Applying Ecological Risk Principles to Watershed Assessment and Management

Considerable progress in addressing point source (end of pipe) pollution problems has been made, but it is now recognized that further substantial environmental improvements depend on controlling nonpoint source pollution. A watershed approach is being used more frequently to address these problems because traditional regulatory approaches do not focus on nonpoint sources. The watershed approach is organized around the guiding principles of partnerships, geographic focus, and management based on sound science and data. This helps to focus efforts on the highest priority problems within hydrologically-defined geographic areas. Ecological risk assessment is a process to collect, organize, analyze, and present scientific information to improve decision making. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sponsored three watershed assessments and found that integrating the watershed approach with ecological risk assessment increases the use of environmental monitoring and assessment data in decision making. This paper describes the basics of the watershed approach, the ecological risk assessment process, and how these two frameworks can be integrated. The three major principles of watershed ecological risk assessment found to be most useful for increasing the use of science in decision making are (1) using assessment endpoints and conceptual models, (2) holding regular interactions between scientists and managers, and (3) developing a focus for multiple stressor analysis. Examples are provided illustrating how these principles were implemented in these assessments.     

乌鲁木齐市近5年生态足迹与生态承载力研究

生态足迹是一种可持续发展程度的生物物理评价方法.阐述了生态足迹的概念和计算模型,设计了城市生态足迹计算方法,对乌鲁木齐市2000-2004年共5年的生态足迹及生态承载力进行了测算.结果表明：各年的生态足迹需求均大于生态承载力,出现了生态赤字现象,该市处于生态不可持续状态.     

Accountability,Reporting, or Management Improvement? Development of a State of the Parks Assessment System in New South Wales,Australia

Management effectiveness evaluation has been recognized as an important mechanism for both reporting on and improving protected area management. The Convention on Biological Diversity’s program of work on protected areas calls on all countries to implement such systems. In 2004, the first whole of system assessment of park management effectiveness, based on the IUCN-WCPA Management Effectiveness Evaluation Framework, was undertaken in New South Wales, Australia as part of a State of the Parks reporting requirement. This article describes the development of the State of the Parks assessment tool, its elements, and how it addresses the management effectiveness difficulties associated with assessments conducted across an extensive and diverse range of park types. The importance of engaging staff, at all levels, throughout the process is highlighted, as well as the adjustments made to the assessment tool based on staff feedback. While some results are presented, the main purpose of the article is to identify and discuss important procedural and methodological considerations. These include balancing quantitative and qualitative assessment approaches, achieving a comprehensive understanding of the management processes, and responding to any problems associated with assessments.     

生态安全研究进展与应用

分析了生态安全概念的内涵和外延，介绍了生态安全评价的目的和范畴。对生态安全评价的国内外研究进展进行了综述，论述了生态安全的研究方法和特点，指出了基于3S技术的生态安全评价的优势，最后提出了基于3S技术的区域生态安全评价的发展方向。     

Using Wildlife as Receptor Species: A Landscape Approach to Ecological Risk Assessment

To assist risk assessors at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS), a Geographic Information System (GIS) application was developed to provide relevant information about specific receptor species of resident wildlife that can be used for ecological risk assessment. Information was obtained from an extensive literature review of publications and reports on vertebrate- and contaminant-related research since 1954 and linked to a GIS. Although this GIS is a useful tool for risk assessors because the data quality is high, it does not describe the species’ site-wide spatial distribution or life history, which may be crucial when developing a risk assessment. Specific receptor species on the SRS were modeled to provide an estimate of an overall distribution (probability of being in an area). Each model is a stand-alone tool consisting of algorithms independent of the GIS data layers to which it is applied and therefore is dynamic and will respond to changes such as habitat disturbances and natural succession. This paper describes this modeling process and demonstrates how these resource selection models can then be used to produce spatially explicit exposure estimates. This approach is a template for other large federal facilities to establish a framework for site-specific risk assessments that use wildlife species as endpoints.Current address: Biology Department, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069     

Designing a sustainable facility to improve energy and environmental performance at the women's humane society

Susan Maxman Architects was selected to design a new facility for the Women's Humane Society. The project, located on a disturbed site in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, presented an environmental challenge as a large part of the site is wetlands and the site is home to a large PECO power line. This case study describes the process of designing a facility that incorporates the concerns of environmental responsibility. It will show how the decisions in the design of the built environment can very much influence the well-being of the natural environment. It describes the ways in which the client was convinced that it was of great benefit to create a facility that was energy-efficient and environmentally sensitive. The article also explores the successes and failures of this process. It discusses barriers that exist in comprehensively incorporating sustainable design principles in these facilities and shows how it is applicable for the development of other facilities.     

