An Overview of Coastal Environmental Health Indicators

Discussions of the coastal environment and its health can be improved by more precise use of terms and clarification of the relationship, if any, between the health of ecosystems and the risks to human health. Ecosystem health is seldom defined and, in any case, has to be regarded in different terms than human health. Ecosystem health should embody both the structure and function of the ecosystem. One attractive concept is to define the health of ecosystems in terms of their vigor, organization and resilience. From that perspective, the health of an ecosystem is reduced if it becomes a less vigorous producer of valuable living resources, less diverse and organized, and more susceptible to and slower to recover from stress. Useful indicators of ecosystem health should reflect these properties, but also be supported by understanding of cause and effect relationships generated through research. Significant challenges remain in the integration of indicators in terms of both their interrelationships and holistic significance. There is also a need to develop indicators that are relevant to emerging threats to coastal ecosystems.     

区域生态系统健康评价——研究方法与进展

生态系统健康评价是当前宏观生态学与生态系统管理研究的热点问题之一,区域尺度的生态系统健康评价则是生态系统健康评价研究的一个重要发展方向。在探讨生态系统健康时空尺度特征的基础上,明确界定了区域生态系统健康及其评价等相关概念,结合目前区域尺度生态系统健康评价的相关研究进展,从评价的区域类型、目标单元、模型方法、指标选取及其阈值、权重设定等方面探讨了区域生态系统健康评价的基本原理与方法,并展望了进一步研究的重点方向,即评价结果的多尺度综合与尺度转换、景观生态学理论与方法的应用、3S技术的综合应用等理论与技术问题。     

河流生态系统健康研究现状与展望——基于文献计量研究

河流生态系统健康是生态系统服务供给和流域可持续发展的基础,亟需从其内涵、影响、评价等方面进行系统归纳。运用文献计量梳理国内外文献,归纳了河流生态系统健康在河流自身、人类需求、管理目标3个方面的内涵;并从人类活动、土地利用、河流生境、水质、水量、气候变化等几个方面归纳了影响河流生态系统健康的主要因素和机理;明确了现有的河流生态系统健康评价方法,包括指示生物法、综合指标法、数学模型法等,总结了它们的优缺点和适用范围。最后,从河流生态系统健康的概念内涵、评价指标和水陆耦合等方面提出了存在的问题,建议进行流域整体的河流生态系统健康评价、跨区域的综合评价对比、多学科评价指标、河流廊道等几个方面的深入研究。     

国家公园生态系统健康测度模型构建及黄山实证研究

国家公园是中国生态文明建设的重要制度实践,其生态系统健康的科学评估是国家公园分区管理、空间管制、生态保护的基础。国家公园生态系统具有特殊性和复合性,区别于城市、流域、湿地等生态系统,亟需建立一套适合国家公园生态系统的生态系统健康测度模型。基于国家公园生态系统的特殊性和生态系统健康概念的多维性,探讨了现有模型存在的问题和不足,从生态系统与人类活动交互的视角,建立了"VSR"(生态活力Vigor、服务能力Service、抗干扰力Resilience)国家公园生态系统健康测度模型。此外,将"VSR"模型应用到黄山国家公园生态系统健康的测度中,可视化了黄山国家公园生态系统健康的时空过程和格局,通过随机森林回归模型和增强回归树模型验证了"VSR"模型的有效性和稳定性。"VSR"国家公园生态系统健康测度模型有效量化了国家公园生态系统健康的时空差异性和时空动态性,为国家公园空间管制、生态保护等目标实施提供了科学支撑。     

Ecology for transformation

Ecology has a key role in our understanding of the benefits that humans obtain from ecosystems (i.e. ecosystem services). Ecology can also contribute to developing environmentally sound technologies, markets for ecosystem services and approaches to decision-making that account for the changing relationship between humans and ecosystems. These contributions involve basic ecological research on, for example, the resilience of ecosystem services or relationships of ecosystem change to natural disasters. Much of the necessary work involves interdisciplinary collaboration among ecologists, social scientists and decision makers. As we discuss here, ecology should help formulate positive, plausible visions for relationships of society and ecosystems that can potentially sustain ecosystem services for long periods of time.     

