Implementation Of Ecological Projects Research Articles

ORGANIZATION OF WORK ON ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN BIOLOGY LESSONS

Modern society is facing a particularly acute problem of educating the young generation in ecological culture, love for the motherland, and protection of nature. The introduction of the history component to the study of biology and the implementation of ecological projects are effective directions for the ecological education and upbringing of schoolchildren, and the formation of a new ecological thinking in them. Currently, special attention should be paid to this problem, both in general education and in extracurricular activities.

Экологические проекты инициативного бюджетирования

Ecological projects of initiative budgeting are considered in the article as a form of involving citizens in the ecological agenda. The classification of ecological projects initiated by citizens was compiled by the authors. These are projects of organizing the collection of solid waste and garbage, projects in the field of fire safety, projects to provide settlements with clean drinking water. Based on the database of the All-Russian contest of the best projects of initiative budgeting, numerical indicators on the implementation of ecological projects (number, cost, beneficiaries) were selected. The foreign experience of involving citizens in the environmental agenda – green participatory budgeting – was presented. The unique experience of involving schoolchildren and youth in climate and environmental issues in some foreign countries was described. A review of Russian initiative projects in the field of ecology was carried out. It is concluded that there is the emergence of a trend to involve citizens in the ecological agenda. Initiative budgeting projects serve as indicators of the actual requests and needs of citizens. It is also noted that it is reasonable to use the database of the All-Russian competition of initiative budgeting projects as a unique information resource about the practices of civic engagement.

Assessment of the Spatiotemporal Impact of Water Conservation on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau is a proven essential water conservation region in Asia. However, various factors, such as anthropogenic activities, climate, and vegetation significantly affect its water conservation. Along these lines, a deep understanding of the spatiotemporal patterns of water conservation for this plateau and relevant influencing elements is considered of great importance. This paper calculates the water conservation on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau based on the InVEST model, and given that the evapotranspiration data are an important parameter of the InVEST model, this study selects the mainstream evapotranspiration data to compare the accuracy of the simulated water yield, and also selects the most accurate remote sensing evapotranspiration data examined in the study to carry out the study of water conservation on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Due to the large area of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and the various types of climate and ecological zones, this paper analyzes the spatial and temporal variations of water conservation on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau in each ecological zone and climate zone division and detects the factors affecting water conservation on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau by using the geo-detector method. From our analysis, the following outcomes are proven: on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, (1) the overall water conservation decreased from southeast to northwest; (2) the water conservation of the studied plateau in 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020 was 656.56, 590.85, 597.4, and 651.85 mm, respectively; (3) precipitation, evapotranspiration, and NDVI exhibited a positive relationship with water conservation; (4) the precipitation factor had the biggest impact on the spatial distinctions of the water resource governance; (5) the above factors are combined with the slope factor and the interaction of each factor to improve water conservation. Our work provides valuable insights for the further implementation of ecological projects with a view to enhancing water resource management methods.

Spatial and temporal changes in vegetation and desertification (1982–2018) and their responses to climate change in the Ulan Buh Desert, Northwest China

To combat desertification, an understanding of its current development is necessary, including that of causative factors associated with climate change and increasing human activity. Whereas, there is an ongoing debate surrounding impact factors for change in vegetation and desertification in arid regions. The present study assesses the spatiotemporal characteristics of vegetation change in the Ulan Buh Desert, northwest China. Driving factors for desertification were discussed using the Global Inventory Monitoring and Modeling System Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GIMMS NDVI) and SPOT Vegetation NDVI datasets, high-resolution satellite images, and meteorological and socioeconomic data in the period 1982–2018. The results show a trend of overall greening, with increasing trends at rates between 0.0008/year and 0.0013/year indicated by the two NDVI datasets and with a corresponding reduction in dune activity. The spatial variations of two NDVI datasets verified the significantly greening trend in the northern and southern areas of the desert. Human activity was observed to have impacted vegetation dynamics. It is predicted that the implementation of ecological projects will contribute to the restoration of vegetation during a warmer, wetter climate trend. However, the reduction of wind strength played a dominant role in vegetation greenness and dune stability in the Ulan Buh Desert. The present study revealed the spatiotemporal characteristics of vegetation variations and the driving factors for desertification in arid regions.

