Prehispanic colonization of the Valley of Oaxaca,Mexico

A decade ago in a seminal monograph, Anne Kirkby proposed a model of colonization for the prehispanic Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, in which settlement location was determined by the distribution of prime agricultural land. The model was tested against the corpus of known prehispanic settlements and tentative support was found. In the years since this study, a systematic archeological settlement pattern project was completed, making a more adequate test of the model possible. Reexamination of the colonization process suggests that, although agricultural considerations were important, they were less determinant of settlement location than had been implied previously. The adoption of a broader perspective toward regional colonization is suggested.     

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。     

临汾—运城盆地以水为线索的传统地域景观特征和发展启示

临汾—运城盆地是中国最早的农、盐业生产区之一,形成了具有代表性的传统地域景观。研究利用地方志、相关水利、农业等历史信息和现代考证成果,结合历史舆图和1968年卫星航拍图,以水为线索归纳其地域景观特征和营建智慧,为传承地域景观、缓解区域城镇化问题和指导未来相关规划编制提供启示。临汾—运城盆地的传统地域景观主要包括引泉、引河灌溉等引水工程主导的区域景观格局和与自然相适应的聚落防洪排涝景观体系,未来规划设计可以重点从4个方面开展：1）利用传统引水工程骨架构建区域景观格局,发挥新的城镇复合生态系统服务功能;2）开展水生态关键区域的精明保护、修复和关键资源的人文复兴;3）延续传统聚落防洪工程智慧,结合现代工程技术构建与自然相适应的城镇防洪系统;4）传承城镇水利系统、公共环境和人文空间相复合的传统,实现城镇环境品质提升。     

Effects of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers on local vegetation in a non-uniform glacio-isostatic land uplift area, northern Sweden

The oldest early Mesolithic settlements found so far (i.e. 8600 b.p.) in the interior of northern Sweden, in the province of Norrbotten, have been discovered through the application of a model simulating glacio-isostatic land uplift. The objective of this study was to investigate, through pollen and charred particle analyses, vegetation composition and the influence of man on vegetation and fire pattern in the vicinity of two of these early settlements. Early Holocene vegetation was characterised by Betula, Hippophaë and Salix-species, but no initial impact by hunter-gatherers on vegetation was detected. Subsequently Betula and Pinus became dominant but abrupt changes in the tree layer followed, Poaceae, Hippophaë and Salix-species increased, and Humulus occurred. These changes, which were synchronous with dates of archaeological findings at the settlements, indicated local vegetation changes caused by man. The relationship between these changes and fire was, however, subtle. Eventually Pinus forests became dominant and human impact on vegetation became less apparent. It is concluded that the impact of early Mesolithic hunter-gatherers on vegetation was detectable, but that their effect on fire pattern was difficult to evaluate. Further, we show that the glacio-isostatic land uplift must be considered in the search for Mesolithic settlements in areas previously covered by the Weichselian Ice, and that the process has influenced the biological archives through re-deposition of material.     

Polish Lebensraum: the colonial ambition to expand on racial terms

Lebensraum – the space a state believes is required for its natural expansion – has a pivotal role in the global expansion projects. Whenever this concept is discussed, it is almost exclusively reduced to the Imperial Russia’s domination of less-stately countries in Central and Eastern Europe; the British exploration and colonization of territories in Africa and Asia; the French settlements in parts of the Caribbean Islands and Africa; the German experimentation in South-West Africa, and the Dutch seaborne competing with the Spanish and Portuguese’s expansionism. Study related to Poland’s attempted acquisition of colonial territories outside Europe is rarely discussed. Drawing on the activities of the Polish Colonial Society, this article contends that the building blocks of colonization were not confined solely to European imperial powers. As colonization forged ahead in the twentieth century, Poland seemed to be the country where colonialism played a significant role in both national and transnational politics.     

