Local and national protection of endangered species: an assessment

We searched the statutory codes of all 50 states to locate provisions applicable to endangered and threatened species. The state statutes were compared to 6 components of the US Endangered Species Act: (1) coverage; (2) listing procedures and requirements under section 4; (3) habitat designation and protection procedures and criteria under sections 4 and 7; (4) prohibitions on commerce and taking under section 9; (5) exceptions to the prohibitions on commerce and taking and (6) conservation planning under section 4. State endangered and threatened species legislation is far less comprehensive than the federal act. Only 15 states have statutes that cover all plants and animals. Similarly, only 11 states offer any protection for taxa below the subspecific level. 45 states have provisions for listing species independently of the federal act but only 8 authorize emergency listings. 43 states have no provisions authorizing the designation of critical habitat; 39 states offer no protection against habitat destruction on either private or publicly owned lands. Most states prohibit commercial transactions and taking of listed animal species; plant species receive less protection. Only 3 states include any requirements that the wildlife management agency engage in recovery planning processes. In the absence of a federal statute to protect endangered and threatened species, we question whether current state protection is either adequate or would be maintained. We briefly examined legislation on endangered species in two other countries with federal systems of government, Australia and Canada. Canada lacked a federal statute. Assessment of national, state and territorial legislation in Australia revealed several similarities and differences with the United States endangered species legislation. Differences suggested an alternative to the top down approach embodied in the United States Endangered Species Act.     

中国海洋保护区的生态环境监测工作

近年来,我国海洋保护区生态环境监测工作逐年加强,监测技术标准稳步发展,监测能力建设逐步推进,已在海洋保护区监管工作中发挥了重要作用。当前一些发达国家在海洋生态环境监测方面更加注重监测的制度建设,在形式上已步入“天-空-海、水面-水体-海底”立体监测时代。我国应借鉴国外的先进经验,着力构建和完善“天空地一体化”海洋保护区生态环境监测体系,加快推进海洋保护区生态环境监测标准化进程,加强海洋保护区信息共享机制建设,为我国海洋保护区生态环境监测工作的开展及海洋保护区监管工作提供有力支撑。     

Canadian Federal Government requirements and support tools for pollution prevention planning

This paper reviews the Canadian federal government's requirements and support tools for pollution prevention planning under Part 4 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999). It explains the requirements and provisions, their statutory basis and the means of invoking them, and notes the extent of their use to date. It outlines the existing support tools for pollution prevention planning (including the model plan and guidelines) under CEPA 1999, their nature and where to get them. The paper concludes by identifying areas for future research.     

国外大尺度生态廊道保护进展与秦岭国家公园建设

大型山脉在其走向上往往是生物扩散和分布的天然廊道。然而,由于人类干扰引起的生境碎片化,山地廊道的连通性已大为降低。20世纪以来,人们普遍意识到当前或过去的自然保护措施往往规模太小,无法维持许多物种的长期生存及其所依赖的生态过程。因而,山地廊道的连通性保护日益受到关注,大尺度生态廊道被认为是长远意义上保护气候变化下生物多样性的最优策略。综述连通性保护和生态廊道的概念、发展历程及国外大尺度生态廊道建设实践的经验,并从连通性保护的角度对秦岭国家公园建设提出一些建议,强调大尺度的连通性保护和生态廊道建设对于国家公园自然生态系统的长远保护具有重要意义。     

加拿大推动可持续发展战略的策略及实践

文章介绍了加拿大的简况,讨论了加拿大可持续发展的历程以及促使各政府部门将可持续发展战略落实到工作中的环境审计制度。探讨了加拿大可持续发展战略实施方面的部分经验,如向国会提交年度环境与可持续发展审计报告、工业可持续发展战略的制定及加拿大-中国的可持续发展合作等。     

面向保护对象的地貌脆弱性评价——以海州湾国家海洋公园为例

海洋是个复杂的生态系统，快速有效识别海洋保护区保护对象的现状稳定性和受损情况是开展保护和恢复工作的基础。以海州湾保护区为例，根据其重点保护的海岛海岸地貌的自然特征，构建了基于赋存特征、影响因素、灾害背景和人工干预的4类13个指标的地貌类型保护对象脆弱性评价指标体系。参考国内外已有研究，综合确定各指标等级判定标准。评价结果显示，秦山岛、竹岛、龙汪河口沙咀、连岛北侧沙滩的脆弱性综合指数分别为0.58、0.62、0.48、0.58，脆弱性等级分别属于相对稳定、稳定、相对稳定、相对稳定，较为客观反映了各个保护对象的现状。构建的地貌类型保护对象的评价模型和指标判定标准可应用于海洋特殊地貌景观的保护与管理。     

