An expert-based approach to forest road network planning by combining Delphi and spatial multi-criteria evaluation

Changes in forest landscapes resulting from road construction have increased remarkably in the last few years. On the other hand, the sustainable management of forest resources can only be achieved through a well-organized road network. In order to minimize the environmental impacts of forest roads, forest road managers must design the road network efficiently and environmentally as well. Efficient planning methodologies can assist forest road managers in considering the technical, economic, and environmental factors that affect forest road planning. This paper describes a three-stage methodology using the Delphi method for selecting the important criteria, the Analytic Hierarchy Process for obtaining the relative importance of the criteria, and finally, a spatial multi-criteria evaluation in a geographic information system (GIS) environment for identifying the lowest-impact road network alternative. Results of the Delphi method revealed that ground slope, lithology, distance from stream network, distance from faults, landslide susceptibility, erosion susceptibility, geology, and soil texture are the most important criteria for forest road planning in the study area. The suitability map for road planning was then obtained by combining the fuzzy map layers of these criteria with respect to their weights. Nine road network alternatives were designed using PEGGER, an ArcView GIS extension, and finally, their values were extracted from the suitability map. Results showed that the methodology was useful for identifying road that met environmental and cost considerations. Based on this work, we suggest future work in forest road planning using multi-criteria evaluation and decision making be considered in other regions and that the road planning criteria identified in this study may be useful.     

宁夏太阳山湿地水生生态系统健康评价

通过在太阳山湿地设置11个采样点,监测水质及生物等17个指标,采用层次分析法、熵值法确定指标权重,运用灰色关联法、模糊综合评价法对研究区水生生态系统的健康状况进行评价。结果表明：在层次分析法赋权下,经灰色关联法评价得南湖为亚健康,其余湖为不健康;经模糊综合评价法得4个湖为病态。在熵值法赋权下,经灰色关联法评价得南湖为很健康,其余湖为不健康;经模糊综合评价得西湖为不健康,南湖为很健康,其余湖为病态。结合两种评价方法的计算过程及研究区实际情况,模糊综合评价结果较灰色关联法更符合实际。     

Calculating of river water quality sampling frequency by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP)

River water quality sampling frequency is an important aspect of the river water quality monitoring network. A suitable sampling frequency for each station as well as for the whole network will provide a measure of the real water quality status for the water quality managers as well as the decision makers. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is an effective method for decision analysis and calculation of weighting factors based on multiple criteria to solve complicated problems. This study introduces a new procedure to design river water quality sampling frequency by applying the AHP. We introduce and combine weighting factors of variables with the relative weights of stations to select the sampling frequency for each station, monthly and yearly. The new procedure was applied for Jingmei and Xindian rivers, Taipei, Taiwan. The results showed that sampling frequency should be increased at high weighted stations while decreased at low weighted stations. In addition, a detailed monitoring plan for each station and each month could be scheduled from the output results. Finally, the study showed that the AHP is a suitable method to design a system for sampling frequency as it could combine multiple weights and multiple levels for stations and variables to calculate a final weight for stations, variables, and months.     

用模糊数学和层次分析法进行城市综合环境质量评价

介绍了一种用模糊数学和层次分析法进行城市综合环境质量评价的方法,并用此方法对乌鲁木齐市的城市综合环境质量进行了评价,取得了较为满意的结果.     

基于ICI蒙德法的环境风险评价应用研究

以《建设项目环境风险评价技术导则》(HJ/T 169—2004)、《危险化学品重大危险源辨识》(GB 18218—2009)为依据,确定环境风险分析的研究线路,对评价单元进行风险识别,确定事故源项与风险因素。运用火灾、爆炸、毒性指标评价法(蒙德法)对环境风险进行评价,根据相关设计资料,选取各个参数,最后定量分析出单元的环境风险状况,提出针对性的管理措施,把风险降到最低。     

