基于生态足迹方法的武汉市自然资本分析

生态足迹方法是目前研究自然资本状况的常用方法之一,能够较好地体现区域可持续发展态势.文章运用生态足迹方法对武汉市1995年、2000 年、2005年自然资本消长情况进行了量化研究、对比分析,研究结果表明:武汉市1995年、2000 年、2005年的自然资本需求和供给比例分别达到18.402∶1、20.765∶1、27.276∶1,供需矛盾显著;人均生态赤字分别达到2.4206 hm2·人-1、2.5163 hm2·人-1、2.9009 hm2·人-1,呈逐年上升趋势,成为制约武汉市可持续发展的瓶颈之一.生态用地类型分析显示,耕地、水域、化石能源用地赤字明显,应作为武汉市改善自然资本状况重点关注的对象.文章提出了倡导市民合理消费,同时健全绿色保障制度体系、优化城市生态服务功能等对策和措施,旨在为武汉市实现可持续发展提供依据.     

城市土壤碳循环特征研究进展

由于城市化进程的加速,与人类活动密切相关的城市土壤成为陆地生态系统的重要组成部分.城市土壤碳循环作为城市土壤的重要过程,逐渐成为探讨城市生态系统与全球变化关系的重要介质.文章综述了城市土壤碳储量特征、微生物对城市土壤碳循环的影响及城市土壤的碳管理.概青之,城市土壤碳储量分布具有空间和时间的差异性;自然因素与人为因素均对城市土壤碳储虽有重要影响;城市诸多代谢过程相互作用可以通过影响土壤微生物进而影响土壤有机碳的转化过程.同时,作为城市生态系统的重要组成部分,城市土壤的碳管理有助于提高城市土壤的生态服务功能,也有利于城市生态系统的可持续发展.文章分析认为,城市土壤碳循环与城市生态系统其他功能的相互作用将是今后研究的主要方向.     

农村生态系统健康的基本内涵及评价体系探索

生态系统健康是研究人类活动、社会经济组织、自然系统和人类健康的综合性学科,是人类社会可持续发展的保证,国内外对不同类型的生态系统健康进行了大量研究,指出生态系统健康是在时间上具有维持其组织结构、自我调节和对胁迫受损的恢复能力,实现生态系统的稳定性和可持续性.农村生态系统是一类自然一人工复合生态系统,在综合分析农业生态系统健康和城市生态系统健康概念的基础上,提出农村生态系统是指在不同区域范围的农村地域内,不同类型生态系统间的相互能量关系,以及农村人群和周围环境的相互影响与相互作用的总和.农村生态系统健康是指农村生态系统能够实现农村环境健康目标、生态系统活力目标、农业生产与乡镇企业发展目标,并具有一定的自我调节和对胁迫受损的恢复能力.通过分析已有生态系统健康评价所采用的指标体系,结合农村生态系统的特性,研究构建了由环境健康目标、生态系统活力目标和功能目标组成的农村生态系统健康评价的框架体系,以期明确农村生态系统健康的内涵,为开展评价研究建立初步基础.     

基于属性理论的长株潭城市群生态系统健康评价

城市生态系统是一种高度人工化的自然-社会-经济复合生态系统,其健康状况直接影响到城市的可持续发展。针对城市生态系统健康评价标准的不确定性问题,在构建评价指标体系的基础上,提出了基于属性理论的城市生态系统健康评价模型及评价方法。以长株潭城市群为研究区域,运用该模型和方法对其生态系统健康进行了综合评价。评价结果表明：长株潭城市群的生态系统现状属于一般健康类,其中自然生态子系统对区域整体健康状况有较大影响,评价结果与实际情况大体吻合。通过对各子系统层的健康度分析,识别了健康限制因素,并提出了相应的调控措施。采用属性理论方法开展城市生态系统健康评价,能较好地识别系统层综合健康状况和子系统层的健康状况,具有一定的实用价值,其评价结果为促进城市生态建设,有效实施生态系统健康管理提供了科学依据。     

