盘山县生态文明建设实践与思考

综述盘山县从生态文明示范区建设的指导思想出发,明确示范区建设目标以及原则,探讨生态文明示范区建设的核心内容及整体框架,综合当前的生态文明建设的指标体系研究现状,构建生态文明示范区建设指标体系,深化评价指标体系的保障措施。分析盘山县通过生态文明制度、生态安全、生态空间格局、生态经济、生态生活、生态文化六大体系构建,稳固了生态文明建设的现实基础。经过4年的国家生态文明示范区建设创建工作,达到了考核要求,获得第三批国家生态文明建设示范市县称号。     

生态城市建设指标体系构建与综合评价研究——以山东省为例

生态城市建设指标体系的建立是衡量生态城市的规划、建设和管理成效的主要依据。运用生态城市理论与评价指标体系进行了分析,并根据层次分析法原理,对山东省17个生态城市建立了评价指标体系,在此基础上运用DPS计算机软件进行了聚类分析,获得各城市的当前生态信息,再针对山东省生态城市建设提出了对策与措施。     

中小型水库库区生态安全性综合评价

从库区生物环境，地质与气候环境和人类工程活动三个准则考虑建立了库区系统生态安全性评价指标体系，并采用层次分析和模糊评价有机结合的综合方法对库区系统生态安全进行综合评价。以四川中江县黄鹿水库为例进行的综合评价表明生态安全隶属于“安全”的程度最大，通过综合评价中间结果的计算分析，找出导致生态危险的薄弱因素是人类活动影响较大。     

河西内陆河流域生态屏障建设综合评价与提升策略研究

生态屏障建设是推进人与自然和谐共生的中国式现代化的重要手段,内陆河流域生态屏障建设评价对于总结生态屏障建设成效与问题及落实中国式现代化建设战略任务具有重要意义。基于社会—生态耦合视角,在构建生态屏障建设评价指标体系基础上,运用综合指数法,对2015—2020年河西内陆河流域生态屏障建设状况进行了动态综合评价,并据此提出提升策略。结果表明：(1)河西内陆河流域生态屏障建设综合指数呈小幅上升态势,生态屏障建设处于发展提升阶段,流域生态安全多处于一般和较差状态;(2)流域生态屏障建设成效空间上整体呈现出自西往东逐渐下降的趋势,其中张掖市生态屏障建设成效明显,生态屏障建设综合指数稳步提升。基于上述研究,建议从社会—生态系统整体性出发,将生态屏障建设融入流域建设全过程,在生态产业、生态文化和生态社会等方面进行整体谋划和系统安排,统筹推进流域生态屏障建设转型提升。     

温郫都生态示范区生态环境状况综述

本文参考《2007年度温郫都生态示范区环境质量报告书》[1],对温郫都生态示范区的考核指标达标情况、环境质量,以及生态环境状况指数定量测评情况、环境承载力评价结果等多方面进行综合概述,温郫都生态示范区经过十几年的建设,全部达到国家考核指标要求,部分指标明显优于国家考核指标,生态环境状况指数(EI)定量测评结果为优,环境承载力评价结果显示,生态示范区生态荷载超载。生态示范区建设对生态县建设做出了积极的贡献。     

湖泊型旅游地开发的定量评价研究

根据湖泊型旅游地开发评价因子的特性,构建了湖泊型旅游地开发评价指标体系,将其分为数值型因子和模糊型因子两种类型,提出一种具有兼容性的湖泊旅游地开发综合评价模型.该模型结合旅游地综合性评价模型和模糊评价模型的优点及适应范围,分别对数值型和模糊型评价因子进行评价,然后得出定量化的综合评价结论.     

基于TOPSIS的广东省农村建设用地拆旧复垦成效评价

广东省自2018年实施拆旧复垦工作以来，有效解决了农村建设用地闲置废弃的问题，推动了城乡融合发展。选取广东省7个二级区作为评价对象，基于拆旧复垦政策制定背景与所获数据，综合选取涵盖经济、社会和生态效益3个方面14项评价指标，构建广东省农村建设用地拆旧复垦成效评价指标体系，采用耦合层次分析法和熵值法确定指标权重，并应用改进的TOPSIS模型进行成效评价。结果表明：(1)粤北山地丘陵区和粤中南丘陵地区的经济效益大幅度领先，潮汕平原区的社会效益最好，雷州半岛丘陵台地区的生态效益最好；(2)综合来看，全省实施拆旧复垦皆有成效，其中粤北山地丘陵区综合效益最好，粤东沿海丘陵台地区效益最低；综合效益虽不显著，但仍符合政策制定初衷。未来工作中应更注重整治中生态环境保护与垦后监管，加快项目实施进程，提高拆旧复垦综合成效，完善绩效考核机制，使拆旧复垦政策工作能够发挥更高效高质的作用。     

山东省淄博市城市林业综合效益评价研究

城市林业具有服务城市生态、调节城市气候、活化城市景观等生态服务功能,在社会经济快速发展、城市居住环境日益恶化的今天,具有重要的地位和研究意义。利用模糊层次分析法确立城市林业的综合评价指标体系,对淄博市城市林业建设的综合效益进行评价分析。结果表明,淄博市城市林业建设的社会影响显著,其积极的影响在各个方面得到了充分显现。针对淄博市城市林业建设过程中存在的问题提出相应的建议。     

芜湖市生态城市建设研究

建设生态城市是现代城市发展的趋势，生态城市的指标体系与评价方法有助于分析以往生态城市实践的得失。为了构建社会和谐、经济高效、生态良性循环的生态系统模式，实现人与自然的和谐发展，采用适合芜湖市生态城市建设的测度指标体系对城市生态系统进行了定量分析，构建了3个层次评价指标体系并进行了测度，得出芜湖市的生态化水平，为确定其生态城市建设模式提供科学依据。     

基于熵权的巢湖水生态健康模糊综合评价

在对巢湖水生态状况深入调查研究的基础上，确立了湖泊生态系统健康评价指标体系，确定了各指标健康等级的阙值范围，建立了基于熵权的湖库水生态健康模糊综合评价模型。并选取1980年巢湖的水质和水生态数据作为本底值。运用熵权法对2000～2005年整个湖泊生态系统的健康状况进行了客观评价，结果表明2004—2005年巢湖水生态系统均处于较差健康状态。本方法的计算结果表明采用熵权综合健康指数法对其进行生态系统健康评价具有很好的可靠性和实用性。最后根据实际提出了湖库水生态安全综合管理对策。     

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.