The Use of Remote Sensing and GIS in the Sustainable Management of Tropical Coastal Ecosystems

The sustainable use and management of important tropical coastal ecosystems (mangrove forests, seagrass beds and coral reefs) cannot be done without understanding the direct and indirect impacts of man. The ecosystem's resilience and recovery capacity following such impacts must be determined. The efficacy of mitigation measures must also be considered. Remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) are excellent tools to use in such studies. This paper reviews the state of the art and application of these tools in tropical coastal zones, and illustrates their relevance in sustainable development. It highlights a selected number of remote sensing case-studies on land cover patterns, population structure and dynamics, and stand characteristics from South-East Asia, Africa and South-America, with a particular emphasis on mangroves. It further shows how remote sensing technology and other scientific tools can be integrated in long-term studies, both retrospective and predictive, in order to anticipate degradation and to take mitigating measures at an early stage. The paper also highlights the guidelines for sustainable management that can result from remote sensing and GIS studies, and identifies existent gaps and research priorities.There is a need for more comprehensive approaches that deal with new remote sensing technologies and analysis in a GIS-environment, and that integrate findings collected over longer periods with the aim of prediction. It is also imperative to collect and integrate data from different disciplines. These are essential in the spirit of sustainable development and management, particularly in developing countries, which are often more vulnerable to environmental degradation.     

Sustainability: a Dissent

Abstract:  Broadly conceived and considered in its many usages, sustainability has grave defects as a planning goal, particularly when used by conservationists: it confuses means and ends; it is vague about what is being sustained and who or what is doing the sustaining; it is uninspiring; it is little more than Pinchot-era conservation (and thus ignores the many lessons learned since then); it need not be linked to land, to the land's functioning, or to any ecological science; it need not include a moral component; it is consistent with the view of humans as all-powerful manipulators of the planet; and, in general, it is such a malleable term that its popularity provides only a facade of consensus. When sustainability is defined broadly to include the full range of economic and social aspirations, it poses the particular risk that ecological and biodiversity concerns will be cast aside in favor of more pressing human wants. Given these many defects, the conservation movement should discard the term in favor of a more alluring goal, attentive to nature and its ecological functioning. A sound goal would incorporate and distill the considerable ecological and moral wisdom accumulated since Pinchot's day while giving conservationists the rhetorical tools needed to defend the land against competing pressures. In our view, conservation would be well served by an updated variant of "land health," Aldo Leopold's ecologically grounded goal from the 1940s. Land health as an independent understanding should set the essential terms of how we live and enjoy the earth, providing the framework within which we pursue our many social and economic aims.     

昌吉州生态环境现状调查

通过对昌吉州近年生态环境保护工作及建设的概述,并对“八五”末期和“九五”末期生态环境现状的对比,说明昌吉州生态环境存在的问题,为生态环境保护规划和生态建设决策提供可靠的依据。     

Soil properties and crop productivity as influenced by flyash incorporation in soil

Field experiments were carried out during 1996–97at Gulawathi, Muthiani and Salarpur Villages, IARI Farm, NewDelhi and NCPP Campus, Dadri to evaluate changes in soilcharacteristics and growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.),mustard (Brassica juncea L.), lentil (Lence esculentaMoench.), rice (Oryza sativa L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) byvarying amounts of flyash addition (up to 50t ha^-1) in soils atsowing/transplanting time of crops. Flyash addition in areasadjoining NCPP Thermal Power Plant, Dadri, Ghaziabad, U.P.ranged from 5–12 t ha^-1 yr^-1 in 1995–96. Shoot and root growthand yield of test crops at different locations after flyashincorporation resulted in beneficial effects of flyashaddition in most cases. The silt dominant texture of flyashimproved loamy sand to sandy loam textures of the surfacesoils at the farmers' fields. The increased growth in yield ofcrops with flyash incorporation was possibly due tomodifications in soil moisture retention and transmissioncharacteristics, bulk density, physico-chemical characterssuch as pH and EC and organic carbon content. The response offlyash addition in the soil on soil health and cropproductivity needs to be evaluated on long-term sustainableaspects.     