Fire risk evaluation using multicriteria analysis—a case study

Forest fires are one of the major causes of ecological disturbance and environmental concerns in tropical deciduous forests of south India. In this study, we use fuzzy set theory integrated with decision-making algorithm in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) framework to map forest fire risk. Fuzzy set theory implements classes or groupings of data with boundaries that are not sharply defined (i.e., fuzzy) and consists of a rule base, membership functions, and an inference procedure. We used satellite remote sensing datasets in conjunction with topographic, vegetation, climate, and socioeconomic datasets to infer the causative factors of fires. Spatial-level data on these biophysical and socioeconomic parameters have been aggregated at the district level and have been organized in a GIS framework. A participatory multicriteria decision-making approach involving Analytical Hierarchy Process has been designed to arrive at a decision matrix that identified the important causative factors of fires. These expert judgments were then integrated using spatial fuzzy decision-making algorithm to map the forest fire risk. Results from this study were quite useful in identifying potential “hotspots” of fire risk, where forest fire protection measures can be taken in advance. Further, this study also demonstrates the potential of multicriteria analysis integrated with GIS as an effective tool in assessing “where and when” forest fires will most likely occur.     

Review and environmental impact assessment of green technologies for base courses in bituminous pavements

This paper provides a critical review of different approaches applied in the Belgian asphalt sector in order to reduce the environmental impact of bituminous road construction works. The focus is on (1) reusing reclaimed asphalt pavement, (2) reducing the asphalt production temperature, and (3) prolonging the service life of the pavement. Environmental impact assessment of these methods is necessary to be able to compare these approaches and understand better the ability to reduce the environmental impact during the life cycle of the road pavement. Attention should be drawn to the possible shift in environmental impact between various life cycle stages, e.g., raw material production, asphalt production, or waste treatment. Life cycle assessment is necessary to adequately assess the environmental impact of these approaches over the entire service life of the bituminous pavement. The three approaches and their implementation in the road sector in Flanders (region in Belgium) are described and the main findings from life cycle assessment studies on these subjects are discussed. It was found from the review that using reclaimed asphalt pavement in new bituminous mixtures might yield significant environmental gains. The environmental impact of the application of warm mix asphalt technologies, on the other hand, depends on the technique used.     

Temporal Changes in Forest Landscape Patterns in Artvin Forest Planning Unit, Turkey

Understanding the historical dynamics, composition, and environmental disturbances of forest landscapes provides a context for monitoring changes, describing trends, and establishing reference conditions. This study analyses the temporal changes in forest ecosystem structure in Artvin Forest Planning Unit (AFPU), Turkey, during 1972–2002 period based on digitized forest stand type maps using geographic information system (GIS) and interpretation of satellite data. The results showed that there was a net decrease of 450 ha in total forested areas between 1972 and 2002. Forest ecosystem structure changed over time depending on a few factors such as demographic movements, insect outbreaks, dam and road construction, unregulated management actions, and social pressure. In conclusion, temporal changes and the factors affecting these changes should be determined for sustainable management of natural resources.     

Adapting social impact assessment to address a project's human rights impacts and risks

We address the weaknesses inherent in the social risk assessments undertaken for business, especially in the extractive industries. In contrast to the conventional approach that considers consequence to the company rather than to impacted communities, conformance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights requires that consequence to affected communities has precedence. In order for social risks to be properly assessed, we consider that: companies need to know and understand the human rights impacts of their activities; contemporary approaches to project impact and risk assessment need to be adapted to consider human rights; and environmental impact assessment (EIA) and social impact assessment (SIA) methods need to be adapted to give greater attention to impacts on human rights. Using an example from the mining, oil and gas sector, we provide a method that differentiates social risks from business risks, and we position impact assessment as an instrument that actively facilitates the improved identification, analysis and management of social risks. Practical adaptations to SIA activities and risk assessment processes are provided. Taking human rights impacts into account and using the dimensions of gravity, extent, vulnerability and remediability, we nominate criteria to assess the significance of negative social impacts.     