基于景观可达性的广州市林地边界动态分析

林地边界是景观边界中一种特殊类型,受综合因素的影响而呈现动态变化,其发生位移的位置和方向能清晰地反映出该地段的土地利用过程和强度。通过对广州市1985年、1995年和2007年的土地利用数据进行分析,基于市内主要公路的分布进行景观可达性分区,提取林地边界并根据边界性质进行分类分析,着重研究了林地边界的动态变化特征。结果表明,研究时段内广州市林地面积相对稳定,而林地斑块数量和林地边界总长度持续增加,林地呈现出边界复杂化和景观破碎化的趋势。广州市林地的邻接景观以耕地为绝对优势的局面因建设用地和水域的增加而打破,表现为林地与耕地邻接边界长度迅速减少,而林地与水域、林地与建设用地邻接边界显著增加。从1985年到2007年,林地与耕地邻接边界的减少速度随着与主要公路距离的增加而变缓;林地与建设用地邻接边界增速最快的区域逐渐远离主要公路;林地与水域邻接边界更多分布于主要公路1km以外的区域,且随着时间推移逐渐靠近主干道路。     

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。     

基于“二类调查”的三峡库区重点生态恢复县森林资源空间特征的遥感分析

以高分辨率SPOT-5影像为基础数据源,结合1∶1万地形图计算地形位综合指数,利用ArcGIS的空间叠加和缓冲分析功能,识别三峡库区重点生态恢复县不同地形位与不同道路、水体和聚落缓冲半径下的林地分布特征.结果表明： 研究区林地资源总量丰富,且以乔木林和灌木林地为主,受地形制约和林地自然基础影响,林地主要分布在“两山”(方斗山、七曜山)区;林地地形位分布指数随地形位梯度的增大而呈整体上升趋势,乔木林和灌木林地表现尤为明显,其他林地类型则相反;不同缓冲半径内林地面积占缓冲范围面积的比例在道路、水体和聚落周围随缓冲半径的变化,与林地地形位分布指数有很强的相似性;不同缓冲半径内各林地类型占样区相应林地面积的比例仅在聚落周围呈现竹林、疏林地和未成林造林地高于乔木林和灌木林地;样区林地分布首先受以山地为特征的大地貌格局所左右,而不同地形位以及不同道路、水体和聚落缓冲半径下的林地分布则主要受大地貌格局主导下样区人为活动的胁迫所驱动.     

The importance of small-scale structures in an agriculturally dominated landscape for the European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) in central Europe and implications for its conservation

The European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) is a threatened and elusive species that was previously considered to be forest-bound in central Europe. For the first time, we caught and radio-collared wildcats outside heavily forested habitats to investigate their habitat utilization pattern. We used a generalized linear modelling framework to test our hypotheses that sex and season influence habitat selection in addition to habitat variables. Our results reveal a gender difference in habitat selection: Females were more restricted to areal shelter habitats and avoided the areas near roads more than did males. Males used more linear shelter habitats such as watercourses or hedges and avoided the proximity to settlements more than did females. The probability of wildcat occurrence far from shelter habitats was higher in summer than in winter, probably due to high coverage and shelter provided by crops. The same pattern applied to the proximity to roads. We concluded that shelter habitats are one of the key factors for the occurrence of wildcats in agriculturally dominated landscapes. We recommend a management strategy that enhances structural heterogeneity in the agricultural landscape by conserving small-scale structures such as copses, hedges and wide field margins. Other species, such as the gray-partridge (Perdix perdix) and the common quail (Coturnix corturnix), can also benefit from these habitat recommendations. Additionally, this management strategy simultaneously creates habitat connectivity.     

Patterns of Land Cover Change in and Around Madidi National Park, Bolivia

This study examines how human land uses and biophysical factors serve as predictors of land cover change in and around Madidi National Park in Bolivia. The Greater Madidi Landscape ranges over an elevational gradient from < 200 m in the Amazon basin to 6000 m in the high Andes, contains more than ten major ecosystem types, and several protected areas and sustainable use zones. In this study, Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite images collected over the study area at the beginning of the 1990s and then the 2000s were classified according to broad land cover types. Below elevations of 3000 m, the landscape experienced equal rates of deforestation and secondary forest increases of approximately 0.63 percent annually, resulting in no significant net change. Below elevations of 1000 m, however, we found an annual net loss in forest cover of 0.11 percent. Across the landscape, land cover change was most likely to occur near areas previously deforested, near roads and population centers, and at low elevations. We found net deforestation rates to be inversely related to strength of natural resource protection laws in protected areas and other jurisdictions. Results suggest little net change for the landscape as a whole, but that local scale changes may be significant, particularly near roads. Management policies favorable for biodiversity conservation in this landscape should limit the building of new roads and immigration to biologically sensitive areas and continue to support protected areas, which are achieving a positive result for forest conservation.     