海洋功能区划立法探讨

海洋环境的诸多特点使得依据各涉海部门的单行法律法规难以进行有效的海洋管理,从而导致海域开发秩序混乱、局部海域用海矛盾突出及人力、财力的浪费等现象。要从根本上解决以上问题,必须对涉海法律进行整合并制定专门的综合性的海洋功能区划法律。针对目前海洋功能区划的立法缺陷,本文从符合海洋生态系统的规律和特点的角度出发,分析了立法的必要性,提出海洋功能区划立法应以生态安全和非社会秩序为价值取向,以可持续发展为指导思想,以保持海洋生态健康原则、预警原则、以海定陆原则、资源定位原则、公众参与原则为立法原则。     

A targeting approach for ecosystem protection

The Critical Ecosystems Team of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 5, has developed an approach to prioritize and target ecologically high-quality areas for enhanced environmental protection in the Midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Using this approach, we intend to employ a pro-active strategy to protect the environment by protecting and restoring natural ecosystems rather than the traditional EPA approach of remediating and attempting to restore already degraded habitats. The approach consists of two components: (1) partnership and (2) criteria. For the partnership component, we collected, mapped, and summarized information on ecosystems considered critical to federal and state agencies, tribes and non-profit organizations. Multi-county areas with high numbers of ecosystems identified by a variety of partners were designated as ‘Ecologically Rich Regions’. These Ecologically Rich Regions highlight broad geographic areas where there are high levels of partner interest and, correspondingly, areas with high potential for forming collaborative partnerships for enhanced environmental protection. The second component, which relies on criteria, is still under development and defines critical ecosystems as having three important properties: (1) high ecological diversity, (2) potential for long-term sustainability and (3) presence of relict native ecosystems or communities. The information compiled under both components of this ecosystem targeting approach will inform ecological risk managers and assessors about important ecosystems that should be considered in risk management and assessment processes.     

基于生态系统服务的汾河源头区域生态安全格局优化

生态安全格局的优化是保障区域生态安全,维护生态系统稳定和提升生态系统服务的重要空间途径。以汾河源头区域为例,定量评估产水量、生境质量、土壤保持量三种生态系统服务,利用热点分析法识别重要的生态源地,考虑到河流在生态系统中复杂的作用机制,构建了两种模式的生态安全格局,并在此基础上提出了综合生态安全格局。研究结果表明：汾河源头区域共19个生态源地,占研究区面积的16.59%,三种模式分别构建了33条、42条、43条潜在生态廊道。网络结构评估结果表明：三种模式均可生成闭合的生态网络,优化后的生态廊道总长度为565.957 km,网络闭合度、节点连接率及网络连接度较高,成本比较小。此外,共识别了35个生态断裂点,明确了生态保护与修复建设的重点区域,以期为区域生态保护与修复规划提供空间指引。     

海洋微塑料污染状况及其应对措施建议

海洋塑料垃圾污染是人类面临的最为急迫的全球海洋环境问题之一,已引起各国政府、公众、科学界、媒体及非政府组织等的广泛关注,并成为当前海洋生态与环境研究的热点问题之一,亟待应对和解决.从水体、沉积物及生物体内海洋塑料垃圾及微塑料污染特征、来源及归趋角度,阐述了海洋微塑料垃圾的分布特征、潜在生态风险和应对措施,以及国内外应对海洋塑料及微塑料污染所采取的管控措施,介绍了各国政府和非政府组织所提出的法律法规和公约倡议.鉴于当前鲜见典型区域塑料污染管控和生态风险评估体系研究,从科学研究和管理控制两个方面,进一步指出现阶段在海洋塑料垃圾及微塑料研究和管控方面存在的诸多问题,如方法学（采集、预处理和分析）的差异性,来源、输运与归趋尚不明确,生态风险评估体系未建立及相关管控的法律法规待健全等.在此基础上对我国海洋塑料和微塑料研究提出建议:①深入研究与国际接轨的标准化塑料及微塑料研究方法学（样本采集、预处理和分析）问题、准确估算入海通量、环境归趋及环境浓度下潜在的生态风险等;②支持开展海洋塑料垃圾和微塑料研究专题的大洋航次（太平洋和印度洋等）,系统地开展河流系统-深海海盆-极地等的海洋微塑料综合研究;③研发水环境中塑料和微塑料垃圾的拦截和处理技术,制定和强化塑料及微塑料管控的法律法规和政策措施;④建立完善的海洋塑料垃圾污染公共环境意识教育体系,以唤起公众对海洋污染的关注.      

