Mapping Tension: Remote Sensing and the Production of a Statewide Land Cover Map

This article examines the process by which remotely sensed land cover maps work to both simplify and complicate landscapes. The central argument is not merely that the construction of land cover maps is complex, but that the points of complexity often arise through the process of trying to simplify. In other words, the forces of complexity are intimately connected to the forces of simplicity and vice versa. This article takes as a case study the production of WISCLAND, (Wisconsin Initiative for Statewide Cooperation on Landscape Analysis and Data), a statewide land cover map of Wisconsin derived from remote sensing data and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) technologies and proceeds by analysis of mapping methodology, practice, and representation. In addition to the development of a more nuanced critique of the use of land cover maps, it facilitates the possibility for a constructive dialogue between remote sensing practitioners and the critical GIS community.     

基于高分辨率卫星遥感影像的2003-2009年崂山自然保护区景观格局动态变化分析

崂山自然保护区是我国同纬度地区植物种类最多、植物区系成分最复杂的地带,也是迁徙候鸟的重要中转站和栖息地。本文基于崂山自然保护区2003年和2009年的高分辨率卫星遥感影像进行生态系统分类,开展景观格局动态变化分析。研究发现：2003年到2009年间,针阔混交林和旱地的面积呈减少趋势,而居住地、工业用地和交通用地等与人类活动关系密切的景观类型则增加;整体而言,生态系统类型并没有增加,景观内部各斑块类型面积分配比例趋向均衡,其中核心区基本保持不变,而缓冲区和实验区景观内部各斑块破碎化程度加重,趋向小块离散分布;缓冲区和实验区的农田转化为居住地、工业用地和交通用地,其中实验区变化最为剧烈,主要受人为驱动力影响,实验区长期处于无监管状态,是其剧烈变化的最主要原因。     

Fire, People and Pixels: Linking Social Science and Remote Sensing to Understand Underlying Causes and Impacts of Fires in Indonesia

This study in the wake of 1990s fire catastrophes identifies and analyzes underlying causes of vegetation fires in eight locations across Borneo and Sumatra. Multidisciplinary and multiscale analysis integrates geospatial technologies with varied social research approaches and participatory mapping. It helps fill a void of site-specific evidence on diverse underlying causes of the Indonesian fires, despite emerging consensus on macrolevel causes and impacts, and policy debates on preventing future fire disasters. Our most important findings include confirmation of multiple direct and underlying fire causes at each of the eight locations, no single dominant fire cause at any site, and wide differences in fire causes among sites. Conclusions emphasize the importance of location specific studies within a regional analytical context. Our “hybrid” research methods demonstrate the explanatory power of integrating geospatial and social analysis techniques, and the benefits of analyzing fire causes and impacts at multiple scales in varied locations across diverse regions.     

Remote sensing of larch phenological cycle and analysis of relationships with climate in the Alpine region

This research aims at developing a remote sensing technique for monitoring the interannual variability of the European larch phenological cycle in the Alpine region of Aosta Valley (Northern Italy) and to evaluate its relationships with climatic factors. Phenological field observations were conducted in eight test sites from 2005 to 2007 to determine the dates of completion of different phenological phases. MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) 250 m 16‐days normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series were fitted with double logistic curves and the dates corresponding to different features of the curves were determined. Comparison with field data showed that the features of the fitted NDVI curve that allowed the best estimate of the start and end of the growing season were the zeroes of its third derivative (MAE of 6 and 4 days, respectively). The start and end of season were also estimated with the spring warming (SW) and growing season index (GSI) phenological models. MODIS start and end of season dates generally agreed with those obtained by the SW and GSI climate‐driven phenological models. However, phenological models provided erroneous results when applied in years with anomalous meteorological conditions. The relationships between interannual variability of the larch phenological cycle and climate were investigated by comparing the mean start and end of season yearly anomalies with air temperature anomalies. A strong linear relationship (R²=0.91) was found between mean spring temperatures and mean start of season dates, with an increase of 1 °C in mean spring temperature leading to a 7‐day anticipation of mean larch bud‐burst date. Leaf coloring dates were found to be best related with mean September temperature (R²=0.77), but with higher spring temperatures appearing to lead to earlier leaf coloring.     

"And This Is How You Shall Ask": Linguistics, Anthropology, and Education in the Work of David Smith

This article celebrates the life and work of David M. Smith, former Council on Anthropology and Education president and founder of the University of Pennsylania Ethnography in Education Research Forum, tracing his contributions to the fields of linguistics, anthropology, and education through the dual lens of his ten research principles and Walt Whitman's life advice. David Smith's pioneering efforts helped push disciplinary boundaries and generate innovations in sociolinguistics, pidgin and creole linguistics, ethnography and education, sociocultural studies of literacy, and Indigenous studies.     

