Stratification and Tidal Current Effects on Larval Transport in the Eastern English Channel: Observations and 3D Modeling

We study how the combination of tides and freshwater buoyancy affects the marine organisms accumulation and horizontal transport in the ROFI system of the eastern English Channel. The Princeton Ocean Model coupled with a particle-tracking module is used to study the migration of fish eggs and larvae under different forcing conditions. Results of modeling are validated against observed concentrations of Flounder (Pleuronectes flesus) larvae. Numerical Lagrangian tracking experiments are performed with passive and active particles, representing sea-water organisms. Passive particles are neutrally buoyant whereas active particles are able to exercise light dependent vertical migrations equating to the swimming behavior of larvae. The experiments reveal that the strongest accumulation of particles occurs along the French coast on the margin of the ROFI. This happens because the interaction between the turbulence, the freshwater buoyancy input, and tidal dynamics, produces particle trapping and vertical spreading within the frontal convergence zone. Tides and freshwater input induce net alongshore horizontal transport toward the North. Tidal currents modulate the magnitude of horizontal transport whereas the fresh water input controls more the location of accumulation zones. Tracking experiments with active particles indicate that the vertical migration leads to a significant departure from the passive particle transport pattern. Differences lie in the shape of the particle transport pattern and the rate of the northward migration. In particular, vertically migrating particles travel slower. To find possible Flounder migration pathways, particles are released within the assumed spawning area of Flounder. The model predicts larvae drift routes and demonstrates that throughout the entire particle-tracking period the horizontal structure of the particle distribution is consistent with the larvae concentrations observed during the field experiments.     

生态城市建设与城市超循环体系的构建

生态城市的设计、建设和评价,应从人、社会、自然3个层次和城市的结构、功能、协调和目标4个方面来进行定位,最终达到完善结构、提升功能、增进协调、城市优美和谐的目标。城市超循环体系是生态城市社会结构的重要组成部分,城市超循环体系的具有企业、产业、城市、区域4个基本层次,其循环体系、模式、功能和目标均各不相同。生态城市建设与城市超循环体系构建具有在理念上的一致性、结构和功能上的嵌套性、目标和发展机制上的同一性,在更深层次上表现为城市或国家整体中不同民族、不同宗教、多元文化的生态意识在生态理念方面的协调性。     

When Agendas Collide: Human Welfare and Biological Conservation

Abstract:  Conservation should benefit ecosystems, nonhuman organisms, and current and future human beings. Nevertheless, tension among these goals engenders potential ethical conflicts: conservationists' true motivations may differ from the justifications they offer for their activities, and conservation projects have the potential to disempower and oppress people. We reviewed the promise and deficiencies of integrating social, economic, and biological concerns into conservation, focusing on research in ecosystem services and efforts in community-based conservation. Despite much progress, neither paradigm provides a silver bullet for conservation's most pressing problems, and both require additional thought and modification to become maximally effective. We conclude that the following strategies are needed to make conservation more effective in our human-dominated world. (1) Conservation research needs to integrate with social scholarship in a more sophisticated manner. (2) Conservation must be informed by a detailed understanding of the spatial, temporal, and social distributions of costs and benefits of conservation efforts. Strategies should reflect this understanding, particularly by equitably distributing conservation's costs. (3) We must better acknowledge the social concerns that accompany biodiversity conservation; accordingly, sometimes we must argue for conservation for biodiversity's sake, not for its direct human benefits.     

Long-Term Ecosystem Dynamics in the Serengeti: Lessons for Conservation

Abstract:  Data from long-term ecological studies further understanding of ecosystem dynamics and can guide evidence-based management. In a quasi-natural experiment we examined long-term monitoring data on different components of the Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem to trace the effects of disturbances and thus to elucidate cause-and-effect connections between them. The long-term data illustrated the role of food limitation in population regulation in mammals, particularly in migratory wildebeest and nonmigratory buffalo. Predation limited populations of smaller resident ungulates and small carnivores. Abiotic events, such as droughts and floods, created disturbances that affected survivorship of ungulates and birds. Such disturbances showed feedbacks between biotic and abiotic realms. Interactions between elephants and their food allowed savanna and grassland communities to co-occur. With increased woodland vegetation, predators' capture of prey increased. Anthropogenic disturbances had direct (hunting) and indirect (transfer of disease to wildlife) effects. Slow and rapid changes and multiple ecosystem states became apparent only over several decades and involved events at different spatial scales. Conservation efforts should accommodate both infrequent and unpredictable events and long-term trends. Management should plan on the time scale of those events and should not aim to maintain the status quo. Systems can be self-regulating through food availability and predator-prey interactions; thus, culling may not be required. Ecosystems can occur in multiple states; thus, there may be no a priori need to maintain one natural state. Finally, conservation efforts outside protected areas must distinguish between natural change and direct human-induced change. Protected areas can act as ecological baselines in which human-induced change is kept to a minimum     

