2011 Vol. 21, No. 5
Display Method:
2011, 21(5)
Abstract:
Mollisols are common in South America. They cover about 8.87 × 107 ha, 1.3 × 107 ha and 4.3 × 106 ha in Argentina, Uruguay
and Southern Brazil respectively, which is 11.5% of the world total. Most of South American Mollisols were developed on Pleistocene and
Holocene sediments and lie within the limits of the temperate zone, though the extreme north is bordering subtropical and the extreme
south is within a cold-temperate zone. All suborders of Mollisols occur in Argentina, the most extensive being Udolls followed by Ustolls,
whereas only Udolls, Aquolls and Albolls occur in Uruguay. Vertisols in Uruguay have many properties similar to Mollisols, and the
occurrence of Vertisols is strongly associated with Mollisols. The Pampean Mollisols are a significant component of the global breadbasket
of modern times. The main Argentine crops are wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, soybeans and sunflower, while Mollisols in Uruguay remain
mostly dedicated to cattle and sheep grazing though crop production has been increasing very rapidly in the last decade. Throughout
South America, research has shown that Mollisols are experiencing losses of soil organic matter and nutrients, and degradation of physical
properties after long cropping periods, resulting in soil scientists calling for increased conservation practices to reduce future losses and a
deterioration of soil quality, and thus a more sustainable agriculture in the region.
Mollisols are common in South America. They cover about 8.87 × 107 ha, 1.3 × 107 ha and 4.3 × 106 ha in Argentina, Uruguay
and Southern Brazil respectively, which is 11.5% of the world total. Most of South American Mollisols were developed on Pleistocene and
Holocene sediments and lie within the limits of the temperate zone, though the extreme north is bordering subtropical and the extreme
south is within a cold-temperate zone. All suborders of Mollisols occur in Argentina, the most extensive being Udolls followed by Ustolls,
whereas only Udolls, Aquolls and Albolls occur in Uruguay. Vertisols in Uruguay have many properties similar to Mollisols, and the
occurrence of Vertisols is strongly associated with Mollisols. The Pampean Mollisols are a significant component of the global breadbasket
of modern times. The main Argentine crops are wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, soybeans and sunflower, while Mollisols in Uruguay remain
mostly dedicated to cattle and sheep grazing though crop production has been increasing very rapidly in the last decade. Throughout
South America, research has shown that Mollisols are experiencing losses of soil organic matter and nutrients, and degradation of physical
properties after long cropping periods, resulting in soil scientists calling for increased conservation practices to reduce future losses and a
deterioration of soil quality, and thus a more sustainable agriculture in the region.
2011, 21(5)
Abstract:
The influence of various factors, mechanisms, and principles affecting runoff are summarized as periodic law, random law, and
basin-wide law. Periodic law is restricted by astronomical factors, random law is restricted by atmospheric circulation, and basin-wide law
is restricted by underlying surface. The commensurability method was used to identify the almost period law, the wave method was
applied to deducing the random law, and the precursor method was applied in order to forecast runoff magnitude for the current year.
These three methods can be used to assess each other and to forecast runoff. The system can also be applied to forecasting wet years,
normal years and dry years for a particular year as well as forecasting years when floods with similar characteristics of previous floods,
can be expected. Based on hydrological climate data of Baishan (1933–2009) and Nierji (1886–2009) in the Songhua River Basin, the
forecasting results for 2010 show that it was a wet year in the Baishan Reservoir, similar to the year of 1995; it was a secondary dry
year in the Nierji Reservoir, similar to the year of 1980. The actual water inflow into the Baishan Reservoir was 1.178 × 1010 m3 in 2010,
which was markedly higher than average inflows, ranking as the second highest in history since records began. The actual water inflow at
the Nierji station in 2010 was 9.96 × 109 m3, which was lower than the average over a period of many years. These results indicate a
preliminary conclusion that the methods proposed in this paper have been proved to be reasonable and reliable, which will encourage the
application of the chief reporter release system for each basin. This system was also used to forecast inflows for 2011, indicating a
secondary wet year for the Baishan Reservoir in 2011, similar to that experienced in 1991. A secondary wet year was also forecast for
the Nierji station in 2011, similar to that experienced during 1983. According to the nature of influencing factors, mechanisms and
forecasting methods and the service objects, mid- to long-term hydrological forecasting can be divided into two classes: mid- to long-
term runoff forecasting, and severe floods and droughts forecasting. The former can be applied to quantitative forecasting of runoff,
which has important applications for water release schedules. The latter, i.e., qualitative disaster forecasting, is important for flood
control and drought relief. Practical methods for forecasting severe droughts and floods are discussed in this paper.
