REMOTE SENSING OF RIPARIAN BUFFERS: PAST PROGRESS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS1

Riparian buffer zone management is an area of increasing relevance as human modification of the landscape continues unabated. Land and water resource managers are continually challenged to maintain stream ecosystem integrity and water quality in the context of rapidly changing land use, which often offsets management gains. Approaches are needed not only to map vegetation cover in riparian zones, but also to monitor the changes taking place, target restoration activities, and assess the success of previous management actions. To date, these objectives have been difficult to meet using traditional techniques based on aerial photos and field visits, particularly over large areas. Recent advances in remote sensing have the potential to substantially aid buffer zone management. Very high resolution imagery is now available that allows detailed mapping and monitoring of buffer zone vegetation and provides a basis for consistent assessments using moderately high resolution remote sensing (e.g., Landsat). Laser‐based remote sensing is another advance that permits even more detailed information on buffer zone properties, such as refined topographic derivatives and multidimensional vegetation structure. These sources of image data and map information are reviewed in this paper, examples of their application to riparian buffer mapping and stream health assessment are provided, and future prospects for improved buffer monitoring are discussed.     

WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY-CONSCIOUS ERA1

The Sierra Club, which has long fought selected water resource projects that it believes would be environmentally damaging, has come to the conclusion in recent years that much more basic reforms are required in water resources development activities if the demands for environmental quality now evidenced by the American people are to be satisfied. These reforms should not be limited to those that would have a direct effect on the environmental aspects of proposed projects, but also many others long advocated by the economics profession that would have favorable indirect effects. Among the urgent reforms with indirect effects are those involving revision of the procedures used in evaluating proposed projects. These procedures should be revised so that future evaluations will much more accurately reflect the economic and environmental merits of proposed projects. Basic reforms of tax policies are also needed that will eliminate most of the private profit available to those who can persuade the government to increase the value of their land through the construction of water projects. Finally, some additional actions can be taken that will have a direct impact on lessening the adverse environmental impact of water projects beyond the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.     

A research agenda for increasing safety belt use in the United States

On November 13-14, 2003, a symposium on high-visibility safety belt use enforcement in Raleigh, NC: (a) celebrated the 10th anniversary of North Carolina's Click It or Ticket program; (b) documented current knowledge regarding safety belt use; (c) proposed strategies to increase use further; and (d) discussed research to support these strategies.     

Stream and riparian management for freshwater turtles

The regulation and management of stream ecosystems worldwide have led to irreversible loss of wildlife species. Due to recent scrutiny of water policy and dam feasibility, there is an urgent need for fundamental research on the biotic integrity of streams and riparian zones. Although riverine turtles rely on stream and riparian zones to complete their life cycle, are vital producers and consumers, and are declining worldwide, they have received relatively little attention. I review the literature on the impacts of contemporary stream management on freshwater turtles. Specifically, I summarize and discuss 10 distinct practices that produce five potential biological repercussions. I then focus on the often-overlooked use of riparian zones by freshwater turtles, calculate a biologically determined riparian width, and offer recommendations for ecosystem management. Migration data were summarized on 10 species from eight US states and four countries. A riparian zone encompassing the majority of freshwater turtle migrations would need to span 150 m from the stream edge. Freshwater turtles primarily chose high, open sandy habitats to nest. Nests in North America contained eggs and hatchlings during April through September and often through the winter. In addition, freshwater turtles utilized diverse riparian habitats for feeding, nesting, and overwintering. Additional documentation of stream and riparian habitat use by turtles is needed.     

立足实际 抓住要害《大气污染防治法》作重要修订

介绍修改《大气污染防治法》的重要意义及修改内容。     

新疆泥石流成因类型和分布规律

泥石流是新疆的主要地质灾害。研究其成因类型和分布规律对制定防治对策 ,减轻国家财物和人民生命安全的损失 ,无疑具有重要的意义。     

《海洋环境保护法》对排污收费制度的改革

长期以来,我国对排污或超标排污实行征收排污费制度。九届人大常委会第13次会议修订通过的《海洋环境保护法》对此进行了改革。本文对此进行了深入分析。     

METHOD TO IDENTIFY EFFECTWE RIPARIAN BUFFER WIDTHS FOR ATLANTIC SALMON HABITAT PROTECTION1

ABSTRACT: Successful restoration of declining anadromous species is dependent upon effective riparian buffer zone management. Natural resource managers, policy developers and local conservation groups require science‐based information concerning the width at which a given buffer will be effective for its stated purpose. This paper summarizes a method developed in 1999 to determine effective riparian buffer widths for Atlantic salmon habitat protection as part of the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Plan for Seven Maine Rivers. A major assumption of the method is that no two buffers are alike with respect to their effectiveness and that various buffer characteristics dictate the required width for a given level of effectiveness. The method uses a predictive model that generates suggested riparian buffer widths as a function of specific, measurable buffer characteristics (such as slope, soil characteristics, and plant community structure and density) that affect buffer function. The method utilizes a variable‐width, two‐zone approach and specifies land uses that are consistent with desired buffer function within the two zones.     

In and Of the World? Christian Theological Anthropology and Environmental Ethics

Mainstream currents within Christianity havelong insisted that humans, among all creatures, areneither fully identified with their physical bodiesnor fully at home on earth. This essay outlines theparticular characteristics of Christian notions ofhuman nature and the implications of this separationfor environmental ethics. It then examines recentefforts to correct some damaging aspects oftraditional Christian understandings of humanity'splace in nature, especially the notions of physicalembodiment and human embeddedment in earth. Theprimary goal of the essay is not to offer acomprehensive evaluation of Christian thinking aboutnature but rather to identify theological anthropologyas a crucial dimension of, and problem for, Christianenvironmental ethics.     

安全与事故运动规律初探

通过分析安全、隐患、事故之间的变化规律,揭示了安全与事故不仅普遍存在于自然界和人类社会活动中,具有与客观规律相依而生的自然属性,而且两者的对立统一,又具有促进客观事故向高层次发展的社会属性。