Monitoring of Aquatic Macrophytes for Detection of Long-term Change in River Systems

This paper presents details of the methodology developed by the United Kingdom's Environmental Change Network for the long-term monitoring of macrophytes in rivers and streams. The methodology is based on techniques first proposed by the Standing Committee of Analysts (1987) and later adapted by the National Rivers Authority (NRA) and Environment Agency, but differs in splitting the surveyed 100 m stretch of waterinto sections to provide an objective measure of the frequencyof occurrence of individual species in place of the moresubjective estimation of cover. A pilot study of the ECN methodology took place at five sitesin 1997. The results of this study, including a few practicaldifficulties in the application of the methodology, are presented and discussed. For all but one of the sites strongassociations were found between the number of species observedand the physical characteristics of the watercourse. The most important characteristics were degree of shading, substrate type, depth and clarity. The frequency of occurrence of individual species within sections of the watercourse was foundto be strongly related to the log of the overall estimates of cover. Because the use of sections, rather than a single overall coverestimate, enables variation in the pattern of vegetation over surveyed stretches to be detected and related to watercourse characteristics, the precision with which change can be detected is increased, and the possibility of determining the causes of change is thereby enhanced. Moreover the use of sections allows within-site variation to be calculated and hence the accuracy of estimated changes to be quantified.In general implementation of the ECN methodology was not found to be particularly onerous or difficult. As a result of the pilot study some changes in the ECN methodology have been made, primarily to reduce the workload so that sites can be surveyed comfortably in a single day.     

Establishing aquatic restoration priorities using a watershed approach

Since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, the United States has made great strides to reduce the threats to its rivers, lakes, and wetlands from pollution. However, despite our obvious successes, nearly half of the nation's surface water resources remain incapable of supporting basic aquatic values or maintaining water quality adequate for recreational swimming. The Clean Water Act established a significant federal presence in water quality regulation by controlling point and non-point sources of pollution. Point-sources of pollution were the major emphasis of the Act, but Section 208 specifically addressed non-point sources of pollution and designated silviculture and livestock grazing as sources of non-point pollution. Non-point source pollutants include runoff from agriculture, municipalities, timber harvesting, mining, and livestock grazing. Non-point source pollution now accounts for more than half of the United States water quality impairments. To successfully improve water quality, restoration practitioners must start with an understanding of what ecosystem processes are operating in the watershed and how they have been affected by outside variables. A watershed-based analysis template developed in the Pacific Northwest can be a valuable aid in developing that level of understanding. The watershed analysis technique identifies four ecosystem scales useful to identify stream restoration priorities: region, basin, watershed, and site. The watershed analysis technique is based on a set of technically rigorous and defensible procedures designed to provide information on what processes are active at the watershed scale, how those processes are distributed in time and space. They help describe what the current upland and riparian conditions of the watershed are and how these conditions in turn influence aquatic habitat and other beneficial uses. The analysis is organized as a set of six steps that direct an interdisciplinary team of specialists to examine the biotic and abiotic processes influencing aquatic habitat and species abundance. This process helps develop an understanding of the watershed within the context of the larger ecosystem. The understanding gained can then be used to identify and prioritize aquatic restoration activities at the appropriate temporal and spatial scale. The watershed approach prevents relying solely on site-level information, a common problem with historic restoration efforts. When the watershed analysis process was used in the Whitefish Mountains of northwest Montana, natural resource professionals were able to determine the dominant habitat forming processes important for native fishes and use that information to prioritize, plan, and implement the appropriate restoration activities at the watershed scale. Despite considerable investments of time and resources needed to complete an analysis at the watershed scale, the results can prevent the misdiagnosis of aquatic problems and help ensure that the objectives of aquatic restoration will be met.     

Exploratory visualization software for reporting environmental survey results

Environmental surveys yield three principal products: maps, a set of data tables, and a textual report. The relationships between these three elements, however, are often cumbersome to present, making full use of all the information in an integrated and systematic sense difficult. The published paper report is only a partial solution. Modern developments in computing, particularly in cartography, GIS, and hypertext, mean that it is increasingly possible to conceive of an easier and more interactive approach to the presentation of such survey results. Here, we present such an approach which links map and tabular datasets arising from a vegetation survey, allowing users ready access to a complex dataset using dynamic mapping techniques. Multimedia datasets equipped with software like this provide an exciting means of quick and easy visual data exploration and comparison. These techniques are gaining popularity across the sciences as scientists and decision-makers are presented with increasing amounts of diverse digital data. We believe that the software environment actively encourages users to make complex interrogations of the survey information, providing a new vehicle for the reader of an environmental survey report.     

