Resource use in the tropical karstlands of central Belize

Rural tropical ecosystems are subject to many traditional land uses that employ the indigenous karst resources: rock, water, soil, vegetation, and wildlife. Individual resource pressures often are subtle, but their combined impact can precipitate instability in the tropical karst environment, potentially resulting in disruption of food, water, and fuel supplies. The karst of central Belize was used intensively for some six centuries by Maya farmers, but between the 10th and 19th centuries AD most of it reverted to secondary forest. Commercial logging dominated the 19th and early 20th centuries, followed by the expansion of subsistence and commercial agriculture after 1945. In the 1980s resource use has accelerated as population and other pressures increase. Much karst remains forested, but there is increasing clearance for agricultural uses, particularly for citrus cultivation and small-scale mixed agriculture. Soil depletion has begun to occur, water resources are increasingly taxed, and some wildlife is threatened by habitat destruction and increased hunting. Lime production for the citrus industry has promoted quarrying, water extraction, and fuelwood use. Environmental stresses currently do not exceed the threshold of instability, but the rapidly developing rural economy warrants careful monitoring of resource pressures.     

锦绣黄岩蟠龙洞古地下洞室群的科学发现及初步分析

位于浙江黄岩的蟠龙洞是古人采石后遗留下来的一座大型地下洞室群,目前已被开发为锦绣黄岩旅游区。实地量测表明,洞室群中的3号洞高达64.3m,是世界上目前已知大型古地下工程的最高者。作者对该古地下工程数百年不倒的原因进行了初步分析,并发现了诸多蕴藏于其中的古代朴素科学思想和高超技术。