Boosting large-scale river connectivity restoration by planning for the presence of unrecorded barriers

Conservation decisions are invariably made with incomplete data on species’ distributions, habitats, and threats, but frameworks for allocating conservation investments rarely account for missing data. We examined how explicit consideration of missing data can boost return on investment in ecosystem restoration, focusing on the challenge of restoring aquatic ecosystem connectivity by removing dams and road crossings from rivers. A novel way of integrating the presence of unmapped barriers into a barrier optimization model was developed and applied to the U.S. state of Maine to maximize expected habitat gain for migratory fish. Failing to account for unmapped barriers during prioritization led to nearly 50% lower habitat gain than was anticipated using a conventional barrier optimization approach. Explicitly acknowledging that data are incomplete during project selection, however, boosted expected habitat gains by 20–273% on average, depending on the true number of unmapped barriers. Importantly, these gains occurred without additional data. Simply acknowledging that some barriers were unmapped, regardless of their precise number and location, improved conservation outcomes. Given incomplete data on ecosystems worldwide, our results demonstrate the value of accounting for data shortcomings during project selection.     

水生态环境质量评价体系研究

流域水生态环境质量评价体系是为流域环境管理提供基础数据,协助管理者开展流域保护措施的重要技术支持。该文深入剖析了发达国家典型水生态环境质量评价体系,归纳分析了其体系框架、构成特点、方法适用性和借鉴意义。结合前期研究基础,对评价体系的技术内容进行了完善和补充,明确了参照点位的选择原则,补充了评价方法选择的技术路线,提出了增设和实施不同监测计划的方案,最终提出生态环境质量评价技术体系框架。     

Prioritizing sites for conservation based on similarity to historical baselines and feasibility of protection

The concept of shifting baselines in conservation science implies advocacy for the use of historical knowledge to inform these baselines but does not address the feasibility of restoring sites to those baselines. In many regions, conservation feasibility varies among sites due to differences in resource availability, statutory power, and land‐owner participation. We used zooarchaeological records to identify a historical baseline of the freshwater mussel community's composition before Euro‐American influence at a river‐reach scale (i.e., a kilometer stretch of river that is abiotically similar) in the Leon River of central Texas (U.S.A.). We evaluated how the community reference position and the feasibility of conservation might enable identification of sites where conservation actions would preserve historically representative communities and be likely to succeed. We devised a conceptual model that incorporated community information and landscape factors to link the best conservation areas to potential cost and conservation benefits. Using fuzzy ordination, we identified modern mussel beds that were most like the historical baseline. We then quantified housing density and land use near each river reach identified to estimate feasibility of habitat restoration. Using our conceptual framework, we identified reaches of high conservation value (i.e., contain the best mussel beds) and where restoration actions would be most likely to succeed. Reaches above Lake Belton were most similar in species composition and relative abundance to zooarchaeological sites. A subset of these mussel beds occurred in locations where conservation actions appeared most feasible. Our results show how to use zooarchaeological data (biodiversity data often readily available) and estimates of conservation feasibility to inform conservation priorities at a local spatial scale.     

Backwater Confluences of the Ohio River: Organic and Inorganic Fingerprints Explain Sediment Dynamics in Wetlands and Marinas

In the Ohio River (OR), backwater confluence sedimentation dynamics are understudied, however, these river features are expected to be influential on the system’s ecological and economic function when integrated along the river’s length. In the following paper, we test the efficacy of organic and inorganic tracers for sediment fingerprinting in backwater confluences; we use fingerprinting results to evidence sediment dynamics controlling deposition patterns in confluences used for wetland and marina functions; and we quantify the spatial extent of tributary drainages with wetland and marina features in OR confluences. Both organic and inorganic tracers statistically differentiate sediment from stream and river end‐members. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes produce greater uncertainty in fingerprinting results than inorganic elemental tracers. Uncertainty analysis of the nonconservative tracer term in the organic matter fingerprinting application estimates an apparent enrichment of the carbon stable isotopes during instream residence, and the nonconservativeness is quantified with a statistical approach unique to the fingerprinting literature. Wetland and marina features in OR confluences impact 42% and 11% of tributary drainage areas, respectively. Sediment dynamics show wetland and marina confluences experience deposition from river backwaters with longitudinally linear and nonlinear patterns, respectively, from sediment sources.     

