Comparing Environmental Conditions Using Indicators of Pollution Hazard

/ Land use/land cover classifications for 1973 and 1991, derived from the interpretation of satellite imagery, are quantified on the basis of biophysical land units in a study area in southeastern Australia. Nutrient export potentials are estimated for each land unit based on their composition of land use/land cover classes. Spatial and temporal comparisons are made of the land units based on the calculated pollution hazard indicators to provide an insight into changes in the state of the environment and the regional significance of land use changes. For example, one ecosystem, unique to the study, showed a large increase in pollution hazard over the study period as a manifestation of an 11-fold rise in cleared area and an expansion of cropping activities. The benefits to environmental management in general are discussed.KEY WORDS: Land cover change; Nutrient export; Environmental condition; Pollution hazard; Agricultural pollution; Nonpoint source pollution; Diffuse pollution; Environmental degradation     

QUALITY OF HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL DATA IN COLD REGIONS1

ABSTRACT: Many users of hydrometeorological records are not aware of the number of inconsistencies and biases that occur in hydrometeorological records. Examples are presented illustrating how the exposures of sites for measurement of precipitation, wind, snow on the ground, and evaporation determine to a large extent how useful the records are for estimating areal conditions. For areas where precipitation in the form of snow produces a significant portion of the runoff, a smaller number of quality records may be more valuable for modeling than a much larger number of records of lower quality. Information is presented to show that the overall value of an operational hydrometeorological network is dependent upon how consistent and representative of average conditions the collected records are, especially for mountainous areas in cold regions.     

Change in vegetation cover in East Timor, 1989–1999

Forest resources play a key role and provide many basic needs to communities in developing economies. To assess the patterns of vegetation cover change, as a corollary of resource utilization, satellite imagery, ground truth data, and image processing techniques can be useful. This article is concerned with identifying change in major vegetation types in East Timor between 1989 and 1999, using Landsat Thematic Mapper data. The results highlight a significant level of deforestation and decline in foliage cover. All major vegetation cover types declined from 1989 to 1999, and there was a sizeable increase in degraded woodlands. This decline has had considerable impact on the livelihoods of rural and urban communities. Causes for these changes include: economic exploitation of abundant resources; and implications of transmigration policies implemented during Indonesian rule, resulting in increased competition for land and woodland resources. As the new nation of Timor‐Leste establishes itself, it must consider its current stock and distribution of natural capital to ensure that development efforts are geared towards sustainable outcomes. Without the knowledge of historical patterns of resource consumption, development efforts may, unwittingly, lead to continuing decline in forest resources.     

Landscape trajectory of natural boreal forest loss as an impediment to green infrastructure

Loss of natural forests by forest clearcutting has been identified as a critical conservation challenge worldwide. This study addressed forest fragmentation and loss in the context of the establishment of a functional green infrastructure as a spatiotemporally connected landscape-scale network of habitats enhancing biodiversity, favorable conservation status, and ecosystem services. Through retrospective analysis of satellite images, we assessed a 50- to 60-year spatiotemporal clearcutting impact trajectory on natural and near-natural boreal forests across a sizable and representative region from the Gulf of Bothnia to the Scandinavian Mountain Range in northern Fennoscandia. This period broadly covers the whole forest clearcutting period; thus, our approach and results can be applied to comprehensive impact assessment of industrial forest management. The entire study region covers close to 46,000 km² of forest-dominated landscape in a late phase of transition from a natural or near-natural to a land-use modified state. We found a substantial loss of intact forest, in particular of large, contiguous areas, a spatial polarization of remaining forest on regional scale where the inland has been more severely affected than the mountain and coastal zones, and a pronounced impact on interior forest core areas. Salient results were a decrease in area of the largest intact forest patch from 225,853 to 68,714 ha in the mountain zone and from 257,715 to 38,668 ha in the foothills zone, a decrease from 75% to 38% intact forest in the inland zones, a decrease in largest patch core area (assessed by considering 100-m patch edge disturbance) from 6114 to 351 ha in the coastal zone, and a geographic imbalance in protected forest with an evident predominance in the mountain zone. These results demonstrate profound disturbance of configuration of the natural forest landscape and disrupted connectivity, which challenges the establishment of functional green infrastructure. Our approach supports the identification of forests for expanded protection and conservation-oriented forest landscape restoration.     

Designing a policy package for the promotion of servicising: A case study of vineyard crop protection in Galicia (Spain)

The servicising approach in vineyard protection is considered a valid alternative to achieve decoupling between the economic and environmental performance of viticulture. In this paper, a policy package is designed to promote the uptake of a servicised model of vineyard protection in an area of smallholding viticulture. In doing so, a specific methodology based on a step by step protocol has been followed that aims to come up with a package that is effective, implementable and socially as well as politically acceptable. The paper concludes on the importance of combining several policy instruments in a policy package to realise the political objective. The proposed viable policy package includes incentives that support the companies’ shift towards offering crop protection solutions, further development of IPM solutions and instruments that encourage farmers to reduce the use of pesticides and collectively hire crop protection services.     

