Using Principal Component Analysis for information-rich socio-ecological vulnerability mapping in Southern Africa
Using Principal Component Analysis for information-rich socio-ecological vulnerability mapping in Southern Africa
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DOI：
10.1016/j.apgeog.2012.08.004
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发表时间：
2012-11-01
影响因子：
4.9
通讯作者：
Stringer, Lindsay C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Abson, David J.;Dougill, Andrew J.;Stringer, Lindsay C.
在单一或少量脆弱性指数中反映社会-生态脆弱性多个方面的综合衡量方法可以制作脆弱性地图，作为强有力的直观工具，以确定最易受未来环境变化影响的地区。这类指数易于传播，为决策者和投资者提供了宝贵的指导，使人们了解哪些方面的研究或政策干预措施更有针对性，可以应对当前的挑战，减少未来的风险。然而，这种汇总不可避免地减少了地图所依据的一套单独脆弱性指标所提供的丰富信息。信息丰富性和信息可传播性之间的这种权衡是对社会生态脆弱性等复杂现象的量化和传播的挑战。本文探讨了使用主成分分析（PCA）技术作为一种手段，创造信息丰富的空间明确的综合指数的社会生态vulnerability.We南部非洲发展共同体（SADC）地区的社会生态脆弱性，使用PCA和传统的规范化为基础的技术生成空间明确的，汇总的社会生态脆弱性指数的“概念证明”分析。脆弱性指数以已公布的生物物理和社会经济数据为基础，并以10弧分分辨率绘制。由此产生的主成分分析基础上的脆弱性地图显示的区域空间变异的四个统计独立的，独特的社会生态脆弱性的组成部分，提供更多的信息比单一的指数使用归一化/求和方法。这种不相关、信息丰富的脆弱性指数是一种潜在的有用政策工具，可用于确定在广泛的空间范围内社会-生态易受环境变化影响的相对程度及其根本原因和影响方面最令人关切的领域。(C)2012爱思唯尔有限公司保留所有权利。
Aggregate measures that capture multiple aspects of socio-ecological vulnerability in a single or small number of vulnerability indices can produce vulnerability maps that act as powerful visual tools to identify those areas most susceptible to future environmental changes. Such indices are easily communicable and offer valuable guidance to policymakers and investors, providing insights as to where more targeted research or policy interventions can address current challenges and reduce future risks. However, such aggregation inevitably reduces the richness of information provided by the suites of individual vulnerability indicators on which the maps are based. This trade-off between information richness and information communicability is a challenge in the quantification and communication of complex phenomena such as socio-ecological vulnerability. This paper investigates the use of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) techniques as a means of creating information-rich spatially-explicit aggregate indices of socio-ecological vulnerability.We present a 'proof of concept' analysis of socio-ecological vulnerability for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region using both PCA and traditional normalization based techniques for generating spatially explicit, aggregated socio-ecological vulnerability indices. The vulnerability indices are based on published biophysical and socio-economic data and mapped at a 10 arc minute resolution. The resulting PCA based vulnerability maps indicate the regional spatial variability of four statistically independent, unique components of socio-ecological vulnerability, providing more information than the single index produced using a normalization/summation approach. Such uncorrelated, information-rich vulnerability indices represent a potentially useful policy tool for identifying areas of greatest concern in terms of both the relative level, and the underlying causes and impacts of, socio-ecological vulnerability to environmental changes across broad spatial scales. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.