Landscape Metrics for Assessment of Landscape Destruction and Rehabilitation

This investigation tested the usefulness of geometry-based landscape metrics for monitoring landscapes in a heavily disturbed environment. Research was carried out in a 75 sq km study area in Saxony, eastern Germany, where the landscape has been affected by surface mining and agricultural intensification. Landscape metrics were calculated from digital maps (1912, 1944, 1973, 1989) for the entire study area and for subregions (river valleys, plains), which were defined using the original geology and topography of the region. Correlation and factor analyses were used to select a set of landscape metrics suitable for landscape monitoring. Little land-use change occurred in the first half of the century, but political decisions and technological developments led to considerable change later. Metrics showed a similar pattern with almost no change between 1912 and 1944, but dramatic changes after 1944. Nonparametric statistical methods were used to test whether metrics differed between river valleys and plains. Significant differences in the metrics for these regions were found in the early maps (1912, 1944), but these differences were not significant in 1973 or 1989. These findings indicate that anthropogenic influences created a more homogeneous landscape.     

三百山禁止开发区生态旅游环境质量综合评价

对主体功能区中禁止开发区域进行生态旅游环境评价是发展生态旅游的前提.选取国家风景名胜区三百山为研究对象,采用AHP法构建生态旅游环境质量评价指标体系,通过压力-状态-响应模型,应用模糊综合评判法定量分析了该区域生态旅游活动对自然、经济社会环境质量的影响,以及生态压力与响应状况.评价结果为禁止开发区域探寻生态旅游发展模式提供了决策依据和参考.     

Rapid Assessment of Organic Pollution in a West-central Mexican River Using a Family-level Biotic Index

The cost-effectiveness of rapid assessment approaches make their adaptation for use in developing countries appealing, but biological assessment methods need to be validated before use in new geographic areas. The authors tested the suitability of a family-level biotic index for use in a river in west-central Mexico that receives organic point-source pollution from untreated municipal sewage and sugar-cane processing. The biotic index was highly correlated to dissolved oxygen, and could detect different levels of pollution. Information from rapid assessment biomonitoring was used successfully by local natural resource managers to help bring about improvements in water resource management.     

山区生态产业及其环境保育的作用研究

山区生态产业是依赖于山区丰富的自然资源按照生态学原理组织形成的生态与经济有机统一的产业发展形式。本文阐述了山区生态产业七个方面的特征：即山区生态产业对自然资源的特殊依赖性、受高度景观带的制约性、结构多样性与复杂性、建设长期性、经济收益级差性、开发水平落后性和开发任务艰巨性。在此基础上,文章从要素调控设计、垂直带幅生态调控设计、产业模式系统生态设计出发探讨了生态产业与垂直地带性的构建关系,并举例说明了山区生态产业开发建设对环境保护的积极作用。得出了山区生态产业的开发就是努力避免产业活动对生态环境干扰的逆向作用,积极引导与实现产业活动对生态环境干扰的正向作用的结论。     

环评：经济与生态环境和谐发展的关键

环评,通俗地说就是分析项目建成投产后可能对环境产生的影响,并提出污染防治对策和措施。它与经济和生态环境的和谐发展息息相关。自《中华人民共和国环境影响评价法》（以下简称《环评法》）实施以来,我国在环评方面取得哪些进步？在实际的环评工作中存在哪些问题？在新的历史时期,尤其在当前经济危机的阴霾下,如何开展环评工作？如何借鉴国外的环评经验来改进我们的工作？这些都是值得探讨的话题。为此,我们邀请安徽省环保局的有关人员,对上述问题给予解读。     

新安江-钱塘江流域水环境健康风险评价研究

本文采用美国环境保护署推荐的水环境健康风险评价模型,对新安江—钱塘江流域水体通过饮水途径导致的人体健康风险进行评价。结果表明:水环境质量监测的11项污染物浓度均符合或优于地表水三类标准。对人体有健康风险的有毒污染物主要是化学致癌物Cr(Ⅵ);非致癌物中氨氮的健康风险最大;个人化学致癌物年总风险远大于非致癌物年总风险;2014年新安江—钱塘江流域的三都大桥断面、西区、闸口、七堡断面的水环境健康个人总年风险均超过国际辐射防护委员会推荐的标准,分别超标0.03、0.69、0.20、0.23倍,其主要原因是这些断面的Cr(Ⅵ)的风险略高。因此,加强对化学致癌物Cr(Ⅵ)的管控,是降低水环境健康风险的有效途径。     

The Ecological Component of Environmental Impact Assessment: A Critical Review of British Environmental Statements

