The current status of European wetland inventories and classifications

The status of wetland inventory and classification is considered for 44 European countries, as well as for the continent as a whole. Data and information were obtained from questionnaires compiled by the International Waterfowl and Wetland Research Bureau, the MedWet sub-project on inventory and monitoring, and the Ramsar Bureau. Nine European countries have national wetland inventories, and 32 have inventories of sites of international importance listed under the Ramsar Convention. There has been a trend in producing regional or continental inventories for wetlands that are important as waterfowl habitat. There is an urgent need to produce wetland inventories for all European countries. The Ramsar database takes into consideration hydrological and economic wetland values, as well as ecological ones. The Ramsar classification lists a total of 35 wetland types, and is sufficiently flexible that it could be used for classifying European wetlands at the national scale.     

Building a national wetland inventory: a review and roadmap to move forward

An inventory is internationally recognised as a key tool for informing policy, management and conservation of wetlands. Despite national, state and territory initiatives a comprehensive Australian wetland inventory still does not exist. The primary data requirements for a national wetland inventory are standardised mapping of wetland extent and attribution of typology. Some Australian jurisdictions have ongoing and regularly updated wetland mapping programs that could be consistent with a national inventory framework, whereas others have outdated or scattered information and data. Data requirements for wetland inventories have been reviewed previously, but there have been several recent improvements in technology and available information since those reviews were completed. The focus of this paper is to update previous reviews by outlining the recent opportunities that have emerged, and present a roadmap to support implementation of a jurisdictional wetland inventory program. We applied the process to the Lachlan River catchment in New South Wales, demonstrating the value and relevancy of the roadmap for inventory development. The need for standardised jurisdictional wetland inventories is the first step to their integration into a national wetland inventory. The roadmap and frameworks developed here can guide the development of other programs to overcome impediments and support development of a national wetland inventory. This tool would ultimately support the maintenance, protection and restoration of wetlands at a national level.     

Classification and inventory of wetlands: A global overview

Classification of wetlands is extremely problematical, definition of the term wetland being a difficult and controversial starting point. Although considerable effort has gone into the development of national and regional wetland classifications, the only attempt at establishing a global system has been under the auspices of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance. In view of the fact that the Ramsar Convention has 70 Contracting Parties world-wide, it is suggested that the Convention's definition and classification system should be adopted generally for international purposes. Much of the world has been covered by preliminary wetland inventories, but there is an urgent need to extend coverage to those areas not yet included. It is essential that all inventory projects give adequate attention to meeting the real information needs of agencies and individuals which have an impact on the conservation and wise use of wetlands. Attention should also be given to providing for wide dissemination and regular updating of information and establishment of procedures for monitoring ecological change at the sites identified.     

中国湿地温室气体清单编制研究进展

湿地是重要的土地利用类型之一,在陆地生态系统碳循环中起重要作用。在缔约国向《联合国气候变化框架公约》提交的温室气体国家清单报告中,湿地作为“农业、林业及其他土地利用(AFOLU)”的一部分,因其不确定性较高而备受关注。自2006年以来,IPCC先后发布了《2006 IPCC国家温室气体清单指南》、《2013 IPCC 2006国家温室气体清单指南的增补：湿地》和《IPCC 2006年国家温室气体清单指南2019精细化》,为缔约国提供了清单编制的参考方法学。然而,IPCC指南中对湿地的定义和分类与中国现行的土地利用类型和并不统一,其提供的缺省参数对中国的研究亦未充分整合。因此,亟需在IPCC框架下开发适合中国的湿地温室气体清单方法学及参数库,以降低清单编制的不确定性。综述了IPCC湿地清单编制的方法学与中国湿地清单的研究进展,主要包括(1)比较了IPCC三部指南中的湿地清单的方法学,梳理了后两部对《2006 IPCC国家温室气体清单指南》在湿地类型、评估方法和缺省参数的更新内容;(2)比较了中国湿地清单编制与其他湿地温室气体研究结果的差异并探讨原因;(3)梳理了IPCC三部清单指南中湿地...     

