Landscape trajectory of natural boreal forest loss as an impediment to green infrastructure

Loss of natural forests by forest clearcutting has been identified as a critical conservation challenge worldwide. This study addressed forest fragmentation and loss in the context of the establishment of a functional green infrastructure as a spatiotemporally connected landscape-scale network of habitats enhancing biodiversity, favorable conservation status, and ecosystem services. Through retrospective analysis of satellite images, we assessed a 50- to 60-year spatiotemporal clearcutting impact trajectory on natural and near-natural boreal forests across a sizable and representative region from the Gulf of Bothnia to the Scandinavian Mountain Range in northern Fennoscandia. This period broadly covers the whole forest clearcutting period; thus, our approach and results can be applied to comprehensive impact assessment of industrial forest management. The entire study region covers close to 46,000 km² of forest-dominated landscape in a late phase of transition from a natural or near-natural to a land-use modified state. We found a substantial loss of intact forest, in particular of large, contiguous areas, a spatial polarization of remaining forest on regional scale where the inland has been more severely affected than the mountain and coastal zones, and a pronounced impact on interior forest core areas. Salient results were a decrease in area of the largest intact forest patch from 225,853 to 68,714 ha in the mountain zone and from 257,715 to 38,668 ha in the foothills zone, a decrease from 75% to 38% intact forest in the inland zones, a decrease in largest patch core area (assessed by considering 100-m patch edge disturbance) from 6114 to 351 ha in the coastal zone, and a geographic imbalance in protected forest with an evident predominance in the mountain zone. These results demonstrate profound disturbance of configuration of the natural forest landscape and disrupted connectivity, which challenges the establishment of functional green infrastructure. Our approach supports the identification of forests for expanded protection and conservation-oriented forest landscape restoration.     

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.     

Steel slags in a landfill top cover – Experiences from a full-scale experiment

A full scale field study has been carried out in order to test and evaluate the use of slags from high-alloy steel production as the construction materials for a final cover of an old municipal landfill. Five test areas were built using different slag mixtures within the barrier layer (liner). The cover consisted of a foundation layer, a liner with a thickness of 0.7 m, a drainage layer of 0.3 m, a protection layer of 1.5 m and a vegetation layer of 0.25 m. The infiltration varied depending on the cover design used, mainly the liner recipe but also over time and was related to seasons and precipitation intensity. The test areas with liners composed of 50% electric arc furnace (EAF) slag and 50% cementitious ladle slag (LS) on a weight basis and with a proper consistence of the protection layer were found to meet the Swedish infiltration criteria of ?50 l (m² a)^?1 for final covers for landfills for non-hazardous waste: the cumulative infiltration rates to date were 44, 19 and 0.4 l (m² a)^?1 for A1, A4 and A5, respectively. Compared to the precipitation, the portion of leachate was always lower after the summer despite high precipitation from June to August. The main reason for this is evapotranspiration but also the fact that the time delay in the leachate formation following a precipitation event has a stronger effect during the shorter summer sampling periods than the long winter periods. Conventional techniques and equipment can be used but close cooperation between all involved partners is crucial in order to achieve the required performance of the cover. This includes planning, method and equipment testing and quality assurance.     

Temporal Trends in the Spatial Distribution of Impervious Cover Relative to Stream Location

Use of impervious cover is transitioning from an indicator of surface water condition to one that also guides and informs watershed planning and management, including Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq.) reporting. Whether it is for understanding surface water condition or planning and management, impervious cover is most commonly expressed as summary measurement (e.g., percentage watershed in impervious cover). We use the National Land Cover Database to estimate impervious cover in the vicinity of surface waters for three time periods (2001, 2006, 2011). We also compare impervious cover in the vicinity of surface waters to watershed summary estimates of impervious cover for classifying the spatial pattern of impervious cover. Between 2001 and 2011, surface water shorelines (streams and water bodies) in the vicinity of impervious cover increased nearly 10,000 km. Across all time periods, approximately 27% of the watersheds in the continental United States had proximally distributed impervious cover, i.e., the percentage of impervious cover in the vicinity of surface waters was higher than its watershed summary expression. We discuss how impervious cover spatial pattern can be used to inform watershed planning and management, including reporting under the Clean Water Act.     

