On the intrinsic structure of differential equation models of ecosystems

Some intrinsic properties of differential equation models of ecosystems are formulated. The properties, which are long-termed, are classified into fundamental, stability, and sensitivity substructures. An aspect of the ecological term “resilient” — asymptotic stability uniformly for all small parameter variations — is introduced in a mathematical setting. In the sensitivity substructure, bounded sensitivity and continuity of sensitivity with respect to solutions are recognized as intrinsic properties. Illustrations of these two properties are given.     

Estimation of the cost of air pollution control regulation

Estimates of hydrocarbon pollution control costs under the alternative regulatory approaches of individual source or process standards, plant standards, and regionally marketable permits are presented. The estimates are obtained from data supplied by the DuPont Company based on a 1976 in-house engineering study. The estimation procedure is unique in that the data are based on uniform percentage control across sources while the estimated cost equations allow variable control at each source. The cost simulations show that considerable cost savings are available from allowing firms more flexibility in meeting a given environmental standard. The effect of plant relocation and monopoly in the pollution permit market are also investigated.     

Functional morphology of the gonads of the articulate brachiopodTerebratulina retusa

The reproductive anatomy, and ultrastructural features of the gonads of the articulate brachiopodTerebratulina retusa (Linnaeus), are documented based on collections made between October 1985 and October 1986 from the Firth of Lorn, west coast of Scotland. This species is dioecious, and maturity is achieved in both sexes at shell lengths greater than ~5.5 mm. There is no obvious external sexual dimorphism except for slight differences in the coloration of the gonads; testes are white/cream, ovaries are yellow/orange. The gonads occur as four palmate lobes, a pair in each valve. Gonads are formed within a mantle sinus (vascula genitalia), which is an anterior extension of the coelom, that opens posteriorly into the visceral cavity and to the exterior via a pair of metanephridia. The latter serve as gonoducts during spawning. Gametes are borne on genital lamellae formed from a reticulate lattice of connective tissue. The lamellae are an extension of the ileoparietal band and are fused along one margin to the inner mantle membrane. Developing oocytes are closely affixed to the genital lamellae and originate from a pool of proliferating germ cells at its base. Vitellogenic oocytes that are at an advanced stage are released from the genital lamellae, but are retained within thevascula genitalia. Liberated oocytes continue to accumulate yolk and eventually occlude thevascula genitalia, before being spawned. Coelomocytes were identified within the gonads. In spent females these cells appear to be phagocytic and involved in the resorption of necrotic material, while in the male they may serve as nutritive cells.     

国内外农药生态风险评价研究综述

从生态风险评价的准则、评价方法、风险评价模型及生态风险评价在农药登记管理中的重要作用等方面对比,阐述了美国、世界经济合作与发展组织(OECD)及我国农药生态风险评价的研究概况。指出了我国在农药生态风险评价方面存在的不足,并针对这些不足之处提出了对策建议。     

中国土壤资源特点与粮食安全问题

土壤资源是粮食生产的基础，也是粮食安全的核心。文章在研究我国土壤资源特点的基础上，系统阐述我国粮食安全正面临着耕地减少、粮食减产的挑战。提出要解决我国耕地土壤和粮食安全问题，必须实施“藏粮于土”的行动计划，全面提高我国土壤资源的综合生产能力，其主要内容是：稳定耕地面积和粮食播种面积，实施基本农田严格保护机制；开发土壤潜力，提高粮食综合生产能力；加强生态环境建设，建立有弹性有应变能力的种植制度；防治土壤污染，保障粮食安全；适度开荒复垦，充分利用非耕地资源。     

The application of a multiple-recapture technique for the study of some aspects of dynamics of large fish populations

The multiple-recapture technique can be used to study some aspects of the dynamics of large fish populations, if a part of the fishing fleet is considered as experimental fishing boats by appointing obserers to release tagged fish which are captured, while untagged fish captured are retained. The tagged and untagged populations are assumed to have different properties such as catchability and survival rates. The fish are sampled during a number of sampling surveys with equal duration and no intervening time intervals between them. It is assumed that fish suffer from mortalities during sampling surveys. The parameters of untagged populations can be estimated with the help of the readily estimated parameters of tagged fish (Rafail, 1972), the relationship between the parameters of tagged and untagged populations, and the numbers of untagged fish captured during the sampling surveys. The estimates are free from Types A and B tagging errors.     

Environmental problems of Kavala region

In this paper the environmental problems of the Kavala region are analysed and evaluated. Risks and hazards to people and living stock are identified and main polluting generators are duly recognized. Impacts of pollution on sectorial economic activities is discussed in detail and proposals for facing the oncoming environmental crisis in the region are put forward.     

