农用地分等因素法与样地法比较——以重庆市九龙坡区为例

以重庆市九龙坡区为例,对农用地分等中的因素法和样地法及其结果进行了比较。结果表明:①虽然两种分等方法在分等原理、计算方法等方面不同,但是其分等结果在等别面积和空间一致性方面差异较小;②因素法分等较复杂,不利于技术人员理解和掌握;③样地法分等简便易行,易于掌握,但建立跨区域的因素指标体系方法还不成熟。     

Application of day and night digital photographs for estimating maize biophysical characteristics

In this study, an inexpensive camera-observation system called the Crop Phenology Recording System (CPRS), which consists of a standard digital color camera (RGB cam) and a modified near-infrared (NIR) digital camera (NIR cam), was applied to estimate green leaf area index (LAI), total LAI, green leaf biomass and total dry biomass of stalks and leaves of maize. The CPRS was installed for the 2009 growing season over a rainfed maize field at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Agricultural Research and Development Center near Mead, NE, USA. The vegetation indices called Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index (VARI) and two green–red–blue (2g–r–b) were calculated from day-time RGB images taken by the standard commercially-available camera. The other vegetation index called Night-time Relative Brightness Index in NIR (NRBI_NIR) was calculated from night-time flash NIR images taken by the modified digital camera on which a NIR band-pass filter was attached. Sampling inspections were conducted to measure bio-physical parameters of maize in the same experimental field. The vegetation indices were compared with the biophysical parameters for a whole growing season. The VARI was found to accurately estimate green LAI (R² = 0.99) and green leaf biomass (R² = 0.98), as well as track seasonal changes in maize green vegetation fraction. The 2g–r–b was able to accurately estimate total LAI (R² = 0.97). The NRBI_NIR showed the highest accuracy in estimation of the total dry biomass weight of the stalks and leaves (R² = 0.99). The results show that the camera-observation system has potential for the remote assessment of maize biophysical parameters at low cost.     

Spatially Explicit Representation of State-and-Transition Models

The broad-scale assessment of natural resource conditions (e.g., rangeland health, restoration needs) requires knowledge of their spatial distribution. We argue that creating a database that links state-and-transition models (STMs) to spatial units is a valuable management tool for structuring ground-based observations, management planning for landscapes, and for housing information on the responses of land areas to management actions. To address this need, we introduce a multifactor classification system based on ecological sites and STMs that is directly linked to recent concepts of vegetation dynamics in rangelands. We describe how this classification was used as a basis for creating a spatial database and maps of ecological states. We provide an example of how the classification and mapping has been applied in over 1.2 million ha of public rangelands in southern New Mexico using aerial photo interpretation supplemented with existing inventory data and rapid field assessments. The resulting state map has been used by the Bureau of Land Management: 1) to design landscape-level shrub control efforts, 2) to structure and report district-wide rangeland health assessments, and 3) to evaluate locations for energy development. We conclude by discussing options for the development of state maps and their current limitations, including the use of satellite imagery and concepts for defining states. We argue that cataloging ecological states in a spatial context has clear benefits for rangeland managers because it connects STM concepts to specific land areas. State mapping provides a means to generate and store spatially explicit data resulting from tests of the propositions in STMs and conservation practices.     

Nutritional Value of Guajillo as a Component of Male White-Tailed Deer Diets

Guajillo (Acacia berlandieri Benth.) is considered a medium- to high-quality forage for both wild and domestic ruminants. However, studies have shown that guajillo contains phenolic amines and alkaloids, and condensed tannins, which may cause toxicosis and reduced fertility, intake, and nutrient digestibility. To examine the nutritional value of guajillo to white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann) more thoroughly, we present a comparison of mixed diets of 0%, 25%, 50%, and 75% guajillo in male white-tailed deer. Four in vivo metabolism trials were completed with each diet. Dry matter intake and change in body mass did not differ among diets. Gross and digestible energy intakes did not differ among diets, whereas metabolizable energy intake decreased with increased dietary guajillo concentration. Nitrogen balance and digestibility decreased with increased dietary guajillo concentration. Urinary glucuronic acid excretion increased linearly with increased dietary guajillo concentration. Nitrogen requirements for body growth and antler development were met by diets containing < 60% guajillo, whereas energy requirements for maintenance and antler growth were met with diets containing < 20% guajillo. Therefore, concentrations of dietary guajillo < 20% will support the maintenance of white-tailed deer. The primary function of guajillo may be to facilitate maintenance of adult deer, which have fewer obligatory productive processes than young deer, during periods of drought.     

