恢复力与可持续发展:在瞬息万变的世界中增强适应能力

由于在以往的自然资源政策上逐渐暴露出了两个带根本性的错误,人们开始意识到在环境管理理论和实践方面需要进行一场全球性的重大改革.第一个错误是毫无保留地假定生态系统对人类利用所作出的反应是呈线性关系、是可以预测和控制的.第二个错误是认定人类社会与天然系统可以分别对待,不必联系在一起进行考虑.然而,从世界各地收集到的证据表明,天然系统和人类社会系统是以非线性方式运行的、在其动态运行过程中均有其显著的极限,而且,人类社会与生态系统表现为一种紧密相联的、复杂的且不断演变的综合系统.本文是代表瑞典政府环境咨询委员会编写的一份报告的摘要,这份报告是作为向2002年8月26日～9月4日在南非约翰内斯堡召开的可持续发展世界首脑会议献礼的论文而撰写的.从概念上说,恢复力是一种能缓冲变化所带来的影响、学习知识和求得发展的能力,我们将它作为在一个纷纭复杂、快速变化的世界中,是否真正懂得如何维护和提高适应能力的一种参照标准来使用.在社会、生态综合系统中,有两种有用的工具可用来提高恢复力,一种是结构严谨的工作方案,另一种是积极的适应力管理.这两种工具都需要而且有助于形成这样一种社会环境:具有灵活开放的组织机构和多层次的监管体制,允许学习适应力方面的知识和提高适应力但又不妨碍对未来的发展作出选择.     

In vivo effects of deltamethrin on some biochemical parameters of carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)

Thein vivo effects of deltamethrin (DM) on the blood sugar level, the acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC 3.1.1.7) activities of the blood serum and various organs (heart, liver and intestine), the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, EC 1.1.2.3), glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT, EC 2.6.1.1), and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT, EC 2.6.1.2) activities of the blood serum, the adenosine triphosphatases (EC 3.6.1.3; Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase and Mg²⁺-ATPase) activities of the erythrocyte plasma membrane and the catalase (EC 1.11.1.6) activity of the liver were examined throughout 96 h in adult carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) Two sublethal concentrations, 1.0 and 1.5 µg/l of deltamethrin, were used. All fish survived the experiment except one, in an aquarium containing 1.5 ppb of DM, which died after 72 h.The AChE specific activity was significantly inhibited in the heart and intestine after 96 h at both concentrations compared to that in the control animals (P<0.05, Student'st-test), while there was no detectable difference between the two treatment. At the same time there was no detectable change in the liver. In the serum, the AChE activity almost remained unchanged; the only significant decrease could be measured after 96 h at 1.5 µg/l deltamethrin concentration. The blood glucose content exhibited interesting changes: after 24 h fish exposed at 1 µg/l DM seemed to be stressed, although this increase was not significant. When these fish became used to the new conditions (in practice this meant the presence of DM), the glucose level decreased, especially after 72 h. At the same time the control animals kept in similar circumstances showed a small insignificant decrease. Meanwhile fish in aquaria containing 1.5 µg/l DM reacted to the treatment with an increased blood glucose level after 48 h, and this did not change until the end of the treatment. The Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase activity decreased in a dose-dependant manner, while Mg²⁺-ATPase was less affected. A small increase in LDH level was observed, indicating damage of different muscle tissues. However, this phenomenon appeared only with the small dosage after 24 h (P<0.05). It has to be mentioned that the individual values varied to a large extent among of the eight fish.The GOT activities of the serum increased during the treatment. However, significant changes were only expressed after 72 and 96 h at 1 µg/l DM concentrations (P<0.01 andP<0.05), and after a similar long treatment at the high dosage (P<0.05, 72 and 96 h). The GPT did not change significantly in aquaria containing 1 µg/l DM. The only larger increase was measured after 96 h at 1.5 µg/l DM concentration (P<0.05). The catalase activity in the liver of treated carp remained practically at the same level compared to that in control fish.All these changes (concerning the primary effects of this compound) demonstrate the effect of DM on different fish enzymes, at low concentrations under laboratory conditions, which might be useful in practice for biomonitoring using fish.     

