Applying parcel-specific land-use data for improved monitoring of semi-natural grassland in Denmark

A major obstacle to the conservation and management of semi-natural grassland (SNG) is the general lack of consistent and precise maps showing the extent and quality of this habitat type. SNG is related to, and influenced by, agricultural land use. Both intensive land use as well as a lack of extensive land use can reduce the extent and quality of SNG. For Denmark, this paper demonstrates how parcel-specific land-use data can be applied to detect localities with spatial convergences and conflicts between SNG and agricultural land use. Based on their respective influence on SNG, land use is aggregated into five major classes and spatially overlaid with existing nationally registered SNG. Results show that almost 11 % of all SNG is mapped either on cropped land or on rotational grassland, indicating a conflict between mapped SNG and land use. Thirty percent of SNG is mapped outside any agricultural land use, pointing to a lack of management. Fifty nine percent of SNG is mapped either on land receiving payments for grazing/mowing or on other land under extensive management, indicating a convergence between SNG and land use. Finally, 30 % of land receiving payments for grazing/mowing and 62 % of other land under extensive management does not contain any semi-natural habitat. Potential, as yet unmapped, SNG might exist in these localities. Based on these results it is argued that the application of parcel-specific land-use data could significantly improve monitoring of SNG.     

Moving from reactive to proactive development planning to conserve Indigenous community and biodiversity values

There is increased awareness of the need to balance multiple societal values in land use and development planning. Best practice has promoted the use of landscape-level conservation planning and application of the ‘mitigation hierarchy’, which focuses on avoiding, minimizing or compensating for impacts of development projects. However, environmental impact assessments (EIA) typically focus in a reactive way on single project footprints with an emphasis on environmental values and specifically biodiversity. This separation may miss opportunities to jointly plan for and manage impacts to both environmental and social values. Integrated approaches may have particular benefit in northern Australia, where Indigenous people have native title to as much as 60% of the land area and cultural values are closely linked with natural values. Here, we present a novel framework for integrating biodiversity and cultural values to facilitate use in EIA processes, using the Nyikina Mangala Native Title Determination Area in the Kimberley, Western Australia, as a case study. We demonstrate 1) how social and cultural values can be organized and analyzed spatially to support mitigation planning, 2) how social, cultural, and biodiversity values may reinforce each other to deliver better conservation outcomes and minimize conflict, and 3) how this information, in the hands of Indigenous communities, provides capacity to proactively assess development proposals and negotiate mitigation measures to conserve social, cultural, and biodiversity values following the mitigation hierarchy. Based on values defined through a Healthy Country Planning process, we developed spatial datasets to represent cultural/heritage sites, freshwater features, common native animals and plants represented by biophysical habitat types, and legally-protected threatened and migratory species represented by potential habitat models. Both cultural/heritage sites and threatened species habitat show a strong thematic and spatial link with freshwater features, particularly the Fitzroy River wetlands. We outline some of the challenges and opportunities of this process and its implications for the Northern Australia development agenda.     

An evaluation of the environmental costs and benefits of conservation tillage

Every production practice, including conservation tillage, has positive or negative environmental consequences that may involve air, land, water, and/or the health and ecological status of wildlife. The negative impacts associated with agricultural production, and the use of conventional tillage systems in particular, include soil erosion, energy use, leaching and runoff of agricultural chemicals, and carbon emissions. Several of these impacts are quantified. The conclusions suggest that the use of conservation tillage does result in less of an adverse impact on the environment from agricultural production than does conventional tillage, because of reduced surface water runoff and wind erosion. Wildlife habitat will be enhanced to some extent with the adoption of conservation tillage. The benefits to be gained from carbon sequestration will depend on the soil remaining undisturbed. Expansion of conservation tillage on highly erodible land will unquestionably result in an increase in social benefits, but the expected gains will be modest.     

A Data-Based Conservation Planning Tool for Florida Panthers

Habitat loss and fragmentation are the greatest threats to the endangered Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi). We developed a data-based habitat model and user-friendly interface so that land managers can objectively evaluate Florida panther habitat. We used a geographic information system (GIS) and the Mahalanobis distance statistic (D ²) to develop a model based on broad-scale landscape characteristics associated with panther home ranges. Variables in our model were Euclidean distance to natural land cover, road density, distance to major roads, human density, amount of natural land cover, amount of semi-natural land cover, amount of permanent or semi-permanent flooded area–open water, and a cost–distance variable. We then developed a Florida Panther Habitat Estimator tool, which automates and replicates the GIS processes used to apply the statistical habitat model. The estimator can be used by persons with moderate GIS skills to quantify effects of land-use changes on panther habitat at local and landscape scales. Example applications of the tool are presented.     

