Ecological restoration as a strategy for mitigating and adapting to climate change: lessons and challenges from Brazil

Climate change is a global phenomenon that affects biophysical systems and human well-being. The Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entered into force in 2016 with the objective of strengthening the global response to climate change by keeping global temperature rise this century well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 °C. The agreement requires all Parties to submit their “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. Reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation is an important strategy for mitigating climate change, particularly in developing countries with large forests. Extensive tropical forest loss and degradation have increased awareness at the international level of the need to undertake large-scale ecological restoration, highlighting the need to identify cases in which restoration strategies can contribute to mitigation and adaptation. Here we consider Brazil as a case study to evaluate the benefits and challenges of implementing large-scale restoration programs in developing countries. The Brazilian NDC included the target of restoring and reforesting 12 million hectares of forests for multiple uses by 2030. Restoration of native vegetation is one of the foundations of sustainable rural development in Brazil and should consider multiple purposes, from biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation to social and economic development. However, ecological restoration still presents substantial challenges for tropical and mega-diverse countries, including the need to develop plans that are technically and financially feasible, as well as public policies and monitoring instruments that can assess effectiveness. The planning, execution, and monitoring of restoration efforts strongly depend on the context and the diagnosis of the area with respect to reference ecosystems (e.g., forests, savannas, grasslands, wetlands). In addition, poor integration of climate change policies at the national and subnational levels and with other sectorial policies constrains the large-scale implementation of restoration programs. The case of Brazil shows that slowing deforestation is possible; however, this analysis highlights the need for increased national commitment and international support for actions that require large-scale transformations of the forest sector regarding ecosystem restoration efforts. Scaling up the ambitions and actions of the Paris Agreement implies the need for a global framework that recognizes landscape restoration as a cost-effective nature-based solution and that supports countries in addressing their remaining needs, challenges, and barriers.

     

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.     

Assessing water ecosystem services for water resource management

Ecosystem service concepts can offer a valuable approach for linking human and nature, and arguments for the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems. Despite an increasing interest in the topic, the application of these concepts for water resource management has been hampered by the lack of practical definitions and methodologies. In this study we review and analyse the current literature and propose an approach for assessing and valuing ecosystem services in the context of water management. In particular, to study the link between multiple pressures, ecological status and delivery of ecosystem services in aquatic ecosystems under different scenarios of measures or future changes. This is of interest for the development of River Basin Management Plans under the EU Water Framework Directive. We provide a list of proxies/indicators of natural capacity, actual flow and social benefit for the biophysical assessment of the ecosystem services. We advocate the use of indicators of sustainability, combining information on capacity and flow of services. We also suggest methods for economic valuation of aquatic ecosystem for each service and spatial scale of application. We argue that biophysical assessment and economic valuation should be conducted jointly to account for the different values of ecosystem services (ecologic, social and economic) and to strengthen the recognition of human dependency on nature. The proposed approach can be used for assessing the benefits of conservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems in the implementation of the EU water policy.     

Conceptualizing and operationalizing human wellbeing for ecosystem assessment and management

There is growing interest in assessing the effects of changing environmental conditions and management actions on human wellbeing. A challenge is to translate social science expertise regarding these relationships into terms usable by environmental scientists, policymakers, and managers. Here, we present a comprehensive, structured, and transparent conceptual framework of human wellbeing designed to guide the development of indicators and a complementary social science research agenda for ecosystem-based management. Our framework grew out of an effort to develop social indicators for an integrated ecosystem assessment (IEA) of the California Current large marine ecosystem. Drawing from scholarship in international development, anthropology, geography, and political science, we define human wellbeing as a state of being with others and the environment, which arises when human needs are met, when individuals and communities can act meaningfully to pursue their goals, and when individuals and communities enjoy a satisfactory quality of life. We propose four major social science-based constituents of wellbeing: connections, capabilities, conditions, and cross-cutting domains. The latter includes the domains of equity and justice, security, resilience, and sustainability, which may be assessed through cross-cutting analyses of other constituents. We outline a process for identifying policy-relevant attributes of wellbeing that can guide ecosystem assessments. To operationalize the framework, we provide a detailed table of attributes and a large database of available indicators, which may be used to develop measures suited to a variety of management needs and social goals. Finally, we discuss four guidelines for operationalizing human wellbeing measures in ecosystem assessments, including considerations for context, feasibility, indicators and research, and social difference. Developed for the U.S. west coast, the framework may be adapted for other regions, management needs, and scales with appropriate modifications.     

