洞庭湖湿地生态系统管理面临的威胁及应对策略初探

生态系统管理可以实现自然资源的多目标管理。洞庭湖湿地生态系统优越，区域内社会经济发达，但面临保护与发展的双重压力。其中，开展洞庭湖区湿地生态系统管理面临众多威胁，包括自然灾害频发、资源利用不当、工农业污染突出、自然保护能力不足以及季节性缺水等新老问题交织在一起，共同导致了洞庭湖湿地生态系统功能降低，包括生物多样性降低、调蓄能力减弱、洪渍涝灾害加剧、地下水位升高、垸老田低等现象日益突出，而且这种人类不合理活动的后效放大驱动将长期存在，危及到了湖区水产养殖的自然增殖以及自然资源基础的安全性，成为湖区社会经济发展的严重制约因素。为此，建议在遵循生态系统方法的前提下，洞庭湖地区应该加强管理体制机制创新实践，加快湿地保护的立法与执法进程，通过编制洞庭湖区中长期发展总体规划，促进各种利益相关方参与和共管洞庭湖湿地退田还湖等生态恢复工程的巩固、湿地资源合理利用、湿地产业的开发以及湖区湿地生态与环境建设，最终实现湖区生态美好、民生改善的“人地和谐     

湖北省湿地的保护与利用

湿地是地球上具有多功能的、独特的生态系统，是人类最重要的生存环境之一。湖北省地处长江中游，湿地类型多，面积较大，河、湖湿地系统是主要的湿地类型。湖北湿地具有较大的资源潜力和环境调节功能，是自然界生物多样性丰富的生态景观。近年来，湖北省湿地保护面临人口增长的压力，围垦、污染和过度开发等对湿地保护构成了严重威胁，湿地环境遭到干扰和破坏。加强湿地科学的研究，保护管理好湖北湿地及其生态环境，实现湿地资源的持续利用，是湖北省2l世纪环保工作所面临的一项重要而紧迫的任务。     

湖北湿地的保护与利用

湿地是地球上具有多功能的、独特的生态系统,是人类最重要的生存环境之一.湖北省地处长江中游,湿地类型多,面积较大,河、湖湿地系统是主要的湿地类型.湖北湿地具有较大的资源潜力和环境调节功能,是自然界生物多样性丰富的生态景观.近年来,湖北省湿地保护面临人口增长的压力,围垦、污染和过度开发等对湿地保护构成了严重威胁,湿地环境遭到干扰和破坏.加强湿地科学的研究,保护管理好湖北湿地及其生态环境,实现湿地资源的持续利用,是湖北省21世纪环保工作所面临一项重要而紧迫的任务.     

东洞庭湖湿地生态系统健康状态与水位关系研究

基于CBERS卫星遥感影像数据，以东洞庭湖国家级自然保护区为研究区，通过光谱特征分析建立决策树分类模型，提取东洞庭湖湿地的地物类型。以生态系统健康理论为基础，依据东洞庭湖湿地的特点，综合湿地生产力、组织结构、弹性和功能4个方面，建立湿地生态系统健康状态评价指标体系和评价模型，利用GIS技术，分析东洞庭湖湿地在2000～2006年10个时相的生态系统健康状态。结合城陵矶水文站的水位数据，探讨了东洞庭湖湿地健康状态与城陵矶水位之间的相关性，并利用2007年两个时相的数据进行检验。研究结果表明：东洞庭湖湿地健康状态与城陵矶水位之间存在着较大的相关性，当城陵矶水位达到30 m左右时，东洞庭湖湿地健康状态达到最佳值     

神农架大九湖亚高山湿地环境背景与生态恢复

针对神农架林区大九湖亚高山湿地退化问题,在联合科学考察基础上,分析区域环境背景状况及生态退化原因,提出湿地保护、利用和生态恢复相关建议。调查内容包括：区域地形地貌状况,地质构造、地层、岩溶发育规律和落水洞分布状况,河流水系的分布、流量变化和水质状况,沼生植被的分布和演替规律,湿地演变过程及人类活动对湿地影响等方面。〖JP2〗研究发现：神农架大九湖湿地演变和土地利用结构变化受水利工程直接影响,1986年以来大规模开挖人工沟渠、疏通落水孔、排干沼泽开垦种植等活动,是湿地生态环境退化的重要因素;湿地退化主要反映为湖泊水面消失、沼泽湿地退化、湿地生态系统向陆生生态系统演化,生物多样性减少,泥炭资源遭受破坏,水质下降。根据调查结果,从原则、措施方案、管理机构、产业、资金等方面对大九湖湿地的保护、利用和生态恢复提出建议。     

