Designating a greenbelt around the city of Riga, Latvia

Latvian legislation demands that forest protection belts are established around all cities and towns. The main goal of a protection belt is to provide suitable opportunities for recreation to urban dwellers and to minimise any negative impacts caused by urban areas on the surrounding environment. Legislation states the main principles to be adopted, which include the maximum area of protection belts, their integration in territorial development plans and restrictions placed on forest management activities. The largest part of the forest area around Riga is owned by the municipality of Riga, which, as a result, has two competing interests: to satisfy the recreational needs of the inhabitants of Riga, and to maximise the income from its property. In order to compile sufficient background information to solve this problem, the Board of Forests of Riga Municipality initiated the preparation of a proposal for the designation of a new protection belt.The proposal was based on the development and application of a theoretical framework developed during the 1980s. The analysis of the recreational value of the forest (5 classes of attractiveness) was carried out based on categories of forest type, dominant tree species, dominant age, stand density, distance from urban areas and the presence of attractive objects. Information was derived from forest inventory databases, digital forest maps and topographic maps. Additional information was digitised and processed using ArcView GIS 3.2. Local foresters were asked about the recreation factors unique to different locations, such as the number of visitors and the main recreation activities. From a recreational point of view and taking into account legal restrictions and development plans for the Riga region, it was proposed to create three types of zones in the forest: a protection belt, visually sensitive areas and non-restricted areas.     

The influence of sampling scheme and interpolation method on the power to detect spatial effects of forest birds in Ontario (Canada)

Spatial ecology is becoming an increasingly important component of resource management, and the general monitoring of how human activities affect the distribution and abundance of wildlife. Yet most work on the reliability of sampling strategies is based on a non-spatial analysis of variance paradigm, and little work has been done assessing the power of alternative spatial methods for creating reliable maps of animal abundance. Such a map forms a critical response variable for multiple scale studies relating landscape structure to biotic function. The power to reconstruct patterns of distribution and abundance is influenced by sample placement strategy and density, the nature of spatial auto-correlation among points, and by the technique used to extrapolate points into an animal abundance map. Faced with uncertainty concerning the influence of these factors, we chose to first synthesize a model reference system of known properties and then evaluate the relative performance of alternative sampling and mapping procedures using it. We used published habitat associations of tree nesting boreal neo-tropical birds, a classified habitat map from the Manitou Lakes area of northwestern Ontario, and point count means and variances determined from field studies in boreal Canada to create 4 simulated models of avian abundance to function as reference maps. Four point sampling strategies were evaluated by 4 spatial mapping methods. We found mixed-cluster sampling to be an effective point sampling strategy, particularly when high habitat fragmentation was avoided by restricting samples to habitat patches >10 ha in size. We also found that of the 4 mapping methods, only stratified ordinary point kriging (OPK) was able to generate maps that reproduced an embedded landscape-scale spatial effect that reduced nesting bird abundance in areas of higher forest age-class fragmentation. Global OPK was effective only for detecting broader, regional-scale differences. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

吉林省荒地资源生态适宜性评价

本文从吉林省荒地资源的实际出发 ,在荒地资源生态适宜性评价基本理论的指导下 ,采用地理信息系统方法 ,对吉林省荒地资源进行了生态适宜性评价。通过空间数据和属性数据的融合、分析、处理 ,可以直观获得荒地资源的生态适宜度等级 ,从而提高评价效率 ,为荒地资源的合理开发利用提供科学依据。     

内蒙古地区提高天然降水利用率实用技术及其评价

本文针对内蒙古地区水资源短缺 ,旱灾发生频繁的现状及天然降水利用效率不高的特点 ,结合国内外现有的科研与技术成果 ,根据地处干旱、半干旱地区内蒙古的气候特点 ,提出提高天然降水利用率的各种实用技术方法。并利用地理信息技术 ,根据各种实用技术方法的指标要求 ,结合内蒙古的地形、坡度状况、土壤类型和气象条件 ,在雨养农业区进行实用技术方法的优化分区 ,区划出适宜区域。     

Evaluation of resistance to Phytophthora cinnamomi in seed-grown trees and clonal lines of Eucalyptus marginata inoculated in lateral branches and roots

