Characteristics of animal-related motor vehicle crashes in select National Park Service units—United States, 1990–2013

Objectives: Nationally, animal–motor vehicle crashes (AVCs) account for 4.4% of all types of motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). AVCs are a safety risk for drivers and animals and many National Park Service (NPS) units (e.g., national park, national monument, or national parkway) have known AVC risk factors, including rural locations and substantial animal densities. We sought to describe conditions and circumstances involving AVCs to guide traffic and wildlife management for prevention of AVCs in select NPS units.

Methods: We conducted an analysis using NPS law enforcement MVC data. An MVC is a collision involving an in-transit motor vehicle that occurred or began on a public roadway. An AVC is characterized as a collision between a motor vehicle and an animal. A non-AVC is a crash between a motor vehicle and any object other than an animal or noncollision event (e.g., rollover crash). The final data for analysis included 54,068 records from 51 NPS units during 1990–2013. Counts and proportions were calculated for categorical variables and medians and ranges were calculated for continuous variables. We used Pearson’s chi-square to compare circumstances of AVCs and non-AVCs. Data were compiled at the park regional level; NPS parks are assigned to 1 of 7 regions based on the park’s location.

Results: AVCs accounted for 10.4% (5,643 of 54,068) of all MVCs from 51 NPS units. The Northeast (2,021 of 5,643; 35.8%) and Intermountain (1,180 of 5,643; 20.9%) regions had the largest percentage of the total AVC burden. November was the peak month for AVCs across all regions (881 of 5,643; 15.6%); however, seasonality varied by park geographic regions. The highest counts of AVCs were reported during fall for the National Capital, Northeast/Southeast, and Northeast regions; winter for the Southeast region; and summer for Intermountain and Pacific West regions.

Conclusions: AVCs represent a public health and wildlife safety concern for NPS units. AVCs in select NPS units were approximately 2-fold higher than the national percentage for AVCs. The peak season for AVCs varied by NPS region. Knowledge of region-specific seasonality patterns for AVCs can help NPS staff develop mitigation strategies for use primarily during peak AVC months. Improving AVC data collection might provide NPS with a more complete understanding of risk factors and seasonal trends for specific NPS units. By collecting information concerning the animal species hit, park managers can better understand the impacts of AVC to wildlife population health.     

新形势下环境质量综合分析思路探讨

随着中国共产党第十九次全国代表大会的顺利召开,环保"大部制"改革、环境监测垂直管理制度改革以及国家"大气十条""水十条""土十条"的全面实施均对生态环境保护、环境监测乃至环境质量综合分析工作提出了新要求。新形势下,环境质量综合分析应与时俱进、开拓创新,进一步优化工作机制,加强系统分析,增强综合分析报告的科学性、规范性、时效性、精准性、客观性等,强化技术与能力支撑,更好发挥环境监测对环境管理和决策的引领作用。     

The potential implementation of green infrastructure assessment using high-resolution National Agriculture Imagery Program data for sustainable hazard mitigation

As green infrastructure gets its attention in hazard mitigation, it is necessary to improve general understanding on what makes green infrastructure important for hazard and resiliency research. To better understand how green infrastructure fits with more traditional notions of structural and nonstructural mitigation, this study examines the relationship between green infrastructure and ‘structural and nonstructural’ mitigation approaches for hazard mitigation. Also, this study discusses a new measurement of locational aspects and spatial patterns of green infrastructure by utilizing high-resolution data in urban areas, and its potential implementation in hazard mitigation. Compared to previous research using land-use land-cover datasets, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) utilizing National Agriculture Imagery Program dataset provides an ability to capture green infrastructure in greater detail. A visual comparison suggests that the NDVI data are able to capture and identify more types of ‘green’ land uses in Harris County. The total green infrastructure percentages for Harris County, Texas, based on 1-m high resolution were found to be 61.5% of the area, compared to the 51.5% based on the National Land Cover Database. This study provides support for utilizing high-resolution data to establish guidelines for green infrastructure’s spatial characteristics and sustainable hazard mitigation. The outcomes of this study will be helpful in the strategic planning and implementation of green infrastructure in urban areas with hazard issues.     

水环境监测信息化新技术的应用分析

随着国民经济的快速发展,我国人民的生活水平和质量也随之而提高,对于生态环境以及居住环境的要求也相应提升。水是万物之源,是保障人们生产生活的基本要素之一,为了有效提升水环境质量,先进的水环境监测技术必不可少。随着科学技术的飞速发展,水环境监测技术也在不断调整和优化,逐渐向信息化方向发展,在生态环境保护工作中发挥着不可替代的作用。本文将详细阐述现阶段我国在水环境监测工作中实施的信息化新技术,希望能为相关研究人员提供参考和借鉴。     

The current state of knowledge of ecosystems and ecosystem services in Russia: A status report

This paper focusses on a conceptual overview of ways to address a comprehensive analysis of ecosystem services (ES) in a country as large and heterogeneous as Russia. As a first step, a methodology for assessing the services for the federal subjects of Russia was chosen, i.e., its constituent provinces and similar entities, in physical terms. Russia harbors a great diversity of natural conditions and ecosystems which are suppliers of ES, and likewise a variety of the socio-economic conditions that shape the demand for these services and their consumption. The methodological approach described permits several important tasks to be addressed: the evaluation of the degree of satisfaction of people’s needs for ES, the identification of ecological donor and acceptor regions, and zoning of the country’s territory for ES assessment. The next step is to prepare a prototype of a National Report on ES in Russia, for which we are presenting the planned structure.     