长江中游大型通江湖泊湿地景观格局演变特征

鄱阳湖和洞庭湖湿地是长江中游仅有的两个天然通江湖泊湿地,具有不可替代自然和人文价值。近年来,尤其是三峡工程运行以后两湖湿地景观格局发生改变,对区域生态系统平衡和社会经济发展产生重要影响。以Landsat 7为数据源,通过决策树分类及高斯回归的方法定量评估了三峡工程运行前后两湖湿地景观格局的演变特征及其差异性,旨在正确认识大型水利工程的生态效应,为湿地保护与重建提供科学依据。结果表明:2000~2014年,洞庭湖枯水期水位变化不明显。从历史演变特征来看,虽然有少部分植被挤占泥滩和水体,但总体上3种湿地景观类型面积变化不大。相比之下,三峡工程运行后鄱阳湖枯水期水位显著下降,水体面积萎缩近14%,植被面积增加约8%。与2000年相比,2014年鄱阳湖植被分布高程下降了1 m多。不同程度的干旱胁迫是形成两湖湿地景观格局差异性演变特征的主要原因。     

我国湿地保护的法律思考

湿地是一种不同于陆地和海洋的特殊生态系统，具有重大的经济、生态和教育价值。长期以来，我国对湿地的价值认识不足，对湿地过度地开发利用，也未进行有效的保护，使之遭到了前所未有的破坏。我国对湿地保护的法律规范多散见于其他相关的法律法规之中。没有一部专门的法律规范对其进行调整，与我国严峻的湿地保护形势不相适应。本文针对我国湿地保护法律制度中存在的问题，提出了完善我国湿地保护的若干法律构想。     

生态工程在湖垸湿地农业持续发展中的应用

湖垸是平原湖区农业生产的基本湿地单元。本文通过对江汉平原四湖地区的一个典型湖垸──新兴垸湿地农业开发的调查与分析，指出必须在湖垸微地貌基础上建设拦蓄和疏导并举的农田水利工程设施，因地制宜布局农业生产模式，发展沼气促进湖垸湿地生态系统物质能量的多级循环利用，保护与合理利用湿地资源，同时肯定并强调生态工程的应用是湖垸湿地农业持续发展的必由之路     

洞庭湖区近30年土地利用/覆盖变化对湿地的影响分析

洞庭湖是我国面积仅次于鄱阳湖的第二大淡水湖。近些年来,洞庭湖区降水在减少,湘、资、沅、澧四水的来水量也在降低,尤其2011年春季以来,洞庭湖水域遭受了前所未有的持续干旱,洞庭湖地区的降水量累计比历年同期减少了50%至60%。本文基于1985年、2000年和2011年的遥感影像数据,运用RS、GIS等,系统分析了洞庭湖区近30年土地利用/覆盖的数量和空间格局动态变化。结果表明,过度围湖垦殖成为洞庭湖湖面萎缩的主要原因。湖区耕地总量持续增加,增幅达36.01%;湿地、林地、草地总量减少,其中湿地和草地面积有较大幅度的减少,分别为72.88%和62.98%。研究结果为区域土地利用规划管理及政策的制定提供科学依据,为洞庭湖区湿地的管理提供背景资料和依据。     

我国西北干旱半干旱区湿地出现退化趋势

西北干旱半干旱地区包括新疆全境、青海、甘肃、宁夏的大部分和陕西西北部。其中,新疆湿地面积分布占全国湿地总面积的2 0 .9% ,青海占4.3 1% ,主要以湖泊型、河流型、沼泽型和人工湿地为主。目前,西北干旱半干旱地区湿地退化主要有五方面的表现:河流断流,湖泊萎缩,湿地面积减小;湿地水质咸化;旱化的湿地向沙漠化发展。青海湖附近的沙漠面积以每年平均10 .12平方公里的速度增长,尤其是湖西岸沙丘是近十多年来才形成的风沙堆积,并成为该区域沙漠化最快的地区;湿地生态系统受到损害,生物多样性降低。湿地生态调节功能降低也是湿地退化的表现之…     

