Temporal trends in agricultural water use and the relationships to hydroclimatic factors in the High Plains aquifer region

The High Plains aquifer (HPA) is the primary water source for agricultural irrigation in the US Great Plains. The water levels in many locations of the aquifer have declined steadily over the past several decades because the rate of water withdrawals exceeds recharge, which has been a serious concern to the water resources management in the region. We evaluated temporal trends and variations in agricultural water use and hydroclimatic variables including precipitation, air temperature, reference evapotranspiration, runoff, groundwater level, and terrestrial water storage across the HPA region for different periods from 1985 to 2020 at the grid, county, or region scale. The results showed that water withdrawals decreased from 21.3 km³/year in 1985 to 18.2 km³/year in 2015, while irrigated croplands increased from 71,928 km² in 1985 to 78,464 km² in 2015 in the entire HPA. The hydroclimatic time-series showed wetting trends in most of the northern HPA, but drying and warming trends in the southern region from 1985 to 2020. The groundwater level time-series indicated flat trends in the north, but significant declining in the central and southern HPA. Trends in irrigation water withdrawals and irrigation area across the HPA were controlled by the advancement of irrigation systems and technologies and the management of sustainable water use, but also were affected by dynamical changes in the hydroclimatic conditions.     

Factors influencing property selection for conservation revolving funds

Finding sustainable ways to increase the amount of private land protected for biodiversity is challenging for many conservation organizations. In some countries, organizations use revolving‐fund programs, whereby land is purchased and then sold to conservation‐minded owners under condition they enter into a conservation covenant or easement. The sale proceeds are used to purchase, protect, and sell additional properties, incrementally increasing the amount of protected private land. Because the effectiveness of this approach relies on selecting appropriate properties, we explored factors currently considered by practitioners and how these are integrated into decision making. We conducted exploratory, semistructured interviews with managers from each of the 5 major revolving funds in Australia. Responses indicated although conservation factors are important, financial and social factors are also highly influential. A major determinant was whether the property could be resold within a reasonable period at a price that replenishes the fund. To facilitate resale, often selected properties include the potential for the construction of a dwelling. Practitioners face with clear trade‐offs between conservation, financial, amenity, and other factors in selecting properties and 3 main challenges: recovering the costs of acquisition, protection, and resale; reselling the property; and meeting conservation goals. Our findings suggest the complexity of these decisions may constrain revolving‐fund effectiveness. Drawing from participant responses, we identified potential strategies to mitigate these risks, such as providing adequate recreational space without jeopardizing ecological assets. We suggest managers could benefit from a shared‐learning and adaptive approach to property selection given the commonalities between programs. Understanding how practitioners deal with complex decisions in the implementation of revolving funds helps identify future research to improve the performance of this conservation tool.     

A strategy for wildlife management in depopulating rural areas of Japan

Former ranges of wild animals have been reestablished in many developed countries. However, this reestablishment has led to increasing human–wildlife conflict in agroforest ecosystems. In Japan, human–wildlife conflict, such as crop raiding by and ecological impacts of wild ungulates and primates, is a serious problem in depopulated rural areas due to these animal range expansions and increased abundances. Japan's human population is predicted to decline by 24% by 2050, and approximately 20% of agricultural settlements will become completely depopulated. In this scenario, anthropogenic pressures on wildlife (e.g., hunting and habitat alteration) will continue to decrease and human–wildlife conflict will increase due to increasing wildlife recovery. Japan's local governments plan to slow range recovery, prevent species reestablishment, or remove recolonizing large mammals through lethal control. This strategy, however, is not cost-effective, and workforce shortages in depopulated communities make it infeasible. Moreover, the suppression of wildlife prevents the recovery of ecological functions and thus would degrade regional biodiversity. The declining pressure on wildlife that accompanies human depopulation will prevent the restoration of any past states of human–wildlife interaction. We suggest human-used areas in rural landscapes be aggregated in compact cities and that in transition zones between human settlements and depopulated lands that land-sharing approaches be applied. Concentrating management efforts in compact cities may effectively decrease human–wildlife conflict, rather than intensifying human pressures. Reforestation of depopulated lands may lead to recovery of wildlife habitats, their ecosystem functions, and regional biodiversity due to minimization of negative anthropogenic effects (land-sparing approach). Balancing resolution of human–wildlife conflict and ecological rewilding could become a new, challenging task for regional wildlife managers.     

