Rural household demographics, livelihoods and the environment

This paper reviews and synthesizes findings from scholarly work on linkages among rural household demographics, livelihoods and the environment. Using the livelihood approach as an organizing framework, we examine evidence on the multiple pathways linking environmental variables and the following demographic variables: fertility, migration, morbidity and mortality, and lifecycles. Although the review draws on studies from the entire developing world, we find the majority of microlevel studies have been conducted in either marginal (mountainous or arid) or frontier environments, especially Amazonia. Though the linkages are mediated by many complex and often context-specific factors, there is strong evidence that dependence on natural resources intensifies when households lose human and social capital through adult morbidity and mortality, and qualified evidence for the influence of environmental factors on household decision-making regarding fertility and migration. Two decades of research on lifecycles and land cover change at the farm level have yielded a number of insights about how households make use of different land-use and natural resource management strategies at different stages. A thread running throughout the review is the importance of managing risk through livelihood diversification, ensuring future income security, and culture-specific norms regarding appropriate and desirable activities and demographic responses. Recommendations for future research are provided.     

Elemental (C,N, H and P) and stable isotope (δ<Superscript>15</Superscript>N and δ<Superscript>13</Superscript>C) signatures in sediments from Zeekoevlei,South Africa: a record of human intervention in the lake

We used elemental carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and hydrogen ratios (C/N, N/P and H/C) with total organic carbon (TOC) and total phosphorus (TP) as well as stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) to investigate the source and depositional conditions of organic matter in sediments from Zeekoevlei, the largest freshwater lake in South Africa. Typical C/N (10–12), H/C ratios (≥1.7) and δ¹³C_organic values (−22 to −19‰) together with the increase in TOC concentration indicate elevated primary productivity in lower middle (18–22 cm) and top (0–8 cm) sections of the sediment cores. Seepage of nutrients from a nearby waste water treatment plant, rapid urbanization and heavily fertilized farming in the catchments are responsible for the increased productivity. Consistent with this, measured δ¹⁵N_organic values (∼11‰) indicate increased raw sewage input towards the top-section of the core. Although cyanobacterial blooms are evident from the low δ¹⁵N values (∼3‰) in mid-section of the core, they did not outnumber the phytoplankton population. Low N/P ratio (∼0) and high TP (100–2,200 mg l⁻¹) support cyanobacterial growth under N limited condition, and insignificant input of macrophytes towards the organic matter pool. Dredging in 1983, caused sub-aerial exposure of the suspended and surface sediments, and affected organic matter preservation in the upper mid-section (12–14 cm) of the core.     

Scenarios for the Future Population of Sydney

The period 1996-2001 has witnessed a refocusing of population growth on Sydney and Melbourne as both cities have developed significant concentrations of so-called 'new economy' jobs and taken on, to greater or lesser extents, the characteristics of global cities. The consequence of these trends, for Sydney most particularly, is population growth. This paper establishes this demographic reality by describing recent demographic trends in Sydney and possible future scenarios for Sydney's population, given differing levels of fertility, internal migration and international migration. A related future trend is also traced--that the number of households in Sydney will grow more rapidly than the population due to changes in household structure. This raises the issue of how and where these households will be accommodated, given the relative land shortage in the Sydney Statistical Division and given that there is no doubt that planners in New South Wales will be attempting to maintain and enhance Sydney's status as a global city. In sum, the paper argues that Sydney planners should be preparing for growth of around one million people in the next 20 years and a further one million in the following 30 years. To maintain that potential future residents of Sydney can be redirected to other parts of New South Wales is a vain hope.     

Mixing Methods in Fertility Research

Fertility research in population geography is rooted in a spatial demography tradition which places emphasis on the use of quantitative methodologies to analyse, model and project fertility. As data sources have become more sophisticated and abundant some have questioned whether research within the discipline is now too data-oriented resulting in a reluctance to embrace new methods and concepts. Alternative conceptualisations of fertility and reproduction are outlined which represent a shift away from general explanation to more differentiated understandings of reproductive behaviour and favour the use of qualitative methodologies in combination or in a multi-level framework. The paper illustrates, with reference to a research project in the Kalahari of Botswana, the potential for methodological pluralism in the study of fertility.     

