A climate-change vulnerability and adaptation assessment for Brazil's protected areas

Brazil hosts the largest expanse of tropical ecosystems within protected areas (PAs), which shelter biodiversity and support traditional human populations. We assessed the vulnerability to climate change of 993 terrestrial and coastal-marine Brazilian PAs by combining indicators of climatic-change hazard with indicators of PA resilience (size, native vegetation cover, and probability of climate-driven vegetation transition). This combination of indicators allows the identification of broad climate-change adaptation pathways. Seventeen PAs (20,611 km²) were highly vulnerable and located mainly in the Atlantic Forest (7 PAs), Cerrado (6), and the Amazon (4). Two hundred fifty-eight PAs (756,569 km²), located primarily in Amazonia, had a medium vulnerability. In the Amazon and western Cerrado, the projected severe climatic change and probability of climate-driven vegetation transition drove vulnerability up, despite the generally good conservation status of PAs. Over 80% of PAs of high or moderate vulnerability are managed by indigenous populations. Hence, besides the potential risks to biodiversity, the traditional knowledge and livelihoods of the people inhabiting these PAs may be threatened. In at least 870 PAs, primarily in the Atlantic Forest and Amazon, adaptation could happen with little or no intervention due to low climate-change hazard, high resilience status, or both. At least 20 PAs in the Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, and Amazonia should be targeted for stronger interventions (e.g., improvement of ecological connectivity), given their low resilience status. Despite being a first attempt to link vulnerability and adaptation in Brazilian PAs, we suggest that some of the PAs identified as highly or moderately vulnerable should be prioritized for testing potential adaptation strategies in the near future.     

Quantifying the impact of vegetation-based metrics on species persistence when choosing offsets for habitat destruction

Developers are often required by law to offset environmental impacts through targeted conservation actions. Most offset policies specify metrics for calculating offset requirements, usually by assessing vegetation condition. Despite widespread use, there is little evidence to support the effectiveness of vegetation-based metrics for ensuring biodiversity persistence. We compared long-term impacts of biodiversity offsetting based on area only; vegetation condition only; area × habitat suitability; and condition × habitat suitability in development and restoration simulations for the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. We simulated development and subsequent offsetting through restoration within a virtual landscape, linking simulations to population viability models for 3 species. Habitat gains did not ensure species persistence. No net loss was achieved when performance of offsetting was assessed in terms of amount of habitat restored, but not when outcomes were assessed in terms of persistence. Maintenance of persistence occurred more often when impacts were avoided, giving further support to better enforce the avoidance stage of the mitigation hierarchy. When development affected areas of high habitat quality for species, persistence could not be guaranteed. Therefore, species must be more explicitly accounted for in offsets, rather than just vegetation or habitat alone. Declines due to a failure to account directly for species population dynamics and connectivity overshadowed the benefits delivered by producing large areas of high-quality habitat. Our modeling framework showed that the benefits delivered by offsets are species specific and that simple vegetation-based metrics can give misguided impressions on how well biodiversity offsets achieve no net loss.     

湖北省湿地的保护与利用

湿地是地球上具有多功能的、独特的生态系统，是人类最重要的生存环境之一。湖北省地处长江中游，湿地类型多，面积较大，河、湖湿地系统是主要的湿地类型。湖北湿地具有较大的资源潜力和环境调节功能，是自然界生物多样性丰富的生态景观。近年来，湖北省湿地保护面临人口增长的压力，围垦、污染和过度开发等对湿地保护构成了严重威胁，湿地环境遭到干扰和破坏。加强湿地科学的研究，保护管理好湖北湿地及其生态环境，实现湿地资源的持续利用，是湖北省2l世纪环保工作所面临的一项重要而紧迫的任务。     

草原旅游发展中旅游管理部门环境意识的调查研究

根据环境意识结构．设计了旅游管理部门环境意识调查问卷。其主要的指标体系包括：旅游环境知识水平、旅游环境态度、旅游环境评价和旅游环境行为四个方面。对指标体系各部分之间以及每一指标部分的每一题目之间的相对重要性进行权重的确定．而且对各部分的每道题目的各个选项予以赋分。基于权重和赋分．结合调查问卷的实际情况，设计了指标体系各部分评价模型和环境意识总体评价模型。以此来计算草原旅游发展中旅游管理部门环境意识水平的综合得分。经过分析得知，旅游管理部门环境意识模式是“环境知识制约型”模式。     

Sustainability: a Dissent

Abstract:  Broadly conceived and considered in its many usages, sustainability has grave defects as a planning goal, particularly when used by conservationists: it confuses means and ends; it is vague about what is being sustained and who or what is doing the sustaining; it is uninspiring; it is little more than Pinchot-era conservation (and thus ignores the many lessons learned since then); it need not be linked to land, to the land's functioning, or to any ecological science; it need not include a moral component; it is consistent with the view of humans as all-powerful manipulators of the planet; and, in general, it is such a malleable term that its popularity provides only a facade of consensus. When sustainability is defined broadly to include the full range of economic and social aspirations, it poses the particular risk that ecological and biodiversity concerns will be cast aside in favor of more pressing human wants. Given these many defects, the conservation movement should discard the term in favor of a more alluring goal, attentive to nature and its ecological functioning. A sound goal would incorporate and distill the considerable ecological and moral wisdom accumulated since Pinchot's day while giving conservationists the rhetorical tools needed to defend the land against competing pressures. In our view, conservation would be well served by an updated variant of "land health," Aldo Leopold's ecologically grounded goal from the 1940s. Land health as an independent understanding should set the essential terms of how we live and enjoy the earth, providing the framework within which we pursue our many social and economic aims.     

