Mid-Cretaceous Hothouse Climate and the Expansion of Early Angiosperms

The remarkable transition of early angiosperms from a small to a dominant group characterized the terrestrial ecosystem of the Cretaceous. This transition was instigated and promoted by environmental changes. Mid-Cretaceous is characterized by major geological events that affected the global environment. δ18O, palaeothermometer TEX86, and other climatic indices from marine sediments suggest rapid temperature increase during mid-Cretaceous despite occasional short cooling events. Simultaneously, terrestrial deposits in East Asia changed from coal-bearing to shale, then to red beds and evaporites. Plant assemblages and other paleoclimate indicators point to rapid aridification for mid-Cretaceous terrestrial environments. In addition, the wildfires were frequently spread all over the earth by the numerous charcoal evidence during the Mid-Cretaceous. Thus, we speculate that the seasonally dry and hot conditions of mid-Cretaceous created a fiery hothouse world. Early angiosperms increased in abundance and diversity and evolved from a few aquatic species to terrestrial herbaceous and then to the diversified flora of today. Angiosperms showed rapid physiological evolution in vein density and leaf area that improved photosynthesis and water absorption. These ecophysiological changes made early angiosperms well adapted to the hot and dry environment in mid-Cretaceous. Moreover, these physiological changes facilitated the fire–angiosperm cycles in mid-Cretaceous that likely further stimulated the early angiosperm evolution.     

基于卫星遥感数据的森林病虫害监测与评价

森林病虫害由于在森林资源中造成的重大破坏而被人们称为“不冒烟的火灾”,其对生态系统的研究具有重要意义。现有基于遥感数据的病虫害研究多集中在森林病虫害的监测、爆发原因以及发病区域内生产力的变化情况,而对于森林病虫害发生后森林中植被指数与叶面积指数之间的相关性的变化情况还相对较少,处于需要持续性深入探讨的阶段。以加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚地区2002—2012年森林病虫害数据为基础,分析不同严重程度的病虫害对叶面积指数（LAI）与归一化植被指数（NDVI）和增强型植被指数（EVI）的影响。结果表明：① 受病虫害感染的像元在轻度（Light）、中度（Moderate）和重度（Severe）三个严重级别中,NDVI与LAI之间的相关性由弱变强,又由强变弱;② EVI与LAI之间的相关性,在轻度（Light）、中度（Moderate）和重度（Severe）三个严重级别的像元中则依次变强。这一研究将为今后利用遥感数据识别病虫害、评价生态系统影响提供基础。     

地方嵌入对在华外资企业出口市场多元化的影响

外资企业通过直接出口和间接溢出效应对中国出口增长做出了巨大贡献.现有文献大多基于外资企业知识溢出研究其对本地出口和创新等方面的促进作用,较少关注外资企业自身的贸易活动.利用2000-2016年中国海关贸易数据库,在全球-地方互动视角下,搭建本地、目的国(地区)和本地-目的国(地区)联系三维度框架,重点关注外资企业地方嵌...     

用现代企业制度改造和重塑多种经营企业加快发展部门产业经济

地勘经济改革的战略思想是建设适应社会主义市场经济的新体制，将现有的地勘队伍组建为＂地质找矿的野战军＂和＂实行企业化的地方军＂．分别按事业机制和企业机制运行。如何实现地勘单位（地方军）的企业化，笔者认为首先必须用现代企业制度改造和重塑现有的多种经营企业，并分析了困难和有利条件，提出了相应的对策和措施，使多种经营企业真正成为符合现代企业制度要求的经济实体。加快发展部门产业经济，才能逐步推进地勘单位的企业化。     

Diversification of skeletal microstructures of organisms through the interval from the latest Precambrian to the Early Cambrian

From the latest Precambrian to the Early Cambrian was the most important phase throughout the evolutionary history of life on the earth. The diversification of latest Precambrian multicellular organisms was obvious and some of them began to form primary s…     

Conservation and community in the new South Africa: A case study of the Mahushe Shongwe Game Reserve

The idealization of natural landscapes and peoples during colonialism, coupled with the popularity of sustainable development in the postcolonial era, has contributed to the expansion of conservation planning throughout the African continent. Concerns surrounding the promotion of national and international conservation agendas at the expense of local livelihood needs have generated interest in community conservation projects that attempt to include local participation and knowledge in natural resource management. The early excitement associated with community conservation has waned in light of recent assessments that it has been unsuccessful in meeting its ecological and social goals. This parallels other research that suggests communities are understood in generic or homogenous ways that influence how these initiatives are understood. Using a case study of the Mahushe Shongwe Game Reserve, this paper evaluates how rural households access environmental and economic resources to produce livelihoods, and how these access patterns impact their views of the project. It is argued that there are significant livelihood variations within the community that shape the ways households engage with, and benefit from, conservation planning. Rather than strictly viewing Mahushe Shongwe as a constraint to environmental resource access or site for limited employment, community members identify a number of benefits from its existence including education and development opportunities. Additionally, transformations in governance systems in the region impact community views of the project since younger residents are less likely to engage with the Matsamo Tribal Authority, which participates in managing the reserve. The consequence is that conservation has various impacts and meanings within a specific community that remain tied to the livelihood and governance systems being renegotiated in the post-apartheid era.     