Environmental assessment (EA) of the impacts of development is required under the 1985 European Directive 85/337/EEC, which is implemented in Britain primarily through the 1988 Town and Country Planning (Assessmentof Environmental Effects) Regulations. Ecology provides analytical procedures for studying relationships between organisms and their environment and therefore has an obvious role in EA. The status of ecology within the British EA process was investigated by analysing 179 environmental statements (ESs) produced between 1988 and 1993. In many cases, the ecological information provided was so limited in quantity, or of such poor quality, that it was not possible to assess the ecological implications of proposed schemes. Many ESs failed to provide the data necessary to predict ecological impacts. Potential ecological impacts were reported in 93% of statements, but only 9% made any attempt to quantify them. Of those ESs which made references to ecological effects, only 45% based their findings on new ecological survey information. Consultation with statutory consultees for nature conservation was reported in 48% of ESs. Although 78% of ESs mentioned mitigation measures, only 23% described them in detail. A major shortcoming was the universal failure to make any commitment to monitoring of development impacts. In addition to the lack of formal requirements for monitoring, the lack of guidance for ecologists and developers involved in EA is concluded to be a major factor behind some of the shortcomings summarized in this paper.     

Environmental and Ecological Aspects in the Overall Assessment of Bioeconomy

Bioeconomy solutions potentially reduce the utilization demand of natural resources, and therefore, represent steps towards circular economy, but are not per se equivalent to sustainability. Thus, production may remain to be achieved against losses in natural resources or at other environmental costs, and materials produced by bioeconomy are not necessarily biodegradable. As a consequence, the assumption that emerging bioeconomy by itself provides an environmentally sustainable economy is not justified, as technologies do not necessarily become sustainable merely through their conversion to using renewable resources for their production. A source of the above assumption is that the utility of bioeconomy is mostly assessed in interaction between technology developers and economists, resulting in biased assessment with private commercial technology benefits being included, but environmental costs, especially longer term ones, not being sufficiently considered in the economic models. A possible solution to this conceptual contradiction may come from bioethics, as a strong concept in environmental ethics is that no technological intervention can be imposed on nature beyond its receptive capacity. To achieve a better balanced analysis of bioeconomy, environmental and ecological, as well as non-economic social aspects, need to be included in the overall assessment.     

山地城市环境承载力综合评价与变化特征研究

结合山地城市特征和PSR概念模型,构建山地城市环境承载力评价指标体系和评价模型,以重庆市为例进行实证研究。结果表明:1该指标体系能反映山地城市环境承载力的各个方面,评价结果符合重庆市的实际水平;2研究期内,重庆市环境承载力呈现逐步上升态势;3人口增长与经济发展对环境造成的压力与日俱增,但在政府引导措施等因素的作用下,大部分压力指标得到有效控制,状态和响应指标呈现良好发展趋势。     

四川省地级市生态环境质量评价模型

在建立四川省生态质量评价指标体系的基础上,将径向基函数（RBF）神经网络模型用于四川省18个地级市生态质量评价和区划,实现了评价结果的可视化与直观化。评价结果与四川省生态质量实际状况相对比,表明了RBF网络的正确性和实用性,为实现四川省生态质量的保护提供了一条新途径。     

Preliminary Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Great Western Development Strategy: Safeguarding Ecological Security for a New Western China

The Great Western Development Strategy (GWDS) is a long term national campaign aimed at boosting development of the western area of China and narrowing the economic gap between the western and the eastern parts of China. The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) procedure was employed to assess the environmental challenges brought about by the western development plans. These plans include five key developmental domains (KDDs): water resource exploitation and use, land utilization, energy generation, tourism development, and ecological restoration and conservation. A combination of methods involving matrix assessment, incorporation of expert judgment and trend analysis was employed to analyze and predict the environmental impacts upon eight selected environmental indicators: water resource availability, soil erosion, soil salinization, forest destruction, land desertification, biological diversity, water quality and air quality. Based on the overall results of the assessment, countermeasures for environmental challenges that emerged were raised as key recommendations to ensure ecological security during the implementation of the GWDS. This paper is intended to introduce a consensus-based process for evaluating the complex, long term pressures on the ecological security of large areas, such as western China, that focuses on the use of combined methods applied at the strategic level.     

TUGAI: An Integrated Simulation Tool for Ecological Assessment of Alternative Water Management Strategies in a Degraded River Delta

The development of ecologically sound water allocation strategies that account for the needs of riverine ecosystems is a pressing issue, especially in semiarid river basins. In the Aral Sea Basin, a search for strategies to mitigate ecological and socioeconomic deterioration has been in process since the early 1990s. The Geographic Information System–based simulation tool TUGAI has been developed to support the policy determination process by providing a simple, problem-oriented method to assess ecological effects of alternative water management strategies for the Amudarya River. It combines a multiobjective water allocation model with simple, spatially explicit statistical and rule-based models of landscape dynamics. Changes in environmental conditions are evaluated by a fuzzy habitat suitability index for Populus euphratica, which is the dominant species of the characteristic riverine Tugai forests. Water management scenarios can be developed by altering spatiotemporal water distribution in the delta area or the amount of water inflow into the delta. Outcomes of scenario analysis are qualitative comparisons of the ecological effects of different options for a time period of up to 28 years. The given approach utilizes different types of knowledge, from quantitative hydrological data to qualitative local expert knowledge. The main purpose of the tool is to integrate the knowledge in a comprehensive way to make it available for discussions on alternative policies in moderated workshops with stakeholders. In this article, the modules of the tool, their integration, and three hypothetical scenarios are presented. Based on the experience gained when developing the TUGAI tool, we propose that the general framework can be transferred to other areas where tradeoffs in water allocation between the environment and other water users are of major concern. The potential for a simulation tool to structure and inform a complex resource management situation by involving local experts and stakeholders in the development of possible future scenarios will become increasingly valuable for transparent and participatory resource management.     

