盐城湿地保护与生态旅游开发

盐城海滨湿地资源丰富，已成为重要的环境资源和旅游资源。从湿地的变化和现状着手，阐述了保护盐城湿地的必要性和重要性，在保护中倡导自养型经济战略——生态旅游。分析了盐城湿地生态旅游开发的可行性，从而提出规划意见，以实现盐城湿地旅游的可持续发展。     

涨渡湖湿地生态旅游资源评价及发展态势分析

采用层次分析法对涨渡湖湿地生态旅游开发条件进行了分析.资源定量评价的结果显示,湿地旅游资源价值在湿地生态旅游资源综合评价中的权重最大,表明保护和营造旅游资源的重要性.通过SWOT分析,显示涨渡湖湿地生态旅游开发具有一定优势,虽然在开发过程中存在一定制约因素,但可通过湿地生态旅游的科学规划和管理,在保护利用的基础上发挥湖泊湿地的生态旅游资源优势,将资源优势转变为经济优势,加快武汉市湖区旅游经济的发展.     

滨江湖泊湿地生态旅游开发潜力与发展规划——以西凉湖为例

湿地生态旅游对保护湿地资源和促进区域可持续发展具有极其重要的意义。通过构建湿地生态旅游评价指标体系,采用层次分析法确定指标权重,以西凉湖为例对滨江湖泊湿地生态旅游资源进行了评价。结果表明,西凉湖旅游开发目前尚处在起始阶段,综合得分较低,但由于生态环境状况良好,加之便利的交通条件,因此具有较大的开发潜力。根据所在区域近五年的旅游客源变化,对旅游客源市场进行了预测。结果表明,未来五年旅游客源市场将进入快速增长期,成为推动湿地生态旅游快速发展的潜在动力。在此基础上,进一步为西凉湖湿地生态旅游总体发展拟定了规划方案和对策建议。     

青海湖湿地生态旅游资源开发刍议

青海湖湿地是中国国际重要湿地中面积最大、建立最早的湿地之一,但由于开发不当,环境保护意识淡薄,其独特的湿地生态旅游资源景观破坏严重;缺乏湿地保护管理的协调运行机制,导致湿地生态旅游资源的脆弱性,因此处理好青海湖湿地生态旅游资源开发和保护是一个重要的课题。分析了青海湖湿地生态旅游资源开发的开发现状,针对开发利用中的不足提出了促进青海湖湿地生态旅游健康发展的对策。     

全域旅游视角下的扎龙湿地自然保护区生态旅游发展研究

扎龙湿地作为国家级自然保护区,旅游资源丰富,具有发展生态旅游的物质基础.以全域旅游作为视角,通过营造全域旅游发展格局、整合湿地旅游资源、降低生态负面损失以及打造生态旅游新品牌等方面,分析扎龙湿地自然保护区的旅游环境,针对生态旅游提出发展思路.     

南四湖自然保护区生态旅游资源评价与开发

针对南四湖自然保护区生态旅游资源的特点,选取资源价值、旅游效益和开发条件三个综合指标和12个项目指标,建立生态旅游资源评价模型树,采用层次分析法,对南四湖生态旅游资源进行总体评价。在此基础上,通过问卷调查对各景区打分,并进行分级,最后确定南四湖自然保护区生态旅游资源的开发重点是湖泊湿地自然风光和渔乡风情。     

江苏沿海生态旅游产品的开发

生态旅游产品是时尚的高品质旅游产品，江苏沿海地区旅游资源的独特性，为生态旅游产品开发提供了重要基础，文章从分析江苏沿海生态旅游发展现状出发，探讨了海滨生态旅游产品的开发原则和开发模式，提出了建立江苏沿海生态旅游开发产品体系的构想。     

生态旅游资源评价与开发研究——以艾比湖湿地国家级自然保护区为例

生态环境保护与自然资源开发之间的矛盾始终是世界各国在发展经济时面临的一项严峻挑战,这种矛盾在自然保护区中的体现尤为明显.世界11%的保护区出现旅游资源退化,新疆艾比湖湿地国家级自然保护区同样面临着以上问题.作为 "世界重要湿地"的成员单位、国家级林业科普基地、我国生物多样性保护的重要地区、新疆的生态脆弱区,该区域是否具有开发生态旅游的潜力.论证了艾比湖湿地国家级自然保护区的生态旅游资源的开发价值和开发潜力,得出该区域目前尚处于生态旅游开发的前期准备阶段,生态环境是其发展的首要制约因素,其发展必须是在保护的基础上进行.     

