Contribution of the Natura 2000 Network to Biodiversity Conservation in Italy

Abstract:  The Natura 2000 network is the most important conservation effort being implemented in Europe. Nevertheless, no comprehensive and systematic region—or nationwide evaluation of the effectiveness of the network has been conducted. We used habitat suitability models and extent of occurrence of 468 species of vertebrates to evaluate the contribution of the Natura 2000 network to biodiversity conservation in Italy. We also estimated the population size of 101 species inside the Natura 2000 network to assess its capacity to maintain or improve the population status of listed species. In general the Italian Natura 2000 did not seem to integrate existing protected areas well. The Natura 2000 network increased from 11% to 20% the area devoted to conservation in Italy and the coverage provided to areas with high biodiversity. Nevertheless, some areas with high numbers of species were devoid of conservation areas, and more than 50% of the highly irreplaceable areas were not considered in the system. Moreover, the Natura 2000 network cannot maintain 44–80% (depending on the taxa considered) of the species in a "favorable conservation status" under World Conservation Union Red List criteria. The Natura 2000 network is probably stronger than the results of our analyses suggest. The system is based on a site-specific expert-based strategy and is driven by direct and detailed knowledge of local diversity. Nevertheless, if Natura 2000 is taken to represent the final point of all the EU conservation policies, it will inevitably fail. Its role in conservation could be enhanced by integrating the Natura 2000 system into a more general strategy that considers natural processes and the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms underlying these processes.     

KS-2000宽频带地震计作为综合观测仪器的可行性探讨

取用安徽省数字地震台网金寨地震台KS-2000宽频带地震计记录到的资料,采用matlab的低通滤波功能对地震计垂直向和水平向记录到的资料进行处理,并利用matlab分别画出其频谱图,发现KS-2000宽频带地震计的垂直向能较为清晰的记录到固体潮汐。     

煤矿救援队伍业务管理系统研究

为了改善救援队伍业务管理模式,提高煤矿救援队伍的业务管理能力,利用救护队现有的计算机设备,以Windows Server 2003系统和北京龙软科技发展有限公司Longruan GIS 3.0为平台,以Visual C++6.0和SQL Server 2000为开发工具,采用多层次的Client/Server结构,在面向对象思想指导下设计与实现的煤矿救援队伍业务管理系统,文章介绍了业务管理系统的前台软件开发和后台数据库开发的设计思想和步骤。现场应用证明,该系统能够为煤矿救援队业务管理提供强有力的技术支持,有利于提高煤矿救援队管理人员的业务能力。     

基于Web的热带气旋灾害信息管理系统的设计与应用

用基于Web的页面显示、业务逻辑、数据访问的B/S三层结构,在Microsoft SQL Server2000和Microsoft Visual Studio2005环境下设计开发了热带气旋灾害数据库信息管理系统。对不同类型的数据,采用多对多的数据映射关系,并以不同的方式进行不同的数据管理。为了将没有统一数据格式的热带气旋灾害信息源数据,能够正确地导入到SQL Server数据库中,编写了专门的C++程序对数据格式化,实现数据格式的BNF定义,同时,在系统的设计中,融入灾害评价方法模型供用户选择使用,并采取多项行之有效的措施以防止SQL注入式攻击。     

Uncertainties in the assessment of “significant effect” on the Dutch Natura 2000 Wadden Sea site – The mussel seed fishery and powerboat race controversies

Natura 2000, the nature network based on the European Bird and Habitat Directives, is explicitly grounded on ecological science. To acquire a permit under the Dutch Nature Conservation Act, an appropriate assessment of significant effects must be conducted based on the best available scientific knowledge. In this way the scientific and policy world are directly linked. This article focuses on ‘significant effect’ as a boundary object to analyse how science–policy interactions shape the meaning and assessment of significant effect and how these interpretations influence the decision-making process. To this end, two conflicts over significant effect are investigated: the conflict over the 2006-spring permit for the mussel seed fishery, and the 2011 permit for the planned World Championship powerboat races. In both cases nature organisations started a court process against the government-granted permits in protest to the “no significant effect” claim, stating that there was insufficient certainty for this conclusion. These conflicts are approached as controversies between discourse coalitions with different interpretations of the ecological knowledge. We show how significant effect became a focal point in the controversies, limiting the debate to ecological arguments and science-based expertise, but also creating options for parties to advance their protest by articulating uncertainties. Only uncertainty of incomplete knowledge was explicitly addressed, excluding ambiguity of values and unpredictability of the actual ecosystem. We suggest that acknowledging the value aspect in disputes on significant effect would leave more space for effective solutions of the problems under debate.     

