Urban indicators for UK butterflies

Most people live in urban environments and there is a need to produce abundance indices to assist policy and management of urban greenspaces and gardens. While regional indices are produced, with the exception of birds, studies of the differences between urban and rural areas are rare. We explore these differences for UK butterflies, with the intention to describe changes that are relevant to people living in urban areas, in order to better connect people with nature in support of conservation, provide a measure relevant to human well-being, and assess the biodiversity status of the urban environment.Transects walked under the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme are classified as urban or rural, using a classification for urban morphological zones. We use models from the Generalised Abundance Index family to produce urban and rural indices of relative abundance for UK butterfly species. Composite indices are constructed for various subsets of species. For univoltine and bivoltine species, where we are able to fit phenomenological models, we estimate measures of phenology and identify urban/rural differences. Trends in relative abundance over the period 1995–2014 are more negative in urban areas compared to rural areas for 25 out of 28 species. For the composite indices, all trends are negative, and they are significantly more negative for urban areas than for rural areas. Analysis of phenological parameters shows butterflies tend to emerge earlier in urban than in rural areas. In addition, some fly longer in urban than in rural areas, whereas in other cases the opposite is the case, and hypotheses are proposed to account for these features.Investigating new urban/rural indicators has revealed national declines that are stronger for urban areas. For continued monitoring, there is a need for an urban butterfly indicator, and for this to be evaluated and reported annually. We explain how this may be interpreted, and the relevance for other monitoring schemes. The results of this paper, including the phenological findings, shed new light on the potentially deleterious effects of urbanisation and climate change, which require suitable monitoring and reporting to support policy and management, for example of urban greenspaces and gardens.     

农户薪柴消费的理论模型及实证研究

农户薪柴消费变化对室内空气质量、农村生态环境建设影响重大,论文构建了山区农户薪柴消费的理论模型,以重庆市典型区1015份农户调查数据为例,运用Tobit模型分析了农户人均薪柴消费量的影响因素。研究表明:农户家庭能源消费中,商品能源和新能源的比重逐步增大,但薪柴依旧是农户普遍使用的能源类型,且消费量占总能源消费量的比重高;通过降低农业劳动力比重和提高非农工资水平两种途径,非农就业能显著降低农户人均薪柴消费量;家庭电器数量增多、其他收入(政府补贴、亲戚帮扶等)增加、及替代能源(液化气、沼气、煤炭等)可获得性增强也能显著降低农户人均薪柴消费量,而户主年龄大、人均牲畜数量多及房屋离集市距离远的农户家庭的人均薪柴消费量高。提出了加快薪柴替代的措施。     

从生态学的观点看城乡发展问题

阐述了城乡发展的意义,提出了城乡发展中所面临的人口、环境和资源等三大问题.为使城乡发展建立在科学的基础上,必须合理利用自然资源,保护生态环境,使得城乡生态系统的收支、结构和功能保持平衡,真正把城乡建成功能齐全、环境优美、生产发展和生活舒适的场所.     

多功能视角下的山区乡村空间功能分异特征及类型划分

以西部山区重庆乡村空间为研究对象,构建乡村空间多功能评价指标体系,将乡村空间多功能划分为农业生产功能、经济发展功能、生态保育功能、生态稳定性功能,社会保障居住家园功能五种子功能,采用熵权法定量核算2013年全市乡村空间功能值,运用GIS技术和Dagum基尼系数刻画重庆市不同地区乡村空间功能值地区差异特征,并划分了重庆市乡村空间多功能类型,研究结果表明:(1)山地型乡村地形复杂,景观类型多样,功能也极具多样性,研究区乡村空间除了生态稳定性功能外,其他各功能值具有显著的空间分异特征,有明显的空间集聚性。(2)Dagum基尼系数,是一种有效的技术方法,能够更为深入地刻画研究区乡村空间功能值地区间差异及区内差异特征。基尼系数测算及其分解结果显示,地区间差距是总体差距的主要来源,其贡献率都超过50%。(3)根据乡间空间多功能分布的差异性及山地乡村的特点和山区生态环境的脆弱性,将研究区乡村空间划分为农业生产-经济发展型,农业生产-人居生活型,人居生活-社会保障型,人居生活-经济发展型,水源涵养生态保育型,生态保育-经济发展型,生态保育-农业生产型,土壤保持生态保护型8种功能类型,能较好地体现地域特色,为科学健康的开发利用山地乡村空间土地资源提供有益借鉴,有利于区域协调可持续发展。     

