Costa Rica's Payment for Environmental Services Program: Intention, Implementation, and Impact

Abstract:  We evaluated the intention, implementation, and impact of Costa Rica's program of payments for environmental services (PSA), which was established in the late 1990s. Payments are given to private landowners who own land in forest areas in recognition of the ecosystem services their land provides. To characterize the distribution of PSA in Costa Rica, we combined remote sensing with geographic information system databases and then used econometrics to explore the impacts of payments on deforestation. Payments were distributed broadly across ecological and socioeconomic gradients, but the 1997–2000 deforestation rate was not significantly lower in areas that received payments. Other successful Costa Rican conservation policies, including those prior to the PSA program, may explain the current reduction in deforestation rates. The PSA program is a major advance in the global institutionalization of ecosystem investments because few, if any, other countries have such a conservation history and because much can be learned from Costa Rica's experiences.     

treedyn3 forest simulation model

The treedyn3 forest simulation model is a process model of tree growth, carbon and nitrogen dynamics in a single-species, even-aged forest stand. It is based on the treedyn model. Major changes include the computation of sun angle and radiation as a function of latitude and day of the year, the closed-form integration of canopy production as a function of day and hour, the introduction of tree number, height, and diameter as separate state variables, and different growth strategies, mortalities, and resulting self-thinning as function of crowding competition.The tree/soil system is described by a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations for the state variables: tree number, base diameter, tree height, wood biomass, nitrogen in wood, leaf mass, fine root mass, fruit biomass, assimilate, carbon and nitrogen in litter, carbon and nitrogen in soil organic matter, and plant-available nitrogen. The model includes explicit formulations of all relevant ecophysiological processes such as: computation of radiation as a function of seasonal time, daytime and cloudiness, light attenuation in the canopy, and canopy photosynthesis as function of latitude, seasonal time, and daytime, respiration of all parts, assimilate allocation, increment formation, nitrogen fixation, mineralization, humification and leaching, forest management (thinning, felling, litter removal, fertilization etc.), temperature effects on respiration and decomposition, and environmental effects (pollution damage to photosynthesis, leaves, and fine roots). Only ecophysiological parameters which can be either directly measured or estimated with reasonable certainty are used. treedyn3 is a generic process model which requires species- and site-specific parametrization. It can be applied to deciduous and coniferous forests under tropical, as well as temperate or boreal conditions.The paper presents a full documentation of the mathematical model as well as representative simulation results for spruce and acacia.     

European scenarios for EUSES regional distribution model

The regional multimedia distribution model incorporated into EUSES 1.0 is used for the estimation of regionally predicted environmental concentrations in different European scenarios: a scenario representing a typical region in the north of Europe (high fraction connected to sewer systems, lower environmental temperature, high fractions of surface water and natural soil and a low fraction for agricultural soil) and another scenario representing a typical region in the south of Europe (low fraction connected to sewer systems, higher environmental temperature, low fractions for surface water and natural soil, and a high fraction for agricultural soil). The two scenarios are based on average data of countries in Northern and Southern Europe, but are not realistic for any specific country located in these regions. Scenario calculations were carried out using these two scenarios in addition to the generic standard region, given in EUSES 1.0 as a default scenario, and the North-Rhine Westphalian region. The substance properties, including emissions, were left unchanged for all scenarios. For a number of substances, the calculated concentrations in both the North and the South of Europe turned out to be higher than those calculated with the standard generic scenario. Thus, the standard scenario cannot be considered as a 'worst case' scenario per se. Uncertainties due to the regional heterogeneity within Europe are high. It is recommended to use these two additional scenarios for an improved estimation of possible concentration ranges in Europe.     

天津市大港石化工业发展规划区区域废水COD(Cr)总量控制实例分析

 区域废水污染物排放总量控制是当前环境影响评价和环境规划中探讨的重要课题。天津市大港石化发展规划区占地约35km₂，是一个已具一定规模并在迅速发展的石油化工工业区。本文从最终受纳水体开始，采取反向递推分析方式，确定了该规划区区域废水COD_Cr总量控制目标，并分析了该规划区区域废水COD_Cr排放量削减的可行性。     

PREDICTING CHANGE IN NON-LINEAR SYSTEMS

Complex systems are characterizedby surprising switches to new behaviours. Evaluating and predicting these changes demands anunderstanding of the behaviour of the whole system. The combined ecosystem-climate system shows chaoticor pseudorandom behaviour, stochastic or trulyrandom behaviour, as well as simple bifurcation andsemi-stability. Semistability involves the suddenchange from a destabilized attractor to a newstable attractor which may occur after an apparentlyunpredictable time delay. We present some recentresults for analyzing time series data and for usingsimulations of non-linear models to predict these changes.     

