水土保持生态服务功能评价方法

 由于生态系统服务功能支撑与维持着地球生命系统的平衡与稳定,因此它已受到当今世界普遍关注。在我国水土流失严重的情况下,运用生态服务功能理论可以正确评价水土保持措施的作用,并为合理的生态建设规划提供依据。本文在总结Costanza等人理论的基础上,分析水土保持各项措施对保护和改良人类赖以生存的自然环境条件的综合效用。认为水土保持生态服务功能包括保护和涵养水源、保护和改良土壤、固碳释氧、净化空气和防风固沙等功能。另外,本文从水土保持工程措施、水土保持农业措施和水土保持林草措施3个方向为上述功能筛选了10个评价指标,且为各个指标分别建立了评价方法。这些指标及方法将有助于对水土保持措施的生态环境效应进行深入的分析与评价。     

Concepts of ecological rating of permissible anthropogenic impact on the soil cover in Ukraine

The conceptual basis, methodology, and structure of ecological rating of permissible anthropogenic loads on soils in Ukraine are discussed. The main goals of the ecological rating are to ensure the preservation of optimum soil productivity and ecological functions, the rehabilitation of soil fertility, and the protection of soil and land resources. Conditions and criteria of ecologically safe land management are discussed. The main principles of the system of ecological rating—its reliability, hierarchy, differentiation and integration, reality, optimality and minimization, and adaptation—are considered. The methodology of hygienic and ecotoxicologic rating is analyzed. It is suggested that these approaches may be combined for the adequate assessment of soil contamination by heavy metals. The suggested scheme of ecological norms takes into account soil and climatic conditions, the character of land use, and other factors.     

土壤质量对植物光合生理生态功能的影响研究进展

土壤质量是土壤肥力质量、环境质量和健康质量的综合体现。阐述了国内外土壤养分与水分、土壤盐分与微量元素对植物光合生理生态功能的影响研究进展     

土壤氮素内循环对生态覆被变化响应的研究进展

随着人口增长对粮食需求的不断提高,人类对自然生态系统扰动频繁,生态覆被/土地利用变化伴随着土壤活性氮库、氮形态组分及氮素内循环过程的改变,直接影响生态系统的持续与稳定,进而引起全球气候变暖,生物多样性减少等诸多生态环境问题。生态覆被/土地利用变化是全球生态系统变化的重要内容。本综述探讨了活性氮的基本概念及其引发的环境效应,国内外自然生态系统中森林与草地间转换、自然生态系统开垦为农田、弃耕撂荒或退耕还林还草、城市化发展等生态覆被/土地利用变化对土壤氮库消长、氮矿化产物形态变化以及影响氮循环的关键土壤微生物影响等,并探讨了制约氮循环的土壤微生物研究进展。指出农业开垦或农田弃耕撂荒会导致土壤全氮大幅度下降,同时引起土壤硝态氮(NO3--N)增加,造成环境活性氮增加的风险;退耕还林修复生态覆被过程中氮库完全恢复需要漫长的时间;运用现代微生物分子生态学的前沿技术是研究土壤氮循环对生态覆被/土地利用变化响应机理的关键。本综述为自然生态系统的保护与开发利用、退化生态系统的修复与重建以及人工生态系统的科学规划等提供了理论依据。     

Biological soil crust community types differ in key ecological functions

Soil stability, nitrogen and carbon fixation were assessed for eight biological soil crust community types within a Mojave Desert wilderness site. Cyanolichen crust outperformed all other crusts in multi-functionality whereas incipient crust had the poorest performance. A finely divided classification of biological soil crust communities improves estimation of ecosystem function and strengthens the accuracy of landscape-scale assessments.     

A minimum data set for evaluating the ecological soil functions in remediation projects

Purpose

Soil functioning becomes a matter of growing concern in soil remediation projects as, apart from preparing contaminated land for construction purposes, some parts of the sites are usually transformed into green spaces for recreation and inspiration. The objective of this paper is to develop and apply a minimum data set (MDS) for evaluating the ecological soil functions for green areas in remediation projects.