Effects of roads on terrestrial vertebrate species in Latin America

Biodiversity in Latin America is at risk today due to habitat loss, land conversion to agriculture and urbanization. To grow their economies the developing countries of Latin America have begun to invest heavily in new road construction. An assessment of research on the impacts of roads on wildlife in Latin America will help define science-based conservation strategies aimed at mitigating road expansion. The aim of this review was to qualitatively and quantitatively assess scientific research papers addressing road impacts on vertebrate species in Latin America. We searched for scientific papers published as early as 1990 to 2017. We reviewed a total of 197 papers. Published research showed an increasing trend in the last decade with a strong geographic bias with a majority of papers from Brazil. Mammals were the most studied taxa followed by birds, reptiles and amphibians. The majority of studies focused on road mortality and at the individual species level. Studies documented an increase in deforestation rates, in land conversion to agriculture, illegal activities (hunting, logging) and the establishment of human settlements. The effects of roads on species richness and populations abundance varied among taxa with no apparent pattern within taxa. Forest-dependent species tended to avoid crossing roads. Amphibians had the highest median road-kill rate, followed by reptiles, mammals and birds. Our results suggest that there is an urgent need for more research, particularly in Central America and to employ predictive tools for difficult-to-sample or understudied species and critical conservation areas. We recommend a two-speed approach to guide future research: one focusing on quantifying individual species responses towards roads and their implications on population viability; a second consisting of regional or continental-scale analyses and modelling of road risks to species and populations to inform road planning immediately.     

国家重点生态功能区县域环境监测质量评价方法及应用示范

以国家重点生态功能区县域环境监测质量评价为目标,综合应用德尔菲法、层次分析法和模糊综合评价法,构建了国家重点生态功能区县域环境监测质量评价方法,并确定了评价因子、权重系数、计算方法。该方法评价指标共分为三层:第一层为目标层,即国家重点生态功能区县域环境监测质量;第二层为准则层,包括人员及资质、现场监测、实验室管理、报告编制及数据上报;第三层为方案层,包括人员操作、持证上岗、资质认定、人员培训、水质布点采样流转情况、空气自动站运维情况、现场质控实施情况、实验室环境条件、样品试剂的保存与管理、仪器检定与校准、实验室质量控制实施情况、数据填报软件运行情况、监测报告规范性等13个评价要素。经矩阵一致性检验确定了各评价要素的权重,将该权重与各要素得分运算后得到县域环境监测质量评价结果。在此基础上,选取广东、山西、陕西、四川和青海等5个省份的15个国家重点生态功能区县域作为典型区开展了实地调研,并应用评价体系对其进行了监测质量等级评价。结果表明,15个典型县域中,环境监测质量等级为优的县域占13.3%,一般、较差的县域分别占66.7%、20%。县域环境监测承担单位在资质、报告编制及数据上报方面表现较好,在现场监测、人员操作方面问题突出,在实验室管理方面有待提升。     

基于超标风险改进的加拿大水质指数及其应用

将三角模糊数和超标风险度引入加拿大水质指数(CCME-WQI),建立了能够反映超标风险的改进型CCMEWQI。改进后的CCME-WQI通过计算水质指标的超标隶属度与超标风险,可实现对水质不确定性与超标风险的综合考量。在此基础上,评价了重庆市某水库2016—2019年水质状况。结果显示:改进后的CCME-WQI的评价结果较仅反映最差指标类别的单因子评价法的评价结果更为全面、客观。基于超标风险改进的CCME-WQI考虑了即将超标但尚未超标的水质因子存在的风险,在结果显示上比改进前的CCME-WQI更为全面、严格,更适用于评价一段时间内的水体污染程度和超标状态。     

Functional forest road network planning by consideration of environmental impact assessment for wood harvesting

Forest management today has to meet a number of objectives. Planning of multi-functional forest road networks is one essential for meeting the aims of the sustainable forest concept. Road construction damages the natural environment unless it is carefully thought out. As forest engineers we have to consider the protection of nature when designing forest roads. With this aim in mind, a new network planning approach was developed for wood-harvesting. A geographical information system (GIS) was used to evaluate the data and planning process. The new forest road network plan for Catak Forest District constituted the addition of a new 16-road segment, total length 59.067 km, to the existing road network plan, for the purpose of wood-harvesting operations. Forest road density value was determined as 22.8 m/ha: the opening-up rate of the area was increased to 77.8% and the opening-up rate of the existing stand value was increased to 94.3% after close examination. 90.2% of roads were planned for the forest areas where there is likely to be minimal negative environmental impact.     

