Detecting Differences in Crown Transparency Assessments Between Countries using the Image Analysis System Croco

Estimates of crown transparency calculated using the semi-automatic image analysis system CROCO were compared withthe visual estimates of survey teams from 12 European countries.For each of five European species (Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), silver fir (Abies alba Mill.), Scotspine (Pinus sylvestris L.), beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), oak (Quercus robur L.)) 15 trees were assessed. In 64\% of the comparisons, CROCO estimates and the survey teams' scores differed significantly, while differences between countries were significant in 58 % of all comparisons. We calculated Spearman's rank correlation and the standard deviation of the differences between CROCO and each country and between pairs of countries. We then computed the medians for CROCO and each country. CROCO and only a few countries hadfor all species a higher median correlation and lower median standard deviation than the median for the comparison between countries. In addition no country had a consistently higher correlation or lower standard deviation than CROCO. We concludethat CROCO can provide more consistent and less variable estimates of crown transparency than visual assessments and that it can serve as a reference to detect differences in visualtransparency assessments between countries over time.     

Atmospheric Change and Biodiversity

Strategies to conserve biodiversity need to include the monitoring, modelling, adaptation and regulation of the composition of the atmosphere. Atmospheric issues include climate variability and extremes; climate change; stratospheric ozone depletion; acid deposition; photochemical pollution; suspended particulate matter; and hazardous air pollutants. Coarse filter and fine filter approaches have been used to understand the complexity of the interactions between the atmosphere and biodiversity. In the first approach, climate-based models, using GIS technology, helped create future biodiversity scenarios under a 2 × CO₂ atmosphere. In the second approach, the SI/MAB forest biodiversity monitoring protocols helped calibrate the climate-forest biodiversity baseline and, as global diagnostics, helped identify where the biodiversity was in equilibrium with the present climate. Forest climate monitoring, an enhancing protocol, was used in a co-location approach to define the thermal buffering capacity of forest ecosystems and their ability to reduce and ameliorate global climate variability, extremes and change.     

A framework for assessment and monitoring of arthropods in a lowland tropical forest

By applying principles of adaptive management, and by using the valuable information that arthropods provide from assessment and monitoring programs, managers can identify and reduce possible impacts on biodiversity in development projects. In 1996, the Smithsonian Institution's Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity program worked together with Shell Prospecting and Development Peru to establish an adaptive management program to protect biodiversity in a natural gas exploration project in a Peruvian rainforest. In this paper, we outlined the conceptual steps involved in establishing an assessment and monitoring program for arthropods, including setting objectives, evaluating the results and making decisions. We also present the results of the assessment using some of groups of arthropods, and summarize the steps taken to identify appropriate groups for monitoring.     

Eight nonnative plants in western Oregon forests: Associations with environment and management

Nonnative plants have tremendous ecological and economic impacts on plant communities globally, but comprehensive data on the distribution and ecological relationships of individual species is often scarce or nonexistent. The objective of this study was to assess the influence of vegetation type, climate, topography, and management history on the distribution and abundance of eight selected nonnative plant taxa in forests in western Oregon. These eight taxa were selected as being reliably detected by a multi-resource inventory of 1127 systematically-placed plots on nonfederal forest lands from 1995 to 1997 by the USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program. One or more of the eight nonnative taxa studied were found on 20% of the sampled subplots in the study area, but relatively few stands were dominated by them. Overall abundance of nonnative taxa was likely much greater, because few composites and graminoids were identified to species in this general-purpose inventory. Distribution of most taxa was more closely associated with low density of overstory trees than with climate. Nonnative taxa were significantly more abundant in stands that had been recently clearcut or thinned than in stands that had not. Frequencies of several taxa decreased with elevation, which may reflect proximity to source populations and intensive land use rather than any climatic constraints. Although the greatest potential for displacement of native forest species appears to be in early-successional communities, the potential for spread of some shade-tolerant evergreen shrubs also seems high.     

