Nutrient Uptake in a Large Urban River1

Abstract: Small streams have been shown to be efficient in retaining nutrients and regulating downstream nutrient fluxes, but less is known about nutrient retention in larger rivers. We quantified nutrient uptake length and uptake velocity in a regulated urban river to determine the river’s ability to retain nutrients associated with wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent. We measured net uptake of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), dissolved organic phosphorus, ammonium (NH₄), nitrate, and dissolved organic nitrogen in the Chattahoochee River, Atlanta, GA by following the downstream decline of nutrients and fluoride from WWTP effluent on 10 dates under low flow conditions. Uptake of all nutrients was sporadic. On many dates, there was no evidence of measurable nutrient uptake lengths within the reach; indeed, on several dates release of inorganic N and P within the sample reach led to increased nutrient export downstream. When uptake occurred, SRP uptake length was negatively correlated with total suspended solids and temperature. Uptake velocities of SRP and NH₄ in the Chattahoochee River were lower than velocities in less‐modified systems, but they were similar to those measured in other WWTP impacted systems. Lower uptake velocities indicate a diminished capacity for nutrient uptake.     

THE MILWAUKEE POLLUTION CASE - IMPLICATIONS FOR WATER RESOURCES PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: The Illinois v. Milwaukee Federal District Court decision is the most far reaching application yet of the federal common law of nuisance to interstate water pollution conflicts. Although a Federal Appelate Court recently rescinded part of the district court decision, Milwaukee must still upgrade its metropolitan sewage system to a level beyond that required by federal and state regulations. The improvements must be completed with or without federal aid. The case points out the apparent inability of the Clean Water Act, the most comprehensive federal legislation affecting the nation's water quality, to deal with certain interstate water quality conflicts. The Milwaukee decision could set a precedent for similar settlements elsewhere which may in turn affect the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's water quality clean up program. A more integrated, ecosystem conscious approach to management of shared water resources (e.g., the Great Lakes) would help reduce the need for court decisions like Illinois v. Milwaukee.     

Vegetation changes associated with barrier-dune construction on the outer banks of North Carolina

Manmade dunes are used to stabilize the barrier islands of the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States so that they are more amenable to development. Although this strategy has stabilized extensive sections of the barrier-island substrate, it has also caused significant ecological changes. The rate and pattern of the resulting vegetation changes along the Outer Banks of North Carolina were determined using sequential aerial photography. Successional trends have been altered in favor of more stable woody communities.     

Effect of Macroalgal Expansion and Marine Protected Areas on Coral Recovery Following a Climatic Disturbance

Disturbance plays an important role in structuring marine ecosystems, and there is a need to understand how conservation practices, such as the designation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), facilitate postdisturbance recovery. We evaluated the association of MPAs, herbivorous fish biomass, substrate type, postdisturbance coral cover, and change in macroalgal cover with coral recovery on the fringing reefs of the inner Seychelle islands, where coral mortality after a 1998 bleaching event was extensive. We visually estimated benthic cover and fish biomass at 9 sites in MPAs where fishing is banned and at 12 sites where fishing is permitted in 1994, 2005, 2008, and 2011. We used analysis of variance to examine spatial and temporal variations in coral cover and generalized additive models to identify relations between coral recovery and the aforementioned factors that may promote recovery. Coral recovery occurred on all substrate types, but it was highly variable among sites and times. Between 2005 and 2011 the increase in coral cover averaged 1%/year across 21 sites, and the maximum increase was 4%/year. However, mean coral cover across the study area (14%) remained at half of 1994 levels (28%). Sites within MPAs had faster rates of coral recovery than sites in fished areas only where cover of macroalgae was low and had not increased over time. In MPAs where macroalgae cover expanded since 1998 there was no recovery. Where coral was recovering on granite reefs there was a shift in relative prevalence of colony life‐form from branching to encrusting species. This simplification of reef structure may affect associated reef fauna even if predisturbance levels of coral cover are attained. Efecto de la Expansión de Macroalgas y Áreas Marinas Protegidas sobre la Recuperación de Coral Después de una Perturbación Climática     

水电开发对河流生态系统服务的效应评估与时空变化特征分析——以武江干流为例

水电开发对河流生态系统的影响不容忽视,科学评估其影响有助于建立更可持续的水电开发模式。以武江干流为例,利用当量因子法和功能价值评估法,分析了武江干流梯级水电开发对受淹没影响的河岸带陆地生态系统和河流生态系统服务的效益及损失,并就其对河流生态系统服务的综合效应进行了评估。结果显示：武江干流水电开发使受淹没影响的河岸带生态系统和河流生态系统本身的服务价值均出现增加,价值增量主要体现在水文调节、水资源供给等服务方面;武江干流水电开发对河流生态系统服务的正效应大于负效应,正效应主要体现在发电、水文调节、气体调节等方面,负效应主要体现在维持生物多样性、土壤保持等支持服务方面。研究认为不同规模水电站的正负效应侧重点不同,不同流域单位电能的生态损失难以直接横向比较。结合多年来武江鱼类资源跟踪调查数据,分析了鱼类生物损失指数的变化趋势,探讨了水电开发在时间上的累积生态效应及水电服务的空间格局差异。由于生物多样性等服务的影响难以用货币直接衡量,加上水域的单位面积服务价值远高于其他生态用地类型,导致负效应的价值评估偏保守,武江干流水电开发的正负效应之比偏大。     

