生态保护红线区废弃矿山生态修复监管

国家重点生态功能区是生态保护红线划定的重要组成部分之一。矿山生态环境损害被认为是影响区域生态安全的第一大诱因。多年来,由于"有矿快挖,有水快流"经济发展政策的惯性作用,矿产资源开发有力促进了区域经济社会发展,但另一方面也造成了严重的流域/区域生态功能破坏。以长江经济带重点生态功能区为例,结合划定并严守生态保护红线的要求,在分析矿山分布及其生态环境问题的基础上,深入剖析了矿山生态修复存在的主要问题,提出了废弃矿山生态修复监管对策,以期科学制定不同矿山生态修复阶段的目标:矿山地质环境治理—植被恢复/土地复垦—生物多样性重建—区域生态功能修复,为区域生态安全提供技术支撑。具体建议包括建立涵盖生态环境全要素的矿山生态修复监管机制,制定生态保护红线区废弃矿山生态修复专项规划,开展矿山生态环境损害与功能修复技术研发,研究制定矿山生态修复国家标准。     

长江上游生态功能区划研究

生态功能区划对于保障区域生态安全、推动经济社会与生态环境保护的协调发展具有十分重要的意义。长江上游是中国关键生态区域和整个长江流域生态安全的重要屏障,开展长江上游生态功能区划显得至关重要。以长江上游为研究区域,运用GIS空间分析技术,在揭示研究区生态环境敏感性与生态系统服务功能重要性空间分异规律的基础上,以子流域为基本区划单元,采用两步聚类法进行长江上游生态功能区划。研究结果表明:(1)长江上游生态环境整体上处于中度、高度敏感的状态,其中土壤侵蚀敏感性最为突出;(2)长江上游生态系统服务功能总体上呈现较重要、极重要的态势,其中水源涵养和生物多样性保护的贡献较大;(3)长江上游地区可划分为青藏高原生态区、云贵高原生态区和四川盆地生态区3个生态区,进而可细分为7个生态亚区和15个生态功能区。     

全国重要生态功能区生态安全评价

《全国生态功能区划》提出的50个国家重要生态功能区域,对于国家和区域生态安全保障具有重要指导意义。从生态胁迫和生态结构与功能2个方面选取指标构建生态安全评价体系,以2000、2005和2010年生态系统遥感数据为基础,分区对全国重要生态功能区生态安全进行评价,识别生态安全状况呈恶化趋势的区域,为全国重要生态功能区的生态安全保障工作提供理论基础和科学依据。结果显示,水源涵养区和生物多样性保护区的生态安全指数相对较高,土壤保持重要区的生态安全状况较差;重要生态功能区总体生态安全状况呈下降趋势,比较显著的变化包括洞庭湖洪水调蓄重要区和藏东南山地热带雨林生物多样性保护重要区的生态环境状况改善明显,黑河中下游防风固沙重要区的生态安全指数值最小且呈下降趋势。     

张掖市生态功能分区

生态功能分区是依据生态环境敏感性和生态服务功能重要性等特征的空间分异规律而进行的地理空间分区。针对张掖市存在的主要生态环境问题,利用调查资料和相关研究成果,在GIS支持下,对张掖市生态敏感性和生态服务功能重要性进行了评价,明确了生态敏感性和服务功能重要性空间分布格局,在此基础上,将张掖市划分为5个生态功能区,并提出了各功能区生态保护与建设的重点与措施,为区域土地利用规划、生态环境保护与建设规划提供科学依据。     

经济地理学角度的区域生态补偿机制研究

传统生态补偿以保护与改善生态环境、优化资源利用为目的,已不能体现其在生态保护、环境建设和区域发展方面的全部价值。新的区域发展形势对生态补偿机制提出了新的要求,生态补偿被认为是实现区域可持续发展和区域之间协调发展的重要手段。区域可持续发展和区域间协调发展是我国经济地理学的主要研究对象之一。如何从经济地理学的视角看待区域生态补偿,成为通过区域生态补偿机制的实施实现生态良好、经济发展和社会进步三位目标和谐发展的重要命题。从经济地理学的经典理论出发,在探讨区位论、产业结构演替理论、人地关系地域系统理论的基础上,分析了传统生态补偿的缺失和不足,并在现阶段我国以构建区域可持续和有序发展格局为目标的规划工作——主体功能区规划的基础上,就区域生态补偿的理论基础、目标导向和实施机制进行了探讨,将经济地理学的空间区位论、地域功能理论、区域发展空间均衡理论等充实到区域生态补偿的理论基础中,明确了以实现区域协调发展和基本公共服务均等化为目标导向,探索了政府主导、市场参与的区域生态补偿的实施模式,最后分析了实施难点、提出了相应的解决建议。     