The structure and development of a somatotopic map in crickets: The cercal afferent projection

A group of club-shaped sensilla called clavate hairs, located on the cercus of crickets (Acheta domesticus), are part of a specialized sensory system which monitors the orientation of a cricket with respect to the earth's gravitational field. The clavate hairs occur in rows which run proximodistally on the medial aspect of the cercus and each hair can be identified by specifying which row a hair is in and what position it is in within the row. The array of hairs is constant from individual to individual, and thus each hair can be identified in each specimen. The soma of a single bipolar sensory neuron is located in the integument below each hair; its dendrite projects into the hair and its axon projects to a well-defined area of the abdominal ganglion called the cercal glomerulus. All of the neurons within a row project to a particular area of the cercal glomerulus and different rows project to different areas within the glomerulus. Within a row neurons project to slightly different parts of the target area for that row. Thus a highly ordered projection pattern is produced which is tentatively called somatotopic. The development of the first clavate neuron to appear was examined from the first instar to the adult instar. The terminal arborization of this first hair was in no way unusual and its growth paralleled ganglion growth, maintaining a relatively constant position with respect to ganglion coordinates. A second clavate neuron behaved similarly, its arborization was fully formed when the receptor first appeared in the third instar and merely enlarged as the ganglion grew.     

Ecology, Resource Redistribution, and Mormon Settlement in Northeastern Arizona

Successful Mormon colonization of the American West has largely been attributed to the adaptive advantage of cooperative Mormon values. This article shows that successful Mormon colonization of the Little Colorado River Basin had an ultimate ecological basis: the redistribution of surplus resources among settlements situated in dispersed and functionally independent local environments. Two systems of resource redistribution among 19th-century Little Colorado Mormon settlements are examined, showing that ecological considerations explain their differential success as adaptive mechanisms contributing to the success of this local colonization effort. The article concludes by suggesting that general ecology provides a useful theoretical framework for explaining successful Mormon colonization in this region and elsewhere.     

基于景观生态安全格局的低丘缓坡土地资源开发利用——以四川省泸县为例

低丘缓坡土地资源开发是缓解人地矛盾、优化土地配置的有效途径。以四川省泸县为例,首先界定了低丘缓坡土地资源的范围,提取低丘缓坡土地资源面积共计331.71km~2。然后基于Arc GIS空间分析模块,以生态用地保护为目的,选取土地覆盖类型与地形坡度为阻力因子,应用最小累计阻力模型建立泸县景观生态安全格局。通过与泸县低丘缓坡土地资源现状的叠加分析,对位于不同景观安全水平的低丘缓坡土地资源进行分类,将低丘缓坡土地资源分为优先开发型、适度开发型、限制开发型、禁止开发型4种类型,其面积分别为108.72、97.03、68.36、57.60km~2,并分析各类型特征,提出了相应的低丘缓坡土地资源开发利用规划,旨在为研究区生态安全策略以及低丘缓坡土地资源的合理开发与利用等提供科学参考。     

Road building, land use and climate change: prospects for environmental governance in the Amazon

Some coupled land-climate models predict a dieback of Amazon forest during the twenty-first century due to climate change, but human land use in the region has already reduced the forest cover. The causation behind land use is complex, and includes economic, institutional, political and demographic factors. Pre-eminent among these factors is road building, which facilitates human access to natural resources that beget forest fragmentation. While official government road projects have received considerable attention, unofficial road building by interest groups is expanding more rapidly, especially where official roads are being paved, yielding highly fragmented forest mosaics. Effective governance of natural resources in the Amazon requires a combination of state oversight and community participation in a 'hybrid' model of governance. The MAP Initiative in the southwestern Amazon provides an example of an innovative hybrid approach to environmental governance. It embodies a polycentric structure that includes government agencies, NGOs, universities and communities in a planning process that links scientific data to public deliberations in order to mitigate the effects of new infrastructure and climate change.     

Roads Alter the Colonization Dynamics of a Keystone Herbivore in Neotropical Savannas1

Roads can facilitate the establishment and spread of both native and exotic species. Nevertheless, the precise mechanisms facilitating this expansion are rarely known. We tested the hypothesis that dirt roads are favorable landing and nest initiation sites for founding‐queens of the leaf‐cutter ant Atta laevigata. For 2 yr, we compared the number of attempts to found new nests (colonization attempts) in dirt roads and the adjacent vegetation in a reserve of cerrado (tree‐dominated savanna) in southeastern Brazil. The number of colonization attempts in roads was 5 to 10 times greater than in the adjacent vegetation. Experimental transplants indicate that founding‐queens are more likely to establish a nest on bare soil than on soil covered with leaf‐litter, but the amount of litter covering the ground did not fully explain the preference of queens for dirt roads. Queens that landed on roads were at higher risk of predation by beetles and ants than those that landed in the adjacent vegetation. Nevertheless, greater predation in roads was not sufficient to offset the greater number of colonization attempts in this habitat. As a consequence, significantly more new colonies were established in roads than in the adjacent vegetation. Our results suggest that disturbance caused by the opening of roads could result in an increased Atta abundance in protected areas of the Brazilian Cerrado.     

