The endangered giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is endemic to th e mountains of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces in China. The species had nu mbered over 2000 animals in early 1970s, but declined to no more th...The endangered giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is endemic to th e mountains of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces in China. The species had nu mbered over 2000 animals in early 1970s, but declined to no more than 1,000 anim als fragmented into perhaps 32 subpopulations in late 1990s as the result of num erous detrimental forces such as habitat shrinking, poaching and bamboo flowerin g. The mass flowering and followed die-off of bamboo played key roles in the dec lination of panda population in the past three decades. It trigged the starvatio n and following high mortality of giant pandas in 1970s over Min Mountains and i n 1980s across Qionglai Mountains in Sichuan Province. The situation of survivor ship is made worse by the fact that the panda habitat is fragmented into many sm all 'islands', each containing only a few pandas. Such small, isolated panda pop ulations are rendered even more vulnerable to extinction form threats such as ha bitat degradation, natural disaster, disease, and the deleterious effects of inb reeding. So restoring the panda habitat and reintroduction pandas to their histo rical habitat might be an important issue for protecting the giant panda in wild .展开更多
Serious soil erosion has made the eco-environment fragile in the Loess Plateau. Based on the 10-year data observed from 1989 to 1998 in the Ziwuling Survey Station in loess hilly region, the eco-environment change and...Serious soil erosion has made the eco-environment fragile in the Loess Plateau. Based on the 10-year data observed from 1989 to 1998 in the Ziwuling Survey Station in loess hilly region, the eco-environment change and soil erosion process in reclaimed forestland were studied in this paper. The results showed that the intensity of man-made soil erosion caused by forestland reclamation was 1000 times more than that of the natural erosion. From the analysis of soil physical and mechanical properties, in the 10th year after forestland was reclaimed, the clay content and physical clay content decreased 2.74 percentage point and 3.01 percentage point respectively, the >0.25mm waterstable aggregate content decreased 31.59 percentage point, the soil bulk density increased and soil shear strength decreased, all of which were easier to cause soil erosion. The correlation analysis showed that >0.25mm waterstable aggregate content was the key factor affecting soil erosion, and the secondary factors were soil coarse grain and soil shear strength. The relation between the >0.25mm waterstable aggregate content, the soil sheer strength and the soil erosion intensity were analyzed, which showed that the first year and the seventh erosion year were the turn years of the soil erosion intensity after the forestland was reclaimed, revealed that the change of eco-environment was the main cause to accelerate soil erosion, and the worse environment caused soil erosion to be serious rapidly.展开更多
The periphery of oasis plays an important role in mutual transformation between desert and oasis. Vegetation is an important part in the ecosystem and it is an important index indicating certain landscape, Based on se...The periphery of oasis plays an important role in mutual transformation between desert and oasis. Vegetation is an important part in the ecosystem and it is an important index indicating certain landscape, Based on several times field investigation, this paper attaches importance to the feasible measures for vegetation restoration according to the current condition of study area - Qira County of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, In order to improve die local ecological environment, people lived in Qira County should work bard to protect their homehind and reduce the degree of sandstorm, More protection forest should be established along with other ecological techniques. Results derived from this study contribute largely to the ecological environmental protection of oasis.展开更多
Monitoring forest disturbances is important for understanding changes in ecosystems. The 1986 Typhoon Vera was a serious disturbance that severely impacted the forest ecosystems of Changbai Mountain National Nature Re...Monitoring forest disturbances is important for understanding changes in ecosystems. The 1986 Typhoon Vera was a serious disturbance that severely impacted the forest ecosystems of Changbai Mountain National Nature Reserve. Although the typhoon disturbance occurred more than two decades ago, the effects of the typhoon still remain within the study area. Few studies have focused on mapping and assessing disturbances across broad spatial and temporal scales. For this study, we first generated a map of forest composition prior to the typhoon disturbance, which served as a baseline data for the extraction of disturbed area. Then, the Disturbance Index(DI) method was tested for mapping the extent and magnitude of disturbance in the study area by applying a Tasseled Cap transformation to the Landsat imagery. The Landsatbased DI method estimated that an area of 13,764.78 ha of forest was disturbed by the typhoon. Based on visual assessments, these results correspond closely with the reference map derived from ground surveys. These results also revealed the influence of local topographic features on the distribution of windthrow areas. Windthrow areas were more pronounced inareas with elevations ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 m, slopes of less than 10 degrees, and southwestern to northwestern aspects. In addition, the relatively long(25 years) post-typhoon recovery period assessed by this study provided a more comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of forest recovery processes over time. Windthrow areas did not recover immediately after the typhoon, likely due to forest management practices enacted at the time. So far, forest recovery has proceeded more rapidly at elevations below 1,400 m, particularly on western slopes within the study area. Finally, a time series of DI values within the study period suggests a secondary disturbance may have occurred between 2000 and 2001.展开更多