US Fish and Wildlife Service 1979 wetland classification: A review

In 1979 the US Fish and Wildlife Service published and adopted a classification of wetlands and deepwater habitats of the United States. The system was designed for use in a national inventory of wetlands. It was intended to be ecologically based, to furnish the mapping units needed for the inventory, and to provide national consistency in terminology and definition. We review the performance of the classification after 13 years of use. The definition of wetland is based on national lists of hydric soils and plants that occur in wetlands. Our experience suggests that wetland classifications must facilitate mapping and inventory because these data gathering functions are essential to management and preservation of the wetland resource, but the definitions and taxa must have ecological basis. The most serious problem faced in construction of the classification was lack of data for many of the diverse wetland types. Review of the performance of the classification suggests that, for the most part, it was successful in accomplishing its objectives, but that problem areas should be corrected and modification could strengthen its utility. The classification, at least in concept, could be applied outside the United States. Experience gained in use of the classification can furnish guidance as to pitfalls to be avoided in the wetland classification process.The US Government's right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty free licence in and to any copyright is acknowledged.     

An evaluation of ecological information on Australia’s northern tropical rivers and wetlands

The northern tropical river and wetland systems of Australia cover a vast and mostly remote area. Comparably little is known of wetland type, species diversity, ecological processes and ecosystem services. Systematic inventory and classification is lacking and research remains disparate in purpose and coverage. An integrated framework is used to evaluate results from three multidisciplinary studies across various scales to synthesise available knowledge relating to key ecological attributes across both the study region and within focus areas. The utility of geomorphic and hydrological classification at coarse scales is supported but the unavailability of biological data at corresponding and finer spatial and temporal scales constrains the potential for ecological inventory and classification utilising existing information. Future inventory and ecological studies across this and similar vast study areas need to consider the apriori development of a user-driven data framework and the development of specific investigatory tools to overcome technical and other barriers associated with the requirements of multi-scalar ecological studies.     

Rapid acquisition and dissemination of standardized biological inventories from Russian Biosphere Reserves

We accumulate, standardize, and disseminate the results of biological inventories of 21 protected areas in the Russian Federation; each of these areas has been recognized by UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) program as a Biosphere Reserve. These inventories, comprising 4702 species of plants and 1094 species of vertebrate animals of the breadth of Russia, represent 20% of the vascular flora and 73% of the vertebrate fauna of Russia and are made widely available for the first time. We describe an approach to the development and Internet availability of large databases of species inventories which were produced through the provision of custom biological inventory software supported by training, cost-free distribution, and a modest amount of taxonomic support. Our experiences also highlight the essential role of an active national office in a system of protected areas. Our approach overcomes many of the obstacles inherent in previous and existing attempts to assemble the results of biological inventories derived from a variety of sources. We suggest a similar application of biological inventory software, supported by national coordination, as an effective means to provide access to species inventories of a system of protected areas. Standardized, taxonomically current species inventories are essential components of regional and global conservation efforts.     

A national fish passage barrier inventory to support fish passage policy implementation and estimate river connectivity in New Zealand

Fragmentation of river systems is a key driver of freshwater biodiversity loss. Instream structure inventories are an essential component of delivering a strategic approach to restoring river connectivity. We used a range of data sources to collate the best available information on fish passage barriers and instream structures across the whole of New Zealand. To support implementation of new national policy objectives to maintain and improve river connectivity, the structure inventory has been integrated with a new fish passage assessment mobile application that allows river managers and asset owners to ground-truth, update and add records to the database. The data are provided open access and are being used for environmental reporting and to support strategic prioritisation of barrier mitigation actions. We used these data to quantify river connectivity at regional and national scales and demonstrated that at least half of New Zealand's river network is upstream of fish migration barriers. Limitations to our calculation of upstream river connectivity included the unknown influence of unrecorded structures, particularly on private land, missing information within recorded data, the large number of instream structures that have been identified but not yet assessed for their risk to fish passage, and spatial errors in the automated pairing of structures to a digital river network. A critical challenge for river managers is understanding the consequences of these uncertainties in the data for prioritisation and decision-making regarding barrier removal or mitigation.     

