Community support for wildfire mitigation at Peavine Métis Settlement,Alberta, Canada

This paper presents the findings of a study that explored public support for wildfire mitigation programmes implemented in Peavine Métis Settlement, an Indigenous community located in Alberta, Canada. Data were collected in a community-based study using interviews, focus groups and participant observation over a 4-year period. Results showed that support for the wildfire mitigation programme was influenced by local leadership, economics, community capacity and land and home ownership. The communal nature of land and home ownership on the settlement influenced support for wildfire mitigation that was conducted by the settlement at both the residential and community levels. Employment opportunities available in the community for settlement members for wildfire mitigation activities also increased support for the local wildfire mitigation programme. A local Aboriginal leader skilled in wildfire mitigation and existing community capacity was also seen as vital to settlement member support for the programme.     

Effects of river sediment addition to the beach microbial communities

During the processes of claiming land from the sea, river sediments are used to fill and transform the sea area along the margin of islands and lands into new lands. These activities would probably affect microbial ecosystems of the beach sediment. However, little is known about these effects. In this study, a simulation test was conducted to evaluate these effects. Pyrosequencing technique was employed to assess the effects of river sediment addition to the beach bacterial communities. The used river sediments were collected from different rivers. The results indicated that river sediment addition greatly impacted microbial ecosystems of the beach and caused a clear shift in the beach bacterial community composition. These processes remarkably increased toxic metals and decreased the bacterial diversity in the beach sediment, mainly including the phyla of Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Spirochaetes. River sediment addition caused an increase in potentially pathogenic bacterial genera of the beach sediment. Bacterial phylotype richness in the beach without river sediment addition was higher than that in the beach with river sediment input. There were significant differences in bacterial communities between beach sediments with and without river sediment addition, and the most dominant classes were Gammaproteobacteria and Flavobacteria.     

PCR-DGGE研究沸石植生混凝土微生物群落结构

采用PCR-DGGE技术研究了滨水区和非滨水区沸石植生混凝土内部微生物群落结构,结果表明:沸石植生混凝土内部微生物多样性指数和物种丰度值均很高,滨水区和非滨水区植生混凝土内部微生物多样性指数与物种丰度总体持平,但是各部分微生物丰度差异明显.滨水区微生物丰度值根部5~10cm>根部10~15cm>沸石表面生物膜.非滨水区微生物丰度沸石表面生物膜>根部5~10cm>根部10~15cm.基因测序结果和系统发育树分析可知.滨水区和非滨水区以及沸石混凝土内各部分之间优势菌种各不相同,在滨水区,沸石表面微生物膜中优势菌种为丙酸杆菌、都柏林克罗诺杆菌和葡萄球菌属,根部5~10cm中优势菌种为黄杆菌和沙门氏菌属,根部10~15cm中优势菌种为慢生根瘤菌属;非滨水区,沸石表面微生物膜中优势菌种为芽孢杆菌和红假单胞菌属,根部5~10cm中优势菌种为沙门氏菌、微球菌亚目的Agromyces和酸杆菌属,根部10~15cm中优势菌种为沙门氏菌属.     

长江口浮游植物群落特征及其与环境的响应关系

根据2009年4月、8月、11月对长江口30个站位的调查,分析了浮游植物群落结构的时空变化及其与环境因子的响应特征. 共鉴定出浮游植物8门95属330种,主要优势种是硅藻和甲藻,其中中肋骨条藻占绝对优势. 浮游植物细胞丰度呈单周期季节性变化,夏季为高峰期,长江口近海区为高值区. 浮游植物群落多样性11月最高,主要分布在长江口过渡水域. 浮游植物群落可分为四大类群,各区域不同季节种类组成具有显著差异. CCA(典范对应分析)显示,浮游植物群落与环境因子密切相关,并且其响应机制存在季节性差异.硅藻细胞丰度4月与ρ(NO₃--N)、ρ(COD_Mn),8月与ρ(SiO₄4--Si)、ρ(NO₃--N)、ρ(PO₄3--P),11月与透明度呈显著正相关(P<0.01);11月与ρ(PO₄3--P)、ρ(SiO₄4--Si)呈显著负相关(P<0.01). 甲藻细胞丰度4月与ρ(NH₄+-N),8月与ρ(COD_Mn),11月与透明度、ρ(NO₃--N)呈显著正相关(P<0.05). 长江口环境因子的改变影响浮游植物群落结构的时空变化,各季节引起浮游植物群落结构变异的驱动因素存在差异.      

