Agricultural impacts on ecosystem functioning in temperate areas of North and South America

Land use has a large impact on ecosystem functioning, though evidences of these impacts at the regional scale are scarce. The objective of this paper was to analyze the impacts of agricultural land use on ecosystem functioning (radiation interception and carbon uptake) in temperate areas of North and South America. From land cover maps generated using high-resolution satellite images we selected sites dominated by row crops (RC), small grain crops (SG), pastures (PA), and rangelands (RA) in the Central Plains of USA and the Pampas of Argentina. These two regions share climatic characteristics and the agricultural conditions (crop types) are also very similar. Both areas were originally dominated by temperate grasslands. In these sites we extracted the temporal series of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from the NOAA satellites for the period 1989–1998 and calculated the mean seasonal NDVI curve for each site. Additionally, we calculated the mean annual NDVI, the maximum NDVI, the date of the year when the max NDVI was recorded and the interannual variability of these three attributes. We compared the mean values of each NDVI-derived attribute between land cover types and between continents. The NDVI seasonal patterns for each land cover type were roughly similar between the Central Plains and the Pampas during the growing season. The largest differences were observed during the winter and spring, when the NDVI of all land cover types in the Central Plains remained at lower values than in the Pampas. This was probably caused by the high annual thermal amplitude in the Central Plains that results in a much more restricted growing season. As a result of these differences in the shape of the NDVI curve, the mean annual NDVI in the Central Plains was lower than in the Pampas for all land cover types but the maximum NDVI did not differ importantly. In both regions, row crops delayed the date of the NDVI peak, small grain crops advanced it and pastures did not change it importantly, compared with rangelands. The interannual variability of the NDVI attributes was higher for small grains than for row crops in both regions. However, small grains crops were consistently more variable between years in the Central Plains than in the Pampas. The opposite occurred with pastures and rangelands, which were more variable in the Pampas than in the Central Plains. This paper confirms and generalizes previous findings that showed important imprints of land use on ecosystem functioning in temperate ecosystems. Our results support the idea that the changes in land cover that have occurred in the Central Plains and the Pampas leaded to similar changes in the way that ecosystems absorb solar radiation and in the patterns of carbon uptake.     

Simulation of coupled pelagic-benthic ecosystem of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass

A one-dimensional coupled pelagic-benthic box model for the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass （YSCWM） is developed. The model is divided into three boxes vertically according to the depths of thermocline and euphotic layer. It simulates well the oligotrophic shelf ecosystem of the YSCWM considering effects of nutrients deposition and microbial loop. Main features of vertical structure of various variables in ecosystem of the YSCWM were captured and seasonal variability of the ecosystem was well reconstructed. Calculation shows that the contribution of microbial loop to the zooplankton can reach up to 60%. Besides, input of inorganic nutrients from atmospheric deposition is an important mechanism of production in upper layer of the YSCWM when stratified.     

Resource Flows of Villages with Contrasting Lifestyles in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Central Himalaya, India

Resource use efficiency analyses of village ecosystem are necessary for effective and efficient planning of resource utilization. This paper deals with economic and energy input-output analyses of different components of village ecosystem in representative buffer zone villages, which are practicing transhumance and settled way of lifestyles in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve （NDBR） of Garhwal Himalaya. While the villages practicing transhumance used various natural resources spatially segregated,the villages practicing settled way of lifestyle have to manage resources from a limited spatial area through rotation and varied extraction intensities. Forests subsidized the production activity in both type of villages and the per capita resource extractions were found to be greater in tran~humance village than settled village. Though crops provided maximum energy, in terms of economic criteria, animal husbandry played important role in both settled and transhumance villages. As villages representing both the situations showed different ways of adjustments to the conservation oriented land use changes, management authority needs to address the eco-development plans fulfilling the aspirations of all people traditionally using the resources of the Reserve to reduce the conflicts and encourage their participation in the conservation of the area.     

