Comparison of data from two vegetation monitoring methods in semi-natural grasslands

Two vegetation-monitoring methods were compared: subplot frequency analysis (SF) and visual estimation of percentage cover (VE). Two independent observers collected data from two semi-natural, species-rich grasslands on three different occasions during the growth-season. During the last data collection period, survey times were also recorded. The two different data sets from the two methods were compared using partial Redundancy Analyses. The purpose of the comparison was to identify the method that explains most of the relevant variation in biodiversity-monitoring (inter-and intra-site variation), and the variation irrelevant when evaluating data (systematic inter-observer variation and variation due to phenological changes). Compared with VE data, more variation in SF data could be explained by spatial variables, while less variation depended on the observer and time of year surveyed. SF also found more species per plot but took on average five times longer to complete than VE. In conclusion, the different methods are suitable for different purposes: SF is more suitable for purposes demanding high accuracy and high precision, such as long-term biodiversity-monitoring when the identification of small changes has high priority, while VE might be more suitable for a one-time mapping of a large area.     

Towards eco-agro industrial clusters in aquatic production: the case of shrimp processing industry in Vietnam

The concept of industrial ecology has been applied in this research to study possibilities to develop an eco-industrial cluster model for fishery production industry in Vietnam. By learning from experiments of other developed countries, we apply the principles of Industrial Ecology and of Ecological Modernization in the context of Vietnam. We design a physical-technological conceptual model for minimizing waste in agro-industries, with a case study of frozen shrimp production. The results indicate that it is possible and feasible to develop an eco-industrial cluster including aquaculture, fishery processing companies, by-product plants, and wastewater treatment units. By doing so, aquaculture and industry can cooperate for environmentally sound development. Actors and institutions that may govern the proposed eco-industrial cluster of shrimp processing industry are also analysed in this paper. The economic feasibility of the designed eco-agro industrial cluster for fish production in Vietnam depends on the energy savings and effective revenues gained from selling the produced valuable materials, such as Chitosan and animal feed.     

瑞典来自农业的食品品质特性对消费者支付意愿的影响

本文采用让受访问者做选择题的办法,研究来自农业的食品品质特性与消费者支付意愿的关系,目前这些食品在瑞典还没有销售.数据是通过大规模的邮件调查获得的,同时用一个随机参数的Logit模型来估计.我们的结果表明:同一产品和相同特性,消费者的支付意愿均存在差异.不同产品间为品质特性排序时也是这样.而且,我们还发现可能以转基因作物作为饲料的动物食品市场上表现不力.最后,我们的结论支持被称作"cheap-talk"的研究方法能有效地减小选择试验地的外在误差.在食品行业中,我们的结论对产品差别化战略的构建和对食品政策的形成等方面十分有用.     

Clean electrochemical deposition of calcium carbonate to prevent scale formation in cooling water systems

Calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) deposited in water systems leads to scale formation, decreases flow rate, reduces heat transfer and favors microbial proliferation of toxic bacteria such as Legionella. This issue may be solved by electrochemical deposition, without adding toxic chemicals. Therefore, we studied here the deposition of CaCO₃ by electrochemical reduction of oxygen into hydroxide ions with stainless steel and titanium (Ti) working electrodes. Analysis was done using cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, dynamic impedance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) coupled with X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results show that optimal formation of CaCO₃ is done at ?1.2 V with the stainless steel electrode and at ?1.4 V for the Ti electrode. More negative potentials induce the formation of calcite. Using the Ti electrode, we found that aragonite is the major form (82 %), with only one capacitive loop. Using the stainless steel electrode at 1.2 V, we found 47 % of aragonite and 38 % of calcite. Overall, our findings demonstrate the feasibility of the electrochemical deposition of CaCO₃ in cooling water systems, without the addition of any chemical.     

可持续力的制度框架:俄罗斯和波罗的海国家林业部门的比较分析

苏维埃体系解体之后,原苏维埃共和国之间森林管理的分歧变得明显.在波罗的海国家的林业部门已经发生根本变化的时候,俄罗斯却没能形成一个能适应社会-生态恢复力先决条件的制度框架.本文认为,可持续发展需要一种能够具有适应和学习能力,因而能够以实验的方式对政策不断地进行评估和再调整的制度框架.但是,这需要有参与机制,我们相信波罗的海国家在这方面正在走出一条更有希望的路子.最后,得出结论,只有建立了可持续的制度框架,社会-生态恢复力才能成为前共产主义国家自然资源管理的重要特征.     

Policy design for a multifunctional landscape

Landscapes consisting of several elements, such as wetlands and forests, are multifunctional in nature and produce both market and non-market goods. The need for policies arises from the existence of non-market ecosystem services that are not traded and thereby generally not subject to economic trade-offs in landowner decision making. An efficient incentive scheme for producing both types of goods would require policy designed for each non-market good. However, this may result in high transaction costs, possibly giving second-best solutions a comparative advantage when only one non-market good is regulated. This paper demonstrates that in the Hovran catchment area in mid Sweden, which produces the non-market goods water quality, biodiversity, and scenic beauty, compensation payments for biodiversity production alone provide almost maximum total net value of all market and non-market goods. On the other hand, payments for providing scenic beauty in the form of open landscape may result in lower total net value than no compensation payment at all, due to a negative impact on water quality.