STATUS OF RIPARIAN ECOSYSTEMS IN THE UNITED STATES1

ABSTRACT: An attempt was made to review all available data on the extent and status of riparian ecosystems in the U.S.A. This report presents a synthesis of the findings, including some estimates of how much land was originally covered by woody riparian vegetation, and how much remains in that condition today. A synopsis of information is presented on the status of riparian ecosystems in each of 10 regions: California, Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Arid Southwest, Plains-Grasslands, Lake States, Corn Belt, Mississippi Delta, Northeast-Appalachian, and Southeast. Woody riparian plant communities once covered an estimated 75 to 100 million acres of land in the contiguous 48 states. Mankind has converted at least two-thirds of that nationwide acreage to other non-forest land uses and it is estimated that only 25 to 35 million acres of riparian plant communities remain in a near natural condition. Across the country, loss of riparian acreages is directly attributable to water resource development (especially channel modification and water impoundment), floodplain clearing for agriculture, and urbanization. In many states of the arid west, the midwest, and the lower Mississippi alluvial valley, riparian vegetation has been reduced in area by more than 80 percent. Riparian woodlands are one of this country's most heavily modified natural vegetation types.     

基于SDS结构理论建构和谐环巢湖旅游带

建构和谐社会是可持续发展战略的目标。从可持续发展系统层次结构与旅游区发展的关系出发,以和谐思想为支撑,解析建构环巢湖带过程中的非和谐阻力,提出建构和谐环巢湖旅游带的战略响应原则和战略响应举措,为相关部门积极主动、科学合理地规避规划、开发、经营和管理中来自各方的非和谐阻力,以期为打造一个体现和谐、健康、可持续发展的环巢湖旅游带提供一定的借鉴作用。     

A Mediation Case for Resolving the Energy and Environment Dispute at Aliağa-İzmir, Turkey

A mediation exercise to resolve the ongoing dispute against these power plant projects at Aliağa was recommended and participated in by the author in 1997. In this article the basis of the continuing environmental concern about the feared impacts of the new power plants, procedure, and results of this mediation are mentioned. The basis of the “energy versus environment” dispute in Aliağa are introduced. Mediation exercise and its end results have been criticized.     

Monitoring Ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada: The Conceptual Model Foundation

Monitoring at large geographic scales requires a framework for understanding relationships between components and processes of an ecosystem and the human activities that affect them. We created a conceptual model that is centered on ecosystem processes, considers humans as part of ecosystems, and serves as a framework for selecting attributes for monitoring ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada. The model has three levels: 1) an ecosystem model that identifies five spheres (Atmosphere, Biosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere, Sociocultural), 2) sphere models that identify key ecosystem processes (e.g., photosynthesis), and 3) key process models that identify the "essential elements"that are required for the process to operate (e.g., solar radiation), the human activities ("affectors") that have negative and positive effects on the elements (e.g., air pollution), and the "consequences"of affectors acting on essential elements (e.g., change in primary productivity). We discuss use of the model to select attributes that best reflect the operation and integrity of the ecosystem processes. Model details can be viewed on the web at http://www.r5.fs.fed.us/sncf/spam_report/index.htm(Appendix section).     

我国113个城市大气颗粒物污染的健康经济学评价

搜集2006年我国113个主要城市的PM10年均浓度和当年我国城市居民的健康资料,评价大气PM10污染对我国113个主要城市的居民健康影响,并粗略估算了相关的健康经济损失.结果表明,2006年大气PM10污染对我国113个城市的居民造成了较大的健康损失,可引起29.97万例过早死亡,9.26万例慢性支气管炎,762.51万例内科门诊,16.59万例心血管疾病住院和8.90万例呼吸系统疾病住院.折算成货币,总归因健康经济损失为3414.03亿元,其中由过早死亡造成的损失占87.79%.     

