Development of Transdisciplinarity Among Students Placed with a Sustainability for Health Research Project

Transdisciplinary education on sustainability for health has been primarily developed in high-income countries, yet the need in countries with limited research and human resource investments remains urgent. Little empiric documentation of the facilitators and barriers to transdisciplinary learning in such countries has been described. We assessed transdisciplinary learning among students of different disciplines collaborating with an Ecuadorian sustainability for health research project. Six undergraduate students from four different disciplinary backgrounds were incorporated through work–study agreements with provincial university academic supervisors. Learning was fostered and monitored through participant observations by a field supervisor. Students’ learning was evaluated through subsequent in-depth interviews and visualization methods. Academic supervisor key informant and co-investigator observations aided triangulation. Qualitative data were analyzed using indicators of transdisciplinary thinking. Principal factors facilitating transdisciplinary learning were interaction with social actors, the integration of work with other disciplines, the use of alternative research techniques and methods, and the constant support of the field supervisor. Inhibiting factors included the existence of rigid academic rules, lack of training of the academic supervisors in diverse research methods, and social pressures to implement unidisciplinary foci. At the end of their link with the project, students had developed both cognitive outcomes and attitudinal values relevant to sustainable development for health. In countries with limited investments in research and human resources development, transdisciplinary approaches with social actors and engaged researchers can sensitize new professionals training in traditional academic contexts to the ecological–social–health problems faced by poor majorities and encourage their subsequent work on sustainability for human health.     

什么是可持续性科学

可持续发展是我们时代的主题,也是人类面临的最大挑战.自20世纪70年代,尤其是近20年来,可持续发展的概念日益频繁地出现在学术文章、政府文件以及公益宣传和商业广告之中.然而,为可持续发展提供理论基础和实践指导的科学——可持续性科学——是在21世纪初才开始形成的.该科学在短短的十几年中迅速开拓、不断发展,正在形成其科学概念框架和研究体系.中国是世界大国,是可持续性科学的哲学思想——“天人合一”——的故乡,有必要承担起时代之重任,在追求“中国梦”的同时促进全球可持续发展,并积极参与进而引领可持续性科学的研究和实践.为了帮助实现这一宏伟而远大目标,本文拟对可持续性科学的基本概念、研究论题和发展前景作一概述.可持续性科学是研究人与环境之间动态关系——特别是耦合系统的脆弱性、抗扰性、弹性和稳定性——的整合型科学.它穿越自然科学和人文与社会科学,以环境、经济和社会的相互关系为核心,将基础性研究和应用研究融为一体.可持续发展的核心内容往往因时、因地、 因人而异.因此,可持续性科学必须注重多尺度研究,同时应特别关注 50到100年的时间尺度和景观以及区域的空间尺度. 景观和区域不但是最可操作的空间尺度,同时也是上通全球、下达局地的枢纽尺度.可持续性科学需要聚焦于生态系统服务和人类福祉的相互关系,进而探讨生物多样性和生态系统过程,以及气候变化、土地利用变化和其他社会经济驱动过程对这一关系的影响.我们认为,景观和可持续性是可持续性科学的核心研究内容,也将是可持续性科学在以后几十年的研究热点.     

Ecosystem Approaches to Health for a Global Sustainability Agenda

International research agendas are placing greater emphasis on the need for more sustainable development to achieve gains in global health. Research using ecosystem approaches to health, and the wider field of ecohealth, contribute to this goal, by addressing health in the context of inter-linked social and ecological systems. We review recent contributions to conceptual development of ecosystem approaches to health, with insights from their application in international development research. Various similar frameworks have emerged to apply the approach. Most predicate integration across disciplines and sectors, stakeholder participation, and an articulation of sustainability and equity to achieve relevant actions for change. Drawing on several frameworks and on case studies, a model process for application of ecosystem approaches is proposed, consisting of an iterative cycles of participatory study design, knowledge generation, intervention, and systematization of knowledge. The benefits of the research approach include innovations that improve health, evidence-based policies that reduce health risks; empowerment of marginalized groups through knowledge gained, and more effective engagement of decision makers. With improved tools to describe environmental and economic dimensions, and explicit strategies for scaling-up the use and application of research results, the field of ecohealth will help integrate both improved health and sustainability into the development agenda.     

