Reviving wood-pastures for biodiversity and people: A case study from western Estonia

Wood-pastures are associated with high cultural and biodiversity values in Europe. However, due to their relatively low productivity, large areas of wood-pastures have been lost over the last century. In some areas, incentive schemes have been developed to revive wood-pastures. We investigated the effects of one such scheme in western Estonia. We compared the structure of grazed wood-pastures (old and restored) to those of abandoned wood-pastures and ungrazed forest stands to explore the effects of management, and conducted interviews with 24 farmers to investigate their motivations to carry out the management. We found a positive influence of active management on the semi-open structure of wood-pastures. Financial support was vital for management, but personal values related to tradition also played an important role. The interviewees differed widely in their range of motivations, suggesting that other strategies in addition to financial incentives would further improve the management of wood-pastures in the region.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0719-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

某电厂600MW火电机组脱硫增容改造方案探讨

按照国家环保部文件要求,大唐集团河北某电厂600 MW机组湿法脱硫系统需进行增容改造。该电厂根据实际情况,归纳了3种可行的脱硫增容改造方案,即原吸收塔增加喷淋层和高度、双吸收塔串联、双吸收塔双循环,阐述了各自的技术特点,结合性能保证、工程投资、施工周期等影响因素,比较了各方案的优缺点。经过对比和论证,双吸收塔方案比单吸收塔方案更适合于本次工程改造。     

Foresty offsets in emissions trading systems: a link between systems?

An important aspect in the linking of different emissions trading schemes is the degree to which these systems allow (or ban) external offset project categories. The EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) currently allows the use of credits from energy and industry projects developed under the Kyoto Protocol’s Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) but excludes the use of carbon credits from forestry projects for compliance in the EU ETS. Forestry credits generated by the CDM have a limited lifetime and expire at the end of a project’s crediting period, or earlier if the carbon stock for which the credits have been issued ceases to exist. According to the recently adopted amendment of the EU ETS Directive forestry credits will remain to be excluded until 2020. The present article reviews how the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme (Australia), the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (US) and the voluntary scheme of the Chicago Climate Exchange integrate forestry offsets into the respective system and how they deal with the risk of losing stored and credited biomass. By comparing the results of different scenarios this article shows how differences in the treatment of forestry offsets could impact the efforts to link various emission trading systems in future.

Reflections on network governance in Africa's forestry sector

International forestry governance is an integral part of the global policy debates on how to prevent deforestation, illicit extraction, and unsustainable timber practices. Africa is an important producer of timber, yet the region is beset by a lack of capacity and other governance challenges in the management of its forestry sector. We employ a network governance analysis to examine the extent to which the evolution and operation of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and la Commission des Forêts d'Afrique Centrale (COMIFAC) have addressed governance challenges. We assess the strengths and weaknesses of these two leading examples of international forestry governance by introducing recent evidence and insights from Africa. We conclude with a policy‐relevant discussion of how the FSC and COMIFAC might enhance authority, legitimacy, and effectiveness and improve forestry governance in Africa and other parts of the world.     

存在截渗墙情况下地下咸水恢复的优化方案

本文首先分析了咸水分布区的自然地理和水文地质条件，然后对研究区的水文地质条件进行了概化，建立了相应的地下水水量和水质的数值模型，最后通过地下水模拟软件Visual—MODFLOW3.1对存在截渗墙情况下的不同咸水恢复方案进行了数值分析。研究结果表明。单纯的抽水方案对于高浓度咸水的去除非常有效，但是低浓度咸水残留量较大；抽水——注水方案对高低浓度的去除效果都比较好；而抽水优化方案对高浓度和低浓度的咸水的去除更加经济、快速和彻底。     

浙江嘉善东部区域盛家湾河道缓冲带及水生态修复实践

河流生态修复是改善水质和维持河流生态系统稳定的重要措施,是贯彻落实“十四五”重点流域水生态环境保护总体要求的重要举措。以嘉善姚庄镇俞汇塘支流盛家湾河道为研究对象,探讨了河流缓冲带与水生态修复工程实践。针对该区域生态空间严重被挤占、部分河段生境受损严重、生物多样性降低、河道水质不稳定等环境问题,提出了以保护—修复—发展为创新思路的盛家湾河道生态修复工程总体方案;以全面提升河道的水生态环境质量、构建健康稳定的水生态系统为修复目标,实施了面源污染阻控、生态空间恢复以及水生态修复等工程,其中包括面积为17 700 m²的人工湿地及2 200 m长的生态植草沟建设,约30 m宽和1 480 m长的陆域植被缓冲带构建,1 210 m长的河岸线生态化改造,以及面积为20 400 m²的水下森林生态修复工程。通过盛家湾河道的生态修复,全面改善了盛家湾区域的生态环境,实现了“水清岸绿”,恢复了水体的生物多样性。

