AREAL DIFFERENTIATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF OASIS AGRICULTURAL ECOSYSTEM IN THE SHIYANG RIVER BASIN

On the basis of the study on areal differentiation of the natural environment of oasis agriculture ecosystems in the Shiyang River Basin, this paper comparatively analyzes the natural productivities, water economic benefits, production efficiency, ecological stabilities and developmental conditions of the Wuwei Oasis agricultural ecosystem in the middle reaches of the river basin and the Minqin Oasis agricultural ecosystem in the lower reaches. Under a same management level and investment of . material and energy, primary productiveness and economic benefits of the former are higher than those of the latter. Construction directions of Wuwei and Minqin oases should be different in order to alleviate the water- use contradiction between the middle and lower reaches. The construction objective of Wuwei Oasis should be efficient irrigated farming production system and Minqin Oasis should become a mixed forestry-pastoral-farming ecosystem taking ecological protection as its major function.     

Theory of stability, and regulation and control of ecological system in oasis

Starting with analysis on the evolving course of oasis and the characteristics and evolution of transitional zone between oasis and desert, in consideration of ecological elements including plant stomata resistance, area covered by vegetation, and physical elements including albedo of vegetation and bare soil, atmosphere temperature, and humidity, under the condition of the balance among net radiation flux, latent heat flux, and sensible heat flux, the following are calculated: temperatures of vegetation and bare soil in different conditions, as well as the evapotranspiration rate of ecosystem. Analysis on evapotranspiration rate indicates that it depends on both the climate of environment and the physiological and ecological conditions of plants. On certain conditions, the evapotranspiration rate of transitional zone between oasis and desert (i.e. area covered by vegetation less than 20%), in some parameter domains, appears in bifurcation or multiequilibrium state. Meanwhile, in such area, ecosystem is extremely unstable. Any minor change to the balance will cause either increase or reduction of area covered by vegetation in ecosystem, on the basis of discussion on the emergency of these phenomena. This paper is attempting to propose an effective way of destruction and rebuilt ecosystem in transitional zone. The way is to control the evaporation of plant through selecting anti-drought country plant with big stomata resistance, and modify the roughness of the underlying surface in ecosystem by establishing rational interspace structure of plant community, so as to put the degenerative ecosystem into the natural succession track. This primary theory is being verified through observation and analysis on historical data.     

Trace elements contamination of agricultural soils affected by sulphide exploitation (Iberian Pyrite Belt,Sw Spain)

Agricultural soils of the Riotinto mining area (Iberian Pyrite Belt) have been studied to assess the degree of pollution by trace elements as a consequence of the extraction and treatment of sulphides. Fifteen soil samples were collected and analysed by ICP-OES and INAA for 51 elements. Chemical analyses showed an As–Cu–Pb–Zn association related with the mineralisation of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Concentrations were 19–994 mg kg⁻¹ for As, 41–4,890 mg kg⁻¹ for Pb, 95–897 mg kg⁻¹ for Zn and of 27–1,160 mg kg⁻¹ for Cu. Most of the samples displayed concentrations of these elements higher than the 90th percentile of the corresponding geological dominium, which suggests an anthropogenic input besides the bedrock influence. Samples collected from sediments were more contaminated than leptosols because they were polluted by leachates or by mining spills coming from the waste rock piles. The weathering of the bedrock is responsible for high concentrations in Co, Cr and Ni, but an anthropogenic input, such as wind-blown dust, seems to be indicative of the high content of As, Cu, Pb and Zn in leptosols. The metal partitioning patterns show that most trace elements are associated with Fe amorphous oxy-hydroxides, or take part of the residual fraction. According to the results obtained, the following mobility sequence is proposed for major and minor elements: Mn, Pb, Cd, > Zn, Cu > Ni > As > Fe > Cr. The high mobility of Pb, Cu and Zn involve an environmental risk in this area, even in soils where the concentrations are not so high.     

Trace elements in groundwater as indicators of anthropogenic impact

The distribution of several minor and trace elements mainly in fresh (dominating TDS 160–400 mg/l) groundwater of Latvia have been investigated by the Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) technique. An evaluation of results of about 700 analyses leads to the conclusion that concentrations of these elements is influenced by: pH–Eh conditions, groundwater residence time and diffuse contamination, whereas the role of water-bearing sediments is of secondary importance. Most trace elements are characterised by low mobility under alkaline and reducing conditions; concentrations in confined aquifers are much smaller than the Maximum Permissible Values for drinking water. The strongest anomalies of REE, Al and P were found in shallow groundwater around the former agrochemical storehouses.     

