Risk Assessment of Riparian Plant Invasions into Protected Areas

Abstract:  Protected areas are becoming increasingly isolated. River corridors represent crucial links to the surrounding landscape but are also major conduits for invasion of alien species. We developed a framework to assess the risk that alien plants in watersheds adjacent to a protected area will invade the protected area along rivers. The framework combines species- and landscape-level approaches and has five key components: (1) definition of the geographical area of interest, (2) delineation of the domain into ecologically meaningful zones, (3) identification of the appropriate landscape units, (4) categorization of alien species and mapping of their distribution and abundance, and (5) definition of management options. The framework guides the determination of species distribution and abundance through successive, easily followed steps, providing the means for the assessment of areas of concern. We applied the framework to Kruger National Park (KNP) in South Africa. We recorded 231 invasive alien plant species (of which 79 were major invaders) in the domain. The KNP is facing increasing pressure from alien species in the upper regions of the drainage areas of neighboring watersheds. On the basis of the climatic modeling, we showed that most major riparian invaders have the ability to spread across the KNP should they be transported down the rivers. With this information, KNP managers can identify areas for proactive intervention, monitoring, and resource allocation. Even for a very large protected area such as the KNP, sustainable management of biodiversity will depend heavily on the response of land managers upstream managing alien plants. We suggest that this framework is applicable to plants and other passively dispersed species that invade protected areas situated at the end of a drainage basin.     

基于生态风险评估的旅游目的地开发研究——以吉林省大布苏国家级自然保护区为例

吉林大布苏国家级自然保护区的主要生态风险源来自人类活动,该保护区目前以开展生态旅游为主。以吉林省大布苏国家级自然保护区为例,运用生态风险评估的一般方法系统分析影响其生态风险的因素,确定其主要生态风险源为干旱、盐碱化、水土流失和人类活动,其中人类活动造成的影响特别突出。将ArcGIS应用于生态风险的评价当中,结合2004--2011年土地利用类型变化,绘制综合生态风险等级分布图,提出针对性的旅游开发对策以降低该保护区面临的生态风险,实现吉林省大布苏国家级自然保护区的可持续发展。     

The derivation of discount rates with an augmented measure of income

Most developed economies invest in public goods such as national defense, education, infrastructure, and the environment. Discount rates used to evaluate such projects should reflect the rate of return on the current mix of investment opportunities. Rates derived from the productivity of private capital neglect returns beyond the market boundary. The present paper derives discount rates using an augmented measure of national income inclusive of non-market goods. In an empirical application focusing on air pollution and climate damages in the United States economy, the paper reports that the difference between augmented and market discount rates averages 0.3 percentage points from 1999 to 2014.     

兰州市银滩湿地小生境沉积物中硅藻的属种分布及特征

通过采集兰州市银滩湿地秋（10月）、冬（12月）两季不同水环境中的表面沉积物,分析鉴定硅藻属种的分布和组合特征。结果表明硅藻优势种随采样点和采样时间发生变化。10月份以Gyrosigma scalproides、Cymatopleura solea var.regula、Navicula viridula var.rostellata、N.simplex、N.exigua、Nitzschia palea、N.angustata var.acuta、Cymbella affinis为相对优势种。12月份以Gyrosigma Parkerii、G.acuminatum、Navicula veneta、N.viridula var.rostellata、Nitzschia angustata var.acuta、N.palea、Cocconeis placentula为相对优势种。银滩湿地在秋季和冬季以指示淡水环境硅藻为主,底栖种和附着型种为特征。出现了一些指示中营养的有机污染种,表明了水质的营养化程度升高。有机质含量、pH、Cl-和P是中营养有机污染种主要的影响因素,表明银滩湿地的富营养化趋势较为明显。     

The burden of proof in trade disputes and the environment

The WTO leaves discretion over environmental policies to its members, but requests that a fundamental non-discrimination principle is respected: National Treatment (NT). The provision seeks to prevent protectionist use of domestic policy instruments, requesting that when an imported product is sufficiently similar to a domestic product, they are treated identically. WTO adjudicators will often face severe informational problems in environmental disputes. Important for the practical implementation of NT is therefore the allocation of the burden of proof (BoP). This paper highlights basic implications of the BoP for the occurrence of judicial errors, for the environment and for welfare, using a setting where NT serves its intended role of supporting negotiated tariff liberalization. The paper suggests that NT may indeed constrain environmental policies, but that this may be desirable from an efficiency point of view. Also, BoP rules that benefit the environment may not benefit global welfare, and conversely.     

