A multidisciplinary multi-scale framework for assessing vulnerabilities to global change

Terrestrial ecosystems provide a number of vital services for people and society, such as food, fibre, water resources, carbon sequestration, and recreation. The future capability of ecosystems to provide these services is determined by changes in socio-economic factors, land use, atmospheric composition, and climate. Most impact assessments do not quantify the vulnerability of ecosystems and ecosystem services under such environmental change. They cannot answer important policy-relevant questions such as 'Which are the main regions or sectors that are most vulnerable to global change?’ 'How do the vulnerabilities of two regions compare?’ 'Which scenario is the least harmful for a sector?’This paper describes a new approach to vulnerability assessment developed by the Advanced Terrestrial Ecosystem Analysis and Modelling (ATEAM) project. Different ecosystem models, covering biodiversity, agriculture, forestry, hydrology, and carbon sequestration are fed with the same Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios based on the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES). Each model gives insights into specific ecosystems, as in traditional impact assessments. Moreover, by integrating the results in a vulnerability assessment, the policy-relevant questions listed above can also be addressed. A statistically derived European environmental stratification forms a key element in the vulnerability assessment. By linking it to other quantitative environmental stratifications, comparisons can be made using data from different assessments and spatial scales.     

岩溶塌陷试验、评估与管理方法研究

岩溶塌陷是我国岩溶区主要地质灾害类型 ,广泛分布在我国广西、贵州、湖南、江西、云南等 2 3个省 (区 )。据初步调查 ,全国有 30 0多个市县共发生过岩溶塌陷 14 0 0例以上 ,塌陷坑总数超过 4× 10 4个 ,有效减轻其影响已成为广大岩溶工作者面临的重要问题。本文以作者近年来完成的项目成果为基础 ,介绍了岩溶塌陷模型试验测试技术、基于GIS的风险评估方法以及信息管理技术 ,最后 ,对岩溶塌陷研究的趋势作了系统分析。     

可持续发展评估指标、方法及应用研究

可持续发展评估指标及方法研究是可持续发展定量评估研究的基础,是实施可持续发展管理的依据,是生态经济学与可持续发展研究的前沿领域和热点问题之一. 在概括介绍可持续发展评估的工具--指标/指数的概念和功能、国际上代表性可持续发展研究机构指标选取的原则的基础上,全面分析归纳了可持续发展指标(体系)的类型及其框架模式. 详细介绍了联合国可持续发展委员会(UNCSD)、经济合作与发展组织(OECD)、世界保护同盟(IUCN)、世界银行等国际上代表性机构的可持续发展系统性指标体系的最新研究进展,并分析了这些系统性指标体系的优缺点. 深入分析了国际上典型的社会发展类、经济发展类、生态环境类可持续发展指标(指数)的研究、开发与实际评估应用的情况. 最后,总结了当前可持续发展指标(体系)研究的特点与趋势.     

基于栅格空间信息定量化的湖南西部地区生态环境综合评价

以湖南西部地区为研究区域,采用遥感影像作为主要数据源,针对区域主要生态问题,利用栅格数据结构为主的数字环境模型,建立了生态环境质量综合评价模型. 对区域生态环境质量的空间分异格局进行了研究,通过将评价结果与数字高程模型迭加分析,研究了生态环境质量的垂直地带性分布规律,探索适合以山高坡陡为主要地貌特征的山区生态评价方法,结果显示,湖南西部地区生态环境综合指数呈正态分布,大部分地区环境质量属一般. 总体环境状况东南部好于西北部,河谷盆地优于山地. 研究表明,利用遥感和地理信息系统技术进行区域生态环境评价,具有数据采集快速、客观,评价和制图自动化,评价结果空间定位精度高,直观性与实用性强等优点.     

