Land Degradation Monitoring in Namibia: A First Approximation

This paper presents development of a first approximation of a Namibian, national level, land degradation monitoring system. The process involved a large number of stakeholders and led to the definition of four primary indicators that were regarded as related to land degradation in Namibia: population pressure, livestock pressure, seasonal rainfall and erosion hazards. These indicators were calculated annually for the period 1971–1997. Annual land degradation risk maps were produced for the same period by combining the indicators. A time series analysis of results generated by indicators was undertaken at two sites. The analysis revealed a general trend towards an increased land degradation risk over the period 1971–1997. A decrease in annual rainfall and an increase in livestock numbers caused this negative trend at one site, while decreased annual rainfall and increased human population were the causes at a second site. Evaluation of resulting maps through direct field observations and long-term monitoring at selected study sites with different conditions relevant for the indicators defined, is an essential next step.     

Linking Land Cover and Water Quality in New York City’S Water Supply Watersheds

The Catskill/Delaware reservoirs supply 90% of New York City’s drinking water. The City has implemented a series of watershed protection measures, including land acquisition, aimed at preserving water quality in the Catskill/Delaware watersheds. The objective of this study was to examine how relationships between landscape and surface water measurements change between years. Thirty-two drainage areas delineated from surface water sample points (total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and fecal coliform bacteria concentrations) were used in step-wise regression analyses to test landscape and surface-water quality relationships. Two measurements of land use, percent agriculture and percent urban development, were positively related to water quality and consistently present in all regression models. Together these two land uses explained 25 to 75% of the regression model variation. However, the contribution of agriculture to water quality condition showed a decreasing trend with time as overall agricultural land cover decreased. Results from this study demonstrate that relationships between land cover and surface water concentrations of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and fecal coliform bacteria counts over a large area can be evaluated using a relatively simple geographic information system method. Land managers may find this method useful for targeting resources in relation to a particular water quality concern, focusing best management efforts, and maximizing benefits to water quality with minimal costs.The United States Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development funded and managed the research described here. It has been subjected to Agency’s administrative review and approved for publication as an EPA document.     

A Global Overview of Atmospheric Acid Deposition Fluxes

This paper presents a summary of globalacid deposition flux data taken from a globalassessment report on acid deposition prepared forUNEP/WMO (Whelpdale and Kaiser, 1996). There is a largevariation in the spacial coverage and reliability ofmonitoring around the world. Many more stationsmeasure wet deposition than collect appropriate datafor estimating dry deposition. The widespread regionswith highest precipitation concentrations anddeposition fluxes of sulphate and nitrate coincideclosely with the regions of highest density ofSO₂ and NO_x precursor emissions occurringprimarily in the mid-latitude, northern hemispherebelt where a large fraction of the worlds fossilfuels is consumed. Organic acids in precipitation makea minor contribution to acidity (<20%) inindustrial regions, but in the rest of the world theyare of same order, or even exceed, inorganic acids.Less is known about dry deposition, but it appears topredominate near strong emission sources with wetdeposition predominating farther downwind. The molarratio of the N/S contribution to acidic deposition isclose to 1.0 over large areas of Europe and NorthAmerica, but is highly variable elsewhere, beinghighest in equatorial regions due to biomass burningand lowest near smelters and other large sources of SO₂.     

Modeling the spatial pattern of farmland using GIS and multiple logistic regression: a case study of Maotiao River Basin, Guizhou Province, China

Land use change is an important topic in the field of global environmental change and sustainable development. Land use change modeling has attracted substantial attention because it helps researchers understand the mechanisms of land use change and assists regulatory bodies in formulating relevant policies. Maotiao River Basin is located in the province of Guizhou, China, which has a developed agricultural industry in the karst mountain areas. This paper selected biophysical and social–economic factors as independent variables, and constructed a multiple logistic regression of farmland spatial distribution probability by random sampling. Then, by using GIS technology and integrating the 2000 data, this study predicted the farmland spatial pattern. When the predicted map was compared with the actual farmland map for 2000, we noted that 71% of the simulation is in accordance with the 2000 farmland pattern. The result satisfactorily proves the reasonability and applicability of our model.     

Assessing land use impacts on flood processes in complex terrain by using GIS and modeling approach

A distributed hydrologic modeling and GIS approach is applied for the assessment of land use impact in the Steinsel sub-basin, Alzette, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. The assessment focuses on the runoff contributions from different land use classes and the potential impact of land use changes on runoff generation. The results show that the direct runoff from urban areas is dominant for a flood event compared with runoff from other land use areas in this catchment, and tends to increase for small floods and for the dry season floods, whereas the interflow from forested, pasture and agricultural field areas contributes to the recession flow. Significant variations in flood volume, peak discharge, time to the peak, etc., are found from the model simulation based on the three hypothetical land use change scenarios.     

