Memory and resilience: A two-pronged approach to natural spaces in Colombia’s transition to a peaceful society

The analysis of spontaneous environmental initiatives undertaken by individuals and communities in cases of conflicts has led to a growing research field in social science, according to which the community-based stewardship of nature seems to conduce to the resilience of co-evolved social-ecological systems. In Colombia, where no such research exists so far, the conflict which officially ended in November 2016 has led to massive internal migration due to forced displacement, as well as to widespread degradation of the environment. Based on evidence provided by case studies of top-down and bottom-up living memorials and urban agriculture initiatives, the article explores the potential of urban greening in the process of memorialisation and in generating new social cohesion, as well as better living conditions in urban areas. It analyses cases both where the conflict has taken place and in the cities where refugees have settled, in order to explore avenues for public policies in post conflict Colombia. The author concludes that greening initiatives offer manifold, so far overlooked, opportunities to restoring social and ecological resilience in urban areas and thus contribute to a lasting peace in Colombia.     

The economic benefits and costs of trees in urban forest stewardship: A systematic review

Understanding the benefits provided by urban trees is important to justify investment and improve stewardship. Many studies have attempted to quantify the benefits of trees in monetary terms, though fewer have quantified the associated costs of planting and maintaining them. This systematic review examines the methods used to jointly analyse the costs and benefits of trees in the urban landscape, assesses the relative balance of benefits and costs, and attempts to understand the wide variation in economic values assigned in different studies. The benefits most frequently studied are those related to environmental regulation and property values, and the available data show that these usually outweigh the costs. Aesthetic, amenity, and shading benefits have also been shown to provide significant economic benefits, while benefits in terms of water regulation, carbon reduction and air quality are usually more modest. Variation in benefits and costs among studies is attributed largely to differences in the species composition and age structure of urban tree populations, though methodological differences also play a role. Comparison between studies is made difficult owing to differences in spatiotemporal scope, and in the way urban forest composition and demographic structure were reported. The overwhelming majority of studies concern deciduous trees in Northern America, and much less is known about urban forests in other regions, especially in the tropics. Future work should thus seek to fill these knowledge gaps, and standardise research protocols across cities. In light of ambitious goals in many cities to increase tree cover, ongoing advances in valuation methods need to provide a more comprehensive accounting of benefits and costs, and to better integrate economic assessment into the decision-making process.     

用生态经济型植物控制豚草的"绿色污染"

豚草是一种严重危害农业生产、人体健康和生物环境的恶性杂草，是一种典型的“绿色污染”。根据群落演替规律，采用具有生态和经济功能的树种创造不利豚草生长的环境，人为创建多物种和谐共存的植物群落，能降低豚草的种群优势，使单一种群优势转变为良性演替的生态系统。     

北方农牧交错带农田生态系统健康评价 ——以武川县为例

采用生态系统健康的理论和评价方法分析评价农田生态环境问题具有重要的理论和现实意义,应用生态健康指数定量评价农田健康水平是生态系统管理的重要内容。以武川县农田为研究对象,选择水分、生物量、幅宽等代表性指标,分析了不同作物覆盖下农田生态健康指数。结果表明:不同种植模式间农田健康指数差别明显。播种期较早的小麦田最为健康,没有采用地膜覆盖的马铃薯田健康指数最低,而采用地膜覆盖的马铃薯田健康指数比较高。推广小麦栽培和覆膜栽培是北方农牧交错带农田很好的经营管理模式,具有推广价值,是缓解该地区环境的有效手段之一。     

Spatial pattern analysis of pre- and post-hurricane forest canopy structure in North Carolina,USA

Existing spatial patterns of a forest are in part a product of its disturbance history. Using laser altimetry and field measures of canopy top height to represent pre- and post-hurricane canopy topography, respectively, we measured changes in spatial patterns of stand structure of a United States southern mixed coniferous-deciduous for est. Autocorrelative and fractal properties were measured in this opportunistic study to quantify changes in canopy architecture along twelve, 190-250 m transects that were subjected to moderate to high levels of wind disturbance. Prior to the hurricane, canopy heights were autocorrelated at scales <40 m with an average fractal dimension of 1.71. After the disturbance, autocorrelation disappeared; the average fractal dimension rose to 1.94. This shift towards spatial randomness illustrates part of the cyclical nature of ecosystem development. It shows how a catastrophic collapse of biomass accumulation corresponds to a decrease in ecosystem organization across a landscape. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Long-term modelling of weed control strategies: analysis of threshold-based options for weed species with contrasted competitive abilities

