Biodiversity Conservation,Ecosystem Services and Livelihoods in Tropical Landscapes: Towards a Common Agenda

Trade-offs between ecosystem conservation and agricultural production can more easily be addressed by shifting the view from the plot scale to the scale of the landscape and integrating biodiversity friendly land use systems into development strategies. The provision of ecosystem services such as watershed protection and carbon sequestration by natural and complex agro-ecosystems can play an important role in making such integrated landscape approaches viable. This special issue brings together papers that were presented at a symposium on agroforestry and landscape scale conservation at the Second World Agroforestry Congress in Nairobi in August 2009. It is divided into two sections focusing on: (1) the biological mechanisms and implications of landscape scale conservation strategies as influenced by land use, especially agroforestry; and (2) the economic drivers and public policies that determine to a large extent the success of agroforestry-based landscape conservation strategies. The contributions provide evidence both for the potential and limitations of agroforestry in landscape scale conservation and development strategies and highlight the importance of economic incentives and policies to promote integrated landscape solutions. This introductory paper summarizes and discusses the contributions and concludes with policy recommendations and research needs.     

Spatial Pattern of Ecosystem Function and Ecosystem Conservation

The spatial pattern of ecosystem function can affect ecosystem conservation. Ecosystem functions are often heterogeneous spatially due to physical and biological factors. We can influence ecosystem functions by changing the spatial patterns of the physical and biological elements of an ecosystem and regulating their combinations. The variation–position effect highlights a phenomenon resulting from the spatial pattern of ecosystem function. The effect shows that the identical variation of a factor may produce different effects on the overall situation when this variation occurs in a different spatial position. In a watershed of the Yangtze River, water retention is a primary ecosystem function. The variation–position effect for water retention capacity occurs in the watershed because of the spatial heterogeneity in vegetation, soil, and slope. The change of vegetation that occurs in a complex can affect the overall situation of water retention, and the effect can be different due to the change occurring in the position holding different vegetation-soil-slope complex. To improve the ecosystem in the watershed and to meet the social needs for the ecosystem function of water retention, a strategy called ecosystem function and spatial pattern-based forest extension was proposed to conserve forests. The implementation of the strategy enables the watershed to attain the maximum effective increase in water retention capacity.     

生态系统服务功能研究综述

生态系统服务功能的研究是最近生态学研究的热点领域,它体现的是可持续发展的思想.本文在参考大量前人研究的基础上,介绍了生态服务功能的定义以及发展历程,同时讨论了生态系统服务功能评估的理论基础和目前常用的评价方法.通过上述的讨论和分析说明,我国目前的生态系统服务功能的研究才刚刚起步,与国外相比还有一定的差距,所以今后需要加强这方面研究的投入,尤其要加强生态系统服务功能评估的基础理论和方法研究,促进我国生态系统服务功能的发展.     

根据土壤蓄水能力探讨若尔盖重要生态服务功能区的水源涵养功能

若尔盖水源涵养重要生态服务功能区是全国50个重要生态服务功能区域之一,具有极重要的水源涵养生态服务功能。该区涵盖四川省境内的黄河流域区,面积约1.6×104km2,区内分布有涵水能力极强的沼泽土和泥炭土,对调节黄河径流时空分布具有非常重要的作用。本文利用地理信息系统技术,用土壤饱和蓄水量指标评价了本区的水源涵养生态服务...     

生态服务贸易及其测度方法初探

随着区域间经济联系日益密切,生态服务的市场交换行为伴随着货物贸易快速增加,已成为生态服务贸易的主要形式。市场型生态服务贸易导致生态服务使用在区域间的巨大不公平,已对区域可持续发展产生了重大影响。从隐含自然资源产品提供、隐含能源提供和污染物净化三个方面设计了生态服务贸易的测度框架,并构建了生态不对等交换指数评价生态服务交换的不对等程度。     