国土空间规划体系下生态空间规划思想内核与技术框架初探

中国生态安全区域的土地面积约占陆地国土面积的58.81%,生态空间规划是中国国土空间规划体系下重要的专项规划之一。为了合理保护和开发中国生态功能区,促进生态地区的生态服务与经济发展相平衡,实现区域协调发展,在快速推动生态文明建设的新形势下研究区域尺度生态规划编制技术具有非常重要的意义。传统城市规划存在对生态资源定量分析不足,空间特征识别以定性判断为主、对生态环境不重视等问题,一定程度上造成了城市发展不协调、生态环境污染严重。文章首先总结空间性规划体系的演进,分析其体系下生态空间规划的定位、任务和功能等;其次,以"两山"理论(生态山、经济山)为导向,分别相应构建了中国生态空间规划的生态综合格局(生态安全评价、生态服务功能价值测算)、产业绿色发展正负清单的核心框架;最后探讨了该技术路径在不同尺度空间上的一般特征和规律。同时,该框架在山东省级生态功能区潍坊南部山区生态空间规划中得以应用,对促进潍坊南部山区的生态保护和绿色发展提供了切实可行的方案与建议。     

我国重点生态功能区生态状况变化

重点生态功能区对于保障国家和地方生态安全具有重要意义。以生态状况为指标,通过生态功能指数、生态结构指数和生态胁迫指数分析2000—2010年我国重点生态功能区的生态状况变化态势。结果表明,水源涵养型重点生态功能区中,大小兴安岭森林生态功能区、阿尔泰山地森林草原生态功能区和南岭山地森林及生物多样性生态功能区生态状况表现为转差态势,其余5个区的生态状况表现为转好态势;水土保持型重点生态功能区的生态状况均有所好转,特别是黄土高原丘陵沟壑水土保持生态功能区;防风固沙型重点生态功能区中,呼伦贝尔草原草甸生态功能区和阿尔金草原荒漠化防治区生态状况表现为转好态势,其余4个功能区的生态状况表现为转差态势;生物多样性维护型重点生态功能区的生态状况均有所好转。     

兰州市的生态功能区划

在生态环境调查的基础上,依据生态功能区划的基本原则,结合兰州市生态系统的空间特征分析、生态敏感性评价以及生态服务功能评价,建立了二元圈层结构的规划理念,制定了兰州市生态功能区划。把兰州市划分为4个1级功能区和3个2级功能区,并明确阐述了各功能区的主要特点、主要问题和主导功能,力图为兰州市建立良好的生态功能结构提供科学依据。     

生态规划在冕宁县城市总体规划中的作用研究

以冕宁县的生态规划为例,通过对冕宁县生态城市规划建设背景的研究,确定其生态城市建设的定位,通过分析冕宁县城市的现状,得出了冕宁县进行生态城市规划的总体思路.生态城市建设的重点是对城市的生态功能进行划分,生态功能划分的原则包括生态城市功能区划的原则、可持续发展原则、区域相关原则、部分与整体协调原则、相似性原则、环境容量和环境承载力原则以及区域特色原则等等.通过对冕宁县城市生态区域的划分,将生态规划彻底融入冕宁县的总体规划之中,进一步改善冕宁县生态环境、人居环境和发展环境,不断提高城乡人民生活质量,将冕宁建设成为生态县.     