Effectiveness of conservation easements in agricultural regions

Conservation easements are a standard technique for preventing habitat loss, particularly in agricultural regions with extensive cropland cultivation, yet little is known about their effectiveness. I developed a spatial econometric approach to propensity‐score matching and used the approach to estimate the amount of habitat loss prevented by a grassland conservation easement program of the U.S. federal government. I used a spatial autoregressive probit model to predict tract enrollment in the easement program as of 2001 based on tract agricultural suitability, habitat quality, and spatial interactions among neighboring tracts. Using the predicted values from the model, I matched enrolled tracts with similar unenrolled tracts to form a treatment group and a control group. To measure the program's impact on subsequent grassland loss, I estimated cropland cultivation rates for both groups in 2014 with a second spatial probit model. Between 2001 and 2014, approximately 14.9% of control tracts were cultivated and 0.3% of treated tracts were cultivated. Therefore, approximately 14.6% of the protected land would have been cultivated in the absence of the program. My results demonstrate that conservation easements can significantly reduce habitat loss in agricultural regions; however, the enrollment of tracts with low cropland suitability may constrain the amount of habitat loss they prevent. My results also show that spatial econometric models can improve the validity of control groups and thereby strengthen causal inferences about program effectiveness in situations when spatial interactions influence conservation decisions.     

重庆缙云山4种典型植被覆盖下汞的释放通量及影响因素

为了揭示不同植被覆盖下土壤/大气界面释汞通量及其交换特征,在缙云山国家级自然保护区内选择4种典型植被覆盖类型(常绿阔叶林、楠竹林、灌木林以及草地)为研究对象,连续同步监测不同植被覆盖下土/气界面汞释放通量,同时考察各环境因子对土壤释汞的影响.结果表明,缙云山在4种不同植被覆盖下土壤汞释放通量具有明显的差异,总体表现为楠竹林[17.77 ng·(m~2·h)~(-1)]草地[17.58 ng·(m~2·h)~(-1)]灌木林[16.87 ng·(m~2·h)~(-1)]常绿阔叶林[14.32 ng·(m~2·h)~(-1)];不同植被覆盖下土壤释汞通量在季节变化上呈现相似的规律性,但不同植被覆盖类型之间也存在明显差异,主要体现在暖季汞释放通量高于冷季;缙云山地区不同林植被覆盖下土壤释汞通量存在明显的日变化;气象因素光照强度、气温、土温和相对湿度,对土/气界面汞释放通量影响也不相同,气温为常绿阔叶林,灌木林与楠竹林的主要影响因子,光照强度为草地的主要影响因子.     

灼烧净水污泥对外源磷的吸附和固定作用

研究了不同投加方式下(混匀和覆盖)灼烧净水污泥对外源磷的累积吸附效果,以及吸附外源磷后底泥等温吸附效果和在厌氧条件下内源磷释放情况.结果表明,混匀和覆盖条件下,底泥对上覆水中磷的累积吸附量分别为11.496 mg和11.042 mg,明显高于对照实验(7.219 mg).通过对吸附外源磷后的底泥进行等温吸附实验,发现混匀条件和覆盖条件下磷最大吸附量(Smax)均有所增加,并且前者(7.795 mg·g~(-1))要高于后者(6.807 mg·g~(-1)),但磷平衡浓度(EPC0)前者(0.83mg·L~(-1))却明显大于后者(0.64 mg·L~(-1)),表明混匀条件下内源磷更容易释放.在厌氧环境下,混匀方式内源磷释放量仅为0.93 mg,不仅低于覆盖(1.49 mg),也明显低于对照实验(7.76 mg).覆盖条件下比释放速率的平均值(0.006 14)大于混匀(0.003 96),并均低于对照实验.这说明混匀对内源磷的持留能力更强.暗示了单纯用EPC0值来评价底泥对磷的固定能力是不妥的.     

华北平原玉米-小麦轮作农田N2O交换通量的研究

以华北地区冬小麦-夏玉米轮作农田为研究对象,运用静态箱法对正常施肥及正常施肥结合秸秆还田农田N2O交换通量进行了连续1 a对比研究.正常施肥及正常施肥结合秸秆还田样地N2O全年的累积排放量分别为7.61 kg.hm-2和12.6kg.hm-2,其中秸秆还田引起N2O排放明显增加主要发生在玉米生长季节.两种处理样地在玉米季N2O的排放量占全年累积排放的57%～86%,表明华北玉米-小麦轮作体系中N2O排放主要集中在玉米季.各次施肥后10 d内N2O的累积排放量约占全年总排放量的71%～88%,显然现有化肥极大促进了华北农田N2O排放.     

干旱区城市昌吉降雪及积雪中PGEs含量分布及其影响因素

选择干旱区中小城市昌吉市,对其降雪及积雪中铂族元素(PGEs)含量分布及影响因素进行研究.运用ICP-MS对样品进行分析测定.结果表明,降雪中Rh、Pd、Pt平均含量分别为0.43 ng·L-1(未检出～2.24 ng·L-1)、60.07 ng·L-1(46.66～84.25 ng·L-1)和4.54 ng·L-1(3.02～6.38 ng·L-1).不同场次降雪中PGEs含量存在差异,随雪前干燥期天数加长,降雪中PGEs含量趋于增大;降雪量对PGEs含量也有一定影响,降雪量越小,雪中PGEs含量越高.积雪中Rh、Pd、Pt的平均含量分别为6.65 ng·L-1(2.50～18.80 ng·L-1)、83.45 ng·L-1(46.83～199.20 ng·L-1)和8.17 ng·L-1(4.27～13.78 ng·L-1).积雪中PGEs含量远高于降雪,降雪中PGEs仅来自于单场次降雪对大气PGEs的淋洗,而积雪中PGEs不仅来自于多场次降雪中PGEs的累积,且由于积雪长时间暴露,还源源不断接受了大气干沉降带来的PGEs.各采样点积雪PGEs含量表现出交通区>居民文教区>公园广场区>郊区农田,随功能区不同,积雪中PGEs输入途径与输入量有显著差异,这是造成各功能区积雪PGEs含量不同且具有一定规律性的主要原因.