Planning for Biodiversity: the Role of Ecological Impact Assessment

Abstract:  Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the process of identifying potential environmental effects of proposed development and the required mitigation measures. It is one of the most widely used planning tools today, but its ability to promote biodiversity conservation is largely unexplored. We studied the ecological component of the Israeli EIA system by reviewing a representative sample of 52 environmental impact statements (EISs) produced since 1995 and their corresponding guidelines issued by the Ministry of the Environment. Quality of both EISs and guidelines was determined using a simple scoring approach. Lack of quantitative data, meaningful analyses, and ecosystem perspective was apparent throughout. Many EISs failed to perform field surveys and their qualitative nature hampered meaningful impact prediction. Most EISs concentrated on aesthetic mitigation measures and did not assess their feasibility and likely success. Most of these flaws reflect poor standards rather than true scientific limitations. Guideline quality scores were the most important factor determining the quality of EISs; second was the involvement of an ecological consultant in preparing the EIS. We found a decreasing trend of EIS quality scores over time. Improvements in EIA procedures, particularly in ecological guidelines and the incorporation of ecological consultation, are important for upgrading ecological impact assessment so that the potential of EIA to advance biodiversity conservation can be realized.     

在电子废弃物管理中生产者责任延伸制度探讨

随着2003年我国家电、通讯和电脑等电子产品的报废高峰期和宽带电讯业发展的黄金时代的到来，电子废弃物的污染问题日益引起人们的关注。我国传统废弃物的处理和管理制度的不完善。已使我国沿海地区的电子垃圾泛滥成灾，甚至威胁到内陆地区。而且电子废弃物中大量的有用资源没有得到有效回收。也不符合政府最近提倡的全民节约原则。因此，国家制定了有关电子废弃物的生产者责任延伸（EPR）制的具体法律法规。本文从环境经济学角度。结合其它国家和地区的生产者责任延伸制的颁布和运行情况。对我国电子废弃物的管理中施行生产责任延伸制进行初步探讨。     

Water Resource Management in Botswana: Balancing Sustainability and Economic Development*

Botswana is a rapidly developing country in southern Africa. Over the last three decades, diamond mining and tourism have provided double-digit rates of economic growth. Yet most of Botswana’s land is in the Kalahari desert where the climate is subject to sustained periods of severe drought. In this environment, water resources are the most crucial of all environmental resources. Water use directly affects economic development because water utilization impacts all the major national economic sectors. A sustainable water use resource management plan must stretch several decades into the future to assure the availability of adequate supplies of water to future generations while not compromising the ability of the current generation to reasonable rates of economic development. Yet thinking about sustainability is present in Botswana water policy mostly only in rhetoric. A series of cultural traditions and political constraints, coupled with bureaucratic managerial weaknesses, serve to maintain a system of water allocation that is unsustainable in the long run and inefficient in the short-term. Unless sustainable water use patterns are adopted, the results for the short-term, as well as the long-term, will be devastating. Drawing on data obtained through a series of interviews with government officials, leaders of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and water resource researchers, this paper explores water policy in Botswana within the larger context of sustainable natural resource management practice and the pressures of economic development. This research was partially funded under U.S. Department of State, College and University Affiliations Grant # ASCS-1095.     

企业采用自愿协议式环境管理方法的意愿调查

“企业采用自愿协议式环境管理方法的意愿调查”是欧盟资助项目“自愿协议式环境管理方法在中国工业环境管理中应用的可行性研究”的主要成果之一。调查结果表明，自愿协议式环境管理方法目前在中国只是处于初步的认知阶段，但大多数企业愿意尝试采用自愿协议式方法解决环境问题，积极性较高，且谈判式自愿协议被看好。     

Nitrogen deposition alters soil chemical properties and bacterial communities in the Inner Mongolia grassland

Nitrogen deposition has dramatically altered biodiversity and ecosystem functioning on the earth; however, its effects on soil bacterial community and the underlying mechanisms of these effects have not been thoroughly examined. Changes in ecosystems caused by nitrogen deposition have traditionally been attributed to increased nitrogen content. In fact, nitrogen deposition not only leads to increased soil total N content, but also changes in the NH₄⁺-N content, NO₃^--N content and pH, as well as changes in the heterogeneity of the four indexes. The soil indexes for these four factors, their heterogeneity and even the plant community might be routes through which nitrogen deposition alters the bacterial community. Here, we describe a 6-year nitrogen addition experiment conducted in a typical steppe ecosystem to investigate the ecological mechanism by which nitrogen deposition alters bacterial abundance, diversity and composition. We found that various characteristics of the bacterial community were explained by different environmental factors. Nitrogen deposition decreased bacterial abundance that is positively related to soil pH value. In addition, nitrogen addition decreased bacterial diversity, which is negatively related to soil total N content and positively related to soil NO₃^--N heterogeneity. Finally, nitrogen addition altered bacterial composition that is significantly related to soil NH₄⁺-N content. Although nitrogen deposition significantly altered plant biomass, diversity and composition, these characteristics of plant community did not have a significant impact on processes of nitrogen deposition that led to alterations in bacterial abundance, diversity and composition. Therefore, more sensitive molecular technologies should be adopted to detect the subtle shifts of microbial community structure induced by the changes of plant community upon nitrogen deposition.     

