Striking the balance: Challenges and perspectives for the protected areas network in northeastern European Russia

Increasing anthropogenic pressure on the largest remaining tracts of old-growth boreal forest in Europe necessitates additional conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity in northeastern European Russia. In a regional network comprising 8 % of the Nenets Autonomous District and 13.5 % of the Komi Republic, 248 areas have varying protected statuses as state nature reserves (zapovedniks), national parks, reserves/sanctuaries (zakazniks), or natural monuments. Due to increased natural resource extraction in this relatively pristine area, designation of additional protected areas is critical for the protection of key ecological sites. The history of ecological preservation in these regions is herein described, and recent recommendations for incorporating additional ecologically representative areas into the regional network are presented. If the protected area network can be expanded, the overall environmental stability in these globally significant ecosystems may remain intact, and can help Russia meet the 2020 Aichi conservation targets, as set forth by the Convention of Biological Diversity.     

Ganges River Dolphin: An Overview of Biology,Ecology, and Conservation Status in India

Ganges River dolphin, Platanista gangetica gangetica, is one of the three obligatory freshwater dolphins in the world and is distributed in the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna and Sangu–Karnaphuli River systems in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. This species is facing considerable threats to its survival, and its population has dwindled from 4000 to 5000 in the early 1980s to 3500 in 2014 in the distribution range. This article reviews current status of the sub-species, habitat use, and the potential threats that the dolphins face for their survival (details of taxonomic status and genetics, evolutionary adaptations and anatomical peculiarities, physical adaptation, primitive characteristics, biology, behavior, surfacing behavior and dive times, mating and birth, and life span/age have been placed as Electronic Supplementary Materials). Recommendations have been made for the protection and developing strategies for the conservation of this Endangered and endemic sub-species.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-014-0534-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

实验室率定法测算长江南通段污染物降解系数

污染物降解系数是确定水环境容量的关键参数之一,本文采用实验室率定法,采集长江南通段的水样,分别于6℃、10℃、16℃、20℃室温下,在实验室内进行周期为20天的室内水质分析,根据室内水质分析结果,测算出不同温度下长江南通段"十二五"减排的约束性指标化学需氧量、氨氮的降解系数,并定性分析了长江水体中污染物本底浓度、可生化性、pH值等环境因子对污染物降解系数可能发生的影响。     

天堂河河道治理工程水质改善预测分析

河道治理工程重在改善河道的水质,以恢复河流生态系统。本文以北京市大兴区天堂河河道治理工程为例,介绍了河道治理工程环境影响评价中的水质改善预测分析,首先分析生态需水量和供氧量是否满足河流生态需水要求,后又利用地面水环评助手软件预测了河流水质,预测分析了天堂河水质目标的可达性,旨在为以后的河道治理类工程环境影响评价提供参考。     

浊漳河山西省潞城市境内段河流生态健康评价研究

浊漳河山西省潞城市境内干流段及南源段河道生态环境目前最突出的问题在于水质恶化、水量减少以及生物多样性衰退。本文从水质、水量、生物状况三个要素出发,通过建立浊漳河潞城市境内河段的水生态健康评价体系,对浊漳南源及干流段进行了生态健康诊断。结果显示,浊漳干流段生态健康总指数36.74,呈生态病态状;南源段生态健康总指数60.03,呈基本健康状态。据此,浊漳河潞城境内段目前的核心问题是生态恢复问题,应当针对其存在的问题选择适当的生态修复模式,采取相应的生态环境管理方法,把生态系统的恢复和重建作为其流域治理的最终目标。     

Reconstructions of Soil Moisture for the Upper Colorado River Basin Using Tree‐Ring Chronologies1

Anderson, SallyRose, Glenn Tootle, and Henri Grissino‐Mayer, 2012. Reconstructions of Soil Moisture for the Upper Colorado River Basin Using Tree‐Ring Chronologies. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(4): 849‐858. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2012.00651.x Abstract: Soil moisture is an important factor in the global hydrologic cycle, but existing reconstructions of historic soil moisture are limited. We used tree‐ring chronologies to reconstruct annual soil moisture in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB). Gridded soil moisture data were spatially regionalized using principal components analysis and k‐nearest neighbor techniques. We correlated moisture sensitive tree‐ring chronologies in and adjacent to the UCRB with regional soil moisture and tested the relationships for temporal stability. Chronologies that were positively correlated and stable for the calibration period were retained. We used stepwise linear regression to identify the best predictor combinations for each soil moisture region. The regressions explained 42‐78% of the variability in soil moisture data. We performed reconstructions for individual soil moisture grid cells to enhance understanding of the disparity in reconstructive skill across the regions. Reconstructions that used chronologies based on ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa) and pinyon pines (Pinus edulis) explained more variance in the datasets. Reconstructed soil moisture data was standardized and compared with standardized reconstructed streamflow and snow water equivalent data from the same region. Soil moisture and other hydrologic variables were highly correlated, indicating reconstructions of soil moisture in the UCRB using tree‐ring chronologies successfully represent hydrologic trends.     