A Framework for Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Water and Watershed Systems

In this article we present a framework for assessing climate change impacts on water and watershed systems to support management decision-making. The framework addresses three issues complicating assessments of climate change impacts—linkages across spatial scales, linkages across temporal scales, and linkages across scientific and management disciplines. A major theme underlying the framework is that, due to current limitations in modeling capabilities, assessing and responding to climate change should be approached from the perspective of risk assessment and management rather than as a prediction problem. The framework is based generally on ecological risk assessment and similar approaches. A second theme underlying the framework is the need for close collaboration among climate scientists, scientists interested in assessing impacts, and resource managers and decision makers. A case study illustrating an application of the framework is also presented that provides a specific, practical example of how the framework was used to assess the impacts of climate change on water quality in a mid-Atlantic, U.S., watershed.     

生态适宜度评价在开发区环评和环境规划中的应用——以江苏常熟东南开发区为例

本文以江苏省常熟东南开发区为研究对象，在开发区的环境影响评价和环境保护规划中引入土地利用生态适宜度评价的方法，建立开发区生态适宜度评价指标体系，并借助GIS技术将数值计算和图形叠置有机结合，实现了对经济开发区土地利用进行生态适宜度评价的定量化研究方法，为经济开发区的合理规划提供决策依据。     

生态文明建设评价考核的党政同责问题

党政同责是生态文明建设的关键落实手段。评价考核适用于哪些党政机关,如何针对党政机关区别设计评价考核指标,评价考核的结果如何运用等,是落实生态文明党政同责的也是相当重要的内容。中共中央和国务院联合发布生态文明建设党政同责评价考核办法,十八届三中全会文件等党的文件和《环境保护法》等国家法律成为实行党政同责的依据。在角色定位方面,党政同责作为一个保障手段比较稳妥;在指导思想方面,明确党政系统对生态文明建设的主导作用,强化党政领导干部的生态文明责任意识,健全党政领导干部的追责体制和机制;在考核对象方面,把党政系统以及相关领导作为考核对象予以明确;在评价考核指标方面,要区别设计党政两个系统的考核指标体系;在评价考核原则方面,坚持党统领生态文明建设和党政考核并重的原则。地方党政系统的评价考核应分为年度、中期和离任评价考核,评价考核结果要能引起党委特别是组织和纪检监察机关的重视。既应对成绩突出的地区和领导干部给予表彰奖励,也要建立生态补偿、区域限批等损害责任追究制度,健全党政领导干部任内考核责任制和终身责任制。     

Use of ecological regions in aquatic assessments of ecological condition

Ecological regions are areas of similar climate, landform, soil, potential natural vegetation, hydrology, or other ecologically relevant variables. The makeup of aquatic biological assemblages (e.g., fish, macroinvertebrates, algae, riparian birds, etc.) varies dramatically over the landscape, as do the environmental stresses that affect the condition of those assemblages. Ecoregions delineate areas where similar assemblages are likely to occur and, therefore, where similar expectations can be established. For this reason, ecological regions have proven to be an important tool for use in the process of ecological assessment. This article describes four examples of the use of ecological regions in important aspects of environmental monitoring and assessment: (1) design of monitoring networks; (2) estimating expected conditions (criteria development); (3) reporting of results; (4) setting priorities for future monitoring and restoration. By delineating geographic areas with similar characteristics, ecological regions provide a framework for developing relevant indicators, setting expectations through the use of regional reference sites, establishing ecoregion-specific criteria and/or standards, presenting results, focusing models based on relationships between landscape and surface water metrics, and setting regional priorities for management and restoration. The Environmental Protection Agency and many state environmental departments currently use ecoregions to aid the development of environmental criteria, to illustrate current environmental condition, and to guide efforts to maintain and restore physical, chemical and biological integrity in lakes, streams, and rivers.     

Indigenous Studies Speaks to Environmental Management

This article describes the increasing connections between the fields of Indigenous studies and environmental management and examines some of the ways that an Indigenous studies perspective can guide thinking about environmental management. Indigenous groups have been involved in the management of environmental and natural resources on their lands since time immemorial. Indigenous groups have also become increasingly involved in Western practices of environmental management with the advent of co-management institutions, subsistence boards, traditional ecological knowledge forums, and environmental issues affecting Indigenous resources. Thus, it is an important time for scholarship that explores how Indigenous groups are both shaping and being affected by processes of environmental management. This article summarizes key findings and themes from eight papers situated at the intersection of these two fields of study and identify means by which environmental managers can better accommodate Indigenous rights and perspectives. It is the authors’ hope that increased dialog between Indigenous studies and environmental management can contribute to the building of sustainable and socially just environmental management practices.     

