Temporal trends in agricultural water use and the relationships to hydroclimatic factors in the High Plains aquifer region

The High Plains aquifer (HPA) is the primary water source for agricultural irrigation in the US Great Plains. The water levels in many locations of the aquifer have declined steadily over the past several decades because the rate of water withdrawals exceeds recharge, which has been a serious concern to the water resources management in the region. We evaluated temporal trends and variations in agricultural water use and hydroclimatic variables including precipitation, air temperature, reference evapotranspiration, runoff, groundwater level, and terrestrial water storage across the HPA region for different periods from 1985 to 2020 at the grid, county, or region scale. The results showed that water withdrawals decreased from 21.3 km³/year in 1985 to 18.2 km³/year in 2015, while irrigated croplands increased from 71,928 km² in 1985 to 78,464 km² in 2015 in the entire HPA. The hydroclimatic time-series showed wetting trends in most of the northern HPA, but drying and warming trends in the southern region from 1985 to 2020. The groundwater level time-series indicated flat trends in the north, but significant declining in the central and southern HPA. Trends in irrigation water withdrawals and irrigation area across the HPA were controlled by the advancement of irrigation systems and technologies and the management of sustainable water use, but also were affected by dynamical changes in the hydroclimatic conditions.     

Factors influencing property selection for conservation revolving funds

Finding sustainable ways to increase the amount of private land protected for biodiversity is challenging for many conservation organizations. In some countries, organizations use revolving‐fund programs, whereby land is purchased and then sold to conservation‐minded owners under condition they enter into a conservation covenant or easement. The sale proceeds are used to purchase, protect, and sell additional properties, incrementally increasing the amount of protected private land. Because the effectiveness of this approach relies on selecting appropriate properties, we explored factors currently considered by practitioners and how these are integrated into decision making. We conducted exploratory, semistructured interviews with managers from each of the 5 major revolving funds in Australia. Responses indicated although conservation factors are important, financial and social factors are also highly influential. A major determinant was whether the property could be resold within a reasonable period at a price that replenishes the fund. To facilitate resale, often selected properties include the potential for the construction of a dwelling. Practitioners face with clear trade‐offs between conservation, financial, amenity, and other factors in selecting properties and 3 main challenges: recovering the costs of acquisition, protection, and resale; reselling the property; and meeting conservation goals. Our findings suggest the complexity of these decisions may constrain revolving‐fund effectiveness. Drawing from participant responses, we identified potential strategies to mitigate these risks, such as providing adequate recreational space without jeopardizing ecological assets. We suggest managers could benefit from a shared‐learning and adaptive approach to property selection given the commonalities between programs. Understanding how practitioners deal with complex decisions in the implementation of revolving funds helps identify future research to improve the performance of this conservation tool.     

A climate-change vulnerability and adaptation assessment for Brazil's protected areas

Brazil hosts the largest expanse of tropical ecosystems within protected areas (PAs), which shelter biodiversity and support traditional human populations. We assessed the vulnerability to climate change of 993 terrestrial and coastal-marine Brazilian PAs by combining indicators of climatic-change hazard with indicators of PA resilience (size, native vegetation cover, and probability of climate-driven vegetation transition). This combination of indicators allows the identification of broad climate-change adaptation pathways. Seventeen PAs (20,611 km²) were highly vulnerable and located mainly in the Atlantic Forest (7 PAs), Cerrado (6), and the Amazon (4). Two hundred fifty-eight PAs (756,569 km²), located primarily in Amazonia, had a medium vulnerability. In the Amazon and western Cerrado, the projected severe climatic change and probability of climate-driven vegetation transition drove vulnerability up, despite the generally good conservation status of PAs. Over 80% of PAs of high or moderate vulnerability are managed by indigenous populations. Hence, besides the potential risks to biodiversity, the traditional knowledge and livelihoods of the people inhabiting these PAs may be threatened. In at least 870 PAs, primarily in the Atlantic Forest and Amazon, adaptation could happen with little or no intervention due to low climate-change hazard, high resilience status, or both. At least 20 PAs in the Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, and Amazonia should be targeted for stronger interventions (e.g., improvement of ecological connectivity), given their low resilience status. Despite being a first attempt to link vulnerability and adaptation in Brazilian PAs, we suggest that some of the PAs identified as highly or moderately vulnerable should be prioritized for testing potential adaptation strategies in the near future.     

南京市农用地土壤中重金属形态特征分析

以南京市农用地土壤为研究对象,采用顺序提取的方法对Cu、Zn、Pb、Cd做化学形态分析,了解不同元素各形态下空间赋存的含量与占比。结果表明,在农用地土壤中,上述4种金属元素所赋存的化学形态活泼性顺序为CdPbCuZn,其中Cd主要为醋酸提取态,Pb主要为可还原态,各占总量的40%以上,具有较高的生物有效性和潜在危害性;Cu与Zn主要为残渣态,占总量的60%左右,生物可利用性较低。由因子分析法可知,土壤p H值越大,Zn与Cd就越趋于向稳定的化学形态转化,土壤有机质含量越高,对Cu与Pb的络合能力就越强,可以降低其环境危害性。     

基于Landsat 8遥感数据的天津市地表温度反演

以Landsat 8遥感数据为数据源,进行天津市地表温度反演研究。首先采用单通道算法反演地表温度,并利用均值标准差法进行温度分级。然后建立不同温度等级面积比例的估算模型。再通过随机样点,从不同温度等级和土地覆盖类型2个角度,分别建立并比较不同类样点的地表温度与各指数的拟合模型。结果表明:次高温区域面积比例与人口密度、人均GDP都具有较高的决定系数;地表温度与NDVI、BAEM的二元线性回归决定系数高于地表温度与单一指数的决定系数;将样点分类后,低温点与MNDBI的决定系数高于其他温度等级样点,水域和植被样点与各种指数的决定系数高于其他地物类型样点。     