The influence of various factors, mechanisms, and principles affecting runoff are summarized as periodic law, random law, and
basin-wide law. Periodic law is restricted by astronomical factors, random law is restricted by atmospheric circulation, and basin-wide law
is restricted by underlying surface. The commensurability method was used to identify the almost period law, the wave method was
applied to deducing the random law, and the precursor method was applied in order to forecast runoff magnitude for the current year.
These three methods can be used to assess each other and to forecast runoff. The system can also be applied to forecasting wet years,
normal years and dry years for a particular year as well as forecasting years when floods with similar characteristics of previous floods,
can be expected. Based on hydrological climate data of Baishan (1933–2009) and Nierji (1886–2009) in the Songhua River Basin, the
forecasting results for 2010 show that it was a wet year in the Baishan Reservoir, similar to the year of 1995; it was a secondary dry
year in the Nierji Reservoir, similar to the year of 1980. The actual water inflow into the Baishan Reservoir was 1.178 × 1010 m3 in 2010,
which was markedly higher than average inflows, ranking as the second highest in history since records began. The actual water inflow at
the Nierji station in 2010 was 9.96 × 109 m3, which was lower than the average over a period of many years. These results indicate a
preliminary conclusion that the methods proposed in this paper have been proved to be reasonable and reliable, which will encourage the
application of the chief reporter release system for each basin. This system was also used to forecast inflows for 2011, indicating a
secondary wet year for the Baishan Reservoir in 2011, similar to that experienced in 1991. A secondary wet year was also forecast for
the Nierji station in 2011, similar to that experienced during 1983. According to the nature of influencing factors, mechanisms and
forecasting methods and the service objects, mid- to long-term hydrological forecasting can be divided into two classes: mid- to long-
term runoff forecasting, and severe floods and droughts forecasting. The former can be applied to quantitative forecasting of runoff,
which has important applications for water release schedules. The latter, i.e., qualitative disaster forecasting, is important for flood
control and drought relief. Practical methods for forecasting severe droughts and floods are discussed in this paper.
2011, 21(5)
Abstract:
Climate change is one of the most important challenges threatening agricultural grain yield and food security. Determining the
factors influencing grain yield in Jilin Province and the weights of their contribution are a very important task, because Jilin Province is an
important agriculture base in China. In this study, the accumulation factor sequence evaluating data method was used to analyze the
climate and economic-technical factor contribution weights to grain yield and grain yield changes in each city of Jilin Province. Climate
yield was also estimated to study the climate effect on the grain yield, and it was calculated in two ways: an improved algorithm and a
traditional quadratic method. The results show that the climate and economic-technical factors have different contribution weights to
grain yield in different cities in Jilin Province. The contribution weight of the climate factor to grain yield was 0.212–0.349, while that the
economic-technical factor was 0.651–0.788. Furthermore, the changes of the climate factor contributing to grain yield changes
accounted for 0.296–0.546, and the changes of the economic-technical factor accounted for 0.454–0.704. The weights of climate and
economic-technical factor contributing to grain yield are very different between the eastern and western cities in Jilin Province, but their
weights contributing to the grain yield change are similar in these cities. In general, the amount of fertilizer used per hectare (FUPH) is
the main factor affecting grain yields and yield changes from 1980 to 2008. It is noted that when the FUPH growth rate stabilized after
1995, the effects of the climate factor on the grain yield become more obvious than before. The improved algorithm is effective for
estimating climate yield in Jilin Province, and the climate yields were mostly between –500 kg/ha and 500 kg/ha, and showed a slightly
rising trend in most cities.