Examining Relationships Between Socioeconomic Factors and Landscape Metrics in the Southern Basin of the Caspian Sea

Socioeconomic forces are not only among the main drivers of landscape dynamics; they are also influenced by landscape patterns. Landscape structure and functions are closely related to natural and social factors. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships among some human-related factors and landscape ecological metrics as landscape pattern indicators and to identify suitable metrics for modeling these relationships. To this goal, landscape ecological metrics were calculated for each of the 32 counties of Mazandaran and Guilan provinces located in the southern basin of the Caspian Sea using land use/cover maps in class level. Stream network metrics were calculated using a digital elevation model, road density metrics were calculated using map of main roads separately, and significant metrics were selected according to results of correlation tests and factor analysis. The correlations between these metrics and socioeconomic factors were tested, and their relationships were modeled with multiple linear regressions. Significant relationships were found among socioeconomic factors and landscape ecological metrics, and land use/cover data are applicable for modeling socioeconomic factors, especially demographic and employment structure factors. Among the landscape metrics applied in this study, road density, mean patch size, mean nearest neighbor distance, and percentage of a land use/cover class in landscape were important metrics for predicting socioeconomic factors. Our findings indicated that road density metric and percentages of urban class are useful for predicting urban socioeconomic factors and percentage of agriculture and forest classes in the landscape are suitable metrics for predicting rural socioeconomic factors.     

风险排序及其在环境风险管控中的应用

从风险排序的概念及应用需求出发,系统阐述了风险排序在当前风险管理特别是环境风险管控领域中的意义。指出风险排序是对风险定义在管理实践层面的应用深化。从风险排序影响因子的类别划分、来源构成、演化趋势以及排序方法的发展规律和优劣特征等角度进行系统综述,指出目前风险排序影响因子的界定及选取已呈现由风险理论限定过渡至突出服务风险管理为导向;风险排序方法学也逐步由单一方法排序过渡至多元方法互补排序的新阶段,逐步实现对风险排序结果的综合考量和准确度量。在此基础上,对风险排序方法在环境领域的实证研究进行归纳分析。总结指出了当前风险排序研究多以结果的量化表征为焦点,而其排序方法及配套排序指标选取的适用性、综合性及代表性检验仍需进一步研究分析,尤其是对排序机理、风险理论及风险管控需求间内在相互关系的系统解析将是未来实现风险排序客观全面提升的重要基础及意义所在。     

Decision-Tree-based data mining and rule induction for predicting and mapping soil bacterial diversity

Soilmicrobial ecology plays a significant role in global ecosystems. Nevertheless, methods of model prediction and mapping have yet to be established for soil microbial ecology. The present study was undertaken to develop an artificial-intelligence- and geographical information system (GIS)-integrated framework for predicting and mapping soil bacterial diversity using pre-existing environmental geospatial database information, and to further evaluate the applicability of soil bacterial diversity mapping for planning construction of eco-friendly roads. Using a stratified random sampling, soil bacterial diversity was measured in 196 soil samples in a forest area where construction of an eco-friendly road was planned. Model accuracy, coherence analyses, and tree analysis were systematically performed, and four-class discretized decision tree (DT) with ordinary pair-wise partitioning (OPP) was selected as the optimal model among tested five DT model variants. GIS-based simulations of the optimal DT model with varying weights assigned to soil ecological quality showed that the inclusion of soil ecology in environmental components, which are considered in environmental impact assessment, significantly affects the spatial distributions of overall environmental quality values as well as the determination of an environmentally optimized road route. This work suggests a guideline to use systematic accuracy, coherence, and tree analyses in selecting an optimal DT model from multiple candidate model variants, and demonstrates the applicability of the OPP-improved DT integrated with GIS in rule induction for mapping bacterial diversity. These findings also provide implication on the significance of soil microbial ecology in environmental impact assessment and eco-friendly construction planning.     

