Assessment using CFD of the wind direction on the air discharges caused by natural ventilation of a poultry house

Air inside poultry houses must be removed on a regular basis to prevent excess of heat, particles and noxious gases that can imperil animals. To cope with this issue, natural ventilation could be an effective method when assisted by accurate predictions. This study investigates air discharges caused by natural ventilation of a poultry house by means of a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. It solves the governing equations of momentum, heat and mass transport, radiative transfers and animal-generated heat. Wind directions of 0°, 36° and 56° (0° corresponds to a wind blowing perpendicular to the ridgeline) were investigated; the CFD model predictions achieved a RMSE of 1.2 °C and 0.6 g[H₂O] kg^?1 [dry air] for internal temperature and absolute humidity, respectively, when air blew with an angle of 36°. Air renewal rates (ARR) were 39.5 (±?1.9), 34.9 (±?2.2) and 33.6 (±?1.7) volumes of the building per hour, when air blew at 0°, 36° and 56°, respectively. Such ARR predictions served to know how the gases contained in air would likely spread downstream from the building in order to define regions of potentially high gas concentration that could endanger neighbouring habitable facilities.     

Effects of Topographical Heterogeneity and Dispersal Limitation on Species Turnover in a Temperate Mountane Ecosystem: a Case Study in the Henan Province,China

Species turnover patterns can be inconsistent due to differences in the dispersal ability of different growth forms. Here, species of trees, shrubs, herbs, and bryophytes in the Xiaoqinling National Nature Reserve in China were analyzed to determine patterns of species turnover along an elevation and spatial gradient. Variance partitioning was used to assess the relative contribution of topographic heterogeneity and dispersal limitation to species turnover. Our results suggest that the effect of dispersal limitation is more important than topographic heterogeneity on species turnover in temperate mountane ecosystems in the study area. Dispersal limitation has a greater effect on trees species turnover than on shrubs, herbs or bryophytes species turnover.     

Systematic review of conservation interventions to promote voluntary behavior change

Understanding human behavior is vital to developing interventions that effectively lead to proenvironmental behavior change, whether the focus is at the individual or societal level. However, interventions in many fields have historically lacked robust forms of evaluation, which makes it hard to be confident that these conservation interventions have successfully helped protect the environment. We conducted a systematic review to assess how effective nonpecuniary and nonregulatory interventions have been in changing environmental behavior. We applied the Office of Health Assessment and Translation systematic review methodology. We started with more than 300,000 papers and reports returned by our search terms and after critical appraisal of quality identified 128 individual studies that merited inclusion in the review. We classified interventions by thematic area, type of intervention, the number of times audiences were exposed to interventions, and the length of time interventions ran. Most studies reported a positive effect (n = 96). The next most common outcome was no effect (n = 28). Few studies reported negative (n = 1) or mixed (n = 3) effects. Education, prompts, and feedback interventions resulted in positive behavior change. Combining multiple interventions was the most effective. Neither exposure duration nor frequency affected the likelihood of desired behavioral change. Comparatively few studies tested the effects of voluntary interventions on non-Western populations (n = 17) or measured actual ecological outcome behavior (n = 1). Similarly, few studies examined conservation devices (e.g., energy-efficient stoves) (n = 9) and demonstrations (e.g., modeling the desired behavior) (n = 5). There is a clear need to both improve the quality of the impact evaluation conducted and the reporting standards for intervention results.     

汉江下游鱼类早期资源及梯级联合生态调度对鱼类繁殖影响的初步分析

汉江是长江一级支流，鱼类资源较为丰富。目前汉江中下游建有4座水利枢纽工程，对鱼类洄游和繁殖产生较大影响。在鱼类繁殖季节，为促进汉江中下游鱼类繁殖，2018年6月汉江中下游首次实施梯级联合生态调度。该研究在汉江下游汉川段设置监测断面，采集鱼类早期资源，以分析汉江下游鱼类早期资源多样性，及生态调度对促进汉江下游鱼类繁殖的效果。监测结果表明汉江下游卵苗种类共有36种（属），其中22种为产漂流性卵鱼类。监测期间卵苗总径流量为118.78亿尾（粒），其中四大家鱼卵苗为0.87亿尾（粒），占0.73%，其中鱼卵0.69亿粒，推测汉江下游有4处四大家鱼产卵场。梯级联合生态调度期间，汉川江段出现一次鱼类产卵高峰，鱼卵径流量占总径流量的34.1%，其中四大家鱼鱼卵占家鱼卵总径流量的85.5%，表明梯级联合生态调度对汉江下游鱼类，特别是四大家鱼的繁殖具有积极的作用。建议今后继续开展生态调度，并加强监测和分析工作。     

徐州大气颗粒物污染特征及传输途径分析

利用徐州2015年PM2.5和PM10逐小时质量浓度数据,分析了徐州颗粒物时空变化特征。同时基于HYSPLIT后向轨迹模式,结合GDAS气象数据和空气质量数据,利用轨迹聚类及潜在源分析法研究徐州不同季节气流轨迹对颗粒物浓度的影响及PM2.5和PM10的潜在来源。结果显示,2015年徐州环境空气中PM2.5和PM10的年均值为65和122μg/m3,分别超过国家《环境空气质量标准》(GB 3095—2012)二级标准限值86%和63%。各国控站点ρ(PM2.5)和ρ(PM10)月变化呈现一致的冬季高夏季低的"V"型变化特征,这与气象条件和气流轨迹特征季节性变化有关。秋冬季污染较高时期徐州主要受西北内陆性气团和较为稳定的气象条件影响,而春夏季来自较为干净的东部海洋性气团利于污染扩散。潜在源分析显示,山东、安徽、苏中南、浙西北等地区是影响徐州市PM2.5和PM10的主要潜在源区。各季节潜在源区分布范围有一定差异,冬季时潜在源区分布最广,并有明显向西北方向转移延伸的趋势。     

