Carbon mitigation potential and costs of forestry options in Brazil,China, India,Indonesia, Mexico,the Philippines and Tanzania

This paper summarizes studies of carbon (C) mitigation potential and costs of about 40 forestry options in seven developing countries. Each study uses the same methodological approach – Comprehensive Mitigation Assessment Process (COMAP) – to estimate the above parameters between 2000 and 2030. The approach requires the projection of baseline and mitigation land-use scenarios. Coupled with data on a per ha basis on C sequestration or avoidance, and costs and benefits, it allows the estimation of monetary benefit per Mg C, and the total costs and carbon potential. The results show that about half (3.0 Pg C) the cumulative mitigation potential of 6.2 Petagram (Pg) C between 2000 and 2030 in the seven countries (about 200× 10⁶ Mg C yr^-1) could be achieved at a negative cost and the remainder at costs ranging up to $100 Mg C^-1. About 5 Pg C could be achieved, at a cost less than $20 per Mg C. Negative cost potential indicates that non-carbon revenue is sufficient to offset direct costs of these options. The achievable potential is likely to be smaller, however, due to market, institutional, and sociocultural barriers that can delay or prevent the implementation of the analyzed options.     

A new design of groundwater sampling device and its application

Compounds in the atmosphere contaminate samples of groundwater. An inexpensive and simple method for collecting groundwater samples is developed to prevent contamination when the background concentration of contaminants is high. This new design of groundwater sampling device involves a glass sampling bottle with a Teflon-lined valve at each end. A cleaned and dried sampling bottle was connected to a low flow-rate peristaltic pump with Teflon tubing and was filled with water. No headspace volume was remained in the sampling bottle. The sample bottle was then packed in a PVC bag to prevent the target component from infiltrating into the water sample through the valves. In this study, groundwater was sampled at six wells using both the conventional method and the improved method. The analysis of trichlorofluoromethane（ CFC-11 ） concentrations at these six wells indicates that all the groundwater samples obtained by the conventional sampling method were contaminated by CFC-11 from the atmosphere. The improved sampling method greatly eliminated the problems of contamination, preservation and quantitative analysis of natural water.     

Behavioral frequency: Relationship between conditioning and extinction

Operant conditioning data pertaining to bar pressing in rats show that (1) different schedules of reinforcement during training lead to differential behavior during extinction as measured by number of responses, but not as measured by number of response units and (2) animals show a response frequency/unit of time which is directly proportional to the response frequency/unit of time acquired during training.