基于多源数据的三江源区生态工程建设前后草地动态变化及驱动因素研究

基于2000-2015年的NDVI、NPP和GPP多源数据，并结合人类干扰强度等级的构建，采用线性回归分析和地理加权回归分析方法，对比分析了在不同干扰等级下三江源区生态工程实施前5年和后10年草地的动态变化及其驱动因素。结果表明：（1）人类干扰强度和NDVI、NPP、GPP在空间上具有显著的区域差异，均表现为从西北向东南增加的趋势，且2006-2010年和2011-2015年草地NDVI、NPP和GPP值明显高于2000-2004年；（2）与2000-2004年相比，2006-2010年草地NDVI、NPP和GPP值的草地退化面积均减少，而2011-2015年退化面积又均增加，表明生态工程建设后的5年较前5年草地退化状况得到改善，然而在下一个5年草地又出现退化趋势；（3）在各人类干扰等级下生态工程实施后的5年内70%以上的草地处于改善状态，均出现退化面积比例显著减少，改善面积比例显著增加的趋势，而在2011-2015后5年草地退化面积比例增加，表明生态工程的实施促进了草地生态系统的改善，尤其在重度人类干扰区，草地由2000-2004年的52.71%退化区域到2006-2010年84.95%的改善区域。（4）影响草地动态变化的主要因素为距离道路的距离、距离居民点的距离、人口密度、干旱、温度和坡度等，各影响因素分布具有明显的空间异质性。研究结果将有助于为三江源区草地生态系统恢复、管理和战略制定提供科学指导和决策依据。;Using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Net Primary Productivity (NPP) and Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) data from 2000 to 2015 and combining with of human interference level, linear regression analysis and geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis were used to compare and analyze the grassland dynamics and their driving factors in the Three-River headwaters region before and after the implementation of ecological construction projects. Results showed that:(1) spatially, human interference and NDVI, NPP and GPP had significantly regional differences, which all showed increasing trends from northwest to southeast, and the grassland NDVI, NPP and GPP values during 2006-2010 and 2011-2015 were significantly larger than that during 2000-2004. (2) Compared with 2000-2004, the NDVI, NPP and GPP values of grassland have been improved during 2006-2010 after ecological construction project, while NDVI, NPP and GPP values showed degrading tendencies again during 2011-2015. (3) In all human interference levels, 70% of the grassland was improved within 5 years after the implementation of ecological projects, and the area ratio of degraded grassland significantly decreased and that of the improved grassland showed significant increasing trend, indicating that the implementation of ecological projects has contributed to the improvement of grassland ecosystems. Especially in areas of severe human disturbance, grassland changed from 52.71% degraded areas in 2000-2004 to 84.95% improved areas in 2006-2010. (4) The main driving factors affecting the dynamic changes of grassland were distance to roads, distance to settlements, population density, drought, temperature and topographic slope, and the distribution of each influencing factor had obvious spatial heterogeneity. The study will help to provide scientific guidance and decision-making basis for grassland ecosystem restoration, management and strategy formulation in the Three River Source Region.

