Measuring sustainability

An agricultural system is sustainable if productive output is maintained economically over time when assessed in relation to environmental concern. This paper considers ways of statistically evaluating measures of sustainability illustrated by reference to extensive data from the Classical Experiments at Rothamsted.     

鹅掌楸和女贞同化CO2和释O2能力的比较

采用LI－6400红外气体分析仪，分别在生长初期、盛期、末期测定鹅掌楸和女贞净光合速率，用重量法测定叶面积。得到女贞的净光合速率、叶面积指数和同化CO2及释O2的能力均大于鹅掌楸的结论，可为城市绿化树种的选择提供依据。     

坝上地区生态资源综合评估

以生态资源承载力的理论和方法为指导,对坝上地区进行生态资源综合评估。考虑坝上生态条件特点,有重点地选择相应指标,以客观准确反映该区域的特点;同时参考国际及国内的有关标准,构筑了表现生态资源综合评估的指标及分值标准,确定表达式及评价分值,并结合具体区域进行试用和检验。为深入综合探讨坝上生态资源特点奠定基础。     

Phytoplanktonic Community of Organically Polluted Tropical Reservoirs in Eastern India

Plankton is a kaleidoscopic spectrum of organisms with repre-sentatives from almost all phyla of animals and thousands of non-flowering plants. Unicellular protozoans, invertebrates and bacteriato diatoms all drift around as the plankton community. The produc-tion rate of plankton is determined by a host of environmental pa-rameters like physico-chemical properties of water and soil, mete-orological characteristics of the region, and morphometric and hy-drographic features of the water body[3]…     

The Effect of Fragment Shape and Species' Sensitivity to Habitat Edges on Animal Population Size

Abstract:  Habitat fragmentation causes extinction of local animal populations by decreasing the amount of viable "core" habitat area and increasing edge effects. It is widely accepted that larger fragments make better nature reserves because core-dwelling species have a larger amount of suitable habitat. Nevertheless, fragments in real landscapes have complex, irregular shapes. We modeled the population sizes of species that have a representative range of preferences for or aversions to habitat edges at five spatial scales (within 10, 32, 100, 320, and 1000 m of an edge) in a nation-wide analysis of forest remnants in New Zealand. We hypothesized that the irregular shapes of fragments in real landscapes should generate statistically significant correlations between population density and fragment area, purely as a "geometric" effect of varying species responses to the distribution of edge habitat. Irregularly shaped fragments consistently reduced the population size of core-dwelling species by 10–100%, depending on the scale over which species responded to habitat edges. Moreover, core populations within individual fragments were spatially discontinuous, containing multiple, disjunct populations that inhabited small spatial areas and had reduced population size. The geometric effect was highly nonlinear and depended on the range of fragment sizes sampled and the scale at which species responded to habitat edges. Fragment shape played a strong role in determining population size in fragmented landscapes; thus, habitat restoration efforts may be more effective if they focus on connecting disjunct cores rather than isolated fragments.     

Human risk assessment of As,Cd, Cu and Zn in the abandoned metal mine site

The cancer risk and the non-cancer hazard index for inhabitants exposed to As, Cd, Cu and Zn in the soils and stream waters of the abandoned Songcheon Au–Ag mine area were evaluated. Mean concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in agricultural soils were 230, 2.5, 120, 160, and 164 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. Mean concentrations of As, Cd and Zn of the water in the stream where drinking water was drawn was 246 μg L⁻¹, 161 μg L⁻¹ and 3899 μg L⁻¹, respectively. These levels are significantly higher than the permissible levels for drinking water quality recommended by Korea and WHO. The resulting human health risks to farmers who inhabited the surrounding areas due to drinking water were summarized as follows: (1) the non-cancer health hazard indices showed that the toxic risk due to As and Cd in drinking water were 10 and 4 times, respectively, greater than those induced by the safe average daily dosages of the respective chemicals. (2) the cancer risk of As for exposed individuals through the drinking water pathway was 5 in 1000, exceeded the acceptable risk of 1 in 10,000 set for regulatory purposes.     

Mercury in surface sediments and benthic organisms from Guaymas Bay,east coast of the Gulf of California

In order to know the concentration of mercury in surface sediments, macroalgae and clams from Guaymas Bay, Mexico, 20 surface sediment samples and several individuals of Codium amplivesciculatum (3), Enteromorpha clathrata (4), Gracilaria subsecundata (2), Ulva lactuca (2), Chione subrugosa (80) and Crassostrea gigas (40) were collected and their Hg concentration was measured by a cold vapor Hg analyzer, after acid digestion. In addition, granulometric analysis and quantification of total organic carbon, aluminum, iron and manganese contents in sediments were performed. A Pearsons correlation matrix was determined and, the enrichment factor, the geoaccumulation index and the biota-sediment accumulation factor were calculated. Mercury concentrations in sediments ranged from 0.3 to 2.3 μg g⁻¹, with the central and northern portions showing the highest values. Macroalgae had a content of Hg that oscillated from 0.058 to 0.134 μg g⁻¹, while the average concentrations of this metal for clams and oysters were 0.063 and 0.230 μg g⁻¹, respectively. A clear effect of Guaymas City and the anthropogenic activities carried out around the Guaymas Bay has been observed and the enrichment factor and the geochemical index suggest that sediments from this coastal ecosystem are moderately to strongly contaminated with Hg. However, according to the figure of the maximum human consumption of Hg per week recommended by the World Health Organization, people can ingest clams without risk to their health.     

城市绿地生态效果评价方法的改进

城市绿地在改善城市环境、为居民提供游憩服务等方面具有重要作用。目前衡量绿地效果的指标从总量上规定城市绿地应达到的指标，但缺乏绿地空间分布合理性的表征。本文采用景观生态学中的异质性指数和均一性指数，提出判断城市绿地分布合理程度的两种新指标。     

基于网络SBM-DEA模型和GML指数的中国各省工业用水效率研究

近年来,中国工业用水占全部用水的比例在20%~30%左右,提升工业用水效率、节约集约利用水资源已经成为影响中国国民经济可持续发展的重要问题之一。本文基于网络SBM-DEA模型和GML指数,研究了2007-2015年中国各省工业用水效率,实证结果发现：（1） 从年度平均值来看,与污水治理阶段相比,生产阶段处于前沿面的省份更多,各省份与前沿面的差距相对较小。北京、天津、内蒙古、山东、广东、海南等省份生产阶段工业用水效率较高,但是污水治理阶段的效率值却较低;辽宁、吉林、安徽、福建、江西、湖北、湖南、广西、贵州、云南、青海等省份生产阶段效率值较低,但是污水治理阶段的效率值却较高。（2） 从各时间段的几何平均值来看,大部分省份网络和污水治理阶段的GML指数值小于1,但是生产阶段的GML指数值大于1。因此,在提升生产阶段的工业用水效率的同时,需要加大工业污水的治理力度,提升污水治理阶段的效率,并树立工业生产和治污同步进行的意识,特别是北京、天津、内蒙古、山东、广东、海南等污水治理效率较低的省份。     

规划环境影响评价指标体系的建立与应用

以沈阳市浑南新区规划为案例,研究和探讨了规划环境影响评价指标的确定原则、理论依据、方法和程序,建立了以目标层、准则层、指标层三个层次,包括社会生态、经济生态、环境生态和环境资源支撑四大类三十项指标构成的规划环境影响评价指标体系,利用这三十项评价指标对规划进行了定量评价。