The Stream and Its Altered Valley: Integrating Landscape Ecology into Environmental Assessments of Agro-Ecosystems

Little is known about the importance of landscape and land cover to the implementation and performance of agricultural conservation projects designed to improve stream quality. In our study, we addressed the potential importance of landscape and land cover to conservation projects by measuring variation across 191 μ-basins (100–2400 ha) and integrating the observed variation into a study design aimed at determining the effectiveness of conservation projects. Our findings indicate that there are strong gradients across which landscape and land cover attributes vary. Land cover varied along a gradient of agricultural intensity, basin morphometry across gradients of stream closure and basin size, basin substrate was described by variation in drumlin formation, glacial landform type, and soil drainage, while agricultural conservation projects varied according to the level of project implementation. Correlation of these gradients found several associations between landscape and land cover, indicating that agricultural intensity was being constrained predominantly by drumlin formation and glacial landform type. Landscape and land cover did not appear to be determining factors in the implementation of conservation projects by land owners. Based on these findings we chose 32 μ-basins which represented the variability along each of the defined gradients for further study. We conclude that landscape scale variables demonstrate important variation and covariation that can and should be integrated into study designs for the assessment of streams and human activities affecting streams.     

Land take and the effectiveness of project screening in Environmental Impact Assessment: Findings from an empirical study

Land take is emerging as a global environmental concern, and is particularly critical in intensively developed and land-scarce regions. This paper seeks to understand the effectiveness of the screening stage of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in addressing land take. Screening is the stage where a decision is made as to whether an EIA is required for a project. In many jurisdictions, screening results in three pathways: full EIA directly, preliminary EIA only, or preliminary EIA followed by full EIA. We compared the land take of 217 projects triggering the different pathways in a study region in Italy over a 15-year time interval. Land take was quantified by overlaying the footprint of the projects with a land cover map.The results show that while more attention was given to projects with larger land take impacts overall, the cumulative land take from smaller projects not triggering full EIA was considerable (40% of overall land take). The case-by-case examination conducted through the preliminary EIA was found to work better for some project types (ski areas and small urban development), than for others (quarries). Our findings lead us to advocate improvements in current screening procedures to ensure that the land take impacts are quantified and made explicit in preliminary EIA reports. Our evidence-based approach to determining land take in EIA provides a compelling basis for understanding ways to improve EIA policies, guidance and practice.     

北京市水环境非点源污染监测与负荷估算研究

文章对北京全市域范围开展水环境非点源污染监测以及污染负荷估算研究。监测结果表明,天然降雨氨氮、总氮污染程度高;城区典型下垫面降雨径流的有机污染十分严重,其中屋面降雨径流总氮和氨氮污染最严重,路面降雨径流COD和总磷污染最严重;下垫面降雨径流汇入城市排水管网后,由于冲洗下水道中的沉积物,使得水质污染进一步恶化。农业典型小流域面源污染对水质影响也很明显。城市非点源污染负荷估算选用SWMM暴雨径流模型,农业非点源污染负荷模型选用改进的输出系数模型,估算结果表明:城市非点源污染主要来自大气湿沉降、综合用地、路面和屋面等,农业非点源污染主要来自耕地和林地;全市污染物排放总量中,点源排放总量与非点源排放总量基本各占50％左右。为进一步挖掘污染减排空间,完善总量减排体系提供了依据。     

Examining Relationships Between Socioeconomic Factors and Landscape Metrics in the Southern Basin of the Caspian Sea

Socioeconomic forces are not only among the main drivers of landscape dynamics; they are also influenced by landscape patterns. Landscape structure and functions are closely related to natural and social factors. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships among some human-related factors and landscape ecological metrics as landscape pattern indicators and to identify suitable metrics for modeling these relationships. To this goal, landscape ecological metrics were calculated for each of the 32 counties of Mazandaran and Guilan provinces located in the southern basin of the Caspian Sea using land use/cover maps in class level. Stream network metrics were calculated using a digital elevation model, road density metrics were calculated using map of main roads separately, and significant metrics were selected according to results of correlation tests and factor analysis. The correlations between these metrics and socioeconomic factors were tested, and their relationships were modeled with multiple linear regressions. Significant relationships were found among socioeconomic factors and landscape ecological metrics, and land use/cover data are applicable for modeling socioeconomic factors, especially demographic and employment structure factors. Among the landscape metrics applied in this study, road density, mean patch size, mean nearest neighbor distance, and percentage of a land use/cover class in landscape were important metrics for predicting socioeconomic factors. Our findings indicated that road density metric and percentages of urban class are useful for predicting urban socioeconomic factors and percentage of agriculture and forest classes in the landscape are suitable metrics for predicting rural socioeconomic factors.     