重要生态功能区生态退化诊断理论、思路与方法探析

准确诊断区域生态系统退化程度并明确生态退化驱动要素是高效实施生态修复的前提和基础。基于生态退化诊断主要理论,指出生态退化是相对概念,确定生态退化诊断参照系与诊断指标是生态退化诊断的必要步骤。生态退化诊断参照系判别结果显示区域生态系统退化诊断不应关注某一特定历史状态,应更多着力于研究区域生态系统退化的时间动态与空间差异,从而保障诊断研究的客观性。在此基础上,为凸显重要生态功能区生态退化与生态功能的密切关系以及生态系统退化的综合性,从生态功能维护力、生态自我恢复力和生态压力3个方面提出了生态退化诊断思路和诊断流程,并构建了生态退化诊断指标体系。为体现生态退化诊断的综合性和层次性,将单项分析与综合分析相结合,构建生态退化程度综合指数进行综合诊断,为提高生态退化诊断的精确性提供了理论指导和技术支持。     

Rapid,recurring, structured survey versus bioblitz for generating biodiversity data and analysis with a multispecies abundance model

A bioblitz inexpensively and quickly generates biodiversity data, but bioblitzes are often conducted with haphazard, unreplicated sampling. Results tend to be taxonomically, geographically, or temporally biased, lack metadata, and consist of lists of observed taxa that do not enable further analyses or correction for imperfect detection. A rapid, recurring, structured survey (RRSS) uses a structured sampling design and temporal and spatial replication to survey randomly selected sites on a conservation property. We participated in a loosely structured bioblitz and a subsequent RRSS at Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve in Springville (St. Clair County), Alabama (USA) to compare observed richness derived from the 2 survey approaches. The RRSS data structure enabled us to fit models that accounted for imperfect detection to estimate abundances, occupancy probabilities, and habitat associations. The loosely structured bioblitz data could not be used in such models. We present a new integrated multispecies abundance model that we applied to avian RRSS data. Our model extension enables estimation for the community, employs data augmentation to estimate the number of undetected species, and incorporates covariates. The RRSS generated a more comprehensive and less biased list of observed taxonomic richness than the loosely structured bioblitz (e.g., 73 vs. 45 bird species and 104 vs. 63 insect families from the RRSS vs. loosely structured bioblitz, respectively). Models fit to the RRSS data identified seasonal patterns in avian community composition and allowed for estimation of habitat–occupancy relationships for insect taxa. The RRSS protocol has potential for broad transferability as a standardized, quick, and inexpensive way to inventory biodiversity and estimate ecological parameters while providing an outreach opportunity.     

Compliance with and ecosystem function of biodiversity offsets in North American and European freshwaters

Land-use change via human development is a major driver of biodiversity loss. To reduce these impacts, billions of dollars are spent on biodiversity offsets. However, studies evaluating offset project effectiveness that examine components such as the overall compliance and function of projects remain rare. We reviewed 577 offsetting projects in freshwater ecosystems that included the metrics project size, type of aquatic system (e.g., wetland and creek), offsetting measure (e.g., enhancement, restoration, and creation), and an assessment of the projects’ compliance and functional success. Project information was obtained from scientific and government databases and gray literature. Despite considerable investment in offsetting projects, crucial problems persisted. Although compliance and function were related to each other, a high level of compliance did not guarantee a high degree of function. However, large projects relative to area had better function than small projects. Function improved when projects targeted productivity or specific ecosystem features and when multiple complementary management targets were in place. Restorative measures were more likely to achieve targets than creating entirely new ecosystems. Altogether the relationships we found highlight specific ecological processes that may help improve offsetting outcomes.     

Representation of the world's biophysical conditions by the global protected area network

Protected areas (PAs) are often implemented without consideration of already existing PAs, which is likely to cause an overrepresentation of certain biophysical conditions. We assessed the representativeness of the current PA network with regard to the world's biophysical conditions to highlight which conditions are underprotected and where these conditions are located. We overlaid terrestrial and marine PAs with information on biophysical conditions (e.g., temperature, precipitation, and elevation) and then quantified the percentage of area covered by the PA network. For 1 variable at a time in the terrestrial realm, high temperature, low precipitation, and medium and very high elevation were underrepresented. For the marine realm, low and medium sea surface temperature (SST), medium and high sea surface salinity (SSS), and the deep sea were underrepresented. Overall, protection was evenly distributed for elevation across the terrestrial realm and SST across the marine realm. For 2 variables at a time, cold and very dry terrestrial environments had mostly low protection, which was also the case for low SST and low and medium SSS across most depths for marine environments. Low protection occurred mostly in the Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula for the terrestrial realm and along the Tropic of Capricorn and toward the poles for the marine realm. Although biodiversity measures are of prime importance for the design of PA networks, highlighting biophysical gaps in current PAs adds a frequently overlooked perspective. These gaps may weaken the potential of PAs to conserve biodiversity. Thus, our results may provide useful insights for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to establish a more comprehensive global PA network.     