丹东地区生态旅游可持续发展策略浅论

根据丹东市生态旅游的现状,分析丹东市旅游业存在的问题,提出丹东市生态旅游走循环经济发展模式的对策。     

Quantifying energy use, carbon dioxide emission, and other environmental loads from island tourism based on a life cycle assessment approach

The main purpose of industrial ecology is to evaluate and minimize impacts from economic activities of human society. Tourism as one economic activity, results in a full range of environmental impacts, but few applications of industrial ecology to tourism management have previously been discussed. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used in this research to explore environmental impacts of island tourism, and then the environmental loads per tourist per trip can be found. Penghu Island in Taiwan is taken as an example to examine this new approach. Various environmental loads in transportation, accommodation, and recreation activity sector are all inventoried and calculated here. In summary, per tourist per trip uses 1606 MJ of energy, 607 L of water, and emits 109,034 g of CO₂, 2660 g of CO, 597 g of HC, 70 g of NO_x. In addition, per tourist per trip also discharges 416 L of wastewater, 83.1 g of BOD, and 1.95 g of solid waste. In terms of energy use, the transportation consumes the largest energy (67%); in particular, the airplane sector. Moreover, per Penghu tourist results in more environmental loads than local people; for example, the amount of solid waste discharge per tourist is 1.95 kg per day, while that of per local people is 1.18 kg. Finally, the advantages and limitations of such LCA approach are also discussed.     

海南国际旅游岛旅游水环境现状调查与分析

界定了旅游水环境的概念,采用资料调查、咨询访问和个别现场调查等方法,对海南省旅游水环境进行了调查与分析。结果表明,海南省1989年至2008年旅游业的用水量占全省生活用水量的比例都很小,对海南水资源总量的影响也很小,2008年三亚市、海口市和万宁市三个城市的旅游业用水量之和占到全省旅游业总用水量的79.9%;海南省河流、水库、海域和地下水环境质量总体优良,仅有少量监测出现超标现象;在旅游水环境重点保护对象中,海南中部山区河流源头水、主要滨海旅游区近岸海域、三大河流和两大水库等水体水质均为优良,城镇、乡镇集中式生活饮用水水源地和城市河段大多数水体水质满足环境功能要求,有少量水体水质超标。河流、水库和个别城镇集中式生活饮用水水源地水质超标主要是农业面源污染和生活污水的污染。乡镇集中式生活饮用水水源地水质超标的主要原因是受海水、生活污水、生活垃圾、分散式畜禽养殖污水等的渗透污染和土壤中铁、猛背景值含量较高所致。     

青海省民和县-海石湾土壤Hg异常调查及其生态效应

通过对民和县-海石湾城区及其周边地区表层土壤Hg元素异常空间分布特征的分析,查明了大气降尘是当地Hg异常的最主要来源,此外生活、工业固废污染也是可能的原因;在垂向分布上,自上而下Hg元素大体呈上升趋势,显示表面Hg元素富集。对土壤中Hg形态进行特征分析,探讨了Hg的各形态与含量之间的相关性,结果显示:残渣态>强有机态>腐植酸态>铁锰氧化态>水溶态>碳酸盐态>离子交换态。异常区土壤Hg的累积并未造成小麦及玉米的重金属超标,未影响到其食用安全性,但是潜在威胁性存在。     

Adaptation and mitigation as complementary tools for reducing the risk of climate impacts

This paper uses the likelihood of flooding along Brahmaputra and Ganges Rivers in India to explore the hypothesis that adaptation and mitigation can be viewed as complements rather than sustitutes. For futures where climate change will produce smooth, monotonic and manageable effects, adopting a mitigation strategy is shown to increase the ability of adaptation to reduce the likelihood of crossing critical threshold of tolerable climate. For futures where climate change will produce variable impacts overtime, though, it is possible that mitigation will make adaptation less productive for some time intervals. In cases of exaggerated climate change, adaptation may fail entirely regardless of how much mitigation is applied. Judging the degree of complementarity is therefore an empirical question because the relative efficacy of adaptation is site specific and path dependent. It follows that delibrations over climate policy should rely more on detailed analyses of how the distributions of possible impacts of climate might change over space and time.