“半个地球”愿景下的保护地识别——基于全球主要优先保护模块

设立保护地是保护生物多样性的最有效举措。“半个地球”愿景提出将50%的面积纳入保护地,并有效保护85%的物种,是全球生态保护的目标。IUCN保护地分类系统是国际通用的标准,一系列优先保护模块研究则对保护地的识别进行着探索。本文旨在通过对这些模块的保护目标、识别标准等进行分析,为保护地科学识别提供合理参考。主要结论如下:（1）物种、栖息地与人类活动是各模块的主要考虑要素,识别标准包括物种丰富度、生境转变率、人类活动强度等;（2）各模块对生境转变率的考虑有“亡羊补牢”和“未雨绸缪”两种思路,对人类活动强度的考虑有直接和间接之分;（3）各模块分布面积占比在5.77%~25.32%之间,总范围占全球陆表的55.59%,超过了“半个地球”愿景的目标比例。     

关于海洋人工生态系统理论范式的思考

本文针对新时期我国海洋资源养护与生态环境整治修复的理论缺失问题,在分析人工生态系统概念内涵的基础上,提出海洋人工生态系统概念,剖析了海洋人工生态系统组成结构与理论内涵,建立了包括海洋人工生态系统方案规划、海洋人工生态系统生态工程建设和海洋人工生态系统适应性管理在内的海洋人工生态系统构筑范式,并分析了这种海洋人工生态系统理论范式在海洋环境生态修复、海洋牧场建设和人工海岛生态系统营造方面的应用价值,以期为新时期我国海洋生态文明建设探索生态系统生态学理论引导模式。     

基于海洋生态质量目标识别的海洋生态安全格局研究

本文概述了现有海洋空间规划及其在海洋生态安全格局方面存在的欠缺。提出了以海洋生态质量目标为导向确定海洋生态安全格局,研究了空间边界与网格的确定和海洋生态质量目标识别,并通过空缺分析明确特定空间网格内的海洋生态质量目标。在此基础上,提出应基于海洋生态质量目标制定海洋生态保护与管理措施,结合其等级整合海洋空间规划,并基于海洋综合管理优化海洋生态安全管控机制。     

Adaptive management of marine mega-fauna in a changing climate

Management of marine mega-fauna in a changing climate is constrained by a series of uncertainties, often related to climate change projections, ecological responses, and the effectiveness of strategies in alleviating climate change impacts. Uncertainties can be reduced over time through adaptive management. Adaptive management is a framework for resource conservation that promotes iterative learning-based decision making. To successfully implement the adaptive management cycle, different steps (planning, designing, learning and adjusting) need to be systematically implemented to inform earlier steps in an iterative way. Despite the critical role that adaptive management is likely to play in addressing the impacts of climate change on marine mega-fauna few managers have successfully implemented an adaptive management approach. We discuss the approaches necessary to implement each step of an adaptive management cycle to manage marine mega-fauna in a changing climate, highlighting the steps that require further attention to fully implement the process. Examples of sharks and rays (Selachimorpha and Batoidea) on the Great Barrier Reef and little penguins, Eudyptula minor, in south-eastern Australia are used as case studies. We found that successful implementation of the full adaptive management cycle to marine mega-fauna needs managers and researchers to: (1) obtain a better understanding of the capacity of species to adapt to climate change to inform the planning step; (2) identify strategies to directly address impacts in the marine environment to inform the designing step; and (3) develop systematic evaluation and monitoring programs to inform the learning step. Further, legislation needs to flexible to allow for management to respond.     

重要海洋生态功能区选划技术方法初探——以泉州湾为例

划定海洋生态红线是当前海洋生态文明建设的重要内容,而重要海洋生态功能区是海洋生态红线区的核心部分,选划方法尚处探索阶段。本文在探索重要海洋生态功能区定义及内涵的基础上,通过资料收集与生态特征分析、潜在的重要海洋生态功能区类型初步识别、海洋生态功能重要性评价方法构建、边界确定等方面构建重要海洋生态功能区选划技术方法,最后以泉州湾为例对方法进行验证。结果表明:共选划5种类型10个重要海洋生态功能区,约占泉州湾海域面积的50.28%。     

Evaluating the best available social science for natural resource management decision-making

Increasing recognition of the human dimensions of natural resource management issues, and of social and ecological sustainability and resilience as being inter-related, highlights the importance of applying social science to natural resource management decision-making. Moreover, a number of laws and regulations require natural resource management agencies to consider the “best available science” (BAS) when making decisions, including social science. Yet rarely do these laws and regulations define or identify standards for BAS, and those who have tried to fill the gap have done so from the standpoint of best available natural science. This paper proposes evaluative criteria for best available social science (BASS), explaining why a broader set of criteria than those used for natural science is needed. Although the natural and social sciences share many of the same evaluative criteria for BAS, they also exhibit some differences, especially where qualitative social science is concerned. Thus we argue that the evaluative criteria for BAS should expand to include those associated with diverse social science disciplines, particularly the qualitative social sciences. We provide one example from the USA of how a federal agency − the U.S. Forest Service − has attempted to incorporate BASS in responding to its BAS mandate associated with the national forest planning process, drawing on different types of scientific information and in light of these criteria. Greater attention to including BASS in natural resource management decision-making can contribute to better, more equitable, and more defensible management decisions and policies.     