A systematic map of ecosystem services assessments around European agroforestry

Agroforestry offers proven strategies as an environmentally benign and ecologically sustainable land management practice to promote ecosystem services. In this literature review, we systematically consider the agroforestry and ecosystem services literature with the aim to identify and catalogue the knowledge field and provide the first systematic synthesis of ecosystem services research in relation to European agroforestry. We reviewed 71 scientific publications from studies conducted in farmland and forest ecosystems with various types of agroforestry management. Each publication was systematically characterized and classified by agroforestry practice and research approach in order to provide an insight into the current research state in addressing ecosystem services (including methods, indicators, and approaches). Spatial distribution of the case study sites in Europe was also explored. In addition, typical clusters of similar research approaches were identified.The results show that ecosystem service assessment of European agroforestry is currently focused on the spatially extensive wood pastures in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Continental agricultural mosaic landscapes. A specific emphasis has been on regulating, supporting, and provisioning services, such as provision of habitat and biodiversity, food, climate regulation, fibre, and fuel, and the consideration of cultural services has been largely limited to aesthetic value. There is a bias to biophysical and monetary research approaches. The majority of the studies focus on quantitative methods and biophysical field measurements addressing the assessment of only one or two services. Monetary approaches have been applied in less than one fifth of the studies but form a distinctive group.Our results highlight gaps and biases in the ecosystem service research agenda within agroforestry based on which we conclude that research should aim to diversify from the biophysical and monetary approaches, towards a wider variety of approaches, especially socio-cultural, and a wider coverage of ecosystem services. Stronger consideration of stakeholder participation and introduction of spatially explicit mapping are also important key actions. We make suggestions to advance the promise of ecosystem services provision from European agroforestry in decision making including various actors, stakeholders, and institutions, with strong links to policy processes, such as the EU Biodiversity Strategy and Common Agricultural Policy.     

生态系统服务需求、供给和消费研究进展

生态系统服务的持续供给是社会和自然可持续发展的基础,人类通过对生态系统服务的消费来满足需求和提高自身福祉。研究人类对生态系统服务的需求、消费,分析生态系统服务的供给与需求关系,对生态系统的管理、土地发展规划和资源的合理有效配置具有重要意义。首先分析了生态系统服务需求、供给和消费的内涵与特征,辨析了生态系统服务的有效需求和潜在需求、有效供给与潜在供给,进而提出了生态系统服务需求与供给研究框架,指出应研究生态系统服务供给和需求的空间关联以及生态系统服务需求弹性差异,进而因地制宜地调控生态系统服务供给使得生态系统服务效用最大化。梳理并比较了对生态系统服务供给和需求的量化指标和研究方法,包括基于土地利用和土地覆被的生态系统服务供需关系矩阵法、生态足迹法、公众参与法、模型计算法等。提出了未来的相关研究主要应从不同群体的需求弹性差异、跨学科与多源数据结合的需求定量评估方法、供需关系的多尺度分析、生态系统服务需求与人类福祉的耦合机制拓展等方面展开,为生态系统服务调控管理和社会的可持续发展提供切实可行的科学依据。     

Talking Frogs: The Role of Communication in Ecological Research on Private Land

This paper argues that improving the communication between landholders and ecologists will result in better conservation outcomes for ecosystem management on private land. It examines a case study of ecological research on frogs undertaken on private, agricultural land in south-eastern Australia. The paper questions the traditional separation of ecological science from landholders specifically and the public in general. In addressing this issue the authors wish to improve the relevance of ecology for landholders, raise the profile of social science for ecologists working on private land and examine the implications of improving ecologist – landholder relationships. For landholders, an improved understanding of the ecological context of their agricultural activities may lead to sustainability gains. For ecologists, a deeper appreciation for the social context of their ecological research provides an opportunity to see how their work is perceived and/or acted upon in practice. For both parties, a communicative relationship may minimise future need for ecosystem repair. Such an approach (for both landholders and ecologists) can lead to the break down of stereotypes and/or a greater appreciation of the others’ perspectives, constraints and values with respect to conservation on private land. In the productive discussions arising from conversations between landholders and ecologists, new approaches to sustainable land management and nature conservation may emerge.     

