Conservation resource allocation,small population resiliency,and the fallacy of conservation triage

Some conservation prioritization methods are based on the assumption that conservation needs overwhelm current resources and not all species can be conserved; therefore, a conservation triage scheme (i.e., when the system is overwhelmed, species should be divided into three groups based on likelihood of survival, and efforts should be focused on those species in the group with the best survival prospects and reduced or denied to those in the group with no survival prospects and to those in the group not needing special efforts for their conservation) is necessary to guide resource allocation. We argue that this decision-making strategy is not appropriate because resources are not as limited as often assumed, and it is not evident that there are species that cannot be conserved. Small population size alone, for example, does not doom a species to extinction; plants, reptiles, birds, and mammals offer examples. Although resources dedicated to conserving all threatened species are insufficient at present, the world's economic resources are vast, and greater resources could be dedicated toward species conservation. The political framework for species conservation has improved, with initiatives such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and other international agreements, funding mechanisms such as The Global Environment Facility, and the rise of many nongovernmental organizations with nimble, rapid-response small grants programs. For a prioritization system to allow no extinctions, zero extinctions must be an explicit goal of the system. Extinction is not inevitable, and should not be acceptable. A goal of no human-induced extinctions is imperative given the irreversibility of species loss.     

Quantified scenarios analysis of drivers and impacts of changing flood risk in England and Wales: 2030–2100

Flood risk to the economy, society and the environment reflects the cumulative effects of environmental and socio-economic change over decades. Long-term scenarios are therefore required in order to develop robust and sustainable flood risk management policies. Quantified national-scale flood risk analysis and expert appraisal of the mechanisms causing change in flood risk have been used to assess flood risk in England and Wales over the period 2030–2100. The assessment involved the use of socio-economic and climate change scenarios. The analysis predicts increasing flood risk unless current flood management policies, practices and investment levels are changed—up to 20-fold increase in economic risk by the 2080s in the scenario with highest economic growth. The increase is attributable to a combination of climate change (in particular increasing precipitation and relative sea level rise in parts of the UK) and increasing socio-economic vulnerability, particularly in terms of household/industrial contents and infrastructure vulnerability. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

Testing the metabolic theory of ecology: allometric scaling exponents in mammals

Many fundamental traits of species measured at different levels of biological organization appear to scale as a power law to body mass (M) with exponents that are multiples of 1/4. Recent work has united these relationships in a "metabolic theory of ecology" (MTE) that explains the pervasiveness of quarter-power scaling by its dependence on basal metabolic rate (B), which scales as M(0.75). Central to the MTE is theory linking the observed -0.25 scaling of maximum population growth rate (rm) and body mass to the 0.75 scaling of metabolic rate and body mass via relationships with age at first reproduction (alpha) derived from a general growth model and demographic theory. We used this theory to derive two further predictions: that age at first reproduction should scale inversely to mass-corrected basal metabolic rate alpha infinity (B/M)(-l) such that rm infinity (B/M)1. We then used phylogenetic generalized least squares and model selection methods to test the predicted scaling relationships using data from 1197 mammalian species. There was a strong phylogenetic signal in these data, highlighting the need to account for phylogeny in allometric studies. The 95% confidence intervals included, or almost included, the scaling exponent predicted by MTE for B infinity M(0.75), rm infinity M(-0.25), and rm infinity alpha(-1), but not for alpha infinity M(0.25) or the two predictions that we generated. Our results highlight a mismatch between theory and observation and imply that the observed -0.25 scaling of maximum population growth rate and body mass does not arise via the mechanism proposed in the MTE.     

空气污染对儿童肺功能指标影响的初步分析

报告中国 4城市 8所小学儿童肺功能指标受室外空气污染影响的结果。以 FVC/预测值 (85% )、FEV1 /预测值(85% )、FEV1 / FVC(实测值之比 ) (80 % )作为判断肺功能指标异常的参考标准 ,并将 8所小学按污染程度分为污染严重和污染较轻两类三组。污染严重组儿童肺功能指标的异常率均比污染较轻组要高。空气的严重污染 ,可使儿童肺功能FVC、FEV1 、FEV1 / FVC异常率的危险程度分别增高 3 0 %～ 78%、52 %～ 86%和 1 0 2 %～ 1 2 7%。异常组儿童的 FVC、FEV1 的平均值约下降 3 3 0～ 4 60 ml,FEV1 / FVC平均值约下降 1 3 %～ 1 5%。说明空气的严重污染对儿童肺功能生长发育可能有不利影响     

Toxicity of copper to acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic activities of methanogens and sulfate reducers in anaerobic sludge

Heavy metals could potentially negatively impact microorganisms in anaerobic sulfate reducing bioreactors. The objective of this is study was to evaluate the inhibitory effect of copper to acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic activities of methanogens and sulfate reducers in sludge obtained from a full-scale sulfate reducing bioreactor. The 50% inhibiting concentration (50%IC) of Cu(2+) to acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogens was 20.7 and 8.9 mg l(-1), respectively. The 50%IC of Cu(2+) to acetoclastic sulfate reduction was 32.3 mg l(-1). The hydrogenotrophic sulfate reducers were only inhibited by 27% at the highest concentration of Cu(2+) tested, 200 mg l(-1), indicating a high level of tolerance. The soluble Cu(2+) was observed to decrease rapidly in both the methanogenic and sulfate reducing assays. The highest level of decrease was observed in the hydrogenotrophic sulfate reducing assay which was over 99% in 5h. The results of this study indicate that sulfate reducing biotechnologies would be robust at relatively high inlet concentrations of Cu(2+).     