Bird conservation and the land sharing-sparing continuum in farmland-dominated landscapes of lowland England

Empirical evidence from many regions suggests that most species would be least negatively affected if human food demand were met through high-yield agricultural production and conservation of nonfarm ecosystems (land sparing), rather than through wildlife-friendly farming over a larger area (land sharing). However, repeated glaciation and a long history of agriculture may lead to different results in regions such as western Europe. We compared the consequences of land sparing and land sharing on breeding bird species in 2 lowland regions of England, The Fens, with 101 species, and Salisbury Plain, with 83. We derived density–yield responses for each species and then estimated regional population size under regional food production strategies, including land sharing and land sparing, a range of intermediate strategies, and a novel mixed strategy. In both regions, more species achieved maximum regional population size under land sparing than land sharing. In The Fens, the majority of birds were loser species (estimated to have smaller populations under all food production strategies than in the preagricultural baseline scenario), whereas in Salisbury Plain the majority were winners (smaller populations in the preagricultural baseline scenario). Loser species overwhelmingly achieved maximum regional population size under land sparing, whereas winner species achieved maximum regional population size under either land sharing or an intermediate strategy, highlighting the importance of defining which groups of species are the target of conservation. A novel 3-compartment strategy (combining high-yield farming, natural habitat, and low-yield farming) often performed better than either land sharing or land sparing. Our results support intermediate or 3-compartment land-sparing strategies to maximize bird populations across lowland agricultural landscapes. To deliver conservation outcomes, any shift toward land sparing must, however, ensure yield increases are sustainable in the long term, do not entail increased negative effects on surrounding areas, and are linked to allocation of land for nature.     

惠州市土地资源及其利用保护

从惠州市土地资源及其利用现状入手，分析其在土地资源利用上存在的耕地面积锐减、土地资源承载力下降、耕地土壤肥力下降、水土流失严重以及土壤和农作物被污染等问题，提出相应的土地资源利用和保护措施。     

浙江省萧山市山一村农村生态良性循环与系统管理研究 Ⅴ.农田病虫害综合防治试验与实施

本项调控工程分两步:1984—1986年在山一村106ha农田开展病虫害综合防治试验示范;1987—1989年将试验成果应用于生产。试验研究取得了明显的经济效益、生态效益和社会效益:农药用量比1983年前减少80.6％,稻谷中农药残留不超标(原有机氯农药666残留超标率31.6％);害虫天敌稻田蜘蛛增加83.3—180.0％,稻虱多索线虫增加2倍;防治农药成本减少53.7％。并制定了《山一村农田农药污染防治技术规程》,其主要内容有:开展病虫害“二查二定”,达到防治指标时用药;制定病虫害防治策略,在防治适期内用药;推广高效低残留农药,遵守农药安全间隔期;推广抗性良种,适施N肥,增施P、K肥;保护利用天敌,发挥天敌自然抑制作用。     

江汉平原湿地功能下降与洪涝灾害关系分析

建国以来，江汉平原湿地面积及其生态功能发生了很大的变化，根据史志记载和气候资料，对江汉平原洪涝灾害的发生规律和变化趋势进行了分析，总结出江汉平原洪涝灾害频率趋高、江河湖高水位频率明显增加、外洪内涝日益严重的变化特点。据此，从时间上探讨了湿地变化与洪涝灾害之间的联系，发现历史和近代洪涝灾害的频发期与相应时期的围垦和江堤修筑有较好的对应。结合国土资源部土地变更调查数据分析了近10年来江汉平原湖泊湿地的主要转移途径，从空间上探讨了湿地动态变化与江汉平原洪涝灾害发生之间的内在联系，研究结果表明江汉平原洪涝灾害的发生和湿地面积的减少及其功能的退化之间存在着很好的相关性，从而进一步证实了湿地的围垦和退化是导致其调蓄能力降低，引发洪涝灾害加剧等负页环境效应的一个重要原因。     

生态工程在林业上的应用——低山丘陵立体林业工程实验研究

太行山是我国山地植被破坏历史最长、生态环境严重恶化的山地生态系统,“七五”期间国家将绿化太行山列入重点攻关项目。从1986年开始,作者根据生态工程原理提出:环境辨识工程、种群引进选择工程、种群匹配工程、水土富集工程、时间节律工程和食物链工程为主的立体林业工程新思想,并在湘山小流域建起实施模式。经四年的工作,已取得较大进展。     

中国土地盐碱化及其防治对策研究

中国盐碱地面积为３６３０万ｈｍ２，土地盐碱化是农业生态环境退化的重大问题之一。土地盐碱化治理和预防对中国干旱、半干旱和半湿润地区农业生态系统退化防治、农业生态环境保护和未来食物安全性具有非常重要的实践意义。本文简要评述了我国土地盐碱化的历史及发展趋势以及土地盐碱化可能造成的土地面积、生产力和经济损失；在对土地盐碱化发生和发展的技术和社会经济原因，以及现有技术、管理、政策和法律法规进行系统评述的基础上，提出了我国土地盐碱化防治的区域战略、技术政策、管理政策、法律法规及经济激励手段。     

山一村山地生态系统结构功能和系统调控

本文对山－村山地生态系统的结构和功能、能量产投比、生物量等进行实地调查和研究。结果表明，通过多年生态建设，山地生态系统已显示较好的经济、环境和社会效益。