Perceptions of Wood in Rivers and Challenges for Stream Restoration in the United States

This article reports a study of the public perception of large wood in rivers and streams in the United States. Large wood is an element of freshwater aquatic ecosystems that has attracted much scientific interest in recent years because of its value in biological and geomorphological processes. At the heart of the issue is the nature of the relationship between scientific recognition of the ecological and geomorphological benefits of wood in rivers, management practices utilizing wood for river remediation progress, and public perceptions of in-channel wood. Surveys of students’ perceptions of riverscapes with and without large wood in the states of Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Oregon, and Texas suggest that many individuals in the United States adhere to traditionally negative views of wood. Except for students in Oregon, most respondents considered photographs of riverscapes with wood to be less aesthetically pleasing and needing more improvement than rivers without wood. Analysis of reasons given for improvement needs suggest that Oregon students are concerned with improving channels without wood for fauna habitat, whereas respondents elsewhere focused on the need for cleaning wood-rich channels for flood risk management. These results underscore the importance of public education to increase awareness of the geomorphological and ecological significance of wood in stream systems. This awareness should foster more positive attitudes toward wood. An integrated program of research, education, and policy is advocated to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and public perception for effective management and restoration of river systems with wood.     

Identifying Preservation and Restoration Priority Areas for Desert Fishes in an Increasingly Invaded World

A commonly overlooked aspect of conservation planning assessments is that wildlife managers are increasingly focused on habitats that contain non-native species. We examine this management challenge in the Gila River basin (150,730 km²), and present a new planning strategy for fish conservation. By applying a hierarchical prioritization algorithm to >850,000 fish records in 27,181 sub-watersheds we first identified high priority areas (PAs) termed “preservation PAs” with high native fish richness and low non-native richness; these represent traditional conservation targets. Second, we identified “restoration PAs” with high native fish richness that also contained high numbers of non-native species; these represent less traditional conservation targets. The top 10 % of preservation and restoration PAs contained common native species (e.g., Catostomus clarkii, desert sucker; Catostomus insignis, Sonora sucker) in addition to native species with limited distributions (i.e., Xyrauchen texanus, razorback sucker; Oncorhynchus gilae apache, Apache trout). The top preservation and restoration PAs overlapped by 42 %, indicating areas with high native fish richness range from minimally to highly invaded. Areas exclusively identified as restoration PAs also encompassed a greater percentage of native species ranges than would be expected by the random addition of an equivalent basin area. Restoration PAs identified an additional 19.0 and 26.6 % of the total ranges of two federally endangered species—Meda fulgida (spikedace) and Gila intermedia (Gila chub), respectively, compared to top preservation PAs alone—despite adding only 5.8 % of basin area. We contend that in addition to preservation PAs, restoration PAs are well suited for complementary management activities benefiting native fishes.     

四川省河流生态环境需水量统计分析评估

本文介绍了标准流量法计算河流生态环境需水量的状况,针对四川省情况结合四川省水文资料,用当前广泛应用的各种标准流量法,对四川省河流生态环境需水量进行统计计算分析。其成果可以为有关部门和设计研究人员提供背景资料或决策依据。     

Identifying Conservation and Restoration Priorities for Saproxylic and Old-Growth Forest Species: A Case Study in Switzerland

Saproxylic (dead-wood-associated) and old-growth species are among the most threatened species in European forest ecosystems, as they are susceptible to intensive forest management. Identifying areas with particular relevant features of biodiversity is of prime concern when developing species conservation and habitat restoration strategies and in optimizing resource investments. We present an approach to identify regional conservation and restoration priorities even if knowledge on species distribution is weak, such as for saproxylic and old-growth species in Switzerland. Habitat suitability maps were modeled for an expert-based selection of 55 focal species, using an ecological niche factor analyses (ENFA). All the maps were then overlaid, in order to identify potential species’ hotspots for different species groups of the 55 focal species (e.g., birds, fungi, red-listed species). We found that hotspots for various species groups did not correspond. Our results indicate that an approach based on “richness hotspots” may fail to conserve specific species groups. We hence recommend defining a biodiversity conservation strategy prior to implementing conservation/restoration efforts in specific regions. The conservation priority setting of the five biogeographical regions in Switzerland, however, did not differ when different hotspot definitions were applied. This observation emphasizes that the chosen method is robust. Since the ENFA needs only presence data, this species prediction method seems to be useful for any situation where the species distribution is poorly known and/or absence data are lacking. In order to identify priorities for either conservation or restoration efforts, we recommend a method based on presence data only, because absence data may reflect factors unrelated to species presence.     