Predicting land cover using GIS, Bayesian and evolutionary algorithm methods

Modelling land cover change from existing land cover maps is a vital requirement for anyone wishing to understand how the landscape may change in the future. In order to test any land cover change model, existing data must be used. However, often it is not known which data should be applied to the problem, or whether relationships exist within and between complex datasets. Here we have developed and tested a model that applied evolutionary processes to Bayesian networks. The model was developed and tested on a dataset containing land cover information and environmental data, in order to show that decisions about which datasets should be used could be made automatically. Bayesian networks are amenable to evolutionary methods as they can be easily described using a binary string to which crossover and mutation operations can be applied. The method, developed to allow comparison with standard Bayesian network development software, was proved capable of carrying out a rapid and effective search of the space of possible networks in order to find an optimal or near-optimal solution for the selection of datasets that have causal links with one another. Comparison of land cover mapping in the North-East of Scotland was made with a commercial Bayesian software package, with the evolutionary method being shown to provide greater flexibility in its ability to adapt to incorporate/utilise available evidence/knowledge and develop effective and accurate network structures, at the cost of requiring additional computer programming skills. The dataset used to develop the models included GIS-based data taken from the Land Cover for Scotland 1988 (LCS88), Land Capability for Forestry (LCF), Land Capability for Agriculture (LCA), the soil map of Scotland and additional climatic variables.     

重庆缙云山4种典型植被覆盖下汞的释放通量及影响因素

为了揭示不同植被覆盖下土壤/大气界面释汞通量及其交换特征,在缙云山国家级自然保护区内选择4种典型植被覆盖类型(常绿阔叶林、楠竹林、灌木林以及草地)为研究对象,连续同步监测不同植被覆盖下土/气界面汞释放通量,同时考察各环境因子对土壤释汞的影响.结果表明,缙云山在4种不同植被覆盖下土壤汞释放通量具有明显的差异,总体表现为楠竹林[17.77 ng·(m~2·h)~(-1)]草地[17.58 ng·(m~2·h)~(-1)]灌木林[16.87 ng·(m~2·h)~(-1)]常绿阔叶林[14.32 ng·(m~2·h)~(-1)];不同植被覆盖下土壤释汞通量在季节变化上呈现相似的规律性,但不同植被覆盖类型之间也存在明显差异,主要体现在暖季汞释放通量高于冷季;缙云山地区不同林植被覆盖下土壤释汞通量存在明显的日变化;气象因素光照强度、气温、土温和相对湿度,对土/气界面汞释放通量影响也不相同,气温为常绿阔叶林,灌木林与楠竹林的主要影响因子,光照强度为草地的主要影响因子.     

灼烧净水污泥对外源磷的吸附和固定作用

研究了不同投加方式下(混匀和覆盖)灼烧净水污泥对外源磷的累积吸附效果,以及吸附外源磷后底泥等温吸附效果和在厌氧条件下内源磷释放情况.结果表明,混匀和覆盖条件下,底泥对上覆水中磷的累积吸附量分别为11.496 mg和11.042 mg,明显高于对照实验(7.219 mg).通过对吸附外源磷后的底泥进行等温吸附实验,发现混匀条件和覆盖条件下磷最大吸附量(Smax)均有所增加,并且前者(7.795 mg·g~(-1))要高于后者(6.807 mg·g~(-1)),但磷平衡浓度(EPC0)前者(0.83mg·L~(-1))却明显大于后者(0.64 mg·L~(-1)),表明混匀条件下内源磷更容易释放.在厌氧环境下,混匀方式内源磷释放量仅为0.93 mg,不仅低于覆盖(1.49 mg),也明显低于对照实验(7.76 mg).覆盖条件下比释放速率的平均值(0.006 14)大于混匀(0.003 96),并均低于对照实验.这说明混匀对内源磷的持留能力更强.暗示了单纯用EPC0值来评价底泥对磷的固定能力是不妥的.     

