Pressure Indicators of Wood Resource Use in an Atlantic Forest Area,Northeastern Brazil

Wood resources are often used to support the needs of the local population. In order to protect biodiversity and resources, conservation strategies need to consider what types of wood use have the strongest impacts on forested areas. This study aimed to identify the use categories that put higher pressure on an Atlantic forest region located in the municipality of Igarassu in Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. To conduct the study, we measured the volume of all wood products in 62 surveyed residences and registered the average replacement time for such products. The fuelwood category was most important locally and accounted for 92% of annual wood consumption. However, the construction category harvests more destructively and concentrates on the consumption of a few wood species. Therefore we recommend the fuelwood category to be the main focus of conservation effforts. In addition, the most important species for construction purposes (e.g., Eschweilera ovata (Cambess.) Miers, Apuleia leiocarpa (Vogel) J.F. Macbr. and Pogonophora schomburgkiana Miers ex Benth) should also be considered as a priority for conservation.     

Brazil's National Atlantic Forest Policy: A Challenge for State-level Environmental Planning. The Case of Santa Catarina,Brazil

Formulating effective national forest policy in lesser developed countries is complex and needs to take into account the social as well as the biophysical dimensions which impact on forest resources. Deforestation continues to be a serious concern in many of these countries and most national forest policy seeks to curb the devastationof forest resources. Due to different social groups competing for use of the forest resources, however, designing effective policy is challenging. The needs of these different social groups must be considered.Unless this is done, the forest policy itself can be an impetus for deforestation.In the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, deforestation in the Atlantic forest (Mata Atlantica) is occurring at a rapid rate, threatening the richness of biodiversity. There are a number of causes for deforestation in Santa Catarina, one being Brazil's national Atlantic forest policy. Unintentionally, the structure of this conservation-focusedpolicy has declared all of Santa Catarina's native forests off-limits to any type of exploitation, the only state in Brazil where this has occurred, and has actually precipitated deforestation. Challenges for state-level planning include addressing the national forest policy as well as the state-levelimpacts resulting from the policy. The history of the policy, the social groups affected and challenges for planning are discussed, as are proposed solutions.     

C and N Content in Density Fractions of Whole Soil and Soil Size Fraction Under Cacao Agroforestry Systems and Natural Forest in Bahia,Brazil

Agroforestry systems (AFSs) have an important role in capturing above and below ground soil carbon and play a dominant role in mitigation of atmospheric CO₂. Attempts has been made here to identify soil organic matter fractions in the cacao-AFSs that have different susceptibility to microbial decomposition and further represent the basis of understanding soil C dynamics. The objective of this study was to characterize the organic matter density fractions and soil size fractions in soils of two types of cacao agroforestry systems and to compare with an adjacent natural forest in Bahia, Brazil. The land-use systems studied were: (1) a 30-year-old stand of natural forest with cacao (cacao cabruca), (2) a 30-year-old stand of cacao with Erythrina glauca as shade trees (cacao + erythrina), and (3) an adjacent natural forest without cacao. Soil samples were collected from 0-10 cm depth layer in reddish-yellow Oxisols. Soil samples was separated by wet sieving into five fraction-size classes (>2000 μm, 1000–2000 μm, 250–1000 μm, 53–250 μm, and <53 μm). C and N accumulated in to the light (free- and intra-aggregate density fractions) and heavy fractions of whole soil and soil size fraction were determined. Soil size fraction obtained in cacao AFS soils consisted mainly (65 %) of mega-aggregates (>2000 μm) mixed with macroaggregates (32–34%), and microaggregates (1–1.3%). Soil organic carbon (SOC) and total N content increased with increasing soil size fraction in all land-use systems. Organic C-to-total N ratio was higher in the macroaggregate than in the microaggregate. In general, in natural forest and cacao cabruca the contribution of C and N in the light and heavy fractions was similar. However, in cacao + erythrina the heavy fraction was the most common and contributed 67% of C and 63% of N. Finding of this study shows that the majority of C and N in all three systems studied are found in macroaggregates, particularly in the 250–1000 μm size aggregate class. The heavy fraction was the most common organic matter fraction in these soils. Thus, in mature cacao AFS on highly weathered soils the main mechanisms of C stabilization could be the physical protection within macroaggregate structures thereby minimizing the impact of conversion of forest to cacao AFS.     