     

改进突变理论在井下排水方案优选中的应用

为了更精确合理地对新桥硫铁矿排水方案进行优选,对利用突变理论的方法进行优化,建立突变理论和熵权法相结合的改进模型。从经济和工程量方面出发,综合考虑了影响排水方案优选的3个层次的12个指标,统计样本数据。运用熵权法分层确定同一上层变量下各指标的客观权重,导入突变理论中,建立综合评价结构模型,消除了主观因素的影响。同时运用突变理论和EM-TOPSIS进行方案优选,通过对比3种方法的优选结果,证明了改进突变理论的可靠性与合理性。     

复杂环境下浅埋大跨地铁渡线隧道施工地层沉降控制方法研究

以北京地铁4号线白石桥至学院南路区间渡线隧道作为工程背景,阐述在复杂环境下浅埋大跨隧道施工的地层沉降控制方法。该隧道具有"隧道跨度大(最大跨度22.1 m),埋深浅,断面类型多、结构复杂"等特点,隧道上方有雨水管等市政管线,地层沉降控制难度极大。首先介绍了渡线隧道总体施工顺序安排、超前加固方案和各断面施工方法,并利用FLAC3D三维数值模拟程序,对最大断面开挖支护过程进行了模拟计算,研究了地表沉降规律和塑性区分布情况,用于指导施工。在施工期间对地表沉降进行监测,其结果表明:渡线隧道施工方法是合理的,地表沉降在控制范围内,确保了隧道周边环境的安全。     

Societal Concerns about Pork and Pork Production and Their Relationships to the Production System

Pork producers in Western Europe moreand more encounter a variety of societalconcerns about pork and pork production. Sofar, however, producers predominantly focusedon low consumer prices, therewith addressingjust one concern. This resulted in an intensiveand large-scale production system, decreasinglyrelated to the area of farm land, andaccompanied with increasing concerns aboutsafety and healthiness of pork, animal welfare,environmental pollution, and others.An overview was given of possible concernsabout West-European pork production with theconsumers, citizens, and producers, and thoseconcerns are traced back to the pork productionsystem. The various kinds and qualities ofinformation about the pork production system onwhich possible concerns are based have beenworked out extensively in this paper. Knowledgeabout the aspects of pork production that cangive rise to concerns can be used in two ways.First, the communication about those aspectstowards consumers and citizens can be adjustedor extended to give them better possibilitiesto make food choices or to develop their ownopinions about pork production. Second,producers could change the pork productionsystem such that it better satisfies consumersand citizens. Such adaptations are wellpossible, as three pork quality schemes, whichhave been evaluated, illustrate. However, mostof these adaptations can only be carried out atthe cost of the present low consumer prices andwill not occur spontaneously on a large scale.Therefore, accounting for the type andrelevance of the concerns, legislation isnecessary to address societal concerns in abalanced way such that pork production systemsbecome acceptable for the majority of oursociety.     

Vulnerability of Rehabilitated Agricultural Production Systems to Invasion by Nontarget Plant Species

Vast areas of arable land have been retired from crop production and “rehabilitated” to improved system states through landowner incentive programs in the United States (e.g., Conservation and Wetland Reserve Programs), as well as Europe (i.e., Agri-Environment Schemes). Our review of studies conducted on invasion of rehabilitated agricultural production systems by nontarget species elucidates several factors that may increase the vulnerability of these systems to invasion. These systems often exist in highly fragmented and agriculturally dominated landscapes, where propagule sources of target species for colonization may be limited, and are established under conditions where legacies of past disturbance persist and prevent target species from persisting. Furthermore, rehabilitation approaches often do not include or successfully attain all target species or historical ecological processes (e.g., hydrology, grazing, and/or fire cycles) key to resisting invasion. Uncertainty surrounds ways in which nontarget species may compromise long term goals of improving biodiversity and ecosystem services through rehabilitation efforts on former agricultural production lands. This review demonstrates that more studies are needed on the extent and ecological impacts of nontarget species as related to the goals of rehabilitation efforts to secure current and future environmental benefits arising from this widespread conservation practice.