四平地区生态地质环境的研究

通过对四平地区生态地质环境的调查，对该区水、土壤、大气、区域稳定性、生态资源、地层条件、放射性、矿藏、地方病、旅游地质及垃圾等进行环境现状综合评价。利用ISODATA模糊聚类分析法对该区的生态地质环境质量进行了分区。并利用面积加权法计算出该区的生态地质环境质量评价结果为中上等水平。     

An Agricultural Land Resource Assessment Study Based on GIS—An Example from Guiyang City

This paper assesses the agricultural land resources of Guiyang City by means of GIS,on the basis of the pressure-state-response model in which soil heavy metal contamination is selected as a pressure indicatror.he results suggest that most of the agricultural land resources are of good quality,However,there are 17.11km^2 dry land and paddy field,which belong to the region of serious heavy metal contamination and are not fit for planting crops.At the same time,the high quality plowland,which is suitable for cultivation,has decreased nearly by 1/3 due to soil heavy metal contamination.These findings may improve our understanding that it is very important to prevent and cure heavy metal contamination of Guiyang City.     

Seismic Hazard for Selected Sites in Greece: A Bayesian Estimate of Seismic Peak Ground Acceleration

A procedure for estimating maximum values of seismic peak ground accelerationat the examined site and quantiles of its probabilistic distribution in a future timeinterval of a given length is considered. The input information for the method areseismic catalog and regression relation between peak seismic acceleration at a givenpoint and magnitude and distance from the site to epicenter (seismic attenuation law).The method is based on Bayesian approach, which simply accounts for influenceof uncertainties of seismic acceleration values. The main assumptions for the method are Poissonian character of seismic events flow and distribution law of Gutenberg-Richter's type. The method is applied to seismic hazard estimation in six selected sitesin Greece.     

The Mount Parnitha (Athens) Earthquake of September 7, 1999: A Disaster Management Perspective

Natural Hazards - Strong earthquakes in the proximity of densely inhabited urban areas pose one ofthe most complicated disaster management situations faced by societies today. Herethe experience...     

Melt loss and the preservation of granulite facies mineral assemblages

The loss of a metamorphic fluid via the partitioning of H₂O into silicate melt at higher metamorphic grade implies that, in the absence of open system behaviour of melt, the amount of H₂O contained within rocks remains constant at temperatures above the solidus. Thus, granulite facies rocks, composed of predominantly anhydrous minerals and a hydrous silicate melt should undergo considerable retrogression to hydrous upper amphibolite facies assemblages on cooling as the melt crystallizes and releases its H₂O. The common occurrence of weakly retrogressed granulite facies assemblages is consistent with substantial melt loss from the majority of granulite facies rocks. Phase diagram modelling of the effects of melt loss in hypothetical aluminous and subaluminous metapelitic compositions shows that the amount of melt that has to be removed from a rock to preserve a granulite facies assemblage varies markedly with rock composition, the number of partial melt loss events and the P–T conditions at which melt loss occurs. In an aluminous metapelite, the removal of nearly all of the melt at temperatures above the breakdown of biotite is required for the preservation of the peak mineral assemblage. In contrast, the proportion of melt loss required to preserve peak assemblages in a subaluminous metapelite is close to half that required for the aluminous metapelite. Thus, if a given proportion of melt is removed from a sequence of metapelitic granulites of varying composition, the degree of preservation of the peak metamorphic assemblage may vary widely.     

Predicting average annual groundwater levels from climatic variables: an empirical model

On the basis of one-dimensional theoretical water flow model, we demonstrate that the groundwater level variation follows a pattern similar to recharge fluctuation, with a time delay that depends on the characteristics of aquifer, recharge pattern as well as the distance between the recharge and observation locations. On the basis of a water budget model and the groundwater flow model, we propose an empirical model that links climatic variables to groundwater level. The empirical model is tested using a partial data set from historical records of water levels from more than 80 wells in a monitoring network for the carbonate rock aquifer, southern Manitoba, Canada. The testing results show that the predicted groundwater levels are very close to the observed ones in most cases. The overall average correlation coefficient between the predicted and observed water levels is 0.92. This proposed empirical statistical model could be used to predict variations in groundwater level in response to different climate scenarios in a climate change impact assessment.