Sustainability: a Dissent

Abstract:  Broadly conceived and considered in its many usages, sustainability has grave defects as a planning goal, particularly when used by conservationists: it confuses means and ends; it is vague about what is being sustained and who or what is doing the sustaining; it is uninspiring; it is little more than Pinchot-era conservation (and thus ignores the many lessons learned since then); it need not be linked to land, to the land's functioning, or to any ecological science; it need not include a moral component; it is consistent with the view of humans as all-powerful manipulators of the planet; and, in general, it is such a malleable term that its popularity provides only a facade of consensus. When sustainability is defined broadly to include the full range of economic and social aspirations, it poses the particular risk that ecological and biodiversity concerns will be cast aside in favor of more pressing human wants. Given these many defects, the conservation movement should discard the term in favor of a more alluring goal, attentive to nature and its ecological functioning. A sound goal would incorporate and distill the considerable ecological and moral wisdom accumulated since Pinchot's day while giving conservationists the rhetorical tools needed to defend the land against competing pressures. In our view, conservation would be well served by an updated variant of "land health," Aldo Leopold's ecologically grounded goal from the 1940s. Land health as an independent understanding should set the essential terms of how we live and enjoy the earth, providing the framework within which we pursue our many social and economic aims.     

乡村振兴视域下农村土地利用利益相关者分析

乡村振兴的实施使得农村土地利用与管理面临更多的挑战。应用利益相关者分析、博弈均衡分析和实证案例分析,探讨乡村振兴视域下土地利用各利益相关者的关系演变。研究结果显示：（1）1949年至今,农村地区土地利用利益相关者主体数量增加,博弈关系呈现复杂化、多样化和多向化;（2）乡村振兴时期主要有六种博弈关系,并探讨了案例村实施下山脱贫、发展乡村旅游、新型经营主体进驻、城市居民促进农村发展四种博弈决策过程;（3）乡村振兴视域下,农村地区发展应关注基础设施配套、土地利用效率与生态环境协调、农户生计可持续性等问题。乡村振兴中应注重实现土地利用各利益相关者的最优均衡,降低各方风险,保护生态环境并寻求多方利益平衡。     

云南喀斯特山区国土空间优化分区与管控

国土空间的协调发展是区域可持续发展的前提,如何优化国土空间结构并构建合理的管控模式成为亟需解决的重要问题之一。以云南喀斯特典型山区文山市为例,探讨基于“双评价”的国土空间优化方法及冲突区的修正规则,对喀斯特山区国土空间进行优化分区,并提出国土空间分区及石漠化分区的管控模式。研究发现：（1）云南喀斯特山区国土空间优化后可划分为城镇开发边界区、城镇预留区、永久基本农田区、一般农业区、生态保护红线区和一般生态区六种类型,其中,生态保护红线区面积最大,城镇开发边界区面积最小;（2）城镇开发边界区和城镇预留区主要分布于东部和东南部,永久基本农田区和一般农业区主要分布于北部和南部,一般生态区主要分布于西北部和西南部,生态保护红线区主要分布于西部、南部、东部和东北部,其中东部和东北部主要为石漠化区;（3）从各国土空间类型的发展潜力和趋势对国土空间分区提出了管控措施和模式;从轻度石漠化区、中度石漠化区以及重度石漠化区角度对城镇、农业和生态三类空间,提出了石漠化区开发和保护的路径和方法。研究结果可为云南喀斯特山区国土空间的合理发展和石漠化的治理提供决策支持,研究方法和思路为国土空间优化和管控提供参考。     

旅游发展背景下乡村适应性演化理论框架与实证

乡村转型及适应演化路径是乡村可持续发展领域重要研究内容,对实施乡村振兴战略及其多元目标的实现具有重要理论和现实意义。通过国家制度（战略）变迁关键时间节点,梳理典型案例乡村发展阶段,明确案例乡村转型适应的体制演化特征。在乡村适应性演化理论分析框架构建基础上,以体制转换明显的乡村为实证案例,结合农户调查与深度访谈数据,评估乡村适应演化下系统适应能力（结果）及农户生计响应效果,并基于归纳法和灰色关联分析,揭示乡村体制转换与微观农户生计关联的适应演化路径及机制。研究结果表明:（1）传统农业体制乡村向旅游体制转换后出现乡村经济发展和环境破坏、社会矛盾风险并存局面,农户生计适应选择对乡村转型响应呈现多样化。（2）不同适应路径农户生计恢复力存在显著差异,升级型、扩张型生计恢复力相对较高,维持型和更替型较低。（3）乡村体制转换（R₁到R_n）与农户生计适应（P₁到P₅）呈现协同且分化的演化路径,基础设施、政策扶持以及生态环境因子是乡村转型与农户生计关联适应演化的关键影响变量。     

基于最大熵模型的福建省红树林潜在适生区评估

本研究利用生物气候、地形、底质类型、海温等环境因子和红树林分布数据建立了福建省红树林分布模型,基于最大熵方法分析了福建省沿岸红树林潜在适生区的空间分布.根据模型输出结果对福建省红树林的生境适宜性进行了评估,识别了影响红树林分布的关键环境因子及其适生值区间,并通过空间叠加分析获取了福建省红树林保护与修复的优先区与空缺区域.结果表明,影响福建省红树林适生区分布格局的主要环境因子包括海表温度、气温和降水等,福建省红树林潜在适生区主要位于沙埕港-三沙湾-兴化湾沿岸、泉州湾-厦门湾-九龙江口沿岸、漳江口-东山湾沿岸等地,其中最优适生区面积约为91km².全省共识别出8处红树林保护与修复的优先区域,现存红树林保护率约为64.4%,保护修复空缺主要出现在沙埕港、三沙湾、罗源湾、福清湾等处,研究结论可为未来福建省红树林保护和修复行动提供科学参考.     