Is climate-smart conservation feasible in Europe? Spatial relations of protected areas,soil carbon,and land values

The expectations on protected areas to deliver not only biodiversity conservation but also to provide an array of different ecosystem services rise. Sequestration and storage of carbon are promising services that protected areas may provide. This study integrates spatially explicit data on terrestrial Natura 2000 sites, soil organic carbon, and agricultural land values to estimate the potential for climate-smart conservation planning in the European Union. The objectives of this study are to analyse spatial relations between protected areas soil carbon content, and land values on the European Union's land area as well as to locate and quantify the proportion of land with high carbon and low economic value within and outside protected areas. We apply a unique interdisciplinary framework with methods ranging from analyses based on geographical information systems, agricultural economics to statistics. Findings indicate that there is a significant overlap between Natura 2000 sites and regions with high carbon content across Europe. Statistical analyses show that carbon-rich regions have significantly lower land values than other areas. Our results suggest that biodiversity protection and mitigation of climate change through conservation of soil carbon could be simultaneously achieved in Europe's protected areas and beyond. We conclude that there is a notable potential for climate-smart conservation in Europe that needs further investigation.     

海洋生态文明建设背景下的海洋资源经济与海洋战略

发展海洋经济,建设海洋强国,需要从国家战略角度关心海洋、认识海洋、经略海洋。为了系统认知海洋生态文明建设背景下我国海洋资源经济与海洋战略,邀请了九位来自海洋相关领域的知名专家,就海洋生态文明建设、海洋国土空间规划、海洋生态牧场建设、海岸带生态修复、海洋战略性新兴产业、海洋科技发展、深海矿产资源开发、海洋地缘政治和中国参与全球海洋治理等前沿研究领域进行了交流访谈。结果认为：（1）海洋生态文明建设是海洋强国建设的重要组成部分,海洋生态文明建设要明确美丽海洋建设目标、掌握海洋生态系统方法、坚持陆海统筹重大谋略、构筑海洋生态文明制度体系。（2）国家海洋空间规划要整合现有涉海规划,合理开发、利用与保护海洋资源,创新规划技术与规划治理理念,强化海洋空间管制指标、海洋空间发展能力和海洋空间治理地方特色机制等方面的创新。（3）海洋牧场建设要聚焦产业链条,推进“全域型”海洋牧场建设;强化原创驱动,构建“全域型”海洋牧场技术体系;倡导融合发展,培育“全域型”海洋牧场新业态。（4）“以自然恢复为主”的海岸带生态修复强调运用陆海交错区域空间布局优化和资源管理优化的技术,充分考虑海岸带生态系统自然恢复的过程和机理,提高生态修复的效率。（5）海洋战略性新兴产业的发展要把握数字经济大势,着力发展智能制造,加快升级产业结构,坚持绿色低碳发展,主动衔接区域战略。（6）海洋科技未来发展的重点任务是聚焦深海、极地战略新领域,提升关键海域实时精细观测和预报能力,聚焦海洋资源、能源集约利用,加强海工装备关键核心技术研发。（7）深海矿产资源开发需加强国际合作,开展多学科调查、长周期监测,加强深海开发技术研发,评估深海采矿环境影响,减少深海开发过程对海洋环境的扰动,实现深海采矿和深海环境保护的协调发展。（8）我国需要实施一种空间差异化且有针对性的海洋地缘战略,服务于台湾统一和领土争端、服务于海洋权益维护和海洋资源利用,服务于海洋运输安全和海洋生态环境安全,并最终服务于海洋命运共同体构建。（9）实施中国海洋空间规划技术输出“走出去”战略、积极推进中国海外园区“节点网络体系”构建战略、实施面向“一带一路”倡议需求的人才培养和实训战略,为全球海洋治理提供必要的空间支点和技术支撑。     

The Nature Conservancy's approach to prioritizing conservation action

Like many conservation organizations and federal and state agencies, The Nature Conservancy is in the process of large-scale planning and prioritization efforts. To improve the efficiency of these planning efforts, the Conservancy has developed a methodology for these efforts. The results of these planning efforts will be a conservation blueprint which identifies the conservation areas necessary for conserving biodiversity and a subset of those areas where the Conservancy will focus its immediate efforts over the next 10 years. The subset of all the conservation areas identified in the planning process help The Nature Conservancy determine where it will work. This subset of areas (referred to as action sites) is selected using a tool which ranks key criteria for each conservation area. These criteria include the current conservation status of each area, complementarity to other areas selected, the diversity and viability of targets at the area, the urgency and degree of threats to the targets, the feasibility or opportunity to abate the threats at the area and the leverage potential of working at a conservation area. Taken together, these criteria help planners to select the areas where they will focus their conservation efforts.