The Formation of Channel and Floodplain Habitats Essay

The Formation of Channel and Floodplain Habitats - Essay Example The abundance of LW in stream channels is an indication of the intimate association of river ecosystems with the surrounding terrestrial environment (Naiman and Bilby 1998, Naiman and Dà ©camps 1997). Understanding this relationship is crucial in river basin management. Large wood abundance in the watershed depends on channel size, channel type, and the surrounding riparian forest. LW is more abundant in small channels on a per unit area basis because LW is easily transported in larger channels; it follows that whilst abundance in large channels is lower, the average LW sizes are bigger (Bilby and Ward 1989). LW is also more abundant where the stream channel is unconstrained and has fine substrate compared to constrained channels with boulder substrate (Bilby and Wasserman 1989). Moreover, LW is more abundant in forests where conifers are dominant compared to forests where hardwoods are dominant because conifers are larger making them less transient (Harmon et al., 1986). The abundance of LW is also more pronounced where the forest is mature than in forest dominated by young stands of small hardwoods (Bilby and Ward 1991). Woodland river ecosystems in their natural and pristine conditions are surrounded by riparian forest and have multiple channels. Over the years, the anthropogenic disturbance has greatly reduced riparian forest cover, the topography graded for agricultural purposes, and rivers were constrained by levees into a single channel (Caroll & Robinson, 2007; Florsheim & Mount, 2002). Other than forest denudation, this also has deleterious effects on the morphological development of stream and the stream biota.  

Paper 1 about Chinese media industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Paper 1 about Chinese media industry - Essay Example As markets in Western and Eastern economies opened up, various countries in Asia, including Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong took advantage of expanding export markets to strengthen their economies. It was in this context that the Chinese state Under Deng Xiaoping decided to institute market reforms, specifically to make their socialist policies more competitive in an increasingly global economy (Harvey, 2005). Neo-liberal influences were mostly driven by economic stagnation and unemployment in Western countries, which necessitated a new system that diverged from the state interventionist policies introduced under the American New Deal of the 1930s. Under the neo-liberal theories that came to dominate global economics thinking in the 70s and 80s, state intervention in markets was greatly discouraged with the expectations that self-regulating markets were the best way to tackle economic stagnation (Selden, 1993). It was within this context of a neo-liberal revolution in Western economies that Chinese market and media reforms began. Increasingly, China’s integration with the global economy, which was based on neo-liberal theories, supported by free market Western economies, necessitated reforms in the allocation market economy supported by China under the previous Mao regime. When China finally opened up its markets to the global economy, there was a dramatic inflow of FDI and the sta te began to openly support moves towards market freedom (Selden, 1993). This meant that China started to experience similar effects to its economy as the neo-liberalized global economy, which increased the capitalization of China’s elites in comparison to its ordinary citizens (Zhao, 1998). The historical context within which media and market reforms took place in China mainly had to do with the Communism vs. Capitalism debate, which characterized relations between Western economies and Eastern economies. Media reforms also took place within this