西安市文教区表层土壤中PAHs来源及风险分析

文教区土壤环境质量直接影响学生以及职工的身体健康。本研究应用高效液相色谱仪对采集的西安市文教区表层土壤样品中的16种优控多环芳烃(PAHs)进行含量检测,分析其组分特征、来源及健康风险。结果表明,西安市文教区表层土壤中∑PAHs含量为0.290~4.147μg/g,平均值为1.515μg/g,7种致癌多环芳烃的含量为0.079~2.093μg/g,均值为0.593μg/g,土壤PAHs污染较为严重。其中4环的高环PAHs为土壤PAHs污染的主要物质,平均占∑PAHs含量的40.72%。源解析结果表明西安市文教区表层土壤中PAHs主要来源于石油燃烧、煤及生物质等的不完全燃烧。终生癌症风险评价表明西安市文教区表层土壤中PAHs污染对其生活在周围的人群产生的终生致癌风险性较小,但71.4%的样点达到严重污染水平,产生的间接影响应引起足够重视。     

Desert Water Harvesting to Benefit Wildlife: A Simple, Cheap, And Durable Sub-Surface Water Harvester for Remote Locations

A sub-surface desert water harvester was constructed in the sagebrush steppe habitat of south-central Idaho, U.S.A. The desert water harvester utilizes a buried micro-catchment and three buried storage tanks to augment water for wildlife during the dry season. In this region, mean annual precipitation (MAP) ranges between about 150–250 mm (6″–10″), 70% of which falls during the cold season, November to May. Mid-summer through early autumn, June through October, is the dry portion of the year. During this period, the sub-surface water harvester provides supplemental water for wildlife for 30–90 days, depending upon the precipitation that year. The desert water harvester is constructed with commonly available, “over the counter” materials. The micro-catchment is made of a square-shaped, 20 mL. “PERMALON” polyethylene pond liner (approximately 22.9 m × 22.9 m = 523 m²) buried at a depth of about 60 cm. A PVC pipe connects the harvester with two storage tanks and a drinking trough. The total capacity of the water harvester is about 4777 L (1262 U.S. gallons) which includes three underground storage tanks, a trough and pipes. The drinking trough is refined with an access ramp for birds and small animals. The technology is simple, cheap, and durable and can be adapted to other uses, e.g. drip irrigation, short-term water for small livestock, poultry farming etc. The desert water harvester can be used to concentrate and collect water from precipitation and run-off in semi-arid and arid regions. Water harvested in such a relatively small area will not impact the ground water table but it should help to grow small areas of crops or vegetables to aid villagers in self-sufficiency.     

新疆生态功能区划初探

“新疆生态功能区划”参考了“中国综合生态环境区划方案”，以《生态功能区划暂行规程》为依据，充分考虑新疆独特的地理分布格局，将新疆分为5个生态区，18个生态亚区，79个生态功能区。“新疆生态功能区划”对科学有效地管理新疆生态环境，因地制宜地实施保护和治理策略，保证社会经济可持续发展具有重要意义。     

Conservation and management applications of the REEF volunteer fish monitoring program

The REEF Fish Survey Project is a volunteer fish monitoring program developed by the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF). REEF volunteers collect fish distribution and abundance data using a standardized visual method during regular diving and snorkeling activities. Survey data are recorded on preprinted data sheets that are returned to REEF and optically digitized. Data are housed in a publicly accessible database on REEF's Web site (http: //www.reef.org). Since the project's inception in 1993, over 40,000 surveys have been conducted in the coastal waters of North America, tropical western Atlantic, Gulf of California and Hawaii. The Fish Survey Project has been incorporated into existing monitoring programs through partnerships with government agencies, scientists, conservation organizations, and private institutions. REEF's partners benefit from the educational value and increased stewardship resulting from volunteer data collection. Applications of the data include an evaluation of fish/habitat interactions in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the development of a multi-species trend analysis method to identify sites of management concern, assessment of the current distribution of species, status reports on fish assemblages of marine parks, and the evaluation of no-take zones in the Florida Keys. REEF's collaboration with a variety of partners, combined with the Fish Survey Project's standardized census method and database management system, has resulted in a successful citizen science monitoring program.     

Assessing protected area effectiveness using surrounding (buffer) areas environmentally similar to the target area

Many studies are based on the assumption that an area and its surrounding (buffer) area present similar environmental conditions and can be compared. For example, in order to assess the effectiveness of a protected area, the land use/cover changes are compared inside the park with its surroundings. However, the heterogeneity in spatial variables can bias this assessment: we have shown that most of the protected areas in Mexico present significant environmental differences between their interior and their surroundings. Therefore, a comparison that aims at assessing the effectiveness of conservation strategies, must be cautioned. In this paper, a simple method which allows the generation of a buffer area that presents similar conditions with respect to a set of environmental variables is presented. The method was used in order to assess the effectiveness of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, a protected area located in the south-eastern part of Mexico. The annual rate of deforestation inside the protected area, the standard buffer area (based upon distance from the protected area only) and the similar buffer area (taking into account distance along with some environmental variables) were 0.3, 1.3 and 0.6%, respectively. These results showed that the protected area was effective in preventing land clearing, but that the comparison with the standard buffer area gave an over-optimistic vision of its effectiveness.