Greenhouse Gases as Clues to Permanence of Farmlands

Abstract:  Farmlands are expansive, diverse, and intensively managed ecosystems. These lands, so critical to human welfare, are threatened by growing stresses as demand for food escalates, fresh water wanes, cheap fuels deplete, and other uses jostle for space. With these coming pressures, how can we foster permanence on the lands that sustain us? In this essay I contemplate the hypothesis that the greenhouse gases, because they emanate from the interwoven flows of C, N, and energy in ecosystems, can help steer us toward permanence (sustainability). Alongside other indicators these emissions may detect the ecosystem's pulse, alerting us to inefficiencies and guiding us to better practices. To be effective signals, however, the greenhouse gases will need to be considered in their local settings, monitored longer and in more "listening places," and measured across boundaries of disciplines and biomes. This approach may help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our farmlands. But we may find that, in the long run, the main beneficiaries of our inquiry have been, not just the atmosphere, but our fragile lands, perhaps in ways we cannot yet foresee.     

土地利用、覆被变化（LUCC）与环境变化关系研究进展

土地利用、覆被变化（LUCC）作为环境变化的主要原因之一,已成为全球变化研究的前沿和热点问题。文章总结了国内外 LUCC 与环境变化关系的主要研究成果和方法,继而从气候、碳循环、土壤环境、水环境以及生态环境对土地利用方式的限制等方面概括了 LUCC 与环境变化之间的关系。LUCC 通过改变大气成分和下垫面性质对气候造成影响;影响着陆地生态系统的碳循环;改变土壤的理化性质,带来土壤污染、土壤养分迁移等土壤质量问题;并且引起水体的非点源污染,影响区域的产水量和水循环。同时,环境变化对LUCC具有限制作用。不仅通过特定的气候环境直接限制土地的利用方式;还间接通过借助人类生态环境意识的改变,实现对区域土地利用强度与方式的约束。LUCC既是全球环境变化的原因,也是全球环境变化的结果。LUCC 与生态环境之间存在着复杂的、非线性的动态反馈关系。进一步探讨了当前 LUCC 与环境变化关系的主要研究方向和相关研究方法,针对目前存在的缺乏统一的指标体系,研究区域、时空尺度单一,以单要素静态研究为主,实验研究相对薄弱以及动态模拟不够等问题,提出加强跨学科综合交叉研究、注重多尺度探讨LUCC的环境效应、构建一个 LUCC 环境效应研究的统一指标体系及加强“3S”技术与模拟模型的融合等建议。为寻求更科学更合理的土地利用方式提供了基础信息。     

中国农田主要温室气体排放特征与控制技术

全球气候变化已成为不争的事实,已经引起了各国科学家和政府的高度重视。人类活动向大气中排放的二氧化碳（CO2）、甲烷（CH4）和氧化亚氮（N2O）等温室气体浓度的增加是导致气候变化的重要原因之一。农田土壤是这三种温室气体的重要来源。文章概述了农田土壤CO2、CH4和N2O三种主要温室气体的排放机制,系统总结了国内对这三种温室气体排放通量的观测研究,提出了相应的减排技术对策,并对目前的研究问题和未来的发展方向作了深入的探讨,以期为控制农田土壤温室气体排放、发展低碳农业提供参考依据。     

Cultivated land – a scarce commodity in a densely populated rural area in South Wollo,Ethiopia

Cultivated and settlement areas were studied in a small area (14 km2) in South Wollo, Ethiopia, by aerial photos, satellite images, field observations and interviews. Areas for cultivation/rural settlement decreased a few per cent between 1958 and 2013. Cultivated land per household slowly decreased in 1958–2003 but in 2003–2013 the annual decrease was 3–4 times higher. New farm buildings are often built on cultivated land, and abandoned buildings areas return to cultivation. Rainwater harvesting ponds have increased the areas with perennial crops that are important as a source of income. Tin roofed buildings are signs of improved livelihood. Very small farm size and rain-dependent agriculture combined with climate variability make food security vulnerable. Land-use inventories including remote sensing and local knowledge would be a valuable approach to assess livelihood needs. Further, it should involve decision makers at different levels, but local agricultural extension officers may play a central role.     

