The National Vegetation Classification Standard applied to the remote sensing classification of two semiarid environments

The National Vegetation Classification Standard (NVCS) was implemented at two US National Park Service (NPS) sites in Texas, the Padre Island National Seashore (PINS) and the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area (LMNRA), to provide information for NPS oil and gas management plans. Because NVCS landcover classifications did not exist for these two areas prior to this study, we created landcover classes, through intensive ground and aerial reconnaissance, that characterized the general landscape features and at the same time complied with NVCS guidelines. The created landcover classes were useful for the resource management and were conducive to classification with optical remote sensing systems, such as the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM). In the LMNRA, topographic elevation data were added to the TM data to reduce confusion between cliff, high plains, and forest classes. Classification accuracies (kappa statistics) of 89.9% (0.89) and 88.2% (0.87) in PINS and LMNRA, respectively, verified that the two NPS landholdings were adequately mapped with TM data. Improved sensor systems with higher spectral and spatial resolutions will ultimately refine the broad classes defined in this classification; however, the landcover classifications created in this study have already provided valuable information for the management of both NPS lands. Habitat information provided by the classifications has aided in the placement of inventory and monitoring plots, has assisted oil and gas operators by providing information on sensitive habitats, and has allowed park managers to better use resources when fighting wildland fires and in protecting visitors and the infrastructure of NPS lands.     

Determining Ecological Equivalence in Service-to-Service Scaling of Salt Marsh Restoration

The amount of ecological restoration required to mitigate or compensate for environmental injury or habitat loss is often based on the goal of achieving ecological equivalence. However, few tools are available for estimating the extent of restoration required to achieve habitat services equivalent to those that were lost. This paper describes habitat equivalency analysis (HEA), a habitat-based “service-to-service” approach for determining the amount of restoration needed to compensate for natural resource losses, and examines issues in its application in the case of salt marsh restoration. The scientific literature indicates that although structural attributes such as vegetation may recover within a few years, there is often a significant lag in the development of ecological processes such as nutrient cycling that are necessary for a fully functioning salt marsh. Moreover, natural variation can make recovery trajectories difficult to define and predict for many habitat services. HEA is an excellent tool for scaling restoration actions because it reflects this ecological variability and complexity. At the same time, practitioners must recognize that conclusions about the amount of restoration needed to provide ecological services equivalent to those that are lost will depend critically on the ecological data and assumptions that are used in the HEA calculation.     

长江三角洲耕地资源态势与保护对策

长江三角洲是我国东部沿海经济最发达的地区,在全国占有十分重要的经济地位。随着经济的发展,资源与环境发生了严重的问题,特别是近年来耕地资源锐减,而后备耕地资源却短缺,人地人粮矛盾更加尖锐,已成为影响这一地区农业持续发展的重要因素。本文分析了这一地区的经济特点与耕地资源的变化态势,并提出了相应的耕地保护措施。首先,要严格控制非农用地,确保基本农田,其次要采用经济手段,建立保护耕地的经济机制;此外,还要     

不稳定边坡治理方案的多层次模糊综合群决策

不稳定边坡治理方案的选择经常涉及到的是可行域为有限集的多层次模糊综合群决策问题。本文基于边坡工程知识,构造了不稳定边坡治理方案的评判指标层次结构,应用系统工程、模糊数学等知识,建立了不稳定边坡治理方案的多层次模糊综合群决策模型,从而使不稳定边坡治理方案选择更趋合理、科学。     

护耳器使用现状评述

研究表明：护耳器现场使用实际声衰减值低于实验室值,其原因是护耳器的实验室测量条件较为严格。工人在现场实际使用护耳器时,未能同实验室中的受试者一样佩戴护耳器,因而获得的护耳器声衰减比实验室所测得的值低。另一方面,在８小时强噪声环境中工作期间,未自始至终佩戴护耳器,则也达不到预期的保护听力的效果。笔者还综合分析和评述了护耳器现场使用时实际声衰减值降低的原因,并提出了一些有益的建议     

Fuel substitution and efficient woodstoves: Are they the answers to the fuelwood supply problem in Northern Nigeria?

Fuelwood consumption in Northern Nigeria exceeds the sustainable production, and the deficit is currently met through long-distance transport from the southern part of the country at an artificially low cost Current household fuel consumption patterns and factors affecting stove choice are discussed. Little has been done to promote more efficient woodstoves in the region, but prospects for stove programs are only good where fuelwood is marketed and the policy environment is conducive. At subsidized official prices for kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and electricity, wood is more expensive on a net usable heat basis, but the high capital cost of stoves for these fuels prevents many households from switching. Moreover, these fuels are often only available at much higher parallel market prices, which result in wood being the less expensive choice. There is little prospect for substitution of coal, solar cookers, or biogas digesters.     