论生物多样性保护与社会经济持续发展的关系

在介绍生物多样性的概念及斟前失现状的基础上，重点分析了生物多样性保护与社会经济持续发展的关系，指出二者是当今人类社会面临的同一重大问题的两个方面，是一个相互依赖、相互促进的有机整体，即生物多样性保护是社会经济持续发展的物质基础，社会经济持续发展为生物多样性保护提供了物质保障。虽然生物多样性丧失这一问题产生于经济发展，但是也必然会随着社会经济的持续发展而得到解决。     

生态系统服务价值及其评估方法研究进展

生态系统服务和产生这些服务的自然资本对地球生命支持系统的功能有着极其重要的作用。它们间接或是直接的为人类提供福利,并因而成为地球整体经济价值的一部分。本文在生态系统服务的定义、功能及内涵的基础上,系统归纳了当前国内外生态系统服务价值的实例和主要评价方法研究进展。已有的研究表明对自然资源实行生态系统管理需要对生态系统服务进行多堆的,不同时空尺度上的评价,同时也要建立合理的评价标准体系。由于生态系统服务价值存在时空异质性,当前的研究中还没有提供很好的解决这一问题的方法,本文最后讨论了在生态系统服务价值评估中综合考虑区位等因素的可行性和必要性。     

长江源区生物多样性保护研究

生物多样性具有生态、社会和经济多重价值.长江源区生物多样性不但关系到当地经济发展和人民生存安全,而且关系到整个长江流域的可持续发展,甚至影响到全球气候.分析了长江源区生物多样性的特点及区域生物多样性遭受严重破坏的原因,提出了保护长江源区生物多样性的对策措施:①加强对长江源自然保护区的建设;②适当控制人口数量,进行必要的生态移民;③加强基本生产和生活条件建设;④加大立法与执法力度,严禁偷猎、盗采野生动植物;⑤在保护中开发利用.     

生物多样性保护中模糊治理的解释与展开

面向复杂的生态环境系统,将生物多样性保护的全部要素在短时间内全部加以规则化、制度化可能会带来高昂的制度转型成本并形成负面反馈,延长有效治理的时限。生物多样性保护的复杂性、生物安全事件的突发性都需要治理系统快速做出反应,提供弹性、包容的治理机制。模糊治理的嵌入可以对精细化治理形成有效补充。这一模式将打破行政主体的关系限制,突破行政区域地理的空间限制,推进生物多样性保护协调行动。要完成这一任务,既需要完善清晰、可预测的生物多样性制度框架,为模糊治理提供规则条件,也需要适度模糊治理主体的组织关系,为模糊治理提供机制条件,还需要完善生物多样性治理的层级网络,模糊治理区域的地域关系,为模糊治理提供策略条件。     

生态系统服务价值非货币量核算:理论框架与方法学

1997年两个开创性的著作,即Gretchen Daily主编的Nature’s Services:Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems一书及同年Robert Costanza在Nature上发表的The Value of the World’s Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital,引发了关于生态资本和生态系统服务、政策等研究的热潮。中国近几年来也将生态文明建设提到了前所未有的高度,并提出了一系列以生态系统服务价值核算为前提的制度和措施。基于此,本研究首先综述了现有生态系统服务分类体系及其存在的不足,剖析了现有核算生态系统服务价值的两类方法,即货币量方法和非货币量方法的核心差异点与可能的融合点,构建了基于能值分析方法和融合货币量核算方法的非货币量生态系统服务功能的新的核算框架,包括:(1)重新分类了生态系统服务价值,即直接价值(增加NPP、固碳释氧、增加土壤、补给地下水/涵养水源、提供水源水电和农产品等)、间接价值(净化大气、水、土壤、人畜排泄物和减少水土流失/侵蚀等)和存在价值(调节气候、调蓄水量、调节径流、旅游休闲、文化教育、维持生物多样性等)三大类;(2)确立了各类生态系统服务价值的核算方法体系;(3)厘清了核算中的加和原则等,以避免重复计算。该理论和方法学是解决现有生态系统服务价值核算方法不足的尝试和完整的方法论构建。     