Agency and structure: a grounded theory approach to explain land-use change in the Mindo and western foothills of Pichincha,Ecuador

ABSTRACT

Although life and land decisions are individual, driven by perceptions of reality, they reflect broader social processes. This research aims to understand relevant land-use change processes and the context within which land-use change occurs in the study area. For this, we employ grounded theory techniques and procedures to analyze narratives and life history interviews. Based on these narratives, we re-construct past land-use changes. Additionally, we identify structural conditions that drive change, several dimensions of change, including cultural-cognitive dimensions, and future discourses. The identified structural conditions motivate changes in concepts, actions, and practices, in land-use, and institutions, eventually leading to generational changes. Further research is needed to examine how the so-called structural conditions producing change varies in different settings and contexts. These findings can provide insight into certain patterns and knowledge that may contribute to community planning, policy design, and the conception of sustainable solutions with more grounded knowledge.     

A Realistic Assessment of the Indicator Potential of Butterflies and Other Charismatic Taxonomic Groups

Abstract:  Charismatic groups of animals and plants often are proposed as sentinels of environmental status and trends. Nevertheless, many claims that a certain taxonomic group can provide more-general information on environmental quality are not evaluated critically. To address several of the many definitions of indicator species, we used butterflies to explore in some detail the attributes that affect implementation of indicators generically. There probably are few individual species, or sets of species, that can serve as scientifically valid, cost-effective measures of the status or trend of an environmental phenomenon that is difficult to measure directly. Nevertheless, there are species with distributions, abundances, or demographic characteristics that are responsive to known environmental changes. In this context, single or multiple species can serve as indicators when targets are defined explicitly, ecological relationships between the target and the putative indicators are well understood, and data are sufficient to differentiate between deterministic and stochastic responses. Although these situations exist, they are less common than might be apparent from an extensive and often confounded literature on indicators. Instead, the public appeal of charismatic groups may be driving much of their acclaim as indicators. The same taxon may not be appropriate for marketing a general conservation mission and for drawing strong inference about specific environmental changes. To provide insights into the progress of conservation efforts, it is essential to identify scientific and practical criteria for selection and application of indicators and then to examine whether a given taxonomic group meets those criteria .     

A Global Conservation System for Climate-Change Adaptation

Abstract:  Climate change has created the need for a new strategic framework for conservation. This framework needs to include new protected areas that account for species range shifts and management that addresses large-scale change across international borders. Actions within the framework must be effective in international waters and across political frontiers and have the ability to accommodate large income and ability-to-pay discrepancies between countries. A global protected-area system responds to these needs. A fully implemented global system of protected areas will help in the transition to a new conservation paradigm robust to climate change and will ensure the integrity of the climate services provided by carbon sequestration from the world's natural habitats. The internationally coordinated response to climate change afforded by such a system could have significant cost savings relative to a system of climate adaptation that unfolds solely at a country level. Implementation of a global system is needed very soon because the effects of climate change on species and ecosystems are already well underway .     

美国稳定全球气候政策的方案选择

本文介绍了美国稳定全球气候政策方案选择研究项目的概况,分析了快速变化的世界和慢速变化的世界远景。     

土壤有机质对宁夏农业综合开发活动的响应

为深入分析宁夏农业综合开发活动对土壤有机质的影响,认识其对气候变化的适应意义,分别于北部平原灌区、中部干旱带和南部黄土丘陵区的3个农发项目典型示范点,选取典型用地、玉米地、未利用地3种土地利用类型,分析表层10～20 cm土壤有机质的变化规律。研究发现,生态区和土地利用类型是影响土壤有机质的重要因素,并存在极显著的交互作用。研究区土壤有机质在4.53～14.70 g·kg-1范围内变化,典型用地有显著改善,平均质量分数达10.40 g·kg-1。限定生态区条件下,北部平原灌区无论水稻还是玉米利用方式下,土壤有机质含量相对未利用地都出现显著提升,但是南部黄土丘陵区3种土地利用类型间并无显著差异,中部干旱带只有甘草地土壤有机质含量显著提升,幅度高达145%。限定土地利用类型条件下,3个生态区间典型用地土壤有机质出现显著差异,但是北部平原灌区和南部黄土丘陵区间未利用地以及玉米地表层土壤有机质差异并不显著。研究区农业综合开发活动对土壤有机质储存的作用以正效应为主,但是不同农业土地利用类型在不同生态区对土壤有机质的作用不尽相同。宁夏农业综合开发活动需要综合考虑生态区水土资源特征,选取适宜的农业土地利用类型,有效提升土壤有机质含量,积极应对气候变化。     