兰州市大气颗粒物中水溶性离子研究

本文对兰州市不同季节大气颗粒物中水溶性离子的主要理化特性及其与降水的关系进行了研究，认为大气颗粒物中水溶性离子是当地降水中ＳＯ４＾２－，Ｃａ＾２＋，Ｃｌ＾－等主要离子的来源。在１３种被测的水溶物中，ＳＯ４＾２－和Ｃａ＾２＋离子所占比例较高，分别占总离子的３１．４％和２７．８％，年均浓度值为１０．７２μｇ／ｍ＾３和３．９６μｇ／ｍ＾３。同时大气颗粒物中水溶物浓度与ＳＯ２，ＴＳＰ等大气污染物浓度之间也     

城市河流在城市生态建设中的意义和应用方法

城市河流是城市生态系统的重要组分之一。本文分析了城市河流在城市生态建设中的水源地,减弱城市热岛效应和洪涝灾害,绿地建设基地,景观多样性的组成,物种多样性保护,组成捷交通,亲近自然场所,自然教育标本等方面的多种意义,指出保持河流的自然地貌特征,维持自然水文过程,控制城市河流水污染,综合规划城市河流与城市建设的关系是发挥城市河流在城市生态系统中作用的基本方法。     

人工封闭对城市土壤功能的影响研究进展

随着全球城市化的快速发展,城市生态系统研究已受到人们的广泛关注。土壤作为城市生态系统的一个重要组成单位与功能载体,其功能与质量已受到城市化的冲击和影响。由人类活动（如房屋建筑、道路建设等）引起的土壤封闭是城市土壤的一个重要特征。与自然土壤封闭相比,人工封闭土壤严重地阻碍了城市土壤与外界环境的物质能量交换,限制了土壤功能的实现,成为导致土壤质量退化的重要因素。研究人工封闭对城市土壤功能的影响有利于更全面认识城市化的生态环境效应。本文介绍了城市土壤人工封闭的概念、主要特点及其与传统自然土壤封闭的异同;综述了人工封闭对城市土壤水分运动、土壤与环境间气体与能量交换、生物多样性与行为以及粮食安全影响等方面取得的研究进展。目前城市封闭土壤研究仍处于起步阶段,仅在个别城市开展过相关研究,且主要围绕人工封闭对城市环境与土壤的表观影响,对封闭后土壤性质的变化及其机制研究仍很缺乏。未来仍需在更多城市开展系统调查以获取基础数据,需着重研究城市封闭土壤中污染物的赋存、迁移、转化,封闭后土壤碳氮固持能力的变化,以及土壤微生物性质的变化,同时要创新研究方式和研究方法,为加强城市生态系统研究、实现城市可持续发展提供科学依据。     

城市生活垃圾堆肥及垃圾专用肥对柑桔增产效应

城市生活垃圾堆肥及垃圾堆肥配制的专用肥对柑桔的肥效实验结果表明，垃圾堆肥作为基肥使用比常规施肥能使柑桔增产１２．４％－１４．５％，比空白对照增产７４．７％，施用垃圾专用肥的柑桔产量比常规施肥增产４．２％－５０．３％，比空白对照增产５８．４％－１２９．０％。施垃圾肥柑桔的营养成份（如维Ｃ，还原糖等）和常规施肥没有明显差异，也未发现重金属对桔子的污染。     

自组织理论与复合生态系统可持续发展

复合生态系统出现了一系列环境问题阻碍了区域的可持续发展。文章将自组织理论引人到可持续发展领域，建立以实现可持续发展为目标的复合生态系统自组织理论：分析了复合生态系统的自组织特性，阐述了复合生态系统内部非线性结构和熵相互作用对系统自组织演化的影响，论述了复合生态系统自组织与可持续发展的关系，即复合生态系统达到自组织运作状态或总体趋势时，系统就达到了可持续发展。提出了复合生态系统自组织运行规律就是要实现社会规律、经济规律和自然规律的协同，即“三律协同”。在此基础上，探讨了实现复合生态系统自组织的途径：系统开放、引入负熵；建立以生态经济、生态环境、生态文化组成的耗散结构；建立复合生态系统目标实现的分段时间结构；加强系统协调机制，制定符合系统社会、经济和自然规律协同的各项措施。     

