生态环境标准体系框架研究

体系框架设计是生态环境标准体系建设的基础。按照标准体系设计的基本原则,结合我国生态环境管理工作实践,提出了由生态环境管理领域和技术内容类别二维构成的生态环境标准体系框架。体系框架中,领域维包括保护地管理、生物多样性保护、水土保持、沙化与石漠化控制、开发建设工程生态环境保护、外来物种环境风险管理、转基因生物环境安全、农村生态环境保护、城市生态环境保护、森林生态保护、草原生态保护、荒漠生态保护、湿地生态保护、内陆水域生态保护、海洋生态保护、流域(区域)生态保护和综合17个大类,技术维包括术语、分类与信息、区划、质量、保护与恢复、监测检测、评价和综合8个大类,并就每个大类的相关内容和标准作了详细说明。     

IUCN保护区分类系统与中国自然保护区分类标准的比较

通过对世界自然保护联盟(IUCN)和我国分类系统的比较,提出应该根据我国生物多样性、自然及其相关文化资源保护和维持的现状及特点,参照IUCN保护区分类系统,尽快制定出我国新的保护区分类系统。新分类系统应该以保护区主要管理目标为基本依据,同时综合考虑保护对象的特点及人类干扰程度来确定保护区类型,从而促进保护区的规范管理和进一步发展,实现自然保护与可持续发展的双重目标。     

IUCN保护区分类系统与中国自然保护区分类标准的比较

通过对世界自然保护联盟(IUCN)和我国分类系统的比较，提出应该根据我国生物多样性、自然及其相关文化资源保护和维持的现状及特点，参照IUCN保护区分类系统，尽快制定出我国新的保护区分类系统。新分类系统应该以保护区主要管理目标为基本依据，同时综合考虑保护对象的特点及人类干扰程度来确定保护区类型，从而促进保护区的规范管理和进一步发展，实现自然保护与可持续发展的双重目标。     

生态用地分类初步研究

中国现有的土地利用分类体系对土地的生态属性考虑不足,导致生态用地分类缺乏统一的标准,生态用地难以得到有效保护。基于此,该文尝试对生态用地分类体系进行初步研究,以期为生态用地的科学管护,国土空间格局的优化和生态文明建设的推进提供科技支撑。在总结借鉴国内外学者有关生态用地研究成果的基础上,首先对生态用地概念进行了界定,在剔除《第二次全国土地调查技术规程-土地利用现状分类》中的非生态用地基础上,采用"逆向递推"方法将生态用地合并归类:根据生态用地的概念、内涵和划分依据,将剔除非生态用地后的土地利用现状分类中的二级地类归为35个生态用地三级地类;根据人类活动对生态用地影响范围和程度的不同而导致发挥的生态功能强弱的差异,将生态用地三级地类合并归类为14个二级地类;基于"人类活动-生态用地"影响反馈机理,将生态用地分为原生生态用地、半人工生态用地和人工生态用地3个一级地类。随后,为使生态用地分类系统在生态用地管理与生态建设实践中发挥应有的作用,将土地利用现状分类与生态用地分类实现了有效衔接。最后,作者建议借鉴国内外对于生态系统服务功能的相关研究,考虑从生态系统服务价值等视角来建立相关定量化的系统科学的生态用地分类体系。     