Effects of roads on terrestrial vertebrate species in Latin America

Biodiversity in Latin America is at risk today due to habitat loss, land conversion to agriculture and urbanization. To grow their economies the developing countries of Latin America have begun to invest heavily in new road construction. An assessment of research on the impacts of roads on wildlife in Latin America will help define science-based conservation strategies aimed at mitigating road expansion. The aim of this review was to qualitatively and quantitatively assess scientific research papers addressing road impacts on vertebrate species in Latin America. We searched for scientific papers published as early as 1990 to 2017. We reviewed a total of 197 papers. Published research showed an increasing trend in the last decade with a strong geographic bias with a majority of papers from Brazil. Mammals were the most studied taxa followed by birds, reptiles and amphibians. The majority of studies focused on road mortality and at the individual species level. Studies documented an increase in deforestation rates, in land conversion to agriculture, illegal activities (hunting, logging) and the establishment of human settlements. The effects of roads on species richness and populations abundance varied among taxa with no apparent pattern within taxa. Forest-dependent species tended to avoid crossing roads. Amphibians had the highest median road-kill rate, followed by reptiles, mammals and birds. Our results suggest that there is an urgent need for more research, particularly in Central America and to employ predictive tools for difficult-to-sample or understudied species and critical conservation areas. We recommend a two-speed approach to guide future research: one focusing on quantifying individual species responses towards roads and their implications on population viability; a second consisting of regional or continental-scale analyses and modelling of road risks to species and populations to inform road planning immediately.     

Modelling heavy metal fluxes from traffic into the environment

A new method is presented which allows emissions of traffic into the environment to be described as a function of road distance. The method distinguishes different types of emissions (runoff, spray and drift), which are determined by measurements and mass balances of a specified road section. The measurement of two-dimensional pollutant concentrations in the road shoulder is an important part of the method. In a case study performed at Burgdorf, Switzerland, the method was applied to the determination of the spatial distribution of heavy metal emissions. The results show that between 36 and 65% of the heavy metals Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn are present in runoff and spray and between 35 and 64% are dispersed diffusely in the environment (defined as drift). The runoff infiltrates into the vegetated road shoulder up to a distance of approx. 1 m from the road. The distribution of spray shows a maximum at 1 m and decreases steadily up to a distance of 5 m. This information can serve as a basis for the quantitative evaluation of road-runoff treatment scenarios. Although the results of the Burgdorf study are case-specific, several general guidelines for the reduction of traffic-related emissions can be derived from it.     

Assessing land take by urban development and its impact on carbon storage: Findings from two case studies in Italy

Land take due to urbanization triggers a series of negative environmental impacts with direct effects on quality of life for people living in cities. Changes in ecosystem services are associated with land take, among which is the immediate C loss due to land use conversion. Land use change monitoring represents the first step in quantifying land take and its drivers and impacts. To this end, we propose an innovative methodology for monitoring land take and its effects on ecosystem services (in particular, C loss) under multi-scale contexts. The devised approach was tested in two areas with similar sizes, but different land take levels during the time-span 1990–2008 in Central Italy (the Province of Rome and the Molise Region). The estimates of total coverage of built up areas were calculated using point sampling. The area of the urban patches including each sampling point classified as built up areas in the year 1990 and/or in the year 2008 is used to estimate total abundance and average area of built up areas. Biophysical and economic values for carbon loss associated with land take were calculated using InVEST.Although land take was 7–8 times higher in the Province of Rome (from 15.1% in 1990 to 20.4% in 2008) than in Molise region, our findings show that its relative impact on C storage is higher in the latter, where the urban growth consistently affects not only croplands but also semi-natural land uses such as grasslands and other wooded lands. The total C loss due to land take has been estimated in 1.6 million Mg C, corresponding to almost 355 million €.Finally, the paper discusses the main characteristics of urban growth and their ecological impact leading to risks and challenges for future urban planning and land use policies.     