三峡库区山区乡村功能多元化与坡耕地演变的耦合关系

探究快速城市化、工业化背景下,山区乡村功能多元化与坡耕地演变的耦合关系,对山区耕地保护和乡村可持续发展具有重要意义。从人地关系视角,构建了山区乡村功能多元化与坡耕地演变耦合关系测度模型,并以三峡库区奉节县为例,采用乡村功能评价、耦合协调度模型等方法,揭示其耦合关系及其驱动机制。结果表明:(1)奉节县各乡村功能均呈现发展的趋势,其中社会保障功能的发展最为明显,乡村功能综合指数呈现南北部增加、中部减少的特征,且南部增加幅度大于北部;(2)奉节县坡耕地占比呈现下降趋势,缓坡耕地减少最少,急陡坡耕地减少最多,呈现南部减少幅度小、北部减少幅度大的特征;(3)乡村功能多元化与缓坡耕地演变的耦合协调度呈下降的趋势,与陡坡耕地和急陡坡耕地的耦合协调度呈先降后升的趋势,其耦合响应类型可以归纳为可持续型、转型型、一致型和衰退型4种类型;(4)乡村功能多元化与坡耕地演变耦合变化主要受到自然、社会经济、政策等要素驱动,今后应当从发展生态农业、推行环境治理等方面来提高乡村功能发展与坡耕地利用之间的协调性。研究方法和研究结果可为其他山区坡耕地资源的优化利用、生态保护以及乡村可持续发展提供借鉴价值。     

城镇化过程中福建省山区县农村聚落景观格局变化特征

农村聚落是农村居民与其周围环境相互作用的现象与过程,是城乡二元关系发展的重要一环,科学评估山地型农村聚落景观时空变化及影响因素对山地城镇化发展具有重要意义。选取了城镇化迅速发展的福建省上杭县作为案例,使用2004年与2014年高分辨率遥感影像、DEM等数据,运用RS、GIS及Fragstats技术,定量分析了上杭县农村聚落景观变化过程、格局趋势。研究表明:(1)2004—2014年上杭县农村聚落数量出现大幅下降,空间分布态势并没有发生太大变化,主要集中在西部汀江水系与东北部,并有进一步加强的趋势,Voronoi模型Cv值结果表现出这一趋势,但最近邻分析结果却显示出2014年相对2004年略微分散。(2)Ripley's K函数显示山地型农村聚落集聚与分散存在尺度效应,65km以内都表现出集聚趋势,2004年在35km处出现最高集聚状态,2014年则在15km集聚达到最高之后出现缓慢下降,并且在30km尺度范围内集聚程度大于2004年。(3)坡度、水系与道路对山地型农村聚落有显著影响,坡度5°是最为关键的因素,10°是一个阈值,80%的农村聚落都分布在10°以内;67%以上的农村聚落分布在距河流湖泊2km范围内;交通对农村聚落影响愈发显著,98.28%聚落分布在交通道路500m范围,未来推进山地城镇化应更加重视交通的作用。(4)乡镇政府所在地中心村镇面积扩大了4.59倍,远高于一般聚落,是山地城镇化过程中景观变化最剧烈的地区,也是为来应重点发展的地区。研究可为山地型农村聚落建设、山地型城镇化村镇规划理论与决策提供一定借鉴。     

Living in the city: urban environments shape the evolution of a native annual plant

Urban environments are warmer, have higher levels of atmospheric CO₂ and have altered patterns of disturbance and precipitation than nearby rural areas. These differences can be important for plant growth and are likely to create distinct selective environments. We planted a common garden experiment with seeds collected from natural populations of the native annual plant Lepidium virginicum, growing in five urban and nearby rural areas in the northern United States to determine whether and how urban populations differ from those from surrounding rural areas. When grown in a common environment, plants grown from seeds collected from urban areas bolted sooner, grew larger, had fewer leaves, had an extended time between bolting and flowering, and produced more seeds than plants grown from seeds collected from rural areas. Interestingly, the rural populations exhibited larger phenotypic differences from one another than urban populations. Surprisingly, genomic data revealed that the majority of individuals in each of the urban populations were more closely related to individuals from other urban populations than they were to geographically proximate rural areas – the one exception being urban and rural populations from New York which were nearly identical. Taken together, our results suggest that selection in urban environments favors different traits than selection in rural environments and that these differences can drive adaptation and shape population structure.     

