Bi-national assessment of the Great Lakes: SOLEC partnerships

Many administrative jurisdictions have authority over parts of the Great Lakes, sometimes with competing purposes as well as governance at differing scales of time and space. As demand increases for high quality information that is relevant to environmental managers, environmental and natural resource agencies with limited budgets must look to interdisciplinary, collaborative approaches for the collection, analysis and reporting of data. The State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conferences (SOLEC) were begun in 1994 in response to reporting requirements of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between Canada and the U.S. The biennial conferences provide independent, science-based reporting on the state of health of the Great Lakes ecosystem components. A suite of indicators necessary and sufficient to assess Great Lakes ecosystem status was introduced in 1998, and assessments based on a subset of the indicators were presented in 2000. Because SOLEC is a multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional reporting venue, the SOLEC indicators require acceptance by a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the Great Lakes basin. The SOLEC indicators list is expected to provide the basis for government agencies and other organizations to collaborate more effectively and to allocate resources to data collection, evaluation and reporting on the state of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem.     

Land Degradation Monitoring in Namibia: A First Approximation

This paper presents development of a first approximation of a Namibian, national level, land degradation monitoring system. The process involved a large number of stakeholders and led to the definition of four primary indicators that were regarded as related to land degradation in Namibia: population pressure, livestock pressure, seasonal rainfall and erosion hazards. These indicators were calculated annually for the period 1971–1997. Annual land degradation risk maps were produced for the same period by combining the indicators. A time series analysis of results generated by indicators was undertaken at two sites. The analysis revealed a general trend towards an increased land degradation risk over the period 1971–1997. A decrease in annual rainfall and an increase in livestock numbers caused this negative trend at one site, while decreased annual rainfall and increased human population were the causes at a second site. Evaluation of resulting maps through direct field observations and long-term monitoring at selected study sites with different conditions relevant for the indicators defined, is an essential next step.     

Application of the benthic index of biotic integrity to environmental monitoring in Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay benthic index of biotic integrity (B-IBI) was developed to assess benthic community health and environmental quality in Chesapeake Bay. The B-IBI provides Chesapeake Bay monitoring programs with a uniform tool with which to characterize bay-wide benthic community condition and assess the health of the Bay. A probability-based design permits unbiased annual estimates of areal degradation within the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries with quantifiable precision. However, of greatest interest to managers is the identification of problem areas most in need of restoration. Here we apply the B-IBI to benthic data collected in the Bay since 1994 to assess benthic community degradation by Chesapeake Bay Program segment and water depth. We used a new B-IBI classification system that improves the reliability of the estimates of degradation. Estimates were produced for 67 Chesapeake Bay Program segments. Greatest degradation was found in areas that are known to experience hypoxia or show toxic contamination, such as the mesohaline portion of the Potomac River, the Patapsco River, and the Maryland mainstem. Logistic regression models revealed increased probability of degraded benthos with depth for the lower Potomac River, Patapsco River, Nanticoke River, lower York River, and the Maryland mainstem. Our assessment of degradation by segment and water depth provided greater resolution of relative condition than previously available, and helped define the extent of degradation in Chesapeake Bay.     

Forest Health Assessment and Monitoring – Issues for Consideration

Part of this paper has been prepared for the lecture Forest Health Assessment-Criteria,Methods and Problems given by the author at the UIMPuniversity course Sanidad Forestal en el Bosques Mediterraneos yTemplados. Implicacion de la Contaminacion Atmosferica y del Cambio Global, held in Valencia, Spain, October, 1995. Assessment and monitoring of forest health representsa key point for environmental policy and for the management ofenvironmental resources. With the renewed interest in assessment andmonitoring of forest health generated by the suspected occurrence ofa widespread forest decline in Europe and North America, manyactivities have been undertaken: however, some questions should beconsidered and clarified when attempting to estimate forest health.Particularly, the objective(s) of the assessment and monitoringprogram should be carefully identified. Identification of a program‘stask has a number of implications and consequences: it implies adefinition of what concept of forest health (forest ecosystem health,forest health or forest trees health?) is assumed, what will be thetarget entity to be monitored, and therefore the identification of therelevant assessment questions and assessment endpoints.Consequences concern the definition of the spatial scale (frominternational to landscape and plot scale monitoring) and ecologicalcoverage (from single species population to population ofecosystems) of the program, which can have a considerable influenceon the choice of the proper sampling strategy and tactic, as well ason the most suitable methods, indicators and indices to be used.Although much of the work in the field of forest health and airpollution has concentrated on surveys on crown transparency anddiscoloration, there is an entire range of methods, indicators andindices developed to assess the health status of forests. The decisionas to which ones should be used will depend on the aim of theprogram and on economic and practical considerations. A furtherconsideration concerns the time span of the program, but anydecision in this field is subject to many limitations due to difficultiesin predicting future monitoring needs. All these points should becarefully considered and implemented according to a rigorousQuality Assurance procedure since any decision will influence futurework for many years.     