水生植物复合系统处理富营养化水体的初步研究

根据水生植物不同的生活型,设计建造了由漂浮、浮叶植物组成的水生植物复合生态系统,并在洋河水库进行了动态模拟试验,从群落水平研究了多种水生植物镶嵌组合的复合系统对富营养化水体的净化效果.结果表明:富营养化水体在流经该系统之后水中的TN、TP、NH4 -N、NO3--N、PO43--P被有效地去除,对藻类也有很好抑制、截留作用,使水质和水体透明度得到改善.通过实践,水力停留时间3d时对水体有较好的净化效果.     

利用遥感影像软件ENVI提取植被指数

在遥感影像处理中，植被指数提取广泛应用于定性和定量评价植被覆盖及其生长活力。主要介绍了在ENVI遥感图像处理软件对遥感影像进行植被指数。对植被指数提取的关键部分进行分析，并给出植被指数提取的技术关键。     

基于遥感信息的沙漠化灾害程度定量提取研究

在分析沙漠化等级遥感信息提取现状的基础上,根据遥感手段沙漠化等级综合标志,提出了植被盖度分割和缨帽变换分割两种沙漠化程度遥感信息提取方法,并将其与传统的监督分类进行了比较.认为监督分类精度最低,植被盖度分割和缨帽变换分割更适用于生态环境动态监测,而在水体分布区缨帽变换分割较植被盖度分割适用.     

基于知识的多时相TM图像森林火烧迹地快速提取方法

本文以覆盖福州市及周边地区的五期TM图像为例,进行森林火烧迹地的自动提取研究.分别对TM图像上火烧迹地及其背景地物采样,分析火烧迹地在TM图像6个波段及PC变换、TC变换、多时相植被指数(MTVI)上的光谱特征,发现了火烧迹地与背景地物区分的光谱知识.其次,利用DEM数据分析火烧迹地在地形上的分布特点,发现了火烧迹地空间分布的知识规则.在此基础上建立了基于知识的多时相TM图像上森林火烧迹地提取模型,从而解决了快速识别和提取森林火灾信息的问题.     

Carbon in the Vegetation and Soils of Great Britain

•The total amount of carbon held by vegetation in Great Britain is estimated to be 114 Mtonnes. •Woodlands and forests hold 80% of the G.B. total although they occupy only about 11% of the rural land area. Broadleaf species hold about 50% of the carbon in woodlands and forests. •A map of carbon in the vegetation of Great Britain at 1 km×1 km resolution based on land cover identified in the I.T.E. Land Cover Map is presented. The predominant location of vegetation carbon is the broadleaved woodlands of southern England. •The amount of carbon in the soils of Great Britain is estimated to be 9838 Mt (6948 Mt in Scotland and 2890 Mt in England and Wales). •In Scotland, most soil carbon is in blanket peats, whereas most soil carbon is in stagnogley soils in England and Wales. •The carbon content of the soils of Great Britain is mapped at 1 km×1 km resolution. Scottish peat soils have the greatest density of carbon and in total contain 4523 Mt of carbon, 46% of the G.B. total.     

EFFECTS OF BASIN-SCALE TIMBER HARVEST ON WATER YIELD AND PEAK STREAMFLOW1

ABSTRACT: Streamflow changes resulting from clearcut harvest of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) on a 2145 hectare drainage basin are evaluated by the paired watershed technique. Thirty years of continuous daily streamflow records were used in the analysis, including 10 pre-harvest and 20 post-harvest years of data. Regression analysis was used to estimate the effects of timber harvest on annual water yield and annual peak discharge. Removal of 14 million board feet of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) from about 526 hectares (25 percent of the basin) produced an average of 14.7 cm additional water yield per year, or an increase of 52 percent. Mean annual daily maximum discharge also increased by 1.6 cubic meters per second or 66 percent. Increases occurred primarily during the period of May through August with little or no change in wintertime streamflows. Results suggest that clearcutting conifers in relatively large watersheds (> 2000 ha) may produce significant increases in water yield and flooding. Implications of altered streamflow regimes are important for assessing the future ecological integrity of stream ecosystems subject to large-scale timber harvest and other disturbances that remove a substantial proportion of the forest cover.     

EVAPOTRANSPIRATION FROM WATER HYACINTH (Eichhomia crassipes (Mart.) Solms) IN TEXAS RESERVOIRS1

ABSTRACT: Water hyacinth, an attractive, floating aquatic plant, poses a substantial threat of unanticipated water loss from Texas reservoirs. A mature plant will lose about three times as much water through evapotranspiration as is lost from evaporation of an equivalent area of open water. The reservoirs of east and southeast Texas, which comprise the bulk of the state's existing and planned water storage capacity, seem likely to suffer a 20 percent average surface infestation of water hyacinth. A coverage that great will result in a yearly net loss of over 2,000,000 acre-feet of impounded water, based on present water development plans for the state. This would amount to nearly 20 percent of the anticipated yield from the reservoirs affected. An effective aquatic plant control program could head off the threat of this significant water loss.