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Population Pressure (population + pressure)
Selected AbstractsKarst rocky desertification in southwestern China: geomorphology, landuse, impact and rehabilitationLAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2004S.-J. Wang Abstract Karst rocky desertification is a process of land degradation involving serious soil erosion, extensive exposure of basement rocks, drastic decrease in soil productivity, and the appearance of a desert-like landscape. It is caused by irrational, intensive land use on a fragile karst geo-ecological environment. The process is expanding rapidly, and it is daily reducing the living space of residents and is the root of disasters and poverty in the karst areas of southwestern China. The tectonic, geomorphic and environmental background to karst rocky desertification is analysed. Population pressure and the intensive land use that have led to this serious land degradation are described. Although the problem concerns the Chinese Government and some profitable experience in the partial restoration or reconstruction of the ecological environment has been gained, effective remedial action has not been achieved on a large scale. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] LABOUR AND LANDSCAPES: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF LANDESQUE CAPITAL IN NINETEENTH CENTURY TANGANYIKAGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2007N. Thomas Håkansson ABSTRACT. In a long-term and global perspective irrigated and terraced landscapes, landesque capital, have often been assumed to be closely associated with hierarchical political systems. However, research is accumulating that shows how kinship-based societies (including small chiefdoms) have also been responsible for constructing landesque capital without population pressure. We examine the political economy of landesque capital through the intersections of decentralized politics and regional economies. A crucial question guiding our research is why some kinship-based societies chose to invest their labour in landesque capital while others did not. Our analysis is based on a detailed examination of four relatively densely populated communities in late pre-colonial and early colonial Tanzania. By analysing labour processes as contingent and separate from political types of generalized economic systems over time we can identify the causal factors that direct labour and thus landscape formation as a process. The general conclusion of our investigation is that landesque investments occurred in cases where agriculture was the main source of long-term wealth flow irrespective of whether or not hierarchical political systems were present. However, while this factor may be a necessary condition it is not a sufficient cause. In the cases we examined, the configurations of world-systems connections and local social and economic circumstances combined to either produce investments in landesque capital or to pursue short-term strategies of extraction. [source] Assessment of soil erosion hazard and prioritization for treatment at the watershed level: Case study in the Chemoga watershed, Blue Nile basin, EthiopiaLAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2009W. Bewket Abstract Soil erosion by water is the most pressing environmental problem in Ethiopia, particularly in the Highlands where the topography is highly rugged, population pressure is high, steeplands are cultivated and rainfall is erosive. Soil conservation is critically required in these areas. The objective of this study was to assess soil erosion hazard in a typical highland watershed (the Chemoga watershed) and demonstrate that a simple erosion assessment model, the universal soil loss equation (USLE), integrated with satellite remote sensing and geographical information systems can provide useful tools for conservation decision-making. Monthly precipitation, soil map, a 30-m digital elevation model derived from topographic map, land-cover map produced from supervised classification of a Land Sat image, and land use types and slope steepness were used to determine the USLE factor values. The results show that a larger part of the watershed (>58 per cent of total) suffers from a severe or very severe erosion risk (>80,t,ha,1,y,1), mainly in the midstream and upstream parts where steeplands are cultivated or overgrazed. In about 25 per cent of the watershed, soil erosion was estimated to exceed 125,t,ha,1,y,1. Based on the predicted soil erosion rates, the watershed was divided into six priority categories for conservation intervention and 18 micro-watersheds were identified that may be used as planning units. Finally, the method used has yielded a fairly reliable estimation of soil loss rates and delineation of erosion-prone areas. Hence, a similar method can be used in other watersheds to prepare conservation master plans and enable efficient use of limited resources. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Place of "Others" in Hunter-Gatherer IntensificationAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 2 2005DONALD H. HOLLY JR. Archaeologists are interested in understanding the conditions under which hunter-gatherer intensification occurs. Typically, most models assign primacy to population pressure or social relations and address intensification as it occurs among foragers inhabiting arid or temperate environments. In this article, I explore episodes of resource intensification and "deintensification" on the subarctic island of Newfoundland. Correlating periods of resource intensification and "deintensification" with changes in the social landscape, I argue that the presence or absence of "Others" played a significant role in informing hunter-gatherer subsistence strategies and settlement patterns. [source] A high-resolution pollen and geochemical analysis of late Holocene human impact and vegetation history in southern Cumbria, England,JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, Issue 3 2009Paul M. V. Coombes Abstract The historic era, which in Cumbria begins with the Roman invasion of AD 71, is a frequently neglected period in palaeoecological research, but its study can bring benefits in improving knowledge of landscape history and in understanding the significance and limitations of palaeoecological records. Pollen and geochemical data are presented for late Holocene records from Deer Dyke and Hulleter Mosses in southern Cumbria. The records show initially low levels of anthropogenic impact, followed by a phase of forest clearance and mixed agriculture from the 7th to 11th centuries AD. The timing of these clearances suggests that they were initially Anglo-Saxon in origin, rather than Norse. Further clearances in the 16th century AD are interpreted as a response to monastic dissolution and late Tudor population pressures; the landscapes reached their contemporary form following extensive clearances in the 17th century AD. Silicon and titanium concentrations at Deer Dyke Moss were used to reconstruct past levels of atmospheric dust loading, which is broadly related to soil erosion. Geochemical influx was found to peak during periods of landscape transition rather than from established land use. This relationship with pollen data is thought to reflect the predominantly low levels of anthropogenic impact in the region, which changes as substantial woodland clearances during the 16th century AD and continuous land use pressure since then have greatly increased the supply of airborne dust. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||