Food Deserts in the Prairies? Supermarket Accessibility and Neighborhood Need in Edmonton,Canada*

The U.S. and U.K. literatures have discussed “food deserts,” reflecting populated, typically urban, low‐income areas with limited access to full‐service supermarkets. Less is known about supermarket accessibility within Canadian cities. This article uses the minimum distance and coverage methods to determine supermarket accessibility within the city of Edmonton, Canada, with a focus on high‐need and inner‐city neighborhoods. The results show that for 1999 both of these areas generally had higher accessibility than the remainder of the city, but six high‐need neighborhoods had poor supermarket accessibility. We conclude by examining potential reasons for differences in supermarket accessibility between Canadian, U.S., and U.K. cities.     

Cacti–shrub interactions in the coastal desert of northern Sinaloa, Mexico

Spatial patterns and replacement in ten cacti were studied on an island of the coastal desert of Sinaloa, México. Four platyopuntias had 74–92% of their individuals beneath shrub canopies, whereas three globose cacti, one columnar cactus and two cylindropuntias had similar or higher percentages of individuals in open spaces. This study advances the idea that open-space colonization is enhanced by less harsh physical and biotic conditions in coastal deserts, and by certain morphological and physiological adaptations of cacti. The absence of nurse-shrub replacement is understood as a result of induced co-existence by physical damage from cyclones in the coastal zone.     

Monitoring of rapid salt weathering in the central Namib Desert using limestone blocks

Pre-weighed blocks of a Jurassic Limestone were exposed on the ground surface in the coastal Namib Desert for a period of 2 years. The environment is both salty and foggy. Some of the blocks suffered extensive disintegration, and laboratory analyses (including geochemistry, XRD and SEM) indicate that the weathered samples have a high halite (sodium chloride) content. Cycles of wetting and drying associated with the frequent fog events of the area cause cycles of halite crystallization. Rocks exposed at the surface absorb salts from the surrounding desert surface and then disintegrate, contributing to planation of the landscape.     

Potential food deserts and food oases in a post-communist city: Access,quality, variability and price of food in Bratislava-Petržalka

Delimitation tools and definitions of food deserts have not been internationally unified so far. Such comprehension ambiguity may lead to variability in research methods as well as to terminology mismatch in the research. In general, assessment of accessibility of selected (large-scale) food stores network in a region is considered as a suitable tool to identify the food deserts, but this is certainly not the only approach. In our paper some other approaches (such as measuring quality, variability and food price) are assessed together with supermarkets and hypermarkets accessibility examination. Results gained by analyses based on various methodological approaches are then compared and confronted, which simultaneously allows us to compare the individual approaches. For our case study purposes, the largest housing estate in Slovakia's capital city was selected.     

中国沙漠物源研究:回顾与展望

沙漠物源研究不仅在风沙地貌学上有重大的理论和实践意义,而且对联结大气粉尘排放、黄土堆积、气候系统和海洋生物地球化学循环也有重要价值。在简要回顾中国沙漠研究的基础上,梳理了中国沙漠物源研究的理论、方法和主要成果,结合国际上沉积物物源分析的趋向,指出目前世界沙漠物源的研究都是基于沉积物组份属性统计的反演模型,这种研究范式在数据获取、处理与解释方面存在缺陷,如沉积物的取样设计与测试分析、未消除"粒级依赖"对沉积物组份影响、数据未进行对数变换、忽视Dickinson图解应用的前提条件等。提出今后中国沙漠物源研究的方向:①采用正确统一的取样设计和分析方法对各沙漠的沉积物组份属性进行系统研究,建立中国沙漠沉积物组份的属性数据库;②选择若干典型沙漠,利用其周边山地详尽的地质构造、母岩和气候数据,定量构建沉积物生成的正演模型,模拟源区生成沉积物的数量、成分和结构,并用建成的沉积物组份属性数据验证和校正;③定量评估河流冲积物、冲积-湖积物、洪积-冲积物和基岩风化的残积、坡积物对中国各沙漠物源的贡献率与迁移路径,研究中国各沙漠中细颗粒物质的形成机制,对比中国沙漠与低纬度沙漠物源的形成机制;④定量研究历史和地质时间尺度沙漠-黄土-深海沉积物物源的内在联系及其驱动因素,建立陆地-大气-海洋物质循环的机理模型。     