Soil degradation and mitigation in agricultural lands in the Indian Anthropocene

Current widespread and intensive soil degradation in India has been driven by unprecedented levels of population growth, large-scale industrialization, high-yield agriculture, urban sprawl and the spread of human infrastructure. The damage caused to managed and natural systems by soil degradation threatens livelihoods and local services and leads to national socio-economic disruption. Human-induced soil degradation results from land clearing and deforestation, inappropriate agricultural practices, improper management of industrial effluents and wastes, careless management of forests, surface mining, urban sprawl, and ill-planned commercial and industrial development. Of these, inappropriate agricultural practices, including excessive tillage and use of heavy machinery, over-grazing, excessive and unbalanced use of inorganic fertilizers, poor irrigation and water management techniques, pesticide overuse, inadequate crop residue and/or organic carbon inputs, and poor crop cycle planning, account for nearly 40% (121 Mha) of land degradation across India. Globally, human activities related to agriculture contribute to the transgression of four of the nine Planetary Boundaries proposed by Rockström et al. (2009): Climate Change, Biodiversity Integrity, Land-system Change, and altered Phosphorus and Nitrogen Biogeochemical Flows. This review focuses on how knowledge of soil processes in agriculture has developed in India over the past 10 years, and the potential of soil science to meet the objectives of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger (End hunger, achieve food security, improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture), using the context of the four most relevant Planetary Boundaries as a framework. Solutions to mitigate soil degradation and improve soil health in different regions using conservation agricultural approaches have been proposed. Thus, in this review we (1) summarize the outputs of recent innovative research in India that has explored the impacts of soil degradation on four Planetary Boundaries (Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss, Land-system Change, and altered Biogeochemical Flows of Phosphorus and Nitrogen) and vice-versa; and (2) identify the knowledge gaps that require urgent attention to inform developing soil science research agendas in India, to advise policy makers, and to support those whose livelihoods rely on the land.     

Arbuscular mycorrhizal association of indigenous agroforestry tree species and their infective potential with maize in the rift valley, Ethiopia

Tree species in agroforestry are important source of inoculum for companion agricultural crops. Agroforestry trees can serve as a source of Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) inoculants to intercropped annuals. We studied spore abundance, root colonization of Albizia gummifera (J.F. Gmel.) and Croton macrostachyus (Hochst Ex Del.) trees and their effect on colonization of maize. Soil and root samples were collected from field standing trees from under and outside the canopy of trees and maize crops in the main rainy season. The number of spore count was significantly higher under the canopy of A. gummifera (791/100 g of dry soil) and C. macrostachyus (877/100 g of dry soil) trees than outside the canopy (547 and 588/100 g of dry soil, respectively). The level of root colonization of C. macrostachyus (45 %) was higher than A. gummifera (41 %). Root colonization of maize crops grown under the canopy of A. gummifera and C. macrostachyus trees was significantly higher than outside the canopy (P < 0.001). Maize seedlings grown on non-sterilized soils collected under and outside the canopy of A. gummifera and C. macrostachyus trees recorded higher root colonization, plant height, shoot and root dry weight than grown on sterilized soils (P < 0.001). The percentage of AM colonized roots of Zea mays seedlings was significantly positively correlated with the number of spore counts for field soils. The rhizospheres of indigenous agroforestry perennial species are important source of inoculum for annuals. The integration of perennials and annuals in an agroforestry system enhances the maintenance of soil quality in the tropics.     

Conservation Program Participation and Adaptive Rangeland Decision-Making

This paper analyzes rancher participation in conservation programs in the context of a social-ecological framework for adaptive rangeland decision-making. We argue that conservation programs are best understood as one of many strategies of adaptively managing rangelands in ways that sustain livelihoods and ecosystem services. The framework hypothesizes four categories of variables affecting conservation program participation: operation/operator characteristics, time horizon, social network connections, and social values. Based on a mail survey of California ranchers, multinomial logit models are used to estimate the impact of these variables on different levels of rancher involvement in conservation programs. The findings suggest that ranchers with larger amounts of land, an orientation towards the future, and who are opinion leaders with access to conservation information, are more likely to participate in conservation programs.     

