Dynamic aspects of effluent taxation under uncertainty

The optimal adjustment process for an effluent charge is derived when the firm's response to the charge is uncertain. The optimal process is shown to exhibit the dual effects of caution and probing. Because of uncertainty, society should be risk averse or cautious when setting the charge. However, because of the possibility of generating information for improved future control, this caution is balanced by the incentive to probe for additional information. Finally, if the uncertain parameters of the firm's response function are nonautonomous, their change over time must be explicitly considered to avoid bias in estimation.     

Schadstoffbelastung durch Persorption von Bodenpartikeln

The term persorption describes the paracellular uptake of particles from the digestive tract. It has been shown that solid, hard microparticles such as starch granules, cellulose particles, fibres and crystals are incorporated from the digestive tract. It is likely that an uptake of soil contaminants may also occur via this mechanism, thereby increasing the health risks of children through soil ingestion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of such soil contaminant absorption via this mechanism using data from the literature. Since no information was available on the persorption of soil particles, studies using other models had to be evaluated. The results of these studies show that a persorption of soil particles must be expected. The maximum persorption rate occurs for diameters of <35 μm which is in the range of diameters of street dust, clay and coarse clay. The persorption of these particles is therefore of significance. Data from the literature, however, does not allow an estimation of the magnitude of persorption of such soil particles. Basically, it is conceivable that a relevant ingestion of less mobile pollutants is possible through their persorption in the gastrointestinal tract. Aside from an increased internal exposure via the persorption of soil particles carrying contaminants, additional health risks may occur through the long-term deposit of such particles, the presence of potential allergens as well as through the embolisation of small vessels.     

Problems and prospectus of utilization of sewage and industrial wastewaters in agriculture

The basic objective of this study was to compile the available information on the composition of sewage and industrial wastewaters in India and their effect on soil–plant health upon their use in agricultural fields. The composition of sewage water is quite variable depending upon the contributing source, mode of collection, and treatment provided. The composition of sewage water varied from site to site which was in accordance with the type of industries present in that area. Continuous use of sewage and industrial wastewater irrigation recorded improvement in water retention, hydraulic conductivity, organic C and build-up of available N, P, K, micronutrient status, and soil microbial count. The electrical conductivity although increased due to sewage irrigation, it was within the tolerance limit to cause any soil salinity hazard. The toxic metals like Cd, Cr, Pb, and Ni were found to be accumulated in soil and plant due to long-term use of sewage and industrial wastewater irrigation. The concentration of these metals was higher in leafy vegetables than in grain crops. This warrants the potential hazard to soil–plant health suggesting necessity of their safe use after pretreatment as a cheap potential alternative source of plant nutrients in agriculture.     

内蒙古河套灌区秋浇对不同类型农田土壤盐分淋失的影响

秋浇是河套灌区传统的秋后淋盐、春季保墒的一种特殊灌溉制度 ,秋浇对不同类型农田盐分损失影响的试验结果表明 ,秋浇前白菜地土壤含水率最高 ,向日葵地最低 ,秋浇后 5种农田土壤含水率均较高 ,且彼此间无显著性差异。秋浇后不同土壤剖面盐分的损失量按照表层 (0～ 40cm)、中层 (40～ 80cm)、深层 (80～ 1 2 0cm)依次递减(向日葵地除外 )。不同农田的盐分淋失量按照白菜地、向日葵地、玉米地、小麦 -玉米地、小麦地依次递减。非生长季灌溉下 ,农田土壤 0～ 1 0 0cm土层中盐分的淋失量与土壤储水量的增加量 (灌溉前土壤含水率 <2 50 g·kg- 1 ,r =0 .990 2 )密切相关 ,但与灌溉前土壤盐分初始含量无显著性关系     

Evaluation of potential topsoil productivity

A biomass productivity model based on soil properties and climate is developed from literature and used to evaluate and compare potential effects of mining and reclamation on several soils in the continental United States. Soil productivity is assumed to vary as a product of root distribution function modified by five soil properties: available water, aeration porosity, bulk density, electrical conductivity, and pH. Yield limiting property levels are derived from literature and input soil data are obtained from available USDA Soil Conservation Service information on typical profiles. Modelled values of potential productivity after mining, indicate problems and limitations to be expected. The proposed model can be used as a guide to reclamation strategy, to restore the land to premining conditions, or at times to enhance productivity of a reclaimed area.     

