The evolution of mass balance models of persistent organic pollutant fate in the environment

Current approaches to modelling the fate of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment have evolved in response to four dominant characteristics of these substances; namely: (1) the presence of POPs in virtually all environmental phases and the ease with which they move from one to the other requires multi-compartmental modelling. Describing transport across phase boundaries becomes as, or even more, important as quantifying transport within the phases; (2) POPs may persist in the environment for many decades. For chemicals that 'have time', concepts such as equilibrium partitioning and steady-state become more important than for short-lived substances whose fate is more controlled by the rates of transformation; (3) measuring POPs is difficult and expensive and observed concentrations of POPs are not available in high spatial or temporal resolution. Consequently, high resolution tends not to be a high priority in POP models; and (4) detrimental effects of POPs often manifest themselves in top predators, which has led to a focus on modelling biotic uptake and transfer within food chains. The task of building a POPs model is viewed as combining the four 'building blocks' of partitioning, transport, transformation and source data with the help of the law of the conservation of mass. Process models, evaluative models, models of real local, regional and global fate, as well as biological uptake models are presented and references to numerous examples are provided. An attempt is made to forecast future directions in the field of POPs modelling. It is expected that modelling techniques that do not rely on quantitative emission estimates as well as approaches that take into account spatial, temporal and climatic variability as well as parameter uncertainty will increase in importance. Finally, the relationship between modelling POPs and models of other pollutant issues is addressed, as are potential interactions between POPs and pollutant issues such as eutrophication, acidification and global climate change.     

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.     

富油煤热解产物在粉砂介质中的吸附行为研究

富油煤原位热解产生的油、气等有机物会通过岩层的压裂缝进入含水层,产生一系列环境行为效应.为探究富油煤热解产物对地下水的影响,以陕北榆神府矿区富油煤与含水介质粉砂为研究对象,采用批量平衡试验,开展了粉砂对煤焦油不同组分的吸附动力学与吸附热力学研究.结果表明：粉砂对煤焦油中酚油、萘油、洗油、蒽油、沥青的动力学吸附均符合准二级动力学方程,等温吸附模型符合Freundlich方程,说明粉砂对5种组分的吸附为单分子层化学吸附;受富油煤热解焦油组分含量差异影响,粉砂对5种组分的吸附量表现为酚油<萘油<洗油<蒽油<沥青,其最大吸附量分别为0.4520、0.7926、1.9015、3.6336、11.8001 mg·g^-1,吸附量总和占煤焦油含量的68%~85%;随着温度的升高,粉砂对5种组分的吸附能力均有所减弱,表明升高温度不利于吸附行为的进行,且反应的ΔG⁰<0表明粉砂对5种组分的吸附过程主要以化学吸附为主且属于放热反应.     

An Adaptive‐Management Framework for Optimal Control of Hiking Near Golden Eagle Nests in Denali National Park

Abstract: Unintended effects of recreational activities in protected areas are of growing concern. We used an adaptive‐management framework to develop guidelines for optimally managing hiking activities to maintain desired levels of territory occupancy and reproductive success of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in Denali National Park (Alaska, U.S.A.). The management decision was to restrict human access (hikers) to particular nesting territories to reduce disturbance. The management objective was to minimize restrictions on hikers while maintaining reproductive performance of eagles above some specified level. We based our decision analysis on predictive models of site occupancy of eagles developed using a combination of expert opinion and data collected from 93 eagle territories over 20 years. The best predictive model showed that restricting human access to eagle territories had little effect on occupancy dynamics. However, when considering important sources of uncertainty in the models, including environmental stochasticity, imperfect detection of hares on which eagles prey, and model uncertainty, restricting access of territories to hikers improved eagle reproduction substantially. An adaptive management framework such as ours may help reduce uncertainty of the effects of hiking activities on Golden Eagles.     

Sorption‐desorption kinetics of some organochlorine insecticides in silt‐water suspensions

Kinetic (batch) sorption and desorption experiments for some organochlorine insecticides in silt‐water suspensions are described. The effect of possible experimental artifacts on the results is examined. The influence of the silt/water ratio on the linear sorption coefficient and on the “nonextractable”; solute fraction is determined. The sorption process is described in terms of some kinetic models.     

