Effectiveness of conservation easements in agricultural regions

Conservation easements are a standard technique for preventing habitat loss, particularly in agricultural regions with extensive cropland cultivation, yet little is known about their effectiveness. I developed a spatial econometric approach to propensity‐score matching and used the approach to estimate the amount of habitat loss prevented by a grassland conservation easement program of the U.S. federal government. I used a spatial autoregressive probit model to predict tract enrollment in the easement program as of 2001 based on tract agricultural suitability, habitat quality, and spatial interactions among neighboring tracts. Using the predicted values from the model, I matched enrolled tracts with similar unenrolled tracts to form a treatment group and a control group. To measure the program's impact on subsequent grassland loss, I estimated cropland cultivation rates for both groups in 2014 with a second spatial probit model. Between 2001 and 2014, approximately 14.9% of control tracts were cultivated and 0.3% of treated tracts were cultivated. Therefore, approximately 14.6% of the protected land would have been cultivated in the absence of the program. My results demonstrate that conservation easements can significantly reduce habitat loss in agricultural regions; however, the enrollment of tracts with low cropland suitability may constrain the amount of habitat loss they prevent. My results also show that spatial econometric models can improve the validity of control groups and thereby strengthen causal inferences about program effectiveness in situations when spatial interactions influence conservation decisions.     

秸秆焚烧对哈尔滨市灰霾天气的影响

2015年11月1—4日,哈尔滨市及周边地区发生了连续的灰霾天气,颗粒物浓度急剧升高。污染发生时,监测仪器均布设在哈尔滨市区上风向30 km处(哈尔滨市双城区)并开展了连续96 h的监测分析。综合利用气象观测资料,3D可视激光雷达监测资料及地面空气污染监测资料分析了灰霾天气发生的气象条件和污染边界层特征,根据哈尔滨市双城区大气污染物排放源谱库对主要成分进行来源解析,结合颗粒物质量浓度和气象条件研究了秸秆焚烧对灰霾天气的影响。结果表明,灰霾天气持续期间,夜间生物质燃烧源成为该地区颗粒物的第二大源;秸秆焚烧产生的大气污染物,由于地面长时间静风,污染边界层降低等原因,致使本地污染物累积、不易扩散,加剧了本次污染。     

Water saving effect on integrated water resource management

This study proposes an improved integrated water resource management (IWRM), in which water conservation was analyzed for the entire water use process. A multi-objective optimization method was applied to optimize the IWRM, which investigated the reduction of freshwater consumption and the total water supply cost. Customer's preference for saving water and an end use analysis (EUA) was applied in the water conservation analysis. Taking Tianjin as the study area, a reduction in customer's economic pressure (EP) was utilized to evaluate the degree of the customer's preference for saving water. The results revealed that agriculture had a greater preference for saving water than other sectors, where as the public had the weakest motivation for saving water. Improving the transportation method could contribute 62.1% of the total water savings in the agriculture sector. The optimization of the IWRM demonstrated that the local freshwater savings would be 21.5%, and the total cost for water supplies would decrease by 13%. However, a government subsidy of 87.5 million Yuan would be needed. Additionally, by analyzing the change in the amount of water savings affected by water price, the appropriate water price increase range was suggested to be 1.5–1.7 times the original price.     

Hazard property classification of waste according to the recent propositions of the EC using different methods

Hazard classification of waste is a necessity, but the hazard properties (named “H” and soon “HP”) are still not all defined in a practical and operational manner at EU level. Following discussion of subsequent draft proposals from the Commission there is still no final decision. Methods to implement the proposals have recently been proposed: tests methods for physical risks, test batteries for aquatic and terrestrial ecotoxicity, an analytical package for exhaustive determination of organic substances and mineral elements, surrogate methods for the speciation of mineral elements in mineral substances in waste, and calculation methods for human toxicity and ecotoxicity with M factors.In this paper the different proposed methods have been applied to a large assortment of solid and liquid wastes (>1 0 0).Data for 45 wastes – documented with extensive chemical analysis and flammability test – were assessed in terms of the different HP criteria and results were compared to LoW for lack of an independent classification. For most waste streams the classification matches with the designation provided in the LoW. This indicates that the criteria used by LoW are similar to the HP limit values.This data set showed HP 14 ‘Ecotoxic chronic’ is the most discriminating HP. All wastes classified as acute ecotoxic are also chronic ecotoxic and the assessment of acute ecotoxicity separately is therefore not needed. The high number of HP 14 classified wastes is due to the very low limit values when stringent M factors are applied to total concentrations (worst case method). With M factor set to 1 the classification method is not sufficiently discriminating between hazardous and non-hazardous materials. The second most frequent hazard is HP 7 ‘Carcinogenic’. The third most frequent hazard is HP 10 ‘Toxic for reproduction’ and the fourth most frequent hazard is HP 4 “Irritant – skin irritation and eye damage”. In a stepwise approach, it seems relevant to assess HP 14 first, then, if the waste is not classified as hazardous, to assess subsequently HP 7, HP 10 and HP 4, and then if still not classified as hazardous, to assess the remaining properties.The elements triggering the HP 14 classification in order of importance are Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr, Cd and Hg. Progress in the speciation of Zn and Cu is essential for HP 14. Organics were quantified by the proposed method (AFNOR XP X30-489) and need no speciation. Organics can contribute significantly to intrinsic toxicity in many waste materials, but they are only of minor importance for the assessment of HP 14 as the metal concentrations are the main HP 14 classifiers. Organic compounds are however responsible for other toxicological characteristics (hormone disturbance, genotoxicity, reprotoxicity…) and shall be taken into account when the waste is not HP 14 classified.     