Administrative Co-management: The Case of Special-Use Forest Conservation in Vietnam

Special-use forests (SUFs) are nature protected areas in Vietnam used to conserve nature and its biodiversity. While the Vietnamese government has managed to increase the size and number of SUFs, biodiversity within these areas continues to decline. To improve protection of these SUFs, co-management has been advocated in Vietnam. Successfully implementing co-management requires decentralization of authority and a certain extent of public involvement in management activities. This paper assesses how and to what extent the governance of Vietnam’s SUFs have taken up the challenge of shifting from conventional government-based management to co-management. Current practices of (co-) management were investigated in 105 of the 143 SUFs. The results show that the type of co-management varies little between different categories of SUFs. Nevertheless, a national ‘style’ of Vietnamese co-management could be identified, labelled ‘administrative’ co-management; fostering interaction between a variety of actors, but final decision-making power on management remaining strongly in the hands of the provincial government.     

Public attitudes on environment,energy and the economy — Implications for policy

Summary During the last ten years environmental quality and energy have emerged as important national issues right along with the economy. The central proposition appears to be that environmental concerns are inversely related to concern about energy and the economy. The common assumptions about public perception of the trade-offs between environmental quality, economic growth, and energy production are shown to be invalid. In any event it is unlikely that public policy makers will find themselves strongly pulled by a highly polarized public.David J. Rosen is an assistant professor in the Department of Human Ecology, Cook College of Environmental and Agricultural Sciences, Rutgers University (U.S.A.) where he teaches in the interdisciplinary International Environmental Studies and Human Ecology curricula. While formally trained as a political scientist (Ph D, Rutgers University, 1975) for the past six years his research on energy and environmental matters has become increasingly interdisciplinary. The subjects of his work have ranged from the international energy system to the provision of solar energy incentives by state government. He has also served as a consultant to government and private organizations on a number of energy and environmental projects.     

Conservation in Brazil's Chocolate Forest: The Unlikely Persistence of the Traditional Cocoa Agroecosystem

/ In southern Bahia, Brazil, the traditional cocoa agroecosystem with a dense shade canopy of native trees is now recognized as a secondary conservation route for highly endangered Atlantic Rainforest species. This "chocolate forest" of the densely shaded farms persists despite a massive 20-year Brazilian government modernization program in which shade was seen as a chief impediment to raising cocoa production. The objective of this study was to determine how this traditional agroecosystem endured. Although dense shade limits cocoa yield, it provides several agroecological benefits: control of insect pests and weeds, microclimate stability, and soil fertility maintenance. A keycomponent of modernization efforts was a shade-tree removal program designed to maximize cocoa production by using low shade and fertilizer while substituting agrochemicals for many beneficial roles of the overhead trees. This research found that many farmers rejected, or only partially accepted, the shade reduction process although it promised much higher cocoa yield and profit. Farmers employing a wide range of shading were interviewed, and it was found that decisions to remove or maintain the shade trees were linked to both agroecological and risk-minimization factors. Farmers' perceptions of the agroecological functions of the shade trees and individual willingness to entertain the economic risk associated with substituting agrochemicals for these were important. A less-profitable, but lower-risk approach of occasional fertilizer and agrochemical use with the traditional shade intact was a rational and widespread choice. Policies designed to maintain the traditional agroecosystem through the current economic crisis should heed the multiple functions of the overhead trees. KEY WORDS: Conservation; Brazil; Atlantic Rainforest; Cocoa; Agroecology; Risk; Agroforestry     

森林自然保护区保护效果评价方法:挑战与进展

建立自然保护区是保护生物多样性的最有效的保护措施之一,但如何评估自然保护区保护效果一直是自然保护研究的难点。本文针对热带森林自然保护区保护效果评价方法进行综述,分析热带森林自然保护区保护效果评价面临的挑战:空间不可比、时间不可比;明确了热带森林自然保护区保护效果评价可比性建立的基本模式:确定森林退化指标,选择协变量,平衡协变量,选择对比方式,判断并去除空间溢出的影响范围;回顾了自然保护区保护效果评估常用统计方法:回归评估法和匹配评估法。为了加强热带森林自然保护区保护效果评估,在今后评估方法选择过程中建议:强化时空对比;强化多学科交叉方法的应用;强调多维度评估指标的选择和应用。     

Deforestation and Forest Management in Southern Ethiopia: Investigations in the Chencha and Arbaminch Areas

Long-term human impacts are considered to be the prime cause of unsustainable forest exploitation in Ethiopia. Yet there exist well-established systems and a wealth of local experience in maintaining and managing forests. This study explores the trends and driving forces of deforestation plus traditional practices regarding sustainable forest use and management in the Chencha and Arbaminch areas, Southern Ethiopia. Satellite image analysis (images from 1972, 1984 and 2006) combined with field surveys were used to detect and map changes in forest cover. Household interviews and group discussions with experienced and knowledgeable persons were also employed. The results show a 23 % decline in forest cover between 1972 and 2006 with the most significant change from 1986 to 2006. Change was greatest in the lowlands and remarkable episodic forest changes also occurred, suggesting nonlinear spatial and temporal forest cover dynamics. According to farmers, the main driver of deforestation is agricultural land expansion in response to local population increases and a decline in agricultural production. Growing local and regional fuel wood demand is another chief cause. Despite these issues, remarkable relicts of natural forests remain and trees on farmland, around homesteads and on fields in every village are basic elements of farm activities and social systems. This demonstrates the effect of cumulative traditional knowledge and long-term local experience with forest management and preservation. Therefore, these practices should be promoted and advanced through the integration of local knowledge and forest management practices in the design and implementation of sustainable environmental planning and management.     

