History and necessity: the evolution of soil conservation technology in a Jamaican farming system     

Rebecca J. Kent 《The Geographical journal》2002,168(1):48-56

The soil conservation campaigns that have been a prominent feature of Jamaican agricultural policy since the 1950s are frequently presented as having failed to ameliorate the problem of soil erosion in hillside agriculture. A case study of a small farming community in the Blue Mountains explores the development of the soil conservation practices currently employed by farmers. The use of trash barriers in carrot farming is described and the origins of this technology and its subsequent adaptation are considered. The study concludes that extension interventions and government policy have influenced the development of current soil conservation practices; practices which have their roots in indigenous techniques. Other factors such as the adaptation of trash barriers to suit local conditions and their importance in soil fertility management also play a role in their widespread use in the study area. The study demonstrates that to understand the process of technical change in farming communities, it is necessary to consider a range of factors, external and internal, technical and social, that have over time influenced farmers' decision making.  相似文献   

Seismic moment distribution revisited: II. Moment conservation principle   总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3  

Yan Y. Kagan 《Geophysical Journal International》2002,149(3):731-754

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On the spatial relationship between landslides and causative factors on Lantau Island, Hong Kong   总被引：8，自引：0，他引：8  

C. H. Zhou  C. F. Lee  J. Li  Z. W. Xu 《Geomorphology》2002,43(3-4)

This paper presents a statistical approach to study the spatial relationship between landslides and their causative factors at the regional level. The approach is based on digital databases, and incorporates such methods as statistics, spatial pattern analysis, and interactive mapping. Firstly, the authors propose an object-oriented conceptual model for describing a landslide event, and a combined database of landslides and environmental factors is constructed by integrating the various databases within such a conceptual framework. The statistical histogram, spatial overlay, and dynamic mapping methods are linked together to interactively evaluate the spatial pattern of the relationship between landslides and their causative factors. A case study of an extreme event in 1993 on Lantau Island indicates that rainfall intensity and the migration of the center of the rainstorm greatly influence the occurrence of landslides on Lantau Island. A regional difference in the relationship between landslides and topography is identified. Most of the landslides in the middle and western parts of the island occurred on slopes with slope angles of 25–35°, while in the eastern part, the corresponding range is 30–35°. Overlaying landslide data with land cover reveals that a large number of landslides occurred in the bareland and shrub-covered area, and in the transition zones between different vegetation types. The proposed approach can be used not only to analyze the general characteristics of such a relationship, but also to depict its spatial distribution and variation, thereby providing a sound basis for regional landslide prediction.  相似文献   

The Spaces of Conservation and Development around Lake Nakuru National Park,Kenya     

Robert Daniels  Thomas J. Bassett 《The Professional geographer》2002,54(4):481-490

Geographically or sociologically defined resource management units, such as buffer zones or community resource management territories, seek to harmonize local land–use practices with protected–area management objectives. The geographically restricted nature of these models often results in simplistic representations of society–nature relations over time and space. Conservation areas are misrepresented as ecologically and socially homogeneous, as well as politically neutral. This study examines the limits of a spatially defined conservation and development project designed around the physical geographical unit of the watershed at Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya. It argues that politically motivated violence that has plagued the area since the early 1990s has severely undermined the suitability of such narrowly defined conservation territories. Specifically, the case study points to the permeability of the Lake Nakuru watershed to national and regional political forces that ultimately constrain participation in conservation activities. The spaces of conservation and development must be enlarged to include these extralocal arenas and processes if environmental problems are to be effectively addressed.  相似文献   

基于网格的空间信息模型与服务技术研究   总被引：12，自引：0，他引：12  

何小朝  李琦  承继成 《地理与地理信息科学》2003,19(4):60-63

空间信息基础设施是实现数字城市的核心与基础，现有的万维网已经不能满足空间信息访问与处理的需要。该文对以空间信息为核心和基础的数据网格——空间信息网格的基础理论及网格中的空间信息模型与服务技术：进行研究。提出了空间信息网格的若干关键技术及网格中的空间信息模型的特点与要求，并对空间信息网格服务进行了初步的探讨。  相似文献   

The political ecology of Prunus africana in Cameroon     

Ben Page 《Area》2003,35(4):357-370

This paper provides an analysis of some current trends in political ecology and then illustrates the intermingling of politics and ecology using a case study of the exploitation and conservation of Prunus africana in Cameroon. It argues that political ecology is still a lively field, but that some recent attempts to chart a way forward for this perspective risk shifting it away from its liminal position in relation to natural and social science by being disinclined to engage with ecological processes. The case study draws attention to the strengths and shortcomings in existing attempts to weave political and economic analysis into environmental debates over the sustainable management of this tree species, which has been incorporated into phytomedical markets in Europe. The fortunes of the tree reflect its botany and ecology as well as the trajectories of the local economy, intercontinental markets for alternative health products, the policies and practices of the Cameroonian state and the politics of international aid.  相似文献   