天津南港工业区土壤环境背景值调查

通过对天津南港工业区土壤环境背景值的调查研究,对其土壤进行了环境质量评价,并得出了该区域土壤元素的分布规律。在与其他地区的土壤背景值进行比较后,指出了其异同点。天津南港工业区土壤元素在垂直方向上以不规则分布型为主,但As和Cd在土壤表层和深层的含量变化差异较小,Pb表现为表层富集。水平方向上,园区西北部的土壤元素含量比...     

Protected‐Area Boundaries as Filters of Plant Invasions

Abstract: Human land uses surrounding protected areas provide propagules for colonization of these areas by non‐native species, and corridors between protected‐area networks and drainage systems of rivers provide pathways for long‐distance dispersal of non‐native species. Nevertheless, the influence of protected‐area boundaries on colonization of protected areas by invasive non‐native species is unknown. We drew on a spatially explicit data set of more than 27,000 non‐native plant presence records for South Africa's Kruger National Park to examine the role of boundaries in preventing colonization of protected areas by non‐native species. The number of records of non‐native invasive plants declined rapidly beyond 1500 m inside the park; thus, we believe that the park boundary limited the spread of non‐native plants. The number of non‐native invasive plants inside the park was a function of the amount of water runoff, density of major roads, and the presence of natural vegetation outside the park. Of the types of human‐induced disturbance, only the density of major roads outside the protected area significantly increased the number of non‐native plant records. Our findings suggest that the probability of incursion of invasive plants into protected areas can be quantified reliably.     

阿尔金山自然保护区地表水水化学现状调查与评价

结合2011年阿尔金山保护区水文地质科学考察工作,在对保护区地表水水系、水体类型及特征进行调查分析的基础上,采集了主要地表水体类型的水化学样本,对各样本中的阴阳离子含量、矿化度、pH等水化学指标进行了测试,分析了保护区主要地表水类型的水化学现状特征及其空间变化规律,并与历史调查资料进行了对比分析,探讨了近30年保护区地表水水化学特征发生的变化及主要原因。     

Increasing development in the surroundings of U.S. National Park Service holdings jeopardizes park effectiveness

Protected areas are cornerstones of biodiversity conservation, but they are in danger of becoming islands in a sea of human dominated landscapes. Our question was if protected areas may even foster development in their surroundings because they provide amenities that attract development, thus causing the isolation of the ecosystems they were designed to protect. Our study analyzed historic aerial photographs and topographical maps to reconstruct road development and building growth within and around Indiana Dunes and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshores in the U.S. Great Lakes region from 1938 to 2005, and to estimate the effects of park creation in 1966 on changes in landscape patterns. Historic U.S. census housing density data were used as a baseline to compare observed changes to. Our results showed that park establishment was effective in reducing and stopping the fragmenting impact of development within park boundaries. However, increased amenity levels following park establishment led to enhanced development in the surroundings of both parks. In the extreme case of Indiana Dunes, building density outside the park increased from 45 to 200 buildings/km² and road density almost doubled from 3.6 to 6.6 km/km² from 1938 to 2005. Development rates of change were much higher than in the broader landscape, particularly after park establishment. The potential amenity effect was up to 9500 new buildings in the 3.2-km zone around Indiana Dunes between 1966 and 2005. For Pictured Rocks the absolute effect was smaller but up to 70% of the observed building growth was potentially due to amenity effects. Our findings highlight the need for conservation planning at broader scales, incorporating areas beyond the boundaries of protected areas.