Participatory selection process for indicators of rangeland condition in the Kalahari

To develop indicator–based management tools that can facilitate sustainable natural resource management by non–specialists, meaningful participation of stakeholders is essential. A participatory framework is proposed for the identification, evaluation and selection of rangeland condition indicators. This framework is applied to the assessment of rangeland degradation processes and sustainable natural resource management with pastoralists in the southern Kalahari, Botswana. Farmer knowledge focused on vegetation and livestock, with soil, wild animal and socio–economic indicators playing a lesser role. Most were indicators of current rangeland condition; however 'early warning' indicators were also identified by some key informants. This demonstrates that some local knowledge is process–based. Such knowledge could be used to improve indicator–based management tools and extension advice on the livelihood adaptations necessary to prevent or reduce ecological change, capable of threatening livelihood sustainability. There is evidence that social background influences indicator use. Communal farmers rely most heavily on vegetation and livestock indicators, whilst syndicate and land–owning pastoralists cite wild animal and soil–based indicators most frequently. These factors must be considered if indicator–based management tools are to meet the requirements of a diverse community.     

"虚拟水"理论及其在中国的实践应用初步研究

“虚拟水”是国际上20世纪90年代初提出来的一个新概念,它主要是指缺水国家通过进口粮食而实现本国的水资源安全。中东和北非地区事实上已经实施了“虚拟水”战略,以保障当地的水资源安全。中国疆域辽阔,水资源分布时空不均衡性明显,通过对2000年中国各省(市)进出口粮食情况的分析发现,中国各省(市)之间已存在“虚拟水”现象,将各省(市)“虚拟水”进出口量与当地的水资源情况进行对比分析,从中可以发现中国各省(市)进出口“虚拟水”有4种表现形式,出现这些表现形式有多方面的原因。     

基于激光雷达测风数据的复杂地形下风力机尾流特性研究

以张家口某处风电场为实验场地,采用两台多普勒激光雷达(Wind3D 6000和WindMast WP350)分别测量风力机的尾流和来流风速,对全尾流、半尾流和独立尾流3种工况进行研究。结果表明,3种工况下随着尾流发展尾流宽度均不断变大,而尾流深度和速度衰减则不断减小;全尾流和半尾流工况中,上游风力机的存在会增加下游风力机尾流宽度,且全尾流比半尾流的增加量大;全尾流和半尾流工况中,相较于上游风力机,下游风力机尾流深度和速度衰减均较小。     

农机投入对农业GTFP影响及门槛效应的区域差异分析

按照粮食的产销情况,将全国划分为3类粮食功能区域,利用固定效应模型和门槛效应模型分析了农机投入对农业绿色全要素生产率（GTFP）的影响及门槛效应的区域差异。结果表明：农机投入对农业GTFP的影响程度存在区域异质性,农机投入对粮食主销区农业GTFP提升的促进作用最大,粮食产销平衡区次之,粮食主产区最小;农机投入对农业GTFP的影响路径亦存在区域差异,粮食主产区和产销平衡区的农机投入通过促进农业技术效率和农业技术进步进而推动农业GTFP提升,粮食主销区的农机投入通过促进农业技术进步推动农业GTFP提升;农机投入对粮食主产区农业GTFP的影响存在双门槛效应,对粮食主销区和产销平衡区农业GTFP的影响存在单门槛效应。     

Supply and Demand Levels for Livestock and Poultry Products in the Chinese Mainland and the Potential Demand for Feed Grains

The widening gap between the supply and demand levels for livestock and poultry products in the Chinese mainland poses a significant challenge to the secure supply of feed grains. Therefore, the accurate prediction of the demand potential for feed grains represents a key scientific issue for ensuring food security in the Chinese mainland. This study is based on an analysis of several factors, such as the Chinese mainland’s output, trade volume, apparent consumption of livestock and poultry products, and two different scenarios for predicting the future demand for feed grains are assessed. The results indicate that output and consumption of livestock and poultry products, as well as the country’s trade deficit and the pressure of the supply and demand balance with respect to these products, have been increasing in recent years. The analysis predicts that the demand for feed grains in the Chinese mainland will reach 425.5 or 389.6 million tons in 2030 based on the two scenarios. This finding indicates that with the increasing demand for livestock and poultry products in the Chinese mainland, the demand for feed grains will continue to increase, and the shortfall in feed grains and raw materials will expand further, especially dependence on external sources of protein-rich feed grains will remain high.     

