Strategic assessment of the magnitude and impacts of sand mining in Poyang Lake, China

Planning for the extraction of aggregates is typically dealt with at a case to case basis, without assessing environmental impacts strategically. In this study we assess the impact of sand mining in Poyang Lake, where dredging began in 2001 after sand mining in the Yangtze River had been banned. In April 2008 concern over the impact on the biodiversity led to a ban on sand mining in Poyang Lake until further plans could be developed. Planning will require consideration of both sand extraction in relation to available sediment resources and also environmental impacts within the context of future demand for sand in the lower Yangtze Valley. We used pairs of near-infrared (NIR) Aster satellite imagery to estimate the number of vessels leaving the lake. Based on this we calculated a rate of sand extraction of 236 million m³ year⁻¹ in 2005–2006. This corresponds to 9% of the total Chinese demand for sand. It qualifies Poyang Lake as probably the largest sand mining operation in the world. It also indicates that sand extraction currently dominates the sediment balance of the lower Yangtze River. A positive relation between demand for sand and GDP, revealed by historic data from the USA, suggests that the current per capita demand for sand in China might increase in the near future from 2 to 4 m³ year⁻¹. We review various environmental impacts and question whether it will be possible to preserve the rich biodiversity of the lake, while continuing at the same time satisfying the increasing Chinese demand for sand. Finally we review alternative options for sand mining, in order to relieve the pressure from the Poyang Lake ecosystem.     

River basin governance enabling pathways for sustainable management: A comparative study between Australia,Brazil, China and France

Successful river basin governance is challenged by actor engagement in the various stages of planning and management. A governance approach for determining priorities for actors for sustainable management was developed, based on a river basin diagnostic framework consisting of four social-institutional and four biophysical indicators. It was applied in river basins in Australia, Brazil, China and France. Actors diagnosed current and target capacity for these indicators, and estimated synergistic influences of interacting indicators. The results reveal different priorities and transformative pathways to achieve basin plan outcomes, specific to each basin and actor groups. Priorities include biodiversity for the Murray-Darling, local water management needs for the São Francisco and Yellow rivers, and improved decision-making for the Adour-Garonne. This novel approach challenges entrenched views about key issues and actor engagement roles in co-implementation of the basin plan under existing prevailing governance models, with implications for engagement and international collaboration on basin governance.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01699-4.     

Development of a simulator for training of fetoscopic myelomeningocele surgery

Objective

To develop a realistic simulation model for laparotomy-assisted fetoscopic spina bifida aperta (SBa) surgery, to be used for training purposes and preoperative planning.

Methods

The predefined general requirement was a realistic model of an exteriorized uterus, allowing all neurosurgical steps of the intervention. The uterus was modelled using ultrasound and MRI images of a 25 weeks’ gravid uterus, consisting of flexible polyurethane foam coated with pigmented silicone. The fetal model, contained an opening on the dorsal side for a customizable spinal insert with all the aspects of a SBa, including a cele, placode, and myofascial and skin layer. The model was assessed in a series of validation experiments.

Results

Production costs are low, uterus and fetus are reusable. Placental localization and the level and size of the spinal defect are adjustable, enabling case-specific adaptations. All aspects of the simulator were scored close to realistic or higher for both appearance and functional capacities.

Conclusions

This innovative model provides an excellent training opportunity for centers that are starting a fetoscopic SBa repair program. It is the first simulation model with adjustable spinal defect and placental localisation. Further objective validation is required, but the potential for using this model in preoperative planning is promising.     

Citizens’ Views on Farm Animal Welfare and Related Information Provision: Exploratory Insights from Flanders,Belgium