Climate change is one of the most important challenges threatening agricultural grain yield and food security. Determining the
factors influencing grain yield in Jilin Province and the weights of their contribution are a very important task, because Jilin Province is an
important agriculture base in China. In this study, the accumulation factor sequence evaluating data method was used to analyze the
climate and economic-technical factor contribution weights to grain yield and grain yield changes in each city of Jilin Province. Climate
yield was also estimated to study the climate effect on the grain yield, and it was calculated in two ways: an improved algorithm and a
traditional quadratic method. The results show that the climate and economic-technical factors have different contribution weights to
grain yield in different cities in Jilin Province. The contribution weight of the climate factor to grain yield was 0.212–0.349, while that the
economic-technical factor was 0.651–0.788. Furthermore, the changes of the climate factor contributing to grain yield changes
accounted for 0.296–0.546, and the changes of the economic-technical factor accounted for 0.454–0.704. The weights of climate and
economic-technical factor contributing to grain yield are very different between the eastern and western cities in Jilin Province, but their
weights contributing to the grain yield change are similar in these cities. In general, the amount of fertilizer used per hectare (FUPH) is
the main factor affecting grain yields and yield changes from 1980 to 2008. It is noted that when the FUPH growth rate stabilized after
1995, the effects of the climate factor on the grain yield become more obvious than before. The improved algorithm is effective for
estimating climate yield in Jilin Province, and the climate yields were mostly between –500 kg/ha and 500 kg/ha, and showed a slightly
rising trend in most cities.
2011, 21(5)
Abstract:
The volume emission rate (VER) of airglow can be used to investigate atmospheric processes. Satellite-based limb measurement
of atmosphere is able to obtain the VER profile of airglow with high vertical resolution. However, the traditional one-dimensional retrieval
techniques for VER inversion fail to retrieve horizontal structure of VER profile. Thus, the tomographic technique based on the maximum
probability is applied to retrieving two-dimensional VER profile of airglow from infrared limb measurement. This technique could process the
observed data with low signal-to-noise ratio caused by the observation angle of less than 180° due to the solid nature of the Earth. For
saving the processing time and improving the computing speed of VER inversion, serial tables for storing the large sparse matrix for
radiance simulation and a large dataset during iterative estimate of VER are presented. The index and weighting factor of line of sight
(LOS) through each grid are saved in initial estimate to avoid being computed repeatedly. Furthermore, the product of observed radiance
and corresponding weighting factor obtained in initial iteration is stored as weighted observed radiance for the iterative calculation
subsequently. Based on the improved algorithm, the VER of airglow is inversed through the tomographic technique. The full width of half
maximum (FWHM) of error is 1.78% and the offset of the peak percentage error is 0.22% after 40 iterations for final VER. Comparison of
assumed and retrieved VER profiles suggests that VER can be retrieved with a bias of 15% between 10 km and 90 km above the LayerMin
(6384 km from the Earth center), and with a bias of 8% for altitude from 30 km to 60 km with vertical resolution of 1 km after 40
iterations. After improvements, the computation speed of VER inversion for once can be improved by 29.6 times for 700 images of 1/3
orbit, and accordingly, the processing time will be reduced from 3 hours and 11 minutes to only 6 minutes. In conclusion, the
improvements to tomographic inversion of VER of airglow proposed in this paper are effective and significant.
The volume emission rate (VER) of airglow can be used to investigate atmospheric processes. Satellite-based limb measurement
of atmosphere is able to obtain the VER profile of airglow with high vertical resolution. However, the traditional one-dimensional retrieval
techniques for VER inversion fail to retrieve horizontal structure of VER profile. Thus, the tomographic technique based on the maximum
probability is applied to retrieving two-dimensional VER profile of airglow from infrared limb measurement. This technique could process the
observed data with low signal-to-noise ratio caused by the observation angle of less than 180° due to the solid nature of the Earth. For
saving the processing time and improving the computing speed of VER inversion, serial tables for storing the large sparse matrix for
radiance simulation and a large dataset during iterative estimate of VER are presented. The index and weighting factor of line of sight
(LOS) through each grid are saved in initial estimate to avoid being computed repeatedly. Furthermore, the product of observed radiance
and corresponding weighting factor obtained in initial iteration is stored as weighted observed radiance for the iterative calculation
subsequently. Based on the improved algorithm, the VER of airglow is inversed through the tomographic technique. The full width of half
maximum (FWHM) of error is 1.78% and the offset of the peak percentage error is 0.22% after 40 iterations for final VER. Comparison of
assumed and retrieved VER profiles suggests that VER can be retrieved with a bias of 15% between 10 km and 90 km above the LayerMin
(6384 km from the Earth center), and with a bias of 8% for altitude from 30 km to 60 km with vertical resolution of 1 km after 40
iterations. After improvements, the computation speed of VER inversion for once can be improved by 29.6 times for 700 images of 1/3
orbit, and accordingly, the processing time will be reduced from 3 hours and 11 minutes to only 6 minutes. In conclusion, the
improvements to tomographic inversion of VER of airglow proposed in this paper are effective and significant.
