Planning for robust reserve networks using uncertainty analysis

Planning land-use for biodiversity conservation frequently involves computer-assisted reserve selection algorithms. Typically such algorithms operate on matrices of species presence–absence in sites, or on species-specific distributions of model predicted probabilities of occurrence in grid cells. There are practically always errors in input data—erroneous species presence–absence data, structural and parametric uncertainty in predictive habitat models, and lack of correspondence between temporal presence and long-run persistence. Despite these uncertainties, typical reserve selection methods proceed as if there is no uncertainty in the data or models. Having two conservation options of apparently equal biological value, one would prefer the option whose value is relatively insensitive to errors in planning inputs. In this work we show how uncertainty analysis for reserve planning can be implemented within a framework of information-gap decision theory, generating reserve designs that are robust to uncertainty. Consideration of uncertainty involves modifications to the typical objective functions used in reserve selection. Search for robust-optimal reserve structures can still be implemented via typical reserve selection optimization techniques, including stepwise heuristics, integer-programming and stochastic global search.     

EVALUATING RELIABILITY OF STORAGE SCHEMES WITH DENDROHYDROLOGY AND THE HURST PHENOMENON1

ABSTRACT: The mean annual flow at a damsite during a water project yield study of several decades may differ considerably from the mean flow of several hundred years. The frequency of the most severe droughts of record may be much different than apparent from the historical record as well. Dendrohydrology and the Hurst Phenomenon provide means to evaluate the validity of the study period for project reliability analysis. The most severe hydrologic drought (1928–1934) affecting the watersheds of the Sacramento River and tributaries in Northern California during the 75-year period 1906–1980 was also the worst drought in 421 years (1560–1980). In contrast, the most severe drought (1945–1951) in the Santa Ynez River watershed in Santa Barbara County, California, during the 62-year period 1918–1979 was the ninth worst drought in 443 years (1537–1979). Thus, in one case the drought risk indicated by the dendrohydrologic time series would actually be less; in the other, actual risk would be greater than perceived from the historical record. In the absence of a dendrohydrologic prehistoric time series, Hurst Phenomena would have provided clues to this outcome. Hurstian plotting of the accumulated deviation from the mean for long time series facilitates observation of the wet-dry regime of the examples and identification of characteristics that should be accounted for in water development planning.     

从理念探索到规划实践——关于“泉城”可持续发展规划的研究与思考

济南历史上是典型的“山水”城市 ,再现泉城特色 ,把济南建设成为“最适宜创业和最适宜居住”的现代化“山水生态城” ,实现城市的可持续发展。要科学把握现代城市发展的生态化、人文化趋势 ,顺时应势 ,发挥得天独厚的自然、人文优势 ,重建山水空间     

城市规划区农用地价格评估的实证研究--以江苏泰兴市为例

城市规划区农用地价格的评估既不同于城市建成区各类用地价格评估，也不同于基本农田保护区的农用地的价格评估，是农用地价格评估中的热点和难点，其区别于其他土地评估的特点主要表现在：一是城市规划区农用地价格是一种农用地转用价格，其实质是农用地所有权价格；二是城市规划区农用地用途将发生变更；三是城市规划区农用地存在着预期收益及其收益年限问题。在此基础上，以江苏泰兴市为例，对城市规划区农用地价格的评估思路进行了探讨，思路之一是运用投入产出法将城市规划区农用地的未来预期净收益还原为无限年期的所有权价格；思路之二是运用假设开发法求取“剩余之数、即为地价；思路之三是运用征购价格法从农用地价格构成角度探讨了规划区农用地的价格，并对三种估价思路及其估价结果进行了比较分析。     

1980-2000年中国发展的资源环境成本分析

21世纪头20年是中国实现现代化、全面建设小康社会的重要时期，也是中国走可持续发展道路面临机遇与挑战并存的时期。在这20年内，中国要实现国内生产总值翻两番、人均国内生产总值接近3000美元的目标，首先离不开自然资源、生态环境的支撑。本文通过对改革开放20年中国社会经济发展对资源、生态环境消耗情况的全面分析，阐述了发展与资源、生态环境的关系，系统地评估了中国目前资源、生态环境的基础。     

Modeling Opportunity Costs of Conservation in Transitional Landscapes

Abstract:  Conservation scientists recognize the urgency of incorporating opportunity costs into conservation planning. Despite this, applications to date have been limited, perhaps partly because of the difficulty in determining costs in regions with limited data on land prices and ownership. We present methods for estimating opportunity costs of land preservation in landscapes or ecoregions that are a changing mix of agriculture and natural habitat. Our approach derives from the literature on estimating land values as opportunity costs of alternate land uses and takes advantage of general availability of necessary data, even in relatively data-poor regions. The methods integrate probabilities of habitat conversion with region-wide estimates of economic benefits from agricultural land uses and estimate land values with a discount rate to convert annual values into net present values. We applied our method in a landscape undergoing agricultural conversion in Paraguay. Our model of opportunity costs predicted an independent data set of land values and was consistent with implicit discount rates of 15–25%. Model-generated land values were strongly correlated with actual land values even after correcting for the effect of property size and proportion of property that was forested. We used the model to produce a map of opportunity costs and to estimate the costs of conserving forest within two proposed corridors in the landscape. This method can be applied to conservation planning in situations where natural habitat is currently being converted to market-oriented land uses. Incorporating not only biological attributes but also socioeconomic data can help in the design of efficient networks of protected areas that represent biodiversity at minimum costs.     

西安市水资源的可持续利用研究

随着西部大开发战略的实施 ,西安市水资源供给与城市发展的矛盾将愈加突出。西安市水资源总量先天不足且时空分布不均 ,人为利用中对水环境破坏严重 ,水资源重复利用率低下 ,使原本很少的水资源更为短缺。针对以上问题 ,本文构建了西安市水资源利用的外部约束机制 ,并从现实出发探索了水资源利用的内部机制     

基于资源环境承载力的规划结构优化方法探讨

规划结构合理性以及规划结构优化是规划环境影响评价关注的核心问题之一。文章以某煤电、煤化工基地规划环评为例,探讨了以区域资源、环境承载力为约束条件,以经济效益最大化为规划目标,采用线性规划法优化煤电、煤化工基地规划结构的过程。线性规划模型以煤电、煤化工产品的规模作为变量;资源、环境约束条件包括水资源消耗量、煤炭资源消耗量、蒸汽消耗量、电能消耗量、SO2排放量和CO2排放量。通过线性规划模型对煤电、煤化工产品的规模进行优化,在增加煤电、煤化工基地的经济效益的同时,减小了区域资源消耗和污染物排放水平。     

废弃印刷电路板资源化回收利用技术探讨

废弃印刷电路板成分复杂,在含有大量可回收金属的同时,还含有多种有害物质,其资源化回收和处置技术受到国内外广泛的关注。对目前主要的废弃印刷电路板回收利用技术应用状况和实践进展进行了分析。机械法．化学冶金法是目前广泛应用的以回收废弃印刷电路板中的金属为主要目的的回收技术。应用热解技术处理废弃印刷电路板,不仅可以有效回收废弃印刷电路板中的金属物质,还可以使废弃印刷电路板中的非金属物质得到资源化利用,具有很好的发展前景。