以生态景观构建乡村审美空间

乡村审美空间表层是非功利的,实质深层映射出人地关系本质的取向价值,是人地关系永久可持续发展问题。目前乡村研究多注重经济和土地利用,而以现实生态景观构建乡村审美空间还是有待于探讨的重要课题。近年来快速城市化发展,区域中的自然地理性质破坏对于乡村景观是致命的。立足地理生态环境架构乡村审美空间,分析乡村生态景观和审美空间对应的元素,以多尺度景观层面探寻表现在与之相映的景观空间形态结构、格局演化进程与机理响应,进而构建审美空间,组合形成现实的美丽景观体系。将生态文明和社会发展要求安排在景观空间格局配置的中,形成保持整体环境的景观网络。使得风景美的概念渗透在于城镇、乡村以至农田等更广阔的领域,从而建设具有风景画境界的"美丽乡村"。     

Non‐linearities in bird responses across urbanization gradients: A meta‐analysis

Urbanization is one of the most extreme forms of environmental alteration, posing a major threat to biodiversity. We studied the effects of urbanization on avian communities via a systematic review using hierarchical and categorical meta‐analyses. Altogether, we found 42 observations from 37 case studies for species richness and 23 observations from 20 case studies for abundance. Urbanization had an overall strong negative effect on bird species richness, whereas abundance increased marginally with urbanization. There was no evidence that city size played a role in influencing the relationship between urbanization and either species richness or abundance. Studies that examined long gradients (i.e. from urban to rural) were more likely to detect negative urbanization effects on species richness than studies that considered short gradients (i.e. urban vs. suburban or urban vs. rural areas). In contrast, we found little evidence that the effect of urbanization on abundance was influenced by gradient length. Effects of urbanization on species richness were more negative for studies including public green spaces (parks and other amenity areas) in the sampled landscapes. In contrast, studies performed solely in the urban matrix (i.e. no green spaces) revealed a strong positive effect on bird abundance. When performing subset analyses on urban–suburban, suburban–rural and suburban–natural comparisons, species richness decreased from natural to urban areas, but with a stronger decrease at the urban–suburban interface, whereas bird abundance showed a clear intermediate peak along the urban–rural gradient although abundance in natural areas was comparable to that in suburban areas. This suggests that species loss happens especially at the urban–suburban interface, and that the highest abundances occur in suburban areas compared to urban or rural areas. Thus, our study shows the importance of suburban areas, where the majority of birds occur with fairly high species richness.     

Focus: Health Equity: Differences Risk Factors for Hypertension Among Elderly Woman in Rural and Urban Indonesia

Introduction: Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. A high prevalence of hypertension is found in elderly women. Rural areas have different characteristics from urban areas. Therefore, it is necessary to identify risk factors for hypertension in rural and urban elderly women for optimal therapy management. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in rural (Banyuwangi district) and urban (Surabaya city) areas, East Java, Indonesia. The study was carried out in 2015-2016 in women aged ≥45 years, residing in an area for ≥10 years, and willing to collect urine for 24 hours. Respondents consisted of 54 older adults from rural areas and 51 older adults from urban areas who actively participate in the integrated healthcare center for the elderly. The independent t-test and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Results: The prevalence of hypertension in the rural area was 27.8% and in the urban area was 37.25%. The risk factors for hypertension in the urban area were urine sodium level (AOR=1.02, 95% CI=1.001-1.04, p-value=0.043), urine potassium level (AOR=0.88, 95% CI=0.78-0.999, p-value=0.022), and Body Mass Index (AOR=1.26, 95% CI=1.06-1.49, p-value=0.008). Meanwhile, the factor associated with hypertension in the rural area was age (AOR=1.08, 95% CI=1.003-1.16, p-value=0.042). Conclusion: The prevalence of hypertension in the urban area was higher than in the rural area. There were differences in risk factors for hypertension that occurred both in rural and urban areas. However, risk factors in both areas are equally important to overcome. Collaboration from multiple stakeholders and sectors is urgently needed, such as the Public Health Center, Integrated Assistance Post for Non-Communicable Diseases, and the local health office.     

