Building Trust in Natural Resource Management Within Local Communities: A Case Study of the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie

Communities neighboring federally protected natural areas regularly weigh the costs and benefits of the administering agency’s programs and policies. While most agencies integrate public opinion into decision making, efforts to standardize and formalize public involvement have left many local communities feeling marginalized, spurring acrimony and opposition. A significant body of research has examined barriers to effective public participation as well as strategies for relationship building in planning processes; many of which point to trust as a key factor. Trust is especially tenuous in local communities. This paper explores perceptions of trust, expectations for management, as well as constraints to building trust. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 community members and USDA Forest Service personnel at the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in northeastern Illinois. The interviews revealed that trust is perceived as important to effective management. Distinct expectations for management outcomes and processes emerged, including the values, knowledge, and capacity demonstrated in management decisions and actions and opportunities provided for communication, collaboration, and cooperation within the agency-community relationship. The case study identified several constraints to building trust, including competing values, knowledge gaps, limited community engagement, and staff turnover.     

自然条件下海滨湿地土壤生态过程与景观演变的耦合关系

景观过程与格局的相互关系与耦合机制,已经成为景观生态学研究的重要问题。以盐城国家级自然保护区核心区为案例,根据2011年4-5月对海滨湿地土壤采样分析,运用典范对应分析、主成分分析、线性回归模拟以及空间代替时间的方法,探索土壤生态过程与景观演变之间的耦合关系。结果显示:①典范对应分析表明,土壤过程能够很好地响应海滨湿地景观格局,从陆到海,5种景观类型有序地、按逆时针方向分布在CCA排序轴上,土壤过程与景观类型之间表现出不同的相关性。②通过主成分分析表明,三个主成分能够有效地响应景观格局。主成分与景观类型相关性排序表现为:第一主成分(土壤养分),米草沼泽>碱蓬米草交错带>碱蓬沼泽>芦苇沼泽>碱蓬芦苇交错带;第二主成分(盐度),碱蓬沼泽>碱蓬米草交错带>米草沼泽>碱蓬芦苇交错带>芦苇沼泽;第三主成分(有机质和水分),芦苇沼泽>米草沼泽>碱蓬芦苇交错带>碱蓬米草交错带>碱蓬沼泽。③运用空间代替时间,以样地到海堤的距离作为时间变量,主成分与景观演变之间相关性较好。多元回归结果显示:三个主成分与碱蓬沼泽→碱蓬米草交错带→米草沼泽时间序列的相关系数为0.859 2;与碱蓬沼泽→碱蓬芦苇交错带→芦苇沼泽时间序列的相关系数为0.892 8。土壤生态过程的改变是景观演变的重要动力,而景观的变化进一步引起土壤生态要素的改变,盐城海滨湿地景观演变就是在这种格局与过程的交互作用下,芦苇沼泽与米草沼泽不断扩张、碱蓬沼泽不断萎缩的过程。     

江苏自然保护区现状及其可持续发展对策的探讨

建立自然保护区是对生物多样性进行就地保护的重要措施。笔者在对江苏省盐城、大丰国家级自然保护区调查的基础上,分析了江苏省自然保护区在经济发展、法制建设、管理体制、资金及社区建设等方面面临的问题,并提出自然保护区可持续发展的相应对策。     

户外柜式通信电源系统设计的自然环境因素考虑

本文列举了影响户外柜式通信电源系统的各种自然环境因素,并讨论了各个因素对产品的主要影响机理,提出了产品设计时需要考虑的要点。为该类产品的耐环境设计和可靠性设计提供了必要的参考信息,对其它户外电子设备的设计也有借鉴意义。     

崇明东滩候鸟自然保护区的滩涂植被

本文报道了崇明东滩候鸟保护区内的滩涂植被类型及其分布,并研究了植被的生态环境特征和群落演替与滩涂生境之间的联系。     

Release flux of mercury from different environmental surfaces in Chongqing, China

