RECENT ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE IN THE SOUTHWESTERN CANADIAN PLAINS

This paper examines 20th-century environmental change in the subhumid southwestern Canadian Plains, specifically in relation to the dominant agricultural landscape and to the climate of the past millennium as reconstructed from proxy data. Anthropogenic landscape change in the last century has been dominated by the conversion of grasslands to ranchland and cropland. This has heightened landscape vulnerability to climatic fluctuations, especially drought. Instrumental climate records, extending back to the 1880s, highlight the variability of precipitation in this region. Proxy environmental records, derived from lake cores and tree-ring analysis, extend this picture into the last millennium and show that drought has been a recurring theme of the Prairie climate. Tree-ring records suggest that some droughts in the last millennium may have exceeded in severity any in the instrumental record. The sustainability of Prairie agriculture depends on adaptation to the amplitudes of climatic change and variability evident in these proxy records. Dans cet article nous examinons les changements environnementaux qui sont survenus pendant le 20^ème siècle dans les plaines canadiennes sèches du sud-ouest, spécifiquement par rapport au paysage agricole dominant et au climat du dernier millénaire qui a été déterminéà partir de données de procuration. La transformation des prairies en ranchland et cropland est le changement du paysage le plus important dont l'homme est responsable, pour le dernier siècle. À cause de ce changement, le paysage est plus vulnérable aux fluctuations climatiques - à la sécheresse en particulier. Les enregistrements instrumentaux de climat, qui reculent jusqu'aux années 1880, mettent en évidence la variabilité des précipitations dans cette région. Les enregistrements environnementaux de procuration, dérivés d'échantillons pris dans les lacs et de la dendroanalyse, étendent cette image dans le dernier millénaire et prouvent que le thème de la sécheresse est apparu souvent dans les analyses du climat du prairie. Les enregistrements de boucles d'arbre suggèrent que, dans le dernier millénaire il y avait des sécheresses qui étaient peut-être si sévères que les instruments n'ont pas pu les enregistrer. Si l'agriculture veut survivre comme entreprise dans les prairies, il faudra qu'elle s'adapte aux amplitudes de changement et de variabilité du climat qui ont été constatées dans les données de procuration.     

Interrogating the uses of culture in the politics of diversity: a case from South Korea

This article seeks to critically examine the ascendancy of culture in the arena of politics by analysing emergent multicultural discourses and policy development in South Korea as an illuminating case study. In exploring various discursive modalities of culture in the politics of diversity, it investigates how culture is identified as a source of social problems and concurrently employed as their solution. Combining discourse analytic and in-depth interviewing techniques, the article focuses on analysing how female marriage migrants and their children are constructed as cultural other, and how the language of culture is deployed to divert attention from issues of power and structural inequalities. In particular, it examines the discourse of ‘cultural deficiency’ and ‘cultural competence’ used in relation to migrants, and assesses the proposed conceptual shift in cultural policy development from multiculture to cultural diversity.     

Who marries whom?: Ethnicity and marriage pairing patterns in Indonesia

This paper examines regional, ethnic-specific patterns and individual-level correlates in same ethnic marriages (endogamy) and ethnic intermarriages in Indonesia. With data from over 47 million couples in prevailing marriages from the full enumeration of the 2010 Census, we outline the provincial variations in endogamy against development indicators and an ethnic fractionalisation index. We compare the prevalence of endogamy for major ethnic groups, and use network plots to examine pairing patterns in ethnic intermarriage. We use multivariate analysis to summarise the relationships between the likelihood of endogamy and migration status, ethnic group size, age group, and education for individuals in two selected provinces: North Sumatra and Jakarta. There is evidence to support negative associations between endogamy rates and provincial development indicators. Endogamy rates vary across major ethnic groups, and as expected, are higher in relatively large ethnic groups. In Jakarta and North Sumatra, individuals in urban areas, with younger age, and higher level of education have lower likelihood of endogamy. We found a positive relationship between ethnic size and endogamy, but conflicting results on the association between lifetime migration and endogamy in both provinces. By studying ethnic pairing patterns, this research provides a unique window to understand the dynamics of development, social change, and social stratification in an ethnically diverse emerging democracy.     