黄土高原地区生态旅游开发的优势及前景分析

黄土高原地区生态环境非常脆弱,该区进行旅游开发必须以生态旅游为指导。该区自然和人文旅游资源丰富而独特,开发生态旅游具有类型多样、功能齐全、有利于组合开发的资源优势;西部大开发、中部崛起战略为其提供了政策优势,同时该区劳动力资源丰富,因此开发生态旅游优势明显。分析了黄土高原地区生态旅游开发的国际、国内及区域市场前景,提出了在该区进行生态旅游开发应注意的问题。     

白城市旅游资源特征及开发策略

白城市位于吉林省西部,拥有两个国家级自然保护区和一个省级自然保护区,生态旅游资源丰富、类型多样。白城市以湿地生态、风电景观、民俗风情和草原风光四大旅游资源为主,区内旅游资源丰富、资源品位较高、区位优势明显,与邻近区域的旅游资源构成互补,具有一定的比较优势。但由于自然因素和人为因素的共同影响,生态环境不断恶化,旅游季节性明显,因此白城市在旅游业发展过程中还存在诸多问题。立足于白城市旅游资源的特征分析,联系当前旅游业发展实际,对白城市旅游资源开发中的突出问题提出看法,根据其实际情况提出白城市旅游资源开发策略。     

Conversion of temperate forests into heaths: Role of ecosystem disturbance and ericaceous plants

Fire and logging in nutrient-poor temperate forests with certain ericaceous understory plants may convert the forests into heaths. The process of disturbance-induced heath formation is documented by using examples ofCalluna in western Europe,Kalmia in Newfoundland, andGaultheria (salal) in coastal British Columbia. In a cool, temperate climate, rapid vegetative growth ofCalluna, Kalmia, and salal following disturbance results in increasing organic accumulation (paludification), nutrient sequestration, soil acidification, and allelochemicals. These are thought to be the main reasons to conifer regeneration failure in disturbed habitats. If continuation in forest is a land-use objective, then temperate forests with an ericaceous understory should not be logged unless effective silvicultural methods are devised to control the ericaceous plants and restore forest regeneration. Preharvest vegetation control may be considered as an option. Failure to control the understory plants may lead to a long-term vegetation shift, from forest to heathland, particularly in nutrient-poor sites. Successful methods of controllingKalmia andGaultheria, however, have yet to be developed. While theKalmia- andGaultheria- dominated heathlands are undesirable in Canada and the Pacific Northwest, a wide range ofCalluna heathlands of western Europe are being conserved as natural and seminatural vegetation.     

Urban ecological systems: scientific foundations and a decade of progress

Urban ecological studies, including focus on cities, suburbs, and exurbs, while having deep roots in the early to mid 20th century, have burgeoned in the last several decades. We use the state factor approach to highlight the role of important aspects of climate, substrate, organisms, relief, and time in differentiating urban from non-urban areas, and for determining heterogeneity within spatially extensive metropolitan areas. In addition to reviewing key findings relevant to each state factor, we note the emergence of tentative "urban syndromes" concerning soils, streams, wildlife and plants, and homogenization of certain ecosystem functions, such as soil organic carbon dynamics. We note the utility of the ecosystem approach, the human ecosystem framework, and watersheds as integrative tools to tie information about multiple state factors together. The organismal component of urban complexes includes the social organization of the human population, and we review key modes by which human populations within urban areas are differentiated, and how such differentiation affects environmentally relevant actions. Emerging syntheses in land change science and ecological urban design are also summarized. The multifaceted frameworks and the growing urban knowledge base do however identify some pressing research needs.     

