Boosting large-scale river connectivity restoration by planning for the presence of unrecorded barriers

Conservation decisions are invariably made with incomplete data on species’ distributions, habitats, and threats, but frameworks for allocating conservation investments rarely account for missing data. We examined how explicit consideration of missing data can boost return on investment in ecosystem restoration, focusing on the challenge of restoring aquatic ecosystem connectivity by removing dams and road crossings from rivers. A novel way of integrating the presence of unmapped barriers into a barrier optimization model was developed and applied to the U.S. state of Maine to maximize expected habitat gain for migratory fish. Failing to account for unmapped barriers during prioritization led to nearly 50% lower habitat gain than was anticipated using a conventional barrier optimization approach. Explicitly acknowledging that data are incomplete during project selection, however, boosted expected habitat gains by 20–273% on average, depending on the true number of unmapped barriers. Importantly, these gains occurred without additional data. Simply acknowledging that some barriers were unmapped, regardless of their precise number and location, improved conservation outcomes. Given incomplete data on ecosystems worldwide, our results demonstrate the value of accounting for data shortcomings during project selection.     

土壤中稀土元素的生态毒性研究进展

为了解稀土元素对农田生态系统的影响,综述了近几十年来国内外有关土壤稀土元素生态毒性的研究进展,包括土壤稀土元素的主要来源途径,稀土元素对农田生态系统中植物、动物和微生物生长、发育、繁殖的影响。高浓度的稀土元素会破坏植物细胞膜的性质和结构,影响植物的抗氧化系统,扰乱植物对矿质营养元素的正常吸收和利用,诱使植物细胞发育不良、染色体畸变等现象发生。稀土元素可影响动物的消化、呼吸、生殖、神经、血液和免疫系统等。稀土元素对土壤微生物数量、种类、群落结构与功能多样性等均有影响。探讨了土壤稀土元素的生态毒性诊断方法,目前常见的植物毒性诊断法、蚯蚓毒性诊断法、土壤微生物诊断法、生物标记物诊断法和遗传毒性诊断法等可用来诊断土壤中稀土元素的生态毒性。提出了以后开展土壤稀土元素生态毒性研究应加强的方面:在群落、个体和细胞水平上研究稀土元素对土壤动物和微生物的影响,加强稀土元素生态毒性诊断新方法和新技术的探讨,进行稀土元素生物有效性与土壤因素关系的研究等。     

Spatial Relationships of Levees and Wetland Systems within Floodplains of the Wabash Basin,USA

Given the unique biogeochemical, physical, and hydrologic services provided by floodplain wetlands, proper management of river systems should include an understanding of how floodplain modifications influence wetland ecosystems. The construction of levees can reduce river–floodplain connectivity, yet it is unclear how levees affect wetlands within floodplains, let alone the cumulative impacts within an entire watershed. This paper explores spatial relationships between levee and floodplain wetland systems in the Wabash Basin, United States. We used a hydrogeomorphic floodplain delineation technique to map floodplain extents and identify wetlands that may be hydrologically connected to river networks. We then spatially examined the relationship between levee presence, wetland area, and other river network attributes within discrete subbasins. Our results show that cumulative wetland area is relatively constant in subbasins that contain levees, regardless of maximum stream order within the subbasin. In subbasins that do not contain levees, cumulative wetland area increases with maximum stream order. However, we found that wetland distributions around levees can be complex, and further studies on the influence of levees on wetland habitat may need to consider finer resolution spatial scales.     

黄河流域近十五年生态系统服务价值变化特征及影响因素研究

黄河流域生态系统服务变化的定量评估有利于考核流域生态综合治理效果。本研究构建了基于能值的生态系统服务价值核算方法体系,核算了黄河流域2000—2015年省级及地市级尺度生态系统服务价值变化及导致变化的原因。结果表明:(1)近15年,黄河流域生态状况有明显好转,除河南和山东外,增幅主要集中在黄河流域的中上游(7%～27%),增幅最大的为甘肃;(2)黄河流域的117个地级市(地区、自治州、盟)中,有77个地级市(地区、自治州、盟)生态系统服务价值有不同增幅(0.46%～210%);(3)黄河流域"源""过程""汇"区位不同保护重点不同,要根据其所提供生态服务的能力及改善情况动态制定分区分类保护策略;(4)近15年的林地面积增加对所提供的服务提升效果明显,湿地(湖泊、沼泽地)的减少变成黄河流域上、中、下游省份服务下降的最大驱动因素。本研究能够为黄河流域生态治理及城市绿色发展提供基础性依据。     

Wetland Flowpaths Mediate Nitrogen and Phosphorus Concentrations across the Upper Mississippi River Basin

Eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, and human health impacts are critical environmental challenges resulting from excess nitrogen and phosphorus in surface waters. Yet we have limited information regarding how wetland characteristics mediate water quality across watershed scales. We developed a large, novel set of spatial variables characterizing hydrological flowpaths from wetlands to streams, that is, “wetland hydrological transport variables,” to explore how wetlands statistically explain the variability in total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations across the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) in the United States. We found that wetland flowpath variables improved landscape-to-aquatic nutrient multilinear regression models (from R² = 0.89 to 0.91 for TN; R² = 0.53 to 0.84 for TP) and provided insights into potential processes governing how wetlands influence watershed-scale TN and TP concentrations. Specifically, flowpath variables describing flow-attenuating environments, for example, subsurface transport compared to overland flowpaths, were related to lower TN and TP concentrations. Frequent hydrological connections from wetlands to streams were also linked to low TP concentrations, which likely suggests a nutrient source limitation in some areas of the UMRB. Consideration of wetland flowpaths could inform management and conservation activities designed to reduce nutrient export to downstream waters.     

GEP核算：理论内涵与现实挑战

当前学术界对于GEP的概念内涵和核算方法仍在探索之中,而地方实践已然走在理论研究之前。GEP核算是生态服务价值的货币化评价,主要是为了科学认识生态系统服务的潜在价值,不等同于生态服务价值的市场显现;核算的出发点是为了更好保护自然资本,而非生态产品价值转化。GEP核算通过货币化评价生态服务价值,将自然资本保护更好地纳入经济社会发展决策,为完善生态补偿机制、进行生态文明绩效考核、引导人造资本和人力资本进入生态产业化提供重要参考依据。GEP和GDP都是流量,将GEP直接转化为GDP在逻辑上不成立。如何使GEP核算更好地服务于生态产品价值实现,需要在理论上厘清逻辑关联,在实践中明晰政策边界。     

绥化市城市生态系统健康状况研究

针对当前城市生态系统健康问题,从自然、经济、社会三个子系统出发,运用数学模型对绥化市城市生态系统的健康水平进行了评价。结果表明,2000年-2004年绥化市生态系统综合健康处于亚健康状态,但有逐年好转的趋势。其中自然子系统的健康水平最好,对综合健康指数贡献值最大,经济和社会子系统健康水平相对较低,对综合健康指数的贡献值相对较小。提高经济和社会子系统的健康水平,使经济、社会和自然三大子系统健康协调发展是提高绥化市城市生态系统健康水平的关键。     

景观规划创意与生态旅游的结合--转山湖水库风景区概念性规划简介

本文结合生态旅游讨论一个水库风景区的景观规划创意,从生态规划角度对人与环境的共生主题进行探讨,突出水域生态资源与环境保护可持续发展这一中心,提倡规划项目与时代需要的深入结合,并在具体规划中关注人与环境的共生性问题。     

干旱区城市化对生态系统碳库的影响——以乌鲁木齐市为例

城市化是影响区域生态系统碳循环的主要原因,也是评估生态系统碳循环的最大不确定因素。论文利用1990与2010年Landsat TM数据,基于V-I-S城市土地覆被模型和决策树分类法,获得乌鲁木齐土地变化时空格局;结合野外实测数据和文献检索得到研究区不同土地覆被类型的土壤与植被碳密度,估算了城市土地变化对生态系统碳库的影响。结果表明：1）1990—2010年间,乌鲁木齐城市不透水地表（impervious surface areas, ISA）以中部南部内部填充与北部扩张的形式约增加62%,主要占用农田（27%）与荒漠（62%）。2）乌鲁木齐市生态系统碳库主体（95%）分布在土壤中,城市土地覆被变化导致约25%的碳库损失,由农田、裸土/残存荒漠以及城市绿地转变为ISA解释了68%的土壤有机碳和63%的植被碳损失量,其空间分布与ISA的扩张相一致。城市植被及其土壤具有较高的碳密度,合理的城市规划可以抵消部分因土地变化而损失的生态系统碳。     

多风险源驱动下的土地生态风险评价——以江苏省射阳县为例

我国正处于快速城镇化阶段,土地利用格局变化改变了土地生态系统的结构和功能,造成土地生态风险的进一步加剧和风险来源的多样化。论文根据风险来源、风险受体和风险效应的作用关系,提出了基于多源风险的发生概率、风险受体的抵御和自我恢复能力及其暴露于风险环境下可能发生的损失的土地生态风险表征方法。选取适当的指标计算得出风险来源指数、自然系统损失度和恢复力、社会系统损失度和恢复力、自然风险指数、社会风险指数和综合风险指数。论文以江苏射阳县为例开展实证研究,结果表明：射阳县城所在地社会风险指数最高,东部沿海丹顶鹤自然保护区自然风险指数最高,需要加强对这些地区的限制建设和生态保护。县城周边以及中东部大片区域综合风险指数较低,可以进行进一步的城镇发展和土地开发利用。论文提出的土地生态风险评价方法可为土地利用的风险评估提供方法参考,研究结论可为射阳新型城镇化发展与生态环境保护提供决策参考。