40多年来塔南策勒绿洲动态变化研究

 利用策勒绿洲1956、1990和1998年3个不同时期的遥感数据（航片、TM和SPOT）进行配准、解译与分类处理,比较分析绿洲40多年来的动态变化,并从自然和人为因素两个方面探讨绿洲变化的原因。结果表明,从1956年到1998年策勒绿洲西北部的景观格局发生了显著变化,绿洲面积增加了近20％;林地的分布明显改变;河道发生显著位移,据实地调查大约向北移动400 m。对1990年TM与1998年SPOT分类数据,用FRAGSTATS软件计算景观格局指数并比较分析,发现研究区的绿洲、绿洲 荒漠交错带、荒漠和沙丘4种景观类型发生了明显的变化。绿洲面积增加而斑块数减少了近一半;交错带面积减少而斑块数增加了35％;荒漠面积减少而斑块数增加了60％;沙丘面积基本没有变化但斑块数减少了20％。绿洲变化的总体趋势是人工绿洲的面积增大而绿洲 荒漠交错带的面积明显减少,同时整个绿洲的破碎度增加而连通性降低,绿洲的稳定性和自我调节的功能下降。     

黑河流域中游地区景观变化研究

使用GIS技术和景观结构分析软件FRAGSTATS,分析了黑河流域中游地区近20年间景观结构的变化。结果表明,该地区的各类景观元素在近20年间发生了十分复杂的结构变化和相互转换,但整体景观仍保持荒漠化与绿洲景观强烈分异的鲜明格局。人类有目的性的干扰活动改变了干旱区有限的水资源的分布与分配,加剧了本地区荒化进程与绿洲化进程的对立斗争,而绿洲与荒漠的交错地带是斗争的最敏感部位,香农多样性指数和香农均度指数的下降,充分证明人类对本地区景观改造程度的不断加强,其结果一方面显著提高了本地区的社会和经济效益,另一方面也导致了局部地区生态环境效益的下降,对本论文的研究方法和技术也进行了讨论。     

甘肃临泽绿洲景观的空间结构与生产特性

绿洲景观生态系统包括居民点,耕地,林地,草地,水域,岩漠,砾漠,沙漠,道路,水系10种景观组分;基质为耕地,成因类型为引入型;斑块包括居民点,林地,草地,水域,岩漠,砾漠,沙漠7种类型,成因类型可以分为3类;居民点,林地,耕地为引入型,岩漠,砾漠,沙漠为残留型,草地为环境淘汰型及残留型;廓道包括水系和道路2种类型,道路的廓道密度为水系的1.03倍,耕地以植物生产为主,在利用上应增加生产层次,发展动物生产,避免扩大面积,以维持景观生态系统的景观异质性和景观多样性,对于具有环境资源型和残留型成因特征的景观要素,适当减少生产层次,开发前植物生产,发挥水土涵养,旅游休闲,防风固沙的生态功能,有利于景观异质性与多样性的维持与稳定,对于以残留型为主的成因类型,利用上应发掘前植物生产的潜力,适当发展植物生产,可以避免景观结构的恶化。     

Macro-botanical evidence for plant use at Neolithic Çatalhöyük south-central Anatolia, Turkey

Analysis of charred plant macro-remains, including wood charcoals, cereals, seeds, tubers and fruits from the Neolithic site of ?atalh?yük has indicated complex patterns of plant resource use and exploitation in the Konya plain during the early Holocene. Evidence presented in this paper shows that settlement location was not dictated by proximity to high quality arable land and direct access to arboreal resources (firewood, timber, fruit producing species). A summary of the patterns observed in sample composition and species representation is outlined here together with preliminary interpretations of these results within their broader regional context. Received September 4, 2001 / Accepted April 9, 2002     

Effects of age and distance on the composition of mixed deciduous forest fragments in an agricultural landscape

Abstract. Forest patches in central Belgium were inventoried twice for the presence or absence of forest plant species to study the effects of age and distance on species composition. All forests in the study area were subdivided based on their land use history. To avoid effects of autocorrelated environmental characteristics on species composition, habitat homogeneity was indirectly investigated using a TWINSPAN classification of the vegetation data. Two major habitats (alluvial and non‐alluvial forests) were distinguished and analysed separately. Patterns of species composition were investigated at the landscape level using Mantel tests. Species composition similarity measures were calculated between all pairs of fragments based on the floristic data. A highly significant correlation was found between species composition similarity and inter‐patch distance. Difference in age, which we used as a measure for habitat quality, was less important in explaining species composition patterns. The effects of spatial configuration became significant when difference in age was accounted for, and a partial correlation was calculated between inter‐patch distance and species composition similarity. Different results were found for alluvial and non‐alluvial forest types. Alluvial forests were more influenced by the spatial configuration than the non‐alluvial. For the non‐alluvial forest type effects measured with the difference in age between forest fragments obscured the effects of inter‐patch distance. Based on our findings we suggest that species composition is not only internally generated, but external processes such as differential colonization caused by varying degrees of isolation may be of overriding importance.     