Influence of Bioenergy Crop Production and Climate Change on Ecosystem Services

Land use change can significantly affect the provision of ecosystem services and the effects could be exacerbated by projected climate change. We quantify ecosystem services of bioenergy‐based land use change and estimate the potential changes of ecosystem services due to climate change projections. We considered 17 bioenergy‐based scenarios with Miscanthus, switchgrass, and corn stover as candidate bioenergy feedstock. Soil and Water Assessment Tool simulations of biomass/grain yield, hydrology, and water quality were used to quantify ecosystem services freshwater provision (FWPI), food (FPI) and fuel provision, erosion regulation (ERI), and flood regulation (FRI). Nine climate projections from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase‐3 were used to quantify the potential climate change variability. Overall, ecosystem services of heavily row cropped Wildcat Creek watershed were lower than St. Joseph River watershed which had more forested and perennial pasture lands. The provision of ecosystem services for both study watersheds were improved with bioenergy production scenarios. Miscanthus in marginal lands of Wildcat Creek (9% of total area) increased FWPI by 27% and ERI by 14% and decreased FPI by 12% from the baseline. For St. Joseph watershed, Miscanthus in marginal lands (18% of total area) improved FWPI by 87% and ERI by 23% while decreasing FPI by 46%. The relative impacts of land use change were considerably larger than climate change impacts in this paper. Editor's note : This paper is part of the featured series on SWAT Applications for Emerging Hydrologic and Water Quality Challenges. See the February 2017 issue for the introduction and background to the series.     

Afforestation Planning and Biodiversity Conservation: Predicting Effects on Habitat Functionality in Lithuania

Habitat re-creation is one of the multiple faces of biodiversity restoration and encompasses the attempts to reconstruct an ecosystem on severely disturbed sites with little left to restore. Afforestation of abandoned or marginal agricultural land is an important tool for the re-creation of forest ecosystems and re-establishment of functional habitat networks for the maintenance of biodiversity. This study was performed in the context of the Danish-Lithuanian project ‘Afforestation of abandoned agricultural land based on sustainable land use planning and environmentally sound forest management’. The study assessed how habitat re-creation as designed in alternative afforestation plans for two administrative regions in Lithuania will affect the functionality of the landscapes for bird species of conservation concern. Spatial analysis of the forest cover was performed under existing and proposed conditions using general landscape ecological principles concerning core and edge habitats as well as nearest-neighbour metrics. The results show that the use of general criteria may result in proportionally negative changes in the availability of some forest habitats relative to changes in total forest cover, thus leading to less significant improvements in the habitats of many naturally occurring (and even protected) species compared to what would be expected from changes in forest cover alone. To solve this dilemma it is suggested that the requirements of focal species and quantitative conservation objectives should be considered in a spatially explicit – each main forest type. It is concluded that to ensure functionality of habitat networks, knowledge and experience from the fields of landscape ecology and conservation biology should be more commonly incorporated into afforestation planning.     

Restoring Forests and Associated Ecosystem Services on Appalachian Coal Surface Mines

Surface coal mining in Appalachia has caused extensive replacement of forest with non-forested land cover, much of which is unmanaged and unproductive. Although forested ecosystems are valued by society for both marketable products and ecosystem services, forests have not been restored on most Appalachian mined lands because traditional reclamation practices, encouraged by regulatory policies, created conditions poorly suited for reforestation. Reclamation scientists have studied productive forests growing on older mine sites, established forest vegetation experimentally on recent mines, and identified mine reclamation practices that encourage forest vegetation re-establishment. Based on these findings, they developed a Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) that can be employed by coal mining firms to restore forest vegetation. Scientists and mine regulators, working collaboratively, have communicated the FRA to the coal industry and to regulatory enforcement personnel. Today, the FRA is used routinely by many coal mining firms, and thousands of mined hectares have been reclaimed to restore productive mine soils and planted with native forest trees. Reclamation of coal mines using the FRA is expected to restore these lands’ capabilities to provide forest-based ecosystem services, such as wood production, atmospheric carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, watershed protection, and water quality protection to a greater extent than conventional reclamation practices.     