Sampling designs on stream networks using the pseudo-Bayesian approach

Monitoring stream networks through time provides important ecological information. The sampling design problem is to choose locations where measurements are taken so as to maximise information gathered about physicochemical and biological variables on the stream network. This paper uses a pseudo-Bayesian approach, averaging a utility function over a prior distribution, in finding a design which maximizes the average utility. We use models for correlations of observations on the stream network that are based on stream network distances and described by moving average error models. Utility functions used reflect the needs of the experimenter, such as prediction of location values or estimation of parameters. We propose an algorithmic approach to design with the mean utility of a design estimated using Monte Carlo techniques and an exchange algorithm to search for optimal sampling designs. In particular we focus on the problem of finding an optimal design from a set of fixed designs and finding an optimal subset of a given set of sampling locations. As there are many different variables to measure, such as chemical, physical and biological measurements at each location, designs are derived from models based on different types of response variables: continuous, counts and proportions. We apply the methodology to a synthetic example and the Lake Eacham stream network on the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland, Australia. We show that the optimal designs depend very much on the choice of utility function, varying from space filling to clustered designs and mixtures of these, but given the utility function, designs are relatively robust to the type of response variable.     

污水灌溉区土壤肥力及酶活性特征研究

通过野外调查和采样分析,研究了石家庄栾城县不同污水灌溉时间（0-52a）和不同层位（0-100cm）耕地土壤肥力及酶活性的分布特征。研究结果表明：与清灌对照点相比,污水灌溉区表层（0-20cm）土壤有机质含量、全氮含量、全磷含量、蔗糖酶活性、脲酶活性和磷酸酶活性、亚表层（20-40cm）蔗糖酶活性、磷酸酶活性和下层（40-60cm）蔗糖酶活性均相对较高,而下层有机质含量、全氮含量和底层（60-100cm）全氮含量均相对较低。4层土壤阳离子交换量和过氧化氢酶活性较对照点均无明显的变化规律。表层土壤全氮含量、蔗糖酶活性和磷酸酶活性、亚表层有机质含量、蔗糖酶活性和磷酸酶活性、下层蔗糖酶活性与污灌时间之间均存在显著相关性沪〈0．05）。上述特征反映了土壤肥力及酶活性对污灌的响应具有明显的层位效应和非同步性,而这些响应是由于污水中的营养物质输入土壤后引发微生物活性提高的“激发效应”所致。     

Elevated Levels of Cadmium and Zinc in Paddy Soils and Elevated Levels of Cadmium in Rice Grain Downstream of a Zinc Mineralized Area in Thailand: Implications for Public Health

Prolonged consumption of rice containing elevated cadmium (Cd) levels is a significant health issue particularly in subsistence communities that are dependent on rice produced on-farm. This situation is further exacerbated in areas of known non-ferrous mineralization adjacent to rice-based agricultural systems where the opportunity for contamination of rice and its eventual entry into the food chain is high. In the current study, an assessment of the degree of soil Cd and Zn contamination and associated rice grain Cd contamination downstream of an actively mined zone of Zn mineralization in western Thailand was undertaken. Total soil Cd and Zn concentrations in the rice-based agricultural system investigated ranged from 0.5 to 284 mg kg⁻¹ and 100 to 8036 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. Further, the results indicate that the contamination is associated with suspended sediment transported to fields via the irrigation supply. Consequently, the spatial distribution of Cd and Zn is directly related to a field’s proximity to primary outlets from in-field irrigation channels and inter-field irrigation flows with 60–100% of the Cd and Zn loading associated with the first three fields in irrigation sequence. Rice grain Cd concentrations in the 524 fields sampled, ranged from 0.05 to 7.7 mg kg⁻¹. Over 90% of the rice grain samples collected contained Cd at concentrations exceeding the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC) draft Maximum Permissible Level for rice grain of 0.2 mg Cd kg⁻¹. In addition, as a function of demographic group, estimated Weekly Intake (WI) values ranged from 20 to 82 μg Cd per kg Body. This poses a significant public health risk to local communities. The results of this study suggest that an irrigation sequence-based field classification technique in combination with strategic soil and rice grain sampling and the estimation of WI values via rice intake alone may be a useful decision support tool to rapidly evaluate potential public health risks in irrigated rice-based agricultural systems receiving Cd contaminated irrigation water. In addition, the proposed technique will facilitate the cost effective strategic targeting of detailed epidemiological studies thus focusing resources to specific ‘high risk’ areas.     