Forest Health Assessment and Monitoring – Issues for Consideration

Part of this paper has been prepared for the lecture Forest Health Assessment-Criteria,Methods and Problems given by the author at the UIMPuniversity course Sanidad Forestal en el Bosques Mediterraneos yTemplados. Implicacion de la Contaminacion Atmosferica y del Cambio Global, held in Valencia, Spain, October, 1995. Assessment and monitoring of forest health representsa key point for environmental policy and for the management ofenvironmental resources. With the renewed interest in assessment andmonitoring of forest health generated by the suspected occurrence ofa widespread forest decline in Europe and North America, manyactivities have been undertaken: however, some questions should beconsidered and clarified when attempting to estimate forest health.Particularly, the objective(s) of the assessment and monitoringprogram should be carefully identified. Identification of a program‘stask has a number of implications and consequences: it implies adefinition of what concept of forest health (forest ecosystem health,forest health or forest trees health?) is assumed, what will be thetarget entity to be monitored, and therefore the identification of therelevant assessment questions and assessment endpoints.Consequences concern the definition of the spatial scale (frominternational to landscape and plot scale monitoring) and ecologicalcoverage (from single species population to population ofecosystems) of the program, which can have a considerable influenceon the choice of the proper sampling strategy and tactic, as well ason the most suitable methods, indicators and indices to be used.Although much of the work in the field of forest health and airpollution has concentrated on surveys on crown transparency anddiscoloration, there is an entire range of methods, indicators andindices developed to assess the health status of forests. The decisionas to which ones should be used will depend on the aim of theprogram and on economic and practical considerations. A furtherconsideration concerns the time span of the program, but anydecision in this field is subject to many limitations due to difficultiesin predicting future monitoring needs. All these points should becarefully considered and implemented according to a rigorousQuality Assurance procedure since any decision will influence futurework for many years.     

Ice Storm Damage and Early Recovery in an Old-Growth Forest

We quantified the damage causedby a major ice storm to individual trees in two1-ha permanent plots located at Mont St. Hilairein southwestern Québec, Canada. The storm, whichoccurred in January 1998, is the worst on recordin eastern North America; glaze ice on the orderof 80–100 mm accumulated at our study site. Allbut 3% of the trees (DBH 10 cm) lost at leastsome crown branches, and 35% lost more than halftheir crown. Damage to trees increased in the order: Tsuga canadensis, Betula alleghaniensis, Ostrya virginiana, Acer saccharum, Fagus grandifolia, Quercus rubra, Betula papyrifera, Acer rubrum, Tilia americana, and Fraxinus americana. Only 22% of the saplings and small trees (4 cm < DBH < 10 cm)escaped being broken or pinned to the ground byfalling material. Levels of damage generally weregreater in an exposed ridge top forest than in acove protected from wind. By August 1999 only53% of the trees had new shoots developing fromthe trunk or broken branches; among the moredominant canopy trees, Fagus grandifoliahad the least sprouting and Acer saccharumand Quercus rubra the most. We anticipateand will monitor both significant turnover in thetree community and some shift in composition ofthe canopy dominants.     

论环境监测在总量控制中的技术支持和保障作用

从环境监测工作的方针和职能论述了环境监测在实行污染物排放总量控制中的支持和保障作用；从实行总量控制的技术要求阐明了需要环境监测的支持和保障，并提出了总量控制要建立以环境监测为主体的技术支持和保障体系，以促进总量控制计划目标的实现     

Soilaluminum, Iron, and Phosphorus Dynamics in Response to Long-Term Experimental Nitrogen and Sulfur Additions at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, USA

Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) containing compounds affects soil chemistry in forested ecosystems through (1) acidification and the depletion of base cations, (2) metal mobilization, particularly aluminum (Al), and iron (Fe), (3) phosphorus (P) mobilization, and (4) N accumulation. The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM) is a long-term paired whole-watershed experimental acidification study demonstrating evidence of each of these acidification characteristics in a northeastern U.S. forested ecosystem. In 2003, BBWM soils were studied using the Hedley fractionation procedure to better understand mechanisms of response in soil Al, Fe, and P chemistry. Soil P fractionation showed that recalcitrant P was the dominant fraction in these watersheds (49%), followed by Al and Fe associated P (24%), indicating that a majority of the soil P was biologically unavailable. Acidification induced mobilization of Al and Fe in these soils holds the potential for significant P mobilization. Forest type appears to exert important influences on metal and P dynamics. Soils supporting softwoods showed evidence of lower Al and Fe in the treated watershed, accompanied by lower soil P. Hardwood soils had higher P concentrations in surface soils as a result of increased biocycling in response to N additions in treatments. Accelerated P uptake and return in litterfall overshadowed acidification induced P mobilization and depletion mechanisms in hardwoods.     

