海水中痕量元素测定方法的比较

——用三种仪器技术的五种不同分析方法研究了沿岸海水中痕量金属含量的测定。用同位素稀释火花源质谱法,石墨炉原子吸收分光光度法,离子交换和螯合溶剂萃取预富集电子耦合等离子发射光谱法或直接用石墨炉原子吸收分光光度法核对了所得结果。比较不同分析方法对应的数据是考验这些方法合理性的实用办法,增高所得结果的可信度,在缺乏标准参考物时尤其适用。——测定海水中的痕量元素有很大的困难(1)。对极低浓度分析物(0.02—10毫克/升)定量由于伴有3.5％溶解固体组成的基体,从而对仪器技术提出了许多要求。设计的很多样品制备方案均要求预富集痕量元素以及在分析前把痕量元素从主要干扰成分中分出(1—7)。所有这些方法必定要增加样品的处理手续、试剂以及容器表面与样品接触所引进的不可接受的高的和(或)随机的操作空白。由于缺乏标准参考物,这些问题更加严重。因为标准参考物可检查诸如样品处理过程中引入沾污分析物质的损失以及基体或光谱干扰等对仪器响应的影响等系统误差。为减小这种误差,合理的措施是用各种不同的分析方法测定每个分析物,因为不同的分析方法不会遇到相同的干扰。这样,在不同方法的相应值中一定蕴含着样品中分析物浓度的一个可靠的估计真实值为此在进行沿岸海水中镉、锌、铅、铁、锰、铜、镍、钻、铬的分析时,用离子交换或螯合—溶剂萃取法预富集痕量金属属,并直接用石墨炉原子吸收法分析后,接着采用同位素稀释火花源质谱法(IDSSMS)。石墨炉原子吸收光谱法(GFAAS)以及电感耦合等离子发射光谱法(ICPES)进行了分析。本文对这种处理法的固有优点进行了讨论。     

加拿大制浆造纸废水厌氧处理的进展

1960～980年间,加拿大用于清除制浆造纸工业污染的经费约达6.6亿美元。采取这些措施后,到1980年加拿大72％的制浆造纸厂达到了国家控制废水BOD排放的规定。进一步改进达标状况的措施之一是对许多新制浆厂的高浓度废水采用厌氧处理技术。但需首先要了解制浆造纸工业在采用厌氧技术以前,在几方面的数据(表1)。 1.制浆造纸废水的适应性、生化可降解性及毒性     

如何对幼儿进行环境教育

应该从什么时候开始对儿童进行环境教育——三年级?一年级?还是幼儿园?答案是:更早。实际上,在人生命的最初几年,环境教育就应该以体验的方式进行。这些体验对于塑造孩子将来对自然的态度、价值观念和行为模式扮演着重要的角色。由于儿童是通过在自然中玩耍去了解环境的,教育者     

Information Network Topologies for Enhanced Local Adaptive Management

We examined the principal effects of different information network topologies for local adaptive management of natural resources. We used computerized agents with adaptive decision algorithms with the following three fundamental constraints: (1) Complete understanding of the processes maintaining the natural resource can never be achieved, (2) agents can only learn by experimentation and information sharing, and (3) memory is limited. The agents were given the task to manage a system that had two states: one that provided high utility returns (desired) and one that provided low returns (undesired). In addition, the threshold between the states was close to the optimal return of the desired state. We found that networks of low to moderate link densities significantly increased the resilience of the utility returns. Networks of high link densities contributed to highly synchronized behavior among the agents, which caused occasional large-scale ecological crises between periods of stable and high utility returns. A constructed network involving a small set of experimenting agents was capable of combining high utility returns with high resilience, conforming to theories underlying the concept of adaptive comanagement. We conclude that (1) the ability to manage for resilience (i.e., to stay clear of the threshold leading to the undesired state as well as the ability to re-enter the desired state following a collapse) resides in the network structure and (2) in a coupled social–ecological system, the systemwide state transition occurs not because the ecological system flips into the undesired state, but because managers lose their capacity to reorganize back to the desired state. An erratum to this article can be found at .     

