Utilisation and Management Changes in South Kyrgyzstan＇s Mountain Forests

Using political ecology as its conceptual framework, this paper focuses on the changes in forest utilisation and management of South Kyrgyzstan＇s walnut-fruit forests over the last century The aim of this study on human-environment interactions is to investigate the relationship between actors on the one side, their interests and demands, and the forests and forested lands on the other. Forest resource utilisation and management - and even the recognition of different forest products as resources - are connected with political and socioeconomic conditions that change with time. The walnut-fruit forests of South Kyrgyzstan are unique, characterised by high biodiversity and a multiplicity of usable products; and they have been utilised for a long time. Centralised and formal management of the forests started with the Russian occupation and was strengthened under Soviet rule, when the region became a part of the USSR. During this era, a state forest administration that was structured from Moscow all the way down to the local level drew up detailed plans and developed procedures for utilising the different forest products. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the socio-political and economic frame conditions have changed significantly, which has brought not only the sweeping changes in the managing institutions, but also the access rights and interests in the forest resources. At present, the region is suffering from a high unemployment rate, which has resulted in the forests＇ gaining considerable importance in the livelihood strategies of the local population. Political and economic liberalization, increased communication and transregional exchange relations have opened the door for international companies and agents interested in the valuable forest products. Today, walnut wood and burls, walnuts, wild apples and mushrooms are all exported to various countries in the world. Scientists and members of various international organisations stress the ecological value of the forests and are trying to establish nature conservation areas. Nevertheless, it is to fear that a multiplicity of interrelated factors - the present transformation and globalization processes, the appearance of new actors, the local population＇s insecure economic situation and the erosion of managing institutions - are all leading to an intensified and unregulated exploitation of the forests, resulting in their degradation.     

Probing the (in)compatibilities of social theory and policy relevance in Piers Blaikie’s political ecology

One of Piers Blaikie’s most important contributions to the development of political ecology is his critique of land and resource conservation policy in the global South. In this paper I trace the development of Blaikie’s ideas about the policy relevance of political ecology, focusing particularly on the challenges posed by the introduction of poststructural social theory into the field. I begin by revisiting Blaikie’s earlier critiques of environment and development policy. This will provide the departure point to explore how his thinking on the relationship of theory and policy and of academic and development practices has evolved in subsequent writings. I have invented two personas, “early Blaikie” and “late Blaikie”, to facilitate this task. Second, I want to probe some of the challenges that late Blaikie presents for doing political ecology research, to some extent by pitting early Blaikie against late Blaikie and letting them hash it out. Third, I turn to my own and others’ research and consultation experiences as a way to examine the possibilities for reconciling theoretically driven critiques with policy relevant research.     

Species composition and distribution of marine nematode community in the North Taiwan Strait

I~IOW~ne nelnatode is a ban gIOup of benthic OrgAnsrns. Abbot 5 000 spotes Of free-livingnelnatedes have ben dedbo so far, and it has ho estimated that abbot 20 (XX) are as yetunknoWn. Chinese bothologist has Paid attention to marine nelnatodes in China seas in yare. The spatial distribution and shoes commotion of marine nelnatedes in the HUanghe EstUary, Qinhuangdao waters, QingdaO Bay and Xiamen ~ have ho reported (Zhang etal., 1990, 1991, 1993; ac and Li, 1998). ~ new shoes in the…     

Geophysiology and Parahistology of the Interactions of Organisms with the Environment*

Abstract. Ecology and Global Ecology (GE) are terms by which the relations between the organism (or living matter as a whole) and the environment (or Earth as a whole) have been treated for almost a century. Geophysiology and Parahistology (PH) are terms slowly replacing older scientific thoughts jointly with an increasing number of modifications and alterations of the Darwinian Evolution (DE) concept. Somehow Geophysiology and Parahistology seem to describe evolution in a non-Darwinian domain. According to V.I. Vernadsky (1929,1930,1988) - the great Russian naturalist and biogeochemist - the biogeochemical processes on Earth are controlled by the force of living matter rather than by species associations developing in and with individual ecosystems as expressed by darwinian evolutionary terms. He also claimed that Goethe was incorrectly regarded as a predecessor of DE by some authors (including Darwin) and that “Natur” (nature) and “Lebendige Natur” (the totality of creatures) are two very different things for Goethe. Detailed analyses of microbial mat systems in the German Wadden Sea and in artificial hypersaline WInogradsky columns have shown that the totality of creatures and matter around them i.e., the “lebendige Natur”sensu Goethe or “living matter”sensu Vernadsky of such environments control to a considerable extent the structure, stability. and (geo-)morphology of sediments and thereby the geological structure of the living Earth. These structures do not follow the rules of sedimentation formulated by the laws of Stokes They represent growth structures (Aufwuchs), whose physics and dynamics are controlled by complex fractal systems. The factors controlling the ultimate shape and stabilisation potential of the eventually resulting rocks and fossils are comparable to tissue development in macroorganisms. Also, certain microbial associations in the sub-recent and in the fossil record may be compared to metazoan tissues. Chemical gradients in the sedimentary column, regulated by the interplay of living matter and sluggish (slow-reactive to non-reactive) compounds, combine to create a pattern of porosity and structure of the resulting deposits that clearly indicates microbial influences and especially those of extracellular polymeric substances on the morphology and texture. The combined effects of microbiota or living matter on the sedimentary record are described as parahistology of sediments in analogy of the histology of tissue on a geological scale. This conceptual living tissue made up of microbially generated rocks and ore deposits cycled through metabolic processes and forced into tissue-like structures by microbial biofilms and mats may extend down to the upper mantle of Earth and far up into the stratosphere when Earth is regarded as a living entity over geological periods. We may have to conceive Earth as a living specimen, which is breathing at a frequency of thousands of years instead of the normal physiological breathing rate of man or an insect. Macroorganisms in all terrestrial systems represent the transport and logistic media, which, however, utterly depend on myriads of intra-, inter-, and extracellular microbial symbiotic partners.     

