EFFECTS OF WATERSHED REPRESENTATION ON RUNOFF AND SEDIMENT YIELD MODELING1

ABSTRACT: This paper evaluates the effects of watershed geometric representation (i.e., plane and channel representation) on runoff and sediment yield simulations in a semiarid rangeland watershed. A process based, spatially distributed runoff erosion model (KINEROS2) was used to explore four spatial representations of a 4.4 ha experimental watershed. The most complex representation included all 96 channel elements identifiable in the field. The least complex representation contained only five channel elements. It was concluded that oversimplified watershed representations greatly influence runoff and sediment yield simulations by inducing excessive infiltration on hillslopes and distorting runoff patterns and sediment fluxes. Runoff and sediment yield decrease systematically with decreasing complexity in watershed representation. However, less complex representations had less impact on runoff and sediment‐yield simulations for small rainfall events. This study concludes that the selection of the appropriate level of watershed representation can have important theoretical and practical implications on runoff and sediment yield modeling in semiarid environments.     

基于安全投入产出模型的城市安全资源优化策略

城市安全投入与安全经济效益是制约城市安全产出的两个关键因素。为了揭示两者间的关系及其在提高城市安全度方面的作用，笔者借鉴安全经济学理论和方法，在研讨安全投入产出概论的基础上，在安全经济效益不变和安全投入量已知的情况下，提出了建立安全投入产出模型的方法。并以企业为例，从微观上验证了模型的有效性。不仅为城市安全管理决策者提供了制定安全投入目标、确定安全投入效用水平的量化工具，而且更加突出了提高安全经济效益的重要性。同时，提出了建立“资源共享”的城市重大危险源安全应急网络策略，为进一步优化城市安全资源配置和提高资源利用率奠定了基础。     

The indirect involvement of buses in traffic accident processes

The involvement of buses in accidents usually is assessed implicitly on the basis of the direct involvement of the bus in the collision or in injury production. This paper deals with the scope and forms of indirect involvement of buses (as a sight obstruction, for example). Accidents were selected by identifying the presence of the term ‘bus’ or synonyms in the text parts of complete police reports (testimonies, statements by the persons involved, etc.) available in electronic form, then analysed in detail. Direct or indirect involvement of a bus is found in 3.6% of traffic injury accidents reported by the police in the community studied (direct involvement: 1.4%; indirect involvement: 2.2%). The different forms of indirect involvement are then described, and some possibilities of preventive measures are discussed.     

Selection and integration of environmental impacts in the Danish transport infrastructure assessment process

Transport projects have numerous consequences for the environment, society and economy, and thus an EU Directive has stated a number of impacts that need to be assessed prior to any major intervention. This paper is set in a Danish context where the EU requirements have been adopted in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulation along with national requirements. In recent years, however, the EIAs have been criticised for an inconsistent inclusion of impacts and unclear assessment process. A selection of EIAs is for this reason reviewed and compared to the EU Directive and corresponding works in Sweden and the UK to identify potential opportunities for improvements. From the literature study, an overview table with all potential relevant impacts for transport projects is set up to assist the EIA process. For the sake of simplicity and transparency, the impacts selected from this table should, however, be further reduced in number to ensure that only the most important impacts are included in the process. To further increase simplicity and transparency in the EIA process, a novel framework for assessing different types of impacts is proposed. In this framework, a comprehensive decision support tool involving stakeholders is in focus. The framework is supplemented with a procedure for generating objectives and presenting results in an appropriate way to the many stakeholders involved. The impacts overview table and the assessment techniques are applied to a case study to illustrate the process, and finally, conclusions and perspectives for future work within the field are set out.     

From Valuation to Governance: Using Choice Experiment to Value Street Trees

This paper reports a choice experiment used to estimate the value of street trees in the city center of Lodz, Poland, and the broader context of how valuation results helped to improve governance of urban ecosystem services in this city. Based on a simplified inventory of trees, we prepared a set of hypothetical programs which put varying emphasis on the different ways to increase the numbers of trees, along with different levels of a hypothetical tax that would have to be paid by respondents to implement a given program. Our study indicated that the 351 surveyed Lodz residents were willing to pay the highest price for greening those streets where currently there are few or no trees and confirmed the general importance of planting trees. The results provided an argument in the debate on the new development strategy for the city and helped to promote the concept of ecosystem services.     

