The international legal framework for the management of the global oceans social-ecological system

This paper evaluates the international agreements in place for the protection of the environment and the regulation of human activities taking place in world's oceans and seas. 500 multilateral agreements were reviewed against a framework of reference, grounded on the theoretical approaches of Adaptive Management and Transition Management. According to this framework, oceans complex systems management should: (1) consider the global oceans as a Social-Ecological System (SES); (2) aim to achieve or maintain their ecological resilience; and (3) implement iterative, learning-based management strategies, supported by science-based advice to policy and management. The results show that the present international legal framework for the global oceans does not require countries to adopt an adaptive, complex systems approach for global oceans ecological resilience. Instead, this study supports the perspective of a double fragmentation among international agreements. First, global agreements focus on issue-based objectives for determined human activities, ecological components or anthropogenic pressures. Second, regional agreements have a wider scope, but also a varying level of inclusion of ecological resilience considerations. There is the need to foster the inclusion of such an approach into existing and future international agreements and their implementation, including through soft-law, project-based initiatives at global and regional scales.     

广东孔江湿地生物多样性保护与生态恢复工程

针对广东孔江国家湿地公园出现的库周村民生产生活污染、农业面源污染、植被群落单一等问题,开展湿地生物多样性保护与生态恢复工程,为湿地公园后期建设规划提供依据。     

广东海丰自然保护区湿地现状及保护对策

广东海丰湿地是中国华南亚热带滨海湿地的典型代表,也是南中国海生态系统的重要组成部分,为多种珍稀、濒危鸟类和候鸟提供重要栖息地和迁徙中转站,具有重要的保护价值。在野外湿地资源调查的基础上,阐述了海丰自然保护区湿地类型与特点、湿地动植物资源、湿地利用现状等生态特征,分析了湿地面临的主要威胁,提出湿地生态系统保护与管理的主要对策和措施。     

湿地旅游生态约束机制研究

引入湿地旅游资源"资产化管理"和"生态承载能力"两个概念,通过资源资产化管理厘清湿地生态资源所有权和经营权关系,着眼于源头市场化监管,责任约束;通过生态承载能力监控,将湿地生态旅游开发限制在生态良好可控范围之内,从而形成以生态向好带动旅游开发,以旅游开发促进生态投入的良性均衡形态。     

Groundwater characteristics and climate and ecological evolution in the Badain Jaran Desert in the southwest Mongolian Plateau

The Badain Jaran Desert is the third largest desert in China, covering an area of 50000 km². It lies in Northwest China, where the arid and rainless natural environment has a great impact on the climate, environment, and human living conditions. Based on the results of 1∶250000 regional hydrogeological surveys and previous researches, this study systematically investigates the circulation characteristics and resource properties of the groundwater as well as the evolution of the climate and ecological environment since the Quaternary in the Badain Jaran Desert by means of geophysical exploration, hydrogeological drilling, hydrogeochemistry, and isotopic tracing. The results are as follows. (1) The groundwater in the Badain Jaran Desert is mainly recharged through the infiltration of local precipitation and has poor renewability. The groundwater recharge in the desert was calculated to be 1.8684×10⁸ m³/a using the water balance method. (2) The Badain Jaran Desert has experienced four humid stages since the Quaternary, namely MIS 13-15, MIS 5, MIS 3, and the Early–Middle Holocene, but the climate in the desert has shown a trend towards aridity overall. The average annual temperature in the Badain Jaran Desert has significantly increased in the past 50 years. In detail, it has increased by about 2.5°C, with a higher rate in the south than in the north. Meanwhile, the precipitation amount has shown high spatial variability and the climate has shown a warming-drying trend in the past 50 years. (3) The lakes in the hinterland of the Badain Jaran Desert continuously shrank during 1973–2015. However, the vegetation communities maintained a highly natural distribution during 2000–2016, with the vegetation cover has increased overall. Accordingly, the Badain Jaran Desert did not show any notable expansion in that period. This study deepens the understanding of groundwater circulation and the climate and ecological evolution in the Badain Jaran Desert. It will provide a scientific basis for the rational exploitation of the groundwater resources and the ecological protection and restoration in the Badain Jaran Desert.© 2021 China Geology Editorial Office.     