城郊稻田生态系统高效生产模式的研究与评价

根据天津市宝坻区的自然条件、区位优势和现有的农业种植结构,提出了稻藕轮作与稻鱼蟹混养相结合的高效生产模式并分析其生态优势。借助Ecopath软件,从系统可持续性和净产值角度,比较分析了稻鱼蟹混养与稻藕轮作相结合生产模式与稻田养鱼、稻田养蟹、稻鱼蟹混养、单一种稻4种稻田生产模式的优劣。结果表明:5种稻田生产模式F inn′s指数值从大到小依次为稻鱼蟹混养与稻藕轮作相结合、稻田养鱼、稻田养蟹、稻鱼蟹混养和单一种稻;稻鱼蟹混养与稻藕轮作相结合生产模式的可持续性指标优于其他3种生态种植模式,其净生产力、生物量/输出量、输出量/输入量和稳定性指标分别是单一种稻模式的2.63、4.25、2.03和3.56倍;与其他4种稻田生产模式相比,稻鱼蟹混养与稻藕轮作相结合模式的净产值很高,是适合于在北方推广的最优生态种植模式。     

自组织理论与复合生态系统可持续发展

复合生态系统出现了一系列环境问题阻碍了区域的可持续发展。文章将自组织理论引人到可持续发展领域，建立以实现可持续发展为目标的复合生态系统自组织理论：分析了复合生态系统的自组织特性，阐述了复合生态系统内部非线性结构和熵相互作用对系统自组织演化的影响，论述了复合生态系统自组织与可持续发展的关系，即复合生态系统达到自组织运作状态或总体趋势时，系统就达到了可持续发展。提出了复合生态系统自组织运行规律就是要实现社会规律、经济规律和自然规律的协同，即“三律协同”。在此基础上，探讨了实现复合生态系统自组织的途径：系统开放、引入负熵；建立以生态经济、生态环境、生态文化组成的耗散结构；建立复合生态系统目标实现的分段时间结构；加强系统协调机制，制定符合系统社会、经济和自然规律协同的各项措施。     

三江平原小叶章湿地生态系统对氮磷的净化效率

选取面积为1600m^2的小叶章（Deyeuxia angustifolia）湿地进行小区域模拟试验。试验设割草区、1倍浓度区、静态对照区和2倍浓度区4个处理，研究N、P输入浓度，割草和输出径流对三江平原小叶章湿地生态系统净化N、P污染物的影响。结果表明，在小叶章生长期和成熟期，湿地生态系统对N、P保持较稳定的净化，N、P平均去除率分别为85．62％和85．94％。湿地水体中TN和NH4^＋-N的累积浓度显著相关。输入浓度、割草和输出径流都影响着湿地生态系统对N、P的净化和N、P在系统内的分配。输入浓度增大时，N、P去除率明显降低；割草会降低N去除率，但对P去除率影响不大；少量输出径流对N、P去除影响不大。三江平原小叶章湿地生态系统对输入的N、P具有显著净化作用，总净化率可达97．97％和99．05％。     

Ecosystem Management across Ownerships: the Potential for Collision with Antitrust Laws

Abstract:  Cross-boundary ecosystem management is increasingly being advocated to address large-scale ecological issues on forested landscapes. Such management requires information about the age, composition, and distribution of trees and other vegetation in addition to the ability to coordinate management over large areas. In the United States, the forest industry owns and manages a large quantity of biologically productive forest land, and these forests are crucial to the success of regional ecosystem planning. Antitrust laws, such as the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, limit the industry's ability to participate in regional ecosystem planning because they restrict the ability of competing firms to coordinate activities and share information. Because antitrust courts do not consider the intentions of violators, achieving conservation or other public policy goals, even when working with government agencies, is not a sufficient defense. Therefore, the real and perceived threat of antitrust litigation is a disincentive to the forest industry's participation in large-scale ecosystem management. Potential solutions to this problem include state immunity statutes and third-party data aggregation.     

土地生态系统健康研究的主要内容及面临的问题

生态系统健康研究是资源环境可持续利用研究中的一个热点。在归纳土地生态系统具有尺度的宏观性、对象的地域性、空间的开放性和动态性、问题的复杂性等特征的基础上，提出了开展土地生态系统健康研究的内容应包括土地生态系统健康的机理、评价和管理等三个主要方面。结合我国的土地资源状况，指出我国开展土地生态系统健康研究面临着包括人口密度过大，土地资源压力大；我国地域辽阔，气候类型多样，社会经济区域发展不均衡，全国各地土地生态系统的区域分异性很强等主要问题。     

森林生态系统中土壤呼吸研究进展

土壤呼吸是土壤微生物活性和土壤肥力的一个重要指标，是土壤碳流通的一个重要过程，也是陆地生态系统碳循环的一个关键部分，对研究全球变化有非常重要影响。文章综述了森林生态系统土壤呼吸的各种测量方法，比较了静态气室法和动态气室法的优缺点，认为动态红外气体分析法是最可靠的方法之一；探讨了影响土壤呼吸速率的各种因素，指出在各生物和非生物因素中，温度对土壤呼吸的影响最大；最后提出了土壤呼吸研究过程中存在的一些问题及今后的发展方向。