ABSTRACT Protected area systems (PAs) have the potential to conserve natural resources and provide social and economic benefits to local communities. Establishing and maintaining good governance and associated mechanisms is necessary for adaptive management of PAs. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the relationships between various stakeholders and the effectiveness of PA governance of Mt. Marsabit forest ecosystem in Kenya. We used social network analysis (SNA) to assess the interactions between actors, and factor analysis to analyze the effectiveness of governance criteria. Governance of Mt. Marsabit forest ecosystem was complex with a multiplicity of stakeholders from diverse interests. Governance was moderately effective (61%) with positive indicators including the regulatory framework, delineation of areas under conservation, and reduction in poaching. The low level of interactions and associations among stakeholders suggest a weakness in the networks that may negatively affect the flow of information and other resources. This weakness was attributed to a lack of institutionalization of the links leading to poor coordination of processes. Local communities were inadequately represented in the governance of this PA despite being important actors. Our study finds that local ownership and strong linkages between actors are important ingredients for effective governance of PAs. 相似文献
According to fixed-position data for 1985–2003 from nine runoff plots of Caijiachuan watershed which lies in Jixian County
of Shanxi Province in Loess area, this paper studied the relationship between vegetation and runoff and sediment production
in sloping lands in detail, which helps to provide scientific basis for vegetation re-construction and studies on environmental
transformation of water and sediment in watersheds of Loess area. Although, many study results testify that forest vegetation
has an important function in soil and water conservation and cutting runoff, the effect of vegetation on runoff and sediment
transmission is complicated, and this needs to be studied in depth. The results of the paper showed the following. Firstly,
the natural secondary forest performs better function of soil and water conservation than artificial Robinia pseudoacacia forest, and runoff and sediment produced in the former in individual rainfall were 65%–82% and 23%–92% of those produced
in the latter. At the same time, better correlative relationship between runoff and sediment production and rainfall and rainfall
intensity were testified by multiple regression, but the correlation decreased gradually with the increase of canopy density
of forest. Secondly, the difference of runoff and sediment production in several land use types was very distinct, and the
amount of runoff and sediment produced from Ostryopsis davidiana forest and natural secondary forest were the least, and runoff and sediment produced from in artificial Robinia pseudoacacia forest and Pinus tabulaeformis forest were 5-fold as much as those from O. davidiana forest. Besides, runoff and sediment produced in mixed planting of apple trees and crops were 16.14-fold and 2.96-fold than
those of O. davidiana forest, respectively, but the amount decreased obviously after high-standard soil preparation in the case of the former.
Thirdly, based on gray cognate analyses of factors affecting runoff and sediment production in sloping land, the factors of
stand canopy density and herb and litter biomass were the most significant ones, whose gray incidence degree exceeded 0.6.
Therefore, mixed forest with multi-layer stand structure and shrub forest should be developed in vegetation re-construction
of Loess area, which will help to increase coverage and litter thickness in order to cut down the runoff and sediment dramatically
in sloping land.
__________
Translated from Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 2005, 16(9): 1,613–1,617 [译自: 应用生态学报, 2005, 16(9): 1,613–1,617] 相似文献
Total foliage dry mass and leaf area at the canopy hierarchical level of needle, shoot, branch and crown were measured in 48 trees harvested from a 14-year-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation, six growing seasons after thinning and fertilization treatments.
In the unthinned treatment, upper crown needles were heavier and had more leaf area than lower crown needles. Branch- and crown-level leaf area of the thinned trees increased 91 and 109%, respectively, and whole-crown foliage biomass doubled. The increased crown leaf area was a result of more live branches and foliated shoots and larger branch sizes in the thinned treatment. Branch leaf area increased with increasing crown depth from the top to the mid-crown and decreased towards the base of the crown. Thinning stimulated foliage growth chiefly in the lower crown. At the same crown depth in the lower crown, branch leaf area was greater in the thinned treatment than in the unthinned treatment. Maximum leaf area per branch was located nearly 3–4 m below the top of the crown in the unthinned treatment and 4–5 m in the thinned treatment. Leaf area of the thinned-treatment trees increased 70% in the upper crown and 130% in the lower crown. Fertilization enhanced needle size and leaf area in the upper crown, but had no effect on leaf area and other variables at the shoot, branch and crown level. We conclude that the thinning-induced increase in light penetration within the canopy leads to increased branch size and crown leaf area. However, the branch and crown attributes have little response to fertilization and its interaction with thinning. 相似文献
