小城镇可持续发展公平性评价的定量探讨

在分析了小城镇可持续发展公平性涵义的基础上,对小城镇可持续发展的公平性评价原则和指标进行了探讨,并针对一小城镇实例,探索性地构筑了小城镇可持续发展公平性评价的定量分析模型,且对应用中应注意的问题进行了说明.     

九江市地下水易污性评价——基于DPASTIC指标的模糊综合评价模型

从污染物入渗土壤-包气带-含水层的过程出发,以地质、地貌、水文地质条件为主控因素,选取地下水埋深(D)、降雨入渗补给量(P)、含水层岩性(A)、土壤类型(S)、地形坡度(T)、非饱和带介质(I)及含水层渗透系数(C)7个指标,建立了九江市地下水易污性评价DPASTIC指标体系.结合模糊数学理论和方法,建立了基于DPASTIC指标的模糊综合评价模型.该模型克服了指标参数级别划分定额差异和指标值不连续性变化的缺陷,寻求出最优的级别定额划分状态和指标值的连续性变化情况;在指标级别定额划分上,引用了指标标准特征值的概念,根据实测参数数据资料,建立了10个级别的指标标准特征值矩阵,确定指标参数的最优相对隶属度.结合MAPGIS软件得出最后的地下水易污性分区,评价结果与规划区的实测及预测的水环境质量相吻合.     

《21世纪议程》:行动与展望

1992年,联合国环境与发展大会通过了《关于环境与发展的里约热内卢宣言》、《21世纪议程》和《关于森林问题的原则声明》3项重要文件。之后,国际社会为推动"里约精神"的落实做出了积极努力:联合国可持续发展委员会每年举行会议,审议《21世纪议程》的执行情况;许多国家制定了国家和地方层面的《21世纪议程》或可持续发展战略;相关国际组织以可持续发展能力建设为主的活动也十分活跃。人类把发展与环境相协调作为行动准则,各国依据国情制定了促进环境与发展相协调的优先事项,使人类在实现可持续发展的进程中取得了积极进展:全球经济实现了大幅增长,发展中国家在全球经济格局中的地位不断上升;在消除贫困等社会发展方面取得显著效果,全球开始进入城市化时代;全球能源资源供应呈现多元化,资源节约集约利用成效显著。中国在经济发展滞后、贫困现象较严重背景下,承担了全球实施《21世纪议程》的旗舰角色;并依据本国的具体国情,选择性地学习与借鉴,摸索创造出具有自身特色的发展模式和道路,增加了世界可持续发展方式选择的多样性。20年来,尽管各个国家在可持续发展方面采取了积极行动,但是"里约精神"尚未全面转化为行动,在相关国际承诺与公约的履行方面还需付出巨大努力,仍然面临着重大挑战。如:以气候变化为代表的重大全球性环境问题对人类生存构成的直接威胁加大;生态超载背景下的发展空间争夺更趋激烈;全球性民生问题凸显,可持续发展面临的社会风险加大,等等。我们期待:通过"里约+20"大会,使得相关国际制度安排不断形成和完善,可持续发展进一步向全球行动转化;科技创新步伐加快,进一步推动全球向绿色发展转型;加快全球治理体系调整,新兴发展中国家成为全球可持续发展的重要推动力;全球共同努力解决重大资源环境问题,可持续发展领域的国际关系呈现竞争性合作。     

自然保护区的建立与持续发展的关系

自然保护区的建立已被世界公认是一种保护自然资源最有效的方法之一。但是长期以来,人们把对维持生物种类的持续发展以及生态系统的完整性都归功于较为传统的封闭式保护。事实证明这已导致保护与持续发展长期处于矛盾状态而得不到解决。自从联合国教科文组织人与生物圈计划提出“生物圈保护区”的概念以来,打破了长期以来对自然保护区的封闭式管理。强调通过保护自然资源而发展和利用资源,并使这些资源能够持续发展。注重把自然保护与科学研究,环境监测、示范、环境教育与当地人民的参与结合起来。     

区域矿产资源开发利用的最优耗竭量问题研究

本文从分析区域矿产资源最优耗竭量的影响因素入手．建立了三个层次的评价指标体系。在充分考虑到可能存在强约束因素作用的基础上，建立了具体的数学评价模型。并就河北省矿产资源的量优耗竭问题进行了具体的实证分析．为合理规划和调整区域矿产资源开发利用战略提供了有益参考。     

气候变化及人类活动对河流溶解性有机质（DOM）影响的研究进展

气候变化与人类活动对河流溶解性有机质（DOM）产生了重大影响,探讨和区分二者的影响是水科学、环境科学重大热点问题。针对气候变化（降雨、径流、气温）和人类活动（土地利用方式、城镇化、水利工程建设等）两个驱动因子,介绍了河流DOM来源和特征;分别综述了气候变化、人类活动和两者综合对河流DOM影响的研究进展;归纳了目前关于气候变化和人类活动对河流DOM影响的已有研究方法,并总结了方法中的问题及不足。提出当前研究中所存在的水文气候和人类活动情景交叉重复、缺乏对河流DOM转化机理研究和与生源要素耦合模型研究等问题     

