Pressure cookers or pressure valves: Do roads lead to deforestation in China?

The effect of roads on forests is ambiguous. Many studies conclude that building and upgrading roads increases pressure on forests but some find that new and better roads may reduce the rate of deforestation. In this paper we use satellite remote sensing images of forest cover in Jiangxi Province, China, to test whether the existence and the size of roads (ranging from expressways to tertiary roads) in 1995 affected the level of forest cover in 2000 or the rate of change between 1995 and 2000. To account for road access for each of our 1 km² (“pixel”) units of forest cover we measure whether or not and what type of roads penetrate the “watershed” in which the pixel lies. These watersheds allow more plausible measures of accessibility than do traditional “crowfly” distance measures that ignore topography. To account for possible confounding we also use 12 additional covariates: geographic and climatic variables (e.g., elevation, slope, rainfall, temperature, soil properties); demographic and economic variables (e.g., local population and GDP per square kilometer); and distance variables (e.g., distance to the nearest provincial capital). Although simple univariate OLS regressions show that forest levels are lower and deforestation rates higher either when there is a road, or when there is a higher quality road, these results are not robust. Controlling for all of the covariates and also using recently developed covariate matching techniques to estimate treatment effects, we find that roads in China’s Jiangxi Province can most safely be described as having no impact on the level of forests and no impact on the rate of deforestation.     

变化环境下北江下游年径流量的加权马尔可夫链预测

在气候变化和人类活动的影响下,西北江的水文环境发生了重大变化,导致北江下游的来水条件发生变化。采用斯波曼检验（Spearman’s rho test）和Mann-kendall法系统地分析了北江下游的年径流量的变化趋势和变异情况,在此基础上建立了北江下游变化环境下年径流量的加权马尔可夫链预测模型。结果表明：西北江近50年来的大规模联围筑闸、大规模无序采掘河床泥沙等剧烈的人类活动,导致北江下游三水水文站年径流量在1990年左右发生了变异;所建立的加权马尔可夫链预测结果表明,从变异后的序列中统计出来的状态＂转移概率＂矩阵,能准确地反映出环境变化后年径流量之间的关系,所建立的加权马尔可夫链法预测变化环境下的年径流量是可行的,预测效果也比较好;按文章确定的分级标准,依现有的资料信息推断,环境发生变化后,在未来长期过程中,北江下游出现平水年的机会最大,但年际间的丰枯波动概率也不小。这一结果值得水资源管理部门注意。     

环介导等温扩增技术(LAMP)检测人星状病毒方法的建立及其在再生水检测中的应用

为快速高效地检测人星状病毒,建立了一种新的试验方法——环介导等温扩增技术(loop-mediated isothermal amplification technology,LAMP),并对人星状病毒LAMP反应条件进行了优化.结果表明,镁离子终浓度为4 mmol·L-1、甜菜碱终浓度为1mol.L-1的25μL体系下...     

Atmospheric-particulates-bound mercury Hg(p) study at five characteristic sampling sites in Taiwan

The main purpose for this study is to observe the seasonal and month variations for particulates-bound mercury Hg(p) in total suspended particulates (TSP) concentration, dry deposition at five characteristic sampling sites during years of 2009-2010 in central Taiwan. The results show that the highest and lowest monthly average particulates-bound mercury Hg(p) concentrations in TSP were occurred in Dec. and Oct. at Gao-mei (wetland), Chang-hua (downtown) and He-mei (residential) sampling site. In addition, the results show that the highest and lowest monthly average particulates-bound mercury Hg(p) dry deposition was occurred in Feb. and Oct. at Quan-xing (industrial) sampling site. This study reflected that the mean highest particulates-bound mercury Hg(p) concentrations in TSP and mean highest particulates-bound mercury Hg(p) dry deposition were occurred at Gao-mei (wetland) and Quan-xing (industrial). However, the mean lowest particulates-bound mercury Hg(p) concentrations in TSP and mean lowest particulates-bound mercury Hg(p) dry deposition were also occurred at Gao-mei (wetland). Regarding seasonal variation, the order of mean-particulates-bound mercury Hg(p) concentrations in TSP in winter and spring were Gao-mei (wetland) > Quan-xing (industrial) > Bei-shi (suburban/coastal) > Chang-hua (downtown) > He-mei (residential). Finally, the order of mean-particulates-bound mercury Hg(p) dry deposition in fall, spring and summer were Quan-xing (industrial) > Bei-shi (suburban/coastal) > Chang-hua (downtown) > He-mei (residential) > Gao-mei (wetland).     