两种桑科植物叶片光合及光呼吸对模拟干旱的响应

采用150 g/L的聚乙二醇(Polyethylene glycol,PEG)模拟干旱胁迫,研究两种桑科植物(构树和桑树)的叶片光合及光呼吸特征对干旱胁迫的响应。对植物培养液的相关化学参数以及叶片的光合参数进行测定,结果表明:干旱对构树根系吸水能力的影响小于桑树的;构树以中光合-低蒸腾-高水分利用率的模式适应干旱环境,桑树以低光合-低蒸腾-高水分利用率的模式来应对干旱环境;在模拟干旱环境下,构树以稳定的羧化效率-高光呼吸速率-高光呼吸利用份额来适应外界胁迫,而桑树以低羧化效率-低光呼吸速率-低光呼吸利用份额来应对外界胁迫。构树表现出对外界干旱胁迫更好的适应性,这种适应机制可能与其较强的光呼吸作用及其碳酸氢根离子利用能力有关。这种"以碳换水"的机制可能是喀斯特适生植物适应岩溶干旱的又一个重要机制。     

我国淡水水域光合产物的气候生产力探讨

根据太阳辐射在水体中的有效分布、生长季水温和浮游植物光合生态特性等因子,模拟计算了我国大陆东部淡水水域的光合生产力、气候生产力及其季节变化的地理规律。从中得知,这些水域初级产物的年气候生产力主要呈纬向分布,由南向北递减,各地范围在 1.6-24.4gC/m²·a之间,长江以南是>15.0gC/m²·a的高值区,长城以北和四川盆地为<10.0gC/m²·a的低值区,因此,在气候生产力高值区有可能充分利用气候资源优势,开发低成本的自然淡水水域渔业;而在低生产力区,受自然资源的局限其自然捕鱼量需适量控制,因地制宜。     

Indicators of sustainable production: framework and methodology

This paper presents a new tool for promoting business sustainability — indicators of sustainable production. It first introduces the concept of sustainable production as defined by the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, University of Massachusetts Lowell. Indicators of sustainable production are discussed next, including their dimensions and desirable qualities. Based on the Lowell Center Indicator Framework, the authors suggest a new methodology of core and supplemental indicators for raising companies' awareness and measuring their progress toward sustainable production systems. Twenty-two core indicators are proposed and a detailed guidance for their application is included. An eight-step model provides a context for indicator implementation. The paper concludes with a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology as well as recommendations for testing the indicators.     

农药废水的“物化+生化”处理技术研究

生产久效磷和亚磷酸三甲脂产生的废水是高浓度、毒性大的有机农药废水 ,采用适当的物化手段作为预处理可以降低废水的CODCr和毒性 ,提高废水的可生化性 ,再经过以光合细菌为主的接触氧化处理 ,整个系统CODCr的去除率达到 99% ,出水CODCr降低至 2 0 0mg/L。     

萜烷作为溢油指物（或指标）的研究

用毛细管GC-MS对溢油中的萜烷进行分析，结果表明，在一年多的风化过程中，作为溢油指示物（或指标）的萜烷及其比值参数，受风化影响很小。     

油种指示物（指标）的研究

从油种、实验误差以及风化的影响对中国常见油种鉴别进行了探讨，确定了油种GC-FID指标物。结果表明，油种指示物在环境中保持着本身的一些固有特性，受实验误差和风化的影响较小。