Regional distribution pattern of groundwater heavy metals resulting from agricultural activities

Contaminations of groundwater by heavy metals due to agricultural activities are growing recently. The objective of this study was to evaluate and map regional patterns of heavy metals (Cd, Zn and Cu) in groundwater on a plain with high agricultural activities. The study was conducted to investigate the concentration of heavy metals and distribution in groundwater in regions of Shush Danial and Andimeshk aquifers in the southern part of Iran. Presently, groundwater is the only appropriate and widely used source of drinking water for rural and urban communities in this region. The region covers an area of 1,100 km² between the Dez and Karkhe rivers, which lead to the Persian Gulf. For this study, the region was divided into four sub-regions A, B, C and D. Additionally, 168 groundwater samples were collected from 42 water wells during the earlier months of 2004. The flame atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS-Flame) was used to measure the concentration of heavy metals in water samples and the Surfer software was used for determination of the contour map of metal distribution. The results demonstrated that in all of the samples, Cd and Zn concentrations were below the EPA MCLG and EPA secondary standard, respectively. However, the Cu contents of 4.8 % of all samples were higher than EPA MCL. It is also indicated that the concentrations of metals were more pronounced at the southern part of the studied region than at the others. The analysis of fertilizers applied for agricultural activities at this region also indicated that a great majority of the above-mentioned heavy metals were discharged into the environment. Absence of confining layers, proximity to land surface, excess agricultural activities in the southern part and groundwater flow direction that is generally from the north to the southern parts in this area make the southern region of the Shush plain especially vulnerable to pollution by heavy metals than by other contaminants.     

Participation in payments for ecosystem services: Case studies from the Lacandon rainforest, Mexico

Understanding people’s willingness to participate in projects and programmes of payments for ecosystem services (PES) has not been a key analytical concern of the scholarly literature around this new field of environmental policy and practice. This paper analyses participation in four communities benefiting from payments for biodiversity and carbon fixation in Mexico, and contrasts the results for each case with neighbouring communities that do not receive payments. We take a holistic approach that accounts for procedural rules, actors’ interactions, institutions and values, and individuals’ characteristics. We show that the nature of PES rules and the effectiveness of communication with government officers and NGOs influence resource managers’ ability and willingness to participate. We highlight community size, resource managers’ ability to diversify livelihood activities and local perspectives on the conservation of common forests, particularly sacred values and intergenerational concerns on forest conservation, as critical participation drivers. This analysis provides insights on why and how these new institutions may be attractive for some resource managers and permits to draw some recommendations for the future design of PES projects and programmes.     

Background concentrations of elements in surface soils and their changes as affected by agriculture use in the desert-oasis ecotone in the middle of Heihe River Basin,North-west China

The concentrations of twenty four chemical elements in the surface layer of natural desert soils and the cultivated farmland soils were measured at a desert-oasis ecotone in the middle of Heihe river basin, north-west China. Background values were estimated for (a) major elements (Si 335.3 g kg^− 1, Al 49.4 g kg^− 1, Fe 19.1 g kg^− 1, Ca 29.4 g kg^− 1, Mg 8.9 g kg^− 1, K 20.1 g kg^− 1, Na 17.5 g kg^− 1 and P 0.338 g kg^− 1), (b) heavy metals and non-metals (Cr 55.8 mg kg^− 1, Mn 404.8 mg kg^− 1, Ni 17.7 mg kg^− 1, Cu 5.1 mg kg^− 1, Zn 33.7 mg kg^− 1, Pb 15.5 mg kg^− 1 and As 5.2 mg kg^− 1) and (c) other trace elements (Ti 2.0 mg kg^− 1, V 55.3 mg kg^− 1, Co 5.7 mg kg^− 1, Rb 82.4 mg kg^− 1, Sr 232.9 mg kg^− 1, Y 14.7 mg kg^− 1, Zr 194.9 mg kg^− 1, Nb 7.8 mg kg^− 1 and Ba 720.6 mg kg^− 1). After natural desert soil was cultivated for agricultural use, significant changes in element concentrations occurred under tillage, irrigation and fertilisation management. Compared to natural soil, the for the levels of Si, K, Na, Sr, Zr and Ba decreased, and no changes were observed for Rb, while the values of the other 17 elements increase in agricultural soil from 1.2 to 3.5 times. However, their absolute concentrations are still low, suggesting that the arable soil in this region remains comparatively a clean soil. The increased silt, clay and organic carbon content, under long-term irrigation, enriched the fine-grained materials, and application of fertilisers and manure contributed to the accumulation of most elements in arable soil. The accumulation of elements in agricultural soil increased with increasing cultivation years and extent of soil development.     

1999年渤海浮游植物生物量的数值模拟

以浮游植物量、浮游动物量、营养盐浓度 (包括无机氮和无机磷 )以及碎屑量为生态变量 ,在HAMSOM水动力学模式的基础上构建了 1个三维浮游生态动力学NPZD模型。采用此模型研究了渤海 1999年浮游植物量和初级生产力的变化情况 ,模拟结果与实测基本相符。模拟结果表明 :1999年渤海浮游植物量的变化大致呈双峰分布 ,春季水华出现在4,5月份 ,秋季水华出现在 9,10月份 ;受透明度和局地水深的影响 ,渤海湾和辽东湾北部浮游植物量的年变化呈夏季大、冬季小的单峰分布。 1999年渤海不同海区初级生产力的变化特征是 :除莱州湾一年中有春、夏 2个峰值外 ,其它 3个海区都是夏季高、冬季低的单峰分布 ;1999年整个渤海年平均的初级生产力为 2 5 7mgC/m2 /d。