scholarly journals Long-Term Spatiotemporal Variation of Net Primary Productivity and Its Correlation With the Urbanization: A Case Study in Hubei Province, China

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ke Wu ◽  
Chengfeng Zhou ◽  
Yuxiang Zhang ◽  
Ying Xu
Keyword(s):  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Net Primary Productivity ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Hubei Province ◽  
Spatiotemporal Variation ◽  
Anthropogenic Activity ◽  
Rapid Urbanization

Net primary productivity (NPP) is a critical component in terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycles. Thus, quantitatively estimating and monitoring the dynamics of NPP have become key aspects for exploring the carbon cycle of terrestrial ecosystems. Anthropogenic activity, such as urbanization, has significant effects on NPP and increases pressure on the natural resources of a specific region. However, to date, although many studies have focused on the relationship between NPP variation and urbanization, they usually ignored any differences at a long-term spatiotemporal variation of urbanization factors, which led to the insufficient understanding of the urbanization-induced impacts on NPP. As a result, this study effectively explored the spatiotemporal variation of NPP from 2001 to 2012 and its corresponding relationship with urbanization, taking the Hubei Province in China as a case study area. To clarify the degree of urbanization, the spatial distribution and temporal variation of population and gross domestic product (GDP) were simulated based on the elevation-adjusted human settlement index and nighttime lights data. The major results showed that high NPP areas were located in those highlands with widespread woodland, in which the NPP value continued to grow during the period. The low NPP areas were mainly distributed in urban areas, and the NPP value had a continued and visible loss. The population and GDP both had a strong correlation with NPP. The significant negative correlation was concentrated in the center of Hubei, with a dense population and developed economy. In order to further realize their complex relationship, the correlation coefficients between the annual NPP and the two factors from 2001 to 2012 were calculated, and the changing trends were investigated. Overall, the findings of this study may provide a reference for studies on the interaction between ecological environment and socioeconomic processes under the background of global rapid urbanization.

Temporary versus Permanent Population Mobility in Melanesia: A Case Study from Vanuatu

1992 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 806-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Haberkorn
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Direct Result ◽  
Population Mobility ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Predominant Form ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Contemporary Reality

Melanesia's urban population tripled from a mere 7 percent of the region's total population in 1955 to 20 percent by 1985. The recency and magnitude of this development and the absence of any established forms of urban living in the region's precolonial history virtually rules out natural population growth as the principal cause behind this process of rapid urbanization and suggests massive internal population mobility as the most likely cause. The overall picture conveyed by the Melanesian mobility literature, however, emphasizes rural-based circular mobility as the predominant form of population mobility in the region. Seeking to reconcile this contrast, this article argues that much of the alleged continued predominance of circular mobility owes more to its underlying operationalizations, ways of measurement, and theoretical conceptualizations than reflects contemporary reality. This argument is substantiated by an analysis of recent developments in Vanuatu mobility set in the local and historical conditions of migration from the island of Paama. It is demonstrated how specific structural transformations on the island and in urban areas throughout this century were not only conducive to a change from temporary to long-term or permanent rural absences, but how they also have emerged as the direct result of mobility, thus highlighting the latter's dialectical nature. Evidence for this mobility change is derived from a comparative analysis of lifetime mobility histories of urban and rural Paamese men and women.

scholarly journals Incorporating Private Savings Behavior in Product Offerings: A Case Study of Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-258
Author(s):  
Salman Ahmed Shaikh
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Savings Behavior ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Savings Rate ◽  
Investment Returns ◽  
Private Savings ◽  
Micro Foundations ◽  
Islamic Investment

