Pathways of rural change: an integrated assessment of metabolic patterns in emerging ruralities

While rural transformations are nothing new in human history, current processes of rural change occur under multiple forces at an unprecedented pace, involving profound and unexpected changes in land use and users, and rapid transformations in the metabolic patterns of rural systems. The present special section aims to shed light on current drivers and pathways of rural change by analyzing, under a common conceptual and theoretical framework, examples of new ruralities that are emerging as responses across different world regions. Within this context, this introduction presents: (1) common research questions of the six presented cases of rural change; (2) the general theoretical and methodological framework of integrated assessment of societal metabolism adopted to analyze rural systems and (3) the main contributions and conclusions that could be drawn from six context-specific case studies from Asia, Latin America and Europe.     

Ecology of Siberian stone pine (Pinus sibirica Du Tour) and Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) in the Altai mountain glacial basins

Data are presented on the ecology of Siberian stone pine and Siberian larch in recent Altai mountain glacial basins at elevations above 2100 m a.s.l. The representative example of the Aktru basin is used to demonstrate the ranges of tolerance of these tree species to a series of ecological factors.     

Contribution of sociodemographic characteristics, occupation, diet and lifestyle to DDT and DDE concentrations in serum and adipose tissue from a Bolivian cohort

The organochlorine pesticide p,p′-Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) was widely used in the early 1960s-70s for vector control in tropical and subtropical areas of South America. Due to its persistence, DDT has a high potential to bioaccumulate in the food chain and living organisms and is a major public health concern, especially in South America.The main purpose of the present study was to investigate predictors of serum and adipose tissue concentrations of p,p′-DDT and its main metabolite, p,p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p′-DDE), in an adult cohort (n = 112) from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, using multiple linear regression models. These models explained 29.3-47.8% of the variability in adipose tissue concentrations of p,p′-DDT and p,p′-DDE, respectively, and 32.9-47.0% of that in serum. Main exposure predictors included age, occupational class, residence, diet, smoking habit, and accumulated breastfeeding time.This is one of the few studies to explore predictors of human exposure to these chemicals using a multivariate approach in a South American population. Results show that predictors of human exposure to p,p′-DDT and p,p′-DDE in Santa Cruz de la Sierra may diverge from those found in other populations of the world, due to particular sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics of this region.     

城市土地低碳利用模式的变革及路径

随着城市化进程的加快,城市土地开发利用呈现出膨胀式的扩展,特别是在"高消耗、高排放、高污染"的城市发展模式下,不仅造成社会碳排放量快速增长,而且造成城市土地的"碳汇"功能减弱,致使气候变暖、人居环境日益恶化。论文采用文献分析法和综合归纳法,从城市土地的利用结构、空间布局、利用规模与方向等方面,分析城市土地利用模式所存在的问题,结合城市化发展中的土地资源利用、碳排放、生态环境现状,阐述城市土地低碳利用模式构建的必要性,进而探讨构建城市土地低碳利用模式的路径。认为:应从"减排"和"增汇"两方面着手,培育城市土地低碳利用观念,科学规划城市土地的功能分区,构建生态化土地利用模式,形成"政府主导、市场适应、公众参与"的城市土地低碳利用决策机制与模式,从而变革传统的城市土地利用模式,实现城市建设发展的低碳化。     

水资源协调利用的利益补偿机制研究

各地经济社会发展与水资源分配利用的不均衡和不平等性所导致的水资源利用的地区性利益冲突与结构性矛盾、经济发展与生态资源环境保护之间的矛盾日益凸现。研究水资源协调利用的利益补偿问题,对实现水利工程的长期运行和水资源的可持续利用具有十分重要的意义。本文通过分析和梳理水资源利用利益补偿的相关理论,构建了水资源协调利用的利益补偿机制框架,并用实例来验证其可行性和有效性。研究结果表明,基于水资源的公共物品属性、水资源的生态价值论和水资源利用的公平正义伦理观,从补偿原则、补偿方式和补偿标准等方面来构建水资源协调利用的利益补偿机制在实践上具备可行性,能够有效地实现水资源与水利工程效益的合理配置、公平共享和可持续利用。建议各地在水资源的利用中不仅要认识到其经济价值,更要充分考虑到其社会价值、生态价值、环境价值以及其它相关地区和利益主体的现在和未来的利益需要,尽快建立适合当地自身社会经济发展和自然资源环境条件的水资源协调利用的利益补偿机制。     

Beyond selectivity: Are behavioral avoidance and hormesis likely causes of pyrethroid-induced outbreaks of the southern red mite Oligonychus ilicis?

