Understanding local community attitudes toward industrial development in the Great Barrier Reef region World Heritage Area: are environmental impacts perceived to overshadow economic benefits?

Conflicts between industrial development and environmental conservation can be particularly acute when such development occurs in the vicinity of World Heritage sites. A key example is the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) in northeastern Australia, where a 2012 review by the World Heritage Council found that rapid port development inshore of the coral reef posed significant risks to local marine ecosystems. Such instances pose pressing challenges for decision‐makers seeking to manage World Heritage sites for multiple values and needs, including those of key stakeholder groups, such as local communities. There is increasingly a societal expectation that public decision‐making takes into account local views and priorities, and that companies seek a ‘social license to operate’. This research explored local community attitudes toward port development associated with the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal through the GBRWHA. Using data drawn from a survey and interviews, the research examined how a range of geographical factors, including proximity to gas infrastructure and the perceived impacts and risks of development to the local community, economy and environment shape community perceptions of the industry. Findings suggest that local attitudes toward gas and coal terminal development inshore of the GBRWHA are shaped predominantly by community perceptions of environmental impacts and risks associated with such infrastructure, in contrast to a broader public narrative that focuses largely on economic benefits. A complex combination of other factors, including social impacts, personal environmental values, community trust in industry, and equity in decision‐making and distribution of the risks and benefits of industrial development also contribute. Placed in a broader, global context, the findings have important implications for public decision‐making processes in Australia and elsewhere as they suggest that, for local communities, the perceived impacts of gas development on the environment may overshadow the benefits of industry.     

Estimating willingness to pay for a threatened species within a threatened ecosystem

This study conducts a choice experiment to determine the willingness to pay for Palouse Prairie conservation. The giant Palouse earthworm (Driloleirus americanus), a rare species endemic to the Palouse region, is included as an attribute of conservation and serves as a method for determining the willingness to pay for protecting the species. This method evaluates the value of the earthworm as an attribute of an overall willingness to pay for threatened ecosystem preservation rather than a direct willingness to pay for protecting the species. This method is expected to yield a more accurate measure of willingness to pay for rare species. The annual willingness to pay per household for the giant Palouse earthworm is $20.45 based on the conditional logit model and $19.30 based on the mixed logit model. Ranking and relative importance are included as methods for representing a non-monetary value and importance of the giant Palouse earthworm.     

围垦后南汇东滩海三棱藨草的空间分布及其影响因子研究

2015年9月~10月期间对2012年底围垦后南汇嘴区域的海三棱藨草(Scirpus mariqueter)湿地系统进行了调研,运用主成分分析、典范对应分析(canonical correspondence analysis,CCA)方法,基于101个样地土壤的有机碳、总磷、总氮、硝酸盐氮、亚硝酸盐氮、氨氮、正磷酸盐、pH、含水率、粒径、盐度、滩涂高程等12个环境因子数据,探讨了围垦后海三棱藨草空间分布的关键影响因子。结果表明:海三棱藨草的分布与滩涂高程具有显著正相关(P0.05),海三棱藨草群落主要分布在南汇滩涂2.5~3.4 m高程范围内;海三棱藨草的密度、盖度与盐度呈显著正相关(P0.05)。结论认为滩涂高程和土壤盐度是影响海三棱藨草分布的主要环境因子。未来需要结合围垦后的水动力变化过程数值模拟,对海三棱藨草生态系统高时空分辨率的响应过程及机制进行研究,以进一步确立海三棱藨草对围垦工程响应的关键阈值。研究对围垦工程后的滨海湿地植被恢复及滩涂生态修复具有参考意义。     

基于混合指标值TODIM方法的东营市生态系统健康评价

城市生态系统健康评价是城市可持续发展以及城市生态文明建设的需要。在当今各种"城市病"频发的背景下,研究城市生态系统健康水平,不仅有利于协调城市发展与城市生态系统健康之间的矛盾,而且对于指导城市建设规划编制,监控城市生态环境的可持续发展具有重要的现实意义。鉴于此,论文在原有的城市生态系统健康评价指标的基础上,通过基于混合指标值的TODIM方法评价东营市2007—2013年间的城市生态系统健康状况,并分析活力、组成结构、恢复力、维持生态系统服务功能以及生态系统认知的构成指标对城市生态系统健康状况的影响。为了避免主观判断对城市生态系统健康评价的不确定性,文章采用兼顾客观信息和主观信息的组合权重赋权法确定各个指标的权重;根据东营市城市生态系统健康评价指标的特性和数据特点,建立了混合多属性决策TODIM方法的数学模型;采用扩展的TODIM方法对东营市城市生态系统健康状况进行评价,并分析了各个指标在城市生态发展过程中的作用。研究表明:(1)东营市的城市生态系统健康状况一直向好,由脆弱状态逐渐过渡到亚健康状态,但是生态状况仍然不容乐观,距离健康状态仍有较大的差距;(2)环保投入力度不足、污染物排放量增加、产业结构仍不完善、建成区人口密度过高等成为制约东营市城市生态系统健康发展的突出问题。文章提出了相应的对策建议,以促进城市生态系统的健康发展。     

