Current status and needs for life cycle assessment development in Asian/Pacific Regions

Conclusion  In conclusion, LCA that is conducted and used appropriately is an indispensable tool to assist decision-makers in making an informed decision about the environmental impacts of their activities, products or services. A global effort towards LCA use should be encouraged and countries in the Asian/Pacific Regions should not be left out. LCA-related activities reported in the symposium were described     

Endangered stands of thuriferous juniper in the western Mediterranean basin: ecological status, conservation and management

Thuriferous juniper is only found in isolated parts of the western Mediterranean: France (Alps, Pyrenees and Corsican highlands), Spain, Algeria and Morocco. These semi-arid mountain stands, where thuriferous juniper trees grow in low-density open woodland, are seriously endangered: (i) In the Atlas mountains, the thuriferous juniper stands are heavily degraded as a result of the intensive wood removal and livestock activity in these densely populated areas. This situation, which will soon become irreversible unless remedial measures are urgently taken, has produced impoverished soils and hillside instability while contributing to desertification. (ii) In Spain, although livestock activity and cultivation have strongly reduced areas occupied by Juniperus thurifera, stands are still numerous and, in some regions, show a good regeneration due to conservation measures. (iii) In France, the decline in human and livestock activities over recent decades has led to a recolonization of some of the Juniper stands by pines or oak. A forest management system that enables these original stands to survive and regenerate must be undertaken without delay. The dynamics of evolution of these stands is quite different north and south of the Mediterranean. In both cases, conservation measures are urgently required to protect or rehabilitate these original stands with floristic, ecological and socio-economic interest.     

Market Failure and the Environmental Policies of Firms: Economic Rationales for "Beyond Compliance" Behavior

This paper is an inquiry into the circumstances under which the voluntary provision of environmental public goods might be sensible from a firm's point of view. If environmental externalities were the only departure from the economic assumptions of perfect competition, and if no firms had preferential access to superior (low-cost) stocks of natural resources, firms that volunteered to internalize costs could not survive. But because externalities coexist with other departures from the competitive paradigm, such as asymmetric information and oligopoly competition, firms may find it in their shareholders' interests to provide environmental public goods to a greater degree than required by law. A number of firms, especially in Europe and North America, assert that they are pursuing "beyond-compliance" environmental policies. From the perspective of a firm's shareholders, it makes sense to pursue such policies if they increase the firm's expected value or if they appropriately manage business risk.
This paper discusses economically rational explanations for such policies. It analyzes the ways in which a firm's chances of financial success in pursuing any one of them are influenced by the firm's market position and organizational capabilities and by the basic structure of the industry in which it competes.     

Size of the first spring generation of Helicoverpa punctigera (Wallengren) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and winter rain in central Australia

Serious infestations of Helicoverpa punctigera are experienced yearly in the eastern cropping regions of Australia. Regression analysis was used to determine whether the size of the first generation in spring (G₁), which is comprised mostly of immigrants from inland Australia, was related to monthly rainfall in inland winter breeding areas. Data from two long series of light-trap catches at Narrabri in New South Wales (NSW) and Turretfield in South Australia (SA) were used in the analyses. The size of G₁ at Narrabri in each year was significantly regressed on the amount of rainfall in western Queensland and NSW in May and June. The size of G₁ at Turretfield each year was significantly regressed on the amount of rain in May, June and July in western Queensland and NSW and also in the desert of central Western Australia. Low r ² values of the regressions suggest that rainfall data for more sites, as well as biological and other physical factors, such as temperature, evaporation, and prevailing wind systems, may need to be included to improve forecasts of the potential magnitude of the infestations in coastal cropping regions.     

Plant-Herbivore Interaction and Its Consequences for Succession in Wetland Ecosystems: A Modeling Approach

Herbivore grazing is increasingly used as a management tool to prevent the dominance of vegetation by tall grasses or trees. In this report, a model is described that is used to analyze plant-herbivore interactions and their scaling up to landscape scale. The model can be used to predict effects of herbivory on vegetation development. The model is an ecosystem model including modules for carbon and nitrogen cycling through plants, soil organic matter, and atmosphere. Plants compete for light and nitrogen. An herbivory module is included that implements selective foraging by a herbivore in a spatially heterogeneous area. Simulations were done to analyze the effects of herbivore density on vegetation dynamics, to analyze the impact of soil fertility on maximum herbivore density, and to analyze effects of herbivore density on landscapes. Two important points come forward from the model. Maximum herbivore abundance shows a hump-shaped curve along a soil fertility gradient. At higher soil fertility, light competition becomes more important. Herbivory interferes with plant competition, giving the tall, less palatable species a competitive advantage and thereby reducing the food quality and availability and hence the carrying capacity of the area. At a landscape scale, herbivory leads to increased heterogeneity. This increased heterogeneity may increase carrying capacity. The implications of these points for nature management are discussed. Received 13 May 1998; accepted 23 November 1998.     

