Ecosystem classification for EU habitat distribution assessment in sandy coastal environments: An application in central Italy

Many recent developments in coastal science have gone against the demands of European Union legislation. Coastal dune systems which cover small areas of the earth can host a high level of biodiversity. However, human pressure on coastal zones around the world has increased dramatically in the last 50 years. In addition to direct habitat loss, the rapid extinction of many species that are unique to these systems can be attributed to landscape deterioration through the lack of appropriate management. In this paper, we propose to use of an ecosystem classification technique that integrates potential natural vegetation distribution as a reference framework for coastal dune EU Habitats (92/43) distribution analysis and assessment. As an example, the present study analyses the EU Habitats distribution within a hierarchical ecosystem classification of the coastal dune systems of central Italy. In total, 24 land elements belonging to 8 land units, 5 land facets, 2 land systems and 2 land regions were identified for the coastal dunes of central Italy, based on diagnostic land attributes. In central Italy, coastal dune environments including all the beach area, mobile dunes and all the fixed-dune land elements contain or could potentially hold at least one EU habitat of interest. Almost all dune slack transitions present the potentiality for the spontaneous development of EU woodlands of interest. The precise information concerning these ecosystems distribution and ecological relationships that this method produces, makes it very effective in Natura 2000 European network assessment. This hierarchical ecosystem classification method facilitates the identification of areas to be surveyed and eventually bound, under the implementation of EU Habitat directive (92/43) including areas with highly disturbed coastal dune ecosystems.     

Spatial Economic–Hydroecological Modelling and Evaluation of Land Use Impacts in the Vecht Wetlands Area

Wetlands provide many important goods and services to human societies, and generate nonuse values as well. Wetlands are also very sensitive ecosystems that are subject to much stress from human activities. Reducing the stress on wetlands requires a spatial matching between physical planning, hydrological and ecological processes, and economic activities. Spatially integrated modelling and evaluation can support this. The present study has developed a triple layer model that integrates information and concepts from social and natural sciences to address the analysis and evaluation of land-use scenarios for a wetlands area in the Netherlands, the Vecht area. This is the floodplain of river Vecht, located in the centre of the Netherlands. The study has resulted in a set of linked spatial hydrological, ecological and economic models, formulated at the level of grids and polders. The main activities incorporated in the system of models are housing, infrastructure, agriculture, recreation and nature conservation. The formulation of alternative development scenarios is dominated by land use and land cover options that are consistent with the stimulation of agriculture, nature or recreation. Two aggregate performance indicators have been constructed from model output, namely net present value of changes and environmental quality. The spatial characteristics of these indicators are retained in a spatial evaluation that ranks scenarios.     

广西弄拉森林植被的喀斯特效应

研究了广西弄拉封山育林40多年后植被对大气降雨、表层岩溶泉水物理化学特征、土壤自然含水量和土壤水的影响。结果表明:弄拉的森林植被能明显酸化大气降雨,增加雨水中碳的含量,促进岩溶生态系统的碳循环,增强岩溶动力系统中的溶蚀动力;增加土壤自然含水量,提高土壤风化程度,改善土壤理化性质,增加土壤水有机碳含量;增加表层岩溶泉水中化学成分的含量,改变水质。研究结果显示弄拉的生态恢复和重建已经取得了一定的成绩,今后的研究应在此基础上从改变水质,提高居民饮水质量出发,造福农民。     

国家生态文明试验区(贵州)经济增速与植被恢复协调发展

以国家生态文明试验区(贵州)作为研究区,以植被覆盖度(FVC)作为研究对象,基于2000～2019年的NDVI数据分析了贵州省近20年FVC的时空演变特征,利用地理探测器方法识别并量化了经济持续增速下维持植被恢复的主要驱动力,结果表明:(1)近20年来贵州省FVC整体呈增加趋势,FVC分布整体水平较高,主要以中等、中高和高度覆盖为主,三者面积占比之和约为89.7%,年均增长率为0.52%,平均FVC为0.53.(2)近20年来贵州省FVC变化趋势以轻微改善、基本不变为主,两者面积占比之和为68.94%,改善区域面积占比为57.93%,西部区域得到明显改善和提升,退化区域主要集中在城镇周边,总体动态变化趋于稳定且向好改善.(3)FVC空间分布格局演变深受人类活动与自然环境因子的双重影响,且人类活动对于植被恢复的驱动作用更强,国内生产总值(GDP)和降水是经济持续增速下维持植被恢复的人类活动与自然环境因子主导驱动力.(4)积极推动产业结构优化升级、大力推进第三产业快速发展以及不断贯彻落实退耕还林还草政策等积极的人类活动为贵州省实现经济增速与植被恢复协调发展的“双赢”局面做出了巨大贡献.     

