On “China-measures related to the exportation of various raw materials” case in terms of DSB’s interpretations

The Appellate Body report in January 2012 had supported the decision of Panel in the “China-measures related to the exportation of various raw materials” case (WT/DS394,395,398) and affirmed that China’s restrictions (such as tariffs and quota measures) on the exportation of raw materials violated rules put forth by the WTO, which were required to be modified. In this case China’s right to invoke Article 20 of GATT1994 (“general exception”) to justify its exemption from the guidelines in Article 11.3 of the WTO Accession Protocol was denied by the Panel and the Appellate Body. This was due to the fact that the phrasing in Article 11.3 of Protocol failed to mention “GATT.” This was the consequence of the two interpretation approaches the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) adopted – a narrow textual interpretation and a subjective presumption of “legislative silence.” The inappropriate use of the two methods of interpretation lead to an imbalance between the right and obligation of China under the additional obligations that were imposed upon China by the WTO, which create a negative impact on China’s rare earth case and the protection of domestic natural resources.     

中国循环经济基本法立法架构研究

循环经济基本法立法架构的好与坏，不仅关系循环经济基本法的制定与出台，而且影响循环经济基本法的理解和执行。基于此。就循环经济基本法立法架构展开了综合研究，以期有助于中国循环经济基本法的制定与执行。在比较研究国外循环经济基本法立法架构与综合分析中国循环经济基本法立法架构研究现状的基础上，深入探讨中国循环经济的基本内涵以及中国循环经济基本法的基本定位与基本内容，进而提出一种新的中国循环经济基本法立法架构。从目前实践看，中国特色循环经济的内涵可以概括为是对生产和消费活动中物质能量流动方式的管理经济。中国循环经济建设应该从适度生产系统、适度消费系统和回收利用系统三个环节着手。根据经济基础决定上层建筑的基本原理，中国循环经济基本法作为一部环境友好型经济法以及具有一定强制性与制裁性的促进法，应当按照适度生产-适度消费-回收利用这条主线进行立法架构。     

Measurement of natural radioactive nuclide concentrations in various metal ores used as industrial raw materials in Japan and estimation of dose received by workers handling them

Natural resources such as ores and rocks contain natural radioactive nuclides at various concentrations. If these resources contain high concentrations of natural radioactive nuclides, workers handling them might be exposed to significant levels of radiation. Therefore, it is important to investigate the radioactive activity in these resources. In this study, concentrations of radioactive nuclides in Th, Zr, Ti, Mo, Mn, Al, W, Zn, V, and Cr ores used as industrial raw materials in Japan were investigated. The concentrations of ²³⁸U and ²³²Th were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), while those of ²²⁶Ra, ²²⁸Ra, and ⁴⁰K were determined by gamma-ray spectrum. We found the concentrations of ²³⁸U series, ²³²Th series, and ⁴⁰K in Ti, Mo, Mn, Al, W, Zn, V, and Cr ores to be lower than the critical values defined by regulatory requirements as described in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safety Guide. The doses received by workers handling these materials were estimated by using methods for dose assessment given in a report by the European Commission. In transport, indoor storage, and outdoor storage scenarios, an effective dose due to the use of Th ore was above 4.3 × 10⁻² Sv y⁻¹, which was higher than that of the other ores. The maximum value of effective doses for other ores was estimated to be about 4.5 × 10⁻⁴ Sv y⁻¹, which was lower than intervention exemption levels (1.0 × 10⁻³ Sv y⁻¹) given in International Commission of Radiological Protection (ICRP) Publication 82.     

Challenges for modelling and integrating environmental performances in concept design: the case of an automotive component lightweighting

The objective of this paper is to discuss the main barriers for modelling and integrating the environmental performances in the automotive concept design. Incorporating environmental assessment in the early design phase of a vehicle component is known as an important challenge that car makers need to face in order to develop more sustainable design solutions; in this regard, the Life Cycle Assessment is the most widespread methodology for the environmental assessment and comparison of alternatives. The present work illustrates the combination of such methodology with the traditional design procedure at two different levels of the component design phase, material choice and concept design. In particular, the potential benefits originated by a lightweight solution for the automotive component Throttle Body are evaluated by considering environmental and technical implications at the same level. The case study shows that a multi-disciplinary approach for design effectively allows the integration of the environmental issue in the company’s established procedures. However, interpretation of results is still a challenging aspect due to the inevitable contradicting elements which should not discourage to develop comprehensive sustainability assessment within the early design stage.     

