区域生态经济体系的构建

欲使区域经济形成可持续发展的经济，必须构建合理的区域生态经济体系，进而使区域形成良性循环的生态经济区。文章首先分析了区域生态经济体系的概念和构建区域生态经济体系的意义，然后阐述了构建区域生态经济体系的指导思想与目标，最后以生态经济理论为指导，从区域经济体系的企业层面，各企业经营中要贯彻生态学思想；产业层面，建立生态农业体系、生态工业体系和第三产业生态化体系；区域层面，建立自然区域生态经济、经济区域生态经济和生态产业园区等方面论述了区域生态经济体系的构建模式。     

基于生态优先理念的工业园区用地生态规划研究——以贵阳市沙文生态科技产业园为例

从保护自然生态环境的角度为出发点，运用“生态优先”的理念，通过对工业园区生态环境要素的解读，进行自然察赋的决定性分析和生态网络构建。结合现状建设因素的制约条件，首先确定在工业园区建设内不可建设的区域，构建完善的生态系统网络，明确工业园区建设发展中必须严格保留的自然生态环境基础。同时，通过对建设用地的适宜度评价和多种用地适应性模型的建立，引导工业园区建设用地的发展，以协调城市发展与自然生态保护之间的矛盾。     

工业“大迁移”对重污染天气的加剧作用及对策分析

重污染天气的产生从源头上看主要在于"人为"因素，而工业污染源在其中的作用显而易见。现阶段，工业在全国范围的"大迁移"正如火如荼地进行着，并对重污染天气的形成产生不容忽视的加剧作用。从作用机理上看，工业"大迁移"容易形成大量的废气排放集聚地，工业园区承接产业转移时成为重污染天气加剧的"发源地"，而城市化进程的加快以及与自然作用的叠加都加剧了问题的严重性。基于此，本文以为应从治理的需要出发，除了已有的制度、措施外，还须完善跨区域协同治理，构建产业转移生态补偿机制；大力推进大气环境修复；加强欠发达地区和农村、城市郊区的环保基础设施建设，改进工业园区的环境管理模式；改善工业企业生存状况，引导公众有序参与大气污染治理。     

京津冀协同发展背景下区域生态补偿机制研究——基于生态资产的视角

生态补偿是保护生态环境、优化资源配置、协调区域发展的有效手段。京津冀地区战略地位重要,完善京津冀生态补偿机制现实意义重大。基于生态资产视角,通过分析生态补偿利益相关者,建立适合京津冀发展实际的生态补偿价值核算模型并进行实证分析,提出成立专门协调组织机构、拓宽生态补偿融资渠道、完善生态补偿法律法规、建立多维生态补偿途径和开展区域间合作与协作等建议,以合理构建和完善京津冀生态补偿机制。     

工业生态系统的生态机理与对策研究——以生态工业园为例

以生态工业园为例,探讨了工业生态系统的生态机理,论述了工业生态系统的生态系统原则,即循环性、进化性、多样性和地域性,分析了生态工业园存在的生态问题,通过工业园区企业的生态机理、多样性分析以及关键种企业的建立,构建良好的闭环系统,有效提升生态工业园系统的稳定性.     

株洲高新区国家生态工业园区建设规划研究

株洲高新区以长株潭(长沙市、株洲市、湘潭市)两型社会示范建设为契机,规划建设以低碳经济为主体产业的国家生态工业示范园区。株洲高新区在有色金属深加工、先进制造等行业的科研创新体系日趋完善,且产业集群初具规模,已具备了创建国家生态工业示范园区的有利条件。通过国家生态工业示范园区创建工作,将进一步优化区域产业结构,推动产业联动发展。园区建设总体上分为产业循环体系、污染控制体系和保障体系三部分。     

研发能力与研发效率的比较研究——以河南省大中型工业企业为例

通过构建大中型工业企业研发能力与效率的评价指标体系，运用因子定权法，对河南省18个地市的大中型工业企业研发能力与效率区域差异进行了测度和分析。研究发现，河南省大中型工业企业研发能力与效率整体协调性差，部分地区研发能力的获取是以牺牲研发效率为代价的；自主创新支撑能力、资本投入、环境约束是影响河南省大中型工业企业研发能力与效率的关键因素，而人力资本投入权重相对较小，说明河南省大中型工业企业的研发软实力有待提高。     