噪声自动监测系统的运行维护管理

对噪声自动监测系统在运行过程中遇到的各种情况进行分类和总结,详细介绍了南通市环境监测中心站的相关工作经验,提出从设备故障、突发事件、软件错误等方面出发,对噪声自动监测的运行维护进行综合管理。     

Associations between distance lags,groundwater velocities,and detection efficiencies in groundwater monitoring networks

Effects of distance lags between landfills and monitoring wells on contaminant detection capability were quantified in several groundwater velocity settings. Detection efficiency calculations were made with and without imposing a time limit on contaminant travel. In general, longer distance lags yieldedhigher detection efficiencies. However, detection efficienciesdecreased as monitoring wells approached a buffer zone boundaryimposing a maximum permissible contaminant transport distance.Imposing a time limit on contaminant travel substantially reduced detection efficiency in low velocity settings, especiallyat longer distance lags. Time limits were less significant in high velocity settings where contaminants more quickly reachedmonitoring wells. Detection efficiencies also decreased as velocity increased, but decreases were minor once the velocityreached a threshold value.     

Development and Application of Software Tools for Monitoring, Assessment and Reporting of Data Concerning the Operation of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants in Cyprus

This work focuses on the development and application of appropriate software tools for recording, assessing and reporting data related to the operation of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants (UWTPs) in Cyprus. An appropriate Internet-Based Management System was designed, developed and installed at the premises of the UWTPs and of the Cypriot Competent Authority (Water Development Department — WDD) in order to coordinate and disseminate tasks and related information for monitoring the operation of UWTPs. In addition, a client Geographical Information System database was compiled to be used for obtaining and analyzing spatial information. The software tools are based on common procedures and state-of-the-art technology for the recording and transmission of data and information and they provide an integrated view related to the operation and the efficiency of wastewater treatment systems. Moreover, continuous control and systematic monitoring of the UWTPs by the operators as well as continuous and direct supervision of the UWTPs environmental performance is achieved by the personnel of the Competent Authority. Furthermore, direct and unobstructed provision of data to the Competent Authority of Cyprus is accomplished by the operators of the UWTPs, while the Competent Authority is supported to compose full and representative reports to the European Commission and other International Organizations. The developed tools enable the direct recording of data obtained through measurements and analyses, permit the comparison of data with existing legislation and provide an integrated picture of the operation of the wastewater treatment plants as well as the option to focus and assess each individual treatment stage.     

occurrence and distribution of nitrate and pesticides in bowdle aquifer, south dakota

A shallow aquifer in central South Dakota was monitored for thepresence of nitrate and pesticides. A total of 593 nitrate samples and428 pesticide samples were analyzed from nine different sites and 14wells between 1989 and 1994. Nested wells were installed at four sitesto characterize the distribution pattern of nitrate and pesticidemovement in ground water. Nitrate concentrations and pesticidedetections were qualitatively compared with area precipitation and watertable fluctuations. The results indicate that nitrates tend to betransported by a leaching mechanism in a matrix flow and may appearin ground water within months after the fertilizer application in thefields. The pesticide movement is primarily controlled by geologicaland chemical characteristics of medium and pesticides.     

新疆城市SO2自动监测仪器运行维护中质量控制(QC)问题探讨

根据新疆12城市的环境空气质量自动监测系统SO2运行情况,对仪器在新疆特殊天气条件下的适用性进行分析,并针对环境空气自动监测系统SO2质量控制(QC)工作中仪器比对校验、异常值判断标准、仪器稳定性、数据准确性等方面进行阐述,旨在从技术、经验和方法及管理等方面为三级站空气质量自动监测系统规范运行及数据分析提供参考和帮助.     