WSSD 2002, Latin America and Brazil: Biodiversity and Indigenous People

Latin America comprehends notable variations in terms of natural environment, availability of natural resources, living standards, and demographic patterns. Latin America is a mosaic of cultures, post- and pre-Columbian. The rich variety of life forms discovered and described by chroniclers and traveling naturalists in the Neotropics contributed to the proposal, in mid-XVIIIth century, of a new system of classification and a scientific code of nomenclature for all organisms. Biodiversity was, for many centuries, a source of resources to be exploited in natura. In scientific circles, its inventory became the domain of taxonomists. But modern technology showed how important the miriad of life forms really are as sources of chemical molecules to be engineered as drugs and reassembled as novel manufactured products. We are on the brink of a new agricultural and medical revolution, thanks to the techniques of genetic engineering, which will lead eventually to the elimination of hunger and malnutrition.In this essay, the Brazilian environmental and social heterogeneity will serve as an example to illustrate some key points, which have influenced sustainability policies. The Amazon deforestation and indigenous knowledge (IK), subjects often associated with areas of high biodiversity, are usually the focus of environmental debates. The importance of IK in integrating development, reducing poverty and sustainability are considered together with the intellectual property rights of native populations.In the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Implementation Plan, a few paragraphs were dedicated to Latin America, because of the pre-existing Action Platform on the Road to Johannesburg 2002, approved in Rio de Janeiro in October 2001. This paper calls attention to the need to draw up specific environmental policies for a region which shows an extremely high cultural and biological diversity, associated with a high availability of forests and water, among other resources.     

The Phenomenon of Pseudoviviparity in Alpine and Arctomontane Grasses (DeschampsiaBeauv., FestucaL., and PoaL.)

It is known that pseudoviviparous plant taxa are most numerous in the Arctic and high mountain regions, where they sometimes account for a noticeable part of the local flora and play an important phytocenotic role. The complex of pseudoviviparous taxa is an interesting model for investigating the processes of hybridogenic speciation, as various mechanisms stabilizing the hybrid genetic systems proved to be effective in them. In particular, this concerns vast and taxonomically complex groups such as the genera Deschampsia, Festuca, and Poa.In this paper, published data on the taxonomy, chromosome numbers, and distribution of pseudoviviparous grasses in the Arctic regions and subarctic mountain systems are reviewed.     

Conservation, commercialisation and confusion: harvesting of Ischyrolepis in a coastal forest, South Africa

Harvesting of non-timber forest products is an integral component of rural livelihoods throughout the developing world. At times this is at odds with conservation objectives. Reconciliation of the two requires examination of local level contexts and needs. This paper reports on the harvesting needs for Ischyrolepis by a rural community in South Africa, against the setting that they had recently been prohibited from harvesting by the local conservation officials. Interviews were conducted with conservation officials to understand the reasoning for the prohibition. Local demand for Ischyrolepis was assessed by household surveys, as well as in-depth interviews with traders. The density and size class distribution of Ischyrolepis was determined using transects. The total annual demand for Ischyrolepis was determined to be approximately only 2.7% of the standing crop. The bulk of the annual demand was for small-scale trade, the income from which was a primary source of income for the few harvesters. Very little evidence could be found indicating that harvesting was damaging the resource or its habitat, and local knowledge suggested that the abundance of the species was stimulated by harvesting. Even if market demand were to increase, the size of the shoots required means that less than 20% of the standing crop could be harvested annually. Current regulations around harvesting are in a state of revision, and hence confusion prevails regarding if harvesting is permissible, and if so, under what conditions, which is detrimental to both conservation and livelihoods. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Radionuclide content of building materials and associated gamma dose rates in Egyptian dwellings

Studies have been carried out to determine the natural radioactivity in some building materials (bricks, tiles, marble and ceramics) and their associated radiation hazard. The radioactivity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K were measured using a gamma spectrometer with a Hp–Ge detector. The activities of ²³⁸U and ²³⁴U were measured using an alpha-spectrometer with a surface barrier detector after applying a radiochemical procedure. The ²³⁴U/²³⁸U isotopic ratios were calculated. The radium equivalent activities and the radiation hazard index associated with the natural radionuclides were calculated. A computer program was developed and applied to calculate the dose rate a person will receive from the walls of a room constructed from the studied building materials.     

