Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT 2617, Australia.
CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag 12, Hobart TAS 7001, Australia.
Sci Total Environ. 2015 Nov 15;534:65-78. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.03.127. Epub 2015 Apr 10.
Intensification of the use of natural resources is a world-wide trend driven by the increasing demand for water, food, fibre, minerals and energy. These demands are the result of a rising world population, increasing wealth and greater global focus on economic growth. Land use intensification, together with climate change, is also driving intensification of the global hydrological cycle. Both processes will have major socio-economic and ecological implications for global water availability. In this paper we focus on the implications of land use intensification for the conservation and management of freshwater ecosystems using Australia as an example. We consider this in the light of intensification of the hydrologic cycle due to climate change, and associated hydrological scenarios that include the occurrence of more intense hydrological events (extreme storms, larger floods and longer droughts). We highlight the importance of managing water quality, the value of providing environmental flows within a watershed framework and the critical role that innovative science and adaptive management must play in developing proactive and robust responses to intensification. We also suggest research priorities to support improved systemic governance, including adaptation planning and management to maximise freshwater biodiversity outcomes while supporting the socio-economic objectives driving land use intensification. Further research priorities include: i) determining the relative contributions of surface water and groundwater in supporting freshwater ecosystems; ii) identifying and protecting freshwater biodiversity hotspots and refugia; iii) improving our capacity to model hydro-ecological relationships and predict ecological outcomes from land use intensification and climate change; iv) developing an understanding of long term ecosystem behaviour; and v) exploring systemic approaches to enhancing governance systems, including planning and management systems affecting freshwater outcomes. A major policy challenge will be the integration of land and water management, which increasingly are being considered within different policy frameworks.
自然资源利用的强化是一个全球性趋势，这一趋势是由对水、食物、纤维、矿产和能源的需求不断增长所驱动的。这些需求是世界人口增长、财富增加以及更广泛关注经济增长的结果。土地利用集约化以及气候变化也在推动全球水文循环的集约化。这两个过程都将对全球水资源供应产生重大的社会经济和生态影响。在本文中，我们以澳大利亚为例，重点关注土地利用集约化对淡水生态系统保护和管理的影响。我们考虑了气候变化引起的水文循环强化以及相关的水文情景，这些情景包括更强烈的水文事件（极端风暴、更大的洪水和更长时间的干旱）的发生。我们强调了管理水质、在流域框架内提供环境流量的重要性，以及创新科学和适应性管理在制定积极和稳健的应对措施方面必须发挥的关键作用。我们还提出了研究重点，以支持改善系统治理，包括适应规划和管理，以最大限度地提高淡水生物多样性成果，同时支持推动土地利用集约化的社会经济目标。进一步的研究重点包括：一）确定地表水和地下水在支持淡水生态系统方面的相对贡献；二）确定并保护淡水生物多样性热点和避难所；三）提高我们模拟水-生态关系和预测土地利用集约化和气候变化对生态结果的能力；四）了解长期生态系统行为；五）探索增强治理系统的系统方法，包括影响淡水结果的规划和管理系统。一个主要的政策挑战将是土地和水资源管理的整合，这在不同的政策框架内越来越受到关注。