两种典型持久性有机污染物对草履虫急性毒性初探

滴滴涕和苯并芘这两种典型持久性有机污染物在环境中已广泛分布,因此,本研究利用单细胞真核模式生物-草履虫来研究其急性毒性效应,结果发现其毒性效应存在显著的剂量效应关系.DDT和BaP的半数致死浓度分别为126.012 mg·L-1和180.167 mg·L-1,且这两种污染物的浓度和概率间存在很好的线性关系.不同浓度的D...     

Monitoring and identification of spatiotemporal landscape changes in multiple remote sensing images by using a stratified conditional Latin hypercube sampling approach and geostatistical simulation

This study develops a stratified conditional Latin hypercube sampling (scLHS) approach for multiple, remotely sensed, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) images. The objective is to sample, monitor, and delineate spatiotemporal landscape changes, including spatial heterogeneity and variability, in a given area. The scLHS approach, which is based on the variance quadtree technique (VQT) and the conditional Latin hypercube sampling (cLHS) method, selects samples in order to delineate landscape changes from multiple NDVI images. The images are then mapped for calibration and validation by using sequential Gaussian simulation (SGS) with the scLHS selected samples. Spatial statistical results indicate that in terms of their statistical distribution, spatial distribution, and spatial variation, the statistics and variograms of the scLHS samples resemble those of multiple NDVI images more closely than those of cLHS and VQT samples. Moreover, the accuracy of simulated NDVI images based on SGS with scLHS samples is significantly better than that of simulated NDVI images based on SGS with cLHS samples and VQT samples, respectively. However, the proposed approach efficiently monitors the spatial characteristics of landscape changes, including the statistics, spatial variability, and heterogeneity of NDVI images. In addition, SGS with the scLHS samples effectively reproduces spatial patterns and landscape changes in multiple NDVI images.     

Distribution pattern, behavior, and fate of antibacterials in urban aquatic environments in South China

Occurrence, behavior and fate of several groups of antibacterials were investigated in municipal wastewater, sewage sludge, and urban river water in China. Fluoroquinolones (e.g., ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, and ofloxacin), macrolides (dehydroerythromycin, roxithromycin, and clarithromycin), sulfonamides (sulfamethoxazole and sulfamethazine) and trimethoprim were ubiquitously detected in the wastewater in China. Fluoroquinolones were generally the most abundant in the raw sewage, with a maximum concentration of up to 6415 ng L(-1) observed for norfloxacin. Sulfonamides and macrolides transported predominantly in the aqueous phase. A median percentage of 67% of sulfonamides and 86% of macrolides remained in the final effluent after treatment in sewage treatment plants. On the contrary, sorption played a significant role in transport of fluoroquinolones and approximately half of the fluoroquinolones finally ended up and persisted in the dewatered sludge. In the urban section of the Pearl River at Guangzhou, sulfonamides, trimethoprim, and macrolides were widely present at median concentrations of 22-735 ng L(-1), whereas fluoroquinolones were only occasionally detected at 2-152 ng L(-1), probably due to their strong tendency of partition to sediment and/or photodegradability. The result of principal components analysis suggests input of non-sewage derived sulfamethazine in the Pearl River. Seasonal variations of the antibacterials distribution in the wastewater are mainly ascribed to different consumption. Dilution effect by precipitation, however, also plays an important role in seasonal distribution of the antibacterials in the Pearl River.     

