A strategy for wildlife management in depopulating rural areas of Japan

Former ranges of wild animals have been reestablished in many developed countries. However, this reestablishment has led to increasing human–wildlife conflict in agroforest ecosystems. In Japan, human–wildlife conflict, such as crop raiding by and ecological impacts of wild ungulates and primates, is a serious problem in depopulated rural areas due to these animal range expansions and increased abundances. Japan's human population is predicted to decline by 24% by 2050, and approximately 20% of agricultural settlements will become completely depopulated. In this scenario, anthropogenic pressures on wildlife (e.g., hunting and habitat alteration) will continue to decrease and human–wildlife conflict will increase due to increasing wildlife recovery. Japan's local governments plan to slow range recovery, prevent species reestablishment, or remove recolonizing large mammals through lethal control. This strategy, however, is not cost-effective, and workforce shortages in depopulated communities make it infeasible. Moreover, the suppression of wildlife prevents the recovery of ecological functions and thus would degrade regional biodiversity. The declining pressure on wildlife that accompanies human depopulation will prevent the restoration of any past states of human–wildlife interaction. We suggest human-used areas in rural landscapes be aggregated in compact cities and that in transition zones between human settlements and depopulated lands that land-sharing approaches be applied. Concentrating management efforts in compact cities may effectively decrease human–wildlife conflict, rather than intensifying human pressures. Reforestation of depopulated lands may lead to recovery of wildlife habitats, their ecosystem functions, and regional biodiversity due to minimization of negative anthropogenic effects (land-sparing approach). Balancing resolution of human–wildlife conflict and ecological rewilding could become a new, challenging task for regional wildlife managers.     

污泥对区域生态环境的影响

对上海某乡因施用大量污泥而造成的污染状况作跟踪调查研究和质量评价。研究对象为土壤、水稻和蔬菜，被研究的污染元素为Ｃｄ、Ｚｎ、Ｃｕ、Ｐｈ、Ｎｉ、Ｃｒ、Ｈｇ和Ａｓ．结果表明，该乡土壤为复合污染，Ｃｄ、Ｚｎ、Ｃｕ是主要污染元素．污泥施用越多的地区，水稻、蔬菜受污染就越严重，尤以Ｃｄ污染最为突出，超过了允许卫生标准。确定了污染村、污染程度和污染面积。     

镉污染土壤对潜在能源植物生长的影响

利用重金属污染土壤种植能源植物是一种同时解决环境问题和能源问题的新理念,但目前相关研究成果并不多。通过盆栽试验研究人工镉污染土壤中象草Pennisetumpurpureum和亚香茅Cymbopogonnardus两种植物植株的生长状况和两种植物对土壤镉的吸收和富集能力。结果表明,当外源可溶性镉加入到土壤后,其主要是以生物有效性较高的状态存在。土壤镉对象草和亚香茅生长的影响作用有很大的不同,亚香茅比象草具有更强的镉耐受力,其生物量受镉污染影响小。两种植物植株镉含量均随土壤镉添加量的增加而增加。除高镉处理象草外,植物地下部分含镉量比地上部分高很多。高镉处理象草地下部分含镉量比地上部分低的现象可能反映出根系已积累了太多的镉,因而加速了向地上部的转移,从而加剧了植物中毒的程度。赤泥添加剂具有降低土壤酸度,减少植物对镉的吸收和增加象草和亚香茅生物量的作用。     

Changes of Soil Microbiological Properties Caused by Land Use Changing From Rice–Wheat Rotation to Vegetable Cultivation

A survey was done recently in Jiaxing city of Zhejiang Province in the Yangtze River Delta to compare the differences of soil microbiological properties among paddy soils with different land use including continuous open-field vegetable cultivation (OFVC), plastic-greenhouse vegetable cultivation (PGVC) and traditional rice–wheat rotation (RWR). The soil types included are percolating, permeable and waterlogged paddy soils. The results indicate that the microbial flora was markedly changed as the land use changed for all the three soil types. In continuous vegetable cultivation soils, especially in PGVC soils, the bacteria amounts decreased dramatically, but the fungal and actinomyce amounts increased as compared with RWR soils. The dehydrogenase activities decreased significantly in vegetable soils, especially in PGVC soils as compared with RWR soils. The microbial biomass C and the total phospholipid contents (TPL) in vegetable cultivation soil greatly decreased as compared with RWR soils. Biolog analysis indicated that the kinds of carbon sources that could be metabolized by native microbes in PGVC soils greatly decreased as compared with OFVC soils and RWR soils, revealing that microbial diversity had decreased since land use change. The activities of some soil enzymes including urease, invertase and phosphase were all lower in OFVC soils than those in RWR soils, and those in PGVC soils were the lowest. The degradation of microbiological activities in continuous vegetable cultivation soils, especially in PGVC soils, as compared with RWR soils might have been caused by soil acidification and accumulation of salts due to overuse of both organic and inorganic fertilizers in vegetable cultivation.     