Estimating the Recreational-Use Value for Hiking in Bellenden Ker National Park, Australia

The recreational-use value of hiking in the Bellenden Ker National Park, Australia has been estimated using a zonal travel cost model. Multiple destination visitors have been accounted for by converting visitors’ own ordinal ranking of the various sites visited to numerical weights, using an expected-value approach. The value of hiking and camping in this national park was found to be $AUS 250,825 per year, or $AUS 144,45 per visitor per year, which is similar to findings from other studies valuing recreational benefits. The management of the park can use these estimates when considering the introduction of a system of user pays fees. In addition, they might be important when decisions need to be made about the allocation of resources for maintenance or upgrade of tracks and facilities.     

A multi-objective optimisation approach to water management

The management of river basins is complex especially when decisions about environmental flows are considered in addition to those concerning urban and agricultural water demand. The solution to these complex decision problems requires the use of mathematical techniques that are formulated to take into account conflicting objectives. Many optimization models exist for water management systems but there is a knowledge gap in linking bio-economic objectives with the optimum use of all water resources under conflicting demands. The efficient operation and management of a network of nodes comprising storages, canals, river reaches and irrigation districts under environmental flow constraints is challenging. Minimization of risks associated with agricultural production requires accounting for uncertainty involved with climate, environmental policy and markets. Markets and economic criteria determine what crops farmers would like to grow with subsequent effect on water resources and the environment. Due to conflicts between multiple goal requirements and the competing water demands of different sectors, a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework was developed to analyze production targets under physical, biological, economic and environmental constraints. This approach is described by analyzing the conflicts that may arise between profitability, variable costs of production and pumping of groundwater for a hypothetical irrigation area.     

Sustainable pattern analysis of a publicly owned Material Recovery Facility in a fast-growing urban setting under uncertainty

Sustainable development goals are achievable through the installation of Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) in certain solid waste management systems, especially those in rapidly expanding multi-district urban areas. MRFs are a cost-effective alternative when curbside recycling does not demonstrate long-term success. Previous capacity planning uses mixed integer programming optimization for the urban center of the city of San Antonio, Texas to establish that a publicly owned material recovery facility is preferable to a privatized facility. As a companion study, this analysis demonstrates that a MRF alleviates economic, political, and social pressures facing solid waste management under uncertainty. It explores the impact of uncertainty in decision alternatives in an urban environmental system. From this unique angle, waste generation, incidence of recyclables in the waste stream, routing distances, recycling participation, and other planning components are taken as intervals to expand upon previous deterministic integer-programming models. The information incorporated into the optimization objectives includes economic impacts for recycling income and cost components in waste management. The constraint set consists of mass balance, capacity limitation, recycling limitation, scale economy, conditionality, and relevant screening restrictions. Due to the fragmented data set, a grey integer programming modeling approach quantifies the consequences of inexact information as it propagates through the final solutions in the optimization process. The grey algorithm screens optimal shipping patterns and an ideal MRF location and capacity. Two case settings compare MRF selection policies where optimal solutions exemplify the value of grey programming in the context of integrated solid waste management.     

Impacts of repeated timber skidding on the chemical properties of topsoil, herbaceous cover and forest floor in an eastern beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) stand

In this study, long-term timber skidding effects on herbaceous understory forest floor and soil were investigated on a skid road in a stand of the eastern beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky). For this purpose, herbaceous understory forest floor and soil samples were collected from the skid road and from an undisturbed area used as a control plot. The mass (kg ha(-1)) of herbaceous and forest floor samples was determined, and soil characteristics were examined at two depths (0-5 cm and 5-10 cm). We quantified sand, silt and clay content, as well as bulk density compaction, pH, and organic carbon content in soil samples. The quantities of N, K, P, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu were determined in all herbaceous cover forest floor and soil samples. The quantities of Na, Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn in herbaceous understory samples from the skid road were considerably higher than those in the undisturbed area, while the quantity of Mg was considerably lower. These differences could have been caused by decreased herbaceous cover in addition to variations in the properties of the forest floor and soil after skidding. A lower amount of forest floor on the skid road was the result of skidding and harvesting activities. Mg and Zn contents in forest floor samples were found to be considerably lower for the skid road than for the undisturbed area. No significant differences were found in soil chemical properties (quantities of N, P, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn) at the 0-5 cm soil depth. Important differences exist between soil quantities of Mg at a 5-10 cm depth on the skid road and in undisturbed areas. Both 0-5 cm and 5-10 cm soil depths, the average penetrometer resistance values for the skid road was higher than for the undisturbed area. This result shows that the compaction caused by skidding is maintained to depth of 10 cm. Skid road soil showed higher bulk density values than undisturbed areas because of compaction.