To build the artificial forest ecosystem is the major eco-economic development model in the watershed of Miyun Reservoir. It is very important to evaluate the benefits of those ecosystems. Emergy theories are very hel...To build the artificial forest ecosystem is the major eco-economic development model in the watershed of Miyun Reservoir. It is very important to evaluate the benefits of those ecosystems. Emergy theories are very helpful for us to establish a science-based assessment framework. Emergy evaluation of the artificial forest ecosystems in the watershed of Miyun Reservoir is used to asses the relative values of several ecological functions (sometimes called ecosystem services) and main ecosystem storages (sometimes called natural capital). The main driving energies, internal processes and storages are evaluated. The main functions, including transpiration, GPP and infiltration, are evaluated, which are 609em$/ha/yr, 6,245em$/ha/yr and 340em$/ha/yr respectively. The total values of major environmental services are 4,683em$/ha/yr in the artificial forest ecosystem. The main storages of natural capital including live biomass, soil moisture, organic matter, underground water and landform are estimated, which are 112,028em$/ha, 9em$/ha, 40,718em$/ha, 34em$/ha and 6,400,514em$/ha respectively. The largest value is landform, which accounts for 97.7% of these calculated total emdollar values. The concept of replacement value is explored using the emergy values of both ecosystem services and natural capital. The total calculated replacement values are 302,160em$/ha.展开更多
Direct use values of forest ecosystem have been recognized apparently due toits easy and convenient assessment, while indirect use values are usually neglected because they arenot easy to be recognized by the public. ...Direct use values of forest ecosystem have been recognized apparently due toits easy and convenient assessment, while indirect use values are usually neglected because they arenot easy to be recognized by the public. For a nature reserve with forest ecosystem, the mostimportant economic values are the indirect use values, which provide human beings and other livingthings with beneficial services through ecological processes and functions. In this case study, aquantifying framework to estimate the annual indirect use values of forest ecosystem has beenestablished in Yaoluoping National Nature Reserve based on alternative cost method and opportunitycost method. The ecological functions assessed in the study relate to six aspects: soil protection,water conservation, CO_2 fixation, nutrient cycling, pollutant decomposition and disease and pestcontrol. These ecological functions provide an economic value of 86.1xl0~6 yuan (RMB) per year(US$10.37xl0~6), which is 25 times higher than the opportunity cost for regular timber production.This study can contribute to the monetary assessment of indirect use values of forest biodiversityand to the conservation and sustainable use of nature reserves.展开更多
Due to historic reasons, there are several human settlements in nature reserves and national parks, which may constitute a threat to biodiversity. Establishment of nature reserves may however generate constraints for ...Due to historic reasons, there are several human settlements in nature reserves and national parks, which may constitute a threat to biodiversity. Establishment of nature reserves may however generate constraints for development of local communities residing in these reserves. The village ecosystem of Zhuanjinglou Village in Wolong Nature Reserve includes population, farming and livestock (domestic and alpine) and forest ecosystem. An emergy analysis of agro-ecosystem (including the farming and livestock ecosystem) and energy consumption in Zhuanjinglou Village indicates that livestock ecosystem plays an important role in village ecosystem, which may be the source of great pressure on the state of the local environment. The increasing ratio of electricity in energy consumption may play a positive role for environmental conservation. Despite some successful experiences, there are some remaining issues that need to be addressed in the ecological rehabilitation of the village ecosystem.展开更多
Estonian Forestry Development Programme set in 2003 ambitious goal that area of strictly protected forests should increase at least to 10% from total forest area in Estonia before 2010 by expanding the area of old-gro...Estonian Forestry Development Programme set in 2003 ambitious goal that area of strictly protected forests should increase at least to 10% from total forest area in Estonia before 2010 by expanding the area of old-growth under protection, improving the representativeness of conservation areas and establishment of large conservation sites. Inventory of forests was carried out on existing and possible new conservation areas within the Estonian Forest Conservation Area Network project (EFCAN) in 1999-2001. EFCAN project had remarkable results. The share of strictly protected forests has increased to 7.8% of total forest area by 2009 and the network of conservation areas is quite well covering all forest ecosystems in Estonia. Several selected areas are still not protected for different reasons. These areas should still be considered for protection as the areas may lose their conservation value. Several forest types (meso-eutrophic, eutrophic boreo-nemoral and eutrophic paludifying forests) should have larger area for conservation and large disturbance areas (wind damage, forest fire) should be also included into the network.展开更多