旅游地文化变迁的影响机理研究:武夷山茶文化案例

本文选取武夷山茶文化为研究样本,借助质性访谈对旅游地文化变迁的影响因素进行探索性认知.结果表明:旅游地文化变迁的主要影响因素是文化因素、社会因素、市场因素和资本因素.本文根据影响因子的量化研究,把旅游地文化变迁的影响机理概括为:文化内驱力、社会推动力、市场调控力和资本外驱力合力驱动的结果.     

Seasonal weather sensitivity,temperature thresholds,and climate change impacts for park visitation

Historical park visitation and weather data, taken at the daily time scale from 2000 to 2009 for Pinery Provincial Park in southern Ontario (Canada), were analysed as an objective measure of the weather sensitivity, temperature thresholds, and potential impacts of projected climate change for park visitation. Three seasonal weather-visitation models were constructed using multivariable linear regression (peak, shoulder, off-season). To account for both natural and institutional seasonality, the weather-visitation models included both climatic (temperature, precipitation) and social (weekends, holidays) variables, which demonstrated equably comparable effects on visitation across the three models. Critical temperature thresholds were identified for each season using one-way analysis of variance to determine the range of temperatures within which the threshold was evident; the specific degree of temperature associated with the threshold was identified within the seasonal regression models. Temperatures over 33 °C during the peak season and over 29 °C during the shoulder season indicated critical thresholds at which point conditions that were ‘too hot’ for some caused a decline in visitation. Furthermore, temperatures below 11 °C indicated another critical threshold, where conditions were ‘too cold’ for most and therefore park visitation was less sensitive to temperature variability below this threshold. A partial sensitivity analysis for the impact of a warmer, wetter climate on park visitation was conducted, illustrating the effect of a 1 °C to 5 °C warming in maximum temperatures, coupled with a 5% to 15% increase in total precipitation. In response to projected climate change, the weather-visitation models suggested that for each additional degree of warming experienced, despite the negative effects of increasing precipitation and more frequent heat extremes, annual park visitation could increase by 3.1%, annually. The projected increase in park visitation as a result of rising temperatures was mainly associated with shoulder season visitation, with only minor increases in peak season visitation.     

Climate change adaptation of the tourism sector in the Bolivian Andes

Over the last 40 years, warmer temperatures have caused a considerable decrease in snow cover on glaciers and high rates of glacial melt, particularly in tropical mountains. In the Bolivian Andes, the Chacaltaya glacier (5400 masl) had been a tourist destination known as the highest ski slope in the world since 1939. As a result of climate change, skiing has not been possible after 1987 and the glacier definitely disappeared in 2009. However, since 2005, the place has become a new attraction for tourists. Travel agencies in La Paz now offer day trips to the Chacaltaya site. In order to understand the present attraction of the site and its potential for reproduction elsewhere, 25 semi-structured interviews were conducted with various categories of stakeholders involved in the tourism industry in La Paz, and archives and images were analysed. Our results show that the multifunctional character of this tourist site, including easy access to a summit, beautiful views, acclimatisation to altitude and opportunity to experience snow, are key factors in its renewed attraction for visitors, together with, to a lesser extent, the incentive of being able to watch a famous and evident full disappearance of a glacier and former ski slope. The stakeholders' groups share general views and perceptions about environmental changes and about the qualities of the site, but they also differ in terms of projects and evaluation of potential attractiveness. In particular, the development of the visibility of climate change impacts on mountain environment is valued by experts or by members of the Andean Club, but not by travel agencies. The example of Chacaltaya shows that multifunctional tourist sites may still be attractive in the future.     

展望中国人文地理学的发展

中国自改革开放以来,人文地理学得到了复兴,在理论、方法和研究内容方面都有了新的发展,其中尤以经济地理学、城市地理学和旅游地理学的进展较快,原先被视为禁区的政治地理学、文化地理学和社会地理学,也开始出现了一批可喜的成果。目前在中国经济体制转轨的新形势下,中国人文地理学正处于一个重要的转折时期,即面临着严重的挑战,又出现了前所未有的发展机遇。
在迈入21世纪时,作者建议中国人文地理学着重研究以下各课题:
(1)为充实中国人文地理学的基础理论,研究人地关系地域系统;
(2)为配合(中国21世纪议程)的实施,研究全国和各地区社会经济的持续发展;
(3)以土地利用为中心来研究全球变化和人类活动的关系;
(4)从节约利用和保护资源出发,研究地区自然资源系统;
(5)为发扬中国地理学的传统,更认真地为农业服务,研究促进农业和农村的持续发展问题;
(6)从理论和方法上提高区域地理研究的水平、并配合国家任务,开展区域综合发展的研究,包括国家和各省经济建设的重点区、海域、生态脆弱区等。     