2011, 21(5)
Abstract:
By analyzing the relationship among government, market driving forces, distribution orientation of banking industry, service
opportunity equality and spatial patterns, this paper proposes that it is distribution orientation that lead to the formation and evolution of
spatial pattern of banking industry. The difference of the distribution orientation leads to the separation of the spatial pattern of banking
industry, and the change of the distribution orientation leads to the change of spatial pattern. The degree of spatial pattern change is
subject to the degree of change of distribution orientation, and the scale of bank resources in the regions, which supports the
distribution orientation variation. Based on these theoretical frameworks, some indicators were designed to analyze the pattern change of
China′s banking industry and its effects since 1995 under the change of the distribution orientation. This paper finds that the orientation
of economic benefit maximization driven by market causes the banking industry to concentrate in economically developed regions. The
government, which does not follow the orientation of economic benefit maximization, plays a role of stabilizer. Since the bank branches in
the regions with the greatest change in bank branch distribution are too few, and regions with the greatest change in bank loan
allocation are the regions with lots of loans, the pattern change of the banking industry in physical form is not as notable as that in
economic form.
By analyzing the relationship among government, market driving forces, distribution orientation of banking industry, service
opportunity equality and spatial patterns, this paper proposes that it is distribution orientation that lead to the formation and evolution of
spatial pattern of banking industry. The difference of the distribution orientation leads to the separation of the spatial pattern of banking
industry, and the change of the distribution orientation leads to the change of spatial pattern. The degree of spatial pattern change is
subject to the degree of change of distribution orientation, and the scale of bank resources in the regions, which supports the
distribution orientation variation. Based on these theoretical frameworks, some indicators were designed to analyze the pattern change of
China′s banking industry and its effects since 1995 under the change of the distribution orientation. This paper finds that the orientation
of economic benefit maximization driven by market causes the banking industry to concentrate in economically developed regions. The
government, which does not follow the orientation of economic benefit maximization, plays a role of stabilizer. Since the bank branches in
the regions with the greatest change in bank branch distribution are too few, and regions with the greatest change in bank loan
allocation are the regions with lots of loans, the pattern change of the banking industry in physical form is not as notable as that in
economic form.
2011, 21(5)
Abstract:
Larch caterpillar (Dendrolimus superans) is very common in the Da Hinggan Mountains, Northeast China, affecting fire regime
and forest ecosystem change at large spatio-temporal scales. In this study, we used a spatially explicit landscape model, LANDIS, to
simulate the changes of fire regime and forest landscape under four larch caterpillar disturbance intensity levels scenarios in Huzhong
forest area, northern of Da Hinggan Mountains. The results indicate that larch caterpillar disturbances would decrease fine fuel load and
increase coarse fuel load in the 300 simulation years. Larch caterpillar disturbances would decrease fire frequency in the first 200 years,
and the disturbances also decrease fire intensity and fire risk in the early and late stage of simulation. Larch caterpillar disturbances
would decrease the area percent of larch cohorts and increase the proportion of white birch, and increase the degree of aggregation of
white birch as a result of its strong seed dispersal and colonization ability. Disturbances would also decrease the mature and over-mature
larch cohorts and increase all cohorts of white birch, especially the mature and over-mature cohorts. Larch caterpillar disturbances will
decrease the stability of forest landscape, therefore, some measures preventing insect outbreak and ensuring the sustainable
management of forest ecosystem should been taken in the study area.