A preliminary investigation of BDE-209, OCPs, and PAHs in urban road dust from Yangtze River Delta, China

Urban road dust samples were collected from different land use areas in Suzhou, Wuxi, and Nantong, Yangtze River Delta, China. The dust samples were analyzed for the levels and compositional profiles of deca-polybrominated diphenyl ethers (Deca-BDE), 22 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), and 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The levels of BDE-209, ∑OCPs, and ∑PAHs in samples ranged from 4.01–1,439 μg/kg, 3.15–615 μg/kg, and 2.24–58.2 mg/kg, respectively. PAHs were the predominant target compounds in road dust samples, comprising on average 97.7 % of total compounds. The spatial gradient of the pollutants (commercial/residential area> industrial area > urban park concentrations) was observed in the present study. The results indicated that the levels of BDE-209, OCPs, and PAHs observed in road dust were usually linked to anthropogenic activities in the urban environment. In addition, there might be a reflection of current usage or emissions of OCPs in urban environment.     

An Evaluation of Microscopic Emission Models for Traffic Pollution Simulation Using On-board Measurement

As a result of the continuously increasing numbers of motor vehicles in metropolitan areas worldwide, road traffic emission levels have been recognized as a challenge during the planning and management of transportation. Experiments were conducted to collect on-road emission data using portable emission measurement systems in two Chinese cities in order to estimate real traffic emissions and energy consumption levels and to build computational models for operational transport environment projects. In total, dynamic pollutant emissions and fuel consumption levels from dozens of light duty vehicles, primarily from four different vehicle classes, were measured at a second-by-second level. Using the collected data, several microscopic emission models including CMEM, VT-Micro, EMIT, and POLY were evaluated and compared through calibration and validation procedures. Non-linear optimization methods are applied for the calibration of the CMEM and EMIT models. Numerical results show that the models can realize performance levels close to the CMEM model in most cases. The VT-Micro model shows advantages in its unanimous performance and ability to describe low emission profiles while the EMIT model has a clear physics basis and a simple model structure. Both of them can be applied when extensive emission computation is required in estimating environmental impacts resulting from dynamic road traffic.     

Maryland's Green Infrastructure—Using Landscape Assessment Tools to Identify a Regional Conservation Strategy

Maryland is growing at a very rapid pace. Compounding the problems associated with rapid growth is the scattered pattern of development that consumes an excessive amount of land and fragments the landscape. As land use changes, wildlife habitat and migration corridors are lost and normal ecosystem functions are disturbed or destroyed. While land use planners and developers are attempting to minimize such impacts, they do not always know where key natural lands and corridors are situated. The Green Infrastructure Assessment (GIA) provides this information and can be used to identify a greenway network that will protect the most critical lands in the state before they are gone foreover. Using GIS and principles of landscape ecology, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources is identifying an interconnected network of "hubs" and "corridors" that are now the focus of state and local agency deliberations and revisions. Elements of the network are being prioritized for conservation and restoration activities based on ecological parameters (e.g., sensitive species, important wetlands or riparian zones, etc.) and threat parameters (e.g., protection status, development pressure, etc.). The goal of GIA is to help identify an ecologically sound open space network, and ultimately, to incorporate the agreed upon network into state and local land conservation planning.     

Land cover mapping of the tropical savanna region in Brazil

The Brazilian tropical savanna (Cerrado), encompassing more than 204 million hectares in the central part of the country, is the second richest biome in Brazil in terms of biodiversity and presents high land use pressure. The objective of this study was to map the land cover of the Cerrado biome based on the segmentation and visual interpretation of 170 Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus satellite scenes acquired in 2002. The following land cover classes were discriminated: grasslands, shrublands, forestlands, croplands, pasturelands, reforestations, urban areas, and mining areas. The results showed that the remnant natural vegetation is still covering about 61% of the biome, however, on a highly asymmetrical basis. While natural physiognomies comprise 90% of the northern part of the biome, only 15% are left in its southern portions. Shrublands were the dominant natural land cover class, while pasturelands were the dominant land use class in the Cerrado biome. The final Cerrado’s land cover map confirmed the intensive land use pressure in this unique biome. This paper also showed that Landsat-like sensors can provide feasible land cover maps of Cerrado, although ancillary data are required to help image interpretation.     