Using environmental stressor information to predict the ecological status of Maryland non-tidal streams as measured by biological indicators

In Maryland, U.S., an interim framework has recentlybeen developed for using biologically based thresholds, or `biocriteria', to assess the health of nontidal streams statewide at watershed scales. The evaluation of impairment is based on indices of biological integrity from the Maryland Biological Stream Survey (MBSS). We applied logistic regression to quantify how the biotic integrity of streams at a local scale is affected by cumulative effects resulting from catchment land uses, point sources, and nearby transmission line rights-of-way. Indicators for land use were developed from the remote sensing National Land Cover Data and applied at different scales. We determined that the risk of local impairment in nontidal streams rapidly increases with increased urban land use in the catchment area. The average likelihood of failing biocriteria doubled with every 10% points increment in urban land, thus an increase in urban land use from 0 to 20% quadruples the risk of impairment. For the basins evaluated in this study, catchments with more than 40–50% urban land use had greater than 80% probability of failing biocriteria, on average. Inclusion of rights-of-way and point sources in the model did not significantly improve the fit for this data set, most likely because of their low numbers. The overall results indicate that our predictive modeling approach can help pinpoint stream ecosystems experiencing or vulnerable to degradation.     

Land User Participation in Developing a Computerised Decision Support System for Combating Desertification

Combating desertification in natural rangelands has recently become a priority in large parts of southern Africa. Rangeland managers, farmers, scientists, conservationists and land users have been applying a variety of restoration technologies to address this problem. Bush encroachment, as part of the desertification process, involves the natural replacement of the herbaceous plant cover by undesirable problem woody species. The active and passive restoration technologies that are applied, are mainly based on indigenous knowledge and include the chemical, mechanical or manual reclamation of unproductive rangelands, as well as the combating of woody and alien species encroachment. Indigenous practices and knowledge play a major role in the effectiveness and success rate of these technologies. This project faces the challenge of bringing together both local and scientific knowledge in a single user-friendly, computerised Decision Support System (DSS) which is directly accessible by land users to support them in the process of decision making, concerning the combating of desertification. Case studies from central and northern Namibia were used to combine qualitative and quantitative data to develop this Decision Support System. The DSS currently consists of two databases and an expert system, which evaluates the results of land users’ management practices, and provides easily accessible information and advice for participants in the system, based on the incorporated data. The DSS is also linked to national and international web sites and databases to offer a wider range of information on technologies concerning agricultural and conservation practices.     

和田市土地利用结构变化研究

我国正处在城市化急速发展的时期。城市从数量、规模等各方面都在膨胀，这给城市土地利用带来了一系列问题。本文在综合分析和田市城市土地利用现状和未来发展要求的基础上，为解决人类在高强度经济活动中，特别是在农村经济建设和城乡建设快速发展的条件下。针对如何解决土地资源的合理利用、环境恶化及持续发展之间的矛盾。提出了和田市未来合理开发利用土地资源、产业结构的调整、城市功能区的布局和进行城市建设等方面可行性方案。     

土地复垦投资的政策法规建议

土地复垦投资的政策法规是为了克服市场经济本身的缺陷和不足,规范生产建设者（当事者）的行为以及强化其社会意识和责任,确保土地复垦投资机制的形成和运作。本文分析了我国土地复垦投资的相关政策和法规的现状和问题,有针对性地提出了一些政策和法规建议,且对《土地复垦规定》提出了具体的修改建议。     

Preparation of rare-earth metal complex oxide catalysts for catalytic wet air oxidation

Catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) is one of the most promising technologies for pollution abatement. Developing catalysts with high activity and stability is crucial for the application of the CWAO process. The Mn/Ce complex oxide catalysts for CWAO of high concentration phenol-containing wastewater were prepared by coprecipitation. The catalyst preparation conditions were optimized by using an orthogonal layout method and single-factor experimental analysis. The Mn/Ce serial catalysts were characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis and the metal cation leaching was measured by inductively coupled plasma torch-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The results show that the catalysts have high catalytic activities even at a low temperature (80°C) and low oxygen partial pressure (0.5 MPa) in a batch reactor. The metallic ion leaching is comparatively low (Mn<6.577 mg/L and Ce<0.6910 mg/L, respectively) in the CWAO process. The phenol, COD_Cr, and TOC removal efficiencies in the solution exceed 98.5% using the optimal catalyst (named CSP). The new catalyst would have a promising application in CWAO treatment of high concentration organic wastewater. Translated from Techniques and Equipment for Environmental Pollution Control, 2005, 6(2): 40–44 [译自: 环境污染治理技术与设备]