太子河着生藻类群落结构空间分布特征

以辽宁省太子河流域为研究范例,调查了全流域内69个采样点的着生藻类群落和水环境理化特征,并且以着生藻类的群落结构为基础,对太子河流域的水生态系统类型区进行了划分. 结果表明,太子河流域着生藻类群落结构具有明显的空间异质性. CCA(典范对应分析)结果显示,驱动全流域着生藻类群落结构形成的水环境因子为电导率、ρ(TDS)(TDS为总溶解固体)和ρ(TN). 基于着生藻类的群落结构特征,将太子河流域划分为3个着生藻类类型区:第1分区为太子河上游的森林多水区,第2分区为中游低山丘陵森林区,第3分区为下游平原农业区. CCA结果还显示,显著影响第1分区、第2分区及第3分区的着生藻类群落结构的环境因子分别为ρ(NO₃--N)、ρ(TN)及ρ(总溶解固体)和硬度.      

Modification of evaluation method for auto-assessment and electronic submission by businesses

SUMMARY

This paper describes the evolution of an evaluation method developed initially to assess progress towards sustainable development for various land use activities in Costa Rica. Since that time, the method has been expanded to apply to all types of business activities in any location, and refined so that a numerical score can be provided for each attribute. These scores can then be presented graphically in four categories. The method has since been tested on a variety of businesses and is being refined for electronic submission and display of the results. The benefits of this approach, as well as its shortcomings and some of the problems resolved, are presented.     

REDD+ and forest tenure security: concerns in Nepal’s community forestry

As one of the dominant large-scale mechanisms proposed to combat climate change, biodiversity loss, and rural poverty, REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) has added further complexity to the challenging governance of rights and resources in global forests. As REDD+ is commodifying carbon, concerns emerge about how carbon ownership and its rights can be accommodated into the existing framework that governs local forest resource rights. The Nepalese government has formally entered into REDD+ policy preparations, but it lacks clear legal provisions regarding key forest tenure rights such as carbon ownership, benefit sharing, and the political participation of community forest user groups from national to local. As a result, Nepal’s policy process points toward performance-based carbon forestry in a way that may undermine and weaken existing community tenure rights and forest tenure security.

This paper discusses Nepal’s potential impacts of new REDD+ and carbon ownership arrangements on forest tenure security and community-based forest governance. In a threefold methodological approach, the paper presents three scenarios for a REDD+-oriented tenure reform within the existing framework and assesses their concerns through in-depth qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, representatives, and advocates of Nepal’s community forestry system, complemented by a review of government documents and academic literature of REDD+ lessons so far. The analysis identifies critical concerns for forest tenure security, state-community power relationships, and effective local institutions of the commons, and suggests that Nepal’s REDD+ process is taking place at a particularly consequential time for structural changes of the forest governance framework.     

Community sustainability: a holistic approach to measuring the sustainability of rural communities in Scotland

ABSTRACT

Although sustainable development was defined in the Brundtland Report almost 30 years ago, the current usage of the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development remain highly equivocal. In the context of rural communities, multiple interpretations and weak definitions lead to confusion in understanding what comprises a sustainable rural community. Building on existing definitions (e.g. Baker’s, 2006, ‘Ladder of Sustainable Development’), models (principally, The Egan Review’s, 2004, ‘Components of Sustainable Communities’) and findings of this study, a sustainable community is defined and a holistic model of a sustainable place-based rural community is presented. This model, the sustainable community design (SCD) is used as the basis for analysing community sustainability, which is measured using mixed methods and scorecard assessment. Sensitivity of the method is demonstrated with inter- and intra-community variations in sustainability across three diverse Scottish rural communities. Intra-community variations illustrate heterogeneity in community sustainability, explain ambiguity in characterisations of an individual community’s sustainability, and highlight the importance of an interdisciplinary and holistic approach to community development. The SCD framework is presented as a useful tool for meso-level sustainability assessment and to facilitate the sustainable development of rural communities.     