淮南市降水化学组成特征与来源分析

2013—2014年,逐次采集淮南城市大气降水样品,对其离子化学组分进行分析测试,并利用酸度分析、中和因子和富集系数等方法对其酸碱物质平衡和离子来源进行了分析。化学组分分析结果表明,淮南城市降水pH为6.23~7.03,雨量加权平均值为6.68,整体上降水没有呈现酸化,大部分酸性物质能被碱性物质中和。主要阴离子为SO_4~(2-)、NO_3~-,雨量加权平均值分别为147.02、62.16μeq/L,两者分别占阴离子总浓度的60.3%、25.3%;主要阳离子为Ca~(2+)、NH_4~+,雨量加权平均值分别为126.42、96.43μeq/L,分别占阳离子总浓度的44.9%、34.3%。利用富集系数法计算结果表明,SO_4~(2-)、NO_3~-主要来源于人为活动排放,Cl~-主要为海洋输入,而Ca~(2+)、Mg~(2+)、K~+则主要来自陆源输入和人为活动。     

藻型湖泊大量藻类衰亡后致嗅物的分析以及水质变化的研究

藻类大量死亡后极易产生致嗅物.我们模拟了藻类的生长死亡过程,观测除藻后水体理化性质和生物性质的改变情况以及致嗅物的成分及浓度,以确定致嗅物质产生的途径.由于藻类死亡后细胞解体,藻类细胞中的氮、磷物质释放到水体中,导致水体的富营养化程度反而升高,而叶绿素-a也呈现下降趋势,整个试验过程后期溶解氧为0,水体产生嗅味物质,可采用吹扫捕集/固相微萃取—气相色谱—质谱法和顶空固相微萃取气质联用法分析致嗅物质.实验证明,当藻型湖泊的藻类被基本去除后,整个水体的初级生产力受到严重的破坏,威胁到水生态系统的安全性,可导致水体进一步恶化.     

Plant blindness and the implications for plant conservation

Plant conservation initiatives lag behind and receive considerably less funding than animal conservation projects. We explored a potential reason for this bias: a tendency among humans to neither notice nor value plants in the environment. Experimental research and surveys have demonstrated higher preference for, superior recall of, and better visual detection of animals compared with plants. This bias has been attributed to perceptual factors such as lack of motion by plants and the tendency of plants to visually blend together but also to cultural factors such as a greater focus on animals in formal biological education. In contrast, ethnographic research reveals that many social groups have strong bonds with plants, including nonhierarchical kinship relationships. We argue that plant blindness is common, but not inevitable. If immersed in a plant‐affiliated culture, the individual will experience language and practices that enhance capacity to detect, recall, and value plants, something less likely to occur in zoocentric societies. Therefore, conservation programs can contribute to reducing this bias. We considered strategies that might reduce this bias and encourage plant conservation behavior. Psychological research demonstrates that people are more likely to support conservation of species that have human‐like characteristics and that support for conservation can be increased by encouraging people to practice empathy and anthropomorphism of nonhuman species. We argue that support for plant conservation may be garnered through strategies that promote identification and empathy with plants.     

Solar energy for electricity and fuels

Solar energy conversion into electricity by photovoltaic modules is now a mature technology. We discuss the need for materials and device developments using conventional silicon and other materials, pointing to the need to use scalable materials and to reduce the energy payback time. Storage of solar energy can be achieved using the energy of light to produce a fuel. We discuss how this can be achieved in a direct process mimicking the photosynthetic processes, using synthetic organic, inorganic, or hybrid materials for light collection and catalysis. We also briefly discuss challenges and needs for large-scale implementation of direct solar fuel technologies.     

Mowers versus growers: Riparian buffer management in the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains,USA

Despite long-standing knowledge of the benefits of riparian buffers for mitigating nonpoint source pollution, many streams are unprotected by buffers. Even landowners who understand ecological values of buffers mow riparian vegetation to the streambank. Do trends in rural riparian conditions reflect the development of riparian forest science? What motivates residential riparian management actions? Using high-resolution orthoimagery, we quantified riparian conditions and trends between 1998 and 2015 in the rural upper Little Tennessee River basin in Macon County, North Carolina and explored how landowners view riparian zone management and riparian restoration programs. Buffer composition in 2015 was as follows: no buffer (32.5%), narrow (19.3%), forested (26.7%), shrub (7.2%), and intermediate (7.0%). Relative to 1998, the greatest decrease occurred in the no buffer class (−17.7%, 46 km) and the largest increases occurred in the shrub (+72.5%, 20 km) and narrow (12.6%, 14 km) classes. Forested buffer marginally increased. Semi-structured interview data suggest that landowners prioritize recreational and scenic aspects of riparian buffers over ecological functions such as filtration and bank stabilization. Riparian restoration programs might be made more enticing to non-adopters if outreach language appealed to landowner priorities, design elements demonstrated intentional management, and program managers highlighted areas where ecological goals and landowner values align.     

基于数值模式的环境空气质量预报影响因素和改进方法

数值预报是各地开展环境空气质量业务预报的主流预报方法之一。模式预报产品、基础输入资料、外部技术支持、主客观预报偏差和预报命中概率等诸多因素均会不同程度地影响数值模式预报效果,研究探讨了上述因素对数值模式预报效果的影响及其针对性的改进方法,以期降低预报偏差,改善业务预报整体效果,为各地提高业务预报质量提供方法思路和技术参考。