中国区域土地利用/覆被变化对陆地碳收支的影响

准确估计土地利用/覆被变化（LUCC）对陆地生态系统碳收支的影响已成为当前全球变化和全球碳循环研究的重点内容。本文通过文献调研和数据的整合分析方法总结讨论了近年来中国区域LUCC时空特征及其对陆地碳收支影响,为合理评价中国区域陆地碳平衡以及确定未来研究发展方向提供参考。已有大量研究对近年来中国区域LUCC主要特征进行了探讨,并分别利用卫星遥感方法和IPCC清单法对中国区域陆地碳源汇影响进行了评估。结果表明,目前全国土地利用活动,特别是农林活动正对陆地生态系统碳收支产生了比较显著的积极作用,但基于以上两种方法的研究结论之间差异很大,反映出中国LUCC导致陆地碳收支变化的评估结果仍存在着较大的不确定性。通过分析认为,中国未来的研究工作应着重于发展和利用基于土地利用相互转化面积的计量方法,以提高对中国区域LUCC导致陆地碳收支变化评估的准确性。     

基于光释光测年研究青海湖三种沼泽湿地的发育及沉积速率

近百年来由于受气候暖干化、青海湖湖体水位下降和周围草地退化及沙化趋势加剧等生态环境变化,加速了湿地环境变迁的生态过程。本研究在青海湖北岸地区选取三种典型沼泽湿地(藏嵩草kobresia ti-betica、华扁穗草Blysmus sinocompressus、盐地凤毛菊Saussurea salsa),建立地层的年代序列,计算得到每一测年段内的沉积速率,结合前人研究的历史气候变化,分析湿地形成的历史背景,初步揭示三种沼泽湿地的发育和沉积规律与全球变化的耦合性。结果表明光释光测得的三种沼泽湿地其发育时期各不相同,华扁穗草沼泽湿地发育于8.436±0.6 ka,藏嵩草沼泽湿地发育于2.058±0.11 ka,盐地凤毛菊沼泽湿地发育于1.143±0.20 ka;从整个剖面的平均沉积速率来看盐地凤毛菊湿地沉积最快(0.63 mm/a),藏嵩草湿地次之(0.39 mm/a),华扁穗湿地最慢(0.09 mm/a)。三种沼泽湿地主要在气候由暖干向湿润期转变时形成,自形成以来由于受到全球变化和人类因素的影响,沉积并非随时间呈线性关系发展。     

杭州苕溪滩涂湿地水质净化技术

苕溪位于杭州市余杭区,是区域内的一、二类饮用水源重要保护地,余杭区及杭州部分城区数百万居民的饮用水以及西溪湿地的水源都来自苕溪。阐明了苕溪水质污染原因,分析了利用湿地滩涂净化苕溪水质的可行性及方法。     

辽河三角洲湿地生态服务功能价值评估研究

采用国际通用的市场价值法、成本法、影子工程法和替代法,对辽河三角洲湿地服务功能价值进行评估研究,诠释了保护湿地资源的重大意义。     

闽江河口湿地自然保护区生态系统服务价值评价

研究运用生态经济学和资源环境经济学等有关理论和研究方法,利用前人已有调查资料,对闽江河口湿地自然保护区生态系统服务价值做了较全面的评价,拟为保护湿地和公共决策提供科学依据。闽江河口湿地自然保护区生态系统服务价值为4966.1万元/a。按照价值量大小排序为:调节气候价值>文化载体价值>保护生物多样性价值>提供产品价值。     

翠湖湿地公园水生植物资源及其保护与管理

翠湖湿地公园是北京市唯一一家国家级城市湿地公园。2009-2012年水生植物资源调查结果显示:翠湖湿地公园有水生植物52种,隶属于24科37属;其中挺水植物物种最多,其次是沉水植物和浮叶植物,漂浮植物种类最少。在这些水生植物中,不仅包括北方湿地的典型植物物种,而且还具有重点保护的珍贵稀有物种,如莲、芡实、茭白、花蔺、黑三棱等,以及急需得到保护的狸藻和水鳖。根据湿地植物类型应采取相应的管理和保护措施,保持翠湖湿地公园生态系统的健康。     

北京翠湖湿地维管束植物多样性及保护对策

结合北京地区湿地植物相关研究和翠湖湿地维管束植物调查结果,对翠湖湿地的维管束植物进行分类、整理和分析。结果显示:翠湖湿地有维管束植物306种,隶属76科228属,占北京市维管束植物总数的17.1%。翠湖湿地分布有多种国家级和北京市级重点保护野生植物,如野大豆Glycine soja、芡实Euryale ferox、茭白Zizania latifolia、花蔺Butomus umbellatus等。翠湖湿地还统计到外来和入侵植物共计13种,如豚草Ambrosia artemisiifolia、凤眼莲Eichhornia crassipes等。翠湖湿地维管束植物多样性丰富,需加强植物多样性保护和管理以及科普教育。