Mapping and Eradication Prioritization Modeling of Red Sesbania (Sesbania punicea) Populations

Red sesbania is an invasive South American shrub that has rapidly expanded its range along California waterways, emphasizing the need to prioritize eradication sites at a regional scale. To accomplish this, we updated baseline location data in summer 2010 using field surveys throughout the state. We collected relevant GPS attribute data for GIS analysis and eradication prioritization modeling. The regional survey identified upstream and downstream extents for each watershed, as well as outliers in urban areas. We employed the Weed Heuristics: Invasive Population Prioritization for Eradication Tool (WHIPPET) to prioritize red sesbania sites for eradication, and revised the WHIPPET model to consider directional propagule flow of a riparian species. WHIPPET prioritized small populations isolated from larger infestations, as well as outliers in residential areas. When we compared five experts’ assessments of a stratified sample of the red sesbania populations to WHIPPET’s prioritization results, there was a positive, but nonsignificant, correlation. The combination of WHIPPET and independent expert opinion suggests that small, isolated populations and upstream source populations should be the primary targets for eradication. Particular attention should be paid to these small populations in watersheds where red sesbania is a new introduction. The use of this model in conjunction with evaluation by the land manager may help prevent the establishment of new seed sources and protect uninfested riparian corridors and their adjacent watersheds.     

系统性生物多样性保护法律体系的定位与构建

随着国家政策导向提出实现生物多样性整体性、系统性保护的要求,新时期背景下的生物多样性保护除了注重实现生物多样性在自然生态系统、生物物种、遗传资源(基因)三方面的协同性整体性保护以外,还强调了实现自然生态系统平衡、维护国家安全等总体性目标。在此背景下,本文建议,生物多样性保护法律体系也应当在推动立法实践、提升国家安全治理能力、整合现有立法资源等方面发挥其应有价值。从系统性的角度出发,明确法律体系贯彻生物多样性整体性保护理念、执行国家战略部署以及平衡多元化利益的应有定位,并在此基础上从整体性目标的树立、网格联动性的体系构建、合理配置现行法律制度等方面探寻系统性法律体系的构建路径,将有效发挥我国生物多样性保护法律体系在服务社会需求、回应国家政策导向等方面的制度支撑价值。     

基于GIS的芜湖城市绿地空间格局特征分析

运用景观生态学的原理与方法,基于GIS技术对芜湖市绿地空间格局特征进行了分析.结果表明,芜湖市绿地景观多样性指数为1.1556、优势度为3.4775、均匀度为0.4977、破碎度为0.4046;城市绿地系统内部景观多样性偏低,优势度明显,类型分布不均,城市绿地生态功能较弱,易受人类活动影响,总体绿地空间布局有待改善.     

生物多样性保护知识产权条款的功能：危机与应对

生物多样性保护领域中的国际条约设有知识产权条款,知识产权条款发挥鼓励创新的基本功能。现有生物多样性利用中存在的知识产权问题集中在获取和惠益分享、遗传资源公开和利用知识产权产生的利益三方面。随着数字开源运动和数据库的大量兴起,协调型知识产权规则因缺乏强制力,使知识产权条款发挥的效力大打折扣。加之知识产权的专有属性和产业化,使得知识产权和多样性保护之间的冲突加剧。中国积极参与生物多样性保护全球治理,由被动参与者转换为积极推动者,确认和实施知识产权规则,关注数字序列信息的发展并加强农民权利的表达。     

Biodiversity Conservation in the Thar Desert; with Emphasis on Endemic and Medicinal Plants

The Indian desert, the Thar Desert, has its own importance and specific characteristics with respect to endemic and medicinal plants. Forty-five plant species are considered to be rare and/or endangered. The desert has a large number of plants of economic importance and medicinal use. The Thar Desert is thickly populated in comparison to other hot deserts of the world. 17.44 million people and 23.33 million livestock are recorded from the region. These populations exert pressure on the biological resources of the Thar Desert causing a lack of sustainability and necessitate conservation of biodiversity actions.