Interactions between Carbon Sequestration and Shade Tree Diversity in a Smallholder Coffee Cooperative in El Salvador

Agroforestry systems have substantial potential to conserve native biodiversity and provide ecosystem services. In particular, agroforestry systems have the potential to conserve native tree diversity and sequester carbon for climate change mitigation. However, little research has been conducted on the temporal stability of species diversity and aboveground carbon stocks in these systems or the relation between species diversity and aboveground carbon sequestration. We measured changes in shade‐tree diversity and shade‐tree carbon stocks in 14 plots of a 35‐ha coffee cooperative over 9 years and analyzed relations between species diversity and carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration was positively correlated with initial species richness of shade trees. Species diversity of shade trees did not change significantly over the study period, but carbon stocks increased due to tree growth. Our results show a potential for carbon sequestration and long‐term biodiversity conservation in smallholder coffee agroforestry systems and illustrate the opportunity for synergies between biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. Interacciones entre el Secuestro de Carbono y la Diversidad de Árboles de Sombra en una Cooperativa de Café de Pequeños Agricultores en El Salvador     

Reorienting Systematic Conservation Assessment for Effective Conservation Planning

Abstract: Systematic conservation assessment (an information‐gathering and prioritization process used to select the spatial foci of conservation initiatives) is often considered vital to conservation‐planning efforts, yet published assessments have rarely resulted in conservation action. Conservation assessments may lead more directly to effective conservation action if they are reoriented to inform conservation decisions. Toward this goal, we evaluated the relative priority for conservation of 7 sites proposed for the first forest reserves in the Union of the Comoros, an area with high levels of endemism and rapidly changing land uses in the western Indian Ocean. Through the analysis of 30 indicator variables measured at forest sites and nearby villages, we assessed 3 prioritization criteria at each site: conservation value, threat to loss of biological diversity from human activity, and feasibility of reserve establishment. Our results indicated 2 sites, Yiméré and Hassera‐Ndrengé, were priorities for conservation action. Our approach also informed the development of an implementation strategy and enabled an evaluation of previously unexplored relations among prioritization criteria. Our experience suggests that steps taken to ensure the closer involvement of practitioners, include a broader range of social data, encourage stakeholder participation, and consider the feasibility of conservation action can improve the relevance of assessments for conservation planning, strengthen the scientific basis for conservation decisions, and result in a more realistic evaluation of conservation alternatives.     

Priorities for Improving the Scientific Foundation of Conservation Policy in North America

Abstract:  The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) can enhance conservation of biodiversity in North America by increasing its engagement in public policy. Toward this end, the North America Section of SCB is establishing partnerships with other professional organizations in order to speak more powerfully to decision makers and taking other actions—such as increasing interaction with chapters—geared to engage members more substantively in science-policy issues. Additionally, the section is developing a North American Biodiversity Blueprint, which spans the continental United States and Canada and is informed by natural and social science. This blueprint is intended to clarify the policy challenges for protecting continental biodiversity, to foster bilateral collaboration to resolve common problems, and to suggest rational alternative policies and practices that are more likely than current practices to sustain North America's natural heritage. Conservation scientists and practitioners can play a key role by drawing policy makers' attention to ultimate, as well as proximate, causes of biodiversity decline and to the ecological and economic consequences of not addressing these threats.     

How effective are River Basin Management Plans in reaching the nutrient load reduction targets?

Riverine nutrient loads are among the major causes of eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. This study applied the Soil & Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in three catchments flowing to the Baltic Sea, namely Vantaanjoki (Finland), Fyrisån (Sweden), and Słupia (Poland), to simulate the effectiveness of nutrient control measures included in the EU’s Water Framework Directive River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs). Moreover, we identified similar, coastal, middle-sized catchments to which conclusions from this study could be applicable. The first modelling scenario based on extrapolation of the existing trends affected the modelled nutrient loads by less than 5%. In the second scenario, measures included in RBMPs showed variable effectiveness, ranging from negligible for Słupia to 28% total P load reduction in Vantaanjoki. Adding spatially targeted measures to RBMPs (third scenario) would considerably improve their effectiveness in all three catchments for both total N and P, suggesting a need to adopt targeting more widely in the Baltic Sea countries.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01393-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

