Abstract

  The Government of China is planning a new economic-development area, located at Meizhou Bay on the Chinese mainland, opposite the island of Taiwan. Aspects of this development plan will be subject to an assessment of the potential environmental effects. Especially important considerations are changes in land use associated with urbanization and industrial developments, and any activities that could degrade air and water quality, with potential risks for human health, aquaculture, agriculture, and wildlife. During 1988 to 1990, we conducted studies related to meteorology, environmental geology and engineering, physical oceanography, and marine chemistry and biology.
  To protect culturally-important orchards of fruit trees (including litchi, orange, and tangerine) from air pollution, and aquaculture facilities for prawn and oyster from oil pollution, these toxic stressors were given priority in our eco-toxicological research, and in the planning of allowable waste discharges. To protect Meizhou Bay from eutrophication, and nutrient-loading eco-dynamic models were developed, to allow simulation of ecological changes potentially associated with nutrient-laden discharges. The results of our ecological research will play a strategic rote in reconciling conflicts between economic development and environmental degradation, over both the short- and the long-term.

Keywords: ecological research, environmental plan, new economic-development area