珠三角城市群生态空间分区方法与管控对策

生态空间管控是维护区域生态安全，解决区域生态供需矛盾的重要手段。生态空间分区一直是生态管控的热点问题，对促进城市群可持续发展具有重要意义。以珠三角城市群为例，基于政策目标、民众需求、专家知识等方面综合构建评价体系，开展了基于生态空间质量和生态系统健康评价的生态空间分区的探索研究。结果表明：珠三角城市群生态空间约占城市群面积的82.8%，生态空间质量好，但生态系统健康水平低。城市尺度肇庆市、深圳市生态空间质量较高，珠海市、中山市生态空间质量较低；惠州市、肇庆市生态系统健康水平较高，佛山市、中山市生态系统健康水平较低。综合生态空间质量和生态系统健康，区域尺度将城市群生态空间分为重点保护区、重点修复区、潜在修复区和生态保育区。重点保护区占生态空间总面积的10.1%，是区域生态源地，应实行最严格的环境保护制度，划定生态保护红线和自然保护地，加强生态建设和生物多样性保护，并加强生态连通性建设，提升区域整体生态系统服务；重点修复区占生态空间总面积的21.6%，以生态修复，实施生态治理工程，推进生态产业为主；潜在修复区占生态空间总面积的13.1%，以保护优先、自然恢复为主，对生态空间进行全面的养护，保护和提升品质，重点提升生态系统服务；生态保育区占生态空间总面积的55.2%，重点实施生态廊道建设，同时加强区域高标准农田建设，在保护生态空间的基础上合理开展生产建设活动。对生态空间分区管控的研究可方便决策者对生态修复空间和生态保护空间进行识别和分类管理，有效指导国土空间规划和区域生态环境管理体系的完善。;Ecological space management is an important means to maintain regional ecological security and solve the imbalance between regional ecological supply and demand. The classification of ecological space has always been a hot issue in the ecological management and plays an important role in promoting the sustainable development of urban agglomeration. This paper takes the urban agglomeration of Pearl River Delta as an example, based on the policy goals, public preferences, and expert knowledge of urban agglomeration to comprehensively construct the evaluation system. The initial study of the ecological space management zoning was conducted on the basis of the evaluation of the ecological space quality and ecosystem health. The results showed that the ecological space accounted for 82.8% of the area of the urban agglomeration. The quality of the ecological space was good, but the level of the ecosystem health was low. At the urban scale, the ecological space quality of Zhaoqing and Shenzhen was higher, that of Zhuhai and Zhongshan was lower; the ecosystem health of Huizhou and Zhaoqing was higher, that of Foshan and Zhongshan was lower. Integrated with the quality of ecological space and ecosystem health, the ecological space was divided into key protection area, key restoration area, potential restoration area, and ecological conservation area at the regional scale. The key protected areas accounted for 10.1%, which were the regional ecological source areas. The strictest environmental protection system should be implemented, ecological red line and nature protected area should be delimited, strengthen ecological construction and biodiversity protection, also the construction of ecological connectivity should be strengthened to improve the overall regional ecosystem services. The key restoration areas accounted for 21.6%, mainly focusing on ecological restoration, implementation of ecological projects, and promotion of ecological industry. The potential restoration areas account for 13.1%, mainly focusing on protection and natural recovery, comprehensive conservation and protection and improve the quality of ecological space, and focus on improving the function of ecosystem service. The ecological conservation area account for 55.2%, mainly focusing on ecological corridor construction, strengthening the construction of high standard farmland, and protecting the basis of ecological space. Therefore, the production and construction activities should be carried out reasonably. In this paper, the research on the ecological space zoning could facilitate the decision makers to identify and classify the ecological restoration space and the ecological protection space, and could effectively guide the improvement of the land space planning and the regional ecological environment management system.

Impact of Land Use Change on Water Conservation: A Case Study of Zhangjiakou in Yongding River

The implementation of ecological projects can largely change regional land use patterns, in turn altering the local hydrological process. Articulating these changes and their effects on ecosystem services, such as water conservation, is critical to understanding the impacts of land use activities and in directing future land planning toward regional sustainable development. Taking Zhangjiakou City of the Yongding River as the study area—a region with implementation of various ecological projects—the impact of land use changes on various hydrological components and water conservation capacity from 2000 to 2015 was simulated based on a soil and water assessment tool model (SWAT). An empirical regression model based on partial least squares was established to explore the contribution of different land use changes on water conservation. With special focus on the forest having the most complex effects on the hydrological process, the impacts of forest type and age on the water conservation capacity are discussed on different scales. Results show that between 2000 and 2015, the area of forest, grassland and cultivated land decreased by 0.05%, 0.98% and 1.64%, respectively, which reduces the regional evapotranspiration (0.48%) and soil water content (0.72%). The increase in settlement area (42.23%) is the main reason for the increase in water yield (14.52%). Most land use covered by vegetation has strong water conservation capacity, and the water conservation capacity of the forest is particularly outstanding. Farmland and settlements tend to have a negative effect on water conservation. The water conservation capacity of forest at all scales decreased significantly with the growth of forest (p < 0.05), while the water conservation capacity of different tree species had no significant difference. For the study area, increasing the forest area will be an effective way to improve the water conservation function, planting evergreen conifers can rapidly improve the regional water conservation capacity, while planting deciduous conifers is of great benefit to long-term sustainable development.

