This investigation focuses on two mechanisms over the North Pacific connecting decadal regime shifts to regional ecosystem impacts. The physical conditions show the impacts of the atmospheric surface wind stress and t...This investigation focuses on two mechanisms over the North Pacific connecting decadal regime shifts to regional ecosystem impacts. The physical conditions show the impacts of the atmospheric surface wind stress and the sea surface temperature (SST) physical conditions on the fish landings along the west coast of California (WCC) from 1928-2008. The two mechanisms are identified by the two types of wind stress (e.g. westerly-easterly;or cyclonic-anticyclonic) anomaly over the central North Pacific which results in SST anomalies in the WCC. In both mechanism cases, the local warm (cold) SST anomaly leads to the number of fish species rising (falling) in the WCC region. In addition, the wind stress and SST anomaly pattern over the North Pacific is closely related to the intensity of the regime shifts as identified in the fish landings off the WCC.展开更多
The Government of the Lao PDR’s policy is to eliminate the cultivation of upland rice by means of ‘slash-and-burn’ cultivation and to replace it with more ecologically stable systems based on sustainable land use a...The Government of the Lao PDR’s policy is to eliminate the cultivation of upland rice by means of ‘slash-and-burn’ cultivation and to replace it with more ecologically stable systems based on sustainable land use at the village and household level. The objectives of this policy are to alleviate poverty and to introduce more sustainable management of agricultural resources. In order to achieve these objectives, the government has initiated a program of relocation to upland ‘focal areas’ from which marketing, distribution and other services can be supplied, these being essential preconditions for effective agricultural development in these regions. This diagnostic study has examined communal and household strategies for addressing food security issues, and has highlighted the main problems encountered in the pursuit of food security on the local level. The specific objective was to conduct a broadly focused participatory problem diagnosis of the study areas in two districts Phonsay and Namo, in order to understand farmers’ problems, livelihood goals and how their perspectives on food security have changed, and to investigate food security in shifting cultivation systems in Luang Prabang andOudomxay provinces. Within these two provinces Phonsay and Namo districts were selected as the research areas. The two districts are the poorest districts in the Luang Prabang and Oudomxay provinces and two of ten priority poorest districts in the whole country. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for the study. The results of this study were reviewed against the sustainable land use systems strategy formulated from the Lao PDR policy. The study highlights both the benefits and stresses on household welfare, food insecurity conditions in the study areas, and interrelated problems of insufficient rice for household consumption. Finally based on these results the authors propose recommendations and future research indications.展开更多
Agricultural expansion is one of the prime driving forces of global land cover change. Despite the increasing attention to the factors that cause it, the patterns and processes associated with indigenous cultivation s...Agricultural expansion is one of the prime driving forces of global land cover change. Despite the increasing attention to the factors that cause it, the patterns and processes associated with indigenous cultivation systems are not well understood. This study analyzes agricultural change associated with subsistence-based indigenous production systems in the lower Pastaza River Basin in the Ecuadorian Amazon through a spatially explicit dynamic model. The model integrates multiple logistic regression and cellular automata to simulate agricultural expansion at a resolution consistent with small scale agriculture and deal with inherently spatial processes. Data on land use and cultivation practices were collected through remote sensing and field visits, and processed within a geographic information system framework. Results show that the probability of an area of becoming agriculture increases with population pressure, in the vicinity of existing cultivation plots, and proximity to the center of human settlements. The positive association between proximity to cultivation areas and the probability of the presence of agriculture clearly shows the spillover effect and spatial inertia carried by shifting cultivation practices. The model depicts an ideal shifting cultivation system, with a complete cropping-fallow-cropping cycle that shows how agricultural areas expand and contract across space and over time. The model produced relatively accurate spatial outputs, as shown by the results of a spatial comparison between the simulated landscapes and the actual one. The study helped understand local landscape dynamics associated with shifting cultivation systems and their implications for land management.展开更多
文摘This investigation focuses on two mechanisms over the North Pacific connecting decadal regime shifts to regional ecosystem impacts. The physical conditions show the impacts of the atmospheric surface wind stress and the sea surface temperature (SST) physical conditions on the fish landings along the west coast of California (WCC) from 1928-2008. The two mechanisms are identified by the two types of wind stress (e.g. westerly-easterly;or cyclonic-anticyclonic) anomaly over the central North Pacific which results in SST anomalies in the WCC. In both mechanism cases, the local warm (cold) SST anomaly leads to the number of fish species rising (falling) in the WCC region. In addition, the wind stress and SST anomaly pattern over the North Pacific is closely related to the intensity of the regime shifts as identified in the fish landings off the WCC.
文摘The Government of the Lao PDR’s policy is to eliminate the cultivation of upland rice by means of ‘slash-and-burn’ cultivation and to replace it with more ecologically stable systems based on sustainable land use at the village and household level. The objectives of this policy are to alleviate poverty and to introduce more sustainable management of agricultural resources. In order to achieve these objectives, the government has initiated a program of relocation to upland ‘focal areas’ from which marketing, distribution and other services can be supplied, these being essential preconditions for effective agricultural development in these regions. This diagnostic study has examined communal and household strategies for addressing food security issues, and has highlighted the main problems encountered in the pursuit of food security on the local level. The specific objective was to conduct a broadly focused participatory problem diagnosis of the study areas in two districts Phonsay and Namo, in order to understand farmers’ problems, livelihood goals and how their perspectives on food security have changed, and to investigate food security in shifting cultivation systems in Luang Prabang andOudomxay provinces. Within these two provinces Phonsay and Namo districts were selected as the research areas. The two districts are the poorest districts in the Luang Prabang and Oudomxay provinces and two of ten priority poorest districts in the whole country. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for the study. The results of this study were reviewed against the sustainable land use systems strategy formulated from the Lao PDR policy. The study highlights both the benefits and stresses on household welfare, food insecurity conditions in the study areas, and interrelated problems of insufficient rice for household consumption. Finally based on these results the authors propose recommendations and future research indications.
文摘Agricultural expansion is one of the prime driving forces of global land cover change. Despite the increasing attention to the factors that cause it, the patterns and processes associated with indigenous cultivation systems are not well understood. This study analyzes agricultural change associated with subsistence-based indigenous production systems in the lower Pastaza River Basin in the Ecuadorian Amazon through a spatially explicit dynamic model. The model integrates multiple logistic regression and cellular automata to simulate agricultural expansion at a resolution consistent with small scale agriculture and deal with inherently spatial processes. Data on land use and cultivation practices were collected through remote sensing and field visits, and processed within a geographic information system framework. Results show that the probability of an area of becoming agriculture increases with population pressure, in the vicinity of existing cultivation plots, and proximity to the center of human settlements. The positive association between proximity to cultivation areas and the probability of the presence of agriculture clearly shows the spillover effect and spatial inertia carried by shifting cultivation practices. The model depicts an ideal shifting cultivation system, with a complete cropping-fallow-cropping cycle that shows how agricultural areas expand and contract across space and over time. The model produced relatively accurate spatial outputs, as shown by the results of a spatial comparison between the simulated landscapes and the actual one. The study helped understand local landscape dynamics associated with shifting cultivation systems and their implications for land management.
