Concerns and future preparedness plans of a vulnerable population in New Jersey following Hurricane Sandy

Knowing how people prepare for disasters is essential to developing resiliency strategies. This study examined recalled concerns, evacuation experiences, and the future preparedness plans of a vulnerable population in New Jersey, United States, following Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Understanding the responses of minority communities is key to protecting them during forthcoming disasters. Overall, 35 per cent of respondents were not going to prepare for an event. Intended future preparedness actions were unrelated to respondents' ratings of personal impact. More Blacks and Hispanics planned on preparing than Whites (68 versus 55 per cent), and more Hispanics planned on evacuating than did others who were interviewed. A higher percentage of respondents who had trouble getting to health centres were going to prepare than others. Respondents' concerns were connected to safety and survival, protecting family and friends, and having enough food and medicine, whereas future actions included evacuating earlier and buying sufficient supplies to shelter in place.     

Spatial interactions in habitat conservation: Evidence from prairie pothole easements

We examine the role of spatial interactions in conservation easements placed on prairie pothole habitat in western Canada. One of the goals of the conservation easement program we study is to protect contiguous habitat. We identify endogenous spatial interactions among conservation easements and government protected land, independent of spatially correlated landscape features and local economic shocks that influence easement enrollment. We present evidence that easements increase the likelihood of subsequent easements on neighboring land. Government-protected land appears to have little effect on the location of conservation easements. These results imply that conservation agencies have leveraged past conservation investment to enroll more contiguous habitat in permanent easements through a combination of targeting and positive social interactions among neighboring landowners.     

澳大利亚新南威尔士州《污染土地管理法》及其实施效果

澳大利亚新南威尔士州1997年出台的《污染土地管理法》核心内容包括污染土地责任人的界定、初步调查令、重大污染土地的认定、治理令、自愿治理方案、继续治理令,以及污染土地治理费用的偿还,即环保署支付费用的偿还、公共权力机构执行命令时支付费用的偿还、当事人之间费用的偿还和统一基金拨款的偿还。《污染土地管理法》实施以来,效果较好。     

土地利用变化对土壤有机碳的影响研究进展

研究土地利用变化对土壤有机碳及其动态变化规律,有助于掌握全球气候变化与土地利用变化之间的关系。本文分别从土地利用及其管理方式变化的角度,综合阐述了土地利用变化对土壤有机碳的影响过程与机理。     

城市土地利用类型与PM2.5浓度相关性研究——以武汉市为例

随着我国工业化的不断发展,在我国的主要经济发展地区的雾霾天气不断爆发,使我国的大气环境日益恶化,严重影响了人们的日常生活和身体健康。PM2.5作为雾霾的重要组成成分,也日渐成为环境领域的研究热点问题。随着全球性变化研究领域逐渐加强了对土地利用与生态环境的相关研究,因此无论从法律和社会经济发展的角度,还是从生态资源保护与环境可持续发展的角度,土地利用与PM2.5的相关研究都显得相当重要。研究目的:分析武汉市各类用地类型与PM2.5浓度的相关性程度。研究方法:使用ENVI与ArcGIS对武汉市2013年MODIS气溶胶产品进行空间分析与插值处理,再应用SPSS将其与武汉市2013年10个观测点的PM2.5浓度数据作相关性分析,以证实MODIS气溶胶厚度与PM2.5浓度的相关性,并建立两者的线性回归方程,然后利用计算后的武汉市整体PM2.5浓度分布与各土地利用类型进行相关性研究。研究结果:武汉市PM2.5浓度有明显的空间分布特征,绿化面积比例与PM2.5浓度呈显著负相关,建设用地面积比例与PM2.5浓度呈显著正相关,未利用地面积比例虽然与PM2.5浓度呈正相关,但相关性较低,而耕地与水体对PM2.5浓度没有显著影响。研究结论:土地利用类型对武汉市PM2.5浓度的分布有显著的影响,其与搭载MODIS传感器的遥感卫星监测方式的结合能成为研究大范围特定区域PM2.5浓度空间格局的新方法,并且增加城市绿化面积,控制建设用地规模能有效减少PM2.5浓度。     

基于第二次全国土地调查的云南省坝区县、半山半坝县和山区县的划分

云南是我国西部的典型山区省份,地形坡度<8°的坝区面积仅占土地总面积的6%左右。应用云南省第二次全国土地调查中对各县（市、区）≥1 km²坝子的调查和核定成果,选取坝区耕地面积比例、坝区土地面积比例、≥100 km²坝子数等3 个单项指标,并构建了综合指标--坝区土地综合指数,采用主导指标与综合分析相结合的方法,对全省129 个县（市、区） 进行坝区县、半山半坝县和山区县的划分。结果表明,全省有21 个县属于坝区县,37 个县属于半山半坝县,71 个县属于山区县。这一研究修订了以往云南省仅以坝区耕地面积比例为指标而划分出的坝区县、半山半坝县和山区县方案,为云南省及各地合理地进行产业布局（尤其是农业生产布局）、保护坝区优质耕地资源提供科学依据和基础支撑。     

