Uneven Environmental Management: A Canadian Perspective

Advocates of community-based approaches to environmental management argue that by respecting local circumstances, skills, and concerns we may improve the prospects of achieving environmental sustainability; yet, within nation states such as Canada, environmental conditions, management and enforcement costs and capabilities, and power differentials within and among civic and public sectors may result in a highly differentiated capacity for environmental management across different localities and regions. This article draws on insights of political ecology to 1) create a conceptual framework that identifies key elements shaping regional environmental management regimes and to 2) undertake a comparative analysis to assess how elements interact to generate uneven management outcomes. I compare experiences of two Canadian biosphere reserves designated in 2000: Clayoquot Sound, BC; and Redberry Lake, SK. Analysis reveals that differences in governance and institutional capacities in the biosphere reserves are key to explaining uneven local outcomes. Where the public and civic sectors are strong, a robust and publicly vetted form of management will emerge. Where these sectors are weak and land is held as private property, environmental nongovernmental organizations can set the type and level of management, to the exclusion of effective civic and state involvement. This result may improve environmental sustainability but hinder social sustainability of a management regime and raises questions about the efficacy of community-based management.     

温度和DO对MBBR系统硝化和反硝化的影响

在缺氧/好氧/好氧串联运行的移动床生物膜反应器（MBBR）系统中考察了温度和好氧反应器中溶解氧（DO）水平对生物膜硝化和反硝化过程氮素去除的影响,并通过高通量测序技术探究温度和DO的变化造成的MBBR系统中脱氮功能菌群结构的差异,从而在微观水平解释硝化和反硝化受温度和DO影响的生物学机理.结果表明,系统温度的升高可以同时强化生物膜硝化和反硝化过程,且好氧反应器中DO水平的提高对硝化过程有利,从而提高系统的脱氮效果.本研究中,在系统连续运行阶段,当系统温度和好氧O₁反应器的DO浓度为本研究范围内的最高水平时（即温度=20~22℃、DO=5~8mg O₂/L）,比硝化负荷可达1.60g NH₄⁺-N/（m²·d）以上,而相同温度范围内比反硝化负荷可高达2.84g NO₃^--N/（m²·d）,从而使MBBR系统在该工况条件下获得了最佳的NH₄⁺-N和TN去除率（分别达到了98.7%和85.7%）.温度和DO影响硝化和反硝化的根本原因是温度和DO变化引起了脱氮功能菌群数量和群落结构的改变：当好氧反应器的DO水平下降时,硝化功能细菌的OTUs比例显著降低,尤其是异养硝化细菌的生长受到了严重的抑制;而温度的变化对反硝化细菌的影响主要体现在群落结构的变化.     

Seeing the wood for the trees: the role of woody resources for the construction of gender specific household cultural artefacts in non-traditional communities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

There is a growing wealth of data capturing the direct-use values of the environment and recognition of forests and wild resources as representing “the poor manȁ9s overcoat”. This focus has however resulted in an emphasis on the utilitarian values of wild resources for rural livelihoods and has for the most part overlooked their cultural values. In tangent to these developments within the field of anthropology there has been increased attention directed towards the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity over the past decade. This has resulted in the recognition of what the Declaration of Belem calls an ȁ8inextricable linkȁ9 between biological and cultural diversity. The term bio-cultural diversity has been introduced as a concept denoting this link. Consequently there is a need for more elaborate assessments of the various ways in which different groups of people find value in biodiversity. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the cultural significance of wild harvested plant resources for the maintenance of two gender specific cultural artefacts for amaXhosa people in South Africa, to assess the persistence of these practices in rapidly modernizing communities. We demonstrate the endurance of these ancient cultural artefacts in present-day peri-urban communities and suggest that they point to the need for improved understanding of the significance of bio-cultural diversity. The findings of the study should not be interpreted as illustrating stagnation in the traditional past, but rather as pointing at the need for improved understanding of the significance of bio-cultural diversity in a dynamic sense.     

Approaches to Quantitative Assessment of Biological Damage to Forest Communities under Technogenic Load

General trends in simplification of the structure and composition of forest communities in the zone of impact from the metallurgical industry are revealed. The load of toxicants is estimated from the concentrations of heavy metals in the snow and soil. The method is proposed for assessing biological damage on the basis of the main characteristics of phytocenosis, such as its species diversity and the cenotic significance of its structural components. The resultant integrated index of phytocenosis preservation (IIP _p) characterizes the degree of biological damage, and its value depends on the load of toxicants and resistance of plant communities characteristic of different natural zones.     

