现有建筑物的环境评价工具

许多国家已经采用了在建筑物管理中可以支持决策的环境评价方法，建筑和建造研究与革新国际理事会100工作小组（CIB W100）一直在考察几种这样的环境评价方法的实施，本文介绍的澳大利亚、瑞典、挪威与加拿大的评价工具是为评定现有建筑物设计的、法国与日本的做法也包括了现有建筑物的评价工具，本文简要地讨论了每种方法的优缺点，大多数评价方法是把自我评价与一些外部证明（通常与认证有关）结合起来，这就允许各方面更加接近直接与评价方法有关的工作并同时确保评价的质量，越来越多的国家正在发展与实施建筑物环境评价方法和评价工具，最近的方法强调了环境问题，不仅是在各种设计阶段的环境问题，而且还有建筑施工期间的环境问题。     

现有建筑物的环境评价工具

许多国家已经采用了在建筑物管理中可以支持决策的环境评价方法,建筑和建造研究与革新国际理事会100工作小组(CIB W100)一直在考察几种这样的环境评价方法的实施.本文介绍的澳大利亚、瑞典、挪威与加拿大的评价工具是为评定现有建筑物设计的,法国与日本的做法也包括了现有建筑物的评价工具.本文简要地讨论了每种方法的优缺点.大多数评价方法是把自我评价与一些外部证明(通常与认证有关)结合起来,这就允许各方更加接近直接与评价方法有关的工作并同时确保评价的质量.越来越多的国家正在发展与实施建筑物环境评价方法和评价工具.最近的方法强调了环境问题,不仅是在各种设计阶段的环境问题,而且还有建筑施工期间的环境问题.     

现有建筑物的环境评价工具

许多国家已经采用了在建筑物管理中可以支持决策的环境评价方法.建筑和建造研究与革新国际理事会100工作小组(GIB W100)一直在考察几种这样的环境评价方法的实施.本文介绍的澳大利亚、瑞典、挪威与加拿大的评价工具是为评定现有建筑物设计的.法国与日本的做法也包括了现有建筑物的评价工具.本文简要地讨信纸了每种方法的优缺点.大多数评价方法是把自我评价与一些外部证明(通常与认证有关)结合起来,这就允许各方更加接近址接与评价方法有关的工作并同时确保评价的质量.越来越多的国家正在发展与实施建筑物环境评价方法和评价工具.最近的方法强调了环境问题,不仅是在各种设计阶段的环境问题,而且还有建筑施工期间的环境问题.     

现有建筑物的环境评价工具

许多国家已经采用了在建筑物管理中可以支持决策的环境评价方法.建筑和建造研究与革新国际理事会100工作小组(GIB W100)一直在考察几种这样的环境评价方法的实施.本文介绍的澳大利亚、瑞典、挪威与加拿大的评价工具是为评定现有建筑物设计的.法国与日本的做法也包括了现有建筑物的评价工具.本文简要地讨信纸了每种方法的优缺点.大多数评价方法是把自我评价与一些外部证明(通常与认证有关)结合起来,这就允许各方更加接近址接与评价方法有关的工作并同时确保评价的质量.越来越多的国家正在发展与实施建筑物环境评价方法和评价工具.最近的方法强调了环境问题,不仅是在各种设计阶段的环境问题,而且还有建筑施工期间的环境问题.     

基于生命周期评价理论的建筑物环境影响评价系统

建筑物对环境有着巨大的影响。基于生命周期评价(LCA)理论,从材料的开采生产,建筑物的建造、运行直至建筑物被拆除来研究建筑物的环境影响。在一个涉及建筑材料、建筑设备以及建设场地的环境影响数据库的基础上,开发了一个建筑物的环境影响的评价模型BEPAS(BuildingEnvironmentalPerformanceAnalysisSystem)。模型从3个方面:建筑设备运行、建筑材料和建筑场地来研究建筑的环境影响。最后,测算了一个案例,分析了其环境影响水平。     

智能化建筑=绿色建筑

在过去的十年中,“智能化建筑”这个术语已经被广泛地用于描述新的高技术建筑物.这一术语在亚洲已经相当流行,那里有许多最大的新建筑建设项目.智能化建筑的概念自然与对环境无害的“绿色建筑物”有关.本文对Brengel技术中心作了介绍,它是由美国绿色建筑理事会(USGBC)能源和环境设计指导(LEED)绿色建筑评定体系首批认证的12个建筑物之一.     