An investigation was conducted to estimate mercury emission to the atmosphere from different environmental surfaces and to assess its contribution to the local mercury budget in Chongqing, China. Mercury flux was measured using dynamic flux chamber (DFC) at six soil sites of three different areas (mercury polluted area, farmland and woodland) and four water surfaces from August 2003 to April 2004. The mercury emission fluxes were 3.5 ± 1.2–8.4 ± 2.5 ng m⁻² h⁻¹ for three shaded forest sites, 85.8 ± 32.4 ng m⁻² h⁻¹ for farming field, 12.3 ± 9.8–733.8 ± 255 ng m⁻² h⁻¹ for grassland sites, and 5.9 ± 12.6–618.6 ± 339 ng m⁻² h⁻¹ for water surfaces. Mercury exchange fluxes were generally higher from air/water surfaces than from air/soil surfaces. The mercury negative fluxes were found in tow soil sites at overcast days (mean = −6.4 ± 1.5 ng m⁻² h⁻¹). The diurnal and seasonal variations of mercury flux were observed in all sites. The mercury emission responded positively to the solar radiation, but negatively to the relative humidity. The mercury flux from air/soil surfaces was significantly correlated with soil temperature, which was well described by an Arrhenius-type expression with activation energy of 31.1 kcal mol⁻¹. The annual mercury emission to the atmosphere from land surface is about 1.787 t of mercury in Chongqing.     

Risk and vulnerability indicators at different scales:: Applicability, usefulness and policy implications

This paper outlines selected approaches to measuring risk and vulnerability to hazards of natural origin using indicators and indices. It discusses their applicability, usefulness and policy implications. Indicators and indices have been developed on different scales and for different purposes. The paper will briefly introduce three global approaches to disaster-risk identification and will juxtapose them with one local approach in order to examine the differences concerning the functions and the purpose of the assessment as well as their impact for policy development. In contrast to an earlier comparative analysis of the three global disaster-risk indicator programmes by Mark Pelling in 2004, which focused primarily on the methodologies used, this paper places more emphasis on aspects of applicability and policy implications and outlines challenges and limitations of the different approaches. Since the assessment and mapping of human vulnerability is less developed than hazard assessment work [Pelling M., 2004. Visions of Risk: A Review of International Indicators of Disaster Risk and its Management. UNDP—Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BRCP), Geneva], this paper focuses in greater depth on how the approaches capture vulnerability. Conclusions will be formulated on how to further enhance vulnerability identification, particularly at the sub-national level.     

1997年全球自然灾害回顾与分析

１９９７年是全球自然灾害经济损失较低的一年。根据收集到的全球自然灾害数据,对全球主要自然灾害特征和分布特点进行了回顾,并结合国际上最新研究成果对其成因进行了分析。     

An ecological planning model

In this article a model is proposed that could be used as a basis for ecological planning of natural resources. The role of people as part of the ecosystem is emphasized, and the various factors that should be considered in such planning are discussed. An understanding of ecological planning is dependent on the study of human activities in, and the nature of, natural ecosystems. It also depends on the fact that people are a part of nature, and as a result nature is of value to humans. Realizing the importance of this principle is a prerequisite to studying nature and also for an understanding of the various steps in the ecological planning approach. Realization of these values is often through a series of activities that may result in a negative environmental impact. Nature is described as an interacting group of natural features and processes. In this study both the features and processes are described as natural resources. The use of these natural resources obviously affects them, and if this use is to continue over a long period, both the activity and the resource must be understood if they are to be maintained in a productive state. In order to limit impact and maintain value, a planning aid called zoning is used to assist in the understanding of the processes involved.     

石油烃类污染物在地下水中自然衰减特性

污染物在地下水中的自然衰减是目前解决地下水污染问题的一个重要的研究领域，是地下水污染生物修复的基础课题，本文以地下水中的常见污染物石油烃为对象，着重阐述该物在地下水中的自然衰减特性。根据所获取的国内外资料，介绍了其自然衰减的三种动力学方程：Monod动力学方程，一级衰减动力学方程和瞬时反应动力学方程，并且对于石油烃的自然衰减速率进行了详细的描述，为以后的研究提供参考。