Identifying Biotic Integrity and Water Chemistry Relations in Nonwadeable Rivers of Wisconsin: Toward the Development of Nutrient Criteria

We sampled 41 sites on 34 nonwadeable rivers that represent the types of rivers in Wisconsin, and the kinds and intensities of nutrient and other anthropogenic stressors upon each river type. Sites covered much of United States Environmental Protection Agency national nutrient ecoregions VII—Mostly Glaciated Dairy Region, and VIII—Nutrient Poor, Largely Glaciated upper Midwest. Fish, macroinvertebrates, and three categories of environmental variables including nutrients, other water chemistry, and watershed features were collected using standard protocols. We summarized fish assemblages by index of biotic integrity (IBI) and its 10 component measures, and macroinvertebrates by 2 organic pollution tolerance and 12 proportional richness measures. All biotic and environmental variables represented a wide range of conditions, with biotic measures ranging from poor to excellent status, despite nutrient concentrations being consistently higher than reference concentrations reported for the regions. Regression tree analyses of nutrients on a suite of biotic measures identified breakpoints in total phosphorus (~0.06 mg/l) and total nitrogen (~0.64 mg/l) concentrations at which biotic assemblages were consistently impaired. Redundancy analyses (RDA) were used to identify the most important variables within each of the three environmental variable categories, which were then used to determine the relative influence of each variable category on the biota. Nutrient measures, suspended chlorophyll a, water clarity, and watershed land cover type (forest or row-crop agriculture) were the most important variables and they explained significant amounts of variation within the macroinvertebrate (R ² = 60.6%) and fish (R ² = 43.6%) assemblages. The environmental variables selected in the macroinvertebrate model were correlated to such an extent that partial RDA analyses could not attribute variation explained to individual environmental categories, assigning 89% of the explained variation to interactions among the categories. In contrast, partial RDA attributed much of the explained variation to the nutrient (25%) and other water chemistry (38%) categories for the fish model. Our analyses suggest that it would be beneficial to develop criteria based upon a suite of biotic and nutrient variables simultaneously to deem waters as not meeting their designated uses.     

我国工业项目环境影响评价与节能减排政策分析

文章从我国目前宏观经济增长方式、消费结构出发,在阐述部分高耗能产业产能过剩与资源环境之间所存在矛盾的基础上,重点分析了“十一五”前期建设项目环境影响评价在结构调整的宏观调控中对环境保护所起的作用,并从节能减排的角度出发,对“十一五”后期的环境影响评价提出了要求与建议。     

都江堰(内江)水系河床底泥重金属污染调查与评价

采集了都江堰水系9条河流23个河床底泥样品,对底泥中重金属铜、锌、铅、镉、汞、铬、砷进行了分析,在分析中使用标准土样对分析结果进行质量控制。对底泥污染程度进行了评价和研究。结果表明,都江堰水系9条河流河床底泥受到不同程度的重金属污染,城市上游河段基本清洁,城市或工业集中发展区河床底泥受到污染,其中,沙河和毗河下游底泥已受到中到重金属重度污染,府河下游河段受到重金属中度污染。     

Effects of Flooding and Tamarisk Removal on Habitat for Sensitive Fish Species in the San Rafael River,Utah: Implications for Fish Habitat Enhancement and Future Restoration Efforts

Tamarisk removal is a widespread restoration practice on rivers in the southwestern USA, but impacts of removal on fish habitat have rarely been investigated. We examined whether tamarisk removal, in combination with a large spring flood, had the potential to improve fish habitat on the San Rafael River in southeastern Utah. We quantified habitat complexity and the distribution of wood accumulation in a tamarisk removal site (treated) and a non-removal site (untreated) in 2010, 1 year prior to a large magnitude and long-duration spring flood. We used aerial imagery to analyze river changes in the treated and untreated sites. Areas of channel movement were significantly larger in the treated site compared to the untreated site, primarily because of geomorphic characteristics of the channel, including higher sinuosity and the presence of an ephemeral tributary. However, results suggest that tamarisk removal on the outside of meander bends, where it grows directly on the channel margins, can promote increased channel movement. Prior to the flood, wood accumulations were concentrated in sections of channel where tamarisk had been removed. Pools, riffles, and backwaters occurred more frequently within 30 m upstream and downstream of wood accumulations compared to areas within 30 m of random points. Pools associated with wood accumulations were also significantly larger and deeper than those associated with random points. These results suggest that the combination of tamarisk removal and wood input can increase the potential for channel movement during spring floods thereby diversifying river habitat and improving conditions for native fish.     

