Economic Development,Rural livelihoods,and Ecological Restoration: Evidence from China

This article uses a case study in Southeast China to demonstrate how the substantial changes in rural livelihoods have been driven by a combination of “pull” forces from external economic development, and “push” forces from local areas, leading to a shift in rural household economic activities: household outmigration and de-population of the countryside, changes in energy consumption, and most importantly, changes in land uses and eventually, ecological restoration. Such dramatic changes are becoming common across the Chinese countryside. It is pointed out that economic development has generally caused a deterioration of the environment at least at the early period of economic growth, but the positive impacts, especially in some ecosystem in rural areas, have become more apparent.     

Using classification trees to analyze the impact of exotic species on the ecological assessment of polder lakes in Flanders, Belgium

Polder lakes in Flanders are stagnant waters that were flooded by the sea in the past. Several of these systems are colonized by exotic species, but have hardly been studied until present. The aim of the present study was: (1) to assess the influence of exotic macrobenthic species on the outcome of the Multimetric Macroinvertebrate Index Flanders (MMIF) and (2) to use classification trees for evaluating to what extent physical-chemical characteristics affect the presence of exotic species.In total, 27 mollusc and 10 macro-crustacean species were present in the monitored lakes of which respectively five and four were exotic. The exclusion of the exotic species from the MMIF resulted in a significant decline of this ecological index (−0.03 ± 0.04; p = 0.00). This elimination often resulted into a lower ecological water quality class and more samples were classified into the bad and poor ecological water quality classes.Single-target classification trees for Gammarus tigrinus and Potamopyrgus antipodarum were constructed, relating environmental parameters and ecological status (MMIF) to the occurrence of both exotic invasive species. The major advantages of using single-target classification trees are the transparency of the rule sets and the possibility to use relatively small datasets. However, this classification technique only predicts a single-target attribute and the trees of the different species are often hard to integrate and use for water managers. As a solution, a multi-target approach was used in the present study. Exotic molluscs and crustaceans communities were modelled based on environmental parameters and the ecological status (MMIF) using multi-target classification trees. Multi-target classification trees can be used in management planning and investment decisions as they can lead to integrated decisions for the whole set of exotic species and avoid the construction of many models for each individual species. These trees provide general insights concerning the occurrence patterns of individual crustaceans and molluscs in an integrated way.     

Cosmic exergy based ecological assessment for a wetland in Beijing

Wetlands research and restoration has become one of the critical concern due to their importance in providing ecosystem services. This study proposes a holistic methodology to assess the wetland ecosystem based on cosmic exergy as a thermodynamic orientor. This new approach is applied to two typical wastewater treatment facilities (an activated sludge system and a cyclic activated sludge system) and to a constructed wetland ecosystem in Beijing for comparison. Results show that the Beijing wetland ecosystem gains positive net present ecological value of 3.08E+14 J_c regarding its total life cycle. Comparison with the activated sludge system and cyclic activated sludge system, shows that the wetland ecosystem has greater dependencies on local resources (22% vs. 0% vs. 0%) and renewable resources (67% vs. 38% vs. 31%) as well as a larger ecological sustainability index (0.64157 vs. 0.00005 vs. 0.00008). This implies that the wetland ecosystem is more environmentally friendly and sustainable method for water treatment.     

地级市监测站在执行环境空气质量标准中遇到的问题及解决思路

阐述了当前地级市监测站在执行GB3095-1996监测中遇到的困难和问题,提出了解决这些困难和问题的见解.     

县域生态环境质量考评方法研究

通过对县域生态环境质量的考评方法研究,认为县域生态环境质量评价及其指标体系由重庆环境质量背景、人类对生态环境的影响程度及人类对生态环境的适宜度需求３部分组成。提出了县域生态环境质量考评的指标体系和评价方法。介绍了县域生态环境质量考评指标体系的基本原则,体系组成及部分指标说明和县域生态环境质量的评价方法。     

Ecological literacy and psychographics: lifestyle contributors to ecological knowledge and understanding