Seed-grown trees and six clonal lines of 3·5–4·5-year-old Eucalyptus marginata (jarrah) growing in a rehabilitated bauxite mine site in the jarrah forest were underbark-inoculated on lateral branches (1995) or simultaneously on lateral branches and lateral roots (1996) with isolates of Phytophthora cinnamomi in late autumn. Individual seedlings from which the clonal lines were derived had previously been assessed as either resistant (RR) or susceptible (SS) to P. cinnamomi . At harvest, the acropetal lesion and colonization lengths were measured. Overall, the length of colonization in roots and branches was more consistent as a measure of resistance than lesion length, because colonization length recorded the recovery of P. cinnamomi from macroscopically symptomless tissue ahead of the lesion which, on some occasions, was up to 6 cm. In both trials, one RR clonal line was able to contain the P. cinnamomi isolates consistently, as determined by small lesion and colonization lengths in branches and roots. In contrast, the remaining two RR clonal lines used in both trials were no different from the SS line in their ability to contain lesions or colonization. These latter two RR lines may therefore not be suitable for use in rehabilitation of P. cinnamomi -infested areas. Differences in lesion and colonization lengths among P. cinnamomi isolates occurred only in the 1995 trial. Colonization and lesion lengths in branches were up to eight times greater in 1996 than in 1995, but the relative rankings of clonal lines were consistent between trials. Although colonization was always greater in branches than roots, the relative rankings of the lines were similar between branch and root inoculations. Branch inoculations are a valid option for testing the resistance and susceptibility of young jarrah trees to P. cinnamomi .     

额尔齐斯河流域生态系统格局及变化

本文首先对额尔齐斯河流域气候，地貌，水文等环境因子特征进行了评述，进而阐述了流域生态系统的特征和格局以及在自然和人为干扰作用下的变化。分析结果表明在自然干扰作用下流域生态系统的格局与流域水文情势变化相适应，处于准稳定变化状态，而在人为对流域水文情势扰动下，流域生态系统的格局间接地受到影响。从而产生新的格局，其作用的强度，持久性和生态系统的格局变化程度过错大于大于自然干扰作用下的变化。引额调水工程对额尔齐斯河流域河谷生态系统内部单元格局变化具有重要影响。     

陕甘宁老区脆弱生态环境定量评价——以榆林、延安两市为例

位于黄土高原中部的陕甘宁老区生态环境极为脆弱 ,近年来由于气候、人类开发资源等自然和人为原因 ,使生态环境的脆弱程度升高。选定年降水量、年均温、蒸发量等 8个指标 ,定量评价各县 1 970 - 2 0 0 0年的脆弱度状况 ,结果表明榆林、延安两市生态环境整体脆弱 ,脆弱度存在空间差异但差异不明显 ,时间段上的波动幅度不大。陕甘宁老区脆弱生态环境具有不稳定性 ,对外界干扰较敏感。     

朱砂叶螨对两种杀螨剂的抗性遗传力及风险评估

在室内抗性培育的基础上,应用数量遗传学中的域性状分析法研究了朱砂叶螨对甲氰菊酯和阿维菌素两种杀螨剂的抗性现实遗传力,并对两种药剂在不同杀死率下,朱砂叶螨抗性发展的速率进行了预测。结果表明,用甲氰菊酯、阿维菌素分别连续汰选16、18代后,朱砂叶螨对两者的抗性分别为28.61和4.36倍,抗性现实遗传力分别为0.2685和0.1385。在室内选择条件下,杀死率为50％～90％时,要获得10倍抗性,甲氰菊酯需要约13～6代,阿维菌素需要约28～13代。生物源农药阿维菌素的抗性风险明显低于菊酯类药剂甲氰菊酯。试验结果为朱砂叶螨抗性治理提供了理论依据。     

Integrated Pest Management in Cocoa Agroforests in Southern Cameroon: Constraints and Overview

Imports of pesticides have long been subsidised for use in the cocoa agroforests of the humid forest zone of southern Cameroon. With the liberalisation of the cocoa and pesticides sectors and the devaluation of the local currency (CFA franc), farmers are facing fluctuations in the price paid for cocoa and the high cost of farm inputs. Without the support of the extension services, they themselves have developed traditional integrated control methods based on the use of plant extracts mixed with conventional pesticides. From a survey of 300 cocoa farmers, the study assesses the farmers' command of these methods, the pests controlled, the problems encountered and the institutional constraints in the definition and dissemination of integrated control methods. The study concludes with recommendations for research and development towards the better definition and dissemination of integrated control methods. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.