Climate change and its consequences for water and wastewater management

Life, in combination with solar radiation and abiotic processes, is most probably the reason why liquid water has existed on Earth for over billions of years, and the global mean temperature has remained in a lifeenabling range. Efforts to limit or even reverse global warming must be derived from the knowledge of the Earth’s complex life-support system. In this context, the balance between liquid and gaseous water plays a crucial role, and water management becomes an important field of innovation and action, globally, on the scale of watersheds but also on the very local level. Cascading use, reuse, and temporary storage of water in urban settings must be considered to limit over-extraction of water from natural resources, and to maintain the life supporting function of ecosystems. At the same time, public health requirements, cost efficiency, and reliability demands are to be met.     

Contribution of spatially explicit models to climate change adaptation and mitigation plans for a priority forest habitat

Climate change will impact forest ecosystems, their biodiversity and the livelihoods they sustain. Several adaptation and mitigation strategies to counteract climate change impacts have been proposed for these ecosystems. However, effective implementation of such strategies requires a clear understanding of how climate change will influence the future distribution of forest ecosystems. This study uses maximum entropy modelling (MaxEnt) to predict environmentally suitable areas for cork oak (Quercus suber) woodlands, a socio-economically important forest ecosystem protected by the European Union Habitats Directive. Specifically, we use two climate change scenarios to predict changes in environmental suitability across the entire geographical range of the cork oak and in areas where stands were recently established. Up to 40 % of current environmentally suitable areas for cork oak may be lost by 2070, mainly in northern Africa and southern Iberian Peninsula. Almost 90 % of new cork oak stands are predicted to lose suitability by the end of the century, but future plantations can take advantage of increasing suitability in northern Iberian Peninsula and France. The predicted impacts cross-country borders, showing that a multinational strategy, will be required for cork oak woodland adaptation to climate change. Such a strategy must be regionally adjusted, featuring the protection of refugia sites in southern areas and stimulating sustainable forest management in areas that will keep long-term suitability. Afforestation efforts should also be promoted but must consider environmental suitability and land competition issues.     

Matching national forest policies and management practices for climate change adaptation in Burkina Faso and Ghana

Many studies have suggested various kinds of forest policies, management planning and practices to help forests adapt to climate change. These recommendations are often generic, based mostly on case studies from temperate countries and rarely from Africa. We argue that policy and management recommendations aimed at integrating adaptation into national forest policies and practices in Africa should start with an inventory and careful examination of existing policies and practices in order to understand the nature and extent of intervention required to influence the adaptation of forest ecosystems to climate change. This paper aims to contribute to closing this gap in knowledge detrimental to decision making through the review and analysis of current forest policies and practices in Burkina Faso and Ghana and highlighting elements that have the potential to influence the adaptation of forest ecosystems to climate change. The analysis revealed that adaptation (and mitigation) are not part of current forest policies in Burkina Faso and Ghana, but instead policies contain elements of risk management practices which are also relevant to the adaptation of forest ecosystems. Some of these elements are found in policies on the management of forest fires, forest genetic resources, non-timber resources, tree regeneration and silvicultural practices. To facilitate and enhance the management of these elements, a number of recommendations are suggested. Their implementation will require experienced and well-trained forestry personnel, financial resources, socio-cultural and political dimensions, and the political will of decision makers to act appropriately by formulating necessary policies and mainstreaming adaptation into forest policy and management planning.     

Fisheries management: integrating societal preference, decision analysis, and ecological risk assessment