生态用地分类初步研究

中国现有的土地利用分类体系对土地的生态属性考虑不足,导致生态用地分类缺乏统一的标准,生态用地难以得到有效保护。基于此,该文尝试对生态用地分类体系进行初步研究,以期为生态用地的科学管护,国土空间格局的优化和生态文明建设的推进提供科技支撑。在总结借鉴国内外学者有关生态用地研究成果的基础上,首先对生态用地概念进行了界定,在剔除《第二次全国土地调查技术规程-土地利用现状分类》中的非生态用地基础上,采用“逆向递推”方法将生态用地合并归类：根据生态用地的概念、内涵和划分依据,将剔除非生态用地后的土地利用现状分类中的二级地类归为35个生态用地三级地类;根据人类活动对生态用地影响范围和程度的不同而导致发挥的生态功能强弱的差异,将生态用地三级地类合并归类为14个二级地类;基于“人类活动-生态用地”影响反馈机理,将生态用地分为原生生态用地、半人工生态用地和人工生态用地3个一级地类。随后,为使生态用地分类系统在生态用地管理与生态建设实践中发挥应有的作用,将土地利用现状分类与生态用地分类实现了有效衔接。最后,作者建议借鉴国内外对于生态系统服务功能的相关研究,考虑从生态系统服务价值等视角来建立相关定量化的系统科学的生态用地分类体系。     

江苏省流域水生态功能分区

水生态功能区划是科学开展水生态环境保护工作的重要手段,是指导产业布局、水资源开发的重要依据。江苏省流域水生态功能分区在近中远期结合时间尺度原则、集中式生活饮用水水源地优先保护原则等分区原则的指导下对全省水资源进行了一级分区和二级分区的划分,一级分区包括长江流域、淮河流域、太湖流域和近岸海域4个分区,二级分区包括宁镇扬丘陵平原水生态亚区、长江三角洲平原水生态亚区、徐宿淮丘陵平原水生态亚区等10个分区。同时,本文对江苏省流域水生态功能分区的分区体系如等级体系、分区方法体系进行了讨论。     

生物多样性重要区域(KBAs)识别全球标准及在中国的应用建议

生物多样性重要区域的识别是进行生物多样性保护的首要步骤。世界自然保护联盟(International Unionfor Conservation of Nature,IUCN) 2016年3月正式发布了生物多样性重要区域(简称KBAs)识别的全球标准(KBA标准)。首次系统地考虑不同层次的生物多样性及其要素,从基因层面、物种层面和生态系统层面定位和突显那些对于维护全球生物多样性具有重要贡献的地区,帮助各国和地区识别对维护全球陆地、内陆水域和海洋生物多样性有显著贡献的区域。该标准是IUCN近30多年以来开展不同生物类群、生态和专类别生物多样性重要区域识别的经验基础上提出来的又一重要全球标准。笔者对标准中几点关键原则进行了重点解读,并结合中国在生物多样性重要区域识别的研究进展提出了有针对性的建议。     

基于主导生态功能与生态退化程度的生态修复分区研究

生态修复分区是科学高效地开展生态修复的前提,以科尔沁沙地源头巴林右旗为例,采用"自下而上"与"自上而下"相结合的分区思路,运用地理信息系统空间分析技术手段,在主导生态功能空间分异规律的基础上,综合考虑区域生态退化程度,并根据区域气候特征、地势地貌和植被类型,划定不同等级的生态修复分区空间分布。一级分区按照立地条件即考虑地形地貌和植被覆被类型划定,是区域环境主导生态类型的组合;二级分区按照主导生态功能即水源涵养功能、防风固沙功能、土壤保持功能和生物多样性维护功能划定,是中尺度下区域环境主导生态功能类型的组合;三级分区按照未退化、轻度退化、中度退化和重度退化划定,以此划分修复难易型小区,即生态修复预防小区、生态修复调控小区和生态修复重点小区。将巴林右旗共划分为3个一级区、7个二级区和29个三级区,既体现了生态功能的空间分异规律,又使得恢复具有针对性,为制定植被配置、产业结构调整等不同调控措施和生态修复方案提供技术支撑。     

中国海洋自然保护区功能分区模式及分类管理初探

我斟海洋自然保护区目前正处于高速发展过程中，保护区已有的功能分区模式已不能满足保护区建设和管理工作的需要。本文通过对海洋自然保护区的功能分区的分析探讨，提出不同类型的保护区应采用不同的功能分区模式进行管理。另外，以中华白海豚自然保护区为例，在分析其功能分区和种群分布特点的基础上，提出了不设核心区模式。最后，提出在保护区高速发展的同时，应加强海洋自然保护区本身的研究，应加强保护区的分类及功能分区的研究。     

