An assessment of adherence to basic ecological principles by payments for ecosystem service projects

Programs and projects employing payments for ecosystem service (PES) interventions achieve their objectives by linking buyers and sellers of ecosystem services. Although PES projects are popular conservation and development interventions, little is known about their adherence to basic ecological principles. We conducted a quantitative assessment of the degree to which a global set of PES projects adhered to four ecological principles that are basic scientific considerations for any project focused on ecosystem management: collection of baseline data, identification of threats to an ecosystem service, monitoring, and attention to ecosystem dynamics or the formation of an adaptive management plan. We evaluated 118 PES projects in three markets—biodiversity, carbon, and water—compiled using websites of major conservation organizations; ecology, economic, and climate‐change databases; and three scholarly databases (ISI Web of Knowledge, Web of Science, and Google Scholar). To assess adherence to ecological principles, we constructed two scientific indices (one additive [ASI] and one multiplicative [MSI]) based on our four ecological criteria and analyzed index scores by relevant project characteristics (e.g., sector, buyer, seller). Carbon‐sector projects had higher ASI values (P < 0.05) than water‐sector projects and marginally higher ASI scores (P < 0.1) than biodiversity‐sector projects, demonstrating their greater adherence to ecological principles. Projects financed by public–private partnerships had significantly higher ASI values than projects financed by governments (P < 0.05) and marginally higher ASI values than those funded by private entities (P < 0.1). We did not detect differences in adherence to ecological principles based on the inclusion of cobenefits, the spatial extent of a project, or the size of a project's budget. These findings suggest, at this critical phase in the rapid growth of PES projects, that fundamental ecological principles should be considered more carefully in PES project design and implementation in an effort to ensure PES project viability and sustainability.     

Policy challenges and approaches for the conservation of mangrove forests in Southeast Asia

Many drivers of mangrove forest loss operate over large scales and are most effectively addressed by policy interventions. However, conflicting or unclear policy objectives exist at multiple tiers of government, resulting in contradictory management decisions. To address this, we considered four approaches that are being used increasingly or could be deployed in Southeast Asia to ensure sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. First, a stronger incorporation of mangroves into marine protected areas (that currently focus largely on reefs and fisheries) could resolve some policy conflicts and ensure that mangroves do not fall through a policy gap. Second, examples of community and government comanagement exist, but achieving comanagement at scale will be important in reconciling stakeholders and addressing conflicting policy objectives. Third, private‐sector initiatives could protect mangroves through existing and novel mechanisms in degraded areas and areas under future threat. Finally, payments for ecosystem services (PES) hold great promise for mangrove conservation, with carbon PES schemes (known as blue carbon) attracting attention. Although barriers remain to the implementation of PES, the potential to implement them at multiple scales exists. Closing the gap between mangrove conservation policies and action is crucial to the improved protection and management of this imperiled coastal ecosystem and to the livelihoods that depend on them.     

Enhancing Conservation,Ecosystem Services,and Local Livelihoods through a Wildlife Premium Mechanism

We propose the wildlife premium mechanism as an innovation to conserve endangered large vertebrates. The performance‐based payment scheme would allow stakeholders in lower‐income countries to generate revenue by recovering and maintaining threatened fauna that can also serve as umbrella species (i.e., species whose protection benefits other species with which they co‐occur). There are 3 possible options for applying the premium: option 1, embed premiums in a carbon payment; option 2, link premiums to a related carbon payment, but as independent and legally separate transactions; option 3, link premiums to noncarbon payments for conserving ecosystem services (PES). Each option presents advantages, such as incentive payments to improve livelihoods of rural poor who reside in or near areas harboring umbrella species, and challenges, such as the establishment of a subnational carbon credit scheme. In Kenya, Peru, and Nepal pilot premium projects are now underway or being finalized that largely follow option 1. The Kasigau (Kenya) project is the first voluntary carbon credit project to win approval from the 2 leading groups sanctioning such protocols and has already sold carbon credits totaling over $1.2 million since June 2011. A portion of the earnings is divided among community landowners and projects that support community members and has added over 350 jobs to the local economy. All 3 projects involve extensive community management because they occur on lands where locals hold the title or have a long‐term lease from the government. The monitoring, reporting, and verification required to make premium payments credible to investors include transparent methods for collecting data on key indices by trained community members and verification of their reporting by a biologist. A wildlife premium readiness fund would enable expansion of pilot programs needed to test options beyond those presented here. Mejora de la Conservación, Servicios del Ecosistema y Calidad de Vida Local Mediante un Mecanismo de Compensación de Vida Silvestre     

