Changes in the Distribution of Broadleaf Tree Species in the Central Part of the Southern Urals since the 1970s

Russian Journal of Ecology - Changes in the distribution of broadleaf tree species—Tilia cordata Mill., Quercus robur L., Acer platanoides L., and Ulmus glabra Huds.—in the central part...     

财政分权对环境污染的空间效应

利用2006—2017年我国30个省级行政单位的面板数据,采用空间计量模型对财政分权与环境污染之间的关系进行实证分析,并通过效应分解分别计算出财政收入分权和财政支出分权对环境污染的直接效应、空间溢出效应和总效应。模型估计的结果表明:①财政收入分权与财政支出分权通过直接效应和空间溢出效应两种途径对环境污染产生显著影响,但收入分权与支出分权对环境污染的空间效应具有异质性。②财政收入分权对环境污染具有显著的负向直接效应和负向空间溢出效应,影响系数分别为-5.429和-17.572。提高财政收入分权度不仅有利于减轻本省份环境污染,也对邻近省份的环境污染起到抑制作用。而财政支出分权对环境污染具有显著的负向直接效应和正向的空间溢出效应,影响程度分别为-3.345和1.173。提高财政支出分权虽然有利于减少本省份污染的排放,但在一定程度上引起省际的污染外溢效应,提高邻近省份的污染程度。③从总效应来看,财政收入分权和财政支出分权对环境污染均呈现出显著的负向相关性,影响程度分别为-23.001和-2.172。提高财政分权可降低环境污染水平,有利于环境质量提升。④通过构建不同空间权重矩阵,检验模型的稳健性,结果表明模型估计是稳健可靠的。根据分析结论,可能的启示与建议有:①合理划分中央政府和地方政府之间的财政事权和支出责任,在提高财政支出分权度的同时提高地方政府财政收入分权度,充分发挥地方政府环境治理的积极性和主动性。②继续加大生态环境保护力度,完善绿色经济考核机制,引导地方政府加大对污染治理和环境改善的支出水平及效率。     

Unintentional non-traffic injury and fatal events: Threats to children in and around vehicles

Objective: There have been substantial reductions in motor vehicle crash–related child fatalities due to advances in legislation, public safety campaigns, and engineering. Less is known about non-traffic injuries and fatalities to children in and around motor vehicles. The objective of this study was to describe the frequency of various non-traffic incidents, injuries, and fatalities to children using a unique surveillance system and database.

Methods: Instances of non-traffic injuries and fatalities in the United States to children 0–14 years were tracked from January 1990 to December 2014 using a compilation of sources including media reports, individual accounts from families of affected children, medical examiner reports, police reports, child death review teams, coroner reports, medical professionals, legal professionals, and other various modes of publication.

Results: Over the 25-year period, there were at least 11,759 events resulting in 3,396 deaths. The median age of the affected child was 3.7 years. The incident types included 3,115 children unattended in hot vehicles resulting in 729 deaths, 2,251 backovers resulting in 1,232 deaths, 1,439 frontovers resulting in 692 deaths, 777 vehicles knocked into motion resulting in 227 deaths, 415 underage drivers resulting in 203 deaths, 172 power window incidents resulting in 61 deaths, 134 falls resulting in 54 deaths, 79 fires resulting in 41 deaths, and 3,377 other incidents resulting in 157 deaths.

Conclusions: Non-traffic injuries and fatalities present an important threat to the safety and lives of very young children. Future efforts should consider complementary surveillance mechanisms to systematically and comprehensively capture all non-traffic incidents. Continued education, engineering modifications, advocacy, and legislation can help continue to prevent these incidents and must be incorporated in overall child vehicle safety initiatives.     

Estimating Potential Climate Change Effects on the Upper Neuse Watershed Water Balance Using the SWAT Model

Climate change poses water resource challenges for many already water stressed watersheds throughout the world. One such watershed is the Upper Neuse Watershed in North Carolina, which serves as a water source for the large and growing Research Triangle Park region. The aim of this study was to quantify possible changes in the watershed’s water balance due to climate change. To do this, we used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model forced with different climate scenarios for baseline, mid‐century, and end‐century time periods using five different downscaled General Circulation Models. Before running these scenarios, the SWAT model was calibrated and validated using daily streamflow records within the watershed. The study results suggest that, even under a mitigation scenario, precipitation will increase by 7.7% from the baseline to mid‐century time period and by 9.8% between the baseline and end‐century time period. Over the same periods, evapotranspiration (ET) would decrease by 5.5 and 7.6%, water yield would increase by 25.1% and 33.2%, and soil water would increase by 1.4% and 1.9%. Perhaps most importantly, the model results show, under a high emission scenario, large seasonal differences with ET estimated to decrease by up to 42% and water yield to increase by up to 157% in late summer and fall. Planning for the wetter predicted future and corresponding seasonal changes will be critical for mitigating the impacts of climate change on water resources.     

