Impact and cost of measures to reduce nutrient emissions from wastewater and storm water treatment in the German Elbe river basin

As a leading nutrient emitter, wastewater infrastructure harbors significant technical potentials to reduce the water-polluting emissions of phosphorus and nitrogen into the Elbe river basin. From the viewpoint of the central infrastructure, the effluent threshold value of urban wastewater treatment plants could be lowered further by advanced use of denitrification and membrane filtration, and storm water overflows of wastewater and contaminated rainwater from sewers could be treated in retention soil filters. In addition, small-scale wastewater treatment plants, infiltration and reducing or unsealing impervious surfaces could be used as decentralized elements of wastewater or storm water treatment. It can be shown that if the most advanced measures were applied in all wastewater-relevant areas, up to 60% of the phosphorus and 37% of the nitrogen emissions could be avoided. Alongside central wastewater treatment plants, small-scale treatment plants prove to be the most effective and cost-efficient option. To achieve an ecologically acceptable state of the Elbe, however, it may be necessary to employ more costly measures as well.     

Barriers to plantation activities in different agro-ecological zones of Southern India

This paper analyses environmental and socio-economic barriers for plantation activities on local and regional level and investigates the potential for carbon finance to stimulate the increased rates of forest plantation on wasteland, i.e., degraded lands, in southern India. Building on multidisciplinary field work and results from the model GCOMAP, the aim is to (1) identify and characterize the barriers to plantation activities in four agro-ecological zones in the state of Karnataka and (2) investigate what would be required to overcome these barriers and enhance the plantation rate and productivity. The results show that a rehabilitation of the wasteland based on plantation activities is not only possible but also anticipated by the local population and would lead to positive environmental and socio-economic effects at a local level. However, in many cases, the establishment of plantation activities is hindered by a lack of financial resources, low land productivity and water scarcity. Based on the model used and the results from the field work, it can be concluded that certified emission reductions such as carbon credits or other compensatory systems may help to overcome the financial barrier; however, the price needs to be significantly increased if these measures are to have any large-scale impact.     

Anthropogenic impacts on suspended sediment load in the Upper Yangtze river

Climate change and human disturbance drive catchment erosion and increase riverine sediment load sensitively in small and medium-sized watersheds. This is not always true in large basins, where aggregation and buffering effects have dampen the ability to determine the driving forces of sedimentation. Even though there are significant responses to sedimentation in large river basins, it is difficult to get a precise quantitative assessment of specific drivers. This paper develops a methodology to identify driving forces that change suspended sediment load in the Upper Yangtze river. Annual runoff and sediment load data from 1954 to 2005 at the Yichang gauging station in the Upper Yangtze basin, daily precipitation data from 60 meteorological stations, and survey data on reservoir sediment were collected for the study. Sediment load/rainfall erosivity (S/R), is a new proxy indicator introduced to reflect human activities. Since the mid-1980s, S/R in the Upper Yangtze has dramatically declined from 0.21 to 0.03 (×10¹⁰ t ha h MJ⁻¹ mm⁻¹), indicating that human activity has played a key role in the decline of the suspended sediment load. Before the mid-1980s, a higher average S/R is attributed to large-scale deforestation and land reclamation. A significant sediment decrease occurred from 1959 to 1961 during an extreme drought condition, and an increase in sedimentation in 1998 coincided with an extreme flood event, which was well recorded in the S/R curve. This indicates that the S/R proxy is able to distinguish anthropogenic from climate impacts on suspended sediment load, but is not necessarily indicatory in extreme climate events. In addition, typical drivers of riverine sediment load variation including soil conservation projects, reservoirs construction, and land use/cover change are discussed.     

Land-cover changes in and around a National Park in a mountain landscape in the Pyrenees

The current state of Mediterranean mountain areas has been driven by two main factors: intense traditional human activity and the dynamics of the ecosystem itself. In this study, we examine land-cover changes in a National Park in the Pyrenees mountains (NE Iberian Peninsula), which was designated a protected area 55 years ago. First, we have analyzed spatio-temporal changes in land-cover pattern and forest dynamics from 1957 to 2005. During this period, land-cover dynamics consisted of two main processes: (i) expansion of the forest area and (ii) increasing cover of forests already present in 1957. To analyze the role of the conservation level of the park, we have also compared the results obtained within the park with those of unprotected, peripheral areas. In the two areas with different protection level, dense forests increased throughout the period because of the reduction in forestry activities. The peripheral area showed a higher rate of forest-cover change from 1957 to 2005 compared to the National Park. This higher increase in forest cover in the peripheral area could be related to a higher proportion in the National Park of screes and rocky areas and to the decline and transformation of forest activities in these peripheral, lower elevation areas.     