In order to enhance understanding about the actual savings behaviour and impulses which drive savings behaviour, it is interesting to study the micro foundations of savings behaviour. Collecting micro data through filled questionnaire from households in urban areas, this study identifies the motives of savings and the instruments and channels where the savings are invested in Pakistan. The results reveal that investment motive, higher income and greater frequency of household members joining labor force for earning incomes enhance the monthly savings rate. The results can be used to offer Islamic investment deposits in an attractive way. If the investment deposits are pitched properly by highlighting the stable ex-post investment returns and low ex-post volatility, then people with an investment motive parking their savings in fixed income mutual funds would be attracted towards Islamic investment deposits. Likewise, incremental long term savings plans wherein periodic investments increase over a period of time can be offered given that monthly savings rate are found to be positively associated with income. Finally, joint investment accounts can be offered given the finding that monthly savings rate is higher in households with greater number of earning members in family.JEL Classification: G11, G21, G23How to Cite:Shaikh, S. A. (2021). Incorporating Private Savings Behavior in Product Offerings: A Case Study of Pakistan. Signifikan: Jurnal Ilmu Ekonomi, 10(2), 247-258. https://doi.org/10.15408/sjie.v10i2.20139.

Variability of ecosystem carbon source from microbial respiration is controlled by rainfall dynamics

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (52) ◽  
pp. e2115283118
Author(s):  
Heng Huang ◽  
Salvatore Calabrese ◽  
Ignacio Rodriguez-Iturbe
Keyword(s):  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Microbial Growth ◽  
Net Primary Productivity ◽  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Rainfall Regime ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Scale Parameters ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Soil Heterotrophic Respiration

Soil heterotrophic respiration (Rh) represents an important component of the terrestrial carbon cycle that affects whether ecosystems function as carbon sources or sinks. Due to the complex interactions between biological and physical factors controlling microbial growth, Rh is uncertain and difficult to predict, limiting our ability to anticipate future climate trajectories. Here we analyze the global FLUXNET 2015 database aided by a probabilistic model of microbial growth to examine the ecosystem-scale dynamics of Rh and identify primary predictors of its variability. We find that the temporal variability in Rh is consistently distributed according to a Gamma distribution, with shape and scale parameters controlled only by rainfall characteristics and vegetation productivity. This distribution originates from the propagation of fast hydrologic fluctuations on the slower biological dynamics of microbial growth and is independent of biome, soil type, and microbial physiology. This finding allows us to readily provide accurate estimates of the mean Rh and its variance, as confirmed by a comparison with an independent global dataset. Our results suggest that future changes in rainfall regime and net primary productivity will significantly alter the dynamics of Rh and the global carbon budget. In regions that are becoming wetter, Rh may increase faster than net primary productivity, thereby reducing the carbon storage capacity of terrestrial ecosystems.

Cordaid’s Post-Disaster Shelter Strategy in Haiti: Linking Relief and Development

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 77-85
Author(s):  
Harmen Janse ◽  
Kees van der Flier
Keyword(s):  
Urban Area ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Post Disaster

Haiti was struck by a heavy earthquake in 2010 and international aid poured into the country. News reports in 2011 were not very positive about the results of post-disaster reconstruction: “The relief efforts are only putting Haiti on life-support instead of evolving into the next stage of development”. One of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in Haiti was Cordaid, implementing a ‘transitional shelter strategy’ to support the transformation of neigh-bourhoods from a state of life-support into a state of self-sustaining development. The strategy was implemented in both a rural and an urban area. The main feature of the strategy was the provision of structures that could be adapted from simple shelters to permanent houses. Since the results of the strategy were mixed and ambiguous, a comparative case study was conducted to evaluate the shelter strategy in both areas. The objective was to draw lessons about what has to be taken into account when formulating future urban shelter strategies. The case study is discussed in this article. The main finding from the case study is that producing the intended number of shelters within the financial and time budgets that were set (efficiency), was more difficult in the urban area than in the rural area. But the conditions for linking relief and development (effectiveness) are more favourable in the urban context. NGOs may achieve long-term (effective) results in the urban context when a lower efficiency can be justified. That is why NGOs need to engage in a debate about the extent to which they are able to focus on long-term shelter or housing strategies. The important element in the debate is communication with the donors who are often focused on short-term relief measures. However urban areas cannot be rebuilt with only short-term interventions. The link between relief and development has to be made by a process-orientated approach focusing on capacities of local participants.

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