西北风沙起蚀观测试验及其研究进展

简要阐述了国家自然科学基金“西北沙漠地表沙粒运移特性及动力热力参数研究”支持的“我国西北三大沙漠地表风蚀起沙观测试验”的科学意义、试验方案和科学目标,总结了该试验在前期取得的部分研究进展和研究成果,概括叙述了该项目在地表沙粒跃移特征、起沙风速、沙尘通量等方面的重要发现和一些新的认识。最后,提出并讨论了在沙漠风蚀起沙观测试验方面需要进一步研究和思考的一些重要问题。     

Trace element and REE geochemistry of fine- and coarse-grained sands in the Ordos deserts and links with sediments in surrounding areas

In addition to mineral analyses, REE and trace element geochemical characteristics of fine- and coarse-grained sands in the Ordos deserts and other sediments in surrounding areas are investigated.Commonly the samples consist of quartz, feldspar and muscovite and less clinochlore, dolomite and ankerite. In few samples muscovite is absent.REE and trace compositions are spatially uniform for the same grain-size sands, suggesting that they could have the same sources or/and were well homogenized. However, fine- and coarse-grained sands in the Ordos deserts show different REE and trace element compositions. Fine-grained sands show higher contents of REE and trace elements than those of coarse-grained sands. They differ in Eu anomalies and (La/Yb)_N ratios although both fractions are characterized by the steep LREE and smooth HREE patterns. The fine- and coarse-grained sands are also distinct in some characteristic element ratios (e.g., Th/Co, La/Sc, Th/Sc and Y/Ni).REE and trace element patterns of the two different grain-size fractions are closely associated with geological properties of individual sources rather than the mineralogical differentiation induced by wind sorting. The coarse-grained sands mainly resulted from sandstone weathering in the Ordos deserts and movements of coarse particles by wind. REE and trace element patterns of fine-grained sands in the Ordos deserts differ from those of sandstones in the Ordos deserts, the alluvial sands in the surrounding mountains and the coarse fluvial sands in the Yellow River. They resemble the fine fluvial sands in the Yellow River. In addition, arid areas of Northwest China such as the Tarim Basin and the Alxa Plateau should not be ruled out as the source of the fine-grained sands in the Ordos deserts because these arid areas reserve plenty of fine-grained sediments and also located in the upwind directions of the Ordos deserts.     

四川盆地古近纪沙漠沉积特征及古风向意义

基于前人研究成果,通过野外地质调查、室内分析测试对四川盆地古近系柳嘉组红层沉积物的性质、结构、原生沉积构造及石英颗粒表面结构进行了系统分析,分析结果进一步证明了本区古沙漠的存在.将其沙漠沉积分为沙丘和丘间两种沉积类型,对丘间又细分为干丘间和湿丘间,针对不同的沉积类型也明确了相应的识别标志.通过对沙丘前积层倾向的测量,重...     

Effect of light on germination of seven species of cacti from the Zapotitlán Valley in Puebla, México

Seed germination of seven species of cacti from Zapotitlán Valley, Puebla, Mexico, were compared at four different light treatments (red light, far-red light, white light and darkness) at a constant temperature of 25°C, and at two light treatments (white light and darkness) at two fluctuating temperatures (15–30°C and 20–30°C). Results allowed us to divide the studied species into two groups: positive photoblastic and indifferent to light. Positive photoblastics were barrel cacti and indifferent to light species were columnar cacti. Although barrel cacti had a light requirement for germination, they germinated in far-red light. Probable relationships among life-form, species distribution and light requirements for germination are discussed.     

The effect of rainfall and habitat on abundance and diversity of birds in a fenced protected area in the central Saudi Arabian desert

Factors influencing avian abundance and diversity in central Saudi Arabia were investigated over a 28-month period using walked belt transects in five local habitat types in a 2200 km²fenced desert protected area established in 1989. Enclosure of the protected area has resulted in the development of a mosaic of densely vegetated grassland and savanna areas amongst the sand and gravel plains which dominate the surrounding landscape. Overall bird diversity showed biannual peaks corresponding to spring and autumn passage migration, when 30–40 species were recorded; troughs occurred in summer or winter (9–12 species) following poor spring or autumn rains. Bird numbers responded dramatically to heavy rainfall (> 20 mm in a month) occurring two months earlier, with major peaks recorded in autumn 1992 and May–June 1994. Numbers of granivorous species, principally larks, fluctuated mostly in relation to rainfall, whereas largely insectivorous species tended to remain more stable. A desert locust plague in spring/summer 1993, combined with poor spring rains, resulted in the lowest numbers and species diversity recorded during the study.