Lessons from community-based payment for ecosystem service schemes: from forests to rangelands

Climate finance investments and international policy are driving new community-based projects incorporating payments for ecosystem services (PES) to simultaneously store carbon and generate livelihood benefits. Most community-based PES (CB-PES) research focuses on forest areas. Rangelands, which store globally significant quantities of carbon and support many of the world''s poor, have seen little CB-PES research attention, despite benefitting from several decades of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) projects. Lessons from CBNRM suggest institutional considerations are vital in underpinning the design and implementation of successful community projects. This study uses documentary analysis to explore the institutional characteristics of three African community-based forest projects that seek to deliver carbon-storage and poverty-reduction benefits. Strong existing local institutions, clear land tenure, community control over land management decision-making and up-front, flexible payment schemes are found to be vital. Additionally, we undertake a global review of rangeland CBNRM literature and identify that alongside the lessons learned from forest projects, rangeland CB-PES project design requires specific consideration of project boundaries, benefit distribution, capacity building for community monitoring of carbon storage together with awareness-raising using decision-support tools to display the benefits of carbon-friendly land management. We highlight that institutional analyses must be undertaken alongside improved scientific studies of the carbon cycle to enable links to payment schemes, and for them to contribute to poverty alleviation in rangelands.     

Brown bear habitat selection in relation to anthropogenic structures in the Bieszczady Mountains,Poland

In Europe, brown bear Ursus arctos habitats frequently overlap with human settlements and infrastructure. We tested whether anthropogenic structures played an important role in habitat selection by brown bears in the Bieszczady Mountains, Poland. We analysed 668 signs of brown bear presence recorded during 6 counts along 246 km of transects (total 1,476 km) in spring, summer and autumn of 1993 and 1994. Habitat selection of bears was more related to habitat and altitude than to human factors. Avoidance of roads, settlements and forest clearings influenced habitat selection by brown bears in spring but less in summer and autumn.     

Domesticating Imperialism: Sexual Politics and the Archaeology of Empire

ABSTRACT  The archaeology of empire is permeated by sexual narratives. This has been especially true of archaeological research on the Spanish Americas, where the material remains of colonial settlements have often been interpreted as products of a literal and figurative marriage between two cultures. However, investigating colonization as a consensual domestic arrangement has masked the ways in which imperial projects relied on the exercise of power, including sexual regulations and sexual coercion. Recent archaeological and ethnohistoric research at the Spanish-colonial military settlement of El Presidio de San Francisco affords a different perspective, one in which the public and institutional exercise of sexual control was central to the imperial project.     

Livestock Settlement Dynamics in Drylands: Model application in the Monte desert (Mendoza,Argentina)

Human settlements in arid environments are becoming widespread due to population growth, and without planning, they may alter vegetation and ecosystem processes, compromising sustainability. We hypothesize that in an arid region of the central Monte desert (Mendoza, Argentina), surface and groundwater availability are the primary factors controlling livestock settlements establishment and success as productive units, which affect patterns of degradation in the landscape. To evaluate this hypothesis we simulated settlement dynamics using a Monte Carlo based model of Settlement Dynamics in Drylands (SeDD), which calculates probabilities on a gridded region based on six environmental factors: groundwater depth, vegetation type, proximity to rivers, paved road, old river beds, and existing settlements. A parameter sweep, including millions of simulations, was run to identify the most relevant factors controlling settlements. Results indicate that distances to rivers and the presence of old river beds are critical to explain the current distribution of settlements, while vegetation, paved roads, and water table depth were not as relevant to explain settlement distribution. Far from surface water sources, most settlements were established at random, suggesting that pressures to settle in unfavorable places control settlement dynamics in those isolated areas. The simulated vegetation, which considers degradation around livestock settlements, generally matched the spatial distribution of remotely sensed vegetation classes, although with a higher cover of extreme vegetation classes. The model could be a useful tool to evaluate effects of land use changes, such as water provision or changes on river flows, on settlement distribution and vegetation degradation in arid environments.