辽河三角洲滨海湿地景观规划各预案对指示物种生态承载力的影响

在对辽河三角洲滨海湿地进行景观规划“预案”设计以及相应的生境分析基础上 ,运用景观生态决策与评价支持系统 ( LEDESS-model)对指示物种丹顶鹤和黑嘴鸥繁殖生境的生态承载力进行了空间模拟和定量分析 ,结果表明 :在大规模农业开发的背景下 ,预案 A通过湿地调整及生境补偿措施 ,不仅可以维持湿地生境面积“无净损失”( No-net-loss) ,而且可以相当程度地提高指示物种繁殖生境的生态承载力 ;预案 B通过一系列减轻生境破碎化影响的生境管理措施 ,也显著地提高了丹顶鹤繁殖生境的生态承载力 ,但对黑嘴鸥繁殖生境的生态承载力的改善不如前者显著 ;预案 C的模拟结果说明采取“滚动”开发模式 ,可以有效减轻区域农业开发对物种生境的负面影响 ,在本研究限定的开发规模下 ( 80 0 0 hm2 ) ,对指示物种丹顶鹤、黑嘴鸥繁殖生境的生态承载力没有明显影响

Ocean urea fertilization for carbon credits poses high ecological risks

The proposed plan for enrichment of the Sulu Sea, Philippines, a region of rich marine biodiversity, with thousands of tonnes of urea in order to stimulate algal blooms and sequester carbon is flawed for multiple reasons. Urea is preferentially used as a nitrogen source by some cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates, many of which are neutrally or positively buoyant. Biological pumps to the deep sea are classically leaky, and the inefficient burial of new biomass makes the estimation of a net loss of carbon from the atmosphere questionable at best. The potential for growth of toxic dinoflagellates is also high, as many grow well on urea and some even increase their toxicity when grown on urea. Many toxic dinoflagellates form cysts which can settle to the sediment and germinate in subsequent years, forming new blooms even without further fertilization. If large-scale blooms do occur, it is likely that they will contribute to hypoxia in the bottom waters upon decomposition. Lastly, urea production requires fossil fuel usage, further limiting the potential for net carbon sequestration. The environmental and economic impacts are potentially great and need to be rigorously assessed. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optical waveguide propagation loss measurement using multiple reflections method

Optical waveguide propagation loss measurement method based on optical multiple reflections detection is presented in this paper. By using a precision reflectometer, uncertain influence on waveguide propagation loss measurement caused by fiber-waveguide coupling can be eliminated effectively and the waveguide net propagation loss can be measured accurately. To demonstrate this, the propagation loss of a Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) rib waveguide fabricated by RIE is measured with the obtained value being 4.3 dB/cm. This method provides a non-destructive means for evaluating waveguide propagation loss. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analysis of arable land loss and its impact on rural sustainability in Southern Jiangsu Province of China

Rapid urbanization and industrialization in southern Jiangsu Province have consumed a huge amount of arable land. Through comparative analysis of land cover maps derived from TM images in 1990, 2000 and 2006, we identified the trend of arable land loss. It is found that most arable land is lost to urbanization and rural settlements development. Urban settlements, rural settlements, and industrial park-mine-transport land increased, respectively, by 87 997 ha (174.65%), 81 041 ha (104.52%), and 12 692 ha (397.99%) from 1990 to 2006. Most of the source (e.g., change from) land covers are rice paddy fields and dryland. These two covers contributed to newly urbanized areas by 37.12% and 73.52% during 1990-2000, and 46.39% and 38.86% during 2000-2006. However, the loss of arable land is weakly correlated with ecological service value, per capita net income of farmers, but positively with grain yield for some counties. Most areas in the study site have a low arable land depletion rate and a high potential for sustainable development. More attention should be directed at those counties that have a high depletion rate but a low potential for sustainable development. Rural settlements should be controlled and rationalized through legislative measures to achieve harmonious development between urban and rural areas, and sustainable development for rural areas with a minimal impact on the ecoenvironment. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.