Larch caterpillar (Dendrolimus superans) is very common in the Da Hinggan Mountains, Northeast China, affecting fire regime
and forest ecosystem change at large spatio-temporal scales. In this study, we used a spatially explicit landscape model, LANDIS, to
simulate the changes of fire regime and forest landscape under four larch caterpillar disturbance intensity levels scenarios in Huzhong
forest area, northern of Da Hinggan Mountains. The results indicate that larch caterpillar disturbances would decrease fine fuel load and
increase coarse fuel load in the 300 simulation years. Larch caterpillar disturbances would decrease fire frequency in the first 200 years,
and the disturbances also decrease fire intensity and fire risk in the early and late stage of simulation. Larch caterpillar disturbances
would decrease the area percent of larch cohorts and increase the proportion of white birch, and increase the degree of aggregation of
white birch as a result of its strong seed dispersal and colonization ability. Disturbances would also decrease the mature and over-mature
larch cohorts and increase all cohorts of white birch, especially the mature and over-mature cohorts. Larch caterpillar disturbances will
decrease the stability of forest landscape, therefore, some measures preventing insect outbreak and ensuring the sustainable
management of forest ecosystem should been taken in the study area.
2011, 21(5)
Abstract:
Human activities alter land use patterns and affect landscape sustainability. It is therefore very important to investigate the
relationship between land use change and human activities. This study focuses on the detection of changing land use patterns in the
Yanhe River Basin in northern Loess Plateau of China between 1995 and 2008. Landscape metrics were used to analyze the changing land
use patterns and to explore the related anthropogenic driving forces. Results show that: 1) Totally, 186 590 ha of croplands were
converted into alternate land-use types (equivalent to 61.7% of the original cropland area). The majority of cropland areas were found to
be converted into grassland and woodland areas (accounting for 55.9% and 4.9% respectively of the original cropland areas). 2) Both
cropland and woodland demonstrated an increasing fragmentation tendency while grasslands showed a decreasing fragmentation
tendency. 3) Multiple driving forces of land use change were thought to act together to changes in landscape metrics in the Yanhe River
Basin. The anthropogenic driving forces were analyzed from four perspectives: ecological conservation policy, labor force transfer,
industrial development, and rural settlement. The policy of the GfG (Grain for Green) project was the main driving factor which expedited
the conversion from cropland to woodland and grassland. Industrial development was also found to affect land use change through the
direct impact of economic activities such as oil exploration and agricultural production, or through indirect impacts such as the industrial
structures readjustment. Labor force transfer from rural to urban areas was found to follow the industrial structure readjustment and
further drove land use change from cropland to off-farm land use. Establishment of new tile-roofed houses instead of cave-type dwellings
in rural settlements has helped to aggregate the original scattered land-use type of construction.
Human activities alter land use patterns and affect landscape sustainability. It is therefore very important to investigate the
relationship between land use change and human activities. This study focuses on the detection of changing land use patterns in the
Yanhe River Basin in northern Loess Plateau of China between 1995 and 2008. Landscape metrics were used to analyze the changing land
use patterns and to explore the related anthropogenic driving forces. Results show that: 1) Totally, 186 590 ha of croplands were
converted into alternate land-use types (equivalent to 61.7% of the original cropland area). The majority of cropland areas were found to
be converted into grassland and woodland areas (accounting for 55.9% and 4.9% respectively of the original cropland areas). 2) Both
cropland and woodland demonstrated an increasing fragmentation tendency while grasslands showed a decreasing fragmentation
tendency. 3) Multiple driving forces of land use change were thought to act together to changes in landscape metrics in the Yanhe River
Basin. The anthropogenic driving forces were analyzed from four perspectives: ecological conservation policy, labor force transfer,
industrial development, and rural settlement. The policy of the GfG (Grain for Green) project was the main driving factor which expedited
the conversion from cropland to woodland and grassland. Industrial development was also found to affect land use change through the
direct impact of economic activities such as oil exploration and agricultural production, or through indirect impacts such as the industrial
structures readjustment. Labor force transfer from rural to urban areas was found to follow the industrial structure readjustment and
further drove land use change from cropland to off-farm land use. Establishment of new tile-roofed houses instead of cave-type dwellings
in rural settlements has helped to aggregate the original scattered land-use type of construction.
