Effect of seaweed proliferation on benthic habitat quality assessed by Sediment Profile Imaging

Changes in sediment quality, with special reference to benthic habitat conditions resulting from macroalgae overgrowth, were studied in the Venice Lagoon, Italy. Data were collected biweekly in spring and summer from 1993 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2002, as part of the macroalgae growth control strategies managed by the Venice Water Authority-Consorzio Venezia Nuova. Benthic habitat conditions were studied by means of Sediment Profile Imaging, which allowed the collection of several variables: aRPD (apparent redox potential discontinuity), prism penetration depth, presence of anoxia on the surface of the sediment, presence of reduced gas bubbles, stage of benthic colonization. All these variables led to the calculation of an environmental index (Organism–Sediment Index, OSI), which was then related to physical variables and macroalgae abundance. Until 1996, the overall benthic habitat of the Venice Lagoon showed almost stressed conditions; from 1997, the seaweed biomass rapidly declined and the OSI increased significantly. The OSI seemed to be affected by seaweed biomass, sediment compactness and water depth. Macroalgae biomass greater than 4.5 kg/m² led to the complete disappearance of stage III of benthic colonization; values as low as 0.70 kg m² already had a severe impact on recolonization. SPI attributes indicated the main mechanisms that could have contributed to the benthic quality: seaweed proliferation is often followed by rapid decay of macroalgae biomass, especially when present in large amounts. The decrease in seaweed biomass often results in oxygen depletion in the water column and thus in the sediment, preventing complete benthic colonization. This research confirms the importance of in situ rapid reconnaissance surveys to assess the impact of eutrophication on the benthic habitat.     

拉日铁路对西藏“一江两河”地区黑颈鹤栖息地影响评价研究

“一江两河”河谷区作为黑颈鹤主要越冬栖息地之一,境内铁路建设运营必然会对黑颈鹤栖息环境造成负面影响。而目前针对动物影响评价多采用线位关系法与种群密度法在该区不具科学性与操作性,严重降低了铁路建设对黑颈鹤影响评价结论的可靠性与科学性。本文在近两年的野外观测试验与资料总结的基础上,从铁路工程占地、列车灯光、噪声、运营阻隔等方面结合黑颈鹤越冬生态行为特征,系统论证了铁路工程对黑颈鹤越冬期的影响强度,并提出针对性的治理措施,实现了经济效益和生态效益的双赢。     

A Participatory Approach to Marine Habitat Mapping in the Grenadine Islands

Increasing interest in implementing an ecosystem-based management approach has made stakeholder involvement vital and has highlighted the need for an effective participatory framework. In this study we used a participatory geographic information systems (PGIS) framework to collaboratively map the marine resources of the transboundary Grenadine Islands with a broad range of stakeholders from the two sovereign nations. We found the application of PGIS allowed the collective resolution of an appropriate mapping scale and a locally relevant habitat classification scheme that would not only serve the needs of resource managers, but could also be understood by resource users. Furthermore, multi-level stakeholder involvement in the mapping process captured resource use profiles and other fishing-related attributes, gave credibility to local knowledge and ownership of information, and was instrumental in building capacity to access and use the produced information. Lessons learned included the importance of investing considerable time early in the participatory process, which was later rewarded by stakeholder buy-in and led to financial and in-kind support. Furthermore, hosting the information in multiple formats on a project website has resulted in easy access and use by a wide range of stakeholders over a cross-country scale. We believe our experiences will be valuable to other practitioners considering using PGIS, particularly for those working in similar resource-limited, developing nation contexts.     

公路两栖类动物通道设置方法研究

鉴于目前关于我国公路建设中两栖类动物通道设置方法还缺少系统性研究,基于国内外成 功经验,结合我国国情,初步提出了公路两栖类动物通道的设置方法,包括位置确定、诱导生境 （包括微型水塘群和迁徙走廊） 设置、迁徙走廊保护设施（隔离栅、易进出的构造物和标志牌） 设置、效果评价等。以交通运输部典型绿色循环低碳示范路——鹤大高速公路穿越靖宇国家级自 然保护区段为依托工程,应用上述方法设置了6 处两栖类动物通道,指出了未来要继续深化研究 通道的关键参数和设计要求等,以促进我国道路生态学的发展。     

陕西叶下珠属植物资源概况

目的　调查陕西省叶下珠属植物的种类、分布及野生资源概况 ,为其合理开发利用提供依据。方法　采取查阅文献、标本与实地调查的方法。结果　陕西省叶下珠属植物有两种即叶下珠 ( phyllanthusurinariaL .)和黄珠子草 ( phyllanthussimplexRetz .)。 结论　叶下珠适宜在相对较潮湿且温差相对较小的环境中生长 ,黄珠子草适宜在相对较干燥的环境中生长。     

基于生态行为与栖息地选型的珍稀野生动物影响及保护研究

对四种珍稀涉禽类野生动物对宝中线黄河铁路特大桥影响响应机制进行研究。结果表明，四种珍稀野生动物对铁路运营已适应，并在河心滩、河岸滩范围内形成了两种截然不同的选择偏好性区域，野生动物对铁路桥的趋避距离在100—120m以上，通过改变影响区滩地地表植被群落结构特征以及对栖息地进行异地重建的方式可以降低和消除铁路运营对野生动物的影响。在此基础上本文认为，在铁路工程野生动物影响评价过程中，应首先根据野生动物生态行为对受影响动物群落进行筛分，选出敏感控制因子作为评价重点对象，同时根据区域自然环境、工程内容等方面进行分析论证影响水平，最后以此为基点提出针对性的保护措施。     