利用植被供水指数法监测干旱的研究

利用FY-1D/AVHRR数据通道1、2的反射率计算植被指数和通道4、5的亮温计算作物冠层温度,进而求出植被供水指数可监测干旱状况.本文简单介绍了利用FY-1D/AVHRR数据植被供水指数法监测生长季的干旱状况.研究表明,该方法所得结果从总体趋势看,与实际情况基本吻合.因此,植被供水指数法适用于生长季大范围的干旱监测.     

天津盘山风景名胜区植被覆盖状况

以天津国家级盘山风景名胜区为研究区,利用2004-2007年覆盖天津国家级盘山风景区的中巴资源卫星数据,用主成分变换方法,对原始CCD影像进行提取,与归一化植被指数(NDVI)相结合,进行土地利用/土地覆盖(LULC)的提取。通过研究发现,2007年6月项目区植被面积为85 km2,9月为97 km2,与2004、2005年同期植被面积相比均有较大变化。     

Multi-decadal Changes in Tundra Environments and Ecosystems: The International Polar Year-Back to the Future Project (IPY-BTF)

Polar and alpine environments are changing rapidly due to increases in temperature, which are amplified in the Arctic, as well as changes in many local factors. The impacts on ecosystems and their function have potential consequences for local residents and the global community. Tundra areas are vast and diverse, and the knowledge of geographical variation in environmental and ecosystem change is limited to relatively few locations, or to remote sensing approaches that are limited mostly to the past few decades. The International Polar Year, IPY, provided a context, stimulus and timely opportunities for re-visiting old research sites and data sets to collate data on past changes, to pass knowledge from old to new generations of researchers and to document environmental characteristics of sites to facilitate detection and attribution of future changes. Consequently, the project “Retrospective and Prospective Vegetation Change in the Polar Regions: Back to the Future,” BTF, was proposed and endorsed as an IPY activity (project #512). With national funding support, teams of researchers re-visited former sites and data sets throughout the Arctic and some alpine regions. These efforts have amounted to a gamut of “BTF” studies that are collectively geographically expansive and disciplinary diverse. A selection of these studies are introduced and presented in the current issue together with a brief synthesis of their findings.     

Governance of Water Resources in the Phase of Change: A Case Study of the Implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive in Sweden

In this article, focusing on the ongoing implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive, we analyze some of the opportunities and challenges for a sustainable governance of water resources from an ecosystem management perspective. In the face of uncertainty and change, the ecosystem approach as a holistic and integrated management framework is increasingly recognized. The ongoing implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) could be viewed as a reorganization phase in the process of change in institutional arrangements and ecosystems. In this case study from the Northern Baltic Sea River Basin District, Sweden, we focus in particular on data and information management from a multi-level governance perspective from the local stakeholder to the River Basin level. We apply a document analysis, hydrological mapping, and GIS models to analyze some of the institutional framework created for the implementation of the WFD. The study underlines the importance of institutional arrangements that can handle variability of local situations and trade-offs between solutions and priorities on different hierarchical levels.     

Expert System for Terrestrial Vegetation Distribution, Potential Impact and Mitigation Abatement Measures

The tropical rainforest of Malaysia holds one of the richest flora in the world. The favourable climate has produced flora of amazing richness and variety. Terrestrial vegetation of tropical rainforests is an important feature of the environment. Plants play a major role in the environment and conservation of a particular environment depends fundamentally on the maintenance of existing plants and their communities and hierarchies. Interference in the balance of the ecosystem may produce radical changes that lead to progressive deviations from the original situation. Therefore, the application of a computer technology in the form of an expert system (ES) will be able to help in the analysis and management of the EIA information. The ES is named VEGEVIC. Application of the system will lead to greater consistency in the application of EIA through implementation of a standard approach.     

Mapping of the geogenic radon potential in France to improve radon risk management: methodology and first application to region Bourgogne

In order to improve regulatory tools for radon risk management in France, a harmonised methodology to derive a single map of the geogenic radon potential has been developed. This approach consists of determining the capacity of the geological units to produce radon and to facilitate its transfer to the atmosphere, based on the interpretation of existing geological data. This approach is firstly based on a classification of the geological units according to their uranium (U) content, to create a radon source potential map. This initial map is then improved by taking into account the main additional parameters, such as fault lines, which control the preferential pathways of radon through the ground and which can increase the radon levels in soils. The implementation of this methodology to the whole French territory is currently in progress. We present here the results obtained in one region (Bourgogne, Massif Central) which displays significant variations of the geogenic radon potential. The map obtained leads to a more precise zoning than the scale of the existing map of radon priority areas currently based solely on administrative boundaries.