基于熵权TOPSIS模型的山东省海岸带生态修复政策效果评价研究

海岸带生态修复政策效果评价是开展海岸带保护修复的重要课题。通过建立海岸带生态修复政策综合评价指标体系,采用熵权TOPSIS模型对山东省2009年至2018年海岸带生态修复政策效果进行综合评价。结果表明,山东省海岸带生态修复政策综合效益呈波动上升趋势。2016年至2018年,政策干预的效果凸显,取得了开展蓝色海湾综合整治、系统推进海岸带生态修复的显著成效。通过分析生态环境和经济社会效益发现,经济社会效益较生态环境效益提升趋势更为明显。同时,本研究发现在扩展生态修复资金的来源渠道、修复效果考核评估方面的政策存在缺陷,提出了促进海岸带生态修复的政策建议,包括坚持陆海统筹、生态优先和建立常态化评估机制。     

过程耦合与空间集成：国土空间生态修复的景观生态学认知

新时期国土空间生态修复的核心是整体保护与系统治理,强调生态保护修复与社会经济发展耦合关联的系统性、协同性。景观生态学以景观为研究对象,基于整体综合视角聚焦景观结构与功能演变及其与人类社会相互作用机理,重点关注过程耦合与空间集成。面向国土空间生态修复的战略需求,景观生态学“格局与过程耦合-时空尺度-生态系统服务-景观可持续性”的研究路径能够为国土空间生态修复提供重要学科支撑;依据格局-过程互馈机理识别退化、受损的山水林田湖草生命共同体,基于景观多功能性权衡协调社会-生态需求并确定修复目标,应用生态安全格局优化多层级修复网络体系,建立面向景观可持续性的多尺度级联福祉保障。     

Negotiating Indigenous knowledge at the science-policy interface: Insights from the Xáxli’p Community Forest

Despite increasing interest in learning from Indigenous communities, efforts to involve Indigenous knowledge in environmental policy-making are often fraught with contestations over knowledge, values, and interests. Using the co-production of knowledge and social order (Jasanoff, 2004), this case study seeks to understand how some Indigenous communities are engaging in science-policy negotiations by linking traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), western science, and other knowledge systems. The analysis follows twenty years of Indigenous forest management negotiations between the Xáxli’p community and the Ministry of Forests in British Columbia (B.C.), Canada, which resulted in the Xáxli’p Community Forest (XCF). The XCF is an eco-cultural restoration initiative that established an exclusive forest tenure for Xáxli’p over the majority of their aboriginal territory—a political shift that was co-produced with new articulations of Xáxli’p knowledge. This research seeks to understand knowledge co-production with Indigenous communities, and suggests that existing knowledge integration concepts are insufficient to address ongoing challenges with power asymmetries and Indigenous knowledge. Rather, this work proposes interpreting XCF knowledge production strategies through the framework of “Indigenous articulations,” where Indigenous peoples self-determine representations of their identities and interests in a contemporary socio-political context. This work has broader implications for considering how Indigenous knowledge is shaping science-policy negotiations, and vice versa.     

Sustainability experiments in Asia: innovations shaping alternative development pathways?