Materials and methods

The MDS was chosen from the previous applications in literature. Using a nonlinear scoring algorithm to transform observed data into sub-scores for evaluating ecological soil functions, the MDS was applied on the Kvillebäcken site in Sweden. The mean sub-scores of the individual soil quality indicators (SQIs) were integrated into a soil quality index to classify the soil into one of the five soil classes. Monte Carlo simulations were used to treat the uncertainties in the predicted soil class resulting from spatial heterogeneity of SQIs, a limited sampling size, and analytical errors.

Results and discussion

The suggested MDS consists of soil texture, content of coarse material, available water capacity, organic matter content, potentially mineralizable nitrogen, pH, and available phosphorus. The high mean sub-score for organic matter at Kvillebäcken indicated that the soil was rich on organic matter thus having a good water storage and nutrient cycling potential. However, the low mean sub-score for potentially mineralizable nitrogen indicated limited biological activity in the soil. The low mean sub-score for the content of coarse fragments indicated plant rooting limitations. Further, the soil quality index (that integrates the sub-scores for SQIs) corresponded to soil class 3 and a medium soil performance with a high certainty.

Conclusions

The suggested MDS can provide practitioners with relevant basic information on soil’s ability to carry out its ecological functions. The suggested scoring method helps to interpret and integrate information from different SQIs into a decision-making process in remediation projects.     

Global climate changes and the soil cover

The relationships between climate changes and the soil cover are analyzed. The greenhouse effect induced by the rising concentrations of CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, and many other trace gases in the air has been one of the main factors of the global climate warming in the past 30–40 years. The response of soils to climate changes is considered by the example of factual data on soil evolution in the dry steppe zone of Russia. Probable changes in the carbon cycle under the impact of rising CO₂ concentrations are discussed. It is argued that this rise may have an effect of an atmospheric fertilizer and lead to a higher productivity of vegetation, additional input of organic residues into the soils, and activation of soil microflora. Soil temperature and water regimes, composition of soil gases, soil biotic parameters, and other dynamic soil characteristics are most sensitive to climate changes. For the territory of Russia, in which permafrost occupies more than 50% of the territory, the response of this highly sensitive natural phenomenon to climate changes is particularly important. Long-term data on soil temperatures at a depth of 40 cm are analyzed for four large regions of Russia. In all of them, except for the eastern sector of Russian Arctic, a stable trend toward the rise in the mean annual soil temperature. In the eastern sector (the Verkhoyansk weather station), the soil temperature remains stable.     

Evolution of the soil cover of soccer fields

A soccer field can be considered a soil-like technogenic formation (STF). According to the theory of soil cover patterns, the artificially constructed (anthropogenic) soil cover of a soccer field is an analogue of a relatively homogeneous elementary soil area. However, the spatial homogeneity of the upper part (50–80 cm) of the STF of soccer fields is unstable and is subjected to gradual transformation under the impact of pedogenetic processes, agrotechnical loads, and mechanical loads during the games. This transformation is favored by the initial heterogeneity of the deep (buried) parts of the STF profile. The technogenic factors and elementary pedogenetic processes specify the dynamic functioning regime of the STF. In 50–75 years, the upper part of the STF is transformed into soil-like bodies with properties close to those in zonal soils. Certain micro- and nanopatterns of the soil cover are developed within the field creating its spatial heterogeneity.     

Swiss concept of soil protection

The maintenance of soils as a basis for sustaining life is an important subject of Swiss environmental policies. A prominent instrument to achieve this goal is the Ordinance of 1998Relating to Impacts on the Soil (OIS). In 13 articles a guiding framework for the protection of the soil is given. For a better understanding of the legal background, SAEFL has published specific commentaries. They explain the intention of the legislator and thus contribute to a consistent and mutual implementation of the soil regulations in practice. Comments are made on respective articles, on the Swiss concept of soil protection and also on the guide, trigger and cleanup values for hazardous substances in the soil. The commentaries are available in German, French and English languages. The extent of the Commentaries (including OIS and excerpts of the Swiss Federal Law of 1983 Relating to the Protection of the Environment) is 44 pages. Mail-address: sol@huwal.admin.ch     

The forest cover of Russia and soil conservation

The close interrelationships between forests and soils and their mutual effects and development are considered. Particular emphasis was given to the positive role of forest in the formation of soil, the actual status of the latter, and its resistance to different natural and anthropogenic impacts. The role of forests in soil formation and the maintenance of natural biodiversity are discussed. The influence of the climate on soils has been studied to some extent. Nowadays, the role of soil in the changes of the climate and biodiversity remains a topical problem, the solution of which is important for the management of the environment.     