经度、纬度及时差设置对AERMOD预测结果的影响

为了验证经度、纬度和时差参数对AERMOD模式预测结果是否有影响,假设在某气象条件下存在一个点源,利用AERMOD模式计算该点源排放的污染物的浓度分布.保持气象条件和污染源参数不变,仅改变点源所在地的经度、纬度或时差,重新利用AERMOD模式进行了预测,比较预测结果的差异.结果表明,经度、纬度和时差参数对白天时段行星边界层参数的计算值有影响,受影响的参数包括地表热通量、摩擦速度、Monin-Obukhov长度、对流速度尺度、温度尺度和混合高度.经度、纬度和时差的不同取值对AERMOD计算出的污染物小时平均浓度最大值和浓度分布影响明显.根据AERMOD公式的描述和能量变化得出,经度、纬度和时差的改变引起了项目所在地白天太阳高度角的变化,进而改变了地表热通量.地表热通量的改变,造成了行星边界层参数的变化,最终影响了浓度分布的计算值.     

福建省林权改革环境影响农户调查研究—以三明市和永安市为例

福建是全国第一个开展林权制度改革的省份。本文通过在福建省三明市和永安市实地调研的基础上,探讨福建省森林资源经营的改变对环境的影响。研究发现,林区的绝大部分林农对林权改革持满意的态度,认为林权改革前后对环境的影响有变化。数据分析显示,林改后,对林业的投入对于森林旅游的影响成正比;家庭年均收入对空气质量的影响成负相关。研究建议,继续加大对林业的投入,科学编制森林经营规划和经营方案,促进生态环境改善和林农的增收。     

浅议新大气排放标准发布后火电厂竣工验收监测

2011年7月29日《火电厂大气污染物排放标准》发布后,现有火电厂的“三同时”竣工验收监测需执行新标准中的相关规定。新标准还增加了敏感点环境空气的监测,敏感点的确定可参照环评,根据实际情况布设。新标准中未明确指明“重点地区”指哪些行政区划,为此,本文建议需要在新标准中进一步明确“重点地区”指哪些省等行政区域,以利于新标准的执行。     

缺氧条件下土壤砷的形态转化与环境行为研究

采集张士污灌区0～100 cm深的土壤并在实验室里负载低浓度的砷,采用不加硫和加硫对比研究了厌氧条件下土著微生物对土壤中砷的形态转化、环境行为影响及其机制.结果表明,在不外加硫酸盐条件下厌氧培养8 d后,微生物还原作用造成砷的大量还原和释放,释放的砷70%以上是以As(Ⅲ)形式存在,尤其20～40 cm深度土壤砷的释放量明显高于其它层土壤,As(Ⅲ)和As(T)分别达到892.8μg.L-1和1 240.6μg.L-1.与非生物对照相比每层土中盐酸可提取的砷总量都大大降低,且盐酸提取的As(T)几乎全部转化为As(Ⅲ).伴随砷的释放,铁发生还原和释放,溶解态的亚铁基本都在40 mg.L-1以上,不同土层固相中亚铁离子的量都在9.0～13.4 g.kg-1范围内,固相盐酸可提取态总铁中亚铁离子所占的比例基本都在50%以上,说明微生物还原作用造成固相中铁氧化物发生还原性溶解和矿物结构转化.当体系中添加10 mmol.L-1的硫酸盐时,每层土的生物培养体系中铁的释放几乎完全被抑制,砷和铁浓度也减少了50%.与不加硫生物培养体系相比,固相中盐酸可提取的砷量减少了50%,一部分砷被转化为稳定的硫化物As2S3而固定.可见在硫酸盐不足条件下微生物还原作用可造成砷被还原、活化和释放,而补充土壤中硫酸盐的量可促使微生物还原/活化的砷转化成更加稳定的形态,稳定的硫化物矿物As2S3是土壤微生物固定砷的重要途径.     

长治市社会经济发展与环境质量变化相关趋势分析

系统阐述了长治市的社会经济发展及主要环境污染指标的变化趋势,利用库兹涅茨曲线对二者相互关系进行了相关性分析。