Environmental assessment in countries in transition: evolution in a changing context

Over the last fifteen years, Environmental Assessment systems of transitional societies of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia have undergone dramatic change from appraisals integrated into centrally planned economies to formal procedures aimed to ensure interdisciplinary analysis of environmental impacts and linked to publicly accountable decision-making. In most Central European nations, EA systems have been radically reformed to approximate the procedures used in developed countries, particularly in the European Union. In contrast, EA in most of the former Soviet republics has been reformed more gradually and is still based on the so-called State Environmental Review procedure inherited from the USSR and substantially different from 'Western' EA. About one-third of the transitional countries (in the Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia) have, so far, failed to establish functioning EA systems. Throughout the region, there has been a gap between EA legislation and practice, especially concerning interdisciplinary analysis of environmental impacts, public participation, and utilisation of EA findings in decision-making. A key driving force in the reform of EA systems has been the change in their societal context, the so-called 'process of transition'. Three main policy agendas--environmental protection, reforms of decision-making, and conforming to international requirements--along with the institutional context of EA regulations and practice have influenced both the change of EA systems over time and the regional variations in the patterns of their evolution. This study suggests that an effective reform of an EA system should be context-sensitive, or be 'in gear' with the political and economic transition. Future EA research should consider their changing societal contexts and focused on practical effects of applying EA procedures.     

CHANGING A GREAT CITY IN EASTERN EUROPE — CRACOW: ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES1

ABSTRACT: The main factor in the location of medieval Cracow was drainage. In the 700-year history of the City, there were numerous changes in water conditions, particularly in channel network, runoff, ground water level, and ice phenomena. The most dangerous threat to surface water and ground water in Cracow in the last decades has been from industrial and municipal sewage. Currently there are no rivers that meet Drinking Water Quality standards in Cracow. The quality of the ground water has declined because of infiltration of contaminated river water, water from sewage disposal ponds, and pollution from the atmosphere and soil. Cracow does not have enough waste water plants to meet its needs. Most municipal and industrial sewage has not been treated or has been treated only partially. Because of considerable contamination of surface and ground waters in Cracow, more than half of the city's fresh water is pumped about 50 kilometers from a reservoir on the Raba River. A Polish government declaration of April 4, 1989, recognized Cracow as an area of particular protection, and directed that a number of actions be undertaken for the protection of environmental quality.     

A model of multi-purpose ecosystem management for degraded Mediterranean uplands

In order to reconcile the need for conserving and improving neglected Mediterranean upland ecosystems with socio-economic advancement, new concepts of integrated landscape management are required. For this purpose a mode of a closely interwoven network of multiple land-use patterns is suggested, based on vegetation management and manipulation of the soil-plant-animal complex and on multi-purpose environmental landscaping and afforestation. The latter is essential for revegetation of denuded slopes and for fire protection and buffer zones, and is aimed at the creation of semi-natural, multi-layered forests, parks and woodlands. From these, highest overall multiple use benefits can be expected for environmental and watershed protection, resistance to fire hazard, biotic diversity and wildlife, recreation amenity., and plant and animal production.For optimization and dynamic land-use planning such relative values of multiple use benefits should be expressed in quantitative data and applied in dynamic planning of multiple use strategies, which could be tested first in combined research and demonstration schemes.     

Predicting the multiple pathways of plant succession

Classical concepts view succession as a deterministic, mechanistic regeneration of the disturbed community, and thus have limited applicability to fire-prone ecosystems, A recently developed multiple pathway succession model appears to have more realism and applicability in frequently disturbed ecosystems. It includes a set of species-specific attributes that are vital to reproduction and survival, and permits variable succession pathways depending on the stand's age (and thus species composition) when disturbed. Examples from Australia and the northern Rocky Mountains (USA) are presented, as are approaches to refining and improving the model.     

Sustainable Management for the Eastern Mediterranean Coast of Turkey

The objective of this article is to propose a program for the integrated coastal zone management that is required to stimulate and guide sustainable development of the Mediterranean coastal zone of Turkey. Improved data collection, quality control, analysis, and data management will provide a firm basis for future scientific understanding of the East Mediterranean coast of Turkey and will support long-term management. Various innovative procedures were proposed for a promising ecosystem-based approach to manage coastal wetlands in the Mediterranean: remote data acquisition with new technologies; environmental quality monitoring program that will provide a baseline for monitoring; linking a Geographic Information System (GIS) with natural resource management decision routines in the context of operational wetlands, fisheries, tourism management system; environmental sensitivity analysis to ensure that permitted developments are environmentally sustainable; and use of natural species to restore the wetlands and coastal dunes and sustain the system processes. The proposed management scheme will benefit the scientific community in the Mediterranean and the management/planning community in Eastern Turkey.     