Characterization of microbial communities from coastal waters using microarrays

Molecular methods, including DNA probes, were used to identify and enumerate pathogenic Vibrio species in the Chesapeake Bay; our data indicated that Vibrio vulnificus exhibits seasonal fluctuations in number. Our work included a characterization of total microbial communities from the Bay; development of microarrays that identify and quantify the diversity of those communities; and observation of temporal changes in those communities. To identify members of the microbial community, we amplified the 16S rDNA gene from community DNA isolated from a biofilm sample collected from the Chesapeake Bay in February, 2000. The resultant 75 sequences were 95% or more similar to 7 species including two recently described Shewanella species, baltica and frigidimarina, that have not been previously isolated from the Chesapeake. When the genera of bacteria from biofilm after culturing are compared to those detected by subcloning amplified 16S fragments from community DNA, the cultured sample exhibited a strong bias. In oysters collected in February, the most common bacteria were previously unknown. Based on our 16S findings, we are developing microarrays to detect these and other microbial species in these estuarine communities. The microarrays will detect each species using four distinct loci, with the multiple loci serving as an internal control. The accuracy of the microarray will be measured using sentinel species such as Aeromonas species, Escherichia coli, and Vibrio vulnificus. Using microarrays, it should be possible to determine the annual fluctuations of bacterial species (culturable and non-culturable, pathogenic and non-pathogenic). The data may be applied to understanding patterns of environmental change; assessing the health of the Bay; and evaluating the risk of human illness associated with exposure to and ingestion of water and shellfish.     

Determination of arsenic in grain and soil by hydride nondispersive atomic fluorescence method

Quantity of trace arsenic in grain and soil was determined by hydride nondispersive atomic fluorescence method.Optimum conditions of measurement were selected in the experiment including the pH of the medium, reductive agent, the concentration and flowing velocity of KBH4, rate of carrier gas and atomized temperature. The reference sample of rice C was determined and the linear relationship of the calibration curve was plotted, indicating that the method was highly precise. In the experiment of recovery rate, the method was quite satisfactory.Based on the determination of hundreds of samples, it is proved that atomic fluorescence method is rapid, sensitive and low in interference. It is very efficient on determination of trace arsenic in soils and grains, especially in grains.     

Cobalt in alluvial Egyptian soils as affected by industrial activities

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＩｎｎａｔｕｒｅＣｏｏｃｃｕｒｓｉｎｔｗｏｏｘｉｄａｔｉｏｎｓｔａｔｅｓ ,Ｃｏ2 + ａｎｄＣｏ3+ ,ａｎｄｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎｏｆｔｈｅｃｏｍｐｌｅｘａｎｉｏｎＣｏ(ＯＨ) - 3 ｉｓａｌｓｏｐｏｓｓｉｂｌｅ .ＤｕｒｉｎｇｗｅａｔｈｅｒｉｎｇＣｏｉｓｒｅｌａｔｉｖｅｌｙｍｏｂｉｌｅｉｎｏｘｉｄｉｚｉｎｇａｃｉｄｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔ,ｂｕｔｄｕｅｔｏａｈｉｇｈｓｏｒｐｔｉｏｎｂｙＦｅａｎｄＭｎｏｘｉｄｅｓ,ａｓｗｅｌｌａｓｂｙｃｌａｙｍｉｎｅｒａｌｓ,ｔｈｉｓｍｅｔａｌｄｏｅｓｎｏｔｍ…     

西北地区高速公路建设中的水土保持

就西北地区高速公路建设的水土流失特点进行了分析，并提出了工程防范措施。     

织物干洗的工业生态研究

正确评价干洗剂对人体的毒副作用，合理地设定干洗过程挥发性有害物质的残留限量，是开发干洗业环境无害技术和绿色服务的先决条件。只有在充分保证环境安全的前提下，通过逐步推行化学清洁产品的总体选择战略，从环境管理和经济发展的结合上来规范企业的环境行为，才能最终实现干洗业的可持续发展。     

Relation between some variations of soil and surface vegetatio and desertization in agriculture-pasture interlacing zone an example from Kangbao County,North Hebei,China

The studied agriculture-pasture interlacing zone has its specific natural conditions,at which the natural systems are unstable ,their self-regulation capability is low and the equilibrium is easily broken, and hence the habitat is fairly vulnerable.During last 20 years the increasing population and livestock ,over-reclamation,over-pasturing,over-deforesting, and other intensified negative human activities in the zone resulted in coarsening of surface soil,decrease of organic mater content in soil, reduction of vegetation coverage ,variation and degradation of flora structure, and hence in desertization of the land, although average of gales and sandstorms some decreased and the climate tended to be better in the region.However, the frequent sandstorms occurring in the springs of last and present years has attracted much attention.Investigations confirmed that the main cause for the phenomena is the unreasonable human activites rater than the natural factors.