in volunteering to increase human and social capital.     

黑河上游天涝池流域典型灌木生态参数研究

祁连山自然保护区是河西地区重要的水源涵养区,而灌丛作为祁连山主要植被类型之一,对该区水源涵养功能具有举足轻重的作用。以黑河上游天涝池流域两种典型亚高山灌木为研究对象,基于2014、2015年野外观测和ArcGIS10.1分析功能,获得灌木生长季期间生态参数（叶面积、叶面积指数和比叶面积）的变化;同时,结合分辨率为0.5 m×0.5 m的LiDAR数据和Geoeye-1影像数据,估算研究区灌木叶面积指数的空间分布。研究结果表明：灌木在生长季期间比叶面积值在一定范围内波动;叶面积、叶面积指数变化较大。其中,在6、7月份增加最明显,8月份趋于稳定,9月份叶片开始凋落。其次,随海拔梯度水热条件的不同,流域灌木叶面积指数空间异质性较大,以海拔3 400 m为节点,在3 200~3 400 m海拔带叶面积指数呈递增趋势,在3 400~3 750叶面积指数呈递减趋势。     

霸王(Sarcozygium xanthoxylon)灌木年轮记录的1902—2015年阿拉善荒漠中部气候干湿变化

基于阿拉善荒漠中部的4个霸王(Sarcozygium xanthoxylon)样点建立的区域轮宽年表,探讨了霸王径向生长对气候变化的响应及阿拉善荒漠中部区域1902—2015年的干湿变化。结果表明:霸王的径向生长主要受到生长季及前期降水(当年4—7月和前一年10—12月降水)影响。年代际尺度上,区域年表共记录了1920s初—1930s初、1940s初以及1970s末—1980s末3个干旱时段和1900s末—1920s初、1930s、1960s中—1970s中以及1980s末—至今4个湿润时段。区域气候干湿变化以2~8、11、16~32a周期最为明显,在1970s末发生了周期性震荡。本研究所揭示的区域百余年来气候干湿变化波动状况,可为区域环境演变和荒漠化防治提供气候背景代用资料和决策依据。     

Exploring a New Regionalism-Based Approach to Managing Drinking Water Systems in Rural Regions

Rural regions face many challenges when managing drinking water systems. Current management approaches lack the ability to deal with the complexity that surrounds these infrastructure systems and the critical service they provide, in particular, the links between these systems and the economy and environment. This research explores the potential for an alternative approach. The proposed new regionalism-based approach recognizes and accounts for the myriad of influencing factors, using different mechanisms to support and encourage drinking water systems in fulfilling their potential role in supporting regional resilience. Using a case study approach, data collected from semistructured interviews indicate that elements of the proposed approach are already in use within the Kootenay Development Region of British Columbia, Canada. Results indicate that while the need for an alternate management approach is recognized, and elements of the proposed approach are increasingly applied, substantive barriers remain, such as the existing institutional and jurisdictional structure.     

Debordering and rebordering in the residential borderlands of suburban Guangzhou

Gated communities and enclave urbanism in China have recently drawn considerable attention of researchers and policy makers. The integration of urban space is now even on the agenda of the Chinese Central Government. This article therefore sets out to advance our understanding of how exactly urban borders function and how they change over time. This is done by applying concepts of border theory to what may be called residential borderlands. The empirical study is conducted in two such borderlands between gated communities and suburban villages in southern Guangzhou. It is based on over 70 qualitative interviews and the observation of spatial behaviour at the respective borders. Both debordering and rebordering processes are found to occur with regards to three dimensions: cross-border mobility, cross-border social connectivity and symbolic border functions. The identified dynamic processes at the neighbourhood borders are embedded in the overall urban spatial reconfiguration of Guangzhou.     

西伯利亚水库和叶尼塞河中物质及生态系统条件的预测：生物物理方法

An avenue to integrate theoretical, experimental and field research methods to forecast water quality in water bodies for different scenarios of water management is proposed. Exploration of the laws of organization, stability and controllability of laboratory "ideal" water microbial communities (model ecosystems) is the basis to build the following biophysical research chain:to formalize with primary field information a conceptual block-diagram of a water ecosystem →to real chemical and other density-dependent and population-growth-controlling factors → to find our limiting factors for natural ecosystems → to conduct experiments with isolated chemical factors and hydrobionts to derive kinetic dependencies and quantitative parameters→ to transfer regularities of operation and kinetic dependencies to the natural ecosystem→ retrospective verification of the model on the base of available field and derived theoretical-experimental data →prognostic calculations for the scenario. Efficiency of the approach is demonstrated in microalgal "blooming" models for Krasnoyarsk and Kantat reservoirs and in prognostication of radioecological state of great Yenisei river:1) radionuclide distribution in the Yenisei''s bottom sediment is nonuniform-"spotty"; 2) it is theoretically shown, that due to biological interactions and tro-phical radioniclide migration there is "spotive" type of space radionuclide distribution. The research is to make use of the novel methods of ecological biophysics:Monitoring:spectral analysis of surface waters (algal pigments), fluorescent techniques to evaluate productivity and condition of algae; rapid bioassays for water toxicity (bioluminescence, chemotaxis techniques). Kinetic experiments:microcosms on evaluating self-purification rates; special cultivators to evaluate the rates of growth of hydrobionts and radioactive engulfing, nutrition spectra; methods of finding growth limiting factors. Models:application of Bellman Principle to optimizing the river water use; theory and peculiarities of microbiological decomposition of pollutants in the river ecosystem. The composition of Prognostication Simulation Model is the next:1) hydrodynamical unit to calculate 2-dimensional space-time rate of stream on any depth; 2) hydrophysical unit to calculate:water temperature and level of solar radiation inside the water body; 3) ecosystem unit to calculate dynamic of concentration of phytoplankton, zooplankton, bacteria, major chemical matters and pollutants in water, content pollutants inside of hydrobionfs cells and dynamic of bentos; 4) radioe-cological unit to forecast the dynamic of radionuclides in the water body and bottom, their hydro-bont''s concentration; 5) database. Reservoirs and river models are provided by monitoring and kinetic experiments data.     

黑龙江省东部山地灌木林地的静态持水能力

从森林涵养水源的角度,对黑龙江省东部山地5种次生演替灌木林类型的土壤和枯落物的持水性能进行了调查和分析。结果表明：与当地的阔叶红松林相比灌木林在水源涵养方面也有着不可忽视的作用,5种灌木林类型的枯落物最大持水量和有效持水量分别在20．90～33．48t／hm^2间和12．83～25．07t／hm^2间,其土壤的最大持水量和有效持水量也分别为1927．12～2816．55t／hm^2间和505.09～865．15t／hm^2间。对5种次生演替灌木林地的持水能力的各项指标进行综合比较分析,其静态持水能力的大小依次为胡枝子灌丛、珍珠梅灌丛、接骨木灌丛、榛子灌丛和绣线菊灌丛。     

洱海生物群落的历史演变分析

根据１９５７－１９９７年期间对洱海水体进行的历次综合研究结果分析,由污染引起的氮,磷等营养元素含量升高促进藻类生长繁殖,４０年来其密度和生物量上升近１０倍;近５年的变化尤为明显,一度出现以螺旋鱼腥藻为主的“水华”。