Emerging conservation challenges and prospects in an era of offshore hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation

Globally, extensive marine areas important for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functioning are undergoing exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas resources. Such operations are expanding to previously inaccessible deep waters and other frontier regions, while conservation‐related legislation and planning is often lacking. Conservation challenges arising from offshore hydrocarbon development are wide‐ranging. These challenges include threats to ecosystems and marine species from oil spills, negative impacts on native biodiversity from invasive species colonizing drilling infrastructure, and increased political conflicts that can delay conservation actions. With mounting offshore operations, conservationists need to urgently consider some possible opportunities that could be leveraged for conservation. Leveraging options, as part of multi‐billion dollar marine hydrocarbon operations, include the use of facilities and costly equipment of the deep and ultra‐deep hydrocarbon industry for deep‐sea conservation research and monitoring and establishing new conservation research, practice, and monitoring funds and environmental offsetting schemes. The conservation community, including conservation scientists, should become more involved in the earliest planning and exploration phases and remain involved throughout the operations so as to influence decision making and promote continuous monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystems. A prompt response by conservation professionals to offshore oil and gas developments can mitigate impacts of future decisions and actions of the industry and governments. New environmental decision support tools can be used to explicitly incorporate the impacts of hydrocarbon operations on biodiversity into marine spatial and conservation plans and thus allow for optimum trade‐offs among multiple objectives, costs, and risks.     

Putting Longline Bycatch of Sea Turtles into Perspective

Abstract:  Although some sea turtle populations are showing encouraging signs of recovery, others continue to decline. Reversing population declines requires an understanding of the primary factor(s) that underlie this persistent demographic trend. The list of putative factors includes direct turtle and egg harvest, egg predation, loss or degradation of nesting beach habitat, fisheries bycatch, pollution, and large-scale changes in oceanographic conditions and nutrient availability. Recently, fisheries bycatch, in particular bycatch from longline fisheries, has received increased attention and has been proposed as a primary source of turtle mortality. We reviewed the existing data on the relative impact of longline bycatch on sea turtle populations. Although bycatch rates from individual longline vessels are extremely low, the amount of gear deployed by longline vessels suggests that cumulative bycatch of turtles from older age classes is substantial. Current estimates suggest that even if pelagic longlines are not the largest single source of fisheries-related mortality, longline bycatch is high enough to warrant management actions in all fleets that encounter sea turtles. Nevertheless, preliminary data also suggest that bycatch from gillnets and trawl fisheries is equally high or higher than longline bycatch with far higher mortality rates. Until gillnet and trawl fisheries are subject to the same level of scrutiny given to pelagic longlines, our understanding of the overall impact of fisheries bycatch on vulnerable sea turtle populations will be incomplete.     

海水水质评价的物元分析法

为了探索物元分析方法用于海水水质综合评价的可能性，通过计算海不水质对各评论评价等级的综合关联度，进行海水水质综合评价。用物元分析法对５个监测站位的海水水质进行评价，结果表明它用于海水水质综合评价是可行的。     

对排海污染物实行“纳污区”管理探讨

我国近海是经济增长和发展最重要和最集中的区域。然而,随着沿海工业的发展,大量未经处理的陆源污染物随间排海,沿岸水域形成“黑潮”、“赤潮”致使我国近海海域污染加剧,生态平衡失调,严重影响了海域资源环境的可持续发展。     

宁波-舟山海域入海污染物环境容量研究

在宁波-舟山海域数值模拟潮流场的基础上,建立了该海域各污染源的响应系数场,计算了主要污染源COD、无机氮和活性磷酸盐的分担率场,及各污染源和控制单元的环境容量.研究结果将为该海域入海污染物总量控制提供科学依据.     

