Efficient habitat protection with diverse landowners and fragmented landscapes

Much economic analysis has focused on the limitations of regulatory approaches in favor of market-based incentive policies to preserve habitat on private land. Incentive policies include landowner subsidies, tradable development rights, fee-simple (full interest) land purchases, and conservation easement (partial interest) purchases. This paper evaluates these proposals on economic efficiency and other criteria and argues that the literature usually overestimates the opportunity costs of preservation and fails to consider the importance of landowner mobility to economic efficiency. Two-step conservation easements are proposed as an effective alternative when there are many different landowner types, and it is important to protect certain unique properties or ensure large, contiguous reserves.     

资源学的学科属性及定位问题讨论

资源学属于应用理学,以地球科学、生物学、天文学为其学科理论基础。资源学、环境学、生态学是同一层次的学科。资源经济学建立在资源学和理论经济学基础之上。     

How sustainable are forestry clean development mechanism projects?—A review of the selected projects from India

This paper analyses social, economic and ecological issues affecting sustainability of the four selected forestry clean development mechanism (CDM) projects from India. Data from the group discussions and stakeholder interviews suggest that three out of the four projects are economically unsustainable for local people because of high opportunity cost of land and labour, and delayed and low benefits. The average opportunity cost of the land is 20000, 12000 and 9000 INR/ha/year in case of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, India projects respectively, which is unlikely to be met through projected carbon revenues and other benefits. A significant number of farmers have already withdrawn their private lands in Haryana and Tamil Nadu projects. Very few of them have undertaken plantations on the private lands in the Himachal project. All the four projects have undertaken block plantations of predominantly fast growing species such as Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus hybrid), Casuarina (Casuarina equisettifolia) and Ailanthus (Ailanthus excelsa) for high growth and quick returns, which could have adverse social and ecological impacts over long term. There are social and institutional issues such as low participation of local communities, weak or non existing community institutions, inflexible design and rigid CDM rules, which affect sustainability of these projects. It has implications for other carbon forestry programmes such as Green India Mission and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) being rolled out at a large scale in the country. The rationale and significance of these programmes needs to be objectively reexamined in context of the issues affecting CDM projects.     

从生态经济学观点论开发皖中农业自然资源的某些战略性问题

生态学是研究自然界水、土、光、气、热等无生命物质之间,动物、植物、微生物等生物之间以及非生物与生物之间的相互联系、相互依赖、相互制约的一门科学。它是生态经济学的基础。单有生态学观点还不能直接为国民经济服务,还必须与经济学相结合。要研究生态规律与经济规律的关系、生态效益与经济效益的关系。生态效益和经济效益的实现,还必须有相应的经济政策的保证,才能达到研究生态经济学的目的。作者近年来在工作中不断学习,不断体会,希望促进这门综合性学科形成一门独立的学科。     

Woodland conservation in privately-owned cultural landscapes: the English experience

This paper reviews the development of approaches to the conservation of woodland on private lands in England since 1949. In England, the majority of woodland sites important for nature conservation are small, isolated amongst open habitats, with a long history of management. Conservation of wildlife has since 1949 had a strong focus on private lands. Two approaches to protection have been adopted. Firstly about 80,000 ha of English woods are within statutorily protected sites; the degree of protection for these has increased through successive legislation in 1949, 1981 and 2001. Secondly, since 1985 wildlife protection has been achieved on private lands outside the protected sites through general statutory forestry policies. There has also been an increasing trend for active promotion of voluntary nature conservation through forestry incentives and grants, and the setting of targets as part of the government’s biodiversity action plan. The variety of ways in which woodland may be protected (to differing degrees) in England has enabled effective protection to be achieved over a greater area of woodland than would have been possible through nature reserves alone. These approaches may be relevant in other countries where woodland occurs as part of a cultural landscape.     

