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标题：A Geographic Model to Assess and Limit Cumulative Ecological Degradation from Marcellus Shale Exploitation in New York, USA
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作者：John B Davis ; George R Robinson
期刊名称：Ecology and Society
印刷版ISSN：1708-3087
电子版ISSN：1708-3087
出版年度：2012
卷号：17
期号：2
出版社：The Resilience Alliance
摘要：When natural resources are exploited, environmental costs and economic benefits are often asymmetric. Anexample is apparent in the environmental impacts from fossil fuel extraction by hydraulic fracturing. So far, most scrutiny hasbeen focused on water quality in affected aquifers, with less attention paid to broader ecological impacts beyond individualdrilling operations. Marcellus Shale methane exploitation in New York State, USA, has been delayed because of a regulatorymoratorium, pending evaluation that has been directed primarily at localized impacts. We developed a GIS-based model, builton a hexagonal grid underlay nested within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's EMAP system, to examine potentialcumulative ecological impacts. In a two-step process, we characterized > 19,000 hexagons, each sized to approximate thefootprint of one drilling site (2.57 km2), using ecological attributes; we then developed a method for apportioning resource accessthat includes assessments of cumulative ecological costs. Over one-quarter of the hexagons were excluded as off-limits on thebasis of six criteria: slope suitability, regulated wetland cover, protected-land cover, length of high-quality streams, mappedroad density, and open water cover. Three additional criteria were applied to assess the estimated conservation vulnerability ofthe remaining sites: density of grassland birds (North American Breeding Bird Survey), percent core forest (Coastal ChangeAnalysis Program), and total density of all state-mapped streams; these were determined and used in combination to rank the14,000 potentially accessible sites. In a second step, an iterative process was used to distribute potential site access among alltowns (sub-county governments) within the Marcellus Shale Formation. At each iteration, one site was selected per town, eitherrandomly or in rank order of increasing vulnerability. Results were computed as percent cumulative impact versus the numberof sites committed and compared to a most-conservative selection process (ranked by statewide conservation vulnerability).Random selection with proportional distribution by town resulted in larger cumulative ecological impacts, but rank-orderedselection by town was in many ways comparable to selection by statewide conservation vulnerability ranking. These outcomesallow for a political solution for managing resource access fairly, based on a balanced geographic distribution of economicbenefits, coupled with an underlying scientific basis for assessing the ecological costs that are publicly shared
关键词：Core forest; hexagon land-cover grid; hydraulic fracturing; Marcellus Shale formation; natural resource sharing;New York State; sensitive species and ecosystems