Assessing the Effects of Climate Change on Aquatic Invasive Species

Abstract:  Different components of global environmental change are typically studied and managed independently, although there is a growing recognition that multiple drivers often interact in complex and nonadditive ways. We present a conceptual framework and empirical review of the interactive effects of climate change and invasive species in freshwater ecosystems. Climate change is expected to result in warmer water temperatures, shorter duration of ice cover, altered streamflow patterns, increased salinization, and increased demand for water storage and conveyance structures. These changes will alter the pathways by which non-native species enter aquatic systems by expanding fish-culture facilities and water gardens to new areas and by facilitating the spread of species during floods. Climate change will influence the likelihood of new species becoming established by eliminating cold temperatures or winter hypoxia that currently prevent survival and by increasing the construction of reservoirs that serve as hotspots for invasive species. Climate change will modify the ecological impacts of invasive species by enhancing their competitive and predatory effects on native species and by increasing the virulence of some diseases. As a result of climate change, new prevention and control strategies such as barrier construction or removal efforts may be needed to control invasive species that currently have only moderate effects or that are limited by seasonally unfavorable conditions. Although most researchers focus on how climate change will increase the number and severity of invasions, some invasive coldwater species may be unable to persist under the new climate conditions. Our findings highlight the complex interactions between climate change and invasive species that will influence how aquatic ecosystems and their biota will respond to novel environmental conditions.     

Evolving patterns of agricultural frontier expansion in Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert: a political ecology approach

ABSTRACT

This study sought to understand why and how the area of irrigated agriculture in Janos County, in northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico, has tripled since 1987. Expansion of agricultural frontiers has often been attributed to state policies and programs or von Thünian land-rent dynamics. Here, a political ecology approach relying on qualitative interviews with landowners was used to understand the drivers and patterns of conversion from native rangeland to crops. Results show that socioeconomic patterns of agricultural frontier expansion evolved over time, with different drivers at different phases. State policies, especially the land reform, were initially important for settling the agriculture frontier in small farms. Subsequently, economic differentiation, intensification, and growth of existing farms drove expansion. Since 2010, expansion has been driven by investment-oriented land purchases by absentee owners and larger-than-family farms. The Janos case details what may be common but underappreciated temporal dynamics at agricultural frontiers.     

森林土地利用变化及其对碳循环的影响

由于人口剧增，人类活动的影响不断加大，在过去100年全球土地利用／土地覆被发生了巨大的变化。最常见的土地利用变化是由森林转变为农业用地。森林砍伐使森林生态系统地上部生物量大大减少，砍伐后作农业用地，降低了植被生产力，减少了土壤有机质的输入，增强了腐殖质的矿化作用，有机质分解速率增加，有机碳贮量随之降低，从而影响到森林生态系统的碳循环，使大量碳元素释放到大气中，引起温室效应，导致全球变暖。另一个常见的土地利用变化是植树造林和森林恢复，这一过程可以增加森林生态系统的碳储量，从而减缓大气CO2体积分数的上升。     

兰州市土地利用变化及生态服务价值

以典型河谷型大城市兰州市为例,在RS和GIS技术支持下,剖析了1997-2009年该市各县区土地利用及其变化情况。在此基础上,参考Costanza等生态系统服务价值计算方法和中国陆地生态系统单位面积服务价值表,分析r近12年来研究区土地利用变化对生态系统服务价值的影响及其变化情况。结果表明：1997-2009年兰州市林地增长面积最大,主要来源于耕地的转出及两山绿化,其次为建设用地,主要是对耕地、草地和未利用地的占用;土地利用类型面积减少最大的是耕地,主要转变为林地、草地和建设用地。土地利用变化引起生态系统服务价值及GDP变化,其分别从1997年的59．99亿元,210．27亿元上升到2009年     

广州东进扩张下的萝岗区土地利用与景观动态分析

以研究区1979年MSS1、990年LandsatTM、2000年LandsatETM以及2006年Aster 4个时段的卫星遥感影像为基础数据,运用RS与GIS技术手段,结合FRAGSTATS景观格局分析软件,对萝岗区近30年来的土地利用与景观格局变化进行了定量分析。研究表明：研究区未利用土地、园地及耕地面积大幅减少,林地与城镇用地面积显著增加。1979—2006年期间,2000年是一个分水岭,2000年前景观的连接度下降,破碎程度增加,景观斑块的形状趋于复杂化,景观结构组成的复杂性也趋于增加。2000年后各指数呈现了逆转的趋势,表明萝岗区为建设成为国际化生态型新城区,在后期的城市化进程中特别重视了生态环境的保护及建设。