Global sustainability is increasingly influenced by processes of industrialisation and urbanization in non-OECD countries, especially in Asia. Growth models suggest that developing economies and regions will become first relatively more resource- and pollution-intensive, before converging on more resource-efficient and low-pollution production and consumption patterns expressed in developed countries. Alternative less resource- and pollution-intensive growth models for latecomer countries promise social and economic benefits in the short- and long-term. Drawing on insights from system innovation research on long-run change in socio-technical systems, we discuss the potential role of ‘sustainability experiments’ to generate innovations that will constitute new ‘greener’ growth models. We observe a great number of technology-based initiatives that we characterize as sustainability experiments in East and South Asian countries. These experiments emerge in the context of the growth of new socio-technical regimes in key sectors, including energy, transport, manufacturing, food and the built environment. We set out a conceptual framework for assessing the role of experiments, and for evaluating how they link with and become anchored into alternative more sustainable regimes. In this paper we argue that sustainability experiments represent a significant new source of innovation and capability-formation, linked to global knowledge and technology flows, which could reshape emergent socio-technical regimes and so contribute to alternative development pathways in latecomer countries. We conclude by summarizing the six papers published in this Special Issue.     

基于“要素-景观-系统”框架的江苏省长江沿线生态修复格局分析与对策

在当前中国生态文明建设和绿色发展征程中,实施尺度、要素、途径复合的国土空间生态修复是解决区域系统性生态问题的重要途径。针对江苏省长江沿线地区这一生态保护与经济发展矛盾突出区域,基于“要素-景观-系统”框架构建生态修复潜力评价体系,采用K-means聚类分析、Getis-Ord G_i^*热点分析等方法识别生态修复分区与热点,构建由点、线（带）、面组成的生态修复格局,提出生态管控与修复对策。研究结果表明：（1）生态修复具有多尺度性、对象复合性及途径多样性,在宏观、中观、微观尺度下具有不同的对象、目标与途径,并可以通过不同级别与类型规划进行衔接;（2）研究区要素层生态修复潜力平均值为0.460,空间分布呈“大分散、小集聚”的特征,景观层生态修复潜力热点区分布于环长江入海口区域,冷点区分布于扬泰平原区,根据系统层评价指标可将研究区划为5个聚类分区;（3）根据评价结果可以构建“五区、三带、两核心”生态修复总体格局,并在发展导向、空间管控策略、工程措施等方面提出生态修复对策。本文可为江苏省沿江区域生态修复规划编制、生态修复内涵与实施范式探索提供参考借鉴。     

Institutional networks and adaptive water governance in the Klamath River Basin,USA

Polycentric networks of formal organizations and informal stakeholder groups, as opposed to centralized institutional hierarchies, can be critically important for strengthening the capacity of governance systems to adapt to unexpected social and biophysical change. Adaptive governance is one type of environmental governance characterized by the emergence of networks that stimulate adaptive capacity through increases in social-learning, communication, trust, public participation and adaptive management. However, detecting and analyzing adaptive governance networks remains elusive, especially given contexts of highly contested resource governance such as large-scale negotiations over water use. Research methods such as social network analysis (SNA) are often infeasible as they necessitate collecting in-depth and politically sensitive personal data from a near-complete set of actors or organizations in a network. Here we present a method for resolving this problem by describing the results of an institutional SNA aimed at characterizing the changing governance network in the Klamath River Basin, USA during a period of contested negotiations over water. Through this research, we forward a method of institutional SNA useful when an individual or egocentric approach to SNA is problematic for political, logistical or financial reasons. We focus our analysis on publically available data signaling changes in formal relationships (statutory, regulatory, contractual) between organizations and stakeholder groups. We find that employing this type of SNA is useful for describing potential and actual transitions in governance that yield increases in adaptive capacity to respond to social and biophysical surprises such as increasing water scarcity and changes in water distribution.     

Conceptual understandings of the ecological engineering issues: in China and abroad

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A Method for Integrated Assessment of Vulnerability to Climate Change in Siberian Forests: Example of Larch Area

The conceptual scheme of integrated assessment of vulnerability to climate change in Siberian forests is elaborated and applied to the extensive area in Siberia covered by Larch forests. Forest stakeholders on the provincial level are identified to be the most relevant for an integrated impact assessment. Organisation of the assessment study as a combination of 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' approaches is suggested. Major biophysical vulnerability indexes and regional syndromes are identified as the growing stock and current increment averaged by administrative unit. Models and data suitability and quality for an analysis of biophysical vulnerability in conditions of climate change are studied for Siberian forests and future development trends are identified. An application of the elaborated conceptual scheme, which employs two models of different type and forest inventory data, is presented for the Larch area.     