广东西部主要土壤的光谱特征

以广东省西部不同地区的三种不同类型的红土:赤红壤、黄壤、砖红壤为例,研究了这些红土土壤的光谱反射特性,进行了光谱波形特征及一些吸收波段特征的分析,对这三种土壤的光谱特征进行了对照比较,并且对土壤的各个剖面层的光谱差异进行了分析.结果表明,三种土壤其光谱特征基本相似,都是属于"陡坎型".氧化铁的吸收波段明显.并且整个波谱曲线的反射率都比较低.但是不同红土的光谱又有各自的特性.不同母岩发育的同一类土壤及其同一个土壤不同的剖面层都因为有机质、氧化铁等的含量不同其反射率曲线有一定的差异.玄武岩发育的砖红壤的反射率曲线比较平直些,曲线的反射率更低,这意味着玄武岩发育的砖红壤中比花岗岩等其他母质发育的赤红壤和黄壤富含更多的铁铝三氧化物.这些分析结果可能为这些类别红土的识别和分类提供诊断指标.     

Measurement of the leaching behaviour of granular solid wastes

Leaching of granular solids can be described in terms of specific mass transfer functions of a simple mathematical form.

The parameters can be determined by column leaching experiments under well known flow conditions.

Initially available concentrations are obtained from batch experiments at high dilution. Total concentrations in the solids are determined independently to calculate the available fractions.

The determination of the flow pattern is done by radiotracer measurements. Leachates are analyzed by various analytical methods including AAS and INAA. Total concentrations in the solids are determined by INAA preferably.     

Influence of age polyethism on longevity of workers in social insects

Age polyethism is widespread among social insects and, as a rule, safe tasks are performed by workers earlier in life than are risky ones. Mathematical models were used to compare expected longevity of workers in colonies with and without age polyethism. The results of the models suggest that if aging does not depend on activity then age polyethism is profitable when safer tasks are performed earlier in life. If, however, aging depends on activity, age polyethism is profitable when safer tasks are performed earlier in life and if they are associated with higher aging-related mortality. On the other hand, age polyethism is not profitable if safer tasks are performed later in life, and if they are associated with lower aging-related mortality. Furthermore, if there is no aging, then age polyethism does not bring any benefits. Electronic supplementary material to this paper can be obtained by using the Springer Link server located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-001-0429-z     

吉林西部草地生态系统不同退化演替阶段土壤有机碳变化研究

草地盐碱化是吉林西部典型的生态环境问题。针对吉林西部具有＂羊草群落（Leymus chinense）→羊草-虎尾草群落（Carex duiuscula）→羊草-碱茅群落（Puccinellia distans）→碱蓬群落（Suaeda glauca）＂直至退化为盐碱地的逆向演替规律,本文选取大安市姜家甸草场为典型区进行野外样地调查,收集不同演替阶段植物样品30份,土壤剖面样品100份,表土样品40份,监测群落生态特征、土壤理化性质,计算土壤有机碳储量。分析结果表明：随着退化演替的进行,羊草-虎尾草群落的多样性指数、植被生物量、土壤有机质最高,土壤含水率及全N指数逐渐降低,土壤的pH值及土壤容重升高,土壤有机碳含量在0～100cm各土层呈现出先升高再降低的趋势,其中0～40cm内变化显著,50～100cm内相差不大,1m土壤有机碳密度从羊草群落的75.37t·hm-2升高到羊草-虎尾草群落的76.11t·hm-2,至盐碱地减少到52.21t·hm-2,约减少30%。研究结果对吉林省合理放牧、草地固碳量的增加和土壤碳储量的提高都有指导意义。     

整治农业生态环境刻不容缓

介绍了目前我国农村农业生产自身所引起的生态破坏和环境污染问题 ,提出了相应的对策措施     

New analytical formulations for calculation of dispersion parameters of Gaussian model using parallel CFD

New analytical formulations are presented for calculation of most effective parameters in the Gaussian plume dispersion model; the standard deviations of concentration for horizontal and vertical dispersion in neutral atmosphere conditions. Employing parallel Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) as a powerful tool, some well-known analytical generations of Pasquill–Gifford–Turner experimental data are modified. To achieve this aim, CFD simulations are carried out for single stack dispersion on flat terrain surface and ground level concentrations are determined in different distances. An inverse procedure in Gaussian plume dispersion model is then applied and standard deviations of horizontal and vertical dispersions are obtained. The values are compared with those of the well-known methods of Doury, Briggs and Hanna in two cases: the experimental data for release of krypton-85 from 100 m high and pollution dispersion from three 28 m high stacks of Besat power plant near Tehran. The comparison indicates that new formulations for plume dispersion are more accurate than other well-known formulations.     