微米级空间碎片撞击太阳电池研究

目的评估航天器太阳电池阵遭遇微米级空间碎片撞击后性能的下降程度。方法利用激光驱动飞片发射系统针对硅太阳电池开展系统的试验工作,对太阳电池机械损伤特性及伏安特性进行测试。利用ORDEM2000软件计算航天器所在轨道的碎片通量和速度。结合试验结果,计算航天器太阳电池阵因微米级空间碎片撞击引起的最大输出功率衰减率。结果太阳电池最大输出功率衰减率与溅射区直径呈二次函数关系,与表面污染率近似相等。未来5年天宫一号所在轨道航天器太阳电池因微米级空间碎片撞击引起的最大输出功率衰减率为0.45%。结论利用该研究结果可以预计航天器太阳电池因微米级空间碎片撞击引起的最大输出功率衰减率,为航天器总体设计提供技术支持。     

From Environmental Ethics to Nature Conservation Policy: Natura 2000 and the Burden of Proof

Natura 2000 is a network of natural sites whose aim is to preserve species and habitats of relevance in the European Union. The policy underlying Natura 2000 has faced widespread opposition from land users and received extensive support from environmentalists. This paper addresses the ethical framework for Natura 2000 and the probable moral assumptions of its main stakeholders. Arguments for and against Natura 2000 were analyzed and classified according to “strong” or “weak” versions of the three main theories of environmental ethics – anthropocentrism, biocentrism, and ecocentrism. Weak (intergenerational) anthropocentrism was found to underlie the Natura 2000 network itself and the positions of environmentalists, while strong (traditional) anthropocentrism pervaded the positions of economic developers. Land users seemed to fall somewhere between weak and strong anthropocentrism. The paper discusses the relation between ethics and different attitudes towards Natura 2000, highlighting some of the implications for the network’s ongoing implementation. It is shown that Natura 2000 achieves a strong reversal of the burden of proof from conservation to economic development and land use change under anthropocentrism. It is argued that the alleged theoretical divide between anthropocentrism and non-anthropocentrism in relation to the burden of proof does not seem to hold in practice. Finally, it is predicted that the weak versions of anthropocentrism, biocentrism, and ecocentrism, are likely to converge extensively in respect to nature conservation policy measures.“Charting the depths of law and policy disputes yield an understanding of ethical differences.” Paul B. Thompson (2002, p. 189).     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed:
Annelies Heijmans and Lorna P. Victoria, Citizenry–based and Development–oriented Disaster Response: Experiences and Practices in Disaster Management of the Citizens' Disaster Response Network in the Philippines     

Solid phase extraction of gold(III) on Amberlite XAD-2000 prior to its flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination

A solid phase extraction method for the determination of gold(III) at trace levels by flame atomic absorption spectrometer (FAAS) was developed. The method was based on retention of gold as chloro complexes through the Amberlite XAD-2000. The effect of some analytical parameters including hydrochloric acid concentration, sample volume, sample and eluent flow rates, eluent volume, eluent concentration and interfering ions on the recovery of gold(III) was investigated. The retention of gold(III) from 1.5 mol l⁻¹ HCl solution and the recovery of gold with 0.07 mol l⁻¹ NH₃ solution were quantitative (≥95%). The relative standard deviation (RSD) was calculated as 3.2% (n = 10). The detection limit for gold was 2 μg l⁻¹. The accuracy was checked with the determination of gold spiked an artificial seawater and a pure copper samples.     

Uncertainty Analysis of Hydrologic and Water Quality Predictions for a Small Watershed Using SWAT2000

Hydrologic and water quality (H/WQ) models are being used with increasing frequency to devise alternative pollution control strategies. It has been recognized that such models may have a large degree of uncertainty associated with their predictions, and that this uncertainty can significantly impact the utility of the model. In this study, ARRAMIS (Advanced Risk & Reliability Assessment Model) software package was used to analyze the uncertainty of the SWAT2000 (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) outputs concerning nutrients and sediment losses from agricultural lands. ARRAMIS applies Monte Carlo simulation technique connected with Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) scheme. This technique is applied to the Warner Creek watershed located in the Piedmont physiographic region of Maryland, and it provides an interval estimate of a range of values with an associated probability instead of a point estimate of a particular pollutant constituent. Uncertainty of model outputs was investigated using LHS scheme with restricted pairing for the model input sampling. Probability distribution functions (pdfs) for each of the 50 model simulations were constructed from these results. Model output distributions of interest in this analysis were stream flow, sediment, organic nitrogen (organic-N), organic phosphorus (organic-P), nitrate, ammonium, and mineral phosphorus (mineral-P) transported with water. Developed probability distribution functions for the model provided information with desirable probability. Results indicate that consideration of input parameter uncertainty produces 64% less mean stream flow along with approximately 8.2% larger sediment loading than obtained using mean input parameters. On the contrary, mean of outputs regarding nutrients such as nitrate, ammonia, organic-N, and organic-P (but not mineral-P) were almost the same as the one using mean input parameters. The uncertainty in predicted stream flow and sediment loading is large, but that for nutrient loadings is the same as that of the corresponding input parameters. This study concluded that using a best possible distribution for the input parameters to reflect the impact of soils and land use diversity in a small watershed on SWAT2000 model outputs may be more accurate than using average values for each input parameter.