Rethinking the contribution of indigenous management in small-scale water provision among selected rural communities in Cameroon

This paper describes the pro-active role of rural communities in negotiating livelihood and sustenance through the improvement of some of their local water sources. It discusses the strategies put in place to ensure the availability of water, one of the worlds scarcest natural resources. Despite some external assistance, local communities are increasingly shouldering the responsibility of ensuring the availability of water through self-reliant efforts. These attempts are being undermined by a high incidence of waterborne and water-related diseases, which are impacting on health, and hygiene and other health care delivery systems. The management of potable water is proving to be a herculean task for most communities after the departure of funding partners. To guarantee the proper maintenance of pipe borne water schemes, communities are rethinking their strategies as they grapple with difficulties to put in place viable techniques for sustainability of water supply schemes.Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Spatiotemporal dynamics of forest-tundra communities in the polar urals

The spatiotemporal dynamics of forest-tundra communities in the 20th century have been studied in the timberline ecotone of the Polar Urals. Maps reflecting the distribution of different types of forest-tundra communities have been made, and data on the morphological and age structure of tree stands have been obtained for three time sections (the mid-1910s, 1960s, and 2000s). They show that open and closed forests have markedly expanded due to natural afforestation of the tundra and increase in the density and productivity of existing forest stands. The unidirectional pattern of plant community transition (from the tundra to closed forests) and meteorological data provide evidence that this transition has been conditioned by climate warming and increasing humidity recorded during the past 90 years.Translated from Ekologiya, No. 2, 2005, pp. 83–90.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Shiyatov, Terentev, Fomin.     

生态旅游区不同距离带上植物群落的结构对比

通过对芦芽山自然保护区植物群落的结构分析 ,揭示旅游活动和群落演替的内在机理 ,为景区植被保护和旅游管理提供依据 .结果表明 :不同地段上各植被层由于各种因素的影响而有所不同 ,大部分景区的植被生长良好 .不同距离带上各植被层大致表现出近距离 <中距离 <远距离的格局规律 ,但其明显度不尽一致 ,说明各植被层反映旅游活动对群落结构作用程度的能力大小依次为乔木层 <灌木层 <苔藓层 <草本层 .5个旅游影响因子的变化趋势 ,反映了旅游活动对群落生态环境的结构作用的规律 .距游径的水平距离愈远 ,垃圾量愈少 ,林下死枝下高愈高 ,枯层愈厚 ,树桩量愈多 ,幼苗量也愈多 .不同距离带上的变化规律客观地描绘了旅游活动的规律性变化 ,近距离处旅游活动强度最大 ,中距离处次之 ,远距离处则最小 .图 1表 1参 8     

A simple approach to modeling microbial biomass in the rhizosphere

Microorganisms make an important contribution to the degradation of contaminants in bioremediation as well as in phytoremediation. An accurate estimation of microbial concentrations in the soil would be valuable in predicting contaminant dissipation during various bioremediation processes. A simple modeling approach to quantify the microbial biomass in the rhizosphere was developed in this study. Experiments were conducted using field column lysimeters planted with Eastern gamagrass. The microbial biomass concentrations from the rhizosphere soil, bulk soil, and unplanted soil were monitored for six months using an incubation–fumigation method. The proposed model was applied to the field microbial biomass data and good correlation between simulated and experimental data was achieved. The results indicate that plants increase microbial concentrations in the soil by providing root exudates as growth substrates for microorganisms. Since plant roots are initially small and do not produce large quantities of exudates when first seeded, the addition of exogenous substrates may be needed to increase initial microbial concentrations at the start of phytoremediation projects.     

九寨沟主要植物群落生物量的空间分布

研究了九寨沟自然保护区主要植物群落的生物量以及生物量在九寨沟的空间分布格局 ,并用群落的总生物量量度不同群落在九寨沟陆生生态系统中的相对重要性 .在野外实地调查中 ,采取皆伐法测定了乔木群落林下层以及灌丛和草甸群落的地上部分生物量 ;对样方中乔木的胸径、树高进行了测量 ,利用经验公式估算乔木层的生物量 .研究结果表明 ,所有群落中生物量最大的为亚高山暗针叶林 ,平均为 380thm-2 左右 ,总生物量亦占了整个九寨沟生物量总量的 90 %以上 ,为九寨沟陆地生态系统中最重要的植物群落 ;高山草甸和流石滩植被生物量最小 ,平均为 1thm-2以下 .整个九寨沟的总生物量约为 8.3× 10 6t,平均生产力大于 5 .89thm-2 a-1.垂直分布上 ,生物量一般随海拔的升高而增加 ,在halt=30 0 0m以上达到最大值 ,之后则随海拔的升高而急剧下降 ,这种分布格局与土壤、气候、人类干扰等各种环境因素密切相关 .与全国平均水平相比 ,九寨沟几乎所有类型的群落的平均生物量都要高于全国同类群落的平均水平 .图 3表 4参 18