Do protected areas in urban and rural landscapes differ in species diversity?

Previous studies from Central Europe and North America showed that species richness is higher in urban than in rural landscapes. Do protected areas, which can be found in both city and countryside, reflect this species richness pattern? The impact of urban land-use might reduce conservation success and necessitate special management strategies. We compared species richness and species spatial turnover of selected animal and plant taxa (carabids, butterflies, snails, birds, lichens, mosses, vascular plants) in 30 protected areas in the city of Halle and 56 protected areas in the adjacent rural district of Saalkreis (Central Germany). Species were mapped by experienced biologists within a systematic species inventory. We corrected species numbers for the effects of landscape structure (e.g. size, shape and distance of habitats) which might influence species diversity beyond urbanisation effects. Butterflies, birds and lichens had significantly higher species numbers in the rural protected areas. Species spatial turnover was higher among urban areas than among rural areas or pairs of urban and rural areas for most taxa. Diversity in all taxa depended on the size of a protected area. We discussed these patterns in the context of the general urban-rural species diversity patterns. Our results indicate an increasing isolation of species assemblages with urbanisation and highlight that space for protected areas is even more limited in urban than rural areas. An effective conservation of urban species diversity should include both typical urban and semi-natural habitats to cover the full range of species living in cities.     

基于RS与GIS的农村居民点空间变化特征与景观格局影响研究

农村居民点作为乡村地域空间人口聚居形态,是乡村聚落景观重要组成部分,其空间布局、演变特征受自然、社会、经济多重因素的影响。利用都江堰市2005年和2010年两期遥感影像提取农村居民点、坡度、道路、河流等矢量数据,借助RS、GIS空间分析技术,定量研究都江堰市农村居民点的空间变化过程、格局和趋势,并选取景观格局指数对影响农村居民点布局特征的因素进行深入分析。结果表明:(1)2005年和2010年都江堰市农村居民点的空间分布总体上均表现出显著的聚集趋势,2010年农村居民点的聚集程度要比2005年高,但居民点集聚的空间态势没有发生明显变化,仍然集中在都江堰市的东南部;(2)坡度、道路和河流对都江堰市农村居民点的布局有显著影响,其中超过80%的居民点分布在0—10°坡度范围内,超过50%的居民点分布在道路500 m范围内,近60%居民点分布在河流1000 m范围内;(3)农村居民点空间布局除了受地形因素影响外,还与国家级风景名胜区、世界文化遗产区等保护政策,农村土地综合整治和灾后重建等规划因素密切相关。该研究以期为农村居民点动态变化监测、农村土地整理效果评价、新农村规划等理论和实践提供重要决策参考和技术支撑。     

贵州典型峰丛洼地区域近50年村落演变规律及驱动机制

揭示当前多种因素驱动下聚落演变模式与功能转型的地域差异具有重要意义。通过长时间序列的高清影像数据,研究典型峰丛洼地区不同自然和社会经济条件下,近50年来,尤其最近10年乡村聚落在多重背景下的演变模式、内在机制,及其地域差异。结果发现:(1)研究区聚落分布分部主要受耕地、地形和道路的影响,聚落面积增长热点和聚落斑块增长热点的耦合关系存在区域差异;(2)聚落格局演变存在集聚与均匀分布两种趋势;(3)研究区聚落特征和演变的阶段性地域差异十分明显;(4)喀斯特山区聚落的规模变化、演变阶段和演变模式既存在一些共同性的特征,又有各自的差异性;(5)外部因素和聚落农户的自我调适是演化的主要驱动力。     

Market Integration, Livelihood Transitions and Environmental Change in Areas of Low Agricultural Productivity: A Case Study from Morocco

Rural areas of the developing world have become increasingly integrated into the world economy through both production and consumption during the last decades. This growing integration shapes the development of communities and influences their relationship to the natural environment. Where livelihoods are constrained by resource limitations and the productivity of labor in farm activities is low, it may result in a shift to nonfarm activities, which may under some conditions improve wellbeing and relieve pressure on natural resources. The possibility of such a “win-win” development pathway has important implications for development and environmental policy. In this article we use original qualitative and quantitative data to examine environmental and social changes during the last half century in a rural area of Morocco, seeking evidence of such a pathway. While our case study supports the hypothesis that nonfarm diversification in a context of resource scarcity allowed people to improve their material living conditions, the effects of economic integration and nonfarm diversification on the environment were mixed.     