鸭子河湿地的生态健康评价与恢复研究

从湿地现状、服务功能和外环境影响3方面构建了城镇区域内湿地生态健康评价指标体系,采用层次分析法（AHP）和模糊综合评价法,对广汉鸭子河湿地这一城镇区域内河滩型湿地生态系统健康状况进行评价。结果表明,在广汉市城市化进程中,该湿地的生态系统受到了一定程度的影响,就总体而言,湿地生态系统结构完整,基本功能依然具备,但栖息地功能有一定的退化,在整体上属于亚健康状态。根据评价结果及退化成因分析,提出了相应的恢复措施,对广汉市城市化进程中鸭子河湿地的保护提供了重要的决策依据,对同类型的湿地保护具有指导意义和借鉴价值。     

Significance and Effect of Ecological Rehabilitation Project in Inland River Basins in Northwest China

The Ecological Water Transfer and Rehabilitation Project in the arid inland area of northwest China is an important measure in restoring a deteriorated ecosystem. However, the sustainability of the project is affected by many socio-economic factors. This article examines the attitudes of the local populace toward the project, its impact on the livelihood of the people, and the positive effects of water-efficient agricultural practices in Ejina County. Related data were collected through questionnaire surveys and group discussions. The results identified three critical issues that may influence the sustainability of the project in the study area. The first issue relates to the impact of the project on the livelihood of local herdsmen. The potential for the sustainability of the project is compromised because the livelihood of the herdsmen greatly depends on the compensation awarded by the project. The second issue is that the project did not raise the water resource utilization ratio, which may undermine its final purpose. Finally, the compensation provided by the project considers losses in agriculture, but neglects the externalities and public benefit of eco-water. Thus, appropriate compensation mechanisms should be established and adopted according to local economic, environmental, and social conditions. Some recommendations for improving the sustainability of the project are provided based on the results of this study.     

Monitoring Environmental Impact in the Upper Sonoran Lifestyle: A New Tool for Rapid Ecological Assessment

Characterized by expensive housing, high socioeconomic status, and topographic relief, Upper Sonoran Lifestyle communities are found primarily along the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) in the Phoenix, Arizona metro area. Communities like these sprawl into the wildlands in the United States Southwest, creating a distinct urban fringe. This article, through locational comparison, introduces and evaluates a new field assessment tool for monitoring anthropogenic impact on soil–vegetation interactions along the well-maintained multi-use recreational trails in Upper Sonoran Lifestyle region. Comparing data from randomly selected transects along other multi-use trails with data from a control site revealed three key indicators of anthropogenic disturbances on soil–vegetation interactions: soil disturbance, vegetation disturbance, and vegetation density. Soil and vegetation disturbance displayed an average distance decay exponent factor of −0.60, while vegetation density displayed a reverse decay average of 0.60. Other important indicators of disturbance included vegetation type, biological soil crusts, and soil bulk density. The predictive ability of this new field tool enhances its applicability, offering a powerful rapid ecological assessment method for monitoring long-term anthropogenic impact in the Upper Sonoran Lifestyle, and other sprawling cities along the WUI.     

鹞落坪国家级自然保护区生态环境状况评价

自然保护区的重要性及生态环境的复杂性、层次性和多变性决定了对其生态环境状况进行评价的必要性及难度,而如何对安徽省自然保护区生态环境做出实时、准确的监测和评价就成为亟待解决的课题之一。传统的调查方法主要基于地形图进行人工勘查,     

石羊河流域生态脆弱性评价研究

综合分析自然条件和人类活动对区域生态系统的两方面影响,建立了生态脆弱性评价指标体系,运用层次分析法和综合指数法计算了石羊河流域9县（区）的生态脆弱度分值。根据计算结果,将石羊河流域划分为4级生态脆弱区,分别为极强度脆弱区、强度脆弱区、中度脆弱区和轻度脆弱区。在此基础上,对各脆弱区提出生态治理对策,为今后流域开展生态经济功能区划提供依据。     

湟水干流西钢-新宁段油类现状调查与评价

随着西宁市经济的快速发展,湟水河沿岸工业企业不断增加,市区人口快速增长,废水排放量与日俱增,使致湟水水质不断变化,水体功能逐渐下降或丧失。经调查湟水河西钢至新宁段水中油类污染主要以动植物油为主,动植物油占油类总量的78.3%左右,石油类相对较小,但随着西宁市经济的快速发展,石油类的污染问题也不容乐观。