Rehabilitation of metropolitan beaches by local administrations in Catalonia: new trends in sustainable coastal management

The planning and management of coastal sites in Catalonia has been mainly concerned with rendering beaches functional for mass frequentation. This has caused serious problems for the beaches, including the alteration of dune formation processes and the destruction of beach vegetation and habitats. Municipal capacity to plan and manage beaches is theoretically very limited and relegated to the design of plans related to the maintenance of facilities for beach users. Nonetheless, a singular experience, led by a local council in the metropolitan area of Barcelona demonstrates the crucial role that a local administration can play in achieving a balance between habitat preservation and social use based on sustainable coastal management objectives, in spite of a restrictive legislation.     

Testing the feasibility of a hypothetical whaling‐conservation permit market in Norway

A cap‐and‐trade system for managing whale harvests represents a potentially useful approach to resolve the current gridlock in international whale management. The establishment of whale permit markets, open to both whalers and conservationists, could reveal the strength of conservation demand, about which little is known. This lack of knowledge makes it difficult to predict the outcome of a hypothetical whale permit market. We developed a bioeconomic model to evaluate the influence of economic uncertainty about demand for whale conservation or harvest. We used simulations over a wide range of parameterizations of whaling and conservation demands to examine the potential ecological consequences of the establishment of a whale permit market in Norwegian waters under bounded (but substantial) economic uncertainty. Uncertainty variables were slope of whaling and conservation demand, participation level of conservationists and their willingness to pay for whale conservation, and functional forms of demand, including linear, quadratic, and log‐linear forms. A whale‐conservation market had the potential to yield a wide range of conservation and harvest outcomes, the most likely outcomes were those in which conservationists bought all whale permits.     

Sensitivity Analyses of Spatial Population Viability Analysis Models for Species at Risk and Habitat Conservation Planning

Abstract:  Population viability analysis (PVA) is an effective framework for modeling species- and habitat-recovery efforts, but uncertainty in parameter estimates and model structure can lead to unreliable predictions. Integrating complex and often uncertain information into spatial PVA models requires that comprehensive sensitivity analyses be applied to explore the influence of spatial and nonspatial parameters on model predictions. We reviewed 87 analyses of spatial demographic PVA models of plants and animals to identify common approaches to sensitivity analysis in recent publications. In contrast to best practices recommended in the broader modeling community, sensitivity analyses of spatial PVAs were typically ad hoc, inconsistent, and difficult to compare. Most studies applied local approaches to sensitivity analyses, but few varied multiple parameters simultaneously. A lack of standards for sensitivity analysis and reporting in spatial PVAs has the potential to compromise the ability to learn collectively from PVA results, accurately interpret results in cases where model relationships include nonlinearities and interactions, prioritize monitoring and management actions, and ensure conservation-planning decisions are robust to uncertainties in spatial and nonspatial parameters. Our review underscores the need to develop tools for global sensitivity analysis and apply these to spatial PVA.     

Cross-Platform Framing and Cross-Cultural Adaptation: Examining Elephant Conservation in Thailand

This case study investigates cross-platform framing process and framing alignment strategies of the world famous elephant conservation NGO. It examines how the intercultural adaptation facilitates the frame transformation against entrenched domesticated elephant traditions in Thailand. Besides web observation, this study conducted two field trips to interview the NGO staff and conservation experts, and observed human–elephant interaction. Enhancing the understanding of ecotourism, this study expands the framing theory by incorporating cross-platform and cross-cultural adaptation factors and provides insights of an effective Asian ecotourism model which transcends cultural differences and overcomes resistance by disseminating culturally sensitive and integrated framing strategies through various communication channels.     

Integrating fisheries into the national development plans of Small Island Developing States (SIDS): Ten years on from Barbados

The development and effective introduction of strategies designed to ensure the ecologically and economically sustainable utilization of coastal and marine resources is perhaps the major challenge for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In response, the 1994 Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA) called upon the SIDS to implement appropriate coastal and marine strategies and, crucially, ensure that such strategies were integrated into sustainable national development plans (NDPs). This article examines the extent to which contemporary NDPs and donor support programmes have incorporated the fisheries sector — arguably the most important coastal/marine resource for many SIDS — into such documents. Applying an assessment methodology, originally developed to identify levels of environmental mainstreaming within World Bank country assistance strategies to NDPs and donor support programmes, we are able to identify those SIDS who have most effectively integrated the fisheries sector into such documents. Comparison with data indicating the importance of the sector to the national economy (in terms of generating foreign exchange, employment generation and/or supporting domestic protein consumption levels) enables us to pinpoint those countries with substantial fisheries sectors, but a correspondingly lower than expected degree of sectoral mainstreaming. We suggest that the January 2005 review of the BPoA offers an opportune moment for such countries to redress these omissions.     

黄河流域史前至历史时期文物保护单位的环境适宜度评价

黄河流域是研究我国文明演化、人地关系变迁的重要区域,文物遗产丰富,但生态环境问题突出。为更有效地了解流域史前至历史时期文保单位的环境状况,以流域内3593处文保单位为研究对象,以海拔、≥10 ℃积温、降水、河网密度、土壤和植被等为指标,利用地理探测器构建文保单位适宜度环境评价模型,得到四个时段文保单位适宜度环境指数(SEI)的等级分区,并通过文保单位的空间分布对等级分区进行验证,结果表明：(1)四个时段环境适宜度的主导驱动因子依次为降水、降水、海拔和土壤。(2)四个时段的SEI评分均较低,适宜区的等级呈自东向西北、向西交叉状递减的趋势,且各时段的等级分区中,较高与中等适宜区面积占比最大,低适宜区占比最小。(3)文保单位的空间分布密度从低适宜区至高适宜区显著增加,表明空间分布密度与适宜度等级分区关系密切。研究结果可为今后文保单位的环境评价以及人地关系研究提供借鉴意义。     

低山丘陵区水土保持治理与生态环境效应

分析了低山丘陵区水土流失等级分布,水土流失的形成原因及危害,指出低山丘陵区水土流失综合治理要以小流域综合治理为主,阐明小流域水土流失的规律性,以及根据小流域3个地貌单元类型按“三条带”模式进行综合治理：山顶林草防治、山腰经济林带整治、山脚坡改梯治理的技术措施,着重论述综合治理的生态环境效应：明显地保水保土保肥,在降雨量相同的情况下等高种植、坡改梯、封山育林雨强明显小于坡耕地,起始产流时间延迟,径流量减少近2/3,土壤侵蚀量明显比坡耕地少得多。土壤侵蚀携带养分,坡耕地损失量最大,等高种植全氮、全磷的损失量最小;坡改梯有机质、有效氮、速效钾流失量较少,说明坡改梯的保肥效果优于等高种植。林草植被对改善生态系统的环境效应和提高生物多样性功能,为低山丘陵区生态环境恢复和农业可持发展奠定基础。     

长江江豚监测现状及展望

长江江豚(Neophocaena asiaeorientalis)是唯一淡水生活的鼠海豚类,近年来种群数量严重下降,2013年被世界自然保护联盟红色名录列为“极度濒危”,2021年升级为我国国家一级重点保护野生动物,2022年种群有所恢复。长江江豚是长江生态系统健康的指示物种,我国科学家自20世纪50年代开始监测至今,监测方法不断更新完善,对长江江豚现状的了解也越来越充分。该文回顾了截线抽样法、水下被动声学及自动实时监测系统、无人机、环境DNA等监测方法的应用及取得的成效,分析监测方法存在的不足,预测技术发展趋势,提出改进建议,为长江江豚的监测及保护提供基本参考。