Scale,context, and decision making in agricultural adaptation to climate variability and change

This work presents a framework for viewing agricultural adaptation, emphasizing the multiple spatial and temporal scales on which individuals and institutions process information on changes in their environment. The framework is offered as a means to gain perspective on the role of climate variability and change in agricultural adaptation, and developed for a case study of Australian agriculture. To study adaptation issues at the scale of individual farms we developed a simple modelling framework. The model highlights the decision making element of adaptation in light of uncertainty, and underscores the importance of decision information related to climate variability. Model results show that the assumption of perfect information for farmers systematically overpredicts adaptive performance. The results also suggest that farmers who make tactical planting decisions on the basis of historical climate information are outperformed by those who use even moderately successful seasonal forecast information. Analysis at continental scales highlights the prominent role of the decline in economic operating conditions on Australian agriculture. Examples from segments of the agricultural industry in Australia are given to illustrate the importance of appropriate scale attribution in adapting to environmental changes. In particular, adaptations oriented toward short time scale changes in the farming environment (droughts, market fluctuations) can be limited in their efficacy by constraints imposed by broad changes in the soil/water base and economic environment occuring over longer time scales. The case study also makes the point that adaptation must be defined in reference to some goal, which is ultimately a social and political exercise. Overall, this study highlights the importance of allowing more complexity (limited information, risk aversion, cross-scale interactions, mis-attribution of cause and effect, background context, identification of goals) in representing adaptation processes in climate change studies.     

Use of chemical coagulants to control fouling potential for wastewater membrane bioreactor processes.

Chemical coagulation with ferric chloride, alum, and an organic polymer were used to control the fouling potential of mixed liquors for submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR) processes in treating municipal wastewater. Their filterability was evaluated using a submerged hollow fiber ultrafiltration apparatus operated in constant permeate flux mode. The collected transmembrane pressures over filtration time were used to calculate the membrane fouling rates. The results showed that coagulation pretreatment can reduce fouling rates when MBRs were operated above the critical flux. Even though coagulation with the organic polymer formed larger mixed liquor suspended solids particles and had shorter time-to-filtration than those with ferric chloride and alum, the filterability for membrane filtration were similar, indicating that the membrane fouling in MBR systems was mainly controlled by the concentration of smaller colloidal particles.     

Bio-indicators in cadmium toxicity: Role of HSP27 and HSP70

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are a family of proteins that are expressed by cells in reply to stressors. The changes in concentration of HSPs could be...     

江苏水源地型水库异味物质发生风险及影响因素

为认知水源地型水库异味发生风险及其规律,本研究于异味风险高危期(夏季),对江苏17个省级水源地型水库开展了水质、浮游生物和异味物质状况调查.结果表明,本次调查的17个水库普遍存在富营养化程度偏高(如藻类生物量偏大和水体透明度偏低)的问题,约三分之一的水库出现部分水层异味物质2-甲基异莰醇(MIB)浓度超标,MIB平均浓度为(13. 7±20. 7) ng·L-1,表明江苏省水库型水源地普遍存在MIB风险;多个水库检出土臭素(GSM),但其浓度均没有超过10ng·L-1的饮用水标准浓度(最大浓度为4. 6 ng·L-1);同步水质调查及统计分析表明,MIB浓度和水体叶绿素a浓度、水体透明度、悬浮颗粒物浓度、富营养化指数等重要水质指标及浮游植物生物量(特别是蓝藻生物量)相关性显著(P 0. 05),其中MIB与叶绿素a、富营养化指数呈极显著的相关关系(P 0. 01).因此,水源地型水库的异味物质风险与水库的富营养化密切相关;实施营养盐外源输入削减、提高流域植被覆盖度、科学调控渔业养殖规模等水体富营养化控制措施是水库异味物质控制的关键.     

离子色谱法测定PM_(2.5)中硫酸根离子含量不确定度评议

准确测定大气颗粒物中水溶性组份对分析污染物来源及身体健康具有重要意义。本文采用离子色谱法测定PM2.5中硫酸根离子含量,并对测定的不确定度进行分析。分析过程不确定度来源是样品重复性测量引入不确定度,样品测量准确性引入不确定度和标准曲线的不确定度。应用不确定度评定理论,计算硫酸根离子的合成不确定度。结果表明,滤膜中硫酸根离子本底浓度高低与剪裁滤膜环节是不确定度的主要来源。为了提高分析的准确性,建议使用本底低的滤膜,并取整张滤膜进行分析。     

Off-grid: community energy and the pursuit of self-sufficiency in British Columbia's remote and First Nations communities

Remote or off-grid communities in Canada primarily rely on diesel generators for the provision of their electricity. Often surrounded by potential renewable resources, they are characterised as the low-hanging fruit of greenhouse gas mitigation strategies. While much is said about the promises of community energy projects, as well as technologies and policy mechanisms for addressing the needs of these communities, little attention has been paid to what communities, themselves, might want for their energy projects and what the implications of those desires might be for both technology development and community energy policies. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring the on-going energy pursuits of a number of remote First Nations communities in British Columbia. It identifies a desire for community self-sufficiency as a primary motivation for engaging with energy projects on the part of the communities and discusses the various meanings and implications of self-sufficiency in the context of community energy projects. These meanings and implications primarily include the two dimensions of material self-sufficiency and political self-determination, the latter of which suggests a view of community energy projects as processes of decolonisation among First Nation communities in British Columbia. It then suggests that the pursuit of this goal is somewhat incongruent with the approach that government and industry have taken in addressing community energy, especially the way in which remote communities are viewed as the low-hanging fruit of various sustainability projects.     

宝钢厂区植被碳储量及其固碳效益评价

以著名钢铁企业上海宝钢为例,基于厂区植被调查、航片数字化解释、优势种生物量测定及模型建立,对宝钢厂区植被碳储量和固碳能力进行估算,并通过碳税法对其固碳效益进行评价,以期为城市工业区绿地群落配置和绿化树种选择、企业绿化建设的费用效益分析提供更为科学的依据。结果表明:宝钢厂区植被总碳储量为3992.99～4736.17 t,固碳效益为13507.33～16185.85万元;平均碳密度为45.82～53.27 t/hm2,固碳能力为5.91～6.87t/(hm2.a),高于上海城市森林平均值,但小于中国森林平均值,一定程度上受平均胸径、郁闭度及群落密度等因素影响。厂区在进行绿化建设时,应考虑选择防污且固碳能力强的植物,构建防污固碳兼有型群落,发挥植被的多元功能。