长江流域洪灾与生态破坏的关系浅析:Ⅲ生态重建与减灾对策

在分析长江流域１９９８ 年洪水灾害与生态环境破坏的关系的基础上，提出了生态重建规划应以可持续发展为指导思想，坚持经济建设、社会发展与生态环境保护相协调的基本原则；指出了生态保护、恢复、重建的要点与方略；提出了防灾、减灾的对策建议。     

The value of urban ecosystem services in New York City: A spatially explicit multicriteria analysis of landscape scale valuation scenarios

Mapping, modeling, and valuing urban ecosystem services are important for integrating the ecosystem services concept in urban planning and decision-making. However, decision-support tools able to consider multiple ecosystem services in the urban setting using complex and heterogeneous data are still in early development. Here, we use New York City (NYC) as a case study to evaluate and analyze how the value of multiple ecosystem services of urban green infrastructure shifts with shifting governance priorities. We first examined the spatial distribution of five ecosystem services – storm water absorption, carbon storage, air pollution removal, local climate regulation, and recreation – to create the first multiple ecosystem services evaluation of all green infrastructure in NYC. Then, combining an urban ecosystem services landscape approach with spatial multicriteria analysis weighting scenarios, we examine the distribution of these ecosystem services in the city. We contrast the current NYC policy preference – which is focused on heavy investment in stormwater absorption – with a valuation approach that also accounts for other ecosystem services. We find substantial differences in the spatial distribution of priority areas for green infrastructure for the valuation scenarios. Among the scenarios we examined for NYC, we find that a scenario in which only stormwater absorption is prioritized leads to the most unevenly distributed ES values. By contrast, we find least variation in ES values where stormwater absorption, local climate regulation, carbon storage, air pollution removal, and recreational potential are all weighted equally.We suggest that green infrastructure planning strategies should include all landscape components that contribute to the production of ecosystem services and consider how planning priority alternatives generate different ecosystem services values.     

渤海海域生态系统服务功能价值评估

客观评估海洋生态系统服务功能价值。对于生态环境保护以及海洋综合管理具有重要意义。以海洋生态系统服务功能分类为基础．构建了食品生产、提供基因资源、氧气生产和气候调节、废弃物处理、生物控制、休闲娱乐、科研文化、初级生产、物种多样性维持等九项服务功能价值的评估方法。以渤海为研究区域．对上述九项生态系统服务功能价值进行了定量评价。结果表明。渤海海域九项生态系统服务功能的价值为81703亿元．相当于近期环渤海地区生产总值的1．73倍．其中直接使用价值为12873亿元，间接使用价值68830亿元．间接使用价值远大于直接使用价值；渤海海域生态系统服务价值，以支持功能价值为主，占生态系统服务功能总价值的74．68％。此外．认为海洋生态系统服务功能分类和价值评价方法有待进一步完善．渤海海域生态系统服务功能价值的评估值与实际有偏差。     

Elevated CO2 facilitates C and N accumulation in a rice paddy ecosystem

Elevated CO2 can stimulate wetland carbon(C) and nitrogen(N) exports through gaseous and dissolved pathways, however, the consequent influences on the C and N pools are still not fully known. Therefore, we set up a free-air CO2 enrichment experiment in a paddy field in Eastern China. After five year fumigation, we studied C and N in the plant–water–soil system. The results showed:(1) elevated CO2 stimulated rice aboveground biomass and N accumulations by 19.1% and 12.5%, respectively.(2) Elevated CO2 significantly increased paddy soil TOC and TN contents by 12.5% and 15.5%, respectively in the 0–15 cm layer, and22.7% and 26.0% in the 15–30 cm soil layer.(3) Averaged across the rice growing period,elevated CO2 greatly increased TOC and TN contents in the surface water by 7.6% and 11.4%,respectively.(4) The TOC/TN ratio and natural δ15N value in the surface soil showed a decreasing trend under elevated CO2. The above results indicate that elevated CO2 can benefit C and N accumulation in paddy fields. Given the similarity between the paddies and natural wetlands, our results also suggest a great potential for long-term C and N accumulation in natural wetlands under future climate patterns.     

The Role of Prices in Conserving Critical Natural Capital

Abstract: Until recent decades, economic decision makers have largely ignored the nonmarket benefits provided by nature, resulting in unprecedented threats to ecological life‐support functions. The economic challenge today is to decide how much ecosystem structure can be converted to economic production and how much must be conserved to provide essential ecosystem services. Many economists and a growing number of life scientists hope to address this challenge by estimating the marginal value of environmental benefits and then using this information to make economic decisions. I assessed this approach first by examining the role and effectiveness of the price mechanism in a well‐functioning market economy, second by identifying the issues that prevent markets from pricing many ecological benefits, and third by focusing on problems inherent to valuing services generated by complex and poorly understood ecosystems subject to irreversible change. I then focus on critical natural capital (CNC), which generates benefits that are essential to human welfare and have few if any substitutes. When imminent ecological thresholds threaten CNC, conservation is essential and marginal valuation becomes inappropriate. Once conservation needs have been met, remaining ecosystem structure is potentially available for economic production. Demand for this available supply will determine prices. In other words, conservation needs should be price determining, not price determined. Conservation science must help identify CNC and the quantity and quality of ecosystem structure required to ensure its sustained provision.