生态保护红线分区建设模式研究——以广东大鹏半岛为例

生态保护红线是中国一项创新性的环境保护制度,但目前其划分和实施管理机制仍处于不断探索阶段。以大鹏半岛为研究区域开展生态保护红线分区模式研究。通过生态调查和GIS空间分析相结合,综合分析大鹏半岛的功能定位、地形地貌特征、典型生态系统类型、珍稀濒危动植物资源和自然遗迹的分布状况、生态系统完整性和连续性特征,构建了全面反映生态特征的生态保护红线分区建设模式,提出基本生态控制线内差别化管理的思路,探讨了分区、分类、分级的生态保护管理体系,创新了流域生态管理模式。以基本生态控制线为基础划分7个重点区域进行分类分级保护模式,重点保护面积为171.59 km2,占基本生态控制线面积的77.3%。重点保护区域包括大鹏半岛国家地质公园、大鹏半岛自然保护区、红花岭海岸森林公园、大鹏半岛中部生态廊道、坝光古银叶树Heritiera littoralis国家湿地公园、东涌红树林湿地公园、西涌香蒲桃Syzygium odoratum林自然保护小区。该模式的实施既能较好地保护大鹏半岛具有重要生态价值的资源,也能够协调经济社会发展和生态保护的关系,是深圳市基本生态控制线内分区管理制度的有益尝试,为生态保护红线的可持续性管理提供技术支撑,也为中国城市生态保护红线的划分体系和精细化管理提供参考。     

Mapping Change in Human Pressure Globally on Land and within Protected Areas

It is widely accepted that the main driver of the observed decline in biological diversity is increasing human pressure on Earth's ecosystems. However, the spatial patterns of change in human pressure and their relation to conservation efforts are less well known. We developed a spatially and temporally explicit map of global change in human pressure over 2 decades between 1990 and 2010 at a resolution of 10 km². We evaluated 22 spatial data sets representing different components of human pressure and used them to compile a temporal human pressure index (THPI) based on 3 data sets: human population density, land transformation, and electrical power infrastructure. We investigated how the THPI within protected areas was correlated to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) management categories and the human development index (HDI) and how the THPI was correlated to cumulative pressure on the basis of the original human footprint index. Since the early 1990s, human pressure increased 64% of the terrestrial areas; the largest increases were in Southeast Asia. Protected areas also exhibited overall increases in human pressure, the degree of which varied with location and IUCN management category. Only wilderness areas and natural monuments (management categories Ib and III) exhibited decreases in pressure. Protected areas not assigned any category exhibited the greatest increases. High HDI values correlated with greater reductions in pressure across protected areas, while increasing age of the protected area correlated with increases in pressure. Our analysis is an initial step toward mapping changes in human pressure on the natural world over time. That only 3 data sets could be included in our spatio‐temporal global pressure map highlights the challenge to measuring pressure changes over time. Mapeo del Cambio en la Presión Humana Global en Tierra y Dentro de Áreas Protegidas     

Spatial analysis of traffic and risks in the coastal zone

Management of the coastal zone for the purposes of conservation and sustainability is a well-described concept in the literature. This paper describes the importance of modelling various forms of maritime traffic as an intrinsic element of this process. Effective use of GIS in this context implies extensive data acquisition and cleaning, vessel path simulation, traffic density maps, and incident (spills or accidents) distribution when applicable. Risks can be determined by evaluating detrimental occurrences relative to exposure levels. Effective visualization and quantitative analyses can then be fruitfully applied to various coastal zone management spheres, such as oceans use planning, emergency response planning, and marine protected area delineation.     