环境因素对芦苇湿地CH4排放的影响

用封闭式箱法对辽河三角洲芦苇湿地温室气体CH₄ 排放进行了长期观测 .结果表明 ,CH₄ 排放有明显的季节变化规律 ,平均通量为 520μg·m^-2·h^-1.土壤产CH₄ 活性主要发生在0～5cm土层中 ,并随土层深度的增加而显著下降 .CH₄排放受环境因素影响很大 ,土壤氧化还原电位在 -110mV时就有CH₄排放 ,其排放量随氧化还原电位的下降而增加 .另外 ,随着淹水深度的增加 ,CH₄ 排放反而减少 .在测定期内 ,CH₄ 排放与温度呈明显的正相关 (R²=0196,n=21,P<0.05).     

卤代烃毒性的化学评价法:鸟嘌呤卤代烃加合物FTIR、UV光谱表征

研究鸟嘌呤与一系列卤代烃反应的加合产物 ,利用HPLC二极管阵列检测器得到的特征紫外光谱 (UV)对加合产物样品进行了鉴定 ,然后加合产物经薄层 (TLC)分离 ,再进一步做红外 (FTIR)鉴定 ,从而得到鸟嘌呤 卤代烃氧位和氮位加合物的红外光谱表征 .研究表明 ,鸟嘌呤卤代烃的氮位加合物异构体的紫外光谱吸收峰的波长在 240～250nm之间 ,氧位加合物UV波长在 260～270nm附近 .鸟嘌呤与本文涉及的各卤代烃的加合物的红外光谱之间差别不大 :其氮位加合物在 1700cm^-1处 ,均有CO的特征吸收峰 ;其氧位加合物的红外光谱亦相近 .     

不同波段紫外光在TiO2悬浊液中的消光特点

为确定TiO₂催化剂悬浊液对不同波段紫外光的消光规律,本试验以4-CBA-Na为模型污染物,针对催化剂/污染物悬浊液体系在不同催化剂投加量下,对UVA、UVB和UVC波段光子的消光效果进行了测定.结果表明,各悬浮体系对各波段紫外光的消光基本上符合比耳定律,即随着入射光程的增加,光强呈现负指数衰减;紫外光在催化剂悬浊液中的消光系数随催化剂投加量的增大而增加,其增加规律可以用二次多项式表示;污染物溶液本身对UVB和UVC紫外光有吸收,UVB和UVC紫外光在催化剂-污染物悬浮体系中的消光系数可视为污染物与催化剂颗粒的消光系数之叠加.催化剂悬浊液对紫外光的消光系数随紫外光波长的减小而增大,这意味着使用短波长的UVC作为光催化降解光源可以提高能量利用效率.     

农垦与放牧对内蒙古草原N2O、CO2排放和CH4吸收的影响

利用优选静态箱/气相色谱法(GC),首次对我国内蒙古草原典型地区进行了人类活动对N₂O、CO₂和CH₄交换通量影响的实验观测结果表明,农垦麦田N₂O平均排放通量比原始草原高出3倍,并改变了草甸草原为CO₂汇的性质,使其季节排放净通量以C计增加14.3 mg·(m²·h).随放牧强度的增加CO₂排放通量呈线性增长,轻牧会引起草原对CH₄吸收的大幅增加,而随着放牧压力的增大,增加值迅速回落.农垦麦田与草甸草原相比地-气间CH₄交换无显著变化,放牧强度对N₂O排放影响无显著规律.土壤湿度和温度是影响草原排放N₂O和CO₂、吸收CH4季节变化形式的关键因子,而人类活动仅影响排放强度.排放和吸收量年际间差异很大,但主要受降水的影响.N₂O和CO₂排放与CH₄吸收峰值相反现象普遍存在.     

Environmental input-output model and its analysis with a focus on the solid waste management sectors

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＳｉｎｃｅｔｈｅｆｉｒｓｔｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｉｎｐｕｔｏｕｔｐｕｔｍｏｄｅｌ(ＥＩＯＭ)(Ｃｕｍｂｅｒｌａｎｄ,1966)ｗａｓｅｓｔａｂｌｉｓｈｅｄｂｙｉｎｃｏｒｐｏｒａｔｉｎｇｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｆａｃｔｏｒｓｉｎｔ?..