智能化建筑=绿色建筑

在过去的十年中 ,“智能化建筑”这个术语已经被广泛地用于描述新的高技术建筑物 .这一术语在亚洲已经相当流行 ,那里有许多最大的新建筑建设项目 .智能化建筑的概念自然与对环境无害的“绿色建筑物”有关 .本文对 Brengel技术中心作了介绍 ,它是由美国绿色建筑理事会 (USGBC)能源和环境设计指导 (LEED)绿色建筑评定体系首批认证的 12个建筑物之一 .     

建筑环境的生命周期分析

生命周期思想是解决环境与社会问题的一种整体性方法，这种方法是可持续建筑概念的关键，LCA（生命周期分析，或者生命周期评价）是将生命周期思想应用于建筑和建造业的一种重要工具，LCA可以提供有关物质和能源流动的重要信息，由于它很难应用于建筑物本身，所以关注的焦点越来越集中在对建筑环境实施更全面的分析上，通过LCA获得的知识最好是作为综合设计方法的一部分进行应用，在大多数项目中，如果不把LCA与数量调查或者能源模拟等其他手段综合起来就无法获得完整的LCA，将LCA应用于政策制定的需要优先考虑的问题依地区和经济条件而有所不同。     

智能化建筑＝绿色建筑

在过去的十年中,“智能化建筑”这个术语已经被广泛地用于描述新的高技术建筑物,这一术语在亚洲已经相当流行,那里有许多最大的新建筑建设项目,智能化建筑的概念自然对环境无害的“绿色建筑物”有关,本文对Brengel技术中心作了介绍,它是由美国绿色建筑理事会（USGBC）能源和环境设计指导（LEED)绿色建筑评定体系首批认证的12个建筑物一。     

智能化建筑=绿色建筑

在过去的十年中,“智能化建筑”这个术语已经被广泛地用于描述新的高技术建筑物.这一 术语在亚洲已经相当流行,那里有许多最大的新建筑建设项目.智能化建筑的概念自然与对环 境无害的“绿色建筑物”有关.本文对Brengel技术中心作了介绍,它是由美国绿色建筑理事 会(USGBC)能源和环境设计指导(LEED)绿色建筑评定体系首批认证的12个建筑物之一.     

Rapid,recurring, structured survey versus bioblitz for generating biodiversity data and analysis with a multispecies abundance model

A bioblitz inexpensively and quickly generates biodiversity data, but bioblitzes are often conducted with haphazard, unreplicated sampling. Results tend to be taxonomically, geographically, or temporally biased, lack metadata, and consist of lists of observed taxa that do not enable further analyses or correction for imperfect detection. A rapid, recurring, structured survey (RRSS) uses a structured sampling design and temporal and spatial replication to survey randomly selected sites on a conservation property. We participated in a loosely structured bioblitz and a subsequent RRSS at Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve in Springville (St. Clair County), Alabama (USA) to compare observed richness derived from the 2 survey approaches. The RRSS data structure enabled us to fit models that accounted for imperfect detection to estimate abundances, occupancy probabilities, and habitat associations. The loosely structured bioblitz data could not be used in such models. We present a new integrated multispecies abundance model that we applied to avian RRSS data. Our model extension enables estimation for the community, employs data augmentation to estimate the number of undetected species, and incorporates covariates. The RRSS generated a more comprehensive and less biased list of observed taxonomic richness than the loosely structured bioblitz (e.g., 73 vs. 45 bird species and 104 vs. 63 insect families from the RRSS vs. loosely structured bioblitz, respectively). Models fit to the RRSS data identified seasonal patterns in avian community composition and allowed for estimation of habitat–occupancy relationships for insect taxa. The RRSS protocol has potential for broad transferability as a standardized, quick, and inexpensive way to inventory biodiversity and estimate ecological parameters while providing an outreach opportunity.     

Compliance with and ecosystem function of biodiversity offsets in North American and European freshwaters

Land-use change via human development is a major driver of biodiversity loss. To reduce these impacts, billions of dollars are spent on biodiversity offsets. However, studies evaluating offset project effectiveness that examine components such as the overall compliance and function of projects remain rare. We reviewed 577 offsetting projects in freshwater ecosystems that included the metrics project size, type of aquatic system (e.g., wetland and creek), offsetting measure (e.g., enhancement, restoration, and creation), and an assessment of the projects’ compliance and functional success. Project information was obtained from scientific and government databases and gray literature. Despite considerable investment in offsetting projects, crucial problems persisted. Although compliance and function were related to each other, a high level of compliance did not guarantee a high degree of function. However, large projects relative to area had better function than small projects. Function improved when projects targeted productivity or specific ecosystem features and when multiple complementary management targets were in place. Restorative measures were more likely to achieve targets than creating entirely new ecosystems. Altogether the relationships we found highlight specific ecological processes that may help improve offsetting outcomes.     