公路穿越动物栖息地的生态修复探索与实践

通过对国道207穿越山西省泽州猕猴省级自然保护区路段猕猴栖息地现状进行实地调查,对目前存在的动物阻隔问题提出综合生态修复与解决方案。     

Estuary Management and Recreational Fishing Benefits

Recognition of the benefits to society supported by estuary ecosystem functions and services, and threats to these benefits posed by human activities, has led to various public programs to restore and protect estuaries at the federal, state, and local levels. As available budgets shrink, program administrators and public elected officials struggle to allocate limited restoration and protection funds to the highest priority areas. Economic benefit and cost information can provide useful inputs into this decision-making process by quantifying estuary restoration and protection benefits and costs in commensurate terms. In this paper, a combined actual and intended travel behavior model is described that can be applied to estimate the recreational fishing benefits of estuary restoration and protection. The model was estimated for recreational fishing in the Lower Atchafalaya River Basin estuary along the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, USA coast. Changes in freshwater flows into this estuary may affect redfish and speckled trout game fish populations. The model indicates that changes in catch rates of these two species would have a relatively minor affect on annual fishing trips per angler. However, because total effects may be large when effects per angler are aggregated across total anglers, resource management agencies should consider these changes in recreation benefits when evaluating projects that influence the ecology of coastal estuaries, fish populations, and catch rates. Moreover, in other coastal areas or situations, the responsiveness of angling trips to changes in catch rates may vary because of differences in user populations, environmental conditions, fish populations, and fishing experiences.     

Relationships between near-bottom dissolved oxygen and sediment profile camera measures

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and other environmental authorities regulate concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO) as a measure of nutrient-related eutrophication in estuarine and coastal waters. However, in situ DO concentrations are extremely variable, and their characterization requires an extensive sampling program to provide data over meaningful scales of time and space. In contrast, benthic faunal communities integrate the impacts of low DO over time, and can be rapidly assessed using benthic imaging. The goal of this study was to quantify the relationships between near-bottom dissolved oxygen and measures derived from benthic imaging with a sediment profile camera. We monitored three stations in Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island, USA) for DO and other water quality parameters 15–20 cm above the sediment surface on 15-minute intervals between July and November 2002, and regularly sampled these stations with a sediment profile camera throughout this time period. These soft-sediment stations encompassed several DO environments. We tested for relationships between near-bottom DO and several camera measures, including Nilsson and Rosenberg's Benthic Habitat Quality (BHQ) index, the apparent Redox Potential Discontinuity (aRPD) depth, and various faunal features that can be identified in sediment profile images. Camera measures were examined against a variety of methods of characterizing DO (including mean DO, and the percent of time under various DO thresholds), over a span of time scales from 1 day to 49 days. The best relationship (highest r²) between near-bottom DO and BHQ was found when DO was evaluated as the percent of time under a hypoxic threshold of 2.6 mg l^− 1 over a 28-day time scale (by examining DO records over the 28 days preceding each camera deployment). We found that, over several benthic settings, the BHQ index was successful at identifying environments that had experienced relatively high or low DO over the preceding four weeks. Our sediment profile data showed more variability with DO in the intermediate values of BHQ. We conclude that sediment profile camera measures correlate to DO in areas where low DO is the primary stressor, integrate DO over ecologically relevant time scales, and enable sampling over spatial scales that are meaningful for mapping by virtue of rapid deployment and analysis. We submit that sediment profile camera imagery is a useful assessment and mapping tool for environmental managers interested in benthic condition and in first-order quantitative estimates of near-bottom DO regimes in areas where low DO is the primary benthic stressor.     

The Elliott Bay/Duwamish restoration program: A status report

Injuries to natural resources from the release of hazardous substances into aquatic environments have led to hundreds of millions of dollars in compensatory damages awarded under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and other legislation. The institutional mechanisms for negotiating and carrying out the terms of CERCLA natural resource settlements are still in their infancy, and each case has a unique set of injuries, assigned damages, payout schedules, trustee council membership and operating procedures, and environmental conditions and constraints. One of the settlements that has made significant progress toward large‐scale habitat enhancement has occurred in Elliott Bay, a busy, seriously impacted urban harbor in Washington State. The Elliott Bay case is unique among natural resource injury settlements because of the active involvement of two local governments, the City of Seattle, and Metro, who were named as defendants in a lawsuit brought by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on behalf of the natural resource trustees of Elliott Bay. Both local governments have maintained, and continue to operate, outfalls that discharge into Elliott Bay, and both entities were subject to attempts to recover damages under CERCLA. Following the filing of the lawsuit over injuries to the natural resources of the estuary, alleged to have resulted from the operation of these outfalls, the parties involved negotiated a consent decree settlement. The Elliott Bay/Duwamish Restoration Program has established a process to redress some of the injuries that were attributed to the operation of these outfalls.