Tourist farms in Lower Silesia, Poland

In view of the small size of most Polish farms, attempts have been made to encourage diversification into rural tourism. The paper examines the progress made in Lower Silesia which has good resources for domestic and international tourism. Thanks to the promotional work of the Agricultural Consultative Centres over a hundred farms are now providing services. They do not generate a large share of the farm income but business is expanding and some areas are becoming very popular. Thus a base has been established for future expansion. Further development depends on easier access to credit and government support for ecological agriculture. Better promotion is also needed to increase interest in rural tourism in Poland and attract more visitors from abroad. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Conservation as disturbance: Upheaval and livelihood diversification near Tarangire National Park,northern Tanzania

Recent studies have identified poverty reduction near parks and protected areas, findings that challenge an extensive literature on the social burdens associated with protected areas. These studies move the discussion on the social dynamics of conservation forward, however, they do not offer insight into the underlying mechanisms that shape household-level outcomes such as income and wealth. By focusing on protected areas as centers of uncertainty, upheaval, and disturbance, this study examines the character and incidence of livelihood diversification within communities near Tarangire National Park in northern Tanzania compared to communities far from the park. Livelihood diversification is well understood as a coping and/or risk mitigation strategy pursued in response to various types of shocks, and uncertainty more generally. This study draws on mixed methodologies to construct multivariate statistical models to estimate the effect of proximity to the park on measures of livelihood diversification. The results indicate that proximity to park is strongly correlated with livelihood diversification, suggesting that households near the park are adapting to opportunities and constraints and may be seeking to reduce variance in income and wealth in response to disturbances and uncertainty associated with the park.     

A Rising Tide in Bangladesh: livelihood adaptation to climate stress

ABSTRACT

Bangladesh is at the forefront of countries experiencing and debating climate change, despite having contributed little to global emissions, and has the greatest vulnerability to climate change due to inadequate institutional support for the dense population dispersed in low-lying terrain. A micro-level study of livelihoods in the Panpatti Union, a district of the coastal zone exposed to climate stress and an array of other social, economic and political stresses, demonstrated that adaptation strategies to a range of shocks were both reactive and proactive. The persistent nature of shocks, and the limited margins in which to respond, meant that achieving sustainable long-term livelihoods was unusually difficult. Despite cases of dynamism and flexibility, where livelihoods had been effectively diversified, rural people largely failed to reduce their exposure to vulnerability. That was especially true of extremely poor, landless and female-headed households. In such challenging circumstances external interventions were required to ensure sustainable development, but were unlikely because of the isolation of Panpatti and the number of villages and people in similar circumstances. This emphasised the need to develop a more robust livelihoods framework to support the most vulnerable communities in severe economic and environmental contexts where climate change is likely to exacerbate all existing problems.     

Buxus Leaves from the Oligocene of Guangxi, China and Their Biogeographical Signi?cance

The present paper reports two new species of Buxus from the Oligocene Ningming Formation of Guangxi, South China, on the basis of several compressed fossil leaves. Buxus ningmingensis sp. nov. is characterized by an elliptic to ovate shape; pinnate venation with marginal secondary, long hairs on the adaxial side of the midvein base; and amphistomatic, anomocytic stomata with a prominent outer ring. All of these characteristics suggest a closest af?nity to the living Buxus microphylla subsp. sinica. Another new species identi?ed as Buxus preaustro-yunnanensis sp. nov. is characterized by the diagnostic formation of its admedially branched tertiaries, the trunks of which are often strongly thickened by sclereides. This species is most similar to the extant Buxus austro-yunnanensis. The co-occurrence of Buxus ningmingensis sp. nov. and Buxus preaustro-yunnanensis sp. nov. suggests that these two Buxus lived during the Oligocene under a warm, tropical to subtropical climate, similar to the current climate of Ningming. Our ?ndings provide the earliest fossil evidence of Buxus leaves with detailed illustrations of leaf architectural and cuticular features. The occurrence of these two species indicates that Buxus began to diversify in Guangxi no later than the Oligocene.