Fisheries management is the practice of analyzing and selecting options to maintain or alter the structure, dynamics, and interaction of habitat, aquatic biota, and man to achieve human goals and objectives. The theory of fisheries management is: managers or decision makers attempt to maximize renewable `output' from an aquatic resource by choosing from among a set of decision options and applying a set of actions that generate an array of outputs. Outputs may be defined as a tangible catch, a fishing experience, an existence value, or anything else produced or supported by renewable aquatic resources. Overall output is always a mix of tangible and intangible elements. However defined, management goals and objectives are essential components of fisheries management or any other field of renewable natural resource management. Reaching consensus on management goals and objectives has never been a simple task. Beyond the broad and often conflicting goals of an agency, managers must decide who should set specific management objectives — agency personnel, the public, or a combination of the two. Historically, rhetoric aside, fisheries managers in North America nearly always have consulted with professionals in governmental roles to set management objectives. In a strongly pluralistic society, this often resulted in protracted political and legal conflict. Increasingly, there are calls for use of risk assessment to help solve such ecological policy and management problems commonly encountered in fisheries management. The basic concepts of ecological risk assessment may be simple, but the jargon and details are not. Risk assessment (and similar analytical tools) is a concept that has evoked strong reactions whenever it has been used. In spite of the difficulties of defining problems and setting management objectives for complex ecological policy questions, use of risk assessment to help solve ecological problems is widely supported. Ecological risk assessment will be most useful (and objective) in political deliberations when the policy debate revolves around largely technical concerns. To the extent that risk assessment forces policy debate and disagreement toward fundamental differences rather than superficial ones, it will be useful in decision making.     

Mitigation needs adaptation: Tropical forestry and climate change

The relationship between tropical forests and global climate change has so far focused on mitigation, while much less emphasis has been placed on how management activities may help forest ecosystems adapt to this change. This paper discusses how tropical forestry practices can contribute to maintaining or enhancing the adaptive capacity of natural and planted forests to global climate change and considers challenges and opportunities for the integration of tropical forest management in broader climate change adaptation. In addition to the use of reduced impact logging to maintain ecosystem integrity, other approaches may be needed, such as fire prevention and management, as well as specific silvicultural options aimed at facilitating genetic adaptation. In the case of planted forests, the normally higher intensity of management (with respect to natural forest) offers additional opportunities for implementing adaptation measures, at both industrial and smallholder levels. Although the integration in forest management of measures aimed at enhancing adaptation to climate change may not involve substantial additional effort with respect to current practice, little action appears to have been taken to date. Tropical foresters and forest-dependent communities appear not to appreciate the risks posed by climate change and, for those who are aware of them, practical guidance on how to respond is largely non-existent. The extent to which forestry research and national policies will promote and adopt management practices in order to assist production forests adapt to climate change is currently uncertain. Mainstreaming adaptation into national development and planning programs may represent an initial step towards the incorporation of climate change considerations into tropical forestry.     

Groundwater dependent ecosystems. Part II. Ecosystem services and management in Europe under risk of climate change and land use intensification

Groundwater in sufficient amounts and of suitable quality is essential for potable water supplies, crop irrigation and healthy habitats for plant and animal biocenoses. The groundwater resource is currently under severe pressure from land use and pollution and there is evidence of dramatic changes in aquifer resources in Europe and elsewhere, despite numerous policy measures on sustainable use and protection of groundwater. Little is known about how such changes affect groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs), which include various aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems above ground and inside the aquifer. Future management must take this uncertainty into account. This paper focuses on multiple aspects of groundwater science, policy and sustainable management. Examples of current management methods and practices are presented for selected aquifers in Europe and an assessment is made of the effectiveness of existing policies such as the European Water Framework Directive and the Habitat Directive in practice and of how groundwaters and GDEs are managed in various conditions. The paper highlights a number of issues that should be considered in an integrated and holistic approach to future management of groundwater and its dependent ecosystems.     

流域水生态功能区概念、特点与实施策略

我国正处在从传统的水质管理向水生态管理转变的关键阶段,水生态功能区是实施流域水生态系统管理的基本单元. 结合区划理论的发展,对国内外区划研究进展进行了系统总结,界定了水生态功能区的基本概念,提出了水生态功能区的基本特点及其在环境管理中的主要作用,辨析了水生态功能区与水功能区、生态功能区和主体功能区的关系,提出了水生态功能区实施的政策保障体系. 结果表明,水生态功能区是开展水生态系统健康评估、识别水生态功能和确定水生态保护目标的基本单元,具有基于流域单元进行划分、以水生态系统等级结构为主线、区域区划与类型区划相统一、陆地与水体保持一致性等特点;不同功能区在基本概念、法律和政策依据、分区目的、分区体系、分区指标和方法及其在管理中的作用等方面差异显著,水生态功能区是对上述功能区的发展、补充和完善;作为一个崭新概念,水生态功能区的实施需要从法律、机构、政策和技术等方面全面保障,在此基础上构建流域水环境综合管理技术体系,支撑流域生态文明建设.      

