Environmental Management最新文献

Deforestation and forest degradation are key drivers of biodiversity loss and global environmental change. Ecosystem restoration is recognized as a global priority to counter these processes. Forest restoration efforts have commonly adopted a predominantly ecological approach, without including broader socioeconomic variables and the characteristics of the rural context. In this study, we developed a spatially-explicit modelling method to identify priority areas for forest restoration at a landscape scale, integrating both ecological and socioeconomic variables. This framework was applied to a case study in the Chilean temperate forests. We used a multicriteria analysis to assess the ecological suitability and socioeconomic feasibility of forest restoration. The approach and methodology were structured into four main steps: (i) defining potential areas for restoration in deforested lands and degraded forest; (ii) assessing and mapping the ecological suitability for restoration, including both potential biodiversity values and provision of ecosystem services; (iii) assessing and mapping the socioeconomic feasibility of restoration; and (iv) combining suitability and feasibility maps to identify priority areas. Restoration priorities were identified as areas consistently showing the highest values under scenarios representing differing restoration priorities. While the case study presented is context-specific, the approach and methodology used can be readily adapted to various contexts and objectives.

The cumulative effects of human activities and natural pressures pose significant threats to ecosystem functioning and global biodiversity. Assessing the cumulative impact of multiple stressors-whether acting simultaneously or sequentially and directly or indirectly-is challenging due to their complex interactions. Consequently, these interactions may be unintentionally overlooked or disregarded in management decisions. While existing reviews have focused on coastal and freshwater ecosystems, analyses specifically targeting salmonids as a focal group are lacking. This research presents the first quantitative and qualitative assessment of stressor interactions affecting salmonid biology and physiology. A focused literature search identified 118 experimental trials with multiple stressors on salmonids. From these, 46 cases were considered suitable for the quantitative analysis. We calculated Hedges' g effect sizes to classify the interactions between multiple stressors as additive, synergistic, or antagonistic. Our findings revealed that additive effects were found most frequently (50% of interactions), followed by synergistic (30.5%) and antagonistic (19.5%) interactions. Additionally, we performed a network analysis including cases focusing on the influences of multiple stressors interactions (n = 38). Our qualitative analysis identified temperature, metals, and pesticides as the most paired stressors across the three types of interactions. The findings of this research highlight the potential vulnerabilities of salmonids and their habitats by identifying key interactions between multiple stressors, and priorities for future research. Understanding these interactions and cumulative effects, particularly in the context of climate change, can inform targeted conservation and management strategies, contributing to the preservation of these important fish species and their ecosystems, which are vital to local human communities.

Collaborative management of hydrological ecosystem services (HES) is crucial for their conservation and involves diverse stakeholders at three levels: environmental and land-use management (ELM), harvesting and physical access (HPA), and appropriation and appreciation (AA). This study analyzes collaborative networks within and between these levels in the Copalita-Huatulco watershed, Mexico, using a monoplex and multiplex social network approach to understand stakeholder interactions. Results indicate that the ELM and AA networks are diverse and polycentric, with NGOs occupying an influential role. In contrast, the HPA network is centralized and dominated by government stakeholders. From a multiplex perspective, non-local stakeholders, such as government agencies, have greater coordination potential, while locals, such as NGOs and communities, are multiplex knowledge brokers. The establishment of governance schemes should prioritize the promotion of stakeholders' diversity among actors, polycentricity, and empowered decision-making. Additionally, fostering stronger relationships and interconnectedness among networks is crucial to facilitating collaboration and adaptability in the HES management. This study contributes to the understanding of collaborative management of HES and offers recommendations to improve their effectiveness, sustainability, and resilience.

We investigate the governance and environmental justice (EJ) outcomes from the hazard reclassification of ethylene oxide (EtO) by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2016. In response to EtO pollution after 2018, federal and state regulators engaged constituents to respond to complaints about EtO but adhered to a cost-benefit governance approach that ultimately inhibited risk mitigation. We argue risk mitigation was constrained by path dependent approaches that simultaneously enabled recognition of constituent concerns about EtO pollution while minimizing the costs of institutional change. Drawing on data from government documents and interviews, we analyze governance responses in Illinois and Georgia, selected due to their cross-cutting exposures to EtO and public mobilization in response to EtO risk. Our research reveals how structural and political factors limit risk mitigation and create a mismatch between environmental outcomes and public expectations. Drawing from theories of environmental justice and risk society, we show how this acceptance of EtO risk aligns with Ulrich Beck's theory of a risk society while generating significant justice concerns for its inability to consider how risk experiences vary according to social class.

