Soil erosion and runoff: The need to rethink mitigation strategies for sustainable agricultural landscapes in western Europe

Agricultural landscapes that are intensively farmed, as in western Europe, face the challenge of a transition to more sustainable systems. Although erosion rates are relatively low in western Europe, the agricultural landscape is confronted by the need to mitigate the off-site impacts of erosion. An important challenge is that of disrupting connectivity between runoff and sediment sources, often farmers' fields, and freshwater systems or local communities. Mitigation strategies should include monitoring of erosion rates and off-site impacts and a mix of engineered and alternative measures such as buffer strips and retention ponds. Also needed are supportive government policies and actions including awareness of institutional memory problems and the promotion of farmer education. For the future, the risk of climate change must be appreciated and built into the planning of comprehensive mitigation strategies. Our perspective is that the overall aim should be a ‘sustainable agricultural landscape’ and not simply a reduction of erosion and runoff on farmers' fields.     

The effects of landscape composition and physiognomy on metapopulation size: the role of corridors

We develop and analyze a model that examines the effects of corridor quality, quantity, and arrangement on metapopulation sizes. These ideas were formerly investigated by Lefkovitch and Fahrig (1985) and Henein and Merriam (1990). Our simulations provide results similar to the Henein and Merriam model, indicating that the quality of corridors in a landscape and their arrangement will influence the size of a metapopulation. We then go one step further, describing how corridor arrangement alters the metapopulation, and provide a method for predicting which corridor arrangements should support larger metapopulations. In contrast to the Henein and Merriam model, we find that the number of corridor connections has no influence on the size of a metapopulation in a landscape unless there is an accompanying change in the uniformity of the distribution of corridor connections among patches.     

Animal behavioral adaptation to changing landscapes: spring-staging geese habituate to wind farms

Wind farms are positioned in open landscapes and may cause loss of wildlife habitat due to disturbance, fragmentation, and infrastructure development. Especially flocking geese, swans, ducks and waders are regarded as vulnerable to wind farm development. We compared past and current displacement effects of two onshore wind farms and a line of land-based turbines on spring-staging pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) to see if there was evidence of habituation. In one wind farm area, geese previously (1998) (Larsen and Madsen 2000) kept a distance of c. 200 m (the distance at which 50% of peak densities is reached) and they did not go between the turbines; today (2008) they keep a distance of c. 100 m, but do still not enter the wind farm area. In another wind farm, where foraging geese previously (2000) kept a distance of more than 100 m and did not enter the wind farm, they now (2008) forage between the wind turbines and keep a distance of c. 40 m to turbines. In 1998, geese kept a distance of 125 m to a line of turbines, compared to 50 m now. We conclude that geese have behaviorally adapted to changing landscapes created by wind farms. The difference in avoidance between the sites may be due to the sizes of the turbines which in this study were small in both rotor-swept area and in height compared to more recent “industry standard” of 2.5 and 3.0 MW turbines. The study points to the need for longer term studies to properly assess the impact of wind farms on wildlife, including consequent increased risks from inclement weather events of feeding, rafting, and migrating waterfowl.     

Predicting land cover changes and their impact on the sediment influx in the Lake Balaton catchment

The land cover pattern in the Lake Balaton catchment (Hungary) has been changing since decollectivization in the 1990s. These land cover changes significantly impact the landscape connectivity, controlling the influx of sediments into the lake. A comparison of high resolution land cover maps from 1981, 2000 and 2005 showed a significant extensification of the agriculture with land cover conversions from arable land and vineyards to grassland and forest. For each land unit transition probabilities were assessed using logistic regression techniques to evaluate to which extent land cover changes are controlled by physical or socio-economic parameters. A stochastic land cover allocation algorithm was applied to generate future land cover patterns. The landscape connectivity for each of the simulated land cover patterns was assessed by means of a distributed routing algorithm. The simulations suggest that further land abandonment in the upslope parts of the catchment will cause a non-linear reduction of average soil erosion rates. The changes, however, have a relatively low impact on the sediment volume entering the lake because of the land unit’s poor connectivity with permanent river channels. The major contributors to the lakes sediment load are the vineyards near the lakeshore. They are likely to be maintained because of their touristic value. A significant reduction of the total sediment input in the lake can be expected only if soil conservation measures in the vineyards near the shorelines are undertaken.     

鄱阳湖湿地灰化苔草群落物种多度分布格局沿水分梯度的变化

为揭示鄱阳湖湿地苔草群落的构建机制,选择灰化苔草(Carex cinerascens)群落作为研究对象,通过设立3条样带调查不同水分梯度的群落物种多度,选用断棍模型(BSM)、生态位优先占领模型(NPM)、优势优先模型(DPM)、随机分配模型(RAM)和生态位重叠模型(ONM)5个生态位模型对群落种-多度关系进行拟合,结果表明,1)灰化苔草群落可按土壤水分划分为高湿度、中湿度和低湿度3组,分别对应从湖边、湿地中间和湿地边缘的梯度分布;2)从高到低的水分梯度上,灰化苔草群落的物种数先增加后降低,优势种多度逐渐增加,物种多度分布曲线由相对平缓变为陡峭;3)高湿度灰化苔草群落物种多度分布格局的最佳拟合模型为BSM,中、低湿度的理想模型转变为NPM。研究认为,水分条件的变化是灰化苔草群落物种多度分布格局改变的主因,随着水分梯度降低,群落构建的生态学过程由随机生态位变为生态位优先占领。研究为鄱阳湖湿地多样性保育和生态功能管理提供了理论参考。     