On Valuing Information in Adaptive‐Management Models

Abstract: Active adaptive management looks at the benefit of using strategies that may be suboptimal in the near term but may provide additional information that will facilitate better management in the future. In many adaptive‐management problems that have been studied, the optimal active and passive policies (accounting for learning when designing policies and designing policy on the basis of current best information, respectively) are very similar. This seems paradoxical; when faced with uncertainty about the best course of action, managers should spend very little effort on actively designing programs to learn about the system they are managing. We considered two possible reasons why active and passive adaptive solutions are often similar. First, the benefits of learning are often confined to the particular case study in the modeled scenario, whereas in reality information gained from local studies is often applied more broadly. Second, management objectives that incorporate the variance of an estimate may place greater emphasis on learning than more commonly used objectives that aim to maximize an expected value. We explored these issues in a case study of Merri Creek, Melbourne, Australia, in which the aim was to choose between two options for revegetation. We explicitly incorporated monitoring costs in the model. The value of the terminal rewards and the choice of objective both influenced the difference between active and passive adaptive solutions. Explicitly considering the cost of monitoring provided a different perspective on how the terminal reward and management objective affected learning. The states for which it was optimal to monitor did not always coincide with the states in which active and passive adaptive management differed. Our results emphasize that spending resources on monitoring is only optimal when the expected benefits of the options being considered are similar and when the pay‐off for learning about their benefits is large.     

白城地区近50年土壤有机碳动态变化研究

基于白城地区第一次、第二次全国土壤普查和野外现场采样共217个土壤剖面数据,利用＂土类-土地利用类型＂权重方法,估算白城地区11个土类从20世纪50年代至2009年近50年的土壤有机碳密度（SOD）和碳储量（SOC）,分析SOD变化规律,探讨其时空演化特征,结果表明,①近50年来,除水稻土和栗钙土SOD随时间增加外,其余各土类SOD随时间持续降低;但不同时期泥炭土SOD均最高,盐碱土均为最低。②近50年来,白城地区的SOD从92.22±21.13 t.hm-2减少至68.01±10.76 t.hm-2;表现为自北向南、自西向东降低的空间分布规律。③近50年来,白城地区SOC减少了6.2×107 t,各县市SOC呈逐年降低态。     

Geochemical and Geophysical Monitoring of Salinewater Intrusion in Korean Paddy Fields

The saline water intruded zone in paddy fields near the seashore can be diagnosed accurately by joint exploration with geophysical and geochemical methods. Using the electromagnetic (EM) sounding technique, the weakly consolidated zone which introduces saline water into such an area of near seashore paddy fields in Korea was detected from the variation of electrical conductivity distribution following field irrigation. Vertical electrical sounding (VES) with Schlumberger array and chemical analysis of top soils, and groundwater in the study area verified the intruded zone near the surface. The VES results showed that the intrusion of seawater occurred in the form of a channel down to 30 m below sea level. Geochemical analysis of the top soil samples for the six major elements found in seawater indicated that the region showing high concentrations is concordant with the weakly consolidated zone near the surface. The degree of contamination in the study area was investigated by comparing the soil data with those from a nearby old reclamation field. If remediation work is not done for this intrusion zone, the sodicity degree in the paddy soil is expected to increase compared with the reference site data.     

From data and theory to environmental models and indices formation

A prerequisite for environmental indices is that they represent environmental pressure, and the state of, and impact on environmental conditions. In other words, they should capture as much as possible of the cause-effect chains they represent and relate pressure and effect to criteria of environmental quality. The approach proposed in the article attempts to link the pressure–state–impact–response framework of indicators to the integrated environmental model, based on the method of response function (MRF). The MRF allows to construct purposeful, credible models from data and prior knowledge or information. The data are usually time series observations of system inputs and outputs, and sometimes of internal states. The output of such models is presented with highly aggregated environmental indices, reflecting the main pressure–state–impact–response cause-effect chains. The proposed approach is illustrated with the example of soil erosion indices.     

入田泥沙对黄河三角洲地区土壤物理性状的影响——以小开河引黄灌区为例

为研究人田泥沙对小开河灌区自然土壤的影响,用分析化验和工程测试等方法,分析了引黄泥沙和输沙人田后土壤颗粒组成、容重、孔隙状况等物理性状。结果表明：引黄泥沙中0．02～0．002mm的细粉粒比例最高,平均39-31％。小开河自然土壤中0．05-0．02mm的粗粉粒比例最高,为53．41％,泥沙中细粉粒和粘粒含量明显高于当地土壤。输沙人田使灌区土壤中0．02—0．002mm的细粉粒和〈0．002mm的粘粒比例明显增加,〉0．02mm的颗粒比例下降,虽有效避免了因渠首集中沉沙造成的土壤沙化和生态环境恶化,但增加了土壤的粘重程度。农田耕作在一定程度上增加土壤通气孔隙比例、降低土壤容重,但土壤毛管孔隙度依旧稳定在40％左右,毛管作用旺盛,使土壤通气状况不能满足作物需求。在黄河三角洲地区输沙入田的泥沙处理,应结合当地土壤的基本性质和水盐运动规律配置泥沙,以免增强当地土壤紧实、通透性差的性状。     

