生态文明背景下的野生动物保护——专访贵州省林业局野生动物和森林植物管理站站长冉景丞

正做好野生动物管理,在法律层面就一定要将真正的野生动物与人工繁育的"野生动物"区分开,加强对真正的野生动物的保护,对野生动物赖以生存的栖息地进行保护与修复,规范对人工繁育的"野生动物"的经营生产。生物多样性是指地球上的生物所有形式、层次和联合体中生命的多样化,是人类赖以生存和持续发展的物质基础。保护生物多样性,     

《生物多样性公约》的产生背景和主要内容

因栖息地被破坏、过度利用、环境污染、外来物种入侵、气候变化等原因,地球上的生物多样性面临严重破坏,如何解决这一问题,真正走上可持续发展之路,是《生物多样性公约》的产生背景,而保护生物多样性、可持续利用其组成部分、公平合理分享由利用遗传资源而产生的惠益则是《生物多样性公约》的主要内容和目标。     

长江珍稀特有鱼类最后的栖息地命悬一线

20年来,为了满足水电开发的需要,长江珍稀特有鱼类的栖息地被迫从葛洲坝退到三峡,从三峡退到溪洛渡,从溪洛渡退到小南海。如今,"长江上游珍稀特有鱼类国家级自然保护区"已经成为平衡长江保护与开发的最后底线,如何维护保护区的范围不再被水电开发所影响,涉及到长江珍稀鱼类及其生境的维护,更涉及到长江生态区生物多样性的保护。同时,对于保护区的保护过程体现了:保持重大决策的公开、透明和科学是实现生物多样性保护的根本制度。     

山东崂山生物多样性及保护对策

根据多年来对青岛崂山生物资源的调查和文献资料,研究了崂山生物多样性的特点,分析了其在山东生物多样性保护中的地位,提出了崂山生物多样性保护对策和建议.研究表明:崂山生物多样性具有物种丰富度高、密度大,特有种、重点保护物种多,植物成分复杂,生态系统类型多样,古树名木众多,遗传多样性丰富的特点,崂山是山东乃至全国生物多样性保护的“关键区“之一.     

四川省栖息地周边社区对大熊猫保护的响应及影响因素——基于农户行为视角

大熊猫栖息地与周边社区相互交叠,社区居民生计高度依赖于栖息地的自然资源,社区农户是大熊猫保护的重要利益相关者。通过实地调查、收集数据、构建计量模型,分析了四川省典型县域大熊猫栖息地周边社区农户响应大熊猫保护的行为及其影响因素。结果表明:社区农户多数积极响应对大熊猫的保护,参与保护管理部门的宣传培训,提高生计多样性和收入来源,同时减少薪柴采集、割竹挖笋等对大熊猫栖息地有直接干扰的行为,少数农户参与过大熊猫等野生动物救护工作。社区的积极响应是推动大熊猫保护工作顺利开展的重要保障,未来保护政策应加大力度鼓励社区参与大熊猫保护工作,以提高保护效率。     

生物多样性保护与可持续发展

本文就生物多样性保护的重要性进行了论述，并介绍了我国生物多样性特点，强调了生物多样性保护的迫切性，阐明了生物多样性对可持续发展的重要性。     

《中国的生物多样性保护》白皮书发布

正国务院新闻办公室于10月8日发表《中国的生物多样性保护》白皮书。白皮书介绍,中国幅员辽阔,陆海兼备,地貌和气候复杂多样,孕育了丰富而又独特的生态系统、物种和遗传多样性,是世界上生物多样性最丰富的国家之一。作为最早签署和批准《生物多样性公约》的缔约方之一,中国一贯高度重视生物多样性保护,不断推进生物多样性保护与时俱进、创新发展,取得显著成效,走出了一条中国特色生物多样性保护之路。     

生物多样性的研究及其保护

作为现代生态学三大研究热点之一,生物多样性的研究和保护已引起世界的广泛关注。本文对生物多样性的概念和研究作了简要综述,着重探讨了生物多样性分布和形成的机制及有关理论,同时指出研究生物多样性的最终目的在于生物多样性的保护及持续利用。     

湖北全面构建生物多样性保护网络

为加强生物多样性的保护,湖北省近日成立了生物多样性保护战略领导小组,正式启动《湖北省生物多样性保护战略与行动计划》的编制工作,这标志着湖北将全面构建生物多样性保护网络,全省丰富的生物多样性资源将得到更有效的保护。     