Distributed process modeling for regional assessment of coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise

Sea-level rise involves increases in the coastal processes of inundation and erosion which are affected by a complex interplay of physical environmental parameters at the coast. Many assessments of coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise have been detailed and localised in extent. There is a need for regional assessment techniques which identify areas vulnerable to sea-level rise. Four physical environmental parameters – elevation, exposure, aspect and slope, are modeled on a regional scale for the Northern Spencer Gulf (NSG) study area using commonly available low-resolution elevation data of 10 m contour interval and GIS-based spatial modeling techniques. For comparison, the same parameters are modeled on a fine-scale for the False Bay area within the NSG using high-resolution elevation data. Physical environmental parameters on the two scales are statistically compared to coastal vulnerability classes as identified by Harvey et al. [1] using the Spearman rank-correlation test and stepwise linear regression. Coastal vulnerability is strongly correlated with elevation and exposure at both scales and this relationship is only slightly stronger for the high resolution False Bay data. The results of this study suggest that regional scale distributed coastal process modeling may be suitable as a first cut in assessing coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise in tide-dominated, sedimentary coastal regions. Distributed coastal process modeling provides a suitable basis for the assessment of coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise of sufficient accuracy for on-ground management and priority-setting on a regional scale.     

A new market instrument for sustainable economic and environmental development

The regenerative capacity of ecosystems provides a regulatory basis for sustainable economic growth and development. A natural valuation of an ecosystem's services will arise in a market for developmental rights in the ecosystem using a unit of tradable 'right': E-Scrip. The amount of e-scrip needed for a development may be set by Environmental Assessment. The capacity of the ecosystem to regenerate with developmental pressure may be represented by an independent trader or Factor Proxy for the Environment who provides e-scrip to the market.     

Preliminary investigation of submerged aquatic vegetation mapping using hyperspectral remote sensing

The use of airborne hyperspectral remote sensing imagery for automated mapping of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the tidal Potomac River was investigated for near to real-time resource assessment and monitoring. Airborne hyperspectral imagery and field spectrometer measurements were obtained in October of 2000. A spectral library database containing selected ground-based and airborne sensor spectra was developed for use in image processing. The spectral library is used to automate the processing of hyperspectral imagery for potential real-time material identification and mapping. Field based spectra were compared to the airborne imagery using the database to identify and map two species of SAV (Myriophyllum spicatum and Vallisneria americana). Overall accuracy of the vegetation maps derived from hyperspectral imagery was determined by comparison to a product that combined aerial photography and field based sampling at the end of the SAV growing season. The algorithms and databases developed in this study will be useful with the current and forthcoming space-based hyperspectral remote sensing systems.     

中国区域生态效率的时空演变及空间互动特征

现有研究主要关注生态效率的测算,对生态效率的空间互动特征缺乏相应地分析。采用考虑非期望产出的SBM模型对中国30个省级行政区2005—2015年生态效率进行测度,并在此基础上利用空间自回归模型考察中国区域生态效率的空间互动特征。结果表明：（1）中国高生态效率区主要分布在沿海发达省份,而低效率区则主要分布在欠发达省份。（2）在全国层面,基于经济权重矩阵得到的空间自回归系数为正且显著,表明区域生态效率存在正向的空间互动效应。（3）分样本估计中,发达和欠发达地区样本的空间自回归系数均大于全样本估计得到的空间自回归系数,故发达和欠发达地区内部的空间互动效应强于发达和欠发达地区之间的空间互动效应,呈现出“群分效应”。     

青藏高原及周边区域沙尘气溶胶三维分布和传输特征

利用MERRA-2再分析资料和CALIPSO星载激光雷达产品,分析了1980—2017年青藏高原和塔克拉玛干沙漠上空沙尘气溶胶的分布和传输特征.对比了MERRA-2与AERONET及MISR的气溶胶光学厚度（AOD）产品,其相关系数分别为0.809和0.776.基于MERRA-2资料分析表明,研究区域沙尘光学厚度（DAOD）按春、夏、秋、冬季依次递减.塔克拉玛干沙漠和青藏高原地区DAOD均在5月达最高值.青藏高原北部DAOD比南部高0.06~0.10,两地区的DAOD值差异在5月最高.自2000年开始,塔克拉玛干沙漠和印度恒河平原DAOD高值区强度和影响范围显著增大,对青藏高原的沙尘输送增强,印度沙尘对青藏高原的影响显著增加.CALIPSO观测表明,青藏高原上空的沙尘主要来自塔克拉玛干沙漠,传输量春季最大,秋、冬季最小;部分来自印度恒河平原,传输主要发生在夏、秋季.塔克拉玛干沙尘通过柴达木盆地向青藏高原传输,最远可至30°N,传输高度在4~8 km.冬季青藏高原上空的沙尘主要来自柴达木盆地.塔克拉玛干沙漠和青藏高原的最大气溶胶消光系数廓线分别出现在春季和夏季.塔克拉玛干沙漠和青藏高原地区沙尘层厚度多年平均值分别为1.00和0.82 km.2007—2017年,塔克拉玛干沙尘层厚度呈下降趋势,年下降率为0.018 km.青藏高原沙尘层厚度春季最大,冬季次之,夏季最小;沙尘层厚度年变化趋势不显著.