Decline in metallophytes in tertiary polluted floodplain grasslands in the Netherlands: experimental evidence for metal and nutritional changes in soil as driver factors

Metallophyte vegetation along the River Geul has been almost completely replaced by grasses during the last decades. Field investigations indicated that this was accompanied by higher alkalinity and phosphate availability in the soil, related to the closure of the metal industry and intensification of agricultural practices. An experiment with a full factorial design for phosphate and zinc availability indicated that the metallophytes Silene vulgaris and Thlaspi caerulescens did not grow on zinc-poor soils, irrespective of phosphate availability. The grass Holcus lanatus performed well on phosphate-rich soil, irrespective of zinc availability. An experiment with zinc-poor and zinc-rich floodplain soils confirmed the high zinc demand of the metallophytes T. caerulescens and Armeria maritima and the zinc independence of H. lanatus. A third experiment indicated that a reduced zinc availability due to liming affected only the metallophyte T. caerulescens; it had no effect on the growth of the grass Festuca rubra. This means that increasing alkalinity leads to a decrease in zinc availability, limiting the growth of at least some metallophyte species. An increase in phosphate availability stimulates growth in more competitive fast-growing grasses under zinc-rich as well as zinc-poor conditions.     

近20年来鄱阳湖流域泛滥平原沉积物微量元素含量与污染变化

查明鄱阳湖流域微量元素的污染状况、识别其潜在来源并评估生态风险,对制定保护流域生态系统的有效策略至关重要.为了全面了解鄱阳湖流域5条主要支流泛滥平原沉积物中Cd、Hg、Pb、As、Cu、Zn、Cr、Ni、Mn、Sb、W和Sn等12种微量元素间隔近20 a的含量、污染水平和生态风险的时空变化状况,采用富集因子（EF）和修正综合污染指数（MPI）评价了微量元素的污染水平,应用潜在生态风险因子（E_r）和修正生态风险指数（MRI）量化了微量元素引发的生态风险,并对污染水平显著变化区域的污染源进行了分析和探讨.研究结果显示,近20年来,鄱阳湖流域泛滥平原沉积物中Cd、Zn、Mn、W和Pb含量分别升高了134%、26%、41%、25%和8%,Hg、As、Cr、Ni、Sb和Sn含量分别降低了35%、15%、22%、10%、14%和13%,Cu含量无明显变化;饶河、赣江和信江流域的Cd含量分别升高了331%、151%和107%,抚河、赣江和修水流域的Hg含量分别降低了87%、41%和40%;其污染变化主要表现为Cd污染加剧和Hg污染降级,整个赣江流域Cd污染升级至中度和中度-重度,饶河乐安江Cd污染升级至重度,抚河流域Hg污染降至无或轻微;Cd污染加剧导致综合污染升级,极度和重度污染点位比例由17%升至33%;极高生态风险点位的比例由11%升至22%,其高MRI贡献率元素由Hg变为Cd,源于Hg污染的极高生态风险点降至中等生态风险.鄱阳湖流域泛滥平原沉积物中微量元素的显著污染变化主要源于矿产开发与冶炼、工业和农业生产等人为活动.研究成果可为河流污染防治和流域生态系统的优化管理提供科学依据.     

Management of Large Wood in Streams: An Overview and Proposed Framework for Hazard Evaluation

Instream and floodplain wood can provide many benefits to river ecosystems, but can also create hazards for inhabitants, infrastructure, property, and recreational users in the river corridor. We propose a decision process for managing large wood, and particularly for assessing the relative benefits and hazards associated with individual wood pieces and with accumulations of wood. This process can be applied at varying levels of effort, from a relatively cursory visual assessment to more detailed numerical modeling. Decisions to retain, remove, or modify wood in a channel or on a floodplain are highly dependent on the specific context: the same piece of wood that might require removal in a highly urbanized setting may provide sufficient benefits to justify retention in a natural area or lower‐risk urban setting. The proposed decision process outlined here can be used by individuals with diverse technical backgrounds and in a range of urban to natural river reaches so that opportunities for wood retention or enhancement are increased.     

The consequences and policy implications of urban encroachment into flood-risk areas: the case of Ibadan

Urban encroachment on floodplains has exacerbated flood disasters owing to the reduction in the floodplain’s capacity to mitigate flooding, thereby bringing more settlements and people at flood risk. This study examined the consequences and policy implications of urban encroachment into Ibadan’s flood-risk areas. The survey-based study relied on primary and secondary data, with multistage sampling procedures selecting 15% of the flood-affected buildings in 2011, from which a structured questionnaire was administered to 402 households. The study revealed that the institutional arrangements with respect to responsibilities, regulations and control of urban floodplains were fragmented and non-participatory. At least 62% of all the affected buildings encroached into the statutory setbacks to rivers. Household property lost/damaged included domestic goods (75%), domestic animals and pets (60%), working instruments/machines (31%), the source of domestic water (34%) and vehicles (29%). Strong direct correlations were found between the urban and peri-urban communities in (1) the number of damaged/lost property and (2) the number of households that suffered health-related challenges. The paper recommends that the overall co-ordination of flood management activities be entrusted to an institution that can assume responsibility for legal, technical, administrative and financial matters related to urban planning and flood-risk management.     

The Flood Pulse as the Underlying Driver of Vegetation in the Largest Wetland and Fishery of the Mekong Basin

The Tonle Sap is the largest wetland in Southeast Asia and one of the world’s most productive inland fisheries. The Mekong River inundates the Tonle Sap every year, shaping a mosaic of natural and agricultural habitats. Ongoing hydropower development, however, will dampen the flood pulse that maintains the Tonle Sap. This study established the current underlying relationship among hydrology, vegetation, and human use. We found that vegetation is strongly influenced by flood duration; however, this relationship was heavily distorted by fire, grazing, and rice cultivation. The expected flood pulse alteration will result in higher water levels during the dry season, permanently inundating existing forests. The reduction of the maximum flood extent will facilitate agricultural expansion into natural habitats. This study is the most comprehensive field survey of the Tonle Sap to date, and it provides fundamental knowledge needed to understand the underlying processes that maintain this important wetland.     

FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT NEEDS PECULIAR TO ARID CLIMATES1

ABSTRACT: Many practices followed uniformly nationwide in the federal flood control and floodplain management programs are inappropriate or even counter productive in the arid Utah climate. An analysis of the 130-year Utah flood history, the structural and nonstructural flood programs in the state, and local perceptions obtained by field visits and interviews in 35 Utah communities revealed a number of such inefficiencies. Since flood flows dissipate quickly when they emerge from mountain watersheds onto desert lowlands, risks are concentrated near the apex of alluvial fans, include hazard from mud as well as water flow, and are compounded by canal interception of flood waters. Because of variation in the area flooded from one event to the next, floodplain mapping has tended to show risks too high in mapped areas and too low outside. Traditional channelization carries floods downstream past where they would dissipate naturally. The federal government needs to become more active in developing better flood hazard delineation and structural and nonstructural designs for arid areas. State government can help by providing a forum where communities can exchange experiences, reviewing structural designs prepared by local government, and providing local communities with technical expertise for dealing with federal agencies.     

Implementing climate variability adaptation at the community level in the Amazon floodplain

The need to design measures for adapting to climate change is increasingly recognized as important and has encouraged research on the role of local ecological knowledge (LEK) in supporting adaptation. Studies of how LEK can help adapt to increasing climate variability remain limited. This article develops an approach through which the process of adaptation can be tracked at a community level. We describe how community residents in the Amazon floodplains incorporate natural hydrologic and ecological processes into their management systems to optimize ecosystem functioning.We describe two case studies where LEK is used as a resource by small-scale fisher-farmers in the Amazon floodplains to adapt to the increasing impacts on their livelihoods generated by changing climate patterns. This article draws on local histories and seeks to identify the critical factors that either facilitate or impede household ability to reduce their vulnerability. We found that the LEK of small fisher-farmers has facilitated the adaptation of a resource management system to optimize production across a broad range of floodplain habitats and conditions. There are, however, significant challenges to operationalizing these approaches, including an absence of systematically collected data on adaptation strategies and outcomes. In addition, local people must be integrated into policymaking processes so their knowledge can contribute to the design of locally appropriate policies for adapting to the impacts of climate related events.     

洞庭湖湿地有机碳垂直分布与组成特征

以洞庭湖3类湿地的9个典型剖面为代表,研究了洞庭湖湿地有机碳垂直分布和组成特征.结果表明,湖草滩地表层(0～10cm)有机碳含量(>40g/kg)明显高于芦苇滩地(20±2.8) g/kg和垦殖水田(28±8.6) g/kg .0～30cm内,湖草和芦苇滩地有机碳含量随深度的增加而下降,30cm以下有机碳含量基本稳定.垦殖水田的3个剖面间有机碳含量存在较大变异.湖草滩地表层0～10cm轻组碳占总有机碳的20%以上,而芦苇滩地和垦殖水田表层0～10cm的有机碳以稳定的重组碳为主(>90 %) .同一类型湿地垂直方向上,受有机碳来源复杂性的影响,轻组碳占总有机碳的比例具有明显的层次性.分组试验还表明,重组碳与总有机碳、容重与总有机碳、重组碳与重组氮之间具有极显著的相关关系(p<0.01).     

Soil ingestion by sheep grazing the metal enriched floodplain soils of mid-Wales

Floodplain soils within and downstream from the mineralised and mined areas of mid-Wales, are contaminated by metals, especially Pb, because of historical and contemporary fluvial pollution. Rates of soil ingestion by sheep grazing these sites have been quantified to establish the relative importance of the soil-plant-animal and soil-animal pathway of metals. The highest rates of soil ingestion occurred during the winter/spring period. During March, soil ingestion exceeded 30% of the D.M. intake at 2 of the 11 sites investigated. The total daily intake of metals by sheep reflects the degree of soil metal enrichment, and is elevated during the winter/spring period, coincident with the higher rates of soil ingestion and the generally higher pasture herbage metal concentrations. Because the soil-plant transfer of Pb is low, ingested soil is often the major pathway of this metal to sheep. This is especially evident in March and May when on average 80.0 and 82.9%, respectively of the Pb intake was via soil ingestion. At one site in May, 97% of the Pb intake was attributable to ingested soil. Even when soil-plant transfers are not so low, as found for Cu and Zn, ingested soil can occasionally supply greater than 60% of these metals to the animal. However, despite the potential importance of soil ingestion, little is known about the availability to and absorption of soil-borne metals by animals.     

THE IMPACT OF FLOODPLAIN REGULATIONS ON RESIDENTIAL LAND VALUES IN OREGON1

ABSTRACT: The impact of floodplain regulations on mean appreciation rates of residential land values was tested at six study areas in five counties in western Oregon. The study hypothesis that such regulations significantly depress appreciation rates of regulated lands relative to those of similar unregulated lands was in most cases rejected. When the hypothesis was accepted circumstances would render conclusions tenuous. The problems and issues facing this type of research are presented in case studies of two of the research study areas. The following factors challenge investigators seeking to resolve questions about the relationship between land use regulations and land values: varying degrees of stringency with which regulations are enforced; unequal assessment procedures between counties; influences external to floodplain regulations that may affect appreciation rates, including denial of permits for septic tanks, flood damages, and amenity values associated with waterfront locations; and the uncertain effect that the availability of flood insurance, which accompanies floodplain regulations, has on land values.