A palaeo-hydrogeological model for arsenic contamination in southern and south-east Asia

An argument is presented in which areas of natural arsenic contamination of modern groundwaters throughout Asia have a common origin. Arsenic originally accumulated in oceanic ferro-manganoan sediments of the eastern Palaeo-Tethys. This was further concentrated through oceanic crustal extinction in what later became the south-east Chinese accreted mineralised terrain. Proto-Himalayan uplift of this area created the palaeo-drainage systems of the Ganges – Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Mekong, and Red Rivers, with consequent headwater erosion of arsenic-rich sediments. Their downstream deposition as immature and easily redistributed Neogene sandstones, silts, and iron-rich clays has created secondary and tertiary reservoirs of adsorbed and authigenic arsenic, from which the current arsenic-rich groundwaters have evolved. Considering river basins within the above palaeo-hydrogeological framework provides a basis for assessing the risk of arsenic in groundwater basins of south and south-eastern Asia.     

Cost‐effective conservation of an endangered frog under uncertainty

How should managers choose among conservation options when resources are scarce and there is uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of actions? Well‐developed tools exist for prioritizing areas for one‐time and binary actions (e.g., protect vs. not protect), but methods for prioritizing incremental or ongoing actions (such as habitat creation and maintenance) remain uncommon. We devised an approach that combines metapopulation viability and cost‐effectiveness analyses to select among alternative conservation actions while accounting for uncertainty. In our study, cost‐effectiveness is the ratio between the benefit of an action and its economic cost, where benefit is the change in metapopulation viability. We applied the approach to the case of the endangered growling grass frog (Litoria raniformis), which is threatened by urban development. We extended a Bayesian model to predict metapopulation viability under 9 urbanization and management scenarios and incorporated the full probability distribution of possible outcomes for each scenario into the cost‐effectiveness analysis. This allowed us to discern between cost‐effective alternatives that were robust to uncertainty and those with a relatively high risk of failure. We found a relatively high risk of extinction following urbanization if the only action was reservation of core habitat; habitat creation actions performed better than enhancement actions; and cost‐effectiveness ranking changed depending on the consideration of uncertainty. Our results suggest that creation and maintenance of wetlands dedicated to L. raniformis is the only cost‐effective action likely to result in a sufficiently low risk of extinction. To our knowledge we are the first study to use Bayesian metapopulation viability analysis to explicitly incorporate parametric and demographic uncertainty into a cost‐effective evaluation of conservation actions. The approach offers guidance to decision makers aiming to achieve cost‐effective conservation under uncertainty.     

Threats to intact tropical peatlands and opportunities for their conservation

Large, intact areas of tropical peatland are highly threatened at a global scale by the expansion of commercial agriculture and other forms of economic development. Conserving peatlands on a landscape scale, with their hydrology intact, is of international conservation importance to preserve their distinctive biodiversity and ecosystem services and maintain their resilience to future environmental change. We explored threats to and opportunities for conserving remaining intact tropical peatlands; thus, we excluded peatlands of Indonesia and Malaysia, where extensive deforestation, drainage, and conversion to plantations means conservation in this region can protect only small fragments of the original ecosystem. We focused on a case study, the Pastaza‐Marañón Foreland Basin (PMFB) in Peru, which is among the largest known intact tropical peatland landscapes in the world and is representative of peatland vulnerability. Maintenance of the hydrological conditions critical for carbon storage and ecosystem function of peatlands is, in the PMFB, primarily threatened by expansion of commercial agriculture linked to new transport infrastructure that is facilitating access to remote areas. There remain opportunities in the PMFB and elsewhere to develop alternative, more sustainable land‐use practices. Although some of the peatlands in the PMFB fall within existing legally protected areas, this protection does not include the most carbon‐dense (domed pole forest) areas. New carbon‐based conservation instruments (e.g., REDD+, Green Climate Fund), developing markets for sustainable peatland products, transferring land title to local communities, and expanding protected areas offer pathways to increased protection for intact tropical peatlands in Amazonia and elsewhere, such as those in New Guinea and Central Africa which remain, for the moment, broadly beyond the frontier of commercial development.     

