Beyond ‘trees are good’: Disservices,management costs,and tradeoffs in urban forestry

The provision of ecosystem services is a prominent rationale for urban greening, and there is a prevailing mantra that ‘trees are good’. However, understanding how urban trees contribute to sustainability must also consider disservices. In this perspective article, we discuss recent research on ecosystem disservices of urban trees, including infrastructure conflicts, health and safety impacts, aesthetic issues, and environmentally detrimental consequences, as well as management costs related to ecological disturbances and risk management. We also discuss tradeoffs regarding species selection and local conservation concerns, as well as the central role of human perception in the interpretation of ecosystem services and disservices, particularly the uncritical assertion that ‘everybody loves trees’. Urban forestry decision-making that fails to account for disservices can have unintended negative consequences for communities. Further research is needed regarding life cycle assessments, stakeholder decision-making, return-on-investment, and framings of services and disservices in urban forestry.     

基于生态系统服务功能的城市规划研究

健康的生态系统是城市可持续发展的重要基础,生态系统服务功能及价值评估是评价生态系统的重要指标,森林、草地、湿地等生态系统在调节气候、保持土壤、涵养水源等方面具有重要作用.以宁波市北仑区为例,应用市场价值化方法粗略地分析了该区域的生态系统服务功能现状,结果表明,13年间北仑区的生态服务价值下降11.35%,其中,草地的生态服务价值下降最快,降幅达79.84%.从生态经济学角度阐释森林等生态系统在城市开发建设中的重要性.     

地下水污染健康风险评价理论体系研究

基于对风险的认识,以地下水为研究载体提出地下水污染健康风险评价的概念.按照风险识别、风险量化、风险管理的步骤构建了地下水污染健康风险评价的理论体系,并对每个步骤进行了详细的描述和研究方法的探讨,提出了判定的原则和方法以及对我国地下水污染健康风险管理的建议,以期为我国地下水资源管理和保护工作提供科学依据.     

浙江省长潭水库水质特征研究

通过对长潭水库进行长期定点的监测和分析,对2006～2011年间长潭水库pH、透明度(SD)、总氮(TN)、总磷(TP)、生化需氧量(BOD)、溶解氧(DO)、叶绿素a的营养状态指数TLI(Chla)等各项指标的达标率以及营养状态进行了整体的分析和评价。结果表明:长潭水库水体现状为中度富营养状态,并以此为指导提出了相应的治理措施,以期为居民的供水安全提供保障。     

县域土地利用规划生态环境影响评价研究——以陇县为例

以生态服务价值理论为指导,从土地利用变化动态度、生态系统服务总价值和生态价值敏感度3个方面评价陇县土地利用总体规划(2006～2020年)对区域生态环境的影响。结果表明,林地、耕地在规划期内生态系统服务价值都呈增长趋势,区域生态系统服务总价值增加了30700万元。     

漓江沉积柱重金属垂向分布特征及污染评价

对桂林漓江3个采样点沉积柱状沉积物中主要重金属元素(Cd、Cr、Cu、Zn、Pb、As和Ni)的垂向分布进行了测定。结果表明:7种重金属元素具有相似的垂向变化特征;横向上表现为靠近市区的含量高远离,市区的含量低。地积累指数评价结果显示,远离市区的沉积柱7种金属污染程度较轻,仅有Cd和Ni属于无～中污染程度。临近市区的沉积柱形成污染的元素为Cd、Cu、Zn、Pb和As,主要集中在底层和次表层。     

房地产新建项目的环境影响预测评价

根据房地产开发项目环境影响评价的方法和准则,分析了新建住宅类建设项目施工期和营运期对环境产生的不良影响,及外环境对住宅小区的环境影响,预测和评价了运营期的大气污染、废水污染及施工期和运营期的噪声污染。结果表明,运营期排放的废水可以满足国家污水排放标准,氮氧化物是运营期大气污染物的主要成分,施工期土石方阶段和结构阶段的噪声排放能满足昼间噪声限值,其余噪声污染全部超出了标准限值。提出了相应的环保措施,总结了住宅建设项目环境影响评价的特点。     

《环境影响评价法》第31条新解

《环境影响评价法》第31条一直是该法备受关注和饱受争议的对象,如何全面正确地认识这一条款的规定才能更好地实施和完善环境影响评价制度？通过对31条两种情形下建设单位行为的主观恶性的再分析、对照环境影响评价的价值和目的对该责任条款的再认识、对环境影响评价执法难的根源追寻等方面来探讨对31条的全新认识和补充完善。     

Integrated strategies to reduce vulnerability and advance adaptation,mitigation, and sustainable development

Determinants of adaptive and mitigative capacities (e.g., availability of technological options, and access to economic resources, social capital and human capital) largely overlap. Several factors underlying or related to these determinants are themselves indicators of sustainable development (e.g., per capita income; and various public health, education and research indices). Moreover, climate change could exacerbate existing climate-sensitive hurdles to sustainable development (e.g., hunger, malaria, water shortage, coastal flooding and threats to biodiversity) faced specifically by many developing countries. Based on these commonalities, the paper identifies integrated approaches to formulating strategies and measures to concurrently advance adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development. These approaches range from broadly moving sustainable development forward (by developing and/or nurturing institutions, policies and infrastructure to stimulate economic development, technological change, human and social capital, and reducing specific barriers to sustainable development) to reducing vulnerabilities to urgent climate-sensitive risks that hinder sustainable development and would worsen with climate change. The resulting sustainable economic development would also help reduce birth rates, which could mitigate climate change and reduce the population exposed to climate change and climate-sensitive risks, thereby reducing impacts, and the demand for adaptation. The paper also offers a portfolio of pro-active strategies and measures consistent with the above approaches, including example measures that would simultaneously reduce pressures on biodiversity, hunger, and carbon sinks. Finally it addresses some common misconceptions that could hamper fuller integration of adaptation and mitigation, including the notions that adaptation may be unsuitable for natural systems, and mitigation should necessarily have primacy over adaptation.

The evolution of climate policies - the role of learning and evaluations

All member states of the EU have had to develop climate strategies following the commitment to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. The evolution of the strategies provides insights into the learning that takes place at the level of policy development and offers material for analysing how ex ante and ex post evaluations have contributed to this learning. In the analysis, Finland is used as a case demonstrating different levels and types of learning, from deeper reframing to political learning. The results show that the full potential of the evaluations has not been utilised, partly because they have been constrained by their mandate. Greater openness and transparency in the policy processes would create favourable conditions for independent evaluations that could provide additional input to the policy processes. This would support social and reflexive learning and allow for greater adaptability.