基于SPSS的苏北地区可持续发展能力空间分异研究

以区域可持续发展能力建设为切入点,结合苏北地区的实际,建立适合该地区的可持续发展能力评价指标体系,然后运用SPSS软件的因子分析和聚类分析的方法,对苏北地区可持续发展能力进行综合评价。结果表明,区内各县市可持续发展能力差异较大,但其空间分异呈现出某些特征:经济可持续发展能力呈现由地区东南部向中间递减的“一”字型空间格局;资源环境可持续发展能力呈现由地区中部分别向东、向西递减的“凸”字型空间格局;社会可持续发展能力呈“M”字型空间格局;综合可持续发展能力呈“H”字型空间格局;以中心城市为核心,可持续发展能力向周边呈辐射状递减趋势。根据这些空间分异特征,提出了一些促进苏北地区可持续发展能力建设的建议。     

A framework designation for the assessment of urban ecological risks

Urban ecological risks stemming from urbanization are increasing and limiting the capability of China to effectuate sustainable urban development. Therefore, addressing urban ecological risks is an urgent need. Numerous factors are involved in urban ecological risks, including air, water, and soil. Additionally, risk sources and risk receptors are complex and diverse. In this study, urban ecological risks are defined as adverse effects and possibility of impacts on urban ecosystem services resulting from urbanization. Urbanization is recognized as the risk source, and the urban ecosystem is considered the risk receptor. Based on this understanding, the components of urban ecological risks are defined, and the relationships between the components of urban ecological risks are illuminated by establishing an indicator system. Based on previous studies on urban ecological risks, an explicit framework for identification, assessment, and management of urban ecological risks is proposed. For purposes of identification, there are three types of risk sources: population growth, industrial development, and the expansion of built land. Stressors include the accumulation of contaminants, consumption of resources, and occupation of space. Assessment endpoints are divided into provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services. In response to urban ecological risks having multiple stressors and multiple assessment endpoints, we assessed risks both with a single stressor/single endpoint and comprehensive ecological risks. In our framework, the physical or material assessment of ecosystem services is adopted as the core method for the analysis of urban ecological risk, because it is believed that the analysis of urban ecological risk should be based on the physical or material assessment of ecosystem services instead of the value assessment of ecosystem services. The results of the single value assessment of urban ecosystem services will cause the deviation from the purpose of urban ecosystem services assessment. The purpose of urban ecosystem services assessment is to maintain and/or improve the capability of urban ecosystems of providing physical or material services, and further to reduce or avoid the occurrence risks of unsustainable cities. Additionally, a multi-level characterization method was adopted for the results of urban ecological risk assessment. In this study, we established a platform to manage urban ecological risks based on landscape ecology and environmental internet of things technologies, and to effectuate online urban ecological risk identification, assessment, and management via this platform.     

Valuation of natural capital under uncertain substitutability

Natural capital is complex to value notably because of the high uncertainties surrounding the substitutability of its future ecosystem services. We examine a Lucas economy in which a consumption good is produced by combining different inputs, one of them being an ecosystem service that is partially substitutable with other inputs. The growth rate of these inputs and the elasticity of substitution evolve in a stochastic way. We characterize the socially efficient ecological discount rates that should be used to value future ecosystem services at different time horizons. We show that the inverse of the elasticity of substitution can be interpreted as the CCAPM beta of natural capital. We also show that any increase in risk of this beta reduces the ecological discount rate. If our collective beliefs about the elasticity of substitution of ecosystem services are Gaussian, the ecological discount rates go to minus infinity for finite maturities. In that case, a marginal increase in natural capital has an infinite value. We provide a realistic calibration of the model that is coherent with observed asset prices by using the model of extreme events of Barro (2006). The bliss maturity for infinite discount factors is less than 100 years in this calibration.     