上海海湾国家森林公园1 hm2样地群落结构特征及其动态监测意义

运用生态系统定位监测方法,于2011年在上海市奉贤区海湾国家森林公园内设置面积为100 m×100 m的样地,记录样地内的所有植物种类,定位调查高于1.3m的木本植物,分析其种类组成、区系成分、垂直结构和水平结构.结果表明,1 hm2样地内共记录有维管束植物31科68属73种,其中温带区系成分占总属数的51.8％,热带区系成分占46.4％.高于1.3m的木本植株3 094株,其中常绿树种6种,共1 670株,重要值占48.0％;落叶树种7种,共1 424株,重要值占52.0％.女贞(Ligustrum lucidum)、喜树(Camptotheca acuminata)、椤木石楠(Photinia davidsoniae)、乌桕(Sapium sebiferum)、黄山栾树(Koelreuteria integrifoliola)和香樟(Cinnamomum camphora)的重要值位居前6位,在垂直空间上呈分层结构.在0～50 m尺度范围内,女贞种群均呈集群分布,喜树种群呈均匀-随机-集群分布,椤木石楠和乌桕种群表现为集群-随机-均匀分布,黄山栾树和香樟种群表现为随机-集群-随机分布.从群落结构特征看,样地为以北温带成分、泛热带成分为主的常绿落叶阔叶混交林,表征了该地区自然植被的结构特征.建立长期固定样地可为长三角城市化地区平原地貌上城市森林的发生、发展和演替规律提供长期的数据基础.     

冀东铁矿2种恢复模式植被演替过程中群落结构及生物多样性比较研究

油松（Pinus tabulaeformis）耐低温、干旱和贫瘠,是我国北方温性针叶林中分布最广的森林群落,也是我国北方广大地区最主要的本土造林树种之一,火炬（Rhus typhina Linn.）根萌蘖力强,耐寒、耐旱、耐盐碱,是一种适应周围环境能力极强的外来引入种树种。采用空间代替时间的方法,以冀东铁矿不同年份种植的人工火炬林和人工油松林群落为研究对象,采用样方法进行调查取样,分析了2种恢复模式不同演替阶段群落结构的变化,群落动态,同时采用Pielou均匀度指数、Margalef丰富度指数、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数分析了物种多样性在群落演替过程中的动态变化,在此基础上,对比分析了2种恢复模式在生态效益方面的优劣。主要结果如下：1）短期来看,火炬可以迅速提高植被盖度,增加生物量,但是,长期来看,随着火炬的快速萌集繁殖和林分的郁闭,林下草本急剧减少,形成火炬单优群落,而不能形成稳定的顶级群落。2）短期来看,油松生长缓慢,其生态效益远小于火炬群落,但是油松群落经过11年的演替形成了乔-灌-草3层结构,群落结构逐渐完善。3）演替初期火炬群落优势种以猪毛蒿（Artemisia scoparia）、狗尾草（Setaria viridis）等耐干旱的植物为主,演替后期林下物种迅速减少以至大量消失;油松群落经过11年的恢复,群落草本层植物种数逐渐增大,从一年生先锋植物占优势过渡到以白羊草（Bothriochloa ischaemun）和硬质早熟禾（Poa sphondylodes）为建群种,并出现了黄刺玫（Rosa xanthina）和胡枝子（Lespedeza bicolor）等多年生灌木。4）演替初期Margalef丰富度指数、Pielou均匀度指数和Shannon-Wiener指数表现为：火炬群落﹥油松群落,演替后期则相反,这主要是由群落内种间竞争关系和水热环境的差异造成。4）综合植物群落盖度、物种多样性和群落未来的演替趋势,火炬长期的生态效益远不及油松树种。