Statistical Issues for Monitoring Ecological and Natural Resources in the United States

The United States funds a number of national monitoring programs to measure the status and trends of ecological and natural resources. Each of these programs has a unique focus; the scientific objectives are different as are the sample designs. However, individuals and committees, all well aware of the cost of ecological monitoring, have called for more effective monitoring programs. The objective of this paper is to summarize existing programs' statistical designs and discuss potential alternatives for improvement in national monitoring. Can we improve the current situation by providing an overall framework for the design or analysis of data from these disparate surveys? First, the paper summarizes the objectives of these surveys, compares and contrasts their survey designs as currently implemented, and determines what variables they collect. Through this process we identify commonalities and issues that impact our ability to combine information across one or more of the surveys. Three potential alternatives are presented, leading to comprehensive monitoring in the United States.     

关于宁夏环境监测工作存在问题及其对策的研究

通过认真、细致的分析环境监测工作存在的主要问题,提出了宁夏监测工作创新发展的思想与建议。     

A Multi-Channel Continuous Water Toxicity Monitoring System: Its Evaluation and Application to Water Discharged from a Power Plant

A multi-channel continuous water toxicity monitoring system was, after confirming the systems' performance, implemented to samples of water discharged from power plants to detect and classify their toxicity using several recombinant bioluminescent bacteria. Each channel of the system is composed of a series of two mini-bioreactors to enable a continuous operation, i.e., without system interruption due to highly toxic samples. A different recombinant bacterial strain was present in each channel: DPD2540 (fabA::lux CDABE), DPD2794 (recA::luxCDABE), and TV1061 (grpE::luxCDABE), which are induced by cell membrane-, DNA-, and protein-damaging agents, respectively. GC2 (lac::luxCDABE) is a constitutive strain, whose bioluminescence is reduced by an increase in cellular toxicity. Phenol and mitomycin C (MMC) were used for evaluating the system's performance to detect toxic chemicals. These samples were injected into the second mini-bioreactor according to a step or bell-curve manner. The field samples used in this study were obtained from the water discharged from two different power plants in Korea – from a nuclear power plant and a thermo-electronic power plant, and were injected into the second mini-bioreactor to initiate the toxicity test. Each channel showed specific bioluminescent (BL) response profiles due to the toxic compounds present in the water samples. Comparing the BL signals between the standard toxic chemical samples and discharged water samples, the equivalent toxicity of the field water could be estimated. Finally, it was proved that this novel continuous toxicity monitoring system can be used as an alternative tool for the quick monitoring and control of water quality, as well as aid in the setting up of a new monitoring strategy to protect the source of tap water and in the prevention of polluted water discharge.     

Monitoring Inter-Annual Variability Reveals Sources of Mercury Contamination in Clear Lake, California

Mercury (Hg) in the aquatic ecosystem of Clear Lake has been documented since the 1970s when fishes were found to have elevated levels of toxic methyl mercury (meHg). Mining practices at the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine (active intermittently from 1872–1957) along the shoreline of Clear Lake included the bulldozing of waste rock and overburden ore into the shallow nearshore regions of the lake and the creation of steeply sloped piles of waste rock at the water's edge. This process, plus erosion of the waste rock piles, resulted in the accumulation of an estimated 100 metric tons of Hg in Clear Lake. A monitoring program to assess Hg in Clear Lake was established in 1992, and conducted continuously from 1994. Drought conditions in California had persisted for ca. 6 yrs prior to 1992, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) remediated the steeply sloped eroding waste rock piles, which appeared to reduce sediment Hg concentrations significantly. In April 1995, a white flocculent material was observed in Clear Lake adjacent to the mine and has been observed every year since, leading to the discovery of ongoing acid mine drainage (AMD), low pH fluids high in Hg and extremely high in sulfate. AMD is now believed to be the most likely cause of elevated meHg in Clear Lake. The discovery of this source of meHg production in Clear Lake, which will significantly influence remedial options, was only made possible by implementation of a diligent monitoring program.     

监督性监测的实施与保障分析

阐述了监督性监测的目的和作用及存在的主要问题,提出实施监督性监测工作必须具备实质要件和程序要件二大保障条件,对今后环保工作中如何发挥监督性监测的作用提出了建议。     

论环境监测中比色分析的样品空白

针对环境监测样品本身受到不同程度污染的实际情况，提出样品空白这一分析术语，更加明确了环境监测的色度、浊度校正的重要性，对提高环境监测质量具有重要意义。     

Strategies used to Guide the Design and Implementation of a National River Monitoring Programme in South Africa

This article explores the strategies that were, and are being, used to facilitate the transition from scientific developmentto operational application of the South African River Health Programme (RHP). Theoretical models from the field of the management of technology are used to provide insight into the dynamics that influence the relationship between the creation and application of environmental programmes, and the RHP in particular. Four key components of the RHP design are analysed,namely the (a) guiding team, (b) concepts, tools and methods, (c) infra-structural innovations and (d) communication. These key components evolved over three broad life stages of the programme, which are called the design, growth and anchoring stages.     