辽河口沉积物环境要素时空动态及影响因素分析

以辽河口为研究区域,利用遥感影像数据、现状调查数据和历史监测数据,系统地分析了辽河口沉积物质量历史变化趋势和空间分异规律,并进一步研究不同海域使用类型和不同植被演替阶段对沉积物环境要素分异特征的影响.结果表明,辽河口区域沉积物质量总体良好,各要素平均含量均符合一类沉积物质量要求;沉积物营养元素呈现显著的带状分布规律,重金属元素空间分布具有一定随机性,未呈现显著规律;不同海域使用类型对沉积物污染物富集的影响具有一定差异显著性,说明重金属及污染物的分布受到人类活动的影响,具有一定的随机性;植被不同演替阶段下主控因子具有显著差异,初级阶段主要受盐度控制,随着由盐生植被向陆生植被逐渐过渡,植被分布特征与总有机碳(TOC)、总氮(TN)和总磷(TP)的内在联系逐渐增大,同时重金属等污染物含量与植被群落内在联系并不显著.     

基于CMIP5多模式集合预估东海和南海21世纪海平面高度变化

人类活动引起的当代气候变暖已导致全球海平面显著上升,在21世纪全球气候继续变暖的背景下,东南沿海海平面的升高将对区域环境及社会可持续发展带来巨大挑战,但目前对未来区域海平面变化的预估尚存在较大的不确定性。本文基于筛选的国际耦合模式比较计划第5阶段（CMIP5）的10个模拟性能较好的气候模式输出结果,通过多模式集合预估了未来温室气体三种排放情景下21世纪东海和南海区域海平面高度的趋势变化,并分析了不同影响因子的贡献。通过计算海水热比容、盐比容和动力因子对海平面高度的影响,并在考虑冰川冰盖消融等因子的订正后,发现：21世纪东海和南海海平面高度都呈现连续上升趋势,东海和南海地区上升幅度略小于全球平均,南海上升幅度略大于东海。在温室气体低（RCP2.6）、中（RCP4.5）和高（RCP8.5）排放情景下,21世纪后期（2081—2100年）较前期（2006—2025年）东海/南海平均海平面分别上升0.26 [0.01—0.55] m/0.29 [0.05—0.55] m、0.38 [0.10—0.66] m/0.40 [0.14—0.67] m和0.52[0.15—0.89] m/0.52[0.23—0.83] m（方括号内为相应的不确定性范围）。随着温室气体排放的升高,海平面上升幅度也增大,东海海平面上升区由东南向西北扩展,南海海平面上升区由东北向西南扩展。统计分析还表明：在不同排放情景下,不同影响因子对海平面变化的贡献也不一样,随着排放强度从低到高变化,海洋比容加动力因子的相对贡献从28%—34%升高至46%—47%,而冰川冰盖消融等其他因子的相对贡献从 66%—72%降低至53%—54%。     

长海海域浮筏养殖虾夷扇贝生物沉积速率的现场研究

为评价浅海高密度、规模化浮筏养殖贝类的生物沉积作用及其环境生态效应,本文运用生物沉积物捕集器对长海海域浮筏养殖虾夷扇贝的生物沉积速率进行了四个季度的现场测定。结果表明,同一养殖区不同排筏虾夷扇贝的生物沉积速率有很大不同,呈现出由低排筏到高排筏逐渐降低的趋势;不同季节虾夷扇贝生物沉积速率变化明显,秋季最高,冬季最低。海水中悬浮颗粒物浓度及水温是影响扇贝生物沉积速率的主要因素。     

海洋水体原油污染存在形态及处置技术研究

详细描述了原油在海洋中存在的形态及对溢油事故的处置技术和方法,并结合原油的特性、气象水文条件等叙述了如何选择溢油处置方法。     

钢铁窑炉烟尘PM_(2.5)控制技术与装备

简述了国家863课题"钢铁窑炉烟尘PM_(2.5)控制技术与装备"的目的、意义和研究成果,介绍了细颗粒物预荷电技术、基于海岛纤维的表面超细过滤材料、预荷电袋滤器、"一阀多喷"清灰等技术的最新进展,通过示范工程的成功运行,验证了成果的先进性和实用性。研究成果将为工业窑炉烟尘细颗粒物深度净化提供技术和装备支撑,适用于新建除尘项目和除尘项目改造。