Diversity in Current Ecological Thinking: Implications for Environmental Management

Current ecological thinking emphasizes that systems are complex, dynamic, and unpredictable across space and time. What is the diversity in interpretation of these ideas among today’s ecologists, and what does this mean for environmental management? This study used a Policy Delphi survey of ecologists to explore their perspectives on a number of current topics in ecology. The results showed general concurrence with nonequilibrium views. There was agreement that disturbance is a widespread, normal feature of ecosystems with historically contingent responses. The importance of recognizing multiple levels of organization and the role of functional diversity in environmental change were also widely acknowledged. Views differed regarding the predictability of successional development, whether “patchiness” is a useful concept, and the benefits of shifting the focus from species to ecosystem processes. Because of their centrality to environmental management, these different views warrant special attention from both managers and ecologists. Such divergence is particularly problematic given widespread concerns regarding the poor linkages between science (here, ecology) and environmental policy and management, which have been attributed to scientific uncertainty and a lack of consensus among scientists, both jeopardizing the transfer of science into management. Several suggestions to help managers deal with these differences are provided, especially the need to interpret broader theory in the context of place-based assessments. The uncertainty created by these differences requires a proactive approach to environmental management, including clearly identifying environmental objectives, careful experimental design, and effective monitoring.     

Photodegradation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in passive air samplers: field testing different deployment chambers

Semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) were loaded with deuterated anthracene and pyrene as performance reference compounds (PRCs) and deployed at a test site in four different chambers (open and closed box chamber, bowl chamber and cage chamber) for 29 days. The losses of PRCs and the uptake of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the ambient air were quantified. UV-B levels measured in each deployment chamber indicated that SPMDs would be exposed to the most UV-B in the cage chamber and open box chamber. Significantly less PAHs were quantified in SPMDs deployed in the cage chamber and open box chamber compared to samplers from the other two chambers, suggesting that photodegradation of PAHs had occurred. The loss of PRCs confirmed these results but also showed that photodegradation was occurring in the closed box chamber. The bowl chamber appears to provide the best protection from the influence of direct photodegradation.     

Resilience and sustainable development: building adaptive capacity in a world of transformations

Emerging recognition of two fundamental errors underpinning past polices for natural resource issues heralds awareness of the need for a worldwide fundamental change in thinking and in practice of environmental management. The first error has been an implicit assumption that ecosystem responses to human use are linear, predictable and controllable. The second has been an assumption that human and natural systems can be treated independently. However, evidence that has been accumulating in diverse regions all over the world suggests that natural and social systems behave in nonlinear ways, exhibit marked thresholds in their dynamics, and that social-ecological systems act as strongly coupled, complex and evolving integrated systems. This article is a summary of a report prepared on behalf of the Environmental Advisory Council to the Swedish Government, as input to the process of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa in 26 August 4 September 2002. We use the concept of resilience--the capacity to buffer change, learn and develop--as a framework for understanding how to sustain and enhance adaptive capacity in a complex world of rapid transformations. Two useful tools for resilience-building in social-ecological systems are structured scenarios and active adaptive management. These tools require and facilitate a social context with flexible and open institutions and multi-level governance systems that allow for learning and increase adaptive capacity without foreclosing future development options.     