Does Kochia prostrata Spread From Seeded Sites? An Evaluation From Southwestern Idaho,USA

Purposeful introductions of exotic species for rehabilitation efforts following wildfire are common on rangelands in the western United States, though ecological impacts of exotic species in novel environments are often poorly understood. One such introduced species, Kochia prostrata (L.) Schrad (forage kochia) has been seeded on over 200 000 ha throughout the Intermountain West to provide fuel breaks and forage, and to compete with invasive plants. Despite its potential benefits, K. prostrata has been reported to spread from some seeded areas, and no studies have addressed its potential interactions with native species. A systematic investigation is needed to increase understanding of the extent to which K. prostrata spreads from seeded areas, the environmental conditions under which it spreads, and its interactions with the associated plant communities. We sampled 28 K. prostrata postfire rehabilitation and greenstrip seedings in southwestern Idaho, which ranged from 3 to 24 yr since seeding. We analyzed cover of K. prostrata and the associated plant community in adjacent seeded and unseeded areas, and quantified extent of spread from seeded areas. Abundance of K. prostrata was negatively associated with that of most plant functional groups, including native species, but was positively associated with abundance of exotic annual forbs. Kochia prostrata spread to unseeded areas on 89% of sampled sites; distances of the farthest individual from the seeding boundary were greater than those previously reported, ranging from 0 to 710 m, with a mean distance of 208 m. Further, although the area covered by K. prostrata increased with time since seeding, we found no evidence that plant community composition affected spread of K. prostrata. Results contribute to current understanding of potential ecological implications of seeding K. prostrata and will enhance the ability of land managers to make scientifically based management decisions about its use.     

Greater Sage-Grouse and Severe Winter Conditions: Identifying Habitat for Conservation

Developing sustainable rangeland management strategies requires solution-driven research that addresses ecological issues within the context of regionally important socioeconomic concerns. A key sustainability issue in many regions of the world is conserving habitat that buffers animal populations from climatic variability, including seasonal deviation from long-term precipitation or temperature averages, and that can establish an ecological bottleneck by which the landscape-level availability of critical resources becomes limited. We integrated methods to collect landscape-level animal occurrence data during severe winter conditions with estimation and validation of a resource selection function, with the larger goal of developing spatially explicit guidance for rangeland habitat conservation. The investigation involved greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) that occupy a landscape that is undergoing human modification for development of energy resources. We refined spatial predictions by exploring how reductions in the availability of sagebrush (as a consequence of increasing snow depth) may affect patterns of predicted occurrence. Occurrence of sage-grouse reflected landscape-level selection for big sagebrush, taller shrubs, and favorable thermal conditions and avoidance of bare ground and anthropogenic features. Refinement of spatial predictions showed that important severe winter habitat was distributed patchily and was constrained in spatial extent (7–18% of the landscape). The mapping tools we developed offer spatially explicit guidance for planning human activity in ways that are compatible with sustaining habitat that functions disproportionately in population persistence relative to its spatial extent or frequency of use. Increasingly, place-based, quantitative investigations that aim to develop solutions to landscape sustainability issues will be needed to keep pace with human-modification of rangeland and uncertainty associated with global climate change and its effects on animal populations.     

Simulating Current Successional Trajectories in Sagebrush Ecosystems With Multiple Disturbances Using a State-and-Transition Modeling Framework

Disturbances and their interactions play major roles in sagebrush (Artemisia spp. L.) community dynamics. Although impacts of some disturbances, most notably fire, have been quantified at the landscape level, some have been ignored and rarely are interactions between disturbances evaluated. We developed conceptual state-and-transition models for each of two broad sagebrush groups—a warm-dry group characterized by Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. subsp. wyomingensis Beetle & Young) communities and a cool-moist group characterized by mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. subsp. vaseyana [Rydb.] Beetle) communities. We used the Vegetation Dynamics Development Tool to explore how the abundance of community phases and states in each conceptual model might be affected by fire, insect outbreak, drought, snow mold, voles, sudden drops in winter temperatures (freeze-kill), livestock grazing, juniper (Juniperus occidentalis var. occidentalis Hook.) expansion, nonnative annual grasses such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.), and vegetation treatments. Changes in fuel continuity and loading resulted in average fire rotations of 12 yr in the warm-dry sagebrush group and 81 yr in the cool-moist sagebrush group. Model results in the warm-dry sagebrush group indicated postfire seeding success alone was not sufficient to limit the area of cheatgrass domination. The frequency of episodes of very high utilization by domestic livestock during severe drought was a key influence on community phase abundance in our models. In the cool-moist sagebrush group, model results indicated at least 10% of the juniper expansion area should be treated annually to keep juniper in check. Regardless, juniper seedlings and saplings would remain abundant.