River Restoration in Spain: Theoretical and Practical Approach in the Context of the European Water Framework Directive

River restoration is becoming a priority in many countries because of increasing the awareness of environmental degradation. In Europe, the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) has significantly reinforced river restoration, encouraging the improvement of ecological status for water bodies. To fulfill the WFD requirements, the Spanish Ministry of the Environment developed in 2006 a National Strategy for River Restoration whose design and implementation are described in this paper. At the same time many restoration projects have been conducted, and sixty of them have been evaluated in terms of stated objectives and pressures and implemented restoration measures. Riparian vegetation enhancement, weir removal and fish passes were the most frequently implemented restoration measures, although the greatest pressures came from hydrologic alteration caused by flow regulation for irrigation purposes. Water deficits in quantity and quality associated with uncontrolled water demands seriously affect Mediterranean rivers and represent the main constraint to achieving good ecological status of Spanish rivers, most of them intensively regulated. Proper environmental allocation of in-stream flows would need deep restrictions in agricultural water use which seem to be of very difficult social acceptance. This situation highlights the need to integrate land-use and rural development policies with water resources and river management, and identifies additional difficulties in achieving the WFD objectives and good ecological status of rivers in Mediterranean countries.     

Identifying Opportunities for Decision Support Systems in Support of Regional Resource Use Planning: An Approach Through Soft Systems Methodology

/ Regional resource use planning relies on key regional stakeholder groups using and having equitable access to appropriate social, economic, and environmental information and assessment tools. Decision support systems (DSS) can improve stakeholder access to such information and analysis tools. Regional resource use planning, however, is a complex process involving multiple issues, multiple assessment criteria, multiple stakeholders, and multiple values. There is a need for an approach to DSS development that can assist in understanding and modeling complex problem situations in regional resource use so that areas where DSSs could provide effective support can be identified, and the user requirements can be well established. This paper presents an approach based on the soft systems methodology for identifying DSS opportunities for regional resource use planning, taking the Central Highlands Region of Queensland, Australia, as a case study.     

基于模糊数学的贡嘎山景区燕子沟景群旅游开发项目环境质量评价

应用模糊综合评价的方法进行环境质量评价,能较传统方法提供更多信息。本文将模糊数学的方法首次应用于贡嘎山景区燕子沟景群区环境质量综合评价,选择线性模糊分布确定隶属函数,并采用标准加权法计算权重因子,以消除评价因子实测浓度的影响。分别采用两类算子模型进行评价,结果均表明评价区总体环境质量属于清洁型。     

Mapping Grazing-Induced Degradation in a Semi-Arid Environment: A Rapid and Cost Effective Approach for Assessment and Monitoring

Improved techniques for measuring and monitoring the state of biodiversity are required for reporting on national obligations to international and regional conservation institutions. Measuring the extent of grazing-related degradation in semi-arid ecosystems has proved difficult. Here we present an accurate and cost-effective method for doing this, and apply it in a South African semi-arid region that forms part of a globally significant biodiversity hotspot. We grouped structurally and functionally similar vegetation units, which were expert-mapped at the 1:50,000 scale, into four habitat types, and developed habitat-specific degradation models. We quantified degradation into three categories, using differences between dry and wet season values of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for the three succulent karoo habitats, and the difference between maximum and mean NDVI values for the subtropical thicket habitat. Field evaluation revealed an accuracy of 86%. Overall, degradation was high: 24% of the study area was modeled as severely degraded, and only 9% as intact. Levels of degradation were highest for bottomland habitats that were most exposed to grazing impacts. In sharp contrast to our methods, a widely used, broad-scale and snapshot assessment of land cover in South Africa was only 33% accurate, and it considerably underestimated the extent of severely degraded habitat in the study area. While our approach requires a multidisciplinary team, and in particular expert knowledge on the characteristics and spatial delimitation of vegetation types, it is repeatable, rapid, and relatively inexpensive. Consequently, it holds great promise for monitoring and evaluation programs in semi-arid ecosystems, in Africa, and beyond.     

初探产业园区规划环境影响跟踪评价实施技术路线和指标体系构建

环境影响评价法颁布十年,规划环评实施进入进一步深化和拓展阶段,跟踪评价是规划环评实施重要内容之一。目前跟踪评价暂缺乏相关技术导则和规范,无法指导实际工作。本文就跟踪评价实施步骤、技术路线、指标体系构建3个方面,探讨跟踪评价在具体工作中如何实施。以产业园区规划为例,将步骤划分为已实施部分规划的回顾性评价、未实施部分规划的预测评价两部分分别分析;技术路线将规划要素与环境资源要素相互对应分析;指标体系构建以规划要素、环境要素、资源要素、管理要素4个方面进行讨论。     