Quantitative composition of the defensive secretion ofBledius species (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Oxytelinae) is adapted to naturally occurring predators

Summary The adaptation of defensive secretions to their target organisms was examined for the abdominal gland secretions ofBledius furcatus, B. spectabilis andB. arenarius. Therefore the target organisms of the secretion of theseBledius species (i.e. their predators) had to be identified. At the collection sites examined these were the earwigLabidura riparia, the antCataglyphis bicolor, the flyLispe candicans, different carabids of the generaPogonus, Dichirotrichus, Dyschirius, Bembidion andCalathus and the wading birdsHaematopus ostralegus andCalidris alba. The secretion of the abdominal glands contains the toxin ptoluquinone dissolved in either-dodecalactone and 1-undecene (B. furcatus andB. spectabilis) or in octanoic acid and octyloctanoate (B. arenarius). The ratio of these solvents is species-specific. Application experiments using some of the natural insect predators (L. riparia, C. bicolor, Pogonus, Di. gustavii, Dyschirius) revealed that these solvent ratios provided a more effective deterrent than other possible ratios. Thus by combining the solvents in certain ratios, the capability of cuticular penetration and therefore the effectiveness of the defensive secretions are adapted to their natural targets.     

Democracy versus development: New urban debates

The politics of development includes subtexts of choice, as underpinned by community consensus (or lack of it), against the larger backdrop of a liberal democracy, with its intricate power structures that influence the choice of concepts and often lead to complicity rather than consent. A dilemma exists between the understanding of field-level practitioners and that of academics, whose understandings of progress differ. Progress can (and often does) imply long-term change across generations whereas development is often more a matter of crisis management and delivering tangible results to end-users. This makes it a bone of contention across political systems, irrespective of local or global dynamics. Development can emerge as a tool to be wielded for power and further political mileage at the expense of progress. Progress cannot be studied as a counterpoint to development as the sense of history is often missing in development interventions. Development tends to be piecemeal as its very logic often stems from the rationale of power. This is not to suggest, however, that development is only about politics; it is definitely more than the politics of everyday life and involves all of civil society that requires its critical and immediate attention. In this sense, it has become a priority for politicians with an underlying agenda designed to out-manouevre dissent and all statements of protest.     

A palaeo-hydrogeological model for arsenic contamination in southern and south-east Asia

An argument is presented in which areas of natural arsenic contamination of modern groundwaters throughout Asia have a common origin. Arsenic originally accumulated in oceanic ferro-manganoan sediments of the eastern Palaeo-Tethys. This was further concentrated through oceanic crustal extinction in what later became the south-east Chinese accreted mineralised terrain. Proto-Himalayan uplift of this area created the palaeo-drainage systems of the Ganges – Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Mekong, and Red Rivers, with consequent headwater erosion of arsenic-rich sediments. Their downstream deposition as immature and easily redistributed Neogene sandstones, silts, and iron-rich clays has created secondary and tertiary reservoirs of adsorbed and authigenic arsenic, from which the current arsenic-rich groundwaters have evolved. Considering river basins within the above palaeo-hydrogeological framework provides a basis for assessing the risk of arsenic in groundwater basins of south and south-eastern Asia.     

