Identifying Spatial Priority of Ecological Restoration Dependent on Landscape Quality Trends in Metropolitan Areas

Ecological restoration has become an important tool for mitigating and adapting to environmental degradation caused by global urbanization. However, current research has focused on single indicators and qualitative analysis, meaning that ecological restoration has not been effectively and comprehensively addressed. This study constructed a spatial priority identification system for ecological restoration, with landscape area, landscape structure and landscape function as the core indicators. The system has wide adaptability. In this work, the spatial classification of ecological degradation was performed by overlay analysis. The results showed the following: (1) In the Shanghai metropolitan area, the landscape quality showed a trend of degradation, with built-up areas encroaching on forests and cropland. (2) Ecological degradation in the suburbs was more severe than that in the urban center. Forests had the highest landscape area indicator (LAI) stability. Significant degradation of landscape structure indicators (LSIs) occurred when built-up area and cropland were transformed into forests. (3) Different types of ecological restoration had significant spatial distribution patterns. Through this identification system, this study aimed to help planners/managers of ecological restoration to recognize the changing patterns of regional landscape quality and its relationship with land cover. It ultimately provides a basis for the formulation of regional ecological objectives and spatial strategies.

The challenge of setting ‘climate ready’ ecological targets for environmental flow planning

Implementing environmental flows has emerged as a major restoration tool for addressing the impacts of hydrologic alteration in large river systems. The ‘natural flow paradigm’ has been a central guiding principle for determining important ecohydrological relationships. Yet, climate change and associated changes in rainfall run off relationships, seasonality of flows, disruptions to food webs and species life cycle cues mean these existing relationships will, in many circumstances, become obsolete. Revised thinking around setting ecological objectives is required to ensure restoration targets are achievable, particularly in regions where water scarcity is predicted to increase. Through this lens ‘climate ready’ targets are those that are robust to changing water availability or incorporate future adaptation options. Future objective setting should be based around the inclusion of changing climate and water availability, and the associated species and ecosystem vulnerabilities, and expected outcomes under different policy and adaptation options. This paper uses south eastern Australia as a case study region to review the extent to which current water management plans include climate considerations and adaptation in objective setting. Results show untested climate adaptation inclusions, and a general lack of acknowledgement of changing hydrological and ecological conditions in existing management plans. In response this paper presents a process for setting objectives so they can be considered ‘climate ready’.

What’s obstructing climate change adaptation in environmental water management?

Climate change is irreversibly changing the water cycle, yet existing environmental flow assessment methods often fail to recognise the non stationarity of hydro climatic systems. Failure to do so will lead to the inability of environmental water management to achieve its restoration targets. Australia has undergone major reform over the past twelve years to recover water from consumptive use for environmental benefit. This paper examines how government agencies responsible for the planning and delivery of that environmental water establish ecological objectives, whether climate change adaptations are considered important, and if not whether there is a clear rationale or barrier to adaptation. We used semi structured interviews and an online survey of staff involved in environmental water management throughout Australia, with a focus on south east Australia, to gather information on methods and perceptions regarding these key issues. The results show water management staff are aware of the general impacts climate change will have on local areas they are responsible for. However, they do not have the necessary, detailed information about how ecosystems are likely to respond to climate change to plan with confidence. There is also a lack of legislative and policy guidance as to how to deal with the potential inability to meet existing environmental targets. We conclude that environmental water planning needs to more formally incorporate climate change considerations along with modelling approaches that can evaluate outcomes under a range of possible future hydro climatic scenarios. As the industry currently exists in Australia, it is ill prepared for the challenge of meeting legislated ecological targets under future climates.

The optimal allocation of water resources oriented to prioritizing ecological needs using multiple schemes in the Shaying River Basin (Henan Section), China

China is actively exploring water resources management considering ecological priorities. The Shaying River Basin (Henan Section) serves as an important grain production base in China. However, conflicts for water between humans and the environment are becoming increasingly prominent. The present study analyzed the optimal allocation of water while considering ecological priorities in the Shaying River Basin (Henan Section). The ecological water demand was calculated by the Tennant and the representative station methods; then, based on the predicted water supply and demand in 2030, an optimal allocation model was established, giving priority to meeting ecological objectives while including social and comprehensive economic benefit objectives. After solving the model, the optimal results of three established schemes were obtained. This revealed that scheme 1 and scheme 2 failed to satisfy the water demand of the study area in 2030 by only the current conditions and strengthening water conservation, respectively. Scheme 3 was the best scheme, which could balance the water supply and demand by adding new water supply based on strengthening water conservation and maximizing the benefits. Therefore, the actual water allocation in 2030 is forecast to be 7.514 billion (7.514 × 109) m3. This study could help basin water management departments deal with water use and supply.