Capacity development in protected area management

Increasing land consumption and loss of biodiversity make it particularly important that protected areas fulfil their function. This, however, is often impaired by insufficient political and financial support. This study investigates how existing protected area management capacities can be used more effectively in a prompt and lasting manner. Therefore, data from protected area management effectiveness evaluations were analysed. Efficient workflows and teamwork were identified to be key capacities for effective management. Simultaneously, deficient financial and social security, lack of incentives and inflexible management structures prevent the productive use of existing capacities. In order to improve the situation, greater attention should be given to intangible assets. Additionally, protected area managers and employees must be enabled to be more self-reliant and self-responsible in order to foster a lasting learning process.     

Designing the Masoala National Park in Madagascar Based on Biological and Socioeconomic Data

Abstract: Conservation biologists have developed powerful tools for reserve selection and design over the past two decades, yet seldom are protected areas actually designed on scientific grounds. Using fundamental biological and socioeconomic principles of conservation science, we designed a new protected area and its multiple-use zone on the Masoala Peninsula in the humid forest zone of Madagascar. The explicit design criteria determined the data gathered for the work, which included (1) spatial distribution and quality of habitat, (2) the areas and species at greatest risk, (3) the relationship between environmental gradients and species distributions, (4) current and predicted human settlement and land and resource use, and (5) the economic potential of natural forest management as an alternative to deforestation. We used a geographic information system to integrate these data layers and applied the design criteria to develop a park proposal that balanced human and wildlife needs. The proposal won the approval of local residents, and a national decree in 1997 designated 2100 km² of rainforest and three satellite marine reserves as the Masoala National Park, with a surrounding multiple-use zone of approximately 1000 km². The new park is Madagascar's largest protected area and protects more lowland (<400 m) humid forest habitat than the entire reserve system combined, a significant step forward in conserving a globally important ecoregion. Consideration of local needs and the national economy was a key element in gaining approval for the Masoala Park. Such an approach toward reserve design could be applied elsewhere to improve chances of establishing and maintaining protected areas over the long term.     

Land use change around protected areas: management to balance human needs and ecological function.

Protected areas throughout the world are key for conserving biodiversity, and land use is key for providing food, fiber, and other ecosystem services essential for human sustenance. As land use change isolates protected areas from their surrounding landscapes, the challenge is to identify management opportunities that maintain ecological function while minimizing restrictions on human land use. Building on the case studies in this Invited Feature and on ecological principles, we identify opportunities for regional land management that maintain both ecological function in protected areas and human land use options, including preserving crucial habitats and migration corridors, and reducing dependence of local human populations on protected area resources. Identification of appropriate and effective management opportunities depends on clear definitions of: (1) the biodiversity attributes of concern; (2) landscape connections to delineate particular locations with strong ecological interactions between the protected area and its surrounding landscape; and (3) socioeconomic dynamics that determine current and future use of land resources in and around the protected area.     

Testing the presence of marine protected areas against their ability to reduce pressures on biodiversity

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are the preferred tool for preventing marine biodiversity loss, as reflected in international protected area targets. Although the area covered by MPAs is expanding, there is a concern that opposition from resource users is driving them into already low-use locations, whereas high-pressure areas remain unprotected, which has serious implications for biodiversity conservation. We tested the spatial relationships between different human-induced pressures on marine biodiversity and global MPAs. We used global, modeled pressure data and the World Database on Protected Areas to calculate the levels of 15 different human-induced pressures inside and outside the world's MPAs. We fitted binomial generalized linear models to the data to determine whether each pressure had a positive or negative effect on the likelihood of an area being protected and whether this effect changed with different categories of protection. Pelagic and artisanal fishing, shipping, and introductions of invasive species by ships had a negative relationship with protection, and this relationship persisted under even the least restrictive categories of protection (e.g., protected areas classified as category VI under the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a category that permits sustainable use). In contrast, pressures from dispersed, diffusive sources (e.g., pollution and ocean acidification) had positive relationships with protection. Our results showed that MPAs are systematically established in areas where there is low political opposition, limiting the capacity of existing MPAs to manage key drivers of biodiversity loss. We suggest that conservation efforts focus on biodiversity outcomes and effective reduction of pressures rather than prescribing area-based targets, and that alternative approaches to conservation are needed in areas where protection is not feasible.     

