城市生态环境质量评价——以南充市为例

以可持续发展理论为指导,结合南充生态城市建设的要求,对南充城市生态环境进行定量评价并提出改进对策。采用城市空气污染指数API等23个指标,应用层次分析法对四川省第二座大城市南充的生态环境质量进行定量评价,2010年南充城市的生态质量综合值P为0.67,达到Ⅲ级标准,城市生态可持续发展水平状况良好。伴随着快速的城市化和人口激增,南充城市生态问题日益突出。主要问题表现为:老城区交通拥堵、绿地面积小、建筑屋间距不够,城市环境指数低,工业园区建设与城市房地产开发占用较多土地,城市原生态的生态-地貌景观被人为过度的破坏与改造,城市经济有待进一步发展。     

珠海市生态足迹动态演变与生态经济系统评估

采用能值改进的生态足迹模型对珠海市2000-2012年生态足迹进行了计算和分析,并通过计算生态压力指数、生态占用指数和生态经济协调指数对其生态经济系统进行了评价.总体上,生态足迹和生态赤字比2000年有所增加,但从2010-2012年的数据来看,人均生态足迹、生态赤字、万元GDP生态足迹等指标出现下降,且下降幅度较大.从生态足迹的多样性变化来看,近年来珠海市生态经济系统发展状况有所好转.目前,虽然珠海市的社会经济发展与生态环境的协调性处于稍好状态,但也呈现快速下降的趋势.     

国内外生态足迹研究进展

在可持续发展的定量研究中，生态足迹形象地反映了人类经济活动对环境影响的程度，对地区可持续发展的决策具有一定的指导意义。本文阐述了：（1）生态足迹的理论背景、相关概念、计算方法以及与能值分析法、产品生命周期法和投入产出法等综合应用的趋势；（2）生态足迹在全球、国家、地区尺度上的研究成果，以及在国际贸易、能源、旅游、交通、饮食等领域的应用进展；（3）土地互斥假设、全球面积单位、等效因子取值以及研究尺度方面的局限性。最后，本文指出了在多指标整合、污染影响分析和家庭消费尺度研究等方面的研究趋势。     

基于能值分析的平原区农业生态经济系统评价——以德州市为例

应用能值理论和分析方法,以德州市农业生态系统为例,分析了平原区农业生态经济系统的环境资源和经济特征.结果表明,德州市农业生态经济系统的发展程度相对较低,农业经济的发展应进一步调控工业辅助的能值投入,保证提高农业科技含量和可更新资源能值投人,以及农业生态经济的持续发展.     

基于能值分析的山区县域经济可持续发展评价——以吉林省抚松县为例

选取吉林省抚松县为研究区域，采用能值分析方法，从生态安全、经济发展、社会接受方面建立评价指标体系，对吉林省抚松县生态经济系统进行定量和定性评价。研究结果表明：①2005--2009年抚松县生态经济系统能值投入量和能值产出量均呈增加态势，能值投入以本地资源为主，工业产值迅速增加（以林产品为主），而农产品产值持续减少。②抚松县经济发展水平在全国、全省范围内均属于较低水平，工业发展效率很低，居民生活质量不高。③生态环境压力逐年增大，主要原因是自然资源的大规模开发，但是与其他发达地区、我国西部地区相比，抚松县在生态环境承载力方面仍具有相对优势。据此，提出了通过大力发展旅游产业、绿色食品、林产品的深加工等增强系统开放性，深入挖掘优势资源的高价值形态，以达到山区县域经济的可持续发展。     

基于能值分析的苏州市城市生态系统可持续发展评估

本文利用能值分析的方法,分析了苏州城市生态系统的各种生态流,并建立了苏州城市生态系统可持续发展能值评价指标体系,评估其可持续发展程度,并对其能值指标的发展进行了预测。研究结果显示,2007年苏州市系统利用总能值达到616.71×1021sej,能值自给率仅为35.5%,环境负载率达到61.67。与其他国家和地区能值指标对比得出,苏州市是一个高度外向型生态经济系统,其系统的发展高度依赖于外界资源的输入,面对现在不稳定的世界经济发展和外部环境,苏州市必须加大系统自身的供给能力,提高系统自身的稳定性;发展循环经济,降低系统环境负载率;加强高科技和人才投入,提高系统可持续发展潜力。     

西安市生态经济系统的能值分析与发展评估

运用能值理论与方法,分析了西安2000-2005年的人口承载量、人均能值、能值投入率、能值货币比率、电力能值比、环境负荷率、净能值产出率和可持续发展指数8个指标及其变化趋势,并与其他国家和地区的相关指标进行比较研究.结果表明,西安市经济发展主要是依赖当地资源,能值自给率达93.35%,人口数量已经超出环境承载量,未来加强优势资源的开发、引进外界资源、控制人口规模、转变经济增长方式、减少与防治污染才是实现其持续性发展的必由之路.     