天津确定60项重点工程能源、环保工程占一半

2007年天津市确定建设60项重点工程，其中有关能源、环保的工程占到了一半。全部项目累计规划建筑面积1263万m^2，计划当年完成投资807亿元、竣工22项工程。     

基于GIS/RS的地震灾区流域水土保持功能恢复效应评价

水土保持在维护区域生态安全中具有重要作用.“5.12”汶川地震中,茶坪山区域水土保持功能严重受损,经过4年时间,其恢复效果及变化趋势如何,是决策者迫切需要的重要信息.利用TM影像,解译了研究小流域2007、2008、2011年地震前后3个时段的土地利用图.基于GIS和RS,利用RUSLE模型分别计算了3个时段土壤侵蚀量和侵蚀强度.通过对比,分析了水土保持功能恢复效应.结果表明:总面积474.41km2的研究区内,2007年土壤侵蚀总量4.061×105t,2008年土壤侵蚀总量6.997×105t,增加了72.30％.2011年土壤侵蚀总量6.163×105t,相比2008年,土壤侵蚀总量减少了11.92％,水土保持功能有所恢复.分析发现,地震前后3个年份各侵蚀强度级别的面积都是随侵蚀强度的增加而减少,说明地震破坏及恢复期,土壤侵蚀强度的面积分布格局并未改变.     

An Approach for Evaluating the Repeatability of Rapid Wetland Assessment Methods: The Effects of Training and Experience

We sampled 92 wetlands from four different basins in the United States to quantify observer repeatability in rapid wetland condition assessment using the Delaware Rapid Assessment Protocol (DERAP). In the Inland Bays basin of Delaware, 58 wetland sites were sampled by multiple observers with varying levels of experience (novice to expert) following a thorough training workshop. In the Nanticoke (Delaware/Maryland), Cuyahoga (Ohio), and John Day (Oregon) basins, 34 wetlands were sampled by two expert teams of observers with minimal protocol training. The variance in observer to observer scoring at each site was used to calculate pooled standard deviations (SD_pool), coefficients of variation, and signal-to-noise ratios for each survey. The results showed that the experience level of the observer had little impact on the repeatability of the final rapid assessment score. Training, however, had a large impact on observer to observer repeatability. The SD_pool in the Inland Bay survey with training (2.2 points out of a 0–30 score) was about half that observed in the other three basins where observers had minimal training (SD_pool = 4.2 points). Using the results from the survey with training, we would expect that two sites assessed by different, trained observers who obtain DERAP scores differing by more than 4 points are highly likely to differ in ecological condition, and that sites with scores that differ by 2 or fewer points are within variability that can be attributed to observer differences.     

木兰天池景区旅游资源量化分析评价--运用AHP和模糊综合评判法

通过对武汉木兰天池景区的实地考察及调查、搜集资料，获得各种材料数据；在此基础上设置评价要素指标体系。运用层次分析法（AHP），经过一致性检验来确定各评价指标的权重；再采用模糊综合评判方法，建立评价模型，通过计算各指标在不同区域单元上的隶属度，对景区内各区域单元的旅游资源进行综合评价。评价结果表明，木兰天池景区的旅游资源处于中高级次，较高级次的资源缺乏，需要整体协调开发，进一步发掘旅游资源潜力，科学、合理地发展。     

Arctic Lake Physical Processes and Regimes with Implications for Winter Water Availability and Management in the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska

Lakes are dominant landforms in the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska (NPRA) as well as important social and ecological resources. Of recent importance is the management of these freshwater ecosystems because lakes deeper than maximum ice thickness provide an important and often sole source of liquid water for aquatic biota, villages, and industry during winter. To better understand seasonal and annual hydrodynamics in the context of lake morphometry, we analyzed lakes in two adjacent areas where winter water use is expected to increase in the near future because of industrial expansion. Landsat Thematic Mapper and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus imagery acquired between 1985 and 2007 were analyzed and compared with climate data to understand interannual variability. Measured changes in lake area extent varied by 0.6% and were significantly correlated to total precipitation in the preceding 12 months (p < 0.05). Using this relation, the modeled lake area extent from 1985 to 2007 showed no long-term trends. In addition, high-resolution aerial photography, bathymetric surveys, water-level monitoring, and lake-ice thickness measurements and growth models were used to better understand seasonal hydrodynamics, surface area-to-volume relations, winter water availability, and more permanent changes related to geomorphic change. Together, these results describe how lakes vary seasonally and annually in two critical areas of the NPRA and provide simple models to help better predict variation in lake-water supply. Our findings suggest that both overestimation and underestimation of actual available winter water volume may occur regularly, and this understanding may help better inform management strategies as future resource use expands in the NPRA.