Risk assessment of heavy metals in road and soil dusts within PM2.5, PM10 and PM100 fractions in Dongying city, Shandong Province, China

15 road and 14 soil dust samples were collected from an oilfield city, Dongying, from 11/2009-4/2010 and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) for V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd and Pb within PM(2.5), PM(10) and PM(100) fractions synchronously. Metal concentrations, sources and human health risk were studied. Results showed that both soil and road dust exhibited higher values for Mn and Zn and lower values for Co and Cd for the three fractions. Mass concentration ratios of PM(2.5)/PM(10) and PM(10)/PM(100) for metals in road and soil dust indicate that most of the heavy metals tend to concentrate in fine particles. Geoaccumulation index and enrichment factors analysis showed that Cu, Zn and Cd exhibited moderate or heavy contamination and significant enrichment, indicating the influence of anthropogenic sources. Vanadium, Cr, Mn and Co were mostly not enriched and were mainly influenced by crustal sources. For Ni, As and Pb, they ranged from not enriched to moderately enriched and were influenced by both crustal materials and anthropogenic sources. The conclusions were confirmed by multivariate analysis methods. Principle component analysis revealed that the major sources were vehicle emission, industrial activities, coal combustion, agricultural activities and crustal materials. The risk assessment results indicated that metal ingestion appeared to be the main exposure route followed by dermal contact. The most likely cause for cancer and other health risks are both the fine particles of soil and road dusts.     

我国高速公路周边土壤重金属污染现状及研究进展

以我国高速公路周边土壤重金属为研究对象，综述了我国高速公路周边土壤重金属污染特征、影响因素、来源、环境风险及其研究进展。高速公路周边土壤主要受Pb、Cd、Cr、Cu、Zn等重金属污染，主要呈现指数分布、偏态分布和两者混合分布等特点，并且受到土地利用、风向、地形、车流量等多种因素的综合影响。土壤重金属的来源除了受成土母质等自然因素影响以外，公路交通和周边工农业活动也会对其来源产生较大影响。传统的土壤重金属评价方法主要采用单因子指数法、地累积指数法、生态风险评价法等对重金属的污染等级和环境风险进行评价。未来的研究应将重金属形态分析、空间和地统计分析、重金属稳定同位素示踪和源解析模型以及预测模型等多种手段相结合，开展高速公路周边土壤重金属的污染特征、时空分布、来源及预测预警研究等，为我国高速公路沿线工农业生产布局及其土壤重金属污染防控提供科学依据和决策支撑。     

Applying the grey assessment to the evaluation system of ecological green space on greening projects in Taiwan

This study is designed to develop an alternative evaluation method for ecological green space. It offers criteria for identifying ecological green space on building sites. The grey decision-making method is applied to assess the greening project at the first step. The evaluation items are rebuilt by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method at the second step. The range of standard values and the weighting values are also obtained by AHP. Grey classes are identified using the whitening weight function of the grey number. The evaluation system of the ecological green space is framed by grey clusters. We considered the factors of building environment and the scale of building sites in the ecological greenery of green building sites.This study proposes a new model to solve the problems hard to be quantified. Especially for those ecological benefits are too close to decide. Architects and landscape architects can input the engineering data and the design information into the ecological greenery assessment system. The identification and assessment system of green space is fit for Taiwan area. We will obtain the best greening project by the maximum value of absolute degree of grey incidence (max{varepsilon ( ij )}) in grey-decision making. The maximum value of synthetic clustering coefficient (max{sigma ( k )}) in grey clustering assessment reflects the quality and variation of green space.     

Accounting for Active Management and Risk Attitude in Forest Sector Models

Given the importance of anthropogenic determinants in forest ecosystems within Europe, the objective of this paper is to link the evidence arising from biological models to socio-economic determinants, where the expected returns of forest investments represent the main driver. A micro-economic area allocation module is therefore coupled with an inventory-based forest dynamics module and a partial-equilibrium market module in a national-level forest sector model for France (FFSM++). Running long-term scenarios (until 2100), we show the implication of an active management policy on forest composition: when the most profitable option drives forest investments, coniferous forests are generally preferred over broadleaved ones. This result is, however, reappraised when the risk aversion of forest owners is explicitly considered in the model, given the higher risk associated with the former. We further show the strong stability of forest ecosystems that, due to the very long cycles, undergoes very small variations in volume stocks, even in scenarios where the initial forest regeneration is strongly influenced.