A framework to measure the wildness of managed large vertebrate populations

As landscapes continue to fall under human influence through habitat loss and fragmentation, fencing is increasingly being used to mitigate anthropogenic threats and enhance the commercial value of wildlife. Subsequent intensification of management potentially erodes wildness by disembodying populations from landscape-level processes, thereby disconnecting species from natural selection. Tools are needed to measure the degree to which populations of large vertebrate species in formally protected and privately owned wildlife areas are self-sustaining and free to adapt. We devised a framework to measure such wildness based on 6 attributes relating to the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of vertebrates (space, disease and parasite resistance, exposure to predation, exposure to limitations and fluctuations of food and water supply, and reproduction). For each attribute, we set empirical, species-specific thresholds between 5 wildness states based on quantifiable management interventions. We analysed data from 205 private wildlife properties with management objectives spanning ecotourism to consumptive utilization to test the framework on 6 herbivore species representing a range of conservation statuses and commercial values. Wildness scores among species differed significantly, and the proportion of populations identified as wild ranged from 12% to 84%, which indicates the tool detected site-scale differences both among populations of different species and populations of the same species under different management regimes. By quantifying wildness, this framework provides practitioners with standardized measurement units that link biodiversity with the sustainable use of wildlife. Applications include informing species management plans at local scales; standardizing the inclusion of managed populations in red-list assessments; and providing a platform for certification and regulation of wildlife-based economies. Applying this framework may help embed wildness as a normative value in policy and mitigate the shifting baseline of what it means to truly conserve a species.     

Threats to intact tropical peatlands and opportunities for their conservation

Large, intact areas of tropical peatland are highly threatened at a global scale by the expansion of commercial agriculture and other forms of economic development. Conserving peatlands on a landscape scale, with their hydrology intact, is of international conservation importance to preserve their distinctive biodiversity and ecosystem services and maintain their resilience to future environmental change. We explored threats to and opportunities for conserving remaining intact tropical peatlands; thus, we excluded peatlands of Indonesia and Malaysia, where extensive deforestation, drainage, and conversion to plantations means conservation in this region can protect only small fragments of the original ecosystem. We focused on a case study, the Pastaza‐Marañón Foreland Basin (PMFB) in Peru, which is among the largest known intact tropical peatland landscapes in the world and is representative of peatland vulnerability. Maintenance of the hydrological conditions critical for carbon storage and ecosystem function of peatlands is, in the PMFB, primarily threatened by expansion of commercial agriculture linked to new transport infrastructure that is facilitating access to remote areas. There remain opportunities in the PMFB and elsewhere to develop alternative, more sustainable land‐use practices. Although some of the peatlands in the PMFB fall within existing legally protected areas, this protection does not include the most carbon‐dense (domed pole forest) areas. New carbon‐based conservation instruments (e.g., REDD+, Green Climate Fund), developing markets for sustainable peatland products, transferring land title to local communities, and expanding protected areas offer pathways to increased protection for intact tropical peatlands in Amazonia and elsewhere, such as those in New Guinea and Central Africa which remain, for the moment, broadly beyond the frontier of commercial development.     

Cost‐effective conservation of an endangered frog under uncertainty

How should managers choose among conservation options when resources are scarce and there is uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of actions? Well‐developed tools exist for prioritizing areas for one‐time and binary actions (e.g., protect vs. not protect), but methods for prioritizing incremental or ongoing actions (such as habitat creation and maintenance) remain uncommon. We devised an approach that combines metapopulation viability and cost‐effectiveness analyses to select among alternative conservation actions while accounting for uncertainty. In our study, cost‐effectiveness is the ratio between the benefit of an action and its economic cost, where benefit is the change in metapopulation viability. We applied the approach to the case of the endangered growling grass frog (Litoria raniformis), which is threatened by urban development. We extended a Bayesian model to predict metapopulation viability under 9 urbanization and management scenarios and incorporated the full probability distribution of possible outcomes for each scenario into the cost‐effectiveness analysis. This allowed us to discern between cost‐effective alternatives that were robust to uncertainty and those with a relatively high risk of failure. We found a relatively high risk of extinction following urbanization if the only action was reservation of core habitat; habitat creation actions performed better than enhancement actions; and cost‐effectiveness ranking changed depending on the consideration of uncertainty. Our results suggest that creation and maintenance of wetlands dedicated to L. raniformis is the only cost‐effective action likely to result in a sufficiently low risk of extinction. To our knowledge we are the first study to use Bayesian metapopulation viability analysis to explicitly incorporate parametric and demographic uncertainty into a cost‐effective evaluation of conservation actions. The approach offers guidance to decision makers aiming to achieve cost‐effective conservation under uncertainty.