基于能值分析的城市生态效率研究——以南京市为例

本文采用能值分析和数据包络分析方法,构建了城市物质代谢生态效率的度量模型,从代谢流量和生态效率两个角度评价了南京市生态经济系统1990～2010年间的可持续发展情况。结果表明：（1）21年来,南京地区的能值产出率和可持续指标不断降低,环境负载率呈持续增长趋势;（2）南京城市系统生态效率总体呈波动上升趋势,1990～2006年间资源生态效率一直低于环境生态效率,2006年后开始有所提升。虽然南京市生态效率有所提高,但未来的发展面临快速增长的环境压力等阻碍。为此,南京应优化进口能值组成,加大可更新资源开发力度,提高不可更新资源利用率,实现废弃物资源化等。     

成都市可持续发展测度与分析

生态足迹是一种定量测量人类对自然利用程度的方法，已经被广泛应用于定量测度区域或城市的可持续发展。成都地处我国西部，是西部大开发的战略高地和“桥头堡”，对西部地区的发展起着示范、先导、辐射和带动作用。采用生态足迹理论和计算模型对成都市各类土地面积进行量化，具体计算出成都市的生态承载力、供需结构。计算结果表明，2003年其人均生态足迹超过了它的人均生态承载力，生态经济系统存在生态赤字，必须采取措施提高生态承载力，减少生态压力，探讨可持续发展的道路。     

我国水资源管理的经济政策耦合效果仿真研究

水资源管理的经济政策效果模拟是从政策理论到政策实践的关键步骤，让决策者感知政策效果的方向和影响程度，才能更好地促进政策实践转化。本研究引入系统动力学方法，构建水资源经济政策耦合机制下水资源系统动力学（SD）模型，将我国划分为三种类型区域（干旱地区、丰水地区和过渡地区），进行三类四种水资源管理经济政策（水资源有偿使用，水价政策和水权政策；水污染收费，排污收费政策；水生态保护，水生态保护补偿政策）的耦合仿真实证研究。以我国水资源管理政策设计为目标，进行不同水管理政策耦合的生态经济效果仿真和效果定量评价，结果发现：干旱地区有偿使用的经济政策是目前经济水平下效果最好的；过渡地区有偿使用结合污水排放收费政策效果是最好的；而丰水地区必须同时实施水资源有偿使用和水污染收费两类经济政策。     

AN APPLICATION RUNOFF MODEL STRATEGY FOR UNGAGED WATERSHEDS1

ABSTRACT: Mathematical models for predicting watershed surface flow responses are available, most of which are elaborate nonlinear numerical surface and channel flow models linked with infiltration models. Such models may be used to make predictions for ungaged areas, assuming an acceptable fitting of the model to the topography and roughness of the real system. For some application purposes, these models are impractical because of their complexity and expensive computer solutions. A procedure is developed that uses a complex model of an ungaged area to derive a simpler parametric nonlinear system model for repetitious simulation with input sequences. The predicted flow outputs are obtained with the simpler model at significant savings of money and time. The procedures for constructing a complex kinematic model of a 40 acre (161,880 m²) reference watershed and deriving the simpler system model are outlined. The results of predictions from both models are compared with a selected set of measured events, all having essentially the same initial conditions. Peak discharges ranged from 3 to 118 ft³/sec (0.085 to 3.34 m³/sec), which includes the largest event of record. The inherent limitations of lumped systems models are demonstrated, including the bias caused by their inability to model infiltration losses after rainfall ceases. Computer costs and times for the models were compared. The derived simple model has a cost advantage when repeated use of a model is required. Such an applications hydrologic model has an engineering tradeoff of reduced accuracy, and lumping bias, but is more economical for certain design purposes.     

Conversion of temperate forests into heaths: Role of ecosystem disturbance and ericaceous plants

Fire and logging in nutrient-poor temperate forests with certain ericaceous understory plants may convert the forests into heaths. The process of disturbance-induced heath formation is documented by using examples ofCalluna in western Europe,Kalmia in Newfoundland, andGaultheria (salal) in coastal British Columbia. In a cool, temperate climate, rapid vegetative growth ofCalluna, Kalmia, and salal following disturbance results in increasing organic accumulation (paludification), nutrient sequestration, soil acidification, and allelochemicals. These are thought to be the main reasons to conifer regeneration failure in disturbed habitats. If continuation in forest is a land-use objective, then temperate forests with an ericaceous understory should not be logged unless effective silvicultural methods are devised to control the ericaceous plants and restore forest regeneration. Preharvest vegetation control may be considered as an option. Failure to control the understory plants may lead to a long-term vegetation shift, from forest to heathland, particularly in nutrient-poor sites. Successful methods of controllingKalmia andGaultheria, however, have yet to be developed. While theKalmia- andGaultheria- dominated heathlands are undesirable in Canada and the Pacific Northwest, a wide range ofCalluna heathlands of western Europe are being conserved as natural and seminatural vegetation.     

BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS AND BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ESTUARINE/COASTAL POLLUTION1

ABSTRACT: Sustained interest in and concern about the health status of the aquatic environment has resulted in extensive research focused on (1) effects of pollution on survival, growth, and reproduction of resource species at all life stages; (2) diseases of fish and shellfish, as they may be related to pollution and as they may serve as indicators of environmental stress; and (3) contaminant body burdens in fish and shellfish - their effects on the aquatic animals and their potential effects on humans. Effects, lethal and sublethal, of pollutants on life history stages of fish and shellfish have been documented, as have impacts on local stocks in badly degraded habitats, but as yet there has been no adequate quantitative demonstration of effects on entire aquatic species - probably because of the difficulty in sorting out relative effects of the many environmental factors that influence abundance. Sublethal effects, especially those that result in disease, have been examined intensively, and some diseases and disease syndromes have been associated statistically with pollution. Other pollution indicators (biochemical, physiological, genetic, behavioral, and ecological) have also received some attention, as have body burdens of contaminants in aquatic species. Research, especially that conducted during the past decade, has done much to clarify the many pathways and toxic effects of contaminants on aquatic animals, and has also helped to identify mechanisms for survival of fish and shellfish in the presence of environmental changes caused by human activities.     

Using Paleo Reconstructions to Improve Streamflow Forecast Lead Time in the Western United States

In water stressed regions, water managers are exploring new horizons that would help in long‐range streamflow forecasts. Oceanic‐atmospheric oscillations have been shown to influence streamflow variability. In this study, long‐lead time streamflow forecasts are made using a multiclass kernel‐based data‐driven support vector machine (SVM) model. The extended streamflow records based on tree ring reconstructions were used to provide a longer time series data. Reconstructed data were used from 1658 to 1952 and the instrumental record was used from 1953 to 2007. Reconstructions for oceanic‐atmospheric oscillations included the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, and North Atlantic Oscillation. Streamflow forecasts using all four oscillations were made with one‐year to five‐year lead times for 21 gages in the western United States. This is the first study that uses both instrumental and reconstructed data of oscillations in SVM model to improve streamflow forecast lead time. SVM model was able to provide “satisfactory” to “very good” forecasts with one‐ to five‐year lead time for the selected gages. The use of all the oscillation indices helped in achieving better predictability compared to using individual oscillations. The SVM modeling results are better when compared with multiple linear regression model forecasts. The findings are statistical in nature and are expected to be useful for long‐term water resources planning and management.     

Urban ecological systems: scientific foundations and a decade of progress

Urban ecological studies, including focus on cities, suburbs, and exurbs, while having deep roots in the early to mid 20th century, have burgeoned in the last several decades. We use the state factor approach to highlight the role of important aspects of climate, substrate, organisms, relief, and time in differentiating urban from non-urban areas, and for determining heterogeneity within spatially extensive metropolitan areas. In addition to reviewing key findings relevant to each state factor, we note the emergence of tentative "urban syndromes" concerning soils, streams, wildlife and plants, and homogenization of certain ecosystem functions, such as soil organic carbon dynamics. We note the utility of the ecosystem approach, the human ecosystem framework, and watersheds as integrative tools to tie information about multiple state factors together. The organismal component of urban complexes includes the social organization of the human population, and we review key modes by which human populations within urban areas are differentiated, and how such differentiation affects environmentally relevant actions. Emerging syntheses in land change science and ecological urban design are also summarized. The multifaceted frameworks and the growing urban knowledge base do however identify some pressing research needs.     

Journalists' views of advertiser pressures on agricultural news

All major journalism ethical codes explicitly state that journalists should protect editorial copy from undue influence by outside sources. However, much of the previous research on agricultural information has concentrated on what information various media communicate (gatekeeping studies) or communication's role in increasing innovation adoption (diffusion studies). Few studies have concentrated specifically on organizational and structural constraints that might adversely affect agricultural journalists' ethical standards; those that have, focus largely on farm magazines. A study of newspaper reporters who cover agricultural news found that the most pressing ethical concern is the effect of advertiser (agri-business) pressure on editorial copy, and that their concerns in general parallel those of farm magazine writers and editors. The majority reported being in situations in which they might be exposed to advertiser pressure, including pressures to change or withhold editorial copy. Large minorities suggested that advertising pressures affect the overall environment in which agricultural journalists work, and more than one in ten said they allow advertiser pressures to influence editorial decisions. The newspaper reporters who cover agricultural beats showed slightly more resistance to advertiser pressure than did farm magazine editors in a parallel study.     