雷州半岛南部土壤肥力综合评价及空间变异

通过测定雷州半岛南部845个耕地土壤样品pH、有机质、全氮、有效磷、速效钾、碱解氮的含量,采用层次分析法确定各肥力评价指标权重,应用模糊数学法对该区域耕地土壤肥力进行综合评价,并利用ArcGIS 9.2软件对土壤肥力空间变异进行分析.结果表明:雷州半岛南部土壤有机质、全氮、有效磷、速效钾、碱解氮平均值分别为26.18 g/kg、1.48 g/kg 、34.63 mg/kg、158.57 mg/kg、133.17 mg/kg;土壤速效磷的变异系数最高,为103.14%,属强变异性,有机质、速效钾、碱解氮、全氮的变异系数属中等变异性,pH值的变异系数最小.土壤肥力总体水平处于中等偏低;从空间分布来看,土壤肥力中部高,东北、西南部相对较低     

Mixing Methods in Fertility Research

Fertility research in population geography is rooted in a spatial demography tradition which places emphasis on the use of quantitative methodologies to analyse, model and project fertility. As data sources have become more sophisticated and abundant some have questioned whether research within the discipline is now too data-oriented resulting in a reluctance to embrace new methods and concepts. Alternative conceptualisations of fertility and reproduction are outlined which represent a shift away from general explanation to more differentiated understandings of reproductive behaviour and favour the use of qualitative methodologies in combination or in a multi-level framework. The paper illustrates, with reference to a research project in the Kalahari of Botswana, the potential for methodological pluralism in the study of fertility.     

光强和营养盐对伪矮海链藻昼夜节律变化的影响

于1989年1月—1989年8月,用连续培养和半连续培养方法进行了伪矮海链藻碳水化合物、蛋白质和生化组成比率的日变化同光强、营养盐关系的研究。结果表明,碳水化合物、碳水化合物同叶绿素a和蛋白质的比值均呈现光照期升高而黑暗期降低的昼夜节律;蛋白质在光照期和黑暗期均有合成,但是,光照期的增长速率大于黑暗期的;蛋白质同叶绿素a的比值无明显的日变化。各指标的日变化幅度均随光强的增强和营养盐供应速率的增加而升高,因此,光和营养盐是影响各指标日变化的重要因素。     

Danske provinsbyers indre differentiering og differentieringen mellem danske provinsbyer

Pedersen, P. O. & Rasmussen, P., 1973: Danske provinsbyers indre differentiering og differentieringen mellem danske provinsbyer. Geografisk Tidsskrift, 72, 49–56. København, September 30., 1973.

This paper analyses the inner differentiation in the three largest provincial towns in Denmark by means of a factor analysis of 25 variables characterizing the population and the housing in 40 zones, 14 in Århus (187,000 inh.), 14 in Odense (133,000 inh.), and 12 in Ålborg (123,000 inh.). The paper especially focuses on the differences in inner differentiation between the three towns.     

Higher Order Nuptial Fertility in New South Wales, 1996: Context,process, implications

In the face of below replacement and still declining national fertility rates in most Western societies, the proportion of reproductively aged women having a third or higher order birth has particular demographic significance. This paper seeks to complement previous survey-based studies of the socio-economic, behavioural and motivational characteristics of individuals progressing or intending to progress from a second to a third or higher order birth by examining the spatial patterning and ecological context of such births in NSW during 1996 and, in particular, the extent to which such births are especially characteristic of socially disadvantaged regions and localities in the state. The results suggest that while there is a clear, though not overwhelming, tendency towards such a concentration there is an equally clear tendency for older women living in some of the most socially advantaged areas of the metropolitan zone to engage in higher order childbearing, thereby suggesting the operation of multiple causal pathways. In the more disadvantaged areas of the metropolitan zone religious and/or ethnically based pro-natalist value sets also appear to play a significant role. In better-off localities, however, higher order reproduction would seem to reflect the greater choices - and resources - available to women, whether in or out of the labour force. Because ecological analysis cannot provide precise answers to behavioural questions and because only higher order births to women in current relationships have been taken into account in this study, further research, employing a variety of methodologies, operating at a variety of scales and drawing on alternative data sets would seem desirable if such questions are to be more fully elucidated and their policy implications better understood.     

攀西地区不同风险水平下基岩地震动参数之间的关系

基于攀西地区基岩有效峰值加速度（EPA）区划图，本文统计得出50年超越概率63％，5％，3％，2％，1％下EPA与50年超越概率10％下EPA的比值分别为0.302,1.30,1.55,1.76,2.14,若以攀西地区地震动参数区划图作为抗震设防标准，同时仍按照89建筑规范中的有关规定进行地震作用计算，所考虑的地震作用是偏于保守，安全的，进一步研究比值A10/A63,发现其主要影响因素依次为地震动衰减关系，地震区带与潜在震溱区划分方案，地震活动性参数。本文研究成果将有助于地震参数区划图的推广和应用。