Department of Forest and Natural Resources Management, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, NY, 13210, United States.
Department of Forest and Natural Resources Management, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, NY, 13210, United States; Family Forest Research Center, University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States.
J Environ Manage. 2017 Apr 15;191:19-27. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.12.069. Epub 2017 Jan 9.
Sustaining recent progress in mitigating acid pollution could require lower emissions caps that will give rise to real or perceived tradeoffs between healthy ecosystems and inexpensive energy. Because most impacts of acid rain affect ecosystem functions that are poorly understood by policy-makers and the public, an ecosystem services (ES) framework can help to measure how pollution affects human well-being. Focused on the Adirondack region (USA), a global 'hot-spot' of acid pollution, we measured how the chronic acidification of the region's forests, lakes, and streams has affected the potential economic and cultural benefits they provide to society. We estimated that acid-impaired hardwood forests provide roughly half of the potential benefits of forests on moderate to well-buffered soils - an estimated loss of ∼ $10,000 ha in net present value of wood products, maple syrup, carbon sequestration, and visual quality. Acidic deposition has had only nominal impact - relative to the effects of surficial geology and till depth - on the capacity of Adirondack lakes and streams to provide water suitable for drinking. However, as pH declines in lakes, the estimated value of recreational fishing decreases significantly due to loss of desirable fish such as trout. Hatchery stocking programs have partially offset the pollution-mediated losses of fishery value, most effectively in the pH range 4.8-5.5, but are costly and limited in scope. Although any estimates of the monetary 'damages' of acid rain have significant uncertainties, our findings highlight some of the more tangible economic and cultural benefits of pollution mitigation efforts, which continue to face litigation and political opposition.
维持近期在减轻酸污染方面的进展可能需要降低排放上限，这将导致在健康的生态系统和廉价能源之间产生实际或感知到的权衡。由于酸雨的大多数影响都作用于生态系统功能，而政策制定者和公众对这些功能的了解有限，因此生态系统服务（ES）框架可以帮助衡量污染对人类福祉的影响。以阿迪朗达克地区（美国）为重点，这是一个全球酸污染“热点”地区，我们衡量了该地区森林、湖泊和溪流的慢性酸化如何影响它们为社会提供的潜在经济和文化利益。我们估计，受酸影响的硬木森林提供的潜在利益约为中等至缓冲良好土壤上森林的一半——估计净现值损失约为 10,000 美元/公顷的木材产品、枫糖浆、碳固存和视觉质量。与地表地质和表土深度的影响相比，酸性沉降对阿迪朗达克湖和溪流提供适合饮用的水的能力的影响微不足道。然而，随着湖泊 pH 值的下降，由于理想鱼类（如鳟鱼）的减少，娱乐性钓鱼的估计价值显著下降。人工孵化放流计划部分抵消了渔业价值因污染而产生的损失，在 pH 值为 4.8-5.5 的范围内效果最为显著，但成本高昂且范围有限。尽管酸雨的货币“损害”估计存在很大的不确定性，但我们的研究结果突出了污染减轻努力的一些更具实质性的经济和文化利益，这些利益仍面临诉讼和政治反对。