煤化工厂烟气中苯并(a)芘现状监测分析

通过试验建立了煤化工厂烟气中苯并(a)芘的液相色谱监测分析方法.通过条件优化,用配有荧光检测器的高效液相色谱仪分析烟气样品中苯并(a)芘的含量,该方法以乙腈、水梯度比例混合作为流动相;流速为1.0 ml/min;激发波长为255nm、发射波长为420nm;保留时间为27.38 min,测定检出限为2×10-3μg/m3...     

浅谈废气污染物总量监测中存在的问题及解决办法

阐述了废气污染排放总量监测中存在的问题,针对这些问题提出了解决办法,并就总量监测中的各个环节提出了具体要求。     

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment of a Great River Ecosystem: The Upper Missouri River Pilot

Most Great River ecosystems (GREs) are extensively modified and are not receiving adequate protection to prevent further habitat degradation and loss of biotic integrity. In the United States, ecological monitoring and assessment of GREs has lagged behind streams and estuaries, and the management of GREs is hampered by the lack of unbiased data at appropriate spatial scales. Properties of GREs that make them challenging to monitor and assess include difficult sample logistics and high habitat diversity. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) has developed a comprehensive, regional-scale, survey-based monitoring approach to assessment of streams and estuaries, but has not yet conducted research on applying these tools to GRE monitoring. In this paper we present an overview of an EMAP research project on the Upper Missouri River (UMR). We summarize the assessment objectives for the study, the design for selecting sample locations, the indicators measured at these sites and the tools used to analyze data. We present an example of the type of statements that can be made with EMAP monitoring data. With modification, the set of methodologies developed by EMAP may be well suited for assessment of GREs in general.     

河流水质自动监测系统建设与运行中常见问题分析

工程设计、基础设施建设、分析仪器、辅助系统、采样系统等方面探讨了水质自动监测系统建设及运行中常见的问题,并提出了相应的改进措施。     

Optimal Design of a Multi-Pollutant Air Quality Monitoring Network in a Metropolitan Region Using Kaohsiung, Taiwan as an Example

An air quality monitoring network (AQMN) usually performs the basic function of assessment of regional air quality and demonstration of compliance with ambient air quality standards in an urban area. Different pollutants, however, may present different characteristic variabilities due to their specific emission patterns, rates of diffusion, and transport and transformation behaviors. But the costs of siting in a pollutant-specific monitoring network would be higher than that for a common network with respect to several pollutants monitored simultaneously. This paper presents a survey of multi-pollutant design principles and optimal searches for siting patterns of an AQMN using both simulation and optimization models as a combined tool. While conservative, quasi-stable, and reactive pollutants are considered in the design principles, cost, coverage effectiveness, and spatial correlation characteristics are included in the multi-criteria decision making process. For illustrative purpose, a series of technical settings and two types of objectives were examined in the case study for the city of Kaohsiung in Taiwan.     

河南省五城市环境空气PM_(10)手工标准方法与自动监测法比对分析

在焦作、安阳、开封、三门峡、信阳5个城市开展PM_(10)手工标准方法和自动监测法比对实验,并用相关性和相对偏差对比对结果进行分析和评价。结果表明:12015年5个城市采集的PM_(10)手工和自动监测值均具有良好的相关性。22015年5个城市采集的PM_(10)手工和自动监测值的相对偏差为-19.1%~9.68%;负偏差数据占总数据量的75%。3PM_(10)手工和自动监测值|RD|平均值在中浓度下最小,高浓度下最大,低浓度介于二者之间,说明在高浓度和低浓度时PM_(10)的监测数据质量尤其值得关注。     

重庆城市电网工频电磁环境现状及安全性分析

在现场实测的基础上,分析研究了重庆城市电网中各种电压等级、各种类型变电站周边环境,多种形式架空线路下方区域以及地下电缆周围工频电磁环境的现状,对比国家现行标准限值,评价重庆城市电网的工频电磁环境的安全性,同时也指出随着架空线密度的增加,周围工频电场不但不增加,反而有降低的现象.目前擅自在输电线路下建房或增加房屋高度是危及电磁环境安全的主要问题,应加大监管力度,减少日后不必要的环保纠纷.     

