As natural ecosystems provide the material basis and fundamental support for regional sustainable devel-opment,the sustainability of natural ecosystems is an important prerequisite and a viable approach for the achiev...As natural ecosystems provide the material basis and fundamental support for regional sustainable devel-opment,the sustainability of natural ecosystems is an important prerequisite and a viable approach for the achievement of regional sustainable development.It is also the final criteria to assess whether sustainable development paradigm is successful.Along with the increasing impacts of human activities on natural ecosystems,the evaluation of regional ecological sustainability has become one of the key issues for research on macro ecology and sustainable development.Based on different unit of indicators,this study firstly groups the evaluation frameworks of regional ecological sus-tainability into three major types:comprehensive index evaluation with dimensionless unit,monetary valuation,and biophysical quantity measurement.We then discuss and compare these types in terms of basic principles,scope of ap-plications,advantages and shortcomings.Finally,drawn on the discussion about characteristics of ecological sustain-ability,we outline the current trend and future directions of regional ecological sustainability evaluation,for instance,transition from sustainable development evaluation to sustainability science,integration of goal-oriented and problem-solving approaches,combination of spatial pattern analysis and ecological sustainability evaluation,and en-hancement of ecological sustainability evaluation at landscape scale.展开更多
This study estimates the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of coffee production in the agroforestry system in the settlements of farmers located in the West of the state of Silo Paulo, Brazil, in the region know...This study estimates the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of coffee production in the agroforestry system in the settlements of farmers located in the West of the state of Silo Paulo, Brazil, in the region known as Pontal of Paranapanema, aiming at the development of programs to support the growth of production sustainable coffee and programs to protect the coffee activity before the possible global climate change. The settlements are located in areas with sandy soils and highly degraded by human action Moreover, the region is considered marginal for the production of coffee, because it is subject to periods of high temperatures, prolonged drought and frost risk, which hinders the sustainability of farms. The environmental and socioeconomic impacts of agroforestry are analyzed through Ambitec-agro system, consisting of a set of indicators aimed at ex-post evaluation of the contribution of technological innovation to environmental, social and economic development of an agricultural activity. The system Ambitec involves： （1） general data collection about the technology; （2） application of questionnaires with adopters selected and insertion of data on impact indicators spreadsheets via platform MS-Excel and to obtain quantitative results and impacts partial indexes and aggregates the impact of technology selected; （3） analysis and interpretation of indices obtained, which vary between -15 and 15. The results indicate that agroforestry management can contribute to： （1） maintaining or increasing the sustainability of traditional coffee-growing regions in the case of sudden climate change; （2） the expansion of the coffee regions now considered unsuitable for the cultivation of coffee; （3） for sustainable regional development.展开更多
基金Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.40635028,40801066)State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology of China (No.2008-KF-04)
文摘As natural ecosystems provide the material basis and fundamental support for regional sustainable devel-opment,the sustainability of natural ecosystems is an important prerequisite and a viable approach for the achievement of regional sustainable development.It is also the final criteria to assess whether sustainable development paradigm is successful.Along with the increasing impacts of human activities on natural ecosystems,the evaluation of regional ecological sustainability has become one of the key issues for research on macro ecology and sustainable development.Based on different unit of indicators,this study firstly groups the evaluation frameworks of regional ecological sus-tainability into three major types:comprehensive index evaluation with dimensionless unit,monetary valuation,and biophysical quantity measurement.We then discuss and compare these types in terms of basic principles,scope of ap-plications,advantages and shortcomings.Finally,drawn on the discussion about characteristics of ecological sustain-ability,we outline the current trend and future directions of regional ecological sustainability evaluation,for instance,transition from sustainable development evaluation to sustainability science,integration of goal-oriented and problem-solving approaches,combination of spatial pattern analysis and ecological sustainability evaluation,and en-hancement of ecological sustainability evaluation at landscape scale.
文摘This study estimates the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of coffee production in the agroforestry system in the settlements of farmers located in the West of the state of Silo Paulo, Brazil, in the region known as Pontal of Paranapanema, aiming at the development of programs to support the growth of production sustainable coffee and programs to protect the coffee activity before the possible global climate change. The settlements are located in areas with sandy soils and highly degraded by human action Moreover, the region is considered marginal for the production of coffee, because it is subject to periods of high temperatures, prolonged drought and frost risk, which hinders the sustainability of farms. The environmental and socioeconomic impacts of agroforestry are analyzed through Ambitec-agro system, consisting of a set of indicators aimed at ex-post evaluation of the contribution of technological innovation to environmental, social and economic development of an agricultural activity. The system Ambitec involves： （1） general data collection about the technology; （2） application of questionnaires with adopters selected and insertion of data on impact indicators spreadsheets via platform MS-Excel and to obtain quantitative results and impacts partial indexes and aggregates the impact of technology selected; （3） analysis and interpretation of indices obtained, which vary between -15 and 15. The results indicate that agroforestry management can contribute to： （1） maintaining or increasing the sustainability of traditional coffee-growing regions in the case of sudden climate change; （2） the expansion of the coffee regions now considered unsuitable for the cultivation of coffee; （3） for sustainable regional development.
