Stakeholder Perceptions of Changing Ecosystem Services Consumption in the Jinghe Watershed: A Household Survey and PRA

This paper presents cognitive awareness levels of ecosystem services and their consumption by farmers in Guyuan City, which lies in the Jinghe watershed. Household Surveys and Participatory Rural Assessment （PRA） were used to determine differences in farmers cognitive awareness levels. The household survey results showed that farmers have a cognitive awareness of 11 ecosystem services： food supply, air purification, environmental purification, soil and water conservation, clean water supply, natural disaster minimization, increasing income, fuel wood supply, aesthetic recreation, fodder supply and sand stabilization. The job-related requirements of a farmers’ daily life, their direct consumption of ecosystem services and the importance of ecosystem services to them all influence their cognitive awareness of ecosystem services. Through group interviews the PRA method can provide the opportunity for information exchange and discussion. The process can help farmers to gain more cognitive awareness of ecosystem services. Large changes in ecosystem services have been observed in the study area. Food production and fuel wood supply have decreased markedly, yet incomes have increased. Spatial and temporal variables, changes in ecosystem services and the level of income all have an impact on farmers’ food supply and resource consumption. Overall, the total consumption of food （cereal and potato） and fuel wood declines for most farmers and consumption of vegetables, meat, coals and gas have increased.

Factors explaining the abundance of rodents in the city of Luang Prabang,Lao PDR,as revealed by field and household surveys

A field and a household survey, the latter of which included inspections and interviews with the residents of a totalof 1370 properties, were conducted in 2004 in 30 villages of the city of Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, in order to assessthe degree of rodent infestation and to identify potential factors influencing infestations. Roof rats, Rattus rattus,and the Polynesian rat, Rattus exulans, were the only rodents found in the city, and trapping results showed a cleardominance of roof rats (80–90% of all individuals). Measurements of rodent activity using tracking patchescorrelated positively with the trapping data, and revealed a significantly higher degree of rat infestation during therainy season (September) than during the dry season (November). If households in the vicinity of the samplinglocations were considered, villagers’ accounts of indoor rodent infestations recorded during the household surveycorrelated positively with measurements of rodent activity. At least every second household reported indoorinfestations. Using explorative statistical analyses (classification trees, factor analysis) we checked the predictiveor explanatory value of up to 28 variables assessed during household inspections for villagers’ observations onrodent infestation as the dependent variable. Trophic factors such as exposed food (indoors) and garbage (outdoors),and structural features such as open ceilings (indoors) and rat harborage in gardens (outdoors) ranked highest asexplanatory variables. Assessment of a small sample of roof rat droppings collected inside houses revealed thepresence of the potential disease agents Salmonella javiana, Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia duodenalis and theparasitic nematode Calodium hepaticum (syn. Capillaria hepatica). These results underline the need for anappropriate rodent management strategy for the city, whereby simple sanitation and rodent-proofing measurescould be cheap means of reducing rat infestation rates.

An Evaluation of the Introduction of Modified Cropping Practices in Yunnan Province,China,Using Surveys of Farmers’ Households

Problems associated with land degradation are serious in China. Sloping land in South China has experienced a decline in crop productivity by 30-60% due to soil erosion and it has been predicted that most topsoil will be lost within the next 100 years if current erosion rates continue. Considering these situations, an agro-environmental research and development project （Sustainable Highland Agriculture in South-East Asia- SHASEA） was conducted in a catchment in Yunnan Province, China, to address the objectives of increasing crop productivity in sustainable and environmentally-friendly ways. A range of cropping practices was developed and implemented in a rural upland catchment （Wang Jia）. At the end of the project, farmers were surveyed to evaluate project effectiveness. All farmers from Wang Jia Catchment, who were involved in project implementation, were surveyed. A sample of farmers working in an adjacent catchment （not associated with the project） was surveyed for comparative purposes. Farmers had different perceptions of the cropping practices employed. Contour cultivation was preferred and likely to be adopted. Others practices such as straw mulching and intercropping were seen as less appropriate and unlikely to be adopted. Polythene mulch was recognized as effective, but likely to be adopted only if financial returns were favourable. The availability of relevant information had an important impact on the extent of technology testing by farmers and their willingness to adopt the practices in the future.

Travel-Limiting Disabilities in the United States: Why Accessibility Matters?

This study evaluates the distribution of travel-limiting disabilities across genders and geographic locations in the United States. This study aims to describe and compare the socioeconomic and demographic variables of the people with and without travel-limiting disabilities across geographic locations and gender. The study further evaluates the trip purpose and impact of Covid-19 fourth wave pandemic on the use of public transit and travel to physical workplace for the people with and without travel-limiting disabilities across gender and geographic locations. The study uses the 2022 weighted National Household Travel Survey dataset and employs descriptive statistics. Results reaffirm the findings from previous literature that there are more people with travel-limiting disabilities in urban areas and among women. Over 50 percent of people aged 65 and above have a form of travel-limiting disabilities. The most trip for people with travel-limiting disabilities is made for shopping and medical purposes. Across all categories, rural areas, urban areas, male and female for the people without travel-limiting disabilities, COVID-19 fourth wave did not change the pattern of trips made to physical workplace as pre-COVID-19 era. This pattern is also observable for the people with travel-limiting disabilities in rural and urban areas. Females with travel-limiting disabilities reported making less trips to physical workplaces while male reported doing the same as before COVID-19 era. The study concludes that the quantification of travel-limiting disabilities across geographic location and gender is vital in disability study and could drive policy implementation for improved accessibility for the vulnerable population.