基于生态系统服务的流域生态安全格局构建——以辽宁省辽河流域为例

人口和社会经济的高速发展导致土地利用格局的变化和生态系统服务的退化。构建生态安全格局是保障区域生态安全的重要途经。识别和保护关键生态区域对维持生态系统的稳定性和可持续性具有重要意义。本文以辽宁省辽河流域为例，基于生态系统服务重要性评价，根据区域自然特征和生态环境状况选取并定量评估固碳释氧、土壤保持、粮食供给和产水4项关键生态系统服务，以生态系统服务的高价值区为生态源地，综合各项生态系统服务功能构建阻力面，运用电路理论的方法识别生态廊道和关键节点，从而构建辽河流域生态安全格局。研究结果表明：辽河流域内共有129个生态源斑块，243条生态廊道和38个“夹点”。其中，生态源斑块主要分布在研究区东部，主要由林地组成，斑块连续、跨度范围较大；生态廊道总长度为1606.07 km，呈梭形沿着平原与山区交错带延伸；“夹点”沿着河流分布在研究区的中部，主要由林地、耕地组成。本文通过构建辽宁省辽河流域生态安全格局，为缓解日益尖锐的辽河流域经济发展与生态保护之间的矛盾提出了新的思路。     

Bioenergy crops,biodiversity and ecosystem services in temperate agricultural landscapes—A review of synergies and trade-offs

The Paris agreement on climate change requires rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. One important mitigation strategy, at least in the intermediate future, is the substitution of fossil fuels with bioenergy. However, using agriculture- and forest-derived biomass for energy has sparked controversy regarding both the climate mitigation potential and conflicts with biodiversity conservation. The urgency of the climate crisis calls for using forests for carbon sequestration and storage rather than for bioenergy, making agricultural biomass an attractive alternative for fossil energy substitution. However, this calls for comprehensive assessments of its sustainability in terms of consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem services. In this review, we provide a first holistic overview of the impacts on ecosystems of land-use changes from bioenergy crop production in temperate climates, by synthesizing results on both biodiversity and ecosystem service impacts. We found that bioenergy-related land-use changes can have both positive and negative effects on ecosystems, with original land use, bioenergy crop type and scale of bioenergy production being important moderators of impacts. Despite the risk of opportunity cost for food production, perennial crop cultivation on arable land had the lowest occurrence of negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Growing biomass for bioenergy on surplus land has been suggested as a way to alleviate competition with food production and biodiversity conservation, but our results demonstrate that utilizing marginal or abandoned land for bioenergy crop production cannot fully resolve these trade-offs. Furthermore, there is a lack of empirical studies of the biodiversity value of marginal and abandoned land, limiting our understanding of the sustainability implications of biomass cultivation on surplus land. We argue that future research and policies for bioenergy production must explicitly consider biodiversity and ecosystem services in combination to avoid potential trade-offs between the two and to ensure sustainable bioenergy production.     

区域生态安全格局研究进展

如何构建一个安全的区域生态格局,对土地可持续利用和区域生态安全有重要意义。区域生态安全格局的构建需要多学科的综合、多角度的分析和多种实现手段的结合,一般从景观格局优化、土地资源优化配置和景观恢复等途径入手,构建结构合理、功能高效、关系协调的区域生态安全模式。在分析国内外相关研究进展的基础上,对区域生态安全格局构建在数量优化、空间优化和综合优化等方法进行了总结,在此基础上提出了构建区域生态安全格局的思路：区域生态现状评价、情景预案与目标设定、区域生态安全格局设计、方案实施及其效果评价、方案调整与管理。未来区域生态安全格局研究的趋势表现为：空间优化模型的进一步改进;区域生态安全标准量化的探索;注重公众参与机制和不同组织水平利益相关者的协调。     