1780-1819年华北平原水旱灾害社会响应方式的转变

历史时期水旱灾害的社会响应典型案例重建是气候变化影响与适应研究的重要方向。选取1780-1819年间华北平原发生的4次典型水旱灾害(1785、1792、1813年旱灾及1801年水灾),基于清代档案资料和历史气候重建结果提取代用指标,对其灾情严重程度、政府救灾力度和灾民行为进行了量化描述和对比分析,发现:①4次灾害中赈济密度(赈灾物资数/成灾州县数)逐次下降,1813年旱灾中降至不足1785年旱灾的1/6,政府救灾力度遭到严重削弱;②灾民行为日益失控,从1792年旱灾和1801年水灾中的大规模跨区域迁徙,发展到1813年旱灾中大量加入盗匪和起义军,走向暴力。这一转变的发生,是在自然(气候突变、灾害增多)、社会(政府财政危机、人地矛盾激化)不利背景之下,政府与灾民的互动关系日趋消极的结果。     

VOC emission caps constrained by air quality targets based on response surface model: A case study in the Pearl River Delta Region, China

Because of the recent growth in ground-level ozone and increased emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), VOC emission control has become a major concern in China. In response, emission caps to control VOC have been stipulated in recent policies, but few of them were constrained by the co-control target of PM_2.5 and ozone, and discussed the factor that influence the emission cap formulation. Herein, we proposed a framework for quantification of VOC emission caps constrained by targets for PM_2.5 and ozone via a new response surface modeling (RSM) technique, achieving 50% computational cost savings of the quantification. In the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, the VOC emission caps constrained by air quality targets varied greatly with the NO_x emission reduction level. If control measures in the surrounding areas of the PRD region were not considered, there could be two feasible strategies for VOC emission caps to meet air quality targets (160 µg/m³ for the maximum 8-hr-average 90th-percentile (MDA8-90%) ozone and 25 µg/m³ for the annual average of PM_2.5): a moderate VOC emission cap with <20% NOx emission reductions or a notable VOC emission cap with >60% NO_x emission reductions. If the ozone concentration target were reduced to 155 µg/m³, deep NO_x emission reductions is the only feasible ozone control measure in PRD. Optimization of seasonal VOC emission caps based on the Monte Carlo simulation could allow us to gain higher ozone benefits or greater VOC emission reductions. If VOC emissions were further reduced in autumn, MDA8-90% ozone could be lowered by 0.3-1.5 µg/m³, equaling the ozone benefits of 10% VOC emission reduction measures. The method for VOC emission cap quantification and optimization proposed in this study could provide scientific guidance for coordinated control of regional PM_2.5 and O₃ pollution in China.     

Aging of PVDF and PES ultrafiltration membranes by sodium hypochlorite: Effect of solution pH

Sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) is a commonly applied cleaning agent for ultrafiltration membranes in water and wastewater treatment. Long-term exposure to NaClO might change the properties and performance of polymeric membranes, and ultimately shorten membrane lifespan. Active species in NaClO solution vary with solution pH, and the aging effects can change depending on the membrane material. In this study, the aging of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyethersulfone (PES) membranes by NaClO at pH 3–11 was investigated by examining variations in chemical composition, surface charge, surface morphology, mechanical strength, permeability, and retention ability. Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), which was blended in both membranes, was oxidized and dislodged due to NaClO aging at all investigated pH values, but the oxidation products and dislodgement ratio of PVP varied with solution pH. For the PVDF membrane, NaClO aging at pH 3–11 caused a moderate increase in permeability and decreased retention due to the oxidation and release of PVP. The tensile strength decreased only at pH 11 because of the defluorination of PVDF molecules. For the PES membrane, NaClO aging at all investigated pH resulted in chain scission of PES molecules, which was favored at pH 7 and 9, potentially due to the formation of free radicals. Therefore, a decrease in tensile strength and retention ability, as well as an increase in permeability, occurred in the PES membrane for NaClO aging at pH 3–11. Overall, the results can provide a basis for selecting chemical cleaning conditions for PVDF and PES membranes.