Neighbourhood characteristics and urban gardens in the Toledo metropolitan area: staffing and voluntarism,food production,infrastructure, and sustainability practices

Urban gardens are important sources of sustenance for communities with limited access to food. Hence, this study focuses on food production in gardens in the Toledo metropolitan area in Northwest Ohio. We administered surveys to 150 garden managers from November 2014 to February 2015 in our attempt to better understand how neighbourhood racial composition and poverty levels are related to staffing and voluntarism, food production and distribution, the development of infrastructure, and the adoption of sustainability practices in urban gardens. The results from 30 gardens are presented in this paper. We used Geographic Information Systems to map the gardens and overlay the map with 2010 census data so that we could conduct demographic analyses of the neighbourhoods in which the gardens were located. Though the gardens were small – two acres or less – up to 46 varieties of food were grown in a single garden. Gardens also operated on small budgets. Food from the gardens was gifted or shared with friends, family, and neighbourhood residents. Gardens in predominantly minority neighbourhoods tended to have fewer institutional partners, less garden infrastructure, and had adopted fewer sustainable practices than gardens in predominantly White neighbourhoods. Nonetheless, residents of predominantly minority and high-poverty neighbourhoods participated in garden activities and influenced garden operations. Volunteering and staffing were racialised and gendered.     

Definition Procedures Have Little Effect on Performance of Environmental Classifications of Streams and Rivers

Mapped environmental classifications are defined using various procedures, but there has been little evaluation of the differences in their ability to discriminate variation in independent ecological characteristics. We tested the performance of environmental classifications of the streams and rivers of France that had been defined from the same environmental data using geographic regionalization and numerical classification of individual river valley segments. Test data comprised invertebrate assemblages, water chemistry, and hydrological indexes obtained from sites throughout France. Classification performance was measured by analysis of similarity (ANOSIM). Geometric regions defined by a regular grid and without regard to environmental variables and a posteriori classifications based on clustering the test datasets defined lower and upper bounds of performance for a given number of classes. Differences in classification performances were generally small. The ANOSIM statistics for the a posteriori classifications were around twice that of all environmental classifications, including geometrically defined regions. The hydro-ecoregions performed slightly better for the invertebrate data and the network classification performed slightly better for the chemistry and hydrological data. Our results indicate that environmental classifications that are defined using different procedures can be comparable in terms of their ability to discriminate variation of ecological characteristics and that alleged differences in performance arising from different classification procedures can be small relative to unexplained variation. We conclude that definition procedures might have little effect on the performance of large-scale environmental classifications and decisions over which procedures to use should be based primarily on pragmatic considerations.     

Predicting deer-vehicle collisions in an urban area

Collisions with deer and other large animals are increasing, and the resulting economic costs and risks to public safety have made mitigation measures a priority for both city and wildlife managers. We created landscape models to describe and predict deer-vehicle collision (DVCs) within the City of Edmonton, Alberta. Models based on roadside characteristics revealed that DVCs occurred frequently where roadside vegetation was both denser and more diverse, and that DVCs were more likely to occur when the groomed width of roadside right-of-ways was smaller. No DVCs occurred where the width of the vegetation-free or manicured roadside buffer was greater than 40 m. Landscape-based models showed that DVCs were more likely in more heterogeneous landscapes where road densities were lower and speed limits were higher, and where non-forested vegetation such as farmland was in closer proximity to larger tracts of forest. These models can help wildlife and transportation managers to identify locations of high collision frequency for mitigation. Modifying certain landscape and roadside habitats can be an effective way to reduce deer-vehicle collisions.     

Biodiversity and biotechnology

The maintenance of biodiversity is urged from many quarters and on grounds ranging from aesthetic considerations to its usefulness, particularly for biotechnology. But regardless of the grounds for preserving biodiversity, writers are generally in agreement that it should be preserved. But, in examining the various references biodiversity, such as species diversity, genetic diversity, and habitat diversity, it is apparent that we cannot aim to preserve biodiversityas such, since there are a number of conflicts in any such undertaking. In preserving one aspect of biodiversity, we damage another aspect. Five arguments which attempt to ground our moral concern for biodiversity are reviewed and critiqued, not only for their consistency but also for their power to move us to action. The final section of the paper shows how conflicts in the values of personal and environmental health can impair ethical action and especially policy formation.An earlier version of this paper was read at the conference on Agriculture, Food, and Human Values: Tradition and Change, Orlando, Florida, October 7–9, 1987.