Striking the balance: Challenges and perspectives for the protected areas network in northeastern European Russia

Increasing anthropogenic pressure on the largest remaining tracts of old-growth boreal forest in Europe necessitates additional conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity in northeastern European Russia. In a regional network comprising 8 % of the Nenets Autonomous District and 13.5 % of the Komi Republic, 248 areas have varying protected statuses as state nature reserves (zapovedniks), national parks, reserves/sanctuaries (zakazniks), or natural monuments. Due to increased natural resource extraction in this relatively pristine area, designation of additional protected areas is critical for the protection of key ecological sites. The history of ecological preservation in these regions is herein described, and recent recommendations for incorporating additional ecologically representative areas into the regional network are presented. If the protected area network can be expanded, the overall environmental stability in these globally significant ecosystems may remain intact, and can help Russia meet the 2020 Aichi conservation targets, as set forth by the Convention of Biological Diversity.     

郑州市民运会期间大气PM2.5改善效果评估

利用2019年8月5日至9月30日大气污染物和颗粒物组分在线数据,评估郑州市少数民族运动会空气质量管控效果.根据政府管控措施的实施时间,将研究时期分为管控前(8月5～24日)、管控中(8月25日至9月18日)和解除管控后(9月19～30日).相较管控前,管控中PM_(2.5)平均浓度增加2.3μg·m~(-3),解除管控后PM_(2.5)的浓度增加了11.7μg·m~(-3),解除管控后PM_(2.5)浓度增幅高于管控中,表明管控措施对颗粒物有显著的减排效果.从颗粒物组分来看,研究期间郑州市主要组分依次是有机物、硝酸根、铵根、硫酸根和地壳元素.相比于管控前,管控期间PM_(2.5)组分中有机物和硝酸根占比分别上升3.9%和0.9%,硫酸根、铵根和地壳元素的占比下降了1.1%、 1.9%和2.2%.利用正定矩阵因子分解法解析颗粒物来源,结果表明二次硫酸、二次硝酸、二次有机气溶胶、机动车源、工艺过程源、扬尘和燃煤是PM_(2.5)主要来源.管控对一次源中的扬尘、燃煤和工业效果显著,贡献比分别下降8.3%、 8.2%和8.1%;机动车贡献上升3.8%;二次有机气溶胶和二次硝酸占比上升.结果表明郑州市此次管控对二次前体物氮氧化物和VOCs的减排效果弱于对一次污染物的管控.     

北京松山国家级自然保护区典型植被类型表层土壤碳密度及周转速率特征

为阐明不同植被类型下表层土壤有机碳的分布特征,本文选取北京松山国家级自然保护区内胡桃楸阔叶林、蒙古栎阔叶林、油松针叶林、针阔叶混交林、灌丛和草甸6种典型植物群落作为研究对象,基于野外调查、采样与实验室分析对不同植被类型下表层土壤有机碳含量、密度及周转速率进行了研究。结果表明：草甸表层土壤有机碳含量和密度最高,分别为188.5 g/kg和10.9 kg/m²,周转速率最低,为0.019 6/a;针阔叶混交林表层土壤有机碳含量和密度最低,分别为68.6 g/kg和5.7 kg/m²,周转速率为0.074 9/a;灌丛表层土壤有机碳周转速率为0.077 4/a。土壤有机碳含量整体上随土壤深度增加而逐渐减少。土壤水分的增加和土壤温度的下降使表层土壤有机碳含量及密度呈上升趋势,而使有机碳周转速率呈下降趋势。土壤有机碳密度随海拔升高呈逐渐上升趋势。海拔通过影响不同植被群落土壤水热条件来影响微生物活动及凋落物的分解,进而影响表层土壤有机碳含量、密度和周转速率。本文为松山国家级自然保护区典型植被类型土壤碳储量和周转研究提供了有效参考。     

对辽宁省《污水综合排放标准》（DB21／1627—2008）的探讨

辽宁省新的污水排放标准已于2008年8月1日正式颁布实施,相比原有标准以及国家标准,新标准体现了全面性、严格性和公平性的特点。在新标准的要求下,全省污水排放企业将如何应对？本文在这些方面进行了探讨。     

Mapping Outlets of Iowa Flood Center and National Water Center River Networks for Hydrologic Model Comparison

River networks based on Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data differ depending on the DEM resolution, accuracy, and algorithms used for network extraction. As spatial scale increases, the differences diminish. This study explores methods that identify the scale where networks obtained by different methods agree within some margin of error. The problem is relevant for comparing hydrologic models built around the two networks. An example is the need to compare streamflow prediction from the Hillslope Link Model (HLM) operated by the Iowa Flood Center (IFC) and the National Water Model (NWM) operated by the National Water Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The HLM uses landscape decomposition into hillslopes and channel links while the NWM uses the NHDPlus dataset as its basic spatial support. While the HLM resolves the scale of the NHDPlus, the outlets of the latter do not necessarily correspond to the nodes of the HLM model. The authors evaluated two methods to map the outlets of NHDPlus to outlets on the IFC network. The methods compare the upstream areas of the channels and their spatial location. Both methods displayed similar performance and identified matches for about 80% of the outlets with a tolerance of 10% in errors in the upstream area. As the aggregation scale increases, the number of matches also increases. At the scale of 100 km², 90% of the outlets have matches with tolerance of 5%. The authors recommend this scale for comparing the HLM and NWM streamflow predictions.