Crop Failure in Dalocha, Ethiopia: A Participatory Emergency Response

This case study of an NGO's response to a food crisis due to crop failure focuses on the extent of active community participation at each stage of the project. With the current debate on the relationship between relief and development, and in particular the focus on encouraging more active community participation in relief responses, this study has relevance both in the Ethiopian context and beyond.
In this example the participation process was greatly facilitated by the prior relationship between the international NGO and the communities, and also by the high level of staff input into the project. Where resources or conditions are less favourable, as might be the case in similar responses by local NGOs or government agencies, the paper suggests that the participatory approach can be adapted or partially implemented and still result in a more effective and locally relevant operation.     

秸秆焚烧对玉溪市大气PM10的影响解析研究

以水溶性钾为示踪元素,解析秋收季节秸秆焚烧对玉溪市大气PM10的贡献.结果表明,2001年秋收季节(10月)水溶性钾浓度(7.68μg/m3)比夏季水溶性钾浓度(2.38μg/m3)高3.2倍,与7月至12月份PM10浓度变化呈显著相关,相关系数为0.810.很显然,秋收季节秸秆焚烧对玉溪市大气PM10有负面影响.     

Distribution of atrazine in a crop-soil-groundwater system at Baiyangdian Lake area in China

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＡｔｒａｚｉｎｅ(2ｃｈｌｏｒｏ4ｅｔｈｙｌａｍｉｎｏ6ｉｓｏｐｒｏｐｙｌａｍｉｎｏｓｔｒｉａｚｉｎｅ)ｉｓｏｎｅｏｆｔｈｅｍｏｓｔｗｉｄｅｌｙｕｓｅｄｓｅｌｅｃｔｉｖｅｐｒｅａｎｄｐｏｓｔｅｍｅｒｇｅｎｃｅｈｅｒｂｉｃｉｄｅｓｆｏｒｔｈｅｃｏｎｔｒｏｌｏｆｂｒｏａｄｌｅａｆａｎｄｇｒａｓｓｙｗｅｅｄｓ.ＴｈｉｓｈｅｒｂｉｃｉｄｅｉｓｐｒｉｍａｒｉｌｙｕｓｅｄｉｎｃｏｒｎｃｒｏｐｐｉｎｇｓｙｓｔｅｍｉｎＮｏｒｔｈｅａｓｔａｎｄＮｏｒｔｈｏｆＣｈｉｎａ,ａｎｄａｓｏｆｔｅｎｔｉｍ…     

填闲作物防治菜田土壤硝酸盐污染的研究进展

探讨了通过调整蔬菜生产的轮作结构 ,运用生物修复的原理 ,引入适宜的深根系填闲作物对深层土壤硝酸盐吸收利用 ,以避免硝酸盐进一步淋失 ,提高氮素的利用率的可行性。填闲作物应选择生长迅速、生物量大、氮素累积能力强的作物 ,在考虑填闲作物防治硝酸盐淋溶的同时 ,要兼顾其经济利用价值 ,并指出结合深根系的填闲作物进行合理轮作是蔬菜安全生产及可持续发展的途径之一     

开阳富硒农作物筛选研究

本文通过对贵州开阳禾丰乡和冯三镇富硒岩石出露区出产农作物的野外调查和室内分析研究,筛选了该区可供开发种植富硒农作物的土壤农田和农作物品种。研究结果表明:土壤硒含量为0.46~2.31 mg/kg,均值为1.42 mg/kg,冯三镇的安坪村、金龙村和禾丰乡的杨柳坝、甘塘村一带的土壤都达到了富硒水平;农作物的含硒量为0.007~0.61 mg/kg,筛选出的主要农作物有水稻、玉米、辣椒、油菜、洋芋等,大都达到了富硒等级。     

Cover crop effects on nitrous oxide emission from a manure-treated Mollisol

Agriculture contributes 40–60% of the total annual N₂O emissions to the atmosphere. Development of management practices to reduce these emissions would have a significant impact on greenhouse gas levels. Non-leguminous cover crops are efficient scavengers of residual soil NO₃, thereby reducing leaching losses. However, the effect of a grass cover crop on N₂O emissions from soil receiving liquid swine manure has not been evaluated. This study investigated: (i) the temporal patterns of N₂O emissions following addition of swine manure slurry in a laboratory setting under fluctuating soil moisture regimes; (ii) assessed the potential of a rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop to decrease N₂O emissions under these conditions; and (iii) quantified field N₂O emissions in response to either spring applied urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) or different rates of fall-applied liquid swine manure, in the presence or absence of a rye/oat winter cover crop. Laboratory experiments investigating cover crop effects N₂O emissions were performed in a controlled environment chamber programmed for a 14 h light period, 18 °C day temperature, and 15 °C night temperature. Treatments with or without a living rye cover crop were treated with either: (i) no manure; (ii) a phosphorus-based manure application rate (low manure): or (iii) a nitrogen-based manure application rate (high manure). We observed a significant reduction in N₂O emissions in the presence of the rye cover crop. Field experiments were performed on a fine-loamy soil in Central Iowa from October 12, 2005 to October 2, 2006. We observed no significant effect of the cover crop on cumulative N₂O emissions in the field. The primary factor influencing N₂O emission was N application rate, regardless of form or timing. The response of N₂O emission to N additions was non-linear, with progressively more N₂O emitted with increasing N application. These results indicate that while cover crops have the potential to reduce N₂O emissions, N application rate may be the overriding factor.