How the DPSIR framework can be used for structuring problems and facilitating empirical research in coastal systems

As pressures on coastal zones mount, there is a growing need for frameworks that can be used to conceptualize complex sustainability challenges and help organize research that increases understand about interacting ecological and societal processes, predicts change, and supports the management, persistence, and resilience of coastal systems. The Driver–Pressure–State–Impact–Response (DPSIR) framework is one such approach that has been adopted in some coastal zones around the world. Although the application of the DPSIR framework has considerable potential to bridge the gap between scientific disciplines and link science to coastal policy and management, current applications of DPSIR in coastal environments have been limited and new innovations in the application of the DPSIR model are needed. We conducted a structured review of literature on the DPSIR framework as applied to the function, process and components of complex coastal systems. Our specific focus was on how the DPSIR framework has been used as a tool to organize sophisticated empirical scientific research, support transdisciplinary knowledge at a level appropriate for building understanding about coastal systems, and how adopting a DPSIR approach can help stakeholders to articulate and structure challenges in coastal systems and use the framework to support policy and management outcomes. The review revealed that DPSIR models of coastal systems have been largely used to support and develop conceptual understanding of coastal social–ecological systems and to identify drivers and pressures in the coastal realm. A limited number of studies have used DPSIR as a starting point for semi-quantitative or quantitative analyses, although our review highlights the continued need for, and potential of, transformative quantitative analyses and transdisciplinary applications of the DPSIR framework. The DPSIR models we reviewed were predominantly single sector, encompassing ecological or biophysical factors or focusing primarily on socio-cultural dimensions rather than full integration of both types of information. Only in eight of 24 shortlisted articles did researchers actively engage decision-makers or citizens in their research: given the potential opportunity for using DPSIR as a tool to successfully engage policy-makers and stakeholders, it appears that the DPSIR framework has been under-utilized in this regard.     

The successful completion of scientific public policy: lessons learned while developing Canada’s Wild Salmon Policy

Canada’s Wild Salmon Policy gives Canadians the opportunity to make informed decisions about the amount of habitat, ecosystem, and salmon diversity to protect, in order to provide salmon with the potential to adapt and survive in a changing environment. Valuable lessons learned during the completion of this recent landmark conservation policy include: (1) there must be an express need for major new policies and decision makers should be receptive to proposed changes; (2) resource and expertise allocation should be realistic to ensure successful and timely policy completion; (3) science-based policies must be based on good science; (4) environmental policies require input from multiple disciplines—biological consequences are only one element that politicians and decision-makers need to consider; (5) since there will always be uncertainty, and different perspectives on the level of risk that various stakeholders are willing to accept, a precautionary approach is appropriate; (6) to be effective, communication should be open and transparent; and finally (7) it is important to think beyond policy completion—how will the policy be implemented? Documenting these lessons should assist others, thereby resulting in more efficient completion of science-based policies.     

国外生态-经济系统整合模型研究进展

生态-经济系统整合模型的研究将生态的、经济的、社会的以及生物物理模型整合在可持续发展框架中,考察生态系统与经济系统之间的相互作用和反馈关系,采用遥感与计算机建模技术,结合多种生态模型和计量经济模型,预测、模拟、优化生态-经济系统。它的研究范围从整个系统的管理和全球生命支撑系统的可持续性到自然资源和环境服务的可持续使用等等,为分析可持续发展而按照不同的论题建立不同的模型框架。生态经济整合模型的建立是今后生态经济学研究的一个最重要的侧面,生态经济学要想取得主流经济学的地位,必须应用整合的方法深入探索生态经济系统的复杂性和不确定性,真正解决实际问题,为生态与经济的正确决策提供依据。     

海洋生态经济协调发展研究综述

随着海洋资源开发的规模化推进,海洋经济快速增长,海洋自然生态系统急剧衰退,海洋生态经济矛盾日益尖锐,海洋生态经济协调发展研究已成为近年来海洋生态学、海洋经济学以及生态经济学研究领域的热点和难点问题。本文从海洋生态经济的价值贡献、问题危机、安全评估、关系模型、综合管理等5个方面回顾分析了国内外有关海洋生态经济协调发展研究的进展情况,发现与陆域生态经济协调发展研究相比,海洋生态经济协调发展研究无论在理论构建还是方法创新上都存在滞后性。     

危机事件影响下环境政策变迁的过程、模式及机制研究

全球化和高速发展的城市化使得人类与生态之间的矛盾愈加严重,环境危机事件发生的频率不断上升,如何应对危机成为当今社会公共管理的主要议题。本文从环境危机事件的内涵与制度学诱因出发,通过梳理国内外相关理论和实证研究,对危机影响下环境政策变迁的过程、模式以及机制进行评述。研究表明,制度供求不匹配所带来的制度非均衡是导致环境危机出现的根本原因之一;环境危机事件有利于打破原有环境政策渐进性过程的路径依赖性,通过改变政府、公众、企业及其他利益相关体的机会格局与资源条件从而为主要政策变迁提供可能性。因此,危机事件影响下的环境政策变迁过程是自上而下和自下而上两种政策途径综合作用的结果。中国正处于“非稳定状态”的环境危机多发阶段,需要借鉴国外理论模型进行本土化研究。加强多学科之间的融合和有关理论的实际应用,为具有不同经济制度发展水平的地区制定区域可持续发展政策提供决策支持。     