齐齐哈尔市PM2.5与PM10污染趋势及相关性分析

对2014—2016年齐齐哈尔市PM_(2.5)与PM_(10)质量浓度的时间变化特征进行简要分析,并探究PM_(2.5)/PM_(10)以及PM_(2.5)与PM_(10)的相关性。结果表明:2014—2016年齐齐哈尔的PM_(2.5)与PM_(10)的年均质量浓度分别为36.7、62.9μg/m~3,且呈逐渐下降趋势;冬季的PM_(2.5)与PM_(10)浓度最高,秋季次之,春季与夏季相对较低;2014—2016年PM_(2.5)与PM_(10)质量浓度月变化趋势基本相同,整体呈现2—6月逐渐下降,9—11月逐渐上升的规律;PM_(2.5)与PM_(10)质量浓度的日变化均呈双峰现象;对PM_(2.5)与PM_(10)进行线性拟合,相关系数为0.896 3。同时,残差分析也说明两者拟合情况良好,四季相关系数为r_(秋季)(0.982 2)r_(冬季)(0.964 4)r_(夏季)(0.943 9)r_(春季)(0.829 6);2014—2016年PM_(2.5)/PM_(10)平均值为55.27%,大气颗粒物PM_(2.5)的贡献率高达一半以上。     

中国省域森林公园旅游产业竞争力的时空演化特征及影响因素

分析我国各省森林公园旅游产业竞争力演变及其影响因素，有助于为处于不同发展阶段和不同发展水平的省份提供产业竞争力方面的指导。首先构建我国港澳台外31省（市、自治区）森林公园的旅游产业竞争力指标体系，然后计算各省旅游产业竞争力得分并分析其时空演变特征，最后采用分位数回归研究影响森林公园旅游产业竞争力空间差异的主要因素。结果表明：中国森林公园旅游产业平均竞争力值较低，区域差异较大，呈现东部向中西部递减的状态；2004~2014年期间西部各省森林公园旅游产业竞争力进步较小，主要原因是受到“短板效应”的制约，表现为西部各省在产业效益方面与东、中部省份存在较大差距；中国的森林公园存在东北和东南两个高层次旅游产业竞争力集聚中心，并存在逐渐向周边地区扩散，带动周边省份提升发展的趋势；回归表明，国家扶持力度、管理投入、资源禀赋、经济基础、品牌效应和交通便利性会在不同分位点上对各省森林公园旅游产业竞争力产生影响。森林公园旅游产业竞争力在不同分位点上影响因素的差异为有针对性的提高各地区竞争力提供了良好的参考。     

Circumpolar status of Arctic ptarmigan: Population dynamics and trends

Rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) and willow ptarmigan (L. lagopus) are Arctic birds with a circumpolar distribution but there is limited knowledge about their status and trends across their circumpolar distribution. Here, we compiled information from 90 ptarmigan study sites from 7 Arctic countries, where almost half of the sites are still monitored. Rock ptarmigan showed an overall negative trend on Iceland and Greenland, while Svalbard and Newfoundland had positive trends, and no significant trends in Alaska. For willow ptarmigan, there was a negative trend in mid-Sweden and eastern Russia, while northern Fennoscandia, North America and Newfoundland had no significant trends. Both species displayed some periods with population cycles (short 3–6 years and long 9–12 years), but cyclicity changed through time for both species. We propose that simple, cost-efficient systematic surveys that capture the main feature of ptarmigan population dynamics can form the basis for citizen science efforts in order to fill knowledge gaps for the many regions that lack systematic ptarmigan monitoring programs.

     

Are older drivers’ driving patterns during an on-road driving task representative of their real-world driving patterns?

Abstract

Objective: The current study investigated whether older drivers’ driving patterns during a customized on-road driving task were representative of their real-world driving patterns.

Methods: Two hundred and eight participants (male: 68.80%; mean age?=?81.52 years, SD?=?3.37 years, range?=?76.00–96.00 years) completed a customized on-road driving task that commenced from their home and was conducted in their own vehicle. Participants’ real-world driving patterns for the preceding 4-month period were also collected via an in-car recording device (ICRD) that was installed in each participant’s vehicle.

Results: During the 4-month period prior to completing the on-road driving task, participants’ median real-world driving trip distance was 2.66?km (interquartile range [IQR]?=?1.14–5.79?km) and their median on-road driving task trip distance was 4.41?km (IQR?=?2.83–6.35?km). Most participants’ on-road driving task trip distances were classified as representative of their real-world driving trip distances (95.2%, n?=?198).

Conclusions: These findings suggest that most older drivers were able to devise a driving route that was representative of their real-world driving trip distance. Future research will examine whether additional aspects of the on-road driving task (e.g., average speed, proportion of trips in different speed zones) are representative of participants’ real-world driving patterns.