Using Paleo Reconstructions to Improve Streamflow Forecast Lead Time in the Western United States

In water stressed regions, water managers are exploring new horizons that would help in long‐range streamflow forecasts. Oceanic‐atmospheric oscillations have been shown to influence streamflow variability. In this study, long‐lead time streamflow forecasts are made using a multiclass kernel‐based data‐driven support vector machine (SVM) model. The extended streamflow records based on tree ring reconstructions were used to provide a longer time series data. Reconstructed data were used from 1658 to 1952 and the instrumental record was used from 1953 to 2007. Reconstructions for oceanic‐atmospheric oscillations included the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, and North Atlantic Oscillation. Streamflow forecasts using all four oscillations were made with one‐year to five‐year lead times for 21 gages in the western United States. This is the first study that uses both instrumental and reconstructed data of oscillations in SVM model to improve streamflow forecast lead time. SVM model was able to provide “satisfactory” to “very good” forecasts with one‐ to five‐year lead time for the selected gages. The use of all the oscillation indices helped in achieving better predictability compared to using individual oscillations. The SVM modeling results are better when compared with multiple linear regression model forecasts. The findings are statistical in nature and are expected to be useful for long‐term water resources planning and management.     

Neighbourhood characteristics and urban gardens in the Toledo metropolitan area: staffing and voluntarism,food production,infrastructure, and sustainability practices

Urban gardens are important sources of sustenance for communities with limited access to food. Hence, this study focuses on food production in gardens in the Toledo metropolitan area in Northwest Ohio. We administered surveys to 150 garden managers from November 2014 to February 2015 in our attempt to better understand how neighbourhood racial composition and poverty levels are related to staffing and voluntarism, food production and distribution, the development of infrastructure, and the adoption of sustainability practices in urban gardens. The results from 30 gardens are presented in this paper. We used Geographic Information Systems to map the gardens and overlay the map with 2010 census data so that we could conduct demographic analyses of the neighbourhoods in which the gardens were located. Though the gardens were small – two acres or less – up to 46 varieties of food were grown in a single garden. Gardens also operated on small budgets. Food from the gardens was gifted or shared with friends, family, and neighbourhood residents. Gardens in predominantly minority neighbourhoods tended to have fewer institutional partners, less garden infrastructure, and had adopted fewer sustainable practices than gardens in predominantly White neighbourhoods. Nonetheless, residents of predominantly minority and high-poverty neighbourhoods participated in garden activities and influenced garden operations. Volunteering and staffing were racialised and gendered.     

Predicting deer-vehicle collisions in an urban area

Collisions with deer and other large animals are increasing, and the resulting economic costs and risks to public safety have made mitigation measures a priority for both city and wildlife managers. We created landscape models to describe and predict deer-vehicle collision (DVCs) within the City of Edmonton, Alberta. Models based on roadside characteristics revealed that DVCs occurred frequently where roadside vegetation was both denser and more diverse, and that DVCs were more likely to occur when the groomed width of roadside right-of-ways was smaller. No DVCs occurred where the width of the vegetation-free or manicured roadside buffer was greater than 40 m. Landscape-based models showed that DVCs were more likely in more heterogeneous landscapes where road densities were lower and speed limits were higher, and where non-forested vegetation such as farmland was in closer proximity to larger tracts of forest. These models can help wildlife and transportation managers to identify locations of high collision frequency for mitigation. Modifying certain landscape and roadside habitats can be an effective way to reduce deer-vehicle collisions.     

MANGANESE CYCLE IN IMPOUNDMENT WATER

Manganese entering impounded water will undergo a cyclic transformation. Oxidation precipitates manganese from top waters. At the bottom of the lake, biological activity will render manganese soluble by both intracellular as well as extracellular activity. The study was made to demonstrate that biological reduction and transformation, organometallic complexation, together with the presence of carbon dioxide and the lowering of pH all have some effect on the solubility of manganese. Dissolved manganese may be brought back to top waters during the lake overturn and therefore deteriorates the water quality.     

AN APPLICATION RUNOFF MODEL STRATEGY FOR UNGAGED WATERSHEDS1

ABSTRACT: Mathematical models for predicting watershed surface flow responses are available, most of which are elaborate nonlinear numerical surface and channel flow models linked with infiltration models. Such models may be used to make predictions for ungaged areas, assuming an acceptable fitting of the model to the topography and roughness of the real system. For some application purposes, these models are impractical because of their complexity and expensive computer solutions. A procedure is developed that uses a complex model of an ungaged area to derive a simpler parametric nonlinear system model for repetitious simulation with input sequences. The predicted flow outputs are obtained with the simpler model at significant savings of money and time. The procedures for constructing a complex kinematic model of a 40 acre (161,880 m²) reference watershed and deriving the simpler system model are outlined. The results of predictions from both models are compared with a selected set of measured events, all having essentially the same initial conditions. Peak discharges ranged from 3 to 118 ft³/sec (0.085 to 3.34 m³/sec), which includes the largest event of record. The inherent limitations of lumped systems models are demonstrated, including the bias caused by their inability to model infiltration losses after rainfall ceases. Computer costs and times for the models were compared. The derived simple model has a cost advantage when repeated use of a model is required. Such an applications hydrologic model has an engineering tradeoff of reduced accuracy, and lumping bias, but is more economical for certain design purposes.     