基于CVM的南昌城市河湖生态服务功能价值评估

条件价值评估法(CVM)是当前可用于确定环境物品非市场的和非使用价值的有效方法.在分析南昌市城市河湖生态环境问题的基础上,采用条件价值评估法,共回收194份单边界二分式CVM有效问卷,研究了南昌城市河湖生态系统服务改善的支付意愿及其经济价值.研究表明:1)南昌市城区河湖生态系统服务改善的平均支付意愿约为105.83元/...     

The Role of Prices in Conserving Critical Natural Capital

Abstract: Until recent decades, economic decision makers have largely ignored the nonmarket benefits provided by nature, resulting in unprecedented threats to ecological life‐support functions. The economic challenge today is to decide how much ecosystem structure can be converted to economic production and how much must be conserved to provide essential ecosystem services. Many economists and a growing number of life scientists hope to address this challenge by estimating the marginal value of environmental benefits and then using this information to make economic decisions. I assessed this approach first by examining the role and effectiveness of the price mechanism in a well‐functioning market economy, second by identifying the issues that prevent markets from pricing many ecological benefits, and third by focusing on problems inherent to valuing services generated by complex and poorly understood ecosystems subject to irreversible change. I then focus on critical natural capital (CNC), which generates benefits that are essential to human welfare and have few if any substitutes. When imminent ecological thresholds threaten CNC, conservation is essential and marginal valuation becomes inappropriate. Once conservation needs have been met, remaining ecosystem structure is potentially available for economic production. Demand for this available supply will determine prices. In other words, conservation needs should be price determining, not price determined. Conservation science must help identify CNC and the quantity and quality of ecosystem structure required to ensure its sustained provision.     

An integrated indicator on regional ecological civilization construction in China

China has come up with ecological civilization as one of major goals to improve its ecological sustainability during development in future. Under this broad framework, social, economic and natural ecosystems are expected to develop in harmony. However, there is lack of evaluation mechanism for this newly proposed strategy. Therefore, in this article, ecosystem services, Ecological Footprint and gross domestic product per capita were selected in order to reflect the resource endowment, human occupation on natural capital, and the economic growth. Thus, an integrated indicator was constructed from the three indexes based on the linear correlation among them, and we provided comprehensive evaluation on ecological civilization construction in the provinces and municipalities in China in 2010. When it comes to the indicator of ecological civilization construction, Hainan province has the greatest value which is 0.5091 and Beijing municipality has the smallest value which is 0.0377. At last, the article analyzed the ecological pressure and efficiency in ecological civilization construction in China. The results contribute to scientific and objective evaluation of regional ecological civilization construction in order to properly make decisions and take actions.     

Difference in the net value of ecological services between natural and artificial forests in China

Land degradation is a global problem that seriously threatens human society. However, in China and elsewhere, ecological restoration still largely relies on a traditional approach that focuses only on ecological factors and ignores socioeconomic factors. To improve the effectiveness of ecological restoration and maximize its economic and ecological benefits, a more efficient approach is needed that provides support for policy development and land management and thereby promotes environmental conservation. We devised a framework for assessing the value of ecosystem services that remain after subtracting costs, such as the opportunity costs, costs of forest protection, and costs for the people who are affected by the program; that is, the net value of ecosystem services (NVES). To understand the difference between the value of a resource and the net value of the ecosystem service it provides, we used data on VES, timber sales, and afforestation costs from China's massive national afforestation programs to calculate the net value of forest ecosystem services in China. Accounting for the abovementioned costs revealed an NVES of ¥6.1 × 10¹² for forests in 2014, which was 35.9% less than the value calculated without accounting for costs. As a result, the NVES associated with afforestation was 55.9% less than the NVES of natural forests. In some regions, NVES was negative because of the huge costs of human-made plantations, high evapotranspiration rates (thus, high water opportunity costs), and low forest survival rates. To maximize the ecological benefits of conservation, it is necessary to account for as many costs as possible so that management decisions can be based on NVES, thereby helping managers choose projects that maximize both economic and ecological benefits.     