A simple life-cycle-based demography model was adapted for two contrasting weed species ( Alopecurus myosuroides and Poa annua ). This model included a seed production function that accounted for population self-regulation through weed:weed interactions. The A. myosuroides version of the model was tested with field data. Long-term simulations of population demography were then performed to investigate the relationship between weed control strategies based on density thresholds and both the frequency of herbicide use and the long-term economic profitability. This study confirms that threshold-based weed management strategies are more cost-effective than spraying every year and may allow important reductions in herbicide use. However, after the first transient years of either systematically spraying or withholding herbicide, the long-term spraying frequency was insensitive to threshold values between 0.01 and 100 plants m⁻². The highest long-term profitability was obtained for the lowest threshold tested, and the profitability decreased rapidly when the threshold was raised above 4–6 and 10–20 plants m⁻² for A. myosuroides and P. annua respectively. The study thus indicates that the exact threshold value is of little importance for the long-term reliance of the system on herbicide, provided that it is reasonably low. For species with low competitive ability, high thresholds may be used in some cropping systems to reduce the spraying frequency for environmental considerations, but those options would also reduce the profitability if no compensatory measures were taken.     

外来入侵种的危害与防治对策

外来入侵种对当地的自然生态系统结构和功能以及生物多样性都有着深远的影响,而且可能对地方的生态环境和经济造成严重危害。四川已经成为遭受外来入侵种威胁的省份之一,全省现有20多个外来入侵种。为了防止外来入侵种的泛滥,应当建立外来物种的引入评价机制,慎重进行有意引种;加强口岸管理,防止外来入侵种通过贸易途径无意引入,同时采取措施控制已经产生危害的外来入侵种。     

The value of vegetation cover for ecosystem services in the suburban context

Latin-American cities can be characterized by dynamic processes of urbanization that encroach upon the natural and semi-natural surrounding landscapes. Our study presents the effects of landscape development, transformed from semi-natural conditions into a mostly disperse suburban settlement. We explore the impact that this transformation has had on this context by three ecosystem services that regulate rainwater runoff, enhance microclimate conditions and help to improve air quality by monitoring vegetation cover. We have designed a spatio-temporal hierarchical analysis which employs remote sensing techniques to capture the structural changes of this landscape over long, medium and short term scales on two spatial levels. This methodological approach was tested in the Metropolitan Area of Santiago (MAS) as case study area. Despite of the increase in impervious surfaces due to urban processes, there has also been an increase in vegetation cover, which has led to an improvement in the provision of the above-mentioned ecosystem services. Hence, if diverse urbanization processes continue and they are coupled with an increase in vegetation cover, the provision of ecosystem services could also expand. This phenomenon can be observed in some areas, where public and private green spaces are created and maintained. Our data analyses give evidence that certain types of suburban areas which increase the share of vegetation cover can provide daily ecological benefits for urban neighborhoods, and beyond, for adjacent areas. Moreover, suburban development can successfully provide ecological benefits to citizens. Such processes can only be ecologically sustainable if the composition of vegetation is well-adapted to the regional climatic conditions.     

线性红利界下带干扰风险模型的破产概率

考虑到保险公司在实际经营中收益所具有的不确定性和分红策略，建立一类具有线性红利界和带随机扰动的双复合Poisson风险模型，利用鞅方法给出模型关于破产概率的一个定理及上界．     

Organic farming fosters agroecosystem functioning in Argentinian temperate soils: Evidence from litter decomposition and soil fauna

Benefits of organic farming on soil fauna have been widely observed and this has led to consider organic farming as a potential approach to reduce the environmental impact of conventional agriculture. However, there is still little evidence from field conditions about direct benefits of organic agriculture on soil ecosystem functioning. Hence, the aims of this study were to compare the effect of organic farming versus conventional farming on litter decomposition and to study how this process is affected by soil meso- and macrofauna abundances. Systems studied were: (1) organic farming with conventional tillage (ORG), (2) conventional farming with conventional tillage (CT), (3) conventional farming under no-tillage (NT), and (4) natural grassland as control system (GR). Decomposition was determined under field conditions by measuring weight loss in litterbags. Soil meso- and macrofauna contribution on decomposition was evaluated both by different mesh sizes and by assessing their abundances in the soil. Litter decomposition was always significantly higher after 9 and 12 months in ORG than in CT and NT (from 2 to 5 times in average), regardless decomposer community composition and litter type. Besides, mesofauna, macrofauna and earthworm abundances were significantly higher in ORG than in NT and CT (from 1.6 to 3.8, 1.7 to 2.3 and 16 to 25 times in average, respectively for each group). These results are especially relevant firstly because the positive effect of ORG in a key soil process has been proved under field conditions, being the first direct evidence that organic farming enhances the decomposition process. And secondly because the extensive organic system analyzed here did not include several practices which have been recognized as particularly positive for soil biota (e.g. manure use, low tillage intensity and high crop diversity). So, this research suggests that even when those practices are not applied, the non-use of agrochemicals is enough to produce positive changes in soil fauna and so in decomposition dynamics. Therefore, the adoption of organic system in an extensive way can also be suggested to farmers in order to improve ecosystem functioning and consequently to achieve better soil conditions for crop production.