生态市建设的战略环境影响评价初探——以淮南市为例

生态市建设是一项系统工程，是实现可持续发展的必然途径。通过对战略环境影响评价理论、方法的探讨，开发出了针对生态市建设的战略环境影响评价技术框架，并以淮南市为例，构建了一套完整的战略环境影响评价指标体系。最后分析了淮南生态市建设SEIA的主要内容：土地利用规划、产业政策结构调整以及各项战略的环境影响评价，为生态市建设SEIA提供方法和技术支持。     

生态文明建设的若干思考

在越来越重视生存环境的当今社会,生态文明作为继工业文明之后的一种崭新的文明形态,日益得到社会的广泛关注.在深入探讨生态文明的内涵和特点,生态文明与物质文明、精神文明及政治文明的关系的基础上,进一步指出了生态文明建设的重要性和紧迫性,并对如何建设生态文明问题做了有益探索.     

规划环境影响评价中的生物多样性评价方法探析

通过对国内外生物多样性评价现状、以GIS为基础的生态模型应用和生物多样性评价层次选择的分析,提出了将景观生态学和GIS为基础的生态模型综合以用于规划环评生物多样性评价的新思路     

污染土壤的生态风险评估标准、方法和模型

本文介绍了生态风险评估的定义,国外在污染土壤生态风险评估领域的相关土壤标准、标准设置情况及其内容,生态风险评估的方法和步骤,土壤-有机污染物变化及迁移暴露模型、农药根区模型、土壤模型、土壤迁移及变化数据库和模型管理系统、农药径流对地表水的污染模型、多介质污染物变化、迁移和暴露模型等计算机模型及其理论基础。尤其是美国环保署在这一领域的系列工作及其思路,为国内在这方面的工作和研究提供一些参考。     

MEETING PUBLIC EXPECTATIONS WITH ECOLOGICAL INNOVATION IN RIPARIAN LANDSCAPES1

ABSTRACT: Appearances matter for managing riparian landscapes because the appearance of landscapes affects public willingness to accept plans and designs that improve ecological quality. Riparian landscape design and planning should respect and strategically incorporate characteristics that the public values and expects to see. Such design can be quite novel in its ecological effects, but it also should be sufficiently familiar in appearance to correspond with cultural values. This paper describes some influential cultural values for riparian landscapes and demonstrates how attention to such values supports public acceptance of ecologically innovative design in rural and urban watersheds.     

The ecological footprint of Santiago de Chile

In the case of Santiago de Chile, this paper explains how the ecological footprint of a city can be calculated and how this footprint can be compared with the biological capacity available for human use. As ecological footprints provide an easily communicable way of measuring the ecological bottom-line condition for sustainability, it is a useful tool for promoting a sustainable future. It is particularly useful for cities, as it is in cities where the battle for sustainability will be won or lost. While cities are the largest contributors to Gross World Product, they are also the largest consumers and waste producers. This is particularly critical in a world that is already overloaded with human activities and, in addition, is rapidly urbanizing. To make cities win the battle for sustainability we must understand the economics of cities, not just in monetary terms, but in terms of resource allocation. Human activities depend on the provision of resources, the absorption of waste and other essential life-support functions only nature can supply. Each of these services occupies land and water areas, and we can therefore calculate how much ecologically productive area is necessary to exclusively support these human activities. This area is called the 'ecological footprint'. The rough assessment presented here shows its application as a motivational tool for developing more sustainable cities — cities with a better quality of life and smaller ecological footprints. However, the presented method provides a basis for more detailed analyses which would be essential for the planning of such cities. Still, this paper shows a matrix that lists which activity occupies which kind of ecological function and a distribution of footprints among the citizens of Santiago. The corresponding spreadsheet with all the calculations and references is available from ICLEI's website or it can be obtained directly from the author.     

曲阜市湿地生态保护初探

通过对曲阜市地理位置和自然资源现状、湿地类型和面积、湿地植被、湿地动物、湿地水生生物等基本情况的详细调查，客观地做出了曲阜市的湿地生态环境评价，提出了做好宣传唤起公众参与保护的意识，兼顾保护和利用并重，加大科技支持力度等湿地保护建议，以保持湿地生态平衡，促进社会经济与生态环境的协调发展。