黄河下游灌区土壤碳储量及碳密度分布

土壤碳（C）,特别是土壤有机碳（SOC）,对于提高作物产量和减少温室气体排放具有重要影响,深入理解 SOC 空间分布特征对于未来区域生态环境和农业的可持续发展也具有重要作用。黄河下游引黄灌区是我国重要的粮、棉生产基地,具有50年以上的引黄灌溉历史,长期引黄灌溉对区域土壤C储量和分布的改变毋庸置疑。以往关于土壤C的估算多集中于较大尺度,受采样数据量和大区域环境因素复杂变异影响,结果经常出现较大差异,并且对于大型水利灌溉对土壤 C 分布的长期影响研究较少,尤其对于我国黄河下游引黄灌区土壤 C 分布的研究稀缺。本文通过收集黄河下游鲁、豫灌区相关统计资料,灌区土壤、水文资料等,分7层（0～5 cm、5～10 cm、10～20 cm、20～40 cm、40～60 cm、60～80 cm、80～100 cm）采集0～1 m剖面土壤样品,利用GIS空间差值、空间统计方法,分析不同土层、土地利用、土壤类型碳储量和碳密度（CD）空间分布特征,为研究区长期引黄灌溉条件下生态农业的发展提供依据。结果表明研究区（面积54153 km2）1 m土层总碳（TC）储量为1045.13 Tg,SOC储量达815.76 Tg,其0～20 cm,20～40 cm,40～60 cm,60～80 cm和80～100 cm分别占23.44%,20.06%,18.95%,18.83%,18.72%。估算1 m土层耕地和荒地SOC储量分别约为610 Tg和18.99 Tg,而草地和林地仅为25.97 Tg和16.41 Tg;不同土壤成土类型之间,半水成土所占的比例最大（约77.82%）,初育土最小（约5.49%）。1 m土层平均总碳密度（TCD）为（19.37±1.48） kg·m^-2,而平均有机碳密度（SCD）为（15.12±1.14） kg·m^-2,其变化范围从荒地的（14.98±0.91） kg·m^-2到林地的（16±1.15） kg·m^-2,同一或不同土地利用类型各层储量变化略有不同,主要是受人类活动、植被凋落物输入以及地下水环境等影响。不同的土壤类型间SCD则介于?     

Influence of sea salts on drainage water and soil chemistry of two different soil types: soil leaching experiments under laboratory conditions

The effects of sea-salt on drainage water and soil chemistry was studied using two different soil types and setting up five soil-leaching experiments under controlled laboratory conditions. The objectives of the soil-leaching experiments were to provide information of the variability of soils and their drainage water chemistry following the input of different sea-salt solutions with different times which was similar to the precipitation input experienced during the storms in fields. Analyses were presented of major ions (Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl-, NO3-, SO4(2-) and NH4+) and pH for drainage water. At the end of the experiment, CEC (cation exchange capacity), %BS (percent base saturation), exchangeable capacity of Na, Ca and Mg and pH were also analysed for soil horizon chemistry. The results showed an increase in concentration of most of the major ions in the drainage water, though some adsorption of Na, Ca and Mg had taken place; so the result being a significant decrease in soil water pH. The chemical characteristics of each soil horizons also showed significant changes with the sea-salt applications compared to initial chemical characteristics. However, comparison of data from the four different sea-salt applications under different soil type or land-use didn't indicate the additional role that different land management could play in drainage water or soil chemistry.     

入田泥沙对黄河三角洲地区土壤物理性状的影响——以小开河引黄灌区为例

为研究入田泥沙对小开河灌区自然土壤的影响,用分析化验和工程测试等方法,分析了引黄泥沙和输沙入田后土壤颗粒组成、容重、孔隙状况等物理性状。结果表明:引黄泥沙中0.02～0.002mm的细粉粒比例最高,平均39.31%。小开河自然土壤中0.05～0.02mm的粗粉粒比例最高,为53.41%,泥沙中细粉粒和粘粒含量明显高于当地土壤。输沙入田使灌区土壤中0.02～0.002mm的细粉粒和﹤0.002mm的粘粒比例明显增加,0.02mm的颗粒比例下降,虽有效避免了因渠首集中沉沙造成的土壤沙化和生态环境恶化,但增加了土壤的粘重程度。农田耕作在一定程度上增加土壤通气孔隙比例、降低土壤容重,但土壤毛管孔隙度依旧稳定在40%左右,毛管作用旺盛,使土壤通气状况不能满足作物需求。在黄河三角洲地区输沙入田的泥沙处理,应结合当地土壤的基本性质和水盐运动规律配置泥沙,以免增强当地土壤紧实、通透性差的性状。     

