Assessment of lead pollution in topsoils of a southern Italy area: Analysis of urban and peri-urban environment

Exposure to lead (Pb) may affect adversely human health. Mapping soil Pb contents is essential to obtain a quantitative estimate of potential risk of Pb contamination. The main aim of this paper was to determine the soil Pb concentrations in the urban and peri-urban area of Cosenza–Rende to map their spatial distribution and assess the probability that soil Pb concentration exceeds a critical threshold that might cause concern for human health. Samples were collected at 149 locations from residual and non-residual topsoil in gardens, parks, flower-beds, and agricultural fields. Fine earth fraction of soil samples was analyzed by X-ray Fluorescence spectrometry. Stochastic images generated by the sequential Gaussian simulation were jointly combined to calculate the probability of exceeding the critical threshold that could be used to delineate the potentially risky areas. Results showed areas in which Pb concentration values were higher to the Italian regulatory values. These polluted areas were quite large and likely, they could create a significant health risk for human beings and vegetation in the near future. The results demonstrated that the proposed approach can be used to study soil contamination to produce geochemical maps, and identify hot-spot areas for soil Pb concentration.     

基于百度指数的长江中游城市群城市网络特征研究

随着地理研究迈入大数据时代,运用互联网展开城市网络结构研究逐渐成为经理地理研究的新思路。以长江中游城市群为研究对象,借助百度指数,获取2011年~2014年百度用户关注度,构建百度指数城市信息流网络,从大城市群视角和所辖三大子城市群视角,分别探讨城市网络格局的时空变化。研究发现:长江中游城市群在一体化进程中城市等级日益明晰,差距拉大。三大子城市群表现出极化效应与扩散效应并存,区域非均衡性突显;互联网的普及在一定程度上重塑和改造着城市群,但非完全颠覆传统城市网络格局,地理区位对城市网络格局和城市影响力的影响仍不容忽视。     

长江经济带开发构想与发展态势

长江经济带是我国国土开发和经济建设中极其重要的开发轴线,近年来已经上升为新一轮的国家战略,肩负着参与国际竞争、协调东中西3大区域、推进双向开放、建设生态文明的使命。在国际国内经济社会发展新形势下,长江经济带发展机遇与挑战并存。以流域经济发展为视角,从长江经济带提出的背景出发,回顾了长江经济带战略构想及20世纪80年代以来开发历程,从经济地位、产业集聚、航运建设、岸线开发、沿江交通等5个方面分析了长江经济带发展态势,并重点分析了长江经济带重化工业发展与布局、生态环境影响、港口建设与发展、城市群培育等方面面临的主要问题,最后从改革考核机制、破除行政壁垒、强化流域协调机构与建立流域管理法律法规等方面提出了对策思路,以期为新时期长江经济带开发建设提供参考借鉴。     

河北生态环境建设与京津协同发展障碍因素及思路建议

本文就河北生态环境建设与京津协同发展中障碍因素进行初步探讨,并提出破解障碍因素的具体思路建议。在对行政区划、产业发展、环境与发展的矛盾、市场化资源配置机制、环京津贫困带及环境属地管理模式六大障碍因素分析基础上,认为河北生态环境建设与京津协同发展,要站在京津冀协同发展战略高度,在京津冀协同发展框架下统筹规划,确立以市场为纽带的新型合作关系,实现区域内各方的密切配合、通力合作。以此为理念,提出破解河北生态环境建设与京津协同发展障碍因素的几点思路建议。     

Predicting Opportunities for Greening and Patterns of Vegetation on Private Urban Lands

This paper examines predictors of vegetative cover on private lands in Baltimore, Maryland. Using high-resolution spatial data, we generated two measures: “possible stewardship,” which is the proportion of private land that does not have built structures on it and hence has the possibility of supporting vegetation, and “realized stewardship,” which is the proportion of possible stewardship land upon which vegetation is growing. These measures were calculated at the parcel level and averaged by US Census block group. Realized stewardship was further defined by proportion of tree canopy and grass. Expenditures on yard supplies and services, available by block group, were used to help understand where vegetation condition appears to be the result of current activity, past legacies, or abandonment. PRIZM™ market segmentation data were tested as categorical predictors of possible and realized stewardship and yard expenditures. PRIZM™ segmentations are hierarchically clustered into 5, 15, and 62 categories, which correspond to population density, social stratification (income and education), and lifestyle clusters, respectively. We found that PRIZM 15 best predicted variation in possible stewardship and PRIZM 62 best predicted variation in realized stewardship. These results were further analyzed by regressing each dependent variable against a set of continuous variables reflective of each of the three PRIZM groupings. Housing age, vacancy, and population density were found to be critical determinants of both stewardship metrics. A number of lifestyle factors, such as average family size, marriage rates, and percentage of single-family detached homes, were strongly related to realized stewardship. The percentage of African Americans by block group was positively related to realized stewardship but negatively related to yard expenditures.     

