Recommended design for more accurate duplication of natural conditions in salt marsh creation

Construction of 653 ha of salt marsh habitat from dredged material near the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas, has been proposed, with the goal of increasing the area of habitat available to endangered whooping cranes (Grus americana). We assessed prototype created wetlands, and their similarity to natural reference sites, in terms of topography, vegetation, and hydrology. The created sites were steeply sloped relative to natural sites and were dominated by monotypic stands of Spartina alterniflora. Natural sites were dominated by vegetation more tolerant of desiccation and hypersalinity and by unvegetated salt pans. Differences in vegetation communities and distributions of habitat types resulted from efforts to enhance habitat diversity in created marsh cells through manipulation of marsh topography. However, the scale at which this diversity occurred in natural marsh of the study area was not considered. When constructing wetlands in cellular configurations, we recommend creation of large complexes of adjoining, hydrologically linked, cells wherein the desired habitat diversity is created at the scale of the entire complex, rather than within a single cell. Suggested design modifications would increase the similarity of created marshes to natural reference sites, potentially improving habitat function.     

湿地综述与新疆湿地研究

湿地(Wetland)是世界上面积最大、分布地域最广泛、生产力最高的景观类型之一,其结构和功能十分独特,对全人类的发展发挥着独特的作用。我国是一个干旱缺水严重的国家,我国西部干旱区水资源与湿地问题突出,对湿地的研究应和"干旱区研究"并行。文中总结了国际与国内对湿地研究与发展状况和趋势,分析了新疆湿地的特征和类型,并提出了新疆湿地存在的问题和一些建议。     

The nature of cumulative impacts on biotic diversity of wetland vertebrates

There is no longer any doubt that cumulative impacts have important effects on wetland vertebrates. Interactions of species diversity and community structure produce a complex pattern in which environmental impacts can play a highly significant role. Various examples show how wetlands maintain the biotic diversity within and among vertebrate populations, and some of the ways that environmental perturbations can interact to reduce this diversity.The trophic and habitat pyramids are useful organizing concepts. Habitat fragmentation can have severe effects at all levels, reducing the usable range of the larger habitat generalists while threatening the genetic integrity of small, isolated populations. The complexity of trophic interactions, and the propensity, or necessity, of vertebrates to switch from one food source to another—something we know little about—makes using food chain support as a variable for predicting environmental impacts very questionable.Historical instances illustrate the effects of the accumulation of impacts on vertebrates. At present it is nearly impossible to predict the result of three or more different kinds of perturbations, although long-range effects can be observed. One case in point is waterfowl; while their ingestion of lead shot, harvesting by hunters during migration, and loss of habitat have caused waterfowl populations to decline, the proportional responsibility of these factors has not been determined.Further examples show multiplicative effects of similar actions, effects with long time lags, diffuse processes in the landscape that may have concentrated effects on a component subsystem, and a variety of other interactions of increasing complexity. Not only is more information needed at all levels; impacts must be assessed on a landscape or regional scale to produce informed management decisions. I conclude that a system of replicate wetland reserves that are allowed to interact naturally with the surrounding landscape will be more effective in preserving biotic diversity than isolated sanctuaries.     

The Macquarie Marshes in Arid Australia and their waterbirds: A 50-year history of decline

We investigated the relationship between total annual flow of water in the Macquarie River and the extent of flooding in the northern part of the Macquarie Marshes and trends in waterbird populations from 1983 to 1993. The amount of water in the Macquarie River measured each year within the Macquarie Marshes explained about 86% of the variation in area flooded in the northern part of this wetland. This allowed use of long-term data on flow at Oxley, a gauge within the Macquarie Marshes, as an index to flooding. Annual flows at Oxley have decreased significantly for high and medium rainfall events in the catchment, despite no trend in rainfall between 1944 and 1993. The area flooded by large floods has contracted by at least 40–50% during the last 50 years (1944–1993). Water use has progressively increased upstream in the period, depriving the Macquarie Marshes of water: 51% of all water passing Dubbo each year, a gauge 100 km upstream, reached the Macquarie Marshes in the period 1944–1953, but by 1984–1993 this had declined to 21%. Numbers of species and density of waterbirds on the northern part of the Macquarie Marshes declined between 1983 and 1993. Three other wetlands, not affected by water abstractions, showed no declines. We believe the decline was due to wetland degradation as a result of decreased flooding. We estimated more than 88,000 waterbirds in the Macquarie Marshes in October 1984, establishing the site as an important wetland site in Australia. The extent and viability of this wetland will depend on maintaining or increasing the water supply.     