西部大开发中的生物多样性的保护

全球的生物物种在急剧减少,而此情景也呈现于我国的西部在,在机遇与挑战同在的西部大开发过程中如何切实效保护生物多样性,无疑已成为我们必须关注和思考的问题。本文从生物多样性的内涵、生物多样性的价值、生物多样性的丧失及保护生物多样性的必要性及对策等方面,论述笔者对预防、保护、恢复生物多样性的几点思考,但愿能引起广大社会的关注和支持。     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Effect of Light on Biodegradation of Estrone, 17β‐Estradiol,and 17α‐Ethinylestradiol in Stream Sediment

Biodegradation of [A‐ring ¹⁴C] Estrone (E1), 17β‐estradiol (E2), and 17α‐ethinylestradiol (EE2) to ¹⁴CO₂ was investigated under light and dark conditions in microcosms containing epilithon or sediment collected from Boulder Creek, Colorado. Mineralization of the estrogen A‐ring was observed in all sediment treatments, but not epilithon treatments. No difference in net mineralization between light and dark treatments was observed for ¹⁴C‐E2. Net mineralization of ¹⁴C‐E1 and ¹⁴C‐EE2 was enhanced in light treatments. Extents of ¹⁴CO₂ accumulation and rates of mineralization were significantly greater for E2 than E1 under dark conditions, but were comparable under light conditions. These results indicate substantial differences in the uptake and metabolism of E1 and E2 in the environment and suggest biorecalcitrance of E1 relative to E2 in light‐limited environments. The extent of ¹⁴CO₂ accumulation and rate of mineralization for EE2 in dark treatments were less than half of that observed for E2 and generally lower than for E1, consistent with previous reports of EE2 biorecalcitrance. However, ¹⁴CO₂ accumulation and rates of mineralization were comparable for EE2, E2, and E1 under light conditions. These results indicate photoactivation and/or phototransformation/photodegradation processes can substantially enhance heterotrophic biodegradation of estrogens in sunlit environments and may play an important role in estrogen transport and attenuation.     

Bioremediation of Soils by Plant–Microbe Systems

Abstract

Sustainable ecosystems can be designed to eliminate environmental toxins and reduce pathogen loads through the direct and indirect consequences of plant and microbial activities. We present an approach to the bioremediation of disturbed environments, focusing on petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) contaminants. Treatment consists of incorporating a plant-based amendment to enhance ecosystem productivity and physiochemical degradation followed by the establishment of plants to serve as oxidizers and foundations for microbial communities. Promising amendments for widespread use are entire plants of the water fern Azolla and seed meal of Brassica napus (rapeseed). An inexpensive byproduct from the manufacture of biodiesel and lubricants, rapeseed meal is high in nitrogen (6% wt/wt), stimulates >100-fold increases in populations of resident Streptomyces species, and suppresses fungal infection of roots subsequently cultivated in the amended soil. Synergistic enzymatic and chemical activities of plant and microbial metabolism in root zones transform and degrade soil contaminants. Emphasis is given to mechanisms that enable PHC functionalization via reactive molecular species.     

Energetics and environmental costs of agriculture in a dry tropical region of India

The present article, based on a study of five village ecosystems, assesses the energy efficiency of rain-fed agriculture in a dry tropical environment and the impact of agricultural activity on the surrounding natural ecosystems. Agronomic yield is insufficient to meet the food requirement of the human population, hence 11.5%–49.7% of the required amount of food grains are imported from the market. Energy requirements of five studied agroecosystems are subsidized considerably by the surrounding forest in the form of fodder and firewood. Natural ecosystems supply about 80%–95% of fodder needs and 81%–100% of fuelwood needs. The output-input ratio of agriculture indicated that, on average, 4.1 units of energy are expended to obtain one unit of agronomic energy. Of this, 3.9 units are supplied by the natural ecosystem. In addition, 38% of the extracted firewood is marketed. The illegal felling and lopping of trees result in ever-increasing concentric circles of forest destruction around the villages and together with excessive grazing results in savannization. The forests can be conserved by encouraging fuelwood plantations (0.7 ha/ha cultivated land) and developing village pastures (1.6 ha/ha cultivated land) and reducing the livestock numbers. Agricultural production in the region can be stabilized by introducing improved dry farming techniques such as intercropping, planned rainwater management, and adequate use of fertilizers.     