生态文明背景下的环境法治建设

生态文明的科学内涵与价值取向要求法律理念的更新、法律价值的变革以及权利与义务关系的重构；构建生态文明应着力完善生态立法，健全环保法律体系，加强执法、司法环节上的生态保护，完善生态执法的监督机制。     

区域大气污染协作治理的驱动机制研究——以长三角地区为例

区域大气污染协作治理本质上是以地方政府为主体的横向协作行为,地方政府的协作意愿与行动策略是决定区域协作进程的重要因素。本研究通过构建区域大气污染协作治理的驱动模型,分析影响区域协作进程的关键因素。在此基础上,以长三角区域为例,通过分析大气点源治理、移动源管控、重污染天气应急管理和重大活动空气质量保障等四类协作议题的协作进程及其驱动机制,识别差异化协作进程的形成原因。最后,本文从强化地方政府区域协作考核力度、建立区域大气环境生态补偿机制、加强区域协作机构的组织能力建设和完善区域协作治理的基础性技术支撑等四方面为构建区域大气污染防治长效协作机制提出政策建议。     

试谈生态工业的建立和发展

党和国家把环境保护作为基本国策，并强调：“正确处理经济发展同人口、资源、环境的关系”。这表明生态问题已经引起高度重视。建立和发展生态工业已成为当前一项重要任务。本文在介绍生态工业定义的基础上，说明了建立和发展生态工业的必要性及如何建立和发展生态工业。     

BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS AND BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ESTUARINE/COASTAL POLLUTION1

ABSTRACT: Sustained interest in and concern about the health status of the aquatic environment has resulted in extensive research focused on (1) effects of pollution on survival, growth, and reproduction of resource species at all life stages; (2) diseases of fish and shellfish, as they may be related to pollution and as they may serve as indicators of environmental stress; and (3) contaminant body burdens in fish and shellfish - their effects on the aquatic animals and their potential effects on humans. Effects, lethal and sublethal, of pollutants on life history stages of fish and shellfish have been documented, as have impacts on local stocks in badly degraded habitats, but as yet there has been no adequate quantitative demonstration of effects on entire aquatic species - probably because of the difficulty in sorting out relative effects of the many environmental factors that influence abundance. Sublethal effects, especially those that result in disease, have been examined intensively, and some diseases and disease syndromes have been associated statistically with pollution. Other pollution indicators (biochemical, physiological, genetic, behavioral, and ecological) have also received some attention, as have body burdens of contaminants in aquatic species. Research, especially that conducted during the past decade, has done much to clarify the many pathways and toxic effects of contaminants on aquatic animals, and has also helped to identify mechanisms for survival of fish and shellfish in the presence of environmental changes caused by human activities.     

Definition Procedures Have Little Effect on Performance of Environmental Classifications of Streams and Rivers

Mapped environmental classifications are defined using various procedures, but there has been little evaluation of the differences in their ability to discriminate variation in independent ecological characteristics. We tested the performance of environmental classifications of the streams and rivers of France that had been defined from the same environmental data using geographic regionalization and numerical classification of individual river valley segments. Test data comprised invertebrate assemblages, water chemistry, and hydrological indexes obtained from sites throughout France. Classification performance was measured by analysis of similarity (ANOSIM). Geometric regions defined by a regular grid and without regard to environmental variables and a posteriori classifications based on clustering the test datasets defined lower and upper bounds of performance for a given number of classes. Differences in classification performances were generally small. The ANOSIM statistics for the a posteriori classifications were around twice that of all environmental classifications, including geometrically defined regions. The hydro-ecoregions performed slightly better for the invertebrate data and the network classification performed slightly better for the chemistry and hydrological data. Our results indicate that environmental classifications that are defined using different procedures can be comparable in terms of their ability to discriminate variation of ecological characteristics and that alleged differences in performance arising from different classification procedures can be small relative to unexplained variation. We conclude that definition procedures might have little effect on the performance of large-scale environmental classifications and decisions over which procedures to use should be based primarily on pragmatic considerations.     