长江源区生态及灾害地质调查与防治对策

简述了长江源区自然地理和生态地质环境特征,分析了环境恶化的主要原因及防治对策。     

Predicting suitable habitat for the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa (Scleractinia)

Ecological-niche factor analysis (ENFA) was applied to the reef framework-forming cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa. The environmental tolerances of this species were assessed using readily available oceanographic data, including physical, chemical, and biological variables. L. pertusa was found at mean depths of 468 and 480 m on the regional and global scales and occupied a niche that included higher than average current speed and productivity, supporting the theory that their limited food supply is locally enhanced by currents. Most records occurred in areas with a salinity of 35, mean temperatures of 6.2–6.7  °C and dissolved oxygen levels of 6.0–6.2 ml l⁻¹. The majority of records were found in areas that were saturated with aragonite but had low concentration of nutrients (silicate, phosphate, and nitrate). Suitable habitat for L. pertusa was predicted using ENFA on a global and a regional scale that incorporated the north-east Atlantic Ocean. Regional prediction was reliable due to numerous presence points throughout the area, whereas global prediction was less reliable due to the paucity of presence data outside of the north-east Atlantic. However, the species niche was supported at each spatial scale. Predicted maps at the global scale reinforced the general consensus that the North Atlantic Ocean is a key region in the worldwide distribution of L. pertusa. Predictive modelling is an approach that can be applied to cold-water coral species to locate areas of suitable habitat for further study. It may also prove a useful tool to assist spatial planning of offshore marine protected areas. However, issues with eco-geographical datasets, including their coarse resolution and limited geographical coverage, currently restrict the scope of this approach.     

格尔木河水质现状及生态风险评估

为了解经济迅速发展背景下格尔木河流域水体中痕量元素分布、水环境质量现状和生态风险,对格尔木河9个采样点水样21种痕量元素的分布及相关性进行了分析,以Cu、Zn、Hg、Cd、Cr和Pb为目标重金属,评估了格尔木河水质现状及生态风险。结果表明:重金属Pb浓度在所有水样中均低于检出限,其它痕量元素浓度在0.001(Cd)～6297.013(Sr)μg·L~(-1)范围变化。根据相关性分析,推测格尔木河水体中Li、Sc、Ti、V、Cu、Ge、Rb、Sr、Mo、Cd来源可能相同。采样点水样6种重金属浓度均达到地表水环境质量I类的标准。采用5种方法评价了格尔木河水质现状,研究区水质处于无污染的理想状态。格尔木河重金属引发的潜在生态风险处于低风险水平(生态风险指数变化范围为0.35～0.68)。     

Ecological Worldview as the Central Component of Environmental Concern: Clarifying the Role of the NEP

This study examines whether an ecological worldview—operationalized by the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale--serves as the source of coherence of Environmental Concern (EC). Using data on four samples from the 1992 Gallup “Health of the Planet” Survey and the 2003 and 2010 Chinese General Social Surveys, we found that in all samples not only is the NEP the most powerful predictor of EC, but it also mediates the effects of socio-demographic variables on EC as hypothesized. The results confirm that the NEP is the source of coherence of EC, making it a meaningful construct.     

厦门下潭尾红树林修复区景观类型与鸟类群落动态

2018年10月—2019年9月调查厦门下潭尾红树林修复区鸟类群落变化,利用遥感图像解译红树林修复区景观格局,为修复区后续景观格局优化与鸟类保护提供技术支持。结果显示:修复区鸟类共有26科62种,鹭类(8种2047只)与鸻鹬类(16种786只)种类及数量较多。春季鸟类种数及数量最多,其中3月鸟类种数最多25种,5月数量最多828只。下潭尾修复区景观格局在低潮位与高潮位存在周期性变化,不同景观鸟类种类及数量有较大差异;鸻鹬类在低潮位时的种类较多但数量较少,高潮位时仅分布于高潮裸露湿地和建设用地。建议修复区增加鸻鹬类高潮停息的滩涂湿地及游禽类生活需要的生态塘区,进一步提高水鸟多样性。