A better rationale for wetland management

The present US Federal wetland management strategy under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act does not account for the differences in the natural values of wetlands and their different vulnerability to development pressure. The strategy, aimed at reducing the regulatory burden, provides for different levels of wetland protection, primarily by designating certain activities in or affecting wetlands as essentially harmless, having only minor impacts even when considered for their cumulative effects. Such activities are authorized under general permits precluding any evaluation of project impacts. A sounder, yet practical, rationale for wetland management and regulatory relief should be linked to the scarcity of certain wetland habitats, the habitat diversity or carrying capacity, the degree of degradation from past development, and the incremental losses already incurred within the same wetland ecosystem. The regulatory effort should be concentrated where these characteristics indicate high-value wetlands.Wetland impacts appear to fit into five basic orders of magnitude; these pertain to the relative cost and difficulty of impact mitigation. Up to 13 ecological and public-interest variables can modify the seriousness of the basic impact. Together, the basic orders of impact and modifying variables describe the theoretical framework for wetland management. However, a practical rationale for better wetland management must be constrained to factors not requiring a field investigation in advance of project planning for construction and development.This article was produced in part from work funded by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) of the United States Congress for use in its study, Wetlands: Their Use and Regulation. The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of OTA.     

榆林河流域放牧活动对围栏内外湿地水环境NP含量的影响分析

对甘肃省西北部肃北蒙古族自治县石包城乡以南约1 km处的榆林河源头东岸的湿地水环境进行调查采样,选择磷酸盐、氨氮等水质指标及水文流量进行测定分析,研究结果表明,放牧活动对湿地水环境有影响,受到保护的湿地由于放牧行为较少,没有超出湿地的承载能力,因此影响较小。     

辉河湿地国家自然保护区生态系统健康评价

在RS和GIS技术的支持下,以1975和2006年两期遥感影像为信息源,从生态系统空间范围和服务功能价值变化的角度对呼伦贝尔辉河草原湿地国家级自然保护区的生态系统健康状况进行了分析.结果表明,1975～2006年间辉河湿地自然保护区的草原和湖泊面积分别减少了7346和2731hm2,湿地和干涸湖面积分别增加了6877和2953 hm2.从自然保护区的核心——湿地生态系统的斑块格局变化来看,1975～2006年间斑块密度增加了74.48个.hm-2,斑块连通度在100～300m的阈限值范围内呈减少的趋势,平均减少0.069±0.038.基于生态系统服务价值的评价结果表明,1975～2006年间辉河湿地国家自然保护区生态系统达到健康水平以上的区域面积为323215 hm2,占保护区面积的93.31%,生态系统较差和恶劣区的面积为23177 hm2,占总面积的6.69%.研究区的总生态价值盈余为8.8×107元,其盈余主要来源于草原向湿地的转化、水体向湿地的转化及干涸湖向草原的转化.     

丹东鸭绿江口湿地自然保护区开发与保护对策

丹东鸭绿江口湿地是我国重要的滨海类型湿地之一,是丹东市重要的自然资源。通过详细地分析目前保护区开发过程中存在的问题,对丹东鸭绿江口湿地国家级自然保护区的价值进行了系统地论述,提出了保护区在保护中进行开发,在开发中寻求保护的对策。     

太平湖国家湿地公园生态保育区草本植物区系及其在不同干扰下的多样性动态

为探明人类活动对太平湖国家湿地公园生态保育区草本植物多样性的影响,对该区域草本植物区系及其在不同干扰下的多样性动态进行了调查分析。结果表明:①该区共有草本植物25科,56属,68种,以禾本科(G ram ineae)、莎草科(Cyperaceae)和菊科(Compositae)为优势科,属的成分相对分散,该区草本植物均为寡种属和单种属,植物区系成分简单;②狗牙根(Cynodondactylon)为湿地公园生态保育区优势种群,在5个样地均形成优势群落,但在不同干扰类型下重要值有所变化;③吴家洲为无人区,狗牙根占绝对优势,植物演替处于初始阶段;④大湖冲农业干扰时间久远,农田杂草向滩涂湿地演替推进,物种α多样性各指数为5样地中最高;⑤轻微游憩活动造成营盘山草本植物多样性各指数较吴家洲高,近期建造的水泥游道、观台和篝火场地等对湿地景观造成了一定破坏;⑥苍耳(Xanthium sibiricum)因不被家畜食用、具化感作用,种子可随水和随家畜传播,造成石壁陈苍耳泛滥成灾,形成大面积优势群落,严重影响植被景观多样性和微生态系统的稳定性;⑦乌里村受渔业影响较大,滩地植被稀疏;⑧各样地草本植物β多样性显示,不同干扰类型已经对河口滩地的环境造成了影响,具体环境影响指标还有待于进一步研究。针对太平湖湿地公园生态保育区生物多样性保护存在的主要问题,提出了相应的保护和修复对策。     

泰州溱湖湿地浮游藻类的群落结构及与水质的关系

对江苏泰州溱湖湿地的浮游藻类进行了调查,分析了浮游藻类的群落结构、物种多样性以及浮游藻类与溱湖湿地水质理化参数的关系。调查共鉴定浮游藻类6门45属72种,绿藻种类最多,其次是硅藻和蓝藻,优势种主要以蓝藻门的微小平裂藻为主。根据藻类各项指标值,溱湖湿地已遭受污染,水体为富营养型。通过Pearson相关性分析揭示出溱湖湿地藻类的种类组成及多样性指数与溱湖湿地水质之间的关系,为溱湖湿地的防治提供浮游藻类方面的科学依据。