Dams,Floodplain Land Use,and Riparian Forest Conservation in the Semiarid Upper Colorado River Basin,USA

Land and water resource development can independently eliminate riparian plant communities, including Fremont cottonwood forest (CF), a major contributor to ecosystem structure and functioning in semiarid portions of the American Southwest. We tested whether floodplain development was linked to river regulation in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) by relating the extent of five developed land-cover categories as well as CF and other natural vegetation to catchment reservoir capacity, changes in total annual and annual peak discharge, and overall level of mainstem hydrologic alteration (small, moderate, or large) in 26 fourth-order subbasins. We also asked whether CF appeared to be in jeopardy at a regional level. We classified 51% of the 57,000 ha of alluvial floodplain examined along >2600 km of mainstem rivers as CF and 36% as developed. The proportion developed was unrelated to the level of mainstem hydrologic alteration. The proportion classified as CF was also independent of the level of hydrologic alteration, a result we attribute to confounding effects from development, the presence of time lags, and contrasting effects from flow alteration in different subbasins. Most CF (68% by area) had a sparse canopy (50% canopy cover occupied <1% of the floodplain in 15 subbasins. We suggest that CF extent in the UCRB will decline markedly in the future, when the old trees on floodplains now disconnected from the river die and large areas change from CF to non-CF categories. Attention at a basinwide scale to the multiple factors affecting cottonwood patch dynamics is needed to assure conservation of these riparian forests.     

Remote Assessment of Forest Health in Southern Arizona, USA: Evidence for Ozone-Induced Foliar Injury

This paper examines possible ozone-induced foliar injury to ponderosa pine areas in the Rincon Mountains of southern Arizona from 1972 to 1992. Spatiotemporal differences in a satellite-derived vegetation index (VI) are examined with respect to antecedent moisture conditions, temporal variations in ozone exposure levels, and measured foliar injury values from 1985. Seasonal ozone exposure levels (SUM60 and W126) increased from 1982 to 1998 and were significantly correlated (r = 0.49 and 0.53, α= 0.05) with annual population totals in the Tucson area. Extensive masking of satellite images from 1972, 1986, and 1992 resulted in two optimal change detection areas, with one site, TVWMica, exposed mostly to the Tucson air pollution plume, while the other site, EMica, was more protected from Tucson-derived pollution. An overall increase in VI from 1972 to 1992 at both sites appears to have been caused by an increase in moisture availability. Larger foliar injury values in 1985 were associated with a smaller increase in VI (i.e., a smaller increase in green leaf biomass) from 1972 to 1986. From 1972 to 1986 and from 1986 to 1992, VI values at TV/WMica increased at a slower rate compared to those at EMica. The reduced increase in “green-up” may have been caused partially by ozone-induced foliar injury and resulting decreases in green leaf biomass. However, these spatial differences in VI values may have also been caused by a number of other factors. Results nevertheless reveal the strong possibility of distinct, topographically based, spatial variations in ozone-induced foliar injury within the Rincons.     

Valuation of Spatial Configurations and Forest Types in the Southern Appalachian Highlands

Site-specific estimates of the values of spatial configuration and forest composition are presented. Amenity values of forest patches are found to vary the most by urban and sprawling development patterns of specific areas and forest types. For example, smaller patches of deciduous forest are more highly valued in the urban and sprawling areas of Greensboro, North Carolina, whereas larger patches of deciduous forest are more highly valued in the urban and sprawling areas of Greenville, South Carolina. Within the Greenville and Greensboro areas, visible landscape complexity is highly valued for deciduous and evergreen forest patches, whereas lower visible landscape complexity, i.e., smoothly trimmed forest patch boundaries, is highly valued for mixed forest patches.     

