高密度城市道路交通噪声的典型分布及其在战略环境评价(SEA)中的应用

分析了高密度城市道路交通噪声分布的特点，从噪声接受点评价的观点出发，以香港地区为例，研究不同建筑形态道路交通噪声的典型分布。基于方法是采用简化的DoT模型计算道路交通噪声，以基于GIS的道路交通噪声评价预测系统为工具计算不同建筑类型各单元的噪声级，再统计出各型建筑的噪声分布。通过Kolmogorov-Smirnov检验证实这些分布来自于不同总体，具有显著的差异。将上述计算结果运用于香港新界西北地区道路交通噪声的战略环境评价。     

香港河流沉积物中有机碳对铜的吸附特性

采用厌氧序列分批滴定装置（ＡＳＢＴ）研究了香港青山湾避风塘和屯门河、城门河、林村河感潮河段沉积物中有机碳对铜的吸附特性。结果表明,在ｐＨ１６和ｐＨ７的条件下,沉积物中有机碳对铜的吸附特性可用Ｌａｎｇｍｕｉｒ等温式描述,铜在不同河流沉积物有机碳中的分配系数差别较大,吸附容量差别较小,Ｈ＾＋可以结合沉积物有机碳的重金属结合位点,导致吸附容量和分配系数随ｐＨ增大而增大。     

Comparison of the expectations of residents and rescue providers of community emergency medical response after mudslide disasters

The integration of community resources is critical for emergency response. A thorough understanding of a community's requirements in advance is essential. This study examines communities that suffered mudslide disasters, and discusses expectations of the emergency medical response provided to the community from the perspectives of residents and rescue groups. The questionnaire used in the study was designed to adopt the Likert Scale for quantification purposes. Its content was divided into six categories based on emergency response. Both residents and rescue providers acknowledged that finance and reimbursement were the highest priority. Public information was regarded as the least important by both groups. Significant differences existed between the groups on patient care activities and supportive activities (P = 0.02 and 0.03, respectively), which were more appreciated by residents. We conclude that residents had higher expectations of evacuation, temporary relocation, lodging, food, and sanitary management than the rescue groups.     

Extraterritorial Movements of a Forest Songbird in a Fragmented Landscape

Abstract: Forest isolation resulting from fragmentation is thought to impede the movement of forest songbirds. Because of the difficulty of tracking birds continuously, however, few data exist documenting the influence of isolation and landscape features on avian movements. During the breeding season, male Hooded Warblers (    Wilsonia citrina ) leave their small (<2.5 ha), isolated forest patches to travel between forest fragments. We documented a total of 106 forays (  n = 20 males) and found that individuals traveled up to 2.5 km away from their resident forest patch, primarily to solicit covert extra-pair copulations. Forays occurred despite the absence of forested corridors connecting fragments; even when corridors were present, males most often chose to fly directly across open fields. Resident patch size and distance to forests visited were not correlated with the frequency of forays. The maximum distance males flew over open fields did not exceed 465 m, and longer distances likely inhibit males from traveling outside their woodlots. If territorial establishment depends on the availability of extra-pair partners, then higher degrees of isolation between forests could explain why some species avoid settling in extremely fragmented landscapes. Conservation efforts should limit isolation between forest stands, thereby preserving the ability of animals to move within fragmented landscapes during the breeding season.     

Nonparametric MLE incorporation of heterogeneity and model testing into premarked cohort studies

We utilize mixture models and nonparametric maximum likelihood estimation to both develop a likelihood ratio test (lrt) for a common simplifying assumption and to allow heterogeneity within premarked cohort studies. Our methods allow estimation of the entire probability model and thus one can not only estimate many parameters of interest but one can also bootstrap from the estimated model to predict many things, including the standard deviations of estimators. Simulations suggest that our lrt has the appropriate protection for Type I error and often has good power. In practice, our lrt is important for determining the appropriateness of estimators and in examining if a simple design with only one capture period could be utilized for a future similar study.     