海口市城区不同下垫面降雨径流污染特征

分析海口市4种主要下垫面的径流水质,研究其污染程度和变化规律,并与国内其他城市进行对比。监测项目包括pH、SS、COD_Cr、TN、TP、Pb、Cr、Cd、Zn、石油类。结果表明,各下垫面径流水样水质较好,除路面径流COD_Cr超过《地表水环境质量标准》(GB 3838—2002)V类标准2倍,其他水质指标均达到标准要求;各污染物浓度初期较高,随降雨历时降低并趋于稳定,绿地径流污染物浓度下降速率比路面与屋面缓慢;相比国内其他海边城市,海口城区污染程度较轻。     

长株潭城市群经济社会发展与环境压力

长株潭城市群是湖南省的核心增长极,是"资源节约型社会、环境友好型社会"社会建设综合配套改革试验区,但伴随高速的工业化发展和城市化进程,长株潭面临着严峻的资源约束和环境压力。文章从土地利用格局、经济社会发展、环境质量状况、主要污染物排放和资源能源利用等方面入手,综合分析了长株潭城市群的环境压力,主要体现在长株潭城市群城市化与土地需求的矛盾凸显,"摊大饼"的扩张模式带来生态风险;重工业和污染排放集聚,累积性污染突出;环境空气质量和地表水环境质量形势不容乐观;资源能源利用方式粗放等。结合城市群区域规划,提出了长株潭城市群在新型城镇化建设中应采取的生态环境保护措施建议。     

北京市典型道路交通噪声排放特征

采用北京市道路交通噪声自动监测系统2013—2017年采集的等效连续A声级数据,对城市快速路、城市主干线、城市次干线、城市支路的代表性站点噪声排放情况进行了统计分析,结果显示,北京市不同等级的道路噪声排放具备一定的特征,排放水平从大到小依次为城市快速路城市主干线城市支路和城市次干线,道路噪声随时间变化存在较为一致的周期性排放特征,24 h变化特征比较明显。个别道路排放特征存在特异性,如城市主干线道路的一个代表监测站点噪声监测值出现了逐年下降趋势,分析发现,北京市非首都功能疏解对其噪声值的下降有一定贡献。采取一定的规划和管理措施有助于减少道路交通噪声的排放。     

常州市裸露地面风蚀扬尘排放清单及分布特征研究

以2014年为基准年,以常州市行政边界为研究区域,利用卫星遥感解译的土地利用类型和裸土面积信息,并通过国土、气象等部门提供的土壤类型、气象因子等相关资料获取本地化因子和参数,估算常州市行政区域内裸露地面土壤扬尘中颗粒物的年排放量。结果表明:常州市裸露地面主要分布在金坛市、溧阳市和武进区,市中心区域最少,裸露土地利用类型主要为农田、滩涂、裸露山体、荒地及未硬化或未绿化的空地等;2014年常州市行政区域内裸露地面风蚀扬尘中TSP、PM 10、PM 2.5的年排放量分别为62.66 t、5.63 t、0.24 t,其中,金坛市土壤起尘量最大,其次为武进区,再次为新北区、溧阳市,市中心区域土壤扬尘最少。     

Vehicular particulate matter emissions in road tunnels in Sao Paulo, Brazil

In the metropolitan area of S?o Paulo, Brazil, ozone and particulate matter (PM) are the air pollutants that pose the greatest threat to air quality, since the PM and the ozone precursors (nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds) are the main source of air pollution from vehicular emissions. Vehicular emissions can be measured inside road tunnels, and those measurements can provide information about emission factors of in-use vehicles. Emission factors are used to estimate vehicular emissions and are described as the amount of species emitted per vehicle distance driven or per volume of fuel consumed. This study presents emission factor data for fine particles, coarse particles, inhalable particulate matter and black carbon, as well as size distribution data for inhalable particulate matter, as measured in March and May of 2004, respectively, in the Janio Quadros and Maria Maluf road tunnels, both located in S?o Paulo. The Janio Quadros tunnel carries mainly light-duty vehicles, whereas the Maria Maluf tunnel carries light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles. In the Janio Quadros tunnel, the estimated light-duty vehicle emission factors for the trace elements copper and bromine were 261 and 220 microg km(-1), respectively, and 16, 197, 127 and 92 mg km(-1), respectively, for black carbon, inhalable particulate matter, coarse particles and fine particles. The mean contribution of heavy-duty vehicles to the emissions of black carbon, inhalable particulate matter, coarse particles and fine particles was, respectively 29, 4, 6 and 6 times higher than that of light-duty vehicles. The inhalable particulate matter emission factor for heavy-duty vehicles was 1.2 times higher than that found during dynamometer testing. In general, the particle emissions in S?o Paulo tunnels are higher than those found in other cities of the world.