Distribution patterns of different age classes and sexes in a Tyrrhenian population of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Talitrus saltator</Emphasis> (Montagu)

Temporal and spatial distribution patterns of a population of Talitrus saltator living on the Tyrrhenian coast of Tuscany (Italy) were studied. Bimonthly surveys were performed from March 1991 to January 1992 along transects using a standard system of pitfall traps and sieves for surface-active and burrowed individuals, respectively. Captured individuals were subdivided into sex and age classes (on the basis of the number of articles of the flagellum of the second antenna). Abundances were calculated for each sampling period and sex ratios were determined. For each sampling period the mean hour of surface activity was calculated together with the mean zonation of both surface-active and burrowing sandhoppers belonging to the different sex and age classes. Shifts in mean zonation between the resting and active phase were also determined. For each category of sex, age, and reproductive phase, simple and multiple regression analyses were used to find relationships of the mean zonation of surface-active animals with climatic data, and of the number of burrowed individuals with surface sand parameters recorded in correspondence to the sieves. On the whole, the results show that this Tyrrhenian population of T. saltator exhibited a bivoltine reproductive cycle and that the sex ratios of active sandhoppers were male or female biased according to the season. The variations in the mean hour of surface activity and in the zonation patterns of sandhoppers depended more on the age than on the sex. Furthermore distribution patterns were generally related to seasonal changes in the local climatic and substrate parameters. The observed differences between burrowing and activity zonations were interpreted on the basis of the nocturnal migrations of the different categories.     

Land cover types and ecological conditions of the Estonian coast

Detailed analysis of the land cover of the Estonian coastal zone is presented based on Estonian laws on coastal zone management, the CORINE Land Cover (CLC) system, the status of protected areas, and administrative division data of Estonia. By law the coastal zone is defined as a 200-m wide zone landward from the mean sea level line. The length of the Estonian coastline (including the islands) is 3794 km. The 200-m zone of the Estonian coast is very diverse. Out of the 34 CORINE land cover types represented in Estonia 30 are found in the coastal zone. Three dominating land cover types in the coastal zone of Estonia are inland marshes, coniferous forest and semi-natural grassland. Their total share is 47%; the other 27 land cover types represented here cover 53% of the coastal zone. The Estonian coastal zone is generally in a good natural condition. The proportion of artificial surfaces throughout the zone is merely 4.7%, while agricultural landscapes cover only ca. 10%. Land cover data for the coastal zone are also presented by county. Of the 200-m coastal zone 24% is under protection, which is more than twice the value for Estonia as a whole (11%). Legislative protection of the coastal zone is presently satisfactory. The use of the CORINE Land Cover system enables comparisons with other European regions since CLC data have been compiled for most of Europe.     

Application of Modified Threat Reduction Assessments in Lebanon

Abstract: Worldwide efforts have concentrated on developing monitoring methods that would enhance the assessment of progress toward achieving the 2010 conservation objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Threat reduction assessment is one such method. It provides an indirect measure of the effects of a conservation project by evaluating changes in human‐induced direct threats to protected areas. We applied modified threat reduction assessments and the 2008 International Union for Conservation of Nature standardized lexicon for classification of threats to Horsh Ehden and Al‐Shouf Cedar nature reserves in Lebanon. Our goal was in part to test the suitability of this tool for improving monitoring and management effectiveness of protected forests in Lebanon. In Horsh Ehden, composite threats decreased by 24% from 1997 to 2002, and then increased from 2002 to 2009 by 78% in the core area of the reserve and by 118% in the reserve's buffer zone (surrounds core area, conservation and recreational activities allowed). In Al‐Shouf Cedar reserve threats decreased by 51% from 2006 to 2009. Management teams from both reserves have integrated the use of this method to prioritize actions for new management plans. We believe that in Lebanon and other countries with limited resources and weak monitoring programs or that are experiencing political instability threat reduction assessments could be used to improve the effectiveness of protected areas management.