Recovery of sulfate saturated soils in the Plynlimon catchments, mid-Wales following reductions in atmospheric S inputs from the 1980s to 2011

Sulfate adsorption capacity of B-horizons of base-poor, predominantly stagnopodzol, soils from the Plynlimon catchments, mid-Wales was determined by combination of laboratory adsorption and desorption isotherms. Results show that sulfate adsorption capacity of a range of stagnopodzol (Histic-stagno-podzol (Leptic), WRB), brown podzolic soil (Histic-umbrisol (Leptic), WRB) and stagnohumic gley (Histic-stagno-gleysol, WRB) B-horizons was positively related to the amounts of extractable (pyrophosphate and oxalate) Fe + Al, with the stagnopodzol and brown podzolic soil Bs horizon having the largest adsorption capacity and stagnohumic gley Bg horizon the smallest adsorption capacity. Results show that dissolved organic carbon (DOC) has a negative but limited effect on sulfate adsorption in these soils. Results obtained from a set of historical soil samples revealed that the grassland brown podzolic soil Bs horizon and afforested stagnopodzol Bs horizon were highly saturated with sulfate in the 1980s, at 63% and 89% respectively, whereas data from some recently sampled soil from two sites revisited in 2010-11 indicates that percentage sulfate adsorption saturation has since fallen substantially, to 41% and 50% respectively. Between 1984 and 2009 the annual rainfall-weighted mean excess SO(4)-S concentration in bulk precipitation declined linearly from 0.37 mg S l(-1) to 0.17 mg S l(-1). Over the same period, flow weighted annual mean stream water SO(4)-S concentrations decreased approximately linearly from 1.47 mg S l(-1) to 0.97 mg S l(-1) in the plantation afforested Hafren catchment compared to a drop from 1.25 to 0.69 mg S l(-1) in the adjacent moorland catchment of the Afon Gwy. In flux terms, the mean decrease in annual stream water SO(4)-S flux has been approximately 0.4 kg S ha(-1) yr(-1), whilst the recovery in stream water quality in the Afon Cyff grassland catchment has been partly offset by loss of SO(4)-S by desorption from the soil sulfur pool of approximately 0.2 kg S ha(-1) yr(-1).     

Co-evolution of wetland landscapes,flooding, and human settlement in the Mississippi River Delta Plain

River deltas all over the world are sinking beneath sea-level rise, causing significant threats to natural and social systems. This is due to the combined effects of anthropogenic changes to sediment supply and river flow, subsidence, and sea-level rise, posing an immediate threat to the 500–1,000 million residents, many in megacities that live on deltaic coasts. The Mississippi River Deltaic Plain (MRDP) provides examples for many of the functions and feedbacks, regarding how human river management has impacted source-sink processes in coastal deltaic basins, resulting in human settlements more at risk to coastal storms. The survival of human settlement on the MRDP is arguably coupled to a shifting mass balance between a deltaic landscape occupied by either land built by the Mississippi River or water occupied by the Gulf of Mexico. We developed an approach to compare 50 % L:W isopleths (L:W is ratio of land to water) across the Atchafalaya and Terrebonne Basins to test landscape behavior over the last six decades to measure delta instability in coastal deltaic basins as a function of reduced sediment supply from river flooding. The Atchafalaya Basin, with continued sediment delivery, compared to Terrebonne Basin, with reduced river inputs, allow us to test assumptions of how coastal deltaic basins respond to river management over the last 75 years by analyzing landward migration rate of 50 % L:W isopleths between 1932 and 2010. The average landward migration for Terrebonne Basin was nearly 17,000 m (17 km) compared to only 22 m in Atchafalaya Basin over the last 78 years (p < 0.001), resulting in migration rates of 218 m/year (0.22 km/year) and <0.5 m/year, respectively. In addition, freshwater vegetation expanded in Atchafalaya Basin since 1949 compared to migration of intermediate and brackish marshes landward in the Terrebonne Basin. Changes in salt marsh vegetation patterns were very distinct in these two basins with gain of 25 % in the Terrebonne Basin compared to 90 % decrease in the Atchafalaya Basin since 1949. These shifts in vegetation types as L:W ratio decreases with reduced sediment input and increase in salinity also coincide with an increase in wind fetch in Terrebonne Bay. In the upper Terrebonne Bay, where the largest landward migration of the 50 % L:W ratio isopleth occurred, we estimate that the wave power has increased by 50–100 % from 1932 to 2010, as the bathymetric and topographic conditions changed, and increase in maximum storm-surge height also increased owing to the landward migration of the L:W ratio isopleth. We argue that this balance of land relative to water in this delta provides a much clearer understanding of increased flood risk from tropical cyclones rather than just estimates of areal land loss. We describe how coastal deltaic basins of the MRDP can be used as experimental landscapes to provide insights into how varying degrees of sediment delivery to coastal deltaic floodplains change flooding risks of a sinking delta using landward migrations of 50 % L:W isopleths. The nonlinear response of migrating L:W isopleths as wind fetch increases is a critical feedback effect that should influence human river-management decisions in deltaic coast. Changes in land area alone do not capture how corresponding landscape degradation and increased water area can lead to exponential increase in flood risk to human populations in low-lying coastal regions. Reduced land formation in coastal deltaic basins (measured by changes in the land:water ratio) can contribute significantly to increasing flood risks by removing the negative feedback of wetlands on wave and storm-surge that occur during extreme weather events. Increased flood risks will promote population migration as human risks associated with living in a deltaic landscape increase, as land is submerged and coastal inundation threats rise. These system linkages in dynamic deltaic coasts define a balance of river management and human settlement dependent on a certain level of land area within coastal deltaic basins (L).     

