Effects of drainage water on plant diversity and distribution of agricultural drainage ditch beds in an arid irrigated area of Northwestern China

Agricultural drainage ditches are essential to sustaining food production in arid irrigation regions, with various sizes and drainage characteristics as important buffer ecotones in agricultural areas. Bed vegetation and water properties were investigated in 39 agricultural drainage ditches in the Lingwu District of Ningxia Yellow River Irrigation Area in Northwestern China. The results showed that water depth, width, and velocity generally increased with larger ditch size. Water salinity was higher in drainage ditches (>1?g/L) than in croplands, canals, and the Yellow River. Total nitrogen and total phosphorus were at high levels: ～1.6 and ～0.1?mg/L, respectively. Forty plant species belonging to 19 families and 31 genera were identified, with higher plant richness and diversity found in smaller sized drainage ditches. Macrophytes dominated the bed vegetation with a mean vegetative coverage of >30% in all-sized ditches, and Phragmites australis occurred with the most frequency. Water depth and salinity were considered as the primary factors affecting the distribution of vegetation in drainage ditch beds. The study suggests that practical conservation of smaller sized drainage ditches is conducive to increasing the plant diversity of agricultural landscapes.     

干旱区的城市生境特征与绿洲化对策

干旱地区的城市亦被称为绿洲。从其发生与生境状况分析,注意到近期城市的扩展已脱离绿洲型的发展轨道,而与全球城市模式类同,亦具城市化的共有弊病。又因所处区位受到荒漠气候的强烈影响,较其它地带的城市,其生境更加恶劣。干旱区居民长期凭借绿洲生境而生息劳动,早期出现的城市亦脱胎于绿洲。目前仍沿用绿洲以称城市,但与绿洲的生境相比较已面目全非,实质是以现代设施在荒漠中建立的水泥荒漠。目前全球范围正展开以改善城市生境为目标的生态城市建设,位处干旱区的城市应从其所在区位出发,以绿洲化作为生态城市建设目标,切实改善居民生存环境质量。应仿照绿洲,在外围营造阻隔荒漠气候侵袭的防护林,在市区通过营造片林与行道树,形成类似条田林网格局,以一定植被规模重构绿洲化城市,形成绿洲生境以改善城市居民生存条件,回归干旱区居民世世代代依存的绿洲空间。     

Multiscale Indicators of Land Degradation in the Patagonian Monte,Argentina

Depletion of vegetation by overgrazing in arid environments has long-lasting effects on the environmental quality over extended geographic areas. An adequate inspection of habitat changes requires scaled up procedures that would allow assessing end-points of environmental status in broad areas that would be based on processes occurring at the plant canopy level. Our purpose was to find indicators of land degradation–conservation status for use in land monitoring programs and in planning management practices that would be amenable to further up-scaling for use with remotely sensed imagery. In several sites of the Patagonian Monte differing in the impact of grazing management, we evaluated vegetation attributes at three spatial scales. At the population scale, we found that the severity of grazing impact was characterized by the reduction of the palatable grass, P. ligularis, outside and inside shrub canopies. At the vegetation patch scale, we found that land degradation by domestic herbivore impact was characterized by changes in attributes of patch shape (radius, height, internal canopy cover) and patch abundance. At the plant community scale, we found that the structure of the plant canopy as described using Fourier analysis of cover data changed after long-term grazing impact consistently with the modifications in plant population and patch structures. We present a conceptual multiscale scenario of structural changes triggered by domestic herbivore impact, and quantitative indicators of plant structure and processes useful to develop management strategies of the Patagonian-Monte that would conserve its natural habitats. The developed end-points are also amenable for use in land conservation assessment through remotely sensed imagery.     