Education for Sustainable Development: The Johannesburg Summit and Beyond

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg during 26 August and 4 September 2002, was a truly remarkable event, not least because it identified and committed the world community to what has to be done to realise Agenda 21 objectives. Discussion begins with the "means of implementation" of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPI). Education for, and raising awareness of, sustainable development are the key commitments in the "means of implementation". The issues central to these commitments are discussed. The crucial role of moral philosophy in education for sustainable development is then discussed. Defining the "problem" as lack of progress (in fact negative progress between Rio and Johannesburg) towards global sustainable development, a cause–effect relationship of the "problem" is developed based on a systematic and logical analysis. It shows that the "cause" is West's profoundly materialistic, environment-degrading and exploitative attitude and activities to satisfy grossly unsustainable, hedonistic and insatiably avaricious Western life-styles – life-styles that are held up by the West as "ideal" fruits of economic "development" to be aspired by all. The "effects" are pollution of air, water and soil; mounting loss of biodiversity, ecosystems and species; relentlessly widening north–south divide, etc. It is argued that while science and technology can address some of the "effects", they cannot address the "cause". Only moral philosophy can by fundamentally re-orienting moral values genuinely to respect nature and the environment. Based on sound and tested principles of Educational Psychology, a proposal is then made for including moral philosophy in the formal curricula (content and pedagogy) of primary, secondary and higher education for instilling in children and young people genuinely environment-respecting moral values. To this end a generic syllabus for the secondary level is proposed. Finally, it is argued that if the scientific community really believes that science or technology alone can radically change the pervasive environment-degrading moral values to those that genuinely respect the environment, thus paving the way to real global sustainability, then it must demonstrate how this could be done and explain why, despite their abundant science and technology, the developed nations are the biggest polluters and consumers with grossly unsustainable life-styles. Certainly, examples would be much more convincing than rhetoric or tired old clichés about how science and technology alone could deliver global sustainable development.     

Do nanoparticles present ecotoxicological risks for the health of the aquatic environment?

Nanotechnology is a major innovative scientific and economic growth area, which may present a variety of hazards for environmental and human health. The surface properties and very small size of nanoparticles and nanotubes provide surfaces that may bind and transport toxic chemical pollutants, as well as possibly being toxic in their own right by generating reactive radicals. There is a wealth of evidence for the harmful effects of nanoscale combustion-derived particulates (ultrafines), which when inhaled can cause a number of pulmonary pathologies in mammals and humans. However, release of manufactured nanoparticles into the aquatic environment is largely an unknown. This review addresses the possible hazards associated with nanomaterials and harmful effects that may result from exposure of aquatic animals to nanoparticles. Possible nanoparticle association with naturally occurring colloids and particles is considered together with how this could affect their bioavailability and uptake into cells and organisms. Uptake by endocytotic routes are identified as probable major mechanisms of entry into cells; potentially leading to various types of toxic cell injury. The higher level consequences for damage to animal health, ecological risk and possible food chain risks for humans are also considered based on known behaviours and toxicities for inhaled and ingested nanoparticles in the terrestrial environment. It is concluded that a precautionary approach is required with individual evaluation of new nanomaterials for risk to the health of the environment. Although current toxicity testing protocols should be generally applicable to identify harmful effects associated with nanoparticles, research into new methods is required to address the special properties of nanomaterials.     

Household water in rural asia: a case study of the construction of a piped water system in Bangui,Ilocos Norte,Philippines

In early 1980 an extension agent was assigned to the rural municipality of Bangui, Ilocos Norte, Philippines to work on development projects – in particular the improvement of the supply of safe water for drinking and sanitation. After many months of visiting spring sites and meeting with community leaders, a small part of the municipality was selected to build a gravity fed piped water system. Although the system took many months to plan, identify funding and construct, the 600 community members were ultimately rewarded with house to house connections that enabled them to achieve per capita water consumption levels above the minimum levels recommended by the World Health Organization. Of course, money was critical to ensure the project’s success, but many other factors played an equally critical role. For instance, without the active participation of the community and the unwavering support of the community leadership the project would not have survived the initial planning stage. Also, the extension agent played a critical role by acting as a conduit between funding agencies, the Bureau of Public Works and the community. The primary lesson to be learned from this experience is that the success of rural development projects is largely driven by the synergy between the community, technical support, financial support, and agents of change such as extension agents. If any of these ingredients had been lacking, the project result would likely have been far different.