Effect of Cadmium on Microbial Activity and a Ryegrass Crop in Two Semiarid Soils

Soil pollution with Cd is an environmental problem common in the world, and it is necessary to establish what Cd concentrations in soil could be dangerous to its fertility from toxicity effects and the risk of transference of this element to plants and other organisms of the food chain. In this study, we assessed Cd toxicity on soil microorganisms and plants in two semiarid soils (uncultivated and cultivated). Soil ATP content, dehydrogenase activity, and plant growth were measured in the two soils spiked with concentrations ranging from 3 to 8000 mg Cd/kg soil and incubated for 3 h, 20 days, and 60 days. The Cd concentrations that produced 5%; 10%;, and 50%; inhibition of each of the two soil microbiological parameter studied (ecological dose, ED, values) were calculated using two different mathematical models. Also, the effect of Cd concentration on plant growth of ryegrass (Lolium perenne, L.) was studied in the two soils. The Cd ED values calculated for soil dehydrogenase activity and ATP content were higher in the agricultural soils than in the bare soil. For ATP inhibition, higher ED values were calculated than for dehydrogenase activity inhibition. The average yields of ryegrass were reduced from 5.03 to 3.56 g in abandoned soil and from 4.21 to 1.15 g in agricultural soil with increasing concentrations of Cd in the soil. Plant growth was totally inhibited in abandoned and agricultural soils at Cd concentrations above 2000 and 5000 mg/kg soil, respectively. There was a positive correlation between the concentration of Cd in the plants and the total or DTPA-extractable concentrations of Cd in the soil.     

Policy Windows, Policy Change, and Organizational Learning: Watersheds in the Evolution of Watershed Management

Employing in-depth, elite interviews, this empirical research contributes to understanding the dynamics among policy windows, policy change, and organizational learning. First, although much of the research on agenda setting—how issues attract enough attention that action is taken to address them—has been conducted at the national scale, this work explores the subnational, regional scale. With decentralization, regional-scale environmental decision-making has become increasingly important. Second, this research highlights the role of policy windows and instances of related organizational learning identified by natural resources managers. Having practitioners identify focusing events contrasts with the more typical approach of the researcher identifying a particular focusing event or events to investigate. A focusing event is a sudden, exceptional experience that, because of how it leads to harm or exposes the prospect for great devastation, is perceived as the impetus for policy change.     

Costa Rican Environmental Service Payments: The Use of a Financial Instrument in Participatory Forest Management

The core element of the Costa Rican forestry policy is a financial instrument called the environmental service payment. This instrument rewards forest owners for the environmental services (the mitigation of greenhouse gases, the protection of watersheds and scenic beauty, and the development of biodiversity) their forests provide. In this article, the experiences with this new instrument are analyzed by focusing on the way interests are represented and access is granted, the openness of information exchange, whether social learning occurred, and whether decision-making authority is shared. The analysis is based on a survey conducted in the Huetar Norte Region and on in-depth interviews with the major stakeholders. The Costa Rican case indicates that financial instruments can be used to share responsibilities and that stakeholders can successfully cooperate on forest issues. It also shows that such a participatory approach is only promising if certain cultural, economic, organizational, and political conditions are met.     

Communicative Aspects of Environmental Management by Objectives: Examples from the Swedish Context

Management by objectives (MBO) is a technique for integrating ecological concerns into national political and administrative structures. Politicians determine environmental objectives and interim targets to be implemented and assessed by civil servants in national, regional, and local contexts. Well-developed organizational communication is a prerequisite for MBO. However, communication-related obstacles can arise when using MBO in public environmental management. We examine communicative aspects of environmental MBO, looking specifically at the implementation, administration, and assessment of Swedish environmental quality objectives. Our argument is illustrated by quotations from individual and focus group interviews. We conclude that communicative problems may arise, because different actors interpret messages from different perspectives, depending on their agendas, prior knowledge and experience, and positions in the administrative system. It is crucial to recognize the dialogical aspects of communication, by involving the receiver of a message in a process of response. In addition, the different timeframes underlying different arguments could contribute to misunderstandings between actors involved in handling environmental issues. In assessing the achievement of environmental objectives, indicators are used as communicative tools. It is important to investigate whether and how these indicators contribute to the de- and recontextualization of environmental objectives.     