关于城市河流水污染防治技术应用和研究

随着我国经济的不断发展,各种工厂也大量的成立,而这也使得很多废弃物及废水被过度排放到湖泊与河流之中,进而导致其出现了严重的污染问题。污染不仅对人们的生活质量产生了影响,同时也对生态的平衡发展产生了很大的阻碍,业已经成为社会各界高度关注和重视的问题。基于此,本文围绕城市河流水污染的现状进行了分析,对于污染产生的原因也进行了阐述,针对城市河流水污染防治技术的应用也进行了探讨和研究,以期可以有效解决我国出现的河流水污染问题,进而为人们及社会营造一个全新、绿色的河流环境。     

河道溢油事故环境风险评价中若干关键问题探讨

河道溢油事故已成为内河道突发性水环境污染的主要问题之一,尤其水源地突发性污染事件日益增多,对社会、经济和河道生态环境造成严重的不良影响。新建的水上项目必须通过溢油风险评价来分析项目建设投产后对周边的环境影响,目前溢油风险评价尚无统一的方法,且风险分析不够深入。本文基于国内外经典的油膜动力学模型及统计学等理论,明确溢油事故环境风险评价中事故源强、事故概率、溢油油膜影响范围、风险应急时间以及水厂吸水口关闭时间等几个关键问题的分析方法,以期进一步提高河道溢油事故的环境风险评价水平。     

辽宁双台河口湿地生态安全评价

受人类活动强烈干扰,河口湿地的生态安全问题日益严峻。对湿地生态安全的评价研究应遵循"人—湿地"复合系统思想,文章坚持湿地可持续发展的时空观念,突出人为因素,兼顾自然因素,评价了双台河口湿地生态安全的空间状况,具体探讨了湿地核心地带生态安全的演化机理。结果表明:辽河三角洲地区生态安全水平空间差异较大,西市区、站前区为极不安全,鲅鱼圈区为不安全区,盘山县、双台子区、兴隆台区为临界安全区,老边区、大洼县为较安全区。双台河口湿地核心区所在的大洼地区,近7年来生态安全演变态势较好,由生态临界安全上升为较安全,但仍未达到理想安全状态,与周边县区生态安全等级不高有密切关系。最后提出了双台河口湿地生态安全的对策与建议。     

河段水质压力目标管理模式的概念与方法

目前我国主流的流域水质目标管理模式中,在河段污染责任认定方面普遍存在难以界定上下游之间各自责任的问题,为此提出了一种基于河段水质压力概念的河流水质管理新模式.以水质压力为基础,配套建立了包括水质压力目标、水质压力纯水当量、水质压力偿罚金等在内的一系列相关概念及其设定与计量方法,完成对各河段的责任认定,并实现以河段处罚金与补偿金为调控手段的流域水质管理运行机制.结果表明,该管理模式有助于增强水质污染处罚与水质生态补偿的区域公平性和针对性,其中的概念和方法可作为现行河流水污染控制方法体系的一种改进性补充,同时能为流域生态补偿标准的确定提供一定借鉴.     

城市内河沉积物中反硝化作用的研究进展

沉积物是水环境的重要组成部分,它作为污染物的"汇"与"源",在外源污染有效控制后,城市内河沉积物将成为引发水体富营养化和黑臭现象的重要原因。反硝化作用是氮生物地球化学循环中的核心环节,是去除氮污染的重要途径。文章综述了城市内河沉积物中氮的生物地球化学循环及反硝化作用,着重介绍了测定反硝化速率的不同方法以及其优缺点,同时总结了影响反硝化作用的主要因素如DO浓度、有机质、温度、pH、NO3-等,并提出了该方向今后进一步研究的重点和发展趋势。     

大龙潭水电站扩建小机组释放生态流量

恩施大龙潭水利枢纽于1995年5月完成环境影响评价,2003年8月开工建设,2006年5月建成投入使用,2006年10月进行竣工环保验收,验收审查时专家组发现,大坝下游至清江与带水河汇入口约700 m清江江段出现脱水现象,环保主管部门提出通过技术改造使大龙潭水利枢纽直接释放生态流量至电站坝下游,通过技术经济论证,大龙潭水利枢纽工程实施在水库大坝左岸8#坝段,将一处原用于龙凤坝自来水供给的预留管道口管道上追加连接一根长107 m直径为1.4 m的管道,将大坝上游的水引至左岸导流洞,在导流洞出口处安装一台1 600 kW小机组发电将出水直接放坝下游清江,使该河段电站坝下游脱水状态得到了恢复,经济和环境效益明显。