2011, 21(5)
Abstract:
Karst rocky desertification is one of the major ecological and environmental problems that threaten the sustainable
development of southwestern China. It is caused by irrational and intensive land-use patterns in karst geo-ecological environment.
Therefore, it is vital to identify how human forces work on this degraded environment. Based on the soil erosion information in 2000 and
remote sensing images of Guanling County collected in 2000 and 2007, four grades of karst rocky desertification data in 14 villages of
Guanling County were extracted. Impacts of population, affluence, and other human forces on karst rocky desertification were analyzed
using STIRPAT model. The results show that: 1) Factors of population and affluence had strong influence on karst rocky desertification.
In the STIRPAT model analysis, the population and affluence coefficients were positive, indicating that the increase in population and
affluence would lead to more serious desertification. 2) Factors of farmer correlated with karst rocky desertification negatively, especially
the way of viewing the relationship between people and nature, and the level of knowledge about rocky desertification. Government
behavior was not a significant factor in this analysis. 3) The findings provide evidence that STIRPAT model can be used to analyze the
relationship between human driving forces and rocky desertification.
Karst rocky desertification is one of the major ecological and environmental problems that threaten the sustainable
development of southwestern China. It is caused by irrational and intensive land-use patterns in karst geo-ecological environment.
Therefore, it is vital to identify how human forces work on this degraded environment. Based on the soil erosion information in 2000 and
remote sensing images of Guanling County collected in 2000 and 2007, four grades of karst rocky desertification data in 14 villages of
Guanling County were extracted. Impacts of population, affluence, and other human forces on karst rocky desertification were analyzed
using STIRPAT model. The results show that: 1) Factors of population and affluence had strong influence on karst rocky desertification.
In the STIRPAT model analysis, the population and affluence coefficients were positive, indicating that the increase in population and
affluence would lead to more serious desertification. 2) Factors of farmer correlated with karst rocky desertification negatively, especially
the way of viewing the relationship between people and nature, and the level of knowledge about rocky desertification. Government
behavior was not a significant factor in this analysis. 3) The findings provide evidence that STIRPAT model can be used to analyze the
relationship between human driving forces and rocky desertification.
2011, 21(5)
Abstract:
This paper firstly investigated the land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) in the Hun-Taizi River watershed, Northeast China
from 1988 to 2004 based on remotely sensed images and geographic information systems (GIS) technology. Then, using the famous land
-use change model of Conversion of Land Use and its Effects at Small regional extent (CLUE-S), this paper simulated the land use
changes under historical trend (HT), urban planning (UP) and ecological protection (EP) scenarios considering urban planning and
ecological protection over the next 20 years. The simulated results under UP scenario in 2020 were compared with the planning map to
assess the feasibility of using land-use change model to guide regional planning. Results show that forest land, dry farmland, paddy, and
shrub land were the main land-use categories. Paddy and dry farmland being converted to urban area and rural settlement characterized
the land-use change from 1988 to 2004. The main land-use categories changed over time. Landscape-pattern fragmentation will be
worse under HT and UP scenarios, but better in EP scenario. The comparing results of simulated map with planning map in 2020 show that
land-use change model is powerful tool to guide regional planning. Land-use scenarios can support regional planning and policy-making
through analyzing future consequences scientifically.
This paper firstly investigated the land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) in the Hun-Taizi River watershed, Northeast China
from 1988 to 2004 based on remotely sensed images and geographic information systems (GIS) technology. Then, using the famous land
-use change model of Conversion of Land Use and its Effects at Small regional extent (CLUE-S), this paper simulated the land use
changes under historical trend (HT), urban planning (UP) and ecological protection (EP) scenarios considering urban planning and
ecological protection over the next 20 years. The simulated results under UP scenario in 2020 were compared with the planning map to
assess the feasibility of using land-use change model to guide regional planning. Results show that forest land, dry farmland, paddy, and
shrub land were the main land-use categories. Paddy and dry farmland being converted to urban area and rural settlement characterized
the land-use change from 1988 to 2004. The main land-use categories changed over time. Landscape-pattern fragmentation will be
worse under HT and UP scenarios, but better in EP scenario. The comparing results of simulated map with planning map in 2020 show that
land-use change model is powerful tool to guide regional planning. Land-use scenarios can support regional planning and policy-making
through analyzing future consequences scientifically.