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY “METROPOLITAN WATER MANAGEMENT INSTITUTIONS?”1

ABSTRACT The term “institution” and several variants are used frequently in the literature on metropolitan water management. The state-of-the art investigation on which this paper is based revealed that 1) many uses of the term do not include careful definitions; 2) many users of the term seemed unaware of the general, theoretical literature on the subject of institutions; 3) there was little consistency among uses, either in the practical literature dealing with water or in the conceptual literature dealing with theories of institutions or institutionalization; 4) some usages were without significant meaning; 5) in many cases the term was used as a kind of “black box” to account for behavioral, societal, or managerial factors; 6) the term was often used as a synonym for “organization”. This latter use is frequently found in federal reports, including National Water Commission studies, and is most unfortunate because it tends to slight significant social-psychological factors. A suggested definition is: “An institution is the structured result or outcome of a process by which values are articulated, arranged, and communicated, having continuity over time, and influencing behavior of persons who did not necessarily participate in formulating those values (norms).”     

Waste minimisation in practice

One of the major hindrances to waste minimisation on a construction site is the difficulty in establishing a methodology and using this methodology to benchmark future construction projects. This paper introduces SMARTWaste, a software tool that has been used to audit, reduce and target waste arisings on a construction site. This tool tries to link the construction process and the waste hierarchy. That is reducing waste on a construction site rather than landfilling it. Three applications of the SMARTWaste software will be discussed using case studies from three different types of construction. An evaluation of these case studies shows that, by implementing a waste minimisation scheme on-site, you can improve material recovery for reuse. Also, by using the waste arisings as a benchmark you can reduce your waste arisings on future sites. Application of SMARTWaste or a similar waste minimisation tool on a wider basis could reduce waste arisings and could result in a built environment that consumed less natural resources and energy, and also produced less pollution and waste. Such a built environment would be environmentally and socially more responsive and responsible.     

COMPARISON OF TRACE ELEMENT CONCENTRATIONS IN TISSUE OF COMMON CARP AND IMPLICATIONS FOR MONITORING1

Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) collected from four sites in the Red River of the North in 1994 were analyzed for arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), selenium (So), and zinc (Zn). Concentrations differed among liver, muscle, and whole body. Generally, trace element concentrations were the greatest in livers while concentrations in whole bodies were greater than those in muscle for Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn, and concentrations in muscle were similar to whole body for As and Se. Concentrations of Cr were lower in liver than either muscle or whole body. Correlations between liver and whole body concentrations were stronger than those between liver and muscle concentrations, but the strongest correlations were between muscle and whole body concentrations. Examination of tissue concentrations by collection sites suggested that, for a general survey, the whole body may be the most effective matrix to analyze.     

Macroalgal Introductions by Hull Fouling on Recreational Vessels: Seaweeds and Sailors

Macroalgal invasions in coastal areas have been a growing concern during the past decade. The present study aimed to assess the role of hull fouling on recreational yachts as a vector for macroalgal introductions. Questionnaire and hull surveys were carried out in marinas in France and Spain. The questionnaires revealed that the majority of yacht owners are aware of seaweed introductions, usually undertake short range journeys, dry dock their boat at least once a year, and use antifouling paints. The hull survey showed that many in-service yachts were completely free of macroalgae. When present, fouling assemblages consisted mainly of one to two macroalgal species. The most commonly found species was the tolerant green seaweed Ulva flexuosa. Most of the other species found are also cosmopolitan and opportunistic. A few nonnative and potentially invasive Ceramiales (Rhodophyta) were found occasionally on in-service yachts. On the basis of the information gathered during interviews of yacht owners in the surveyed area, these occurrences are likely to be uncommon. However they can pose a significant risk of primary or secondary introductions of alien macroalgal species, especially in the light of the increase in yachting activities. With large numbers of recreational yachts and relatively rare occurrences of nonnative species on hulls, comprehensive screening programs do not seem justified or practical. The risks of transferring nonnative species may, however, be minimized by encouraging the behaviors that prevent fouling on hulls and by taking action against neglected boats before they can act as vectors.