Invertebrates,ecosystem services and climate change

The sustainability of ecosystem services depends on a firm understanding of both how organisms provide these services to humans and how these organisms will be altered with a changing climate. Unquestionably a dominant feature of most ecosystems, invertebrates affect many ecosystem services and are also highly responsive to climate change. However, there is still a basic lack of understanding of the direct and indirect paths by which invertebrates influence ecosystem services, as well as how climate change will affect those ecosystem services by altering invertebrate populations. This indicates a lack of communication and collaboration among scientists researching ecosystem services and climate change effects on invertebrates, and land managers and researchers from other disciplines, which becomes obvious when systematically reviewing the literature relevant to invertebrates, ecosystem services, and climate change. To address this issue, we review how invertebrates respond to climate change. We then review how invertebrates both positively and negatively influence ecosystem services. Lastly, we provide some critical future directions for research needs, and suggest ways in which managers, scientists and other researchers may collaborate to tackle the complex issue of sustaining invertebrate‐mediated services under a changing climate.     

禁牧政策对宁夏盐池县农业生态系统服务影响的能值分析

农牧交错区农业可持续发展问题一直是我国区域农业研究的重要课题,以典型北方农牧交错区宁夏盐池县为例,利用农业生态系统能值分析框架,评估盐池县1991—2016年农业生态系统正反服务,揭示禁牧政策对农业可持续发展的影响。研究结果表明:(1) 1991—2016年盐池县农业投入能值和农业生态系统正反服务能值一直处于增长的趋势,禁牧政策实施以后增长速度高于禁牧之前,其中农业投入能值的增加主要是由于经济反馈能值投入的增加。(2)根据Pearson相关性分析,盐池县农业生态系统服务和反服务在0.01水平(双侧)呈显著的强正相关,农业生态系统服务和反服务具有相同的变化趋势。(3)生态环境的改善、经济反馈能值和农业灌溉面积的增加,可以增强北方农牧交错区农业抵御气候波动的能力。(4)盐池县农业可持续性高于全国和典型农区的平均水平,禁牧政策实施之前盐池县农业可持续性表现出稳定的下降趋势,而禁牧政策实施以后其可持续性表现为上升的趋势,禁牧政策的实施已初步实现农业生产的生态经济效益。     

生态系统服务流研究进展

生态系统服务流是实现生态系统服务供给与人类需求耦合的重要桥梁,是当前生态系统服务研究的热点与前沿。科学理解生态系统服务从产生、传递到使用的全过程,明确区域生态系统服务供给与需求的平衡状况,对于实现区域可持续发展与提高人类福祉具有重要意义。在综合分析国内外相关研究的基础上,阐述了生态系统服务流的概念内涵,归纳总结了生态系统服务流的定量研究方法,并系统梳理了国内外生态系统服务流研究在理论探索与应用案例方面的研究进展;探讨了当前生态系统服务流研究中存在的问题和不足,包括:生态系统服务从供给区传递至需求区的空间转移规律尚不明晰、定量评估生态系统服务流的方法不成熟、面向应用的生态系统服务流的研究较为缺乏,以及人与自然耦合系统中生态系统服务流研究框架有待进一步完善。未来的研究需要重点关注复杂系统中生态系统服务流跨尺度、跨区域的传递过程,加强生态系统服务的空间流动过程与传递路径的定量分析与模拟,重视生态系统服务流的应用性研究,尤其是在生态恢复、生态补偿、城市规划等方面的应用,并完善人与自然耦合系统中生态系统服务流的研究框架,以期促进生态系统服务流研究的发展。     

Research needs for incorporating the ecosystem service approach into EU biodiversity conservation policy

Using a range of different methods including extensive reviews, workshops and an electronic conference, 70 key research recommendations and 12 priority research needs to integrate the ecosystem services approach into biodiversity conservation policy and funding were identified by a cross-disciplinary group of over 100 scientists and 50 stakeholders, including research funders and policy-makers. These recommendations focus on the ecological underpinning of ecosystem services, drivers that affect ecosystems and their services, biological traits and ecosystem services, the valuation of ecosystem services, spatial and temporal scales in ecosystem service assessment, indicators of ecosystem services, and habitat management, conservation policy and ecosystem services. The recommendations in this paper help steer the research agenda on ecosystem services into policy-relevant areas, agreed upon by funders, researchers and policy-makers. This research agenda will only succeed with increased collaboration between researchers across disciplines, thereby providing a challenge to the research community and research funders to work in new, interdisciplinary ways.     