跨国世界自然遗产保护现状评述

国家疆界的划分原则常常与自然资源及生态功能区划分的原则相悖;动植物种群分布、生态学过程以及地质构造分布,并不因政治边界的存在而消失。这种情况为一些自然遗产地的统一与完整性保护制造了障碍。在过去的几十年中,人们对自然资源管理以及对生物多样性管理的关注点,由原来对特定区域的保护转向强调景观尺度下生态系统连续性的保护。连续性保护理念在跨国项目中体现为跨界保护理念,使连接分散的生态区域之间的动态过程成为可能。跨国世界自然遗产的建立与保护已成为推进跨界资源保护的重要一环。结合相关案例分析,论文从发展历程、分类以及管理三个方面对跨国世界自然遗产保护现状进行评述。资源的不可持续利用目前被认为是对世界遗产保护的最大威胁。跨国自然遗产将通过促进多边合作,在遗产保护与可持续发展之间建立平衡。     

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.     

我国水生态系统完整性研究的重大意义、现状、挑战与主要任务

水生态系统完整性研究是当今国际热点,维护水生态系统健康与稳定已成为世界各国水生态系统保护的目标、方向和管理策略. “十三五”以来,我国地表水环境质量改善效果显著,但部分流域或局部水生态退化问题成为突出短板,强调水生态系统整体保护、促进水生态环境质量全面改善、提高生态系统自我修复能力将是未来我国水生态环境保护的重点任务. 本文详细剖析了典型流域水生态系统保护现状和需求,阐述了我国开展水生态系统完整性研究的重大意义,系统总结了完整性研究国际进展和应用实践,深入分析了当前我国完整性研究面临的主要挑战,提出了未来发展思路与重点任务. 加快研发完整性监测与评价新技术,建立物理、化学和水生生物多要素统筹的完整性评价指标体系,创新发展多尺度完整性评价理论,持续开展典型流域完整性状况评估,摸清水生态家底及演变趋势;突破完整性退化诊断与修复调控新技术,厘清退化机制及驱动因子,阐明气候变化与人类活动复杂压力下退化水生态系统修复路径和调控策略,提升水生态系统保护修复的科学性,加快推动我国水生态环境管理制度迈上新台阶,为恢复和维持重点流域水生态系统原真性和完整性提供科技支撑.      

湖泊生态环境需水量计算方法研究

中国北方干旱和半干旱地区湖泊面临不断干枯、萎缩和水质污染严重的局面。水资源的不合理配置和使用,造成资源性缺水和水质性缺水;维护湖泊和水库的合理水位及其水体的自净能力已经成为淡水资源科学配置和永续利用的基本保证。确定和保证湖泊生态系统必需的最小水量是解决问题的关键和前提,计算湖泊最小生态环境需水量的方法有:①水量平衡法;②换水周期法;③最小水位法;④功能法。研究结果表明:对于受损严重的湖泊,功能法无论从理论基础、计算原则和计算步骤,还是从需水量的分类和组成,都比较准确地反映了湖泊生态系统的健康现状和湖泊生态系统需水量之间的相互关系,可以为防止湖泊生态系统日益恶化的趋势和生态恢复提供技术支持。针对不同类型湖泊、生态环境特性和生态系统管理目标可以选择不同的计算方法,在确定了湖泊最小生态环境需水量和生态环境建设实施方案,北方地区湖泊生态系统将进入科学管理和生态恢复阶段。     