生态系统服务市场化工具:概念、类型与适用

生态系统服务市场化工具作为一种与命令控制型进路相对的环境政策工具,最初与污染问题相联系而出现,之后扩展至生物多样性和生态系统服务的保护,被认为能够更有效地应对市场失灵,为自然资源管理提供正向激励,有助于优化资源配置以及填补生态保护资金缺口。通过对生态系统服务市场化工具概念、类型和适用的考察,可以发现生态系统服务市场化工具的概念虽频繁出现,但界定过于宽泛模糊,几乎泛指所有带有价格成分的工具;生态系统服务市场化工具的类型划分并不一致,基于归纳的类型划分将现行市场化工具归纳为基于价格的机制、基于数量的机制和市场摩擦机制三类,而基于演绎的类型划分,则将市场化工具分为直接市场交易、许可证交易、反向拍卖、科斯类型协议、调控价格变化和自愿性价格信号六类;生态系统服务市场化工具的适用需要以生态系统服务的货币化为前提,受制于制度背景,并且应当针对市场的弊端予以法律规制,确保交易能够真正提供环境效益;市场化工具的选择不仅有赖于数字运算,还应当考虑多种因素并予以权衡,同时综合运用各种市场化或非市场化工具。中国在建立健全生态保护市场体系的过程中,应当把握生态系统服务市场化工具通过生态系统服务货币化和商品化解决环境外部性问题这一实质,理解缓解银行、生态系统服务付费、反向拍卖、生态标签和生态认证等典型市场化工具的运行机理,明确生态系统服务市场化工具适用的前提和规则,更好地发挥市场化工具的积极功效,从而实现特定的环境政策目标。     

The current state of knowledge of ecosystems and ecosystem services in Russia: A status report

This paper focusses on a conceptual overview of ways to address a comprehensive analysis of ecosystem services (ES) in a country as large and heterogeneous as Russia. As a first step, a methodology for assessing the services for the federal subjects of Russia was chosen, i.e., its constituent provinces and similar entities, in physical terms. Russia harbors a great diversity of natural conditions and ecosystems which are suppliers of ES, and likewise a variety of the socio-economic conditions that shape the demand for these services and their consumption. The methodological approach described permits several important tasks to be addressed: the evaluation of the degree of satisfaction of people’s needs for ES, the identification of ecological donor and acceptor regions, and zoning of the country’s territory for ES assessment. The next step is to prepare a prototype of a National Report on ES in Russia, for which we are presenting the planned structure.     

非饱和土壤渗透系数空间不确定性对溶质运移的影响

包气带渗透系数的不确定性是影响非饱和带溶质运移的主要因素。应用贝叶斯方法对非饱和土壤渗透系数进行前处理,使用Monte-Carlo方法模拟其空间不确定性,并通过HYDRUS-1D模型对溶质运移进行数值模拟,研究包气带渗透系数的空间不确定性对溶质运移的影响。结果表明,由于包气带渗透性的不确定性使得溶质浓度分布呈现明显的不确定性,包气带内不同点的浓度值相差很大。与忽略包气带土性参数空间不确定性的模拟结果相对比,考虑包气带渗透系数不确定性的模拟结果与实际情况更加接近,更具合理性和科学性。同时,根据模拟结果,对实际工作中进行地下水数值模拟时溶质初始浓度输入值的确定提出相应建议。     

湿地生态系统基质重金属积累与酶活性的研究现状

湿地生态系统具有净化污水的功能,因其具有高效低耗等优点,在污水处理方面极具开发应用前景,而基质作为湿地生态系统重要组成部分,已成为众多学者的研究热点。本文综合分析了湿地生态系统基质中重金属积累和酶活性的时空分布及影响因素的研究现状,并对相关研究提出了新的认识与展望,以期为湿地生态系统基质去除废水中重金属的深入研究和应用提供综合分析资料。     

实例分析卫生防护距离和大气环境防护距离设置条件

卫生防护距离、大气环境防护距离,其定义相近、设定途径相似,但两者又有不同。故在环境影响评价大气环境预测分析时对大气环境防护距离、卫生防护距离的概念极易混淆。本文以某县殡仪馆建设项目为例,详细分析建设项目设置防护距离的设置条件,帮助环评工作者理解防护距离设置原则,防止出现"在环境保护法规和导则要求下盲目划定、划大防护距离"的技术错误。     

山东半岛蓝色经济区海洋生态旅游发展研究

发展海洋生态旅游是实现山东半岛蓝色经济区战略的重要途径之一。在SWOT分析的基础上,指出在山东半岛蓝色经济区发展海洋生态旅游必须明确其动力机制,坚持统筹发展战略,从生态保护、社区参与、区域统筹和产业协同四个方面采取具体的对策。