Assessing the Risk of Ships Striking Large Whales in Marine Spatial Planning

Marine spatial planning provides a comprehensive framework for managing multiple uses of the marine environment and has the potential to minimize environmental impacts and reduce conflicts among users. Spatially explicit assessments of the risks to key marine species from human activities are a requirement of marine spatial planning. We assessed the risk of ships striking humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae), blue (Balaenoptera musculus), and fin (Balaenoptera physalus) whales in alternative shipping routes derived from patterns of shipping traffic off Southern California (U.S.A.). Specifically, we developed whale‐habitat models and assumed ship‐strike risk for the alternative shipping routes was proportional to the number of whales predicted by the models to occur within each route. This definition of risk assumes all ships travel within a single route. We also calculated risk assuming ships travel via multiple routes. We estimated the potential for conflict between shipping and other uses (military training and fishing) due to overlap with the routes. We also estimated the overlap between shipping routes and protected areas. The route with the lowest risk for humpback whales had the highest risk for fin whales and vice versa. Risk to both species may be ameliorated by creating a new route south of the northern Channel Islands and spreading traffic between this new route and the existing route in the Santa Barbara Channel. Creating a longer route may reduce the overlap between shipping and other uses by concentrating shipping traffic. Blue whales are distributed more evenly across our study area than humpback and fin whales; thus, risk could not be ameliorated by concentrating shipping traffic in any of the routes we considered. Reducing ship‐strike risk for blue whales may be necessary because our estimate of the potential number of strikes suggests that they are likely to exceed allowable levels of anthropogenic impacts established under U.S. laws. Evaluación del Riesgo de Colisiones de Barcos y Ballenas en la Planificación Marina Espacial     

环境-经济系统整合模型的构建研究

环境经济系统整合模型的研究将环境的、经济的、社会的因素整合在可持续发展框架中．模拟、分析经济系统与环境系统之闻的相互作用和反馈关系。本文在分析环境经济系统整合模型构建的背景、理论与方法的基础上．设计了环境经济系统整合模型开发的技术路线．提出了环境经济系统整合模型的主要内容。     

不同活性炭对水中微量药物萘普生的吸附规律研究

从吸附平衡、吸附动力学、吸附等温式和吸附热力学等方面详细考察了煤质炭(MAC)、杏壳炭(XAC)和椰壳炭(YAC)对水中微量药物萘普生(Naproxen,NAP)的吸附去除效能和作用机理.实验结果表明,MAC、XAC和YAC对NAP的吸附平衡时间大致为24h,平衡吸附量相应分别为8.23mg·g-1、7.92mg·g-1、6.52mg·g-1;这3种活性炭对NAP的吸附过程均符合假二级反应动力学方程,且吸附速率受到膜扩散和内扩散作用的共同限制;相较而言NAP的吸附行为更符合Langmuir等温式;吸附热力学计算结果表明,MAC、XAC和YAC对NAP的吸附去除机理为化学吸附和物理吸附的共同作用,且化学吸附作用大于物理吸附;NAP在3种活性炭上的吸附作用均为自发进行的不可逆吸热反应.     

改性粉煤灰处理含铬(Ⅵ)地下水的实验研究

用硫酸改性的粉煤灰作为吸附剂,处理含铬(Ⅵ)为5mg/L地下水,最佳条件为:pH=2,液固比10000:3,25℃下反应3h。处理后水样铬(VI)浓度0.03mg/L,满足(GB/T 14848-93)《地下水环境质量标准》。在不改变原水pH条件下,增加粉煤灰用量,水样中铬(VI)浓度也可由5mg/L降至0.05mg/L。同时,吸附剂对铬(VI)的吸附符合Freundlich和Langmuir等温线。     

开放系统下方解石对磷的去除

通过批量平衡法,研究开放系统条件下方解石对磷的去除特性.结果表明:1方解石在开放系统中的预平衡过程,在24h左右便能完成;2动力学的结果表明,当初始浓度为0.5 mg·L~(-1)时,磷去除在前10 h内便完成很大部分,推测其去除行为主要由表面吸附进行;当初始浓度为2.5 mg·L~(-1)时,磷去除主要是靠后期的磷沉淀方式来完成.3当初始磷浓度≤2.5 mg·L~(-1)时,反应时间设为10 h,磷的去除过程可用Langmuir等温吸附模型来较好地拟合,推测在该条件下,表面吸附是磷去除过程中的主导作用方式.4加入邻苯二甲酸的情况下,当初始磷浓度2.5 mg·L~(-1)时,磷的去除率下降了一些,这是因为此时磷去除主要通过表面吸附完成,而邻苯二甲酸与磷共同竞争表面上的吸附位点;当初始磷浓度2.5 mg·L~(-1)时,磷的去除率增大了一些,这是因为邻苯二甲酸的加入促进了钙浓度的增加,从而促进磷通过钙以沉淀的形式去除.