“人类世”时代的长江:生命衰减的社会动力

The Yangtze River in the Anthropocene:Social Dynamics of the Decline of Life

以多个明星物种和大量鱼类的灭绝或濒临灭绝为标志,长江的生物完整性在最近的十多年间下降到"无鱼"等级,长江生态系统高度碎片化。在人类世的视野里,长江的物种灭绝和生态危机实为20世纪中期开始的全球变化"大加速"的重要组成部分,是诸多人类活动综合作用的结果,体现了"文明的累积效应"——繁忙的黄金水道,密集的梯级电站、工业-城市走廊和岸线占用,以及严重的酷渔滥捕等等,共同挤压了水中生灵的生存空间,造成其种群数量锐减。由于已完成的大开发及其叠加效应足够强大,尽管"共抓大保护,不搞大开发"已成共识、禁渔令也有助于保护少数物种,但对长江生态网络的修复异常艰巨,警惕"长江经济带建设"演变为"边保护、边破坏"至为重要。

Marked by the extinction or near extinction of several star species and a large number of fish,the biological integrity of the Yangtze River has declined to a"fishless"status in the last decade.The ecosystem of the Yangtze River is highly fragmented.In the perspective of the Anthropocene,the extinction of species and the ecological crisis in the Yangtze River are crucial parts of the"Great Acceleration"that began in the mid-20 th century,and are caused by a series of human activities.These phenomena reflect the"cumulative effect of civilization":busy golden waterways,a cluster of cascade hydropower stations,industrial-urban corridors and shoreline occupation as well as severe overfishing,which have combined to squeeze the living space of water creatures and caused a drastic decline in their populations.The pile-up effect of excessive development along the Yangtze River is serious and long-lasting.Although the consensus of"promote well-coordinated environmental conservation and avoid excessive development"has formed and the fishing-ban project has helped to protect a few species,the restoration of the ecology of the Yangtze River is still extremely difficult.Thus,it is crucial to prevent the turning of the"development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt"into a cycle of the"protection and destruction at the same time".