北京市郊再生水灌区土壤有机氯农药垂向分布特征

在北京市郊再生水灌区采用正三角型布点法进行了3个钻孔的采样工作,钻孔间隔为1m,从表层开始每隔0.5m取一个样,3个钻孔共36组样品,同时采集钻孔附近的灌溉水及地下水,分别测试了土壤的理化参数及其土壤、灌溉水及地下水中9种有机氯农药的质量分数。测试结果表明：表层土壤是有机氯农药的主要残留层,表层土壤中检出的DDTs和BHCs质量分数较高,分别为2814.21ng·kg^-1和1130.41ng·kg^-1,但均符合土壤环境质量一级标准,残留污染程度较轻;其他层位以七氯和艾氏剂为主要检出物,最高质量分数分别为1286.19ng·kg^-1和781.23ng·kg^-1;其中艾氏剂未在表层土壤中检出;灌区内未检出的γ-BHC和（DDE＋DDD）/DDT的计算值为1.80,都说明近期内没有新污染源的输入;检出的有机氯农药在土壤剖面上的迁移能力有HEP〉ALD〉BHCs〉DDTs〉HCB,与地下水中检出的规律一致。     

Environmental policy à la carte: Letting firms choose their regulation

Under uncertainty, the optimal choice between price and quantity instruments depends on the technology of the regulated firms, which is often private information. We consider an environmental policy that delegates the prices-versus-quantities decision to the firms by offering them the choice between an emissions tax and permit trading. Such an approach is currently used in Swiss climate policy. We provide a detailed characterization of the optimal policy and show that this approach reduces expected social costs compared to a pure tax or permit-trading regime. We demonstrate that an optimal allocation of firms to instruments can be achieved despite substantial informational constraints, and that all firms gain from the introduction of the instrument choice compared to optimally designed single-instrument policies. Furthermore, we discuss the conditions under which this approach is likely to be preferable to a hybrid regulation.     

Influence of the sewage irrigation on the agricultural soil properties in Tongliao City, China

Increasing shortages of fresh water has led to greater use of treated wastewater for irrigation of crops. This study evaluates the spatial variability of soil properties after irrigation with wastewater and freshwater. Geostatistical techniques were used to identify the variability of soil properties at the different sites. A set of physical and chemical soil properties were measured including total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), organic matter (OM) and soil moisture. The TN concentration levels varied from 567 to 700 mg·kg^-1, while OC levels ranged from 7.3 to 16.3 mg·kg^-1 in wastewater-irrigated zones. The concentration levels of TP were between 371.53 and 402.88 mg·kg^-1 for the wastewater-irrigated sites. Wastewater irrigation resulted in higher TN, TP and OM concentrations by 18.4%, 8% and 25%, respectively. The highest TN and OM occurred along the wastewater trunk. It was also observed that nitrogen concentrations correlate with the soil's organic matter. The increase of salinity may be associated with the increase of pH, which might suggest that a reduction of pH will be beneficial for plant growth due to the decrease of salinity. The average concentrations of nitrogen in topsoil were higher than those in subsurface soils in irrigated areas. Such differences of the N profile might be due to variations in organic matter content and microbial populations. Consistent with TN and OM, soil C:N decreased significantly with an increase of depth. This phenomenon possibly reflects a greater degree of breakdown and the older age of humus stored in the deeper soil layers. The analysis of pH levels at different depths for the three sites showed that pH values for wastewater irrigation were slightly lower than the controlled sites at the same depths.     

Ungulate population dynamics and optimization models

Optimal harvesting strategies for an ungulate population are estimated using stochastic dynamic programming. Data on the Llano Basin white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) population were used to construct a 2-variable population dynamics model. The model provided the basis for estimating optimal harvesting strategies as a feedback function of the current values of the state variables (prefawning older deer and juveniles). Optimal harvest strategies were insensitive to assumptions about the probability distributions of the stochastic variable (rainfall). The response of the population components to harvesting and the returns obtained from applying optimal strategies were explored through simulation. Mean annual harvest is about 15% of the population. Simplified harvesting strategies based on age-ratios as well as a simplified version based on optimal strategies—but assuming persisting equilibrium juvenile deer density—were compared to optimal strategies through examining values of information. Simplified harvesting strategies lead to a lower harvest over a 50-year simulation period.