The classification of lands managed for conservation: existing and proposed frameworks, with particular reference to Australia

Comprehensive classification systems to accurately account for lands managed for biodiversity conservation, are an essential component of conservation planning and policy. The current international classification systems for lands managed for nature conservation are reviewed, with a particular emphasis on Australia. The need for a broader, all-encompassing, categorisation of lands managed for conservation is presented and a proposed broader categorisation system is developed—the Conservation Lands Classification. This classification system has the advantage of incorporating data on both tenure and protection mechanisms and has been applied in this paper using conservation lands in three Australian jurisdictions as examples. It is envisaged that this method of classification has the potential to significantly improve the ability to measure current and future trends in nature conservation across all land types at a variety of scales and hence is put forward in order to stimulate discussion on this important topic.     

Effects of forest policy on landscape pattern of late-seral forest of the Western Olympic Peninsula,Washington

Forest harvest policies and regulations in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States have changed considerably across all land ownerships over the last 25 years, primarily in response to concerns over threatened and endangered species. For example, in July 2001, Washington State adopted new forest practice rules for private ownerships, which were aimed primarily at improving habitat for aquatic and riparian species. Before adopting the new rules, an environmental impact assessment was conducted in which three alternatives were considered in detail for their contributions to riparian habitat. Implications for upland species were not considered, although riparian protection has the potential to make contributions to habitat for obligate late-seral species.Effects of the three management alternatives were projected on private lands 200 years into the future, holding constant current practices on other lands managed for timber (federal, tribal, and state). The resulting distribution of late-seral forest across the Western Olympic Peninsula was compared. Simulations predicted that late-seral forest would cover between 39 and 48% of the landscape, well above the 8% that it currently occupies. Five to 21% of this late-seral forest would be on private lands (compared to <1% currently), and 71–85% on public lands (compared to 91% currently). Landscape pattern analysis indicated that the total amount of late-seral forest was significantly different among the three scenarios. However, there was no discernible difference in interior forest area, edge density, and mean distance between patches between a “no-action” alternative and the alternative that was ultimately adopted into rule. The most protective alternative had significantly more interior forest area and greater mean distance between patches, but it also had significantly higher edge density as a result of the linear nature of the riparian reserves and small patches of steep, unstable slopes. Our analysis framework will be useful for evaluating the effects of alternative management scenarios on landscape pattern across broad geographic areas with complex ownership.     

Development of a sustainability policy model for promoting cleaner production: a knowledge integration approach

This paper is based upon the understanding that fundamental disciplines of human knowledge such as chemistry, ecology, sociology, geology, economics, engineering or politics, cannot, by themselves, provide the sufficient and necessary solutions to complex problems of sustainability. The paper, therefore, presents an integrated knowledge approach to sustainability policy on industry with the understanding that the essence of such an approach is to enable and support stewardship for building a sustainable society by transcending the conflicts between the paradigm of economics and the paradigm of ecology. This is done by testing the complementarities of three functional modes of knowledge (contextual, technological, and reconciliatory) in actuating the policy science of sustainability. This is based upon an analysis of surveys on CP implementation motives, CP technologies and CP policies. The paper colludes with the finding that even when provided with impressive amounts of data, information and supportive opinion on specific sustainability issues, a society that is not sufficiently cognizant of the necessary knowledge synthesis processes will be unlikely to gain momentum in moving forward in the development, implementation and on-going support of industrial sustainability policy.     