区域农地利用变化强度及其驱动机制研究--以原锡山市为例

在提出区域土地利用变化强度、农地利用变化强度及其测算方法的基础上，以无锡原锡山市为例。进行了农地利用变化强度的实际测算。并在对原锡山市农地利用变化驱动机制的理论分析的基础上，构建了该区域农地利用变化强度驱动因素的指标体系，在指标体系中特别引入了邻近城市(上海)辐射、耕地保护政策变化两项指标。运用主因子分析的方法对各指标进行定量分析，在理论分析与定量分析的基础上，建立了区域农地利用变化强度变化的驱动机制模型。研究结果表明：区域农业土地利用变化是区域经济发展、城市(上海)辐射、人口、耕地保护政策变化、农业集约化，以及城市化等因素综合作用的结果，尤其以前3项因素的作用为重。研究还表明，农地利用变化强度标准的引入是可行和有实际意义的。最后总结了区域农地利用变化的特点，并从土地资源保护、产业发展、土地利用决策等方面，就区域农业土地可持续利用管理提出了若干政策建议。     

九江市地下水易污性评价——基于DPASTIC指标的模糊综合评价模型

从污染物入渗土壤-包气带-含水层的过程出发，以地质、地貌、水文地质条件为主控因素，选取地下水埋深〖WTBX〗(D)、降雨入渗补给量(P)、含水层岩性(A)、土壤类型(S)、地形坡度(T)、非饱和带介质(I)及含水层渗透系数(C)〖WTBZ〗7个指标，建立了九江市地下水易污性评价DPASTIC指标体系。结合模糊数学理论和方法，建立了基于DPASTIC指标的模糊综合评价模型。该模型克服了指标参数级别划分定额差异和指标值不连续性变化的缺陷，寻求出最优的级别定额划分状态和指标值的连续性变化情况；在指标级别定额划分上，引用了指标标准特征值的概念，根据实测参数数据资料，建立了10个级别的指标标准特征值矩阵，确定指标参数的最优相对隶属度。结合MAPGIS软件得出最后的地下水易污性分区，评价结果与规划区的实测及预测的水环境质量相吻合。     

Micronutrient composition of plants in the Polar Urals under contrasting geochemical conditions

Natural variation in the level of micronutrients in plants and soils of the Polar Urals depending on the types of bedrocks has been evaluated. The contents of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, and Co have been determined by the atomic absorption method in 156 plant species of 25 families and in 38 soil samples. It has been found that the mineral composition of plant species varies depending on edaphic conditions. Taxon-specific features in the accumulation of chemical elements in plants of the Polar Urals have been revealed for the first time on the basis of a large amount of data.     

CAD and DFM: enablers of sustainable product design

Sustainability has been regarded as an important concept for survival in the contemporary scenario. Modern design engineers are in need of approaches for creating sustainable products. In this context, this paper reports a case study carried out in an Indian modular switches manufacturing organisation. The existing handle of the switch has been modelled using computer-aided design (CAD). Then, the sustainability analysis has been carried out for determining the environmental impact. This is followed by the redesign of the handle using design for manufacturability (DFM) principles. The sustainability has been measured in terms of carbon footprint, energy consumption and air–water impacts. It has been found that the redesigned handle possesses minimal environmental impact. It could be inferred from the results of the case study that CAD and DFM could lead to the development of sustainable product design with minimal impact on the environment.     

Fluctuating asymmetry of rodent cranial structures in an industrial pollution gradient

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of the mandible shape has been analyzed in bank voles from the zones affected by pollution from three copper smelters in the Urals. It has been shown that there is the necessity for a detailed analysis of the material, since the level of FA may depend on population parameters. Regardless of the pollution level, FA of the mandible region including the lower part of the mandibular body, ramus and processes is higher than in the diastema region. A gradient effect of toxic exposure on FA has been revealed: an increase in its level under increasing technogenic impact is clearly manifested along local pollution gradients.     

The ecology of the red fox (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Vulpes vulpes</Emphasis> L.) in the middle Lena River basin

The population of foxes in the central regions of Yakutia has grown by a factor of four to five during the period from 2000 to 2011–2012, following an increase in the abundance of voles from the genus Microtus. A total of 130 carcasses of foxes taken in 2007–2012 have been examined. Age- and sex-related variation in morphological features has been described. The demographic structure of the population has been studied by estimating animal age from annual layers in the recording structures. Changes in female fertility and involvement in reproduction depending on age and feeding conditions have been analyzed. Changes in the composition of fox diet caused by long-term population depression in the mountain hare and their effect on the dynamics of fox abundance have been revealed. Age- and sex-related characteristics of the condition factor in foxes and sex-related differences in their dietary preferences have been demonstrated.     