Effects of Urban Development on Ant Communities: Implications for Ecosystem Services and Management

Abstract:  Research that connects the effects of urbanization on biodiversity and ecosystem services is lacking. Ants perform multifarious ecological functions that stabilize ecosystems and contribute to a number of ecosystem services. We studied responses of ant communities to urbanization in the Lake Tahoe basin by sampling sites along a gradient of urban land development. We sampled ant communities, measured vegetation characteristics, quantified human activities, and evaluated ant-community responses by grouping ants into service-providing units (SPUs), defined as a group of organisms and their populations that perform specific ecosystem services, to provide an understanding of urbanization impacts on biodiversity and their delivery of ecosystem services. Species richness and abundance peaked at intermediate levels of urban development, as did the richness of 3 types of ant SPUs (aerators, decomposers, and compilers). With increasing land development aerator and decomposer ants significantly declined in abundance, whereas compiler ants significantly increased in abundance. Competing models demonstrated that precipitation was frequently among the strongest influences on ant community structure; however, urban development and human activities also had a strong, negative influence on ants, appearing in most models with ΔAIC_c < 2 for species richness and abundance patterns of SPUs and generalists. Response diversity was observed within SPUs, which suggests that the corresponding ecosystem services were maintained until development reached 30–40%. Our data provide evidence that ecosystem functions, such as water infiltration and soil productivity, may be diminished at sites subject to greater levels of urbanization and that conserving ant communities and the ecosystem services they provide could be an important target in land-use planning and conservation efforts.     

Disadvantages and future research directions in valuation of ecosystem services in China

We have reviewed the development, background and valuation history of ecosystem services in China and abroad, and highlight the importance of ecosystem services and the necessity of their valuation at various temporal and spatial scales. Through critical review of the literature, we have elucidated disadvantages in studies of ecosystem services in China, including the lack of a definite purpose for the valuation of ecosystem services, improper emphasis of valuation studies, stifled application of the contingent valuation method, weak power of research panels in the field, and the absence of the participation of government officials. In addition, we discuss some case studies from Western countries which tracked changes in the total economic value (TEV) of ecosystem services across different states of ecological disturbance and evaluated changes in the TEV under different management regimes. These studies may be useful in guiding future research in China. In essence, there are three major aspects involved in the valuation of ecosystem services: improving accuracy of valuation, association of results of valuation with policy and management decisions, and transfer of payments for ecosystem services. We suggest three priorities for future research in China: to develop an ecosystem service valuation model, to enhance the relevance of valuation studies to policy development, and to reward the protectors of ecosystem services.     

Functional taxonomy: An immodest proposal

The thesis is presented that classical taxonomy is of limited value to ecosystem science, and that the further development of ecosystem theory may actually be hindered by a reliance on the biological (phylogenetic) species as the basic functional unit of ecosystems. It is further argued that this situation could be improved if ecologists could agree on a system of functional classification in which ecological taxa would be distinguished solely on the basis of what they do in the context of an ecosystem, and not on their evolutionary relationships.A functional classification system is proposed in which functional taxa for specific ecosystems (ecological sectors) are defined as broad trophic groups of organisms in common vertical habitat zones, and with common inputs and outputs (ecosystem commodities and services). This system is envisioned as potentially useful in the development of comparative ecosystem theory, for constructing simulation models, for ongoing research in economic versus ecological values, and for cataloging new functional information as it becomes available.The proposed system is tentatively applied to the salt marsh estuarine ecosystem in the southeastern U.S.A. and to the swampforest ecosystem in Louisiana (U.S.A.). Twenty-five sectors are identified in the former and twenty in the latter.“It is by endless subdivisions based upon the most inconclusive differences, that some departments of natural history become so repellingly intricate”. Melville (1851), Moby Dick.