Evaluation of multi-metric bioassessment as an approach for assessing impacts of entrainment and impingement under Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act

Over the past two decades, biological assessment has been widely adopted as a tool for comprehensive monitoring of ambient water quality, and increasingly it is used for management and regulation. Presently, biocriteria are central to the pre-decisional draft regulatory framework the US Environmental Protection Agency is developing under a consent decree to implement Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act. With the increasing integration of multi-metric bioassessment and biocriteria into environmental regulation, it becomes important to critically review the performance of the methods to ensure they are robust and reliable tools for determining water body impairment. This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of current approaches to bioassessment, focusing on issues that derive from recent advances in theoretical and applied ecology. Two critically important insights into the structure and function of ecosystems are: (1) the dynamic character of ecosystems; and (2) the significance of context and scale. Ecological dynamics produce spatio-temporal variability, which presents significant challenges to the development of biological criteria. This challenge is highlighted by the large percentage of sites potentially affected by arbitrary decisions sometimes made in setting biocriteria thresholds. Multi-metric bioassessment has not taken adequate account of the multi-scaled nature of ecological systems. Consideration of spatial scale will be especially important as multi-metric bioassessment methods originally developed in streams are adapted to larger, more open systems such as large rivers, estuaries, and coastal waters, and for regulation of cooling water intake structures.     

洞庭湖垸外灾害风险区湖洲高效生态农业模式研究

为了协调好防灾减灾与湖洲农业综合开发的关系,运用灾害学和循环经济学以及农业、林业、牧业、水产、生态、系统工程等科学交叉的理论与方法,将灾害防控技术体系、农业生产方式与高效生态农业结构的优化机理融为一体,设计了湖草洲畜、禽、鱼一体化开发的灭螺治鼠防洪技术集成模式,荻芦洲荻、芦、林、牧、农一体化开发的灭螺治鼠抗洪技术集成模式。并分别在典型区域进行了示范,试验表明：与传统农业生方式相比,生态、经济、社会三大效益十分显著。同时致力于湖洲农业产业化,认为在建设好优势农产品生产基地的基础上,大力发展与之相配套的产品加工等商品服务体系和市场体系,促进荻、芦、林、牧等产品精、深加工,延伸产业链,提高产品附加值,从整体上提高湖洲高效生态农业模式的综合效益,使之成为湖区农业经济的新增长点。     

公共池塘资源可持续管理的理论框架

由于自然科学和社会科学的学科视角和研究方法各异,使得我们对公共池塘资源管理问题的理解不够系统和全面。论文在综述公共池塘资源和社会-生态系统管理理论的基础上,辨析了公共池塘资源和社会-生态系统的概念;从识别影响公共池塘资源可持续管理的变量出发,梳理了社会-生态系统分析框架的演变及其局限性,指出社会-生态系统可持续发展分析框架为地理学、 生态学、 经济学、 自然资源学、 社会学等学科的交流和融合提供了统一的平台,并为资源管理、 政策分析和案例比较分析等的理论和方法提供了新的研究思路。该框架对现阶段我国资源管理政策的制定有重要借鉴意义。     

生态承载力评价方法研究进展

生态承载力是当前生态学、地理学、经济学等领域的研究热点,生态承载力评价方法的研究对于区域社会经济协调可持续发展具有重要的意义。在详细阐述生态承载力概念、内涵、国内主要研究领域、研究机构的基础上,重点分析比较了目前生态承载力所涉及的研究方法,并比较了不同模型之间的优缺点,最后分析总结了目前生态承载力研究存在的不足和未来需要加强的领域和方向。从方法上来看,目前所用方法主要有:(1)指标体系综合评价法;(2)产品周期综合评价法;(3)结合不同学科和不同方法的综合评价法。目前生态承载力的研究缺乏科学完整的研究体系,尚未构建具有普适性的评价指标体系,演化趋势与模拟预测研究不足,格局分异研究较少,未来应该在以下几个方面深入研究:(1)加强生态承载力模型集成研究。由于生态承载力问题十分复杂,涉及资源、环境、生态、社会、经济等诸多要素,因此需要综合各个要素之间的相互关系及影响机制,进行不同模型集成和综合研究;(2)应从影响生态承载力的主动与被动因子,动态与静态因子出发,构建综合性和普适性较强的评价体系;(3)加强生态承载力的动态模拟研究,实现对生态承载力潜力的估算和动态变化过程的监测;(4)研究不同尺度下生态承载力时空变化特征及空间分异,并对比分析各模型对不同尺度的精度要求和结果的可靠性。     

Chronosequence analysis of two enclosure management strategies in degraded rangeland of semi-arid Kenya

