A review of the salt sensitivity of the Australian freshwater biota

In Victoria, Australia, both dryland salinity and salinity in irrigation regions are serious agricultural problems. One option to control the latter is to pump groundwater to maintain it below the surface. However, this leaves a saline wastewater for disposal, probably into local streams or wetlands. This review of the salt sensitivity of the biota of Australian streams and wetlands gives information of interest to those responsible for developing controls on these discharges. The review addresses the lethal and sub-lethal effects of salinity on microbes (mainly bacteria), macrophytes and micro-algae, riparian vegetation, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds. Data suggest that direct adverse biological effects are likely to occur in Australian river, stream and wetland ecosystems if salinity is increased to around 1 000 mg L⁻¹. The review highlights a general lack of data on the sensitivity of freshwater plants and animals to salinity increases.     

Contractual National Parks and the Makuleke Community

Contractual national parks in South Africa are established on land owned either by the state or by a group of private individuals, but managed by South African National Parks (SANP) according to the terms of a joint management agreement drawn up by a joint management committee consisting of representatives from SANP and the landowners. Since majority rule in 1994, contractual national parks have been seen as a model through which the country's conservation as well as development objectives can be met, particularly where landowners are previously disadvantaged communities. This study looks at the Makuleke region of Kruger National Park in order to ascertain how successful the contractual national park model is in meeting conservation, social, and economic objectives for the area.     

Insect diversity in Gonggeom‐ji,the first protected paddy field wetland in Korea

Gonggeom‐ji pond is the first protected paddy field wetland area, designated by the Ministry of Environment of Korea in 2011, because of its high biodiversity and historic value. It contains reservoirs, paddy fields, and a forest site that provides diverse niches for insects. Quantitative methods were used in this study to estimate the insect diversity of this region. A transect of 50 m was designated in each site (reservoirs, paddy fields, and a forest site). Data were collected using sweeping and pitfall traps along each transect in May, August, and November 2017, representative of the seasons—spring, summer, and autumn, respectively. As a result, a total of 1079 individual insects representing 170 species from 60 families within nine orders were collected. Diversity, richness, and evenness indices were the highest in the forest site in May (4.77, 8.6, and 0.91, respectively). The dominance index was the highest in the forest site in November (0.64). Similarity index was the highest in the reservoir in May and August (0.519). These results would help compare different sites and their vegetation to assess relationships between insects and habitats.     

基于景观尺度下的鄱阳湖湿地浅层土有机碳的空间特征

湿地土壤有机碳研究是全球碳循环研究的基础性工作, 对于准确评估湿地固碳增汇和全球温室气体减排都具有重要意义。以鄱阳湖国家自然保护区为研究区域, 选择六种景观类型(湿地洲滩景观包括受人工控制的碟形湖泊常湖池、半人工控制的碟形湖泊蚌湖、不受人工控制的洲滩前缘泗洲头以及岗地景观包括林地、田地和菜地), 湿地洲滩景观在各1 m高程(泗洲头和蚌湖采样高程10-17 m, 常湖池采样高程12-17 m)内的浅土壤采取3个土壤样品, 岗地景观浅层土壤各采取3个土壤样品, 分析浅层土壤有机碳含量。结果表明, 鄱阳湖不同景观类型的浅层土壤有机碳含量差异性显著。湿地洲滩浅层土壤(特别是0-10 cm土层)的有机碳随高程梯度变化呈现倒U型变化, 即低海拔与高海拔土壤有机碳的含量较中海拔土壤有机碳的含量低, 泗洲头洲滩土层0-10 cm的有机碳含量最高值出现在13-14 m高程, 其中0-10 cm土层的土壤有机碳含量变化值为1.56-12.29 g·kg-1, 10-20 cm土层的土壤有机碳含量变化值为0.96-8.19 g·kg-1; 蚌湖洲滩土层0-10 cm的有机碳含量最高值出现在14-15 m高程, 其中0-10 cm土层的土壤有机碳含量变化值为6.36-23.32 g·kg-1, 10-20 cm土层的土壤有机碳含量变化值为4.14-8.88 g·kg-1; 常湖池洲滩土层0-10 cm的有机碳含量最高值出现在16-17 m高程, 其中0-10 cm土层的土壤有机碳含量变化值为6.51-18.91 g·kg-1, 10-20 cm土层的土壤有机碳含量变化值为3.83-10.05 g·kg-1。岗地浅层土壤有机碳(特别是0-10 cm土层)田地的土壤有机碳含量最高, 菜地土壤有机碳含量最低。比较六种景观类型的浅层土壤有机碳含量, 泗洲头洲滩浅层土壤有机碳含量最低, 蚌湖洲滩浅层土壤有机碳含量最高。六种景观类型的浅层土壤有机碳含量呈现一致的现象是土层0-10 cm的机碳含量明显高于土层10-20 cm的有机碳含量, 说明鄱阳湖国家自然保护区内土壤有机碳含量主要富集在土壤浅层的特征。土壤pH值对湿地土壤有机碳呈显著负相关性, 而土壤含水量、地上部分生物量与土壤有机碳呈显著正相关性。     

