Policy implications of LESA factor and weight determination in Douglas County, Kansas
The Land Evaluation and Site Assessment System (LESA) developed by the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service is designed as an aid to local planning officials to protect important agricultural lands. Preliminary LESA development for Douglas County, Kansas indicates the overall usefulness of the model for its designated purpose within Douglas County. However, model development also indicates several inherent problems with the original system, stemming predominantly from arbitrary weight recommendations and predetermined factor suppositions which do not reflect the needs of a given planning area. The effect of these recommendations and suppositions are most evident when there is a conflict of scale due to incorporation of both national and local standards through the LESA model.
Exploring the effects of rural site conditions and household livelihood capitals on agricultural land transfers in China
Abstract Despite the increasing interest in influential factors of agricultural land transfer, there has been little analysis on the role of site conditions from the spatial characteristics of communities to which agricultural land belongs, let alone the combination with livelihood capitals. This paper suggests that rural site conditions (public resources) should be differentiated from household livelihood capitals (private capitals) as they operate under different dynamics of decision-making and management. Therefore, this paper develops a structural equation model to explore the causal pathway and quantify the magnitude of effects of rural site conditions (based on Site Assessment system) and household livelihood capitals (based on Sustainable Livelihood Framework) on agricultural land transfer. Results demonstrate that household livelihood capitals have significant impacts on agricultural land transfer (β = 0.537, P
Die Populationsdynamik Von Canthocampt Us Staphylinus (Jurine) (Copepoda, Harpacticoida) Im Litoral Des Bodensees
The population dynamics of Canthocamptus staphylinus in the littoral zone of Lake Constance are described (fig. 2). Adult animals aestivate as cysts. The main part of the population emerges from the cysts in autumn. During the resting stage and the first spell after emerging, mortality is very low (fig. 3). Reproduction, expressed as numbers of ovigerous females, begins in November and reaches its maximum in January. The new generation becomes adult in May/June and encysts without previous reproduction. According to Sarvala (1979) it may be possible, that in littoral populations dormancy is induced by long day periods and temperatures of over 12° C (figs. 1, 2). In the profundal zone C. staphylinus also forms cysts, however, both light and temperature are not likely to induce this stage in depths of over 60 m.