Knowledge and understanding about how the ecological systems of the Earth support life form the foundation for ecological literacy, which, in turn, is of critical importance for sustainability. There is widespread concern that levels of ecological literacy within many contemporary human societies are too low to enable effective decision-making about how to live sustainably. This paper presents and discusses the findings of an ecological literacy assessment of South Australian adults. The assessment tested for knowledge and understanding of ecological systems and interconnections with human society. Analyses revealed significant relationships between assessment scores and a range of value-based and behavioural characteristics. Such characteristics included the value placed on nature, time spent outdoors and in nature, involvement in nature-based activities, and perceived sources of ecological knowledge and understanding. Higher average scores were correlated with higher values accorded to involvement in outdoor activities, importance of the outdoors to enjoyment of life, importance of nature in the household, volunteer environmental activity and growing food. Higher scores were also correlated with higher education, research activities, outdoor lifestyles, place-based experiences, volunteer activities, mentors and colleagues, and books and magazines. Lower scores were achieved by those who considered media, natural disasters and environmental marketing to be major contributors to their ecological knowledge. These findings contribute to a broader study of the relationships between ecological literacy and a range of both socio-demographic and psychographic characteristics. They invite serious consideration from any society that values the participation of an informed population with the capacity to make sustainable environmental decisions.     

Development and application of a comprehensive ecological risk assessment indicator system in Xiamen,China

Urban ecological risk is one of the important factors that may restrict the social and economic development. Therefore, it is of great significance to carry out a comprehensive assessment of ecological risks so that an ecological risk prevention and control plan can be scientifically formulated. In this paper, a comprehensive ecological risk assessment indicator system of Xiamen was established based on local ecological properties and socioeconomic status. This indicator system covers seven indicators including air pollution, soil pollution, water pollution, fresh water consumption, change in land use, occupation of key zones with ecological functions, and road network expansion. Based on this indicator system and in conjunction with the single factor assessment of ecological risks, this study constructed a model of comprehensive ecological risk assessment and forecasted the comprehensive ecological risk of Xiamen in 2020. The results showed that the comprehensive ecological risk level of Xiamen in 2020 is medium and the main stressors are the discharge of air and water pollutants. From the perspective of risk receptors, i.e. the ecosystem services, the risk posed to the ecosystem services associated to the maintenance of air quality and water purification is the highest. Therefore, this study proposed the recommendations on ecological risk prevention and regulation in Xiamen based on the comprehensive assessment of ecological risks, in the hope to provide scientific support for local ecological protection and sustainable development.     

广西防城港市生态质量气象评价

以广西防城港市各区(县、市)为研究对象,应用生态质量气象评价方法,选取湿润指数、植被覆盖指数、水体密度指数、土地退化指数、灾害指数5个指标,通过计算生态环境综合指数,对防城港市生态质量进行评价。结果表明:防城港市最近10年生态质量评定级别为良好,植被覆盖度较好,降水充足,生物多样性较好,适合人类生存,评价结果与实际情况有较好的一致性,对城市建设和环境管理等方面具有一定的参考价值及科学依据。     

水污染源在线监测系统常见问题及核查方法研究

在近两年环保执法检查和调研的基础上,归纳了水污染源在线监测系统在采样、分析、数据采集传输和运行维护等方面常见的问题,进行分析,逐一提出核查方法,为现场核查提供参考,有利于水污染源在线监测系统的应用。     

巨枝人工林灌木层优势种的种间联结性分析

种间联结的研究对于人工林群落的生物多样性保育和可持续经营与管理具有重要的意义,目前对巨桉人工林灌木层物种之间的作用关系知之甚少。根据野外60个样方的调查数据,运用x^2检验、Jaccard指数和Spearman秩相关系数研究了巨桉（Eucalyptusgrandis）人工林灌木层18个优势种的种间关联和相关关系。结果表明,灌木层优势种具有总体上的正联结性,但在153个种对中,具有显著正联结性的种对数约占总种对数的10％,绝大数种对表现为弱联结性或无联结性,种间关系较为松散,表明巨桉林下灌木种群具有相对独立分布的特性。研究种间关系时,种间关联结合种间相关得出的结果较好。根据分析结果将18个优势种划分为4个生态种组,生态种组内的种其资源利用方式和生态要求相似,而组间表现出明显的差异。生态种组的划分能为巨桉人工林林下灌木层的管理提供理论依据。