Vulnerability of land systems to fire: Interactions among humans,climate, the atmosphere,and ecosystems

Fires are critical elements in the Earth System, linking climate, humans, and vegetation. With 200–500 Mha burnt annually, fire disturbs a greater area over a wider variety of biomes than any other natural disturbance. Fire ignition, propagation, and impacts depend on the interactions among climate, vegetation structure, and land use on local to regional scales. Therefore, fires and their effects on terrestrial ecosystems are highly sensitive to global change. Fires can cause dramatic changes in the structure and functioning of ecosystems. They have significant impacts on the atmosphere and biogeochemical cycles. By contributing significantly to greenhouse gas (e.g., with the release of 1.7–4.1 Pg of carbon per year) and aerosol emissions, and modifying surface properties, they affect not only vegetation but also climate. Fires also modify the provision of a variety of ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, soil fertility, grazing value, biodiversity, and tourism, and can hence trigger land use change. Fires must therefore be included in global and regional assessments of vulnerability to global change. Fundamental understanding of vulnerability of land systems to fire is required to advise management and policy. Assessing regional vulnerabilities resulting from biophysical and human consequences of changed fire regimes under global change scenarios requires an integrated approach. Here we present a generic conceptual framework for such integrated, multidisciplinary studies. The framework is structured around three interacting (partially nested) subsystems whose contribute to vulnerability. The first subsystem describes the controls on fire regimes (exposure). A first feedback subsystem links fire regimes to atmospheric and climate dynamics within the Earth System (sensitivity), while the second feedback subsystem links changes in fire regimes to changes in the provision of ecological services and to their consequences for human systems (adaptability). We then briefly illustrate how the framework can be applied to two regional cases with contrasting ecological and human context: boreal forests of northern America and African savannahs.     

森林生态效益补偿的研究现状与展望

由于森林的生态效益外部性和公共物品的特性,较大部分难以通过传统的市场实现其经济价值。如何通过适当的措施将森林生态效益外部性内部化,部分或全部地实现森林生态效益的价值,对森林生态效益的提供者进行补偿,吸引全社会参与森林的保护与培育,即如何用经济杠杆解决森林生态效益的外部性和公平性,是急需解决的问题,也是当前国内外生态经济学研究的一个热点和难点问题。通过综合分析相关文献,理清生态效益补偿的概念,对森林生态效益补偿展开研究和探讨。对发达国家的森林生态效益补偿的理论和实践经验进行总结归纳,为我国建立森林生态效益补偿机制提供借鉴。分析国内森林生态效益补偿的具体实践,得出我国森林生态效益补偿制度中需要完善的方面。最后,提出我国今后森林生态效益补偿制度工作的研究方向。     

Forest ecosystem development in post-mining landscapes: a case study of the Lusatian lignite district

The restoration of surface mining landscapes requires the (re)creation of ecosystems. In Lusatia (eastern Germany), large-scale open-cast lignite mining operations generated spoil dumps widely consisting of acidified, phytotoxic substrates. Amelioration and rehabilitation measures have been developed and applied to these substrates since the 1950s. However, it is still not clear whether these approaches are sustainable. This paper reports on collaborative research work into the ecological potential of forest ecosystem development on typical minesites in the Lusatian lignite district. At first sight, pine stands on minesites along a chronosequence comprising about 35 years did not show differences when compared with stands on non-mined sites of the general region. Furthermore, with some modification, conceptual models for flora and fauna succession in forest stands on non-mined sites seem to be applicable, at least for the early stages of forest ecosystem development. For example, soil organism abundance and activity at minesites had already reached levels typical of non-mined sites after about 20-30 years. In contrast, mine soils are very different from non-mined soils of the test region. Chemically, mine soil development is dominated by processes originating from pyrite oxidation. Geogenic, i.e. lignitic, soil organic carbon was shown to substitute for some functions of pedogenic soil organic matter. Rooting was hampered but not completely impeded in strongly acidified soil compartments. Roots and mycorrhizae are apparently able to make use of the characteristic heterogeneity of young mine soils. Considering these recent results and the knowledge accumulated during more than 30 years of research on minesite rehabilitation internationally, it can be stated that minesite restoration might be used as an ideal case study for forest ecosystem development starting at "point zero" on "terra nova".     