铁路信号PES安全性定量分析的研究

铁路信号中的可编程电子系统 (PES)是一种安全相关系统。这类系统更注重失效 -安全 ,而不仅仅是可靠性或可用性。基于系统的可靠性分析方法 ,给出了一种安全性定量分析方法。通过把失效率划分为一些独立的部分 ,据其各自失效率的影响 ,利用 Markov模型可同时分析系统的可靠性和安全性。笔者根据铁路信号 PES常用的 2 oo2 D(附加诊断的二取二 )容错结构给出了方法应用的实例     

Turning the Tide: How Blue Carbon and Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) Might Help Save Mangrove Forests

In this review paper, we aim to describe the potential for, and the key challenges to, applying PES projects to mangroves. By adopting a “carbocentric approach,” we show that mangrove forests are strong candidates for PES projects. They are particularly well suited to the generation of carbon credits because of their unrivaled potential as carbon sinks, their resistance and resilience to natural hazards, and their extensive provision of Ecosystem Services other than carbon sequestration, primarily nursery areas for fish, water purification and coastal protection, to the benefit of local communities as well as to the global population. The voluntary carbon market provides opportunities for the development of appropriate protocols and good practice case studies for mangroves at a small scale, and these may influence larger compliance schemes in the future. Mangrove habitats are mostly located in developing countries on communally or state-owned land. This means that issues of national and local governance, land ownership and management, and environmental justice are the main challenges that require careful planning at the early stages of mangrove PES projects to ensure successful outcomes and equitable benefit sharing within local communities.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-014-0530-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

微塑料PES与2,4-DCP复合污染对厌氧污泥胞外聚合物与微生物群落的影响

考察了聚醚砜（PES）微塑料及2,4-二氯苯酚（2,4-DCP）对厌氧颗粒污泥疏松胞外聚合物（LB-EPS）和紧密胞外聚合物（TB-EPS）组分的影响,并利用高通量测序技术对厌氧颗粒污泥的微生物群落及基因功能变化进行了分析.结果表明,2,4-DCP以及PES+2,4-DCP实验组COD去除率分别为35%和37%,与空白对照组相比降低了57%和55%;而PES实验组COD去除率仍在90%左右.投加PES+2,4-DCP后,厌氧颗粒污泥LB-EPS中的蛋白及多糖含量与对照组相比出现了降低,TB-EPS中多糖含量增加最少.无论投加PES还是2,4-DCP均会抑制辅酶F₄₂₀的活性.通过高通量测序发现投加了PES或2,4-DCP实验组厌氧颗粒污泥的微生物丰度及多样性均减少.在对照组和实验组中,门水平下优势菌群为Proteobacteria（13.45%~44.47%）、Firmicutes（6.86%~21.67%）和Actinobacteria（3.16%~18.11%）;纲水平下PES+2,4-DCP实验组中β-Proteobacteria含量与对照组相比减少了15.28%,γ-Proteobacteria含量与对照组相比增加了28.44%.基于PICRUSt分析发现PES或2,4-DCP实验组中,污泥中能量代谢功能相关基因比对照组增多了0.25%~0.72%;而2,4-DCP实验组污泥中膜运输功能组相关基因丰度减少明显.     

