Geo-Geography and Environment最新文献

Although the adoption of cash crops among smallholder farmers is meant to increase the commercialisation and profitability of agriculture, it is still unclear if cashew farmers are better off or worst off from cashew farming in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study investigated the overall effects of cashew production on household livelihoods among smallholder farmers in the Transitional Zone of Ghana. The study employed a mixed research methods design for data collection and analysis. These methods included focus group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews (KIIs), and a survey of 239 cashew-farming households. The results revealed both positive and negative outcomes for farmers and their households. First, the positive outcomes included increased income, enhanced social status, improved food and nutrition, housing and education. Second, the negative outcomes included increased theft, high cost of goods and services, high cost of living, and a rise in physical health problems among farmers. The study concludes that, overall, cashew farmers and their households experienced improved livelihoods despite the negative effects arising from cashew farming. To maximise the livelihood outcomes of smallholder cashew farmers, we underscore the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach to development planning that promotes innovations in training, extension support, and sound financial and business management.

Green spaces are fast depleting in many urban areas across the world. This contributes to carbon dioxide emissions and affects the local climate and well-being of city residents. Yet, there is limited empirical research on the spatio-temporal patterns of change in urban green spaces and linkages to human well-being, especially in coastal cities where urban green spaces additionally act as critical flood controls. This paper assesses the changing pattern of green space cover in Cape Coast Metropolis and the factors associated with the perceived well-being of residents. Using a mixed-methods design, we obtained open-source geospatial data and gathered primary data through field observations, and in-depth and semi-structured interviews. These data were analysed using geospatial, statistical, and textual techniques. The results show that, from 1991 to 2018, the metropolis lost 26.57 km² (21.66%) of its green space cover. The major land use change observed is the conversion of green spaces and wetlands into built-up areas. The well-being of residents related to green space use in the metropolis is associated with individuals' age and gender; the presence of good quality green space, its accessibility, and perceived importance; frequency of visits; and the time spent in the green space. The findings suggest the need for the integration of nature into urban development planning and policy, and enforcement of development controls to protect green spaces and enhance the well-being of residents.

The study examined the ecological health status of the Muni lagoon amidst increasing development in and around its catchment using a concentration of heavy metals in its water and fish samples as a proxy. Flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer (FAAS) laboratory analysis was employed to determine heavy metals (cadmium [Cd], lead [Pb], iron [Fe], manganese [Mn] and zinc) present in water and fish samples within the Muni Lagoon. The study revealed that the Muni Lagoon and feeder rivers were polluted with heavy metals (Fe = 0.453, Cd = 0.201, Mn = 0.105 and Pb = 0.024) comparing their concentrations with the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and Water Resources Commission (WRC) limit. Fish within the lagoon were found to pose no harm to consumers as traces of heavy metal concentrations were below the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations/World Health Organisation maximum permissible limit. The study further revealed that the application of agricultural inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides and domestic waste as well as unregulated gutter channels were the major source of heavy metals. A paired sample t-test showed a statistically significant difference between the wet and dry season's concentrations of cadmium and lead. For cadmium, the t-test found t(5) = −7.265; p = .001 between the wet season's concentration and the dry season's concentration and for lead, the t-test found t(5) = 5.061, p = .004 between the wet and dry season concentrations in the lagoon. It is therefore recommended that the Forestry Commission, Municipal Assembly and the local leaders should collaborate in regulating activities occurring in and around the catchment of the lagoon.

Geography, like many other disciplines, is reckoning with the carbon intensity of its practices and rethinking how activities such as annual meetings are held. The Climate Action Task Force of the American Association of Geographers (AAG), for example, was set up in 2019 and seeks to transform the annual conference in light of environmental justice concerns. Mirroring shifts in geographic practice across the globe, these efforts point to a need to understand how new opportunities for knowledge production, such as online events, can operate effectively. In this paper, we offer suggestions for best practice in virtual spaces arising from our Material Life of Time conference held in March 2021, a two-day global event that ran synchronously across 15 time zones. Given concerns about lack of opportunities for informal exchanges at virtual conferences, or the ‘coffee break problem’, we designed the event to focus particularly on opportunities for conviviality. This was accomplished through a focus on three key design issues: the spatial, the temporal, and the social. We review previous work on the benefits and drawbacks of synchronous and asynchronous online conference methods and the kinds of geographic communities they might support. We then describe our design approach and reflect on its effectiveness via a variety of feedback materials. We show that our design enabled high delegate satisfaction, a sense of conviviality, and strong connections with new colleagues. However, we also discuss the problems with attendance levels and external commitments that hampered shared time together. We thus call for collective efforts to support the ‘event time’ of online meetings, rather than expectations to fit them around everyday tasks. Even so, our results suggest that synchronous online events need not result in geographical exclusions linked to time-zone differences, and we outline further recommendations for reworking the spacetimes of the conference.

Addressed here is the biogeographical-vexing question of why the guanaco (Lama guanicoe) is the only large mammal on the big island of Tierra del Fuego, answered by comparing alternative colonisation hypotheses. A multidisciplinary examination was conducted into the archaeological, ecological, evolutionary, geographical, genomic, glacial and zoological past, plus distribution of native terrestrial vertebrates in the Patagonia of southern South America. Notable disparities exist between main Patagonia (2.5 species/10,000 km²) compared with Tierra del Fuego (1.8). In the similar-sized area of mainland Patagonia just north of the Strait of Magellan there are 12 reptiles, 7 amphibians and 34 mammals = 53 total species; Tierra del Fuego has 13. Despite being the size of Switzerland and only 3.1 km from the mainland, Tierra del Fuego has no species of snakes, salamanders, frogs or turtles, only one lizard, one toad, nine small mammals, one carnivore and one ungulate, the Guanaco. An innovative proposal is made contrary to traditional thinking: Tierra del Fuego has relatively few native-terrestrial vertebrates because they were decimated by major tephra-ash fallout (2 to >15 cm) from the Holocene 7750 YBP (years before present) Hudson volcano, the biggest and most destructive eruption in Patagonia during the past 10,000 years that eradicated indigenous peoples, most terrestrial vertebrates and all Guanacos. Neither terrestrial vertebrates nor man were replenished from the adjacent mainland for 1000 years because the Strait of Magellan was a complete biogeographical barrier. Guanacos on Tierra del Fuego have lower genetic diversity compared with the mainland, suggesting it is a younger population. Empirical evidence and pivotal events of Patagonia's prehistory support one of three hypotheses: guanacos were introduced to Tierra del Fuego by early Holocene, guanaco-dependent, indigenous peoples from the mainland who repopulated Tierra del Fuego utilising the newly invented, skilfully crafted, seaworthy bark canoe (Appendix S1–Resumen en Español).

Malaysia Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) aims to bring the business, education, tourism and other industry sectors back into operation. Due to movement constraints that result in local economic patterns, individual mobility patterns are expected to occur. However, this matter needs further investigation from people's spatial behaviour during the RMCO. Therefore, this research proposed a new technique for analysing people's spatial behaviour patterns via geo-tagged data. The data from social media users are gathered using data mining techniques. Geographical Information System (GIS) is used to show the geolocation of social media users and analyse their spatial behaviour. The finding of this analysis shows higher people's movement recorded when the RMCO was enforced; a distinctive pattern where spatial trajectory length is high but spatial area coverage is low. It is noticed that the focal points are concentrated in urban areas and tourism attractions.