USING UPLAND FOREST IN SHIMENTAI NATURE RESERVE,CHINA*     

STEVE S. W. XU  C. Y. JIM 《Geographical review》2003,93(3):308-327

ABSTRACT. The Shimentai Nature Reserve in Yingde County, Guangdong Province, China, established recently in a subtropical upland forest area, has served for ages as an essential and customary source of livelihood for local people. Assessment of forest usage indicates heavy reliance by villagers on its diversified biotic resources. This forest dependence, associated with socioeconomic factors such as distance from village, ethnic origin, out‐migration of rural youngsters, and a local tradition of conservation, is unlikely to decline in the near future. The reserve management recognizes the need to address the livelihood issues of local people and to win local support. A pragmatic adherence to provincial and higher‐level policies that exclude forest‐tapping activities could lead to more people‐versus‐park conflicts, which would dilute fundamental conservation objectives. A more enlightened and localized approach that nurtures a synergy between limited forest use and conservation while helping to develop new income sources could furnish workable alternatives.  相似文献   

新型砌块水土保持系统的应用研究   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

耿灵生  巩向锋 《中国地质灾害与防治学报》2003,14(4):98-99,104

我国江河湖库众多，同时水土流失日趋严重，流失面积及速度已逐年增加。每年水库除险加固和河流治理等投资数百亿元，随着人们环保意识的加强，特别在近几年以长江和黄河为重点的堤防建设护岸工程中，联锁式砼砌块水土保持系统已逐渐成为我国水土保持领域中最重要的一种全新解决方案，被广泛采用。该系统既能有效防止水土流失、长久地防止坡面冲刷和保持坡体稳定，又能代替成本较高的常规护面，具有较广的推广应用前景。联锁式砼砌块水土保持系统是由多个独立的砼砌块相互啮合组合在一起的联锁矩阵，联锁式砼砌块铺面在各种动、静水条件下具有良好的整体稳定性，铺设于渗水土工布上。能有效保护土体不受水流冲刷和浸泡破坏。该系统在欧美已有多年的历史，是被工程实践证明了的性能卓越、经济实用、美观环保、可持续发展的水土保持系统，可广泛应用于河道和灌渠衬砌、沿海防潮堤、水库大坝边坡加固、铁路、高速公路边坡等防护和城市绿化工程。  相似文献   

SOIL CONSERVATION EFFICIENCY OF DIFFERENT MODELS CONVERTING FROM STEEP FARMING SLOPE PLOTS IN YA''''AN, SICHUAN, CHINA     

Yulin DENG  Yan PENG  Yukuan WANG  Zongting YANG Institute of Mountain Hazards  Environment  Chinese Academy of Sichuan  P. R. China  College of Forestry  Horticulture of Sichuan Agricultural University  Sichuan  P. R. China. Water Resources Administration in Ya''''an  Sichuan  P. R. China. 《国际泥沙研究》2003,18(4)

Converting farming slope land into artificial forestland or grassland is a major measure of soil/water conservation. Five conversion practices, namely, 1) a control plot still tilled with a crop (maize), 2) a folder grass-growing plot seeded with Lolium perenne , 3) a young alder tree-growing plot, 4) a pear orchard plot and 5)a bamboo plot intercropped with folder grass, were monitored to compare the soil conservation efficiency of those changes in Ya'an, Sichuan for 3 years between September 1998 and August 2001. Results showed that the 5 designed converting models functioned differently in erosion control. The most effective model was bamboo groves intercropped with folder grass (Lolium perenne). The folder grass (Lolium perenne) growing model was more effective than the pure pear orchard model. The least effective model was the young alder tree-growing slope, which was even less effective than the control (a slope without converted cultivation). Meanwhile, changes in the soil's physical properties r  相似文献   

Scaling effects on modeled surface energy-balance components using the NOAH-OSU land surface model   总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3  

V. Sridhar  Ronald L. Elliott  Fei Chen 《Journal of Hydrology》2003,280(1-4):105-123

As surface exchange processes are highly non-linear and heterogeneous in space and time, it is important to know the appropriate scale for the reasonable prediction of these exchange processes. For example, the explicit representation of surface variability has been vital in predicting mesoscale weather events such as late-afternoon thunderstorms initiated by latent heat exchanges in mid-latitude regions of the continental United States. This study was undertaken to examine the effects of different spatial scales of input data on modeled fluxes, so as to better understand the resolution needed for accurate modeling. A statistical procedure was followed to select two cells from the Southern Great Plains 1997 hydrology experiment region, each 20 km×20 km, representing the most homogeneous and the most heterogeneous surface conditions (based on soil and vegetation) within the study region. The NOAH-OSU (Oregon State University) Land Surface Model (LSM) was employed to estimate surface energy fluxes. Three scales of study (200 m, 2 and 20 km) were considered in order to investigate the impacts of the aggregation of input data, especially soil and vegetation inputs, on the model output. Model results of net radiation and latent, sensible and ground heat fluxes were compared for the three scales. For the heterogeneous area, the model output at the 20-km resolution showed some differences when compared with the 200-m and 2-km resolutions. This was more pronounced in latent heat (12% decrease), sensible heat (22% increase), and ground heat flux (44% increase) estimation than in net radiation. The scaling effects were much less for the relatively homogeneous land area with 5% increase in sensible heat and 4% decrease in ground heat flux estimation. All of the model outputs for the 2- and 20-km resolutions were in close agreement. The results suggested that, for this study region, soils and vegetation input resolution of about 2 km should be chosen for realistic modeling of surface exchange processes. This resolution was sufficient to capture the effects of sub-grid scale heterogeneity, while avoiding the data and computational difficulties associated with higher spatial resolutions.  相似文献