图们江下游湿地生态系统健康评价

湿地是世界上具有独特结构与功能的生态系统,图们江流域湿地生态系统的健康对该区乃至东北亚地区综合生态系统网络的建设具有重要意义。选择图们江流域下游为研究区,基于压力-状态-响应(PSR)模型,在压力系统、状态系统、响应系统三个层面选取30个指标构建了图们江下游湿地生态系统健康评价指标体系,运用层次分析法和多级模糊综合评判法对研究区湿地生态健康状况进行综合评价,其结果为0.5878,处于亚健康状态。其中,压力系统的健康指数为0.5292,响应系统的健康指数为0.6866,状态系统的健康指数为0.5116,各等级隶属度S=(16.83%, 25.37%, 16.76%, 16.97%,24.07%)。主要表现在研究区域湿地的补水水质差,导致湿地水质污染加重,富营养化现象严重;并且由于人为因素,湿地大面积退化,景观破碎化加剧,功能逐渐丧失,生产力水平下降;急需对本区域湿地进行保护与管理。     

基于耦合模型和遥感技术的江苏中部海岸带生态系统健康评价

以生态系统健康理论为基础,从资源环境、景观生态、人类活动3个方面,按活力、组织力和恢复力3个子系统选取了10个代表性指标,构建了遥感技术支持下的海岸带陆域生态系统健康评价指标体系,并耦合TOPSIS模型和VOR生态系统健康度量模型对江苏中部海岸新洋港至川东港岸段进行了应用评价。研究结果表明:江苏中部海岸生态系统健康状态处于健康和良好的区域占27.62%,一般占60.94%,较差和差占11.44%,整体生态健康状况中等偏好。从地物类型和空间分布来看,斗龙港至四卯酉河岸段以滩涂植被、农田和围海养殖区为主,植被和水体对气候调节有积极作用,整体生态健康状况良好;四卯酉河至王港岸段由于大丰港建设,港区陆域植被覆盖率低、热岛效应强,建筑将原本连通的自然景观隔断,导致斑块数量增多,斑块面积减小,加剧了景观破碎化,对原有海岸带生态系统产生一定的破坏,生态健康状况相对较差;此外,新洋港至斗龙港岸段以及川东港岸段以自然保护区湿地为主,植被覆盖度高,人为干扰程度小,生态健康状况也较好。由于该耦合模型评价方法直接基于遥感监测数据,且无需赋予指标权重,因此研究结果相对更加客观,更能反映海岸带生态系统的实际健康状况。     

Evaluation for regional ecosystem health: methodology and research progress

The evaluation for ecosystem health is one of the hotspots in the fields of macro-ecology and ecosystem management. Conducting analysis at the regional scale is an important direction for evaluating ecosystem health. Changing the spatial scale from the local to the regional level leads to great differences in targets and methodologies for ecosystem health evaluation and creates a new direction for regional ecosystem health research. Compared with the ecosystem health at the local scale, which refers to a single ecosystem type, the regional ecosystem health focuses on the health conditions and spatial patterns of different ecosystem types. However, there has been little attention paid to this very research up to now. Based on the progress on ecosystem health studies at the regional scale, the study reported in this article aims to discuss the implications of the conception of regional ecosystem health and to put forward a methodology for evaluating the regional ecosystem health. The main results include: (1) there is a significant scaling effect on the ecosystem health analysis, and the regional level is the key scale used to focus on the correlation between spatially neighboring ecosystems in terms of ecosystem health; (2) regional ecosystem health can be defined through 4 aspects, i.e., vigor, organization, resilience, and ecosystem service functions; (3) the basic evaluation objects of the regional ecosystem health is spatial entity, which is the matrix of different ecosystem types; (4) indicator system method is the only approach to evaluate regional ecosystem health; (5) the absolute thresholds of the evaluation indicators for the regional ecosystem health do not exist; the aim of the evaluation is to discuss the temporal dynamic changes and spatial differences of health conditions rather than to ascertain whether a region is healthy or not in view of ecological sustainability; and (6) the integration of evaluation results at multispatial scales, the application of this methodology in the landscape ecology, and the utilization of geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing (RS), and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technologies are the main directions for further research.     

Ecosystem Approach to Community Health Planning in Ghana

An ecosystem approach to community health seeks to investigate human health concerns from an ecological perspective. The goal is to improve the health of community members by instituting sustainable ecosystem management strategies that will preserve the health of both the ecosystem and its inhabitants. This article reports on a study in a rural community in Ghana that employed an ecosystem approach to community health planning. Adopting a participatory action research approach, a research team comprised of representatives from various local government departments collaborated with local residents to identify major community health problems, their underlying causes, and possible intervention strategies. The findings illustrate the usefulness of the ecosystem approach to mobilizing community-based interventions to addressing environmental determinants of human health.     

Question of Mutual Security: Exploring Interactions between the Health of Coral Reef Ecosystems and Coastal Communities

Coral reefs are the worlds most celebrated indicators of ocean health. While the global trajectory of coral reef degradation is now well documented, and the accompanying loss of economic benefits increasingly demonstrated, the consequences in terms of human health have been largely ignored. Reefs provide a wide array of benefits to humans, contributing most directly to the health of subsistence fishing communities located on adjacent coasts and islands. Interactions between human and marine ecosystem health are complex, bidirectional and nonlinear. We draw on a broad range of data and experience to identify key links in the ecological chain from the coral polyp to the human society. Our conclusions are that humans are components of coral reef ecosystems, few studies of reef health incorporate human health, few data are available to quantify the health services reefs provide to people, and human health security is essential to the preservation of coral reef ecosystems.     