Surface applied water treatment residuals affect bioavailable phosphorus losses in Florida sands

Water treatment residuals (WTR) can reduce runoff P loss and surface co-application of P-sources and WTR is a practical way of land applying the residuals. In a rainfall simulation study, we evaluated the effects of surface co-applied P-sources and an Al-WTR on runoff and leacheate bioavailable P (BAP) losses from a Florida sand. Four P-sources, namely poultry manure, Boca Raton biosolids (high water-soluble P), Pompano biosolids (moderate water-soluble P), and triple super phosphate (TSP) were surface applied at 56 and 224kgPha(-1) (by weight) to represent low and high soil P loads typical of P- and N-based amendments rates. The treatments further received surface applied WTR at 0 or 10gWTRkg(-1) soil. BAP loss masses were greater in leachate (16.4-536mg) than in runoff (0.91-46mg), but were reduced in runoff and leachate by surface applied WTR. Masses of total BAP lost in the presence of surface applied WTR were less than approximately 75% of BAP losses in the absence of WTR. Total BAP losses from each of the organic sources applied at N-based rates were not greater than P loss from TSP applied at a P-based rate. The BAP loss at the N-based rate of moderate water-soluble P-source (Pompano biosolids) was not greater than BAP losses at the P-based rates of other organic sources tested. The hazards of excess P from applying organic P-sources at N-based rates are not greater than observed at P-based rates of mineral fertilizer. Results suggest that management of the environmental P hazards associated with N-based rates of organic materials in Florida sands is possible by either applying P-sources with WTR or using a moderate water-soluble P-source.     

Sources and Transport of Phosphorus to Rivers in California and Adjacent States,U.S., as Determined by SPARROW Modeling

The SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regression on Watershed attributes) model was used to simulate annual phosphorus loads and concentrations in unmonitored stream reaches in California, U.S., and portions of Nevada and Oregon. The model was calibrated using de‐trended streamflow and phosphorus concentration data at 80 locations. The model explained 91% of the variability in loads and 51% of the variability in yields for a base year of 2002. Point sources, geological background, and cultivated land were significant sources. Variables used to explain delivery of phosphorus from land to water were precipitation and soil clay content. Aquatic loss of phosphorus was significant in streams of all sizes, with the greatest decay predicted in small‐ and intermediate‐sized streams. Geological sources, including volcanic rocks and shales, were the principal control on concentrations and loads in many regions. Some localized formations such as the Monterey shale of southern California are important sources of phosphorus and may contribute to elevated stream concentrations. Many of the larger point source facilities were located in downstream areas, near the ocean, and do not affect inland streams except for a few locations. Large areas of cultivated land result in phosphorus load increases, but do not necessarily increase the loads above those of geological background in some cases because of local hydrology, which limits the potential of phosphorus transport from land to streams.     

Animal Consciousness and Ethics in Asia and the Pacific

The interactions between humans, animals and the environment have shaped human values and ethics, not only the genes that we are made of. The animal rights movement challenges human beings to reconsider interactions between humans and other animals, and maybe connected to the environmental movement that begs us to recognize the fact that there are symbiotic relationships between humans and all other organisms. The first part of this paper looks at types of bioethics, the implications of autonomy and the value of being alive. Then the level of consciousness of these relationships are explored in survey results from Asia and the Pacific, especially in the 1993 International Bioethics Survey conducted in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, The Philippines, Russia, Singapore and Thailand. Very few mentioned animal consciousness in the survey, but there were more biocentric comments in Australia and Japan; and more comments with the idea of harmony including humans in Thailand. Comparisons between questions and surveys will also be made, in an attempt to describe what people imagine animal consciousness to be, and whether this relates to human ethics of the relationships. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.