Secondary pest outbreak is a counterintuitive ecological backlash of pesticide use in agriculture that takes place with the increase in abundance of a non-targeted pest species after pesticide application against a targeted pest species. Although the phenomenon was well recognized, its alternative causes are seldom considered. Outbreaks of the southern red mite Oligonychus ilicis are frequently reported in Brazilian coffee farms after the application of pyrethroid insecticides against the coffee leaf miner Leucoptera coffeella. Selectivity favoring the red mite against its main predatory mites is generally assumed as the outbreak cause, but this theory has never been tested. Here, we assessed the toxicity (and thus the selectivity) of deltamethrin against both mite species: the southern red mite and its phytoseid predator Amblyseius herbicolus. Additionally, behavioral avoidance and deltamethrin-induced hormesis were also tested as potential causes of red mite outbreak using free-choice behavioral walking bioassays with the predatory mite and life-table experiments with both mite species, respectively. Lethal toxicity bioassays indicated that the predatory mite was slightly more susceptible than its prey (1.5×), but in more robust demographic bioassays, the predator was three times more tolerant to deltamethrin than its prey, indicating that predator susceptibility to deltamethrin is not a cause of the reported outbreaks. The predator did not exhibit behavioral avoidance to deltamethrin; however insecticide-induced hormesis in the red mite led to its high population increase under low doses, which was not observed for the predatory mite. Therefore, deltamethrin-induced hormesis is a likely cause of the reported red mite outbreaks.     

Comparative acute toxicity of two phytosanitary molecules,lambda-cyhalothrin and acetamiprid,on Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus) juveniles

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the toxicity for fish of two active ingredients (lambda-cyhalothrin-20?g L^?1, a pyrethroid, and acetamiprid-15?g L^?1, a neonicotinoid) which are components of a commercial insecticide (Acer 35 EC) used in cotton crop in many West African countries. The juveniles of Oreochromis niloticus (4.01?±?0.34?g, mean body weight) were exposed for 96?h to increasing concentrations of active ingredients (lambda-cyhalothrin and acetamiprid) or a mixture similar to Acer 35 EC (composed by 20?g of chemical compound lambda-cyhalothrin and 15?g of acetamiprid dissolved in 1?L of acetone). The experiments were carried out under controlled conditions in aquaria according to OECD Guidelines. During the experiments, the behavioral responses (loss of balance, color change, hyperactivity, etc.) that usually precede death were observed in exposed fish. Mortalities were recorded in each aquarium and the LC₅₀-96h of each chemical was determined. The LC₅₀-96h obtained were respectively 0.1268, 0.0029, 182.9 and 0.5685?ppm for Acer 35 EC, lambda-cyhalothrin, acetamiprid and mixture. All insecticides used in this study had profound impact on Nile tilapia behavior which may confirm the neurotoxicity of each single active compound as well as of their mixture.     

Scenario analysis of perspective change to support climate adaptation: lessons from a pilot study on Dutch river management

Climate adaptation is a complex task surrounded by uncertainty. To support climate adaptation policies, a new scenario approach is pursued to explore possible discontinuous future developments of societal perspectives on climate adaptation issues. The scenario approach was tested for a case study on Dutch river management. In a series of scenario development workshops, a select group of stakeholders explored the perspectives on the management of the River Meuse in the past, present, and future. The process was supported by an analytical perspectives mapping tool to illustrate and analyze the development of perspectives over time. The process and analytical tools contributed to insight into the drivers of perspective change for the case study at hand. Moreover, the stakeholders highlighted the potential of the approach for water management policy for creating awareness about the plurality of perspectives and the dynamics of perspective change, monitoring perspectives and perspective change as part of a flexible policy approach, and anticipating on the occurrence of shock events. Further work is required to better represent the social dynamics of perspectives change, to better empirically ground the perspective change model, and to apply integrated water models in the scenario development process to assess water–society interactions.