Changes in the sex structure of pine populations related to temperature anomalies

The results of ten-year observations on fluctuations in the sex of individual trees and the sex structure of tree stands in two insular pine forests in the south of Central Siberia are presented. It is noted that the ratio of sex types of pine trees has markedly changed since 1998–1999. Significant correlations between the sex structure of stands and anomalies of the annual average air temperature have been recorded since the early 1990s. The male generative sphere of pine has changed to the greatest extent. Periodicity and delay in the change of shoot sexualization in response to changes in temperature are discussed.     

On Sustainable Development of Social Forestry in Bangladesh: Experiences from Sal (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Shorea Robusta</Emphasis>) Forests

Sustainability in forestry is a complex amalgam of trade-offs among its various dimensions and there is no easy route to achieve sustainable development. It is important that policy process and implementation strategy of these policies should be based on sound information about these trade-offs. There is a growing consensus amongst key forest decision-makers in Bangladesh that traditional forestry is needed to make the transition to more sustainable forestry, which is likely to involve local people in forest management. As a result, the government has initiated a social forestry program from 1981 with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) grant and operated mainly in Sal forest areas. The most important objective of this program is to protect, manage, and develop forests in a sustainable way by involving local communities. Although several studies have focused on the management issues of social forestry, none of these studies has evaluated the indicators of sustainable social forestry. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the criteria of sustainable development of social forestry in Bangladesh. The study is based on primary cross-sectional data collected using the multistage stratified sampling technique. In total, 581 social forestry farmers were selected randomly and interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire. The study evaluated some important components of sustainable development and identified the following conditions of social forestry in Bangladesh:(i) almost all the components of sustainable development of social forestry, although not at the aspiration level, were at good condition;(ii) participants were interested and committed to work with Forest Department in developing social forestry;(iii) they had been utilizing both hard and soft technology in practicing social forestry, although there exists ample scope of development;(iv) income of participants after involving in social forestry had increased, although not at satisfactory level; and(v) process of producing social and material goods had been under progress.However, there exist plenty of scopes for sustainable social forestry development through improving the sustainable development components more carefully.Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

On the influence of faulting on small-scale soil-gas radon variability: a case study in the Iberian Uranium Province

In order to evaluate the influence of faulting on the variability of geogenic radon at detailed scale (1:2000), data on gamma ray fluxes, U and Th concentrations in rocks, radon in soil-gas and radon in groundwater were collected in three target areas on the Oliveira do Hospital region (Central Portugal). This region stands on the Iberian Uranium Province, and is dominantly composed of Hercynian granites and metasedimentary rocks of pre-Ordovician age, crosscut by faults with dominant strike N35°E, N55°E and N75°E. Radiometric anomalies are frequent, associated with faults of the referred systems and metasedimentary enclaves; the analytical data confirms that these anomalies are produced by local high uranium contents in rocks and fault-filling materials (n = 34, range 13-724 ppm), while other radiogenic elements are relatively constant (e.g. Th 4-30 ppm). Radon concentration in soil can be extremely high, up to 12,850 kBq m⁻³ (n = 215), with a large proportion of results above 100 kBq m⁻³. Unsurprisingly, groundwater also shows high radon concentrations, with observed values in the range 150-4850 Bq.L⁻¹ (n = 17). From the results it is concluded that metasedimentary enclaves, as well as faults, can accumulate uranium from circulating fluids, and as a consequence, strongly locally enhance geogenic radon potential. Due to this fact, for the purpose of land use planning in such uranium-enriched regions, very detailed geological mapping is needed to precisely recognize radon high risk areas. A correlation between radon concentration in soil or in groundwater and gamma ray fluxes was established pointing to the possible use of these fluxes as a first step in assessing geogenic radon potential, at least to geological setting similar to the study area.     

Time-series sampling of Ra and Ra at the inlet to Great South Bay (New York): a strategy for characterizing the dominant terms in the Ra budget of the bay

Ra isotopes are a powerful tool for quantifying the flux of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) into the sea. Previous studies of ²²³Ra and ²²⁴Ra mass balances in coastal embayments have shown that the Ra balance is dominated by supply via SGD, exchange with the open ocean and radioactive decay. The current study shows that a single time series over a tidal cycle at the principal inlet to Great South Bay (NY, US) is sufficient to determine the net flux of Ra across the inlet, and also can be used to estimate the decay of short-lived Ra in the bay. Estimates of the net Ra flux obtained from a single tidal time-series by using three different approaches agree with those determined from a more time-consuming survey of Ra within the bay, and may represent a first step of estimating SGD in bays and coastal lagoons.     