Parasitic wasps orient to green leaf volatiles

Summary Undamaged plants emit low levels of green leaf volatiles (GLVs), while caterpillar-damaged and artificially damaged plants emit relatively higher levels of certain GLVs. Female braconid parasitoids,Microplitis croceipes, oriented to both damaged plants and to individual GLVs in no-choice tests in a wind tunnel, but seldom oriented to undamaged plants. Female ichneumonid parasitoids,Netelia heroica, also oriented to individual GLVs in a wind tunnel. Males of both wasp species failed to orient to the GLVs. These data show that leaf-feeding caterpillars can cause the release of GLVs, and that parasitic wasps can respond to these odors by flying upwind (chemoanemotactic response), which brings the wasps to their caterpillar hosts. This supports the hypothesis that plants communicate with members of the third trophic level,i.e., plants under herbivore attack emit chemical signals that guide natural enemies of herbivores to sites of plant damage. In this interaction, the GLVs serve as tritrophic plant-to-parasitoid synomones. That parasitoids from two different wasp families oriented to GLVs suggests that the response may be widespread among the Hymenoptera.Mention of a commercial or proprietary product does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture     

Human Influence and Classical Biogeographic Predictors of Rare Species Occurrence

Biogeographic theory predicts that rare species occur more often in larger, less‐isolated habitat patches and suggests that patch size and connectivity are positive predictors of patch quality for conservation. However, in areas substantially modified by humans, rare species may be relegated to the most isolated patches. We used data from plant surveys of 81 meadow patches in the Georgia Basin of Canada and the United States to show that presence of threatened and endangered plants was positively predicted for patches that were isolated on small islands surrounded by ocean and for patches that were isolated by surrounding forest. Neither patch size nor connectivity were positive predictors of rare species occurrence. Thus, in our study area, human influence, presumably due to disturbance or introduction of competitive non‐native species, appears to have overwhelmed classical predictors of rare species distribution, such that greater patch isolation appeared to favor presence of rare species. We suggest conservation planners consider the potential advantages of protecting geographically isolated patches in human‐modified landscapes because such patches may represent the only habitats in which rare species are likely to persist. Influencia Humana y Predictores Biogeográficos Clásicos de la Ocurrencia de Especies Raras     

Seasonal dynamics of macro-algae in the South Lake of Tunis

The macro-algae communities observed in the south lake of Tunis are characterized by the predominance of nitrophilous algae which are in the order of biomass importance:Ulva, Cladophora andEnteromorpha. We have noted seasonal changes of alga distribution. The wind appears to be one of the most important factors influencing this distribution. The total biomass reaches a maximum in the spring. Rapid decomposition of the biomass leads to a severe ecological imbalance, resulting in crises of anoxia and fish death. A restoration project has already started. It aims at removal of contaminated muds and the introduction of a new circulation system. The main objectives of this work were to collect information on the distribution and biomass of the phytobenthic communities as a first step in the constitution of a database for further comparison.     

Patterns and biases of climate change threats in the IUCN Red List

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessments rely on published data and expert inputs, and biases can be introduced where underlying definitions and concepts are ambiguous. Consideration of climate change threat is no exception, and recently numerous approaches to assessing the threat of climate change to species have been developed. We explored IUCN Red List assessments of amphibians and birds to determine whether species listed as threatened by climate change display distinct patterns in terms of habitat occupied and additional nonclimatic threats faced. We compared IUCN Red List data with a published data set of species’ biological and ecological traits believed to infer high vulnerability to climate change and determined whether distributions of climate change‐threatened species on the IUCN Red List concur with those of climate change‐threatened species identified with the trait‐based approach and whether species possessing these traits are more likely to have climate change listed as a threat on the IUCN Red List. Species in some ecosystems (e.g., grassland, shrubland) and subject to particular threats (e.g., invasive species) were more likely to have climate change as a listed threat. Geographical patterns of climate change‐threatened amphibians and birds on the IUCN Red List were incongruent with patterns of global species richness and patterns identified using trait‐based approaches. Certain traits were linked to increases or decreases in the likelihood of a species being threatened by climate change. Broad temperature tolerance of a species was consistently related to an increased likelihood of climate change threat, indicating counterintuitive relationships in IUCN assessments. To improve the robustness of species assessments of the vulnerability or extinction risk associated with climate change, we suggest IUCN adopt a more cohesive approach whereby specific traits highlighted by our results are considered in Red List assessments. To achieve this and to strengthen the climate change‐vulnerability assessments approach, it is necessary to identify and implement logical avenues for further research into traits that make species vulnerable to climate change (including population‐level threats).