DESERT HOUSE: A DEMONSTRATION/EXPERIMENT IN EFFICIENT DOMESTIC WATER AND ENERGY USE1

ABSTRACT: In May 1993, a single-family home and adjoining information center opened to the public at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. Desert House is designed as an example of what can be achieved today using available technology to improve residential water and energy efficiency. The home is expected to reduce water and energy use by 40 percent compared with that for the typical three-bedroom, single-family residence in the Phoenix area. Water-conserving features include: landscape design employing low-water use plants, minimum turf area, mulch around plants to reduce evaporation, and drip irrigation system; spa cover for evaporation reduction; rainwater harvesting; low-flow shower heads, faucets, and toilets; and graywater reuse system. The home will be occupied by a family and monitored for water and energy use by computer. Visitors are able to access real time water and energy use data about the home, as well as tour the information center, technical exhibits, surrounding landscape, and the home when it is open (one afternoon a week).     

MEETING FUTURE PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY NEEDS: A SOUTHWEST PERSPECTIVE1

ABSTRACT: Most southwestern cities were founded along rivers or in areas having springs or readily available ground water. Because of the generally sparse precipitation, the renewable fresh water supply in the Southwest is smaller than most other areas of the United States. Despite the arid climate, water use has increased rapidly, first in the form of irrigation, and more recently the use in cities. This has caused extensive development of local water resources and overdraft of ground water basins in some areas. It is difficult to implement new local supplies and importation projects due to a myriad of environmental and legal constraints and a general shortage of public funds. Various opportunities and plans for water management, both on the demand and supply sides, are discussed. Evolving water strategies in four metropolitan areas - El Paso, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, and Phoenix - and issues regarding the Central Arizona Project are presented.     

Effects on fisheries and waterbirds of raising water levels at Kerkini Reservoir,a Ramsar site in northern greece

A new, higher dam was installed at Kerkini Reservoir in 1982, causing habitat and landscape disruption. A decrease in the area of grassland and shallow water areas, the rapid disappearance of reedbeds, the appearance of beds ofNymphaea, and the disappearance of half the forest area were all observed between 1982 and 1991. With the new hydrological regime, a lacustrine system was created, with an extensive, rather deep (4–8 m), pelagic zone favorable for the development of coarse fish species throughout the year. After 1982, an increase in fishing effort and a change in the relative abundance of fish species in the catch, including the disappearance of eels and wels, were observed. The impact of the rise in the water level of breeding aquatic birds led to a general decline in species typical of marshy habitats in favor of species preferring deeper open water habitats. A decrease was recorded in bird species that feed largely on invertebrates and to a lesser extent fish (e.g., glossy ibis) and that require extensive shallow feeding areas. There was a decline in geese, whose nests were regularly flooded, and a major increase in piscivorous birds, particularly diving birds (e.g., cormorants), which prefer deeper open water and benefitted directly from the large increase in coarse fish biomass. The disappearance of birds breeding in flooded meadows (e.g., black-winged stilts) and of those restricted to reedbeds (e.g., marsh harrier) occurred from 1983. Over the same period, the changes in populations of wintering birds at Kerkini were different from those occurring in other wetlands in northern Greece. The changes recorded in the populations of wintering birds at Kerkini did not therefore result from overall regional trends but from the major habitat modifications that occurred to this wetland. As for breeding birds, strictly piscivorous species increased greatly as a result of the increased availability of fish, but also due to the appearance of many suitable night roosting sites (flooded trees) and to the great increase in the area of open water greater than 2 m deep. Today, Kerkini has become the most important breeding site in Greece for a majority of colonial waterbirds. In contrast, wintering shorebirds practically disappeared. The many changes recorded in the status of breeding and wintering birds at Kerkini can mostly be explained by the changes that occurred in the functioning of the ecosystem and in the habitat structure following the inauguration of the new hydrological regime. These changes did not all occur at the same time: some were immediate and others required a delay before they could be detected.     

The readability of federal land management plans

Regulations to implement the National Environmental Policy Act state that environmental impact statements shall be written in plain language. Federal land management agencies operate under this guideline when they prepare plans for their lands. We examined 23 agency plans, using the Flesch Reading Ease Scale, to determine if they met this criterion. The scores show that the plans are written for people with three to six years of college education, far beyond the reading ability of the average person. The results suggest that the plans may limit or bias who participates in agency planning. National policy on the readability of the plans needs to be clarified, and agencies need to evaluate, and defend or revise, their writing programs.