辽河东西支流与干流水体光学特性和组分对比研究

通过对东、西辽河和辽河干流有色溶解有机物(CDOM)吸收特性和荧光特征以及溶解有机碳(DOC)浓度的分析,对比研究不同子流域CDOM的光学特性差异,并分析影响CDOM与DOC浓度的主要因素.对比研究发现,辽河干流CDOM与DOC相关性(R=0.89,P0.01)高于西辽河(R=0.81)与东辽河(R=0.75).总悬浮物浓度(TSM)和总碱度与不同子流域CDOM/DOC相关性较高.不同流域内CDOM与DOC的浓度变化较大,西辽河CDOM和DOC浓度明显高于东辽河和辽河干流.流域内土地利用、气候条件对两者浓度的影响显著,林地和CDOM及DOC浓度存在显著负相关(R=-0.41,-0.56),即林地面积越大,CDOM和DOC浓度越低;而农田与两者存在正相关(R=0.40,0.32),农田面积越大,相应的CDOM和DOC浓度越高;降雨量与CDOM和DOC呈现明显的负相关(R=-0.53,-0.38),说明降雨对河流CDOM的稀释作用较大.对于CDOM荧光强度Fn(355)与CDOM浓度来说,在每个子流域两者均存在较好的相关性,特别是西辽河流域(R=0.96,P0.01).CDOM的三维荧光光谱发现,东、西辽河及辽河干流均表现出较强的类腐殖酸荧光峰(A峰和C峰),同时辽河干流表现出很强的类蛋白质峰(T峰).CDOM的吸收斜率(S)以及基于荧光光谱的FI和HIX表明东、西辽河和辽河干流CDOM的主要来源是外源高等植物输入的大分子量DOM,但是,西辽河和辽河干流CDOM的分子量要小于东辽河CDOM组成物质.     

Fatal pedestrian crashes on interstates and other freeways in the United States

Introduction: More than 800 pedestrians die annually in crashes on interstates and other freeways in the United States, but few studies have examined their characteristics. Method: Data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System on pedestrians fatally injured during 2015–2017 were analyzed. Chi-square tests compared characteristics of pedestrians killed on interstates and other freeways with those that died on other roads, and across crash types among freeway deaths. Land use characteristics of locations where pedestrians were killed while crossing freeways in a large state (California) were identified using Google Earth. Results: A larger proportion of pedestrians killed on freeways died on dark and unlit roads (48% vs. 32%), were male (78% vs. 68%), or were ages 20–44 (55% vs. 32%) compared with pedestrians killed on other roads. Crossing (42%) was the most common crash type among pedestrian deaths on freeways, followed by disabled-vehicle-related crashes (18%). Pedestrians who died while crossing more often had blood alcohol concentrations ≥ 0.08 g/dL (40%) than those in disabled-vehicle-related (22%) or other crashes (34%). Deaths in crossing crashes were more likely than other freeway deaths to occur on urban roads (81%), at speed limits ≤50 mph (13%), or between 18:00 and 23:59 (49%), and 58% of crossing crashes analyzed for land use were located between residential and other (e.g., commercial, recreational) uses. Over a third (37%) of deaths in disabled-vehicle-related crashes occurred at speed limits ≥70 mph. Conclusions: A surprising proportion of pedestrian deaths occur on controlled-access roads not designed for walking. Countermeasures for these crashes need to be implemented to see meaningful reductions in pedestrian fatalities overall. Practical applications: Improving roadway and vehicle lighting, requiring reflective warning devices for marking disabled vehicles, constructing pedestrian overpasses and underpasses in areas frequently crossed, and promoting alternative means of traveling between residential and commercial areas could help.     

Decline of traditional rice farming constrains the recovery of the endangered Asian crested ibis (Nipponia nippon)

Traditional agriculture benefits a rich diversity of plants and animals. The winter-flooded rice fields in the Qinling Mountains, China, are the last refuge for the endangered Asian crested ibis (Nipponia nippon), and intensive efforts have been made to protect this anthropogenic habitat. Analyses of multi-temporal satellite data indicate that winter-flooded rice fields have been continuously reduced across the current range of crested ibis during the past two decades. The rate of loss of these fields in the core-protected areas has unexpectedly increased to a higher level than that in non-protected areas in the past decade. The best fit (R² = 0.87) numerical response model of the crested ibis population shows that a reduction of winter-flooded rice fields decreases population growth and predicts that the population growth will be constrained by the decline of traditional winter-flooded rice fields in the coming decades. Our findings suggest that the decline of traditional rice farming is likely to continue to pose a threat to the long-term survival and recovery of the crested ibis population in China.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0649-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Parks versus PES: Evaluating direct and incentive-based land conservation in Mexico

Protected areas (PAs) and payments for ecosystem services (PES) are the top two mechanisms available for countries to achieve international REDD agreements, yet there are few empirical comparisons of their effects. We estimate the impacts of PAs and PES on forest conservation, poverty reduction, and population change at the locality level in Mexico in the 2000s. Both policies conserved forest, generating an approximately 20–25% reduction in expected forest cover loss. PES created statistically significant but small poverty alleviation while PAs had overall neutral impacts on livelihoods. Estimates by individual policy type for the same level of deforestation risk indicate that biosphere reserves and PES balanced conservation and livelihood goals better than strict protected areas or mixed-use areas. This suggests that both direct and incentive-based instruments can be effective, and that policies combining sustainable financing, flexible zoning, and recognition of local economic goals are more likely to achieve conservation without harming livelihoods.