The structure of the soil cover of the stony steppe

Studies on the structure of the soil cover (SSC) on three sites under different environmental conditions showed that the traditional combination of SSC, the characteristics of soil and landforms indicate the structure of the soil at the level of elementary soil areas (ESAs) virtually independently from the features of the area under study. The waterlogging of the black soil is of a pronounced cyclical character; seasonal signs and periodic hydromorphic features are not retained in the SSC such that a conclusion about the transformation of ordinary black soil, for example, in meadow black soils, could be drawn, or the manifestation of this process in a variety of SSCs that differ in ecological features and landscape use of the Kamennaya steppe could be found.     

Microbial diversity and soil functions

Soil is a complex and dynamic biological system, and still in 2003 it is difficult to determine the composition of microbial communities in soil. We are also limited in the determination of microbially mediated reactions because present assays for determining the overall rate of entire metabolic processes (such as respiration) or specific enzyme activities (such as urease, protease and phosphomonoesterase activity) do not allow any identification of the microbial species directly involved in the measured processes. The central problem posed by the link between microbial diversity and soil function is to understand the relations between genetic diversity and community structure and between community structure and function. A better understanding of the relations between microbial diversity and soil functions requires not only the use of more accurate assays for taxonomically and functionally characterizing DNA and RNA extracted from soil, but also high‐resolution techniques with which to detect inactive and active microbial cells in the soil matrix. Soil seems to be characterized by a redundancy of functions; for example, no relationship has been shown to exist between microbial diversity and decomposition of organic matter. Generally, a reduction in any group of species has little effect on overall processes in soil because other microorganisms can take on its function. The determination of the composition of microbial communities in soil is not necessary for a better quantification of nutrient transformations. The holistic approach, based on the division of the systems in pools and the measurement of fluxes linking these pools, is the most efficient. The determination of microbial C, N, P and S contents by fumigation techniques has allowed a better quantification of nutrient dynamics in soil. However, further advances require determining new pools, such as active microbial biomass, also with molecular techniques. Recently investigators have separated ¹³C‐ and ¹²C‐DNA, both extracted from soil treated with a ¹³C source, by density‐gradient centrifugation. This technique should allow us to calculate the active microbial C pool by multiplying the ratio between labelled and total DNA by the microbial biomass C content of soil. In addition, the taxonomic and functional characterization of ¹³C‐DNA allows us to understand more precisely the changes in the composition of microbial communities affected by the C‐substrate added to soil.     

不同林草植被覆盖度的水土保持效益及适宜植被覆盖度

以1954--2004年南小河沟流域水文气象观测资料及所布设的林地、草地径流场观测资料为数据源,进行坡面侵蚀强度与径流指标、降水指标、植被覆盖指标之间的定量分析。结果表明：林草植被措施减轻坡面侵蚀的作用明显;防治水土流失的林草植被覆盖度以40％～60％分界明显;从防治水土流失的角度出发,黄土高原沟壑区人工林地和草地建设的有效植被覆盖度应不小于60％和50％。     

Differentiation of the soil cover in the lower Ob River valley

Specific features of the soil cover in the lower reaches of the Ob River are analyzed. The physicochemical properties and composition of the floodplain soils in different parts of the valley and on different floodplain elements are given. A comparative geographical analysis of the accumulation of macro-and microelements in the floodplain soils as a result of alluviation processes in the middle and lower reaches of the Ob River is suggested. The evolution of the floodplain soils and the results of the development of stratified humus horizons, changes in the hydrological regime, and cessation of floods are discussed.     

Soils and the soil cover as witnesses and indicators of global climate change

Soils and the soil cover are witnesses to global changes on the planet; moreover, they play an active role in these changes. Investigations into the role of soils in global processes come to forefront of modern soil science; it is necessary to find appropriate criteria and indicators making it possible to diagnose global environmental changes and to assess their contribution to soil formation.