An ecosystem report on the Panama Canal: monitoring the status of the forest communities and the watershed

In 1996, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Republic of Panama's Environmental Authority, with support fromthe United States Agency for International Development, undertook a comprehensive program to monitor the ecosystem of the Panama Canal watershed. The goals were to establish baselineindicators for the integrity of forest communities and rivers. Based on satellite image classification and ground surveys, the2790 km² watershed had 1570 km² of forest in 1997, 1080 km² of which was in national parks and nature monuments. Most of the 490 km² of forest not currently in protected areas lies along the west bank of the Canal, and its managementstatus after the year 2000 turnover of the Canal from the U.S. to Panama remains uncertain. In forest plots designed to monitorforest diversity and change, a total of 963 woody plant specieswere identified and mapped. We estimate there are a total of 850–1000 woody species in forests of the Canal corridor. Forestsof the wetter upper reaches of the watershed are distinct in species composition from the Canal corridor, and have considerably higher diversity and many unknown species. Theseremote areas are extensively forested, poorly explored, and harbor an estimated 1400–2200 woody species. Vertebrate monitoring programs were also initiated, focusing on species threatened by hunting and forest fragmentation. Large mammals are heavily hunted in most forests of Canal corridor, and therewas clear evidence that mammal density is greatly reduced in hunted areas and that this affects seed predation and dispersal. The human population of the watershed was 113 000 in 1990, and grew by nearly 4% per year from 1980 to 1990. Much of this growth was in a small region of the watershed on the outskirts of Panama City, but even rural areas, including villages near and within national parks, grew by 2% per year. There is no sewage treatment in the watershed, and many towns have no trashcollection, thus streams near large towns are heavily polluted. Analyses of sediment loads in rivers throughout the watershed did not indicate that erosion has been increasing as a result ofdeforestation, rather, erosion seems to be driven largely by total rainfall and heavy rainfall events that cause landslides.Still, models suggest that large-scale deforestation would increase landslide frequency, and failure to detect increases inerosion could be due to the gradual deforestation rate and the short time period over which data are available. A study of runoff showed deforestation increased the amount of water fromrainfall that passed directly into streams. As a result, dry season flow was reduced in a deforested catchment relative to aforested one. Currently, the Panama Canal watershed has extensive forest areasand streams relatively unaffected by humans. But impacts of hunting and pollution near towns are clear, and the burgeoningpopulation will exacerbate these impacts in the next few decades.Changes in policies regarding forest protection and pollution control are necessary.     

Watershed Nitrogen and Mercury Geochemical Fluxes Integrate Landscape Factors in Long-term Research Watersheds at Acadia National Park, Maine, USA

This paper is an overview of this special issue devoted to watershed research in Acadia National Park (Acadia NP). The papers address components of an integrated research program on two upland watersheds at Acadia NP, USA (44° 20′ N latitude; 68° 15′ E longitude). These watersheds were instrumented in 1998 to provide a long-term foundation for regional ecological and watershed research. The research was initiated as part of EPA/NPS PRIMENet (Park Research and Intensive Monitoring of Ecosystems Network), a system of UV-monitoring stations and long-term watershed research sites located in US national parks. The initial goals at Acadia NP were to address research questions about mercury, acid rain, and nitrogen saturation developed from prior research. The project design was based on natural differences in forests and soils induced by an intense wildfire in one watershed in 1947. There is no evidence of fire in the reference watershed for several hundred years. We are testing hypotheses about controls on surface water chemistry, and bioavailability of contaminants in the contrasting watersheds. The unburned 47-ha Hadlock Brook watershed is 70% spruce-fir mature conifer forest. In contrast, burned 32-ha Cadillac Brook watershed, 4 km northeast of the Hadlock watershed, is 20% regenerating mixed northern hardwoods and 60% shrub/rocky balds. Differences in atmospheric deposition are controlled primarily by forest stand composition and age. The watersheds are gauged and have water chemistry stations at 122 m (Cadillac) and 137 m (Hadlock); watershed maximum elevations are 468 and 380 m, respectively. The stream water chemistry patterns reflect, in part, the legacy of the intense fire, which, in turn, controls differences in forest vegetation and soil characteristics. These factors result in higher nitrogen and mercury flux from the unburned watershed, reflecting differences in atmospheric deposition, contrasting ecosystem pools of nitrogen and mercury, and inferred differences in internal cycling and bioavailabilty.     