Changes in the upper limits of tree species distribution in the Western Caucasus (Belaya River basin) related to recent climate warming

To estimate the response of tree vegetation to recent climate warming in the Western Caucasus, the population state of several tree species at the upper limit of their distribution has been estimated in three mountain massifs in the Belaya River basin. For this purpose, the average and maximum stem diameters, vitality, and age of trees have been determined in the transitional zone between middle-mountain and high-mountain beech-fir forests (1400–1700 m a.s.l.) and in crooked birch forests growing at the upper timberline (1810–2025 m). The upper limits of Acer platanoides, A. pseudoplatanus, Ulmus glabra, and Betula litwinowii have shown a tendency to rise. The upper limit of Abies nordmanniana has remained unchanged over the past few decades, which may be explained by a decrease in moisture supply during the warm season.     

On radiocarbon and plutonium leakage to groundwater in the vicinity of a shallow-land radioactive waste repository

A shallow-land radioactive waste repository operated in boggy forest environment from 1963 to 1989. During the operation period, a considerable amount of technogenic radionuclides, in solidified state, was disposed into the vault established in the geological structure at the depth of up to 3 m. Environmental monitoring activities started after the closure of the repository in 1989. Recent investigations revealed transfer of radiocarbon and plutonium to the groundwater in the prevailing flow direction. Activity concentration of ^239,240Pu in non-filtered fraction of the groundwater from observation well no. 4 determined by alpha-spectrometry was 6.4 × 10⁻⁵ Bq l⁻¹ in 2005, and 3.2 × 10⁻⁴ Bq l⁻¹ in 2006. Further analysis of colloid-facilitated transport of plutonium is planned. Variation of ¹⁴C activity concentration in the same well was monitored in 2006. It varied from 0.2 ± 0.1 Bq l⁻¹ in October to 2.8 ± 0.6 Bq l⁻¹ in June and July. Results imply further research into radiocarbon transfer to atmosphere and selected plant species.     

On the Role of a Decentralized Control System in Adaptation to High Ambient Temperature in a Population of the Oligochaete Tubifex tubifex

Russian Journal of Ecology -     

生态景观质量的游客感知及支付意愿评价——以福友休闲农场为例

在近年来国内休闲农业快速发展的背景下,由于缺乏对其非使用价值的正确认识和判断,出现了高速增长与效果欠佳的矛盾,如何科学评价休闲农场开发的非使用价值,对于该产业发展具有重要意义。条件价值评估方法(CVM)是国内外评估非使用价值和支付意愿较为成熟的方法,但尚未用于对具有"三产融合"和"三生一体"特性的休闲农场的评估,本研究以福建开发较为成熟的长泰福友休闲农场为研究取样点,采用该方法探究游客对休闲农场生态景观质量的感知水平及支付意愿。结果表明:游客对福友休闲农场生态保护价值支付意愿的下限为18.26元,支付上限为23.10元,游客对福友休闲农场生态景观保护的支付意愿为96.45万元/年;提供便捷的支付渠道和公开资金的使用途径能有效提升游客购买生态景观保护价值的支付意愿;农场空气的好坏、农场的生态体验设计、农场的田园功能分区在主题设计、耕作体验形式、内容等方面的创新程度对游客生态保护的支付意愿影响较大;对于大部分拥有一定农场阅历但对农业多功能性认识不足的游客,在便捷的支付手段和珍稀植物品种的吸引下,更倾向于形成较低水平的生态保护价值支付意愿,而那些文化素质较高,特别是拥有农场、生态相关领域研究背景,对于农场生态功能性、体验养生内容拥有一定认知的游客,则愿意在更高的价格水平支付农场的生态保护价值。     

Ecological plasticity of nest-building behavior of the redwing (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Turdus iliacus</Emphasis> L.) in Karelia according to individual marking data

The placement of 1918 redwing nests has been analyzed, including 214 nests of 90 marked females (2–8 known nests per female). A high level of intraspecific and individual variation in utilization of different types of nest supports is described. It is shown that redwings choose nest sites without regard to previous experience (either positive or negative) or to the placement of their parent nest. Under conditions of the northern taiga, such behavior provides for significant reduction of chick mortality by the end of the season. This is con- firmed by comparison with the song thrush (T. philomelos), which nests mainly on spruce trees.