Introducing the vectorial Kappa: An index to quantify congruence between vectorial mosaics

This paper introduces the vectorial Kappa (κ_v) that one can utilize to assess congruence between two vectorial mosaics. The vectorial Kappa extends for vectorial mosaics the approach of the so-called Cohen's Kappa index, commonly used to compare raster mosaics. By comparing both approaches, we aim to demonstrate how efficient and convenient a vector-based congruence may be when working on vectorial mosaics.     

Selecting agri-environmental indicators for monitoring and assessment of environmental management in the example of landscape parks in Poland

The objective of this article is to assess the condition of and hazards to the natural environment in selected landscape parks in Poland with respect to the impact of agricultural management using the DPSIR method. Our proposed set of indicators, based on generally available and applicable data, shows at the local scale, in a simple way, the condition of functioning of the balance between the natural environment and agricultural management and it assesses the level of repair works in the context of the records of the environmental protection program. The highest negative impact of agricultural management in the areas studied is noticed in the soil environment as well as the contexts of biodiversity and landscape. On the other hand, the lowest influence of agricultural economy was noted in the cases of the atmosphere and hydrosphere. The results of the aggregated indicators also showed lower or higher dependencies between the coverage and the use of the area in landscape parks and the condition of particular elements of the environment and the landscape.     

Assessing sedimentological connectivity using WATEM/SEDEM model in a hilly and gully watershed of the Loess Plateau,China

Sedimentological connectivity is an important issue in soil erosion and sediment transport. Landscape patterns, in combination with the rainfall regime, are known to shape such sedimentological connectivity. The quantification of sedimentological connectivity provides a link between sediment delivery and landscape pattern. There are two categories of connectivity: structural connectivity, which describes the physical coupling of landscape units, and functional connectivity, which delineates the linkage among landscape elements maintained by material transport. To quantify sedimentological connectivity, both the physical coupling of, and material transfer between, the various landscape components need to be assessed. This study quantifies the sedimentological connectivity of a headwater catchment in the Loess Plateau of China using the soil erosion and sediment delivery model (WATEM/SEDEM). Based on the model, two indicators of connectivity were developed: the area of sedimentologically effective catchment area (SEA) that contributes sediment to the sinks, and the minimum sediment output of locations on the flow path that link sources and sinks. This approach effectively represents the annual status of catchment-scale sedimentological connectivity and, furthermore, the simple structure and readily available input data make it highly practicable. However, for larger river systems in which sediment transport between sources and sinks occur over longer time scales and larger spatial scales, we suggest different techniques for quantifying the sediment flux and parameters delineating the physical coupling of landscape units.     

Extending the Horizon of Homology Detection with Coevolution-based Structure Prediction

Traditional sequence analysis algorithms fail to identify distant homologies when they lie beyond a detection horizon. In this review, we discuss how co-evolution-based contact and distance prediction methods are pushing back this homology detection horizon, thereby yielding new functional insights and experimentally testable hypotheses. Based on correlated substitutions, these methods divine three-dimensional constraints among amino acids in protein sequences that were previously devoid of all annotated domains and repeats. The new algorithms discern hidden structure in an otherwise featureless sequence landscape. Their revelatory impact promises to be as profound as the use, by archaeologists, of ground-penetrating radar to discern long-hidden, subterranean structures. As examples of this, we describe how triplicated structures reflecting longin domains in MON1A-like proteins, or UVR-like repeats in DISC1, emerge from their predicted contact and distance maps. These methods also help to resolve structures that do not conform to a “beads-on-a-string” model of protein domains. In one such example, we describe CFAP298 whose ubiquitin-like domain was previously challenging to perceive owing to a large sequence insertion within it. More generally, the new algorithms permit an easier appreciation of domain families and folds whose evolution involved structural insertion or rearrangement. As we exemplify with α1-antitrypsin, coevolution-based predicted contacts may also yield insights into protein dynamics and conformational change. This new combination of structure prediction (using innovative co-evolution based methods) and homology inference (using more traditional sequence analysis approaches) shows great promise for bringing into view a sea of evolutionary relationships that had hitherto lain far beyond the horizon of homology detection.     

Determinants of Land Degradation and Fragmentation in Semiarid Vegetation at Landscape Scale

The objective of this paper was to investigate the sensitivity to degradation of semiarid plant communities in terms of plant cover and fragmentation, quantifying relationships between landscape characteristic (physical, socio-economical and historical) and vegetation degradation. The degradation of vegetation was measured as the degree of coverage of the two dominant vegetation types (i.e. tall arid brush and tall grass steppe), while fragmentation was measured as patch size and isolation. Data were obtained using GIS tools, and analyzed by logistic regression and linear multivariate regression. Results showed denser coverage at more elevated, gradual slopes that were not sea-oriented. Historical elements of the landscape had a significant effect on current natural vegetation. According to the fragmentation patterns, the vegetation is in fairly good condition (medium coverage had the largest patches but dense coverage was less isolated) but attention must be given to preserve vegetation, due to the relationships between fragmentation and human activities. Moreover, the protection plan under way in the area appeared to favour denser vegetation cover, while human activities had a measurable effect on vegetation degradation.