正本清源,系统开发整治长江各支流网系的山丘土地

长江流域泥沙问题仍值得重视。长江不同于黄河．黄河年输沙量１６亿ｔ，主要为悬移质；长江多年测得输沙量５．４亿ｔ，这仅是长江的部分泥沙量－悬移质，还有数据不详的推移质随急流滚动位移。防治泥沙的良策是上游绿化造林，但还有很大面积的陡玻耕地，以及紫色土丘陵坡耕地与石灰岩区坡耕地等，仍应重点防护；至于广大的荒山、荒坡，更应多途径合理经营，从各大、小流域；溯江而上到源头径流发生处，采取工程与生物相结合的方法，节节设防，将泥沙来源减少到最低限度。最好利用大坝兴建的空隙期间，有计划有步骤地节节设防，以延长大坝寿命，当地居民亦可获利。     

A PRECIPITATION ESTIMATION TECHNIQUE FOR DEVELOPING ISOHYETS IN AN ARID AREA USING VEGETATION AND TOPOGRAPHIC PARAMETERS1

A technique is presented for developing an isohyet map for the Hualapai Valley, a closed hydrologic basin of about 315 square miles in the northwestern Great Basin in Nevada. In this basin there is practically no climatic data, and in the northwest Great Basin there are too few stations for determination of rainfall on a detailed basis. Using a vegetational typing to represent a range in elevation and precipitation, an initial mean annual rainfall is determined for selected points on a grid pattern. This rainfall is then modified by using topographic parameters of slope, orientation, exposure, and rainfall shadow effect. The resulting point determinations of mean annual rainfall are then smoothed using a trend surface analysis, and an isohyetal map is drawn from the smoothed points. The technique provides an estimated accuracy of one inch of mean annual precipitation and one mile of resolution on isohyets.     

干旱区城市邻苯二甲酸酯湿沉降及其环境意义

本文以新疆昌吉市为研究区,选择2012年6月至2012年12月期间的12场次降水进行采集,利用气相色谱法测定样品中主要PAEs,以对干旱区城市大气邻苯二甲酸脂湿沉降进行初步探讨。研究表明:大气湿沉降中DBP的含量最高,其次是DEHP,DMP与DEP含量较低;DEHP、DBP、DMP以及DEP在雨沉降中平均含量分别为0.10(0.07~0.13)mg/L、0.32(0.03~0.93)mg/L、0.004(未检出~0.02)mg/L、0.006(未检出~0.05)mg/L;在雪沉降中平均含量分别为0.04(0.008~0.13)mg/L、0.13(0.05~0.40)mg/L、0.002(未检出~0.005)mg/L、0.08(未检出~0.04)mg/L。昌吉市湿沉降中PAEs含量远超出《地表水环境质量标准》,也超出了城市生活污水与工业污水,说明其存在较大的环境风险。PAEs的湿沉降具有较为明显的季节变化,雪沉降(冬季)中PAEs含量普遍低于雨沉降(其他季节),人类在室外生产、生活活动的季节变化及气温对PAE挥发的影响是主要原因。计算结果显示,大气湿沉降每年向昌吉市城区地表环境输入DBP、DEHP、DMP、DEP分别达到1994.28、652.69、27.14、57.86kg,输入的上述4种PAEs总和达到2731.97kg。     

中国北方干旱-半干旱地区草地NH_3通量原位观测研究

NH3挥发是导致农业和畜牧业施肥中N素流失的主要途径之一。基于这一认识,人们推测NH3的释放也可能在干旱-半干旱地区天然草地氮素流失中起着重要作用。然而这方面的观测研究却十分有限。我国北方天然草地面积约150万平方千米,而且在干旱-半干旱过渡地区的草地中存在N相对于C不足的现象。认识NH3挥发在其中所起的作用对防治草地退化、保护干旱区生态环境安全具有重要意义。本文利用Thermo-Fisher公司生产的Model17iNOx-NH3分析仪和动态箱法对黄土高原西北部边缘和宁夏中东部地区,也即农牧过渡带地区在8～9月份的地-气NH3交换通量进行了观测研究,发现其通量昼夜变化存在多种类型,平均通量在-2～2g NH3/(m2.h)之间;在空间变化上,NH3的地-气交换在毛乌素沙地西侧表现为对大气NH3的净吸收,经黄土高原边缘和宁夏中东部的过渡,到宁夏南部的固原地区变化为草地NH3的净释放。这种草地NH3释放通量自北向南增加的现象主要是由于降水对土壤的湿润作用所致。干旱的环境条件使得水分超过了土壤pH和温度等众多影响因素而成为NH3挥发的主要限制因素。据此可以推测NH3挥发作用在我国北方自然草地N素流失中的作用可能较小,不可能是导致农牧交错地区土壤N素相对不足的原因。     