2011, 21(5)
Abstract:
Urban sprawl is driven by a myriad of factors, the predominant one of which is the development of residential land. Selecting
part of Jinan City for a case study, we use the landscape metric of percent of landscape (PLAND) to capture residential land growth and
density changes in 1989, 1996 and 2004 to illuminate the dynamic process of residential land development. The results indicate that the
moving window method and the landscape metrics method are efficient ways to describe residential land density. The residential land
showed the greatest change among the built-up land with 1995.68 ha from 1989 to 2004, which is mainly transformed from agriculture
land and green space. The urban center area of study area is primarily covered with medium density residential land, and surrounded by
high density residential land. The development pattern of residential land exhibited both fill-in (new growth occurs through infilling the
free spaces within the developed area) and sprawl processes, influenced by a series of factors, such as urban development policy,
conservation of springs, recreational and aesthetic amenities. The findings of the study will help to guide urban planning with a focus on
the management and protection of the environment and resources.
Urban sprawl is driven by a myriad of factors, the predominant one of which is the development of residential land. Selecting
part of Jinan City for a case study, we use the landscape metric of percent of landscape (PLAND) to capture residential land growth and
density changes in 1989, 1996 and 2004 to illuminate the dynamic process of residential land development. The results indicate that the
moving window method and the landscape metrics method are efficient ways to describe residential land density. The residential land
showed the greatest change among the built-up land with 1995.68 ha from 1989 to 2004, which is mainly transformed from agriculture
land and green space. The urban center area of study area is primarily covered with medium density residential land, and surrounded by
high density residential land. The development pattern of residential land exhibited both fill-in (new growth occurs through infilling the
free spaces within the developed area) and sprawl processes, influenced by a series of factors, such as urban development policy,
conservation of springs, recreational and aesthetic amenities. The findings of the study will help to guide urban planning with a focus on
the management and protection of the environment and resources.
2011, 21(5)
Abstract:
The problem of wild elephants, or human-elephant conflict (HEC), influences the daily life of local communities and hinders the
conservation of wild elephants. The perception and attitudes of local communities who inhabited the frontiers between human activities
and wild elephant movement are important to the mitigation of the HEC and conservation of wild elephants. To analyze the perception
and attitudes of local communities, the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was used in the investigation of 423 interviewees from 22
villages in Xishuangbanna from July 2009 to February 2010. The results indicated that local communities had their views on the elephant-
related problems. In field survey, we found that 66.5% of interviewees were willing to support, participate in, and assist in the
conservation of wild elephants; 33.5% of interviewees were opposed or indifferent to such conservation, because their livelihoods and
even their lives were endangered by wild elephants. These views and attitudes were influenced by local communities′ perception of HEC,
education level, gender and self-interest. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the diverse views among local communities and balance
profits and costs in addressing HEC.
The problem of wild elephants, or human-elephant conflict (HEC), influences the daily life of local communities and hinders the
conservation of wild elephants. The perception and attitudes of local communities who inhabited the frontiers between human activities
and wild elephant movement are important to the mitigation of the HEC and conservation of wild elephants. To analyze the perception
and attitudes of local communities, the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was used in the investigation of 423 interviewees from 22
villages in Xishuangbanna from July 2009 to February 2010. The results indicated that local communities had their views on the elephant-
related problems. In field survey, we found that 66.5% of interviewees were willing to support, participate in, and assist in the
conservation of wild elephants; 33.5% of interviewees were opposed or indifferent to such conservation, because their livelihoods and
even their lives were endangered by wild elephants. These views and attitudes were influenced by local communities′ perception of HEC,
education level, gender and self-interest. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the diverse views among local communities and balance
profits and costs in addressing HEC.
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