北部湾南流江流域土地覆盖及生物多样性模拟

以北部湾独流入海河流南流江流域为研究对象,基于研究区2000年和2015年遥感数据解译的土地利用数据以及社会经济等数据,采用CLUE-S模型对未来2030年生态保护情景、自然增长情景以及粮食安全情景的土地利用格局进行了模拟预测,在此基础上采用InVEST模型对流域过去和未来不同情景的生物多样性进行了评估,探讨了流域生物多样性的生境质量和生境退化程度.结果表明：2000~2015年南流江流域建设用地、园地、水域和未利用地呈现出增加趋势,其中建设用地的增幅最大,而耕地和林地减幅最大.流域土地系统中共存在着34种土地网络转移流关系,上游存在24种,中游20种,下游28种,耕地与建设用地、耕地与林地以及林地与园地之间的转换占到流域总土地利用变化的70.74%.CLUE-S模型模拟未来土地利用的Kappa系数达到0.86,表明模型模拟未来情景的土地利用精度满足要求.2000年、2015年、2030年生态保护情景、2030年自然增长情景以及2030年粮食安全情景流域生境质量总得分和平均得分分别为866630,900357,921055,876231,865370和0.7457,0.7747,0.7925,0.7539,0.7466.2030年3种情景的中上游和下游地区生物多样性都呈现出不同程度的改善趋势,而中游地区则表现出退化趋势.     

长江中下游环境DNA宏条形码生物多样性检测技术初步研究

长江生物多样性在人为影响下面临严重威胁,物种监测是生物多样性保护的基础,为完善长江水生态监测体系,实现高效无损伤的物种监测,在长江中下游干流3个江段（新滩、安庆和芜湖）采集水样,建立长江水样环境DNA宏条形码物种检测体系并评估其有效性.结果表明:①长江中下游环境DNA宏条形码检测到32个物种,包括20种鱼类、1种水生哺乳动物（长江江豚）和11种陆生动物,其中鱼类物种包括鲤形目、鲇形目、鲈形目和鲱形目,其种数占鱼类总种数的比例分别为60%、25%、10%和5%.②长江中下游渔获物中资源量居首位的鲤形目在环境DNA调查中序列数最多,占鱼类总序列的96.2%,其次为鲱形目（占比为3.5%）,鲇形目和鲈形目占比较低,分别为0.2%和0.1%,4个类目序列相对丰度与渔获物种资源量组成差异较大.③环境DNA调查次数约占传统渔获物调查次数的几十至几百分之一,采样时间不足努力量最少的渔获物调查的1%,检测到的鱼类种数为传统调查总数的31%~49%.④安庆采样点位于长江中下游长江江豚密度最高的江段,其环境DNA检出率和序列相对丰度在3个采样点中均最高.研究显示:长江水样环境DNA包含水陆复合生态系统的生物多样性信息,利用水样环境DNA宏条形码可检测不同类群的水生和陆生物种;对于鱼类物种检测,环境DNA宏条形码比传统调查方法效率更高,可对传统调查结果进行补充;环境DNA宏条形码生物多样性检测主要受分子标记体系和核酸序列数据库限制,获取全面的物种多样性和资源量信息需要对检测分析方法进行进一步完善.      

地方环境约束目标对经济增长的影响效应

从2003~2017年中国283个地级市的政府工作报告中,收集了各年度各城市的环境保护约束目标,考察了各类环境约束目标对经济增长的影响.研究发现,对于SO₂等工业污染物的直接约束能够在促使政府提升环境治理力度的同时,释放经济增长红利;关于空气质量优良天数和PM_2.5浓度的间接约束不足以刺激污染型企业转型,且导致经济增长速度放缓.无环境约束将产生正向经济增长效应,但会以环境污染为代价.中间机制检验结果显示,产业结构和环境治理是环境约束影响经济增长的主要传导渠道.在环境保护约束的特征方面,约束目标“加码”将抑制经济增长,设定污染物减排区间更有利于发挥经济增长效应.经济与环境协调度方面,对环境污染物设定约束目标有助于促进经济与环境协调发展,无约束则不利于经济增长和环境保护双重目标的实现.地方政府应在明确设定污染物排放目标的基础上,遵循渐进原则对环境保护约束目标进行调整.     

基于FY-4A卫星数据反演气溶胶光学厚度及分析应用

风云四号A星（FY-4A）是我国新一代静止气象卫星,多通道扫描成像辐射计（AGRI）是风云四号静止气象卫星的主要载荷之一.为探究FY4A数据用于气溶胶光学厚度（AOD）反演的可行性,基于FY-4A/AGRI数据,利用暗像元算法对2019年2月23~26日及10月27~30日京津冀地区AOD进行反演研究,并与AERONET地基观测AOD数据进行了对比分析.结果表明,基于FY-4A数据及构建响应函数库,通过暗像元方法能较好的反演出京津冀地区气溶胶空间分布;AOD主要的高值区体现在京津冀中南部地区并向周边郊区逐渐降低,在AOD值较大时此特征较为明显;将反演值与同期AERONET地基观测数据对比验证,相关系数达到0.869,均方根误差为0.221,表明AOD反演值与观测值吻合较好,FY-4A卫星数据反演AOD具有一定可行性.