Expanding Carbon Stocks in Existing Forests – A Methodological Approach for Cost Appraisal at the Enterprise Level

The study presents a comprehensive methodology for the appraisal of C-stock expansion in existing forests as a forest management activity according to Art. 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol. It allows for producer costs of carbon sequestration in forest enterprises to be derived. The methodology is based on a non-linear programming approach considering economic optimisation as well as ecological, social and sustainability needs through constraints and risk integration. While introducing further constraints on carbon stocks, the carbon stored in forest biomass was increased in periodic increments. However, while extending the carbon stocks, the ecological and social constraints as well as sustainability requirements are not to be violated. Costs were derived for every additional Mg (Megagrams) of C per ha sequestered in comparison to a baseline management. Two basic cases were considered: First, a permanent carbon sequestration was assumed. Secondly, a temporary storage of additional carbon over 10 years was supposed. The potential willingness of buyers of carbon certificates to pay for temporary carbon sequestration was derived by a financial consideration. We assumed that, for a buyer, the value of a temporary carbon sequestration certificate would be equivalent to the return on the savings because an investment in technical measures on reduction of carbon emissions can be postponed.     

基于目标-手段链的生态文明建设绩效的提升对策研究

基于目标-手段链的视角搭建影响生态文明建设绩效的对策框架,并针对框架中所提出的子系统目标提出针对性的对策,形成生态文明建设绩效目标及支撑对策体系之间的"目的 -手段"关系,指出生态文明建设是一个涉及社会主义文明体系建设各方面的系统工程。中国生态文明建设绩效的提升对策应从生态物质文明建设、生态政治文明建设、生态精神文明建设和生态社会文明建设等方面着力,分别采取相应的手段使得生态文明建设的各子目标逐步实现,最终促使生态文明建设绩效提升的总目标得以实现。     

我国城市森林文态保护和管理的探讨

森林具有经济、生态、社会和文化功能。森林文态与森林生态相对应,是指在森林的自然、生命系统的基础上形成的人文精神的综合。近年来,我国城市化率已由1993年的28%提高到2008年的45.68%,城市森林生态保护有了长足的发展,但也存在着对森林文态保护重视不够、相关管理滞后等问题。为了加强城市森林文态保护和管理,研究认为,我国社会经济发展已走向成熟推进和消费阶段,森林文态保护是未来城市森林发展的灵魂,尤其是随着我国城市化水平的提高,城市森林文态保护将越来越受到重视。研究最后建议,应把城市森林文态保护纳入森林立法和管理,加强城市森林发展规划,突出物质财富生产和精神财富生产的有机结合,促进城市森林文态保护和绿色文化的发展。     

The relationship of social capital and fishers’ participation in multi-level governance arrangements

The need for effective multi-level governance arrangements is becoming increasingly urgent because of complex functional interdependencies between biophysical and socioeconomic systems. We argue that social capital plays an important role in such systems. To explore the relationship between social capital and participation in resource governance arenas, we analyzed various small-scale fisheries governance regimes from the Gulf of California, Mexico. The components of social capital that we measured include levels of fishers’ structural ties to relevant groups and levels of trust in different entities (i.e. cognitive component). We collected data using surveys and interviews with residents of small-scale fishing communities adjacent to marine protected areas. We analyzed the data using a logistic regression model and narrative analysis. The results of our quantitative analysis highlight the multidimensional nature of social capital and reveals complex relationships between different types of social capital and fisher participation in monitoring, rulemaking and MPA design. Furthermore our qualitative analysis suggests that participation in fisheries conservation and management is not fully potentialized due to the social and historical context of participatory spaces in Mexico.