Converting moving-grate incineration from combustion to gasification - numerical simulation of the burning characteristics

Waste incineration is a politically sensitive issue in the UK. The major current technology is based on direct combustion of wastes in a moving-grate furnace. However, general public opinion prefers non-direct burning technologies. Waste gasification is one of those nearest technologies available. By reducing the primary air-flow rate through the grate of a packed-bed system, operation of the existing solid-waste incineration equipment can be easily converted from combustion mode to gasification mode without major modification of the hardware. The potential advantages of this are lower dust carry-over in the flue gases, lower bed temperature (and therefore lower NO(x) formation in the bed), simplified gas-treatment procedures and lower running cost, among other benefits. The major disadvantages are, however, reduced throughput of the wastes and possibly higher carbon in the ash at exit. In this study, numerical simulation of both combustion and gasification of municipal solid wastes in a full-scale moving grate furnace is carried out employing advanced mathematical models. Burning characteristics, including burning rate, gas composition, temperature and burning efficiency as a function of operating parameters are investigated. Detailed comparisons between the combustion mode and gasification mode are made. The study helps to explore new incineration technology and optimise furnace operating conditions.     

Remedial Process Optimization and Ozone Sparging for Petroleum Hydrocarbon‐Impacted Groundwater

A former natural gas processing station is impacted with total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and benzene. Remedial process optimization (RPO) was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the historical air sparging/soil vapor extraction (AS/SVE) system and the current groundwater extraction and treatment system. The RPO indicated that both remedial activities offered no further benefit in meeting remediation goals. Instead, an in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) system was recommended. Ozone was selected, and the results of a bench test indicated that the ozone demand was 8 to 12 mg ozone/mg TPH and that secondary by‐products would include hexavalent chromium and bromate. A capture zone analysis was conducted through groundwater flow modeling (MODFLOW) to ensure containment of the injected oxidant using the existing groundwater extraction system. Results of a pilot study indicated that the optimum frequency of ozone sparging is 60 minutes in order to reach a maximum radius of influence of 20 feet. TPH concentrations within the treatment zone decreased by 97 percent over two months of ozone sparging. Concentrations of hexavalent chromium and bromate increased from nondetect to 44 and 110 mg/L, respectively, during the ozone sparging but attenuated to nondetectable concentrations within three months of system shut down. ©2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Characterization of water-soluble ion species in urban ambient particles

Concentrations and distributions of water-soluble ion species contained in ambient particles were measured in a coastal urban area, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. PM10 and PM2.5 samples were collected using a dichotomous sampler from November 1998 to April 1999 and were analyzed for water-soluble ion species with ion chromatography. On the average, ion species measured in this study accounted for 42.2% of the PM2.5 and 35.7% of the PM10. It was found that SO4(2-) , NO3-, and NH4+ dominated the identifiable components within both fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM2.5-10) fractions, and occupied 90.0% and 80.6% of total dissolved ionic concentrations for PM2.5 and PM10. The secondary aerosol formed through the NOx/SO2 gas-to-particle conversion was estimated based on the oxidation ratio of sulfur and nitrogen (SOR and NOR, respectively), i.e., sulfate sulfur/nitrate nitrogen to total sulfur/total nitrogen. The average SOR/NOR values were 0.25/0.07 and 0.29/0.12 for PM25 and PM10, respectively. The high SOR and NOR values obtained in this study suggested that there existed a secondary formation of SO4(2-) from SO2 along with NO3- from NOx in the atmosphere.     

Incineration of kitchen waste with high nitrogen in vortexing fluidized-bed incinerator and its NO emission characteristics

Some municipal solid waste (MSW) can be used as the fuel. Combustion of MSW with high nitrogen content is successfully conducted in a lab-scale vortexing fluidized-bed incinerator (VFBI). Pigskin with 16.5 wt.% nitrogen content was used to simulate the high nitrogen content kitchen waste, and silica sand was used as the bed material. The effects of operating conditions, such as the bed temperature, freeboard temperature, excess oxygen ratio, and static bed height on the CO and NO concentrations at the exit of combustor and cyclone were investigated. The experimental results show that the freeboard temperature is the most important factor for CO emission. The order of operating conditions impact on the NO emission is: (1) excess oxygen ratio; (2) bed temperature; (3) freeboard temperature; and (4) static bed height. Utilizing cyclone can significantly reduce the CO emission concentration when the CO concentration released from the freeboard is higher than 50 ppm. On the other hand, the cyclone has no significant effect on the NO emission. Despite having high nitrogen content, a low conversion from fuel-N to NO was attained. Compared with other types of combustors, VFBI reduces the CO and NO emission concentrations much better when burning MSW with high nitrogen content.