The establishment of enclosures has become an important measure to combat land degradation in many of the world's semi-arid rangelands. In view of the increased pressure exerted by this land reclamation strategy on the neighbouring agricultural lands, knowledge of the time required for restoring vegetation cover and soil health, and of the potential positive impact of an adapted management strategy, is highly required. This paper assesses the vegetation and soil rehabilitation in a 23-year chronosequence of two different enclosure management types. In the severely degraded, semi-arid Njemps Flats plain of the Lake Baringo Basin in Kenya communal enclosures characterised by high quality inputs and strict control, and private enclosures managed by individual farmers, were installed since the 1980s. Six communal enclosures (3–17 years since establishment) and six private enclosures (13–23 years since establishment) were selected. Vegetation cover was estimated along three 50 m transects set within each enclosure and in the adjacent open grazing area using the point-to-line transect method. Five 0.5 m² quadrats systematically placed alongside each transect were sampled for herbaceous standing biomass and topsoil physical, chemical and biological analyses. Grass cover and herbaceous biomass production proved to be the most responsive biotic parameters under both management types, whereas the recovery of the forbs was unsuccessful. Under communal management, the biomass production fully recovered up to its optimal level as recorded in the neighbouring nature reserves. Within private enclosures however, the adopted management strategies seriously restricted biomass production to a significantly lower level. Soil quality generally recovered more slowly with time. Significant improvements compared to the open rangeland were recorded in topsoil bulk density, organic C and total N stocks, and microbial biomass C and N stocks of the communal enclosures. Unlike the communal enclosures, only topsoil bulk density and the microbial biomass C stock showed a significant difference in the private enclosures. With respect to C and total N stocks, and the microbial biomass N a non-significant improving trend was recorded. The level of chemical and biological soil quality obtained under both management types is still low and draws the attention to the importance of careful monitoring of grazing and grass cutting activities under both enclosure management strategies. The chronosequences further highlight the potential of some well-managed private enclosures, whereas intrinsic soil properties such as high alkalinity, as well as changes in management, limit the rehabilitation of some other private as well as communal enclosures.     

自然保护区生态补偿定量方案研究——基于“虚拟地”计算方法

自然保护区生态补偿的“补给谁”和“补多少”在理论和实践上都是生态补偿中的重点和难点所在。传统的通过计量保护区正外部性以确定生态补偿数量的方法存在两个主要问题：一是违背经济学原理,二是与管理体制不符且法理不足。据此,并考虑到中国相当数量的保护区“没有保护好”的主要因素是保护区社区居民生产生活的干扰,论文认为应通过控制保护区社区的负外部性来达成对保护区的生态补偿。通过生产函数理论分析,发现通常情况下保护区社区的经济产出与土地面积单调正相关,因此在没有生态补偿的情况下,保护区的划建会使周边社区居民经济收入减少,解决周边社区对保护区干扰的根本途径是利用生态补偿资金发展替代产业以提高单位面积土地的经济产出。以此认识为基础,文章提出了“虚拟地”概念并发展了定量方法来确定保护区的生态补偿最低标准,采用武夷山保护区的数据进行了这一方法的案例分析。     

碳氮氧稳定同位素技术在水生态环境中的应用

稳定同位素技术是研究环境和生态系统中元素循环途径的重要方法. 稳定同位素的丰度变化反映了自然界和生物体内混合、分馏双重作用的结果,因此可作为指标计算混合物的来源贡献,或研究造成分馏的化学反应和生物代谢路径. 从20世纪中期确立稳定同位素的基础原理,70年间该技术在地球化学、环境科学、生态学、微生物学、食品科学等领域获得了大量有价值的成果. 其中,水体作为自然环境的重要组成和人类社会的重要资源,已有诸多研究涉及稳定同位素在水环境中污染物溯源、水生态系统元素迁移转化、水生生物营养来源和营养关系等方面的应用. 通过梳理常见的碳、氮、氧稳定同位素在水环境和水生态领域的研究进展,发现污染物和食物来源分析已不局限于定性识别,基于数学模型的混合物组分定量评估方法正得到越来越多的应用;同时,为开展水体脱氮强度和通量估算、水生生物营养级计算及食物网分析,精确测量18O、15N和13C的富集程度以及通过试验和调研获取运算所需的基础参数都是关键步骤. 虽然在实际应用中存在待完善之处,但稳定同位素技术的前沿研究仍昭示了其整体化、精细化的发展方向. 未来与计算科学的方法学进步相结合,将为水科学研究提供更有力的技术支撑.