Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) is an incentive-based program established in Canada to pay farmers for their voluntary delivery of ecosystem services (ES). All seven ALUS programs across the country were examined...Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) is an incentive-based program established in Canada to pay farmers for their voluntary delivery of ecosystem services (ES). All seven ALUS programs across the country were examined using a standardized case-study approach based on site visits, reading internal documents, attending program meetings, and engaging in semi-structured interviews with program administrators, participating farmers, and advisory board members. Direct content analysis was used to highlight recurrent themes and emerging lessons in relation to the salient particulars of program physical location, administration framework, delivery of ES, and development and receipt by communities. Our three major findings are: 1) Overall, ALUS has been judged by participants to be a very successful program, whose strength is that it is completely voluntary, non-permanent, and readily adaptable to each location’s environmental conditions, economic funding base, and cultural milieu. 2) One serious shortcoming of all ALUS programs is a general lack of quantifiable data on their ability to increase ES. Instead, environmental benefits are either assumed or based on the idea that the areal extent of enrolled land is the sole measure of its environmental worth. 3) It may be that the social impact of ALUS is its greatest success. In this regard, for farmers, it is the process of engaging in land-use decision making and the recognition of their role as environmental stewards that is a bigger motivation for participating in an ALUS program than the modest financial incentives which they receive.展开更多
In the recent past there has been concern to address the declining trends and deteriorating ecological elements and their functions in productive agricultural landscapes. The efforts to revive the ecological functions...In the recent past there has been concern to address the declining trends and deteriorating ecological elements and their functions in productive agricultural landscapes. The efforts to revive the ecological functions needs multiple scale approach, which include scientific understanding, time dependent restorative activities and incorporation of wisdom of the stakeholders. Conservation initiatives linked to precision farming is an apt mechanism to minimize the loss of natural resources of agricultural landscapes to maintain the complex stabilizers of ecological functions. Such an effort must address the scientific evaluation of the farm as “ecologically sustainable unit” with due consideration to social construct at local to regional level. Sustainability indices can be useful tools for evaluating the farms to isolate degradative factors and identify ecologically conservative practices. This review will analyze certain inter-linked concepts relevant to address the sustainability issues in agro-ecology at the interface of socio-ecological perspective.展开更多
中国北方农牧交错带是我国重要的生态安全屏障之一,面临经济发展与脆弱生态环境保护间的突出矛盾。生态系统服务的定量研究是生态可持续管理的重要科学依据,也是当前的研究热点之一。以北方农牧交错带的核心区域--内蒙古中西部地区为例...中国北方农牧交错带是我国重要的生态安全屏障之一,面临经济发展与脆弱生态环境保护间的突出矛盾。生态系统服务的定量研究是生态可持续管理的重要科学依据,也是当前的研究热点之一。以北方农牧交错带的核心区域--内蒙古中西部地区为例,结合中高分辨率遥感数据和生物物理模型准确量化了2000-2018年关键生态系统服务,基于Getis-Ord G*方法分析了生态系统服务的空间格局,考虑地理数据的空间自相关性选取了空间回归模型探索其影响因子。结果表明:(1)净初级生产力(NPP,Net primary productivity)、土壤水蚀控制服务(SC,Soil conservation)、产水量(WY,Water yield)及三层土壤含水量(SM1,Soil moisture of top layer;SM2,Soil moisture of middle layer;SM3,Soil moisture of bottom layer)在东部较高,防风固沙服务(SF,Sand fixation)在南部和西部较高;(2)以上生态系统服务受气候变化、景观格局、地形和土壤条件等综合影响,不同影响因素对生态系统服务的作用存在差异。NPP受森林景观格局和归一化植被指数的影响最为显著;WY、SM1、SM2、SM3及SC受降水量的影响较为显著;风速和表层土壤砂粒含量对SF影响最为显著。研究结果可以为优化景观格局和土地系统,缓解中国北方农牧交错带的社会-生态矛盾提供科学依据和案例参考。展开更多
文摘Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) is an incentive-based program established in Canada to pay farmers for their voluntary delivery of ecosystem services (ES). All seven ALUS programs across the country were examined using a standardized case-study approach based on site visits, reading internal documents, attending program meetings, and engaging in semi-structured interviews with program administrators, participating farmers, and advisory board members. Direct content analysis was used to highlight recurrent themes and emerging lessons in relation to the salient particulars of program physical location, administration framework, delivery of ES, and development and receipt by communities. Our three major findings are: 1) Overall, ALUS has been judged by participants to be a very successful program, whose strength is that it is completely voluntary, non-permanent, and readily adaptable to each location’s environmental conditions, economic funding base, and cultural milieu. 2) One serious shortcoming of all ALUS programs is a general lack of quantifiable data on their ability to increase ES. Instead, environmental benefits are either assumed or based on the idea that the areal extent of enrolled land is the sole measure of its environmental worth. 3) It may be that the social impact of ALUS is its greatest success. In this regard, for farmers, it is the process of engaging in land-use decision making and the recognition of their role as environmental stewards that is a bigger motivation for participating in an ALUS program than the modest financial incentives which they receive.
文摘In the recent past there has been concern to address the declining trends and deteriorating ecological elements and their functions in productive agricultural landscapes. The efforts to revive the ecological functions needs multiple scale approach, which include scientific understanding, time dependent restorative activities and incorporation of wisdom of the stakeholders. Conservation initiatives linked to precision farming is an apt mechanism to minimize the loss of natural resources of agricultural landscapes to maintain the complex stabilizers of ecological functions. Such an effort must address the scientific evaluation of the farm as “ecologically sustainable unit” with due consideration to social construct at local to regional level. Sustainability indices can be useful tools for evaluating the farms to isolate degradative factors and identify ecologically conservative practices. This review will analyze certain inter-linked concepts relevant to address the sustainability issues in agro-ecology at the interface of socio-ecological perspective.
文摘中国北方农牧交错带是我国重要的生态安全屏障之一,面临经济发展与脆弱生态环境保护间的突出矛盾。生态系统服务的定量研究是生态可持续管理的重要科学依据,也是当前的研究热点之一。以北方农牧交错带的核心区域--内蒙古中西部地区为例,结合中高分辨率遥感数据和生物物理模型准确量化了2000-2018年关键生态系统服务,基于Getis-Ord G*方法分析了生态系统服务的空间格局,考虑地理数据的空间自相关性选取了空间回归模型探索其影响因子。结果表明:(1)净初级生产力(NPP,Net primary productivity)、土壤水蚀控制服务(SC,Soil conservation)、产水量(WY,Water yield)及三层土壤含水量(SM1,Soil moisture of top layer;SM2,Soil moisture of middle layer;SM3,Soil moisture of bottom layer)在东部较高,防风固沙服务(SF,Sand fixation)在南部和西部较高;(2)以上生态系统服务受气候变化、景观格局、地形和土壤条件等综合影响,不同影响因素对生态系统服务的作用存在差异。NPP受森林景观格局和归一化植被指数的影响最为显著;WY、SM1、SM2、SM3及SC受降水量的影响较为显著;风速和表层土壤砂粒含量对SF影响最为显著。研究结果可以为优化景观格局和土地系统,缓解中国北方农牧交错带的社会-生态矛盾提供科学依据和案例参考。