Impacts of Climate Change on Hydrology and Water Resources in the Boise and Spokane River Basins1

Jin, Xin and Venkataramana Sridhar, 2012. Impacts of Climate Change on Hydrology and Water Resources in the Boise and Spokane River Basins. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(2): 197‐220. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00605.x Abstract: In the Pacific Northwest, warming climate has resulted in a lengthened growing season, declining snowpack, and earlier timing of spring runoff. This study characterizes the impact of climate change in two basins in Idaho, the Spokane River and the Boise River basins. We simulated the basin‐scale hydrology by coupling the downscaled precipitation and temperature outputs from a suite of global climate models and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), between 2010 and 2060 and assess the impacts of climate change on water resources in the region. For the Boise River basin, changes in precipitation ranged from ?3.8 to 36%. Changes in temperature were expected to be between 0.02 and 3.9°C. In the Spokane River region, changes in precipitation were expected to be between ?6.7 and 17.9%. Changes in temperature appeared between 0.1 and 3.5°C over a period of the next five decades between 2010 and 2060. Without bias‐correcting the simulated streamflow, in the Boise River basin, change in peak flows (March through June) was projected to range from ?58 to +106 m³/s and, for the Spokane River basin, the range was expected to be from ?198 to +88 m³/s. Both the basins exhibited substantial variability in precipitation, evapotranspiration, and recharge estimates, and this knowledge of possible hydrologic impacts at the watershed scale can help the stakeholders with possible options in their decision‐making process.     

Modeled Summer Background Concentration of Nutrients and Suspended Sediment in the Mid‐Continent (USA) Great Rivers1

Angradi, Ted R., David W. Bolgrien, Matt A. Starry, and Brian H. Hill, 2012. Modeled Summer Background Concentration of Nutrients and Suspended Sediment in the Mid‐Continent (USA) Great Rivers. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(5): 1054‐1070. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2012.00669.x Abstract: We used regression models to predict summer background concentration of total nitrogen (N), total phosphorus (P), and total suspended solids (TSS), in the mid‐continent great rivers: the Upper Mississippi, the Lower Missouri, and the Ohio. From multiple linear regressions of water quality indicators with land use and other stressor variables, we determined the concentration of the indicators when the predictor variables were all set to zero — the y‐intercept. Except for total P on the Upper Mississippi River, we could predict background concentration using regression models. Predicted background concentration of total N was about the same on the Upper Mississippi and Lower Missouri Rivers (430 μg l^?1), which was lower than percentile‐based values, but was similar to concentrations derived from the response of sestonic chlorophyll a to great river total N concentration. Background concentration of total P on the Lower Missouri (65 μg l^?1) was also lower than published and percentile‐based concentrations. Background TSS concentration was higher on the Lower Missouri (40 mg l^?1) than the other rivers. Background TSS concentration on the Upper Mississippi (16 mg l^?1) was below a threshold (30 mg l^?1) designed to protect aquatic vegetation. Our model‐predicted concentrations for the great rivers are an attempt to estimate background concentrations for water quality indicators independent from thresholds based on percentiles or derived from stressor‐response relationships.     

The Effects of Hypoxia on Sediment Nitrogen Cycling in the Baltic Sea

Primary production in the eutrophic Baltic Sea is limited by nitrogen availability; hence denitrification (natural transformation of nitrate to gaseous N₂) in the sediments is crucial in mitigating the effects of eutrophication. This study shows that dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) process, where nitrogen is not removed but instead recycled in the system, dominates nitrate reduction in low oxygen conditions (O₂ <110 μM), which have been persistent in the central Gulf of Finland during the past decade. The nitrogen removal rates measured in this study show that nitrogen removal has decreased in the Gulf of Finland compared to rates measured in mid-1990s and the decrease is most likely caused by the increased bottom water hypoxia.     

New methodological improvements in the Microtox® solid phase assay

The classic Microtox® solid phase assay (MSPA) based on the inhibition of light production of the marine bacteria recently renamed Aliivibrio fischeri suffers from various bias and interferences, mainly due to physico-chemical characteristics of the tested solid phase. To precisely assess ecotoxicity of sediments, we have developed an alternative method, named Microtox® leachate phase assay (MLPA), in order to measure the action of dissolved pollutants in the aqueous phase. Two hypotheses were formulated to explain the observed difference between MSPA and MLPA results: a real ecotoxicity of the solid phase or the fixation of bacteria to fine particles and/or organic matter. To estimate the latter, flow cytometry analyses were performed with two fluorochromes (known for their ability to stain bacterial DNA), allowing correction of MSPA measurements and generation of new (corrected) IC50. Comparison of results of MLPA with the new IC50 MSPA allows differentiating real ecotoxic and fixation effect in classic MSPA especially for samples with high amount of fines and/or organic matter.