Energy,food, and land — The ecological traps of humankind

Humans’ superiority over all other organisms on earth rests on five main foundations: command of fire requiring fuel; controlled production of food and other biotic substances; utilization of metals and other non-living materials for construction and appliances; technically determined, urban-oriented living standard; economically and culturally regulated societal organization. The young discipline of ecology has revealed that the progress of civilization and technology attained, and being further pursued by humankind, and generally taken for granted and permanent, is leading into ecological traps. This metaphor circumscribes ecological situations where finite resources are being exhausted or rendered non-utilizable without a realistic prospect of restitution. Energy, food and land are the principal, closely interrelated traps; but the absolutely decisive resource in question is land whose increasing scarcity is totally underrated. Land is needed for fulfilling growing food demands, for producing renewable energy in the post-fossil and post-nuclear era, for maintaining other ecosystem services, for urban-industrial uses, transport, material extraction, refuse deposition, but also for leisure, recreation, and nature conservation. All these needs compete for land, food and non-food biomass production moreover for good soils that are scarcer than ever. We are preoccupied with fighting climate change and loss of biodiversity; but these are minor problems we could adapt to, albeit painfully, and their solution will fail if we are caught in the interrelated traps of energy, food, and land scarcity. Land and soils, finite and irreproducible resources, are the key issues we have to devote our work to, based on careful ecological information, planning and design for proper uses and purposes. The article concludes with a short reflection on economy and competition as general driving forces, and on the role and reputation of today’s ecology. Updated version of the keynote lecture presented at the EcoSummit 2007 in Beijing, China, May 24. The article is gratefully dedicated to the memory of my late colleague and friend Frank B. Golley.     

A relational theoretical framework and meanings of land,nature, and sustainability for research with Indigenous communities

What may be achieved through taking up the complex exploration of nature, land, and sustainability is a growing field of inquiry in both science and social science, particularly for those who are interested in the local environment. Meanings of nature, land, and sustainability have been either misunderstood or misrepresented within disciplinary boundaries in many Indigenous communities. To explore the meanings of things such as nature, land, and sustainability in Indigenous communities, we as researchers had better first acknowledge the spirituality and local experiences that connect one actor with other actors. A relational ontology is the conceptual framework within which I suggest meanings of traditional land, nature, and sustainability such as traditional experiences, culture, and customs, are important issues for Indigenous lives and environment. This framework may potentially guide the researcher through the critical concerns of identifying the problems of existing land, nature, and sustainability management in relation to the everyday land-based practices and traditional experiences in Indigenous regions.     

山东省自然保护区建设与管理发展的新态势

通过对山东省自然保护区进行研究发现,山东省自然保护区建设与管理虽然在自然保护区建设规模、类型、管护能力和主要保护对象等方面取得了新的成绩,但同时也存在自然保护区多区交叉重叠、资源本底不清、管护压力大与能力不足等新问题。随着国家公园、主体功能区和生态补偿制度的实施,山东省自然保护区建设与管理应深化自然保护区管理体制改革,提升自然保护区建设质量,加强自然保护区基础设施规范化建设。     

遥感调查方法在河北省省级自然保护区生态环境变化评估方面的应用研究

河北省省级自然保护区以自然生态系统类型为主,人类活动较为频繁,将遥感评估方法应用于河北省省级自然保护区生态环境变化评估具有重要意义。本文通过分析高分辨率遥感卫星影像的特点,结合河北省省级自然保护区的实际情况,优先选取分辨率为2m的民用卫星,提出了遥感调查方法在自然保护区人类活动和开发建设活动中自动监测、生态系统格局变化、生态系统质量变化以及人类活动干扰程度四方面的评估应用。     

中国自然保护区可持续管理模式探讨——伦敦自然保护区管理模式借鉴

近年来，世界各地自然保护区迅速发展，如何有效持续地管理这些自然保护区成为一个重要的问题。文章分析了我国自然保护区现有管理模式的特点与存在的问题，简要介绍了伦敦自然保护区的管理模式现状，根据我国的实际情况，笔者认为中国的自然保护区应采用强制式和完全参与合作式相结合的管理模式，并提出了几点管理模式的改革建议。     

侧吸导烟技术的经济性分析

介绍了侧吸导烟技术的技术背景,分析计算了焦炉装煤烟尘成分及含量,经对该技术的经济效益进行概算后显示,该技术可以有效改善焦炉区及周边环境,每年还可创造可观的经济效益,是一项值得研究推广的技术。     

诱导结晶工艺中诱品载体的选择与改性

以含铜废水为处理对象，重点考察了诱晶载体的表面性质及表面负荷对诱导结晶过程的影响。结果表明，在工艺启动初期，白云石以及碱式碳酸铜为诱晶载体时，铜的去除率在90％以上，石英砂对铜的去除率较低，但石英砂经表面改性后对铜的去除效率亦可达90％以上。在运行稳定后，几类诱导载体对铜的去除率皆能稳定在95％，说明诱晶载体的表面性质对诱导结晶工艺的影响主要在于反应启动初期，选择与目标结晶产物结构、成分相同或相似的诱晶载体有利于诱导结晶过程的进行。此外，研究结果还表明，诱晶载体表面负荷对结晶过程影响较大，诱导结晶除铜工艺中载体表面负荷不宜高于0．054gCu／（m2·d）。     

自然保护区的建立与持续发展的关系

自然保护区的建立已被世界公认是一种保护自然资源最有效的方法之一。但是长期以来,人们把对维持生物种类的持续发展以及生态系统的完整性都归功于较为传统的封闭式保护。事实证明这已导致保护与持续发展长期处于矛盾状态而得不到解决。自从联合国教科文组织人与生物圈计划提出“生物圈保护区”的概念以来,打破了长期以来对自然保护区的封闭式管理。强调通过保护自然资源而发展和利用资源,并使这些资源能够持续发展。注重把自然保护与科学研究,环境监测、示范、环境教育与当地人民的参与结合起来。     

文明的衰败与启迪

人类历史上产生了古代埃及、古代两河流域、古代印度、古代希腊、古代印加、古代中国等光辉灿烂的文明,但都出现了由于人为因素引起的生态破坏带来的文明衰败的现象,留下深刻的经验教训和启迪。人类必须尊重自然、善待自然、也必须师法自然、遵循自然规律,还必须保护环境、保护自然、维护生态环境的平衡与和谐,只有如此人类文明将会走向光辉的彼岸。     

人类社会发展中两种关系的历史演变与可持续发展

在人与环境所组成的世界系统中，人与环境、人与人是两种最基本的关系，它们之间相互依存并相互影响。在人类社会的生存阶段与发展阶段中，两种关系表现出明显不同的作用性质与作用内容。当今世界，人类社会所面临的发展危机（贫富分化与资源环境问题)均直接表现为两种关系的矛盾冲突。分析表明．只有同时实现人与环境的和谐以及人与人之间的公平，才有可能实现可持续发展。