改性PES膜在MBR中膜阻力分析及膜污染机理研究

以聚醚砜(PES)、醋酸纤维素(CA)和纳米二氧化钛(TiO2)为膜材料,采用L-S相转化法制备共混改性PES膜。在24℃、0.2 MPa的操作条件下,制得的PES膜纯水通量为300 L/(m2.h)左右,CA改性PES膜为660 L/(m2.h)左右,TiO2改性PES膜为840 L/(m2.h)左右。通过膜生物反应器中膜阻力的测定,表明膜污染主要由浓差极化层及凝胶层引起的;通过活性污泥对膜污染机理的研究,判断出污泥的过滤过程基本符合沉积过滤定律。在MBR中运行时,改性PES膜稳定通量高于未改性膜,总阻力低于未改性膜;TiO2改性膜稳定通量高于CA改性膜,总阻力低于CA改性膜;通过扫描电镜分析,改性PES膜沉积层的厚度均比未改性膜薄,TiO2改性膜沉积层厚度小于CA改性膜,表明改性膜的抗污染性能提高了,TiO改性膜抗污染性能更优。     

国外生态补偿机制设计中的关键要素及启示

近年来,生态补偿已成为国内外学界关注的热点,各国相关实践也日益广泛深入。国外关于生态补偿的概念界定并不一致,不同国家的生态补偿实践也不尽相同,但通过考察现有相关研究和实践,可以总结和归纳出各国在生态补偿机制设计中均需考虑的一些关键要素。其中,生态补偿概念的构成要素包括外部性、条件性和自愿性,反映出生态补偿区别于其他环境保护政策工具所具有的核心特征;生态补偿效率的影响要素指向生态补偿的环境效益和成本效益,决定了生态补偿目的能否实现以及实现的程度和代价。提高环境效益的关键在于满足登记、目标锁定、额外性、联结和持续性的要求,避免泄漏、不正当激励和动机挤出效应的出现,而提高成本效益的关键则在于降低交易成本;生态补偿实施的制约要素是指机制运行的前提条件和事后保障,直接影响生态补偿最终能否真正落实和有效实施,包括制度背景例如生态系统服务提供者的财产使用权、透明度、附加目标、商业和技术支持等,以及事后的监督与评估,这也是条件性的必然要求。中国在建立健全生态补偿机制时,应当立足于本国的制度背景,同时借鉴国外先进经验,明确生态补偿的内涵和实质,从制度创新出发,将政府补偿和市场交易相融合,在生态补偿实施方案或协议的拟定中,将各项关键要素融入精密的条款设计中,明确利益相关各方的角色和责任,更好地实现生态补偿防止生态系统服务退化、促进生态系统服务恢复以及确保生态系统服务持续提供的功能,达成效益、效率和公平等价值目标。     

PES/PAN膜在MBR中膜污染机理及抗污染性能

采用液-固相转化法,以聚醚砜(PES)、氯化锂(LiCl)、聚乙烯吡咯烷酮(PVP)和N,N-二甲基乙酰胺(DMAc)为原料制备PES膜,并在体系中添加聚丙烯腈(PAN)制备PES/PAN膜。在操作温度25℃,操作压力90KPa条件下制得的PES/PAN膜、自制PES膜和商品PES超滤膜分别为222L/(m·2h)左右,130L/(m·2h)左右,82L/(m·2h)左右。通过膜生物反应器中膜阻力的测定,表明膜污染主要由沉积层引起的,另一方面长期运行膜孔堵塞也是阻力增大的原因。在MBR中运行时,PES/PAN膜、自制PES膜和商品PES超滤膜膜通量的衰减速率分别为0.2559L/(m·2h·min)、0.3366L/(m·2h·min)、0.3539L/(m·2h·min),PES/PAN膜通量衰减最慢;在MBR中运行15d后,经过化学清洗,PES/PAN膜、自制PES膜和商品PES超滤膜纯水通量恢复率分别为83.75%、63.58%、61.32%,PES/PAN膜通量恢复率最大,抗污染性优于PES膜。     

聚醚砜和聚偏氟乙烯超滤膜对臭氧的耐受性

通过静态浸泡实验考察了臭氧对聚醚砜(PES)和聚偏氟乙烯(PVDF)超滤膜透水能力、截留性能、力学性能等的影响,分析了与臭氧接触前后膜化学组成和性质的变化,结果表明,室温(20土 1)℃下与饱和臭氧水接触2h后,PES膜的透水率增大至原始膜的3倍以上,对腐殖酸(HA)的截留率降至0左右,结合膜表面组成和性质分析,臭氧在...