Conceptual Models as Hypotheses in Monitoring Urban Landscapes

Many problems and challenges of ecosystem management currently are driven by the rapid pace and spatial extent of landscape change. Parks and reserves within areas of high human population density are especially challenged to meet the recreational needs of local populations and to preserve valued environmental resources. The complex problem of managing multiple objectives and multiple resources requires an enormous quantity of information, and conceptual models have been proposed as tools for organizing and interpreting this information. Academics generally prefer a bottom-up approach to model construction that emphasizes ecologic theory and process, whereas managers often use a top-down approach that takes advantage of existing information to address more pragmatic objectives. The authors propose a formal process for developing, applying, and testing conceptual models to be used in landscape monitoring that reconciles these seemingly opposing perspectives. The four-step process embraces the role of hypothesis testing in the development of models and evaluation of their utility. An example application of the process to a network of national parks in and around Washington, DC illustrates the ability of the approach to systematically identify monitoring data that would both advance ecologic theory and inform management decisions.     

中原城市群区域碳储量的时空变化和预测研究

为了有效评估中原城市群碳储量,运用灰色预测模型获取动态碳密度数据,结合Dyna-CLUE模型和InVEST模型,动态评估2005~2030年土地利用变化下不同情景的碳储量演变特征,以及城市发展对碳储量的影响.结果表明,2005~2020年中原城市群碳储量分别为1689.59×10⁶t、2035.36×10⁶t、2066.34×10⁶t和2093.05×10⁶t,呈现持续增加趋势;2030年经济发展情景、生态保护情景和经济生态协调发展情景下碳储量分别为2162.45×10⁶t、2179.39×10⁶t和2174.28×10⁶t,经济发展情景下碳储量最低,生态保护情景下碳储量最高.碳储量变化与土地利用面积变化密切相关,主要表现为耕地面积的下降导致其碳储量减少约250×10⁶t,林地面积的扩张导致其碳储量增加约103.4×10⁶t,建设用地的扩张导致其碳储量增加约87.77×10⁶t;耕地和草地面积与总碳储量呈较弱的负相关关系,林地、水域、建设用地和未利用地面积与总碳储量呈较强的正相关关系.2005~2030年中原城市群30个城市的碳储量分别为11.38×10⁶t~214.24×10⁶t,碳储量的变化反映出城市土地碳排放在2030年之前已经达到峰值,且经济生态协调发展情景可能更适合未来城市发展的目标.     

Integration of technologies and alternative sources of water and energy to promote the sustainability of urban landscapes

Recent research has highlighted the positive role of green areas in urban environments, providing numerous social, environmental and economic services, such as mitigation of the urban heat island effect, storm attenuation, increased water infiltration into the soil, reduction of noise and air pollution, among others. However, the maintenance of green areas may result in high consumption of water, reaching 50% of the total consumption in some municipalities, and energy, becoming a reason of concern. The present study aimed to integrate techniques and technologies that promote the automatic and efficient irrigation of urban landscapes, using alternative sources of energy and water, toward its sustainability. The conceptual unit was able to reduce in 64% the water consumed in irrigation. Rainwater met 69% of the demand and the photovoltaic system supplied all the energy required. The economic feasibility analysis showed that the conceptual unit is financially unfeasible, under the conditions of this study. However, with some interventions for reusing the surplus energy and water, and considering the higher fees charged by other cities, the investment became attractive. In this new scenario, the internal rate of return (15 years) was 27.3% and the discounted payback period was 4.9 years.     

Sorption of 2,4-D on Natural and Organic Amended Soils of Different Characteristics

The effect of one organic amendment consisting of an urban waste compost (UWC) was assessed on the sorption properties of the herbicide 2,4-D on four soils of different physicochemical characteristics. The soils chosen were a Typic Haphorthod (ST), a Typic Endoaquept (SR), an Entic Pelloxerert (TO), and a Typic Eutrochrept (AL). Adsorption experiments were performed on the original soils, and on mixtures of these soils with UWC at a rate of 6.25% (w/w). These mixtures were used just after preparation, and after aging for 8 and 25 weeks. 2,4-D adsorption was the highest on ST soil, whereas the lowest adsorption was for SR soil. This behavior is related to the high amount of organic matter (OM) and amorphous iron and aluminum oxides content on soil ST, whereas soil SR had the lowest OM content and specific surface area of the soils of this study. Addition of exogenous OM to soils caused an increase in the 2,4-D adsorption by three of the soils treated with UWC, with the only exception being ST soil, due to an observed decrease in its specific surface area. The adsorbed amounts of the herbicide on aged organic fertilized soils diminished in three of the amended soils, but was still greater than on unamended soils. In contrast, the ST soil showed the largest adsorption for unamended soil.     

Climate change in the urban environment: Advancing,measuring and achieving resiliency

Climate change poses new and unique challenges that threaten lives and livelihoods. Given the increasing risks and looming uncertainty of climate change, increasing attention has been directed towards adaptation, or the strategies that enable humanity to persist and thrive through climate change the best it can. Though climate change is a global problem often discussed at the national scale, urban areas are increasingly seen as having a distinct role, and distinctive motivation and capacity, for adaptation. The 12 articles in this special issue explore ways of understanding and addressing climate change impacts on urban areas. Together they reveal young but rapidly growing scholarship on how to measure, and then overcome, challenges of climate change. Two key themes emerge in this issue: 1) that we must identify and then overcome current barriers to urban adaptation and 2) frameworks/metrics are necessary to identify and track adaptation progress in urban settings. Both of these themes point to the power of indicators and other quantitative information to inform priorities and illuminate the pathway forward for adaptation. As climate change is an entirely new challenge, careful measurement that enables investment by private and public parties is necessary to provide efficient outcomes that benefit the greatest number of people.