Towards Rio + 10 – Trend of Environmentalism and Implications for Sustainable Livelihoods in the 21st Century, The Context of Southern African Region

Since the Rio conference, many countries and organisations, including the environmental movement, bilateral and multilateral institutions have endeavoured to carry out activities related to the implementation of Agenda 21. These have mostly been done with or without other outcomes of the conference. Several environmental management and sustainable development agenda have been pursued to halt the continually degrading environment. Other programmes have concentrated on outburst of economic development at the expense of the environment and the worsening poverty especially in the South. This paper therefore seeks to examine a paradigmatic shift in environmentalism, emphasising the link between agenda 21 and sustainable livelihoods. It seems though the history of the environmental movement has been forgotten after the Rio conference by the whole world. This might probably be due to complacency with the results of the UNCED conference. However, it is now obvious that clear objectives to implement the results of UNCED are almost lacking with little or no proper supervision, and further threatening the existence of mankind. The environmental movement and associated milestones have had significant impacts on the current status of the global commons. Regionally in most of southern Africa, livelihood issues are in the forefront of efforts to sustain environmental resources, and minimising proximate causes of global environmental change.     

南方丘陵山地带土壤保持功能及其经济价值时空变化特征

土壤保持是生态系统提供的重要调节服务之一,在区域侵蚀控制以及生态安全的维持方面具有不可替代的作用。以全国主体生态功能区划中"两屏三带"的南方丘陵山地带为研究对象,在遥感和地理信息系统的支持下,以2000、2005和2010年3期生态系统类型数据为主要数据源,运用通用土壤流失方程(Universal Soil Loss Equation, USLE)分析了南方丘陵山地带生态系统土壤保持功能,并对其经济价值进行动态核算。结果表明:10 a间,南方丘陵山地带土壤保持总量呈上升趋势,土壤保持总量上升了76.79×10⁷ t,森林、灌丛和农田生态系统是研究区土壤保持功能的主要贡献者,总贡献率3个年份分别为82.29%、82.59%和80.58%,不同生态系统土壤保持总量排序为森林> 灌丛> 农田> 草地> 湿地> 人工表面> 稀疏地,土壤保持能力排序为湿地> 草地> 灌丛> 森林> 农田> 人工表面> 稀疏地;10 a间,研究区土壤保持功能总经济价值增加了270.34×10⁸元,总经济价值中以保持土壤肥力价值为主;土壤保持功能经济价值的变化以轻微增加为主,其呈现增加的区域面积和价值增幅大于经济价值减少的区域面积和价值减幅。在对该区域生态系统进行保护的基础上,因地制宜地合理增加植被盖度对防治土壤侵蚀、保持土壤养分可以起到良好效果。     

红壤区退化林地表土真菌群落结构对土壤改良措施的响应

真菌群落结构和多样性对于土壤改良效果具有高敏感性.研究南方红壤区侵蚀退化林表土真菌群落对有机肥、生物炭和石灰+微生物肥的响应,以明晰不同改土措施的作用.结果表明：(1)3种土壤改良措施均降低了表土真菌丰富度,其中石灰+微生物肥降低作用最大,3种土壤改良措施对表土真菌多样性也有影响,但影响不显著;(2)表土中优势真菌门为子囊菌门(Ascomycota, 31.29%～46.55%)、担子菌门(Basidiomycota, 30.07%～70.71%),优势真菌属为阿太菌属(Amphinema)和单形古根菌属(Archaeorhizomyces),3种土壤改良措施对表土真菌群落结构的影响不同,有机肥提高了子囊菌门和单形古根菌属的相对丰度,生物炭提高了担子菌门和阿太菌属的相对丰度,而石灰+微生物肥则提高了担子菌门和单形古根菌属的相对丰度;(3)土壤pH是影响表土真菌丰富度的关键因子,而表土真菌群落结构则受pH、全氮和有机碳的影响.研究结果为南方红壤区侵蚀退化林地土壤改良,林下植被生态恢复提供科学指导.     

陕西绥德地区黄土-古土壤序列地球化学特征及其环境指示意义

黄土高原北部的绥德地区处于干旱-半干旱地区,对环境变化的响应十分敏感,通过对黄土-古土壤的研究对比可以探索该区的古环境气候特征、环境变化信息等相关问题.本文对绥德黄土-古土壤进行常量、微量、稀土元素测试分析,并与其他地区黄土的地球化学特征进行了对比.结果 表明:绥德地区黄土-古土壤的主要化学成分以SiO2、Al2O3、...     

