Climate change adaptation approaches with nomadic culture characteristics in Inner Mongolia grassland in China

Climate change adaptation is an important part of addressing climate warming. Inner Mongolia grassland is a sensitive and vulnerable area of climate and an important region for adaptation to climate change. New climate change adaptation approaches with nomadic culture characteristics should be exploded in the context of climate warming. In this paper, the different utilization pattern of grassland in different regions, the different modes of production and management and historical culture were analyzed first in Nenjiang–West Liaohe plain and Ke’erqin region, Inner Mongolia Plateau and Ordos Plateau. Then, nomadic culture on the grassland was discussed from the productivity to biodiversity, from local livestock variety to resource-used system. Finally, new approaches of climate change adaptation with inheriting the essence of nomadic culture were proposed, including protecting biodiversity and using resources reasonably, performing a practice of grazing suspension–rotational grazing system, fencing degenerated grassland to facilitate its growth, founding new farming and husbandry system on the grassland, and establishing an incentive mechanism favorable to grassland and ethical cultural protection.     

The Water Table: The Shifting Foundation of Life on Land

Hyperarid, arid, and semi-arid lands represent over a third of the Earth’s land surface, and are home to over 38 % of the increasing world population. Freshwater is a limiting resource on these lands, and withdrawal of groundwater substantially exceeds recharge. Withdrawals of groundwater for expanding agricultural and domestic use severely limit water availability for groundwater dependent ecosystems. We examine here, with emphasis on quantitative data, case histories of groundwater withdrawals at widely differing scales, on three continents, that range from the impact of a few wells, to the outcomes of total appropriation of flow in a major river system. The case histories provide a glimpse of the immense challenge of replacing groundwater resources once they are severely depleted, and put into sharp focus the question whether the magnitude of the current and future human, economic, and environmental consequences and costs of present practices of groundwater exploitation are adequately recognized.     

Chemical fluxes in time through forest ecosystems in the UK - Soil response to pollution recovery

Long term trend analysis of bulk precipitation, throughfall and soil solution elemental fluxes from 12 years monitoring at 10 ICP Level II forest sites in the UK reveal coherent national chemical trends indicating recovery from sulphur deposition and acidification. Soil solution pH increased and sulphate and aluminium decreased at most sites. Trends in nitrogen were variable and dependant on its form. Dissolved organic nitrogen increased in bulk precipitation, throughfall and soil solution at most sites. Nitrate in soil solution declined at sites receiving high nitrogen deposition. Increase in soil dissolved organic carbon was detected - a response to pollution recovery, changes in soil temperature and/or increased microbial activity. An increase of sodium and chloride was evident - a possible result of more frequent storm events at exposed sites. The intensive and integrated nature of monitoring enables the relationships between climate/pollutant exposure and chemical/biological response in forestry to be explored.     

Estimating marine biogeochemical rates of the carbonate pH system—A Kalman filter tested

Oxygen (O₂), nitrate (NO₃), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) or pCO₂, and pH or total alkalinity (TA), are useful indices of marine chemical, physical and biological processes operating on varying time-scales. Although these properties are increasingly being monitored at high frequency, they have not been extensively used for studying ecosystem dynamics. We test whether we can estimate time-evolving biogeochemical rates (e.g. primary production, respiration, calcification and carbonate dissolution, and nitrification) from synthetic high frequency time-series of O₂, NO₃, DIC, pCO₂, TA or pH. More specifically, a Kalman filter has been implemented in a very simplified biogeochemical model describing the dynamics of O₂, NO₃, DIC and TA and linking the concentration data to biogeochemical fluxes. Different sets of concentration data are assimilated and biogeochemical rates are estimated. The frequency of assimilation required to get acceptable results is investigated and is compared with the frequency of sampling in the field or in controlled experimental settings.Smoothing of the data to remove data noise before assimilation improves the estimation of the biogeochemical rates. The best estimated rates are obtained when assimilating O₂, NO₃ and TA although the assimilation of DIC instead of TA also gives satisfactory results. In case pH or pCO₂ is assimilated rather than DIC or TA, the linearization of the (now nonlinear) observation equation introduces perturbations and the Kalman filter behaves suboptimal. We conclude that, given the resolution of data required, the tool has potential to estimate biogeochemical rates of the carbonate system under controlled settings.     

Evaluation of methods for determining adverse impacts of air pollution on terrestrial ecosystems

Methods used to determine adverse impacts of air pollution on four levels of biological organization of terrestrial ecosystems were evaluated for their use in decision making by federal land managers of class I areas and as guidelines for scientists employed to design field studies in these areas. At the level of the individual, visible injury, biomass, and sulfur uptake were the most often used components; at the population level, natality and mortality; at the community level, diversity; and at the ecosystem level, biogeochemical cycling. Most studies focused on structural responses of individual organisms. These components are relatively sensitive and are easy and inexpensive to measure; however, linkages of these parameters to adverse impacts on populations, communities, or ecosystems are lacking. Measurements of effects of air pollution at the higher levels of organization are confounded by natural variability, long response times, climatic variation, pathogens, and other factors. In addition, the lack of replication and of true control areas creates severe problems for design of monitoring programs and testing of hypotheses concerning effects.     