PCB congener distribution in estuarine water,sediment and fish samples: implications for monitoring programs

Traditional analyses for PCBs in environmental matrices havefocused on commercial Aroclor mixtures with detection limits inthe 100 to 1000 part per trillion range. This approach hasrecently been supplanted by analyses for specific PCB compoundscalled congeners with detection limits less than 0.5 ppt. At thenational level, total PCB determinations based upon selected PCBcongeners typically characterize analyses of surface water,sediment and tissue. These federal efforts rely on a suite of 18to 20 congeners out of a total of 209 congeners to characterizetotal PCB. The present study compares total PCB estimates basedupon this subset of congeners with estimates based upon anexpanded list of 81 congeners from water, sediment and fishtissue collected from the Delaware Estuary.Analytical data from monitoring programs conducted in theDelaware Estuary by the Delaware River Basin Commission, NOAANational Ocean Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency from 1996 to 1998 were evaluated. Total PCB estimates derived from the different sets of congeners,including the adjustment factor of 2.0 used by NOAA, werecompared. This evaluation indicated that differences existbetween total PCB determinations based upon these approaches, andthat these differences vary depending on the matrix analyzed. The bias associated with using a smaller set of PCB congeners,and the implications for risk assessment are discussed.     

Adaptive Management, Monitoring, and the Ecological Sustainability of a Thermal-Polluted Water Ecosystem: A Case in Sw Spain

The construction of the Almaraz nuclear power plant in Spain in the 1970s posed interesting environmental problems concerning the construction of a cooling reservoir (Arrocampo reservoir) to cool the steam condensers and the consequent heating of the reservoirs water. The socio-political context forced decision makers to set up a project for the monitoring and management of the environmental impacts derived from the construction and operation of the power plant. Numerous scientific and technical specialists collaborated with the representatives of social groups towards two goals: the improvement of the biodiversity and of the efficiency of the cooling system. These goals involved the monitoring and managing of the system with respect to different biological aspects, mainly limnology, ichthyology, avian fauna and vegetation. The management plan yielded numerous results. The control of the water eutrophy is one of the most important due to its repercussion on the rest of the ecosystem, especially the fish fauna. The development of the shore vegetation slowly increased the patchwork nature of the reservoir, leading to a greater diversity of the avian species. This paper describes the monitoring and management of the Arrocampo ecosystem, the condition before and after the construction of the reservoir and the results obtained concerning some biological communities.     

Applying a Large,Statewide Database to the Assessment,Stressor Diagnosis,and Restoration of Stream Fish Communities

In this report, predictions of the species that were expected to occur at stream sites were generated and probable stressors to fish species that were predicted to occur but were absent were diagnosed. Predictions were generated based on the hierarchical screening method of Smith and Powell (1971, Am. Mus. Novit. 2458, 1–30), using fish abundance in conjunction with 25 environmental variables at 895 sites. The sites were sampled throughout Maryland and represent the entire range of environmental quality from severely degraded to minimally degraded. Stressor variable values that exceeded tolerance thresholds for species that were expected to occur, but were absent, were considered to be probable stressors. This method was tested for efficacy in stream site assessments and stressor diagnosis using an independent data set. Sites that were classified as degraded according to the IBI and to non-biological criteria had fewer predicted species present compared to minimally influenced sites, indicating that the proportion of predicted species present accurately represents the biological integrity of a stream site. The nine stressors that were applied to the test data set accounted for species absences in 43.7% of degraded sites. Impervious land cover was the most common stressor identified. In addition to assessing stream biological integrity and identifying stressors to fish species, this approach also provides tolerance thresholds for predicted fish species that are useful endpoints necessary to plan effective restoration of fish species in Maryland.     

Long-term phytoplankton trends and related water quality trends in the lower Chesapeake Bay,Virginia, USA

Long-term trends (i.e., 1985 through 1999; 14 1/2 yrs) of the phytoplankton community in Chesapeake Bay indicated patterns of increasing phytoplankton abundance and biomass associated with mainly diatoms and chlorophytes, and to a lesser degree dinoflagellates. Decreasing trends in productivity rates above the pycnocline were present over a shorter time period (10 1/2 yrs.), with evidence for increasing nitrogen limitation is indicated. Reduced light availability is inferred due to decreasing trends of Secchi depths and increased suspended solids trends, which were associated with decreasing trends in productivity rates.