Incompatible Land Uses and the Topology of Cumulative Risk

The extensive literature on environmental justice has, by now, well defined the essential ingredients of cumulative risk, namely, incompatible land uses and vulnerability. Most problematic is the case when risk is produced by a large aggregation of small sources of air toxics. In this article, we test these notions in an area of Southern California, Southeast Los Angeles (SELA), which has come to be known as Asthmatown. Developing a rapid risk mapping protocol, we scan the neighborhood for small potential sources of air toxics and find, literally, hundreds of small point sources within a 2-mile radius, interspersed with residences. We also map the estimated cancer risks and noncancer hazard indices across the landscape. We find that, indeed, such large aggregations of even small, nondominant sources of air toxics can produce markedly elevated levels of risk. In this study, the risk profiles show additional cancer risks of up to 800 in a million and noncancer hazard indices of up to 200 in SELA due to the agglomeration of small point sources. This is significant (for example, estimates of the average regional point-source-related cancer risk range from 125 to 200 in a million). Most importantly, if we were to talk about the risk contour as if they were geological structures, we would observe not only a handful of distinct peaks, but a general “mountain range” running all throughout the study area, which underscores the ubiquity of risk in SELA. Just as cumulative risk has deeply embedded itself into the fabric of the place, so, too, must intervention seek to embed strategies into the institutions and practices of SELA. This has implications for advocacy, as seen in a recently initiated participatory action research project aimed at building health research capacities into the community in keeping with an ethic of care.     

大宝山采矿活动对环境的重金属污染调查

调查了大宝山铁铜多金属矿床固体废弃物-水相互作用对环境的重金属污染,结果表明,矿床固体废弃物导致了水、土壤的重金属污染,污染元素主要有Cd、Cu、Pb、Zn等;重金属元素的水迁移强度由大至小顺序为Cr、Cu、Zn、Ni、Cd、As、Pb、Hg;元素的生物吸收系数由大至小顺序为Cd、Zn、Hg、Ni、Cu、Cr、As、Pb,虽然水稻糙米中的重金属含量未超过国家标准,但Cd、Cr两种元素含量已远远超出了植物中毒量的下限值.     

土地利用/覆盖变化对长江上游非点源污染影响研究

在国内外相关研究的基础上,利用输出系数模型,结合RS和GIS技术,对长江上游的非点源污染负荷进行了空间模拟和负荷估算.模拟结果表明,在不考虑流域损失的前提下,由于土地利用造成的非点源污染负荷TN总量从20世纪70年代的123万t下降至2000年的116万t,基本呈逐年减少的趋势,由土地利用造成的TP的变化趋势与TN基本相同,从70年代的3.7万t下降到2000年的3.5万t左右.就省份、土地利用类型和水系而言,四川省、种植用地和草地以及金沙江水系和嘉陵江水系对长江上游的非点源污染贡献较大.在非点源污染负荷强度上,重庆市和嘉陵江水系单位面积负荷最高,是今后应重点治理的地区.结果表明,该模型可以对长江上游这样的超大尺度空间的非点源污染进行较好的空间模拟.     

武汉汉阳地区城市集水区尺度降雨径流污染过程与排放特征

2005年4月至8月对武汉市汉阳地区十里铺集水区进行了8次径流污染过程的水量、水质研究.结果表明,城市集水区尺度径流污染过程是降雨径流对整个集水区地表、排水系统中累积污染物的冲刷、携带过程,受集水区累积污染物数量、污染物可冲刷性和降雨径流特征的共同影响.城市降雨径流中初期污染物浓度显著高于后期,污染物浓度的峰值提前于径流的峰值,具有明显的初期冲刷效应.8次监测结果的算术平均值,初期5 mm、10 mm和15 mm降雨径流中TSS的负荷分别占总负荷的48%、68%和78%.初期径流中TSS的负荷与晴天累积天数呈线性正相关关系.     

用于控制太湖流域农村面源污染的透水坝技术试验研究

为了控制太湖流域农村面源污染,结合人工湿地原理和快速渗滤机理,开发了透水坝技术并进行了运行试验.该技术利用平原河网地区现有河道的容积来承受农村面源污染水量、水质的冲击负荷,通过控制透水坝的渗流量,拦蓄径流为后续的处理单元提供自流动力.4个月的运行结果表明,使用梯形渗流模型进行透水坝的渗流量计算比较准确,透水坝达到了拦蓄5天处理雨量为1400Om3的降雨径流的设计要求,同时透水坝的TN、TP去除率分别为15.59%和23.44%.     

黄河河口区域有机污染物的特征分析

对2004年采集于黄河河口区域的水样进行了检测分析共鉴定出有机污染物8类192种,包括VOCs33种、SVOCs159种;其中属美国列出的129种优先控制污染物的有62种,属我国列出的58种优先控制污染物的有33种,属GB3838-2002控制的有31种.定量出的VOCs有19种,主要包括卤代烃类和单环芳香族类,其质量浓度平均值分别为0.683和0.609 μg/L;定量出的SVOCs有69种,主要包括多环芳烃类、酯类、单环芳香族类、卤代烃类、酚类和农药类,其质量浓度平均值分别为0.458,1.011,0.367,0.121,0 220和0.045 μg/L,其中多环芳烃类、酯类和单环芳香族类的污染程度相对较高,分别超标2.857,0.288和0.001～1.543倍.