文摘The endangered giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is endemic to th e mountains of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces in China. The species had nu mbered over 2000 animals in early 1970s, but declined to no more than 1,000 anim als fragmented into perhaps 32 subpopulations in late 1990s as the result of num erous detrimental forces such as habitat shrinking, poaching and bamboo flowerin g. The mass flowering and followed die-off of bamboo played key roles in the dec lination of panda population in the past three decades. It trigged the starvatio n and following high mortality of giant pandas in 1970s over Min Mountains and i n 1980s across Qionglai Mountains in Sichuan Province. The situation of survivor ship is made worse by the fact that the panda habitat is fragmented into many sm all 'islands', each containing only a few pandas. Such small, isolated panda pop ulations are rendered even more vulnerable to extinction form threats such as ha bitat degradation, natural disaster, disease, and the deleterious effects of inb reeding. So restoring the panda habitat and reintroduction pandas to their histo rical habitat might be an important issue for protecting the giant panda in wild .
文摘Serious soil erosion has made the eco-environment fragile in the Loess Plateau. Based on the 10-year data observed from 1989 to 1998 in the Ziwuling Survey Station in loess hilly region, the eco-environment change and soil erosion process in reclaimed forestland were studied in this paper. The results showed that the intensity of man-made soil erosion caused by forestland reclamation was 1000 times more than that of the natural erosion. From the analysis of soil physical and mechanical properties, in the 10th year after forestland was reclaimed, the clay content and physical clay content decreased 2.74 percentage point and 3.01 percentage point respectively, the >0.25mm waterstable aggregate content decreased 31.59 percentage point, the soil bulk density increased and soil shear strength decreased, all of which were easier to cause soil erosion. The correlation analysis showed that >0.25mm waterstable aggregate content was the key factor affecting soil erosion, and the secondary factors were soil coarse grain and soil shear strength. The relation between the >0.25mm waterstable aggregate content, the soil sheer strength and the soil erosion intensity were analyzed, which showed that the first year and the seventh erosion year were the turn years of the soil erosion intensity after the forestland was reclaimed, revealed that the change of eco-environment was the main cause to accelerate soil erosion, and the worse environment caused soil erosion to be serious rapidly.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.40261006) West Light Foundation of The Chinese Academy of Science, Xinjiang Universities Scientific Research Plan (Grant No. XJEDU2004S03, XJEDU2005107) Doctoral Start Fund of Xinjiang University.
文摘The periphery of oasis plays an important role in mutual transformation between desert and oasis. Vegetation is an important part in the ecosystem and it is an important index indicating certain landscape, Based on several times field investigation, this paper attaches importance to the feasible measures for vegetation restoration according to the current condition of study area - Qira County of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, In order to improve die local ecological environment, people lived in Qira County should work bard to protect their homehind and reduce the degree of sandstorm, More protection forest should be established along with other ecological techniques. Results derived from this study contribute largely to the ecological environmental protection of oasis.
基金sponsored by the "State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System" and the "Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities" (No. 11SSXT134)
文摘Monitoring forest disturbances is important for understanding changes in ecosystems. The 1986 Typhoon Vera was a serious disturbance that severely impacted the forest ecosystems of Changbai Mountain National Nature Reserve. Although the typhoon disturbance occurred more than two decades ago, the effects of the typhoon still remain within the study area. Few studies have focused on mapping and assessing disturbances across broad spatial and temporal scales. For this study, we first generated a map of forest composition prior to the typhoon disturbance, which served as a baseline data for the extraction of disturbed area. Then, the Disturbance Index(DI) method was tested for mapping the extent and magnitude of disturbance in the study area by applying a Tasseled Cap transformation to the Landsat imagery. The Landsatbased DI method estimated that an area of 13,764.78 ha of forest was disturbed by the typhoon. Based on visual assessments, these results correspond closely with the reference map derived from ground surveys. These results also revealed the influence of local topographic features on the distribution of windthrow areas. Windthrow areas were more pronounced inareas with elevations ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 m, slopes of less than 10 degrees, and southwestern to northwestern aspects. In addition, the relatively long(25 years) post-typhoon recovery period assessed by this study provided a more comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of forest recovery processes over time. Windthrow areas did not recover immediately after the typhoon, likely due to forest management practices enacted at the time. So far, forest recovery has proceeded more rapidly at elevations below 1,400 m, particularly on western slopes within the study area. Finally, a time series of DI values within the study period suggests a secondary disturbance may have occurred between 2000 and 2001.