Ecology and urban planning

Urban areas harbour diverse nature ranging from semi-natural habitats to wastelands, parks and other highly human-influenced biotopes with their associated species assemblages. Maintenance of this urban biodiversity for the residents and for its intrinsic value in the face of increasing population and expanding cities requires that ecological knowledge should be better integrated into urban planning. To achieve this goal understanding of ecological patterns and processes in urban ecosystems is needed. The first step in the necessary urban ecological research is to find out what kind of nature exists in cities. Second, knowledge about ecological processes important in urban nature is required. Although ecological processes in cities are the same as in rural areas, some of them, such as invasion by alien species, are more prevalent in urban than in rural conditions. Third, based on ecological knowledge, management schemes maintaining the diversity of urban nature should be designed. These procedures should also include protection of urban nature, e.g. in urban national parks. Finally, as ecology alone cannot provide the complex information about human influence on urban ecosystems, interdisciplinary research involving natural and social sciences is imperative for a holistic approach to integrating ecology into the process of urban planning.     

景感生态学在城市生态系统服务中的应用研究——以城市公园景观设计为例

城市生态系统服务和可持续发展是当前城市生态学研究的热点问题。景感生态学作为联系生态系统服务和可持续发展的桥梁,可作为研究城市生态系服务和可持续发展的一种有效途径。随着社会发展所伴随的人们经济生活的生活压力增大,城市居民的亚健康状态日益突出。城市公园作为城市生态系统的重要构成,其设计目的应考虑应对城市居民健康问题和促进人类精神文明建设方面的作用。以城市公园景观设计为例,从园路、建筑、植物、水体景观和小品等方面探讨景感生态学在城市公园景观设计中的应用价值。景感生态学作为探索城市公园景观设计的新思路,以实现生态效益和居民福祉的提升,丰富和提升城市公园的生态系统服务功能,从而有利于促进为人类当代和后代提供可持续的福祉,以期驱使人类行为和言行规律朝着对生态系统有益的方向演化,自觉维护和改善生态系统服务,从而可持续地保障城市生态系统服务。     

Restoration for multiple use

Management of restored ecosystems for multiple use is a modern necessity given a growing human population and dwindling supplies of ecosystem goods and services. Multiple use management refers to managing resources simultaneously for sustainable output of many goods and services. Within any restoration, thoughtful planning and early stakeholder engagement can help harmonize seemingly competing multiple uses. Although the field of ecological restoration is young and there are few long‐term lessons to draw from, we can infer from ecological theory that maximization of native biodiversity can impart resilience in the restored ecosystem and can buffer against the stress of multiple use management. Restoration for multiple use should be accompanied with an acknowledgment that humility is required and monitoring is needed to keep the restored ecosystem on an acceptable trajectory. The field of ecological restoration was founded upon the notion that ecosystems would be restored for ethical reasons, but modern realities have necessitated a more utilitarian approach to restoration that requires restoring ecosystems for multiple uses. This reality represents a grand challenge for the next generation of restoration ecologists.     

Improving the dialogue between public health and ecosystem science on antimicrobial resistance

The concept of health has evolved markedly from a bio-medical, mechanistic model to include an interdisciplinary perspective where human, animal and ecosystem health are integrated. One Health, EcoHealth and Planetary Health are examples of approaches to health advocating collaboration and interdisciplinarity at multiple levels. In practice, successful integration has been challenging and in particular, understanding of the ecosystem component of health lags behind the human and animal components. Antimicrobial resistance is an important threat to human health, which develops, is maintained and transmitted at the human–animal–environment interface. While the human and livestock components of resistance are well understood, this is not the case for the ecosystem component. This gap in knowledge leads to a poor representation of the environmental dimension of antimicrobial resistance in key policy documents and in interdisciplinary work around this issue. We interviewed a group of leading researchers in public health and ecology to explore their perceptions on the integration of ecosystem and public health research in the context of antimicrobial resistance. Experts from both fields considered that research on antimicrobial resistance is only beginning to consider ecosystems. They highlighted various barriers that have contributed to limited integration, such as conceptual barriers, and a lack of knowledge translators as facilitators. Better interdisciplinary integration is needed to address the challenge of antimicrobial resistance. Improving the dialogues between the disciplines is a necessary first step in this process. Greater engagement of ecologists is needed to build a more complete understanding of the role of ecosystems in human health, and identify how human interactions with ecosystems can both contribute to, and restrict, the development of antimicrobial resistance.     