古浪河流域大气降水稳定同位素的时空特征及其环境意义

依据古浪河流域古浪站(海拔2 085 m)和安远站(海拔2 700 m)所采集的降水样品和相关气象数据,分析了降水稳定同位素的时空变化、局地大气水线,讨论了温度、降水量和相对湿度与降水稳定同位素的关系.结果表明:(1)两站δ18O均呈现出夏秋季高、冬春季低的特征;(2)从古浪到安远站,δ18O的月均值随海拔升高呈下降趋势,相反地,d-excess随海拔升高呈增加趋势,反映了当气团沿着山坡不断抬升时,水汽再循环过程加强;(3)稳定同位素特征表明该区除了受干燥的环境和较强的蒸发影响外,可能还受到局地水汽再循环影响;(4)处于低海拔地区的古浪站的温度效应比安远站更显著,古浪河流域整体上没有呈现出降水量效应.该研究结果有助于进一步深入了解古浪河流域的水循环过程.     

西北干旱区生态承载力监测及安全格局构建

以西北干旱区为研究区,通过引入生态环境弹性力、资源环境供容力、社会经济压力三个准则层,建立了生态承载力综合评价体系。在此基础上运用空间主成分分析法（SPCA）对西北干旱区2000年、2007年、2012年、2016年四期生态承载力时空变化进行监测评估,进而构建生态安全格局。研究结果表明：西北干旱区生态承载力以弱承载为主,且在研究时段弱承载区面积不断下降,而强承载区面积有上升趋势;从空间分布看,河西地区、北疆地区、内蒙古西部地区生态承载力呈上升趋势,而南疆地区则有所下降;利用MCR模型提取道路型廊道、河流型廊道、绿色廊道共51条,总长度7285.43 km;提取重要斑块区节点、河流湿地区节点、生态脆弱区节点等共71个。根据计算结果将西北干旱区划分为16个生态安全格局,并结合生态承载力变化情况,对现有的安全格局进行布局优化,以期为西北干旱区生态环境的保护和恢复治理提供科学参考。     

Economic Incentives to Conserve Wildlife on Private Lands: Analysis and Policy

Some believe that provision of private property rights in wildlife on private land provides a powerful economic incentive for nature conservation because it enables property owners to market such wildlife or its attributes. If such marketing is profitable, private landholders will conserve the wildlife concerned and its required habitat. But land is not always most profitably used for exploitation of wildlife, and many economic values of wildlife (such as non-use economic values) cannot be marketed. The mobility of some wildlife adds to the limitations of the private-property approach. While some species may be conserved by this approach, it is suboptimal as a single policy approach to nature conservation. Nevertheless, it is being experimented with, in the Northern Territory of Australia where landholders had a possibility of harvesting on their properties a quota of eggs and chicks of red-tailed black cockatoos for commercial sale. This scheme was expected to provide an incentive to private landholders to retain hollow trees essential for the nesting of these birds but failed. This case and others are analysed. Despite private-property failures, the long-term survival of some wildlife species depends on their ability to use private lands without severe harassment, either for their migration or to supplement their available resources, for example, the Asian elephant. Nature conservation on private land is often a useful, if not essential, supplement to conservation on public lands. Community and public incentives for such conservation are outlined.