钙钛矿型催化剂催化湿式氧化处理煤气化废水纳滤浓缩液

采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了Mn掺杂钙钛矿型催化剂LaFexMn1-xO3，并以其为催化剂催化湿式双氧水氧化处理煤气化废水纳滤浓缩液。采用XRD，SEM，FTIR技术对催化剂进行了表征。表征结果显示：制备的催化剂均具有标准的钙钛矿型结构，其中，LaFe0.9Mn0.1O3的结构稳定，比表面积大。实验结果表明：制备的催化剂中LaFe0.9Mn0.1O3的催化活性最高，且稳定性好，连续使用5次后催化活性未见明显减弱；在H2O2投加量3.0 g/L、n（H2O2）∶n（LaFe0.9Mn0.1O3）=12∶1、反应温度160 ℃、反应压力1 MPa、浓缩液pH 3、反应时间60 min的最优条件下，COD、UV254和TOC的去除率分别达到80.9%、95.2%和68.0%，BOD5/COD由0.02提升至0.40，可生化性大幅提高。     

微波强化CWPO工艺CuO_x-CeO_2/GAC催化剂的制备及其对二甲亚砜的降解

以颗粒活性炭(GAC)为载体、铜为活性组分、铈为助剂组分、草酸钠为沉淀剂,采用浸渍焙烧法制得CuO_x-CeO_2/GAC催化剂。以H_2O_2为氧化剂,微波强化催化湿式过氧化氢氧化(CWPO)处理二甲亚砜(DMSO)初始质量浓度为1 000 mg/L的废水,处理3 min后DMSO去除率达93.8%。催化剂第7次使用时DMSO去除率仍保持在75%以上。初始废水pH在3~9范围内,DMSO去除率均在85%以上。助剂Ce的加入提高了催化剂表面活性组分的分散性和稳定性,使催化剂的活性稳定性和使用寿命显著提高。     

臭氧氧化—湿式钙法吸收工艺对烟气的同时脱硫脱硝

采用臭氧氧化—湿式钙法吸收工艺对模拟烟气进行同时脱硫脱硝处理。O₃于150 ℃下具有较高的热稳定性,可将NO氧化为高价态氮氧化物,且NO氧化率随n（O₃）∶n（NO）的增大而逐渐提高。烟气中SO₂和H₂O的存在对NO氧化率的影响不大。O₃对SO₂的氧化率较低,约为5%。3%（w）石灰石浆液对SO₂的吸收率接近100%,NO_x吸收率随n（O₃）∶n（NO）的增大而逐渐提高,当n（O₃）∶n（NO）为1.6时NO_x吸收率可达约65%。SO₂能促进吸收液对NO_x的脱除。石灰石浆液中加入0.2%（w）的（NH₄）₂SO₃或Na₂SO₃后NO_x吸收率可达约85%或82%,且吸收率随添加剂加入量的增加而提高,添加（NH₄）₂SO₃的NO_x吸收率略高于添加Na₂SO₃。     

Considering climate change and regional differences: An efficiency assessment of coal mine use and land restoration

China is the country with the largest coal mining production and consumption in the world, but due to a large amount of coal burning, air pollution and climate change are exasperating related problems. The previous literature mainly has discussed coal mine production and environmental pollution, but failed to take into account external factors such as climate change and seldom discussed the relationship between coal mine land use and land restoration. Therefore, this study uses the meta-Epsilon-Based Measure two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis under the exogenous model and incorporates coal mine land use and land restoration use into the model to explore the relationship between the two under climate change. The research results are as follows. (1) If the external climate factors are not considered, then the phenomenon of overestimation or underestimation of the technology gap arises. (2) The efficiency value of the coal mining stage in most provinces is generally higher than the land restoration efficiency value.     

A strategy for wildlife management in depopulating rural areas of Japan

Former ranges of wild animals have been reestablished in many developed countries. However, this reestablishment has led to increasing human–wildlife conflict in agroforest ecosystems. In Japan, human–wildlife conflict, such as crop raiding by and ecological impacts of wild ungulates and primates, is a serious problem in depopulated rural areas due to these animal range expansions and increased abundances. Japan's human population is predicted to decline by 24% by 2050, and approximately 20% of agricultural settlements will become completely depopulated. In this scenario, anthropogenic pressures on wildlife (e.g., hunting and habitat alteration) will continue to decrease and human–wildlife conflict will increase due to increasing wildlife recovery. Japan's local governments plan to slow range recovery, prevent species reestablishment, or remove recolonizing large mammals through lethal control. This strategy, however, is not cost-effective, and workforce shortages in depopulated communities make it infeasible. Moreover, the suppression of wildlife prevents the recovery of ecological functions and thus would degrade regional biodiversity. The declining pressure on wildlife that accompanies human depopulation will prevent the restoration of any past states of human–wildlife interaction. We suggest human-used areas in rural landscapes be aggregated in compact cities and that in transition zones between human settlements and depopulated lands that land-sharing approaches be applied. Concentrating management efforts in compact cities may effectively decrease human–wildlife conflict, rather than intensifying human pressures. Reforestation of depopulated lands may lead to recovery of wildlife habitats, their ecosystem functions, and regional biodiversity due to minimization of negative anthropogenic effects (land-sparing approach). Balancing resolution of human–wildlife conflict and ecological rewilding could become a new, challenging task for regional wildlife managers.