Spatial Variation in the Structure of Kelp Forest Communities Along a Wave Exposure Gradient

Abstract. Four sites were sampled in kelp (Macrocysiis pyrifera) forests occupying rocky bottom habitats along a wave exposure gradient in central California. Consistent betwecn-site differences were found in the three major structural elements - the surface canopy, the undcrstory assemblage, and the ground cover/turf assemblage - of kelp forest communities. Macrocysiis pyrifera was found at all four sites. Nereucyslis tuelkeana only at the most exposed site. The understory kelps Laminaria setchellii and Pterygopltora californica were also characteristic of exposed sites. Articulated coralline algae were more abundant at exposed sites than protected, while fleshy red algae showed the opposite pattern. All four study sites were located along 8.5 km of coastline, and thus were assumed to have available to them the same species pool for colonization. The substrate composition was the same and the amount of unconsolidated substrate was similar at all four sites. We suggest that exposure to wave-generated water motion, through its influence on the surface canopy and therefore on the amount of light reaching the bottom, is responsible for these between-site differences.     

RATIONAL UTILIZATION OF MOUNTAIN SOILS IN SOUTHEAST QINGHAI-XIZANG (TIBETAN)PLATEAU

ISoil-fo~gEnvironmentandMainSoilTrocsThesoLItheastQinghai-Xizang(Tibetan)PlateauwheretheHengduanMoUnains,eastempartoftheThmalayanandNyainqentanglhamoUnainsarelocatedextendsfrom25'to34"Nand92'to1O5'Ewithanareaof5OO,OOOkm',oraboutone-fiffooftheentireQinghai-XiZangPlateau.ItisatransitionalzoneofdeePdisseCtedmoUntainseXtendingsoutheastWardpenpherallowlandsandwichedin-betWeenSichuanBasinandcentralYunnanPlateau.Whletheterrainofthesmponinclinestosoutheast,thealtitudeofthevaIleysraises…     

Integrated Approaches,Multiple Scales: Snag Dynamics in Burned Versus Unburned Landscapes*

By studying landscape form and patterns, we can study processes at multiple scales and determine how collectively those processes inform us about function(s). Integrating landscape ecology from a biogeographical perspective with geographic information science (GIScience) practices offers new ways to study how landscapes change over time and space, including how they can be measured, analyzed, and modeled for management needs. This article presents methodologies and selected results of analyzing spatial patterns from field data across multiple scales by examining standing dead tree (snag) processes across wildfire‐disturbed landscapes in Arizona. Our primary motivation was to illustrate a particular type of work benefiting from the coalescing of landscape ecology and GIScience, functioning at the methodological and practical overlap of these two contributing fields. Our management goals were to (1) describe spatial patterns and characteristics of snags in pairs of burned and unburned ponderosa pine forests of Arizona in four recent (within the past ten years) wildfires, (2) document bird response to wildfires by combining landscape ecology and GIScience methods, and (3) link these patterns to snag monitoring plots and cavity‐nesting bird use to predict the probability of snag use by birds and cavity nesters based on snag characteristics (snag use model). The methods and results demonstrate how integration of landscape ecology with both GIS and GIScience improves the ways to study landscapes and land management issues, in this case offering guidelines for retention of snags that provide habitat for wildlife.     

新疆宏观生态的空间分异与变化

根据新疆环境和生态特点，将新疆划分为14个二级生态区进行了研究。结果表明，新疆荒漠与非荒漠生态景观面积大致相当，但空间分异较大。新疆北部荒漠景观占全区域的约1／3，非荒漠景观占2／3，宏观生态相对稳定；新疆东部荒漠景观占全区域的2／3以上，宏观生态十分严峻；新疆南部荒漠景观占全区域的1／2，宏观生态稳定性差。沙漠、绿洲、水体三种主要景观类型中，北疆阿尔泰山南坡、伊犁盆地及南疆叶尔羌－喀什河三角洲地区沙漠化呈降低趋势；天山北坡各段及准噶尔盆地西部，20世纪90年代以来沙漠化明显减缓；新疆东部及南部其余各地区沙漠化均呈现增强趋势。新疆水体景观的变化表现为天然和人工水体面积的消长。近50年来，新疆修建的水库和坑塘等人工水体总面积与同期天然水体缩小的面积基本相当，表明新疆水体景观再近50年来的变化主要体现为水体的空间位移。绿洲景观的变化表明，北疆地区天然绿洲与人工绿洲面积的比例已经从50年代的5：1以上下降到约1：1，南疆由6：1以上下降到3：1左右。天然绿洲的减少是绿洲生态局部劣变的标志。研究还表明，新疆宏观生态的空间分异主要受自然因素的影响，其中，区域降水量的影响最为重要。