Development of a Marine Sediment Pollution Index.

To facilitate translation of the state of marine sediment quality for public information, a pollution index was developed from the results of a routine monitoring program. Principal component analysis (PCA) of 24 variables at 64 monitoring stations from 1987 to 1997 was carried out to identify the most important parameters that were applied in the index formulation. Of the 24 variables, six (Cr, Cu, Ni, chemical oxygen demand, Zn, Mn) were selected on the basis of their high PCA loadings. The derived Marine Sediment Pollution Index, rating from 0 to 100, reflected the general trend in the monitoring areas. The index was also found to have a significant negative correlation (P < 0.05) with the benthic species diversity and toxicity of the sediment, indicating its usefulness in reflecting marine sediment quality. The application of PCA to identify important variables from a monitoring program would reduce sampling resources, as parameters that did not show significant spatial or temporal variations could be analyzed in a lesser frequency than those that were identified to be more important from the results of PCA.     

Freshwater Critical Loads in Wales

The Steady State Water Chemistry (SSWC) modeland the Diatom model have been used to calculate criticalloads for acidity using annual mean chemistry for 102 acidupland streams in Wales sampled as part of the Welsh AcidWaters Survey (WAWS) in 1995. Diatom critical loads werelower than SSWC values reflecting the higher effective[ANC]_limit of the Diatom model compared to the[ANC]_limit of zero used in the SSWC model. The WAWSstream sites were all located within 41 10 × 10 km squares andeach square was assigned the lowest critical load value fromamongst the sites located within it. Comparison with valuesassigned under the UK national critical loads mappingprogramme (UKCLMAP) showed that WAWS critical loads were lowerthan UKCLMAP values in approximately 40% of squares.Differences in critical load class were variable, but exceeded2 keq ha^-1 yr^-1 in up to a maximum of seven squares.It cannot be assumed, therefore, that reducing acid depositionto the currently mapped UKCLMAP critical load will protect allstreams occurring within a given 10 × 10 km grid square inWales. The limited number of sample sites means that even inthose squares where all WAWS sites will be protected, theremay be other, more acid sensitive freshwaters with lowercritical loads. This has important implications for theinterpretation and use of critical loads data for regional andlocal environmental planning.     

Chemical characteristics of aerosols at coastal station in Hong Kong.Ⅱ.Environmental behavior of trace elements during the April 1995 to April 1996

An one-year of sampling aerosol program was carried out during the period of April 1995 to April 1996 atcoastal region, Cape D'Aguilar, in Hong Kong. The trace element composition of aerosol particles(TSP and PM10)were measured and analyzed by using the Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and Inductive CouplePlasma-Mass Spectrometry(ICP-MS) techniques. The results showed that the polluted elements such as: V, Zn,As, Pb, Cd, Sb, I, Se, Bi, with high enrichment factor( E. F) values, are derived from anthropogenic sources ,while Sc, Al, Fe, Mn, Sm, La, Sr are less than 10 in E. F, these elements are related the crust and soil. Theconcentration of the trace elements are present seasonal variation i.e. summer low and winter high, whereas the Vor noncrustal V(V* ) present summer high and winter low, this phenomenon might be explained by local or regionaloil combustion sources. Use three type of elemental ratio, e.g. La/Sm, Mn* /V* and Bi/Al indicate that both TSPand PM10 of La/Sm ratios are mainly related to soil and dust, Mn*/V* are probably represent fossil combustion andBi/Al are possibly associated with refuse incineration, ferromanganese alloys and aluminum production. The varimaxrotation factor analysis for trace elements was performed. By means of the absolute principal component analysis(APCA) and multiple regression, the contribution of trace elements to possible sources and overall means of traceelements were estimated. The results showed that the present station is impacted by the anthropogenic species,although the quantities are different during the summertime and wintertime.