Ecosystem service state and trends at the regional to national level: A rapid assessment

The concept of ecosystem services has helped rationalize humanity's dependence on and benefits from nature, pushing the paradigm of environmental sustainability from a charity in the direction of a necessity. However, globally many ecosystem services are declining despite their eminent value for society. A prime cause of this decline is allocated to land use change. While the body of empirical research showing various consequences of land use is growing, and the ecosystem service concept has helped make trade-offs more graspable, a lucid approach that neatly summarizes the extent of land use trade-offs is still lacking.In this paper, we introduce a rapid assessment to analyze both the state and trends of selected ecosystem services associated with given land use categories. Theoretically, the assessment can be performed for any given spatial unit, but the regional to national level appears to be the most appropriate spatial resolution. Each land use-ecosystem service relationship is classified from a strong disservice to a strong service. The results are displayed in adapted flower diagrams, which legibly display information on the ecosystem services in each land use, thus clearly summarizing trade-offs associated with changing land use.We illustrate this rapid ecosystem service assessment method by applying it to three land use categories on the spatial extent of Switzerland. We found that the simple but systematic approach is more flexible than traditional mapping approaches, i.e. it allowed us to combine a variety of spatially non-explicit but highly detailed indicators with spatially explicit indicators. Also, we were able to proceed faster than with a mapping approach, where many known and unknown spatial inaccuracies may arise have allowed. This flexible incorporation of spatially explicit and non-explicit data provides high quality information on the state and trends of ecosystem services at regional to national extents. For that reason, we are convinced that the rapid assessment method has the potential to advance knowledge of ecosystem services and land use trade-offs, especially in areas with low data availability and monitoring activity.     

可持续景观规划——融合景观可持续性研究与地理设计

人类活动对景观的影响遍及世界各个角落,其广度、强度、频度不断增大。为了改变生态环境在人类社会经济增长压力下的不可持续状态,景观需要科学合理的设计与管理。可持续景观规划是在景观尺度上,在可持续性科学的指导下,平衡生态系统服务的供需关系,将生态、社会、经济活动过程反映到空间优化上,不断提高人类福祉的规划过程。为了能够实践该规划思路,在景观可持续性研究与地理设计融合的概念框架基础上,提出可持续景观规划的八个步骤,在问题诊断与目标设定、多源数据组织与管理、尺度匹配与多尺度分析、景观格局过程分析和可持续性评估、生态系统服务与景观格局关系模拟、情景分析与方案评估、地理设计平台搭建、可视化与人机互动等关键步骤中,融入了强-弱可持续性、多尺度分析、生态系统服务、可持续性指标、大数据应用,以及文化和地方感。研究提出的可持续性景观规划步骤与实现路径体现了多学科交叉、实时评估反馈、信息技术应用、利益相关者参与的特点,可被用于旨在提高人类福祉的多尺度空间优化和可持续景观设计。     

城市地域生态调控的空间途径——以深圳市为例

城市地域的可持续发展必须以生态环境的可持续发展为前提和保障。景观生态学主要研究地表各种景观空间格局与生态过程及其相互作用,其原理和规律为在实践中通过优化景观格局,提高生态系统稳定性提供了理论框架。以深圳市为例,尝试综合运用生态敏感性与适宜性分析和景观格局整体优化的方法,通过对生态系统的格局分析与问题诊断,构建合理、稳定的生态系统结构,保障生态系统服务功能的正常发挥。案例研究将深圳市域的整体生态结构分为自然生态空间、城镇发展空间和生态廊道3部分。城镇发展空间具有文化支持的生态功能,自然生态空间具有环境服务和生物生产的生态功能;生态廊道主要起到加强生态联系,提高生态系统稳定性,并防止城市发展空间无序蔓延的功能。城镇景观斑块镶嵌于自然生态景观基质中,并通过多种类型的生态廊道相连,形成区域生态系统的良性循环。案例研究表明,景观生态规划方法的综合应用,可以将景观生态学原理和规律比较合理的运用于实践。     