Cleaner production and UNIDO

Even though there were many similar-sounding themes and works at the Stockholm (1972) and Rio (1992) conferences, there are two fundamental differences for industrial development between the plans of action elaborated by the two conferences. One difference is the message, i.e. the nature of the industrial environmental problem. The new message assigns priority to pollution prevention over pollution control because it is a more efficient and effective response to emerging environmental concerns. The other difference is the media, i.e. the major forces of development as well as environmental management agencies must be actively involved in meeting emerging environmental concerns. As the lead organization in the UN system for industrial development, UNIDO is cooperating with many developing countries to implement Agenda 21 of the Rio Conference. UNIDO is promoting the new message of cleaner production as the means by which industry can be environmentally responsible while remaining competitive and profitable.     

Simplified life cycle sustainability assessment of mangrove management: a case of plantation on wastelands in Thailand

Sustainable mangrove management needs to consider trade-offs between multiple benefits provided by mangrove ecosystems and to balance the conflicting objectives of various stakeholders. The aim of the present study is to assess the sustainability of mangrove management based on the life cycle approach. We examine two mangrove management systems in Thailand, namely, the strict preservation and charcoal production systems. The results show that the strict preservation system has an advantage over the charcoal production system from the environmental perspective (the net amount of CO₂ absorbed by mangroves) while the charcoal production is a more favorable system than strict preservation from the social perspective (the amount of employment created in local communities). On the other hand, it is difficult to say that both systems are sustainable from an economic aspect. The charcoal production system needs to develop improved management regimes for commercial charcoal production and requires financial assistance in the period when its net cash flows are negative. As solutions for these problems, the introduction of community forest management and the utilization of a fund for REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing Countries) can be proposed.     

Providing the evidence base for environmental risk assessments of novel farm management practices

An environmental risk assessment of a new agricultural management practice depends upon the provision of empirical evidence of cause and effect. This will invariably be derived from comparative experiments testing the null hypothesis that a change in management will have no effect on an assessment endpoint (the metric on which policy decisions will be based). Crucial to the design of these experiments is the answer to the question of ‘what to measure?’. The selection of these measurement endpoints and the design of sampling protocols will be determined by the properties of the environmental stressors associated with the change in management practice and the taxa that are exposed to their effects, as well as logistic and financial considerations. The rationale for deciding what to measure in the context of these various criteria is reviewed. For a measurement endpoint to be a valid indicator of the risk of a negative impact of management on the assessment endpoint, a predictable and quantifiable link must be made between the two. It should also be recorded at the appropriate taxonomic resolution to safely assume that all the constituent parts will both respond in a similar way to the management stressor and have a similar effect on the assessment endpoint. Protocols must be designed with the spatial and temporal properties of the management stressor and the measurement endpoint in mind and a consideration of the statistical power of the experiment to detect changes. Where there is a lag in the response time of a measurement endpoint to a stressor due to inertia in the system, an accurate measurement of the effect of the novel management may require experiments running over several years. Throughout, care must be taken that the statistical and biological validity of a sampling regime is not compromised in the face of logistic and financial pressures. The Farm Scale Evaluations of the management of Genetically Modified Herbicide Tolerant crops are presented as a case study to illustrate the concepts discussed.     

Voluntary Agreements as an environmental policy instrument — evaluation criteria

As the resource to voluntary action grows wider, a question must be held on the factors that influence the performance of a Voluntary Agreement as an environmental policy instrument. Our goal in this paper is to answer that question, outlining the main variables that make a Voluntary Agreement simultaneously efficient, effective and just. Using several articles on the subject of voluntary action, under the themes of “economic regulation” and of contracts under “asymmetric information”, as well as available reports on the Portuguese and European experience on the use of Voluntary Agreements, we will undertake this objective following three steps: (i) we begin by underlining the main factors that justify the private and public option for Voluntary Action. (ii) We then present an analysis of the co-regulation process under the requirements of the three E criteria: efficiency, effectiveness and equity. (iii) Finally we conclude by presenting an “evaluation table” that summarises the elements that we found to be the most important for the “performance” of the voluntary action in each one of those criteria.     