Impacts of socioeconomic factors on cropland transition and its adaptation in Beijing, China

Over the past decades, croplands in China experienced rapid losses as a result of nationwide urbanization, industrialization, socioeconomic development, and implementation of ecological projects. These developments were driven by continuous economic reforms and environmental protection policies. Croplands are precious land resources influenced by overpopulation in China. Cropland losses threaten national food security. This study analyzed spatial patterns of cropland changes, driving forces, and its adaptation. Object-based approach was adopted to accurately measure cropland changes using remote sensing data. Conversion matrix and statistical regression model were used to explore impacts of socioeconomic factors on cropland changes. A case study on Beijing revealed that cropland in Beijing decreased by 47% in the past 35 years. Primary driving forces in cropland loss included urban expansion, implementation of ecological projects, orchard plantation, and water resource protection. Increased migration and economic development resulted in urban expansion. To promote sustainable development and to meet demands of urban and environmental protection, cropland adaptation was performed by increasing value-added commercial crop plantation, improving crop yield, and reducing cultivation intensity for effective water consumption.

Impact of land use conversion on soil organic carbon stocks in an agro-pastoral ecotone of Inner Mongolia

Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in terrestrial ecosystems vary considerably with land use types. Grassland, forest, and cropland coexist in the agro-pastoral ecotone of Inner Mongolia, China. Using SOC data compiled from literature and field investigations, this study compared SOC stocks and their vertical distributions among three types of ecosystems. The results indicate that grassland had the largest SOC stock, which was 1.5- and 1.8-folds more than stocks in forest and cropland, respectively. Relative to the stock in 0–100 cm depth, grassland held more than 40% of its SOC stock in the upper 20 cm soil layer; forest and cropland both held over 30% of their respective SOC stocks in the upper 20 cm soil layer. SOC stocks in grazed grasslands were remarkably promoted after ≥20 years of grazing exclusion. Conservational cultivation substantially increased the SOC stocks in cropland, especially in the 0–40 cm depth. Stand ages, tree species, and forest types did not have obvious impacts on forest SOC stocks in the study area likely due to the younger stand ages. Our study implies that soil carbon loss should be taken into account during the implementation of ecological projects, such as reclamation and afforestation, in the arid and semi-arid regions of China.

Dynamic assessment of forest resources quality at the provincial level using AHP and cluster analysis

The aim of this study was to quantitatively assess and analyze the dynamic changes and current problems of Chinese forest resources based on the National Forest Inventory (NFI). In this study, a hierarchical model was established using the analytic hierarchy process to assess forest resources quality (FRQ) at the provincial level. Four criteria were used, including forest quantity, forest productivity, forest structure, and forest health and each criterion was further composed of multiple factors. Among these assessment factors, stock volume per unit area was the most important, while canopy structure was the least important. The ranges of FRQ Indies across China during the 6th NFI (1999–2003), 7th NFI (2004–2008), and 8th NFI (2009–2013) were 0.3031–0.6366, 0.3499–0.7186, and 0.3534–0.7555, respectively. From the 6th to 8th NFI, forest quality improved by different degrees for all provinces, whereas the other three criteria presented an increasing or decreasing trend. In general, the implementation of ecological projects has significantly improved the FRQ at provincial and national levels. During the 8th NFI, the FRQ levels were excellent for 3 provinces, good for 15 provinces, medium for 12 provinces, and only one province exhibited an inferior level of FRQ. Based on cluster analysis, Chinese forest resources during the 8th NFI could be grouped into four clusters according to the provincial administrative region, and each cluster had its own advantages and disadvantages. Stock volume increment and forest calamity were in a very good state, while canopy structure was the key factor limiting the FQR for all the clusters. Some relevant measures were proposed to improve the existing conditions of Chinese forest resources. The results of this study are significant in that they can provide theoretical and technical references for future adjustment and sustainable management of forest resources in China.

