Tourism Development Models Based on Ecological Utilization and Protection of Water Conservancy Scenic Areas

In view of major confl icts between ecological conditions of scenic areas and tourism development, tourism development models and approaches of six major water conservancy scenic areas were summarized on the basis of investigating interaction mechanism, ecological utilization and protection of scenic areas, including reservoir development and construction model, wetland development and construction model, natural river and lake development and construction model, city river and lake development and construction model, irrigated area development and construction model, water and soil conservation development and construction model. The research fruits are of instructive signif icance for the management and development of scenic areas.

Gully Erosion Regionalization of Black Soil Area in Northeastern China

Gully erosion is the frequent and main form of soil erosion in the black soil area of the northeastern China, which is one of the most important commodity grain production bases in China. It is encroaching upon the fertile farmland there. Regionalization of gully erosion can reveal the spatial distribution and regularity of the development of gully erosion. Based on the eco-geographical regional background features of the black soil area, this study combined the regionalization with influencing factors of the development of gully erosion. GIS spatial analysis, geostatistical analysis, spatial statistics, reclassification, debris polygon processing and map algebra methods were employed. As a result, the black soil area was divided into 12 subregions. The field survey data on type, length, volume and other characteristics indicators of gully erosion were used to calibrate the results. Then the features of every subregion, such as where the gully erosion is, how serious it is, and why it happens and develops, were expounded. The result is not only an essential prerequisite for gully erosion surveys and monitoring, but also an important basis for gully erosion prevention.

Application of SEDEA to evaluation of degree of harmony between water resources and economic development

This paper introduces the method of data envelopment analysis （DEA） for evaluation of the degree of harmony between water resources and economic development of the water conservancy area of China＇s South-to-North Water Diversion Project （SNWDP）. For this evaluation, a super-efficiency DEA （SEDEA） model was developed based on the super-efficiency method. To verify the applicability of the SEDEA model, both the SEDEA model and a normal-efficiency DEA （NEDEA） model were used to evaluate the degree of harmony between water resources and economic development of typical cities in the SNWDP water conservancy area. The results show that the SEDEA model ranks the degree of harmony of typical cities more efficiently than the NEDEA model, and thus can better evaluate the degree of harmony between water resources and economic development of different cities than the NEDEA model. Furthermore, the SEDEA model can be applied as an operational research tool in regional water resources management.

A spatially distributed,deterministic approach to modeling Typha domingensis(cattail)in an Everglades wetland

Introduction:The emergent wetland species Typha domingensis(cattail)is a native Florida Everglades monocotyledonous macrophyte.It has become invasive due to anthropogenic disturbances and is out-competing other vegetation in the region,especially in areas historically dominated by Cladium jamaicense(sawgrass).There is a need for a quantitative,deterministic model in order to accurately simulate the regional-scale cattail dynamics in the Everglades.Methods:The Regional Simulation Model(RSM),combined with the Transport and Reaction Simulation Engine(TARSE),was adapted to simulate ecology.This provides a framework for user-defineable equations and relationships and enables multiple theories with different levels of complexity to be tested simultaneously.Five models,or levels,of increasing complexity were used to simulate cattail dynamics across Water Conservation Area 2A(WCA2A),which is located just south of Lake Okeechobee,in Florida,USA.These levels of complexity were formulated to correspond with five hypotheses regarding the growth and spread of cattail.The first level of complexity assumed a logistic growth pattern to test whether cattail growth is density dependent.The second level of complexity built on the first and included a Habitat Suitability Index(HSI)factor influenced by water depth to test whether this might be an important factor for cattail expansion.The third level of complexity built on the second and included an HSI factor influenced by soil phosphorus concentration to test whether this is a contributing factor for cattail expansion.The fourth level of complexity built on the third and included an HSI factor influenced by(a level 1–simulated)sawgrass density to determine whether sawgrass density impacted the rate of cattail expansion.The fifth level of complexity built on the fourth and included a feedback mechanism whereby the cattail densities influenced the sawgrass densities to determine the impact of inter-species interactions on the cattail dynamics.Results:All the simulation results from the different levels of complexity were compared to observed data for the years 1995 and 2003.Their performance was analyzed using a number of different statistics that each represent a different perspective on the ecological dynamics of the system.These statistics include box-plots,abundance-area curves,Moran’s I,and classified difference.The statistics were summarized using the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient.The results from all of these comparisons indicate that the more complex level 4 and level 5 models were able to simulate the observed data with a reasonable degree of accuracy.Conclusions:A user-defineable,quantitative,deterministic modeling framework was introduced and tested against various hypotheses.It was determined that the more complex models(levels 4 and 5)were able to adequately simulate the observed patterns of cattail densities within the WCA2A region.These models require testing for uncertainty and sensitivity of their various parameters in order to better understand them but could eventually be used to provide insight for management decisions concerning the WCA2A region and the Everglades in general.