重庆市蔬菜基地土壤中重金属含量及污染特征

重庆市蔬菜基地土壤中重金属的平均含量分别为Hg0.185mg/kg．CdO.231mg/kg.Pb21.09mg/kg.As.As7.03mg/kg,Cr47.92mg/kg;部分基地的土壤受到污染．主要污染物为Hg和Cd。由于城市区划的不同,土壤污染程度为近郊区＞工矿区＞远郊区。     

Reliability of Absolute and Relative Predictions of Population Persistence Based on Time Series

Abstract:  Conventional population viability analysis (PVA) is often impractical because data are scarce for many threatened species. For this reason, simple count-based models are being advocated. The simplest of these models requires nothing more than a time series of abundance estimates, from which variance and autocorrelation in growth rate are estimated and predictions of population persistence are generated. What remains unclear, however, is how many years of data are needed to generate reliable estimates of these parameters and hence reliable predictions of persistence. By analyzing published and simulated time series, we show that several decades of data are needed. Predictions based on short time series were very unreliable mainly because limited data yielded biased, unreliable estimates of variance in growth rate, especially when growth rate was strongly autocorrelated. More optimistically, our results suggest that count-based PVA is sometimes useful for relative risk assessment (i.e., for ranking populations by extinction risk), even when time series are only a decade long. However, some conditions consistently lead to backward rankings. We explored the limited conditions under which simple count-based PVA may be useful for relative risk assessment.     

A critique of ethical and social issues of genetically modified crops

SUMMARY

The ethical and social issues of genetically modified crops as reported by the Nuffield Bioethics Committee are summarised. A critique of their findings is presented. It is argued that the apparent benefits are outweighed by the ecological, social and economic costs, and that the yields of some genetically modified crops are poorer when compared to conventional species. Furthermore, the current regulations are far too lax for consumer protection. There is an urgent need for a critical and disinterested review of the scientific basis of the research.     

Usage of non-timber forest products by women in forest villages of Trabzon, Turkey

Women are responsible for procuring the food for their family in many places in the world. The usage of the non-timber forest products (NTFPs) reaches to the beginning of the humanity NTFPs are used for food and medicine especially in the developing countries as a whole. In this research, totally 611 questionnaires were conducted with women participants by polling face to face in 68 forest villages in the research area. The main reason for studying with women is that; the gathering activities are usually done by women in that area and they also knew the used parts and how to use the NTFPs. Results showed that about 14.4% of the women in the research area are gathering the plants for food (17 species and 2-8 kg annually) and 9.2% of the women are gathering the plants for medicinal purposes (16 species and 1-4 kg annually). These plants are usually used for additional medicinal treatments. 4 species are used for livestock treatment and 2 species in the hand weaving.     

Foraging tactics of two guilds of web-spinning spiders

Summary The foraging behavior of orbweaving and sheetweb weaving guilds of spiders was investigated. Orbweavers move among web-sites frequently, but sheetweb weavers do not. A simple model that examines the adaptive advantages of active foraging and sit-and-wait strategies leads to three predictions: 1) Orbweavers should have a simple decision rule for leaving web-sites, 2) Orbweavers' web-sites should have more variable payoffs than do the web-sites of sheetweb weavers, and 3) Orbweavers should have a lower cost of moving than do sheetweb weavers. Field and experimental data bear out each prediction. In addition, analysis of the residence times of spiders at web-sites that are used more than once reveals that members of the two guilds do not compete with each other for web-sites.The distinction between active foragers and sit-and-wait predators stems from the relative frequency of the decision to leave a foraging site. Thus active foragers are those predators that move often from patch to patch, and sit-and-wait predators are those that leave patches infrequently. In this sense, orbweaving spiders are active foragers and sheetweb weavers are sit-and-wait predators.     

A Realistic Assessment of the Indicator Potential of Butterflies and Other Charismatic Taxonomic Groups

Abstract:  Charismatic groups of animals and plants often are proposed as sentinels of environmental status and trends. Nevertheless, many claims that a certain taxonomic group can provide more-general information on environmental quality are not evaluated critically. To address several of the many definitions of indicator species, we used butterflies to explore in some detail the attributes that affect implementation of indicators generically. There probably are few individual species, or sets of species, that can serve as scientifically valid, cost-effective measures of the status or trend of an environmental phenomenon that is difficult to measure directly. Nevertheless, there are species with distributions, abundances, or demographic characteristics that are responsive to known environmental changes. In this context, single or multiple species can serve as indicators when targets are defined explicitly, ecological relationships between the target and the putative indicators are well understood, and data are sufficient to differentiate between deterministic and stochastic responses. Although these situations exist, they are less common than might be apparent from an extensive and often confounded literature on indicators. Instead, the public appeal of charismatic groups may be driving much of their acclaim as indicators. The same taxon may not be appropriate for marketing a general conservation mission and for drawing strong inference about specific environmental changes. To provide insights into the progress of conservation efforts, it is essential to identify scientific and practical criteria for selection and application of indicators and then to examine whether a given taxonomic group meets those criteria .     

Indications of fitness differences among vocal clans of sperm whales

Cultural variation can affect the genetic evolution of a species if there are consistent cultural differences that contribute to fitness variation between groups of individuals. In this study, measures of the reproductive success of groups of sperm whales from different cultural clans are used as proxies for fitness. We measure reproductive success using population length distributions from acoustic and photographic measurements and visual observations of the presence of calves. The results obtained are generally consistent between methods; there are large and significant differences between the clans in the measures of reproductive success. The results from this study strengthen the case for cultural hitchhiking in sperm whales by indicating that differences in culture between clans correlate with differences in fitness.