基于多类型自然保护地整合优化的国家公园综合监测体系构建

随着我国自然保护事业进入新时代,以国家公园为主体的自然保护地体系建设思路得以明确,以国家公园为代表的自然保护地监测工作也被赋予了更高的要求。监测在促进国家公园科学规划与管理中发挥着重要作用,国家公园管理目标的实现离不开可靠的监测数据和信息的支撑。我国的国家公园试点由各类型自然保护地整合设立,因此面临不同监测类型之间的整合,存在缺乏统一的监测指标体系、有效的监测数据管理、健全的监测实施机制等问题。在对各类型自然保护地整合优化的基本思路下,基于国外国家公园监测实践与经验,综合考虑我国自然保护地的监测现状和需求,从顶层设计出发,构建了以自然资源清查为基础、以生态监测为核心、以自然与人为干扰监测为辅助、以管理有效性监测为补充并服务管理有效性评价的国家公园综合监测体系。在此基础上,进一步提出由三级监测网络、监测数据管理、管理有效性评价三部分组成的国家公园监测实施机制。在国家公园监测体系构建方面进行了探索与尝试,以期为我国国家公园监测体系以及监测制度的建立提供有益参考。     

Challenges in using land use and land cover data for global change studies

Land use and land cover data play a central role in climate change assessments. These data originate from different sources and inventory techniques. Each source of land use/cover data has its own domain of applicability and quality standards. Often data are selected without explicitly considering the suitability of the data for the specific application, the bias originating from data inventory and aggregation, and the effects of the uncertainty in the data on the results of the assessment. Uncertainties due to data selection and handling can be in the same order of magnitude as uncertainties related to the representation of the processes under investigation. While acknowledging the differences in data sources and the causes of inconsistencies, several methods have been developed to optimally extract information from the data and document the uncertainties. These methods include data integration, improved validation techniques and harmonization of classification systems. Based on the data needs of global change studies and the data availability, recommendations are formulated aimed at optimal use of current data and focused efforts for additional data collection. These include: improved documentation using classification systems for land use/cover data; careful selection of data given the specific application and the use of appropriate scaling and aggregation methods. In addition, the data availability may be improved by the combination of different data sources to optimize information content while collection of additional data must focus on validation of available data sets and improved coverage of regions and land cover types with a high level of uncertainty. Specific attention in data collection should be given to the representation of land management (systems) and mosaic landscapes.     

National forest inventories and biodiversity monitoring in Australia

Abstract

Forests currently cover over 20% of the Australian continent and are an important resource, subject to a wide range of economic and environmental pressures. These lands support substantial numbers of forest-dependent species with national forest inventories providing important information on biodiversity. National scale information on these forests has been collected or collated since 1988 under the National Forest Inventory (NFI) programme, but substantial problems with the ‘snap shot’ approach have been recognized, particularly with respect to monitoring change and a consequent move towards a permanent and sample-based continental forest monitoring framework (CFMF) has been proposed. CFMF is proposed to consist of three Tiers: (1) satellite imagery of the continent to identify forest and change in forest cover; (2) systematic high-resolution remotely sensed data and (3) permanent ground points at 20×20 km grid interception points. The CFMF approach is in line with the international trend of national forest inventories in developed countries although the Tier 2 approach offers a useful extension. An alternative inventory approach is provided by the National Carbon Accounting System (NCAS) which models the mass of carbon and nitrogen in seven separate living and dead biomass pools for any point under forest or agriculture land use since 1970. The NCAS approach allows fine spatial and temporal monitoring of changes in these carbon and nitrogen biomass pools, and predictions of changes that result from policy or management decisions. This paper briefly reviews NFI, NCAS and the proposed CFMF, with particular emphasis on issues of use and potential for monitoring biodiversity in this biologically very diverse country.     

A review of wetland inventory and classification in Australia

Studies of wetlands in Australia, as in other countries, have taken a wide variety of approaches to defining, surveying and classifying these environments. Past and current approaches in Australia are reviewed for each of the States and Territories which provide the context for much of the natural resource investigation in the country. While there are obvious advantages of national, and perhaps international, agreement on definition and types of wetlands, a variety of approaches to inventory and classification will always be necessary for particular purposes. More fundamental than general agreement on approaches is the need for wetland scientists and managers to maximise the accuracy of survey information, to test the assumptions involved in the use of classifications, and to ensure that the classifications they use are the most appropriate for their purposes. The issue of a global wetland classification scheme is discussed on the basis of a representative range of views by Australian wetland workers.     