The results of two independent empirical studies with Flemish citizens were combined to address the problem of a short fall of information provision about higher welfare products. The research objectives were (1) to improve our understanding of how citizens conceptualize farm animal welfare, (2) to analyze the variety in the claimed personal relevance of animal welfare in the food purchasing decision process, and (3) to find out people’s needs in relation to product information about animal welfare and the extent to which the current information caters to these needs. The first study consisted of a survey conducted in three consecutive years (2000–2002, n = 521) and was complemented with more recent qualitative data from four focus group discussions (2006, n = 29). Citizens’ conceptualization of farm animal welfare matched reasonably well with those in the scientific literature, although it is clearly influenced by a lower level of practical experience and a higher weight of empathy. In general, respondents indicated that animal welfare was an important product attribute, although it was less important than primary product attributes such as quality, health, and safety. Moral issues, rather than a perception of higher quality, were the main influence on preferences for higher welfare products. At present, higher standards of animal welfare are mostly guaranteed within more general quality assurance schemes. Yet people’s decisions to not choose higher welfare products seems to be related to the perceptual disconnection between eating animal food products and the living producing animals. Respondents generally thought better information provision was required and the present level of provision was strongly criticized. In combination, the findings of both studies help inform the discussion about how citizens can be informed about animal welfare and the preferred content, source, and medium of such information. The paper also provides insights into citizens’ semantic interpretation of the concept of animal welfare (what wordings they use) and the range of relevance that animal welfare has for different groups that, in turn is useful in identifying which segments can be targeted. This can contribute to a more effective valorization of animal welfare as a product attribute.     

Costs of expanding the network of protected areas as a response to climate change in the Cape Floristic Region

The expansion of protected areas is a critical component of strategies to promote the continued existence of biodiversity (i.e., life at all levels of biological organization) as climate changes, but scientific, social, and economic uncertainties associated with climate change are some of the major obstacles preventing such expansion. New models of climate change and species distribution and new methods of conservation planning now make it possible to explore the uncertainties associated with climate changes and species responses. Yet few reliable estimates of the costs of expanding protected areas and methods for determining these costs exist, largely because of the many (and uncertain) determinants of these costs. We developed a cost-accounting model to estimate the range in costs of various options for expanding protected areas and to explore the variables that drive these costs. Model development was informed by an existing plan to expand protected areas in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa to address species conservation under a scenario of climate change. The 50-year present value of total costs varied from US$260 million ($1077/ha) for an off-reserve option that involves agreements with landowners and no compensation of forgone production and associated revenue to $1020 million ($4228/ha) for an on-reserve option that involves land acquisition and protection. The costs of acquiring land or compensating landowners for forgone production and development opportunities were the major drivers of the total costs across all options because most of the area identified in the protected-area expansion plan consisted of urban and high-quality agricultural lands. Total costs were also affected by changes in protected area extent and discount rate. Model-generated outputs such as these may be useful for informing implementation strategies and the allocation of future efforts in monitoring, data collection, and model development.     

Competitive sorption and diffusion of chromate and sulphate in a flow system with goethite in gel beads

Column experiments and model simulations were employed to evaluate the processes involved in multicomponent solute transport in a system with heterogeneous flow. Column experiments were performed with goethite embedded in polyacrylamide gel beads. The gel forms an immobile water region that can be accessed by diffusion. A two-region transport model with diffusion into spheres was combined with a surface complexation model to predict reactive transport in the goethite-gel bead system. Chromate and sulphate breakthrough curves were measured in a set of transport experiments, along with corresponding changes in the pH of the effluent. Sorption and transport of sulphate and chromate in separate columns were predicted from independently measured sorption parameters. The model overestimated the pH changes in the effluent, possibly because of proton buffering by the polyacrylamide gel. The effect of competitive sorption on transport was examined in experiments with both anions present. The model predicted the effect of competition very well in a system initially equilibrated with sulphate, followed by infiltration with chromate. However, when sulphate was infiltrated after equilibration with chromate, chromate desorption and sulphate adsorption were clearly overestimated by the transport model. The exchange between the more strongly bound chromate and the sulphate added subsequently may be too slow to cause a substantial chromate peak in the effluent. This suggests that the local equilibrium assumption was not applicable in this case.     

Energy and entropy: a thermodynamic approach to sustainability

Thermodynamics is a basic science that formulates the rules for the conversion of energy and matter from one form into another. It sets the physical limits for the evolution of and the developments in the world around us. In contradiction to the mechanical approach, thermodynamics indicates that economic growth leads to increasing disorder. More specifically, increasing the flows of energy and matter through society, as happens in the process of ongoing industrialization, leads to progressive depletion of available energy and matter or, otherwise stated, to increased entropy. Excessive entropy production is reflected in natural disorders such as the greenhouse effect, ozone holes, environmental pollution, etc. Sustainable development can only be approached by imposing a close to steady-state lifestyle on mankind.