基于生态系统的海洋管理:原则、实践和建议

基于生态系统的管理(ecosystem-based management, EBM)是一种得到海洋界广泛关注和普遍认可的管理理念,文章分析了EBM的内涵、原则,简要介绍了各海洋大国在海洋发展战略中基于生态系统的海洋管理实践,并简要分析了我国在基于生态系统的海洋管理方面的初步尝试.结合EBM所提倡的原则、方法以及我国国情,文章提出了为实施基于生态系统的海洋管理所急需开展的工作,包括开展海洋管理单元区划研究、制定科学的管理目标、建立和健全生态系统监测和评价系统、建立涉海机构和部门之间的有效合作机制以及扩展公众参与海洋管理的渠道等五个方面.     

关于我国环境保护垂直管理问题的探讨

我国的环境管理体制实行的是统一管理与分级、分部门管理相结合的管理体制。目前针对该管理体制存在的诸多问题,很多人主张国家环保部应对各地方环保部门实行垂直管理,破除地方政府对环境执法的干扰,以实现地方环境保护部门环境管理的独立性。但目前学术界对环境部门实行垂直管理的有效性问题存在较大的争议,而且从其他部门实施垂直管理的实践来看,效果并不理想。垂直管理能否达到预期目标仍然值得商榷。然而无论是垂直管理还是分级管理,都需要一个合理的制度安排作为基础和保障,才能真正地发挥其管理制度的有效性。因此真正意义上的垂直不应局限于行政权利上的变动,还应该包括对法律的垂直和对公众的垂直,只有通过加强法制化和公开化建设,构建和完善切实有效的保障制度,才有助于解决我国环境行政管理体制的深层次问题。     

硼化物基超高温复合陶瓷超高速撞击作用下破坏模式研究

随着各国航天实验和航天器的增加,太空中存在微小碎片垃圾越来越多,对航天器正常运行有着极大的危害。研究弹丸超高速撞击硼化物基复合陶瓷产生的碎片云特性,采用非线性动力学分析软件AUTODYN,利用光滑质点动力学方法对圆柱形弹丸超高速撞击硼化物基超高温复合陶瓷单层板形成的碎片云进行数值模拟,分析相同质量不同速度弹丸撞击靶板的破坏模式,不同质量相同速度弹丸撞击靶板的破坏模式。结果表明在不同速度和质量弹丸撞击靶板的破坏模式中,穿孔半径变化规律为穿孔半径随着弹丸速度和质量的增大而增大。根据不同质量弹丸超高速撞击板靶的穿孔半径变化规律,得到弹丸撞击相同厚度靶板的击穿速度临界值。该结果可为航天器超高速撞击风险评估和防护设计提供了参考。     

关于我国跨部门环境管理协调机制的构建研究

环境资源作为公共资源,由于其自身属性和使用方式的多样化决定了环境保护需要多个部门的配合和合作。由于立法、历史等原因,条块分割的环境管理体制下各部门之间管理机构重叠、职能交叉、权限不清,缺乏有效的跨部门环境管理协调机制。根据国外环境管理的先进经验,政府各部门间的有效协调,需要在完备法律体系的基础上,构建一个高规格、跨部门的环境管理协调机构,并采用多种形式的协调手段,建立健全部门协调管理体系;同时加强各部门间的合作和交流,建立起法制化、规范化的行政协助制度,并通过资源整合机制,充分发挥各种社会力量的作用,有助于环境政策的优化以及提高政府各相关部门执法的公正性和有效性。     

生态规律在环境管理中的作用--略论现代环境管理的发展趋势

自然界是个生命生生不息的与物质循环不已的再生系统,环境是人类和生物生存的空间,在此空间内充满着多种不同结构和运动状态的物质,其中包含有生命的有机体和无生命的无机物,有人类赖以生存的水、气、光和营养物等基本因素,亦有侵害人体健康的生物和非生物,彼此结合或相互排斥.人类在长期进化过程中,一方面产生了适应环境变化的生存机能,同时人类活动亦不断地作用于环境,受人类影响的环境又反转来作用人类.