从景感生态学视角分析城市立体绿化内涵与功能——以深圳市为例

城市用地日益紧张,城市建（构）筑物高度不断抬升,理应赋予城市空间载体更多的生态功能。景感生态学倡导在保持、改善和增加城市生态系统服务的同时提升居民满意度和可持续发展能力。城市立体绿化具有降温、降噪、滞尘、固碳等功能,是节能减排的有效举措。通过对深圳市立体绿化实地调查和景感生态学分析,剖析了立体绿化在促进居民的视觉、听觉、嗅觉、味觉及触觉等物理感知及心理认知功能方面的作用,以及增强城市生态系统服务的机理。研究表明,立体绿化是城市景感营造的有效手段,既能增强城市生态系统服务价值,也能提高城市空间利用率;在增加城市绿视率的同时,丰富了居民的物理感知及心理认知。最后,讨论了景感生态学理论与方法在立体绿化中的实际应用,以及景感营造技术在城市绿色建筑中的作用,以期让景感营造技术为提升立体绿化水平,进而为促进城市绿地系统规划提供支撑。     

Rehabilitation of Tropical Lands: A Key to Sustaining Development

Land rehabilitation is proposed as a management strategy to reverse the negative consequences of tropical deforestation and land degradation. We first define the concepts associated with ecosystem modification—conversion, damage, and degradation—and those associated with ecosystem repair—restoration, rehabilitation, and reclamation. We then present a scheme of sustainable land use in the tropics, with illustrations of how rehabilitation and restoration activities fit into the overall scheme of the use of land. Because damaged lands cannot contribute effectively to sustained economic development, land rehabilitation is a necessary step for increasing the chances of attaining sustainability. Approaches for rehabilitating ecosystems are discussed, including the management of stressors and subsidies in relation to their point of interaction in the ecosystem. Finally, we illustrate the concepts of ecosystem rehabilitation of damaged, degraded, and derelict lands with examples of case studies from dry to humid life zones in island and continental situations throughout the tropics. The case studies demonstrate that opportunities for success exist, even with severely degraded lands, but a considerable amount of research remains to be done before we have a full understanding of the complexity of the task facing us.     

城市化流域生态系统服务价值时空分异特征及其对土地利用程度的响应

以南京市九乡河流域为研究区域,以2003与2009年2景QuickBird影像数据为基本信息源,应用空间自相关模型,结合GIS空间分析技术,定量探讨了城市化流域生态系统服务价值时空分异特征,以及土地利用程度对生态服务价值空间分异的影响.结果表明:2003-2009年,九乡河流域生态系统服务总价值减少了2.59％,而流域生态系统服务价值的空间聚集性增强;生态服务价值的高-高区域主要集中在流域上游,低-低区域主要集中在流域下游的仙林大学城一带;九乡河流域生态系统服务价值空间分异发生了明显变化,下游仙林大学城一带低-低分布区快速扩张,而高-高分布区仅在九乡河源头及下游的局部区域有所增加;流域生态服务价值空间自相关表现出明显的尺度效应,随着研究尺度增大,生态服务价值的空间自相关性逐渐增强;九乡河流域生态服务价值的空间分异及其变化主要是由土地开发利用引起,流域土地利用程度对生态服务价值存在明显的负效应.     

基于生态绿当量的城市土地利用结构优化——以宁国市为例

基于生态绿当量的概念,探讨了城市生态用地合理性的生态标准,构建了土地利用结构优化模型。并在此基础上,以安徽省宁国市为例对该研究区不同空间范围下生态用地的结构及其优化方法进行实例分析。分析结果表明:宁国市域和城乡结合部均达到最佳绿地覆盖率的要求,而城区综合绿当量仅为0.66,需要进行用地调整。市域、城乡结合部和城区3个空间范围下的绿容率(GPR)分别为:4.89、4.22和2.77,可见城区绿化结构简单,树种单一,乔木和水体景观缺乏。同时,城区人口密集,但绿地生态系统服务功能较低,人均绿地率(ELP)仅为41.7 hm²/人。由此提出宁国市城区土地利用结构的优化调整方案,通过整个城市中心增绿、外围拓展;路林结合,蓝、绿交融,城乡一体,构筑内外环抱的多功能、多效益、完整的城市发展生态网架,保障城市长远的生态安全,促进良好的城市生态环境的形成。