文摘To build the artificial forest ecosystem is the major eco-economic development model in the watershed of Miyun Reservoir. It is very important to evaluate the benefits of those ecosystems. Emergy theories are very helpful for us to establish a science-based assessment framework. Emergy evaluation of the artificial forest ecosystems in the watershed of Miyun Reservoir is used to asses the relative values of several ecological functions (sometimes called ecosystem services) and main ecosystem storages (sometimes called natural capital). The main driving energies, internal processes and storages are evaluated. The main functions, including transpiration, GPP and infiltration, are evaluated, which are 609em$/ha/yr, 6,245em$/ha/yr and 340em$/ha/yr respectively. The total values of major environmental services are 4,683em$/ha/yr in the artificial forest ecosystem. The main storages of natural capital including live biomass, soil moisture, organic matter, underground water and landform are estimated, which are 112,028em$/ha, 9em$/ha, 40,718em$/ha, 34em$/ha and 6,400,514em$/ha respectively. The largest value is landform, which accounts for 97.7% of these calculated total emdollar values. The concept of replacement value is explored using the emergy values of both ecosystem services and natural capital. The total calculated replacement values are 302,160em$/ha.
文摘Direct use values of forest ecosystem have been recognized apparently due toits easy and convenient assessment, while indirect use values are usually neglected because they arenot easy to be recognized by the public. For a nature reserve with forest ecosystem, the mostimportant economic values are the indirect use values, which provide human beings and other livingthings with beneficial services through ecological processes and functions. In this case study, aquantifying framework to estimate the annual indirect use values of forest ecosystem has beenestablished in Yaoluoping National Nature Reserve based on alternative cost method and opportunitycost method. The ecological functions assessed in the study relate to six aspects: soil protection,water conservation, CO_2 fixation, nutrient cycling, pollutant decomposition and disease and pestcontrol. These ecological functions provide an economic value of 86.1xl0~6 yuan (RMB) per year(US$10.37xl0~6), which is 25 times higher than the opportunity cost for regular timber production.This study can contribute to the monetary assessment of indirect use values of forest biodiversityand to the conservation and sustainable use of nature reserves.
基金part of a project funded by "China Chengzhen New countryside Reconstruction Studies Program of Sichuan University" (Grant No.2007-03)
文摘Due to historic reasons, there are several human settlements in nature reserves and national parks, which may constitute a threat to biodiversity. Establishment of nature reserves may however generate constraints for development of local communities residing in these reserves. The village ecosystem of Zhuanjinglou Village in Wolong Nature Reserve includes population, farming and livestock (domestic and alpine) and forest ecosystem. An emergy analysis of agro-ecosystem (including the farming and livestock ecosystem) and energy consumption in Zhuanjinglou Village indicates that livestock ecosystem plays an important role in village ecosystem, which may be the source of great pressure on the state of the local environment. The increasing ratio of electricity in energy consumption may play a positive role for environmental conservation. Despite some successful experiences, there are some remaining issues that need to be addressed in the ecological rehabilitation of the village ecosystem.
基金This study was supported by the Estonian Science Foundation and the Estonian Ministry of Environment.
文摘Estonian Forestry Development Programme set in 2003 ambitious goal that area of strictly protected forests should increase at least to 10% from total forest area in Estonia before 2010 by expanding the area of old-growth under protection, improving the representativeness of conservation areas and establishment of large conservation sites. Inventory of forests was carried out on existing and possible new conservation areas within the Estonian Forest Conservation Area Network project (EFCAN) in 1999-2001. EFCAN project had remarkable results. The share of strictly protected forests has increased to 7.8% of total forest area by 2009 and the network of conservation areas is quite well covering all forest ecosystems in Estonia. Several selected areas are still not protected for different reasons. These areas should still be considered for protection as the areas may lose their conservation value. Several forest types (meso-eutrophic, eutrophic boreo-nemoral and eutrophic paludifying forests) should have larger area for conservation and large disturbance areas (wind damage, forest fire) should be also included into the network.