Evaluating the Success of Conservation Actions in Safeguarding Tropical Forest Biodiversity

Abstract: We reviewed the evidence on the extent and efficacy of conservation of tropical forest biodiversity for each of the classes of conservation action defined by the new International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classification. Protected areas are the most tested conservation approach, and a number of studies show they are generally effective in slowing deforestation. There is some documentation of the extent of sustainable timber management in tropical forest, but little information on other landscape‐conservation tactics. The extent and effectiveness of ex situ species conservation is quite well known. Forty‐one tropical‐forest species now survive only in captivity. Other single‐species conservation actions are not as well documented. The potential of policy mechanisms, such as international conventions and provision of funds, to slow extinctions in tropical forests is considerable, but the effects of policy are difficult to measure. Finally, interventions to promote tropical conservation by supporting education and livelihoods, providing incentives, and furthering capacity building are all thought to be important, but their extent and effectiveness remain poorly known. For birds, the best studied taxon, the sum of such conservation actions has averted one‐fifth of the extinctions that would otherwise have occurred over the last century. Clearly, tropical forest conservation works, but more is needed, as is critical assessment of what works in what circumstances, if mass extinction is to be averted.     

Coastal landscape preference evaluation: A comparison among tourists in Greece

An evaluation of coastal landscape of pine forest in Greece by summer visitors of various nationalities was carried out. The visual preferences for a set of landscape, represented in photographs, expressed by these various nationality groups were compared. The subjects used in this research came from Greece, Germany, Italy, France, Great Britain, Austria, Yugoslavia, and Scandinavian countries. The findings show that there is an agreement over the basic preference, but, nevertheless, there are differences of opinion between the nationality groups that might be attributed to cultural influences and the effect of being familiar with their own environments. Since coastal landscape plays an important role in the tourist industry, these findings could be very useful to policy-making agencies.     

Habitat, Landscape and Bird Composition in Mountain Forest Fragments

The study attempts to separate the effects of forest fragmentation related to landscape (patch area, isolation) and habitat (altitude, vegetation structure) on bird community composition in a mountain pine forest. Bird composition was related, using a multivariate approach (canonical correspondence analyses), to either habitat or to landscape, eliminating the effect of habitat statistically. Bird composition and species richness varied with patch area and isolation from large pine stands, but this effect could be assigned principally to variation in vegetation structure and altitude. Another effect, that of increasing occurrence and numbers of Anthus trivialis with decreasing distance to nearest low-altitude forest, could be assigned to both habitat (grass cover) and landscape (connectivity effects). Management implications are drawn from the results.     

DEVELOPMENT OF WATERSIIED MODELS FOR TWO SIERRA NEVADA BASINS USING A GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM1

ABSTRACT: Techniques were developed using vector and raster data in a geographic information system (GIS) to define the spatial variability of watershed characteristics in the north-central Sierra Nevada of California and Nevada and to assist in computing model input parameters. The U.S. Geological Survey's Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System, a physically based, distributed-parameter watershed model, simulates runoff for a basin by partitioning a watershed into areas that each have a homogeneous hydrologic response to precipitation or snowmelt. These land units, known as hydrologic-response units (HRU's), are characterized according to physical properties, such as altitude, slope, aspect, land cover, soils, and geology, and climate patterns. Digital data were used to develop a GIS data base and HRIJ classification for the American River and Carson River basins. The following criteria are used in delineating HRU's: (1) Data layers are hydrologically significant and have a resolution appropriate to the watershed's natural spatial variability, (2) the technique for delineating HRU's accommodates different classification criteria and is reproducible, and (3) HRU's are not limited by hydrographic-subbasin boundaries. HRU's so defined are spatially noncontiguous. The result is an objective, efficient methodology for characterizing a watershed and for delineating HRU's. Also, digital data can be analyzed and transformed to assist in defining parameters and in calibrating the model.     

区域化变量理论在历史洪涝灾害空间格局重建中的应用──以长江流域1736-1911年洪涝灾害为例

通过构造一个例子,简介了区域化变量理论的基本原理、计算过程及其在洪涝灾害空间格局重建中的优点。依据区域化变量理论,以长江流域1736～1911年洪涝灾害为实例,重建了长江流域历史时期洪涝灾害的基本空间格局．     

Spatial Pattern of Ecosystem Function and Ecosystem Conservation

The spatial pattern of ecosystem function can affect ecosystem conservation. Ecosystem functions are often heterogeneous spatially due to physical and biological factors. We can influence ecosystem functions by changing the spatial patterns of the physical and biological elements of an ecosystem and regulating their combinations. The variation–position effect highlights a phenomenon resulting from the spatial pattern of ecosystem function. The effect shows that the identical variation of a factor may produce different effects on the overall situation when this variation occurs in a different spatial position. In a watershed of the Yangtze River, water retention is a primary ecosystem function. The variation–position effect for water retention capacity occurs in the watershed because of the spatial heterogeneity in vegetation, soil, and slope. The change of vegetation that occurs in a complex can affect the overall situation of water retention, and the effect can be different due to the change occurring in the position holding different vegetation-soil-slope complex. To improve the ecosystem in the watershed and to meet the social needs for the ecosystem function of water retention, a strategy called ecosystem function and spatial pattern-based forest extension was proposed to conserve forests. The implementation of the strategy enables the watershed to attain the maximum effective increase in water retention capacity.     

景观生态学在建设项目生态环境影响评价中的应用

景观生态学目前是国家环境保护总局《非污染生态影响评价技术导则》引入的概念框架和理论方法。本文通过景观生态学在不同性质建设项目中的运用分析,进行了一定的尝试,更加希望在今后建设项目生态环境影响评价工作中得到修正和完善。     

公众参与市容环境规划与管理的方法设计--以南京市的实践为例

市容环境是与公众生活联系最为紧密的领域,也是公众参与最容易进行的领域。南京的城市建设要实现“经济发达、环境优美、融古都特色和现代文明于一体的现代化江滨城市”的目标,公众参与市容环境的规划与管理是关键内容之一。论文以“南京市市容环境卫生发展规划”项目工作为基础,分析和阐述公众参与的内涵,提出公众参与市容环境的五大步骤,并针对南京市容环境方面的具体案例,设计出符合南京特色的公众参与市容环境规划与管理的方法框架模型,包括决策模式、制度框架的共管体系。     

阜康市生态旅游规划研究

生态旅游规划是生态示范区规划的重要组成部分。本文以天池风景区规划为例阐述生态旅游规划应突破以风景区为主单一的旅游景观格局,应根据景观生态学原理、旅游地理学和旅游经济学理论,按照景观格局的梯度性变化为依据,以增长旅游线路、丰富景区类型、提高旅游收入为内容,以保护景区资源、开发景区资源为目标,开展基于发展“大旅游”思想的以沈域为单元的全面战略性规划,为实现阜康产业结构调整、增强区域经济实力提供依据。     

Biotopic Variation and Phenogeography of Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas)

The phenetic structure of Dreissena polymorpha populations in different water bodies is considered. The phenotypes of shell pattern and sculpture are identified and described using a scheme based on elementary characters, or pattern elements. It is shown that the frequencies of phenes in mollusks from different biotopes of the cooling system of two thermal power plants differ significantly. The data on species phenogeography are reviewed.