胶州湾综合监测与评价工作研究

为全面掌握环胶州湾区域生态环境状况,更好地服务于环胶州湾区域经济发展和生态环境保护,根据《近岸海域环境监测规范》(HJ 442-2008),青岛市环境监测中心站对环胶州湾区域进行了综合监测与评价,建立了环胶州湾区域陆海统筹监测评价体系,完善了胶州湾水质监测网络,摸清了环胶州湾区域直排海污染源状况及环胶州湾区域土地利用状况。针对综合监测与评价过程中存在的胶州湾污染源的排放状况掌握不全面、河流入海通量的测算不准确、环境质量的变化趋势预测不能实现的问题,提出了加强入海河流监测、实行陆源污染物总量控制管理、建立自动监测站等对策建议。     

城市生态休闲绿地建设研究

城市生态休闲绿地不同于城市绿地,主要包括其中的城市公园绿地和其他绿地。结合市民平时主要在居住地附近散步、节假日喜欢到郊区游憩的休闲活动特点,把生态休闲绿地分为日常短时休闲绿地和节假日长时休闲绿地。在城市生态休闲绿地建设中,应重点建设日常短时休闲绿地,配套开发节假日长时休闲绿地,完善城市公共绿地的休闲设施,增强城市公共绿地的大众性,提高专有绿地的开放性。     

Life-cycle phosphorus use efficiency of the farming system in Anhui Province,Central China

The rapid increase of phosphorus (P) use in farming has raised concerns regarding its conservation and environmental impact. Increasing the P use efficiency (PUE) is an approach to mitigating these adverse impacts. In this study, we applied substance flow analysis (SFA) to establish a life-cycle P use efficiency model to determine the life-cycle PUE of the farming system used in Anhui Province in 2011, which is typical of the agriculture practiced in central China. Based on this model, the P flows and PUEs of five subsystems were identified and quantified: crop farming, crop processing, livestock breeding, rural living, and urban living. The three largest P flows were found in the crop farming and livestock breeding subsystems; it can therefore be concluded that these subsystems have substantial impacts on the entire farming system. In contrast, the PUEs of crop farming, rural consumption, and livestock breeding subsystems presented the three lowest PUEs (58.79%, 71.75%, and 76.65%, respectively). These results were also consistent with the finding that the greatest P losses occurred in crop farming and livestock breeding. Consequently, the study proposes that great potential exists for increasing PUEs in the farming system of Anhui, and several of the most promising measures could be combined for improving PUEs. Finally, the study assesses data quality and presents a sensitivity analysis for use in interpreting the results. The study also shows that improving PUE and decreasing P losses in farming systems through improved nutrient management must be considered an important issue, and this study represents valuable experience in resource conservation and agricultural development in China.     

The relationship between sustainable development and resource use from a geographic perspective

Geography provides the basic building blocks for the study of resource use and sustainable development, inasmuch as it categorizes the human environment. Within the environment are resources that are needed for the survival of society. As resources are largely limited and finite, humans as agents of change must employ techniques that allow an efficient and lasting use of the available resources in their environment. This paper discusses the nexus between geography, resource exploitation, use, and sustainable development. It also discusses the characteristics, types, and classification of resources, development and sustainable development as well as the challenges and strategies for attaining sustainable development, particularly in developing countries.     

Effects of Land Use and Climate Change on Stream Temperature I: Daily Flow and Stream Temperature Projections

Freshwater mussels (order Unionida) are a highly imperiled group of organisms that are at risk from rising stream temperatures (T). There is a need to understand the potential effects of land use (LU) and climate change (CC) on stream T and have a measure of uncertainty. We used available downscaled climate projections and LU change simulations to simulate the potential effects on average daily stream T from 2020 to 2060. Monte Carlo simulations were run, and a novel technique to analyze results was used to assess changes in hydrologic and stream T response. Simulations of daily mean T were used as input to our stochastic hourly T model. CC effects were on average two orders of magnitude greater than LU impacts on mean daily stream T. LU change affected stream T primarily in headwater streams, on average up to 2.1°C over short durations, and projected CC affected stream T, on average 2.1‐3.3°C by 2060. Daily mean flow and T ratios from Monte Carlo simulations indicated greater variance in the response of streamflow (up to 55%) to LU change than in the response of stream T (up to 9%), and greater variance in headwater stream segments compared to higher order stream segments for both streamflow and T response. Simulations indicated that combined effects of climate and LU change were not additive, suggesting a complex interaction and that forecasting long‐term stream T response requires simulating CC and LU change simultaneously.     

遥感调查方法在河北省省级自然保护区生态环境变化评估方面的应用研究

河北省省级自然保护区以自然生态系统类型为主,人类活动较为频繁,将遥感评估方法应用于河北省省级自然保护区生态环境变化评估具有重要意义。本文通过分析高分辨率遥感卫星影像的特点,结合河北省省级自然保护区的实际情况,优先选取分辨率为2m的民用卫星,提出了遥感调查方法在自然保护区人类活动和开发建设活动中自动监测、生态系统格局变化、生态系统质量变化以及人类活动干扰程度四方面的评估应用。