覆盖处理对猪粪秸秆堆肥中氮素转化和堆肥质量的影响

为了探讨覆盖措施对堆肥化中氮素转化与堆肥质量的影响,在自制的强制通风静态堆肥箱中,模拟研究了覆盖腐熟堆肥后,下层猪粪秸秆堆肥及覆盖层中氮素形态和其他腐熟度指标的变化.结果表明:覆盖处理降低了下层堆肥中的含水率、种子发芽指数(GI值)、升温期和高温期的pH值,增大了降温期后的堆肥电导率EC值,而对堆温影响不大.覆盖处理未改变堆制初期下层堆肥中氨气的释放总量,只延缓了氨气的释放时间,但明显增加了降温期后堆肥中硝态氮和有机氮的含量.在堆制期间,覆盖处理的下层堆肥中硝态氮、有机氮、总氮和总磷含量的增幅分别比对照高66.7％、33.8％、32.7％和138.6％;而有机碳降解率、铵态氮和腐殖质含量的降幅则分别比对照低1.1％、8.0％和3.7％.覆盖层中pH值、铵态氮和硝态氮含量的变化说明腐熟堆肥能够吸收下层堆肥释放的氨气并进行硝化作用;覆盖层的腐熟堆肥总体上进行了矿化作用,从而影响了下层堆肥的氮素转化过程及质量.     

干旱区城市昌吉降雪及积雪中PGEs含量分布及其影响因素

选择干旱区中小城市昌吉市,对其降雪及积雪中铂族元素(PGEs)含量分布及影响因素进行研究.运用ICP-MS对样品进行分析测定.结果表明,降雪中Rh、Pd、Pt平均含量分别为0.43 ng·L-1(未检出～2.24 ng·L-1)、60.07 ng·L-1(46.66～84.25 ng·L-1)和4.54 ng·L-1(3.02～6.38 ng·L-1).不同场次降雪中PGEs含量存在差异,随雪前干燥期天数加长,降雪中PGEs含量趋于增大;降雪量对PGEs含量也有一定影响,降雪量越小,雪中PGEs含量越高.积雪中Rh、Pd、Pt的平均含量分别为6.65 ng·L-1(2.50～18.80 ng·L-1)、83.45 ng·L-1(46.83～199.20 ng·L-1)和8.17 ng·L-1(4.27～13.78 ng·L-1).积雪中PGEs含量远高于降雪,降雪中PGEs仅来自于单场次降雪对大气PGEs的淋洗,而积雪中PGEs不仅来自于多场次降雪中PGEs的累积,且由于积雪长时间暴露,还源源不断接受了大气干沉降带来的PGEs.各采样点积雪PGEs含量表现出交通区>居民文教区>公园广场区>郊区农田,随功能区不同,积雪中PGEs输入途径与输入量有显著差异,这是造成各功能区积雪PGEs含量不同且具有一定规律性的主要原因.     

Preparation of MgO/B2O3 coatings by plasma spraying on SUS304 surface and effects of heat-resistant

This study mainly deals with the preparation of MgO/B₂O₃ coatings by plasma spraying on the SUS304 surface and the effects of heatresistant. The power materials of low thermal conductivity were selected to control the heat divergent performance of high temperature parts. The reticular micro-structure between the cover thermal layer and the substrate was prepared by using the plasma spraying method. The powder mixture of MgO and B₂O₃ were selected as spraying materials and the SUS304 was used as the substrate material. The MgO/B₂O₃ coating was prepared on the surface of the SUS304 to provide better cover thermal performance. The properties of the microstructures and the morphologies were studied by Optical Microscope, Scanning Electron Microscope, Electron Probe Microanalyzer, and X-ray Diffraction. The results showed that the cover thermal performance has been improved.