Satellite remote sensing of wetlands

To conserve and manage wetland resources, it is important to inventoryand monitor wetlands and their adjacent uplands. Satellite remote sensing hasseveral advantages for monitoring wetland resources, especially for largegeographic areas. This review summarizes the literature on satellite remotesensing of wetlands, including what classification techniques were mostsuccessful in identifying wetlands and separating them from other land covertypes. All types of wetlands have been studied with satellite remote sensing.Landsat MSS, Landsat TM, and SPOT are the major satellite systems that have beenused to study wetlands; other systems are NOAA AVHRR, IRS-1B LISS-II and radarsystems, including JERS-1, ERS-1 and RADARSAT. Early work with satellite imageryused visual interpretation for classification. The most commonly used computerclassification method to map wetlands is unsupervised classification orclustering. Maximum likelihood is the most common supervised classificationmethod. Wetland classification is difficult because of spectral confusion withother landcover classes and among different types of wetlands. However,multi-temporal data usually improves the classification of wetlands, as doesancillary data such as soil data, elevation or topography data. Classifiedsatellite imagery and maps derived from aerial photography have been comparedwith the conclusion that they offer different but complimentary information.Change detection studies have taken advantage of the repeat coverage andarchival data available with satellite remote sensing. Detailed wetland maps canbe updated using satellite imagery. Given the spatial resolution of satelliteremote sensing systems, fuzzy classification, subpixel classification, spectralmixture analysis, and mixtures estimation may provide more detailed informationon wetlands. A layered, hybrid or rule-based approach may give better resultsthan more traditional methods. The combination of radar and optical data providethe most promise for improving wetland classification.     

美国湿地植物指示指标由来及应用

该文略述美国湿地植物指示指标由来并以俄亥俄州立大学湿地研究园人工实验湿地为例,详细地列出了该人工湿地建成15年后的植物及美国湿地植物指示。这个实例有助于中国的湿地恢复及保育。     

The US Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands Inventory Project

In 1974, the US Fish and Wildlife Service directed its Office of Biological Services to design and conduct an inventory of the Nation's wetlands. The mandate was to develop and disseminate a technically sound, comprehensive data base concerning the characteristics and extent of the Nation's wetlands. The purpose of this data base is to foster wise use of the Nation's wetlands and to expedite decisions that may affect this important resource. To accomplish this, state-of-the-art principles and methodologies pertaining to all aspects of wetland inventory were assimilated and developed by the newly formed project. By 1979, when the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) Project became operational, it was clear that two very different kinds of information were needed. First, detailed wetland maps were needed for site-specific decisions. Second, national statistics developed through statistical sampling on the current status and trends of wetlands were needed in order to provide information to support the development or alteration of Federal programs and policies. The NWI has produced wetland maps (scale=1:24 000) for 74% of the conterminous United States. It has also produced wetland maps (scale=1:63 360) for 24% of Alaska. Nearly 9000 of these wetland maps, representing 16.7% of the continental United States, have been computerized (digitized). In addition to maps, the NWI has produced other valuable wetland products. These include a statistically-based report on the status and trends of wetlands that details gains and losses in United States wetlands that have occurred from the mid-1970's to the mid-1980's. Other wetland products include a list of wetland (hydric) soils, a national list of wetland plant species, wetland reports for certain individual States such as New Jersey and Florida, and a wetland values data base.     

基于遥感的湿地景观格局季相分析

以中国东北地区三江平原北部为研究区域,利用2012年多季相遥感影像作为数据源,结合野外调查数据,应用面向对象的分类方法,根据影像的物候、时相等特征,提取不同月份的湿地信息,进行景观格局季相分析。结果表明:(1)研究区湿地面积、类型格局在同一年不同季节不同月份会有不同幅度的变化,总体呈现缓增骤减的态势。湿地主要分布在低洼地区,主要湿地类型为草本沼泽,其次为河流,其他湿地占总面积比例较小。(2)研究区各阶段湿地都有转化,主要发生在湿地和非湿地之间,多数表现在草本沼泽和草地之间的转化。(3)湿地分布和湿地转化面积主要集中在低海拔区域和低坡度区域,其中海拔100 m和坡度5°以下范围内的湿地分布面积和湿地转化面积占湿地总面积及湿地转化面积的绝大部分。(4)年内季节性湿地转化与降水、温度和湿地植被物候关系密切。     