Socio-political and ecological stresses on traditional pastoral systems: A review

Journal of Geographical Sciences - Pastoralism is a viable socio-economic system-shaped by landless and agro-pastoral communities in many pastoral regions of the world. This system is mainly based...     

Farming ‘practice’ as temporally and spatially situated intersections of biography,culture and social structure

This paper brings anthropological, sociological and geographical perspectives to bear on the problem of farm sustainability and, in particular, the legitimation of sustainable farm practices. It attempts to lay some theoretical foundations for explanation of the adoption of farming practices which may, or may not, promote sustainability. A brief survey of the literature surrounding these issues finds many of the current theoretical perspectives incapable of fully accounting for the complexity of farming practice. Reductionist decision/rational‐action models, in particular, are found wanting for their lack of both cultural consistency and social/spatial specificity. Instead, this paper promotes a generative structuralist approach directed towards an analysis of social and economic practice in lived space; that is, firmly anchored in long‐term ethnographic research.     

Effects of fire, grazing, and the presence of shrubs on Chihuahuan desert grasslands

Responses of herbaceous and suffrutescent species to fire, grazing, and presence of Prosopis glandulosa were examined in a Chihuahuan desert grassland in south-central New Mexico. Treatments were assigned randomly to eight 12×8 m plots within each of two blocks. Following fires in June 1995, unfenced plots were exposed to livestock grazing over 4 years. Plots were established that either included or excluded P. glandulosa. Perennial grass cover, primarilyBouteloua eriopoda , decreased by 13% in burned plots but increased 5% in unburned areas. Conversely, perennial forb cover was 4% greater after fire. Perennial grass frequency decreased 30% more and perennial forb frequency increased 10% more following burning. Further, increases in evenness after fire resulted in a 225% increase in species diversity. Grazing also resulted in a decrease in perennial grass cover while frequency decreased 22% more in grazed than ungrazed plots. Only frequency and not cover of perennial forbs and annual grasses increased more following grazing. Presence of P. glandulosa had no differential effect on responses of non-shrub species. Fires were conducted during near drought conditions while grazing occurred during years of precipitation equivalent to the long-term average. Precipitation immediately following fire may be critical for recovery of B. eriopoda -dominated desert grasslands; relationships between fire and post-fire precipitation patterns require future investigation.     

淄河下游污染区地下水污染特征及人畜供水条件分析

历史上淄河下游的人畜供水一直依赖地下水,但20世纪80年代以来区内淄河下游河道长期接纳上游污水,地表水和浅层地下水受到污染,浅层地下水已不适于人畜饮用。污染区沿淄河呈条带状展布,污染区边界距淄河约1.0~1.5 km,其中距淄河500 m以内的区域污染最为严重。中深层地下水水质良好,仅个别井点因井管损坏造成点状串层污染,可做为人畜用水水源。基本可满足2010年前区内人畜供水要求。人畜供水开采中深层地下水时,应根据地下水污染特征和中深层含水层水文地质特征,分区分层开采,实现地下水合理开发,防止中深层地下水串层污染,保护宝贵的地下水资源。     

MORAL GEOGRAPHY IN HIGH PLAINS HISTORY

ABSTRACT. When American society, through deliberate government action, intervenes to preserve the family farm as the locus of “good” human values and “authentic” environmental conditions, the result can be described as a moral geography. Nowhere is this clearer than in the protection of traditional farming on the High, or Great, Plains through federal funding and programs. Protection began during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s; federal support came to a close with the passage of the 1996 farm bill. These shifts deserve assessment of historic American interests in the protection of an agricultural institution and of a region at risk.