A management policy for sika deer based on sex-specific hunting

We consider here a management policy for a sika deer (Cervus nippon) population in the eastern part of Hokkaido. Deer populations are characterized by a large intrinsic rate of population increase, no significant density effects on population growth before population crash, and a relatively simple life history. Our goals of management for the deer population are (1) to avoid irruption with severe damage to agriculture and forestry, (2) to avoid the risk of extinction of the deer population, and (3) to maintain a sustainable yield of deer. To make a robust program on the basis of uncertain information about the deer population, we consider three levels of relative population size and four levels of hunting pressures. We also take into consideration a critical level for extinction, an optimal level, and an irruption level. The hunting pressure for females is set to increase with the population size. We also recommend catching males if the population size is between the critical and optimal levels and catching females and males if the population size is larger than the optimal level. We must avoid cases of irruption or threatened population under various sets of uncertain parameter values. The simulation results suggest that management based on sex-specific hunting is effective to diminish the annual variation in hunting yield. Received: April 8, 1998 / Accepted: December 25, 1998     

Comparative seed germination ecology of Austrostipa compressa and Ehrharta calycina (Poaceae) in a Western Australian Banksia woodland

Austrostipa compressa, a native ephemeral of southwest Western Australia was stimulated to germinate under a range of temperatures, in the presence of light, and exposure to smoke-water. This combination of environmental cues results in winter-maximum germination in immediate postfire and disturbed-soil environments of this Mediterranean-type climate. In contrast, Ehrharta calycina, an introduced perennial grass from southern Africa that has invaded Banksia woodlands, germinated under a wide range of temperature and light conditions, but showed no promotive response to smoke-water. Although A. compressa seeds tolerated heat shock better than E. calycina, the self-burial mechanism of A. compressa seeds ensures protection from fire. High-intensity fire could have a greater impact on E. calycina, as the seeds of this species tend to accumulate in the top of the soil profile where they are more susceptible to high temperatures. Although seeds of E. calycina are more susceptible to high temperatures, survival of mature individuals by postfire resprouting ensures continued survival in native woodlands. Estimates of soil seed bank densities showed extreme variability, but some recently burnt areas of the Yule Brook Botany Reserve contained up to 8000 seed m^?2 of A. compressa and nearly 75 000 seeds m^?2 of E. calycina. Viable soil seed bank densities of A. compressa are reduced with time-since-last fire, but areas of greater than 45 years since the last fire, still contained up to 119 seeds m^?2. In both species, only about half their soil seed bank germinates following fire, thus ensuring the potential for later recruitment. Massive soil seed populations of E. calycina in native Banksia woodlands pose a major problem to management of this plant community type.     

水分为限制因子的草地优化收获理论的研究

本文针对我国北方干旱、半干旱地区草地植物生长的主要限制因子,即水分问题,提出草地植物生物量和土壤水分的常微分方程模型。模拟的目标是一个生长期中植被生物量和土壤水分的变化。在此基础上,推导出了以维持系统平衡为前提,使总收获量达到可能的最大值的最优收获理论方程。最后求取模型在特定的情形下的解并讨论其表征和特点。具体模型求解的结果表明： (1)给定退化草地,围栏保护完全不加利用不一定是最佳恢复途径; (2)存在着最优的收获力投入,使草地植物的收获量达到极大值。     

我国主要类型生态系统结构功能与提高生产力途径研究──KJ85－06项目1991～1995研究进展简介

KJ 85-06项目是“八五”期间由中国科学院资助的最大的生态学研究计划.19个研究所、20个试验站、530余名科技人员参加了该项计划,5年总经费1000万元.研究工作取得了重大进展,迄今已发表论文450余篇、专着3部,尚有大量论文与多部专着将陆续出版.本文简要介绍了有关主要研究进展,并就生态系统优化管理研究和生态过程、人类活动影响联网研究提出了两点主张.