Survey of Residential Air Conditioning Electricity Consumption in Shanghai

With proliferation of electric appliances, residential electricity consumption, in particular the air conditioning load becomes more and more important and shares higher and higher percentage in total consumption in large cities like Shanghai. The paper reports in detail the survey on characteristics of residential electric consumption, in particular the air conditioning consumption. To optimize power system operation and expand power market, the paper concludes that power industry must learn to investigate, open up and adapt itself to power market economy.

Establishment of Rural Housing Land Standard in China

On the basis of rural household survey in 12 provinces of China in 2005,this research built an econometrical model to find the area standard for rural housing land.This standard is expected to facilitate rural housing land administration,efficient and intensive housing land use and policy making.This research concludes:1) according to the household survey data,the average area for rural housing land in China is about 235.26 m 2,and the rural housing land mainly includes unused land(42.89%) and house construction land(37.76%) with the average floor-area ratio of 0.42;2) the indexes in the standard concern the factors such as location,landform,house form,household population and cultivated land area per farmer,which all have significant effects on rural housing land use;3) the reasonable area for rural housing land may be 150 m 2 in average before 2020,and the referential standards in different provinces are 120 m 2,130 m 2,140m 2,150 m 2,160 m 2,170 m 2,190 m 2,200 m 2,210 m 2,220 m 2,230 m 2 and 250 m 2 respectively;and 4) if there are less than two persons or more than five persons in a family,these standards need to be decreased or increased by 7%.When the cultivated land area per farmer is lower than the provincial average,the standards have to reduce by 3.5%.

Evaluation of Land Degradation and So-cio-Environmental Issues: A Case Study of Semi Arid Watershed in Western Rajasthan

The present work attempts to assess the land cover changes at watershed level and status of land degradation in Mithri Watershed lying in the semi-arid tracts of Western Rajasthan, using time series climate data and remote sensing data and GIS techniques. The study also has a strong field component in the form of village wise surveys to record observations on climatic changes, agriculture, socio-economic condition of the community, water availability etc. Integration of remote sensing technique along with climate data analysis and household surveys, Group discussion and Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) was conducted to record land use/land cover changes and its impact on socio-economic condition of the people. Degradation mapping of the area reveals that area is affected by forest degradation, scrub erosion and salinization. Anthropogenic factors like fuel wood and timber extraction, livestock grazing etc. are also responsible for forest degradation. People have shifted from cash crops such as cotton to maize, barley and cereal during the last two decades.

The SLCP-driven land use changes and farmers' responses in the loess hilly and gully region:a case study for Ansai County

Taking Ansai County located in loess hilly and gully area as a case, this study analyzes the land use changes driven by the SLCP （Slope Land Conversion Program） and the farmers＇ responses by household survey and participatory rapid appraisal （PRA）. It is found that the SLCP aroused various changes in land use, agricultural production, rural incomes, etc. In the period of 1999-2005, the farmland and grasslands were reduced by 26,809 ha and 17,571 ha respectively, while forestland increased by 38,203 ha; greenhouse vegetable and orchard got a quick development, with the area enlarged by about 7 times and nearly doubled respectively. The SLCP reduced the area of crops particularly those that normally grown on slope lands, e.g. the sowing area of winter wheat ped from 19.39% of the total cropping area in 1999 to 0.98% in 2005. Draught animals, pigs and sheep have a decline in the number because the remained land and the ban on grazing on natural grasslands can not provide sufficient feed forage. Thanks to the financial subsidy, farmers increased land inputs and thus outputs. To achieve long-term sustainable development and improve rural income, the government should continuously support farmers to improve the land management, to adopt alternative land use systems, and to increase inputs on soil conservation. Vegetable and fruit production are two promise land use systems, and should be further developed.

Demographics, societal aging, and meat consumption in China

Drawn on the data collected by surveying 1 340 urban households from six cities in China, this paper estimates the impacts of demographic structure and population aging on household meat consumption, by jointly considering meat consumed at home and away from home. Based on the trajectories of population, a simple simulation on meat demand trend in China is conducted subsequently. The results suggest： 1） Meat consumed away from home averagely accounts for near 30% of household total meat consumption in terms of quantity, so that its omission likely leads to a significant underestimate of total meat consumption and misunderstanding the driving forces; 2） population aging significantly and negatively affects per capita meat consumption, suggesting that the expected meat demand in China without considering population aging will be overestimated. The findings from this study have important implications for better understanding the relative issues on China＇s meat consumption under the situation of population aging.