GIS在分布式水文模型中的应用——以北京雁栖河流域为例

在GIS支持下,由北京雁栖河流域数字高程模型DEM自动生成子流域单元,每个子流域单元的降雨径流过程利用一个水箱模型来模拟,该水箱模型用一个两参数的非线性分布函数来模拟上土壤层的蓄水容量空间分布特征,计算每个子流域单元TOPMODEL模型地形指数ln(a/tanβ)的空间累积分布曲线,并对其作无量纲化处理,通过地形指数ln(a/tanβ)的空间累积分布曲线的无量纲化曲线的最佳曲线拟合确定每个子流域单元土壤蓄水容量空间变异性参数,这使得模型中的土壤蓄水容量空间变异性参数成为一个有确定物理意义的参数,也使得所建立的模型更加具有物理基础。结果表明:无论从模型的率定期还是从模型的验证期来看,模型计算的径流与实测的日径流过程线都呈现出很好的一致性和吻合性,这说明本文建立的模型对雁栖河流域的日径流量的分布式模拟是有效的。     

塔里木河流域生态环境恶化的水文效应

塔里木河是我国最大的内陆河。 4条源流出山口多年平均天然径流量 2 2 4 .9× 10 8m3 (195 7～ 2 0 0 1年 )。在全球变暖的大背景下 ,塔里木河流域山区气候出现变暖增湿的趋势 ,2 0世纪 90年代径流量达 2 4 1.9× 10 8m3 ,增幅 7.6 %。由于源流区人类开发利用水资源的影响 ,使得补给塔里木河干流的水量不断减少 ,水文条件改变 ,造成干流上、中游段耗水严重 ,导致下游生态与环境急剧退化。自 2 0 0 0年以来 ,实施的从开都河—博斯腾湖向下游绿色走廊应急输水 ,已使下游生态环境开始恢复生机。     

Dispersal of woody plants in forest edges and hedgerows in a Southern Swedish agricultural area: the role of site and landscape structure

The distribution of woody vegetation was studied in forest edges and hedgerows in a 28 km² southern Swedish agricultural area, characterised by species-rich edge zones. The occurrence of 21 selected woody species (taxa) was related to differences in both edge structure and landscape structure. All the species studied were represented in both edge types, but a higher frequency of animal-dispersed species was found in hedgerows.Animal dispersed species were more affected by edge width and density than wind dispersed species. A higher number of wind-dispersed species were more frequent in forest edges, in hedgerows near to forest, or with a high proportion of forest within 500 m. A clear relationship was found between the number of physically connected elements in hedgerow networks and increasing frequency of occurrence for Corylus avellana, Crataegus spp., Euonymus europaeus, and Quercus robur; which indicate the ecological significance of connectedness for certain animal dispersed species. The study supports the general principle that woody species distribution and landscape structure are linked in a positive feedback loop. The results match findings from studies in other countries and are interpreted in the context of landscape processes and the ecological characteristics of woody plant species. We emphasise the importance of understanding dispersal mechanisms of woody species for the design and improvement of edge habitats in agricultural landscapes.     

Population dynamics and habitat connectivity affecting the spatial spread of populations – a simulation study

In this paper we show how the spatialconfiguration of habitat quality affects the spatial spread of apopulation in a heterogeneous environment. Our main result is thatfor species with limited dispersal ability and a landscape withisolated habitats, stepping stone patches of habitat greatlyincrease the ability of species to disperse. Our results showthat increasing reproductive rate first enables and thenaccelerates spatial spread, whereas increasing the connectivity has aremarkable effect only in case of low reproductive rates. Theimportance of landscape structure varied according to thedemographic characteristics of the population. To show this wepresent a spatially explicit habitat model taking into accountpopulation dynamics and habitat connectivity. The population dynamicsare based on a matrix projection model and are calculated on eachcell of a regular lattice. The parameters of the Leslie matrix dependon habitat suitability as well as density. Dispersal between adjacentcells takes place either unrestricted or with higher probability inthe direction of a higher habitat quality (restricted dispersal).Connectivity is maintained by corridors and stepping stones ofoptimal habitat quality in our fragmented model landscape containinga mosaic of different habitat suitabilities. The cellular automatonmodel serves as a basis for investigating different combinations ofparameter values and spatial arrangements of cells with high and lowquality.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

基于全球陆面数据同化系统蒸散量的GSAC模型率定

在识别缺资料流域水文模型参数时,目前常采用的区域化方法存在相似流域间降雨径流关系差别较大、模型参数与流域属性间的相关性不明显、在大范围缺资料地区难于选取参考流域等问题。本文从全球陆面数据同化系统(GLDAS)获取流域蒸散量数据,提出利用GLDAS蒸散量率定GSAC模型的方法。首先,通过合并网格建立GSAC模型模拟的蒸散量与GLDAS蒸散量在时间和空间方面的对应关系;其次,基于纳什效率系数的定义构建了一个模型率定指标,以评价GSAC模型模拟的蒸散量对GLDAS蒸散量的拟合效果;最后,依据GLDAS蒸散量与GSAC模型模拟蒸散量之间的拟合关系率定GSAC模型。呼兰河流域应用结果表明,GLDAS提供的蒸散量能够较好反映流域实际蒸散量的变化情况,为率定GSAC模型提供了一种有效的输入数据;在率定期与验证期,利用GLDAS蒸散量率定的GSAC模型对流量模拟的纳什效率系数分别为0.81和0.77,与利用流量数据率定的GSAC模型模拟结果相近。