Solar energy is growing at unprecedented rates, with the most development projected to occur in areas with high concentrations of threatened and endangered species, yet its effects on wildlife remain largely unexplored. In 2014 and 2015 we examined the influence of a solar facility on avian community occupancy in the Nutt grasslands of south-central New Mexico. We examined the effect of distance to solar facility as well as other habitat covariates, including vegetation structure and orthopteran abundance, on community occupancy and occupancy trends for individual species. We did not find a significant effect of distance to solar facility on occupancy probability for the songbird community. Instead, orthopteran abundance had a significant positive effect on occupancy probability for the community. Two synanthropic species, Eurasian-collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto), and house finch (Haemorhous mexicanus), were found almost exclusively within the solar facility and both species increased between years, suggesting that developments in natural habitats may facilitate populations of synanthropic species. These results demonstrate the variability in responses of different species to a solar facility and the interacting influence of habitat characteristics and disturbance associated with development.

This study evaluates the sociocultural valuation of ecosystem services (ES) within the Chimulala micro-watershed, Peru, to inform Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). Using surveys and focus groups, we gathered data from 35 stakeholders (11 institutional and 24 local actors) to assess perceptions, orientations, and anticipated changes regarding 15 identified ES. A land cover map was developed to support an expert-led ES assessment, categorizing capacity levels across different land types. Results showed unanimous agreement on the vital importance of the water supply service, with local actors identifying and valuing a broader array of ES than institutional counterparts. Multiple correspondence analysis highlighted differences in ES recognition between stakeholder groups, revealing that local actors ascribed greater importance to cultural and regulatory ES, while institutional actors prioritized provisioning services. Conflicts were identified regarding responsibilities for changes in ES provision, with local communities attributing threats primarily to mining, while institutional actors cited land use changes. This research underscores the value of sociocultural ES assessments in bridging divergent perspectives and enhancing the participatory foundation of IWRM, ultimately aiding in the design of inclusive, resilient water management policies.

A systematic literature review (SLR) on ecological resettlements and conservation-led displacements (hereafter 'ER') is essential for guiding future research and conservation strategies, yet it has not been conducted. We performed a comprehensive two-stage review-a review of reviews and a review of empirical articles from Web of Science and Scopus-using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P). We extracted and analyzed data from 164 research articles, revealing three key themes in ER research: publication trends and geographical distribution, methodological approaches and data types, and thematic focus with associated governance and equity indicators. Notably, we found no systematically reviewed articles on ER, underscoring the pioneering nature of this study. Empirical articles publications began in 2001, despite ER practices dating back to the nineteenth century, covering 108 journals, and reflecting the discipline's diversity. The articles involved authors from 28 countries, addressing cases in 52 nations, predominantly led by academic institutions (>90%), and featuring diverse cross-institutional collaborations (n = 332). The research examined 96 unique Indigenous and local communities displaced from 12 ecosystem types (both terrestrial and marine) and conservation initiatives globally. A wide range of methodologies was employed, including interviews, field observations, focus groups, and ethnography, with over 80% using a combination of these methods. While 15 data collection tools were explored, the focus mainly targeted human-centric aspects such as livelihoods, cultural shifts, and access limitations (>90%), leaving ER's other dimensions and institutional aspects underexplored. Government-led ER initiatives (n = 149) were prevalent, but concerns regarding informed consent, participatory decision-making, human rights, and forced evictions were frequently reported (>90%), indicating global governance challenges in conservation. The thematic analysis highlighted social inequalities related to livelihoods, rights, and governance, including employment loss and compensation fairness. Eco-environmental challenges explored deforestation, habitat degradation, climate change, and biodiversity impacts, emphasizing the need to enhance ecological value while balancing development and conservation. The publication trend of ER-related articles aligns with international policy discourses on human rights, poverty alleviation, governance, and sustainable development post-2000, suggesting these issues must be considered in global policy discourses. We discuss critical findings and outline future research pathways and conservation strategies that strive for balanced coexistence between humans and nonhuman entities through an equity, justice, and sustainability lens in a pluralistic approach for the Anthropocene and beyond.

Understanding hydrogeochemical heterogeneity, associated with natural nitrate attenuation, is an integral part of implementing integrated land and water management on a regional or national scale. Redox conditions are a key indicator of naturally occurring denitrification in the groundwater environment, and often used to inform spatial planning and targeted regulation. This work describes the development of a statistical redox condition model for the groundwater environment at a national scale, using spatially variable physiochemical descriptors as predictors. The proposed approach builds on previous work, by complementing the available data with expert knowledge, in the form of synthetic data. Special care is given so that the synthetic data do not overfit and create further imbalances to the training dataset. The predictor dataset is further complemented by the results of a data driven model of the water table developed for this study, which is used both as a predictive parameter and a reference level for groundwater redox condition predictions at different depths. The developed model predicted the redox class for 84% of the samples in the out-of-bag datasets. We also propose an alternative approach for the communication of prediction uncertainty. We use the concept of a discriminate function to identify model classifications that may be ambiguous. Our results show a marked reduction in prediction uncertainty at shallow depths, with uncertainty in reduced environments decreasing from 76 to 12%, and overall uncertainty reduced by approximately 20%, though improvements at greater depths are less pronounced. We conclude that this approach can highlight robust model predictions that are defendable for decision making and can identify areas where monitoring or sampling efforts can be focused for improved outcomes.