Paradoxical tensions in sustainable supply chain management: insights from the electronics multi-tier supply chain context

PurposeManaging supply chains (SCs) for sustainability often results in conflicting demands, which can be conceptualized as sustainability tensions. This paper studies sustainability tensions in electronics SC contexts and the related management responses by applying a paradox perspective.Design/methodology/approachA single case study on the electronics SC is conducted with companies and third-party organizations as embedded units of analysis, using semi-structured interviews that are triangulated with publicly available data.FindingsThe study identifies tension elements (learning, belonging, organizing and economic performing) conflicting with general social–ecological objectives in the electronics SC. The results indicate a hierarchal structure among the sustainability tensions in SC contexts. The management responses of contextualization and resolution are assigned to the identified tensions.Practical implicationsFraming social–ecological objectives with their conflicting elements as paradoxical tensions enables organizations and SCs to develop better strategies for responding to complex sustainability issues in SC contexts.Originality/valueThe study contributes toward filling the gap on paradoxical sustainability tensions in SCs. Empirical insights are gained from different actors in the electronics SC. The level of emergence and interconnectedness of sustainability tensions in a larger SC context is explored through an outside-in perspective.

Incorporating Ecosystem Services in the Assessment of Water Framework Directive Programmes of Measures

The EU Water Framework Directive requires the development of management responses aimed towards improving water quality as a result of improving ecosystem health (system state). Ecosystems have potential to supply a range of services that are of fundamental importance to human well-being, health, livelihoods and survival, and their capacity to supply these services depends on the ecosystem condition (its structure and processes). According to the WFD, Programmes of Measures should be developed to improve overall water status by reducing anthropogenic catchment pressures to levels compatible with the achievement of the ecological objectives of the directive, and when designed and implemented properly should improve the ecological condition of aquatic ecosystems that the delivery of ecosystem services depends on. Monitoring and evaluation of implemented measures are crucial for assessing their effectiveness and creating the agenda for consecutive planning cycles. Considering the challenges of achieving water status improvements, and the difficulties of communicating these to the wider public, we develop a framework for the evaluation of measures cost-effectiveness that considers ecosystem services as the benefits from the reduction of pressures on water bodies. We demonstrate its application through a case study and discuss its potential to facilitate the economic analysis required by the directive, and that most European water authorities had problems with. Findings demonstrate the potential of the methodology to effectively incorporate ecosystem services in the assessment of costs and benefits of proposed actions, as well as its potential to engage stakeholders.

Urbanization and stream ecosystems: the role of flow hydraulics towards an improved understanding in addressing urban stream degradation

Catchment urbanization is widely recognised as a primary driver of stream degradation by increasing stormwater runoff causing major changes to key ecosystem processes. Reinstating the ‘natural’ hydrogeomorphic conditions is central in designing successful, self-sustaining restoration actions. However, addressing urban stream degradation by re-establishing the hydrogeomorphic conditions remains a challenge and comparatively limited measurable progress has been observed particularly achieving ecological objectives. This paper articulates that stream restoration goals might be better achieved when management measures take a broader approach that considers anticipated hydraulic conditions effects that liaise relationships between flow and ecology. The study argues that fluvial systems are characterised by complex and dynamic ecosystem processes primarily governed by the hydraulic conditions (e.g. velocity, depth, shear stress), thus, as the practice of addressing urban stream restoration becomes increasingly common, it is critical to explore and understand the anticipated response of the hydraulic conditions. This paper describes how hydraulic regime consideration provides further opportunity for a holistic approach to urban stream management given their capacity to account for multiple ecological and geomorphic objectives. The paper suggests that developing suitable flow-biota-ecosystem processes nexus is critical towards addressing urban stream degradation and hydraulic consideration in restoration actions provide an important step towards that. The paper discusses opportunities to evolve management actions to achieve restoration goals by highlighting how the management of the two key levers (addressing altered flow regime and morphology) to improve the hydraulic conditions can help to address the urban stream disturbance.

Rethinking Environmental Flows for the Yellow River Estuary by Trading Off Crop Yield and Ecological Benefits

To solve the water use conflicts between agriculture and ecosystems in arid and semiarid areas, a multi-objective trade-off analysis method was applied to determine the environmental flows (e-flows) for the Yellow River Estuary, by considering the temporal and spatial discrepancies in water allocation. The results showed that during average years, a loss of 3.7 × 108 yuan was caused with every 1 × 108 m3 of e-flows under the baseline scenario. The crop growth stages of April–July are sensitive periods for water requirements, and over 5000 yuan/ha production losses were caused by prioritizing e-flows during this time in dry years. The stages from July–October require more water by ecosystems than other stages, and the recommended e-flows during this time accounted for 57% of the e-flows during the total year. Under scenarios 1–3, which represent the short-term, medium-term and long-term scenarios, more water resources were supplied by underground water and water diversion projects; however, alleviating the water use contradiction remained difficult in dry years. During average years, e-flows between 148 and 168 × 108 m3 are recommended to meet the ecological objectives of survival, reproduction and biological integrity of species for the Yellow River Estuary. The recommended e-flows in wet years could meet higher ecological objectives but still barely achieve the targets of sediment transport and ecosystem dynamic balance. In dry years, the economic losses may be beyond the acceptance of irrigation stakeholders if more water is allocated to improve e-flows. In this case, 71 × 108 yuan would be paid to them to compensate for their losses. This study proposes an e-flow recommendation framework that is economically and ecologically optimal in areas with irreconcilable water-use contradictions.