概念辨析与实证:脆弱生态环境与退化生态环境

文章将生态环境的脆弱性分为潜在脆弱性与现实脆弱性,认为两者的对比分析可以揭示人类干扰强度的大小以及生态环境退化的程度,有利于区分脆弱生态环境概念与退化生态环境概念和加深理解退化概念的相对性内涵。以衡阳盆地为例,采用以脆弱度评估间接地进行退化度与恢复度评估的新思路,定量评估了该地区生态环境的潜在脆弱性和1984年与2000年的现实脆弱性,并在其基础上分别计算出1984年和2000年相对于初始状态的绝对退化度以及1984—2000年期间的相对退化度,评估结果比较真实地反映了衡阳盆地生态环境的脆弱性特征,同时较好地诠释了有关脆弱生态环境概念的基本观点。     

城市交通生命线系统及其脆弱性的内涵和后果表现分析

城市交通拥堵,事故频发已成为现代“城市病”的重症之一。研究如何解决现代城市交通拥堵,减少交通事故,降低交通污染,维护城市正常、高效的发展是建立和谐社会的重要课题。文章运用系统工程的方法对城市交通的生命线系统进行了界定,并重点分析城市交通生命线系统的脆弱性内涵和由脆弱性引发的后果表现,希望为解决我国城市交通问题提供新的探讨视角。     

城市物流系统脆弱性的概念与内涵

本文对脆弱性概念的演化过程进行了分析，总结了几个有代表性的脆弱性概念模型。在此基础上，提出了城市物流系统脆弱性的概念．并分析了城市物流系统脆弱性的内涵。     

近代黑龙江林业经济发展的脆弱性分析

清代中期以前，关内各省原有的森林资源已经绝大部分遭到破坏，而黑龙江的广大地域却仍被广袤的原始森林覆盖着，处于“有林无业”的状态，森林资源保存十分完好。晚清以后，黑龙江的社会形态经历了封建社会、半封建社会、殖民地社会，外国侵略势力操纵着黑龙江的经济命脉，黑龙江林业经济伴随着东北的弛禁、移民的进入而形成，随着大量国有林场的开放、大批外国近代工业企业的建立、以及木材市场的出现等等，黑龙江林业经济得到了进一步发展。在殖民者的畸形开发下，近代黑龙江林业经济在曲折中继续向前发展，在其形成发展过程中始终缺乏一种自觉的意识，加上自身的脆弱性，林业经济始终处于一个被动的肤浅的层次。     

Exploring the resources associated with consumer vulnerability: Designing nuanced retail hardship programs

Retailers across a variety of sectors offer hardship programs to assist consumers who are experiencing vulnerability. Hardship programs are typically designed as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, viewing consumer recipients as one homogenous group. To investigate the resources associated with consumer vulnerability, we thematically analyzed reports from 20 government-funded projects in Australia which directly assisted 32,498 low-income households in the energy retail sector. Our findings reveal three resource ‘bundles’: connections-resource-bundle, convenience-resource-bundle and security-resource-bundle. We then provide recommendations for retailers and service providers on what they can do to alleviate hardship for consumers within each resource-bundle.     

Advancing a new index for measuring household vulnerability to food insecurity

This paper develops a Vulnerability to Food Insecurity Index (VFII). Currently, there is no standard indicator of vulnerability analysis in food security research, and this paper responds to this challenge. The primary objective in this paper is to demonstrate how to develop a potential indicator and establish its validity through comparison with other traditional food security indicators, such as per capita calorie consumption (PCC), food consumption score (FCS) and the coping strategy index (CPI). Structurally, Vulnerability to Food Insecurity Index is a multidimensional index of the probability of covariate shock occurring (exposure), the accumulative experience of food insecurity (sensitivity) and coping ability of households (adaptive capacity). The paper applies the index to households in southern Nigeria, using the World Bank’s generalised household panel dataset. The results show 61% of households in the study to be highly vulnerable to food insecurity, 12% mildly vulnerable and 27% not vulnerable. Traditional and single indicators, such as FCS and PCC are not good indicators of vulnerability to food insecurity whereas CPI is a better indicator of vulnerability to food insecurity compared to FCS and PCC. The VFII developed in this paper includes components of FCS, PCC, and CPI and regarding ranking, the VFII was found to be reliable. Most importantly, the analysis using the VFII reveals how dietary diversity or calorie consumption indicators can exclude some households who are vulnerable to food insecurity. The paper concluded that accurately target long-term support to vulnerable households, policymakers who seek to address the underlying causes of food insecurity cannot rely on single indicators, and for this type of goal, the VFII makes a useful contribution.     

Adaptation analysis for environmental change in coastal communities

Small islands and coastal communities around the world are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts, mainly from storm surge attributed to more frequent and severe coastal storms, and mounting sea-level rise. Coastal hazards including inundation, salinisation of the water supply, and land erosion all threaten vital infrastructure that support coastal communities. This research, part of the International Community-University Research Alliance (ICURA) C-Change project “Managing Adaptation to Environmental Change in Coastal Communities: Canada and the Caribbean”, develops and applies a multicriteria decision evaluation and support system for evaluating adaptation options for coastal communities. The paper estimates vulnerability, resilience, and adaptive capacity measures associated with adaptation strategies in coastal communities with respect to their environmental, economic, social, and cultural dimensions. Results are determined using a multi-participant formulation of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for identifying multicriteria decisions as adaptation strategies in a specific coastal context. The application of the framework is conducted for the coastal community of Little Anse on Isle Madame, Nova Scotia. Specifically, the state of the Little Anse breakwater is analysed and adaptation options for protecting, accommodating, and retreating are presented and evaluated in the face of predicted storm scenarios. The results indicate that, in the case of Little Anse, the strategic decision to protect the community by a new breakwater arm provides preferred measures for resilience and adaptive capacity.     

Microfinance,vulnerability and risk in low income households

We investigate if participation in the Indian Self Help Group (SHG) program results in reducing poverty and vulnerability. The theoretical framework examines the mechanisms through which the pecuniary and non-pecuniary effects of the SHG impacts the households’ ability to manage risk. We use a vulnerability measure that quantifies the welfare loss associated with poverty and different types of risks, on an Indian panel survey data. Our results show that SHG members are less vulnerable compared with a group of non-SHG (control) members. About 80% of the vulnerability faced by the households is poverty related.     

The evolution of aquatic agricultural systems in Southwest Bangladesh in response to salinity and other drivers of change

Aquatic agricultural systems (AAS) in coastal Southwest Bangladesh have evolved in response to a number of stimuli and constraints including improving market access, technological change, and salinization. Farming systems in the region are highly dynamic, and are characterized by the integration of varying combinations of freshwater prawns, rice, fish, vegetables, and brackish water shrimp. This paper examines the developmental history, productivity, and profitability of three distinct AAS: a low-salinity freshwater prawn-dominated system; an intermediate-salinity-mixed prawn and shrimp system, and a high-salinity shrimp-dominated system. Productivity, cropping intensity, and profitability are found to be highest in the diversified low- and intermediate-salinity systems, and lower in the high-salinity system, where cultivation of rice and vegetables is no longer possible. The paper concludes that more diverse integrated systems reduce risk and vulnerability for farming households. Salinization is found to be a double-edged sword – proving a stimulus to diversification at low levels, but reducing agro-biodiversity at higher salt concentrations. While the adaptation strategies in all systems have been successful in maintaining or improving most, though not all, system functions due to high levels of social resilience, support for effective community-based adaptation strategies will enable continued transformation and adaptation to future drivers of change.