国家级生物大数据中心展望

大数据时代下,科学大数据已经成为科技创新和社会经济发展的新动力。我国是生物数据生产大国,生命大数据是人口健康和国家安全的重要战略资源。面对我国生物数据因存储零散、缺乏系统监管而大量丢失和流失,以及严重依赖国际生物组学大数据中心的局面,亟需从国家层面建设我国自己的生命大数据保存和管理体系。本文以美国NCBI为例介绍了国际生物大数据中心的发展历程及现状,阐明我国建立国家级生物大数据中心的重要性、迫切性、当前历史机遇和发展前景。中国科学院北京基因组研究所生命与健康大数据中心为此做了大量努力,并在数据存储、汇交和转化应用上取得了阶段性成果,以期推进我国生物大数据中心的建设,提高生命科学研究的国际竞争力和影响力。     

Reasons for the loss and degradation of Australian wetlands

Wetland conservation and management in Australia is not supported by a comprehensive information base. A national inventory has not been compiled and we have very little information on the areal extent and loss of wetlands. Further, we have little information on the values and benefits (products, functions and attributes) derived from wetlands and how these have been degraded or lost. We do know, however, that in some areas at least, wetland loss and degradation has been severe and may even be still occurring. Much of the scientific attention to wetland management has been directed towards the apparent (or ecological) reasons for wetland loss and degradation – changes to the water regime, physical modification of the habitat, eutrophication and other pollution, and invasion by exotic pest species. Lists of threats to wetlands have been compiled, but these rarely address the non-ecological reasons that have resulted in so many wetlands being lost or degraded. In this paper we summarize the key points made from a number of case studies of Australian wetlands that highlight the non-ecological causes of wetland loss and degradation. From this analysis we conclude that awareness and understanding about the non-ecological causes of wetland loss and degradation need to be as well understood as the ecological causes. Foremost amongst these we highlight greater attention to the following issues: economic development in wetlands, bureaucratic obstacles, lack of information or poor access to information, and poor general awareness of the values and benefits derived from wetlands. We further conclude that wetland loss and degradation does not need to happen – our wetlands are valuable and already severely degraded. For this situation to be rectified we need to ensure that the knowledge and expertise of wetland scientists is heard and heeded by decision-makers and wetland users and owners.     

新世纪的中国昆虫系统学

对未来我国昆虫系统学在能力建设、物种编目、理论研究、技术创新和国际合作等方面提出一系列建议。在昆虫系统学能力建设方面,政府和科学家应该在生物分类学能力评估、基础硬件建设、各级生物标本馆中建立伙伴关系（包括标本采集、标本馆管理、 科学研究、 知识共享和标本与资料交换）等方面重点开展工作。在物种编目方面,我国的昆虫物种编目有赖于各级政府和机构继续关注标本的收集和保藏,继续启动一些考察项目,以满足发现和认识昆虫物种的实际需求。在物种水平上研究以往昆虫系统学家的工作,进行地区性和世界性的昆虫类群的订正更是非常必要的。在理论研究方面,我国昆虫系统应该在下列方面积极探索：物种概念、进化理论、比较生物学理论和高级分类系统研究。在技术创新方面,我国的昆虫系统学家应该在数据库与网络技术应用、图形图像处理技术、专家鉴定系统技术、分类性状分析技术、分子生物学技术、系统发育推断程序、信息统一管理技术和知识传播技术等方面进行深入研究,以满足昆虫系统学的发展需求。在国际合作方面,要进一步推动我国昆虫系统学研究机构加入生物分类学全球战略联盟、加入各种相关国际相关组织,要促进物种信息管理系统的建立与共享,要推动研究项目国际化。     

城市温室气体排放清单编制研究进展

温室气体排放清单是目前最常用的城市碳排放核算方法,有助于在大尺度上了解城市不同行业或部门的温室气体排放情况.然而,中国城市温室气体清单研究刚刚起步,研究成果还不多,尚缺乏系统、规范的城市温室气体研究方法和指标体系.概述了城市温室气体排放清单的主要参考编制方法,介绍了国内外城市温室气体清单的编制情况,对目前城市温室气体清单编制的特点进行了分析,总结了城市温室气体清单与国家温室气体清单在关键排放源、编制模式、方法体系等方面的差异;在此基础上结合我国城市实际,对适合中国城市的温室气体清单编制方法进行了探索,并针对清单编制过程中存在的具体问题提出了建议;最后对未来城市温室气体清单的发展趋势进行了展望,以期为中国温室气体清单编制及研究提供借鉴.