Relative Contributions of Land Use and Climate Change to Water Supply Variations over Yellow River Source Area in Tibetan Plateau during the Past Three Decades.

There is increasing evidence of environmental change impacts on ecosystem processes and services, yet poor understanding of the relative contributions of land use and climate change to ecosystem services variations. Based on detailed meteorological, hydrological records and satellite data over the Yellow River Source Area (YRSA) in Tibetan Plateau from 1980s to 2008, together with a water-yield module of Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model and also a Residual Trends (RESTREND) method, we assessed the water supply variations in YRSA during the past three decades and disentangled the relative contributions of land use and climate change. Results show that water supply significantly decreased from 1980 to 2005 and then increased from 2005 to 2008. The quantity slightly decreased from 283.01mm in 1980 to 276.95mm in 1995, 270.12mm in 2000 and 267.97mm in 2005, and it then rebounded slightly to 275.26mm in 2008. The water supply variation ranged from 283.01mm to 267.97mm. Climate change contributed dominantly to water supply decrease from 1980 to 1995, which accounts for approximately 64% of the decrease. During 1995 to 2000, land use contributed more and about 58% to the water supply decrease as the intense human activities. From 2000 to 2005, climate change became a positive contribution to the water supply as the increased precipitation, but the land use still contributed negatively. From 2005 to 2008, both climate and land use have positive impacts, but land use contributed about 61% to the water supply increase. The implementation of the Three Rivers Source Area Ecological Protection Project has greatly improved the vegetation coverage conditions and the water retention ability during this period. We recommend that the implementation of ecological projects, grazing policies and artificial improvement of degraded grassland would help to conserve the water retention ability and increase water supply.

Soil erosion in the Three Gorges Reservoir area

Spatial and temporal change in soil erosion in the Three Gorges Reservoir area since the water storage of the reservoir began filling to 135 m in 2003 is poorly understood. Using a modified soil erosion model, this study quantifies and analyses change in the extent and intensity of soil erosion in the region from 2000 to 2008. MODIS-NDVI remote sensing data (with 250 m spatial resolution) are used in the modelling and analysis of the study. The total amount, area, and intensity of soil erosion in the reservoir region presented a declining trend from 2000 to 2008. Yet there was an anomaly in the trend, in which extreme soil erosion occurred in 2003 and lasted until 2005. The average volume of soil erosion per year decreased by 4.10 × 106 t and the mean area of land experiencing soil erosion reduced by 1129.6 km2 from the pre-storage period (2000–02) to post-storage period II (2006–08). Land suffering soil erosion at high, very high, and severe levels mainly comprises forest and cropland on slopes with gradients ≥15° and is largely distributed in the eastern and south-western sections of the reservoir area. Land experiencing soil erosion at slight or moderate levels mainly involves cropland and forest on slopes with gradients ≥10° in the central section of the reservoir area. The impact of the Three Gorges Project on soil erosion since 2000 has been mainly mediated through three mechanisms: near-resettlement of rural and urban people; increased frequency and severity of geological hazards induced by rising storage of the reservoir; and implementation of ecological projects in the region. Through the former two mechanisms, soil erosion in the affected communities has been exacerbated, while the ongoing ecological projects appear to offset both the extent and intensity of soil erosion in the reservoir region. Other important factors influencing soil erosion include urban reconstruction and expansion, varying intensity of precipitation, and soil degradation.