河口港城市形态演变的分析研究——兼论宁波城市形态的历史演变及发展

该文在对港口城市形态的影响因素的分析基础上,提出了港口城市形态的演变机制和河口港城市形态的演变规律。并且通过对宁波城市形态历史演变的实证分析,结合宁波城市发展的战略目标,提出了宁波城市形态的合理发展趋势。     

LIMITATIONS OF USING A COARSE RESOLUTION MODEL TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON SEA ICE IN HUDSON BAY

The simulation of Sea-ice in a coarse resolution ocean general circulation model is examined in Hudson Bay and surrounding waters. Sea-ice distribution and duration compared well to climatological values, although ice thickness is undersimulated as it is in other modelling work. In Hudson Bay ice thickness variation was dominated by the atmospheric forcing as shown by the symmetric response of ice thickness to warming and cooling scenarios. Below ice heat fluxes play a more significant role in Foxe Basin and Baffin Bay where they mitigate air-ice heat loss by as much as 40 percent, thus limiting ice thickness and duration. Below ice heat flux reduces by 23 percent for the region of study (Hudson Bay, Foxe Basin, Baffin Bay, and Labrador Sea) for a global 3°C cooling and increases by 9 percent for a 3°C global warming. This asymmetric response is attributed to the ocean's asymmetric response to warming and cooling scenarios. In so much as Hudson Bay is dominated by atmospheric forcing rather than under ice heat as these results indicate, coarse resolution models may be useful in assessing the impact of change. However the necessary reconfiguration of the model grid render results from Foxe Basin and Hudson Strait less credible. On étudie la simulation de glace marine dans un modèle de circulation océanique générale à faible résolution dans la baie d'Hudson et dans les eaux avoisinantes. La distribution et la durée de la glace marine correspondent bien aux valeurs climatologiques, bien que l'épaisseur de la glace soit sous-simulée comme c'est le cas dans d'autres travaux de modélisation. Dans la baie d'Hudson, la variation de l'epaisseur de la glace est dominée par le forçage atmosphérique, comme on peut le voir d'après la réponse symétrique de l'épaisseur de la glace suivant les scénarios de réchauffement et de refroidissement. Les flux de chaleur sous la glace jouent un rôle plus important dans le bassin de Foxe et la baie Baffin, où ils permettent une réduction des pertes de chaleur air-glace allant jusqu'à 40 pour cent, limitant ainsi l'épaisseur de la glace et la durée. Le flux de chaleur sous la glace diminue de 23 pour cent dans la région étudiée (baie d'Hudson, bassin de Foxe, baie Baffin et mer du Labrador) pour un refroidissement global de 3C et augmente de 9 pour cent pour un réchauffement global de 3C. On attribue cette réponse asymétrique à la réponse asymétrique de l'océan aux scénarios de refroidissement et de réchauffement. Dans la mesure où, comme l'indiquent ces résultats, la baie d'Hudson est dominée par le forçage atmosphérique plutôt que par la chaleur sous la glace, des modèles à faible résolution peuvent être utiles pour évaluer l'impact des changements. Cependant, la reconfiguration nécessaire de la grille du modèle atténue la crédibilité des résultats obtenus dans le Bassin de Foxe et le détroit d'Hudson.     

The potential of bird remains for environmental reconstruction

Until relatively recently, studies of bird remains have been regarded as peripheral to mainstream research on early archaeological and palaeontological sites, rather than a potentially crucial factor in the reconstruction of the past environments in which hominids and other larger mammals were present This paper sets out to define the range of ecological information for a site which can be gained through study of the bird bones, using as an example the bones recovered in the excavations at Gorham's Cave, Gibraltar. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.