2009年第五届“现代生态学讲座”国际会议综述

"现代生态学讲座"系列会议是由国内外华人生态学家联合发起、为加强现代生态学的新理论、新观点、新方法和热点问题的交流与合作的国际会议.总结了2009年6月27～29日在兰州大学举行的第五届现代生态学讲座国际会议的全部二十五场报告,围绕"宏观生态学和可持续发展科学"的会议主题,分别从森林生态学、草地生态学、全球变化生态学、根际和土壤生态学、分子和行为生态学以及农业生态学等角度进行了分类总结.全部报告可归纳为"生态系统服务功能的物质基础"和"生态系统服务的生态学机制"两个大的基础理论问题,而解决问题的途径必须在人类-自然耦合生态系统的大框架下进行探索.对该会议的进一步改善提出了一些建议.     

生态系统综合评价的内容与方法

生态系统综合评价是系统分析生态系统的生产及服务能力,对生态系统进行健康诊断,做出综合的生态分析和经济分析,评价其当前状态,并预测生态系统今后的发展趋势,为生态系统管理提供科学依据。从总体上讲,综合评价更强调生态系统一系列产品与服务功能之间的权衡,具有很强的实践意义。许多学者对不同的生态系统服务功能进行了经济价值评估,但缺乏对生态系统的产品、服务、健康与管理之间关系的进一步探讨。对生态系统服务功能评价、健康评价的生态管理与预测进行了系统论述,目的是提出生态系统综合评价的框架,指导生态系统评价行动及生态系统管理。     

基于管理目标的湖泊生态系统动力学

基于生态系统管理的目标,在对相关研究分析的基础上,依据生态系统生态学、淡水生态学的理论,提出了湖泊生态系统动力学研究的2个理论基础：生态系统管理和生态系统特征.在此基础上,分析得到湖泊生态系统动力学的研究方法体系,主要包括研究内容与技术路线、关键问题识别和动力学模拟、湖泊生态系统的适应性管理决策等部分.其中,湖泊生态系统结构和过程、湖泊中食物网营养动力学研究、生源要素循环、湖泊中关键过程的生态作用以及湖泊生态系统动力学模拟是研究的核心问题.此后,以P为主要的生源要素,将生态系统分为3个子过程：入流、出流和内部反馈,并以此建立了湖泊生态系统动力学的模型框架,以辅助于湖泊的生态系统管理.     

Whaleworms as a tag to map zones of heavy-metal pollution

Biological monitoring refers to the use of living organisms to evaluate environmental conditions. Of particular relevance to the health of marine ecosystems is the improvement of methodologies of biological monitoring to provide highly ecologically sensitive indices of exposure. We have shown that anisakid nematodes, a parasite group widely distributed in oceans that infects a wide range of host species, can accumulate essential and non-essential metals to levels far in excess of their host tissues. The fact that they could be used as biomarkers of trace-metal contamination in studies of environmental impact suggests a potential use as a monitor species in a marine ecosystem under anthropogenic stress because they might produce a warning or alert signal of high ecological relevance.     

N:P化学计量学在生态学研究中的应用

化学计量学很早就被应用于生态学研究中,但长期以来几乎被生态学家所忽视.近年来,由于认识到化学计量学研究可以把生态实体的各个层次在元素水平上统一起来,因此元素化学计量学成为近年来新兴的一个生态学研究领域.氮磷作为植物生长的必需矿质营养元素和生态系统常见的限制性元素,在植物体内存在功能上的联系,二者之间具有重要的相互作用.近年来由于人类活动的强烈影响,这两种元素的循环在速度和规模上都发生了前所未有的改变,导致一系列环境问题的出现,因此N:P化学计量学研究就显得极为重要.本文论述了N:P化学计量学在物种、群落、生态系统等各层次的应用现状,同时从分子生物学角度分析了应用N:P化学计量学的可行性,并指出了N:P化学计量学研究的应用前景和存在的缺陷.     

侵蚀环境小流域生态经济系统健康定量评价

生态经济系统健康是黄土丘陵区侵蚀环境下水土保持与生态建设的目标.在分析侵蚀环境下生态系统健康特征和诊断指标筛选原则的基础上,从资源环境支持、社会经济人文影响和生态综合功能3个方面,选择17个因素作为参评因子,建立了一套适合于侵蚀环境小流域生态经济系统健康诊断的指标体系.以均方差决策法确定各指标的权重,运用递阶多层次综合法、线性加权函数法分别建立二级层次和综合指标健康诊断模型——健康指数.分析研究侵蚀环境小流域生态经济系统健康动态,结果表明,该环境系统健康状况相对稳定,健康指数呈逐年波动式上升趋势（由1985年的0.370增大到2003年的0.573）,具有较强的可持续发展能力.同时,以现实生态经济最佳水平为目标,引入障碍度、优势度等概念,运用通经分析对该环境小流域系统健康进行障碍和优势诊断,并据此提出了建设对策和建议,为该环境小流域生态环境建设提供科学依据.