Degradation of rural and urban great tit song: testing transmission efficiency

Acoustic signals play a fundamental role in avian territory defence and mate attraction. Several studies have now shown that spectral properties of bird song differ between urban and rural environments. Previously this has been attributed to competition for acoustic space as a result of low-frequency noise present in cities. However, the physical structure of urban areas may have a contributory effect. Here we investigate the sound degradation properties of woodland and city environments using both urban and rural great tit song. We show that although urban surroundings caused significantly less degradation to both songs, the transmission efficiency of rural song compared to urban song was significantly lower in the city. While differences between the two songs in woodland were generally minimal, some measures of the transmission efficiency of rural song were significantly lower than those of urban song, suggesting additional benefits to singing rural songs in this setting. In an attempt to create artificial urban song, we mimicked the increase in minimum frequency found several times previously in urban song. However, this did not replicate the same transmission properties as true urban song, suggesting changes in other song characteristics, such as temporal adjustments, are needed to further increase transmission of an avian signal in the city. We suggest that the structure of the acoustic environment, in addition to the background noise, plays an important role in signal adaptation.     

如何在北京充分实现受胁鸟类栖息地保护?

实现有效生物多样性保护的关键在于提升生物多样性丰富的人口密集区的保护效率。北京人口密集且生物多样性丰富, 存在3类具有生态保护功能的区划——自然保护区、生态保护红线和限制建设线。上述区域可视为生态保护潜力区。本文以在北京有分布的30种受胁鸟类为主要对象, 探讨现有生态保护潜力区对这些物种栖息地的覆盖程度, 并对如何改善上述受胁鸟类栖息地的保护状况进行了建议。根据物种对栖息地的选择, 基于高分辨率卫星解译的土地利用类型图, 利用最大熵模型(MaxEnt)掩膜栖息地分布图, 得到各受胁鸟类的预测空间分布。叠加这些分布获得北京受胁鸟类丰富度分布格局并进行验证。依据物种丰富度高低, 将受胁鸟类栖息地划分为一至四级(最重要的栖息地是一级栖息地, 以此类推)。同时, 依据地表覆盖类型和人类活动强度高低将北京市域划分为城市建成区、乡村生境区和自然生境区。分别计算3类保护潜力区对上述3类区域以及四级栖息地的覆盖面积比例。结果表明: (1) 95.64%的一级关键栖息地和86.32%的二级关键栖息地分布在乡村生境区, 但仅有0.69%和15.15%的乡村生境区分别被自然保护区和生态保护红线覆盖; (2)未受到自然保护区和生态保护红线覆盖的一、二级关键栖息地主要为水域和沼泽地等湿地、高覆盖度草地和部分耕地, 以及含有较高比例水体的大型城市绿地。基于以上结果, 我们建议至少在一定区域内试行如下保护措施: (1)严格保护湿地及其周边的高覆盖度草地, 确保面积不减少; (2)维持基本农田规模和粮食种植模式; (3)将乡村生境区位于河道附近的水域、沼泽地、高覆盖草地和灌木林纳入生态保护红线范围; (4)在公园绿地中划定生物多样性保护区; (5)优化平原地区林地结构。以上措施将使北京的受胁鸟类栖息地得到更好保护, 为中国东部人口密集区生物多样性保护提供示范。     