饭馆、餐厅油烟机、风机噪声扰民实例研究

随着城市化进程的加快,人民生活水平的提高,饭馆、餐厅的油烟机、风机等设施噪声扰民的事件频发。本文通过对饭馆、餐厅一条街噪声扰民事件进行原因分析、采取防治措施、治理效果验证,提出了饭馆、餐厅等社会娱乐服务场的噪声防治措施,对提高人民生活水平、减少居民投诉、促进社会和谐具有建设性意义。     

临沧孟定镇天然橡胶加工业对环境的污染及防治措施

根据临沧市孟定镇天然橡胶加工业中存在的选址不合理、臭气及废水污染严重等问题,提出严格执行相关规划及准入条件、加强监管、严格执法及强化宣传教育等一系列措施。     

飓风“桑迪＂的影响及启示研究

城市地区突发自然灾害常常会对给水排水设施造成不利影响。飓风“桑迪”于2012年10月29日登陆美国,多个东部城市出现大面积停电,缺水,交通中断以及罕见的城市内涝,造成重大人员伤亡和巨额财产损失,严重地影响了当地人们正常的生产和生活。从飓风“桑迪”对美国城市给水和排水系统造成的巨大破坏出发,并结合当地政府采取的紧急应对措施展开讨论,总结其中的经验教训及启示。     

丽江市九子海村生态旅游运营保障对策研究

针对丽江市九子海生态旅游开发过程中可能出现的野生生物生存受到威胁、自然环境可能被破坏的情况,根据该地区的自然生境现状,结合未来生态旅游发展的预期,提出九子海生态旅游运营的保障措施,包括：九子海村主体功能区划分、旅游合作社运营与管理机制、运用生态补偿政策、每日最大旅游人数限制（≤200人）、提高本地村民环保意识、草句核心区放牧限制和核心区外围农田农作物种植引导等措施。     

新城镇建设中环境污染应急监测体系的建立及防控策略

我国目前正处于城镇化建设快速发展期,环境污染问题却越来越突出,导致水资源、土壤资源、大气资源、林业资源等环境资源也遭受重创,威胁城镇居民的身体健康和生命安全。新城镇环境污染事故应急监测体系建设是保障新城镇建设健康发展和保护居民健康的有效手段。通过对新城镇建设中环境污染事故实证分析,提出了新城镇建设中环境污染应急监测体系的建立以及防控策略、     

新安江水库水环境主要问题及保护对策

新安江水库是钱塘江的重要水源,对保障钱塘江中下游的生态安全和水体功能起着举足轻重的作用。为阐明新安江水库在流域经济发展和人类活动的影响下水环境的主要问题及保护对策,促进饮用水安全保障及构建健康水域生态系统,本文对新安江水库历年的水环境指标、浮游生物群落结构及其变化及水域生态灾变事件资料进行了综合分析。目前新安江水库存在上游来水变差、局部水域藻类异常增殖、渔业生产不合理、营养程度加重等众多问题,但其突出问题是藻类生物量增长过快。新安江水库水环境保护工作要从关注水质向维持生态系统健康转变,并尽快开展生态保育工作,控制流域污染、降低藻类数量、减少藻类异常增殖影响、科学合理渔业生产是其下一步保护的关键。而关于新安江水库的研究,虽然有一定的研究基础和资料,但对水域生态系统缺乏系统认识。研究气候变化条件下新安江水库水域生态系统的结构和功能以及长期演变规律;水利调度导致水位调整对区域水动力学条件、营养物输送过程的影响及评价水利调度对水库重要环境因子和生态系统影响;渔业养殖对水环境的影响,特别是鲢、鳙鱼大水面积养殖对水库生态系统的影响应是今后新安江水库主要的研究领域和方向。