Protected area planning to conserve biodiversity in an uncertain future

Protected areas are a key instrument for conservation. Despite this, they are vulnerable to risks associated with weak governance, land-use intensification, and climate change. We used a novel hierarchical optimization approach to identify priority areas for expanding the global protected area system that explicitly accounted for such risks while maximizing protection of all known terrestrial vertebrate species. To incorporate risk categories, we built on the minimum set problem, where the objective is to reach species distribution protection targets while accounting for 1 constraint, such as land cost or area. We expanded this approach to include multiple objectives accounting for risk in the problem formulation by treating each risk layer as a separate objective in the problem formulation. Reducing exposure to these risks required expanding the area of the global protected area system by 1.6% while still meeting conservation targets. Incorporating risks from weak governance drove the greatest changes in spatial priorities for protection, and incorporating risks from climate change required the largest increase (2.52%) in global protected area. Conserving wide-ranging species required countries with relatively strong governance to protect more land when they bordered nations with comparatively weak governance. Our results underscore the need for cross-jurisdictional coordination and demonstrate how risk can be efficiently incorporated into conservation planning. Planeación de las áreas protegidas para conservar la biodiversidad en un futuro incierto     

Knowledge coproduction on the impact of decisions for waterbird habitat in a changing climate

Scientists, resource managers, and decision makers increasingly use knowledge coproduction to guide the stewardship of future landscapes under climate change. This process was applied in the California Central Valley (USA) to solve complex conservation problems, where managed wetlands and croplands are flooded between fall and spring to support some of the largest concentrations of shorebirds and waterfowl in the world. We coproduced scenario narratives, spatially explicit flooded waterbird habitat models, data products, and new knowledge about climate adaptation potential. We documented our coproduction process, and using the coproduced models, we determined when and where management actions make a difference and when climate overrides these actions. The outcomes of this process provide lessons learned on how to cocreate usable information and how to increase climate adaptive capacity in a highly managed landscape. Actions to restore wetlands and prioritize their water supply created habitat outcomes resilient to climate change impacts particularly in March, when habitat was most limited; land protection combined with management can increase the ecosystem's resilience to climate change; and uptake and use of this information was influenced by the roles of different stakeholders, rapidly changing water policies, discrepancies in decision-making time frames, and immediate crises of extreme drought. Although a broad stakeholder group contributed knowledge to scenario narratives and model development, to coproduce usable information, data products were tailored to a small set of decision contexts, leading to fewer stakeholder participants over time. A boundary organization convened stakeholders across a large landscape, and early adopters helped build legitimacy. Yet, broadscale use of climate adaptation knowledge depends on state and local policies, engagement with decision makers that have legislative and budgetary authority, and the capacity to fit data products to specific decision needs.     

厌氧混合培养条件下六氯苯生物降解的外加碳源必要性

采用标准血清瓶实验探讨了厌氧污泥对六氯苯(HCB)的降解活性以及各种环境因素的影响.结果表明,经过14d的HCB驯化,厌氧污泥具备了较好的降解HCB能力;反应温度对HCB的降解速率有很大影响,适宜温度为35℃左右;葡萄糖、甲酸、乙酸、丙酸和丁酸等有机碳源的存在明显促进了HCB的厌氧降解,其中甲酸和乙酸的加入极其重要;根据实验结果推测出,产甲烷过程对HCB的生物降解发挥了重要作用.     

基于环境监测的矿井通风三维仿真辅助决策系统设计

为优化金属矿山矿井通风系统及辅助决策设计,弥补常用矿井通风仿真解算软件在环境监测、实时解算和辅助决策方面的不足,基于矿井通风理论、环境监测、计算机与通信技术开发矿井通风三维仿真辅助决策系统。提出通过利用实时监测到的井下通风环境参数（风量、风速等）和已存储在系统数据库里的巷道参数,实现对矿井通风网络实时解算,并将其应用到山金阿尔哈达矿井通风系统中。结果表明:矿井通风三维仿真辅助决策系统同步实现了山金阿尔哈达矿井通风系统的环境监测、风网实时解算和三维仿真模拟,提高了其矿井通风管理水平,为矿井通风系统改造优化设计和矿井向深部中段延伸时的通风系统设计提供辅助决策依据。     

Novel materials for environmental remediation of tailing pond waters containing naphthenic acids