Methane emissions reduce the radiative cooling effect of a subtropical estuarine mangrove wetland by half

The role of coastal mangrove wetlands in sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) and mitigating climate change has received increasing attention in recent years. While recent studies have shown that methane (CH₄) emissions can potentially offset the carbon burial rates in low‐salinity coastal wetlands, there is hitherto a paucity of direct and year‐round measurements of ecosystem‐scale CH₄ flux (F_CH4) from mangrove ecosystems. In this study, we examined the temporal variations and biophysical drivers of ecosystem‐scale F_CH4 in a subtropical estuarine mangrove wetland based on 3 years of eddy covariance measurements. Our results showed that daily mangrove F_CH4 reached a peak of over 0.1 g CH₄‐C m^?2 day^?1 during the summertime owing to a combination of high temperature and low salinity, while the wintertime F_CH4 was negligible. In this mangrove, the mean annual CH₄ emission was 11.7 ± 0.4 g CH₄‐C m^–2 year^?1 while the annual net ecosystem CO₂ exchange ranged between ?891 and ?690 g CO₂‐C m^?2 year^?1, indicating a net cooling effect on climate over decadal to centurial timescales. Meanwhile, we showed that mangrove F_CH4 could offset the negative radiative forcing caused by CO₂ uptake by 52% and 24% over a time horizon of 20 and 100 years, respectively, based on the corresponding sustained‐flux global warming potentials. Moreover, we found that 87% and 69% of the total variance of daily F_CH4 could be explained by the random forest machine learning algorithm and traditional linear regression model, respectively, with soil temperature and salinity being the most dominant controls. This study was the first of its kind to characterize ecosystem‐scale F_CH4 in a mangrove wetland with long‐term eddy covariance measurements. Our findings implied that future environmental changes such as climate warming and increasing river discharge might increase CH₄ emissions and hence reduce the net radiative cooling effect of estuarine mangrove forests.     

国家公园规划制度功能定位与空间属性

我国将构建统一的国土空间规划体系, 整体谋划国土空间开发保护格局, 强化对各类专项规划的指导约束, 这必将对国家公园保护制度产生重大影响。本文分析了国土空间规划视角下国家公园规划制度的定位, 阐述了国家公园规划承载空间规划与发展规划两大体系的基本属性, 应在国土空间规划体系中具有优先权和前置权; 重点分析了各国家公园总体规划在国家规划体系中的功能与属性特征, 作为空间规划应承接好上位空间规划对国家公园的控制指标和管控要求, 作为建设规划应承接好上位或同域国民经济发展规划等对国家公园的目标任务要求, 作为管理规划要明确国家公园顺畅运行的要求。国家公园应在分区规划、控制性详细规划等专项规划方面寻求创新, 探索国家公园用途管制的实现模式。     

宁夏沿黄城市带湿地景观格局演变特征及驱动力

湿地作为全球生产力最高的生态系统之一,具有水净化、气候调节、碳汇等多种功能,但由于人类社会发展的胁迫和自然条件的改变,湿地流失尤为严重。为探究沿黄湿地景观格局演变规律,了解湿地资源的现状和动态变化,本研究以2000、2009、2018年3个时期Landsat卫星影像为数据源,选用景观指数、地理探测器等方法定量分析2000—2018年间宁夏沿黄城市带湿地景观格局演变特征及驱动力。结果表明: 2000—2018年,宁夏沿黄城市带湿地面积呈先增后减的趋势,湿地面积在研究前期增加了52.2 km²,增长率为8.2%,后期减少了26.8 km²,减少率为3.9%。湿地主要转出为建设用地和未利用地,转出面积分别为166.7、158.4 km²;新增湿地主要由未利用地和林草地转入,转入面积为543.1 km²。城市带湿地景观的破碎化程度呈上升趋势,但各类湿地均衡分布的态势逐渐增强,景观多样性也不断增加,景观优势种类逐渐弱化。自然要素和社会经济要素共同影响城市带湿地景观格局演变,其中,社会经济要素中的人口因素影响最显著,自然要素中的降水量、气温驱动作用明显,其他驱动力因子相对较弱但也不容忽视。