Transforming urban planning processes and outcomes through creative methods

Inclusively delivering the sustainable development goals (SDGs) remains challenging, particularly in urban areas, where some of the most pressing concerns exist. To achieve the transformative SDG agenda, new methods are required to overcome current deficits in engagement around inclusion and equitable outcomes. Evaluating against theories of governance and inclusion, we test a mixture of digital and physical creative methods abilities to deliver co-designed solutions that influence mobility and road safety planning outcomes in East African cities. Greater inclusion led to improved interactions of citizens with decision makers, and the identification of novel, practical solutions, delivering some elements of transformation. Risks include creative methods being used to co-opt communities to official agendas, and institutional planning norms needing to adapt to respond to a wider range of stakeholders. Overall, where risks are mitigated, we recommend that using Creative Methods could localise SDG delivery, ensuring more equitable and effective outcomes from infrastructure development investments.Supplementary InformationThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01436-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Beyond ‘trees are good’: Disservices,management costs,and tradeoffs in urban forestry

The provision of ecosystem services is a prominent rationale for urban greening, and there is a prevailing mantra that ‘trees are good’. However, understanding how urban trees contribute to sustainability must also consider disservices. In this perspective article, we discuss recent research on ecosystem disservices of urban trees, including infrastructure conflicts, health and safety impacts, aesthetic issues, and environmentally detrimental consequences, as well as management costs related to ecological disturbances and risk management. We also discuss tradeoffs regarding species selection and local conservation concerns, as well as the central role of human perception in the interpretation of ecosystem services and disservices, particularly the uncritical assertion that ‘everybody loves trees’. Urban forestry decision-making that fails to account for disservices can have unintended negative consequences for communities. Further research is needed regarding life cycle assessments, stakeholder decision-making, return-on-investment, and framings of services and disservices in urban forestry.     

Sensitivity of Precipitation Statistics to Urban Growth in a Subtropical Coastal Megacity Cluster

This short paper presents an investigation on how human activities may or may not affect precipitation based on numerical simulations of precipitation in a benchmark case with modified lower boundary conditions, representing different stages of urban development in the model. The results indicate that certain degrees of urbanization affect the likelihood of heavy precipitation significantly, while less urbanized or smaller cities are much less prone to these effects. Such a result can be explained based on our previous work where the sensitivity of precipitation statistics to surface anthropogenic heat sources lies in the generation of buoyancy and turbulence in the planetary boundary layer and dissipation through triggering of convection. Thus only mega cities of sufficient size, and hence human-activity-related anthropogenic heat emission, can expect to experience such effects. In other words, as cities grow, their effects upon precipitation appear to grow as well.     

多环芳烃在冬小麦体内的吸收与转运及富集研究进展

多年来以煤炭为主的能源消费结构和经济社会持续发展,导致我国PAHs(多环芳烃)排放量居高不下,直接造成土壤和大气PAHs严重污染.为了探明PAHs在冬小麦体内的积累过程和调控机制,在系统分析PAHs在冬小麦体内的吸收、转运和富集的基础上,重点阐述了冬小麦PAHs根系吸收和叶面吸收影响因素方面的最新研究进展.研究发现:① 小麦根系对PAHs的吸收包括主动吸收和被动吸收两种方式,其中主动吸收是一个载体协助、消耗能量、PAHs与H+共运的过程;被动吸收除了在高等植物中普遍存在的简单扩散外,水-甘油通道也参与了该过程. ② PAHs通过气态、颗粒态沉降到小麦叶面角质层或直接通过气孔进入叶片. ③ 影响PAHs根系和叶面吸收的主要因素包括PAHs理化性质、植物生理状况、环境因素等. ④ 小麦根系吸收的PAHs可以向地上部转运,并且与辛醇-水分配系数(K_OW)、蒸腾速率、土壤中氮的形态和浓度有关.主要问题:① 对于小麦叶片吸收的PAHs向基运输机理有待进一步研究. ② 农田生态系统中冬小麦往往遭受土壤及大气双重污染,根系吸收及叶面吸收分别对其体内积累PAHs的贡献尚不清楚.因此,需关注韧皮部、木质部在PAHs转运中所起的作用;利用同位素示踪、双光子激发显微镜等先进技术观察和跟踪PAHs如何进入小麦以及在小麦叶中的转移和分布,阐明PAHs叶面吸收的微观机理;注重大田试验研究,为揭示冬小麦对PAHs的吸收、积累及调控机理,同时也为有机污染地区生产安全农产品提供重要依据.      

小型城市污水排放量预测模型研究——以楚雄市为例

针对小城市污水排放量历史数据较少,城市发展变化较大的特点,以楚雄市为例,提出了基于污水排放来源以及生成机理的预测方法。根据历史人口增长趋势以及城镇化率进行城区人口综合预测,运用定额法根据不同行业用水特点预测城市用水量,结合城市污水排放特点对楚雄市近期以及远期城市污水排放量进行科学合理的预测,并对预测结果进行了分析,可为城市发展规划提供决策参考。