A nanofiltration strategy for tailing pond waters (TPWs) that utilizes cyclodextrin (CD)-based polymeric materials as supramolecular sorbents is proposed. Naphthenic acids (NAs) from the Athabasca TPWs are investigated as the target sorbate molecules.The sorption properties of several supramolecular porous materials were characterized using equilibrium sorption isotherms in aqueous solution wherein electrospray ionization mass spectrometry was used to monitor the concentration of NAs in aqueous solution. The characterization of the supramolecular sorbents was performed using ¹³C NMR and IR spectroscopy, while nitrogen porosimetry was used to estimate their surface area and pore structure properties. Independent estimates of surface area were obtained using a chromophore dye adsorption method in aqueous solution.The sorption results for NAs in solution were compared between a commercially available standard; granular activated carbon (GAC) and three types of synthetic materials. The sorption capacities for GAC ranged from 100 to 160 mg NAs/g of material whereas the polymeric materials ranged from 20 to 30 mg NAs/g of material over the experimental conditions investigated. In general, differences in the sorption properties between GAC and the CD-based sorbents were observed and related to differences in the surface areas of the materials and the chemical nature of the sorbents. The CD-based supramolecular materials displayed sorption capacities ranging from 36.2 to 657 m²/g as compared to that for GAC (795 m²/g).     

Direct and indirect methods for chromium identification in industrial wastes

The examinations of selected wastes and stream sediments from the vicinity of a chemical plant by sequential extraction procedures and direct methods, SEM/EDX and XRD, were carried out in order to identify the different forms of chromium, particularly as they are released to potential mobility. The results show that the top and bottom waste samples contain 37,756 and 53,650 μg g¹ Cr, respectively, but about 7% and 2% of the total chromium type Cr(VI). The chemical extraction results show that the mobility of Cr in the upper part of the waste pile is significantly higher than in the bottom section; the exchangeable form of Cr accounts for 25% and < 1%, respectively, the last one irrespective of redox conditions. About 50% of Cr is associated with the reducible fraction of the top waste, and similar with the residual fraction in the bottom waste. Oxidation of the bottom waste shift some portion of Cr from residual to the moderately reducible fraction. The major Cr-forms in the river sediments are compounded with Fe-oxides. The < 2 μm size fraction of the selected sediment sample, particular enriched in chromium contained up to 73,000 μg g¹ Cr with about 95% of this in the moderately reducible fraction, predominantly bound with oxyhydroxides. SEM/EDX and XRD analysis of wastes and river sediment indicate that the main insoluble Cr-phase is ferroan — (Mg, Fe) (Cr, Al)²O⁴ which would be dissolved mainly in the residual fraction.     

Euro-trash: searching Europe for a more sustainable approach to waste management

How an economically affordable, environmentally effective and socially acceptable municipal solid waste management system can be developed is currently unclear. Considerable research has been carried out on the practical aspects of municipal waste management (i.e. transport, treatment and disposal) and how citizens feel about source separation, recycling, incineration and landfill but the perspective of the waste manager within the context of long term planning is often ignored. In this study, waste managers from 11 different leading-edge European municipal solid waste programs in nine different countries were interviewed. The economic, social, political, environmental, legal and technical factors of their specific programs were explored and analyzed. The transition of municipal solid waste management to urban resources management was observed and key ‘system drivers’ for more sustainable waste management practices were identified. Programs visited were: Brescia (I), Copenhagen (DK), Hampshire (UK), Helsinki (FI), Lahn-Dill-Kreis (D), Malmö (SE), Pamplona (E), Prato (I), Saarbrücken (D), Vienna (A), and Zürich (CH).     

MODELING WATER UTILITY FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE1

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to present a theory and model for assessing the financial health of public water systems. Using financial information from 25 water utilities in Georgia, the paper seeks to identify the causal relationships between the financial performance of a water utility and its fiscal position. The need for a theoretical understanding of water utility financial health is the result of the increasingly stringent performance requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The issue has become particularly important for small water systems that will be exposed to significant financial demands. A set of financial ratios were developed and tested in a model that was based on liquid asset theory. The model contained five variables designed to account for the size of liquid assets, current debt, cash-flow, and the level of expenses. The variables fit the need of water utilities: to provide an adequate level of operation and maintenance to meet current and future system needs as well as SDWA standards.