Effects of ecological factors on size-related traits in the ground beetle Carabus granulatus L. (Coleoptera,Carabidae)

Multivariate analysis of variation in the metric characters in the ground beetle C. granulatus has been performed. It has been shown that the beetle body size increases toward the center of its range, urbanization has a positive effect on all metric traits, but the effect of habitat vegetation has no definite trend. The structure of variation in the metric characters estimated by the principal components method depends on all ecological factors considered: the locality in the geographic range, level of anthropogenic influence, and degree of biotope openness.     

Quantitative reconstruction of peatland hydrological regime with fossil testate amoebae communities

The effect of bog water table on the species structure of sphagnobiontic testate amoebae communities has been studied in peatland ecosystems of European Russia. On this basis, a transfer function (model) for quantitative paleoreconstructions has been developed. This involved the formation of a training dataset, construction of models, and testing their performance. As a result, the model constructed by weighted averaging regression has been adopted as optimal.     

Zooplankton as an Indicator of the State of Lake Ecosystems Polluted with Mining Wastewater in the Kola Peninsula

The most informative characteristics of the zooplankton-community response to the effect of industrial wastewater from mines have been determined using water bodies of the Kola Peninsula as an example. It has been demonstrated that qualitative and quantitative characteristics of zooplankton depend on the degree of industrial pollution of a water body and adequately reflect differences in the conditions of zooplankton growth between the whole water bodies and their individual parts. The role of zooplankton as an indicator has been assessed and the possibility of including it in the system of monitoring of water objects has been substantiated.     

Changes in the size structure of carabid communities in forest ecosystems under technogenic transformation

The body size structure of carabid communities has been analyzed based on the 2009 and 2013 collections (with the use of pitfall traps) performed at 10 sites of a spruce–fir forest along the gradient of pollution with emissions from the Middle Ural Copper Smelter. A reduction in the unweighted mean body size of carabid individuals has been shown, as well as the heterogeneity of body sizes in the community (Gini coefficient) of the extremely polluted territory. It has been revealed that the weighted mean body size of individuals and the Lorentz asymmetry coefficient are not dependent on the level of pollution. Differences between the communities of carabids in the background and polluted territories are associated with the smaller number of large-sized species, while the similarity is explained by the dominance of medium- and small-sized species at all sites. The high interannual variability has been observed in the ratio of size groups of the analyzed communities at the background and moderate levels of pollution.     

Climate variations and New Zealand agriculture: the CLIMPACTS system and issues of spatial and temporal scale.

Internationally and nationally, New Zealand has a growing requirement to assess and report on the possible effects of climate change. In association with this requirement, the science of climate change is rapidly evolving requiring a capacity for rapid reassessment of effects to take account of scientific advances. Consequently, past assessment methods, which have not been computationally efficient, nor easily repeated, are becoming outdated. To address this gap, an integrated assessment model (IAM), the CLIMPACTS system, has been developed for New Zealand. The CLIMPACTS system has been developed to provide flexibility in application, to be easily updated to take account of scientific advances, and capable of providing information in a manner that is relevant to policymakers. In order to be relevant in New Zealand, it has been necessary to account for different scales of assessment, nationally, at specific sites, and regionally. Nationally, the focus is on spatial applications (e.g., changes in areas of suitability), whereas at sites, the focus is on temporal applications (e.g., changes in risk). The regional capacity in the CLIMPACTS system has required an integration of spatial and temporal applications. This paper describes briefly the capability that has been developed at these different scales of assessment, with brief examples for each. The CLIMPACTS system has enhanced New Zealand's capability to examine environmental sensitivities to climate change, as a basis for better informed policy decisions. Importantly, it is an evolving platform that can be readily extended to other sectors and updated, for example, to account for the effects of internationally agreed greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets.     

Seasonal spatial differentiation of sex groups in populations of resident bat species (Chiroptera,Vespertilionidae) in the Southern Urals

On the basis of studies on the ecology of boreal bat species in the Southern Urals (1997–2004), the first classification of their summer habitats has been made. It has been shown that spatial segregation of sex groups into areas of two types, designated wintering and breeding zones, takes place in populations in the period of offspring rearing. In females, seasonal migrations are guided by imprinting on sites providing sufficient food for offspring rearing and on wintering sites. In males, imprinting on wintering sites alone is observed.     

Contributions of genotypic and meteorological factors to variation of annual tree increment in clonal scots pine plantations

Variation in radial increments of 28-year-old Pinus sylvestris L. clones in response to changes in weather conditions during the period between 1986 and 2007 has been studied in the Sredneobskii Bor pine forest. Significant genotypic differences in the adaptive reaction norm of the clones have been revealed. It has been shown that the contribution of genotypic differences to the total variance of test characters is usually significant and depends both on the conditions of growing season and on a given increment character.     

The use of ecological scales for indication of the current state of forest communities

A method for estimating the current state of plant communities based on the ecological amplitudes of constituent species is proposed. An original program, Fitoindikatsiya, has been developed to compute the indices of disturbance and homogeneity of plant communities from species ecological scale values. The current state of pine forests in the part of Novosibirsk oblast east of the Ob River has been analyzed; slightly, moderately, and severely disturbed zones have been distinguished.