Multiple Methods in the Study of Driving Forces of Land Use and Land Cover Change: A Case Study of SE Kajiado District,Kenya

This landscape-scale study combines analysis of multitemporal satellite imagery spanning 30 years and information from field studies extending over 25 years to assess the extent and causes of land use and land cover change in the Loitokitok area, southeast Kajiado District, Kenya. Rain fed and irrigated agriculture, livestock herding, and wildlife and tourism have all experienced rapid change in their structure, extent, and interactions over the past 30 years in response to a variety of economic, cultural, political, institutional, and demographic processes. Land use patterns and processes are explored through a complementary application of interpretation of satellite imagery and case study analysis that explicitly addresses the local–national spatial scale over a time frame appropriate to the identification of fundamental causal processes. The results illustrate that this combination provides an effective basis for describing and explaining patterns of land use and land cover change and their root causes.     

Integrating Social Science into the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network: Social Dimensions of Ecological Change and Ecological Dimensions of Social Change

The integration of the social sciences into long-term ecological research is an urgent priority. To address this need, a group of social, earth, and life scientists associated with the National Science Foundations (NSF) Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network have articulated a conceptual framework for understanding the human dimensions of ecological change for the LTER Network. This framework explicitly advocates that what is often divided into natural and human systems be considered a single, complex social-ecological system (SES). In this paper, we propose a list of core social science research areas, concepts, and questions; identify the need for multiscale investigatory frameworks crucial for implementing integrated research; and suggest practical approaches for integration. In sum, this paper is a general outline for empirical and cross-site research projects where investigators agree that bringing together social, biological, and earth scientists can lead to synthetic approaches and a unified understanding of the mechanisms regulating SES. Although the motivation for this goal is specific to the LTER Network and similar projects, we believe that the issues and ideas presented here are widely applicable to other interdisciplinary SES studies.     

Research in Turbulent Environments: Slums in Chennai,India and the Impact of the December 2004 Tsunami on an Ecohealth Project

On December 26, 2004, a tsunami struck coastal areas in the Bay of Bengal. Among the communities affected were Pallavan Nagar and Anju Kudasai slums in Chennai India. These communities have been collaborating, with some success, on a project to manage the urban environment for human health that employs an adaptive ecosystem approach framework, and is heavily influenced by participatory action research methodology. The tsunami resulted in loss of life, shelter, property and livelihoods in these communities. This profile presents an overview of the project, the two settlements, and the impact of the tsunami on the communities. This article also discusses the impact of the disaster on the direction and nature of the ecohealth project.     

利用I&和*m指标法对山东赤松种群空间分布格局纹理的研究

赤松 (Ｐｉｎｕｓｄｅｎｓｉｆｌｏｒａ)是重要的造林先锋树种 ,在我国主要分布于辽东半岛南部至江苏北部云台山之间的温带沿海地区 ,山东为其主要分布区。赤松林作为我国暖温带落叶阔叶林区域的温性针叶林类型 ,是山东最主要的针叶林 ,总面积达 2 .6 6 7×10 5ｈａ以上 ,木材蓄积量为 1.2× 10 6ｍ3 ,分别占全省森林总面积的 2 0 .19%及木材蓄积量的 14.4 9%。但自 2 0世纪 70年代以来 ,赤松受到“两虫”(松毛虫、松干蚧 )的严重危害 ,加上纯林太多和物种多样性指数低等原因 ,以至目前在山东难以找到大片的成年赤松林[1] 。为保护和发展这…     

On the reliability of a simple method for scoring phenotypes to estimate heritability: A case study with pupal color in Heliconius erato phyllis, Fabricius 1775 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae)

In this paper, two methods for assessing the degree of melanization of pupal exuviae from the butterfly Heliconius erato phyllis, Fabricius 1775 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Heliconiini) are compared. In the first method, which was qualitative, the exuviae were classified by scoring the degree of melanization, whereas in the second method, which was quantitative, the exuviae were classified by optical density followed by analysis with appropriate software. The heritability (h(2)) of the degree of melanization was estimated by regression and analysis of variance. The estimates of h (2) were similar with both methods, indicating that the qualitative method could be particularly suitable for field work. The low estimates obtained for heritability may have resulted from the small sample size (n = 7-18 broods, including the parents) or from the allocation-priority hypothesis in which pupal color would be a lower priority trait compared to morphological traits and adequate larval development.