皖东地区野韭菜的开发与利用

文章介绍了野韭菜的基本生物特性，综合分析了其食用价值和潜在的药用价值，提出了野韭菜开发利用的基本对策。     

Biodiversity: gaps in knowledge

The Convention on Biological Diversity set conservation of biodiversity on the world agenda. Gaps in knowledge need to be addressed for actions to be effective and sustainable. Gaps include: species diversity, micro-organisms and their ecological roles, ecological and geographical status of species, human capacity to assess and forecast bio-ecological degradation. Requirements for global inventories call for worldwide collaboration. Criteria for setting priorities need to be formulated and agreed.Biodiversity in an eco-geographical region, the southern Mediterranean, is discussed as a case study. Outlines of national actions to contribute to world endeavor are outlined.     

Sustainable development in the Mediterranean region

Considering its specific economic, social, environmental and political features, the status and evolution of the Mediterranean have always been of great interest to its countries and concerned partners. From the protection of the sea against pollution, the interest was progressively expanded to land based development and its impacts on environment, to coastal management and finally to sustainable development with the establishment of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD). Cumulated knowledge, coupled with political support and commitment to a common vision, has prepared the ground for the preparation of a regional strategy for sustainable development. Its preparatory process, coordinated by the MCSD Secretariat, has been very interactive, involving various stakeholders. The strategy, adopted in 2005, has raised awareness and induced the preparation of national sustainable development strategies.     

Effects of irrigation and landscape heterogeneity on butterfly diversity in Mediterranean farmlands

Irrigation effects on biodiversity are poorly known, particularly in Mediterranean agro-ecosystems. In this study we analyzed irrigation effects on butterfly species richness, abundance and diversity as well as on species composition in a farmed landscape under Mediterranean climate. The study area consisted of four contiguous agricultural sub-areas with a decreasing degree of intensification: irrigated, mixed (dry and irrigated), dry and environmentally protected (i.e. Special Protection Area, SPA) dry farmland. Forty one km-transects (ten per sub-area) were searched for butterflies in 2008 and 2009. Contrary to expectations, species richness (alfa, beta and gamma diversity) was highest in both years in the most intensified sub-area (i.e. irrigated) followed by SPA, dry and mixed sub-areas. Landscape characteristics accounted for most of the between-subareas differences in species richness. Species richness was negatively related to mean field size at the landscape level and positively related to the number of trees and large shrubs along transects. Therefore, the higher number of butterfly species recorded in the irrigated farmland could be due to a more complex landscape. In contrast, butterfly abundance was highest in cereal steppes (i.e. dry and SPA sub-areas), with abundance being negatively affected by mean field size. Inter-annual change in butterfly abundance was much sharper in rainfed (i.e. dry and SPA) than in irrigated (i.e. irrigated and mixed) sub-areas. Irrigated farmland may provide more favorable conditions for butterflies by buffering the (year-to-year and summer) drought periods characterising Mediterranean climate. Species composition differed among sub-areas, with differences being partly explained by field size and number of trees and shrubs along transects. Our study suggest an important role of landscape characteristics in boosting butterfly biodiversity in intensively managed irrigated croplands and emphasizes the importance of encouraging studies on farmland butterfly diversity in different (bioclimatic) regions allowing the design of region-specific agri-environmental schemes.     

海南东部河口和近岸海域总溶解态无机砷的分布及季节变化

利用氢化物发生原子荧光法对2006年12月和2007年8月航次海南东部河流、河口、近岸及地下水中的总溶解态无机砷(total dissolved inorganic arsenic,TDIAs,As5++As3+)进行了测定.2006年12月万泉河及河口、文昌/文教河及河口、近岸TDIAs的浓度分别为4.0～9.4、1.3～13.3、13.3～17.3 nmol.L-1,2007年8月万泉河及河口、文昌/文教河及河口、近岸、地下水TDIAs的浓度分别为1.6～15.5、2.4～15.9、10.8～17.6、未检出～41.7 nmol.L-1.结果表明,万泉河及文昌/文教河河流、河口TDIAs的浓度不存在显著性季节变化,较我国及世界其它河流、河口偏低,处于自然状态.砷在万泉河口和文昌/文教河口混合过程中均表现为保守混合.以文昌/文教河为例,初步估算出2007年文昌/文教河口地下水向沿岸砷的输送通量为1 153 mol.a-1,约为文昌/文教河砷入海通量的二分之一,表明海南东部沿岸地下水也是沿岸海区砷的主要来源之一.