基于形态学空间格局和空间主成分的贵阳市中心城区生态网络构建

喀斯特多山地区,城市扩展过程中大量自然山体镶嵌入城,形成具有多种生态系统服务功能的城市遗存自然山体。但在城市内部致密化发展过程中,这些城市遗存山体常被城市建设用地孤立和包围,形成人工干扰场中的生态孤岛。生态网络的构建既有利于城市遗存自然山体自然资源保护,又有助于丰富城市绿色基础设施生态系统服务功能。以喀斯特地区典型的多山城市——贵阳市行政区为研究对象,综合利用形态学空间格局分析法和景观连通性识别中心城区生态源地,基于主成分分析确定研究区综合阻力面,通过最小累积阻力模型、重力模型和水文分析等方法,识别并优化关键衔接廊道及节点,在中心城区行政区和建成区两个尺度构建研究区生态网络。结果表明：（1）行政区生态源地分布整体呈现"南北相望"的格局,建成区生态源地集中在中部;（2）研究区综合生态阻力高值主要集中在研究区中部,呈放射状向外扩散,综合生态阻力低值主要分布在研究区周边,以大型林地斑块为主;（3）行政区极重要、重要、一般廊道数分别为15、21、69,极重要廊道集中分布在北部,建成区极重要、重要、一般廊道数分别为37、113、227条,极重要廊道主要分布在建成区中部;（4）行政区和建成区一类生态节点分别为29、25个,二类生态节点33、17个。最终通过叠加行政区和建成区生态网络要素,形成贵阳市中心城区生态网络,研究结果能为贵阳市中心城区在未来用地空间上协调生态保护与城市发展提供科学合理的参考。     

贫困山区新型农村合作医疗的发展现状——以通道侗族自治县为例

目的：调查贫困山区新农合发展现状及存在问题。方法：采用问卷调查法和访谈法,从新农合参合人、基层实施者及管理者的角度调查通道侗族自治县新农合发展情况。结果：该县参合率逐年增高;新农合制度本身已获得了该县广大农民及基层医务人员肯定及认可;基本实现了“小伤小病不出村,大病基本不出县”的就医格局。结论：该县新农合发展情况良好,但实施过程中还存在农民对政策了解不全面、筹资困难、监督制度不完善等问题。     

Rural-to-Urban Labor Migration,Household Livelihoods,and the Rural Environment in Chongqing Municipality,Southwest China

Rural migration and its relationship to the rural environment have attracted increasing research interest in recent decades. Rural migration constitutes a key component of human population movement, while rural areas contain most of the world’s natural resources such as land and forests. This study empirically evaluates a conceptual framework incorporating rural household livelihoods as an integrative mediating factor between rural migration and the rural environment in the context of rural-to-urban labor migration in Chongqing Municipality, Southwest China. The analysis draws on data collected through household surveys and key informant interviews from four villages. Results confirm the hypothesis that labor-migrant and non-labor-migrant households differ significantly in livelihood activities including agricultural production, agricultural technology use, income and consumption, and resource use and management. Implications for the subsequent environmental outcomes of rural labor out-migration and corresponding natural resource management and policy in rural origin areas are discussed.     

家燕营巢特征及其对城市环境的适应性

城市面积在全球范围内迅速扩张,一些鸟类种群通过改变营巢特征,在与自然生境截然不同的城市中筑巢繁殖。但目前城市环境对于鸟类营巢影响的研究较缺乏。为了解鸟类营巢对城市环境的适应,于2016、2019年在黑龙江哈尔滨的城市与乡村环境,分别测量家燕（Hirundo rustica）巢（如,大小及形状）及巢址特征等（如,距地面和屋顶距离）参数,以探究：（1）家燕巢特征在乡村及城市生境是否存在差异？（2）家燕巢特征在年际间是否存在变化？并为城市家燕种群的保护提供理论依据及合理建议。研究采用Kruskal-Wallis秩和检验以及Wilcoxon秩和检验比较分析所测量的巢特征参数在城乡之间、年际间的差异,并对组间参数进行线性判别分析（LDA,Linear Discriminant Analysis）。结果发现,城乡间具有显著差异：（1）与乡村相比,城市巢距离屋顶更远,距地相对更近（P<0.05）;（2）城市巢更浅（P<0.05）;（3）从2016到2019年,城市和乡村巢都变得更深,半径更大（P<0.05）。根据这些发现,推测城市楼房建筑的楼道为家燕繁殖提供了相对更为封闭、安全的环境,旧巢及较为丰富的支撑物为家燕提供了适宜的巢址,有可能节省亲鸟在营巢上的繁殖投入;但同时应当警惕门窗关闭、资源受限、人为干扰等不利因素可能造成的生态陷阱。