Journalists' views of advertiser pressures on agricultural news

All major journalism ethical codes explicitly state that journalists should protect editorial copy from undue influence by outside sources. However, much of the previous research on agricultural information has concentrated on what information various media communicate (gatekeeping studies) or communication's role in increasing innovation adoption (diffusion studies). Few studies have concentrated specifically on organizational and structural constraints that might adversely affect agricultural journalists' ethical standards; those that have, focus largely on farm magazines. A study of newspaper reporters who cover agricultural news found that the most pressing ethical concern is the effect of advertiser (agri-business) pressure on editorial copy, and that their concerns in general parallel those of farm magazine writers and editors. The majority reported being in situations in which they might be exposed to advertiser pressure, including pressures to change or withhold editorial copy. Large minorities suggested that advertising pressures affect the overall environment in which agricultural journalists work, and more than one in ten said they allow advertiser pressures to influence editorial decisions. The newspaper reporters who cover agricultural beats showed slightly more resistance to advertiser pressure than did farm magazine editors in a parallel study.     

Provincial development plans in Zimbabwe: an analysis of their content,structure and methodology

Zimbabwean provincial plans were instituted to help in the achievement of the national goal of the creation of an egalitarian, socialist and integrated society. The national goal itself was adopted as an antithesis to the dualist society characterised by spatial, economic, social, politican and technological inequalities that Zimbabwe inherited from colonialism. This meant that provincial plans had to play both a functional (or growth allocating/distribution) and a territorial (or redistribution) role.

This paper reviews their role in achieving the national goal by examining their functions, content, structure and methodology. The paper concludes that because of their nature, provincial plans are not suitable tools for the achievement of the national goal.     

Effect of Light on Biodegradation of Estrone, 17β‐Estradiol,and 17α‐Ethinylestradiol in Stream Sediment

Biodegradation of [A‐ring ¹⁴C] Estrone (E1), 17β‐estradiol (E2), and 17α‐ethinylestradiol (EE2) to ¹⁴CO₂ was investigated under light and dark conditions in microcosms containing epilithon or sediment collected from Boulder Creek, Colorado. Mineralization of the estrogen A‐ring was observed in all sediment treatments, but not epilithon treatments. No difference in net mineralization between light and dark treatments was observed for ¹⁴C‐E2. Net mineralization of ¹⁴C‐E1 and ¹⁴C‐EE2 was enhanced in light treatments. Extents of ¹⁴CO₂ accumulation and rates of mineralization were significantly greater for E2 than E1 under dark conditions, but were comparable under light conditions. These results indicate substantial differences in the uptake and metabolism of E1 and E2 in the environment and suggest biorecalcitrance of E1 relative to E2 in light‐limited environments. The extent of ¹⁴CO₂ accumulation and rate of mineralization for EE2 in dark treatments were less than half of that observed for E2 and generally lower than for E1, consistent with previous reports of EE2 biorecalcitrance. However, ¹⁴CO₂ accumulation and rates of mineralization were comparable for EE2, E2, and E1 under light conditions. These results indicate photoactivation and/or phototransformation/photodegradation processes can substantially enhance heterotrophic biodegradation of estrogens in sunlit environments and may play an important role in estrogen transport and attenuation.     

Bioremediation of Soils by Plant–Microbe Systems

Abstract

Sustainable ecosystems can be designed to eliminate environmental toxins and reduce pathogen loads through the direct and indirect consequences of plant and microbial activities. We present an approach to the bioremediation of disturbed environments, focusing on petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) contaminants. Treatment consists of incorporating a plant-based amendment to enhance ecosystem productivity and physiochemical degradation followed by the establishment of plants to serve as oxidizers and foundations for microbial communities. Promising amendments for widespread use are entire plants of the water fern Azolla and seed meal of Brassica napus (rapeseed). An inexpensive byproduct from the manufacture of biodiesel and lubricants, rapeseed meal is high in nitrogen (6% wt/wt), stimulates >100-fold increases in populations of resident Streptomyces species, and suppresses fungal infection of roots subsequently cultivated in the amended soil. Synergistic enzymatic and chemical activities of plant and microbial metabolism in root zones transform and degrade soil contaminants. Emphasis is given to mechanisms that enable PHC functionalization via reactive molecular species.     