西藏边坝金岭沙棘林保护及其生态建设研究

本文系统分析了西藏自治区边坝金岭沙棘林的功能定位、沙棘林保护与生态建设思路和目标，并从生态环境功能分区与保护的角度．提出了冰川湖堰-灌木沙棘林水源涵养保护区、觉昂河滩一碎屑流控制与沙棘禁伐区、金岭乡府-河滩护岸与乔木沙棘核心保护区三个重点功能区的生态建设方向与措施。     

The environmental attitudes inventory: A valid and reliable measure to assess the structure of environmental attitudes

Environmental attitudes (EA), a crucial construct in environmental psychology, are a psychological tendency expressed by evaluating the natural environment with some degree of favour or disfavour. There are hundreds of EA measures available based on different conceptual and theoretical frameworks, and most researchers prefer to generate new measures rather than organize those already available. The present research provides a cumulative and theoretical approach to the measurement of EA, in which the multidimensional and hierarchical nature of EA is considered. Reported are findings from three studies on the development of a psychometrically sound, multidimensional inventory to assess EA cross-culturally, the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI). The EAI has twelve specific scales that capture the main facets measured by previous research. The twelve factors were established through confirmatory factor analyses, and the EAI scales are shown to be unidimensional scales with high internal consistency, homogeneity and high test-retest reliability, and also to be largely free from social desirability.     

The Scottish economy: the development of underdevelopment?

This paper describes the recent economic history of the Scottish economy and uses a synthesised theory of labour market segmentation and the dual economy to identify the origins of the relative decline of Scottish industry and labour over the period, critically evaluating the role of the SDA and of government policy in general. Incorporating the impacts of takeover and merger of indigenous companies, the promotion of the branch plant economy, the selective effects of emigration and training schemes, and the reliance on small and medium sized companies to regenerate the economies of city‐regions, an analysis based on the importance of the centre‐periphery relations of monopoly capitalism for the Scottish economy is undertaken.     

Environmental protection, the economy, and jobs: national and regional analyses

The relationship between environmental protection (EP), the economy, and jobs has been an issue of harsh contention for decades. Does EP harm the economy and destroy jobs or facilitate economic growth and create jobs? We address this issue by summarizing the results of the Jobs and the Environment Initiative, research funded by nonprofit foundations to quantify the relationship between EP, the economy, and jobs. We estimate the size of the US environmental industry and the numbers of environment-related jobs at the national level and in the states of Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin. This is the first time that such comprehensive, detailed estimates have been developed.     

川西北两栖爬行动物资源及其利用与保护

川西北地区位于青藏高原东南部,现有两栖爬行动物67种(亚种),其中两栖类28种,爬行类39种;珍稀、濒危种约占22.4%,经济意义大、有利用价值的种占29.8%,经济意义一般的种占47.8%。这些动物在科研、工艺、药用、维护生态平衡等方面均有一定意义。本文对这些动物的利用现状作了评价,并对资源保护提出5点建议。     

湿地资源的功能类型及其开发与保护

简介了湿地的定义及其分类,并全面概括了湿地的功能类型和保护的意义,指出了中国湿地的现状及开发利用中的生态环境问题,并提出相应的保护对策。     

Marine Conservation and Accession: The Future for the Croatian Adriatic

The European Union (EU) is the world’s largest trading bloc and the most influential supra-national organisation in the region. The EU has been the goal for many eastern European States, for Croatia accession remains a priority and underpins many of its national policies. However, entry into the EU requires certain commitments and concessions. In October 2003 the Croatian parliament declared an ecological and fisheries protection zone in the Adriatic. Under pressure the zone was suspended, finally entering into force in March 2008 exempting EU States. There are other marine conflicts between Croatia and the EU, particularly the contested maritime border with Slovenia, and the development of the Croatian fishing fleet in opposition to the Common Fisheries Policy. Conversely, attempts to harmonise Croatian Nature Protection with the EU Habitats Directive, facilitated by pre-accession funding, has galvanised conservation policy. Since 2005 two marine protected areas have been declared, significantly increasing the marine ecosystem under protection. Finally, the development of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive is the latest EU attempt to integrate environmental policy in the maritime realm. This will have an effect not only on member States but neighbouring countries. For marine nature protection to be effective in the region the Adriatic Sea needs to be viewed as a mutually important shared and limited resource not a bargaining chip. Negotiations of the EU and Croatia have been watched closely by the other Balkan States and precedents set in this case have the potential to affect EU expansion to the East.     

Industry and the environment: Chief executive officer attitudes, 1976 and 1986

This research considers the question of changing environmental values within the leadership of firms responsible for the management of pollution as an unwanted byproduct. Information was obtained from a pair of surveys mailed to the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the 50 largest firms listed within the mining and manufacturing directories of Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming in 1976 and again in 1986. The authors found that industry CEOs were more supportive of environmental concerns in 1986 than 1976, suggesting that ecological values have become institutionalized to some extent. Yet, there is little indication that this attitudinal shift in environmental concern among CEOs has been accompanied by a willingness to spend a larger proportion of the company budget on pollution control or to improve working relationships with federal regulatory officials.