Lessons for ecological policy design: A case study of ecosystem management

This paper explores the prospects for combining elements of the ecological and policy sciences to form a substantive and effective science of ecological policy design. This exploration is made through a case study whose specific focus is the management problem posed by competition between man and an insect (the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana) for utilization of coniferous forests in the Canadian Province of New Brunswick. We used this case study as a practical testing ground in which we examined the relative strengths, weaknesses, and complementarities of various aspects of the policy design process. Where existing approaches proved wanting, we sought to develop alternatives and to test them in turn. In particular, we used a combination of simulation modeling and topological approaches to analyze the space-time dynamics of this ecosystem under a variety of natural and managed conditions. Explicit consideration was given to the development of invalidation tests for establishing the limits of model credibility. An array of economic, social, and environmental indicators was generated by the model, enabling managers and policy makers to evaluate meaningfully the performance of the system under a variety of management proposals. Simplified versions of the models were constructed to accomodate several optimization procedures, including dynamic programming, which produced trial policies for a range of possible objectives. These trial policies were tested in the more complex model versions and heuristically modified in dialogue with New Brunswick's forest managers. We explored the role of utility functions for simplifying and contrasting policy performance measures, paying special attention to questions of time preferences and discounting. Finally, the study was shaped by a commitment to transfer the various models and policy design capabilities from their original academic setting to the desks and minds of the practicing managers and politicians. An array of workshops, model gaming sessions, and nontraditional communication formats was developed and tested in pursuit of this goal.This paper reports some specific management policies developed, and some general lessons for ecological policy design learned in the course of the study.     

Evaluation of performance reference compounds in polyethylene-based passive air samplers

Polyethylene-based passive air samplers (PSDs) were loaded with performance reference compounds (PRCs) and deployed in a wind tunnel to examine the effects of wind speed on sampler performance. PRCs could be loaded reproducibly into PSDs, with coefficients of variation only exceeding 20% for the more volatile compounds. When PSDs were exposed to low (0.5-1.5 m s-1) and high (3.5-4.5 m s-1) wind speeds, PRC loss rate constants generally increased with increasing wind speed and decreased with increasing sampler/air partition coefficients. PSD-based air concentrations calculated using PRC loss rate constants and sampler/air partition coefficients and air concentrations measured using active samplers compared closely. PRCs can be used to account for the effect of differences in wind speeds on sampler performance and measure air concentrations with reasonable accuracy.     

Development and calibration of a passive sampler for N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) in water

N-Nitrosamines such as N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) are organic compounds of environmental concern in groundwater, wastewater and potable water due to their potent carcinogenicity in laboratory animal studies and probable human carcinogenicity. While passive sampling techniques have become a widely used tool for providing time-averaged estimates of trace pollutant concentration, for chemicals such as NDMA that have relatively high water solubility, the selection of a suitable sorbent is difficult. This work is a proof of principle study that investigated for the first time the use of coconut charcoal as a passive sampler sorbent. Apparent charcoal/water sorption coefficients for NDMA were >551 mL g⁻¹ at environmentally relevant aqueous concentrations of less than 1 μg L⁻¹. Under the experimental conditions employed, a sampling rate of 0.45 L d⁻¹ was determined and for an aqueous concentration of 1000 ng L⁻¹, it is predicted that the sampler remains in the linear uptake stage for approximately 4 d, while equilibrium attainment would require about 26 d. The presence of humic acid, used as a surrogate for DOC, enhanced NDMA sorption on the coconut charcoal.     

The Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme: objectives, achievements in the first four years, and plans for future development

The Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme (SRMS) comprises 7 partner organizations and was established in 2002 after i) the publication of the UK Government's Raptor Working Group Report that made recommendations for enhanced monitoring, ii) increased applied data needs (e.g., for site designation), and iii) concerns for the status of some species. The SRMS has 3 major objectives: i) to facilitate cooperation between parties; ii) to provide robust information on Scottish raptor populations by determining trends in numbers, range, survival, and productivity and understanding the causes of change; and iii) to maintain high and uniform standards for the collection, collation, auditing, and analysis of data and reporting of information. Data are collected for 19 species: 14 diurnal raptors, 4 owls, and 1 corvid, the Common Raven. Here we describe the development of the scheme, challenges, and achievements during its first 4 y, the nature and value of the data collected, and plans for the future.