National minerals policies and stakeholder participation for broad-based development in the southern African development community (SADC)

This paper explains how the well-accepted concept of improved stakeholder participation during mineral policy development leads to a national mineral policy that accommodates the diverging views and interests that allows wide acceptance of decisions, enhancing the success of implementation and, ultimately, national benefits. This process is based on lessons learnt during the South African experience and has been successfully applied in the development of the Namibian and Malawian national minerals policies. An effective policy in the SADC will engineer the delicate balance between poverty reduction and an internationally competitive minerals sector. This balance enhances the possibility of long-term economic growth and development in the SADC region. The overriding advantage of this strategy is that it generates ‘home-grown’ policy instruments and implementation of mineral law with which stakeholders can identify. This process presents a new challenge to traditional policy formulation strategies in emerging economies and the bottom-up approach, linked to wide political support, allows the potential realisation of national objectives.     

Energetics and environmental costs of agriculture in a dry tropical region of India

The present article, based on a study of five village ecosystems, assesses the energy efficiency of rain-fed agriculture in a dry tropical environment and the impact of agricultural activity on the surrounding natural ecosystems. Agronomic yield is insufficient to meet the food requirement of the human population, hence 11.5%–49.7% of the required amount of food grains are imported from the market. Energy requirements of five studied agroecosystems are subsidized considerably by the surrounding forest in the form of fodder and firewood. Natural ecosystems supply about 80%–95% of fodder needs and 81%–100% of fuelwood needs. The output-input ratio of agriculture indicated that, on average, 4.1 units of energy are expended to obtain one unit of agronomic energy. Of this, 3.9 units are supplied by the natural ecosystem. In addition, 38% of the extracted firewood is marketed. The illegal felling and lopping of trees result in ever-increasing concentric circles of forest destruction around the villages and together with excessive grazing results in savannization. The forests can be conserved by encouraging fuelwood plantations (0.7 ha/ha cultivated land) and developing village pastures (1.6 ha/ha cultivated land) and reducing the livestock numbers. Agricultural production in the region can be stabilized by introducing improved dry farming techniques such as intercropping, planned rainwater management, and adequate use of fertilizers.     

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY “METROPOLITAN WATER MANAGEMENT INSTITUTIONS?”1

ABSTRACT The term “institution” and several variants are used frequently in the literature on metropolitan water management. The state-of-the art investigation on which this paper is based revealed that 1) many uses of the term do not include careful definitions; 2) many users of the term seemed unaware of the general, theoretical literature on the subject of institutions; 3) there was little consistency among uses, either in the practical literature dealing with water or in the conceptual literature dealing with theories of institutions or institutionalization; 4) some usages were without significant meaning; 5) in many cases the term was used as a kind of “black box” to account for behavioral, societal, or managerial factors; 6) the term was often used as a synonym for “organization”. This latter use is frequently found in federal reports, including National Water Commission studies, and is most unfortunate because it tends to slight significant social-psychological factors. A suggested definition is: “An institution is the structured result or outcome of a process by which values are articulated, arranged, and communicated, having continuity over time, and influencing behavior of persons who did not necessarily participate in formulating those values (norms).”     

Waste minimisation in practice

One of the major hindrances to waste minimisation on a construction site is the difficulty in establishing a methodology and using this methodology to benchmark future construction projects. This paper introduces SMARTWaste, a software tool that has been used to audit, reduce and target waste arisings on a construction site. This tool tries to link the construction process and the waste hierarchy. That is reducing waste on a construction site rather than landfilling it. Three applications of the SMARTWaste software will be discussed using case studies from three different types of construction. An evaluation of these case studies shows that, by implementing a waste minimisation scheme on-site, you can improve material recovery for reuse. Also, by using the waste arisings as a benchmark you can reduce your waste arisings on future sites. Application of SMARTWaste or a similar waste minimisation tool on a wider basis could reduce waste arisings and could result in a built environment that consumed less natural resources and energy, and also produced less pollution and waste. Such a built environment would be environmentally and socially more responsive and responsible.