The place of nature in conservation conflicts

Conservation conflicts are gaining importance in contemporary conservation scholarship such that conservation may have entered a conflict hype. We attempted to uncover and deconstruct the normative assumptions behind such studies by raising several questions: what are conservation conflicts, what justifies the attention they receive, do conservation-conflict studies limit wildlife conservation, is scientific knowledge stacked against wildlife in conservation conflicts, do conservation-conflict studies adopt a specific view of democracy, can laws be used to force conservation outcomes, why is flexibility needed in managing conservation conflicts, can conservation conflicts be managed by promoting tolerance, and who needs to compromise in conservation conflicts? We suggest that many of the intellectual premises in the field may defang conservation and prevent it from truly addressing the current conservation crisis as it accelerates. By framing conservation conflicts as conflicts between people about wildlife or nature, the field insidiously transfers guilt, whereby human activities are no longer blamed for causing species decline and extinctions but conservation is instead blamed for causing social conflicts. When the focus is on mitigating social conflicts without limiting in any powerful way human activities damaging to nature, conservation-conflict studies risk keeping conservation within the limits of human activities, instead of keeping human activities within the limits of nature. For conservation to successfully stop the biodiversity crisis, we suggest the alternative goal of recognizing nature's right to existence to maintenance of ecological functions and evolutionary processes. Nature being a rights bearer or legal person would imply its needs must be explicitly taken into account in conflict adjudication. If, even in conservation, nature's interests come second to human interests, it may be no surprise that conservation cannot succeed.     

Correction to: Keeping pace with forestry: Multi-scale conservation in a changing production forest matrix

Ambio - In the original published article, the sentence “Nevertheless, semi-natural forest remnants continue to be harvested and fragmented (Svensson et al. 2018; Jonsson et al. 2019), and...     

Effect of cooking on arsenic concentration in rice

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study assessed the effect of rinsing and boiling on total content of As (tAs) and of its inorganic and organic forms in different types of rice...     

宁波月湖的水质改善与生态修复

随着浙江"五水共治"工作的深化,宁波作为浙江"五水共治"的中坚力量,始终把"五水共治"作为全市工作的首要任务和突破重点。自1999年进行清淤后,月湖水质得到短期改善,然而治标不治本的治理措施,并没有让月湖水质得到根本改善。因此,对月湖进行科学有效的生态修复,针对性地处理水污染问题,使之重新焕发活力具有十分重要的意义。     

扎哈淖尔露天煤矿南帮压煤回采边坡稳定性分析

针对露天矿边帮普遍存在的压煤问题,基于极限平衡及强度折减理论,从控制边坡稳定性角度出发,结合扎哈淖尔露天煤矿南帮软岩边坡工程实际,通过定量计算与定性分析,提出横采内排压帮开采方式。采用二维刚体极限平衡与三维数值模拟相结合的方法分析了横采深部开挖角度及内排跟踪距离对边坡稳定性的影响及其程度,优化设计了扎哈哈淖尔露天矿横采南帮边坡形态。结果表明:南帮边坡滑坡模式为以IVC煤层底板弱层为底界面的切层-顺层滑动;横采内排压帮开采方式可借助边坡三维效应提高露天矿边坡角度及其自身稳定性,进而达到安全、高效地回收边帮压煤,提高露天矿煤炭资源回收率;扎哈淖尔露天煤矿横采南帮边坡稳定性随内排跟踪距离增大呈负指数降低;最终确定横采开挖位置为+908水平,内排跟踪距离为100 m,深部开挖角度为42°,可累计为扎哈淖尔露天煤矿多采出IV煤4 701.39万t,经济效益显著。     

长江三角洲城市群工业用水效率评价及时空差异研究

在水资源约束趋紧的背景下，选取长江三角洲城市群中26个城市2005~2014年的面板数据，运用SBM模型对工业用水效率进行测算，并基于可分解的泰尔指数分析长江三角洲城市群内部工业用水效率的空间差异。结果显示：（1）长江三角洲城市群工业用水效率水平整体偏低，在不考虑与考虑非期望产出的情况下，工业用水效率10a平均值分别为 0.591 8.和 0.519 7;（2）工业用水效率的地区内部差异是造成总差异的主要部分，并且有随时间递增的趋势，其中安徽省对于地区内部差异的贡献率最大，其次为浙江省，江苏省贡献率最低;（3）江苏省各城市工业用水效率虽然差异不大但整体水平较低，而上海市工业用水效率较高并处于稳步上升状态。因此，缩小地区内部差异是实现长江三角洲城市群工业用水效率整体上升的重要途径。