Permafrost properties, patterns and processes in the Transantarctic Mountains region
Antarctique ; Distribution spatiale ; Mollisol ; Pergélisol ; Propriétés du sol ; Précipitation ; Périglaciaire ; Radiation ; Salinité ; Température ; Victoria Land ; Zone froide
Active layer ; Antarctica ; Cold area ; Periglacial features ; Permafrost ; Precipitation ; Radiation ; Salinity ; Soil properties ; Spatial distribution ; Temperature
The properties, distribution patterns and thermal processes that influence the active layer and permafrost in the Transantarctic Mountains region of Antarctica, as deduced from soil investigation since 1964 and drilling investigations since 1990
, are outlined. The AA. describe the variation in permafrost properties and associated patterns of distribution at both macro- and micro-scales and discuss factors that influence the thermal characteristics of permafrost in the Transantarctic Mountains region.
Land use change and its corresponding ecological responses : a review
Biodiversity ; China ; Ecology ; Impact ; Land use ; Model ; Soil properties ; Sustainable development ; Water quality
Providing a scientific understanding of the process of land use change, the impacts of different land use decisions, and the ways that decisions are affected by a changing environment and increasing ecological variability are the priority areas
for research : explanation of scale dependency of drivers of land use change; quantification of driving factors of land use change; incorporation of biophysical feedbacks in land use change models; and underlying processes and mechanisms of ecological impacts
Regional variability of volcanic ash soils in south Ecuador : the relation with parent material, climate and land use
Agricultural land use ; Andes ; Ecuador ; High mountain ; Organic materials ; Soil ; Soil properties ; Spatial variation ; Volcanic soil
In this high Andes region, the land use changes affect particularly the páramo. The AA. analyse the regional variability of the soils in the south Ecuadorian rio Paute basin. Data from soil profiles along north-south transects are used to determine
the soil properties, and to relate the spatial variability of these properties to the major trends in parent material, volcanic ash deposits and climate. The impact of human activities on the soil properties is assessed in a case study in the Machangara
valley. Data from 5 profiles, located in an area with natural grass vegetation are compared with 4 profiles in a heavily disturbed, intensively drained cultivated area. Despite the intensity of the land use, very few significant differences are found.
State policies, markets, land-use practices, and common property : fifty years of change in a Yunnan village, China
Agricultural practice ; Agriculture ; China ; Land clearing ; Land tenure ; Land use ; Mountain ; Shifting cultivation ; Village ; Yunnan
Air photographs for 1965, 1981, and 1992, semistructured interviews and other methods are used to assess changes in land cover, land-tenure, and market structure. Authors found that new nature reserve increased forest cover, but also placed more
pressure on remaining land, leading to land degradation. Growth in market for cash crops has led to more sustainable land use practices, but has been associated with various dire consequences for the ordinary villager. - (SLD)
Fixed assets or sunk costs ? An examination of retailers' land and property investment in the United Kingdom
Department store ; Economic cost ; Economic strategy ; Investment ; Location choice ; Real estate property ; Retail trade ; United Kingdom
The policy of leading multiple retailers with regard to property development, ownership, and investment is examined. The discussion is set in the context of recent work in which locational decisions and corporate strategy are related to the economic
concept of sunk costs. Policies to separate property ownership and management from the mainstream retail trading function appear to have been successfull, but some companies have lost money through overambitious programmes of property development. Sunk
Vegetation and land-use effects on soil properties and water infiltration of Andisols in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain)
Canary Islands ; Infiltration ; Land use ; Soil ; Soil properties ; Statistical analysis ; Vegetation ; Volcanic soil
This work aims to ascertain the influence of modifications to land use as well as vegetation cover on the steady-state infiltration rate and associated properties of Andisols on the volcanic island of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). Thirty two
analysis shows that the main soil properties affected by a change in land use/vegetation and which determine infiltration are soil aggregation, structural stability and, to a lesser extent, organic matter and bulk density. The results confirm
the vulnerability of Andisols' soil properties and infiltration to land use modification, while also highlighting the influence of the type of forest cover present.
sites were selected in 3 categories of land use/vegetation cover (green forest, pine forest and cropped areas). Infiltration is extremely rapid under green forest but falls considerably under pine forest and in formerly cropped soils. The statistical
The silent articulation of private land rights in Soviet Estonia : a geographical perspective
Estonia ; Ideology ; Land ; Land rights ; Landedproperty ; Landscape ; Landscape dynamics
landscape elements as memory-aids. To local inhabitants the landscape provided evidence in support of the idea of legal continuity of pre-Soviet land rights. The post-Soviet land restitution reform implied a re-discovery or re-expression of property rights
Drawing on cartographical analyses and interviews made in the rural district of Muhu, the paper demonstrates that people who owned land before the Soviet occupation kept track of the offically annulled pre-Soviet land rights, by relating to inertial
Flooding of property by runoff from agricultural land in northwestern Europe
Agricultural land use ; Agricultural practice ; Europe ; Inundation ; Land use ; Loess ; Northwestern Europe ; Runoff ; Soil erosion ; Soil properties
This paper addresses the reasons for the increase in flood damage to property, the scale of that damage and the responses to the flood hazard. The areas examined are South-Limburg (The Netherlands), the Pays de Caux (France), the area between
Magnetic properties of the urban soils in Shanghai and their environmental implications
China ; Comparative study ; Cultivated land ; Heavy minerals ; Magnetic susceptibility ; Pollution ; Shanghai ; Soil ; Soil pollution ; Soil properties
To evaluate the feasibility of using magnetic techniques for monitoring soil pollution in Shanghai, magnetic properties and heavy metals in the topsoils in an urban site (Songnan Town) and a less-urbanized agricultural site (Luojing Town) in Baoshan
Soil degradation and restoration as affected by land use change in the semiarid Bashang area, northern China
Agricultural practice ; China ; Cultivated land ; Erosion control ; Fallow land ; Hebei ; Land use ; Semi-arid area ; Soil degradation ; Soil erosion
progressively cultivated, and subsequently, part of cultivated lands had been abandoned by farmers due to severe desertification. The objectives of this study are to identify changes in soil properties following 8, 30, and 50 years of grassland cultivation
relative to natural grassland; to evaluate effects of land abandonment in a 1- to 50-year chronosequence on soil properties and vegetation establishment in Bashang area of northern China.
The Bashang area located in the semiarid agropastoral zone, represents a typical degraded ecosystem under intensified human activities. This region has undergone profound land use changes during the past century. Natural grasslands had been
Indigenous political and property rights and economic/environmental reform in northwest Siberia
Asian part of Russia ; Economic reform ; Energy resources ; Environmental conservation ; Minority ; Natural gas ; Property right ; Regional economy ; West Siberia
Changes affecting land tenure relationships and traditional economies of northern peoples as a result of oil and gas development. Particular emphasis is placed on the Yamal Peninsula, where economic transition, natural gas extraction, and pipeline
construction are disrupting operations based on seasonal migration within sovhhozy. Several variants for the transfer of land rights from state farm ownership to private entities.