Research core and framework of sustainability science

This paper reviews recent achievements in sustainability science and discusses the research core and framework of sustainability science. We analyze and organize papers published in three selected core journals of sustainability science: Sustainability Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, and Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy. Papers are organized into three categories: sustainability and its definition, domain-oriented research, and a research framework for sustainability science. First, we provide a short history and define the basic characteristics of sustainability; then we review current efforts in the following research domains: climate, biodiversity, agriculture, fishery, forestry, energy and resources, water, economic development, health, and lifestyle. Finally, we propose a research framework for sustainability science that includes the following components: goal setting, indicator setting, indicator measurement, causal chain analysis, forecasting, backcasting, and problem–solution chain analysis. We emphasize the importance of this last component for improving situations and attaining goals.     

城市园林植物生态功能及其评价与优化研究进展

城市当前面临着越来越严重的环境问题.园林植物因其碳氧平衡、蒸腾吸热、吸污滞尘、减菌减噪、涵养水源、土壤活化和养分循环、维持生物多样性、景观功能、防灾减灾等生态功能在缓解城市环境压力方面起着至关重要的作用.为了使城市园林植物生态功能最大限度地发挥和城市生态环境得到较大改观,综述了国内外在城市园林植物生态功能及其评价与优化等方面的最新研究成果,分析研究中存在的不足之处.     

我国交通运输气候灾害的初步研究

利用收集的资料,从我国实际国情出发,在分析我国气候特点、交通运输发展特点的基础上,综合研究了我国交通运输气候灾害的特点、类型、分布及其影响,为进一步开展气候异常对交通运输的影响研究打下了基础．     

MANAGING THE COLORADO RIVER IN A SEVERE SUSTAINED DROUGHT AN EVALUATION OF INSTITUTIONAL OPTIONS1

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a summary of the findings and recommendations of the studies of severe, sustained drought reported in this special issue. The management facilities and institutions were found to be effective in protecting consumptive water users against drought, but much less effective in protecting nonconsumptive uses. Changes in intrastate water management were found to be effective in reducing the monetary value of damages, through reallocating shortages to low-valued uses, while only water banking and water marketing, among the possible interstate rule changes, were similarly effective. Players representing the basin states and the federal government in three gaming experiments were unable to agree upon and effect major changes in operating rules. The conclusions are (1) that nonconsumptive water uses are highly vulnerable to drought, (2) that consumptive uses are well-protected, (3) that drought risk is greatest in the Upper Basin, (4) that the Lower Basin suffers from chronic water shortage but bears little drought risk, (5) that opportunities exist for win-win rule changes, (6) that such rule changes are extremely difficult to make, and (7) that intrastate drought management is very effective ^m in reducing potential damages.     

The missing pieces for better future predictions in subarctic ecosystems: A Torneträsk case study

Arctic and subarctic ecosystems are experiencing substantial changes in hydrology, vegetation, permafrost conditions, and carbon cycling, in response to climatic change and other anthropogenic drivers, and these changes are likely to continue over this century. The total magnitude of these changes results from multiple interactions among these drivers. Field measurements can address the overall responses to different changing drivers, but are less capable of quantifying the interactions among them. Currently, a comprehensive assessment of the drivers of ecosystem changes, and the magnitude of their direct and indirect impacts on subarctic ecosystems, is missing. The Torneträsk area, in the Swedish subarctic, has an unrivalled history of environmental observation over 100 years, and is one of the most studied sites in the Arctic. In this study, we summarize and rank the drivers of ecosystem change in the Torneträsk area, and propose research priorities identified, by expert assessment, to improve predictions of ecosystem changes. The research priorities identified include understanding impacts on ecosystems brought on by altered frequency and intensity of winter warming events, evapotranspiration rates, rainfall, duration of snow cover and lake-ice, changed soil moisture, and droughts. This case study can help us understand the ongoing ecosystem changes occurring in the Torneträsk area, and contribute to improve predictions of future ecosystem changes at a larger scale. This understanding will provide the basis for the future mitigation and adaptation plans needed in a changing climate.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01381-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

污染土壤修复技术研究现状与趋势

生态保护工作的发展包括环境保护和污染治理两个方面,为了保证生态环境的健康发展,必须要同时做好这两方面工作。在污染治理过程中土壤修复是重要的治理内容,也是污染治理的重要研究方法。本文主要对污染土壤修复技术研究现状进行分析,并对其未来的发展趋势进行预测。     

关于水污染物总量控制研究进展及问题分析

水污染物浓度控制和排放总量控制是水质达标管理的前提。本文将其和水污染物的总量控制发展进程相互结合,对实施应用和理论完善以及深入探讨等阶段的进展进行阐述,介绍污染物总量控制实施时的总量分配和入河控制等相关技术细节,得到总量控制的实施优点,最后明确控制污染物总量的具体意义。     

高职高专院校行政人员素质评价指标体系研究

本文论述了对高职高专院校行政人员素质进行评价的必要性和功能,在描述高职高专院校行政人员现 状的基础上,分析了高职高专院校行政人员素质评价指标体系及其构成,从而为全国高职高专院校人才培养 水平评估工作提供借鉴。     

The Irish Sea: towards a more effective science strategy

The Irish Sea’s distinctive hydrographic features present unique opportunities for research into the complex processes that regulate shelf-sea ecosystems. Such studies are essential in developing capabilities to detect and evaluate change in marine environments. A 1993 review showed almost 230 projects underway on the Irish Sea, spanning all the major fields of marine science. But a large proportion of research projects failed to indicate the purpose of the work; overall, there was a remarkable absence of clarity and specificity in the objectives. Progress in some fields is also hampered by insufficient coordination and cohesion; at present there are no standing arrangements between Ireland and the United Kingdom that provide for bilateral co-ordination of scientific work in the area. There is clearly a need for a more planned and integrated Irish Sea science programme to provide information for management purposes and also to advance scientific understanding of the components and functions of Irish Sea ecosystems, and how and why they change with time. There is a common belief that the first of these predominantly involves monitoring, and the second research. However, the paper cautions that this is a dubious and unnecessary distinction. A strategy aimed at better integration of research and monitoring (e.g. a framework of linked objectives and targets) could substantially increase the information dividend from current investments in Irish Sea science. Based on a joint Irish/UK review, this paper outlines studies and approaches that are seen as key elements of a future, more relevant and cost-effective research programme for the Irish Sea.     

COPING WITH A SEVERE SUSTAINED DROUGHT ON THE COLORADO RWER: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW1

ABSTRACT: In arid regions of rapid economic and population growth, adverse effects of droughts are likely to be increasingly serious. This article presents an introduction and overview of the papers collected in this special issue of the Water Resources Bulletin. The papers report on the second phase of a study of the impacts of and responses to a potential severe sustained drought in the Colorado River Basin in the southwestern U.S. The analyses were performed by a consortium of researchers from universities and the private sector located throughout the Basin. Tree ring studies suggest that droughts of duration and magnitude much more serious than any found in the modern records probably occurred in the Basin during earlier centuries. Taking the present-day configuration of the storage and diversion structures and the economic conditions in the Basin as the base-point, the general objectives of the study are three: first, to define a representative Severe Sustained Drought (SSD) and assess its hydrologic impacts; second, to forecast the economic, social and environmental impacts on the southwestern U.S.; and finally, to assess alternative institutional arrangements for coping with an SSD. The evaluation of impacts and policies was conducted with two distinct modeling approaches. One involved hydrologic-economic optimization modeling where water allocation institutions are decision variables. The second was a simulation-gaming approach which allowed “players” representing each basin state to interact in a real-time decision making mode in response to the unfolding drought.