STREAM RESTORATION IN THE VICINITY OF BRIDGES1

ABSTRACT: The number of stream restoration and enhancement projects being implemented is rapidly increasing. At road crossings, a transition must be created from the restored channel through the bridge or culvert opening. Given conflicting design objectives for a naturalized channel and a bridge opening, guidance is needed in the design of the transition. In this paper we describe the use of vanes, cross vanes, and w‐weirs, commonly used in stream restoration and enhancement projects, that may provide an adequate transition at bridges. Laboratory experiments were conducted on vanes and cross vanes to provide a transition for single span bridge abutments and on w‐weirs to provide a transition for double span bridges which have a pier in mid‐channel. The results of the experiments provided design criteria for transitions using each of the three structures. Prior field experience provided guidance on appropriate applications in terms of the stream and bridge characteristics.     

EFFECTS OF WATERSHED BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON HABITAT AND FISH IN WISCONSIN STREAMS1

ABSTRACT: We evaluated the effectiveness of watershed‐scale implementations of best‐management practices (BMPs) for improving habitat and fish attributes in two coldwater stream systems in Wisconsin. We sampled physical habitat, water temperature, and fish communities in multiple paired treatment and reference streams before and after upland (barnyard runoff controls, manure storage, contour plowing, reduced tillage) and riparian (stream bank fencing, sloping, limited rip‐rapping) BMP installation in the treatment subwatersheds. In Spring Creek, BMPs significantly improved overall stream habitat quality, bank stability, instream cover for fish, abundance of cool‐ and coldwater fishes, and abundance of all fishes. Improvements were most pronounced at sites with riparian BMPs. Water temperatures were consistently cold enough to support coldwater fishes such as trout (Salmonidae) and sculpins (Cottidae) even before BMP installation. We observed the first‐time occurrence of naturally reproduced brown trout (Salmo trutta) in Spring Creek, indicating that the stream condition had been improved to be able to partially sustain a trout population. In Eagle Creek and its tributary Joos Creek, limited riparian BMPs led to localized gains in overall habitat quality, bank stability, and water depth. However, because few upland BMPs were installed in the subwatershed there were no improvements in water temperature or the quality of the fish community. Temperatures remained marginal for coldwater fish throughout the study. Our results demonstrate that riparian BMPs can improve habitat conditions in Wisconsin streams, but cannot restore coldwater fish communities if there is insufficient upland BMP implementation. Our approach of studying multiple paired treatment and reference streams before and after BMP implementation proved effective in detecting the response of stream ecosystems to watershed management activities.     

Sustainable Development in Small Island Developing States

This paper explores the status of sustainable development in small island developing states (SIDS), through the presentation of a case study on the Maldives, which is a typical small island developing state in the Central Indian Ocean. At the outset, a brief history of sustainable development as related to SIDS on the international agenda is outlined, starting from Rio to Barbados to Johannesburg. SIDS are expected to face many challenges and constraints in pursuing sustainable development due to their ecological fragility and economic vulnerability. It is the position of this paper that issues related to environmental vulnerability are of the greatest concern. A healthy environment is the basis of all life-support systems, including that of human well-being and socio-economic development. Priority environmental problems are: climate change and sea-level rise, threats to biodiversity, threats to freshwater resources, degradation of coastal environments, pollution, energy and tourism. Among these, climate change and its associated impacts are expected to pose the greatest threat to the environment and therefore to sustainable development. For small islands dependent on fragile marine ecosystems, in particular on coral reefs, for their livelihoods and living space, adverse effects of climate change such as increased frequency of extreme weather events and sea-level rise will exacerbate the challenges they already face. It is concluded that the paper path from Rio to Barbados to Johannesburg has made significant progress. However, much remains to be done at the practical level, particularly by the developed countries in terms of new and additional efforts at financial and technical assistance, to make sustainable development a reality for SIDS.     

Energy analysis and the coupling of man and estuaries

New concepts and insights concerning human and natural systems in the coastal zone are emerging from recent energy analysis and synthesis studies. By using new concepts for measuring the quality of energy, one can express the work of ecosystems and human economies in equivalent terms. From energy models and new energy quality evaluations, one can learn what kinds of coastal systems maximize power, are competitive, economically vital, and likely to have a survival advantage.Energy analysis and synthesis is aided by energy circuit diagrams. Models of the coastal zone that emphasize the change in external driving functions related to world energy sources provide insights and some predictive abilities that are not found in economic studies, since money flows alone do not evaluate external driving energies.This paper suggests four procedures for coastal planning: 1) calculation of investment ratio in units of equal quality to determine which projects are economic in a broad sense, 2) development of energy signatures for coastal ecosystems, 3) determination of which interface ecosystems develop the best energy flows, and 4) development of regional models that include the main features of human and natural ecosystems.