项目竣工环境保护验收废水监测中若干问题的探讨

针对项目竣工环境保护验收废水监测过程中常见的难点问题,结合实际工作经验,对其进行了剖析,并提出相应的解决办法。     

The Need for Integrated Linkages and Long-Term Monitoring of Mercury in Canada

A nation-wide ecosystem science network for Canada was formed in 1994. At that time, mercury was a re-emerging issue in Canada and the Coordinating Office for the networksought collaboration to assess the issue. The key mechanismsby which the network has added value in addressing this issue are: 1) Information Dissemination, the network has organised, facilitated and co-hosted a number of regional,national and international mercury events (meetings, conferences and workshops) which have served to bring theexpertise together, the network also disseminates informationon it's web page, and the Coordinating Office hosts an annualNational Science Conference; 2) Collaborative Mercury Monitoring, network partners advocated the need for a singlehemispheric mercury network which resulted in the developmentof a compatible Canada–U.S. mercury deposition network, whichmay also be expanded into Mexico, and 3) Environmental Reporting, the network has collaborated with others to reporton current mercury findings through initiatives such as the 1998 Northeast States and Eastern Canadian Mercury Study, a 1999 Mercury Case Study and is presently a partner in the University of Quebec's proposal to form a Collaborative Mercury Ecosystem Research Network in Canada.     

Adaptive Management, Monitoring, and the Ecological Sustainability of a Thermal-Polluted Water Ecosystem: A Case in Sw Spain

The construction of the Almaraz nuclear power plant in Spain in the 1970s posed interesting environmental problems concerning the construction of a cooling reservoir (Arrocampo reservoir) to cool the steam condensers and the consequent heating of the reservoirs water. The socio-political context forced decision makers to set up a project for the monitoring and management of the environmental impacts derived from the construction and operation of the power plant. Numerous scientific and technical specialists collaborated with the representatives of social groups towards two goals: the improvement of the biodiversity and of the efficiency of the cooling system. These goals involved the monitoring and managing of the system with respect to different biological aspects, mainly limnology, ichthyology, avian fauna and vegetation. The management plan yielded numerous results. The control of the water eutrophy is one of the most important due to its repercussion on the rest of the ecosystem, especially the fish fauna. The development of the shore vegetation slowly increased the patchwork nature of the reservoir, leading to a greater diversity of the avian species. This paper describes the monitoring and management of the Arrocampo ecosystem, the condition before and after the construction of the reservoir and the results obtained concerning some biological communities.     

The Stream and Its Altered Valley: Integrating Landscape Ecology into Environmental Assessments of Agro-Ecosystems

Little is known about the importance of landscape and land cover to the implementation and performance of agricultural conservation projects designed to improve stream quality. In our study, we addressed the potential importance of landscape and land cover to conservation projects by measuring variation across 191 μ-basins (100–2400 ha) and integrating the observed variation into a study design aimed at determining the effectiveness of conservation projects. Our findings indicate that there are strong gradients across which landscape and land cover attributes vary. Land cover varied along a gradient of agricultural intensity, basin morphometry across gradients of stream closure and basin size, basin substrate was described by variation in drumlin formation, glacial landform type, and soil drainage, while agricultural conservation projects varied according to the level of project implementation. Correlation of these gradients found several associations between landscape and land cover, indicating that agricultural intensity was being constrained predominantly by drumlin formation and glacial landform type. Landscape and land cover did not appear to be determining factors in the implementation of conservation projects by land owners. Based on these findings we chose 32 μ-basins which represented the variability along each of the defined gradients for further study. We conclude that landscape scale variables demonstrate important variation and covariation that can and should be integrated into study designs for the assessment of streams and human activities affecting streams.     

学习先进理念、促进环境监测管理水平提升

通过在意大利的考察学习,对学习考察的收获和感受进行了总结,并结合意大利现行环境政策和环境监测先进经验提出了我国在环境保护和监测管理方面的设想和建议,供同行参考。     

Telemetric System for Hydrology and Water Quality Monitoring in Watersheds of Northern New Mexico, Usa

This study utilized telemetric systems to sample microbes and pathogens in forest, burned forest, rangeland, and urban watersheds to assess surface water quality in northern New Mexico. Four sites included remote mountainous watersheds, prairie rangelands, and a small urban area. The telemetric system was linked to dataloggers with automated event monitoring equipment to monitor discharge, turbidity, electrical conductivity, water temperature, and rainfall during base flow and storm events. Site data stored in dataloggers was uploaded to one of three types of telemetry: 1) radio in rangeland and urban settings; 2) a conventional phone/modem system with a modem positioned at the urban/forest interface; and 3) a satellite system used in a remote mountainous burned forest watershed. The major variables affecting selection of each system were site access, distance, technology, and cost. The systems were compared based on operation and cost. Utilization of telecommunications systems in this varied geographic area facilitated the gathering of hydrologic and water quality data on a timely basis.